Serious: The Aurora Pirates Part 2: Rest, Relaxation, and Assassination

Jake was running towards the first one of the guys who had suddenly jumped on deck and seemed to be some kind of elite.
He could hear a buzzing sound behind him, but he didn't turn around. Better stay out of the spooky ones bussiness...
Instead, he threw another one of the wierd people who kept getting in his way overboard.
Then, he was finally close enough. He aimed for the elite guys head with his kick.

Alice spun and ducked as the man in front of her unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches. He was no ordinary fighter, she could see that now. He threw a punch at her ribs and she pulled back, but something hit her in the gut and she doubled over in pain. She could see the man aiming another punch at her jaw and she moved to the side just in time, but once more something hit her and sent her sprawling. She groaned and looked up to see the man looming over her. He pulled a fist back to strike her again, but this time Alice saw something flicker onto his arm just before he swung down at her. She rolled to the side and the man's fist connected with the deck, smashing an impossibly large hole into the deck. It just couldn't be, Alice realized as she stood back up. His fist wasn't big enough to do this much damage! She dodged backwards again as the man continued his barrage of attacks. This time she jumped back twice as far to try and account for the man's extended reach. She had judged correctly, for the man's fist didn't reach her. Once again she saw the flicker of something on his arm, but then it was gone. Some kind of devil fruit power perhaps? There was no time to think about it. The man had already gained his balanence was more and was moving in for the kill. Alice knew she had to do something unexpected. She spotted a masked man moving in to help four others, who were fighting Zak. He would do nicely. She focused her power on the man and pulled. The wind screeched as it was pulled towards Alice. The man found his feet yanked out of under him and he was sent spiraling towards Alice as well. Just as he was about to hit her, he disappeared. The man attacking Alice stopped where he was. Before he could do or say anything, the man who had disappeared, now reappeared in front of Alice and he was flying towards the man with the lion mask. The man was caught completely off guard and was struck down by his follower's flailing body. Alice grinned.

"I'll bet you weren't expecting that," she said smugly.

Jake smiled as his foot hit the masked man in the face.
His smile disappeared when he noticed something felt off.
It took him some time to notice he had actually blocked him.
He went a little pale. Blocked. Him. By a human.
He redrew his foot, only to start punching him continuosly. His rage grew as the human comtinued blocking all his punches with a blinding speed and seemingly no effort at all.
Just what was he? Suddenly, Jake noticed he couldn't move his fist anymore.
The man was holding it in one hand, slowly starting to tighten the grip. The worst part was that it actually hurt. Jake gasped and jumped away, escaping the grasp.
Looking at his fist, he realised it really was hurt.
"You.... you can't be human..."
He took a step back. He had never been seriously hurt in an one on one fight with a human.
If only he was in the water now, he'd have the advantage...

The man stood back up, pushing his comrade off of him. He looked at Alice with faint surprise.

"That is a strange ability," he commented. "So what is it that you do?"

"I can pull objects towards me and absorb them," Alice grinned. "Then I release the object with twice as much force. Allow me to demonstrate." She thrust a hand out at the man in front of her and he was pulled forward. For the third time Alice noticed something flicker around the man's body, but this time it didn't disappear. Instead, a black armor-like covering, similar in appearance to her own, spread across his body. Alice didn't know what to make of it, so she continued her attack, pulling him into range and slamming her fist into him. Nothing happened. The man grabbed Alice's wrist with his left hand, holding her in place.

"So, it does stop your technique," the man mused. "This is my power. The Aura-Aura fruit. It is an energy field which protects me from harm and allows me to enlarge my attacks." He raised his right hand and the black armor around his hand began to change shape, becoming a hammer. He swung it down, slamming it into Alice and she was sent flying away.

Alice hit the deck hard and gasped from pain. She pulled herself up into a sitting position. "This man...his ability perfectly negates my own. If that aura was a physical object I could absorb it, but energy is a whole different matter."

