Serious; Salty and Johnny's travels; Chapter 4: Blue Stripe (Open to Max and myself.)

((OOC: Let's switch to the others for a while, since ... well, cliffhanger, no other reason ))

"Sishishiki Kabe!" An unseen force flattens Johnny on the walls, leaving the man coughing up blood, seemingly knocked out. In this confined space, the captain of the former Troll Pirates was seemingly at his prime environment to wreck havoc. "Hahahaha, how is that? Last time you beat me up pretty bad ... but only because you ambushed me! See, I don't need my mecha to be dangerous! For I am ..."

Introduction Box:
Captain of the disbanded Troll Pirates
"Troll Roll" Derpon
Bounty: 104,564,333 Beli

"Mister Johnny! Why you...!" Bobby begins to transform, into what seems to be a long chain, with a large iron ball at the end, while maintaining most of his dwarf body. "String Crusher!" the dwarf shoots, and lashes out onto Derpon, who however makes a really wide troll smile, before he raises his arms. "Kaunta-Hei!" Bobby is knocked away, blood being blown away.

Somewhere else,
"It's a good thing that shit has gotten pretty wild here... That way, I was able to escape this prison shell ... might as well find the person that started all this, and thank him ... but, only after I get to blow off your shitty face... Orior!" A shadowy, large figure has gotten in Orior's path, red eyes glowing from within, an eerie sensation traveling across the area. A new enemy has appeared from within the shells, and seems to have a bone to pick with the scumbag! Is he strong?!

"Who the *EFF* are you?" asked Orior in surprise when he noticed the approaching man with the red glowing eyes, standing in front of his path while he was moving around the prison, hoping to keep up with Johnny and Bobby who were trying to track down Danny. "Listen to me, you bastard... I have a job to do... And I won't hesitate on anything as long as I am not done with my job. In a few minutes, the whole place might get blown up by some idiots and I have to stop it... So, get your ass away from my path and I won't chop you off to death. How does that sound?" he continued speaking, obviously with his usual rude mannerisms, hoping that the enemy would get away from his path, hoping that he would have the chance to keep following his fellow marines.

"Did you forgot about me already?" The figure emerges as a large, bald man, who was missing some teeth. He had a rather large, egg-plant like nose, he had no facial hair at all, but had these scary, crazy eyes, shining as he was observing Orior. He was wearing prisoner outfit. "It was you that got me locked in here, you shit ... I'm gonna make you pay for this." the man says, and cracks his fists, while looking at Orior with a titled head, his facial expression not changing, making him look the more deranged and menacing. "You won't be lucky this time ... see, this time, I am not sleeping...!"

Introduction Box:
"The Gouger", real name unknown
Bounty: 210,000,000 Beli
Highest-Bounty Criminal of Blue Stripe

"Oh, have I? Really? A mere marine commander like me managed to deal with that sooooooooo called man known as "The Gouger"? No... That is a lie, bastard." spoke Orior while taking off his marine cape. "I remember you... But you don't seem to remember well. The Office was responsible for having you here, not myself. I am way too awesome to deal with scum like you." he continued speaking, mocking his enemy completely. Then, he started coughing, gathering some spit in his mouth and he would spit at the gouger's face with force. "See? You sicken me and I have to move so... be quick." he finished speaking. "Magnetpool." he opened his right palm and an area around him started swirling, attracting the enemy at Orior so that he could attack him with a close range attack. Orior was prepared for a battle against the mysterious enemy so that he could catch up with the others!

The man watches blankly, as Orior's ability is activating, manifesting as, once again, a formidable display of power. However, unlike everyone else so far, he does not seem to fear, or show any emotion towards this move, for that matter. "Did you forget that ... I was once a marine? It's because of your stupid office that I ended up here .. Soru!"
The man appears above Orior's position, looming towards him, a fist ready to smash down on to him. "I will squash you .. you fly!" He says, his facial expression, always that deranged, almost abstracted look and hollow eyes, making him look the more dangerous. He was insane! "Tekkai .. San!" He plummets himself down to Orior's path.

