Serious; The Purple Cat Pirates, Chapter 1; The chase of Victor (Open to the Purple Cat Pirates)

As more and more people around him began cheering with him, Jimi was sure that he was about to get his festival starting in no time, but then something bothered him. It was a familiar shiver along his spine, making him tense for a split second. He liked to call it his "Sheep-sense", a curse that he gained from the coward model of his unique fruit. In nature, it would help sheep be alert, while making them wonder in groups for safety. Out of nature, it simply bugged Jimi whenever a shadow was cast upon him, as if an aerial predator was about to eat his sheep self. He learned to ignore this disturbing feeling, as it was always nothing, but this time it was different.

"Holy hell what's THAT?!" someone near Jimi said as he pointed to the sky. He was barely heard by the crowd between the cheers for fireworks, but it was enough to make Jimi raise his glance upwards. "Holy hell indeed..." He noted as he noticed the silhouette of what appeared to be a man with no legs, and an overgrown cat on top of a large bird flying across the sky. "This party is getting better!" Jimi announced with excitement as he noticed the figure of the man holding a sword. After all, one of Jimi's favorite hobbies was testing his strength, this would probably be a good day for that.

"Laggia? WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME LAGGIA?!" Niles yelled at Shadow with a scared voice and then he turned his head towards the mysterious man with the eagle. Tears filled his eyes and he started apologizing... "Please, mister... I do not know anything about that guy you are talking about... All I know is that I don't want to get captured... Please, don't capture me! Don't give me back to them!" he spoke some weird words. Nobody was probably understanding what he was saying, but it was pretty obvious to the mind of the mysterious man that Niles did not know anything about Victor.

"Listen, freak... I heard there's a guy here who is named Victor and I am looking for him... If you don't know anything about him, it's okay... But, if you do and you are lying... I am going to come at you, capture you and then cut down your freaky neck. Got me?" he said at Niles.

Niles would not respond, though. Instead, he started crying even more, hoping that somebody would save him.

"Hey, wait you bastards!" Shadow is yelling, and, not giving up, he continues to run after the flying eagle-person and the cat-man. As he runs, he comes across something else. There seems to be a commotion of sorts, and there's a weird dude that happens to be right on Shadow's path. Seeing that the person not only doesn't get out of the way, but also seems to smile at him, Shadow gets angry, and he jumps right above the man. "DAMMIT, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M RUNNING?!" he yells at Jimi, as he goes on the other side, and keeps chasing the eagle-man.

Focusing on the flying eagle while the firework festival showed no sign of starting up, Jimi couldn't bother to notice a swordsman running straight at him, at least not until the very last moment. He turned his head to see the swordsman less than a meter form him, with no intention of moving to either side. As he jumped, Jimi lowered his head in panic, covering his Afro with his hands to shield it from the man's feet as he flew past him.

As the swordsman yelled back at Jimi, a flame of rage lit the man's eyes as he clenched his fists in anger. "WATCH THE HAIR MORON!" Jimi shouted back as he pointed towards the swordsman in an over-dramatic pose. "Out of my way!" Jimi shouted as he bulldozed through the crowd, beginning to dash after Shadow. He didn't care about the festival anymore. All he wanted to do was teach the swordsman a lesson in manners, and of course redeem his Afro's respect. "Hold up coward!" He shouted as he flailed his arms about in humorous fashion, rage still present on his face.

Meanwhile, the festival was about to start... The people, even if they were disturbed by the sudden running of Jimi and Shadow, inside the crowd, who were instead going after the eagle and each other, they did not stop waiting for the festival. The mayor of the town, along with his assistant, were at the top of a tower, especially designed to launch the fireworks at the sky. In a few minutes, they would launch them!

---

At the same time... the mysterious eagle-man was pretty sure by that time that Niles did not really know a thing about that Victor guy. However, that could not apply for the other two men who were following him, while he was carrying Niles. Even if he acted as if he didn't see them, the eagle-man had noticed that the swordsman and the other guy with the afro were following him... Well, Jimi was not really following the eagle-man, but from his point of view, it looked like he was following him instead.

