Serious; Sky-high Destroyers Chapter 1: Hammer of Catastrophe

As the ship pulled to shore, Drake relaxed the vines sprouting from his hands. The ship slowly came to a stop as drake jumped off onto the sand. He came all this way for one purpose alone: the retrieval of Uzo's hammer. As the only member of Drake's crew, he couldn't ignore Uzo's desires and therefor he decided to appease the giant. The island was covered in a jungle-like tropic and had generic animals of all kinds. It was silent, but had trails everywhere. Drake assumed there were a few small towns nearby, and left it at that.

"Yo, uzo! Can you move the ship a bit further up so the tide doesn't get it?"


Edit: For now, Drake and Uzo's interactions are halted, but rp will be commenced normally otherwise. Drake will not interact as of right now, but as soon as nikz is back he will.

Tamako flew over the sea, just like always, and like always, she had forgotten how long these flights take and got very tired. Luckily, just as her flames died out from exhaustion, she was right next to an island. As she fell, she landed smack dab in the water, which proceeded to wake her up. Pulling herself to shore, she looked around and spotted a ship nearby. Figuring that they could help her, she made her way over, waving her hands as she alerted them of her presence.

Arden had made it farther than he thought he could. He had been living under the guise of a simple fisherman that changed crews and names each time he got to port and took his leave. He had landed on the docks of this dinky town a day ago. He knew that he was somewhere In the grandline and that was about it. The town was small, quite, and seemed somewhat isolated this made Arden feel safe for once in a long time. All these thoughts dissipated once the bar made got his attention. " hey mister what you having!?" Arden shook his head and looked at the women she was a little elderly but feisty. " I'm sorry to hold you up mam I'd like a pitcher of water, a couple meat flanks, and some rice please" he said with a smile. She didn't return the gesture just jotted down his order and went to the kitchen.  He sat at his table in deep thought. The weather here is incredible, the wilds vibrant, and the people good. Could Arden finally stop running? He was once again interrupted in his thought as his tray was plopped down on the table. He looked up to see the waitress once again. Digging into his satchel he pulled out a small bag of belli. " this should cover my food and your tip for being prompt".  Arden didn't mean to be so rude to the women but he didn't want to get to friendly either. He quickly finished his meal. He was so thankful for the water at sea they had to drink booze because it didn't go bad but he always felt sick at his stomach. The food on this last ship  wasn't great either the cook had one hand and often burnt the meals black as coal. A shiver ran down Arden's spine as he recalled the experience.  He stood to his feet and stretched his legs thinking to himself  it's time to explore this island a little more.

Drake notice the female approaching, but he decided she was no threat at first glance. He decided the best way to get her away is a bit of extremist flirting: the combination of sexual harassment with courtesy. He walked over to a position with some distance as to keep his identity discrete, while being within her hearing range. He decided he should act like a pompus punk to get the point across. He tightened his throat while relaxing his lips for a bit of punk-bad-boy pseudo-greaser speech.

"Yo babe, you quite a dame. I'd like to have some of that piece. Need some help or something? I have work to attend to."

He spoke in a single mannerism, allowing him to finish before her response without seeming to be too inconspicuous. He had to keep all these things in mind to keep his identity. He was, after all, a rather infamous pirate in the paradise islands.

Arden had been walking for a while after he left the bar. He had followed a trail from town and into the jungle.The trail was clear though its surroundings seemed to be full of life. The path lead him to a secluded shoreline. He was walking along where the jungle met the small beach area when he spotted a ship and 3 people. One was a huge man standing aboard the vessel. Another man and a woman standing ashore at a distance from one another. Arden slowed his pace as he heard the man saying some rather crude things to the young lady. He made his way down a couple of yards away from the strangers then he called out

"hey is there something wrong here?"  " Do you need any help young lady?" " you look to be a little lost" he said with a toothy grin.

