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Post by CJ on Apr 6, 2015 17:54:18 GMT -5
Jack gloriously performed the greatest suplex Ticker Island had ever seen. It was all recorded by the crowd of reporters who came by, snapping a photo of every frame of the stupendous attack. It would be hailed on top ten lists of extravagant acts of public wrestling for years to come.
Rei was down and out. Her eyes spun in unconsciousness and the shadowy giant faded immediately away. It seemed her shadow wasn't an independent force of its own.
All seemed well, but if Jack decided to go back to the Red Ace now, he'd be in for a bit of a surprise.
---
Rizzo held his tiny head low as he was lectured at. Living with men for so long, he had totally forgotten that climbing a woman's body could possibly be inappropriate. He hid his face behind the black amulet in embarrassment.
"Sorry," the rat squeaked. "I got scared I'd lose my brother, but then I realized if I was small, I'd always remember to hold onto him... I think..."
Fortunately for them, the reporters were far too focused on the pirate crew and bloodied masked man that they didn't notice Timo and her tiny friends. A few started to follow after them, but it wasn't until they already made their way onto the ship.
But when they got on, not all was well at all. The Red Ace had been taken over... by fan club members.
Instead of ransacking and pillaging the ship, it seemed as though more was added on. Lights and music blasted their perception. There were three podiums set up on deck next to a very large sign that read "Mr. Dark's Dark Fun Game Show!" with an chibi image of the man in question. There was a larger podium next to a chalkboard with blinking bulbs lining it. Three of the Mr. Dark Fan Clubs had taken over the ship in quite the peculiar way. "Pretty Princess Morgie!" the masked man at the head podium cheered. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on your throne in the Hideaway City!"
"I'm here because I don't want to be there!" Morgie cried out and suddenly found the strength to jump from Timo's grasp. "I cannot lie to myself! I want to be out here!"
"Well then! No matter! While you're here with your new friends, you can try out our new attraction here, the Mr. Dark Dark Fun Game Show! Just stand at the empty podium over there!"
Any initial prodding on Timo's part would be ignored for a moment as the announcer went full into his role.
"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Today on our first episode of Mr. Dark Dark Fun Game Show, our contestants will fight for a chance to win a signed copy of our very own Mr. Dark Fan Club Member Shalaya Twine's Fan Tribute to Mr. Dark! Second prize will win a glorious toaster oven and last place will win the very ship we are standing on!"
The other two contestants cheered. The crudily written signs on their podums read "Traverse" and "Alec." The other podium eagerly awaited them.
"S-should we play?" Rizzo asked timidly as he clutched onto the amulet.
"Let's play!" Morgie cheered and danced about. "I know all that there is to know about Mr. Dark! I'm not lying! You'll see! We'll win!"
---
Kusu grinned when Lizard handed back her katana. Little did either of them know, the curse of the sword passed back to Kusu. Though this was quite unfortunate for Lizard's case. Even if she were to die wielding the blade, spending an eternity as a living weapon might have been an extremely tempting proposition.
"Silly Lizard," the young captain said. "The only thing that's broken with this sword is its attitude. Sqwee."
She immediately put the sword back into the sheath at her side, though it shook and rumbled, still likely not happy with what had just occurred.
"Let's go where the reporter lady tells us to go," she continued. "I think she has an idea of where we could lie low. I hope Mr. Scary Man knows where we're going. It doesn't seem like those reporters are very nice."
---
As the group began to run away, two very odd occurrences happened at the exact same time.
In the middle of the street before them, a person sized blue and pink swirling circle suddenly opened up. Kalen, who had run further ahead, suddenly darted straight into it with no warning with the masked man in tow. It immediately closed behind him, leaving only a small space to crawl through toward the ground.
Kusu's eyes widened in further realization.
"U...ZO!"
The young captain suddenly dropped through the street. A manhole opened up before her and a dark hand reached out and pulled her under. It then slammed back shut and no sound could be heard. Kusu wasn't weak and she could definitely fight her way out of a situation, especially with the crazy blade at her side. Why couldn't they hear anything?
---
"No!" Stacy shouted when she saw Kalen and the masked man fly through a randomly opened portal.
"Yes?!" she immediately said afterward as Kusu fell through the street.
She felt sick. Sure, things had gotten crazy with the masked man, but otherwise things were all going according to plan. Now there was another horrible roadblock. She tapped her foot in frustration.
