Serious; Youri's Sidestory 2; Docking to Dock Island (open to me and Youri)

After the meeting at the empty, tiny island that was much like a small boulder to stand on, Youri and Second would travel to an island nearby so they could start their operation. Their first station would be a place that was known as Dock Island. Dock Island was a beautiful place, despite the fact that it was located in the New World. Unlike several Islands that New World used to have, this one was pretty normal. There were not any eternal thunderstorms, there were not any extremely strong magnetic fields and everything seemed to be quite normal.

That was what made Dock Island the suitable very first destination of the new partnership duo. The two men, Youri and Second would start their very first job there as it was a normal place that reminded the Grand Line a lot. However, there was another reason that Second preferred this place. As this place was a normal island, it was actually inhabited by people and so it was possible for it to have people who were affiliated with the underworld. This place could be a spot where the two partners could meet others who operated in the secret market of the New World.

"Perfect. We have arrived." said Second after jumping from the submarine, which was already in the surface, to the land of the island, setting foot before Youri.

Youraia, who over had become quite sick of sitting stuck in a submarine for a prolonged amount of time, jumped onto the land with a loud 'woohoo!' . As he reconfirmed he was on some real land he looked around with quite the serious look. ''So knave, you have explained me vaguely about our goals here, but how are you doing to help? If you're no asset I might just do this job myself, wouldn't be my first time attempting to take over an island..'' . As he said that Youraia seemed to hit a small rough patch in his tone, as if he remembered something that was a touchy subject. ''Oh well!''. The sudden shout cleared up the small moment of seriousness and youraia patted second on the back. ''Soooooo where is the local town? I bet they should have some booze there, I could use some. Besides the book of underworld stereotype suggests that the bottom of the foodchain always assembles in the most ugly bar in town..but this is the new world so things might be a tat different.''

Youraia wanted to set another step onto the land but quickly realized something. He fell down on his behind and raised his leg as he removed his boots one by one. He emptied the sand that was remaining there from the rokish beachish islands and quickly put them back on. Standing up Youraia began to take a look around, what did the surrounding look like anyways? Sure not like the new world stories you hear to scare you awake.

While Youri would look around, at the environment of the island that was that of a green island that was full of trees, just like a regular island, Second would give him an answer to all his questions. "Hmph... Regarding where we are about to start our job, it is quite simple... We are about to move into the town. There, we are going to take it over and then those who are related into the Underworld of the town will probably come to us in order to extract their revenge. We will defeat them, we will take their positions and we will do their jobs instead as if it is our own. It is pretty simple, if you ask me." explained the brain behind the operation on Dock Island before he proceeded to answer to the other question. He looked at the sky, which was bright and he said "As for my strength and the reason I am with you, you will find out soon. I was not chosen by uncle Maximillion randomly, do you think so?".

However, when the hooded man completed his sentence, a sound was heard. The sound came from a bush that was shaking violently, as if somebody was hiding behind it or maybe inside it. Second would immediately turn his head and look at the bush, asking "Who is there?", walking at the spit in order to examine it, but by the time he arrived he noticed that there was nobody around. That could mean two things. Either it was nothing more than an animal or somebody could have seen him and Youri and maybe have listened to what they were discussing before. If the worst possible was happening, one thing was for certain. The place was definitely in trouble. Shit.

As Youraia was examining his surroundings he did not even listen to second apart from the uncle part. He was more focused on the forest, the birds, the leaves, the sounds of the sea wooshing onto the beach...It sounded quite peaceful for a New world island, yet the sky was as grey as ever. Suddenly hearing the unnatural rustling Youraia looked over but barely wished to do anything. A bit annoyed at the fact that second would react in such a way Youraia rubbed the back of his head. In his eyes it was really not necessary to act so tense, after all if the situation called for it Youraia was certain of it he could just take out every single one of the people on this island. There was only one problem in this logic, in order to take over the underworld there had to be an underworld...

