West Blue: A Kingdom at War

The Island of Three Kingdoms is an island divided into three areas, each with their own kingdoms. The island is roughly five times the size of the usual islands found in the blues. Some might say it is the size of a country to those that get near enough to the island. There aren't that many trees in this island but a lot of farms. Cattle could be seen in every farm as well as cabbages, potatoes, and in rare cases fruits. If someone were to follow these dirt roads with few trees on the side they will eventually come across a break in paths, if they dock in the only docking area in the island. There will be a sign in front of them with arrows pointing to each direction; the first will be Peraura, in the left, the next will be Desaura, in the middle, and Heraura in the right.
 
For the bounty hunters that were hired by Desaura to find the ex-king and bring his head to the kingdom they'd have to go through the middle. Through this road the amount of farmers only increased. Every acre of land was apparently owned by some kind of farm, but with many cattles and few vegetables. Potatoes seemed to be the next thing next to cattle. Soldiers with what looked like shining steel armor, and a steel helmet that made a circle around their heads and covered their ears. The elite looked like knights, it seemed, and each had a large sword, about 5 feet long with a 9 inch wide blade. These soldiers patrolled the streets and had the signal of a lion around their shields, located on their backs, and chest. The normal soldiers only had chainmail made of steel, they didn't have the armor of a knight and their swords were normal broadswords made of iron.
 

Knight Stats:

 

Soldier Stats:

 
While walking through the road a person can also see small shops in the left and right of the road. Each of these shops have a small group of people, one usually with a weapon and armor (probably to protect the ones travelling). These people wore desert clothes and had trinckets of all types, albeit they were mostly jewelry with 'pretty' gems. They also sold weapons, ammunition, and even food.
 
When reaching the end of the road a giant wall, more then 100 feet tall, will block any access to the inside. In the corner of the wall several den den mushi can be seen in rows with different colors. One of them will ring. A person should probably pick it up.
 
"Peroperoperopero, peroperoperoperopero."

A slender figure could be seen pacing about the docks.  Diana had an apprehensive air about her.  The tip of an envelope was peeking out from the front pocket of her jacket, and she gently pushed it back in.  A curious note, it was.  It was specifically addressed to her.  Initially it startled her.  Even as a bounty hunter, Diana hadn't particularly made herself known.  There were a few small-time criminals behind bars, and probably chilled to the bone, because of her handiwork, but nothing particularly noteworthy.  Why would anyone be interested with getting into contact with her?  The letter requested her presence in a place called Desaura.  She wasn't familiar with the area, being a native of a different blue entirely, but the letter intrigued her.  The metaphorical itch that ailed the back her mind would not be relieved without at least checking it out.  Someone could have needed help.  She didn't think anyone would know her name, but still.  

Diana was much too preoccupied with her thoughts to do much sightseeing on her way.  She spent a good deal of her timely stroll watching the ground as she kept to herself.  One of the few times she looked up was at a split in the road, which she took the center path on.  It wasn't much longer until Diana reached other living things besides cows.  The streets were too crowded for her liking and she searched for somewhere a bit quieter to gather her thoughts.  Finding whoever wrote the note was her priority, but it was then she realized it was easier said than done.  It wasn't until she came across the gargantuan wall at the end of the road that she found some solace.  No shops, no townsfolk.  Just a bunch of strangely placed transponder snails, and a looming wall of stone.

As soon as she started growing comfortable with the peace and quiet, one of them starting ringing without warning.  There appeared to be no one else in the immediate area to answer it besides her, that she could see.  She even let it ring for a time; patiently she waited.  Nobody.  Not a soul.  Diana eventually felt compelled to answer.  Unsure what to expect or say, she gently took the receiver off the snail and hesitantly spoke into it.  Hopefully the blank expression on her face didn't transfer to her voice too much.

"...  Hello?"

The man that was setting foot on the island with the same drama and grace as human's first step on the moon had been through a long journey to arrive to the Island of Three Kingdoms. Gale continued on, following the way that led to this place called Desaura. He still remembered when a letter with his name had appeared inside the room he was sleeping in in a boat. He didn't even know how whoever called him to this place tracked him down. He only knew that the letter had been slided softly under his door, and that it called for his help. Of course, not without a reward. They basically asked him to fill the role of a bounty hunter and track down the ex-King of Desaura.

Whoever had brought his mind to this place had done the hell of a job attracting him. It was as if omens of this land had been following him for a while, until he decided to do some hitch-hiking in order to get all the way to the West Blue. That had been one terrible trip. And also the reason why he felt so comfortable on land as he walked through the fields. He looked at an apple tree, one of the few in the area, and he got a fruit for himself. Although these lands seemed to belong to someone, he didnt think that person would mind him getting an apple.

As he ate the juicy flesh of the fruit, he walked past stores and groups of people. He found the soldiers and knights rather curious... Also pretty old-fashioned in a time like the one they lived in. Finally, he arrived to the imposing wall. It seemed to be around 100 feet tall, and no one seemed to be around. Or that was what Gale thought, until he saw a beautiful girl around the corner of the tremendous wall. He decided to walk towards her, without any specific intentions (especially because he was ambivalent between talking to this girl or find a way to get past this wall). On the way, he tossed the heart of the apple aside before he was too close.

As he approached her, he noticed that she had a den den mushi in her hands, and that she was apparently talking on it.

Just as she picked up the receiver of the black snail a small 'Ka-cha' could be heard emanating from it. A deep voice talked through the snail; it also suddenly grew shades and a black goatee. "Hello Diana, and Gale. I have heard rumors of certain people with skills that I may need. Both of you are among the chosen. But first, I'll see if the small rumors are correct." The snail then suddenly went to sleep after it said 'ka-cha'. Suddenly a sound of sliding wires could be heard from the top of them. Upon looking two knights are seen plummeting to the ground. The wires suddenly stop and let the knights land a few dozen feet from the two. Both of the knights took out their shields and their long swords. They seemed capable of holding their swords with one hand.
 
More sounds appeared from the top and ten soldiers landed on the ground each with broadswords as their only weapons and chainmail and steel helmets as their only defense. The knights seemed much more heavily equipped, but they also looked more dangerous. The soldiers roared and charged towards the two intruders. The knights silently ran forward in stabbing positions. Both of their armors were made of steel, and looked very well crafted. There was no doubt that if they got an opportunity they would kill the two in front of them.
 