Orior smiled while looking at the man who was falling towards him. "Using Tekkai, huh?" he said with a serious voice. "Let's see what you can do without moving... Airpool." he named another one of his attacks and a whirlpool was created in the air in a distance, drawing the gouger towards its direction and so, protecting Orior from being hit by the attack. "I would appreciate it if you got out of my way before I kick your butt to the limit that you won't be able to sit and shit anymore. Shithead." he yelled and he raised his leg, launching a Rankyaku towards the man's direction while he was being pulled away. "Rankyaku..." he said before leaving out one last comment. "People like you disgust me... Abandoning their believes over justice just because they felt betrayed or something. You deserve to exist no more!!!". Orior was quite serious!

The enemy was pulled towards the airpool, his eyes looking about as they did before, only more creepy, and with a certain doze of what was probably, his own version of, shock and surprise. Then, the eyes widened a bit, as the incoming strike, along with the airpool, erupted simultaneously, causing a bright flash, reminiscence of an explosion. From inside the flash, a large lump falls down, causing a crashing sound, as the ground is broken down, and steamy from the energy dispersed. It could be said that things looked like they were over with a single strike, but then the figure emerges, grazed, while missing most of his clothes, what left being in tatters, but otherwise, it looked like the injuries sustained were only quite minor, especially in comparison to what Orior had accomplished so far with all the other opponents he faced. The man tilts his head, and looks at the scumbag marine, his mouth opening, as if in surprise. "...What the hell was this? ... Is that all you have?" The man vanishes and reappears right in front of Orior, or rather, his large knee appears in front of his face. "YOU SHITTY FLY?!!!"

This one was indeed the real deal in terms of power!!

((OOC: I simply intent to make him be a match, Orior is still expected to win, just with some moderate effort this time, at least, I expect ))

Orior got struck by the incoming knee attack. However, unlike what anybody would expect, he was not sent away. When being struck, the ferocious marine used his powers to make his face swirl. Even if he got damaged, he used his powers to absorb the knee of the enemy into his head and he stopped using his power, making it impossible for the gouger to move away, with one if his legs standing on the air. "PPPPPPPFT!!!" spat Orior in the gouger's face then he raised his left leg high and he launched a Rankyaku from a close distance, aiming to cut the gouger in the middle of his body with it. Orior was a freaking crazy person, that was for sure.

The rankyaru strikes the man head on. There was no escaping from such a close distance, coupled with the .. erm, locking of the criminal's leg into .. urh, Orior's face. This Devil Fruit had to be one of the most expansive and originality-rewarding abilities in the entire world. However, with that being said, it would appear that Orior would be forced to spent quite some time on that one. As the attack disperses, the damage is revealed to, once again, be significantly lower than one would assume. "You are so sick ...!" Gouger remarks, a statement that was rather ironic, considering how sick and disturbed he himself was showing to be. And, while they are in this sort of "stalemate" condition, with the leg still trapped, courtesy to this otherworldly ability, Gouger attempts to kick off the body of Orior.

"This is pointless... You have already lost... You motherf@cker piece of crap." swore Orior at his enemy and as he attempted to perform the kicking attack from the close range, Orior raised one of his hands. At first, he opened his hand, stretching out all of his fingers, but in the end he retracted the fingers back. All of them except from one. His middle finger. "This one is to finish you off the way you deserve to lose..." he commented as he attempted to pierce through his enemy's leg with his middle finger while yelling "Shigan!". However, this was not an ordinary shigan attack. If the attack actually managed to pierce through the gouger's body, Orior would use his swirling abilities at the tip of his finger, making it swirl in a wide area. In other words, he would literally drill into his body.