Arden couldn't stand bullies even if they seemed to be harmless and perverted. He wasn't about to start a fight in fact he sounded genuine In his question.  Arden hoped like the islanders they didn't recognize him as a criminal or anyone for that matter just a helpful
Resident of the island.

Angered and desiring distance from the rude man, she accepted the more polite man's invite for a walk. "that sounds nice. perhaps you can give me a tour?" SHe walked past the ship and looked at the rude man. "By the way, for a skypean, you should do well to show your royalty some respect." Tamako never did care for her title, but she had been accepted as one of the royals, even before she was made the heir apparent. Her family was very proud, so she would honor the pride.

Drake grinned as she stalked off. He had achieved his goal just as planned. As a way to revel in his victory, he decided to make a reply to her royalty comment. If he performed properly, the woman would get angry and perhaps try to argue, or perhaps she would stalk off only faster. In any case, he figured the male would take her away despite her course of action, considering he was obviously a danger, or at least obvious enough to any male criminal. Females, tending to read metamessages more than the true message, seemed to see his "spirit", or "persona".

"Why should I care about the royalty of a forgotten race that conflicts over the most trivial events, produces mediocre technology, and has a tendency of being foolish? I don't think I should care at all, especially seeing how this isn't skypea; this is the grandline so the only royalty I need to care about are those pompous dragons."

He explained his opinion of his own race, or at least in a harsher form. Why should he care about royalty of any kind? Pirates seek to plunder the rich, not run away from them.

Arden was brave but he wasn't stupid he knew who the man was but wasn't about to raise a fuss or alarm the young lady. After all he was a famous pirate no doubt a good fighter and Arden was a little rusty an on top of that his giant friend wouldn't help the situation. Arden heard the young lady mutter something about royalty but he didn't ask you should t question strangers right of the bat.

"Yeah sure miss ill show you around the island. " "i hope you don't mind it may be a bit of wandering unless you want to go to town I'm a little new here myself."

Arden put on his friendliest face and hoped the situation didn't escalate. That's the last thing he wanted at this point. He looked back an the gentlemen and smirked as he said.

" you sir I wish you luck in your travels here" " may your days be favorable."

Tamako took the man's offer and decided to walk along with island. "My name is Tamako, and yours?"

Arden began walking with the young lady and was startled by the introduction/ question of the women. He paused for a moment thinking she said royalty then he decided she didn't look like one of those dragon assholes so he let his gaurd down. He stretched his hand out for a shake.

" My name is Arden it's nice to meet you miss Tamako."

"This is a nice island, are you native to it, Arden?"

"No mam I'm a fisherman who just recently ariived but I wanted to explore." Arden put in his friendliest grin.

"I see, well, after all that flying I did, I'm getting pretty hungry, would you be interested in getting some food with me?

Uzo grunted as he moved his body to try and lift the ship up and place it firmly away from the water. "Hmmph, i dont see the necessity for it... but if it will please you...." Uzo lumbered, being a giant was quite tough, since he had to watch where he walked, but for today at least it wasnt too bad. "Your not bad for a human.... since you let me come here to search for my hammer...." Uzo didnt know much about his captain, not that he really wanted to know. He then saw the girl, and the girl talked to the captain mainly. Uzo elected to keep silent on the matter. He didnt want to converse with this woman , not while his hammer was so close.

(OOC: Arden isn't here and hasn't been for a while, so we are going to assume he got into a barfight with tamako and got knocked out cold. Then, due to some crazy circumstances I can't think of right now, tamako leaves him there. When/if arden returns, he can elaborate what happened and join.)

Drake step on top of the ship and quickly looked around quickly. He noticed many changes in the area recently, but none of them could involve Uzo's hammer. Out at in the distance, near a mine, Drake believed he saw evidence to where the hammer was, but couldn't be sure at such a distance. He jumped down, preparing for travel by directing his compass to see what direction he needed to go.

"Uzo, we're going north-west. There is a diamond mind up there and I think your hammer has beent here too."