After some running and after Jimi and Shadow had got out of the crowd, the eagle-man dropped Niles on the ground. "I am done with you... You do not know anything..." he said and then he unsheathed one of his swords. He immediately turned behind and he started flying with great speeds towards Shadow's and Jimi's direction, who could see him coming. When he reached them, he finally landed on the ground and he said while pointing at them with his sword "You! Swordsman bastard and afro bastard! I have a few questions. Answer and I won't harm you!".

"Stop flying away you!" Shadow yells, and then turns his head, screaming still. "Who the hell are you?! I'll kick your ass once I catch those two!" It's actually pretty comedic, that sight of all those people chasing each other, and the black haired man in the "center" of this chase, screaming from the front to the back in succession. However, soon the eagle-man stopped and made a u-turn, moving towards Shadow and Jimi's direction. Hyped up from all this, and with the eagle-man taking to him, referring to him as "bastard", Shadow didn't even bothered talking, as he just jumped towards him, and swung one of his swords in mid-air. "Black Draw!"

"Who I am, you ask? I guess, I will have to answer you, if you act like this..." the eagle-man said, obviously referring to the fact that Shadow was drawing his sword in order to attack him. The sword of Shadow clashed with the sword of the mysterious creature and a loud sound was heard. The eagle-man sighed and spoke his words. "My name is Lance... Cricket Lance." the eagle-man said and he unsheathed with his other hand his second sword, obviously in an attempt to perform a slashing attack at Shadow, aiming for his chest.

[Introduction Box]
[Cricket Lance "No Chance" (Lance is the first name)]
[Former Marine Commodore now Pirate]
[Bounty: 14,500,000]

Lance, huh?!

[OOC: We meet again Lance]

Jimi stepped his ankles forcefully to drift himself into a halt, raising a bit of dust behind his feet. The situation was weirder than he expected - It wasn't a man riding a large eagle, but a man CONNECTED to a large eagle, with the cat being what seemed to be a cat man. 'Could those guys be fruit users too? Excellent...' He thought, safely presuming that both Niles and Lance were Zoan fruit users like himself. A grin appeared on his face as he raised a fist above his head in a dramatic pose. "Jackpot! You guys aren't boring after all!" He announced.

He wasn't sure which he wanted to fight first: The guy who nearly stepped on his Afro, or the guy who called him a bastard, since they were both equally annoying at that point. However, seeing as the two were already fighting each other, why not both? He reached into the pockets of his red jacket with both hands, before pulling them out with a red colored knuckle duster on each one. "Let's get it ON! WACHA!" He announced before jumping straight into the three way battle.

"Take this Eagle Bastard, AFRO-BOOM!" He announced as he launched a blindingly fast fist with his right arm, clashing his knuckle duster with Lance's free sword, blocking it from hitting Shadow, perhaps by mistake and perhaps not. "And as for you..." Jimi mumbled as he glanced down at Shadow who just beside him. "Watch the fro! AFRO-BOOM!" He announced once again as he aimed an equally fast kick towards Shadow's side. One thing was certain, Jimi couldn't pick his battles.

As the kick that Jimi performed against Lance was about to strike him, the eagle, that was stuck to the upper body part of the man, raised it's talons and it blocked the kicking attack, fairly easily. "Good job, Roze." Lance congratulated his pet eagle. Then, Roze started flying upwards, increasing the distance between Lance and Shadow and Jimi. "You, too, afro-bastard..." Lance said with an angry look on his face. "I am going to make you pay!" he yelled and he swung both his swords, launching two air blades, one aiming at Jimi and another one aiming at Shadow.

Meanwhile, Niles disappeared... He was nowhere to be found.

Having fallen down to the ground, from the fact that as he tried to block Lance's incoming attack, Jimi's move made him lose his balance and smash to the ground, Shadow gets up, and cracks his knuckles. "Alright, that does it .. plus, I know your name, you got a good bounty .. I'll get to fix the boat. As for you, ya FURRY GOAT!" Shadow yells, referring to Jimi as a furry goat merely for his afro and nothing else. "I'll kick your ass too! Both of you!" He says, but as he finishes what he was telling, he's actually serious. Cutting throught Lance's attack, he takes battle position. It's a three-sided-mayhem! But .. where is Niles, or .. THE CATMAN?!

