SERIOUS: Reconnaisance Unit, Chapter 2: Broken Bonds and the Mysterious Predator of the Valens Mountain Range (OPEN to Shad0w and Cryptic Terror)

"Oi, Hawks, I am lovely going that way~! You check this place!" Meanwhile, at another location to that of this peculiar and makeshift "marriage ceremony", the pair is still searching through the large system of white, cold domes that this whole facility was built like. From what those two had found so far, it seemed to be created inside the land, possibly a system of caves altered by human (and maybe not just human) hand, or even an underground mega-creation. What they had found so far, wasn't too much, but it seemed important, as Hawks was holding it in his hand. It seems to be a map. Back to Ginji, the crazy doctor/scientist/mad scientist/sadistic scientist/troll of the Black Cross seemingly decided to separate from his companion, and, with a really silly sprint, left towards the unknown, leaving Hawks alone, as he was inspecting the path he was into now. There were some guards fallen close to him. Apparently, no one bothered to actually let Brosko or anyone else know what was going on.

Of course, Hawks didn't knew what was actually happening, but he was still finding it weird that no authorities of higher level had appeared so far to present a challenge. "This is bizarre... shouldn't they do something to stop us from just freely running around this place? Hm..." Hawks is thinking, completely ignoring Ginji's irrational departure into other places.

As he walks, he reaches for what seems to be a vaulted-shaped window, that was giving him a few of, yet another, dome. He was apparently in a position where he was looking at what was happening from above. His attention is caught by the massive amount of people gathered in this place. Also, the fact that everyone seemed to be wearing formal clothing. "This is such a weird place..." he laments, letting out a soft, almost purring, sigh. Then, his eyes caught the presence of a female; one that was seriously scarcely dressed. "What are those savages doing over ther-wait a minute, this woman looks familiar..." despite the window only giving him a blurry vision of what was inside this place, he picks up something. Then his eyes widen. "JADE?!!"

They didn't heard him, nor his scream of utter shock, nor his loud running across the platform above. The ceremony was continuing "well"!

The lion ruffled his mane, pleased with himself as he looked at the prisoner bride. "What are the odds that I found the perfect dress for a wedding on a night like this?! Boss is so proud of me!" He gave a dashing, self-serving smile as the goat seemed to eating what looked to be a pair of rings. The snake, who spent more of her fair share of time sleeping, spoke up in a rare moment. "For the last time a wedding-night dress does NOT mean a dress for a for a wedding that happens at night."
The lion looked over his shoulder and snorted haughtily "Well the boss seems to like it!"
The snake twitched in a darting moment, giving an apathetic response. "Of course he likes lingerie - he's a pervert!"

Jade still struggles against her restraints. She was still wakened by all of the cuts that couldn't properly heal because of the collar. Every time she twitched, there was a precarious bounce on her upper shelf. Her hair had been threaded here and there with tiny diamond beads that made her hair glitter in an ethereal way. Her tiny dress, which was apparently lingerie, was a pale ice blue silky fabric with a glittery diamond overlay that matched her hair gems. On her head was a headpiece woven of threads of silver that looped around her forehead and has a blue diamond set in the middle. She looked like some kind of scantily clad ice goddess ... but, for some reason was covered in cuts.

For all of the sparkling shimmer and cool icy blue that covered her and her surroundings, her eyes were a rebellious and intense shade of green, reflecting the vicious soul that did not belong in this attire or this place. Her golden skin and green eyes were born among the desert sands and she would never belong here - particularly not with that creepy psychopath.

Her green eyes surveyed the area - if an opportunity presented itself, she would take it or die trying - and kill anyone in her way. Her gaze was half lidded and drowsy, as alert darting eyes would look suspicious. Something caught her attention. There was a flicker of recognition - possibly the best looking thing she had seen all day. She wasn't sure if it was trickery or not but her face never revealed what she saw on the other side of that window. A trickle of blood from one of her cuts ran down her chest, leaving a crimson puddle against the delicate blue fabric. If someone would only let the sphinx free, she wouldn't ruin her pretty dress ...

Apparently, no one gave a damn about the female, well, aside those who were perverted and were starring down at her "goods". Not even when one of her cut begun bleeding, no one bothered to show any sighs of concern. Well, then again, this was a hostage-marriage-thing, if that even made sense, and obviously that idiot pretending to be a husband was probably more interested in that pair that was seemingly about to just burst out with the slightest of the movement.

Suddenly, she is pulled forward, while at the same time, this irritating mechanism started pulling down, making her effectively have to resort to knee down or choke to death. Apparently, they were not intending to give her a chance to actually lash out at anyone, they got their lesson already. The old man smiles widely, and perverted too, judging from that ogling expression and the eyes locked in the cleavage, while he slowly lowers the book he was holding. "Master Brosko, do you accept this hot mess as your wife?" he asks him, surely in an actual marriage the words weren't exactly that, but not that this was that important. "I doooo~!!" the ape sings out, almost flying to the skies.

