Serious: The Squall Pirates Chapter 2: Growing Pains (Open to the Squall Pirates)

Jimi was amazed by his own stupidity. How could he not realize that it was all leading back to the dock? The alcohol he drank in the last few days must have been playing tricks with his mind. The guitar player seemed like a smart man, not to mention that he knew exactly what was going on. It seemed like Jimi found his way into the middle of a chase, and now he two options: Either go with the guitar player and jump into a risky adventure with an unknown ending, or say his goodbye and take his leave. It might have been the alcohol talking, but Jimi was more attracted to the first option. Not only was he indebted to the guitarist, who helped him with the gas earlier, but he also didn't fancy wondering around an island that had agents lurking around it with no information about them.

"I am in" Jimi said with a reassuring smile that flashed the guitarist with a bright light. "But I do have a request first" He said, pulling his sunglasses up his nose and running a hand through his mighty Afro. "Tell me your name".

((OOC: You can time skip us to the docks if you want, I don't really mind))

((OOC: Sleepy, two things. First, Karasu just told me to go ahead and post so we'll be heading on without him for now. Though hopefully he will catch up soon. We need a Non-DF user. Secondly, how about you do the time skip for Jimi? I'm going to get things set up for the time skip with the guitar man and I'll move Daniel and the evil manager guy onward to the docks. But how you come in is up to you.))

Jimi

"My name?" the agent repeated. He turned away from Jimi, a small smile appearing on his features. "My name does not matter. But if you want to call me something, I suppose you could call me..." He paused, and turned back around to face Jimi, looking thoughtful. "...Cary. Just call me Cary." He then clapped his hands and grinned. "Now, let's be on our way."

Cary started towards the door, pausing only for a moment to flick the agent, who they had been questioning, on the head. The man dropped like a stone, now completely unconscious. Looking the picture of perfect innocence, the guitar man carried on to the door, ready to head on down to the docks.
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Miguel/Manager

The manager had reached his destination. He allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that all was not yet lost. Miguel had not caught him and soon Sophie would be within their grasp.

The manager had barely taken a few steps into the docking area when he found himself surrounded by agents. One of them stepped forward and gave him a short bow.

"Thank you for coming to assist us, sir," the agent said cordially. "Sophie has almost arrived as well. Please follow me. I shall take you to her."
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Daniel

They had arrived at last. Daniel and Sophie were at the docks. It seemed quiet. That much was to be expected since most of the people were at the festival, but it still set Daniel on edge. Moving forward, Daniel now took up a position next to Sophie. There was no point in hiding his identity any longer. If an attack came, he would be placed right there next to her to pull her out of the way.

And the attack was going to come soon, Daniel realized. He had just spotted a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. It seemed the agents had already surrounded them and were even now moving in to take them. Well, he wasn't going to stick around to be caught.

The wind around Daniel began to pick up speed. Moving so fast his body became a blur, Daniel lifted Sophie up in his arms and took off, dashing towards the ships up ahead.

Romulus, who had been sneaking up on Daniel for the past two minutes and was about to try and kill him, cursed himself for being a fool. He hadn't expected that this boy would have any unusual skills and it seemed that in his arrogance he had allowed for a margin of error. It would not happen again.

Romulus kicked off from the ground and dashed after Daniel, his body completely disappearing as he went. As a former World Government Agent, he had been trained for such high speed pursuits.

"After you I guess, Cary" Jimi said with a grin as he lowered his sunglasses to cover his eyes, he couldn't be seen in public without his sunglasses. He couldn't help but thinking that Cary was quite a weird name. He followed Cary the guitarist into the neon-lighted night.

[Time Skip]

The tall red-wearing man easily towered the guitarist as they approached the docks, his thick afro making his shadow appear like a character from a horror film, with overflowing brain. The docks seemed empty, and pretty much dead. It was hard to believe that a complicated chase was about to take place in this place. "You sure your princess is coming?" Jimi asked, lowering his sunglasses to take a direct look at the scene.

(OOC: It's been three days. The next wait will be only two, unless Karasu shows up.)

Jimi

Cary looked unperturbed by the absence of life at the docks. "She will come," he said. "She has to come. These people will not stop looking for her until they find her and she has to escape at some point. I only fear that they have already caught her. If that is the case, we might not even have the chance to rescue her in the first place." The sound of shouting came from up ahead and Cary smiled. "Ah, speak of the devil..." Just then a young man ran into view carrying a young girl.* Cary frowned. "That's Sophie. It looks like she has already been captured...but then, why are they still yelling?"

(OOC: *These two are Daniel and Sophie, if you hadn't figured that out on your own.)

Daniel

Daniel had been spotted. He had been expecting this to happen from the moment he grabbed Sophie, but it was still far from comforting to know that he had been right on the money.

Agents were breaking cover from all around them and charging after them. Daniel grinned. None of these were anywhere near fast enough to catch up to him. It looked like his surprise maneuver had caught them off guard. They were going to make it! He had no idea how wrong he was about that until Romulus appeared behind him and landed a kick on his back.