The attack connects on the man's massive leg, thus resulting in a drilling, windy motion that ends up ripping off a large portion of the flesh, almost chopping off the leg cleanly. Not that it mattered much, of course, as at this point, such damage was surely more than enough to be counted as "severed". The Gouger screams in pain, but quickly, shocking quickly for a man that had just sustained such a horrible injury, moves his arms forward. "Jigan; Madara!" He yells out, his face finally showing some emotion. Although, it was one of blinded rage and anger.

Meanwhile, Maractus is laying on the ground, looking upwards. He doesn't seem harmed, at least externally, outside of the harmed eye socket. "Well .. is it over, now?" What had happened over there?

(OOC: I leave that to your skills, wanna see what you will come up with ))

[OOC: As Karasu is having problems with my fruit, I shall change the battle to Salty]

Maractus was lying on the ground already. The battle had just finished. And above him, there was a man standing. The winner of the battle. Salty was still standing, badly injured and in a critical state. Blood and tears were running through all over his face and his eyes could be barely seen. His clothes were ripped off and his bag was tossed to the side, while his sleeves were raised, indicating that he fought against Maractus with close combat.

"This is the end... I think... I think... The end... This... Is..." spoke Salty and looked at Maractus while panting. He fell on the ground, right next to Maractus and then he gulped while closing his eyes. He was about to speak with a quiet voice and his way of speaking changed, indicating that he was not using his Troll Combat anymore. "I think you win. My attacks were not capable of harming you, after all. If I survive this thing, I have a lot of training to do, I am afraid." he said and turned his head towards Maractus' direction, looking at him. "Don't you think?" he asked and the flashback of their battle appeared right in front of his eyes.

[Flashback]

"TROLL KICK!!!" yelled Salty as he performed his signature kick at the enemy.

"Ouch!!!" Zack was struck and his eyes popped out. "THAT... HURT..."

"And this one will hurt even more... Even more this one will hurt!" said Salty and he raised his hand, slapping Zack with all his strength in his face, making him fall on the ground. While Zack was falling, Salty raised his sleeves, prepared to enter the last round of the battle when Zack would get up.

"Why are you battling like this?! Why don't you just lose?"

Salty's eyes turned to serious for a moment, speaking in a normal way. "Because I have the advantage in this battle. Unlike you, Zack, I have a few things, morals and people to protect. You may have lost your family, but I didn't. There is this building I have to protect. There is the name of the marines that is put at the stake... And there are my friends, who are not going to die just because of your evil plot of cleansing your soul!" he yelled and he rushed quickly at Zack, trying to punch him.

Zack raised his hand and blocked the punch with his palm. He would proceed to headbutt the marine and make his nose bleed because of it. Then, he launched another hook, striking Salty at the chest with it and pulling him right in front of him before punching him in the face with several punches.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" screamed Salty in pain the more punches were given. He would regain his senses every second but immediately he would lose them right away. "ZAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!" screamed Salty, once again after getting punched for a whole minute. "TROLL KICK!!!" he kicked him once more, making him move backwards with back steps. "JUST GO DOWN, ALREADY... DOWN ALREADY JUST GO!!!" he disappeared from his position, appearing in front of Zack. Salty was surpassing his skills, obviously and in his anger mode he was reaching levels of strength that otherwise he would not be able to reach. "HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" he performed his kicks one after another, most of them being his troll kicks while a few others hit Zack at the stomach, making him fall on the ground with seemingly no injuries.

