The Winner Pirates; Chapter 2; The battle in the legendary square (Open to The Winner Pirates)

"KAKAKAKAKAKAKAkakakaka...." Swig laughed, his voice slowly returning from monstrous to old as his body shifted back to his usual appearance. "Phew, that point was quite heavy to carry..." He muttered, his right hand pressing against his lower back to calm it. 'Damn I'm pretty exhausted, I'll have to get into a better shape now that I'm back in the game...' He thought, breathing heavily. needless to say that at that point, whatever crowd that was worried about him being shot a minute ago was now screaming and running away for its life. "MY GOD WHAT WAS THAT?!" "KILL IT WITH FIRE!" "THEY REALLY NEED TO STOP POLLUTING THOSE OCEANS!" were only some of the screams that could be heard all around the square that began to empty quickly.

Swig's choice for his reward was pretty obvious now. If he didn't choose Francis, he won't have a captain to fight for him in the captain's fight of the third round. Although, if he picked Hyman then the Adventurers won't have one either. What happens then? He didn't know. He could risk it and choose Shan, only to have him taken back from him when he had to forfeit the captain's fight. That would make him crew less again. Although tempting, Swig felt like he didn't want to give up on Francis that quickly. He couldn't really place a finger on why, maybe Francis reminded him of someone, who knows. Plus, he still owed him for the meal back at the bar.

"Let's go boy" Swig mumbled in between his breaths, pointing at Francis. "You better win the captain's fight though, and with some honor if you don't mind" He said. "And don't worry, maybe someday you'll get to be executed on a scaffold of your own! KAKAKAkakaka I'ma sit down for a moment" Swig attempted a joke before lowering himself to the ground to catch his breath more easily.

"Alright!!!" Francis got up from the ground and run to Swig, standing next to him. "Huh, wait a moment, the last game is a battle?" Francis wondered as he had no idea about the Davy Back Fight in the first place. "I thought we got to decide the match..." Francis kept speaking.

"Nope. The last battle is a battle between the captains of the two crews!" Hyman explained, stretching himself in the meantime, warming up for the fight.

"Okay... I might have been unlucky enough to lose to that annoying relic, but I am strong enough to defeat Hyman and end this game for good! Then we are going to get ourselves a new crew member!!!" Francis finished, clenching his fist, prepared for the upcoming battle.

"Alright!!!" Hyman stretched himself furthermore. "Shall we begin?"

"Of course!" Francis agreed, only to have his eyes twitch the very next moment. In the blink of an eye, Hyman had already shot his shotgun and struck Francis at the stomach, causing him severe damage.

"Hahahahahaha... HIM is the fastest sniper in East Blue, you know!" Shan Yang spoke great words about his captain. "He might be a failure of a captain but he is the best at sniping." he kept praising Hyman.

"Shit..." Francis gulped. Francis was already in a pinch and the last round looked really difficult considering the disadvantage he had from the very first moment the fight started... "Whatever..." he kept speaking while spitting blood, his hair in the meantime started moving around his stomach, covering the wound and closing it. "If he is the best, I'll make sure that I'll take him as my crew's sniper when I win this fight! There is no fight I can't win with my Afro Brawl!" he yelled, being confident about his abilities."

"That's the spirit kid, now focus on not getting shot again" Swig cheered. Hyman's skill surprised both Winner Pirates at that moment. He didn't seem like a quick drawer, but then again Shan didn't look like a jumper either. The Adventurers were full for surprises. The old pirate stayed on the floor and watched the fight. However, he also kept an eye on Shan. The rules of Davy Back Fighting were very clear: choose a game, win it, get a new crew mate, and that's it. There was nothing against crew members helping each other in their fights, and while Shan didn't seem so keen on lending Hyman a hand, It was best to keep a watch on him.