Daniel fell, tucking himself into a ball as he went. He wrapped himself around Sophie and rolled to absorb the impact as best he could. It still hurt. Bad.

Daniel released Sophie and stood back up, turning to face the one who had kicked him. If this man could catch up to him while he was going at full speed, then there was nothing else for it. He would have to fight.

Manager

The manager had also just arrived. He spotted Daniel with Sophie up ahead and he smirked. Reaching out with his cane, he tapped his guide on the shoulder and pushed him out of the way.

"I will take it from here," the manager told him confidently.

"No need," the man replied. "Romulus has already caught them. See?"

"Romulus?" the manager spluttered, taking a second look at the scene up ahead. "Blast that glory seeking hound! He's going to steal my victory away from me!"

Jimi looked at the man who carried Sophie being kicked and knocked down to the ground from beyond his sunglasses. "They are still yelling, because someone's still after them" Jimi said. He had no idea if the guy who just fell to the ground was good or bad, but the guy who kicked him down seemed more like the agents who fought Jimi and Cary at the bar, and that was enough for Jimi to make his decision. "LET'SSSSSSSSSSS PARTYYYYYYY!" Jimi shouted as he pulled his sunglasses up, making his presence known to all. He was obviously not built for undercover missions, he liked the attention too much. After yelling, Jimi pushed his hands into his pockets and stormed towards the docks, not bothering to wait for Cary. He didn't have to know who was good or bad, all he had to do was take care of Sophie. He pulled his hands out, and they were now equipped with red knuckle dusters - Jimi's weapon of choice. When he got close to the pair of men who were now facing each other, he stopped, taking a spot right next to Sophie. "Don't worry miss! Your knights in shining armor have arrived!" He announced, flashing his bright teeth with a wide smile. "The only question now will be..." Jimi elaborated, lowering his sunglasses to observe the men with his eyes. "Who should I pummel first?".

Miguel had missed the man that he was following, after finding him he seemed too fast to catch up to, Trying to figure out a solution Miguel moved around the building but forgot that the man was underground moving about. While he continued moving past the crowds of people he noticed a larger amount heading towards one specific area, following where they were going in hopes that the manager had created another scene. Instead it seemed men in black suits were forcing the crowd to move so they could move themselves.

Miguel was curious, and almost innocent when it came to the truth about the world. He thought the men would be able to help him so he followed them, trying to keep up with them was one of the harder things Miguel had to do. They suddenly stopped, and ahead of them seemed to be a man and women on the floor... Miguel poked the two men in suits in front of him.

"Hello um.. do you guys know what's going on? they might need medical attention if theres a serious reason they are on the ground." Miguel had no idea he was asking the enemy, Miguel had not noticed the Manager around 30 feet away from his general direction.

Daniel and Jimi

Cary stood back at first, deciding to just observe. Then he saw something, or rather someone, he had not seen in a long time and he moved forward.

"Hello Romulus," Cary said.

Romulus spun to face him, looking shocked. He even took a step back.

"YOU!" he shouted. "Why are you...I mean, how did you find me again?"

"This time it was by accident," Cary replied. "It seems that we are destined to be on the opposite sides of yet another conflict." Romulus's eyes narrowed as Cary looked over at Jimi and smiled. "I'm going to have a little talk with my old associate here. Please, do what you can to take care of Sophie. I shall try to return speedily."

"SCREW THAT!" Romulus roared. His leg blurred as he swung it upwards. "RANKYAKU!"

A blade of wind shot towards the guitar man, who frowned at it and vanished from sight. The blade cut through the space where he had just been and Romulus began looking back and forth wildly, trying to find where his enemy had gone.

"You never change..." Cary whispered into Romulus's ear. Romulus's eyes widened. Somehow Cary had gotten behind him without him noticing. Even if he had been using soru, Romulus should have been able to detect him. "...but I have," Cary continued. "Unlike you, I improved upon my old techniques. Unfortunately I've never been able to try them on a worthy opponent."

A second later Romulus was gone, using his own soru to dash away. Cary gave Jimi and nod and a wink and he was gone, tearing after his quarry.

Daniel, who had been standing there observing all of this calmly, looked over at Jimi with a frown. "Did I hear him right?" he asked. "'Cause, unless I was mistaken, he just asked you to take care of her." Daniel jabbed his thumb in Sophie's direction. "And since I'm not exactly sure what "take care of Sophie" means, I want to know whether or not you are protecting her. I've already got enough enemies out here who are all trying to kidnap her. It would be great if she and I had even one ally." The shouting that was coming from the rapidly approaching agents was growing louder by the second. Daniel dropped into a fighting crouch. "Better tell me fast," Daniel said to Jimi. "Otherwise I'm going to have to knock you down before those guys get here."

Miguel

The two agents Miguel was poking spun around. It took them a moment to realized that this guy was not one of them. So they started to reach out to seize his arms.

"This is a restricted area!" one of them said rather loudly. "You cannot stay here!"

