Serious: The Night Terror Pirates Chapter 1: Homecoming

Sabaody Archipelago

Life upon the island of Sabaody Archipelago was running as smoothly as always. In other words, there were just as many pirates fighting, Celestial Dragons whining, civilians screaming, and slavers selling as there were any other day.

Down at Grove 51, a ship had just pulled up to the island. From this ship stepped a man. He was young, with short dark hair and piercing red eyes. He was dressed in a dark blue shirt, a lighter blue scarf, and jeans. On his back he carried a broadsword.

[Presentation Box]
Alexander D. Remington
Soon-to-be Pirate Captain
Bounty: 90,000,000

Alex reached back onto his ship and took hold of a dark brown cloak. He swept it around his shoulders and covered his head with its hood. Had he been anywhere else, this might have seemed suspicious, but the island of Sabaody Archipelago was a mix of just about every type of scum known to man. So Alex would fit right in.

He left the docking area and headed for Grove 24. Unless he was very mistaken, there was a bar there that pirates like him frequented. However, he wasn't going to that place to have a good time.

As Alex walked, he reminisced about the times before when he had called this island home. He had been happy here, up until he kissed that Celestial Dragon's daughter on a bet and brought the full force of the Marines on top of himself. He didn't regret his decision, since he had already been planning to leave the island, but it still saddened him to not be able to see this place for so long.

Unfortunately, his business was not the kind that could be accomplished by sightseeing. So, casting aside his wistful thoughts, he carried on towards the bar. He had a crew to build.

Inside the bar, a man had been standing. The man wore clothes that made him look like a priest. Also, the man carried a sword with him on his hand, showing it to everyone who happened to be around. He had black hair and eyes that showed that he looked down to everyone he happened to look at. He had a smile on his face, that further supported that theory...

[Presentation Box]
John Moonstripe
Leader of the Moonstripe Clan
Bounty: 20,000,000 Beli

As he walked in the bar, two marines appeared behind him. They were both wearing the normal marine uniform. They seemed to be normal marines, with no big rank at all. They pointed their guns towards John and said

"John Moonstripe, Leader of the Moonstripe Clan! You are under arrest for killing a great amount of people including pirates and marines. Do not try to avoid getting arrested, otherwise we will have to use force against you."

As soon as he listened to these words, John smiled. He turned his head towards them, looking at their face and he disappeared from the spot, probably using a technique that allowed him to run extremely fast. The marines opened their eyes deeply and they both felt a sword touching their back at the same time. The sword was not stabing them. It was barely touching them to cause them the sense of fear.

Scared from the sword, they both turned their heads, only to see the door closing. The man was getting out! They had to chase him in order to track him down! If they did not, they would miss their chances! They had to do it as fast as possible! In no time, they started running out of the bar in order to face the dangerous individual and take him down at all costs.

As they got out, they looked at John. John had his back turned and he seemed to be off guard. He was very close, so if they got a shot on him they could kill him. It was their chance! They both raised their guns and as they were about to shoot...

"Argh!". Their voices were heard. They both looked at each other, then they turned their heads back to John. The man did not even look at them. The only thing he did was to tilt the fingers of his hand and the marines felt the pain on their backs. One of them was hit by an air blade at the back while the other one was pierced in the heart with a sword the temporarily appeared in front of him and disappeared.

"What did you do?!"they both asked, while falling on their knees and dropping their weapons down. With an evil look on his face, John looked at them. He turned his back towards them and pointed with his sword. He looked around for a second to see if there were any people around. Hopefully, the road seemed to be empty. He said "Sinful people like you have no right to ask me what I did." before he rushed towards them and cut them down with two final slashes from his sword, ultimately killing them. When he was finished, he licked the blade of his sword, tasting the blood of his enemies.

"Delicious... Hm?" he said as he listened to somebody coming. As he did not want to be found out as a marine killer, the man used the technique that made him move extremely fast, disappearing from the scene and only leaving the corpses of the two marines on the floor... John had just commited another crime...

Seeing bubbles rising into the sky and people riding around inside of them a Dalmatian ran jumping over board of a ship and landed by a tree which had the numbers 24 on it, followed by a man carrying a bag.