Now, normally this would be were the priest asks the bride if she's accepting the male as her companion, but instead, the old man just shut the book, and thumbed up. "And she does too!" everyone yells, in a humming tone. This surely wasn't how a marriage is performed!! "You may now kiss.." the old man continues, but Brosko was already approaching, however, he is stopped when the goat suddenly yells "well, gotta ask if anyone has objections~!! BEEZA!" the goat was wearing a pair of boxers as a hat at the time. Brosko just laughs in a trolling fashion in response to that. "As IF anyone would object!!"

"I object." A voice is heard, and, from the just opened, tall door, a blonde man slowly walks, his hand resting on the red sash where he held his swords. Everyone's turned towards the man, with eyes popping out. Brosko too. "W-WHAAAAT?!!"

Jade was content to fight against the collar, even if it choked her - it was clearly a better fate than this sham of a marriage had in store for her.  She was barely clothed but still felt naked and dirty because of all the looks upon the faces of so many strangers who were eying her like meat. If they let her free, she'd turn THEM into mean. This idiot couldn;t leep he locked down forever and a spinx is a patient creature. During the exchange, she peers through the parts of her disheveled hair which left a black shadow over he eyes.  "Die in hell, you disgusting imp."

The lackeys around her taunt and pelt her with bags of rice like they are publicly stoning her. She claws at the bags, volleying a few of them back at their launches where they shatter. She struggles further against the collar hoping to choke herself before being bound to that horrible frozen clown. Just then, her conviction is shatters with the single sound of a familiar voice upon the air.  She crashes to her knees, lifting her head as her gaze trailing from the ground up to the sash, the blades, the shirt, the face ... it was like a big red bow on a perfect present.  

At last she lets herself breathe as another trail of blood slips down her skin. She faintly whispers a name between half choked blue lips, almost in disbelief - was he really there or had she died?  Why does she always associate his presence with being dead anyway? Either way, this one had to be the real one ... She would never forget that allur- err rather, ... mmmmemorable scent. Her lips gently part in disbelief as she approaches, curious green eyes flicker behind strands of misplaced hair.

The mechanism quickly gives her a ticket back to reality, as the gears are swung rapidly, forcing her to fall on her knees or end up with her joints torn apart, which would basically serve the same purpose; immobilize her while dealing with this nuisance that interfered with the ceremony. The people gathered inside, stunned at first, quickly snap out and they begin to circle around Hawks.

"And who you might be? You have come too late; SHE WILL NOT MARRY YOU!!" Brosko screams out, pointing his hairy finger towards Hawks, partially shape-shifting to his hybrid form. Hawks, all that time showing a cool and calm demeanor, slightly tilts his head, showing a certain amount of confusion, evident by the soft sound of awkwardness he left out, before he points his finger towards Brosko as well; apparently the modes were shifted from serious and focused Hawks, to screaming idiot mode. "What ARE you talking about?! I have not come here to steal anyone's bride ... or marry, for that matter!!" his eyes, white, almost pop out, and his "rival" also follows up, with eyes actually popping out instead, as he also seems horrified, for some reason, aside just plain stupid. "THEN WHY DID YOU DID THAT FOR?! WE WILL HAVE TO RE-START THE WHOLE THING NOW!"
"How troublesome... I'm here to free my subordinate. If she wants to marry you later that's fine, but for now this seems like a hostage situation so .. I disapprove. I OBJECT!" Hawks says, yelling the last part, for some reason. He really didn't had to actually repeat that last part, and the way he said it, full of himself and almost as if angry at the ape man's claim, was really bizarre.
"WAAAH, HE OBJECTED AGAIN!! GUARDS, TAKE HIM DOWN!" Brosko screeches, he seems as if he's losing it. Was it reeeeaaally this bad that someone said "I object?" A sudden turn towards "tradition"?

That aside, the men inside the large room, probably over a hundred in total, have circled around Hawks, who in turns scans them around, as they all glare at him, waiting for a chance to attack. Several even carry guns; guns pointing down at Hawks. Then the man sighs, and face palms himself. "Aye aye... I didn't really thought of a plan to handle them." He just said that. This land .. was there a virus called "Stupidity" that was affecting all males?!