The manager caught sight of ruckus and gasped. "How did he find me so quickly again?" he hissed. "That guy must be some kind of monster! I better deal with him before he becomes a problem...again!"

The manager reached into his pockets and pulled out several small needles. He held them in his hands and began to march towards Miguel, determination burning in his eyes.

Jimi stared with amazement as Cary and Rumulus fought. He was charmed by their abilities! Natural abilities! No devil fruits or anything! But couldn't stay amazed for long since Sophie's current protector questioned him. He turned to face Daniel and smiled. "You bet your a$$ I'm protecting her" Jimi said, in the most blatant way possible. "I have no idea how I got into this mess, nor do I care, but I'm sure in one thing: I'm protecting her, and whooping every damn agent who gets in my way" Jimi elaborated. He then slammed his knuckles together to prove his point, and to look slightly more awesome. "I hope you know what you're doing man, these guys have some dirty tricks up their sleeves" Jimi warned. The bitter taste of the sleeping gas was still in his mouth. "Really dirty tricks...".

Miguel heard a familiar voice.. one that brought a sudden feeling in the bottom of his stomach that reminded him of eating old sushi.. why was he so sick? The two men in suits ahead of him seemed to be displeased with Miguels sudden appearance in the scene, Miguel was lucky to have found the area, having the men in suits stand out from the crowd and move around peeked his curiosity. Miguel tried to talk back to the men in suits in a calm confused manner.

"What do you mean I'm not supposed to be here? Do you plan on helping these people yourself?"

Just then Miguel saw the Manager moving towards his direction, by the time he saw the Manager he was already a few feet away. He immediately took his Muay Thai stance, putting both of his arms in the air like a boxer would without protecting the face rather more lenient towards the sides. He was getting prepared for a Fight, and he was not ready to lose.. especially not to someone that hurt a small child.

"Manager.. why are YOU here? You two help me defeat that man, He is devious!!"

Of course Miguel was hoping the two men in front of him would help him, not being able to comprehend that the two men in front of him were evil men working for the Manager.

Daniel and Jimi

Daniel smirked at Jimi. He stuffed his hands in his pockets with his thumbs sticking out and he leaned to one side.

"It sounds like you know all of this from personal experience," Daniel commented. "Interesting..." Daniel's eyes wandered over the approaching agents. "...well, in any case it looks like running ain't going to cut it any longer."

"Daniel..." Sophie whispered.

Daniel looked back at her. She was shaking and her eyes were wide. Daniel's features softened. It looked like she was scared stiff.

Daniel grinned and turned back to face forward. "Don't worry, Sophie" he assured her. "I can do this. Trust me." He cracked his knuckles and stepped forward, the wind around him was beginning to pick up speed in response to his devil fruit's power. "Alright. Time to rock."

That was when the agents (forty-seven of them to be exact) started to come into range of both Daniel and Jimi. Daniel was immediately forced to duck under a swinging sword blade. He then slid into his opponent's guard, throwing a punch into the man's chest.

"Kaze-Kaze: Jet Stream!" Daniel intoned. The man was blasted backwards and Daniel was already in motion with his next attack. "Kaze-Kaze: Gale Hammer!" He spun and lashed out with his leg, kicking a second agent in the middle and hurling him to the side. Now a row of four agents was approaching Daniel from the front. He brought his arms up to chest height and crossed them in front of him. "Kaze-Kaze: Air Sickle!" Daniel swung his arms outwards unleashing a blade of wind which struck this row of oncoming agents and hurled them back, each with a cut on their chests. "Kaze-Kaze: Slipstream..." Daniel dashed forward, using the air to push him forward and accelerate his movement to eye-blurring speed. As the four agents he had just hit fell to the ground, Daniel sprang over them right into the shocked faces of two agents behind them. "Kaze-Kaze: Wind Knives!" Daniel fell into the midst of these agents, slashing with ten blades of wind, each of which had appeared over each of his fingers. Each of the agents fell with five, knife-like cuts on their bodies. That was eight down...

(OOC: Sleepy, these guys are generic NPCs that I will not be controlling, except when they move against one of my other characters. So...take this time to be creative if you want to and have fun. )
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Miguel

The two agents looked back and forth between the manager and Miguel, apparently confused. Then it hit them. Miguel must be someone who had seen the manager do something and attempted to stop him. Or something along those lines, anyway. At this point it did not matter.

While Miguel was focusing on the manager, the two agents each drew out a pistol and stood back holding up their weapons towards Miguel. This was in part because of the way Miguel was standing. They assumed he was some sort of close range fighter. However, there was one other reason. One that applied to the manager himself...

"Sir, it seems you have a problem," one of these two agents commented. "Should we remain as back-up?"

"It's fine," the manager said, waving them away with one hand. "I'll handle this." The manager took up position in front of Miguel and glared at him. At first, he did not speak, but almost seemed to be trying to kill Miguel with just his gaze. "Stupid...blasted...why couldn't you stay out of the way?" the manager hissed. "You've interfered for the last time. I will not allow you to proceed!"

