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

Patch watched as Takoa ran past him, he then looked down only to realize several people pointing their guns towards him. Patch gulped and chased after Takoa. The rooftops wasn't a wise place to fight with long ranged fighters..however if you were a long ranged fighter than that was different. Patch inhaled a big amount of air and spat, causing bullet sized poisons to shoot from his mouth towards the gunners. After doing this, he looked towards Takoa's direction.

"O-Oi we should really get outta here!" he yelled towards him.

He wasn't sure that those bullets were gonna hit after all they were just a distraction.

Genshi instinctively reached for something on his wait, and was surprised to see that it wasn't there.

"Oh yeah, no swords. Need to use my fists." he thought, leaping backwards to avoid the slice.

Genshi's mind began to race, how was he going to beat this guy? How was he going to fight off a swordsman without getting cuts all over

Genshi coated his arms and torso in clay, adding a thick layer over his hands. He took aim for the leaders head. With a bend in his elbow, the white haires pirate stepped forward and threw a heavy clay assisted hook to the opponents jaw, intending to knock him down and hopefully out.

The poison rained down on the shooters below, peppering some of them and missing others entirely. Since the poison hadn't been aimed at anyone in particular, it's aim was a bit fuzzy, but even so, three of the shooters fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

The leader of this group lowered his battleaxes, which he had used to block several of the poison bullets. He glanced down at his weapons and frowned at the dark purple substance. It was clinging to the blades of his axes quite well. He would have to be especially careful while he was wielding them. He hadn't known what the stuff was that had been coming, but it looked like the result of the purple substance was excruciating pain, if his followers were any indication.

The leader took stock of his remaining troops. Including himself, there were nine in all. Obviously their target wasn't alone and his partner was a force to be reckoned with. Patch's sudden appearance had shaken them all, but if the leader knew anything about his men, they wouldn't be caught off guard twice. All they needed was a solid plan.

"You four gather large, but thin objects that can be used as shields," the leader ordered, pointing to the pirates he was speaking to. "Trash can lids should work quite well for our purposes. The rest of you, follow me, but hang back. Use your guns and be ready to dodge that purple stuff at a moment's notice. I should be fine with my axes, but we don't want a repeat performance of what just happened. Now, let's move out!"

The eight remaining men followed his orders without even a second's hesitation. They split into their groups of four; One group rushing into the alleyways and down sidestreets, searching for makeshift shields while the other four followed their leader as he ran along the ground, heading in the same direction as Takao and Patch.

Since stealth was a moot point with Takao and Patch, it didn't take the men long to find them again. Immediately, the four gunners fired at them with an assortment of rifles and pistols. Their leader took hold of that moment and used it to run across towards a nearby building. He began climbing the structure quickly, using his axes to stab into the stone and pull himself higher.

Takao ducked under this latest hail of bullets, slowing as he did so, but getting down far enough to avoid being hit. He glanced over at Patch to make sure that his new friend was okay, but he wasn't totally focused as he did so. Takao's mind was whirling as he searched for some way that they could turn the tide. At the moment, they were pretty much sitting ducks. Worse, he had no idea why they were being attacked and couldn't even begin to try to reason with their enemies.

Genshi was having slightly better luck. By dodging the slash instead of trying to block it, he had forced his opponent off balance. The pirate leader was flailing about as he tried to regain his footing. He was totally unprepared for the punch when it connected with his face. Not that it would have mattered. Genshi's incredible strength lifted the leader off of his feet and hurled him back towards his men. He crashed down in front of them, knocked unconscious.

For a moment, the other pirates stared down at their leader. Then they looked up at Genshi. Their faces flickered through several different expressions. First it was unbelief, then shock, and finally anger.

One of them pointed at Genshi and yelled, "GET HIM!"

Altogether, the group drew out an assortment of weapons. Most of them were carrying swords and knives, but a couple had pistols. The entire group charged Genshi as one mass, not even bothering to try and come up with a strategy now that their leader was knocked out.

Patch smirked as he looked at the leader. It looked like he wasn't some random jerk after all however at the same time he felt quite upset that he hadn't taken him down. He looked at Takoa's direction.

"Any any plans o great leader?" he asked him as he began to catch up towards him.