If I go after Kusu, then I'll finally be able to achieve my dreams... she thought to herself. But what if Kalen becomes lost forever? I shouldn't have had him carry that bastard.
"Lizard person, there's no time!" she suddenly announced. "We have to save Kalen! I mean, Kusu! I mean, who do we go after? What should we do?"
Meanwhile, a group of about five reporters began to take pictures of the tiny portal. One cheerfully stuck her hand into it and pulled it out as though it were a fun game.
---
Reporters continued to accost Mr. Dark with questions and prodding. They asked him his name, his purpose, what his first pet was and how it may or may not have gruesomely died.
At this moment, he might have noticed the game show that was beginning on a ship nearby. It was unlikely that he had time for such things with two of his crewmembers now missing.
But then, he might have noticed something. There was a woman on the ship holding a porcelain doll. The doll suddenly came to life and jumped from her arms. It was a straight sight indeed, but even stranger given that her shadow was exceedingly long. It was far too long for such an object and it didn't even retain the doll's shape. Elongated on the cabin wall appeared to be a female silhouette with a motorcycle helmet.
---
As Kalen took off to a run, he would hear the masked man gasp in fear. Without warning, he would see the world disappear about him. It was like a dream that went catastrophically wrong. He would feel as though he was falling, falling, falling in a spiral of bright lights. Blue and pink flooded his vision, with only the weight of the masked man on his back.
The end came softly, as though he gently picked up by a large, caring hand. The world went dark and suddenly gravity kicked in. Kalen would feel himself hitting a cold hard floor.
When his vision cleared, he would see that they were now in an alley in the city clouded by an incoming storm. Buildings were wrecked around them, as though an earthquake had completely desomated them. Bodies of marine soldiers littered the streets as yelling and screaming could be heard not too far in the distance away. Kalen might have recognized they were at Marineford on one of the most eventful nights in recent history.
Nearby, the masked man had been thrown some distance away. He sat up against a wall and clambered to remove his mask.
"You... you're that shepherd boy that hangs out with my brother..."
With the mask off, it was plain to see that it was none than the infamous warlord Uzo. Though maybe it wasn't. His face was bloodied and battered and he was bleeding out from bullet wounds. His trademark lazy eyelid was bruised and closed.
"Where were we...? What happened to me...? Did you...?"
His one working eyelid fluttered as he began to lose consciousness. There seemed to be no way back to where they were.
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Post by Kuro on Apr 9, 2015 19:06:14 GMT -5
Mr. Dark said nothing to the reporters despite their constant pestering. Upon seeing that the reporter was not, in fact, hurt, he simply went back to the group, occasionally gently batting away a reporter too close for comfort.
So, Sharp or Stacy likely knew of Uzo, seeing as she knew who was behind the attack. Would she take them to him? She seemed to be a foe of his, but he had no intent on trusting her. At least she could help finish up this business; he doubted Kusu would leave until seeing her meddlesome brother.
Speak of the devil.
At the sight of pink and blue, he raised his pistols but to no avail. Kalen and his charge were flung in and right after, Kusu suddenly disappeared through the ground.
A lot can happen in a few seconds. The frenzy of it all made it a tad difficult to plan, but one thing was for certain: Kusu was of the top priority. He turned to the others, orders at the ready if they were willing to comply.
"We know that Uzo is most likely behind the portal, while we do not know what snatched Kusu. Sharp will go into the portal, for she seems to know about Uzo and what is going on. Meanwhile, Lizard and I will go down and rescue Kusu. If need be, we can rendezvous at the ship with targets in tow. There is no time to dawdle, let's - "
her
"...Let's go!"
Not now. Inspect later. Possible coincidence. Rescue mission of top urgency. Go.
Mr. Dark flung the manhole to the side and dropped down, guns at the ready.
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Post by Franky on Apr 11, 2015 21:29:40 GMT -5
Jack pushed off the ground and stood back up straight, looking back at Rei. Well she wasn't all too tough, for all that strong-arm vibe she was giving off. Gotta get back fast though, no telling what's going on with Ron right now. He moved to head to the docks, interrupted by the crowd of reporters. "Whup, hey watch o... clear the board folks, make some room!" He dodged and weaved through the crowd, ignoring any questions or pictures. It slowed him down only for a minute before he made it through and took off running in the direction of the Red Ace.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Apr 16, 2015 1:29:26 GMT -5
"What the? Where in the actual heck am I?"