Meanwhile, in a small basement underneath a bar in Peraura, a man with the side of his head shaven and the top growing into a pony tail talked to an old man in robes. The first man was young with a tanned complexion and a sturdy body. He had earrings on the left and right ear that moved around the sides like small circles in the top of the ear attachment. His eyes were hazel. He had desert-like clothing with a hood that looked like a wrapped turban around his head and neck. His clothes were white, and long. He was strapped sandals that moved around his feet and up to his mid-cabs. The old man had grey hairs but a strong body. His beard looked well maintained, because it only got to a certain point everywhere in his face (about 5 inches). His body looked un-scathed, but the old man looked dirty and his nails longer then a normal man's. The younger man spoke to him.
 
"King. How will you survive in this world without help. Let me help you. I promise I will not get any of your people involved. I'll handle this." The Old man (The King) spoke back to the younger one. "Well, if I let just anyone walk up to me and do my job for me I wouldn't be a very good king now would I.. Dante?"

There was a confused fog in her head as a man responded to her over the transponder snail.  She looked beside her to see a young man had walked behind her during this, which she guessed was the 'Gale' that the mysterious voice had eluded to.  He didn't appear to mean her any harm.  This was no time for introductions, however.  After the voice had rudely disconnected after a serious lack of information, she hung the receiver back up as her brain tried to comprehend what was just said.  Of course she had little time to think about this or introduce herself to this Gale figure.  The moment her ears caught the sound of the soldiers and knights descent Diana's gaze shot upwards.

"L-Look out!"  Diana called, uncharacteristically raising her voice for a moment in surprise.  With his speed and sudden appearance, the knight that charged her caught Diana off balance.  By the time she had a chance to react and reach for her own blade the armored individual was nearly on top of her.  Before the cutlass had left its sheath the swordsman's weapon had skewered her clean through.  There was a split second of shock as her life flashed before her eyes, but she had just enough time to transform her midsection to ice using the powers of her devil's fruit.  She clenched onto the attacker's steel covered forearm as the temperature immediately surrounding her dropped to a dangerously low temperature.  The metal simply frosted over and did very little in the means of progress.  This wasn't going to work anytime soon.  Not while there was steel armor in the way.  

Diana tore herself away from the blade and left a sizable hole in her side.  As ice crackled to rebuild it, she was already unsheathing her cutlass to deflect one of the soldier's blows.  His momentum was likely to keep him continuing forward and harmlessly past her.   She could at least keep up with these other foes relatively well.  A second attacker soon followed, along with a third.  Both hands clenched at her sword's hilt as she brought it up to block a swing meant to cut her in two.  The jolt was jarring, but they were matched in strength.  Hopefully before he could react, Diana ducked and slashed at the man's unarmored thighs.  

At the end of her swing, in a fluid motion she removed her bottom hand from her hilt and grabbed the pistol at her waist.  Pulling the trigger she fired at the third soldier's right leg.  Soldiers four and five followed soon after brandishing their broadswords.  The only thing that came to her mind at the time was to bring her arms up to block, as a solid inch of iron-strength ice grew to encase them.  Her feet dug into the ground but she couldn't prevent herself from being shoved against the wall behind her from the force.  Diana struggled to prevent the blades from meeting her flesh.  She wasn't prepared for another potential stab through the gut quite yet, or pulling off anything particularly fancy.  A glimpse of concern was in her eyes as she briefly looked over to Gale to see how he was faring.

Gale was about to formulate a formal greeting to the girl on the den den mushi when the groups of knights and soldiers appeared suddenly. He was close enough to Diana to hear the voice coming from the den den mushi say: "Both of you are among the chosen. But first, I'll see if the small rumors are correct." He looked up in surprise when Diana warned him. This, he thought, couldn't be just coincidental to the appearance of the attackers. As the soldiers charged furiously towards them, Gale instinctly seemed to point to the ground before him with his closed hand and opened them.

"Nendo Nendo no Quicksand..."- he muttered as he opened two clay quicksand pits right before the other soldiers could get closer to him and Diana, right in front of their feet. They seemed to come from above, so if they kept moving towards them, they would be in danger of falling into the quicksand pits. He thought he was protecting his companion as well, but she seemed to be in trouble. While he thought of this, the second knight charged towards him and Gale's timing was sufficient enough for him to bend his body out of the way.

Gale was scared, not only for himself, but for Diana too. She seemed to be in trouble and he had to find a way to get rid of this knight in order to help her. The soldiers were being kept away from him by the large quicksands he made on their way, so he could fight the knight solo for now. Gale summoned a large, yoga ball-sized hand of clay that took the shape of a fist. He hastily directed it at the knight with enough trajectory to gift it momentum, and more importantly, giving it the correct angle and direction to attempt to push the Knight back into one of his clay quicksand pits.

He looked back, three of the soldiers were held inside the quicksand pits as they struggled to get out of them, the other two had jumped over them and were heading towards him. He then turned to Diana to check her situation and found her against the wall, having a terrible time against her opponents.

"WATCH OUT!" - he yelled as he ignored the two soldiers behind him performing slashes against his back and saying: "Clay Wall!" as he lifted up a wall of normal dimensions that pushed up exactly between Diana and her attackers. Gale felt the slashes dig into the skin of his back and he groaned in pain.

The knight that stabbed Diana through the gut looked confused when his sword seemed to do no damage to the woman. Her body looked like it had turned to ice, and a near overwhelming sense of coldness coursed through his right gauntlet. The knight didn't know that it was his armor that had protected him from an almost grim fate. While Diana ran and put her back against a wall, injuring two of the soldiers in their legs. The knight already understood her tactic, but only barely. It looked like she was trying to injure the soldiers in the areas they were unprotected, it was a basic strategy. Only a fool would attack an armored man when they could attack points that aren't covered in metal. The knight ran towards Diana, but a wall of clay got between him and her. The knight stopped briefly and noticed that it was a straight wall.. there were other ways to get to her. The knight slowly walked to the end of the wall and peaked behind it, seeing Diana. The knight flicked his sword; it sounded like the metal howled when he did this. With his shield on his left hand he charged forward; he was attempting to pierce her torso again, this time at the heart. The other soldiers were still trying to hit the wall. It seemed they hadn't noticed yet that it's a wall and not a dome.

The knight fighting Gale, in the other hand, had a different problem. The one he was fighting seemed to have other weird powers. He made the ground very soft and trapped some of the other soldiers. After the knight got close to him he even sent a clay fist at the knight. The knight blocked with his shield, which was made of steel. The attack connected but thanks to the knight wearing armor, that's heavy, and his speed running forward the sudden change in velocity was not nearly enough to make him fly behind him into the quicksand. Right after the attack the opponent seemed to turn around and create another one of his strange abilities. He created a wall, which briefly stopped the knight that was moving towards her. The other two soldiers hit Gale, and the knight came soon after. The knight tried to slam Gale's face to the ground. In the spur of the moment the knight also attempted to slash at the man's right arm. It was the same arm that pointed at the area that turned to quicksand. That meant the arm might have this strange ability.