Drake walked off into the exponentially increasing forest area on the north side of the island. It became harderand harder for him to see where hew as going, but easier and easier to detect Uzo. He became paranoid, despite knowing nothing would happen until after they found the hammer.

[[Uzo]]

Uzo followed along behind trudging along the ground, making the ground shake slightly with every step. Being a giant was sometimes a pain and this was one of those times, especially walking into a forest , the trees annoyed him greatly but he knew he had no say in the matter, if there was any chance his hammer was there at this diamond mine , he would do whatever it took to get it done.

[[ Diamond mines]]

There were people at these mines, working and slaving away, slamming their pick axes against rock again and again. It seemed the workers not only comprised of men, but of women as well, who were slaving and toiling on the mines, most of the workers in chains, it seemed that they were all slaves. The slave masters whipped and barked orders to the slave to move the diamonds which they have found into the front entrance. At the front entrance of the cave was a huge camp site, and a few tents. In one of the tents, a man of some prestige sat by watching idly, he wiped his glasses with his shirt and took a sip from a glass nearby as some slave girls were fanning him "Well, this is rather exciting dont you agree?" There were two groups of men watching, one group was from the marines, who was being led by a man wearing a ivory colored jacket with the marine insignia on it, he grumbled something, clearly not enjoying this task. The group was strange, they were dressed strangely as none of them were really in uniform, however, they seemed to have a crest of a fox handling a knife with its teeth. This group of motley people had a strange leader, it was a fox standing on its hind legs looking out at the slaves working at the mines. He didn't seem to care that the slaves were toiling and working away. The marine then spoke "Exciting....exciting isn't the word i would use for this......" the other marines standing nearby broke into sweats , they were in fear that their Captain had said something that would affect the man sitting down. The fox simply laughed as his group also let out chuckles "Mr marine over there doesnt seem to have the stomach for stuff like this.... too bad, we of the Fox Knives are used to these types of jobs, you would do well to try and get a stronger stomach for this type of work, Mr Marine san" The Marine captain was clearly pissed off now, he was about to do something drastic and the rest of his marine squad were ready to attack, while the group known as the Fox knives were arming themselves as well. However, the man with glasses cleared his throat before looking back "mmhmmm, well Captain Relat, i could tell you that this is for the good of the government but im sure you wouldnt appreciate it, so what i will tell you is , since i am backed by some very interested parties from Mariejois and the fleet admiral has allowed for me to borrow you so i can see this task through, you have no choice but to like it understood?" Captain Relat bowed and nodded his head, he knew there was no point in fighting with a man who was linked with anyone from the holy island of Mariejois, even the fleet admiral had to abscond to their wishes. The man in glasses looked at the fox knives group "And you, dont forget why im hiring you, its to look out for my interests, not to pick fights with the captain here, understand Leize?" The fox who was now grinning bowed "Of course sir, we will accomplish our duty with the utmost perfection... i would not let our reputation be sullied."

[[Captain Relat Ursei]]
[[Marine Captain]]

[[Leize "fox man" Rustile ]]
[[Leader of the mercenary group Fox Knives]]

((There will be other members of each group introduced later))

"Watch your step, we have now arrived at the island.."

The loud speaker kept on repeating the above statement, Shonen hopped of the boat so did the other people behind him. They then were told to stand in a line and listen to the group captain. A man stood at the head of the line, he faced the group and began to speak.

"All right. Thanks for traveling with us. As you all know we have entered the Grandline, feel free to explore the island, after 40 minutes please report back to this location and we shall then continue the Grand Line Tour."

After a few minutes of the man explaining health and safety tips, the group broke up. Shonen looked around, a small smirk on his face. He enjoyed being out and about. Spotting a forest up ahead, he reckoned there'd be a lot of interesting stuff to explore so he took off with a spring in his step and smile on his face.

OOC: you know what? This rp is slow, so lets speed it up a bit. Battle time! Nameless weak npcs to the rescue!