Kalen was a little disturbed by the scene change, though less by what he saw, and more just the suddenness of it. Unable to come up with some logical explanation or reason for what had happened, he just wrote it off as magic again as usual. Things were much easier to deal with that way, especially on the Grand Line.
"Oh no, not you again, as if things cou- HIIII YAH~!"
When it was that he noticed Uzo and his identity proper, Kalen groaned and began to express his disappointment, but didn't even finish his own sentence by the time he had made a running start towards Uzo and aimed to just kick him right in the stomach. He could make a safe guess that this fellow was responsible for the change, and even if it was a wrong guess, he'd still get to kick him in the stomach assuming he wasn't prevented from doing so.
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Post by Kyubey on Apr 18, 2015 1:26:54 GMT -5
When Kalen suddenly disappeared into a portal, and Kusu was dragged underground before anyone could stop her not long after, Lizard simply stared, stunned. Already, there was plenty about her life that didn't make sense, and already she was having a most decidedly terrible day, but now this was a whole new sort of strange, and she didn't like it at all. Even more than the flashing lights and the enemies with supernatural powers, it seemed that the hunter was having some difficulty wrapping her mind around the idea that someone could be right in front of her one moment, and then suddenly be gone. Not even dead, but vanished. Did this mean she would never see either of them again? Logically, Lizard knew that it wouldn't matter all that much if she didn't, but it still wasn't a thought she liked to entertain. When it seemed as if Stacy was looking to her for what to do next, it only flustered Lizard even further. She stared back at Sharp blankly, her mouth agape, struggling to find words and failing to do so. The world didn't make sense, and her shipmates, her pack, was almost gone. She was caught up in a swirl of unnatural affairs, that she wasn't at all let in on. What could anyone have done, then?
It was a good thing that Mr. Dark was there to clear matters up. Unlike Lizard, he seemed to know what was going on, or if he didn't, still knew basically what to do. Even if she didn't understand the situations, the orders he gave were clear and made sense. As such, she had no qualms at all about following them. Before looking down at the manhole cover, she glanced in Sharp's direction, with a serious, focused expression.
"Do what Mr. Dark says," said Lizard. "Also, you should bring the sheep man back. If you can. Alive, please."
That having been said, Lizard turned back to the manhole, trusting completely that Sharp would follow instructions. She drew her knife, not fully knowing who she would use it against, or even how, considering her limitations, but it felt better to have it out. She waited for a few brief seconds after Mr. Dark jumped in, to make sure his charge into the unknown wasn't immediately followed by a scream or a spray of blood or anything, and then jumped in after him.
---
When the Red Ace came into view, Timo was foolish enough to even momentarily believe that she had reached some level of safety or quiet, and was rather irate when she found out this wasn't the case. Even after she first stepped aboard, and found the fanclub members there seemingly waiting for them (how they seemed to know they were coming would be something Timo would only consider a bit later), she ignored the intruders at first, taking a few seconds to catch her breath, before fully acknowledging the unfortunate happenings that were going on in front of her.
"Uh... 'scuse me? Did I hop on the wrong boat or somethin'?"
As if her experience with Morgie and Rei wasn't sufficient, it was now blatantly clear to Timo that the members of the Mr. Dark Fanclub were perhaps just a bit mentally unhealthy. Perhaps a recurring issue with all Fanclubs, but not really something the smuggler wanted to ponder too deeply. As it was, she was finding it much harder to sympathize with the club members who didn't happen to take the form of a fragile little girl, and had considered ending the problem in mere seconds with the help of her tommygun. However, while simply firing a few shots into the air might have been enough to scare the club members off (she wasn't a mass murderer) it also ran the risk of attracting the reporters to her, which could potentially ruin her career in seconds. So she had to find another method, and she guessed "talking to them rationally" wasn't exactly one of her options.
When the prizes were listed, the smuggler got an idea. She had no interest in seriously trying to win the game, but losing it would take almost no effort at all, and she could get exactly what she wanted. Momentarily, Timo wondered how the fanclub could possibly justify giving away a boat that didn't belong to them as a prize, but then remembered that she was a smuggler on a pirate ship, and figured that the question of ownership was too complicated to think about anyway. If she lost the game, the Mr. Dark Fanclub would probably leave, without any fuss or argument, which was all she wanted. If the only price was lowering herself to participate in, and subsequently blow, a game show, it wouldn't hurt that bad to swallow her pride for the time being.