At such indecisive moments it was time for a flip of fate. Youraia casually grabbed a coin and flipped it into the sky. Heads. A sarcastic and quite annoyed 'tch' could be heard coming from Youraia as heads more often then not meant the rational way. ''Luck is on your side today second, make the most out of it whilst it lasts...and besides if in any situation you lag behind I'll just kill you and every other piece of scum on this islands, I can assure you of that.''. Youraia seemed quite serious, more serious then normal. Under normal circumstances there would have been a goofy remark here a snappy line there, but this time he stuck right to the point. ''And don't think that you, by any means, are leading this operation. You are merely an adviser and squire of me assisting me when I request so.'' .

For some unexplained reason Youraia seemed to make clear that he was under no circumstances serving, but that he rather chose to follow an objective that came along his way. ''And unless you want our cooperation to be long and fruitless you better just tell me right now what your powers are or I'll have to draw them out myself, and let me assure you that I am not joking. Every piece of information will be of crucial importance and I need to know if I can actually count on you... as far as I know your strongest trait is the ability to draw nice little pictures of horsies.''.

Second would not really say anything while Youri was trying to convince him to show his powers with threats that in Second's eyes looked empty. The man did not want to show his powers to his co-worker and that was final, at least for him. If Youri really insisted on having him show his powers, he would better try the hard way, as Second did not really seem to be in the mood of showing his strength and his skills. "Okay... Firstly, I am the one who is in contact with the boss, not you. And secondly... Instead of wasting your time, threatening me to show you my skills, I would suggest you to start walking along with me in the town and not waste your strength at me so that we can do the job of taking over the place more quickly and more efficiently. I do not have the whole day to spend with you, after all. Taking over the place is the first part of our job. All I have to say is that you can count on me and that is final. If you could not, I would not be here along with you. Does that sound fair enough?" he said and he started walking towards the direction of a path, hoping that it would be the path that would lead to the town.

"If you have any objections to my suggestions, you would better lead the path I guess." he finished talking and he waited to see what Youri's reaction would be. One thing was taken for certain, though. No matter what, Second wanted to be on the good side of Youri for some reason. A reason that Youri would probably find out later.

As second started walking one of Youraia's hands went to the pommel of his blade, preparing to strike out an attack, but his other went to his pocket, grabbing the coin from mere moments ago. He flipped it and it landed. Tails. A faint smile came on Youraia's face. ''Time is up second.. I am afraid you chose to be rather ignorant, I will hereby formally challenge you to a duel, if you fail to prepare yourself in the moments to come I will strike at you with no mercy. I shall prove here and now that my voice is one of great weight, you shall not take it lightly after this engagement. Good luck, and may my blade swiftly disable you from further harm''.

Youraia took a bold stance, holding one hand on his hilt and with the other hand he seemed to be grabbing something from an inside coat pocket. He made a small bow and began a thought process not often done by him. He began analyzing his opponents stature and possible movement pattern, and finally prepared mentally to try and not deal any lethal blows. His opponent had proven to him by taking this actions that he does not view him as equal, and the shame would not be worn by Youraia.

Its as if time went by extremely slow, almost counting the seconds of the response of second.

"I see... So be it. I guess we could lose some time over here because of you." were the words of the mysterious man to the former member of the seven royal warlords as he noticed that Youri was something more than ready to take him on. Or at least attempted to do so. However, as the seconds passed, Youri would not rush at Second or anything. What was he waiting for? Was he waiting for the seagulls to leave? No... The birds had already left from the area by the time they noticed the tense situation. Did he wait for the weather to rain? No... The sky was slightly cloudy, but it didn't look like it was about to rain. He was probably checking the environment and how he could attack Second.

While not moving, the man simply raised his head and watched at Youri, who was still waiting. He said "You are not moving. Which means that either you are up to something or you could be possibly be afraid of facing the unknown. That could be it. An illusionist like you, a man who deceives others with his lies, with unknown things... You know better than well that the unknown is the most scary thing to exist in this world. Scarier than death, scarier than the strongest. The feeling that you know and do not know the other is something terrific and terrifying at the same time. A quite terrific and terrible truth about the human nature, indeed.", his voice quite emotionless while he was speaking. Second was speaking quite weirdly. However, were his words weird enough to confuse Youri?

