Around the World in Eighteen Days!

[CJ]

Tomahawk stood immediately when Quinn ran into the house. The man inside the machine wasn’t sure what to do about the situation. He still knew little to nothing about the robot he controlled and didn’t want to blow up the house in an attempt to stop the intruder.

However, Connor didn’t have to think much about what Quinn said. The sudden attack by the clockwork before convinced the cyborg to trust the man. There was no time to learn his story or try to figure out what his intentions were. He had to believe him for now if they could escape another attack.

A nod to Quinn was all Tomahawk did to acknowledge him before it took off to the room his wife hid herself in.

[I'm getting Beth,] Tomahawk quickly said to Kaede.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Tomahawk opened the door to see Beth sitting on a chair in the office, looking up at a twenty something year old man who looked much like he did when he had his human body. The two seemed to be talking privately.

His blond hair was nearly matted, twisting this way and that uncaringly. He wore a buttoned, long sleeve shirt and dirty khaki pants. It was clear the man did not care much for his own being.

His deep green eyes would have mirrored Connor's old pair had the one not been partly covered by a lazy eye lid. His normal eye glared at Tomahawk like a bird of prey, threatening it to leave or face destruction.

[Shichibukai,] Tomahawk stated, Connor’s voice twisting in anger through its static voice.

"I messed up again, I see," the man said. "This won’t do."

"Uzo, Connor," Beth said worryingly, standing up, trying to be a mediator for the two.

[Get away from my wife,] Tomahawk said, curling its mechanical hands in.

"Fine," Uzo said with a scoff, raising his hand toward the machine.

---

Uzo and Beth stood in frozen time. Tomahawk stood in the office in frozen fury.

"This meeting will have never happened," Uzo stated plainly.

"What are you talking about?" Beth asked.

"I can reverse time and place you back where you were, without me. That man won’t ever know we talked."

"Oh, I see."

Beth looked at the man with a strange sort of pity and sadness, as though she wasn’t sure how to approach the man in conversation.

"Remember what I spoke to you about," the warlord said plainly, looking at Tomahawk. "If our plan’s going to work, you’ll have to tell him when happened when he was asleep, and then…"

"Yes, I know," Beth said. But, for now, do you know about this island? How are we supposed to get off of this thing? How can we help these people?

"Trust your instincts. I can’t give you all the answers. You have to decide things for yourself."

"That’s a cheap answer."

"It’s cheap that you’re asking me in the first place."

Beth smirked at Uzo, who merely folded his arms in fake spite.

---

Beth stormed out of the room she was in, almost as soon as Tomahawk moved to get her. To the others, it might have seemed she heard simply what had happened from beyond the door.

"No hiding," she said forcefully, smashing her fists together. She pushed back Tomahawk who had reached out to stop her.

Beth opened the door to their temporary home and called out to the air.

"We’re here! Come and get us!" she shouted, glowing partially white in the energy power of her Devil Fruit. Beth seemed insane. In fact, she might have just been that. But she wanted to punch the face in of whoever was commanding the clockwork so bad, she rushed to challenge them head on.

[Shark a' Pult]

Kaede was somewhat disappointed when Connor made clear that he had only met Jean in the past and did not know of her current whereabouts. Someone with the mark had been sending signals all the time now, and with Jean's disappearance she could only assume it was her.

[After all of this is over, if I’ve beaten the Grand Path, come back to the restaurant and I’ll help you look for her. You’ve done so much for us, especially now getting stuck here on this island. I’d be glad to do the same for you.]

"Oh, thank you Connor. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that."

When Connor offered his assistance however, it came as something of a surprise to her. She had not considered the things she had done for the Andersons as helping them, rather just what Solaine had told her to do. But the more she thought about it the more she liked the sound of it, of lending them a hand, as a friend. Yes, friends.

"You guys should hide. Right now."

[I'm getting Beth,]

It all happened very fast, and before she could properly figure out what the situation with Quinn was, Connor was already acting according to his instructions. So the clockwork were returning? That was fast. She went to grab her bag and make for the secret place behind the fireplace, but was interrupted about halfway when Beth came storming out. The determination she carried and spoke with pretty much determined their next course of action, at least in Kaede's eyes, and so she set about the alternative.

"I hope we're not going to just fight them in here, they can probably get in through the windows and then we're cornered. Maybe we should look for the help of the other people here like Tyrone and Eve said?"

While trying to make clear how they would proceed, Kaede had her bag opened on the table taking out all sorts of supplies and materials, mixing this and blending that in preparation for what was to come.