Jade was somewhere between confused and offended as the exchange between the two went on.  Did he really just say - unless she wants to marry --- that thing?  Well, who WOULDN'T want to be caught like wild game, chained to the ground, and publicly humiliated - while wearing little more than a sparkly tissue during a creepy, forced ceremony?  Sounds like a healthy marriage. How could he ask that?!  He'd pay for that - and the ape would also pay for his crimes. The magicians lack of planning was ... staggering.  Did he just expect to retrieve her through objection alone?! She had a plan but Hawks wasn't going to like it. Snarling, her eyes narrow at the flailing ape.
"Idiot ape - I'm already married - so this circus you've orchestrated is all for nothing."
Despite the agony of her unfortunate position, she gives Hawks a look teeming with mischief and ... vengeance, still annoyed that he acknowledged the vague possibility that she would want to marry that arctic weirdo.  
"As you may have noticed, my husband has come to retrieve me - he can't 'steal' a bride that already belongs to him. He tends to call me 'subordinate' when he's in a frisky mood and when mmmm -- well, that's really not your concern."
She turns her attention to Hawks -- her eyes flicker suggestively at to precarious snow drifts on the cliff, right above the approaching men. With small influence he could bring the snow crashing down onto the pursuing attackers ... hopefully he would recognize this as a diversion and not randomly flip out.  Her voice dropped to a purring, teasing tone as she spoke to her awkward crewmate.  
"... and 'handle them' as you always do, my love - you never displease me ..."

"WHAT, YOU ARE ALREADY MARRIED?!"
"WHAT, WE ARE ALREADY MARRIED?!"

Those two, both the magician, as well as the ape, scream at the same time, both also had their eyes popping out and their tongues rolling. It was rather disturbing that they reacted in such a similar way, to be honest. The people gathered around begin to look each other in confusion, not really sure what they should do. Until Brosko shakes his head around, and points down at Hawks. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY BEING SURPRISED TOO?! THIS IS A TRAP!" He yells, his eyes popping out even more, really, how was that even physically possible?! In response, Hawks softly coughs, while placing his hand in front of his mouth in a fist, just so he would be polite. "My apologies, I was distracted .. she is indeed my wife. You found her too late, sir. I found her first." He realizes this is a trick Jade made up in order to cause confusion or, even better, get those idiots to actually stop with all that parody. "WHOAH, HE SAID IT TOO!!" Brosko screams again, and nearly faints, some of his subordinates catch him, terrorized they try to make him snap out.

Hawks then politely bows towards the half-unconscious creature, while everyone has circled him but won't attack, not yet at least. "I must go now, with my wife. So can you please just untie her so we can be on our way?" he asks, well, he seemed to react so weird and mellow dramatic, maybe, just maybe, such a simple trick would work. And it seemed to work, because he, the ape, didn't seemed to think that this could possibly be a lie. Brosko slowly gets up, still somewhat held by his men. "So, she is your wife, right? .. making her married..." he begins to mumble, having a really weird, and somewhat scary, facial expression, actually he seemed as if he had gone dead inside. "But, say ... if you'd die, she would be single, right? ... GET HIM!" Brosko screams, raising his arms above, with white, angry eyes of stupidity.

"Damn, guess he's an idiot, but an idiot that won't accept a defeat." Hawks sighs, and, as everyone storms towards him, he removes, from within his coat, what seems to be a ... pendulum? How would that be of ANY help?!

Jade stiffened as Hawks almost destroyed her plan by his typical spazing out over nothing. Her lips parted as she was almost shocked by his sudden compliance as he attempts to collect his lost sphinx that he had indeed found first. That idiot ape didn't seem to be taking it well as he nearly faints. She was really very tired of this place and couple not have been more pleased to see her um ... new husband.

Just then the ape awakens with a darker turn and she realizes her plan has made Hawks a target for the creature. Her eyes begin to blaze an unnatural shade of green and she struggles against her restraint, blood truckles over the collar and it cuts into her neck and she pulls harder against it with murder in her eyes. A threat against her was tolerable but one against Hawks because of her pushed her over the edge. "TOUCH HIM AND I'LL TEAR YOUR THROAT OUT THROUGH YOUR NOSTRILS WITH MY BARE HANDS, YOU DISGUSTING APE ..."

She pulled harder, and the chain securing her collar began to groan loudly. Only her collar was made of seastone but it weakened her enough to stay confined by the thick, metal chain attached to it. More blood began to trickle over her collar and she struggled to get free. She could not allow anything to happen to Hawks because of her own bad plan - even if she cut her own throat to escape. She narrows her eyes at the device Hawks pulls from his coat. What the blazes? Hypnosis, perhaps? That sort of thing only worked on the weak minded - a trait that included damn near everyone in the building.

"Jade!" Hawks yells, but at the same time retaining a calm posture and composure. He seems to have actually noticed something she didn't, nor anyone else, seemed to notice. "Struggling like this is harming your body, just calm down and let me handle this; you always forget that I too am a pirate?" He calmly tells to her, and, while he was maintaining such a serious and stoic demeanor, one could easily tell that for a moment, he did let out a soft, confident smirk to go across his lips.

Bringing the pendulum across the advancing mass of enemies, some already jumping towards him, dangerously swinging around a variety of deadly objects, some aiming and about to pull the trigger, Hawks then shakes it. But, this was different than the typical way someone uses this instrument. Rather than a slow, continuous movement, he made it swing around just once; it also went really fast. Was he trolling everyone, including Jade herself? What was this?