[Presentation Box]
Rupert Everstorm & Duncan
Travelling Doctor and Pet
Bounty: 0 Beli

Rupert looked up at the sign then back at the ship he had just left, he waved to the people who had just dropped him off here, he was very grateful for their help as they were for his. Rupert could feel his fingers were still slightly sticky from the blood whilst he was stitching together a member of their crew. Rupert knelt down near Duncan and stroked his fur then looked into his eyes, he could tell he was excited and reached into his bag and produced a dog treat and fed it to Duncan. Duncan hungrily snatched it up and licked his lips quickly before running off into to town excited. Rupert stood up and watched happily before following him and calling out, "Duncan, don't go to far." Duncan stopped where he was then looked back with his tongue still hanging out. Rupert smiled then followed Duncan into town, he was just as amazed as Duncan was at the bubbles and when he saw people riding in weird contraptions in the bubbles he was amazed and found himself poking the bubbles which floated past him.

Duncan began chasing after a bubble and Rupert called out, "Duncan!" but it was too late Duncan wasn't coming back, Rupert began running after him trying to catch up with him. Rupert found Duncan sitting down next to the person who had been riding in the bubble stroking him, Rupert sighed then walked over and said, "D-d-duncan" Duncan ran over towards him and Rupert stroked him on the head.

"He's a cute little dog you have their, but he looks like he's quite old." said a pretty young girl looking at Rupert. he looked up at the woman and she was very pretty but Rupert couldn't find the right words to use and instead nodded. then stood up and waved to the woman then called out, "C-c-c-come on Duncan" As he walked away he felt stupid that he couldn't say anything to the woman and was kicking himself for it but he was used to this feeling and ended up sitting outside a bar as he had no money. Rupert sat down outside stroking Duncan as he reached into his bag and removed a ball which he began throwing for Duncan, the ball would bounce and Duncan would catch it then return it and repeat.

As Rupert watched Duncan return the ball each time he threw it further for Duncan until the ball hit the ground and bounced back towards him and instead of catching the ball it bounced into the pub he was sat outside and Duncan dashed in after it. Rupert sighed realizing Duncan would probably make a mess and stood up ready to head into the pub, until he saw the pretty woman drift by him again waving at him he felt distracted and smiled at her as she went by then he heard the sound of glasses smash and tables being knocked over and knew what that sound was.

Alex had just spotted the bar in Grove 24 when he saw some bloody bodies lying on the ground outside of it. He approached them and looked down at them. Marines, both of them. Were they stupid or something? The first twenty-nine groves were the territory where pirates and bounty hunters raged without restraint. For anyone else to come here was suicide. Even Celestial Dragons had to be careful.

Deciding that there wasn't much point in sticking around outside at the scene of the crime, Alex walked right into the bar. The place was quiet and the patrons looked nervous. They nearly jumped out of their skins when Alex had walked in. Despite seeing that he was not whoever or whatever they feared, they commenced to whispering and casting him nervous glances. They were all wondering how this man had avoided the battle between the Marines and the man the Marines were chasing. They had heard yelling, but none of them dared to set foot outside of the bar to see what exactly had occurred.

For his part, Alex ignored them. He walked up to the bar and set himself down on a stool. He did not throw back the hood of his cloak, but kept his face concealed. This only heightened the suspicions of those around him. For all they knew, he could be the priest disguised to look like another man so that the Marines wouldn't see him and send in a larger group to take him.

"A cola for me," Alex said to the bartender.

The bartender grunted, looking unimpressed at the sound of Alex's voice, and he went off to get Alex's drink. The people in the bar relaxed, thinking that they were safe. After all, Alex's voice was different from the priest's. A few of the patrons even smirked at Alex's drink choice. What kind of a person came to a bar and didn't order alcohol?

A man stood up and walked over to Alex. He leaned over the smaller man and grinned at him.

"Hey, buddy," he said. "Did you see what happened outside?"

Alex didn't reply. This irked the man, who reached for Alex's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you-"

He never finished his sentence. Alex caught his hand by the wrist just before it would have caught his shoulder. The man gasped in pain as Alex slowly increased the pressure on the man's wrist.

"Don't touch me," Alex said.

