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

The situation Jimi found himself in required hasty decisions to be made. On one hand, he was about to slam his fist into a flaming blade if he continued his assault, but on the other, if he'll withdraw, he'll have to face more fire blasts, and who knows if he'll ever get a chance to strike again. The right choice was quite obvious, but self sacrifice is never easy. Luckily, he had his trusty knuckle duster to ease the pain, but it wasn't going to be pleasant.

"You mistake me for a coward!" Jimi said as he drove his fist into Toge's flaming blade. It took a few mili-seconds until the pain arrived, giving Jimi some time to regret his poor decision. He felt the skin on his hand boiling, as if thousands of tiny tigers bit every inch of his skin simultaneously. After his fist connected with Toge's blade with full force, Jimi quickly pulled it out of her flame's range, to top it from being further burned. He tried to push the blade at Toge, and make her share his pain by burning her as well.

The pain settled in, digging deep into Jimi's hand, as if it was sicking the most sensitive nerves to trigger. "HELLLLL THIS HURTS!" Jimi cried and grabbed his hand, following with a stream of curses only a sailor could come across. His hand was red and his skin was burnt, but it wasn't a life threatening injury and he figured his hand would manage to survive it.

He couldn't pretend the pain was gone, like he wanted, but he did his best to remain standing and stare down at Toge.

Daniel

The woman reached down for her pipe and tore it from the concrete. It was a bit dusty, but she still stuck it back between her teeth after having brushed it off a little.

The woman was quite calm as she did all of this, despite her belief that she had just killed someone. Killing was not something she relished, but she had done it many times before and she was willing to do it again, should it become necessary. And in this case, it had been absolutely necessary. The woman had been a bit annoyed by Daniel's resolve to keep on, but at the same time she admired him a little. Even though she had proven to be superior, he had kept on and refused to give up.

There aren't many like him left in the world, even among pirates, the woman mused. After the king died, a lot of people took to the sea, but most of those were trash. Few were anything like the king himself. Gold Roger...now he was a great man.

The woman reached down and slipped out a box of matches from her pocket. She lit one and held it up to her pipe. However, just as the match was reaching her pipe, a small gust of wind blew past the woman and put it out. She smiled and turned to find Daniel standing behind her in the wreckage of the wall she had smashed him through. He was breathing heavily, with blood pouring down his face. One of his hands was extended. The woman assumed it was with that hand he had conjured up the gust.

"Still haven't given up yet, huh?" the woman asked Daniel. "Very well. Then let us continue."

She whipped out her pipe and flung it at his head before charging towards him, her fist pulled back in preparation. This time, Daniel did not dodge. He reached out and he caught the pipe in his hand. The woman barely had time to register any surprise at this before she had come into range and threw her punch. Daniel's body became a blur just as she was saying the name of her attack.

"Comet Flo-"

The woman paused. Daniel had ducked under her punch and he was spinning right inside her guard.

"GALE HAMMER!"

This time it was Daniel's foot that caught her in the stomach. She was blown back both by the force of the kick and the wind he used to speed it up.

Jimi

Jimi succeeded in pushing Toge's blade back, but it did not burn her. Instead, it lit her trenchcoat on fire. With a yowl, which was more from the surprise than from pain, Toge tore off her trenchcoat, dropped it on the ground and stamped on it to put it out. A moment later she was facing Jimi again, neither smiling nor glaring. She just seemed impressed.

"Not bad," she complimented him. "Not bad at all."

For once that was all she had to say. She seemed at a complete loss as to what else she could say and simply attacked by swinging her flaming sword at Jimi's midsection in an attempt to bisect him.

Jimi pulled the closest thing he could do to a smile after seeing Toge's counter attack. She seemed unfocused, less determined, and more importantly, vulnerable. His hand was still red and his skin was bulgy in a few spots, that were probably going to scale down in a few days. He dropped his knuckle duster to the ground, exposing a burn in it's shape as a result of the heat it absorbed.

"You've hurt me quite enough, now it's time for me to stop being polite!" Jimi said as he prepared for what he hoped was the last move of the fight. His plan consisted of two tactics: Lightning and Thunder. For the first part, Jimi positioned his eyes in such a way that would make the sun's beams reflect off of his sunglasses and into Toge's eyes, hopefully blinding her. "AFRO-BEAM!" He said.