The answer came a mere second afterwards, so she didn't really had to wait at all. Everyone stops in their tracks, and then, virtually everyone just drops down, like lifeless boxing bags. Apparently, yet really oddly, this hypnosis-inducing move was far more effective than the traditional way to use a pendulum. "That should take care of everyone ... now, to face-WHAT?!" Hawks poker face finally breaks to that of a shocked, dumbfounded mug. Brosko was also asleed, same for that lion-like entity! The only ones left were Jade, that goat head, with a black bandana wrapped across it's mouth, for some reason, and that one wasn't even paying attention to everything happening, and ... it seemed that there was another Hawks in the room.

"Well, this is new."
"Let's see who's the better one."

The fight was on!

Jade stops her squirming as Hawks admonishes her.  He wasn't incorrect - she was viciously protective of him, rarely acknowledging what a formidable adversary he was. Most of her current frustration was because she felt responsible for him being threatened because of this nonsense. She never should have dragged him into this. It was that damn smirk of his that tore the fight out of her, just as it had the last time she saw it. She calmed herself an gently slipped back to her knees.  She lowered her head slightly as she folded her hands across her lap. Her voice was unusually calm, sweet, and demure. "Yes, dear." She peered at him from under her thick lash line with pleading eyes as a slight pout tugged at her lips.
She watched his movements carefully - this device was a new tactic. When does he have the time to come up with these new tactics?  Her eyebrows raise as she observes the aftermath of the attack.  The only standing enemy was far too retarded to be affected by anything requiring an attention span. Just the she noticed someone else ... someone who looked too familiar for comfort - that same creature that gave er such an uneasy feeling ... the creature with the stolen face - and the wrong eyes. She felt her blood heat as she narrowed her eyes which were already returning to their feral green. "Imposter..." she hissed with inflections of pure hatred.

Swinging around a large, thick whip, the "Fake Hawks" is slowly walking around Hawks, who is inspecting the enemy, checking him out from head to toe. The tension is slowly rising, as neither man seems to be intending to start conversing with the other, instead maintaining eye contact, waiting for the other to make a move. Surprisingly, Hawks didn't reacted like an idiot, as it was probably expected, when Jade spoke, even when she called him "dear". Only reasonable explanation must have been that he was too focused on that look-alike, and was curious to find out what was the deal.

"An ability user, I presume." Hawks eventually says, breaking the increasing awkward silence that was falling on the entirety of this room, now filled with unconscious, asleep men and .. animals.
"You tell me." The look-alike responds, with a similar vocal speech. No one would attack the other, still, despite Hawks slowly unsheathing one of the two katanas he was carrying with him. The tension was becoming unbearable!

The bound sphinx quietly wondered what special slice of hell prompted a double of the single most delicious piece of torture that plagued her every day to be cast before her at this moment. Of all of the enemies that could arise, that Hawks-clone one seemed too much to be a calculated attempt to get under her skin. She wasn't fooled or even amused by the imposter - it actually rather angered her that someone borrowed his face and as far as she could tell was doing irresponsible things with it.  Really?  A whip? What an appropriate choice for a circus.

"How dare you impersonate my husband ... come closer and I'll find the better man for you ... although you won't qualify as such when I've finished with you."

Jades shoulders shifted a bit as she still tugged against her collar.  Perhaps the chain would tire before she did.  She couldn't just stay still and allow anyone to be harmed because of the unfailingly bizarre situations she always manages to land in. With every squirm, the integrity of her delicate garment was pushed to its limits, threatening to fail ... but somehow managing to hold on its mobile cargo. Such a garment was not meant for such abuse - it could be torn away with very little effort. With any luck, that was not the master plan.

The imposter remains silent most of the time, same with Hawks, as the continue this sort of slow dance towards each other, step by step closing their distance, preparing for combat. However, Jade's words seemed to affect him, as his eyes twitched when her voice was heard; actually, while not particularly noticed before, he seemed to slightly flinch every time her voice was heard. After taking a deep breath followed by a soft, irritated sigh, the imposter tilts his head towards Jade, with fiery, filled with what felt to be hatred, for some weird reason, towards the scarcely-dressed female.

"You are not her wife, you can stop this pointless act, the ones that fell for such feeble antics are not conscious anyway. Also..." His eyes twitch a bit yet again, as his pale face's calmness is broken by a face releasing seething hatred. "I'm going to gut you, as soon as I kill this man; it was convenient for me, his little trick."
He was obviously distracted, but not long enough not to notice the incoming slashing motion coming from Hawks sword, who had drawn nearer while his enemy was seemingly focused on his subordinate. "So ... an imposter and a traitor? Tough life." Hawks comments, and for a reply, the fake Hawks hisses angrily. That hiss ... it did kinda sounded like a more feminine voice, that was weird ... but that was not the time, as an exchange of sword cuts and rough whipping blows had begun!