There was a loud snapping sound and the man screamed. Alex released his arm and the man hit the floor, yelling in pain.

Alex had never had a drink brought to him so quickly. As he was drinking his cola, he thought that maybe he should always break someone's wrist when he came to a bar. That way, the wait time would be significantly decreased.

Unknown to Alex, a man seated in a booth in the corner of the room was now watching him through narrowed eyes. The man was dressed in a bizarre fashion and looked even stranger. First off, he had dark hair, the tips of which ended in red. Around the edges of his eyes were dark markings, sort of like eye shadow. His skin was extremely pale, almost a pasty white. On his head he wore a pair of old, beat-up goggles. He was dressed in a gray, short-sleeve hoodie and jeans. He had each of his arms slung around the shoulders of an attractive, young woman. Even though these two women were trying to get his attention, he completely ignored them, but continued watching Alex silently, almost appraisingly.

As Alexander was inside the bar, John entered unexpectedly. The man had a smile on his face that showed a cheerful face. As he was walking in the bar, the people from before were surprised to see him and they were afraid of his pressence because they thought that he was the one who took the marines out. Before they said anything, though, he sighed and said with a smile on his face "Phew... I was lucky... If these pirates did not appear unexpectedly here, I could end up getting capture...". The man was lying... However, there was nobody that could prove him wrong.

Afterwards, he walked towards Alexander's direction. He stood next to him coincidentally and ordered a drink from the bartnender. While waiting for the bartender to give him the drink, the man looked at Alexander. That guy... He carried swords with him, as well. He probably was a swordsman, just like John. On top of that, his figure was reminding him of something... John was pretty sure that he had seen him somewhere... But where could he have? It was impossible for him to answer, unless he asked Alexander himself. "Hello." the "Priest of the Apocalypse" said with a grin on his face and waited for an answer.

As Duncan ran around inside the pub chasing the ball he knocked over a table before catching the ball in his mouth and happily sitting down with it in his mouth. The table which he knocked over was an unoccupied table but it had empty glasses on it from the previous people who'd been drinking there.

Rupert followed Duncan into the bar and found him by an upturned table, he walked over to him feeling very self concious of all the people around him, staring at him except for a few people at the bar. Rupert patted Duncan on the head before saying to him in a hushed tone, "Come on Duncan," Duncan dropped the ball which Rupert picked up, he approached the bar and said to the bartender, "I'm very sorry about the mess Duncan caused," as Rupert turned to leave the bartender said to him, "Its alright but I would like you to pay for the damages of the table and glasses." The bartender seemed like a nice guy but a bit annoyed.

"Sorry but I don't have any money, so even if I wanted to pay I couldn't."
Duncan looked up at Rupert and tilted his head in curiosity of why he hadn't thrown the ball. The bartender looked at Rupert unimpressed and there was a few moments of silence before he replied, "This is your 1st warning kid, I'll let you off this time, but next time you owe me for this time too." Rupert smiled and nodded agreeing with these terms.

Alex didn't even bother looking at the other man. John did not interest him. Not only had he referred to pirates as thought he was not one, but also the fact that he needed help from pirates made him seem pathetic in Alex's eyes. What Alex was looking for were men who had power, or an invaluable talent. A random guy like this was simply beneath his notice.

"Want to end up like him?" Alex asked, jabbing his thumb at the man with the broken wrist, who was no longer screaming but was still moaning in pain. "Then shove off." With that, Alex picked up his cola and finished it. "A bottle of this stuff for the road, if you don't mind," he asked the bartender.

The bartender was quick to bring both Alex and John their drinks. Despite having spent most of his life around pirates, he wasn't one to go around messing with a guy who broke wrists on a whim and another guy who was a potential Marine killer.

Alex took his cola and stood up. He reached towards his hood and threw it back before turning to the room. Immediately, just about every eye turned in his direction. Alex looked critically back at the crowd, his eyes scanning their ranks.

"I can see from your expressions that most of you do not know me," Alex commented. He grinned. "That's fine. I wasn't expecting for the bigheaded rookies to remember the face of a 'small-timer' like me." When he had said 'small-timer' his voice had been virtually dripping with sarcasm. "But you see...the thing is...I think you all look pretty weak."