The manager suddenly swung his hands upwards and released the needles. They shot up into the air above the manager. Before gravity could take over and send them raining back down, the manager flipped his hands over so that they were both laying flat, with his palms facing upwards. His cane was perfectly balanced on his right hand. Then ten strings shot out and each of them caught a needle, slipping through the needles' eyes.

"Behold..." the manager said quietly. "...my Weaving Viper technique. You should feel honored. It is not often that I bother to raise my hands in actual combat, much less use my devil fruit powers. However, after seeing you fight back at my tent, I believe additional force may be required. Fang Formation!"

All ten of the needles shot forward, directed by their strings, towards the manager. It was a fairly straightforward attack. The needles had been aimed to strike different points on Miguel's body: Two were going for his throat. There were two more going towards his forearms, one for each of them. The same went for his lower chest, thighs, and ankles.
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Close by...

A woman was overlooking the battle. She was dressed in a dark blue trenchcoat that was buttoned up over her upper body, but was open around her legs revealing a pair of black jeans and light brown boots. Her left hand was resting lightly on the hilt of a strange, sword-like weapon that was in a sheath that went around her back, but was at waist level.

"Heh, looks like they'll be needing me soon enough," the woman commented. "Those fools...what were they thinking rushing in there like that?"

[Presentation Box]
Toge Roze
Special Agent for ???
Bounty: 0

Miguel had no chance of defeating the man long distance, all he had was his close range fighting.. but he had to work with what he had. If any person with his weakness could defeat him, then he would never become a great fighter. While the needles were coming towards him he attempted to run in another direction, however they were too quick to have dodged them all. While most of him made it through two needles managed to penetrate his left ankle, taking away his chances of moving close enough to the enemy while running.. his only chances now was to limp.

However there was still a chance for him to defeat him while the adrenaline would not allow him to feel the pain, Miguel took the only opportunity he had and charged the Manager , taking both of his fists and attempting to defeat the man in front of him while his eyes were filled with Rage. The managers conversation with him stuck to his mind, he had the two men working for him.. he was powerful and gifted with a DF and above all.. he hurt an innocent girl and her (what he assumed to be) her father. He was going to try and get revenge, with anything he could.

Miguel had reached his opponent in close range, Taking back his fist and attempting to punch the mans ribs, his steel hard punch would normally knock someone out but in this particular case it would simply hurt to a great amount if the manager simply had above average endurance, maybe breaking a few ribs.

"This would not have been my problem if it were not for your needless actions!! You wont be forgiven!!"

"Now that's what I call game!" Jimi shouted with enthusiasm as he watched Daniel taking down several agents. He turned to Sophie who he barely knew and said "Listen sweetheart, wait here for a few ok? I promise it won't take long". He then rushed into battle, taking a spot alongside Daniel and allowed a few agents to storm at him.

Jimi's fighting style, Disco Boxing, was built around his powerful defense and quick counter attacks, and although it didn't shine the last time he faced these agents, now that the gas was out of the game, he knew he could party like he liked to. The first agent to reach him carried two steel batons, a weird choice of weapon. The agent prepared for a swing, but was quickly taken out by a blindingly fast hook from Jimi's reinforced right hand. "AFRO-BOOM" Jimi announced as the agent slowly fell to the ground, with a broken nose and three missing teeth. A pair of agents raced towards Jimi next, one holding a katana and the other held a bladed chain flail. Jimi smiled at the agents, before lowering his gaze and allowing the sunbeams to hit his pair of shades. The beam reflected off of the glasses and into the agents' eyes, blinding them. "AFRO-BEAM!" He announced, and quickly took advantage of the momentary blindness to knock the pair down with two rapid uppercuts. The agents were lifted off the ground and landed on top of the first agent to attack Jimi.

Next, two more agents rushed at him, one holding a steel wire and the other a pair of wakizashis. The wire was thrown at Jimi and he got caught in it's lasso grip. The agent with the sword attempted to slash him while he was trapped, but he was prepared. "AFRO-PAWA!" He announced as he blocked the blades with his expanded afro, letting them harmlessly pass into his hair. Then, with his impressive amount of strength, Jimi ripped the wire and kicked the armed agent's stomach, only to punch his chin went he bent over and sending him over to the pile. Then, with a quick thrust, Jimi sent the agent with the wire to the pile as well, making it a total of 5 incapacitated agents.

"This is fun!" He called towards Daniel as more agents rushed towards them.

Miguel

The manager smirked as his needles made contact with Miguel's skin. It looked like he had this fight in the bag...but then Miguel rushed him and threw a punch at his rib cage. That wasn't good. The manager knew what Miguel was capable of.

The manager closed the fingers of his right hand around his cane and the strings that were connected to that hand fell limp. He swung his cane around and blocked Miguel's punch with it. The force of the other man's punch was still enough to push him backwards, but the worst had been avoided.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," the manager replied. "None of my actions are needless. I choose each move carefully and have no regrets about what I have done. You could say that this is reflected in my style of fighting." the manager's left hand had fallen to his side when he blocked Miguel's punch and he was now twitching his fingers in an attempt to quietly bring the strings and needles back over so that they now hovered above Miguel. "For example, my needles are each coated with a numbing poison, much like my subordinates like to use in their traps. Over the years I have experimented with my poisons and discovered the exact doses that it takes to bring down other humans. You have been pierced by two of my needles so far and will be feeling the effects of those soon enough. Most people only require three to be defeated. After seeing what you can do, I would say that you will take six before you fall. So with that in mind...RAIN FORMATION!"