He noticed a few soldiers to his right however they were soon out of sight due to a building. Patch sighed. If only he hadn't visited this island... however if he hadn't he would've had joined this amazing but weird crew.

Genshi coated his fists in clay and began wildly throwing punches at the group, he began to. panic when his opponents began getting hits in edgewise. Some fell, but those with staffs and knives had forced the pirate to coat his entire upper body in clay. Soon, the numberz grew too large, ams Genshi fell to his back, facing an onslaughtbof stmps, stabs andeven rocks beimg thrown at him.

"I won't be defeated. I will not be defeated dammit." He thought to himself, forcing himself back to his feet, despite all the offense being thrown at him.

With a fire in his eyes, began throwing punches and far faster than before. Once a bit of distance was made, he pushed himself threw the group, heading for their unconscious leader. Once Genshi reached the leader, he grabbed him by the ankles and began wieldimg him like a weapon, swinging him around like a flail, blindly trying to knock out the low-tier goons.

The leader reached the rooftops and he immediately started towards Patch and Takao. He let go of one of his battleaxes and took hold of a leather strap at the base of his weapon. The leader then used this strap to twirl his axe at his side. The heavy weapon spun so quickly it became a blur and on each rotation it struck the ground, causing sparks to fly.

Takao heard the clanging of the battleaxe and looked around, seeing the oncoming fighter. He frowned slightly and shook his head.

"Nope," he told Patch. "There's no plan. At least, no smart plan." Takao pointed at the leader. "Can you hold him off for a moment, please? Thanks."

Without waiting for a confirmation, Takao leaped over the edge of the building. He plummeted towards the ground and only just unfolded his wings, barely avoiding slamming into the road below. Takao stayed low and he flew right towards the gunmen. Their eyes were all fixated on their leader and were not expecting a sudden attack. By the time they knew what was happening, it was already too late. Takao had drawn his spear and he began slashing the legs of the pirates as he shot by them. He landed on the other side of the group and behind him, all four of the pirates fell, crying out as their sliced legs collapsed under them.

The pirates Genshi was fighting were having a really bad day. As he beat them down, the few who were not severely injured began to pull back.

"He's too strong!" one of them yelped. "Let's get out of here!" A moment later, that same one who had spoken was hit by his unconscious leader.

Only three of the pirates were still conscious and they did as their fellow had suggested: They ran, not really caring where they ended up so long as they escaped from Genshi.

Genshi raised a fist in the air. He had outdone a group of thugs and their leader, but a sharp pain in his back quickly made him lower it. Going to a humdrum medicine shop would be foolish, with his lack of medical kniowledge and inability to reach the particular area on his back in which the pain calls home. He needed to find a doctor and quick. Quickly looking to his left and his right, Genshi saw some pirate loading their guns and drawing their swords. Were they planning on attacking him?

"Wait, I'm not worth it. I... I don't have a bounty..." Genshi said, shrugging.

The pirates jeered, as they lowered their weapons and began walking away. He felt in the mood for a fist bump, however the pain would surely make him regret it. He began walking in the direction of a small building with a cross over it, hoping it was a hospital, or at least a medicine expert's home.

(In case anyone reads this and is wondering what is happening: I shall be taking command of Patch for a short while. Frozen is busy at the moment.)

Takao let his spear rest against his shoulder as he turned to watch Patch. He wanted to see what his new ally could do in a fight. He only hoped that Patch knew how to use that devil fruit of his.

Patch had remained on the rooftop and turned to face the group's leader as the other man reached the top of the wall. The leader didn't hesitate, but charged straight for Patch, his axes spinning.

"Liquid Poison Shower!"

Patch took a deep breath and then spat out a large burst of poison. Once again the leader was quick to block the oncoming attack by raising his axes and catching the poison on the blades of his weapons. The next moment, the leader was within striking distance of Patch. He quickly swung one of his axes, but Patch ducked down, avoiding the blow. In one hand, Patch was already forming a ball of poison. The ball wasn't very big, but Patch couldn't pass up this moment. His enemy was wide open.

"Liquid Poison Mass!"

Patch quickly threw the ball under the other man's guard, hitting him full on in the chest with the poisonous orb. The man's eyes widened in shock as the poison burned his skin and began to force its way into his body. He flung himself back away from Patch, screaming in pain as he tried to get the poison off of himself.