All Swig could do now was hope Francis could actually pick up his game and win this one. Who knew, maybe Swig's captain also had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Hairy Whip!!!" Francis manipulated his hair which weren't stopping his stomach bleeding, giving it the shape of a long whip which he used to attack his enemy. The whip was stretched far upwards in the beginning, before it fell on Hyman in an attempt to strike him down.

"As if I'll get hit by that!" Hyman rolled out of the way, only for Francis to smash the ground and cause a small hole on it.

"Oh shit... That's quite strong for a few hair..." Shan Yang commented. "Maybe I should interefere..." he thought, only to realize that Swig was keeping an eye on him.

"Ha!" Francis moved his hairy whip horizontally, striking Hyman from his side, sending him flying a few meters away.

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" Hyman screamed in pain. However, while still on the air, he pulled the trigger of his shotgun once again, aiming for Francis.

"There's no way I am getting struck again!" Francis yelled while pulling his hair back, instantly manipulating him into a thick shield made of hair. "Curly Shield!!!" he blocked the bullet with his hair.

"No way..." Hyman thought, before falling on the ground. "You are stronger than I expected, Francis." he said a few good words about the skills of the captain of the Winner Pirates.

"Of course, I am. I am a Winner, you know! And for the sake of crew, I'll be the one to win this fight!" Francis smiled, while still having his hair shield formed.

"Hm... Swig is looking at me, but this is our chance..." Shan Yang thought. "Hyman doesn't have a sword to cut Francis' hair down. I must help him!" he quickly run, with greater than human speeds towards Francis. By the time he reached him, he grabbed his cane, unsheathing a sword out of it, revealing his weapon as a cane-sword.

"HUH?!" Francis gulped.

Shan Yang was about to cut Francis' hair!

"KA! knew it... Shan I snake let the kids play!" Swig gloated after seeing Shan make a move. He was pretty tired from his transformation earlier, and sitting on the ground, but luckily Francis was close enough for Swig to make a move. Swig inhaled briefly, his right leg disappearing into his abdomen. "Green Cannon!" Swig shouted, releasing his leg into a powerful kick aimed at Francis' behind. The goal was to kick the captain away from Shan's attack and closer to Hyman, which will probably give him an advantage against the long-range fighter. "Go kid go!" Swig chanted as he attempted to kick his captain away.

"OUCH!!! I am not a friggin' ball, Swig!!!" Francis received the strong kick of his subordinate which was meant to defend him from the incoming sword attack and also help him during his brawl with the captain of the Two Sided Adventurers. "But thank you!!!" he pulled his hair whip, shaping it as a small arm made of hair with a fist made of his own hair at the edge of the arm.

"Huh? An arm?" Hyman gulped, while aiming with his shotgun at Francis.

"AFRO BRAWL!!!" he punched Hyman in the face after reaching him very, very quickly due to the power of Swig's kick.

"HUH?!" Hyman's eyes twitched in fear as soon as he looked at the arm reaching his face.

"NO!!!" Shan Yang looked at his captain.

"Ha..." Francis fell on his knees, panting in the meanwhile. Apparently, despite the efficient attacks he had just landed to his enemy, he had taken so much damage from the shot and from the kick, that it was quite difficult for him to keep up with the flow of the battle.

"Hehe..." Hyman got up from the ground, looking at his damaged enemy with a smile on his face. "It looks like you are tired, Francis..." he aimed at the young pirate with his shotgun. "I will win this fight and take Swig with me."

"No way..." Francis got up.

"Huh?! Can you still move?"

"Of course I can move... I can move... I can win... And I can take you with me, instead!"

"If you land the last hit on me!" he was about to pull the trigger! Francis was in grave danger, once more!

Now actually comfortably sitting atop the edge of a roof, only a few buildings away from the fray itself; rather, the Davy Back Fight, observing the peculiar battle take place. So, it should be safe to assume that this loser-like person was too a fruit user, and a really really puzzling one at it, too. While watching, Shadow is vigorously devouring what looks like smoked meat bits off a bag, which seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Munch ... that weenie's not so bad after all .. munch .. afro's the essence of a man's heart, after all. He just may win .. munch .. he still looks like a crybaby tho."