"Yeah, sure. Let's do it."
Fighting back the feeling of disgust that was slowly sinking its way deep into her gut, Timo took her place at the empty podium, leaning on it lazily. Briefly, she looked at Morgie, as she danced and cheered, and just as quickly looked away, trying to keep her focus on the task ahead.
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Post by CJ on Apr 21, 2015 22:51:06 GMT -5
"Yippee!" Morgie cheered and clapped her hands upon Timo's participation. She stood at their assigned podium, though she was far too short to peer over it. Instead, she hugged the side of it and looked around. Her painted doll face was stuck in a static smile as she waited for the game to begin.
"Let's get right to it then!" the masked announcer shouted. "Our first question! What is Mr. Dark's profession?"
"Oo! Oo! Oo! Ring the bell! I know this one!"
Fortunately for Timo, Rizzo found a home on top of the podium. He put down the dark amulet for a moment and scurried over to what looked like a small dinner bell.
"I think she means this thing," he squeaked.
He struggled to pick it up, but managed to make it go off for two brief rings.
"He's a doctor!" Morgie cheered.
"Wrong!" the announcer snapped. "Mr. Dark is the ruler of all fear! He is a king! Next question!"
"What?" she cried out. "Wait! But I knew that one! He's a doctor and he has a disease! I'm not lying!"
"I'm sorry, Pretty Princess Morgie. Neither of those things are correct."
Morgie looked devastated, almost as though someone had promised her ice cream and then snatched it away. It seemed this truth of hers was incredibly important. But why?
At this moment, Jack might appear and see the crazy game show before him, set out on his very ship. It seemed that Timo, Rizzo and Morgie were adamant to participate in it for whatever reason. Though why would be unknown to him now.
"I'm not lying! You believe me, right?" Morgie continued to beg, moving forward to tug at Timo's shirt.
---
Stacy's face turned pale when Mr. Dark made the assumption that she knew what was going on. She opened her mouth to object, but already Mr. Dark jumped through the manhole.
If she were to follow them and try to secure Kusu, she might leave Kalen to die or be lost in time forever. But if she were to follow him, she might lose the opportunity to win the respect and adoration of her people forever.
She had no choice now.
---
The sewers underneath Ticker Island were comprised of expansive cylindrical tunnels. Yesterday's news was mixed in with the filth that streamed through the underground. The ladder would lead them to a walkway that ran alongside the waste.
Mr. Dark would sense an incredible amount of fear. Fear of being trapped. Being stuck. Helplessness. Oddly enough, it wasn't coming from Kusu but from the sword at her side. As he dropped to the ground, he would quickly see why. Kusu and the sword were wrapped in a net embedded with what looked like blue gemstones and slung over the shoulder of a tall figure in a black Mr. Dark Fan Club cloak. The blue gemstones were likely seastone, given how powerless the transforming bird girl and the erratic sword with her seemed. They were taken helplessly by him and the two that follow him..
The sword was unable to move and unable to help. Kusu looked up at Mr. Dark and Lizard. The whites of her eyes beamed fiercely in frustration.
She opened her mouth but her words were swallowed by darkness. One of the club members thew his or her arm out, summoning an immense black shadow. It covered the entire sewer, blocking out all light from entering, even the light of day from the open manhole above.
Mr. Dark and Lizard would have only their instincts to rely on if they were to remedy the situation.
It seemed the dark brought out more of their fear. Frogs. Cats. Drowning. All three of them had very specific fears. Mr. Dark would sense these fears and perhaps the people who owned them as they sped off in what seemed like a hidden path to the right just ahead. It seemed they were trying to trick the doctor and hunter. But would they succeed?
---
"Ah! Wait!" a voice cried out just as Kalen drop kicked a warlord to death at Marineford. Uzo spit out a tooth and a splatter of blood toward the bottom of Kalen's leg. He slumped over and stopped breathing.
In came Stacy, crawling out of what remained of the portal Kalen and Uzo fell through. It snapped shut right behind her, responding directly to the shepherd's attack.