Youraia was in a state of deep concentration, and the fact that second talked to him in such a manor was almost amusing enough to faintly smile, almost. As he returned to what appeared to be a normal stance he revealed what was in his hand. it was a small pitch black ball. He let it gently fall onto the ground and then stepped on it. Steadily increasing the pressure on the ball it started to make a slight squeaking noise, and in an instance Youraia's surroundings were covered in grey smoke. As the smoke cleared there was not one Youraia standing there, but a bunch, walking from the exact point where he stood were 5 copies steadily walking in a spreading formation. Everything seemed perfect and did honor to his status as master illusionist. Even the very sand under these copies feet was completely simulated. There was no smell nor sound different from what could once been thought of as the 'original' .

As the 5 copies stopped they stood in a crane wing formation, going in an outwards arc. As in an instance the 5 copies did exactly the same thing, they grabbed inside their coat, seemed to be grabbing something, and then they all threw it at the same moment with an incredibly fast speed. It were knives. Obviously there would be one fake, but how would one find out? Each and every one of the five were aimed at parts of seconds body that would merely immobilize him. It almost appeared too perfect as even the supposedly 'fake' knives simulated the very sound of the air rushing past it as it cuts through.

Shockingly enough, Second would not move from the position he was standing at. Even when his co-worker would create the five illusions of himself and throw the illusion daggers along with a real one, not even then the mysterious hooded man would move away from the spot he was on. "Oh my... I am being ganged, am I not?" he questioned himself but as the daggers approached him, he would raise his hand and grab the dagger that was real without too much effort, while the rest of the daggers would strike him, but he would not react. "Lucky me." he commented before throwing the real dagger back at the direction of Youri, the direction the real one was standing.

"Hmph." he sighed and he started speaking. "Your illusions... They are perfect. They are a masterpiece. You have mastered your Devil Fruit to levels so great that I have to congratulate you. But they just will not work on me and do you know why?" he spoke with a proud voice. "You will not find out why until we proceed with the battle." he finished speaking.

"Oh damn..." he started speaking afterwards, though. "How is this possible? Could this be that his mastery over the fruit is so great that I feel it?" he wondered to himself. Even if he knew that he was struck by an illusion, his brain was in fact sending him the idea that he was indeed struck, even if he wasn't. "I guess... I will have to ignore it. For now." he thought and took a deep breath.

Youraia rubbed the back of his head as 4 of the 5 illusions dissolved. For some reason his opponent was able to see which was reality and which was an illusion. No normal person should be able to do this, his skills were in his eyes perfect, and looking at the slight bodily reactions he made when the knifes connected he isn't omnipotent to them either. Still it was an exceedingly dangerous situation to be in, if he could not count on his illusions the only thing between him and his opponent was the very blade he could wield. He had trust in his skills, but Youraia knew quite well that there were tons of people better.

Drawing his katana Youraia prepared a offensive stand. After completing his stance Youraia slowly closed in on his enemy, just to burst into a sudden charge a mere second later. Swinging his blade at a quick but controlled way he was hoping to get his opponent to budge, his strike was swift enough to deal a heavy amount of damage but controlled enough to let the blade change directions mid swing.

Second would make a rough estimation of the technique's strength. While Youri rushed at him seriously, without planning any illusions at all, Second would underestimate him. And the reason for that was nothing more than Youri's history so far. Second knew that Youri was nothing more than illusions. He was a trickster and not a swordsman. As a result, the man would underestimate the strength of the sword attack. Without a second thought, Second raised his palm and attempted to grab the sword to stop it.

However, while grabbing the sword, he noticed something weird. The strength. The strength of the sword was not the one he expected. The blade of the katana was slicing his flesh and it slightly pierced through his body, getting more and more inside, even reaching the bones of his fingers inside his hand. "Hmph?" the man was shocked right below his hood. Despite the fact that his face could not be seen, it was obvious that Second was surprised to find out that the strength of Youri at the art of the sword was that great. Maybe the man changed ever since his loss at the hands of Roko Cloud, the man who was now called as one of the Sea Emperors.

Second gulped. He did not expect that. However, even if his hand was damaged, he would not lose his focus. While the sword was striking him, it turned into nothing more than an illusion, a hologram that passed right through his arm and did not really damage him, leaving an opening for Youri. Second, would raise his other hand, that was still safe and sound, and would attempt to perform a powerful strike at the enemy's stomach, demonstrating his strength for the first time.