Shadow had decided not to just barge in the event, but rather show them all enough respect as to allow them to finish what they were there for. After all, there was plenty of time to collect their heads and cash them in afterwards!

"Ha! Ha!" Francis was panting and looked at Hyman the moment he was about to pull the trigger once more, probably ending the battle for good. Despite the fact that he didn't take too many attacks head on, the two attacks he received were very powerful. One shot from a shotgun at the stomach and a kick from Swig who was strong enough to destroy the scaffold of the Pirate King were too much for a normal body to handle.

"You lost, Francis!" Hyman was about to shoot, before the unexpected happened.

"ROLLOUT!!!" Hyman was struck by a rolling blue ball with great force, sending him sliding on the ground before his head was struck at the rumble caused by the destruction of the scaffold. The blue ball came out of nowhere, litterally. Most people had already disappeared from the square after all.

"What... is... that?" Francis wondered.

"Damn it! Hyman! Get up!" Shan Yang yelled at his subordinate who wouldn't get up.

"Excuse me for interrupting!" the blue ball kept rolling on the square before rushing towards Francis this time, with greater momentum than before, striking him as well. "You four have destroyed this place... And all of you are wanted for one reason or another... So it's my job to put an end to this." the male voice coming out of the rolling blue ball explained and by the time Francis was struck, the man stopped, revealing himself.

"Huh?" Francis was still awake, looking at the mysterious blue ball.

"Hey, I know you..." Shan Yang said. "You are a marine aren't you! You are the man who is responsible of the island's basement! Jinjen Jinden!"

"Exactly!" the man said. He was a short man. His height barely reached one meter and a half. He had a quite big head and big ears. His head was shaved almost completely and his grey colored hair could be barely seen. He had slim eyes and he didn't wear glasses. His nose was not long and was slightly pointing upwards. Regarding his body, Jinjen was slightly fat and lacked muscles, despite his strength. His arms were reaching the start of his legs and his legs were slightly longer than his arms. His frail and fat body was covered with his standard marine uniform and a dark blue cap he wore on his head with the marine symbol printed on it, in white color. However, his appearance slightly differed from that of most marines as he also wore a long navy blue coat that reached his knees, which he kept open, making himself look like a detective. "I have already made a name for myself, haven't I?" he blushed. "Women will love me!!!" he was something more than excited. His nose had almost started bleeding! "Anyway, back to the subject... You four... You all have bounties on your head and you caused so much damage to this place that they are about to increase even more... It's my job to take you all out for good." he explained why he was there, shocking the men around.

"There they are!" the marine unit which was spying on the fight appeared around the two crews and aaimed at them with their weapons, having merged with Jinjen's troop which was led by Dexio. "Your adventure has come to an end, pirates. Right?" he asked.

However, the good news was that Hyman was knocked out and that only meant one thing. The game had just ended one way or another and Francis was actually the Winner!

Observing the events, he realizes that all those men were now in some deep trouble. There were several marines, all armed and at an advantageous condition, compared to the pirates in the middle that is. And while Shadow had absolutely no connection with the lot, and in fact was debating capturing them to get some money to repair his boat, one thing was really bothering him now. Those blasted marines had just interrupted something that was actually a lot deeper than their thick, egg-heads could possibly apprehend. It was a battle of men!

"Hey, ya marine feces! Over here!" He yells at them; somehow during the new events, he had silently moved to a building standing right in front of the circle they were all into now. How was he always so loud yet so sneaky was quite a confusing mixture. But that wasn't the main point now. He made them all be aware of him, heads rolling towards the mad male in perplexity. Which is what he what he wanted. Their part, hopefully they'd understood their part, was up to them. He provided them with a chance to actually react against the, now momentarily surprised, marines.