The five needles which had moved over Miguel's head all shot down towards him. At almost the same time the manager swung his cane at Miguel's chest.

Daniel and Jimi

Daniel smiled at Jimi's enthusiasm. It seemed that this man was going to be useful in the upcoming fight. Not only that, but he was enjoying it as well. Strange as that might have seemed to some individuals, Daniel personally thought it was kind of cool.

"Heh, don't let up," Daniel replied. He rushed towards the agents, who were starting to slow down their charge after having seen what had been done to their comrades.

From above Daniel's head there was a flash of steel. He only just brought up his hands in time to block an oncoming sword. He did this by creating a pair of wind blades just over the fingers of each hand.* Even so, the force of the blow broke through his wind blades. It might have cut him across his chest had his reflexes not kicked in at the last second and he slid to the left, receiving only a light cut on his side.

Toge Roze took a step back away from Daniel and raised her odd looking weapon. It was a large sword, one that was missing its center making its blade into two blades. These two blades only connected into one just above the guard, which was wide enough to accommodate its two hilts. Toge was holding each of these hilts in each of her hands.

"Cowards," she called back at the agents behind her. "Do not hesitate. Fight them, or I'll kill you myself."

"Hey, don't look at them!" Daniel said. "Kaze-Kaze: Storm Leg!" He kicked with his leg and fired off a blade of wind at the woman, who spun around with surprising speed and slashed through the wind blade with her sword, dissipating it instantly. "Blast," Daniel hissed through his teeth. The woman stabbed at him with her sword and he just barely twirled to the side. The pain in his side made his stumble, but fortunately for him, the woman was too busy pulling her sword back and could not capitalize on this.

This was already not looking good for Daniel. She could block his long-range techniques and she had shattered his main defense against bladed weapons.

(OOC: *This is his Kaze-Kaze: Wind Swords technique. It's a close range, wind blade technique that hovers just above his fingers.)

Miguel listened to the mans explanations on the needles that made contact with his skin. The Manager warned Miguel about the amount of needles needed to Kill him, it seemed as though 6 was the magic number. With 2 needles already on his foot, there was only 4 left before Miguel would be out of the battle.. and even dead.

There was however one thing that interested Miguel, the poison was the kind that numbed the body part it strikes.. with multiple hits the effect increases, however there was one thing he neglected to mention.. something he'd have learned if he was a doctor. The needles were circling Miguel without him knowing, he looked directly at his opponents eyes and watched him as he was speaking. A sudden pause reached the air, Miguel was already in his Muay thai stance as the conversation was progressing.

The only thing Miguel saw was the Manager swinging his cane towards his chest, Miguel moved as fast as he could making his upper body duck while the cane went over him, Miguel used his right foot to push himself towards the Manager without knowing there was needles coming to him from the top.

"Elbow Jab"

Miguel threw his Elbow forward, using the steel hard part of it to attack his opponent. The attack was made in close range and was aimed at the Managers Ribs one again, with the distance between Miguel and the Manager now closed the needles landed behind Miguel.. all save one that landed on the same Numb left foot Miguel could barely move with him. He now had 3 needles that have touched him, 3 more and the fight would be over.

With Miguel attacking the manager while he attacked, he expected for it to have been the perfect chance to have landed a blow, like in most Boxing matches.

Jimi finished tossing another agent down to the ground when he noticed no others were rushing at him. Surprised, he raised his gaze and saw that the agents were keeping their distance. "Huh! Got enough cowards?!" Jimi taunted at them, but before he finished raising his famous V in the air, a flash of steel above Daniel turned his attention. Daniel was now facing a woman, who had a unique sword and was moving blindingly fast. At first, it seemed like Daniel's devil fruit powers could outmatch anything the agents had to offer, but this woman seemed to overpower him quite easily. "Hey!" Jimi shouted with a grin that showed up on his face whenever he was talking to a woman, even she was going to attempt at his head. "Keep away from the dude!" He said, rushing to Daniel's side with his fists tight. He stopped next to Daniel and grabbed the tip of his sunglasses to emphasize his point. "I wouldn't wanna hurt a lady" He said, "Don't make me".

Miguel

The manager was caught off guard and could not move in time to avoid the blow. Then again, even if he had been expecting it, considering the speed at which the attack was preformed, it probably would have hit him anyway.

The elbow slammed into his ribs and the manager's other strings fell limp as he stumbled back, the air knocked out of his lungs. He coughed, but managed to force out, "...Sneak Formation..." The strings attached to his left hand rose once more and shot at Miguel's back.

Jimi and Daniel

Toge turned to look at Jimi and she hefted her weapon, setting it back against her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed and she grinned at Jimi.