[Flashback ends]

((OOC: Before I post .. Karasu? Where is he? o_o"))

[ΟΟC: No, I mean the user rejected Orior's fruit, so I can't post with Orior for a while]

"So, you made it..." The male speaks, while not facing Salty, instead, and once again, looking somewhere in the sky. This time, straight up, due to his position of course, and into the dusky sky, as the first starts were beginning to become visible to the naked eye. It wasn't quite clear if he was really beaten up to the point of being incapacitated, his morale had fallen and he decided that he was defeated, or he was simply, actually, taunting the marine. The latter option seemed to be fading however, as Maractus opens his mouth again. "Today was my younger daughter's birthday ... suppose she didn't liked what I was planning here, since I was beaten after all..." so, it was true, he was, one way or another, actually not intending to further battle. It seemed like things were finally going to end well, however, that was not fated to occur. "I cannot undo my ability ..." he states, a shocking revelation indeed. "I have to be either dead, or those 10 minutes mentioned before to pass. By then, however, the other effects would have caused the entire population here to go into a frenzy. Many would die, probably not all, but still. So ... you have only one option." he raises his left arm, and with his thumb, points towards his chest. "Kill me. Only then you will be able to truly stop me."

"Even if I wanted to, I'm afraid I can't." spoke Salty his words, surprising Maractus. "My body is way too tired. It is impossible for me to move and even more impossible to kill you. And as I already said, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't do so." he continued speaking but while speaking a strange figure appeared at the place where those events took place. The figure was none other than that weird demon that appeared in Blue Stripe before and even saved Salty.

[OOC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuw0RH0UQ5g ]

"Hello over there." he spoke with a bass voice and a smile on his face. He had a quite evil smile, as if he was about to do something bad. He was carrying a sword with him, much to the surprise of Salty.

"You... again? Who are you?" asked Salty, shocked once again.

"Hehehe... It seems that your constant denial to kill me will lead to my tragic death at the hands of a creature from hell... He has come to take me, don't you think?" asked Maractus, while smiling.

"No! No!" said Salty, as the demon approached towards the direction of Maractus.

"I am just come to bring punishment from the depths of hell, some may say." replied the demon to Salty, just before he arrived at Maractus' spot, right next to Salty. He slowly unsheathed his sword and he took an evil grin, while Salty's eyes twitched out of fear. The demon pointed the sword at the neck of the Hako Hako no Mi user and he would proceed to speak a few more words.

"Any last words?" he asked while slightly laughing behind his words.

"Thank you... I wish that an angel came instead. That way, I'd come to meet my daughter."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" screamed Salty once more and moved his hand towards Maractus' direction in an attempt to grab him and bring him away from the blade before it cut his neck.

[OOC: I think Maractus should die this way, but if you want him to live, I guess you can think of something. Just keep in mind that the demon is going to be a recurring character in the stories.]

"Stop right there, evil crusader!" A figure, appearing out of nowhere, leaps forward and performs a kicking action, one that was actually strong enough to redirect the blade, enough to force the mysterious entity to back off a feet or two, although it was merely left looking slightly annoyed by this, rather than worried of anything of that matter. The figure then shifty moves, a bouncing sound heard, as she raises her body and watches over the demon, her leg pressing onto Maractus's chest. It was Zosha. "I have no clue what is happening here, but I aint gonna let an outside try to bring justice how he sees fit!" she yells out, with one of her eyes narrowed, as if showing some level of contempt for either the demon or the criminal her foot was firmly pressing down on, or both. "What are you doing ... there's less than 20 seconds left..." Maractus says, but is then pressed down. "Silence, criminal ... hey, you .. aren't you a marine? Let's kick that creature's ass too, I can feel it, he's up to no good..." Zosha says, while turning her upper body towards Salty's direction, her eye again narrowed, this time she was probably measuring up Salty. And the measurement didn't came out as much!

Salty's eyes turned into hearts when he noticed that none other than Zosha came to the scene, saving Maractus at the last moment before the blade of the demon pierced through his neck and ultimately killed him. However, when she requested Salty to take down the demon with her together, Salty could do nothing else but cry out of disappointment because of his inability to move at all after the fierce battle against Zack. "I am sorry but... I can't move at all. I am way too injured from my previous battle to do anything at all!" he explained.