As drake arrived at the mines, several hundred rebels appeared seemingly out of nowhere to free the slaves and slaughter the authorities. Drakes cursed to himself silently. He had been on this island mere months earlier before finding Uzo and was worried of arriving for this very reason: rebellion. Drake remembered the events as they transpired, due to his work.

Drake appeared above the townsfolk. Completely undetected, he moved stealthily and quickly across the rooftops during this hunters moon. He had been given specific parameters for this job: he would stage an accident for the governor of the island and murder him in the wreckage during the hunter's moon festival. This island was infamous to the marines; known for its snipers, bladesmen, brawlers, and woodsmen, this island was a self-governed danger zone for marines, pirates, or any government official for that matter. The island had no military, but it didn't need one; even the children were as capable of killing as a fully trained marine private.

Drake fell onto the balcony above the target. He was on top of a large hollow pedestal, making it easy for drake to kill him. Drake slid to the ground on the wall, and rolled upon landing beneath the podium. He took his axe-dial blade, and struck it into each corner support, weakening its resistance to impact. He took his impact-dial blade and plunged it into the center support beam.

Assassin's Lunge

Drake returned to the balcony as the podium collapsed around the official, creating a panic for the people. Immediately a chirpy and soft voice spoke behind him "you've done your job well, and now you'll be our token to rise to power". Drake, sensing betrayal, destroyed the tall home he was on with plant roots and jumped to another building, running to escape. He paused when he heard the screaming. He turned to look and saw fire everywhere. These citizens were being burned alive and when they tried to escape they were being massacred. He heard a deep bellowing voice say "I will let all of you live if you make me rich; if you refuse, you will all be enslaved and abused, or killed."

Drake returned to reality. This seemed to be a good thing for him. The rebels would kill the enemy and many would die in the process. This would let him get the hammer without violence... Assuming the enemy had no reinforcements. Suddenly a rebel tomahawk missed his head by mere millimeters. Abruptly startled for the moment, wondering why he lost his concentration, he noticed he was surrounded by rebel forces and they didn't appear to want him alive. He heard explosions in the distance. A ship was blown up, and several buildings torn apart.

"Well, are you waiting for me to kill you or something?"

A rebel responded "No. We want to turn you in. New countries need money, and your bounty will do the trick. We might be able to use you as a bargaining chip as well.

Drake sighed and drew his whip, preparing for the worst.

((so do i keep my npcs?))

[[Uzo]]

The giant heard the noise from afar, there was some explosions and some commotion, he wasnt interested in anything this decrepit piece of rock had to offer, he just wanted his hammer back and these people were in the way of that. Uzo rumbled through the forest leaving Drake to deal with whatever captors he was dealing with. Some of the guards stationed in the forest fired warning shots at Uzo trying to wade him off , but that did not work as Uzo stamped his foot on the ground creating a tremor around the area.

[[Diamond Mines]]

The man sitting and sipping his drink suddenly felt the tremor and the heard the explosions, he turned his head, throwing his glass to the ground "What was that?!!!! There were rebel remnants in this area still?!!! OI YOU TWO , DO YOUR JOB AND PROTECT ME!!!!" Captain Relat Ursei stepped off the platform

"Ok then, all of you set up perimeter here... im going to go see whats going on in that area, GEPPOU" He stepped onto the sky with a leap and ran towards the location where Drake and the rebels were fighting. The foxes also spread across as their leader Leize sniffed the air "Oi , they have a giant.... go and set the traps, we are going giant hunting!!!" The group known as the Fox Knives all let out howls and growls as they set off to run and booby trap the forest to try and bring down the giant.