The room suddenly became cold. Every rookie pirate in the bar was completely fixated on Alex. Several of them reached under their tables, as if fingering weapons.

"So let me propose a little contest," Alex said. "I bet that I can take down every single one of the top rookies on this island. And I can do it all in one day." Alex popped open the cola bottle in his hand and took a swig from it before returning to watching the crowd. "Heck, I'll do it in half a day. It's only nine'o'clock right now and since I want midnight to be the ending hour, the contest'll have to start at noon. Anyone who is not chicken enough to show up can stay here. Otherwise...meet me at Grove 1."

Rupert heard what a man at the bar had to say about beating every single one of the top rookies on this island, he was curious to see how strong this guy was but knew he wasn't anywhere near strong enough to fight and hopefully win. Rupert still really wanted to see what this guy could do. Duncan rubbed his nose up against Rupert's leg. He looked down noticing he wanted a treat and said, "No Duncan, you've already had two, no more." Rupert knelt down to Duncan and whispered into his ear "Get that man's scent." Rupert pointed to Alex trying to hide it as much as he could. Duncan licked Rupert's face until Rupert repeated himself. Duncan then sniffed at the ground and made his way over to Alex where he began sniffing at his feet then barked at him.

Rupert called out, "Duncan come here boy." He would've whistled if he could but couldn't and removed another treat from his bag and fed it to Duncan who gobbled it up hungrily. Rupert looked at Alex and mouthed to him sorry. Rupert felt like an idiot and decided he better head off to find Grove 1 and a place where he can sit and watch the event unfold as he was excited to see what this man could do.

Duncan lead the way out from the pub and Rupert followed as they looked around for any pointers which would lead them to Grove 1. Duncan managed to pick up the Alex's scent and followed it back to his ship, Rupert ran after him as Duncan was almost sprinting, barley managing to keep up with him Rupert tripped up and ended up looking up at the cute looking girl he'd seen earlier, she smiled at him and he blushed feeling stupid, as the woman helped him up she said, "It seems I just keep running into you."
Rupert nodded and replied weakly, "yea" Duncan awaited for Rupert to follow him and began to bark. Rupert and the woman looked at Duncan before Rupert said, "Thank you, I should be going." Rupert ran after Duncan again following him kicking himself mentally for not properly speaking to the beautiful woman.

As Rupert followed Duncan he muttered to himself, "What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I just speak to her or any woman like a normal person?" Rupert began gently hitting the side of his head, when he stopped he realized a bit too late that he was running face first into a tree. Duncan barked at Rupert as his face made contact with the tree which had written on it Grove 1. Rupert's body hit the ground hard as blood dribbled from his nose down the side of his slightly blushed face.

John had been looking towards Alexander as he was speaking about taking down the rookies on Shabondy Archipelago in half a day. That was clearly a very big goal and something to achieve. Only a few people would be able to do that and John knew it pretty well. He smiled while listening to the whole speech, taking an evil face for a brief moment. That guy... He obviously had something in him that made John believe that he could actually win the contest. Was it the look on his face or the determination that he showed in his words? The "Priest of the Apocalypse" did not have an answer, but he clearly grew an interest for him. If that man could really do what he said, he would be the perfect man for John to stick with. A man that could eliminate the weak and create a world of strong people... Seeing this "contest" as a chance to show his strength to Alexander, John also decided to participate in the battle.

"That sounds very interesting..." John said, speaking his words with a serious face. "I might get there... The Moonstripe Clan has to keep its name of having the greatest swordsmen in Shabondy, after all. If I let you beat all those pathetic rookies without interfering, it would be like I am not protecting the name of my clan. My ancestors would spit on me if I did this. The heavens would prepare a bad fate about me. My long-gone father would hate me because I would not keep the promise I made to him in his dying moments...". Then, a fake tear appeared on his eye as he spoke his words about his ancestors and his father. John was a great actor and he thought that this would convince the people that he simply was a person who would fight for his family's sake.