Jake could see Alice hit the deck.
"Miss Alice!"
He wanted to run towards her and help her up, but the man blocked his way.
"Get out of my way!"
Jake hissed at the man in the loose, black outfit. How someone that small and frail looking could simply block him like that was still a riddle to him, but he didn't have time for that now.The man shook his head.
"I'm afraid..."
He started to say, but was cut off by Jake trying to kick him aside. He blocked it with his arm.
"How rude... You don't just cut people off like this! As I was saying, I'm afraid..."
"Hey, your voice sounds awfully high, you know?"
Jake wasn't going to attack anymore. Instead, he dashed forward, trying to get to Alice and the others. But yet again, the man appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He seemed reasonably annoyed by not being able to finish his sentence. He basically shouted it at Jake this time before he could escape again.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go this easily!!!"
Jake looked at him thoughtfully.
"Well, man, that was a no brainer..."
"Excuse me?"
Slowly, the man was getting mad. Really mad.
"I took all this trouble to tell you, you could at least act a little surprised!"
Jake frowned.
"The only thing that surprises me is how high your voice is... "
"That's it!"
The man stormed towards him, ready for attack. His fist was aiming for Jakes stomach. But instead of dodging, Jake stayed there and got hit with so much force it seemed that every bone in his body was getting crushed. He even tasted blood in his mouth. But he had to take the hit, otherwise he would never have been able to get a hold of his opponent. He grabbed the shirt over his chest chest and the arm which he had used to punch him. He would definitely not let....
"Oh my, you're..."
He let go of the chest and felt himself blush.
"I-I'm really sorry for this, lady..."
Instead of an answer, he got a slap.

(So Jake isn't just getting his tail kicked by a human, it's a human GIRL. HA! He'll never live this down! )

Alice managed to pull herself back to her feet. The man in front of her moved in slowly. The hammer changed back into its armor form.

"Your ability is nothing compared to mine," the man said calmly. "This will be over quickly." The black armor on his arms began to change. It lengthened, sharpened, and became thinner. Now he had two swords, one on each arm.

"This is nothing," Alice managed to say. A grin spread across her face. "Who am kidding?" she thought to herself. "It's obvious that I won't be able to stand for much longer. That last hit shattered my ribs. I've got three attacks at most before the pain becomes unbearable." She crouched reading herself for her opponent's next move. "Bring it on!" she said in a much more confident way then she felt.

"Very well," the man said. He seemed slightly annoyed by her 'recovery' and he dashed forward. He brought the swords together at Alice's neck in an attempt to decapitate her. She flipped upwards over his head and as she fell behind him, she struck out, hitting his pressure points on his arms, causing him to cry out in pain and forcing him to drop his arms to his sides. As she landed, Alice curled herself in a ball and rolled away from her opponent.

"That's one," she thought.

This was getting awkward.
For him and... the girl. He didn't like fighting girls, but getting his ass kicked by one didn't sound so good either.
"Uh... maybe we could just... talk?"
Jakes cheek was burning. That girl sure did know how to slap people.
"Maybe you could just let go of my arm?"
She answered aggressively.
Jake sighed.
"Look, I really don't wanna hurt you'n stuff, so..."
The girl tried hitting him with the other hand, but this time, he stopped it.
"Heh, your attack isn't as impressive as it was before... Feeling a little insecure?"
He was teasing her. Somehow, this didn't feel like a fight anymore.
And it was time to end it. Now, while she wasn't too sure about fighting.
He let go of her arms and grabbed her around the waist instead.
"Hey, wha- aaah!"
She didn't even have time to react, Jake had already jumped overboard... while carrying her.