"How noble of you," she said. "But considering that I have been ordered to eliminate any threats that stand in our way, that kind of attitude will only benefit me. I probably shouldn't tell you stuff like that, but truthfully...I want a good fight. Not some gentlemen who thinks he should treat me like a lady." She held out her sword and pointed it at Jimi's chest, her grin widening. "After all, I lost the right to that particular title a long time ago."

While she was talking, Daniel's expression became emotionless. His mind had been working, reviewing everything she had done up to that point. Slowly, his panic faded away and he took a step back.

"I don't like this," Daniel said. "I don't like this at all."

Toge glanced over at him disdainfully. "What? You gonna run scared?"

"Not exactly," Daniel smiled apologetically. "I was just thinking that if we kept fighting as we were, I would eventually take you down." He looked over at Jimi. "And I know this guy here is at the very least decently strong, though I'm pretty sure he was playing around back there. So together, that would be total overkill." Toge glared at Daniel, but he turned away from her before she could say anything. He walked past Jimi and clapped a hand on his shoulder as he went. "I promised Sophie that I would get her off of this island. I will fulfill my promise, no matter what. I trust I can leave this woman to you."

Jimi grinned, as per usual, it seemed that nothing could erase that bright smile off of his face. "Don't worry, I can take care of her" Jimi said, not stopping to consider it for even a second. "And, since she wants me to be serious..." Jimi said, turning to face his opponent. "You can be certain that I won't hold back either". He then readjusted his knuckle dusters and cracked his neck.

With a blink of an eye Jimi assumed a battle stance. He sent his right leg forward, slightly bent with his foot pointing to his opponent. His left leg was kept behind, with the foot pointing to the side. His right arm was sent forward and was bent to guard his midsection, while the left arm stayed behind to cover his face. He leaned back and forth to taunt his enemy to move. "Even though you want to be treated equally, I'm still a gentleman" Jimi lied. "So, I'll let you have the first move if you don't mind".

Jimi

"I'm glad to hear it," Toge replied in response to Jimi taking her seriously. However, she was a little disappointed by his other words. "Though you still don't seem to understand the concept of taking the initiative. Oh well."

She sprang forward, her sword having already been aimed at Jimi's chest. She thrust it towards Jimi, using some, but not all of her strength. It was still a strong blow, she just didn't want to overextend herself. Not until she had learned a little bit more about his technique.

Daniel

Daniel smiled and moved on. He really hoped that Jimi won. Not only would it help Daniel keep from being chased, but also...if Jimi won...maybe...just maybe...

Sophie screamed. Daniel looked up and noticed that she was surrounded. The agents had managed to get around Daniel and Jimi while they were distracted by that woman and they had already managed to grab Sophie. From the looks of things, they had been trying to cover up her mouth so that she could not make any sound, but she had pulled free long enough to cry out.

Daniel's eyes narrowed in fury. Attacking him and the afro guy was one thing, but actually touching Sophie was way over the line.

The agents lifted Sophie and started to move her away. A few of them stayed behind, reaching for a variety of weapons and apparently intending to block Daniel's path. They didn't last long.

One moment, Daniel was standing in place. The next he had vanished, moving at a speed that was almost comparable to soru, the wind helping speed him along. His inexperienced legs were burning just from this one dash, but in his anger he didn't even notice, though he certainly would notice afterwards.

"Kaze-Kaze: Wind Sword..."

Daniel reappeared behind the agents who had been blocking his path. Each of them suddenly cried out and fell with a sword-like cut across their chests. Daniel was already in motion, moving towards the group that had Sophie. He wasn't moving quite as fast this time, but he didn't need to, not to mention his legs couldn't handle the strain. Instead he was still visible, but his body blurred as he ran.

"Kaze-Kaze: Gale Hammer!"

Daniel jumped over the heads of that group and kicked the man who was holding Sophie, in the face. The man was knocked backwards along with Sophie, but Daniel easily plucked her from his now unconscious grip. Daniel landed lightly in the center of the group of agents, holding Sophie against him tightly.

"Close your eyes and hang on to me," he whispered. Sophie complied automatically, not wanting to anger him further. She had been surprised by his suddenly violent reaction and was feeling just a bit afraid of her guardian. "Kaze-Kaze...DEVASTATION!"

As the agents around Daniel turned to try and attack him, a virtual explosion of wind erupted from around his body. It slammed into each of them and pushed them back. For the most part they were unhurt, but a couple of them hit buildings or rolled across the ground and were badly scraped.

Daniel glared at the weakened agents, a few of whom were climbing back to their feet even now. "Don't you dare touch my charge again," Daniel growled.

Jimi was thrilled of having the option to fight again. His opponent might be skilled with flinging her sword around, but Jimi was a master of defense, and could almost handle anyone face to face. While the woman swung her sword at his chest, Jimi lowered his head to intercept the weird sword on it's way. "AFRO-PAWA!" He announced.