What did the man just do? What could his power be, after all?!

As the blade phased through the hand Youraia could not help but faintly smile, he knew he was open yet he felt a great sense of achievement. Seeing the strike coming he realized he would never be able to completely stop it with his physical capabilities, so in an attempt to lessen the damage Youraia jumped backwards, with the strain on his arms being high as they were still in the position of one who just swung his sword. The hand connected and thanks to the sudden pressure on the stomach area the air was being pumped out of it, a hard lesson in learning to breath through the lungs when in combat. As the force was stronger then in calculations Youraia was send flying falling on his back in the sand.

Youraia quickly recovered and stood up in a manner only someone skilled in the art of falling.. a lot.. could do. faintly recovering from the strike Youraia began to notice his breathing was irregular, and quickly calmed it. As he noticed this took the time of a continuous counter attack it took him little time to go into a defensive position this time around, with his irregular stance, the same as at the start of the fight, with one hand in his coat and the other on his blade.

And even though he was just dealt damage that scaled outside of his expectations Youraia could do nothing but feel accomplished at the goal of this battle, he had been able to evaluate his opponent's strengths and he was semi-satisfied. Being almost lost in thought Youraia grabbed his coin quickly and tossed it so it would fall right between him and second. Heads. Youraia knew he could not relax his posture as this was still a battle, but he was preparing to put an end to this, the only problem was the way in which he deemed it to be handled.

"You have improved. Ever since you lost to the Greatsword Sorcerer, you look stronger and stronger. An amazing feat, if you ask me." commented Second with a serious voice, praising Youri for his new abilities in combat or better his improved abilities in combat. "However, if we continue this battle, it will last for quite a while. You have seen what I am capable of and I believe that you understand that the more I come in contact with you and become more familiar to your techniques, the more difficult for you it will be. So what do you say? Why do we not put an end in this and continue the job we were assigned to do?" he continued speaking, asking him a question, the obvious question. After all, they had been to that island for a reason and that was not a battle between the two.

Youraia got out of his defense position and let his sword fall back into his sheet. ''Perhaps what you say would be logical if I were not famous for my work, second. Everyone having not slept under a rock will know my powers to control and create that which is unreal.. As such I have concluded the victory is mine, looking at how I have gained the chance to observe your powers myself. ''

As Youraia seemed about done with talking he simply regained a more relaxed posture and walked right past second, only to stop a few steps behind him. ''And perhaps you would like to know that I am exactly the same as when I faced that twat, its merely the motivation that lacked at that time...'' . He rubbed the back of his head and then sighed, it seemed to bother him people associate him with a stupid loss like that instead of the things he did accomplish. Oh well, he realized he didn't do THAT much, but still, people would remember after he was done executing his plans.

"Whatever you say, Youri.." replied Second with four words to the former warlord, impressed with the man's skills and change. If Youri's words were really true, that would make him even better for the job. Now that the man found his motivation, he turned into a powerful combatant who could be easily acknowledged in a sea like the New World. "Now that you are done blabbering, will you finally do me the favor and simply move so that we can do our job? Listen... I have no time for your games and I am pretty sure you do not have time for my own games either. It would be better if we co-operated together and without any more fights because I am already sick of speaking the same words to you infinite times." he spoke with a quiet voice and he started moving behind Youri.

"With a rough estimation I made, we should be at the town in about... Fifteen minutes maybe? Please, forget to speak to make my walk a little bit enjoyable." he commented while he started following the path. The partnership of the two was not going very well, it seemed.

''How about you stop evaluating me and start thinking about useful things that are actually your business..'' . Youraia seemed displeased with the attitude second put up, but he could have phrased it way more agitating, so it was his way of politely asking to back off. Knowing that it was the new world Youraia was still amazed at the fact the island was so normal, or at least is sure seemed so. Next to that were the strange orders, why would a pirate take over an island anyways, that guy steals whatever money he needs so it sure ain't income.

All these thoughts crossed his mind whilst following second.