"Damn it... You shouldn't interfere." spoke the demon with a bass voice. "My only target is Maractus and nobody else. If he doesn't get killed, his powers will never wear off in time and this place shall be nuked... Unless... Unless you are under his control! Maractus Zack, you sly son of a bitch... Is she under the effect of your powers as well?" asked the demon with surprise. 15 seconds remained until the big explosion!

"Whaaat?! Oh come on, what kind of a man are you, anyway?!" Zosha scolds Salty for what he said in response to her call for assistance, in a way shafting all of Salty's hard work so far as if it was nothing. That, indeed, must have been quite a painful feeling for the poor man. "Affected? What ARE you talking about? You look suspicious, YOU are affected ... affected by being a suspicious character!!" her attention turns towards the mysterious, demonic entity now, her reaction being over-exaggerated, as her index finger was pointing at him, despite him being just some meters away, and yelling. She was kind of weird, like Salty, after all.

"What kind of man am I? I guess I am a defeated one..." said Salty while closing his eyes, probably falling unconscious after all the damage he suffered at the hands of Zack. After all, he gave everything he had in that battle and he could not do anything else by that point. He could barely move his hand. He had suffered some very serious injuries and if he was alive at that point that was because of his sheer determination and his own strong will to fight against the almighty enemy. And now, even if he fell asleep, nobody could accuse him of betrayal over the marines for not assisting Zosha, because he had done his job and he had nothing else to offer. As long as there was Zosha around, he believed that Zack would be safe and not murdered by the mysterious demon with the sword...

"You bitch... All this could have ended quickly. I guess it is going to take a few more seconds for me to finish this madness." spoke the demon with his bass voice while disappearing from his position, showing immense speed that the eye of Zosha could not easily catch up with. He raised his sword and then he attempted to stab Zack in the face violently, in one more attempt to finish him off. What were the motives of the mysterious demon?

Meanwhile, at the place where Derpon had ambushed Johnny and Bobby, the barrage of attacks carries on. The result being, Johnny smashing onto the wall once again. "Wahahahaha! This is even easier than I expected!" Derpon speaks to himself with delight, clapping simultaneously, congratulation himself, basically, for thrashing around the opposing marine. This actually seems like a very one-sided fight, as the troll master was seemingly left untouched, in contrast to Johnny's swollen and bloodied face. And, just then, time was up. Danny got himself up, he was right outside of the confined room the battle was taking place. "Right .. it's time..." he speaks to himself, and, with difficulty as he was really battered himself, reveals a knife he was holding onto his belt, and looks at it. "Zack said that this is the only way .. I owe him, I have to do it ..."

"You owe him nothing, son." Johnny speaks, but then gets pressed onto the wall. "Silence, you! Mufufufu!" Derpon calls out. However, Johnny then stares at the pirate. "You know .. this doesn't hurt at all..." Angered, Derpon squeals. "THEN TAKE THIS!" Firing off a more powerful version of these barriers, he blasts Johnny, but then, the thick wall breaks apart. "W-what?" Johnny, thanks to that hole, was now finally out of this tight spot. And, quickly, he dashes forward and fires off a kick into Danny's face. "I'm sorry .. but you should just sleep, rather than die!"

At the place of Orior's fight, something unexpected seemed to have happened. Apparently, the damaged body of Orior was lying on the floor, badly damaged to great extents. It looked like Orior actually lost in his battle against the Gouger. He was bleeding from every body part and his face had taken a strange look, probably because he used his swirling ability on it before. It was not very easy to recognize Orior for anybody that would see him. And on top of him, there was the evil Gouger standing triumphantly, probably thanks to his win. "In your face, Scumbag." he said before spitting on the comatose man. Orior was defeated!!!

The Danny factor,
"Kuaaahh...!" Danny coughs up, as his face is being crushed by Johnny's formidable physical strength that was backing up that side-directed kick. The force sents him away, spinning once, his head smashing onto the ground, before he rotates again, and slams onto the wall behind them. His eyes turn white, but he's still not completely knocked out. "Hero-Johnny-nee-san!! No! They said that he must remain awake!" Bobby yells at Johnny, his eyes popping out in the process. However, Johnny moves forward and directs a second kick. "Mister!!!" Bobby yells out even louder.