However, there were people in the bar who knew about him and could not listen to his lies anymore. They were disgusted from his obvious lying. A man raised his gun and pointed towards him in order to shoot him down. As he pointed with his gun towards John, he said "You bastard! You have killed douzins of people, including my family! Everyone knows about you and you still keep lying like you are an innocent man! I cannot listen to your pathetic lies anymore! Die!". Afterwards, he pulled the trigger of his gun and the bullet started moving towards John in order to kill him. However as it was moving towards him, John disappeared from his position and reappared behind the man, with his sword unseathed and pointing behind his head.

"Well, well... What do we have here? A liar who accuses people of something and then kills them? That is unforgivable... God will never forgive you... Neither I will." he said with a chilling voice as he slowly pierced the man through his head, ultimately killing him in front of everyone. "I hate killing people, as all of you know, but I also hate people who want me killed. So, in other words, if anything comes to your ear about John Moonstripe, the leader of the Moonstripe Clan tell me... I will have to fix it.". Then, he pulled his sword out of the man's head and started walking towards the exit slowly. A few of the pirates were terrified, some others were angry and some others just did not say anything. John would not say anything to them either.

However, at the time he reached the door he turned his head towards Alexander. John took a smile on his face and he said to the swordsman "I will be waiting at Grove 1... See you later.". Seconds later, he closed the door and he disappeared from the bar, leaving the corpse of the pirate at his place and most people around shocked.

A man in another booth would be smirking as Alex began his little statement about a contest. The man chuckled slightly, now know that he could get off of this island by winning. The man tilted his Trilby up with his Flintlock to get a better look at Alex.

[Presentation Box]
Exular "Smoke Pistol" Hathor
Moku-Moku Marksman
Bounty: 1,000,000

The booth which the man was sitting at was under a cloud of smoke. As Exular listened to the man continue his speech, he would take out his cigar and took a drink from his Whiskey glass. As Alex finished his speech, Exular placed down his empty whiskey glass and chuckled, thinking to himself; "Even though this guy is nigh-legendary, how does he honestly believe he can take on every pirate. He probably doesn't even realise that every pirate can jump on him at once. Either way, I can get off of this island finally by winning this "competition"."
Exular placed his cigar back into his mouth and placed the single flintlock back into it's holster and walked over to Alex, taking off his hat, placing it over his heart and bowing; "This is great competition. I would gladly participate. Hopefully I can show you that not every pirate here is useless.", Exular blinked as he processes what he just said and turns around to the other pirates, "Sorry for insulting you."
After speaking, Exular would turn towards the door and place his Trilby back on, turning his head around just after opening the bar door, "I shall see you at Grove 1", Exular would leave the bar, heading towards Grove 1.

The smell of fish carried in the air as a weird looking creature walked around Shabondy Archipelago. The creature was tall, and wore what appeared to be a Hawaiian shirt, unbuttoned of course, revealing his large stomach to the crowd. He carried Conga drum that was strapped to his back by a piece of rope that was also holding his Bermuda shorts up. His wooden sandals clapped with every step as his shaggy black hair jumped up and down. But, the most notable feature of this creature, was that he was pink.

[Presentation Box]
Momo Kahuna
Atlantic Salmon Fishman
Bounty: 0B

The visit to the Archipelago made Momo's mind drown in a sea of mixed emotions. On one hand, he was closer to home than ever before. It seemed like only yesterday when he left his racist father and sailed to the land in order to become a better son. And now, almost ten years later, he was once again where he first started: Grove number 1 of Shabondy Archipelago. On the other hand, every newborn fishman knows that the Archipelago was filled with World Nobles and slave traders, who only looked for fishmen to kidnap, buy or sale, not to mention the nightmarish auction house that was infamous in the world below sea level. Being here was dangerous for any fishman, and Momo was no different. But the fishman's attire gave out a different massage: He seemed relaxed, some will say he was off guard, but that's just how Momo is, peaceful and calm.

He arrived at Shabondy out of a random whim, one of many that made him wonder around the Grand Line for several years. Migrating was imprinted in his blood and he was always looking for the next site to visit.

As he strolled down the first grove of the archipelago, humming an old tribal song, he couldn't help but notice a man that laid unconscious next to the address tree. More interestingly, the man had a dalmatian next to him who barked at him for fainting like that. "What a lovely moment. I should cherish it, with song" Momo mumbled as he approached the scene. He carefully sat down next to the dog, trying not to scare him away, and untied the drum from his back. He then balanced the drum between his bent knees and began repeating a cheery rhythm that he felt was fitting the moment. He was a weird fishman indeed. "Aren't you a loyal little buddy?" Momo said, as if the dog could understand him. He had a feeling that even though the owner was fainted, he should be fine without Momo's help.

