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

Swig's fighting style, now that he was too old to out speed his opponents, was focused around reacting to his opponent's moves with rapid usage of his devil fruit. This of course meant that Swig was to wait for Jinjen to attack him first with whatever power he was building with his spin. Instead of going on the offensive, Swig remained in place and focused on his breathing, slowly regaining his strength for the fight. He could feel the shell plates forming and disappearing on his abdomen with every breath he took, and the transformation back to his hybrid point returned to being a possibility. "Like I said Jonjon, you just go right ahead and try" He said, mocking the ensign's name once again.

"Rollout: Instant!" were Jinjen's words after Swig's speech, rolling towards him. Due to the momentum he gathered while rolling around his body, his attack was much faster than his usual attacks and as a result, much stronger. "This is the end, Tenma A. Swig!" Jinjen yelled while rolling towards his enemy, in an attempt to strike him at his stomach with his stronger than before, rollout attack.

"That's a shame... I hoped we could fight seriously together as subordinates of Ensign Jinden." Dexio sighed while grabbing his sword from the ground, walking a few steps back to get to a fair distance from his enemy. "Heh... Ensign Jinden is the best man and together, we are going to become the greatest marine soldiers! That's what you must know! And in order for me to become the greatest, I had to develop something better than the ordinary swordsman/" Dexio smiled, swinging his sword on the air. "Now, let's see what you can do against this! One Sword Style: Right Might!" an air slash was sent towards the pirate, in an attempt to cut him down with the air slash!

'Yup, not dodging that either...' Swig thought after seeing the blur that was Jinjen rolling towards him with blinding speed. Obviously the time he spent rolling in place allowed him to build more power behind his attack, which was much faster now than it was when Swig first saw it. This time around, Swig wouldn't dodge the attack, he had to repay Shan's sacrifice from the last time he tried to dodge. He extended his arms to both sides, as if inviting Jinjen into a hug, and bent his legs to better absorb the impact. His abdomen was covered with a durable turtle shell by pure instinct. "Hybrid poin-" Swig began announcing, but was hit by Jinjen's attack before he could finish his words.

A deafening screech was heard around the square as Jinjen scraped Swig's shell plates like a tire scrapes the road under it. The power behind the attack began pushing Swig back, making his feet reel on the ground uncontrollably with Jinjen still rolling against his abdomen and driving him further back all the while. However, the speed at which the two moved across the square was dropping, slowly at first but the rate rose with each passing moment as Swig gained weight at an incredible pace. The old man grew in size, his hair and robe gone and replaced once again by the monstrous features of his 700 kilograms hybrid point. The monster's face wore the same expression of teeth grinding with pain and tension that Swig wore before the transformation.

When the transformation was complete the reeling stopped, leaving Jinjen rolling against Swig's monstrous turtle shell with next to no effect. Swig opened his yellow eyes and looked down at the ensign in front of him. His grinding teeth were replaced with a disturbing smile. "My turn... KA!" He said with a booming and raspy voice. His still extended arms suddenly closed around Jinjen, attempting to grab him and trap him in a bear hug against Swig's shell. Hopefully, Jinjen won't be able to escape.

Jinjen used more and more force in an attempt to damage the transformed Swig, hoping to cause him some more damage. However, he soon realized he was unable to really do anything against him. The old man was really heavy for Jinjen to manage to push him aside and thus he figured out that they way he chose to attack him was completely wrong. But it was too late. The member of the Winner Pirates took advantage of the chance he was given and smart enough he attempted to grab the marine with a bear hug. "Bounc-" Jinjen tried to avoid the attack by bouncing upwards but it was too late. He was caught and at that time he was at the mercy of his enemy! What would Swig do to the marine was now something he got to decide...

"Eh, I am sorry man, no longer interested in working under others, plus got my reasons not to want to work under a marine." Shadow carefully observes the officer's actions, which interestingly enough lead to a ranged, projectile-type assault on his part. Quite impressive, especially considering that it was a move witnessed into the relative calmness that Blues normally are, compared to the Grand Line.