"Calm down, my friend ... I think I figured it out." Johnny says, and the little dwarf stops yelling, now looking at the fellow marine, with a tear on his face, and a rather goofy facial expression, as if ready to resume what he was doing. But, more importantly, what did Johnny-san meant? And, also as important, the looming enemy, Derpon, he was approaching yet again to attack once more!

The Demon factor,
"Shhh...!!" Zosha bites her lip, as he narrowly dodges the unknown opponent's sword assault. She managed to block his next attack onto the beaten Maractus, and now the demon had turned his attention to her. And, while she was able to elude his assaults, it was obvious that she was slowly loosing.

Meanwhile, Maractus was at shock. Looking upwards, he seemed to be confused. "The time I set has passed .. why is it that the woman is not affected? Why is there no one coming? What has happened?.." he says, then turns his head to look at the fallen Salty. "Marine, you ... did you really .. made it, somehow?"

The Gouger factor,
"And now, to honor my name.." Gouger mumbles to himself, and knees down, next to the seemingly knocked out cold Orior, and, from a trimmer, dirty pocket on his prisoner's trousers, he pulls out a 5 inch-sized pair of tweezers. He moves them close to Orior's face, well, that bloodied up piece of flesh, that is, and then, with his other, broad, hand, smashes Orior's head from his forehead and up, into a tight grip. The insane psychopath was obviously in a horrid attempt to gouge out the scumbag's eyes, and, he'd probably accomplish that, had it not been for what followed the very next moment.

Suddenly, a breeze was felt, as if a window, or a large door, had just opened, and the air was finally getting refreshed, that suffocating, ill-smelled air was being replaced. But how? The condition the atmosphere was in overall was so putrid, that such a sudden change was immediately picked up by the husky, deranged male. "Hm, what is this sensation?" And then, his eyes opened up wide. A second later, a blast of blood was released from the man's torso, which was deeply cut, the male's body bends backwards, an after-effect of the shock, as well as the force of this unidentified slash onto his rough mass.

"My ... you actually got beaten, Orior? That really is something new .." A man speaks, solemnly, he has appeared on the other side, behind the slashed up Gouger, his back turned to him, as he sheathes his blade. A kimono, purple colored, along with a large straw hat are the only things that stand out. Who was that one, now?!

Salty did not really respond to the man's question. Apparently, he had already fallen unconscious after the long battle against Zack. He was so tired before that he could not move by himself anymore and now he was sleeping, probably in order to get some rest. After all, he really deserved it after such a great battle he put against the user of the Hako Hako no Mi.

"It looks like he did it... I really cannot believe it myself, either." commended the demon while he started flapping his wings. "Woman, I do not really want to cause you any harm but from the looks of it, if I insist on trying to kill that scum, I will. So, I have no other option but to leave... for now. But beware, Maractus Zack. One day, I shall come for your head wherever you are, whether you like it or not." he finished speaking before he started flying down the roof they were all standing on, eventually disappearing. The mysterious demon had just left...

"Who on earth is that asshole? What is happening here?!" Zosha yells angrily, shaking her hands around, while looking at the demon entity, that just took off like that. Then, looking at Salty, she jumps next to him, picks him up by his collar, and begins to violently shake him around. "Hey, stop dozing off already, and explain what happened here!" she yells, she really was a hot headed and feisty one!

"Damn it all ..." Maractus suddenly slips to his side, and grabs what seemed to be a sword discarded. "Eh?! .. That demon must have intentionally dropped that? ..!" Zosha speaks to herself, for a moment relaxing her shaking, thus, the battered marine ended up with his face dived into Zosha's bust, possibly she was just too abstract a person to notice such small detail. More importantly however, Maractus stabs himself on the chest! What had happened?!