Serious : Red Heart Pirates [pt.1] : The Pirate Town

Nabie dragged her sack of belongings behind her. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea since it was already starting to wear out, but she didn't care at the moment. It had been a while since she was on land, and she was exhausted. "First I'll find a nice room and take a nice long shower. Then, I'll eat some nice food and then grab a couple of nice drinks at the bar... Yes, that sounds really nice," she mumbled to herself.

The girl knew that she could relax despite being a pirate because this was one of those rare pirate towns. "Maybe I can find a nice crew here," she continued, watching a group of pirates fighting over at the bar nearby.

"You damn! Little! Scoundrel! How dare you disrespect me like that, you..."
The rest of the words Ajax yelled while hitting the mans head on the ground repeadetly were the kind that made mothers cover the ears of their kids as they walked by.
Not that there were any mothers, or even children involved in this fight.
It would be highly weird for them to be involved in a fight between pirates (that's what he was dressed as right now) in a bar. How it had started, most of them didn't remember, they joined later. Ajax remembered clearly.
The man he was now finished with had spilled beer over him. Of course, he could just have used his devil fruit to teach him, but nothing was as fun as personally beating someone up.
"And what is it with you people! No one asked you to join!"
Oh, were they going to get it for joining his fight!


((ah, yes. I couldn't imagine Ajax skipping any good bar fight.))

((Haha, yes! Bar fights! It's what makes pirates... pirates.))

Nabie kicked at the dirt. She's been looking for a while now, but there weren't any decent inn or hotel or motel to be seen. Well, she honestly wasn't suprised. It normally was like this.

She passed the bar from earlier again, noticing that the fight was still going on. There was a lively one among the group, cussing, yelling and punching. The girl found it slightly amusing. All pirate fights were.

After watching the group for a moment, she walked into a different bar across to buy some drinks.

Van waited for the bar fight to end before entering. He, not wanting to be seen, walked along then walls.

He looked around and saw some wanted posters. After skimming through some, he found his and tore it off the wall.

He walked to the counter.

"Give me some water, I'm dying of thirst." he said.

Nabie laughed as she dragged the bag of coins across the table toward her. "I win this round as well." The men at the table were starting to get annoyed. She couldn't blame them. This was her third win in a row. "Want to have another go?" The others grumbled but pulled out more coins to signal that they were ready. "Hey, mister, can we have more drinks here please?"

The bartender who was handing someone a glass of water nodded in the girl's direction.

Van took a sip of his water and looked at his wanted poster.

"20 million. I am so screwed." he whispered to himself.

Ajax stood up and wiped the blood off his cheek.
Looking down on himself, he noticed there was much more on his clothes.
"Damn you! Look what you've done!"
He kicked a man who was already lying on the ground. They all seemed to be. It was their own fault for messing with him! His usual anger mixed with a deep satisfaction when he looked at the bounty posters on the wall to find his fake hanging there saying his head was worth fifteen million. He liked his fake posters.
Nothing made pirates think you were one of them quite like a fake bounty.
He headed into the bar again, where his table was still free and intact, a rare sign when he had come into contact with things.
He sat down with a sigh and took out his checklist.
After some searching, he scratched off three names and made notes behind them.

Van put his glass down, he noticed the guy behind him, with the blood on his clothes. He also saw the wanted poster he was admiring.

“This guys got a bounty?” he asked himself,

He walked towards the posters and saw the poster. 15 million. He took his own poster with higher bounty. He couldn't help feeling some pride.

From his table, Ajax watched the other people in the bar, scrutinizing them all, measuring bounties and deeds.
The man who was now lying in the dirt outside had been worth ten million, the note he had made on his checklist said that he wasn't worth it. Five, at best.
There were some small fish in the bar, hardly anyone worth over five... Oh, one second.
He took a closer look at the man standing there, at the wall with the bounty poster.
About six feet tall, long black hair and a trench coat...
Twenty million, gunman. Van Slycer. Got his bounty for the killing of marine soldiers and officers, if he remembered correctly. Not that it really mattered, Van was one of those people he actually wasn't supposed to touch. Oh, but how could he let this slip?
Just looking at that guy made his blood rush faster with fury. How he stood there, just looking at the bounties...
Ajax stood up, howering over the table like a wild cat that was about to jump its prey. The people who remembered his previous fight saw the danger coming and backed away.

Van had the feeling he was being watched. He tried to avoid contact, so he put his wanted poster in his pocket and walked out.

"Shouldn't have come to a pirate town." he thought.

He fingered his guns, in case someone tried following him.

Ajax grit his teeth, not even trying to control his anger anymore.
He knocked his table over as he walked out, something that might or might not have been intentional.
Everyone in his way scurried aside as fast as they could, something about a furious guy wearing a bloody shirt who had just beaten up one of the bigger fishes around was highly intimidating to the small fry.
But Ajax didn't care for them right now.
"VAN SLYCER!"
He shouted as he stomped out of the bar. Warning people wasn't like him normally. He mostly just jumped them from behind and slammed their face to the ground. But this time, he wanted to see the face.
"What do you think you're doing, walking out on a fight like that?!"
Rethorical. Ajax cracked his knuckles. Now he'd see what a twenty million head could do.

Van sighed as he turned around.

"I'm not in the mood for a fight. But if you insist, I guess I could fight you. But why bother, I came into this town not to get noticed." he said looking around,

Seeing people whispering and pointing at him.

"I've made quite a name for myself, and if you want to fight, then so be it." he cracked his knuckles.

'Make your move, buddy."