Second listened to Youri's words but he would not talk to him as he did not really want to continue the conversation that was stalling them and wasted their time. As a result, he started moving at the passage of one of the few normal islands of the New World. He walked a few steps but as he walked a bunch of people appeared out of nowhere, surrounding himself and Youri. Those people were all dressed with light blue and white ninja clothes and they carried katanas at their waists. Their appearance was completed with the capes they carried on their backs, marine capes. Apparently, they happened to be a marine unit.

"Halt! You two. Stop moving! You are under arrest!" said one of the ninjas to Youri and Second, who would look around, making an estimation that they were around ten, even if he was absolutely sure that there were more people around, hiding. Ninjas, huh? How did they get there and how did they find out that Youri and Second were up to something?

''Now hold on there fella's, why would you apprehend perfectly fine citizens, after all we were just pass-...'' On the surface it would seem like a criminal trying to make up as many excuses as possible, but in reality Youraia entered a perfect transition between his body and that of a fake. Hiding himself in the invisible by using a reflecting illusion Youraia slowly and without a noise stepped backwards a few steps. Some may speculate it would be the best to use this opportunity to mount a counter assault, but Youraia wasn't like that, he'd rather try and see second coming up with an excuse even whilst his fake illusion self, only being able to be seen by the marines, and for shits 'n giggles Youraia made it so that even second could see the illusion rambling.

Youraia gave a little mind chuckle as he was amazed by his own flawless work, and the fact that he left second alone in a sticky situation. Although aware of the danger that leaving second alone brought, it was much more amusing to let him work for his money, or so he thought.

Second would shake his head at the right and left in order to show that he was quite disappointed. Not because the marines attacked him, but because Youri backed off. Then on the other hand, he could not really tell anything as he knew what Youri's personality was. He knew that he was THAT kind of bastard allies and that he did not really care for anybody except for his very own self. And even in the occasions he didn't do something about himself but for the others, he would do so because he knew that in the future he would be benefited for his actions. That was the risk of having a person like Youri in a crew, after all, and that was the same reason that he had already changed so many factions in such a short period of time. A record in the world that probably Youri held. "I see..." commented Second simply as he noticed the illusion.

"Don't lie to us, Shichibukai Youri! Our spying unit in the bushes listened to the two of you... We have spies all over the island for our good sake! This place is a hotspot of pirates! As if we would leave this place unguarded!" spoke a ninja marine, talking to Youri at first, then referring to the illusion that Youri left behind before he decided to slack off. Afterwards, he and the rest of the marines that surrounded the passage would start throwing shuriken towards the direction of Second and the illusion, hoping to strike them.

"Hmph." said Second as he kicked the air several times, launching compressed balls of air towards the shuriken, striking them and deflecting them back at the marines with quite ease. Before the ninjas could notice, the sound of pumping was heard and Second disappeared from his position, only to reappear right in front of a ninja, grabbing him from the neck, much to the shock of everybody that happened to be around. He raised him high on the air and he instantly strangled him with great force, before throwing his soulless body on the floor. "Next." spoke Second while looking at another marine and rushing towards him.

As Youraia looked from a distance he was a tat impressed by seceond's physical fitness, at least compared to his. But thinking away from that thought Youraia began to realize something weird, somehow they knew who he was,although his wanted posters would have been re-released but mere weeks ago. 'oh well, news spreads fast I guess,'' he thought. On the other hand the fact that there appeared to be marine presence on the island would complicate things. But then an idea struck him, as if leading a symphony Youraia began to move his arms trying to concentrate his powers on the enemy. As if reality Youraia simulated multiple people dressed in dark robes covering their bodies equipped with riffles surrounding the enemies. As he did this he made sure to simulate every muscle movement and even the sounds. [i]If that guy is even half decent he will realize dead men don't talk0[i], Youraia thought.

The illusion men would appear all around the ninja dressed marines. Upon realizing, all of them started being more and more scared as they could not see through the illusion and obviously thought that they were real. "Damn it... We are in trouble." they all thought before grabbing a few shuriken which they threw towards their direction. It was up to Youri to move the illusions away from the shuriken so that the marines would not realize that they were mere illusions which would disappear in case they were attacked by the throwing projectiles the marines used.

