Serious Chapter 3 Hooded Knights: Lost in the Florian Triangle

(What I mean is, Quintus was touched by one of those tentacles. And if this is the Doku-Doku no mi we’re talking about…)

Quintus’s eyebrows went up just slightly when he heard the word reputation. He hadn’t expected that. He had tried to keep his…exploits as low key as possible. Apparently more had gotten out then he realized. That could be problematic. Good reputations brought with them promotions and he couldn’t afford many more of those.

Almost immediately, however, his foolish grin was back. He wouldn’t allow this man, or any others, to think of him as anything more than an idiot.

“Actually sir,” Quintus said. “I’m here because I was ordered to join your group.” He held out a transfer paper that had been signed by a Vice Admiral. “So really, it’s already official.” Quintus winced suddenly and glanced down at his hand that had been struck by the man’s tentacle. “It’s odd. I’m not exactly sure what that guy was shooting at me, whether it was poison or acidic in nature. Either way, it burns like crazy. See?” Quintus held up his injured hand to reveal the damage that had already been done.

(Yeah the tentacles are made from the doku doku no mi.)

Darnel was shocked to see that the venom had caught him on his hand. If nothing was done about this the venom would eventually increase his pain until he dies. "We have a man down! We need a medic!" Bolt, the crew's doctor, ran over to Quintus checking on his hand without touching it. We need an sample of the venom in order for me to make an anti venom for his hand. If we don't get that venom Quintus will die in a matter of moment."

Darnel had another idea. He had heard of this fruit before when reading...yes he does read his books. The venom could also be neutralized by fire. Danrel took a cigarette from a marine soldier aboard his ship, and placed it just above Quintus's hand "This going to hurt...well alot." Darnel pushed the fiery head of the cigarette into Quintus's hand.

“I’m going to die?” Quintus asked the doctor, looking shocked. Then he turned to Darnel. “Wait, what do yo…ARGH!”

George, who had been hovering behind Quintus up to this point and flapping his wings as gently as possible so as not to knock anyone over, let out a screech of rage and dove towards Darnel, reaching for him with his beak.

“GEORGE, NO!” Quintus shouted.

He had not snatched his hand back, though every instinct demanded he do so. Instead he had been holding out under the almost unbearable pain. Burns, Quintus decided, were some of the worst injuries a person could suffer.

The giant roc pulled back and began circling the ship, still screeching at the top of his lungs. His relationship with Quintus had been one of master and servant, ever since their first meeting, and yet he had, over time, become loyal to his master. And now this man was hurting Quintus and Quintus wouldn’t let him kill the man!

Darnel looked at Quintus with a sign of relieve that he got that giant bird from attacking "Thanks, the bird is the snake's natural enemy I would have been screwed. Well if you have the proper paper work then I won't mind you being aboard my ship." Darnel then turned toward his crew "All aboard!!! We are departing for marineford now!!!" The other crewmates were ordered to return to ship. Now with their ship done they continued their journey. The clouds began to grow dark and the winds began to pick up. Aqua Laguna was about to begin. It was a annual high tide that engulf the lower part of the city. The hooded knights would have to leave now in order to avoid drowning.

Chris, Duke, and Connor had somehow found their way onto Darnel's ship... it was probably best not to ask how it'd happened. "Yo, Captain! What can we do for ya?" Chris asked before Duke slapped him broad-handed in the back. "What the 'ell are you doing? We just got back to a place to rest, and you want to make us work, bro?" Chris wheeled on his brother, "Well, obviously we're gonna have to do SOMETHING to make up for imposing on Darnel." Connor placed a single hand on both of his brother's heads, pushing down slightly. "Shush. Chris is right, Duke. We need to help, if Darnel needs it." Duke angrily sighed and saluted along with his brothers. "I wanted to take a nap, bro..." Duke mumbled as Chris reiterated the offer.

Carlos jumped aboard. He had a modified ship that required testing, and what is a better test than the famous Aqua Laguna?
He grabbed the helm and pulled a lever to raise the anchor, the Hooded Justice will depart as soon as all of it's passengers got on board.
"Who'll be my navigator this time?" Carlos asked. Most people mistook him for a navigator, but he was just a helmsman, he had next to no idea on how to get to Marineford.

Kenshin sighed, raising his hand "I'll try" he said, laughing to himself and walking over to Carlos "what do you need?" he asked

Darnel began giving orders seeing the storm picking up. This called for immediate action. "Duke hoist the anchor, Chris release the sails, Connor will help Carlos navigate through the storm. Kenshin, Quintus, and Marcelo will arm the cannons in case of attack. Ashley will be in the crow's nest looking out for danger. Buck will be my personal lifeguard in case I fall overboard. Now everybody has their now lets go go go!!!!" The sky was growing darker until it turned completely black. The waves started to get violent by hour. The hurricane would soon arrive.