His Afro then expanded, it's volume increasing dramatically. It became thick and condensed, bushy and messy, a hairy shield. The sword entered the Afro, which was thick enough to rob it from it's momentum before it dealt any damage to Jimi. "You are facing a master of defense, an immovable fortress, a steady wall!" Jimi said, praising himself without hesitation.
He then formed a fist with his right hand, armed with his knuckle dusters. "It's my turn now" He said, grinning. He then raised his head, trying to drag his opponent's weapon in the process and open her middle section. "AFRO-BOOM!" He said, before sending a fast right-handed punch at his opponent's stomach, trying to take her down as fast as possible.

Daniel

Daniel turned away from the stunned agents and started to walk away. None of them made a move to attack, they were either too frightened to chase after him or simply too shaken up by the blast of wind he had hit them with. Or both.

Sophie didn't say a word. She continued to hang onto Daniel as he carried her away, her eyes betraying her own fear.

"Ah, I see," came a voice from somewhere behind Daniel. "You're one of those tough ones, aren't you?"

Daniel stopped and Sophie's eyes widened further. Slowly, Daniel turned towards the sound of the voice. Up on top of a building which was, ironically enough, the same spot where Toge had stood moments before, was another woman. She was very tall, standing at a little over seven feet in height. She was dressed in a red happi-type shirt with black pants and sandals. Clenched between her teeth was a pipe and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. Her hair was a dark red and she had it tied back into a long ponytail that reached down to the base of her shoulder blades.

The woman smirked at Daniel's angry expression. She removed her pipe from between her teeth and blew out a small cloud of smoke.

"My, my, what a scary face," she commented mildly. "No wonder my men are so afraid."

Daniel set Sophie down and took a step in the woman's direction. The wind began to pick up speed around him as his hands clenched into fists.

Sophie reached out and grabbed his shoulder and said, "Wait, I know-" But Daniel simply shrugged her hand off of him and started to walk towards his enemy.

"Do you want to die?" Daniel asked the woman.

The woman smiled mildly. "That's a question you should ask yourself," she told him.

Her hand shot forward and her pipe flew towards Daniel at such a high speed that it almost vanished. Daniel swung his head to the side and his eyes tracked the pipe as it just barely went past him and slammed into the ground with such force that it was buried in the stone that made up the docks.

Daniel barely had any time to register his shock when he heard: "Sunshine Meteor!"

Daniel's eyes were dragged upwards by the sound of the attack. The woman had leaped off of the building she had been standing on and was plummeting towards him with her foot extended in his direction. She had planned her leap carefully, jumping so that all Daniel could see of her was her silhouette against the sun behind her. This made it difficult for him to tell what she was doing, let alone attempt to block it.

So Daniel sprang backwards, reaching out for Sophie, only to find that she wasn't there. He looked around wildly, and managed to catch a glimpse of Sophie as she was being dragged away by one of the agents. Then the woman struck the ground and the concrete virtually exploded, whipping up a cloud of dirt and dust that blocked Sophie from view. Shards of stone spun past Daniel's head, cutting his cheeks and slicing into his shirt.

Jimi

Due to the size of her sword and the fact that Jimi's hair was restricting its movement, the woman was unable to dodge or block the oncoming punch. She was blown backwards, but managed to use the momentum to pull her sword free of Jimi's hair. Her back slammed into a wall and she stumbled as she tried to catch her balance, coughing hard.

After a moment, she stood back up and wiped away a tiny stream of blood that was coming from her mouth. She didn't look angry that she had just been clobbered. On the contrary, she was grinning broadly.

"Whew...that one actually shook me a little," she told Jimi. "Hair and punching techniques...what an interesting combination." She held up her sword vertically and began to unwrap some bandages from the hilts of her weapon. These bandages had been previously hidden due to them being the same color as the hilts themselves. As she was doing this, the woman continued to speak: "Since you don't seem like the type that will bore me, I'll show you the first of the true properties of my power." The bandages fell away to reveal the kanji for "fire" underneath. "Let's burn him away..." the woman intoned. "...Blazing Heart!"* The sword's blade abruptly burst into flame. "Here I come," the woman said in a singsong voice. "Burn Wheel!"

The woman twirled her sword in front of her and a hoop of flames shot from the blade towards Jimi.

(OOC: *Forgive me! I know it's a total rip-off of Bleach, but I can't help but have my characters talk to their weapons when said weapons have absorbed devil fruit. )

(( No prob, I don't reallty mind that kind of copying, not to mention that I barely know Bleach)

Jimi grinned after seeing the woman's reaction to his successful hit, this fight was going to be fun. "I think you've mistaken me for someone who cares about your fancy sword" Jimi said with a bright smirk as the woman unwrapped her hilts. "Let's just get on with it!" He shouted, before rushing towards the woman with another punch at the ready. To his surprise, he was soon facing a blazing sword.