Jades brilliant green eyes lock with the imposter, slowly blinking as she watches the creature. This person wasn't even trying to pass as Hawks, so why steal his face? Her animosity flickered in her eyes as apparently as a banner because this creature took something so precious, flaunting it about like a flag. There was something raw and aching in the expression she saw - eyes that accused her of something she didn't understand.

"Really? The creature with the stolen face wants to lecture me about a pointless act." She could she she visibly agitated the person for whatever reason. Who ever this person was had a reason to dislike her. Jade's voice suddenly sounded more serious than usual - if this was all just an act, it was a very good one. "Who are you to to tell me what I am? We are pirates - born in battle and bound with blood - try to separate us and you won't survive. Every drop of my blood is his to cherish, trust, ... or destroy. I belong to no one else, except for the sea - the master of us all. Call it what you will but we're in this for better or worse." Perhaps she wouldn't leave the crew after all? Her eyes glowed more brightly as the creature again threatened Hawks, her chains creaked louder as the collar again cut into her neck.

"If your conflict is with me, leave him out of this and start with me instead - nothing would give me greater joy than spilling your blood... let's call it a wedding present, shall we?" She tried to keep her eyes off of Hawks for the most part - the more she saw the imposter, the more tempting the real on looked. It was ...distracting. What the hell was happening to her?!

"Why won't you keep your succulent lips shut for the time being?" The imposter yells, while parrying up blows from the wizard, who is firing off shift sword strikes in quick succession. That whip must have been special, as it was able to actually sponge the hits coming off such a sharp object and just stop them in their tracks. What kind of material could do such a thing? Hawks was wondering that exact thing, and, seeing that slash attacks will be of no use, he jumps backwards, to buy some moments and rethink of a strategy, but, apparently this was what the imposter wanted the most; breathing space. But not to attack back.

His hands reach to his pocket, as he pulls out a small device, identical to the one he earlier threw at Brosko. And, by clicking a button, the device on Jade's neck begins to be pulled down even more, but all these ropes. "Hey, stop it, you will-!!" Hawks starts, but then gets it. The imposter was going to kill her, it wasn't a bluff or anything. But why?
"You have about a minute before the ropes are pulled so down low that her back breaks into smithereens. And she can't do much to escape; what I triggered also set off a powerful surge of electricity that is enough to incapacitate a small Sea King. Try to beat me and get it back!" The imposter remarks, and then begins to acrobatically jump away, obviously to gain time.

*...What do I do now, the effects of the sleeping trick will wear off in a minute as well..!* Hawks thinks. This was getting really stressful and desperate!

Succulent? The hell?  Jade watched the movements of the whip, the sheen against to surface dances across what looks like a flat and flexible blade - uncatchable and uncuttable. Hawks seemed perplexed by the unusual weapon when he backed away.  Just then the imposter reached for something - something familiar.  Her eyes narrowed just in time for the breath to be knocked out of her as she was pulled down.  

The pulse of electricity caused her back to suddenly arch, as she gasped - her garment was a milometer away from losing its rounded cargo - just before the floor suddenly came up to block its escape as she was pulled further to the ground.  The collar weakened her abilities too much to fight the current.  She narrows her eyes at the imposter as a trickle of blood slowly seeps out of the corner of her mouth. "Release me ... Stop hiding behind this seastone monstrocity and face me, you fucking coward ... you fight like a woman ..." Her voice was weakened and a splash of blood stained the ground with with every word the exited her lips.

"Like I said, shut your trap, you bitch!" The imposter yells at Jade, obviously he was having a lot of anger and seething hatred for her, but why? Did they had some history way back? Did something else happened, maybe a misunderstanding? This was indeed really suspicious, but, once again, it wasn't exactly the right time to idly sit back and try to analyze the situation and pieces to figure out a potential answer to this question. With less than a minute before the mechanism was pulled down enough to cause Jade's spine and bones to break down from the pressuring pulling of those blasted ropes, as well as the effects of the sleeping trick wearing off at about the same time, Hawks didn't had much time, and to make matters worse, the enemy was even purposelessly stalling, by increasing the distance between those two. But even from a closer range, that cursed whip was a huge roadblock. What would he do to stop this?

Moving forward, and with a determined, calm but somewhat stormy facial expression, Hawks dashes forward, towards his duplicate. Yes, it would be wiser to actually attack, there was little time to actually sit back and plot something; he'd have to improvise on the go, if he wanted to have a fighting chance to make it in time.

The little sphinx was hard clamped to the ground, her chin defiantly high, glaring at her attacker with serpentine eyes.  "Whoever you are and no matter what happens here, you will always be a worthless coward and a parasite."  She had no idea who this person was or why they wanted her dead, nor did she care.  The pressure was increasing and breathing was growing more difficult - little spots appeared before her eyes as her consciousness flickered. Her eyes were now a dull grey-green, void of fire.  
Her pale gaze fell upon the authentic magician who was searching for a way to battle a whip.  This was all her fault - maybe he could escape if she was gone.  She winced as the pressure continued to crush her. Her voice was now little more than a soft shadow of a whisper. "Hawks ... I'm so sorry - for everything ... I ... I shall miss you ... I - "  She closed her eyes as a single orb of moisture rolled down her pale golden cheek and onto the floor, splashing apart like a shattered diamond - she felt terrible for dragging him into this - now he could be free to go.  Her eyes did not open again.