Connor nodded quickly, running up behind Carlos. Quickly surveying the situation of the ocean and the storm, he began pointing out locations in the ocean. "There's a current there: it should sweep us through a series of currents, getting us over there." He pointed to the clearest and least dangerous part of the storm. "I think that's our safest route: judging by the current's speed, anyway, we'll be able to escape the worst of the Aqua Laguna: though that's not saying much." As Connor was giving instructions, Duke threw his hands up into the air. "Why the hell is Connor navigating? If he's navigating, you might as well send Christ up there as backup!" "Bro, shut the hell up and do your job!" Chris yelled at Duke as he ran to do his assignment. Duke looked around himself for anything he could throw at Chris, and upon finding nothing, growled and ran for the anchor. All three siblings were working as fast as they could.

“No rest for the weary, eh?” Quintus said with a sigh, after hearing Darnel’s orders.

After Darnel had released his hand and left him, Quintus had gone over, by himself, to one corner of the ship to bandage his wound. Well, he was mostly by himself. George was flying close by. Apparently the giant roc didn’t want to return to his rock form in case he needed to defend his master (he still didn’t trust Darnel) but at the same time being a massive bird made it difficult for him to land without getting in the way of all of the crew’s activity.

As the storm began to pick up, however, Quintus began to fear for George’s safety and he called him back. Grateful that he hadn’t had to make the decision on his own, George flew to Quintus, changed into a pebble, and dropped into his master’s uninjured hand. Quintus stuffed George in his pocket and then ran off to go help load up the cannons. It was difficult for him, as he was only able to use one hand, but he managed as best he could.

Carlos followed Conor's instructions but his confidence in his navigator was disturbed when one of the other crew members stated that he is a horrible navigator. "I damn hope you know what you're doing!" Carlos shouted over the strong wind. His boat driving skills allowed him to know pretty much what currents were bad or good for him, and with these skills and The Hooded Justice's new equipment, Carlos rode the high tides like a surfer on a big one, cruising on their flat side until they went too far and switching to a different wave, using the squid cannons to push the ship against weaker currents. All and all, the operation seemed to go quite well, but everything could change if the storm got any worse.

Because of the tough winds and fast currents the hooded knights made a quick trip out Water 7 toward the Florian Triangle. The purple/pink fog surrounded the marine ship and the sky. They lucky escaped the Aqua Laguna, but sadly they only had a moment's peace since they were in the eye of the storm. The rest of the storm would soon pick. This time harder. It began to rain very hard followed by cracking lighting and roaring thunder. The waves which were once calm were now starting to pick up. The hooded justice was approaching a graveyard of ghost ships. Each one either floating aimlessly or partly sunken. Marine battleships, pirate ships, and merchants all suffered the same fate of being lost at sea.

Darnel rolled back his hood, and removed his hat in respect for their fallen commadares. This was first time Darnel ever revealed his face. A tear rolled his cheek for the dead "You sacrifice will not be forgotten brothers. Let this be a lesson to you men. A heavy price comes from serving justice. Not all stories have happy endings as u can see."

A ship that had been following the Hooded Justice for awhile finally caught up to it, and a man walked out of the hull, dressed in a white dress shirt and a tweed jacket over it, wearing a scarf and dress pants. He was smoking a cigar at the moment, adjusting the news boy cap he was wearing which covered his brown hair. The man stopped and called up to the boat in a strange accent

"Ey, why wharya ya runnin so fast boys?" He said, sniggering

[Martin Tweed]
[Marine Lieutenant]

“Yeah…” Quintus muttered solemnly in response to Darnel’s statement. And then suddenly he heard someone speaking behind him and whirled around to see…no one. Martain was on a smaller ship than they were, so this was perfectly understandable. Quintus wandered over to the side where he had heard the voice and looked down to see Martain. Of course, Quintus didn’t have a clue as to who this was, but that didn’t stop his face from breaking out into a wide grin. He jumped over to the man’s ship, giving him a sloppy salute. “Nope! We’re sailing! Not running! There’s a difference, sir!”

Darnel looked over to see a smaller vessel next to theirs "Quintus is right. Oi what business do u have here sir? This is the florian triangle....one of the most dangerous waters in the grand line. Its not wise for a lone marine to be wandering alone. Come aboard." Darnel said kicking over a ladder so that he could come aboard the ship hopefully before the storm continues...

Carlos' nerves were tingling. He was cruising a huge marine ship through one of the most dangerous waters in the world, which is challenging enough, but now he also had to sync the ship with the smaller vessel that arrived behind them to allow another man to climb aboard. "I salute you cruel fate!" He shouted. He held the helm in place with the help of his foot and one of his hook swords, and grabbed the handles of the Squid cannons. "Lower the sails! I need this beast to slow down!" He shouted to his crew before firing the Undersea cannons, aiming forward to slow the ship down, and then to the right to allow it to climb over a monstrous wave that approached them from the left, threatening to tip them over at any second. Luckily it didn't, and the ship arrived at a U-shaped pipe that gave the passenger of the small ship a chance to climb aboard, a short chance. "Hurry it up!" Carlos shouted while he watched another huge wave approaching from the left.