The two soldiers that attacked Gale were now helping the others get off the quicksand. Because it wasn't thick the technique was easy to get out off with help. The knight made sure to protect the soldiers while they readied themselves.

Knight Stats:

Soldier Stats:

Diana didn't know what to think when suddenly a wall formed between herself and her opponents.  Her heart was racing at this point, and the barrier gave her a much needed moment to collect her wits.  Gale didn't look like he was doing well either, yet it appeared the clay wall was his creation. He had put her well being ahead of his own.  In her peripheral vision she could see him get slashed in the back as she visibly winced.  Even if she didn't know who he was, Diana was determined to help him out.  She had to pull herself together and take care of her attackers sooner rather than later.  

"Thank you, I'm fine.  Please hang on for a bit longer."  As she said this, Diana saw the knight who attacked her peek around the corner of the wall.  It was then she noticed that compared to his ornate armor, his blade was rather plain looking.  Maybe it was weaker; she wouldn't know until she tried.  Quietly without a fuss she stood her ground and waited for him to strike.  There wasn't room for her to dodge in this narrow area.  She mentally and physically braced herself for the impact.  

"This again...?"  she mumbled under her breath, significantly more composed than she was prior.  The knight's blade traveled through her now icy sternum without much resistance.  Diana flinched, but was otherwise unharmed.  While it slid through her chest Diana reached a hand to graze the flat side of the iron sword.  In almost an instant, the metal that came in contact with her flesh and hand was frosted over and frozen solid.  She balled her hand into a fist and smashed the frozen iron.  The shattered bits that littered the ground glistened like fragments of broken glass.  A faintest glimmer of a smirk teased her expression.  That's what she was hoping would happen.  

"Patinoire!"  As she said this a shot of ice extended from her outstretched hand and hit the ground.  It started small but expanded to form a glassy surface directly surrounding the clay wall, including the other side where the other soldiers were pounding at the structure.  Diana expected the slick rink of ice to catch them off guard; hopefully causing them to lose their balance and fall to the ground.  

"Stand down, your attacks won't work against me.  I don't wish to spill any more blood."  Diana meant this with the utmost sincerity.  If she had to strike further to keep her attackers from continuing, she would try.  She had already wasted enough precious time, and Gale could use the help.

As soon as the two soldier's swords connected with his back, Gale groaned a little in pain but he automatically turned around and stepped away. He then saw that the Knight was attempting to attack him and as he saw he wouldnt have enough time to counter, he dissolved the ground below himself into a clay quicksand pit and fell inside it in order to avoid being hit. He wasn't dim-witted though, as he fell into the clay, he kept a bubble of air around his head in order for him to breath. He was hoping that the Knight was now confused because of his sudden disappearance.

Almost immediately after this, he jumped out of the quicksand pit helping himself up with the clay. Simultaneously, he used his Nendo Nendo no Cloud technique to shoot up the clay and attempted to splash it all over the Knight and trap him within it. If it were to be effective, having into account that he was very close, Gale would surround his face and attempt to smother him within it.

As he jumped out, he saw the other two soldiers attempting to help the ones in the quicksand pits and Gale formed another Yoga-ball sized hand and attempted to launch a punch directed to both of them and prevent them from helping their companions.

The knight fighting Diana looked with shock as his sword seemed to be turned to ice then crushed under her fist. The knight then fell a few feet behind her after the sword seemed to faze right through her.. it seemed like her abilities were preventing him from causing any damage. What kind of power was this? The Knight's shield suddenly grew spikes from its edges. Any fool could see that the shield's tips were very sharp; they could probably cut through a person with ease (bone and all). The wind whistled against his shields sharp edges; this blade was sharper then the last one. It was made of steel. Same as the shield. Then the knight saw the ground turn to ice and his balance forced him to fall to the ground. He forced his shield to the ground so he could balance himself. The woman basically told the soldiers and knight to give up. The knight suddenly grew angry. Within feet from the woman he pulled his arm back in the most horizontal throwing stance most people would have ever seen. He hurled the shield at the woman with all of his might. He wasn't going to give up so easily. The other soldiers fell on their asses. But they quickly started to use their swords to crawl around the wall. They started to learn from the knight.
 
The other knight suddenly saw the mysterious young man disappear from his view. The knight didn't understand until he saw the young man pop out from the ground. By the time the knight noticed Gale it was too late; he was already surrounded by his clay cloud. The knight then felt the clay attempt to smother his face and kill him, however that's when he realized that his strength allowed him to move in the dense substance. He grabbed the thick liquid and wiped it from his face. He used his speed to hurriedly run out of the liquid as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, and ran towards the technique that Gale sent. The knight jumped to try and grab the yoga ball, but it went right pass his reach and hit the soldiers that weren't in the quick sand. The five soldiers were all now in the quicksand. The Knight, infuriated, activated his shield as well. The spikes circled the shield almost perfectly. At that moment the knight sprinted forward with heavier steps behind him. The knight pulled his blade back, while hiding behind his shield, and swung the blade along with the boost from his speed.

Meanwhile Dante continued speaking with the old king. "I promise you I'll take care of the problem. You are more important to this country then me; that means you need to stay alive. Trust m-" The king slammed his hand on a wooden crate. It didn't seem to shake much showing just how ordinary the king was in strength; but he had a temper. "I will not let anyone fight my battle! Do you understand me?! I'll kill that sun of a-" The king stopped suddenly. Water started to leak from his tear ducts and he started sobbing. Dante stayed silent while the king cried. "I lost everything. But I'll get it back." Dante stood up and walked towards the king. "How about a wager then?" The king looked up at Dante. What was this young man thinking? The two shadows continued to converse.

There was scarce time for Diana to react.  The bladed shield traveled dangerously fast, giving her barely enough time to raise her forearm and transform it to block the attack.  Even with her ice limb in the way the shield pierced it through entirely.  One of the steel points was a scary few inches from gouging her eye from her skull.  Her heart rate fluttered.  She hadn't exactly seen a shield do that before, and hoped she wouldn't experience it again.  Why would a shield of all things be able to grow spikes out of nowhere?