[Kuro]

In one of the "houses" sat a young man admist the darkness, the only light coming from a single window. He sat in that light, looking out at the world, his eyes taking in the sun. He was quiet in what could be considered a beautiful scene: A single, thin body sitting in a white beam of light penetrating the endless darkness surrounding him.

Who was he? He had been with the denizens of New Clockwork Island for quite a while, but did that make him one if them? He had helped them rebuild their home from time to time, but did that make him a serviceman? To be honest, he had little attachment to those who lived around him. Most of the time, he had just stayed inside, sitting in that light from his window. Still, he couldn't help but think that he had some sort of obligation to the villagers: they had housed him for so long. He had to do something to make it up to them, and the occasional carrying of boxes wouldn't cut it. But what could he -

A shadow quickly passed over him. Something had gotten in the path of the sun and the window. One of those clockwork machines: the things the villagers hated so much.

The man in the light just continued to sit there for a moment. Who was he? A citizen? A serviceman? Or could he be something...more?

Wait a minute.

Why was he thinking so much about this? He never thought about stuff like this so much before. Who cared if he was rather wounded?

He knew who he was.

He was...

"Ready."

---

A door in the village burst open with a loud noise and someone jumped out from the house, a katana in his hands.

"Beware, minions of the vile cog dimension! The Shroud Demon is here to put an end to your wrongdoings!"

The Shroud Demon was a walking assortment of plates and pans. Every step he took made a jangle or clank or some sort. He was a rather noisy fellow, whether he intended to be or not, and of course there was the matter of the bucket on his head. The bucket had no holes or incisions of any kind, so it was reasonable to question whether or not he could actually see anything.

"Now, perish before my might!"

Still blinded by the bucket, the Shroud Demon ran and jumped at the nearest watcher, raising his sword up as he did so and swinging it down in a simple but quick and possibly effective strike. He seemed to have an idea of what he was doing with the katana that he held with both hands, and despite his questionable choice of headwear he had a mostly accurate idea of where the enemy was.

Perhaps he was a bit more skilled than he looked.

[Neurotick]

Quinn stumbled away from the door just in time for Beth to open it back up. He held his hands up in the air with an exasperated groan as if he were asking, "why god? Why did you send me a bunch of idiots?" While Beth was shouting at the Watchers, Quinn took it upon himself to start boarding up the windows with whatever furniture and spare doodads were around--including attempting to push Tomohawk in front of one--while also pulling out a large (slightly bent, most likely from hitting things with it repeatedly) clock hand out of one of his jackets.

"Look lady, I don't know what crazy country you came off of, but around here when an army of minions come after you, you don't make it easier for 'em to capture you," Quinn called over to Beth and beckoned to her to stay inside. He motioned with his makeshift weapon to one of the hiding spots, one that led to a secret basement. "The Watchers take a while to relay commands, we probably still have time to get to safety before they--"

Quinn was interrupted by a loud BOOOOOM outside. He ran out the door, completely contrary to the advice he was just trying to give. He scowled at what he saw. "Well...shit."

====

Meanwhile, just before Quinn ran out and swore...

Watcher 115 swerved just in time to miss the Shroud Demon's swing. The Watcher tumbled through the air and eventually righted itself by hitting a nearby wall.

"Civilian resistance confirmed! Lethal force is now authorized. Forward march!"

The Watcher's voice buzzed strangely. Its clock face flashed a pattern not unlike morse code, which was mimicked by the other watchers and finally by the rest of the clockwork mishmosh at the edge of town. After a few seconds of synchronized flashing the clockwork army began to advance into the city itself. As soon as they came across any sort of obstacle, whether it was a pile of scrap or building, or a person who looked like they were possibly going to resist, it was destroyed by plush armchair gunfire. The people that weren't caught in the crossfire were hypnotized by the clocks and then carted away by the dinner tables on wheels. Within an instant, before they had even advanced far enough to attack the man who instigated their wrath in the first place, a small portion of New Clockwork Town was utterly demolished.

The first minions to reach the Shroud Demon were one of the larger clocks and a dinner table. The clock attempted to hypnotize the Shroud Demon, but given that he had a bucket on his head it was doubtful that it was going to succeed. The table just wheeled around the Shroud Demon being generally ineffectual, since it had no weapons to speak of. Once or twice it attempted to push him one way or another. While those two were being fairly useless, a small group of clock crabs were slowly making their way to him, as well as one of the plush armchairs with gattling guns on it. They were in no rush to get there, as there was still the primary objective of finding the newcomers...

===

Also meanwhile...

Watcher 1202 stopped its sweep when Beth called out. A quick scan confirmed that their search had already garnered results.