Hearing a tropical sounding beating of drums Rupert felt incredibly confused as he could also feel a wet flat tongue slapping against his face, he smiled then slowly found himself regaining conciousness. As his eyes flitted open and Duncan began dancing around the unconscious Rupert enjoying the beating of the drums Rupert slowly opened his eyes fully and sat up before realising what was going on. The pretty sounding beating of the drums wasn't made up in his head it was real it was being played by a large pink fishman?! Rupert panicked when he saw the fishman playing drums and shrieked in a high pitched tone before throwing his back against the tree and asking,"Who're you?"

Rupert didn't want to be rude but it was unusual to have a stranger come and sit beside you when you were out cold and playing the drums, most people would try and wake you or ignore you, not play the drums. Duncan still happily danced around to the beats then sniffed at the fishman and licked him. Seeing Duncan lick the fishman he felt bad that he couldn't keep his pet in control and said, "Duncan stop that."Duncan turned to look at Rupert and saw the panic and disappointment in Rupert's face then curled up in a ball on the floor feeling upset. Rupert didn't like seeing Duncan upset but he was so freaked out and shocked by the large pink fishman playing the drums he didn't exactly know what to do.

Alex smiled as he watched the pirates that responded to his call leaving the bar ahead of him. It seemed that his plan might actually work. After all, he had absolutely no intention of actually fighting every single pirate on this island. No, he had another goal in mind. One that could only be accomplished by offering bait for these morons. Otherwise their arrogance would simply cause them to laugh in his face and move on.

Alex flipped a coin back onto the bar's counter to pay for his drink. Then he left the bar as well. Unlike what happened to that weird priest guy, no one tried to stop Alex. Perhaps they were too scared to do so, or maybe they had decided that they would have to opportunity to beat him down later anyways and that was good enough for them.

As soon as Alex stepped out of the bar, the man who had been watching him stood up, leaving behind the women he had been sitting with. His captain would be very interested to hear about this.

Several other pirates in the bar also stood up and began leaving. Soon enough, word of the competition would spread around the island. Pirates, Marines, and bounty hunters would all hear the news. Sabaody Archipelago was in for a rude awakening.

(OOC: I'm still in the process of making NPCs. There will be several major Rookie captains on the island so don't be expecting weak competition. The three hour timeskip will come in my next post. Until then...)

Momo didn't stop drumming when Rupert woke up in a frenzy, and kept his peaceful smile even when the man jumped away from him. The dog, who was apparently named Duncan, licked Momo's hand, tickling him in the process. "Lahahahah, that's fine my good man" Momo laughed, his deep voice booming and echoing around. "I don't mind being tickled" He said as he patted the curled up dalmatian. He then slowed down his drumming to a gentle rhythm, attempting to create a calm atmosphere as he spoke. "There is nothing to fear, I mean no harm" Momo said, trying to calm the man. "I am Momo Kahuna, and you are?" Momo asked, as if nothing was wrong with a pink fishman who just sat down next to a fainted man. He was undoubtedly weird.

Random people who passed by sneaked curious glances at the pink fishman, who seemed to be a huge oddball. It seemed like the first grove was becoming more crowded by the minute. Something must be about to happen, and Momo had no idea what it was. Maybe the man with the dalmatian knew a thing or two.

"Hmmm... looks like salmon..."

A dark figure was watching the happenings at Grove 1. His dark green eyes watching every person that passed through the area. He was not, however on top of a building or hill. In fact, he was much higher up. If you looked up from the ground, you could see a yarukiman bubble with a person perched on top of it.

"So this is sabaody huh? As I thought. All different kinds of people come to this island. It's too different from home." The dark figure raised his right arm to his face. The arm was spiky and demonic in appearance. He opened and closed his fist several times as if to stretch his finger muscles. That is... if you can call them fingers. They were more like long razor sharp claws meant for slicing things. "Looks like i'm going to have fun today."

