Serious; Chapter One: Dawn of a New Age; Closed

Patch chased after the man however it was quite difficult to catch up due to the fact that he was holding a child over his shoulders. The man took many turns making it difficult for Patch to follow him. Patch bgean to slow down and pant.

"Damn it." he muttered as he fixed his glasses.

He then realized that he had been here before. If he played his cards right he could end up taking a shortcut. He turned and began to run in a different direction...

Flashback

The man picked some of the bread off and ate it. He looked back at the kid and smiled. He quickly raised his hood and began to run hiding the bread with his arms.

"Haha..stupid kid."

The boy on the floor coughed up some blood, he felt dizzy, he tried to get off however he found himself on the ground. It was pitch black...

(Sorry guys. I've had a rough couple of days. My grandfather died, there was a funeral, and this site sort of slipped to the bottom of my priorities list, though I never actually forgot about it. Anyway, I am back, though not totally in full force, but I should be posting at least once each day.)

Takao relaxed, allowing his tensed muscles to loosen. He wasn't totally unprepared for a fight, but he doubted that he was in any real danger. He had mainly been afraid that Genshi was one of those people who didn't take no for an answer no matter what it took to get his way. That was the main issue.

"Sorry," Takao said, shrugging and smiling apologetically. "I don't know the exact location of any pirates in this town. I haven't been keeping track of them. But this place is a haven for pirates, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to find someone." Takao rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "Like I said, I'm usually up for a fight, but right now is my day off. I've got some resting to do." Takao punched his fist into the palm of his other hand and grinned widely. "But...if you find me tomorrow, I'll take you on. No questions asked."

A day off from piracy and fighting? Could he do that? Well he was a pirate, so he could do whatever he wanted. Nothing much Genshi could do now.

"Okay then. Tomorrow it is then. Good day sir." He said, picking up his shirt and putting it back on, before walking away.

Having a full day of training before the fight was probably for the best. This would give him a chance to try out his new fighting style on some weaker individuals. He cracked his knuckles and ran as quickly as he could in one direction. While running, he spotted a man with a sword tied to his waist and a pistol in his hands. A pirate maybe? Good enough. The possible pirate turned his head, only to receive a hard elbow from the white haired Genshi Molynieu. With his target down, he cracked his knuckles and raised his fists, as a few pirates surrounding the area now had their eyes on him.

"This should add some excitement." Genshi said, covering most of his face and arms in clay, much to the surprise of the surrounding pirates.

Takao watched Genshi as he left. He felt oddly satisfied by the result of the conversation. Sure, the benefits were obvious. He had basically signed himself up for a fight tomorrow and he had avoided having that same fight today. It was the perfect situation, so what did he find so unusual? Maybe it was the fact that Genshi hadn't attacked him regardless of what he said. In this age, polite and kind individuals like that were hard to find and yet Takao had met two of them in one day.

He considered the two men, Patch and Genshi, for nearly a minute, ignoring the questioning stare that he was receiving from Thor. Takao had an idea, but he didn't want to take action just yet. He would have to make certain of a few things first.

Takao walked away from Thor, calling back over his shoulder, "I better be on my way, kid. See you later."

Before long, Takao had gotten out of sight of Thor. He continued walking a little bit further and then cut off into an alleyway, once there was no one around to see him. Takao moved quickly, first crouching down and then spreading his wings.

Most people would have been surprised to see the wings move, especially in the West Blue. Patch had heard legends of an island in the sky, but most individuals outside of the Grandline didn't have a clue. Some might think the wings were a devil fruit, but if they did, they would have been dead wrong.

Takao sprang straight upwards from his standing position. He beat his wings once, with just enough power to launch himself over the side of a nearby building's roof. Takao landed lightly on the roof, crouching as he did so. He could speed up the process of what he was going to do by flying high in the sky, but he didn't want to be spotted as his plan unfolded.

Takao took off, this time running and leaping from building to building. He kept his body low and didn't jump across streets. In so doing, he kept himself almost entirely out of sight.

Back near the statue, Thor was about to leave and go home. He had considered attempting to sign the statue in the wake of Takao's surprise appearance. Unfortunately, it seemed that the boys guarding the statue hadn't been that awed by Takao and the death glares they gave Thor warned him away.