He was surprised when she seemed to be able to swim. He had thought she was a devilfruit user.
"Last chance..."
He said, still holding her around the waist so she couldn't break free.
"Give up now. If you do, I'll think about letting you go. This way, even if you survive..."
The girl began to struggle. It was really hard for him not to just let go.
"Let me go, damnit! Let go so I can kick your damn ass!"
Jake couldn't help but grin. She seemed to be very childish.
He could feel his heart break a little when he submerged and pulled her deeper.
Under water, her punches became dull and lacked the strenght they have had when they were still on deck.
He didn't want to drown her. He just couldn't afford letting her run around and do as she pleased.
"If I go any deeper, you might die. This is your last chance to give up."
The girl gave him the finger. Jakes grin grew even wider.
"What a shame that we had to meet this way. I think I'm already starting to like you."
With this, he dragged her all the way to the ground. He could feel her body cramp when the pressure took effect. Then it went limp.
He wondered if she was still alive. He hoped so, it'd be a shame if he had killed such a strongwilled person.
Slowly, he made his way up to the surface, still carrying her. He couldn't leave her down there like this.

Kagirinai stood to the side watching his grew. he would join in but he was out of metal he needed to eat. He grabbed his back and opened it pulling out numerous bars of titanum. he sat down and began to eat them rapidly. he watched the battles as he munched the down the metal and shouted, 'Oi get them all the together." He munched on the metal as he waited reading his metal cage technique. He chowed down the metal as bars of metal began to disolve into the ground shoot towards his intended targets

Edmund heard what Kagirinai had said he and he called out to Zak, "Get them together!" He moved out of the crowd and began pushing them back with his ax. He could see Zak on the other side, doing the same thing. Several of the people tried to escape out the sides, but a few well aimed needles from Risty finished them off and discouraged others from trying to escape. It took only a minute, but then the enemy was completely trapped in between Edmund and Zak.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alice jumped back up and faced the man again. He was turned to face her, his eyes glaring hatefully.

"You'll pay for that, woman," he spat at her. Alice didn't even bother to respond. Her breathing was becoming more ragged and forced. The man frowned at her, but then shook his head and dashed forward again. "This is the end!" Alice didn't move. Her breathing slowed and she closed her eyes. He was almost upon her, when to his surprise she jumped up in this face. She was to close for him to use his swords and he was forced to slow and backpedal rapidly. It wasn't enough. Alice reached out grabbing him and pulling him forward. She spun and lashed out with her foot, kicking him across the face. The man was sent rolling across the deck. When he stopped he pulled himself back up. Despite the armor protecting him, he had a small cut on his right cheek where he had been kicked.

"That's two," Alice thought.

Kagirinai looked at them as they fought his head started to spin as he had consumed the metals to fast. he grunted and spoke up at them, "OI get out of the way or you'll be caught as well! Tetsu Tetsu no Tetsuryuu no keiji (Iron iron: Cage of the Iron Dragon)!" He slammed his palms on the ground. Metal pillars shot up all over the deck around the intruders. The pillars split as bars rose around them forming four walls with a roof over them. The bars formed metal titanium cages around the intruders. The bars with close together to stop them from leaving.

Jake jumped onto the deck, now carrying the unconcious girl in his arms.
She wasn't dead, but she would have to be treated soon, or she would be.
"Heeey, guys, I..."
Suddenly, bars shot up around him. At first, he was confused. Random bars?
But then he remembered who else was in his crew. Instead of running, since it was already too late for that, he sat down and laughed.
"My, looks like you got me.... us, I mean, trapped!"

Edmund and Zak had jumped away when they heard Kagirinai calling out. Edmund saw Jake jump out of the water, but was to far away to offer a warning before the fishman was caught as well. The big man shook his head, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Now what are you going to do?" Edmund said to Kagirinai. He was trying hard not to laugh. Jake's idiotic grin was just to funny. "We can't just leave him in there."

Risty jumped from Edmund's shoulders and ran around the cage to stand near Jake. She held up her needles threateningly to the cage's other occupants, daring them to come closer.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The man stood again. He was not taking nearly as much damage as Alice was hoping for. She knew she would have to do something drastic. She couldn't keep at it like this for much longer.

"Just a few more seconds..." she thought to herself. The man sprinted towards her again and Alice ran to the side. She leaped onto the side of the ship and peered down into the water. There were a couple of boats down there. Obviously these boats were the transportation that had brought the enemy pirates here. A plan formed in her head and she smiled grimly. After this move she would not be able to move. She would be stuck. "Let's do this."