After this was done, it was time for the thunder. The blade was inching towards him, but he did notice one thing during this entire battle: The blade's reach was shorter than his Hybrid form's reach, and that's what he was going to use in order to finish Toge off. As the blade got closer, Jimi announced "Muton Muton No Hybrid Point!" Before he began shape shifting. His body gained an amazing amount of muscle mass in an instant, he grew up to 9 feet tall and gained 20 kilograms in a second. He gained afro shield-pad like patches on a few tactical body parts, and pretty much turned into a monster. His pants were reduced to a small trouser version, and his sunglasses and red jacket still remained on him. Perhaps the most important thing he gained out of it was an extended reach. His height boost was accompanied by a length boost in both of his arms, which allowed him to reach Toge before her sword would reach him. Without wasting a second, Jimi extended his good undamaged arm over Toge's sword and towards her face, moving in to stop her movement before she managed to burn him again by grabbing her face and lifting her off the ground. Needless to say, he was far more powerful in this form

Daniel

The woman slammed with her back against the concrete on the harbor. It took her a moment, but she stood back up and glared at Daniel.

"How did you..." she hissed.

"I figured you out," Daniel replied. "You're fast and strong, but your attacks are pretty much straightforward and you are relying too much on your speed and strength to overwhelm your opponent." He punched his fist into his other hand and smirked. "The problem is, I'm faster and my strength is more than adequate to take you down. You can't win."

For a moment, the woman looked furious, but slowly her features returned to a smile. "So you have proven that you're not an idiot. Congratulations, but a little knowledge isn't going to help you. This fight is far from over."

She charged once more. This time, Daniel crouched and watched her movements. Just as he thought, she was coming straight at him. There were no tricks. She was even pulling her leg back to kick at him. Without warning she changed her attack. Her leg turned to the side and she swung a kick at Daniel's throat from the side. Daniel was surprised, but he still ducked in time, however, his concentration was lost.

"Starlight Streak!"

The woman's other leg came up and caught Daniel while he was still in his crouch. He was sent, flipping, towards the building he had smashed through once already. However, this time he didn't go through a wall. Instead, he turned himself and grabbed hold of a windowsill that was just over his head. Then he hauled himself through the window and disappeared inside the building.

For a moment the woman seemed uncertain. She looked in the direction Sophie had been taken and then she looked back at the now silent building. With a sigh, she ran forward and jumped to the window, easily clambering through it.

Jimi

The light went straight into Toge's eyes and she shut them tight, her sword blade slowing as she did so. Before she could correct her mistake Jimi had taken hold of her face, his fingers going around the sides of her head, and he lifted her into the air.

Toge's sword came to a complete stop. She realized that with his power Jimi could, and probably would, crush her head if she continued with her attack and cut him. She was now completely at his mercy.

Jimi allowed himself a quick smile after seeing his attack succeed, he had Toge's future in his hands, literally. He glanced at his burnt hand, considering smashing Toge's head between his giant fingers. No, he couldn't do that, not to a girl anyway, but she did hurt him, and it was quite annoying.

"You pulled quite a number on my hand there lady" He said, trying to move his burnt fingers and immediately giving up. "It hurts as hell you know that?"
He said, taunting the girl was fun. "Lucky for you, I'm a gentleman, and I can't kill a lady no matter how badly she burnt me" He said. "But I do have to punish you for what you've done, after all, I was just protecting a different lady out" He said. Then, without a single warning, Jimi tightened his grip around Toge's head, hoping to make her faint but keep her skull at one piece. Then, he let go of her, letting her fall to the ground.

He took another glance at his burnt hand before reverting back to his human form. He liked the reverse transition, it made him feel lighter on his feet. Even though he missed the festival he was originally looking for, the rush of combat was a great feeling as well, not to mention the feelings of triumph. But just as he gave his massive ego a tap on the back for a job well done, he felt his burnt hand stinging, and realized he wasn't such a big winner after all. "Oh well..." Jimi said to himself. "I can always tell the ladies I got this for saving a puppy from a burning building or something" He said, he was quite a character.

"Now where's that lady I busted my ass for?!" He grunted while looking around. "I want my gratitude!".

(OOC: Get ready for an insanely long post. This should explain everything that has happened.)