Still, it was something he had faced before, so while impressed at the strength and speed, he parries up the blow with a mighty upwards swing, as if his sword was an uppercut, the energy deflected around him. "Oh boy, that was a real kicker, my arm feels stiff now. My turn." having said that, Shadow presses his leg hard against the floor, then leaps forward, swinging his sword around. As he approaches the man, he suddenly makes an odd, side-flip like maneuver, at the same time firing off an energy projectile, as well.

"You marines are just like Francis..." Swig murmured in his monstrous, booming voice as he held Jinjen, "Always getting yourself into trouble you could have easily avoided by not being stupid" He concluded, looking down at the marine in his grasp. He then leaned forward, slowly falling to the ground with Jinjen in front of his massive form. The fall effectively turned into a full, 700 kilograms body slam with Jinjen at its bottom. If one thing was certain, it's that Jinjen was not going to enjoy this.

"Gr..." Dexio groaned, seeing how Shadow managed to deflect one of his strongest attacks. He then looked at the man who was running at him, swinging his sword with fierce as well, launching an air projectile towards him in an attempt to cut him. However, a moment later he snapped out of it, remembering some things he knew about the swordsman he was facing. "I forgot he has also been in the Grand Line! It's natural for him to be capable of using such an attack, as well." was the thought of the swordsman, who proceeded to deflect the projectile in a similar manner his opponent did. "Right..." he spoke to himself. "So I guess this is going to last quite a while, won't it?" he asked the enemy swordsman, smiling while doing so. He then moved his sword horizontally, taking a stance during which the sword was right in front of his eyes. The sun's rays fell on the sword making it look quite bright, so that Shadow would be blinded for a moment from the deflected light, allowing the marine to have a chance to slash him down. "One Sword Style: Most Bright!" he named his technique, still keeping a smile on his face.

[OOC: In case the technique has an effect on Shadow, I would like to take an autohit on him so the battle won't be easy as both Jinjen and Dexio are going to be recurring characters]

"Crap! How stupid of me!" Jinjen gulped as he realized what Swig was up to. The old man was about to slam his body on Jinjen with the marine at its bottom. Considering how heavy the pirate was in his turtoise form, now that was something bad. Because of a miscalculation, the marine was at the mercy of his enemy and there was nothing he could do. He was ultimately struck.

"Dang it, what the heck?-!" That clever little weasel. He actually took advantage of such an element as the sunlight itself to get an opening. Someone capable of pulling that off probably had an extensive knowledge of both swordsmanship and mathematics, to say the least. Quite an, often underestimated, combination. As a result, a slash managed to find its way onto the black haired male's torso. The force was enough to cut his breath off, and, as the marine "flew" past him, he remained frozen, looking as if he was knocked out right there while standing.

That motionless situation actually lasted for a few seconds, which would surely give the impression that Shadow was in fact knocked unconscious while standing. But that was, of course, not the case. And in fact, the wound wasn't even as deep as an average bystander watching this fight would assume. See, just before the impact, Shadow expected that the moment his eyesight was robbed, he was to receive an attack. See, he too was rather good at such kind of "math". So what he did was, to take a small leap backwards, while twisting his torso, causing the blade to miss the target, well, the deepness of the cut in this case.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Shadow mutters, his lifeless like expression morphing into a dark, wicked smile. The cut was still deeper than he expected it would be, tho. What an interesting opponent. "Next time we cross swords tho, you will be the one to be hit, I guarantee it." He adds, while slowly turning towards the marine, some blood flowing on his chest and down his abdomen.

"Right." Dexio smiled at the hearing of the swordsman's words, seeing how sure the man was that he was about to land a hit on him. It had been a while since he had such an interesting battle and he liked it. Yet, that wasn't unexpected as the marines already had some information about Shadow and how good he was with his swordsmanship. That was the reason Jinjen wanted him to join him and the force, after all. Speaking of which... Dexio glanced at the area, seeing Jinjen in some trouble. Apparently, Swig had taken the upper hand in the battle and thus he had to end his fight with Shadow quickly so that he could assist his superior.