Patch moved towards the man, ready to help him. He wouldn't fix him up completely, but he could at least make it so that the man wouldn't die. As he prepared to help the man, he looked around for Takao. He could see that the winged man had already defeated the other four enemies. Patch gave Takao a nod and a smile. Takao returned the gesture by smirking and giving Patch a thumbs up. Nothing more needed to be 'said'.

A man stood on another, distant, rooftop, watching Takao and Patch through a pair of binoculars. He continued to watch them as he pulled a den den mushi from his pocket.

"This is team five's observer, reporting in," the man said into the den den mushi's receiver. "The team was defeated by our target and someone who appears to be an ally of his. What should I do next?"

"Keep an eye on them," came the reply. "Once the target leaves the area, follow him and call in another team to pick up the survivors of the battle. By the way, team three was also beaten, though it seems that they were taken out by someone other than the target."

"Seriously?" the observer asked, his voice betraying his shock. "What is it with this town today? I can understand our comrades losing on occasion, but twice in one day? That's unbelievable…"

"Yes, it is becoming quite problematic," said the person on the other end of the line. "The boss certainly isn't happy. In any case, let's both get back to work. We don't want him to catch us slacking off. Especially not when he's in such a bad mood."

"Right," the observer replied. "Talk to you later."

He hung up his den den mushi and continued to watch Takao and Patch.

While sitting in the hospital waiting room, Genshi was asked to fill out a form with his information. He had no idea what most of the things he was filling out meant, and the things he did know were things that he did not want an innocent little hospital to know.

"I don't have time to wait. I could get attacked again before i even see a doctor." he thought, looking around the waiting room.

The nurse came in and called out a name, leading the man next to the pirate to stand up. Genshi, without thinking, took action and quickly punched him, knocking him down, and presumably out. He'll be fine, he is at a hospital after all. The pirate then stood up, and walked to the nurse.

"Unless you want one of those too, I suggest you take me to the doctor and soon." he said in a menacing tone.

The nurse nodded and lead him down a hall, as Genshi suppressed a laughter. His uncharacteristic action was going to help him out in a huge way. Being a pirate ruled.

(I am so sorry Genshi. I haven't been on here in about three days and I basically didn't even think about coming on. There's no good reason for it. It simply slipped out of my mind. My deepest apologies.)

Patch and Takao were moving together through the streets. Stealth was apparently a moot point and searching on the rooftops hadn't been as inconspicuous as Takao had hoped. Worse still, they hadn't just been attacked by those pirates, they had been specifically singled out.

Patch voiced the question that was on both of their minds, "Why do you think they attacked us?"

Takao shrugged. He didn't want to say it out loud, but he thought that maybe the pirates had been after him and not so much Patch. They had said, 'That's him' when they saw Takao. Perhaps they had simply not seen Patch at first and that was the reason they didn't start yelling about seeing him when he did show up. However, if it was true that Takao himself was being targeted and not Patch, he didn't want to risk letting his new ally know about it on the off chance that Patch abandoned him. So far, it didn't seem that those pirates were much of a threat, so it wasn't like Takao needed to warn Patch to leave him for his own protection.

"I wonder if they were after you," Patch commented.

Takao flinched slightly, a little disconcerted by his ally's perceptiveness. He only hoped that Patch hadn't noticed how he was being secretive. Patch wasn't finished, though.

"You did knock out that pirate in the bar," Patch continued. "These pirates might be crewmates of his. It would make sense, don't you think?"

"I guess so..." Takao began slowly. He took a deep breath and then said quickly, "If you want to avoid all of this I won't blame you for leaving the crew."

Patch looked over at him, mildly surprised by his words. "I just joined and now you think I want to leave? I'm not scared of them. They weren't even very strong."

"Good point," Takao said. "Okay, in that case, here's the deal. I really don't want to get mixed up in any more trouble, but if pirates are targeting me, I need to find out why. So we're going to have to ask around and see if anyone knows what is going on."

"What about the guy we're looking for?" Patch reminded him. "Weren't you going to ask him to join the crew?"