[Presentation Box]
Wrath Synn
IQ Enhanced Human
Bounty: 16,000,000

Wrath scratched his head with his completely human left hand. The main purpose for his being in Sabaody was to find a crew. Especially a strong one with influence. That is... of course... assuming that he doesn't accidentally kill everyone he meets... Wrath took another moment to observe the scenery. He was not even paying attention to how high he was going. Without warning the bubble suddenly popped. "Oh Sh*!"

Exular appeared at Grove 1, following the crowd and saw the giant pink blob in the distance. That seemed to be the high-light of this Grove for Exular, as such, Exular walked over to the blob only to realise it was infact a person. Once Exular reached Momo, he noticed both Rupert and Duncan from the bar. Exular spoke to what appeared to be a fishman; "Sorry to interrupt, but you do realise where you are sir? This place is infamous for selling fishman. Not only that but there is an influx of pirates coming to this area, and probably see you as a quick-rich scheme. Try not to get captured."
Exular looked down at Rupert, smiling at him slightly; "I never took you for the Pirate type, or the fighting type for that manner. {Chihihihi}*"
Exular looked back towards the fishman; "Oh, sorry, I never properly introduced myself. Exular Hathor, Expert Marksman.", Exular extended a hand towards the Fishman, hoping he wouldn't be a Human hater considering he hasn't killed Rupert yet.

*((Note: This is Exular laughing))

Hearing that this pink fishman meant no harm and didn't mind being tickled when Duncan licked him was nice and all but he was still freaked out by the fishman. Rupert noticed he began playing a calmer tune on his drums and nodded to the fishman before saying, "I'm Rupert and you do know your in Shabondy right?" Rupert had heard about this place whilst he was travelling and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't a fishman but now that he was here staring right at one he couldn't believe it. "You need to hide instead of sit here and play the drums. People will becoming after you!" Rupert felt sweat forming on his forehead and under his armpits he was worried for Momo. When he saw another man approach he felt frightened by him and when he said he remembered seeing him in the bar and he never took him for the pirate type or fighting type of person felt like it was a huge blow to his ego. Duncan stood up and began growling at this man in protection of Rupert, Rupert then said clutching his bag, "I'm not exactly a pirate or a fighter in fact I don't really know how to fight, sure I've been punched and beaten up a couple of times, well allot of times as because I'm different but I'm actually a doctor, I just wanted to see the fights." Rupert felt like a little kid who had wondered into the adult section of a video store as the people around him were all so much stronger and rugged looking than himself. Rupert petted Duncan behind the ear which made him curl up to Rupert. "This is my pet and best friend Duncan." said Rupert to both Momo and the other guy before continuing, "So I take it your both going to be fighting then?"

"Great... now i'm stuck..."

When the bubble popped, Wrath knew that there was no way he could have survived the fall. In fact, he did not even have a plan to get down from the bubble. In his free fall, Wrath tried to position his body horizontally at an angle such that he could direct his falling self toward the massive Grove 1 tree. The second he got close enough, Wrath took his right arm and thrust it at the tree. He was still falling but the way his claws dug into the tree's bark slowly brought his fall to a stop. Feeling relieved, Wrath planned on getting back down by pulling his arm out, falling a short distance, and thrusting it back in a slow attempt to safely get to the ground. Having initially dug his claws too deep into the tree, however, made it impossible as he was now stuck about a third of the way up the tree.

Wrath's last resort option was to draw his stiletto from under his cape using his left hand and to slowly dig his right hand out of the tree. As he did so, tiny pieces of bark fell down into the crowd below...

Momo smiled once more after hearing the words of Exular and Duncan, who pretty much warned him about what he was already aware of. "Trust me, both of you, as the world's greatest traveler I know exactly where I am" He said as he shook Exular's hand. "I know all about the slave traders and World Nobles that lurk around here, but I refuse to fear those scums" He claimed. Momo always stuck to his own beliefs, and since the archipelago was only a diving distance away from his home, the fact that he should be afraid was simply unacceptable to him. But there was something else that Exular said that sparkled interest in Momo. "Pirates are coming here? A fight? I'm afraid those things are new to me" Momo said. He arrived at the grove just to remember the old days, he never knew that the entire island was about to engage combat where he now sat. Then, Momo felt tiny tree bits raining down on his broad back. He looked up and noticed a man who's hand got stuck inside the grove's tree, THIRD WAY UP. "You need a hand there buddy?!" Momo shouted up to the man, without getting up from his spot even though the man would land on him if he fell.