"Oh there he is..." Jinjen looked at Shadow who was yelling at the marines from the rooftop. "We knew you were somewhere on the island but we didn't know you would be here, too." Jinjen explained. "I have heard you have gathered several men and brought them to the authorities to collect their bounties so I was looking for you..." the leader of the marines spoke to Shadow. "Get him, Dexio." he ordered his right hand man to go and get the swordsman for an unknown reason...

"Right!" Dexio started running towards the building where Shadow was in order to approach him for whatever reason.

"Huh? Who is that guy?" Francis thought while looking at Shadow. "He looks like a swordsman... Hm..." he thought as he got up, slowly walking towards the place where Swig and Shan Yang were.

"Alt! Stop moving!" Jinjen pointed with his finger towards Francis.

"I'm sorry, but I got no other choice. We need to stay together if we have to fight and escape from all of you..." Francis kept walking while scratching his head.

"Haha... That kid is really unaware of danger. He doesn't really understand how he enters in messed up situations, does he?" Shan Yang asked Swig. "Could this be why you follow such a weakling like him?" he made another question afterwards.

The blue ball caught Swig by surprise like everyone else. 'Damn, forgot about the marines... I just can't catch a break huh?' He thought as the local marine unit surrounded the square. After Jinjen explained the situation, Swig had another surprise coming. "I have a bounty again? already?! How much?" He asked out loud, clearly upset that his innocent days were officially over. "You spend so much time clearing that bounty off only for it to come back a second later, how unfair" He complained.

Then, another guy showed up at the scene, shouting from a rooftop at the marines. Swig had no idea who he was or what he was up to, but it looked like the marines knew him pretty well. Whatever, Swig couldn't be bothered by that now. "I'm not sure why" Swig answered Shan's question, "But at least for the moment I still owe him for a meal he got me, no matter how weak he may be". The old man then got up and dusted himself off, slowly looking at the ring of marines surrounding them.

"Well, on the bright side" He said, cracking his neck, "Looks like you won this fight boy".

"Attack him!" Jinjen ordered his subordinates and the marines were about to shoot. However, the shots which were heard were not coming out of their weapons but from a certain shotgun. Bang! Bang! Bang! The marines were shot down one after another by Hyman, who had just got up and with his remaining strength, he aimed at the common enemy of the two crews. "Damn it, I lost because of you!" he complained.

"Relax!" Francis was not really worried about the battle which was taking place in the very same square the pirate king was executed. "We are going to have a good time as a crew, together." he smiled at Hyman. "I am going to choose YOU. With you losing, you are now an official member of the Winner Pirates!" he explained.

"A meal, huh? Then I guess now that I don't have a crew to travel with, I can do as I wish... Allow me to help you pay that meal back!" Shan Yang also unsheathed his cane, tagging with Hyman and Swig who were attacking or were about to attack the marines.

"Enough! ROLLOUT!!!" Jinjen rolled towards Francis in an attempt to strike him, while the other men around were stopped by either Hyman or Shan Yang who were shooting or slashing them.

"Afro Brawling: Hair Palm!" Francis morphed his hair into a palm which grabbed the ball.

"What?!" Jinjen was shocked by the time he figured out he was caught.

"Let's play some bowling!" he threw the man like a bowling ball towards his subordinates, taking advantage of his momentum to force Jinjen to fight his subordinates instead of the Winner Pirates and Shan Yang.

The pirates were going all-out against the marines!

"Well, that was awkward, this crybaby tried to approach me. Yet, he wanted to say something so ..." Shadow begins to speak to himself, talking about how Francis seemed to be approaching him, before the influx of his subordinates and the enemies shifting his attention back to them. But, why should he care? Surely he'd say something weak. But there was something in that goofball that made him feel like someone he knew in the past.

"What a pain ... wanted to see what the heck was he gonna say. Hopefully not something awfully random. But YOU had to stop that, now I am curious!" Shadow exclaims, the last part in an elevated tone, and combined with a slash attack, directed exactly from where Dexio was just about to approach him. "I'll kick everyone's ass, then see what the crud he wanted to tell me!"