"Kalen, what were you thinking!" Stacy shouted in frustration. "He's the only one who can take us back to our time! You might have killed him!"
But as soon as the words came out of her mouth, the same odd pink and blue aura came over the warlord. His body twitched on the ground as it came back up to a sitting position on the wall. His tooth and even the blood left on Kalen's leg would zip back through the air and return to his body.
His working eye opened. It was as though the attack had never happened. Stacy paused in astonishment.
"Huh. Neat trick."
"You're that... bitch woman," Uzo said groggily. "And... the shepherd boy is here too? Where was I? What did you two do with Roger... if you hurt him..."
It was as if Uzo was meeting Kalen for the first time again that instance.
"We didn't hurt him, her, whatever Kusu is. Tell him, Kalen. Tell him we didn't hurt Kusu so he'll let us go back! I mean, we could have the Uzo who was here at Marineford take us back but I'm not even sure where we'd begin convincing him to do that."
The ground rumbled dreadfully underneath their feet. This was a significant event of untold proportions. If they didn't get out soon, the battle might come to them.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Apr 24, 2015 1:51:14 GMT -5
"He's not letting us do anything, either he takes us back, or I keep kicking him. Maybe after that, we can talk about Kusu..."
This was something of a more vicious side of Kalen than anyone would have seen before, but it was specifically in reaction to Uzo using his powers. Kalen had a limited understand at best of devil powers, so he just wrote it off as magic, and that Uzo had cast a wicked spell on them. As far as he was concerned, Uzo was a witch, and back where Kalen came from it wasn't so long ago that they would have burned him at the stake. Nowadays, they would just attack him till he left or else, so Kalen would do just that. Stacey though, brought up an interesting proposal.
"Actually that's a great idea Katherine, if there is another person like him here, then he wouldn't have a reason not to help us. Better safe than sorry though, don't want this one ruining our chances. You think if we tied him up and threw him down a well, he'd be able to use his magic anymore?" he asked, with a disturbingly innocent curiosity, "I've heard of places throwing witches in the sea to solve their problems..."
He wasn't sure how far away the coast was from here, but he was plenty sure they could find a well in no time, or a fountain or something similar.
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Post by Franky on Apr 26, 2015 2:14:46 GMT -5
Alright, Jack Thought to himself, All I gotta do now is get back to the Ace, Sit down with the china girl, and she can bring back Ron... I hope anyway, she seems a little short of a full deck. Whelp, it could be a long shot, but I'd bet on it. He looked over at the crowd as he ran by it, heard them murmuring about some dead zealot. Hopefully once Ron's back we can get out of here, looks like some bad biz going on. Doubt Those two are gonna want to make their new home here. A small smile went on his face at the thought of the brothers sticking with him for a little longer. Good, plenty of fine islands we haven't seen yet, shame to leave on the first one. The Ace's log pose should be set to the new island path by now, we'd be in Long Ring Long Land if we hadn't followed that convoy. ...Probably for the best, that place sounds weird. Now There's no telling were we'll hit next. Maybe That smoky smelling girl who won the race will want to join us too, always nice to have a pretty woman with a machine gun aboard a pirate ship. He raced up the gangplank on the the Ace's main deck and saw Timo and Morgie He opened his mouth to say something and it just hung open for a second as he just now noticed what else he was seeing going on on the Red Ace. He slowly put his hands on his head and he walked forward, taking a single step with each word he spoke, the disbelief in his voice gradually shifting to anger. "What. Are. You. People. Doing. On. My. Ship!?"
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Post by Kuro on May 11, 2015 12:29:14 GMT -5
He had never thought his own alias would bring him so much irritation.
Of all the dangers he could find in the sewers, it was his own following that caused him such worry. And now, before he could even utter a word to the misguided, annoying, useless little wretches, they sped off like children caught doing bad. That is, if children had the ability to cover their tracks with immense, crushing darkness. It was troublesome, yes.
But with all the fear flowing through the sewers, flowing into him, he hardly needed to see. Only feel.
"Lizard. It seems you will have ample time to hunt today. Do whatever you must to ensure that they do not get away."
The boogeyman himself ran off a moment after. His mode of tracking, going after vague shapes at the corner of his vision, following strange urges and suggested directions in the back of his mind, was not as precise as the senses of smell or hearing may be, but hopefully it would be enough. He sped down the trick hallway, hands outstretched, snatching and grabbing at the air, or if he ever happened to be close enough, the living annoyances.