So, disheartened, Thor made his home. He had nothing else that he wanted to do today. He wished he could move with the same confidence as Takao. He hadn't seen anyone move about as boldly as that since...Thor would not let himself even think it. The memories were just too painful.

Thor was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he was completely unaware that he was being followed. That is, he was unaware until a hand was placed over his mouth and an arm wrapped around his waist to drag him away.

Patch raced along the pathways chasing after the man, with the boy still on his shoulders it was difficult to run. He pushed his body as hard as he could, he slowly caught up to the man. It looked like that short-cut he took earlier really paid off. The man suddenly slipped over a can, he hit the floor head first, he began to bleed from his nose, the bread dropped onto the floor. The man seemed to be un-concious. Patch dropped the boy from his shoulders and handed him a pouch from his pocket. It looked like the bread belonged to the boy.

"Here take this, Im pretty sure it's enough for a loaf of bread."

The boy nodded, he took the pouch and skipped off with a smile on his face. He had seemed to have gotten his memory back. Patch walked over to the man and turned his body so that it was facing the sky. He tilted the man's head in a up direction and applied some tissue to his nose.

"Here hold this." he said as the man slowly held the tissue up to his nose.

The man suddenly got up and ran, still holding the tissue to his nose.

Patch sighed. So many people were getting injured today.

Genshi was quite surprrised at how strong he had become. Years earlier, he would've struggled trying to beat a single opponent. And now, he was able to defeat three other pirates without breaking a sweat. Once the third opponent fell, Genshi was surprised to see no other pirate step up and challenge him. It was downright insulting is what it was.

"Come now, no one else wants a crack at me? You've all got an oppurtunity of a lifetime her." he announced.

Unbeknownst to Genshi at the moment, a young pirate snuck up from behind him. Genshi spotted the pirate, but not before he recieved a nasty stab in his lower back, curtesy of a sharp dagger. The surrounding pirates, like a group of pirahna, jumped at the chance strike the wounded warrior. Clubs, staffs, knives all played a part iin this cowardly assault. Quickly covering the wound with clay, Genshi began pushing his assailants back, hoping to regain the edge he had moments before.

"Get off of me!" he exclaimed, blindly throwing punches and elbow shots all around him.

Some assailants were unlucky, and were knocked out by the wayward striking. Now short of breath, Genshi still raised his fists, with full intent on defeating evert pirate present.

Takao finally found the person he was looking for: Patch.

Patch was alone at the moment, but there was a boy and man leaving his current location in different directions. Those other people didn't matter to Takao. He just wanted to go through with his plan.

Takao sat down, hanging his feet over the edge of the rooftop. Then, in a voice loud enough to be heard by Patch, he said, "Nice day." He looked up at the clear sky and smiled. "Life sure is interesting, huh? I was looking forward to taking a day off from my usual schedule and I was getting a little bit irritated by the way everyone seemed to want to interrupt me. Then I decided to quit my day off of my own accord so that I could do something else." Takao directed his gaze down at Patch and he smiled. "You see, I have this question I want to ask you. It's kind of an odd question, I suppose, so feel free to just ignore me if you want. I came up with this question after I saw you helping that man, Luca, back at the bar. In any case, here it is: Let's say you were taking care of some children. A man comes along and attacks you and the children intending to murder you all and steal all of your valuables. You fight back and defeat the man...then what do you do? Do you leave him there? Kill him? Or...do you bandage up his wounds like you did to Luca?"

"Huh?" Patch thought to himself as he began to look around. Some one just greeted him..it seemed to be coming from...the sky? He looked up and saw Takao, he sighed, so they meet again. He listened to his words carfefully, he fixed his glasses. Takao then asked him a question.

"Let's say you were taking care of some children. A man comes along and attacks you and the children intending to murder you all and steal all of your valuables. You fight back and defeat the man...then what do you do? Do you leave him there? Kill him? Or...do you bandage up his wounds like you did to Luca?"

Without thinking Patch replied:

"It's my duty as a doctor to help and cure people in need of medical treatment, I would treat anybody who is injured even if he or she is a dangerous pirate. I am a doctor. It's my duty."

"Why do you ask?" Patch began to ask as he took a seat on a crate which was behind him.

One by one, Genshi's opponents began to fall. The brawler wasvholding his own again this slew of opponents. His only worry at the time was the small wound on his lower back. It fely worse and worse with every punch he threw. After some time, the enemies simply stopped attacking him, he had probably intimidated them enough for the time being. Genshi began walkimg away, feeling the blood trickle down his leg.