"We can do that later," Takao replied. "I don't want to get someone else mixed up in my troubles before I've even gotten to sit down and speak to him about joining us."

((Think nothing of it. Post when you have the time.))

Genshi walked out of the doctors office, his lower back disinfected and bandaged. There was still a bit of stinging, but the pirate would man through it. He needed to hide his injury, If he were attacked, the pack of wolves mentality of the small time pirates would simply overwhelm him. And what of the winged man? Was it possible that he was already caught and killed before Genshi may have had a chance to fight him?

"I need to find a way to keep from getting attacked." he thought, walking out of the hospital.

A thought popped into his head, as he began rubbing his hands together. Genshi lowered his arms and began coating his arms in clay, making his arms appear to be bigger. He began to strut down the street, holding his head up high and his shoulders higher than usual. Who would dare mess with a man with large arms? Genshi would find out if he was assaulted.

Takao and Patch were still walking. Neither of them had stopped to ask people questions as Takao had suggested. Both were aware that unless they saw someone else who was also having the same troubles as they were, they couldn't ask questions without the fear of being discovered through their questioning.

"Perhaps it would be better if we simply left the island," Patch suggested. "We would have to give up on finding that guy you wanted to invite onto the crew, but you did say you didn't know much about him. So we can't even be sure what his answer would be. Besides, you only saw him once. Even if we do happen to walk by him, you might not recognize him."

"Good point," Takao admitted. He sighed, frustrated that he couldn't counter the logic. He really didn't want to just run away, but considering their options… "Fine," Takao said. "Let's go."

Still annoyed by the hopelessness of the whole situation, Takao sped up. He wasn't watching where he was going and as he rounded a corner sharply, he ran right into another person. Thrown off balance, Takao stumbled backwards and fell onto his rump. Angrily he glared at the person he had run into and was about to tell them off, when he suddenly recognized the person. It was Genshi.

"YOU!" Takao shouted, attracting more than a few shocked looks from other passerby. Takao jabbed a finger at Genshi and excitedly exclaimed, "I've been looking all over for you!"

Genshi was strutting his stuff down the island, his clay padded arms as large as can be, the pirate was sure no one would try attacking him. He was surprised when he felt a bump on his arm, maybe someone saw through his bluff and was prepared to beat him up? What if this other guy had even larger arm? Genshi slowly turned his head and recognized the one who bumped into him, it was his opponent for the next day. Genshi calmly receded the clay from his arms back into his body, giving his arms their normal, not-so-freakish look.

"Looking for me? I see, you can't wait until tomorrow, you want to fight now is it? Well... I'm ready... are you?" he asked, the tone in his voice lowering with that last phrase. The pirate was sure that he'd put up a good fight, but his wound was just recently dealt with, and could reopen at an inconvenient time, and a fight with the winged man would be the most inconvenient time possible.

"Fight?" Takao looked taken aback. It took him a moment to remember what Genshi was talking about. "Oh, yeah. We were going to battle each other tomorrow." He felt rather foolish for forgetting about that, even if it was only for a second. "No, that's not what I came here to say. I wanted to ask if you would-"

"PEOPLE OF TAMNER HIDEAWAY! LISTEN CLOSELY!"

The loud, blaring voice cut Takao off sharply. The voice wasn't coming from anyone nearby. It actually sounded like it was coming from speakers of some kind.

"MY NAME IS FAUSTINO D'ANGELI. YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF ME. I AM SEARCHING FOR A MAN IN THIS CITY WHO VICIOUSLY ATTACKED ONE OF MY CREWMATES, UNPROVOKED. I WANT TO FIND THIS MAN AND MAKE HIM PAY FOR HIS CRIME. IF YOU HELP ME FIND HIM, I PROMISE THAT YOU WILL COME TO NO HARM. BUT IF YOU DO NOT HELP, I MAY BE FORCED TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES."

"No way," Takao muttered, not realizing that he was speaking out loud. "So that was the reason why those guys attacked me earlier. They were working for Faustino…"

"YOU WILL KNOW THE MAN I AM LOOKING FOR BY A PAIR OF LARGE, WHITE WINGS PROTRUDING FROM HIS BACK."