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Post by Kyubey on May 13, 2015 20:32:50 GMT -5
Lizard landed in a sort of crouching position, and looked up, though there wasn't much to see. Light was there, and then it wasn't. How this had happened was unknown, but who caused it wasn't. More importantly, Kusu was being stolen. This time, she didn't even need the instructions from Mr. Dark to know exactly what to do.
Being unable to see wasn't a problem at all, no good hunter couldn't hunt at night. She couldn't use her sense of smell either, the scent of the sewers was too strong for that. But she could still hear her prey, and sense them. Silently, she moved out, towards her foe. Unlike Mr. Dark, each and every one of her movements was deliberate and precise. She stopped for a mere moment when she reached the hallway, listened carefully, and then followed after them again. She moved at a careful pace first, moving just fast enough to trail behind them, while not actually closing the gap. It was more like she was following them, than giving chase. Unflinchingly she advanced, not letting on to what she planned, just moving straight for them, waiting to see what they would do.
---
Timo bit her lip nervously when Rizzo rang the little bell, wondering just what it was he was thinking. She would have thought that he would be trying to lose even more than she was, but clearly that wasn't the case. To make matters worse, Morgie knew the exact right answer to the question. Because of course she would. The situation was getting somewhat dire. Not only was she aiming to get the Fanclub good and away from the boat before Jack arrived, but she really didn't want to be known forever as part of the winning team in a Mr. Dark Trivia Contest.
But then, the smuggler was met with a sudden stroke of luck, when the announcer declared Morgie's answer to be wrong. While technically good for her, however, Timo still only found herself confused. Morgie had given a perfectly acceptable response, to a question that really anyone who knew even a little about Mr. Dark should have known, and yet she was called incorrect. After spending an extended period of time on a boat with a Mr. Dark fan who would have put any of those cultists to shame, she knew enough to recognize this as just blatantly untrue. Were these people really just that misguided, or were they intentionally trying to sabotage their Princess? Or perhaps they were just talking about a different Mr. Dark? Either way, while it might have been smarter to just roll with it and accept the loss, the situation was still just too strange for her to be okay with that. More importantly, after seeing Morgie's reaction, Timo knew she couldn't bring herself to be quiet about it. They were declared to be wrong anyways. What would be the harm?
"Morgie got it right, pal," Timo said firmly. "Dark's a doctor. Final answer."
Or perhaps, she thought after she said that, it wasn't all that right after all. Really, Mr. Dark was better known as a pirate, rather than a doctor. And really, she wasn't even sure if he had a legitimate medical license, or if he did, why he didn't call himself Dr. Dark. None of these questions could be answered, after Jack stormed onto the ship. Timo slowly turned to face him, smiling weakly with embarrassment. She had no idea what to say to him, though she could tell exactly how the situation must have looked from his perspective.
"'sup man," she said, giving Jack a small wave. "We're just, eh, killin' time. Keepin' the littleuns entertained an' all. Hope that's cool. Don't flip out, I got this."
After speaking, she hoped Jack would recognize her clearly mouthing the words "I don't got this" to him.
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Post by CJ on May 15, 2015 17:24:07 GMT -5
Sharp's face fell at Kalen's comment about "throwing witches in the sea." She slapped her face in what appeared to be an attempt to compose herself. She brushed her hand through her black hair and tried to focus on the situation.
Meanwhile, Uzo's head fell as he lasped into unconsciousness. The pink and blue light came over him. His head snapped back up and he opened his eyes to look at the two.
"You're that... bitch woman," Uzo said again like a broken record. "And... the shepherd boy is here too? Where was I? What did you two do with Roger... if you hurt him..."
"He's stuck on loop," Sharp commented coldly. "Looks like his Devil Fruit powers keep him from dying this way, but it's not very effective. No need to toss him into a well or the ocean. He's done. And even if we were to convince him to get us back, who knows if it would even work in the state he's in. We'll find to find the Uzo of this time. If we don't find him or trick him to get us out... well, we'll figure it out."
There was an explosion of fire in the distance. It seemed to be coming from off land.
"That looks like a good place to start," Sharp sighed.
She started walking ahead, leaving Uzo behind to dart up and repeat himself once more. Her boots clinked against what was left of the alley. She darted up to the side of one of the buildings and leaned forward to examine what appeared to be an empty street.