"I need medical attention, and soon." he thought, imagining reinforcements for the fallen pirates searching for him.

Takao grinned.

"Interesting answer," he said. "I think I'm going to like you." He pushed himself off of the edge of the roof and spread his wings just enough to float slowly to the ground. He landed in a crouch and once more tucked his wings in before rising to a standing position. "I know this is a bit random, like my question was, but I've come to a decision and I'm not going to back down now." Takao pointed a finger at Patch. "I'm forming a crew of pirates and I want you to be the first member."

"A crew...?" Patch thought.

He had never really sailed with anyone before...this was his chance. However he had just met Takao. He chuckled a little.

"Sure why not? After all you do need a doctor in your crew or you won't go far." Patch said with a smile on his face.

He was now part of something. Something which seemed big. A crew. He fixed his glasses.

"So, Takao any other members you wanna recruit?" he asked as he began slip his hands in his pockets

"THIS IS GREAT!" Takao cheered, jumping up in the air and spinning a full 360 degrees with his arms and wings extended to their full length in triumph. He landed once more and grabbed Patch's arm, pulling it so that his hand came out of his pocket. Takao seized the hand and pumped it excitedly. "We're going to so far together! I'm not strong yet, but I will be! And one day...one day..." Takao released Patch's hand and took a deep breath. "Whew...sorry about that...I'm just...okay, you wanted to know about other members..." Takao paused as he considered. "There is one other guy who caught my eye, but I know very little about him. Even less than I know about you. I suppose I'll just have to see how he acts in a fight...I wonder if there is something I can use..."

While Takao was thinking, something was happening on the other side of the city.

Large gangs of pirates had taken to the streets. These were not the kind of pirates who were barhopping. Instead, they moved about the streets, stopping passerby and questioning them about the location of a winged man. People who refused to give information or ignored the pirates were severely beaten. Slowly but surely, the pirate gangs were moving in Takao and Patch's direction.

One gang happened upon Genshi. Their leader was the first to spot him and he led the others in his group in Genshi's direction.

"Hey you!" the leader called. "Stop right there!"

The moment he had feared, reinforcements had arrived. Genshi probably deserved it for attacking a pirate just because he looked weak. Genshi faced the leader of the group, doing his best to cover up his pain.

"yeah? What is it you want? If it's a fight... then you'll have to wait. I need to do some...things." He said, hoping that these hooligans only needed him for a mundane task.

"O-Oi.." Patch said as the winged man took his hand, his glasses nearly fell off.

After the handshake, Patch listened carefully to Takao's words. It seemed that there was someone else the man had an eye for.

"Where exactly did you meet this man?" Patch said as he began to clean his glasses.

"I met the man near a statue of the Pirate King," Takao said. "It wasn't a very long meeting. The man had heard of how I beat Luca and he wanted to fight me. Fortunately he backed off when I let him know that this is my day off from fighting." Takao looked up towards the rooftops, judging the distance. "I really don't know any way to find him except by looking. The roofs worked well when I was searching for you. I think I could get us both up there, if you don't mind being picked up for a moment."

Back to Genshi, the pirates had finished their approach and stopped in front of the clayman. The longer that the leader listened to Genshi's words, the more he scowled.

"Fight?" the lead pirate growled. He glared at Genshi, his eyes narrowing. One of his hands fingered the cutlass that hung at his waist. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

Another pirate quickly jabbed the leader with his elbow. "Sorry, but we don't have time for this," the other pirate reminded the leader. "Faustino won't be happy with any of us if you make him wait for very long."

The leader turned his glare on his fellow pirate, but he didn't stare at him for too long. He knew that the other man was right.

"Fine," the leader muttered. He turned back to Genshi and removed his hand from his sword. "We need to know, have you seen a winged man anywhere in town? We have to talk to him, immediately."

Genshi began to panic when the possible leader began fingering his cutlass. He no longer had a weapon to defend himself, not that he needed one.

"Winged man, eh? Yeah, I did see one of those earlier." Genshi reponded, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I challenged him to a fight. But he was busy, so we agreed to have the fight tomorrow. But I haven't seen him since i issued the challenge." he added, shrugging.

The fight! How would Genshi be able to hold his own against the winged man if he wasn't at 100%? He needed to get some bandages and quick.