"Shut up, and bother me once we are done here." Hawks simply responds to Jade, not even looking at her. But, while those words would probably sound rude and harsh on another situation, here, it didn't felt like that. It felt like a sigh that he was certain she wouldn't die today. Like he was letting her know that he's going to take her out of this tight spot.

Reaching the enemy, despite the latter's stalling attempts, the begin to exchange a series of blows, neither seeming to break through. Until, suddenly, Hawks seems to lose balance, and gets whipped right through his chest. Letting out some droplets of blood as he coughs, he takes another strike, and then, he seemingly attempts to "spear" the imposter, but he dodges and strikes Hawks down again. Things seem hopeless, as many more strikes follow. Eventually he stops, and lets out a rather loud sound of arrogance and depredation towards Hawks. "Big words you said, didn't you? You fool! Just lay down there and watch her die! Hahaha!...?!" The mechanism pulling Jade down has stopped suddenly. But how?!

Jade was barely conscious but the sound of Hawk's voice lured her back to this world -away from the cold and pleading darkness that tugged at her soul. Even in this state, his senseless confidence amused her at some level. A small silence elapses before being abruptly shattered by the unmistakable sound of a whip slicing into flesh. Her pale eyes open to see it happen again - weak and near death she squirms, blood running down her chin - as the imposter speaks while attacking. Those blows were meant for her flesh, not his ... Why was he risking his skin to bother with her? They had a mission to accomplish. Every lash into his flesh fanned her rage - damnit why couldn't he escape? Who was this look alike bastard anyway?

The flicker in her eyes growing brighter and greener with rabid rage and she pulls harder against her restraints - but where was the strength coming from? It took her a moment to realize the pressure had paused. Despite the cessation of her imminent doom, she was still weaker than she had ever remembered being at any point in her life. In any other circumstance should could have gotten out of that damn collar some how. Her natural strength outside of the fruit was exceptional - she was blood of the fiery sands and a hard trained warrior ... but now she was a broken kitten, sliced to pieces by her own arrogance, driven into a trap after running away from something she would never admit ... only to come full circle as the very thing she ran from is now her only salvation - her inspiration to fight to live. Also, unless she was hallucinating, someone had a cut lip. Again. Maybe it was a dream ...

"What happened, why is the mechanism not-WHAT?!" The imposter looks in shock at the device used to manipulate that blasted collar, only to see that there's a card lodged right in, almost separating the construction into two pieces. It is a tarot card, with the image of death. Coincidence?

"In a battle, and in life, and everywhere else, you need to keep in mind what your goal is. In this case, the goal was to disable the mechanism. Not to defeat you. You should be more observant, and not let your raw emotions about an incoming "brute win" to steal away your "eyes". You have lost this exchange." Hawks calmly comments, while turning towards the imposter, who slowly looks back at Hawks, eyes filled with rage and hatred. He then raises the whip, and clicks on a small button on the handle, which immediately causes many, many spiked thorns to sprout from all over the thick whip he was now dangerously waving above Hawks. "Like it matters, I will kill you and her right now anyway!" he begins to swing the whip downwards.

"... About that .. well, no." A powerful surge of what seemed to be electricity has just struck the imposter, making him let out a, oddly and rather female-like, scream of pain and shock. "W-what the hell..?!" "About this ... when I jumped backwards before, I threw a little something, the moment you made that back flip. A small device a certain brute from my crew created and handed over to some of us, to use in a tight spot. And, wonderfully, it triggered exactly after the amount of time he told me it'd work." Hawks calmly explains, as he gets up, and shakes his sword away, as if to clean it up from invisible dirt on it. So, he implanted a trap on the enemy, and even exactly calculated and behaved in such a way that it activates the right time.

The enemy is still hardly about to fall, as, apparently, the strike wasn't really strong; probably it was the shock factor that Hawks was betting on. Swinging the whip to the side, he manages to break a vicious smile. "So what? You just stalled some time, that's all .. I will kill you NOW!" saying that, he leaps forward. "As for that ... I merely wanted to ensure that I first break the device and stop the sequence that was harming Jade ... I can end this now."

"...What?! This is bulls-!!!"
"One Sword; Slick Arrow." Calmly saying that, while he was jumping straight forward, it only took a moment before the enemy is stabbed through the abdomen, and left behind, as Hawks had moved several meters away in a mere moment. The enemy coughs up blood, letting out a scream of agony. "And that concludes my plan. You had lost on all points; be ashamed."