"Hey!" Dexio rolled away from the slash attack in a similar way Jinjen rolled to perform his Rollout, avoiding getting cut by the swordsman. "I didn't cme here for a fight, you know!!!" Dexio tried to speak with the swordsman. "My superior has set his eyes on you... You have sent several pirates to us so he wanted to make a proposition... He wants to make you his left hand man!" Dexio explained. "I am his right hand man so you can't take my spot, but you can become a fully-pledged marine and have a wonderful career if you side with us!" he tried to convince him to come along with him.

"However..." he kept speaking, while unsheathing a sword he was hiding below his clothes. "In case your answer is not positive, I'm afraid I'll have to take you under marine custody for attacking a seated officer of the Headquarters!" he stared at the swordsman angrily, prepared to fight depending on the answer.

Swig sighed again. "And to think we only stopped in this place for supplies and a view of that annoying scaffold. Kid's got a talent of making a mess out of nothing I guess..." Swig mumbled as all hell broke loose around him. A marine soldier then fired at Swig with his rifle, with the bullet producing a deep metallic thud as it hit Swig's abdomen and ricocheted away harmlessly. under his robe, his abdomen was covered with turtle shell plates guarding him from whatever the marines shot at him. Another soldier rushed at him with a sword and swiped at his head. The attack flew harmlessly over Swig's neck as his head completely vanished, only to reappear a second later with its tongue out in a taunt. "I'm kinda tired fellas, so if you'll just let me and my buddies go quietly no one has to get hurt" Swig explained as he dodged another slash aimed at his left arm.

"If it weren't for you, Tenma A. Swig, this shit would have never happened!" Jinjen stood on his legs after striking his subordinates because of Francis' counter attack. "You are the strongest one of this crew and you are the reason that kid is capable of surviving. You got into trouble again the very same day you were released and you dragged this guy with the cool afro into your mess! No matter how many years are going to pass, you will always be trouble! Unless..." he started rolling. "Unless I imprison you here, once and for all!" he rolled towards Swig with great force in an attempt to strike him with his unique technique and cause him some damage.

"Stand back, you guys!" he yelled while rolling to his subordinates. "Things are going to get very serious now!". Jinjen was about to go all-out against Swig and the rest of the pirates who were gathered around him!

"Hey, it was a Davy Back Fight! You know very well that I had no choice" Swig defended himself from Jinjen's accusations. "And as for my release day, I tried to tell your buddies back there that I was not causing any trouble. If you ask me, this whole mess is your fault" He continued. Jinjen however wasn't interested in what Swig had to say, just like the marines on the last island Swig and Francis visited. 'So impatient...' Swig thought as Jinjen stormed at him in ball form.

In Swig's current condition, and probably even in his normal condition too, he wasn't fast enough to dodge Jinjen's attack. 'Yeah, I ain't dodging that, only one thing left to do here...' He thought, allowing Jinjen to roll even closer to him. At the moment the human ball was supposed to ram into Swig, the old man seemed to vanish. Jinjen, in return, seemed as if he simply rolled onto a small bump on the ground and just kept on going. The old timer pulled another devil fruit trick.

"Goooood dammit that huuurt, you're a heeeeavy one aren't yooou..." A slow voice was heard from where Swig used to stand. At that spot, on the ground, a small green turtle shell lied. It had what appeared to be tire marks over it, clearly from having Jinjen roll over it. Then, a small turtle head with a long goatee and 4 turtle limbs protruded out of the shell, reveling that it flipped upside down as a result of the collision. Swig was now lying on his back in turtle form. "I haaate when this happeeeens..." He complained in his slow voice. Swig's turtle point had a weakness: He couldn't flip back up without help.

"Your Kame Kame no Mi allows you to survive for quite long and be endurant enough... But I am way stronger than the normal Ensign and I can easily defeat you!" Jinjen explained how Swig was capable of blocking and dodging all those attacks, as he gave out the name of the old man's Devil Fruit. "You are more than 130 years old, but it will take only a few minutes for me to send you back in your cell for good!"