With her other arm, Diana grabbed the shield and tore the ice from her elbow down with it.  As it reformed she shook the hunk of steel sending any stray ice shards in random directions.  This metal was too strong for her to freeze as well, just like the armor, and it remained unharmed from her frozen touch.  How inconvenient.  It was then she noticed the soldiers scrambling on the slick rink of ice.  There was the slightest hint of pity in her eyes.  Sure one of them tried to decapitate her moments earlier, but she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Diana raised a spike of ice underneath each remaining soldier's knee in an attempt to wound them enough to take them out of the fight.  Oh how she wished they would just give up already.  Around that time Diana looked over to Gale to see how he was faring.  He seemed to be attempting to shove his opponents into his pits of quicksand, but they kept moving out of them.  As she saw the knight sprint forward, she reached out an arm and ice sprung from the ground to cut him off.  

"Boule à Neige," Diana muttered.  A glassy dome of ice formed around the knight, tough as iron.  That ought to slow their opponent down enough to get him stuck in Gale's quicksand, she thought.

A shadow of pain crossed Gale's face as he remembered the cuts on his back. He would need a bandage later to cover those superficial wounds. He thanked that he could slightly endure the attack and so he wasnt so affected by it. Gale was satisifed when he finally pushed the soldiers into the quicksand pits, and when he had them all inside it, he closed his hands and solidified his clay because of its sheer properties.

This happened fast enough for them not to be able to use the hard densities of the clay when solidifying to climb out of the pit. Then, turning back to the knight, Gale was ready to raise a wall between the two of them when suddenly Diana used her Boule á Neige technique to trap the knight inside. Gale thought for a few seconds and then kneeled down to touch the floor. This allowed him to have a better control of his next attack as he mixed his own clay into the ground.

Under the trapped knight, he formed a quicksand pit that took all the area inside the Snow Globe. He didnt know if Diana would remove it, but he preffered not to know if he had succeeded or not. Either way, the knight was trapped. She hadn't yet dealt with the remaining knight, for what he could see, so he was going to give her a hand.

"Thank you!" -Gale exclaimed as he sprinted towards the other knight that was pestering the girl. -"Nendo Nendo no Weapon!"

As he exclaimed this, a clay Axe formed in his hand. Although you could notice that it was made out of clay, the blade was as sharp as an actual axe would be. He hurled it up into the air and used his devil fruit powers to point its trajectory towards the knight.

The knight fighting Gale saw a sphere appear around him; which was barely visible for some unknown reason. The area under him quickly turned to quicksand and he felt his lower body fall to the depths of this technique. The knight couldn't do anything to fight back after this. He tried to use his sword to break the ice, but it didn't budge. The more he moved the more he sank. It didn't take long before he was completely swallowed up; the other knight, fighting Diana, was about to attempt to slide to help his comrade but forgot about the two enemies he was fighting. The one with the mush powers threw a weapon and hit the knight in the face while he was off balance. The axe hit the knight behind the head and forced his head into the thick ice underneath him. He was knocked out.

The soldiers threw the white flag.. literally. The soldiers each had white flags in their pockets. The five that were on the ice then used their energy to slide to the soldiers that were still stuck in the quicksand mush. When they reached dry land they started to help the soldiers escape the quicksand. It was taking them awhile, and they didn't want to lose anyone that could be saved in this battle.

Suddenly the gates behind Diana and Gale opened. A single man with a thick black armor with spikes around every noticeable joint in the body. The plate was made of thick steel, and behind him was a large axe with diamond on the edge blunt edge of the axe. The man spoke to the two pirates.

"Congratulations on winning. With both of you we finally have enough. Follow me." The man spoke with a thick accent that sounded like it came from a pure English country. It didn't match the armor at all. However, the soldiers behind Diana and Gale immediately shook after seeing him. Even while helping their comrades their minds were terrified of the man in front of the two pirates. He stood at eight feet tall, with armor thick enough to make him look like a premature half giant. He then walked inside the city expecting the two pirates to follow him.

Inside the city was a completely different view from the outside. The villagers wore varieties of clothing; some wore rags with colors while others wore fur and leather boots. The houses were all made of stone, and a long river coursed through the city and around it. They had an underground water system it seemed. Men with swords and leather armor walked around the city in groups of five. They all had the same lion mark on their backs. Each of these men had a single sword, made of iron, and a pair of handcuffs. None of these men even worried about long range combat it seemed. On top of the walls several men with rifles could barely be seen; they're the reason the guards didn't have to worry about pistols. The walls were outlined by these snipers on the top. The people lived comfortably. The black knight walked to the front of a very long set of stairs that reached a giant castle located in the middle of the city. It was noticeable only to people that looked at the kingdom from afar outside of the city walls. The stairs went upwards about fifty feet before the front of the gate stopped the people from entering. The gate suddenly opened, like they knew it was the knight on the other side, and the two pirates walked inside. Eight shadow figures sat around a table. Not much else can be seen at this moment other then a ninth figure sitting on a throne a dozen feet beside the table with a tenth figure standing beside him. The chair the ninth figure sat on was thick, and large.

Dante spoke to the old king. "If I stop the people sent here to kill you without trouble you stay here, where you're safe, and allow me to take care of the rest without help from anyone of these kingdoms." The king stood up, in anger, and grabbed Dante by the collar. "I will NOT shed any innocent blood that isn't my own, do you understand?! I'll kill that.. that bastard before you get the chance!" Dante stood there with the old man grabbing his collar. "History will look at it as one king killing another. Would you rather history blame someone else for the death of a king and the return of another?" The old man stopped for a moment. Dante smiled at him, "I'll take care of the people sent here to kill you. After that, I'm leaving to stop the new king. If you want to stop me, you'll have to kill me." After that the king let go of Dante's collar and walked back to the crate he kicked. The king sat down and waited. An awkward silence overwhelmed the room. What Dante couldn't see was a grim expression on the old man's face; the rooms dark shadows didn't let the old man's face be seen.

The events that began to unfold confounded Diana.  After their opponents surrendered and an intimidating armored figure appeared, she understood they were being tested.  Rather rude, to do such a thing without warning.  They probably would have their reasons however; desperate times often called for desperate measures.  Before she followed the black knight into the city, she walked over to check on Gale's situation.  From a scan by her untrained eyes she thought the wounds weren't life threatening, but it certainly didn't look pleasant.  She lacked any real knowledge in the subject, sadly.  That wouldn't stop her from keeping an careful eye on him at least.

Diana intended to stick relatively close to Gale until he was treated or there was reason not to.  She guessed the town was as unfamiliar to him as it was to her.  Her home was rather...  small and unimpressive compared to what she saw before her.  The number of soldiers around was slightly unsettling at first, but Diana eventually comfortable enough to look around at her surroundings as they passed.  From what she could observe the townsfolk certainly seemed content.  The town's architecture seemed rather impressive as well.  Although Diana remained quiet there was a sense of wonder in her eyes.  There were a few instances where her jaw gaped in the slightest, particularly as they reached a towering castle.  It took a moment for her to shake herself out of the state of awe and follow the armored knight up the flight of stairs and through the door.  