"Holy Sh*t!" Jimi said, trying to stop his momentum as the woman swung her sword. Fire was by far his greatest weakness, since it could burn through all of his defenses. Even further, it could destroy his wonderful hair! What a crisis! He had to think fast while a loop of fire raced towards him. Without any other choice left, Jimi came up with the most obvious escape rout. He reduced his hair's volume back to it's original one and jumped forward in a diving style, making his body parallel with the ground. Luckily, he managed to go straight through the hole of the fire loop, landing on the other side by rolling over and springing back to his feet. He could only imagine the horror that could have been if the woman ignited her sword while it was inside of his hair.

"That. That's madness! This thing is almost hotter than me!" Jimi said with nothing but seriousness. He was caught in a jam. Any attack he'll make will risk having his hair on fire, he had to consider his next attacks, or he'll lose his prized possession! His soul!

Daniel

Daniel stood up to his full height and stared in shock into the cloud of dust that had been whipped up where the woman hit the ground. He had never in his life seen such raw power. His surprise quickly turned to anger as he remembered that Sophie had been taken and he started to move to the side to try and see around the rapidly dissipating dust cloud.

"Comet Flow!"

Daniel caught sight of a hand coming out of the dust cloud and he fell to the side. The hand shot through the space where his head had been and came to a sudden stop. But the wind from the punch didn't stop. It kept right on going and slammed into one of the ships in the harbor, smashing a hole in the wood.

Daniel didn't see this happen. He couldn't have seen it without risking his own life to do so. However, he still heard the breaking wood and he felt a flicker of fear. That fear only lasted a second before an image of a frightened Sophie burst into Daniel's mind.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Daniel yelled. He came back up and threw a punch at the woman's gut. "Jet Stream!"

She caught his fist with one hand and she was pushed back a foot, but dug her heels in and came to a stop. A grin spread across her face and she leaned in and whispered, "Nice try..." Her other hand came up and she seized Daniel by the front of his shirt. With a mighty heave, she lifted him over her head and flung him away from the harbor, back towards a concrete wall.

Jimi

"You seem scared," Toge commented. "I wonder why. Can't you take the heat?" She sliced her sword through the air in an almost casual manner and a tiny flare of fire burst from the blade, but it died away long before it would have reached Jimi. "Hmmm...perhaps this is too much for you to handle." She glanced almost sadly at her flaming blade. "And now that I've used it, I cannot simply put it away. That would go against everything I believe in. But don't worry. I shall finish this quickly."

She raised her weapon and brought it down in a slice, unleashing a blade of fire in a very similar manner to how an air blade is created. She then slashed again, this time horizontally so that there was a second fire blade rushing towards Jimi.

(OOC: Well, in Bleach the Soul Reapers each have sword, the ultimate powers of which cannot be accessed without speaking the true name of the sword, which to me is fun to do on here. )

Whoops! I didn't realize I double posted.

The situation couldn't have been worse... Jimi, the man who's best defense was as flammable as hair, was facing a flaming sword wielder. Luckily for him, his devil fruit gave him a little more than a fancy hair. After completely dominating his zoan fruit, Jimi could tap into various aspects of his model with his human point as well. As a result, he enjoyed a decent speed boost and strength boost even while he was seemingly not using his devil fruit powers. These two weapons could be a great help against his opponent, who wielded a heavy weapon.

Seeing the first fire blade heading towards him, Jimi sprang forward. He planned on side stepping it and heading for a strike, but before he managed to do that, he spotted a second horizontal fire blade heading towards him. Side stepping was a lost option now, he had to do something else. He sprinted towards the flaming cross that headed towards him, and with his enhanced speed and strength, performed a high jump while drifting to the left, managing to barely pass over the horizontal blade and by the vertical one. He could feel the heat touching his ear, fearing it would catch his hair.

Even though he barely managed to, Jimi dodged the attack, and was even closer to Toge than before. With his given momentum and speed, he rushed forward, attempting to punch her once again and luckily end the fight before he ended up dead, or even worse: Bald!

Daniel

Daniel was flying through the air towards the wall. He spun and yelled, "Devastation!" The blast of wind slowed him down, but it was not nearly enough to stop him from striking the wall with enough force to put cracks in it.

Daniel slid to the ground, momentarily stunned by the blow. Before he could recover himself and rise to his feet again, the woman ran up in front of him and pulled back her leg.

"Starlight Streak!"

Her leg shot forward and her foot sunk into Daniel's chest, crushing him back into the wall. The concrete shattered and Daniel was flung through the wall and into an abandoned home.

The woman stood there, calmly looking into the house at Daniel's fallen form. His eyes were closed and his mouth wide open in an expression of pain. Slowly, she turned away and walked back towards her pipe.

Jimi

Jimi was faster than Toge had been expecting. A momentary flicker of excitement rose within her, but she quickly extinguished it. She held all the cards right now and becoming arrogant in the midst of an actual clash would hurt her more than it would help.

Toge adopted a new stance as Jimi attacked her directly. She slid one foot back and turned so that Jimi was coming at her at an angle. Then she raised her sword, sideways, into his fist's path as he was punching at her. The flat end of the blade was what Jimi would hit, assuming he carried on with his punch, but the flat end of the blade was burning with fire just as much as the rest of the weapon.