Takao stiffened and looked around. Several of the people who had been giving him strange looks before, were now watching him warily. Takao suddenly felt very vulnerable. In a town of pirates, being chased by one of the strongest pirates around, it was unlikely that he would be able to avoid conflict.

"WINGED MAN, I AM SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO YOU NOW. YOU CAN TRY TO RUN OR HIDE FROM ME, BUT KNOW THIS: I HAVE CAPTURED ONE OF YOUR ACCOMPLICES. HE TELLS ME THAT HIS NAME IS THOR. IF YOU DO NOT TURN YOURSELF IN WILLINGLY, I WILL KILL HIM WITHOUT HESITATION."

Takao felt cold. He knew that name. Thor was the boy he had just met a little while ago. And now, because of him, Thor was a hostage.

The voice was not done yet.

"I WILL GIVE YOU UNTIL SUNDOWN TO MAKE A DECISION. EITHER WAY, YOU WILL NOT BE LEAVING THIS CITY ALIVE. CHOOSE WISELY."

There was a loud click and the voice spoke no more.

"Who is Thor?" Patch asked as soon as everything was quiet again. "Is he another crewmate of yours? I thought I was the only one."

"He's not a crewmate," Takao said, his voice low. "He's just a kid. Just a kid I spoke to for barely ten minutes." Takao's hands were clenched into fists and trembling with the anger that was welling up inside of him. "All Thor wants is to sign his name on a statue. To prove to himself and everyone else that he has the pride to say that he will become a pirate captain. But he's not ready for this life yet…how dare Faustino involve him in this…how dare he!" Takao suddenly pounded his fist against the concrete wall next to him. The wall shook and cracks formed around the impact point of Takao's fist.

Who was trying to draw out the winged man? Whomever it was, they were willibg to kill an innocent to get to him. Faustino... Genshi didn't recognize the name, but if the man brought anguish to the winged one, he would be no run-of-the-mill pirate. What's more, according to the conversation of which he was evesdropping, the innnocent was a friend of the winged man and he knew that any distractions would affect their inevitable battle.

"Listen, uhm, if tou want to go take care of some unfinished businness, that's fine. I'm willing to wait a while. What exactly was it you wanted of me again?" Genshi asked, knowing he was not helping the situation in the slightest.

Takao closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath in an effort to calm himself down. His heart rate slowed ever so slightly and he felt the tension in his arms beginning to fade.

"Oh yeah," Takao said, as he prepared to answer Genshi's question. "Right. I was going to ask you-"

He stopped speaking. It had just occurred to him that he couldn't ask Genshi to join his crew. Not now. Not when he was having so many problems. If he did that now, he would be acting selfishly. He shouldn't…no, couldn't get Genshi involved. He had to take care of this first before trying to get anyone else drawn into in his messed up life.

Putting on a brave face, Takao looked over at Genshi and smiled. "You know what? It wasn't too important. Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you later."

With those few words and a casual wave, Takao walked away.

Patch stayed where he was. He watched Takao getting further and further away from him. Once Takao was out of earshot, Patch turned to Genshi.

"I think I know what's going on in his head right now," Patch told Genshi. "That man very recently became a pirate captain. So far, I am his first and only crewmate. In fact, he just asked me to join him today. Earlier we were attacked by another group of pirates and even though we beat those pirates without much trouble, my captain offered to let me leave the crew right then and there." Patch looked back in Takao's direction. "I think he's terrified of letting people get hurt on his account, even though what is happening is not his fault. The whole situation is ridiculous. The only reason he's even in danger is because a pirate from Faustino's crew was picking on him and ended up striking someone other than him. Then he knocked out that pirate in retaliation." Patch turned back to Genshi. "My captain came here to ask you a question. He wanted to ask you to join his crew, because he thought you were interesting. Perhaps he wouldn't have just straight out told you this, the way I am telling you, but I think it still needs to be said. Goodbye for now. I hope we will meet again."

Patch hurried after Takao, leaving Genshi to consider what he had just said.

That wing guy was quite a caring individual. He wanted to save his friend and didn't want any innocents to get a hurt. He had something, a certain 'it' factor that would make him a great captain. And seeing as Genshi was a candidate for a new crew mate, he needed to prove his worth.