"Subject 3 confirmed. Likelihood of other subjects being nearby: 83%. Commence capture operations."

A few minions branched off from the main army and headed toward their new house. Unlike their previous encounters with buildings, these clocks were very careful not to destroy anything but instead moved to surround the building. Quinn batted one of the crab-clocks away with his clock hand, attempting to make a path out of the house. None of the clocks seemed very interested in him at all despite his resistance.

"OK, new plan! Follow me, and whatever you do don't look at them!"

[CJ]

Beth kicked one of the minions right in its clockwork face.

She had caught sight of people being taken away. Her heart burned, raging over the destruction and chaos. She forgot about her own safety and the fact that she could easily be taken away. She instead aimed to destroy everything she could. These people were innocent. They had helped them even they needed help themselves. Her husband somehow was a part of this. She had to make it right, or she would never be able to forget that.

A list of people ran through her head who she could siphon stored energy from using her Devil Fruit.

Snake Havey, already used his energy. Nathan Smith... eh, not strong enough. Joe... later, it has to be more "do or die" than this.

Oh, I know...

Beth popped the cork off another tiny bottle in her pocket and let the contents release. A rush of red energy flowed over her as she made her way toward the Shroud Demon. It waved about her, starting from her fingertips and ending at her toes. Her skin began to turn dark blue; her hair darkened to near black. Her eyes were intense, like a shark or other predator. The gills that broke out on her neck signified clearly that she was a fishwoman.

He put up a fight. That was good. He could help her save others; he seemed to want to do that anyway.

"Hey! You!" Beth shouted at Shroud Demon. "Help me save the others!"

Beth actually tried to punch straight through the plush chair gun aiming for the crazed man. Normally, this would seem like a stupid idea but she now had the strength of a seaking fishman, the strength of someone who haunted her dreams. She was hopefully these clockwork foes wouldn't as well.

---

Tomahawk would have frowned terribly at Quinn, had it had a mouth. The man inside it was scared of being treated like an object before, but now it felt simply silly.

It was struggling to try and figure out what to do. Beth had just dashed off on another one of her crazy attacks. It could easily follow her but it knew Kaede would have to rely on Quinn otherwise for help. It trusted Quinn before but after the way he pushed him into a window, it wasn't sure what to think of him.

Connor had to trust Beth though. He had to know she would be safe. She was always the stronger one, protecting him from danger and strife. He tried to protect her by fighting in the Grand Path, by securing their future. To him, failing against the Valentines was proof enough that he wasn't any bit stronger.

Tomahawk began to fight the various clockwork that surrounded the house. It wasn't too hard. Connor didn't even have to try and use any of Tomahawk's capabilities, they were so easy.

It looked toward the young scientist, trying to keep both her and Beth in its vision. After her previous encounter with the clockwork, Connor couldn't risk losing her again.

[Kaede, stay by me,] Connor's voice said mixed in with Tomahawk's, punching another weak clockwork in the face.

[Shark a' Pult]

Things had taken a turn for the... well, unexpected to say the least. Between the arrival of a new personage on the scene and Beth's tearing off, and the massive display of force by the constructs, things were fairly out of hand and it seemed quite clear that no amount of barricading the windows was going to help.

No point in exercising caution now, if they're bringing out the big guns. Yes, this ought to work.

Kaede on the other hand swept over the table, pushing various things into her bag and tossing out others. It seemed the end result of her prep time were a collection of containers ranging in color and size from vials to beakers. Those she made special care to leave out it appeared.

"Connor, stay away from me. Wouldn't want you losing your body twice."

With a simple motion she chose two of the containers seemingly at random, inverting the vials on one another to allow the contents to mix. After turning it back and forth a few times she stoppered it all into one, and promptly tossed it out a window with a simple flick of the wrist. No sooner had it left her hand that she had lunged across to the kitchen to hide behind the upturned table. It was probably a good thing she chose a side of the house none of the others were near. The result not seconds later was an explosion roughly akin to an artillery barrage, not so much knocking down the walls of nearby buildings as reducing them to dust altogether. A strange aftereffect that the powder now coating much of the damage radius burst into flames under sunlight, burning intensely hot. It was likely that even Tomahawk's frame would be damaged by this let alone a normal person, so while she had made a rather large hole in the buildings on this side for the constructs to possibly enter, doing so would not be conducive to their continued existence. Seemingly unreal, to produce so much from only a small vial.

"Well that was rather underwhelming, I guess this batch didn't come out properly. At least it works though, it'll have to do for now. Connor, think you can handle Beth and the new guy?!"