"Yes please!"

Wrath did not look down as he talked. His hand was almost completely freed. It was a shame that there would be a fist-sized hole in the tree. "I don't know who is shouting but when I free myself..." With a final cut and using the strength of his legs, Wrath finally freed himself from the tree and was now hurtling down again. "...Could you catch me? Oh, and please don't grab my right arm." Wrath tucked his right arm away into his half-cape again to hide it from view. He also put the stiletto back into a pocket in the cape. He balanced his body horizontally facing downward again to maximize his air resistance. He was still quite a ways up so it would take someone with higher than average strength to catch him. Looking into the crowd, Wrath tried to identify the source of the voice...

Rupert looked up to see a guy falling down towards him and moved slightly to the side he was feeling pretty worried where all these people were coming from and why they were all here he sat down next to Duncan hugging him a little afraid of all these larger men who had arrived and seemed to be here for the fight except for Momo who at the moment was seeming like the nicest of people at the moment. Rupert stroked Duncan unsure of anything else to do as he waited for the people to hopefully leave him and Duncan to themselves. Rupert then felt that he had blood on his upper lip and wiped it off his nose was still bleeding but only a little bit and decided he would try to stop the flow by holding his shirt against his nostril.

Exular looked up as Momo did, seeing the man fall, Exular instinctively sends smoke up towards the man, condensing it so that the man now had a "pathway" to slide upon. Exular turned to Momo; " If the man doesn't randomly fall through the smoke and manages to get to the end of the slide trail, would you be so kind as to grab him?"
Exular looks towards the falling man, hoping that the weight of the man and the force at which he is falling isn't great enough so that he would just fall straight through the condensed smoke.

Momo observed with amazement as Exular formed some kind of a bridge out of nothing but smoke - solid smoke. "A devil fruit user huh? I'm not the only one who should fear slave traders" Momo said. As Wrath was about to hit the end of the smokey slide, Momo extended his right arm and grabbed the man by his left armpit, effortlessly holding him in midair with one hand. He then lowered Wrath to the ground so he could stand on his own and let go of his arm.

Momo wished to go back to his drumming, but he noticed that the man with the dalmatian was kind of scared, and was petting his dog worryingly. "Don't be afraid there buddy, I can judge that you are a nice guy by how much your pet is loyal to you, so I'll take it as my daily goal to make sure you won't get hurt in the fight, what do you say?" Momo said with a smile. Momo was a nice guy, but perhaps he was too naive. After all, he was in the middle of one of the biggest slavehunting grounds of the world.

((Let's wrap this thing up so we can get the time skip going))

"Well thank you all for helping me get down."

Wrath was surprised that there was a devil fruit user in the group but even more so by the fact that it was the Pink fishman that helped him up. Staightening himself out, Wrath tried to make a quick assessment of the situation. Judging by the fact that they were in Grove 1, the men here were probably criminals; and pirates at that. A meeting was obviously going to happen at that very grove but Wrath took it upon himself to refrain from asking. He could have walked away at that moment but he felt obliged to stay and help the men (dogs and fishmen included) with whatever event was going to ensue. "From what I hear, there is going to be a fight here. I am not quite sure why but I assure you all that I will be willing to assist you." It was still morning but Wrath was full of energy. Despite trusting the people around him as if they were new friends, he still hid his right arm in his cape as to not draw too much attention.

Exular allowed the smoke to dissipate before turning to look at all the pirates gathering. More and more continued and Exular doubted that the grove could hold every pirate. Exular turned to Rupert; "Sorry to say this boy, but it looks like you probably won't find a good hiding spot or perhaps cling to the tree like that man was doing. {Chihihihi} Best thing we can do is stick together. If that man at the bar truly thinks he can best every pirate here, it would probably be best if we attack in unison. Either that or you can leave."
Exular would smirk slightly as he finished his last sentence, turning back to examine the pirates continuously turning up at the Grove.