"Hey wing dude and hat guy, Good luck on your quest." He said, laughing a fake laugh.

The pirate backed away, turning an alley, peeking to the side. Genshi had hatched a scheme and the moment the two would be out of his line of sight, he'd show them that he had precisely what it took to be a proper crew mate, the best crew mate, the greatest crew mate. Genshi suddenly remembered that he was supposed to fight the winged man the next day, he couldn't fight his captain. On that note, the white haired man had no idea how strong his future opponent even was, maybe waiting would be the best option. let him battle his battle, and if he was strong enough Genshi might see him as a captain figure. He hurried down the alley, heading to the docks, that was Genshi's first guess as to the rendezvous point of the two adversaries, but he needed to stay hidden to gather as much intelligence as possible.

Genshi was absolutely right. Where would pirate typically hold a meeting? Down near the water where their ships were kept.

At least, that was Takao's train of thought. He and Patch first went down to where Takao's boat was kept and then they began to search up and down the docks for Faustino's ship. It didn't take long to find, especially since they were recognized the moment they came into view of the ship.

Pirates flooded out of the ship and quickly surrounded Patch and Takao. Patch crouched slightly in preparation for the battle that would soon come. Takao, however, glared over the heads of the pirates around him. He was staring straight up at Faustino's ship. There, staring back down at him, was a man seated at a table, daintily sipping tea from a cup. There was no doubt in Takao's mind that this was the man he was searching for. The eyes and the vibe that Takao was getting from that man…they spoke volumes of his power. Takao felt a little bit nervous when he realized that he had absolutely no idea whether or not he could win a fight with Faustino. Despite his fear, Takao was surprised to find that he was just a little bit excited. It was time to truly put his strength to the test.

"I'm here," Takao announced boldly. "Let Thor go! He has nothing to do with this."

"On the contrary," Faustino replied. "He has everything to do with this. After all, it would not have been possible to draw you out this easily if I had not had Thor's help."

Faustino placed his tea cup on the saucer in front of him and snapped his fingers. A pirate appeared, pushing a wheelchair forward. Gagged and strapped to the wheelchair was Thor, his wide eyes revealing his terror.

"Such a sweet boy," Faustino commented. "He was quite willing to help me when he heard of how rude you were to my men."

Takao's shoulders shook with barely contained fury. His fingers were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into the palms of his hands, drawing blood.

"SHUT UP!" Takao roared. "How dare you take this so lightly. Do you think this is funny? Is this all a game to you?"

"My honor is never a game," Faustino told Takao. "A captain such as myself cannot be seen as weak, even if the weakness only exists in my crew. I'm sure you can understand."

"What is there to understand?" Takao snapped. "All you care about is your precious honor, which tells me that you have none. And ever since I arrived, you have been acting like a pompous fool. Congratulations. You drew me out. Now what are you going to do? Will you stay up there and continue to hide behind your men and Thor? I'm not going to run. I'm not going to hide. So get down here already and face me like a man!"

Faustino's stare turned cold. His calm demeanor had completely broken.

"Be careful what you ask for," Faustino whispered, his voice just loud enough to be heard in the silence that followed Takao's words. His voice, soft as it was, held the slightest gravelly tone of a growl. Faustino stood. "Leave the winged man to me," he said, his voice still speaking in that audible whisper. "You may kill the other one."

Without waiting for a second bidding, the pirates hurled themselves forward. They streamed around Takao, not a single one laying a finger on him. Each of them rushed towards Patch, who was quickly producing venom from his body. Takao didn't look back at Patch to make sure his friend was alright. Whatever happened from this moment forward, Takao could not afford a moment's hesitation. Besides, Patch had known the risks when he came.

Faustino stayed where he was, staring down at Takao with his ice cold gaze. He raised one of his hands and beckoned with a finger, indicating that Takao should come up to him.

Though he hated to answer his enemies call, Takao did not argue. He drew his spear from his back and launched himself into the air, flying straight for Faustino.

Arriving at the docks, Genshi kept himself hidden behind some large crates found nearby. From his point of view, he could see the action really begin to pick up. The presence Faustino's hostage seemed to fuel the anger of the winged man, and one thing Genshi knew well through experience, was that anger would usually lead to errors being made. And on the battlefield, mistakes were the worst possible thing to happen. From what he could see, the winged man had the leader all to himself, whereas his companion was about to face off against just about every other pirate present. Genshi began to coat his fists and torso in clay, wondering if he'd need to get involved in this skirmish.