And while that was going on, Second continued his berserk over the marines, striking them with his compressed air balls one after another and strangling them as if they were the easy fray of a hunter, with the hunter being himself. Who was Second anyway?!

It was funny to think the marines would try to attack in such a pinch, but oh well. Youraia with a few hand gestures made the Illusion duplicate move out of the way, flowing as if dancing, something Youraia wouldn't be able to do himself. Considering the situation to become more dangerous he decided to make the illusion bandits shoots, aiming for the head. Considering these ninja wannabe's saw the illusions they would recognize the gun sound, and thus their body would try to replicate the pain.. But of course nobody would stay conscious if they took a hit to the head, if they were still alive. But that was Youraia's goal, to incapacitate the marines with the paralyzing pain, it would make seconds slaughter a tat less..after all blood stains on your clothes are so hard to remove.

All the marines who were targeted by Youri's illusions felt that they were actually shot. A few of them were shot at their chests while a few others were shot at the heads. Of course, those shots were not real. They were just mere illusions that a trickster like Youri could easily use. However, as they did not really know it, their brain would send signals of pain, thinking that they actually got shot. Youri was playing games with their minds, games that they could not understand at all as they were quite weak for Youri. As a result, most of the marines fell on the ground, unconscious, just because of the idea that they actually got shot, while in fact nothing really happened.

There were only a few marines standing, who were not concentrating on that attack. Instead, they were trying to run away from Second, who had started an onslaught and had already slaughtered around five of them with his very fast techniques. His weird fighting style, combined with his weird powers made it impossible for the marines to hit him, not even when they were nearby him. With a compressed air ball attack in the face, the last one of the marines would fall down and Second would turn his head towards Youri, looking at him below his hood. "We did a pretty good job, I believe." he commented to Youri and looked around to see that all of the ninja dressed marines were down.

All... Except from one. Because at the top of a tree there was a man standing, dressed somewhat similar clothes. He wore white bandages all over his face, revealing only his left eye. His head was also covered with a very light grey hood that was almost white colored and he wore a robe that shared the color of the hood. He wore bandages around his feet and sandals made out of straw. He carried two katanas around his waist and he had a cape on his back, indicating that he was a high ranking marine. However, before Second could actually attack him, the man vanished instantly, probably using a very weird Devil Fruit ability. The sound of quick steps was heard from the air, heading towards the direction of the town.

"It seems that we were found... And it also seems that he is going back to town. Things are going to be a little bit more difficult." commented Second to Youri. "We would better head to the town and slaughter that idiot before he makes our presence known to the public." he suggested and he started running with great speed towards the direction of the town. Second started getting serious... But what was going on? Who was that mysterious ninja-dressed marine?!

As Youraia stepped into the illusion of himself he made earlier both that and the invisible making illusions collapsed, creating once again a perfect overlay. ''You truly are a moron.. rushing in without intelligence might be just what he intends you to do..Oh well...'' . Youraia casually walked towards one of the downed men, one who was 'shot' in the chest. Youraia slapped him on the face, considering his body should recover from the shock once it concentrates on real, less serious pain. Just to be sure youraia made a illusion on the man's chest replicating a wound, if the body saw that it would still send pain signals, but not those strong enough to paralyze him. Putting his hand in his coat, looking as if he grabbed something, he created the Illusion of the gun, and pointed it at the marine's head. ''Now be a good lad and just tell me what you were doing here and how you knew we were coming, if I don't like your answer you will die, however if I do like it I'll let you live, I am a honest man after all''.

The ninja's eyes twitched when he looked at Youri, who was pointing at him with his gun. He gulped for a second and stared at him with a worried look on his eyes, obviously scared that he was about to get executed by the former member of the warlords, who was not known all across the world for his sanity. Although his brain commanded him to speak out that he would never tell Youri what was going on, he could not do so at all. Instead, he gave out all the information that Youri actually needed. "Boss Kazekuro is watching over the area along with his unit, us... He has the powers of a weird fruit that allows him to conceal us so that we will not be found... We spied you from the beginning you came here and when we realized that you were meaning no good, we found the chance to attack you, thinking that the brawl the two of you had would actually make you an easier fray." he explained before gulping once more. "Now don't kill me, please!!!" he screamed in agony.