Lowering the surgical mask and removing the lab goggles, Kaede only momentarily surveyed the damage from her position in the kitchen before grabbing her bag and the rest of the containers. At that she proceeded after Quinn once she got everything together. Apart from the initial delay, she otherwise did as he said without question or pause. It was apparent he'd been living here awhile, so whatever he had in mind must have been better than throwing themselves at the machines.

"So then, new plan. Lead the way I guess."

[Kuro]

"Wait, what? What's going on?" The Shroud Demon looked this way and that, although he never touched his bucket.

"Oh no. The mechanical army attacks! Do not worry! The monsters will be vanquished! Hm? What is this?"

Two of the vile clockspawn dared to prevent the Shroud Demon from acting in the name of goodwill. With two "Hah!"s, he tried to cut the enemies in half in two quick and simple swipes of his sword. Just like his attack on the watcher, the bucket man was rather accurate in his strikes and seemed to be mostly unaffected by his helmet. After he had cut at the enemies, he heard Beth and turned towards her.

"What? But of course! I thank you for the help, ally!" He looked around again, looking a bit confused before trying to cut through the crowd of clock crabs as he ran through them in order to get to the invading hypnotizers and carriers before they could do any more damage.

[Neurotick]

Beth's punch connected with the plush comfy chair right in the center of the chair's back, blowing a giant hole in it so big that it was rendered to little more than a vague outline of the back of a chair. Stuffing, cloth and gears went flying in every direction. Unfortunately the chair didn't seem to notice this at all, as it just kept going forward toward the Shroud Demon, almost as if it was ignoring Beth or didn't even realize she was there.

The clock that had attempted to hypnotize the Shroud Demon fell to pieces on the ground. The table was sliced in two, but both sides seemed rather undisturbed that they were suddenly missing half of their workings. They were even more ineffectual as two halves of a table, but none the less ran around autonomously on two wheels, continuing to follow the Shroud Demon as he cut his way through the crowd.

Quinn seemed rather unfazed by Beth's sudden transformation into a fishwoman, or Kaede's penchant for large explosions. Instead he just looked on at the chaos and smacked his forehead with his hand. Goddamn stupid-ass... Quinn muttered a slew of obscenities as he watched Beth run off in the other direction with Shroud Demon. He stopped bashing his way through one path and started bashing his way through another in an attempt to catch them.

"'The hell do you think you're doing!?" Quinn shouted angrily after them, waving his arms and generally looking like an angry clock-hand-wielding maniac, "Don't go $*&^ing chasing after the $*&^ing things that are trying to $*&^ing get you!!"

Quinn body-checked the nearest comfy chair with enough force that it was pushed over on its side. This seemed to be the best way to incapacitate them, as the chair's treds spun uselessly around in the air and left the chair stuck in place. The fact that it couldn't move didn't make its bullets any less dangerous though. The chair continued shooting at nothing in particular, creating a wall of never-ending gunfire.

"They already took everyone they wanted you idiots!" Quinn kept yelling at Beth and the Shroud Demon to chew them out for messing up his plans. "They're just taking the folks who aren't stupid enough to PUNCH HOLES IN 'EM outa the fight! Shit you guys are stupid as hell."

While Quinn was busy yelling like the crazy hobo he was, he failed to notice that the larger flying clocks were attempting to close around Kaede behind him, their faces lit and ready to hypnotize their prey, and their grandfather clock partners waiting not far away for the opportunity to strike.

Another group of clocks was heading to surround Tomohawk, though it seemed to be more for the sake of formation than an actual attempt to hypnotize him as they would have little to no effect on the robot. On the other hand a very large, metal, Grandfather Clock to end all grandfather clocks would probably work very nicely, and it was thumping up behind Tomohawk, ready to snatch it up.

[CJ]

"No problem! You’re pretty good!" Beth laughed. Her pointed teeth shined in the sun as she grinned at the Shroud Demon. He had a good aura about him, something only she could sense with her Devil Fruit. She was able to trust him immediately.

Beth stopped in her relentless attack as Quinn called out to her and the Shroud Demon.

"And what you’ve done has really helped these guys out, hasn’t it!" Beth shouted back at Quinn sarcastically. Yes, she was charging in recklessly. But what else could she do? The people who saved their lives were now being stolen away. They risked themselves; she felt she could only do the same. She was pissed she could barely do anything about it.

Beth wouldn’t have noticed Tomahawk’s and Kaede’s new predicaments had it not been for the fact she was yelling at Quinn.

Her heart grew heavy. The clockwork never wanted her, nor could they get to this bucket wearing man. Quinn was right. She was an idiot for not realizing their real targets. Trying to save the people might have cost her much more than she could have imagined.