"If they're strong, they'll be fine. If the winged man is as tough as I believe he is, his crew mate must house some awesome power." he though, keeping himself hidden.

And as the winged man drew his spear and flew towards Faustino, Genshi had to suppress and excited cheer. By the next day, if he would survive, the spear wielder will have already been properly scouted. However, he couldn't suppress a feeling, telling him to help these men. The white haired brawler would wait, to see if these men even needed his help.

Takao leveled his spear as he flew towards Faustino. He aimed its tip straight for his enemy's chest. However, he wasn't trying to impale Faustino's heart. Instead, the spear was going towards a non-vital area. Despite his anger, Takao did not want to kill Faustino. Just make him feel as much pain as possible.

Faustino took note of the way Takao was attacking him and he rolled his eyes. With a simple twist of his upper body, Faustino avoided the spear's blade altogether. He immediately raised his left hand and curled his fingers into a fist.

"Weak," Faustino muttered, disgusted by Takao's halfhearted attack. He brought his fist down, smashing it into Takao's face. Takao tumbled back down through the air and fell with a splash into the small gap between Faustino's ship and the docks. Faustino pulled out a napkin from his pocket and calmly wiped his hand clean of the 'filth' he had just come in contact with. As he did this, Faustino turned his eyes towards the fight where his men were trying to bring down Patch.

Faustino's men weren't having much luck. They were coming at him in waves, but with his powers, that did not make any difference at all.

"Poison Gas Mist…" Patch muttered, just before he breathed out a poisonous gas. The air around him quickly filled with this gas and as his enemies breathed it in, they felt weak and unbalanced, making them easy prey for his follow-up attack: "Poison Twin Dragon!" Patch shouted, thrusting out his arms. The venom he had produced just before the battle was wrapped around his arms and it now came alive, changing into the shape of a pair of dragons. The dragons flew from his arms, striking each enemy they passed them by, and poisoned every one of them. The dragons remained connected to Patch by two streams of venom, each of which he was constantly producing from his arms and hands.

The pirates around Patch either retreated from him or collapsed as the venom entered their systems.

Patch smiled grimly. He didn't like hurting people like this, but for now he would have to make an exception.

Patch turned his head to look up at the ship, trying to see how Takao was faring. He didn't see Takao, but he could see Faustino, staring back at him. And next to Faustino was another man. This man was tall, heavily muscled, and appeared to be covered in various pieces gun-type machinery. Two large cannons were strapped to his back and attached to his arms were what looked like a pair of Gatling guns. He wasn't using any of the aforementioned weapons at the moment. In his hand was a pistol and it was pointed straight at Patch.

Before Patch could do anything, this new man pulled the trigger. The bullet struck Patch in the leg and he dropped to his knees, wincing in pain. His dragons fell with him and the poisonous mist was starting to dissipate. Several of the surrounding pirates took a cautious step forward and when Patch did not rise to meet them, they hurled themselves at him, preparing to cut him down.

Things were taking a turn to for the worse. The winged man and his scarfed companion weren't doing so well, with the addition of Faustino's weapon wielding ally. Genshi chose to act now. Running around the crate, Genshi made his way into the fray, grabbing the surrounding pirates in his reach and throwing heavy, clay assisted punches. Genshi was determined to ensure the safety of the man. As for the winged man, Genshi could not save him, for if he were to leap into the water, he'd drown. And that would help nobody in this scenario, save for Faustino. The pirate was feeling confident, undeterred by the sheer number of enemies. Those attempting to strike him from behind were met with a padded elbow to the head. He then picked up one of the knives by the blade and took aim for the weapon guy.

"I've never done this before, let's hope I'm good at it." Genshi thought, threw the knife as hard as he could. Maybe it wouldn't hurt the guy, but it might give the white haired one some time to come up with a better plan.

"Damn it.." Patch thought as he clutched his wound.

He couldn't fight like this. He shoved one of his hands into his pockets and got out some bandages. Now he needed something straight to stop him from bending his foot... but wait... he still needed to get the bullet out. He looked towards at Genshi.