"Step away!" the marines run away as they saw how serious their superior officer was.

"He is what?!" Shan Yang's jaw dropped. "Is he older than me?!" he asked.

"Kame Kame no Mi, huh?" Hyman commented, as if he knew about the Devil Fruit.

"Bounce!" Jinjen jumped while still rolling, bouncing on the air quite easily. Then, he was about to fall on Swig to strike him at his exposed stomach and cause him some more damage.

"Swig!" Francis gulped, unable to help him as he was a fair distance away.

"You won't get him!" Hyman shot at Jinjen with his shotgun, but he missed his target as the marine's speed while falling was unpredictable.

However, before the man could strike Swig, a few moments before his body reached Swig's, Shan Yang's voice echoed to the square. "Century Leap!" he jumped high on the air, getting in front of Jinjen's way, having himself struck instead of the first mate of the Winner Pirates.

"SHAN YANG!!!" Hyman screamed in terror for the sacrifice of his former subordinate.

"Swig... I hope you pay your meal back by kicking the crap out of this shitty fat marine... You are the only one who can deal with him..." were Shan Yang's last words, before he fell unconscious. One man was down for the sake of the others!

"Oh, is that so? Well then, my apologies!" Shadow raises his arm to the air, as if waving at the man for forgiveness, his baffled, oddly casual expression being convincing that he was actually apologizing. But he wasn't really doing that. Now, it was true that, while he has been a pirate for a while, he didn't exactly earned a bounty, and all of the infamy he had around some parts of this sea was primarily due to his bounty hunting activities. But even the authorities themselves were suspicious of the man; he wasn't exactly one to be comfortably left to hunt down wanted men, he was always giving the vibe that he could turn into a wanted one himself.

"In this case .. I decline!" He says, and draws his blade, pointing the tip towards the marine. However, immediately after that, he smiles broadly, before he takes a sideways leap, which is followed by a spin, which results in him landing right into the fray. "Who wants a piece of me?! I don't like marines anyway!"

"As I said, I'm your opponent in case you decline!" Dexio rushed towards the swordsman who didn't accept the life-time chance he was given. Dexio had no other choice but to take down the bounty hunter that turned into piracy and hand him over to the responsible authorities along with the Winner Pirates and Shan Yang, after Jinjen would be done with the other three.

"These four are the Ensign's job!" Dexio yelled after reaching the swordsman, raising his sword upwards and swinging it downwards in an attempt to slash him vertically. "One Sword Style: Right Slice!" he attempted to cut off the left arm of the swordsman. "You won't interfere in the other battles!" he exclaimed in anger.

Swig's tiny turtle face assumed a frown deeper than its default expression as he watched Shan risk himself for his sake. He had no idea why Shan would do such a thing, Swig barely knew the guy. Maybe it was for the same reason that made Swig stick with Francis? He didn't know. What he did know was that he had enough of Jinjen to last him the rest of his life. "Thaat's iiit..." He mumbled slowly as he reverted back into his human form, allowing him to roll on his side and return to a standing position facing his rolling opponent.

"You've done your homework ensign Jinjen whatever-your-name-is. You know my files by heart, like that annoying warden Floman. Sheesh, even your height reminds me of her" Swig noted as he looked down at Jinjen, easily standing at almost twice the ensign's size. "However, this knowledge won't help you and your uniform-wearing idiot brethren to jail me again. I'm not going back, not yet at least" He explained angrily. "Actually, if you idiots could learn one thing from the fact that I'm standing right in front of you free as a bird, is that if you do manage to land a hit on me you better make it a killing blow. Because, even if you'll manage to jail me again, I'll get out and the cycle will continue".