"Connor! Watch out for the bots!" Beth shouted, trying to reach Tomahawk’s voice in time.

---

That was unexpected.

Had Tomahawk had a face, it would have been dumbstruck. Connor seemed to forget the importance of the fact that Kaede worked for Solaine. Of course she had to be strong. The clockwork that caught her before was just a fluke. If she wanted to, she could likely melt his brain along with Tomahawk’s body.

While the man inside the robot was distracted though, the clockwork surrounded him. It tried to dart out of an opening, but found itself trying to punch and kick its way through incoming clocks.

[Kaede, I can’t get to Beth or the other guy,] Tomahawk said. Connor’s desperate voice made Tomahawk’s monotone speech sound out of key.

Tomahawk turned to see the rather large Grandfather Clock, hopping its way over. Connor might have laughed at something like this in a safer situation but now he was terrified.

Wood. Grandfather clocks are usually made of wood. Is this one? Connor thought rapidly. Maybe I can use my fire magic to burn it.

Tomahawk shook its hands, as though doing a slight dance. A spark poofed off of the left hand and fizzled out pathetically.

I’m not angry enough. It doesn’t work if I’m not angry. What can I be angry about?

Connor thought of his fight with the Valentines but it only made him more fearful, thinking of how badly Sylvia tore him apart. These clocks were likely to do the same thing if they got to him. His fear completely took over his rage.

Hearing Beth's voice only made it worse. She was concerned for his safety. A strange thought emerged in his mind. He actually wished she was in danger so he would have something to be angry about.

Again, he wondered if he use Tomahawk's capabilities to his advantage. But he didn't even know how to use them or how to activate them. And if he did, how could he control them?

He thought of a last resort as Tomahawk flailed about, punching and kicking whatever stepped near it. The once third ranked in the Grand Path death machine was now trying to rely on a young woman.

[Kaede, help!] Connor nearly screamed, though he wasn’t sure how much she could help him, much less help herself.

[Kuro]

"Really?" The Shroud Demon turned his head towards Beth, his voice showing joy and wonder, like that of a child being told that he had just done a good job. He stopped moving for a moment when he heard Beth's compliment, but quickly stumbled back into his attack mode. The Shroud Demon did not stop or hesitate as Quinn berated him, but did speak back as he tried to get to the remaining village resistors.

"One cannot simply stand back as evil minions of darkness and clockwork attempt to destroy oneself and those around him or her or it! One must fight back and prevent them from doing any more harm! Hyah!"

The Shroud Demon tackled one of the chairs about to gun down the resistors. His thin frame might not have done much for the physical attack, but he did put his speed, momentum, and the little strength he had into it. Regardless of whether the chair fell over or not, he proceeded to stab the chair multiple times over and over.

"Do not fear, fellow defenders of this fine and innocent village! I, the Shroud Demon of goodwill, am here to help save you!"

He thought that he heard his kind ally say something about a Gonner, but it was probably nothing. She was no doubt saving a hapless civilian with her probably impressive powers of justice.

He did not seem to notice the mostly-demolished armchair coming after him, nor did he seem to be paying much attention to anything but the thing he was stabbing.

[Shark a' Pult]

"Dammit Connor!"

Having followed after Quinn for some time, she was somewhat irked by Connor's plea for help. Even setting aside whatever he was capable of, she knew Tomahawk was more than capable enough for this. That he needed her assistance with these constructs, was somewhat of a sorry statement. She had a wonderful idea though, raising her surgical mask and putting the goggles back on as a result. From where she was, she couldn't get a straight shot at the giant Grandfather clock that was fast approaching Connor. But he himself was made of metal and a strong frame; were she to get right up to him and toss one of her vials at the clock, she reckoned it would be destroyed, Tomahawk would perhaps only slightly be damaged and she would be fine standing behind him.

"Hold on just a second Mister, I'll save the robot."

She didn't know Quinn's name yet but figured despite his hysterics he'd understand what she was up to, or at least after she had done it. And so she ran. Ran past the constructs, ducking, hopping, dodging and weaving when necessary in order to get to Connor. She had a vial at the ready, and though she wasn't sure what effect it would have like the last, she smirked at the chance to see from behind the safety of Tomahawk. After all she could always fix him later.