"O-Oi, buy me some time! I need to deal with this injury!" Patch yelled at his direction.

Ok. Let's see here... he dug his hands into his pocket once more and pulled out a pair tweezers, he cleaned it with his scarf. He bit onto his scarf and slowly began to pull out the bullet. Sweat came done his forehead. He had never carried out a surgery before.. especially on himself. He began to bite harder onto his scarf. One wrong move and it could mean death...

Pirates were hurled away by Genshi's punches. His sudden attack brought the entire force to a halt in their charge towards Patch. That hesitation only lasted a second. Half of the group, the ones nearest Genshi, rushed towards him while the other half continued on their charge to Patch. The closest one to Patch leaped at him and swept his sword at Patch's back.

Genshi's knife flew at the gunman and got very close to him. However, he easily batted the knife away with his now empty pistol. He tossed the pistol aside and raised one of his gatling guns, aiming it at Genshi. He couldn't fire because his fellow pirates were now in the way, trying to attack Genshi, but he kept his weapon trained on Genshi, just in case.

A hand shot out of the water between the ship and the dock and it took hold of the dock before heaving a body out in its wake. Takao stayed there, huddled low on the very edge of the pier. He coughed and spat out water, not having taken a breath before he went under. Without warning, he kicked off, using his legs to launch himself straight up once more. Both Faustino and the gunman saw him coming. The gunman trained his other gatling gun on Takao, but Faustino quickly raised a hand, bringing him to a halt.

"Leave him," Fasutino ordered.

Takao reached their level, his back to Faustino and the gunman. He suddenly turned, sweeping his spear back towards Faustino using both of his hands. Faustino simply leaned over backwards and the spear swung right over his head. As it did, Faustino caught the spear by its shaft and he pulled on it, swinging it, and Takao, over his head. He brought Takao crashing back down on the deck of his ship. The planks under Takao's back snapped and he was left dazed in the wreckage.

Genshi gave Patch a thumbs up, he'd buy the doctor enough time to do whatever it is he was doing. As for Genshi, he began to worry, his throwing knife diversion was a bust and the gunman had his weapon aimed right at him. But was the man such a bloodthirsty monster that he was willing to put his own comrades at risk to destroy a target? Genshi would have to surround himself as to avoid being shot. As he began to coat his fists in clay Genshi spotted the group near the doctor, looking to slice him and possibly dice him. With little time to act, and even less time to think, the pirate extended his arm out and grabbing the blade with all his might. Much to his surprise, his hand didn't completely cleave off, but the blade was now embedded in the clay of his palm. The former swordsman plucked the sword from his palm and snapped it in half. Genshi then threw the blade and hilt away in the air, before throwing a punch to the former blade wielding foe, before grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt before hitting the ground.

"Now that I have a shield, the gunman wouldn't dare shoot at us." Genshi thought, raising his human shield in the gunman's direction while holding a clenched fist at the oncoming mob.

Patch smiled as he saw Genshi shield himself from the gunman. Wait, he had to focus on the operation! He slowly began to pull the bullet out of his leg, he was halfway there, suddenly his hand slipped and his leg began to sting. Patch began to bite even harder onto his scarf. He quickly picked up from where he had left off. Easy does it, we don't wanna make this more harder harder it seems...

"Slowly, slowly." Patch kept thinking to himself.

Suddenly he had removed the bullet. However it wasn't over yet, he still had to close the wound.

"Please, please, please be there!" he thought as he dug his hands into his pocket.

Patch was looking for a sowing kit he had with him. After a few seconds of searching he had finally found it. He got it out and began to set up the needle and thread. Once they were set up he gulped and began to sow the wound up. A few minutes went by but he had managed to sow it up. Now he just needed to rest, he could do some basic moves like punch or form a shield but he needed to be careful or his wound will open up. He stopped biting his scarf and stood on both legs. First things first, he needed to take out that gunner. He began to gather up all the poison which was in his mouth and spat at the gunner, the poison was around the size of a golf ball. He hoped to hit the gunner anywhere around the head or hands.

"Oi, let me return the favor." Patch yelled out at Genshi as he flashed the thumbs up.