She counted ten individuals in the room they entered.  None of which she could make out rather well.  There was a pair of empty chairs at the end of the table.  Normally she might have asked permission before seating herself, but after the excitement from the fight earlier and the walk across town, Diana could use a break for her tired feet.  She pulled out the chair and sat, folding her hands across her lap.   All the time she said nothing but gave a respectful bow of her head towards whoever sat upon the throne.  It was likely that whoever was responsible for sending attackers on them would explain themselves in time.  Hopefully their intrusion hadn't interrupted anything of importance.

The table in front of the two pirates, Gale and Diana, was rectangular. There was two seats open for pirates to go inside. One of the seats was closer to the end, in the bottom right corner of the rectangle and one seat up in the right side of that corner. The one empty seat was dead in the middle on the left side. Diana sat on the left side, leaving one seat open for Gale. When the shadow figure stood motionless at Diana's bow the other shadow figure, next to the one sitting on the throne, nodded his head slightly at the woman pirate/bounty hunter. Eventually all of the seats looked taken and the figure next to the sitting man clapped his hands. The fires suddenly rose up from men coming in with alcohol and the room suddenly got brighter. Around Diana and Gale seemed to be numerous pirates and weird men and an extra woman.
 
The first was a small kid. He wore purple and seemed to have a gun that was bigger then him. He had a metallic backpack with a weird liquid in a large see-through tube. The small kid had freckles and his hair was jelled back into spikes to make it look like fire(?). He was no more then eleven years old. He wore purple shorts, and a t-shirt. His shoes were white sandals. "So these are the last guys?! How come we get a dude that looked like he came straight out of a beach and ANOTHER girl?! Why can't we get more boys! Boys are superior in every way!"
 

Spyro (The Baby Dragon) #10:

 
The next man, wearing light and square glasses, giggled at the small child. This man had long blonde hair that stretched down to his midback, and it looked very well managed. The man had a decent body, but he had two scissors around his fingers that looked incredibly sharp. His shirt was white and near transparent, while his pants looked like the long business attire type. He was working a Fabio look. "Oh child, stop with such nonsense. Very soon you'll come to enjoy women and all their beauty."
 

Dye (Fashion Man) #9:

The next man, sitting next to Gale, smiled. His body was big, and not in the muscular way. He looked big enough to have trouble standing up, and the chair under him looked like it was suffocating under his weight and width. A normal person could only see the legs of the chair under the 8 foot tall 450 pound monster. "I wouldn' mind goin' wit' that der' lady though, she's a cuty." The big man slapped his belly, jiggling it. It appeared like he was proud of being big, and even thought it would attract 'the ladies'.

George (The blob) #7:

The next man, sitting across from him, didn't look like a man... exactly. He had fur around his body, the white kind, and bunny ears and long teeth. He wore a long and baggy pair of pants with fake bunny feet as shoes. The man didn't say anything, but made weird noises when he heard the conversation between the big man and the woman. He could definitely understand the human language.

Bunny (The Bunny) #6:

The other man, whom had bulging muscles protruding from his arm, looked at the two that came in and 'hmph'd. The man didn't bother wearing a shirt, only a leather jacket. The man had no hair on the top of his head and seemed to have a few scars across his body. His pants were camouflaged for the dessert. "They dun luk rreal straung, yet won auf dem iz sitting neah me. What iz she gud wit, hand to hand kombat? Oar makin' her opponents fall asleep with her naggin?" The little boy laughed in the end of the table, Spyro seemed to admire the big man and all of his testosterone. It is also notable that he has two metallic knuckles around his normal knuckles, and they had knives sticking out of the sides to cut whatever he misses by 5 inches. They looked sharp.

Arnold (Strong Arm) #4:

The next man didn't say anything, or even smirked. He sat with his arms crossed. This man had multiple spears laying beside him and a large shot-gun as well. He had two pistols at his side and a single katana on his back in a horizontal position from his waist. His face looked young, but his body was decently muscular and scarred. His hair was light brown.

Hueston (The Problem) #3:

The other woman, whom looked too perfectly figured to be 'human', laughed when she heard the big man talk. She ended the laughter with a small giggle. She crossed her well defined and smooth legs. She was wearing a long white dress with sparkles around it. The high heels she had on her had blades in the 'heel' area instead of actual heels. Her legs, when looked at closely, looked much more defined then a normal person.. but in a sexy and erotic way. She crossed her arms together, helping her girls stay in place while at the same time mesmerizing any weak opponents, or easily fooled ones. "Keep talking like that and I'll have to teach you a lesson <3" She said this toyfully, but when Arnold heard her he gulped slightly. He knew he would have his hands full.

Holly (The Heel) #2:

The last man, very dark skin colored, sat across the woman. He had both of his arms on the table, and just like Hueston didn't have any opinions in the table. He was waiting for the king, whom was sitting on his chair, to start speaking to the pirates/bounty hunters. Tyson knew a lot of the people in the room by wanted posters, and he knew most of them were dangerous. The two new people that came in, however, he never heard off. He looked at them both and nodded, probably the only one that gave them a proper greeting besides the guard with arrows behind his back standing next to the king.

Tyson (The Boxer) #1:

The king, whom looked to be about 40 years old, stood up. He had a long furred cape that stretched to the ground and then some. The cape looked about 20 feet long, and very thick. The arrow guard next to him had light armor. A few plates here and there covering some of his chest, and his joints. The armor also covers his arms, mostly, but lightly and in the lateral end. The archer had a very nice looking bow, with designs that looked expensive just to put on it. The bow also looked bigger then the average one at a total of 10 feet. It almost touched the ground while the guard stood next to the king. The king then spoke.

"Diana, you are number five. Gale, you are number eight. The numbers are inscribed on your seats, it seems like Diana has found hers naturally. The lower the number, the stronger the individual." The king paused for a moment, letting everyone settle in. "We're going to fight an enemy.. an old king of this kingdom, and a cruel two-faced one at that."

The sudden light that brightened the room caused Diana to flinch noticeably.  She much preferred the atmosphere when things were dark and people weren't making conversation.  Diana hastily grabbed onto the hood of her jacket and pulled it over her head in a weak attempt to hide from it all.  The attention she was getting made her rather...  uncomfortable and bothered.  Being put on the spot like this wasn't exactly something she expected.  A few of the attendees seemed to be particularly vocal about her lack of a strong appearance, which didn't bother her much; until an involuntary shiver traveled up the length of her spine at the sound of the large man's voice.  Why did he have to specifically refer to her?  