Alice jumped up onto the rigging of the ship and began climbing up the side of it. The man followed close behind. He was forced to change his hands back to normal, but soon he was back on her trail. Alice climbed up to the crow's nest and stood on the edge of the basket. She watched as the man grew closer. Once he was only about ten feet below her she began to focus her power on one of the small boats far below. Once more the wind was being sucked into Alice. The boat she was focusing on was lifted out of the water and its occupants, seeing that something was wrong, dove overboard. The boat rocketed upwards and struck Alice dead on. She held out her arms to help her absorb the whole object.

The man, who by this point had reached striking range, was pulling back his arms, which he had returned to its sword shape, to stab Alice when the boat had hit her. Suddenly realizing her plan, he pulled back, but all there was beneath him was empty air.

Alice grinned at the man as he flailed around. "Goodbye," she said. She fired the boat back at him. It hit him...and exploded. Two black swords burst through the boat and pierced Alice through her stomach. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened in shock.

"As I said before," the man whispered. "This is the end." He pulled his swords out through her sides, widening the cuts and Alice fell past him into empty air. As she fell, Alice's eyes closed. Suddenly a blur shot past and Alice disappeared.

James landed on the deck with Alice in his arms. James didn't speak as John ran up and took Alice. He laid his captain down on the deck and his insects began to swarm on her, trying to close her wounds. James turned to the man high above him, his eyes blazing.

"You will die," he said.

Jake was watching, his face now awfully serious.
Everyone else took a few steps back from him, not only because of the berserk girl threatening them with her needles, but also because if there was one thing that was scarier than a smiling Jake, it was a serious Jake.
He didn't plan on taking part in the action. He might never have been intelligent, but he wasn't stupid. He definitely wouldn't stop his captain when he wanted to revenge his sister.
He could only imagine what he'd do if someone'd ever do that to Guri.
His fists were shaking with anger. He wanted to beat that guy to hell, but he wouldn't. Instead, he patted Ritsy on the head through the barrels.
"It's okay, sweetie..... Just don't look..."
His eyes were fixed on the man.
"Go get that bastard, captain..." he murmured.

"You? Kill me?" the man laughed at James. "Do you know who I am?"

James ignored him and drew Kazeshini. He held the sword out in front of him with both hands on the hilt. "Jake, Kagirinai, everyone!" he called out. "I'm going to go all out. Don't get in my way. I don't want to kill you on accident." James closed his eyes and spoke softly. "Kazeshini. I know you don't like to do this, but I need your help. Please, fight with me. Don't hold anything back. Show them your true strength."

As James was speaking, he felt Kazeshini shiver in his hands. Then the air began to blow. It started out small, but grew larger quickly. The air around the blade was pulled into a spinning vortex as what looked like a tornado formed on James's sword and spun up around his right arm. The tornado which was around James's sword began to grow and changed into a sword blade. It extended the length of the blade and widened it significantly as well. James let go of the sword with his left hand and allowed the sword and his arm to drop down to his side.

"Impressive," the man said, not looking impressed in the slightest. "But swords cannot touch me. My aura will protect me from all of your-" Unfortunately for him, he did not get to finish his sentence. James's arm snapped up and he swung up his sword so that the point of its blade was facing the man in front of him. The man felt a powerful wind cut past him and his cheek was sliced open only an inch lower then where Alice had managed to cut him earlier. He reached up and felt the warm blood flowing freely.

"As I said," James glared across at him. "You will die."

Note: Just letting you know that I am trying to sufficiently upgrade my character for this battle. I will admit that I was about to go rogue and use the upgrades anyway with them not being approved. The reason for this being that it took PMing three different admins for me to finally get a reply. I did wait in between each admin, and yes, the admins I had PMed been online since I PMed them. Suffice it to say I was a little annoyed. Anyhow, because of this I am very temporarily taking a break from this RP until the approval is all done, so please be patient a little longer. I should be done by tomorrow if not tonight.