OUTSMARTED!!!

Jade gasped hard, taking heavy breaths that she had been deprived of while being restrained. She coughed a bit, blood staining the ground and her eyes glowed through parted hair.  Who knows what internal damage that machine had caused.  She was too weak to stand but slowly lifted herself to he hands and knees as she watched the battle - and suddenly everything changed.

It seemed as though every bit of cool and calm confidence that the magician displayed was not without cause.  She watched as every endeavor of the imposter turned to ash in the mysterious fire of magic. All of his flailing and fighting was misdirection of a greater end - baiting the imposter to watch without truly seeing.  There was a fascinated glimmer in her eyes - she had never really seen the unleashed potential of his illusion-laden slide of the hand. The entire event was impressive - even in her broken state, she watched with an almost child-like wonderment. What an elegant system of traps!

In this short time she had learned so much about her quiet and awkward crew mate.  She had seen his dark and alluring side for whatever reason, his protective side after she nearly downed, and now she had seen a clever resourcefulness that she did not know he was capable of.  The deadliest of storms hide in the calmest of places - she would not underestimate him again.  For the first time she was truly speechless. She swallowed hard watching the effortless elegance of the final deadly sword strike ... beautiful.  As the event finishes the pain that had ceased her frame before was replaced with warm, pleasant chills. He was so ...

"You ... you bastard!!" The imposter barks, blood and saliva being spit as he yells with all his remaining strength, yet still fallen on the cold icy floor. The strike was quite severe, after all, there was a hole going across his abdomen, and blood was gushing out. The foe gets a hold on his side, as it was on the right side of his abdominal region, the injury that is, and tries to get up, sweat droplets already falling from the pale skin on his face, the pain must have been excruciating since he soon just kneel down and begun coughing. "I do not wish to kill you; senseless killing is something I dislike-" saying that, he does give a glare at Jade, probably a reference to her rather opposite demeanor about this, after all, she would occasionally eat a man or two (who knows, maybe they were rich in nutrients?), and then shifty glares back at the enemy, only for him to witness something bizarre, causing his eyebrows to slightly raise up, as he's left confused and speechless to what was going on.

The fake Hawks's physique was changing. His hair begin getting shorter, and darker in color. The torso, the body in general begins to turn into a more delicate and less trained form. The face was also changing; the eyes were turning into a dark red, while the lips were becoming more fleshy. And, also, on his chest, a large pair of breasts had just suddenly, and rather violently, busted outwards. Breasts?

"W-what is this? ... are you .. Mane Mane no Mi user?" Hawks mumbles, as he watches down at a dark brown haired, big breasted, delicate woman holding her abdominal wound!
"Curse you .. CURSE YOU, MAGICIAN!" She screams, tears falling down her pale, but lean and clear cheeks, as she breaks down and begins to cry. "I AM IN LOVE WITH BROSKO! I CAN'T LET SOMEONE ELSE TAKE HIS HEART LIKE THIS! .. YOUR .. YOUR FRIEND, SHE WAS GOING TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!! CURSE YOU!" she screams again, and lets her wound, to put her face between her hands, crying louder. "What does she have that I don't?! MY BOOBS ARE BIGGER! Aren't they? I am also cuter!!" saying this, she actually grabs her breasts and moves them upwards, them letting out a bouncing sound, which leaves Hawks with a barely unbroken poker face, as he has no idea what is going on .. again! "THIS IS NOT FAIR! DAMMIT ALL, LIZA IS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH!" she screams and wimps even louder, causing an intensifying sensation of awkwardness on Hawks part, who is left watching over her with apathy, a large sweat drop forming on the back of his head. *T-that idiot...?* he thinks to himself. How bad was her taste?!

"But... to answer your question..." She, Liza, says, taking an oddly creepy and lewd face, which really made NO sense considering her current situation. "I ate the Shibou Shibou no Mi .. it allows me to change my form into the thing the one chosen to be used as my subject, has a desire of .. you could say, that I become what the target's weakness is ..!" she finishes, giggling, which made even less sense! "She was my target, by the way..." she adds, and begins to move less and less, while letting out soft giggles. She was lightheaded from the blood loss ... hence her erratic behavior. But wait ... SHE BECAME WHAT JADE WAS DESIRING/WAS WEAK TO?!

"Oh damn, the time is...!!" Hawks then realizes, the time, he had about 15 seconds before everyone would wake up. And then ... as if all of those cool things he performed the past minute were merely a facade, he just runs towards Jade and .. to free her he .. just begins to pull her up, grabbing her from her shoulders and pulling her towards himself. "DAMMIT, I DIDN'T PLANNED ON HOW TO GET YOU OUT OF THIS!!"

... Maybe that outsmarting part from before was just a .. coincidence?