As she reached him though something made her stop, something pulling at the back of her mind. They'd been through allot together, not just him but Beth too. Being stranded here, when he had saved her, back at Mock Town when breaking into the Navy base, and even when she first helped them get Connor up and moving again to name a few things. Normally she would have proceeded with her sound plan without a second thought, as a bounty hunter and even before that as a pirate she had always gotten by with quick thinking and acting on it. But she couldn't just act like that now, not anymore. Beth and Connor were... her friends now, at least she hoped. Even if he himself wouldn't be hurt and she could just fix him later, she realized what she had in mind was not what a friend would do, and suddenly felt ashamed for it. And so instead she thought of what a friend would do.

Well, she knew what her old friend, Sam would do. For the moment, it was good enough for her and she believed it would work. At least from what she could tell there were no other clocks large enough to hold Tomahawk, and so taking out this big one meant there was no way he could be caught. At least for now.

"Ah damn, I hope this works. Connor, hold my bag! Oh, and don't let anything inside it get mixed up!"

With that she ran to slide under his legs, leaving her bag with the prepared collection of dangerous vials on top by his feet. Once cleared she reached her feet in a run again and made for one giant leap... directly into the open Grandfather clock intended for Connor. Not just the force with with she crashed into it, as she herself was not a large or heavy person. But it was her hope that it would simply close on her once inside, thus preventing Connor from being captured this fight.

It was true, she could have blown it sky high. Instead she chose rather than to place her faith in her capabilities, to place her faith in her friends. By her reasoning, whatever happened to her now didn't matter as long as the others made it out of this fight fine. They would be able to regroup, better plan with this new Quinn fellow, and come and save her from whatever fate awaited. Plus, it wasn't like they couldn't use the dangerous concoctions she'd left by Connor.

[Neurotick]

The chair on the receiving end of the Shroud Demon's onslaught didn't survive intact by a long shot. By the end it was little more than a pile of stuffing and gears, with a couple of dismembered Gatling guns on either side of the fluff pile. The two table halves quickly ran to the Gatling guns, a tiny pair of mechanical hands reaching out from under the tables to grab the guns for salvage. A pack of crabclocks skittered on to the pile of gears, leaving nothing but a few scraps of fabric by the time they were done.

The giant grandfather clock, as soon as it recognized that it had caught *something*, slammed its large metal door shut. Inside the clock it was pitch black and deadly silent. The only thing that could be heard was the very faint sound of the grandfather clock's inner workings ticking away. Outside, as far as the grandfather clock was concerned its job was done, even though its actual target was still standing in plain sight. It began thumping away out of the town.

"Mayday! Mayday! Great-Grandfather Clock has gotten the wrong target!" Cried one of the Watchers, "He's leaving already!"

"That wasn't in the plans. What do we do?" Said a second watcher.

"I don't know, Tock didn't specify what to do if Great-Grandfather grabbed the wrong one." Chimed in the third.

The three watchers convened above the battlefield. Their faces flashed at each other as they spoke.

"Casualties are at 34% and growing."

"Chances of successful capture reduced to 0.01%."

"This is the largest failure yet."

"One of three targets was acquired, at the least."

"So then we should..."

"Yes, I think so..."

The three watchers spoke in unison, "tactical retreat."

As soon as they said those two words the battle changed entirely. Every clockwork minion disengaged from whatever it was doing and ran for the nearest incapacitated machine, picking it apart and taking the salvageable pieces with them. The tables dropped their victims on the ground, and as soon as they were some distance away the hypnotizing clocks disengaged from their captives and flew away, leaving the people sitting dazed on the ground. Some of them looked half asleep, others looked like they were on the verge of tears. One of the watchers followed the Great-Grandfather Clock out of the city, while the other two monitored the rest of the clocks.

====

Meanwhile, Quinn was practically pulling his hair out now at Shroud Demon's heroic antics.

"YOU are the reason the clocks are attacking you $*&%ing $%&*headed $%*&*!" Quinn screamed a long stream of obscenities at the Shroud Demon, ignoring the peril the others were in entirely. He was so infuriated at this bucket-headed interloper screwing up his plans that he didn't even bother to strike at anything clock related that came near him. Although he had stopped attacking the various clockwork minions at this point, none of them seemed to make any effort to attack him. Once or twice a crabclock or two walked right by him as if he was just part of the scenery. He hardly realized that his precious newcomers were in danger, until the terrible sound of Great-Grandfather Clock's door closing brought him out of his tirade...and into another one.

"Augh! No! Shit! No no nononononono. See what you did now!? See what happens!? You people need to LISTEN. TO. ME." Quinn waved his arms around in frustration. "Now we have to go with Plan F! Plan $*%&ing F!!"

As the clocks began to retreat he beckoned to Beth, Shroud Demon, and Tomohawk to finally follow him like he had been trying to get them to do the entire time. The only problem was, he wanted them to follow him in the opposite direction of where the clocks were going.