"If that is all, I bid you adieu." He said turning his back to the group and walking away, feeling a wet spot on his back.

He hopedvthat he would find a medicine shop naearby.

"Hm I see." Patch thought.

He then looked towards the roofs, it was a high place and gives you a very good view however it would also give you more attention.

"Ok sure, why not, the roofs it is but we need to find this person quickly, after that incident in the bar attention is the last thing we need." Patch said towards Takao's direction.

"If I'm not mistaken...that statue was located towards the center of the town so if we're here, then...we should be heading south." Pacth muttered as he pointed to the south.

"Now..we're ready for lift off."

Takao nodded, silently agreeing with the wisdom in Patch's words.

"Yeah, we'll have to move quickly," Takao said. His mood changed, momentarily becoming more serious, as he worked on a strategy. "Alright, let's get started. There's no point in waiting any longer."

He slipped around behind Patch. Takao had already decided on the best way to lift the doctor without causing either of them any embarrassment. It wasn't the most comfortable way to carry a person, but Takao only needed to lift him for a moment.

Takao put his hands under each of Patch's armpits. He crouched slightly and then jumped, flapping his wings quickly. The powerful flaps shot both of them into the air and Takao leaned to the side, hovering over the closest rooftop. He released Patch, dropping him onto the roof, before setting down and folding his wings again.

"Okay, here's a quick description of the man we're looking for," Takao told Patch. "He has grayish-white hair and was wearing a blue shirt and dark pants, last I saw him. He also has these weird bandage-like wrappings around his hands. I've seen them before on other people and those guys always turn out to be hand-to-hand fighters. I hope that's enough for you." Takao skipped from one foot to the other, anxious to start his search, but still uncertain about one detail. "Um...maybe it would be best if we looked for him together. He has a few signature features, but it'll still be easy to miss him."

The lead pirate chased after Genshi. This was the best information he had gotten all day and he didn't want to lose it just yet.

"Hang on one second," he said, now desperate. "You never told me where you saw this guy! Where was it?"

The pirate was giving Genshi a load of trouble. If he didn't get anything on his wound soon, it'd get infected. Genshi had seen many infected wounds, and they did not turn out looking so good. He sighed a sigh of irritation and turned around with a slightly irritated look on his face.

"I saw his down by that statue thing. That big bronze statue of a man. But that was quite a while ago. He could be anywhere now. He could've set sail and left for the next island." Genshi explained moving his hands about whilst explaining.

Genshi turned around again when a thought crossed his mind. Why were these pirates so hell bent on finding the winged man? Did he steal a treasure? Did he bring shame to this man's crew? The image of the tavern entered Genshi's mind, and the bartender's words. He turned to the group once more to ask a few questions of his own.

"Wait, why do you even want to find this guy? He said it was his day off of whatever it is he does. Did he... did he do something to one of your allies?"

"Hmm..hand wrappings, white hair and a blue shirt...got it." Patch said with a tiny smile on his face.

He turned and faced south, he crouched a little and dashed off. His feet hit against the roof of the building, he pushed his body forward trying to get faster. There seemed to be another building in front of him. Looks like he had to make a jump. He took a deep breath, and leaped of the edge of the building. He landed on the edge of the other building and stumbled to his feet.

"Oi, Takao, there's one hell of a gap in front of you, be careful." he said towards the winged man.

However he knew he could make it, after all, he did have wings.

"It's none of your business," the lead pirate sneered at Genshi. "But since you asked, I'll tell you. That winged punk knocked out a fellow member of my crew. We can't let this humiliation stand." He then turned back to his crew and, quite loudly, stated, "We have a location! Let's check it out and see if anyone else can give us more directions." The lead pirate grinned and lowered his voice, though it would be easy for Genshi to hear him. "And then let's crush this guy once and for all."

Meanwhile, Takao was hurrying after Patch. He sprang across the buildings, barely extending his wings at all. He didn't really need them for stuff like this, but he also didn't want to overestimate his own abilities and send himself tumbling to the ground. He wasn't all that powerful, after all, so he had to be careful. As for his crewmate, Takao was glad to see that Patch was able to get around pretty easily. He hadn't been totally sure about Patch's physical capabilities.

Takao smiled as he thought about his invitation. It had been a bit random, but he thought he had made a good choice. And then there was his method. The whole 'asking a hypothetical question' thing seemed to have worked well with Patch. He wondered if he could use it on other people as well.