Jimi was surprised that his punch was actually blocked by the eagle to which the swordsman was connected to, whose name was apparently Roze. 'So it isn't a three-way battle, but a 1-on-1-on-2 rumble!' Jimi thought, realizing that Lance was probably not a typical Zoan user, as his eagle part held a conscience of its own. When Lance and Roze rose to the air, Jimi waved his fist at them as he yelled "Get back down here ya pair of cheaters!", but before he managed to slip another insult in, Shadow did so.

"Well lemme just see ya try~ What the hell?!" Jimi began to answer, but his sentence was stopped short by his own surprise. It was the first time he ever saw an air blade, and it just so happened to be heading straight for him. That was definitely something he wasn't prepared for. He jumped theatrically, just barely dodging the air blade that passed right beside him, missing his hair by mere centimeters. He rolled on the ground before jumping back into a battle position, with his eyebrows raised way above his sunglasses in shock. "What the hell was THAT?!".

Noticing the small fight that looked more like a rivalry between the man with the afro and the swordsman, Lance realized that he could use that for his very own advantage. "Don't you know anything about air blade attacks? Well, I will explain... By swinging a sword very fast, an expert swordsman can create cutting air that is as strong as a regular slash. You might not know it, but from the looks of it, the swordsman bastard over here, seems to know how to defend from one... I guess he's stronger, right?" he said, obviously trying to manipulate Jimi into focusing against Shadow, rather than himself.

"Tsk, what kind of an idiot would fall for that pitiful taunt?" Shadow mumbles, expecting that Jimi isn't going to fall for such a cheap trick. However, moments later, he goes off again. "AS IF I CARE! I WILL BEAT YOU UP BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!" he claims, but still, he just goes straight towards Lance, spinning both of his swords on each side. What a random-crazy fellow!

Right as Shadow finished his sentence and rushed at Lance, a fist was aimed at him from Jimi's side, as if the sheep-man never even heard him. "You think you're better than me swordsman?! AFRO-BOOM!" He shouted, still reacting to Lance's taunt. If there was anything obvious in that fight, it was that Jimi was the dumbest of the bunch. He was EXACTLY the kind of idiot who'd fall to that pitiful taunt. No matter how hard Lance or Shadow tried to make it a normal duel, it was going to be a three sided battle if Jimi had anything to do with it.

Getting punched from the side, right on his head, and not expecting it, Shadow slams down on the ground, and stays there for a few seconds, until he realizes what just happened. And then, he gets up, all fired up. "THAT'S IT, YOU ARE SO STUPID!!" He yells, losing his cool once again, as well as apparently, easily falling to Lance's simple trick. Running towards Jimi, Shadow draws his sword. "White Draw!" he yells, aiming a slash from the right.

[Btw, for the sake of the plot, I want the two of you to eventually lose, but not right away]

Lance would not say a thing... He quickly understood that Jimi was very dumb to fall for his taunts, but he could not imagine anything like this! Jimi fell for his taunts right away and that was really unexpected! As a result, Lance would glance at the two "bastards" while they were fighting, and he started thinking "Those bastards... How can they be such an idiots?" before he started flying at the sky along with Roze. Then, he stood in front of the sun, completely covering it. Light would not come for a few seconds and then he immediately moved away, in an attempt to try and blind his two enemies because of the sudden re-appearance of the light. "Eagle Blind" he said, as he performed the technique. What was Lance trying to do?!

"Who're you calling stupid you idiot?!" Jimi shouted back, clashing his pair of knuckle dusters with Shadow's sword with a two-handed attack. Shadow was a bit stronger than Jimi, a fact that showed when Jimi was pushed back a bit when he clashed with Shadow's sword, making him reel back half a meter. "You're strong, but not strong enough!" Jimi shouted as he raised another punch, but a word from Lance stopped him from continuing his attack. He almost forgot it was a three way battle.