Swig looked once again at his wounded and fainted comrades, it was not pretty. A few marine skulls had to be bashed in to make up for it. He took a deep breath, attempting to shake off the fatigue with the anger he had for the marines. "Now, if you believe you can break Swig 'The Unbreakable', you just go right ahead and bring it cause I ain't dodging anymore..."

"Rollout!" Swig started building up momentum by curling his body and by rolling around himself without really moving at all. For some reason, the man was building momentum and he would not attack the turtle-human hybrid. "I guess I will have to try it." Jinjen exclaimed. "You are not "The Unbreakable" anymore. You are a shadow of your former self... You are an unbreakable fossil... And fossils are much easier to break! And by the time I break you down, I will make sure you will never, ever be released from the hole I'll throw you in!" Jinjen said, without really attacking. What was the man up to?!

"Hm?" Shadow seemed as if he literally forgot about Dexio almost immediately after jumping off that roof, which would make a normal person assume that the swordsman must have some memory loss issues, if not worse. Or was it because he was not even paying attention to the marine? Or was it because he was just that abstracted a person? He really was a pain in the ass!

"Cross Guard." His voice was calm and devoid of emotion, as both blades are shifty, yet elegantly, pulled forward and intercept Dexio's swing, his blade now interlocked with his two swords, which were forming a cross-figured stance. His glare, all that time being more of a constant alternation of goofy anger and randomness, now turned into a sinister, eerie watch. "There are two things I hate. Pirates that don't respect the lives of those that do not wish to battle. And to be ordered around by a marine!" He pushes mightily towards Dexio, but only briefly, to release him, cause the pressure between them to mess up his balance, as he moves back a step, then lashes to him. "CROSS SPLIT!" one of his trademark attacks, intending to leave a cross shaped wound onto the enemy's chest.

"Crap!" when he was pushed, Dexio realised it was just so that the enemy swordsman would release him, forcing an opening to the marine to manage and land a slash. However, while dodging the attack, Dexio would not allow himself to be struck just as easily. Surprisingly enough, the marine stabbed the sword onto the ground deeply, almost burying it to the ground. Then, he grabbed the handle of the sword, spinning his body around it to perform a kicking attack from below, having dodged the cross shaped attack which was moving right above his head. "One Sword Style: Righteous Spin!" he attempted to strike Shadow's legs in an attempt to make him lose his balance and strike him afterwards.

Meanwhile, Hyman and Francis were standing at the side, looking at the battles between Dexio versus Shadow and Jinjen versus Swig. Francis was smiling while staring at the pirate swordsman, as he had something into his mind...

"Hm? What is it?" Hyman asked his new captain.

"We need to make an opening for the time the battles are settled. Even if Swig and that swordsman win the battle, we need to leave from the island as fast as possible..." Francis expressed his thoughts.

"You are right." Hyman nodded.

"Okay. I shall stay here and defend the others when they need it and protect Shan Yang, while you are going to make an opening so that we can get away from the square!" Francis ordered Hyman.

"Gotcha!" Hyman run so that he could position himself and make a way for the crew. "He is smarter than he looks, that's for sure..." he thought after he turned his head, staring at Francis while running.

"Oh?" Shadow's fast and quick reflexes manage to catch up his opponent's impressive own dexterity and quick response, and thus answers his crafty and dubious slashing attack by jumping in mid-air, a move that was simple to execute, but naturally causes him to delay the execution of his own strike. Only for a split second, of course, but for one that is experienced enough, that was enough, and in this case, the aftermath was that neither opponent managed to land a hit, but both also dodged each others smart tactics.

Landing a couple of feet away from the marine officer, with his back turned, Shadow tucks his sword to the back, stopping for a few seconds. He turns his head towards him, a wicked smile forming. "I underestimated you, looks like you may actually be able to make me fight seriously for once." Shadow was excited. He expected a weakling masking his incompetence with his hierarchical rank, but instead met someone with wits and the necessary skills to use said wits. This could, just could, be fun after all. The others could probably manage themselves anyway; not that he cared much anyway, they were just some random pirates, after all!