Clearly the other woman at the table was leagues more desirable to the point of being unreal.  An image of her stabbing a man through the throat with her bladed heel came to mind.  Diana swallowed nervously.  Apparently the frightening female was plenty capable, since the attendees had been ranked by their skills.  At number 5, Diana had ended up in the middle of the pack.  They considered her to be that strong, really?  Granted it probably had more to do with her devil's fruit, but her own skills had to count for something.  Maybe.  She quietly hoped the others would suddenly forget her existence entirely and continue with the conversation.  If there really was a cruel person needed to be taken down a peg, Diana would be all ears.

The ten bounty hunters listened to the king, whom had his archer eye the company. The knight in black armor that showed Diana and Gale to their chairs waited next to the exit. He had one hand on the hilt of the giant cleaver behind his back. He grabbed it while Diana and Gale found their seats. The cleaver weighed about 500 pounds; anyone that heard him walk could feel the weight of the cleaver on his body. Two horns, made of tungsten, stood out of his helmet about 1 foot high. The man's helmet seemed completely covered, but it had holes all over it (tiny holes). The king continued talking to the bounty hunters. "I have received word from a trusted source that the king is hiding in one of the kingdoms of this country. If I walked inside and grabbed the ex-king it would be a direct proclamation of war. That's where you bounty hunters come in." The archer carefully eyed the group. He wants to see if any one of them will back down. However, the bounty hunters stayed in their seats.. or at least, 8/10 automatically did. The king continued speaking.

"I can't ask the king of that kingdom to grab the ex-king for me because that would mean forcing him to choose sides. If he chose the king's side it'll mean war on my kingdom. In exchange for doing this for me I will reward the one that delivers me his head 100 million belli." The bounty hunters looked at each other with amazement. Even Tyson, whom was among the most serious, looked surprised at this. Spyro had his eyes pop out and his mouth grow to the point where it reached the table (anime effect). The woman gulped when she heard that large sum of money. There wasn't a bounty in the room that shouldn't be interested in the job. Then the king continued speaking.

"There is only one man that we know off that's with him. Nobody knows about him, we just know that he's been seen with the king for weeks. Your coordinates are in front of you on the table." The archer quickly put ten arrows on his bow and unleashed them in the air after pulling the string of his bow ever so slightly. The arrows shot up at incredible speed for the small amount of force placed on the arrow. The arrows each landed in front of the bounty hunters with a note attached to the shaft of the arrow. "He is usually under a bar. Don't mess this up. Anyone that abandons this mission is an enemy of my kingdom." The knight, after the king said that, kicked the door. It opened until it eventually hit the walls of the castle on the other side. The knight then spoke on behalf of the king, whom sat back down on his throne.

"Good luck."

Meanwhile, the ex-king smirked at Dante. He wanted to help the kingdom that the king worked so hard to build. The ex-king spoke, "I'm sorry, but I can't accept your help.. please forgive me." The ex-king suddenly grabbed a sword that was hidden behind the crate he decided to sit on. The sword penetrated Dante. In the darkness black solid-like objects left Dante's wound. The ex-king smirked. "I told you. You can't help me.. I can't let you die, I missed an artery but you should be incapable of fighting for a few months." Dante then smirked through the dim light in the room. He grabbed the old man's throat, "That wasn't very nice. I'll forgive you though, but now you owe me." Suddenly sand overwhelmed the small basement and the small candles that provided light faded. Then there was silence.

Diana wasn't one to do jobs for the cash.  It was more of a bonus than her prime motivation when it came to this sort of thing.  But 100 million belli?  She had a moment of sheer disbelief when the number had reached her ears.  Living from bounty to bounty would be a thing of the past.  That awestruck expression quickly changed however when they specified that they wanted the head of the target.  Her eyes narrowed in the slightest with distaste.  Normally the bounties she received were for capturing people alive.  Not killing them outright.  But if it would stop a potential war, maybe it is for the best to save more lives in the long run.  There had to be another option, but surely a respectable leader of a country wouldn't have come to this conclusion if there was no other way.  Regardless, she would have to meet this rogue king and assess the situation.  Before anyone or anything else got in the way.  

Her eyes followed the arrow from one of the king's guard as it soared through the air then embedded itself in the table before each of the participants.  The archer's skill with the bow was quite impressive.  Her admiration was temporary, however, as her mind was quickly consumed by the task at hand.  First thing was first, she would have to start looking for this ex-king fellow.  Diana rose from her seat and stuck the scrap of paper with the coordinates in her pocket.  She expected the others to rush to the door immediately but took her time regardless.  Maybe she ought to consider teaming up with some of the more sane individuals.  If what the king said was true, there was another man with their target.  He said nothing about the either of the individuals' strengths; they could both be monsters for all she knew.  It was a possibility she had to keep in mind.

Gale had moved through the town quite amazed that this could be hidden behind the great walls that they had been fighting around. He followed Diana and the black knight up the stairs and found himself in this meeting of bounty hunters and the King of the Kingdom they were in. Gale was a little bit confused about the whole situation, but he found his sit as he was indicated to do.

He was number 8, apparently. The other bounty hunters around him had pretty varied looks... besides him sat a very fat man -Gale would even say bloated- and a quite curious looking creature. Some of them were apparently surprised that neither Diana or him used any weapons or showed great physical strenght that allowed them to win against all of those guards (the knights and the soldiers). And Gale had no idea if any of them was a devil fruit user like he had determined Diana was.

He started to pay attention to what the King was saying. Apparently, the situation surrounding them was complex. Gale didn't find the mission of killing the ex-King very appealing. Specially because he was sure that if he won over all of these other bounty hunters, he would turn into their target. But when the King mentioned that the sum awarded for killing him would be of 100 million belli, Gale's eyes popped out of their holes and dropped on the table, figuratively. All the stuff he would be able to do with all of that money! That of course, was if he managed to beat all of those other weird and strong looking bounty hunters. Plus it was mentioned that the ex-King had company.

As soon as the details of their mission where nailed in front of them with incredible precision, Gale expected everyone to take the papers and rush out of the castle. He himself had intention of doing so when he saw Diana take her time and slowly stand up. He decided to approach her; if they had teamed up before, why not team up now? She also seemed like quite an intelligent fellow. If both of them managed to lay hands on the bounty and they split it... 50 million belli still sounded like a tremendous amount of money.

"Hey... I dont recall your name, milady."- he said as he presented himself before her.- "As you might know, I'm Gale. From what I can observe, you are not the type to jump for the gun."

Although Gale really wanted to chat, he knew that they needed to get moving as soon as possible.