(Yes, your npcs are essential. The npcs are going to trade me for letting my rebels free and then your npcs will double cross them, and while the bulk of your npcs figt the rebels, I fight the leader. If our other guy here can take the hint of his ship being blown up and get his booty to our position, I can have him find Uzo's hammer and direct the giant to it. The idea is that the hammer is the main support beam to the diamond mines. I use my reject-dial hidden blade to absorb the force of the fall an then blast my way out of the rubble and debree, collecting as many gems as available on the way up. He dusts himself off and informs uzo that they need to leave and suggests the assisstant to accompany them. The npcs will have escaped the incident and the bounty hunters will try to take revenge on us, where I'll let Uzo and our third member finish them off while Drake tries to find the ship, which Uzo finds when he finishes his battle. I don't care about the details, but you two help me make this happen.)

Shonen looked around the island, it was quite empty however he didn't really mind. The feeling of being out and about satisfied him. He still had around 30 minutes left before they were to move to the next island for the tour and he was planning on turning to explore anything else he had missed however on the distance, he caught a large crowd.

"Processing!"

His eyes turned a dark green and his sight zoomed into the crowd, it seemed to be a fight between to groups of people. Shonen knew he shouldn't get involved but he decided to examine this fight closer. His eyes turned back to their original color and off he went. His intention, to spectate this fight.

Stunning the many weak rebels with the light of his whip, he quickly beheaded them all with a quick stroke of his raxor-sharp weapon of mass-murder. He lashed his whip to a crevice on an outlook. Drake assumed this outlook held a second, more discreet entrance. He opened the door on the outlook and found a small room with supplies; however, he did realize this storage closet was on a "sweet-spot" for the mine. Wasting no time, he quickly struck the open wall infront of him, sliding on the debris as the cave collapsed behind him, sealing the main entrance and killing many rebels, slaves, and weak mercenaries. He walked at a normal pace down the mine with slaves running past him from every position. Judging by the circumstances, he assumed a strong force of rebels were ahead freeing the slaves along the way. As the slaves stopped passing him, he came to the conclusion all the slaves were freed. He made a extreme-speed run that was a normal run for him, appearing as a blur of colors to untrained eyes but was easily distinguishable by anyone with a aufficient amount of strength. He continued running down the paths, hoping to find the hammer and not his foes.

((the hammer being the support beam for the mines is actually what i had in mind too, but im just a bit confused, when do i bring in my characters? the other guy is headless yes? ill try and make it happen, u give me indications through pm if u want anything in the story to change))

[[At the mines]]

Captain Relat landed on top of the mines, watching as some of the slaves were running, he simply grumbled, not interested in slaves running away, he didnt believe it was his job to look after the rabble that belonged to the greedy and cruel man he was protecting, it was his job to make sure no threat came near the man however and it was a job that Relat took seriously. Relat had a good record of completing the tasks assigned to him and hated to be deterred from his goal of completing his job. Relat walked into the mines , as the rebels were gathering around the area now, they were trying to bring down his employer, which was not good for him or anyone in relation "Rebels... this is Captain Relat of the Marines speaking, i who uphold justice demand that your leader come forth so we can discuss the terms of your surrender to the chains of justice!!"


[[At the forest area]]
Uzo as he walked suddenly felt a prickling sensation in his foot, he then realised why, as he lefted his leg, he saw there was a few javelins in the ground, acting as traps that would have somehow impaled his legs if he had walked any further. Suddenly there was a flurry of gunfire, aimed from the side as the fox knives try to bring down Uzo with their guns. Leize simply stands by, grinning as Uzo grimaces and growls in annoyance. "This is only the start my big friend... we're gonna kill you by the end of all this, ehehehe"

Shonen watched as the man ran down the path, he seemed to be in quite the rush. Shonen, still having a bit of time on his hands, decided to chase after the man. It would widened his knowledge which is always a good thing for Shonen. So, without a doubt, Shonen chased after the man, hoping he could make a new friend.

Drake arrived a clearing that had clearly been a depleted mining area. He went to step forward only to barely avoid an attack from someone he hadn't noticed... Which seemed strange. He looked around and saw a marine about 10m away from him across the clearing. He popped his fingers in anticipation.

"Looks like I'm about to have some fun."