Kay. It's not like Jake can do anything right now, anyway.

(I have been approved.)

James lowered his sword to his side again. He stared at the man critically. Then he said, "Ten minutes."

The man blinked. "Ten minutes? What is that supposed to mean?"

"You have ten minutes to try and survive," James replied. "After that you will be able to kill me."

"What do you..." the man started to say.

James shot forward. He raised his sword and brought it down on the man's head with all his force. The man was forced to swing up his sword arms to try and block. Kazeshini slowed for a moment as it hit the swords, but then it cut right through. The man only had a moment to leap backwards and keep his arm from being cut off. But even though he had dodged, his arm was still bleeding profusely. James followed him aiming a second blow at the man's chest. The man focused his power, reforming the blade on his arm, and he swung it down to block James again. Once more, Kazeshini slowed for a moment before cutting through the aura again. This time the man managed to pull back out of the way of James's attack completely.

"I see how it is," the man thought to himself. "That sword is stronger then the usual weapon, but it is not invincible. If I pour all of my aura into my swords then I might be able to block his attacks. Then again, if I do that I will weaken my aura so much that I will be completely vulnerable." James swung back his sword for another attack. The man's eyes widened. "Here goes nothing!" He forced his aura to move across his body and pooled every last bit of his power into his two blades. They sprang back to life looking more solid then before. No longer could the man's arms and hands be seen. Instead, a solid black blade covered each of his arms. James brought his next strike in from the side. The man brought his two swords down with all of his might. The weapons connected and Kazeshini was knocked downward. The man wasted no time in bringing one of his swords back up and slashing James across his chest. The younger man stumbled back. The man in front of him grinned. "It's over boy."

"No," James looked up at the man in front of him. James's expression was not changed in the slightest from one of hate. Kazeshini virtually exploded with power as wind rushed onto it. James brought the sword around and slashed at the air. An almost invisible ripple of air sped towards the man. The man had only enough time to bring up one of his swords. The ripple hit the sword and cut through it and hit the man with great force. He was blown backwards into the side of the ship and landed in a crumpled heap. All was silent for a moment, then the man sat up weakly. His left arm, which had blocked the attack, was completely torn off. His chest was open and bleeding.

"You sacrificed your arm to stop a killing blow," James commented. "Impressive."

James marched towards his fallen opponent. The man pulled himself to his feet weakly.

"I can't keep going like this," the man thought. "I'm losing to much blood. If he attacks now I'm finished. I've only got one chance. If I use all my power and make a sword on my other arm, I might be able to stop that sword." He closed his eyes focusing all his power into his right arm. Once more his aura moved into place on his arm forming into a sword.

"Give it up," James said, holding out his sword. "You will die from those wounds even if I do not attack you."

"What is it with you?" the man spat out at James. "You act so confident, and yet you know nothing of who you are fighting against! I have seen hundreds, if not thousands of fighters who could destroy you in a second!"

"I told you before," James replied. "It does not matter who you are. I don't care about your rank or how much strength you claim to have. Know this: If you ever lay a hand on one of my crew or my family, then you will die." James pulled back his sword with the point still aimed at his opponent.

"Here he comes..." the man realized. He pulled his own sword back, ready to defend himself. He didn't get the chance.

James used his soru technique and appeared directly in front of his opponent. "Farewell..." he said. With his free hand he grabbed the man's face and slammed him into the deck. Then James thrust forward with his sword, piercing the man through his chest and pinning him to the deck. James stood back up and looked down at the man. "And now, it really is over," James said.

James drew Crimson Rain and pulled Kazeshini out of the man's chest. He planted Crimson Rain in the spot where Kazeshini had been moments before. When he had done this, the power Kazeshini had been using faded from the sword. It now looked like any other ordinary sword. The sheen of the blade had even dulled slightly after this. James slipped Kazeshini back into its sheath on his back.