"Kalen, what do you think about witches?" she asked plainly. "You know, people with powers like the brat back there... but without the aid of Devil Fruit and all that."
---
Morgie's looked up at Timo with painted on, sparkling eyes. It seemed they had the wrong answer, but Timo had the right answer for earning Morgie's love and trust.
The leader of the trivia show gang was about to correct the two when Jack made his furious appearance on the ship that was rightfully his.
"Who is..." the trivia leader spoke.
"Mister!" Morgie squealed. "There's a game show going on for the ship. They told us the ship is the third place prize!"
Rizzo's sullen expression and hunched over back suggested he didn't like being lumped in with Morgie as being "little." It didn't take him long though to take the situation around him seriously.
"This isn't your ship, human!" the announcer said proudly. "We have claimed it for the glory of Mr. Dark and his beloved Fan Club! You have no right to it! Now leave or we will kill you and use pin your corpse to the main float of our upcoming Mr. Dark Fan Parade!"
"No!" Morgie retorted. "That's my friend!"
"He's not your friend and that lying woman isn't your friend either," one of the hooded contestants spoke up. "Humans aren't friends! They're enemies!"
"But I'm human and so is Mr. Dark!"
"Blasphemy!" said the third fan club member.
"This isn't Morgie! It must be a trick of the enemy! Kill them all!"
As the final word came out of his mouth though, Rizzo jumped from the podium and grew larger, transforming into a human rat hybrid. It looked like Rizzo, but much hairer and with aggressively sharp claws and wild eyes. He tackled the leader, but was quickly stopped. The boy's shadow tore up from the ground, much like Ron's had earlier that day, had wrapped around his limbs. It forced him to the deck and turned him around to face Jack. It appeared as though the trivia leader was trying to force Rizzo to attack Jack, but it wasn't working. It appeared he was not as strong as Morgie and Rizzo was putting up a good fight. Either way, he was preoccupied.
"Watch out, lady!" Morgie shouted, clutching the dark amulet in her tiny, fragile hands.
One of the fan club members opted for a more simple tactic. He rushed Timo with a dagger of all things, aiming to stab her directly in the back.
The third attempted to jump into the water off the ship, screaming for help as he went.
---
It seemed the three people Lizard tailed didn't seem to realize she was right behind them. They conversed with coarse voices as they lost their breath running through the hallway.
"It doesn't make sense," a deep voice asked. "Isn't she a human? How could she be the witch Stacy is looking for?"
"Well, Mr. Dark was born a human and he's the greatest being we know."
"Hmmm. Good point."
The one opened a latch that made a loud, creaking sound. They hurried inside, one after the other. A small amount of light streamed through. As the last one jumped in, Lizard would be able to see Kusu slung on his back. Her eyes connected with Lizard's for just one moment before the latch shut behind her.
If Lizard were to open the hatch and follow through, she would find herself in a square room with zero decorations or furnishings. It was wall to wall concrete, lit deep purple from some unknown light source. All that was visible was a black door made from unknown metal with a singular handle and one word written on it in huge, bold letters.
Shadow.
---
Understandably, Lizard was much faster than Mr. Dark. He made great progress in traversing through the thick darkness, but he would discover it would be even harder to progress than he thought.
Mr. Dark would crash into something that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was humanoid, but it felt cold and hard. Whatever was blocking him wasn't made of flesh.
"Ah! Sorry!" a shrill voice spoke from the ground. "Wait. You're not a Mr. Dark Fan Club member, are you?"
Could it see in the dark? What sort of thing was it? Whatever it was, Mr. Dark would have to force himself past the entity or alternatively tread the sewage around him if he wanted to continue forward. Despite being nearly trampled, it didn't seem to understand Mr. Dark's urgency.
"Don't worry. I won't tell on you. I'm in trouble too, you see. I was supposed to look after my frien- my princess, Morgana, but she got out on me. You don't tell on me and I won't tell on you, right?"
Mr. Dark would begin to feel he was losing his grip on sensing Hil's and the other's fears.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on May 16, 2015 13:36:37 GMT -5
When Uzo in his loop said bitch again, Kalen socked him right in the face, not yet understanding what was going on till Sharp explained it all. Actually, even after he still didn't really understand it.