Diana was no mastermind, but even she could tell something didn't seem...  entirely right about this whole ordeal.  There was something instinctual that she couldn't put her finger on.  Why send not one, but ten individuals after a single man?  This was certainly a strange choice of methods.  Even if times were desperate these measures appeared rather drastic.  It was likely she was being overly cautious.  Now that she thought about it, nobody mentioned the strength of the target or his companion.  Maybe they were too strong to be taken on by one or two individuals.  Diana would have much preferred information to be given to her directly up front for jobs, but surely a leader would have reason to without such information.  She would just have to do the best she could with what she was given.  Her thoughts consumed her as Gale approached.  It took a moment for his words to register inside her head.

"Diana Célestine...  A pleasure."  Now appeared to be a reasonable time to pull down her hood once more, since people had stopped staring.  A loose braid of silvery hair fell onto her shoulder. Gale had shown no intention of harm earlier and had no reason to now to her knowledge.  Making a proper introduction wouldn't hurt.  Hopefully.  There was a mild case of confusion concerning the second part of his statement, however.  

"I make an effort to not jump on guns.  That seems rather dangerous."  She perceived Gale's observation as something quite literal.  The idiom soared above her head entirely.  Her head was wrapped around other things, like this bounty mission.  There were too many variables at this point to attempt it alone.  She was bound to make mistakes.  Gale had helped her out earlier, he seemed like a good candidate.  He seemed skilled and capable enough to pull his own weight.  Trustworthy as well.  Certainly more than any of the other bounty hunters.    

"If I may, I suggest we combine forces for the time being. Officially."  Diana stood at relative ease, hands in her pockets.  She hoped she wasn't over stepping her bounds.  Most bounty hunters, like herself, preferred to work alone.  For good reason.

Gale smirked at Diana when she gave him her name and showed her beautiful hair by pulling down her hood. She was a pretty skilled fighter, and she also seemed to take care of her body. Fale raised an eyebrow and laughed silently in a sign of confusion when Diana took his statement about "jumping for the gun" a little too literaly. She must be busy with her own thoughts...- Gale thought when he got that answer from the girl. For a second, he felt like that could be a sign of Diana just wanting to get him out of the way, but then she proposed an alliance for the mission.

Gale looked at her, she seemed like someone to be trusted. During the fight she had effectively combined her powers with his to terminate one of the opponents. Maybe it was destiny that had made them get to the walls almost at the same time and fight that party of soldiers together. He was confident that he could rely on her for carrying her own weight and taking care of matters of greater importance, like fights and maybe even tactics. Gale nodded in response to her suggestion.

"I agree with you, Diana." - he extended his hand towards her to give her a firm handshake, as a signing of sealing their alliance.- "Now, I think we should get going."

Gale was now thinking about how suspicious it was that they had given them the exact coordinates of the ex-King and still offer a bounty of a hundred million belli. That seemed a little bit excessive for a mission that just involved something like walking into a bar and killing a random stranger; although this was no 'random stranger' around there. Especially sending ten people after the same prey. For him, it seemed like a bloodbath.

All of the bounty hunters looked surprised after they heard the reward for the king's head. It also made sense to most of the bounty hunters. They wanted this to be handled efficiently and quickly, which meant in great numbers and a strong and professional group of people as well. The bounty hunter group fit that description.. well, mostly. Spyro looked the most excited about the money. He pictured all sorts of games he could buy with it, and that he could finally prove to his family that he was old enough to be a 'man' with that type of cash. It didn't take long before numbers 7,9, and 10 got together to form a group, however. Spyro teamed up with the big man and the stylist. Number four, a scary and muscular looking individual, took over in the middle of their conversation and declared himself their leader. With his power they didn't argue, since they saw him fight the guards the same day they arrived. Spyro seemed the most excited about it, and was glad that he'd get 20% of the bounty if he got the individual with the group without number 4 helping.

The bunny teamed up with the woman that had high-heels. They seemed like a perfect match. She adored him, and the bunny definitely adored her. Numbers three and one didn't attempt to get together, they both preferred to work alone; and for good reason. Tyson, the boxer (Number one) walked ahead of the group to find the city of Peraura, which was the area the king was located. Upon leaving the village the group of bounty hunters got a fairly warm goodbye from the guards. They saluted. While leaving the city, with an open gate, a loud slam could be heard behind the group of bounty hunters. The giant doors holding their only passage to the city was now closed. Tyson didn't care and continued walking forward. The group walked past a few five man groups with five soldiers and a knight patrolling the streets. He made a sharp right turn when he arrived in the original path that bifurcated all three paths. After an hour of walking the group of bounty hunters found themselves in front of the gates of Peraura. Without the guards even discussing the rules of the city to the bounty hunters they lifted the door open and showed the city inside. This city was very similar to the other one, but looked less prosperous and had homes made of wood instead of stone. Everyone with the map could now find their own way to the bar.

The bunny and lady sprinted together around the left side to try and stop behind the bar, in case the King tried to escape. Tyson ran forward and stopped in front of the bar, while Number four and his group waited on the left, and Huston was on the other side. There was no escape from that bar. Tyson then yelled to the bar, "Show yourself, we know you're in there!!" A few people stopped to look at the situation, but then continued to walk in the direction they were originally walking. A man with long hair that reached his chin, yet had no side hairs, walked out of the bar. He had black desert clothes on now, and a turban that he used as a scarf to cover the lower half of his face. He didn't have his hands up, though, which made the group suspicious. Dante, the tanned man that walked out of the bar, talked to the group. "I'm giving you guys one chance to get away from here with your lives. The king is innocent of all the crimes your king has made the people believe. If you choose to blindly believe him because of money I will slay each and every one of you; this is your final warning. I will explain to anyone that decides to listen." Before Dante could start speaking the entire bounty crew was laughing, even Huston (Number 3) and Tyson. From behind Dante the woman with high heels (NUmber 2) stabbed Dante from behind with her heel, then quickly switched feet and started to stab Dante with a barrage of kicks. The bunny jumped upwards and span forward like a sheel, eventually hitting Dante from above. Spyro laughed his butt off while the big man and the stylist rushed forward to cut with scizzors and body slam the body. The group was not letting-up on the man that threatened them. Tyson and Huston watched, they would fight whoever decided to try and grab the king after the opponent was killed.

With all of these attacks a cloud of dust covered Dante's body. They all felt like they definitely hit something solid, but it didn't feel like bones and flesh.. it felt more.. grainy. Dante's body remained still while the group continued to assault him. To anyone watching, it would be too late to save a normal individual.