Martin looked at Quintus strangely, but smiled anyway, then looked up at Darnel "Hey Capt'n, Im Martin, I've got a transfah ta your crew from Marinefad" He said, saluting to Darnel and walking up the ladder

Darnel looked surprised "another recruit? Hmmm this is unexpected. Oh well the more the merrier. Happy to have you aboard!" He walked over toward the ladder helping Martian and Quintus up the ship before the wave came toward them. Darnel took the transfer papers from martian. He looked through his papers to see he was legit. Then darnel looked through his profile. This guy has mastered several forms of rokushiki. He might prove to be useful later on. "Well lieutenant, your talent will great appreciated."

Darnel saw a huge wave coming from the left "Carlos, Take immediate evasion now."

"No kidding! Yes sir!" He shouted back. He turned the ship to it's side and fired the left Squid Cannon downward to lift the left side of the ship up, allowing it to rest on the wave like a surfing board. The ship started to travel up the wave, and to keep it horizontal, the right Squid Cannon was fired downward. When the ship almost reached the top of the wave, the wave was beginning to fall down on them, threatening to take them under. But Carlos was ready for this event from the beginning. With a pull of a lever, the newly installed roof sail opened with a sound of flailing sails. The gigantic over sail caught the wind and stretched upwards, creating a silk dome over the ship. "Come on come on!" Carlos whispered with tension. Thanks to the extremely powerful wind, the roof sail was pulled up with enough force to make the entire ship rise above water. The ship suspended in the air for 2 seconds, enough time to skip over the monstrous wave. When it finally passed, after a long moment of high tension, the roof sail gave in and ripped. The ship descended and Carlos balanced it's landing with the Squid cannons. It was, by far, the greatest move Carlos ever got to perform, he made a marine ship fly. "YES! I AM THE GREATEST HELMSMAN EVER!" He shouted.

Quintus had barely had enough time to get back to the ship when they began to ride the wave. He quickly braced himself against the main mast so that he wouldn’t slide around. He closed his eyes when he thought that the wave was going to swallow them despite all that Carlos had done, but then…they were flying. It wasn’t a long flight, but it seemed to take an eternity to Quintus. When they touched down and Carlos was yelling his head off Quintus could only stare at him in astonishment.

“Whoa…that’s just…how did he…I can’t…wow…” Quintus gasped. He didn’t need to act like a gaping idiot right now. He was playing the part for real. Then he grinned at Carlos’s antics. He certainly wasn’t going to debate the helmsman’s claim to fame. “They’re going to be talking about that one for years,” Quintus murmured.

Martin smiled as he climbed up the ship with a very large case on his back that held his things for cooking playing music and normal clothing needs. He was then almost smashed backwards into the ship from Carlos' maneuvers, but was somehow able to stop himself from moving by using his fists and pushing them onto the ground, it was obvious he had more hand strength than most

"Whoa buddy, wicked move on the wheel but ya almost broke my cello" Martian said, looking at Carlos "Couldja tell me where my room is?" he asked, now to Darnel

The sky darkened again. The lighting and thunder soon cracked along the sky. It seems that the eye of the storm has passed. Now here comes the hurrricane. The ship began to shift violently against the waves. A bolt of lighting cracked and hit the mast of the ship setting it a blaze. The rain was falling down so hard and fast that it made it difficult to see. "Keep the wheel steady carlos. This is going to be hell to sail through. Can someone please put of that fire before we burn to death?!!!!" Darnel yelled out orders. Then just as things couldn't get any worse what lied in front of them were serpent currents. These currents simply rose from the water like serpents and crash back into the sea. There were five heading toward them ready to send the hooded justice into depts of the ocean.

Carlos hooked both of his hook swords around the wheel and shouted back "I need two strong helpers to hold this for me!". He couldn't hold the wheel all by himself and two people grabbing the hooks to steady the wheel will help him. "The rain will put out that fire! I hope..." He said before grabbing the handles of the Squid Cannons. They lost their roof sail and he couldn't use the flying trick again. The wind was blowing hard against the right side of the ship, threatening to knock it over. "Someone open the right sail!" He shouted. He then fired the left Squid Cannons to lift the ship's left side a little. When the right sail will open, the wind will push them to the left, but they will not be knocked over thanks to the Squid Cannons.

Connor quickly grabbed onto to one side of the wheel, grasping it and holding it steady. Shortly afterwards, Chris had appeared and steadied the other side. "Duke! You handle that sail!" "Roger, bro!" Duke shot over to the ropes managing the right sail, quickly working to unfurl it. "I can get the fire once I'm done here," Duke shouted out to Darnel, before continuing, "Man, you should anchor yourself down somehow! We can't have ya flying off, right?"

Darnel heard Duke advice. He didn't want to "anchor" himself as Duke suggested. His place was upon the deck with his crew not hiding somewhere where it was safe. He was about to say something when another bolt of lighting hit Darnel into the sea knocking him out.