Nabie finished collecting all the money she had earned and started out the bar and noticed people running away from a certain place. Curious, she made her way towards the source of fear and saw two men standing and ready to fight. If she remembered correctly, the one with the bloody shirt was the man she saw earlier at the bar fight.

Finding the scene slightly amusing, she sat a distance away and watched.

Van didn't underestimate his opponent. He saw some of his power. Beating a couple of guys before, seeming like pirates, was not an easy task. And doing it by hand was an even more difficult task. He wondered if he stood a chance. The bounty does not make the pirate, his skills do.

"I could get injured. I shouldn't hold back." he thought to himself.

Without a second warning, Ajax dashed forward with an impressive speed, his fists already balled.
Why not just begin with something easy? He'd need to measure his opponents strengh, even he knew that. Had learned it from his time on the street.
With one hand, he aimed for his face, with the other he grabbed his opponents arm and pulled him into his fist.

Van, seeing he was about to get punched, and couldn't dodge due to his arm getting caught, decided that the only efective thing to do was punch him back.

So Van mustered up al his strength and launched a punched towards Ajax's chin.

Wait, what? How dare he! How dare that man punch him back!
Ajax's head jerked back when he was punched, luckily he had his teeth grit form the start, or else he might have lost one.
One thing was for sure, that was one good punch. Better than that guy from before...
And everyone else would have let go and stopped the attack, even if just for being surprised.
Ajax wasn't everyone else. After only a split second, his fist continued to shoot forward with more force than before. Stopping an attack just because he got punched? Not him.

Van took the punch, to see its strength. It was really strong, so strong it left a small mark.

"Your pretty tough, i guess this'll be a punching contest."He said, Sending another punch to Ajax, this one to his face

Ajax was about to take this one, too. He really was.
But then, with a faint sigh, he let go of his wrist and jumped backwards, dodging the punch. It was sad, really. It sucked. But it would have to be.
Ajax had been longing for a good fist fight.
"I think you don't really get what this fight is about..."
Couldn't blame him, though. How should he?
For the first time in a while, Ajax calmed down. He raised his arms and looked straight at his opponent.
"Try shooting me."
He said, calmer than before. Truth be told, he found it boring. Guns weren't fun at all. And inside, his anger raged on, screaming at him to just punch the hell out of this guy.
The marine, though, knew his mission. He knew the punching abilities now, he needed to see the actual fighting style.

Van gave an odd look.

"If you insist." he said, taking one of his guns.

Van wondered, if this man really wanted to die. Withou another thought, Van pulled the trigger and shot the bullet.

The second he took the gun, something inside Ajax otherwise filled with angers head started analyzing.
Something he had to do for his job. Of course, he didn't intend to die. But this was sure to get him a nice bonus! ... His fingerprints started changing their shape, a small detail no one would notice...
The way he held the gun... the look in his eyes... Yes, coldblooded and experienced, not afraid to use his gun. He would definitely... aah, yes. He pulled the trigger.
The very second the bullet shot out of the gun, he raised his hand.
He had done this before. He had needed to learn it, since he couldn't dodge bullets like some other people could, neither could he just take them.
His index finger touched the bullet. It stopped turning the very instant, and fell down to the ground.
"If that woulda hit me... I'd be dead."
He turned away and slowly went away from the battle, taking out his checklist while he went. Damn, did that piss him off. Just going in the middle of a fight...
He searched the list for the name... Van Slycer, there it was. Bounty 20.000.000... He thought for a while, then he wrote: Justified, needs some further investigation. Approval from hq needed.
Yes, he'd continue this later. He'd just need permission.
Back on the battlefield, if one looked closely, they'd find a blue fingerprint on the bullet.

Van was in shock. His bullet stopping in mid air and dropping like a pebble. Van went to pick it up, seeing if something was done to it. He picked it up and analyzed it. He noticed it had something on it, something blue.

"A fingerprint? Since when are they blue?" he asked himself.

Van put the bullet in his pocket, with his wanted poster. He walked back into the bar, he'd deal with Ajax another time. But now, he needed some food.

"Permission not given!"
"What? Why?"
Ajax forcefully kept his voice down, but his anger showed clearly in his features.
He was sitting in a motel room he had rented just for the reports. Reporting to a marine post in a pirate twon wasn't a smart thing to let anyone see.
"You've done well so far, Mr. Sinclair. But you are to stay clear of Van Slycer. We do not need your services in his case."
Ajax grit his teeth so hard it almost hurt.
"But WHY?"
It was so unfair! Any marine was allowed to attack a pirate, why wasn't he?
Just because they didn't want him to blow his cover!
"Don't talk back now, we've discussed this already! You have your tarfet. Now set out again. Next report in a week."
With a slight click, his baby den den mushi went back to its sleeping state.
Ajax stared at it for a while, his eyes tearing with anger.


Ajax slowly walked down the street. He wasn't to cause any more trouble.
Only find his target. He kept a straight face and lit his cigarette.
Man, this sucked so much! So unfair! Who cared about anything else, he wanted to go back to battle that guy! Now he looked like a coward!
Granted, a coward with a still bloody shirt who everyone seemed to avoid by now, but still a coward.
It pissed him off. Now where was that target?

Van was eating a fair share of food.

"You caused some trouble before." said the Bartender,

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I try not to get noticed." he said, finishing his meal and starting to walk out.

After watching the fight, Nabie thought about the two fighters. They seemed very useful and fit to be part of her crew. She decided to ask about it later, but first, she needed a place to wash. Once again, she went in search of a place to rest.