Looking up at Lance's attempt to blind him and Shadow, Jimi simply laughed in ridicule. "Think that trick'll work on me?" He asked sarcastically as his pair of sunglasses shined bright, reflecting the sun beams that were aimed at them. "Two can play this game, AFRO-BEAM!" He announced, aiming his sunglasses towards Lance and Roze to try and reflect the beams aimed at him back at them.

"Don't name attacks in the middle of a brawl!" Shadow yells, with those oh so lovable sharp teeth, and white, anger eyes, while having one of his hands above his eyes, so the sudden glare won't blind him. He then looks up towards Lance, and sulks. "This is becoming really troublesome .. and stupid, why are all of those people so animal-like?" He mumbles to himself.

((OOC: Roger~))

Seeing the sun rays being reflected back at him, Lance would do something very, very unexpected. He quickly moved his swords horizontally. The sun rays hit on the blade of the sword and as a result, they would be reflected once again back towards the direction of Jimi and Shadow. "You bastards! I am bored of this!!!" Lance said afterwards and he started pointing towards the two of them with his swords. Then, he started slashing the air continuously, launching a barrage of air blades towards them in an attempt to cut them down for good.

"Oh damn!" Shadow yells, and, surprisingly, at least when considering his previous statements about kicking both of those men's asses, he leaps in front of Jimi, who earlier made it clear that he was unfamiliar with air slashes and energy waves, and begins to slash away the incoming assaults, essentially protecting both himself and Jimi. "Shit, what amazing speed and power .. that guy's really good, his bounty's really mistaking him!"

Unlike the last time Lance aimed an air slash at Jimi, he was prepared. He knew what to expect, and immediately sprang into a fighting position. He forefully bent his elbows and pressed his arms to each side while bending his knees, following by aiming the top of his head towards the incoming attack. "AFRO-..." He started chanting, but before he could complete his technique, Shadow jumped right in front of him and blocked the attacks.

While most people would be grateful for Shadow's protection, Jimi frowned. In his perspective, Shadow didn't protect him, but simply stole his spotlight. "Damn swordsmen, always shoving their gigantic ego into your face..." He mumbled, before springing into action. He leaped onto Shadow's shoulders, either believing the swordsman could handle his weight, or simply not caring of he could. He bent his knees as he landed, launching himself upwards with a strong jump that sent him in a straight course towards Lance. "UNDERESTIMATE ME AND DIE! AFRO-BOOOOOOOOM!" He shouted as he aimed a strong punch towards Lance's face, releasing an ehoing battlecry as he did.

"CRA!!!" Roze's voice was heard and the big sized eagle started flying a few meters higher. Then, it moved its talons towards the direction of Jimi's incoming punch in an attempt to grab it and block his attack. That way, not only he would stop Jimi's attack, but also he would make an opening at Jimi for Lance to slash him with one of his swords and take him down and win his battle against him. After all, Roze and Lance were stuck together for a very long time... They were perfectly synchronized and they acted as one person.

Jimi's expression turned into a comic shocked one, his high altitude attack of pure passion and anger stopped short by a simple bird. He stayed suspended for a while, his hands stuck in Roze's hold, unsure of what to do next. He was several meters above ground, embarassed that his attack failed so horribly. With nothing else to do, and a mixture of anger and frustration climbing his throat, Jimi simple started yelling.

"LET ME GO YA STINKIN BIRD! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'LL &*$*$*...!" He shouted as he squirmed in Roze's grasp, his whole body flailing about as he tried to free himself. Unfortunately, with nothing to push himself off of, there was very little he could do to free himself.

"I saved your ass!" Shadow yells, as soon as Jimi jumped above him, using him as a stand for him to gain momentum. "You brat!" he adds on, about that latter statement before. Not wanting to let that guy steal the glory of beating up the most weird of the pair, the eagle-man, Shadow moves forward and then jumps up, and holds on his right arm, preparing to attack with an apparently strong move.

As Shadow is about to attack with an apparently strong move, Roze flies towards him and before the man can actually slash him, he moves Jimi in front of the way, in some way that he served as a shield. Apparently, if Shadow actually tried to attack Roze and Lance, he would not attack the pair but he would attack Jimi instead. What would Shadow do? Would he continue with the attack, or not?