"Is it a good idea to leave him here though, like this? What if someone finds him? Well, I guess they'll be in the same position we are, if he's stuck like this..."
Kalen jumped when he heard the explosion, his mind still not wholly in the situation. He was aware of a war having taken place here some time in the past, but it seemed that time was now. He didn't know well the full details of what had happened, or was happening, but based on how Sharp acted he assumed it was nothing good. Following after her carefully, he tried to keep a lookout for any signs of danger, or even just other people.
"He's a witch? Doesn't look like any witch I've ever heard of..." he said, after Sharp checked the coast was clear, to which he made a break for the other side of the street to take cover by an opposite building. "Well I know how people feel about them back home, but as long as they're not casting any evil spells on me... I guess I wouldn't mind. I've never met any before, but if they didn't care that I was a sheep herder, then I wouldn't care that they were a witch."
Keeping a lookout as before, he tried to make out any landmarks or means of orienting themselves towards where the other Uzo might be. That is, where the fighting was probably. "Why do you ask? Are we going to be meeting more?"
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Post by Kyubey on May 29, 2015 2:59:04 GMT -5
Lizard heard her prey talking, and recognized it as such, but didn't think of it at all beyond that. They weren't saying anything that would affect the hunt, so it didn't matter. She simply continued to close in on them, steadily, steadily...
She didn't anticipate the hatch, and it caused some problems for her. Lizard had intended to carry on decreasing the distance between her and them at a slow, safe pace, approaching unnoticed until she could strike with no chance of them being able to react in time. But she couldn't do that if there was that extra door between her and them. She watched as the hatch closed, with Kusu vanishing before her eyes. Whether this distressed her, annoyed her, or had no effect on her at all, she did not show her feelings. She simply approached the hatch, and, knife drawn in case of danger, opened it, just enough for her to slide her way in.
She blinked and recoiled from the light, and stayed in the far edge of the room. It was one of the unfortunate aspects of the human form, that the eyes were too weak to handle even sudden changes in brightness, at least not all at once, and it was not a weakness Lizard was immune to. She had to blink a few times and slump against the wall for a few precious seconds before she could even act at all. But once she could see right again, she wasted no time.
First, she looked out for traps, other figures in the room, or anything that could spell danger. Detecting nothing at first, she cautiously took a step forward, and then another, then looked around again. Again, assuming nothing new would pose a threat, she would sprint at her full speed to the door on the other end of the room. If she reached the handle successfully, she would then turn it, and push the door (or pull, if that didn't work) and right after jump to the left, far out of the doorway, and wait there, back against the wall, to see if anything were to come out. If nothing did, and there was again no traps, only then would the hunter poke her head through the doorway, watching and listening for whatever was beyond it.
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Post by Franky on Jun 4, 2015 18:39:18 GMT -5
"What? You can't bet someone else's stuff on a game" Jack said. He raised a hand and thrust and angry finger at the announcer. "That's cheating! I'm gonna..." he paused and processed what Morgie said. "THIRD PLACE?! The Ace is a first place prize in ANY game! Now I'm mad." Jack stepped forward then broke into a run, Rizzo stood between him and his target but he knew how tough zoans were, and Rizzo was no slouch, Jack trusted he could handle this. A little more thinking would have sent him after the one escaping into the water, but he wasn't in a very tactical mood right now. He leapt straight over Rizzo, clearing him by a good 5 feet. Sailing towards the announcer, he brought his arm back going for an open palmed strike straight to his chest. "Five Card Stud!"
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Post by Kuro on Jun 7, 2015 15:47:49 GMT -5
In his haste, Mr. Dark moved to toss the cold obstacle out of his path. He would have thrown it against a wall were it not for that shrill, grating voice.
"Wait. You're not a Mr. Dark Fan Club member, are you?"
"No. Get out of my way."
But lo and behold, the stranger did no such thing. He attempted to walk around and past it, but even that simple task was becoming annoyingly difficult. Not only did it block his passage, it continued to claw at its ears with that incessant voice.
Worse still, he could feel the fear fading. What were once shapes in his mind were now formless and faint. The mutterings of enemy minds became smaller than whispers, until they were nearly no more. They were practically untraceable to him at this point! This would not do, this was unacceptable!
He tried to run past them, and if necessary, would shove the stranger out of the way. He would not lose them now, not because of some unceasing babble!
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