"I know you dumb$&*%s are gonna want to go after them, with that justice and revenge bullshit or whatever, but if you would just trust me this one $*&%ing time and do what I $*&%ing tell you, we'll get your $*&%ing friend back and save the $%*^ing day just like you $*&%ing want."

[Kuro]

Ah. There. It is done." The Shroud Demon took his blade out of the remains of the chair and thrust into the ground, arms crossed, proud of his work. He didn't seem to notice the enemies going about his opponent's plush carcass, but for a reason. He felt good. He had actually defended someone from harm and vanquished a foul monster. Of course, it wasn't his first time doing it, he had done heroic things before, it was just that he was always happy after he did something good because doing something good is good and if you did something good then you're happy and if you're happy then you might be a hero because maybe you did something -

"YOU are the reason the clocks are attacking you $*&%ing $%&*headed $%*&*!"

The Shroud Demon looked up, suddenly taken out of his happy world thoughts, and turned towards the voice's general direction with the sound of shifting and shuffling kitchen-ware.

"What? No, the clocks are attacking because they are villains and want to do villainous things. It is in their villainous blood. They are cold and unfeeling, servants of their villain of a master. They have attacked people before without my intervention. That shows that it is not because of me that they are attacking, it is because of they, because they are villains."

The Shroud Demon had not noticed Kaede's capture until Quinn started yelling about it. He wildly turned his head around and was on high alert, moving this way and that.

"What?! Someone was just captured?! Don't worry citizen, I'll save you!" With a yell, he ignored everything that the man of cursed said and ran off to the retreating mass of lethal clockwork, his sword raised high above his head, ignoring the fact that the enemies might already be a long ways away by now. Maybe he just couldn't tell; there was a bucket on his head, after all.

There was a chance that the Shroud Demon wasn't going to listen to Quinn anytime soon.

[CJ]

Tomahawk watched as Kaede maneuvered to save it. It made a sound, like a breaking down computer. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to use one of her crazy concoctions against them. She was supposed to win, not sacrifice herself. It clamored to break clockwork as the remainders strode away, confused in its self pity and failure.

After some time, it picked up her bag carefully and looked down as Quinn he freaked out again. He wondered what kind of pain the man must have gone through to get to this point. He tried to ignore his yelling at the Shroud Demon and focused on where the clockwork were taking their friend.

Beth ran up to the group. Sweat glistened off her skin. She didn't have the stamina Tomahawk or Shroud Demon had. Her sharp teeth bit down in frustration, seeing that Kaede was taken.

[I'm going after Kaede too,] Tomahawk said solemnly. [They said she wasn't supposed to be taken. Who knows what they'll do when they find her in that thing.]

"You can't do that," Beth said. "We'll have to hope she'll be OK. We need to listen to this man now and stick together."

Tomahawk clutched Kaede's bag. Its blank face plate looked toward Beth.

[Now we're supposed to stay by him? You ran off without us ever explaining what was going on. You were the one who got us separated and now you're telling us to stay together.]

"I was trying to save the people who helped us before. You lost Kaede just now, Connor. That's not my fault. What makes you think you'll be able to get her now?"



"You're too weak to help her now."

[No, I'm not. I just need to figure Tomahawk out.]

"You can't-"

[BETH. SHUT UP FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE AND LISTEN TO ME.]

For a moment, Tomahawk transformed into something else. Its voice was purely its own, not a trace of Connor's was mixed in. It was clear it was Connor's words, however. He was driven crazy by frustration and rage, reminiscent of his demeanor in the last two matches of the Grand Path.

Beth merely starred at him. She was perfectly silent. It was as though she was trying to hold back some emotion.

[Stay with this guy... I'll be back,] Tomahawk said, regaining the mixed, nervous tone it previously had.

It hesitated to say anymore to the frozen Beth. She seemed afraid to protest him now. The woman with the power of a Sea King fishman was scared to say anything to a robot she could easily overtake.

Tomahawk presented Beth with Kaede's bag. She took it without question.

[I'm sorry,] it said quietly, and then took off. Its lanky legs propelled it after the clockwork, quickly running past Shroud Demon, far beyond Quinn's protests.

Beth stitched her free hand deep within her brunette hair. She was anxious, as though realizing a nightmare she thought was over was starting all over again.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked Quinn. Her downtrodden nature fit the the blue nature of her skin. Normally, she would have joined the Shroud Demon on his epic quest. Now she was simply content with him.

---

Tomahawk caught up with the clockwork, keep at a brisk jog which did not tire it or the brain inside. It seemed like it was trying to blend in with them. It did not acknowledge the clockwork or Shroud Demon, likely approaching behind them.