Someone actually agreed with her for once. Although Diana's stoic expression remained the same, internally she was quite pleased. This seemed like it would work out well enough. She could appreciate Gale's directness. As she took his hand in hers, she gave an affirmative nod. It would be best to start immediately. From what she observed, other groups had begun to form. Some had probably left already. Diana removed the piece of paper from her coat pocket and carefully peeled it open to look inside. There was a basic map, along with coordinates. Enough to give her a basic idea of where their target was. She started at a reasonable pace, making sure that Gale could match or exceed hers to keep up. It was a far enough distance to give her time to think. For better or worse.

"Are you a logia as well?" she asked Gale, her curiosity getting the better of her. Devil fruits still were a fairly foreign topic for Diana so she had a healthy thirst for knowledge about them. Whatever abilities he had used in their fight earlier, they seemed similar to hers. Being able to create something out of nothing surely could come in handy. It had saved her hide on multiple occasions. Maybe he knew more about the subject.

Eventually Diana could hear chaos breaking out not far ahead. A sudden burst of combat could be heard in the next street, which Diana noted as being near their target's location. Some of the others had reached it first. She hastened her pace until she reached the front of the bar to see that the other bounty hunters had already began to attack a man. It was hard to make out what was happening through the dust and bedlam. Whether it was their target or not, Diana had no clue. She didn't want to watch such a one-sided attack and looked away with a visible wince on her face. There was no way she could stop the bounty hunters already on the attack. Not like it would have made a difference, anyhow. Diana definitely wasn't the type of person to join in either. The only thing she could do was stand there for the time being as a pit formed in her stomach.

After shaking Diana's hand, Gale saw he reach for her map and decided to imitate her. After determining the shortest way the could take to get to the signaled spot, he started to walk besides Diana, keeping up to her pace. Although they had just become allies, he thought that they were going through one of those really frequent uncomfortable silences. He was grateful that she asked a question about his Devil Fruit.

"Yeah, mine is the Clay Logia." - Stated Gale while scrutinizing his own figure, stopping at the arms, legs and torso when thinking about his logia transformations. Actually he didn't have that much of a broad knowledge on Devil Fruits. He just new some basic stuff concerning the main three different types and the basics behind them...- "I can tell your is the Ice one, isn't it? That dome you made before was pretty artful."

The other bounty hunters seemed to have sprinted or at least jogged ahead from them, since they got to the bar some time before Gale and Diana could distinguish the chaos. Apparently, whoever their foe was, was being harassed by all of them. Gale watched from a distance, trying to figure out what the strange man would do. He was completely surrounded, and escaping from the multiple attacks seemed impossible unless he was an incredibly skilled fighter. Diana seemed to find the scene revolting... And he couldnt blame her. It was like watching a little spider being stomped on multiple times by giant cyclops. She probably wouldnt want to join in unless stuff got out of hands.

The three men and woman continued to pound on the body that was decimated by their combos. The scissor man cut all of Dante's limbs straight out of his body, this showed when his arms and legs came flying out of the dust. The big man jumped in the air and pounded downwards with his bum, this could cause some flinching because the man weighed at least 350 pounds, and he definitely increased the damage of that hit. The woman's legs jabbed very quickly at the body, so much so that it was hard for others to see her leg movements. The bunny-man stood on top of the body, eyeing it with what looked like a surprised expression.

Huston looked at Tyson, whom was looking at the slaughter. This didn't seem like something worth 100 million belli, not even close to it. Pyro held his sides and rolled on the ground while the massacre continued. The scissor man, tired, walked out of the pummeling and 'tagged' out with 'strong arm' (Number 4). Arnold decided to join in on the fun, because the rest of the job might end up being easier. He needed to let go of some of his pent up aggression. He hasn't punched anything in at least three days. The bunny man that continued to stare at the body through the dust cloud didn't move, but his body started to get paler then usual. He looked terrified of what he saw. He immediately looked at Number three and waved his arms, but suddenly an arm shot out of the dist cloud and grabbed the bunny by the neck. Immediately the bunny man dried up and turned to sand. Dante's corpse, with many holes and limbs that were regenerating themselves with sand, stood up between the group. Holly immediately attempted to stab Dante through the sanded body that was once her bunny. The heel penetrated and found itself on Dante's heart. Dante grabbed her leg and made her shrivel up into a zombie-like corpse. Dante threw her body aside; it was gasping for something. Holly was begging for water, but she was so close to death her lips couldn't even ask for the words.

The big man and Arnold looked at each other and nodded. Arnold ran forward and swung his fist at the enemies face with all of his might, which was a lot. Dante ducked, narrowly missing the fist, and put his palm on the enemies face. This forced the opponent to turn into the same type of zombie as Holly. His body suddenly shriveled up so mostly his skin and bones were left. Dante threw Arnold's body to the side and felt the fat man burst through Dante's thoracic region. His fist was trying to grab Dante's heart, but it failed. Dante held on to his hand and watched as the fat man shriveled up just like the other two and turned into a skinny person made of only bones and skin. Dante then walked forward, letting the used-to-be-fat body naturally hit the ground. All of the 'wounds' he suffered immediately closed themselves. Sand hit the ground while this happened. Huston and Tyson ran forward. Huston took out his large rifle and shot several rounds into Dante's body, while Tyson ran in front of Dante and swung his fist through his thoracic cavity, ultimately failing at doing any damage just like Huston. Huston took out his spear and penetrated Dante's neck; from his pocket Huston then took out a grenade and planted it in Dante's body. Tyson already jumped back, but felt like something else was wrong. Suddenly a sand storm brewed up around Dante that was about 50 meters long, hitting anyone that didn't get out of the way or stayed too close (this can be avoided by being surrounded by an object, like a dome, or going inside a room of some sorts). The storm continued for about thirty seconds, and when it left Tyson and Huston were on the floor, dead and zombie-fied. Dante's body was half gone, probably thanks to the grenade in his body, but it quickly regenerated itself. Spyro and Dye ran inside only moments after Dante showed his ability to turn people into virtual 'zombies'. They were inside, in a room, until they heard the storm pass by. Both of them poked their head out and looked at Dante, and the other two, Gale and Diana.

Dye spoke to them, "Well?! Honeys, kill him!! THE MONEY IS ON THE LINE!!!" While Dye's echo ran through the now silent town Dante decided to speak, "I can only tell you that the false king has lied to all of you. If he were truly a just king he wouldn't have sent ten possible mercenaries to 'kill' the king, he would have sent ten men to grab the king and do a just trial. There are many things none of you understand about this delicate situation-" Spyro interrupted, "I don't care! I WANT THAT MONEY!!" Pyro and Dye were both poking their head out of the nearby building. It's obvious the weren't going to leave the safety of the building, but they also didn't want to give up the money.