"Thank you," he whispered to his sword. James crouched by his opponent. "I know you're not dead. I have a few questions for you."

The man laughed and coughed up some blood. "I thought that you might," he said weakly.

"First off, who are you?" James asked. "I don't need your name, rank, and serial number. Your crew name would be good enough."

"My crew is called the Silent Pirates," the man said after a moment. James was surprised. He didn't actually think the man would talk.

"Um...why are you here?" James asked.

"I was sent...to destroy you and your crew..." the man replied.

"Who sent you?" James asked.

"A man...by the name of...Yami," the man gasped out.

James frowned. "Yami again. I guess I should have known we would run into more of his people. After all, we are sailing right into his territory." James turned his attention back to the man lying on the deck again. "I take it you don't have much loyalty for this guy," James said.

The man shook his head. "Yami means...nothing to me. I would only...get payed...if I succeeded. Besides...I have a sister as well. For that...I am sorry."

"Why?" James asked.

"Because...she is dead...isn't she?" the man said.

James grinned and shook his head. "I doubt it. That girl has survived more then you know."

"That's...good..." the man's voice was beginning to fade. "I...didn't...have orders...about...her anyway..." He breathed one last time, and was gone. James reached down and closed his eyes. Then he stood and brushed himself off.

"Let's roll out people," he said, not bothering to look at everyone. "We have some clean up work to do."

"All righty!"
Jake said. He stood up and laid his hands on the bars.
"Heya, Kagirinai or whatever your name was... Fancy letting me out now?"
He grinned again and took the woman he had defeated before up. He couldn't just leave her there, now could he?
"Yanno, only if it's not too much trouble to you..."

The men down in the rowboats waited for their comrades to return. They knew that the fight was over. All the sounds of battle where gone. All they could here was a low buzzing of voices in the background. At that moment two bodies came flying over the railing. They hit the water and sunk quickly, but before they were swept out of sight the men in the rowboats could see that they were dead. Then Zak popped his head over the side of the ship.

"Yo!" he called down. "The fight is over. You guys lost. We'll be sending down the survivors in a minute."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Since Kagirinai was apparently busy, Edmund swept his ax through the bars on the metal cage, freeing Jake. He stepped past the fishman and stared murderously at the cowering men and women in front of him.

"I said we should kill the lot of you," Edmund said. "But my captain's brother told us to let you go so it would be in your best interest to thank him before you go. And no more masks. Just take those ridiculous things off. Your not intimidating anyone with those things."

The people hesitated for a moment, but after taking another look at Edmund and Jake they quickly removed their masks.

Jake laughed and stepped out of the cage, still carrying the woman.
"Now, now... That wasn't so hard, was it?"
He cast a look at the woman, who was still unconcious and wondered whether or not he should take her mask off, too. He decided against it. It was for her to decide whether or not she wanted him to see her face.
A new thought hit him.
"Hey,..."
He turned to the men and women inside the now broken cage.
"What's gonna happen to the guys who were defeated here?"

"I just said that they were free to go," Edmund replied. "But if any of them are still here in thirty seconds then I'll kill them all." The people didn't hesitate. They all ran past Edmund and Jake and hurled themselves into the water far below where their compatriots were waiting for them.

Risty ran up to Edmund and clambered up onto his shoulder she had been busy collecting all of her many needles, which she returned to their hiding places in her sleeves.

Zak walked past Jake carrying a few more dead bodies, which he slung over the side of the ship. Then he turned around and looked at Jake. "So what are you going to do with that woman you have there?" he asked.

Jake blinked, and looked at him in confusion.
Woman? Oh, the woman! She was such a lightweight, he had forgotten about her for a second.
"I don't really know... I'm a little worried that she'll get punished if I send her back with the others, and... well, but I guess we can't keep her for too long, either... But look, she's hurt! She needs a doctor..."
What he really wanted to say was that he wanted someone to treat her and then keep her as a "Prisoner" untill she was fully healed. After that, he wouldn't complain on sending her back.