The little sphinx had finally managed to sit up with her legs tucked under, her arms still supporting her slightly.  She watched the events unfold with confusion. This strange creature twisted and transformed into a giant pillowy set of mammaries with a red-eyed girl attached to them. What. The. Hell. She watched the girl go from angry to devastated with some sort of heart-broken grief. What a trainwreck.

WHAT?!  She was in love with - with that ... THING?!  WHY?!  She almost felt sorry for the girl.  clearly she must have had brain damage to love such a creature. "Can't you see that I am a hostage who wants nothing to do with that creature? - Just a guess - but ... maybe he doesn't like you because you turn yourself in to random men for no apparent reason. Just because he doesn't like YOU doesn't mean he doesn't like girls at all." Jade tilted her head in horror as this strange woman fondled her own chest.  Wow - on second though, those two really are perfect for each other. "Yes.  You should do exactly what you are doing right now in front of him - I'm sure he'll um ... help."

How in hell did she always manage to end up with the most bizarre creatures imaginable.  The whole situation was very uncomfortable - there was a bleeding, dying woman on the on the ground crying over her lost love while playing with her chest. How awkward. She tried to ignore the spectacle ... until the woman revealed something most unfortunate.  Jade's eyes went wide before she tried to hide behind anything - her hair, her tiny dress, her collar -nothing could hide the pinkness of her face.  

Her eyes were closed tight, hoping he wouldn't notice ... maybe he didn't hear?! Slowly she opened them and his hands were on her, pulling her closer -- he definitely heard --- but what was he doing?!  Has his creepy alter ego returned?  She was so close now.  She was too weak to fight him away.  Her hands came up to the sides of his hips, thumbs pressing against his hip bones.  This wasn't working - she could barely hold herself up because of all of the blood loss. She gently leaned forward, unable to stay up any longer.  She felt a slight pressure tugging her forward repetitively.  She refused to believe he would do this in her barely conscious condition.  "Hawks ... please ..."

Time was running low, really low. While the immediate danger of Jade getting harmed from this torture device was, at least temporarily, neutralized, there still was no obvious method of actually removing her off these infuriating shackles. Of course, while all these things were true, they still wouldn't quite justify the immediate, and massive, drop of IQ points demonstrated by Nemuri Hawks, who, for whatever reason, decided that he really had no options left and it was better off to just begin pulling the unfortunate Jade back and forth, in a rather sick-minded game of tug. "Dammit, it's too tightly around your neck, it won't come off!" He stupidly comments, as if she'd be that stupid and stay still, if she could just pop it off her neck.

Footsteps are then heard, and Hawks is alarmed, turning his head towards the direction of the sound, with an unfitting, for this stupid situation, serious face, while still pulling Jade from her shoulders, while she was left mumbling things he couldn't quite get due to the whole situation and the moment's rush, while her hands were gripping onto his hips. And then ...

"Oi oi, Hawks-chaaan, there you are, I lovely found a-?!" Ginji, he was the one to actually emerge from the chasm between the large doors. He had an awfully cheery and abstracted expression, as he was starting to say something to Hawks, with a singing tone, but he then freezes. He takes a look at them. He was standing right in front of Jade, who was on her knees, with her hands on his hips, while his hands were on her shoulders, while he was pulling her towards himself. "Ginji! Thank God, listen up, I need your help to-" Hawks begins to speak to the man, but stops and looks at him confused, as Ginji had just gone silent, frozen, and with a bizarre surge of what seemed to be chills, running across his outline, as if he was zapped. "OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, AND RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A ROOM FILLED WITH PEOPLE?!!" Ginji screams, terrified, yes, he was actually terrified! "Huh? Why are you acting up? More importantly .. LEND US A HAND!" Hawks just replies, which makes Ginji jump backwards, locating his hand in front of him as if trying to guard himself. "NO WAY! ... And, to think you took everyone down just for this ... YOU ARE SO LOVELY NAUGHTY AND CREEPY! WOW!"

Hawks was once again left wondering why was his comrade acting up, when he heard a voice that made his pupils widen. "Eeeeeh .. that was weird, why was I asleep?" Brosko, he was awake. Everyone was waking up. It was over, his one minute was over and he still didn't got her away from this. "Eh? You? ... DAMMIT, I REMEMBER! YOU BASTARD, YOU MADE US FALL ASLEEP. YOU ARE SO DE-uh?""Damn it, I have failed you Jade, I am sorry... but I won't let them do more harm to you." He speaks to Jade, and prepares to turn, but, Brosko, who had woken up completely, just falls back again and gulps, nearly chokes, and begins to scream. He was looking at the exact opposite direction from Ginji, seeing Jade on her knees, and Hawks holding her shoulders, while she was holding onto his hips. Brosko's eyes were popping out, tongue rolling.
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING, IN A ROOM FILLED WITH PEOPLE?!! AND THAT'S NOT EVEN REASONABLE IN SUCH A SITUATION!" He yells, and falls unconscious again.
WHY WAS EVERYONE ACTING LIKE THAT?!