Daniel

The woman dropped from the windowsill to the floor beneath it. The room she found herself in was a hotel room set up with two queen-size beds. Daniel was nowhere to be seen. Until he dropped down from where he had been hanging onto a light on the ceiling.

"Kaze-Kaze: Devastation!"

Daniel punched his fists together and blew the beds, dresser, and a coffee table away towards the walls. His hands then dropped to his sides and he stared at the woman silently.

"Well, I suppose we should just get this over with," the woman said after several seconds had passed.

"What is it with you?" Daniel asked suddenly. The woman looked surprised, but he continued before she could speak: "Why are you so obsessed with Sophie anyway? What is your deal with her? Why can't you just leave her alone!?" He was almost yelling by the time he finished this last line. "Is it money that you want? Revenge against her parents?"

The woman didn't say anything right away. She folded her hands in front of her and adopted a thoughtful look on her features.

Then: "No, it's not money, though I suppose that you could argue that it is sort of for revenge, if you really tried. The truth is that she and I share a very special connection. One that goes deeper than words. She's very precious to me."

Daniel frowned. "You make it sound almost like you don't want to hurt her. But everything you've done says otherwise. And Sophie...she's terrified of you. Is that really what you want?" He shook his head. "Look, forget this. It doesn't matter. I'm going to crush you either way."

Daniel took a step forward and then the door burst open behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening. There, standing behind him, was Sophie. There were no agents restraining her. She was free, although admittedly, she did have a bruise on her forehead and her hair had been completely messed up.

"How did you..." Daniel began, but he was cut off.

"Don't hurt her!" Sophie said. She took a step forward and grabbed Daniel by the shoulders. "Please...she's my mother."

Shocked, Daniel looked back and forth between the woman and Sophie.

"It's true," the woman admitted. "I am Sophie's mother. I married her father twenty-two years ago. She was born only six years after that." For the first time the woman's cool exterior dropped and she seemed smaller than before. "I was happy with my life, but there were complications. Before I married my husband, I had been a part of an organization that provides less-than-legal services. I had just managed to work myself up to the top when I became pregnant with Sophie. Up to this point I had managed to hide my identity, but it was becoming more and more difficult as time when on. My husband found out when Sophie was only two and he tried to get me to disband the group. I refused and he left me, taking Sophie with him. I tried to get her back, but my husband had received the protection of the Marines in exchange for information on my group. I could not reach her. So I left her alone and watched her from a distance as she grew up, hoping that I would get another chance to be with her. When I learned that she would be coming here with a minimal amount of security, I began making plans to take her from this island and frame a group of sailors for her kidnapping." The woman looked up at Daniel, but she did not seem to be angry with him. "Then you appeared. You and that afro-man outside. You fought me at every turn and slowed my progress. You almost succeeded in making me fail. But not anymore. The fancy parts of plans may have failed, but perhaps it is better that my husband knows who took my daughter from him." She took a step forward, but was shocked to find Sophie moving in front of Daniel.

"Mom, stop," Sophie said. She had drawn a dagger from her sleeve and held it up defensively. "I don't want to go with you! Dad told me what you did! You SOLD people mom! And had hundreds murdered! You should go to jail..." Though her words were harsh, Daniel could see tears springing into her eyes. "...but even so...I don't want you to get hurt! So just go...leave me alone..."

"Sophie..." her mother's eyes softened for a moment, looking hurt, but then they hardened again. "So you know what I've done, do you? Then you should know, that once I have set my heart on a prize, I don't give up until it's in my grasp."

The next thing Sophie knew, her mother had kicked her dagger from her hands and shot forward reaching for her throat. Then Daniel zipped in front of her through the use of his Slipstream technique. He caught the woman's hand in his own and, despite all of her power, he was managing to hold her back. The woman swung her other fist and landed a hit on Daniel's gut. He winced and slid back a step, but continued to hang on.

"What is wrong with you?" Daniel growled, catching both Sophie and her mother off guard. "Parents should protect their children...not hurt them! WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU?" Daniel gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. "My own parents fought for me and saved my life. And now they are dead and I can never change that! I'll never see them again and can never say how much I..." He swallowed hard. His grip had slackened as the painful memories returned, but the woman across from him was also no longer pushing as hard as she listened to him "And so...I can never allow you to do this. Your daughter will hate you and you will regret it for the rest of your days."