As the two of them ran, a scream came from a nearby street. Takao glanced to his right, just in time to see a woman get shoved to the ground by a man who was carrying a sword. Half a second later, she was out of sight as the buildings that Takao and Patch were running on blocked Takao's view.

So these guys were reinforcements afterall, but their taget was the winged man Genshi was set to fight the next day. Apparently, Genshi was in no dangervfor the time being. But surely he couldn't just stand back and let these thugs gang up on him.

"If he was able to defeat one of your crewmates with such ease, what makes you think that you'll stand a chance? It would probably be best to forget the whole thing and walk away, before you get hurt." Genshi explained, wondering if this man was the captain of the crew. He didn't seem tat tough but looks could be deceiving.

(Well, it doesn't look like Frozen has anything to add so...I guess we'll just keep going.)

"No way!" the pirate leader said. He looked back at Genshi and grinned wickedly. "He just caught our companion when he was off guard. It's not like he's stronger than us. Besides, even if he proves to be troublesome, there's no way he can take this many of us!"

The pirate leader spread out his arms, indicating the pirates around him. In total, there were twelve of them. Not a huge group, but big enough to be an intimidating force to a loner.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," the leader said, walking away from Genshi. "We've got a fool to kill."

The so-called 'fool' was slowing down as he ran behind Patch. He kept looking back over his shoulder, knowing that he wouldn't be able to see what had happened to the woman who had been knocked down. He knew this was a pirate town, but even so, violence like that in broad daylight was much too bold. On the other hand, because this was a pirate town, the woman could probably fend for herself. At least, that's what he told himself.

Takao picked up his pace and used a few wing-flaps to bring himself forward until he was level with Patch.

"This place is a real mess," Takao commented. "It makes me almost regret becoming a pirate. I guess freedom brings out the best and worst in everyone." He maneuvered himself to the side so that he could peer over the edge of the roofs as he ran. "I only hope we can find the guy we're looking for. If he comes out and tries to fight everyone the same way he did with me, he's probably in trouble with half the town by now."

The irony of Takao's statement became clear barely a second later.

"THAT'S HIM!"

Down on a street far below, a gang of pirates were looking up at Takao. Apparently he had become visible when he moved himself closer to the edge of the roof. The pirate group was not the same as the one that Genshi was talking too, but there were exactly twelve of them, just like the group with Genshi. Not only that, but this group's leader was carrying a pair of battleaxes instead of a sword. Whether this meant that he was stronger than the other leader or whether he simply enjoyed showing off, was up for debate.

A thougjt poppedvinto Genshi's mind, if thes guys gangedvup on the winged man, there might not be anything left for Genshi to fight. And if he didn't fight a worthy opponent, it would stop him from seeing just how strong he really was. He needed to do something.

"Wait, having a dozen or so people attacking one guy, isn't that a bit... Cowardly?" he asked, raiising upturned palms to the air.

In his mind, he knew that whay he had said was the wrong thing to say.

(We'll try to go a little slower until Frozen returns.)

Genshi wasn't wrong about that. It was a bad thing to say, under the circumstances. The pirate leader glared at Genshi for the millionth time and growled out, "We're no cowards, fool. I can and will take him easily on my own. Watch your tongue, or you'll be the first to go down."

The pirate leader was fingering his sword's hilt again, obviously restraining himself from attacking. He was growing weary of this conversation and wanted to move on, but Genshi had pushed him the wrong way. Perhaps his captain wouldn't mind if he dealt with Genshi first. The man had a smart mouth, after all, and the pirate leader couldn't allow his crew's honor to be soiled by another random street punk.

He finally drew his sword.

"I'm going to teach you some manners," the pirate leader said, his voice low and menacing.

Ignoring all else, he charged at Genshi, allowing his rage to fill him as he took a swing at Genshi's chest. It was not a blow aimed to kill, but rather it was intended to cut Genshi and leave him in as much pain as possible.

Takao was having just about the same problem as Genshi. Many of the pirates below had drawn guns and opened fire on the rooftop. Takao dashed forward and then away from the roof's edge, avoiding the deadly spray and momentarily moving out of sight. He ran past Patch and kept going, hoping that the pirates were only after him. He couldn't imagine why anyone would be chasing him, but he did not way to drag his new crewmate into it if he could avoid it.