It tried to get as close as it could to the large grandfather clock without opposition.

[Kaede,] Tomahawk said loudly, [if you can hear me, I'm right here. I know you jumped in there to save me but I can't leave you. I'm going to get you out of there.]

If I can even figure out how to work this thing, he continued in his head.

Before he proceeded with anything though, he had to make sure Kaede was alive and conscious.

[Shark a' Pult]

It was dark. Very dark. Kaede gave up trying to see, and simply closed her eyes as she sat down, resting her head on her knees while listening to the faint sound of her clock prison and being jostled around by its movement. Not that there was much else to anyways, she'd tried breaking out with her staff to no avail.

She wondered many things, such as what would happen to the others now, or what would happen to her even. She knew though that she did not regret her decision, if it meant they could get away. Something she pondered more than anything else though, was how she came to be here. Not the island, she'd been through an adventure to get here. No, she wondered why she ever stopped being a bounty hunter in the first place.

~~~

SPOILER: Click to show

"Those are some pretty impressive powers you've got there. Is that a devil fruit at work?"

"Only if you'd call knowledge a power. I don't need a devil fruit, I have my brain. If more people used theirs the world would be a much better place."

Kaede stood at the back of the alley with her staff at the ready, standing at odds with the woman in a business suit. She had not willingly come here but when she thought someone was following her she decided to make sure, only to have her suspicions confirmed. Whatever Kaede had done seemed to have held the attention of the woman who clearly was not just trying to mug her or sell her something, to which she struck up a conversation with Kaede.

"I've been watching you for some time now, you've been running into some dangerous characters lately. Surely, it's all just coincidence right? What could a girl like you want with those nasty people?"

"I... a person, I'm looking for a person. Jean Strife, I heard she had something to do with these people. I was just here asking questions."

It was true, since the cowboy Solaine had been watching this girl and her actions. Her methods were strange and she herself didn't look like much, but time and again without failure she had managed to track and locate each of the ranked persons. Inexplicably however, she had not made an effort to fight any of them, simply talk and ask questions. Solaine figured at least she could learn what this girl was up to, and to try to figure out just how she had tracked and found these people.

"Ah, right. I should have guessed from that mark on your neck. Yes, Ms. Strife is part of the group of people you seek, but she's been missing for awhile now. I'm definitely the person to be talking to, but if it's Jean you're looking for maybe we can help each other out here."

"...what kind of help?"

Kaede lowered her guard, looking sullen when Solaine inferred that Jean's whereabouts were unknown. When she offered her help though, she remained cautious. The more she learned about these people the less she wanted to get involved with them, and why Jean of all people would have anything to do with them in the first place.

"I'm sure you at least know a little about this organization. It's my job to make sure things run smoothly and keep tabs on everyone. You've taken the initiative of finding them and getting them to talk, and you've shown impressive skills for someone of your age. I could really use an assistant like you. If you worked for me I'd teach you how to do what I do, and together I'm sure we could find Jean."

This was not what she had expected, but it was something Kaede had to consider at least. Surely there was no better way to go about finding Jean amidst this group, than to work for the person she believed to be in charge. And what more, from what she understood this woman had quite a few privileges and skills which could prove helpful later on. If it weren't for Jean's explicit instructions of not to come looking for her or the Grand Path, and above all else to avoid the woman organizing it at all costs, then Kaede would have accepted Solaine's offer immediately.

"Can I... I need some time to think about it, if that's alright?"

"Of course dear, take all the time you need! You know if you're at all interested, we could go somewhere less... back alleyway, and I could tell you about one of our newest contenders; a chef who's part machine and shoots fire! I swear we get the strangest people in this business!"

~~~

The shouting of the robot stirred her from her thoughts, lifting her head to make sure she actually heard correctly and wasn't imagining things. It was faint, from the outside, but it was definitely there.

"Connor? Connor! Yeah I can hear you, I'm alright! But... what are you doing?! I did this so you could get away, I think the shouty guy has a plan! If any of you got caught as well, then I did this for noting!"

Jumping uneasily to her feet, she banged on the walls as she shouted back, in an attempt to meet Connor's words with her own. She had no way of knowing whether the would actually be able to hear her though; it was not unlikely that the clock was too thick for sound to get through, or at least her voice to get through. It was no great secret that Tomahawk could project it's voice louder than any normal person.

It wasn't that she was ungrateful or that she didn't want to be saved. But she dearly hoped that the others didn't all just charge after her in an attempt to get her back. Otherwise she would not have bothered sacrificing herself in the first place.