"Daniel..." Sophie whispered. "...I..."

"Sophie, listen to me," Daniel interrupted. "I'm going to show you how a real parent is supposed to act. Just stay where you are...and trust me."

The woman glared at him and began pushing harder again. "As if I would allow that! I will not lose! Not now!"

"You have no choice," Daniel replied. His hand had not been pushed back at all even though she was using all of her strength. "Here I come!"

Daniel let go. The woman's hand shot forward and she fell, completely off balance. Daniel used this opportunity to take a step forward and punch her in the face with all of his might.

"JET STREAM!"

The woman was flung backwards through the window behind her. However, she didn't have a chance to recover. There was Daniel, jumping out after her. He flipped out into the air above her and brought his leg down towards her gut.

"And...GALE HAMMER!"

Daniel didn't stop there. He followed the woman as she fell, his foot still on her stomach as he drove her all the way down and then into the ground below. There was an explosion of dust and a cloud of the stuff filled the air.

Sophie ran to the window and looked down at the dust just in time to see a figure rise, his or her identity concealed by the dust. A wind blew through the area and blew the dust away, revealing Daniel to be the victor. Sophie's mother lay on the ground in front of him, completely unconscious.

Daniel looked back up at Sophie. "Are you alright?" he called up. She nodded, having been made speechless by what had just happened. Daniel smiled. "I'm so glad," he told her. Then he fell backwards towards the ground and lay there, staring up at the sky. "Dang that lady can punch," Daniel muttered. "Haven't felt this much pain since I fought those wild boars back on Azeal island."

Jimi

Toge fell to the ground, unconscious. She had finally been defeated. Her sword lay on the ground with its hilt near to her hand.

Jimi shifted after hearing the sound of powerful gusts streaming around a building not too far away from him, followed by a dusty eruption on the ground below. He remembered that the guy who accompanied the girl he was saving was able to shift the winds, so the gusts were probably his doing, and the girl must be with him as well.

He didn't run, nor did he hustle, he just calmly walked towards the direction of the eruption. He wasn't too concerned about the fate of the man, but the girl owed him a thank you, and he wouldn't have gone towards there at all if it wasn't for that. He studied his burnt hand the whole time, trying to guess how long will it take for him to be able to deliver a right hook again. The building wasn't far away, and Jimi caught up to it in a minute.

He glanced at the floor and noticed Daniel, lying on the ground next to an unconscious woman. "Hah, yours fainted too?" Jimi asked sarcastically as he reached down to offer Daniel some help with getting up. As he did so, he gazed up on the girl he just helped saving. He had no idea who she was, he could barely remember her name, but then, a question popped into his mind. "Say, did any of you happen to see that guitar player who brought me here?" He asked, wondering what happened to the guy.

Daniel and Jimi

Daniel caught Jimi's hand and hauled himself back up onto his feet. He glanced back in the direction where he had last seen Jimi fighting and noticed Toge lying on the ground.

"So you won," Daniel commented, calmly. "Great." He looked over and Jimi and shook his head. "No, I haven't seen that guitar guy since he ran off, fighting that man who was going to fight us right near the beginning of the battle. Who was he anyway?"

Sophie stared down at the two people, looking at them like they were crazy. One moment they were fighting for their lives and now the two of them seemed very much at ease, almost bored. It was like the fight had never happened.

Daniel turned his head to look up at Sophie and he smiled. "Why don't you come on down?" he asked her. "I'm thinking that it's about time to get you off of this island."

"R-Right," Sophie said. She disappeared back inside the building and almost immediately Daniel dropped to his knees.

"Heh...looks like I'm still weak," Daniel told Jimi offhandedly. "But hey, can't look like this in front of a girl, right?"

Elsewhere...

The guitar playing man was standing in an alleyway, hidden by the shadows. He had his opponent, Romulus, slung over his shoulder. Romulus was unconscious and his hands were bound.

The guitar playing man smiled at Daniel and Jimi, who he had been watching fight, and then he turned away, walking off down the path before him.

Jimi allowed Daniel's compliment to sink into his massive ego and inflate it a bit. "Well, I don't really know who he was myself, but he helped me out of trap and asked me to help you guys out, so I thought he had something to do with you... weird you never seen him before" Jimi said in response to Daniel's question. "In fact, I have no idea who that girl is as well" Jimi admitted as Sophie entered the building and was out of hearing range.

Seeing Daniel hide his weakness from Sophie made Jimi like him, "Absolutely" Jimi answered. He then exposed his burnt hand. "Can't let the girl see this either" he said jokingly. His hand was starting to feel better now that the cool air of the docks kicked in, but it was still terrifying to look at, and Jimi made sure he hid it once Sophie got down and exited the building.

Daniel quickly got back to his feet as Sophie approached. He very carefully brushed off his pants as if he had merely stumbled for a moment, but was ultimately unaffected by it. Fortunately, Sophie noticed none of this. She was looking back and forth between Jimi and Daniel. She glanced down at her mother and then looked back up at her protectors.

"I..." she began, but then paused.

"Well, looks like we better get going," Daniel said, as if he hadn't heard her speak. "It's time to take you home."

He turned and started to walked away, but then...

"WAIT!" Sophie yelled. Daniel stopped, but he did not look back at her. "I never got to say..." Tears were starting to form in her eyes again and her voice fell to a whisper. "...thank you." She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Daniel stiffened, but she did not release him. "Thank you so much," she told him. She let go and smiled at Jimi. "And you, you came here and protected me as well. I don't know who you are, but thank you anyway." She walked over to Jimi and gave him a hug as well.

"Okay, okay," Daniel said. He still had not turned around. "Enough of the mushy stuff. I still have to get you off of this island. And you..." He stopped and looked back at Jimi, a thoughtful expression crossing his features. Then he walked over to him and folded his arms across his chest. "You, afro-man, I don't know much about you, but you've proven that you're reliable and strong. So how about you join my pirate crew?"

Sophie spun around and stared at Daniel in shock. She had heard him say that he wanted to become a storm, raging across the Grandline, but that could have meant a lot of things. Him being a pirate was something she had not expected. Weren't pirates supposed to be...evil? And yet he had helped her. Admittedly he had claimed it was because she had helped him out first, but even so...

"It's not the best offer," Daniel admitted. "I'm not the strongest guy around and my leadership experience is limited to a squirrel that followed me for a couple of weeks after I fixed its leg. Not to mention, that if you join, it would just be me and you for right now." Daniel was starting to smile now and was becoming more animated. "But even so, I'm sure that with your strength added to mine, we could find others who are strong and bring them in as well. So what do you say? Want to cause some chaos?" He held out his hand.

Jimi smiled as he watched Daniel stiffen in Sophie's grasp, but it didn't take too long until Jimi was hugged as well. "Well", he said, unsure of what to do, "I don't really know you either, but I'm glad I could help" He admitted, paying his depth to the guitar player was the best depth he ever had to pay, he got blood and a hug.

Then, a surprising offer came from Daniel. "Ha, I should have known you were a pirate, someone with fighting skills like yours is bound to be a pirate or some kind of freak" Jimi said, fixing his sunglasses in a cool position. "You'll be glad to hear that I'm a pirate myself, probably the best navigator around this lot" Jimi said. Daniel seemed like a hell of a guy, with expectations and a bright future in piracy, And the thought of bringing chaos to the oceans was perfect in Jimi's eyes. "Well, you got yourself a navigator captain" Jimi said as he reached for a hand shake, with his left hand. "The name's Jimi H. Hide, but Afro-man is good too".

"And I am Daniel D. Haught," Daniel replied while shaking Jimi's hand. "A navigator, huh? That's good. I can do a bit of navigating myself, but I'm still not very good at it. I can't even sleep at night, or else I'll go off course." He released Jimi's hand and turned, walking down the harbor. "Follow me and I'll take you to my ship. Then you'll know where it is, so you can find it again if you need to get anything before we set sail."

Sophie trailed after Daniel, feeling a little bit left out. It seemed that once she was no longer in danger, Daniel wasn't going to pay as much attention to her. Suddenly a hand came down on her shoulder and when she looked up, there was Daniel standing in front of her with a smile.

"If you don't move any faster, we might leave you behind," he said.

Sophie grinned.

(OOC: This is mainly a finishing-up post. If you have anything to say or do, then go ahead. Otherwise I declare this thread...CLOSED! Time to set sail for the next adventure. Unless something changes, I should post the next thread tomorrow.)