"Just like what I expected from you to say." Dexio said while pointing his sword at Shadow. "And now... let us cross our swords for one, final time to see who is going to end up victorious in this!" he finished speaking, prepared to put an end in the battle. Dexio was up to something!

"Well then, let's end this in style then." Shadow remarks with a chilling, eerie smirk, all the while bringing his black sword close to his mouth. He then does an even more chilling and unnerving thing; licking the back side of the blade, while glaring at Dexio. It seemed that the more someone made Shadow fight seriously, the more he was cornered by one's skills, he'd just get more and more excited. He wasn't always like that. Maybe that man had affected him in more ways than he thought, after all.

"Here I come." With a mighty dash, the freelancing, bounty hunter and, soon to be due to today's actions, fully acknowledged as a wanted man, he charges towards Dexio, while moving both swords, as inexplicable as it may have seemed, into the sheaths on his hips. What on earth was he up to?

"Alright..." Dexio stood still and sheathed his sword back, but still keeping his hand on the sword's handle. He was not moving, waiting at the place for the enemy swordsman. The plan he had in his mind was very simple. When Shadow's rush towards him came to an end, the very moment the enemy swordsman would stop and swing his sword at him, Dexio would unsheathe his own sword swiftly and slash the man down with all his might. The man concentrated and focused on Shadow's movements, with his eyes following the man's rush. "One Sword Style: All Right!" when Shadow would reach him, Dexio would yell and would make his move to defeat him. Would he succeed or not?!

"Did the heat of the battle made you careless, or the hit that connected?" Shadow questions, while approaching the man. He was observing his facial expressions and posture, and seemed fairly sure of one thing; the man was expecting him to approach him for him to lash out his part of the strategy. But, as if Shadow would make it so simple for him.

"Don't get too abstracted!" Shadow says, in a lamenting tone and, several meters before actually coming face to face to the Marine, he performs a frond flip, at the same time pulling out both swords and sending out a pair of slashes into the air. As soon as that action was made, he reaches the ground with his right leg, then immediately takes a turn and approaches Dexio from the right side, placing one sword in frond and the other behind him; it was time for their strategies to unfold.

Dexio gulped the moment he realized that Shadow saw through his strategy. Striking with two air slashes, the enemy was preventing the marine from performing the move he wanted. In order for Dexio to use his "All Right" he had to wait for Shadow to come. And without Shadow coming, he was unable to perform the move at all. Dexio had just wasted precious time, trying to lure the enemy but his plan failed.

Without a second thought, the marine swang his sword, cutting the two air slashes in two gracefully. When the two slashes were cut, they were split from his sides, barely scratching him and striking a wall behind him, scratching it deeply. "Oh my..." Dexio thought while looking at the wall. "If that hit me completely, I'd be down for sure." he commented, before he started rushing towards the enemy. "But... It's a shame. It's my turn now!" he smiled while running towards Shadow, grabbing the sword with both hands to use more force in his slashes. "One Sword Style: Two Hands Rite!" he spoke the name of the technique. Now, that technique was Dexio's trump card. As the man put greater force in the slash, the technique was capable of cutting through steel, unlike his normal slashes. However, that was something Shadow didn't know and that was Dexio's bet. Would the man try to block with his sword and have it cut in two before being slashed at the chest, or not?

Meanwhile a few meters nearby...

"Hey! Dexio is busy! We need to save the Ensign!" the marines spoke loudly.

"Yes, but it was the Ensign's order to get back!" another marine said.

"Screw the order! He's in danger! The fossil got the upper hand!" the marines replied to the man who was against their decision.

"Hey, you! You got to listen to your comrade! An order is an order!" Francis' voice echoed from above. The man was using his Hairycopter technique, while carrying the unconscious Shan Yang on his arms.

"Francis Makyte! That guy has a bounty of 5,000,000 Beri from the incident at Woodstown a week ago!" the marines said. "Get him!" they raised their weapons so they could shoot him down.

"Shit! Shoot them, Hyman! Shoot them!" Francis yelled at Hyman. Apparently, the captain of the Winner Pirates decided to make an epic entrance, while he would leave the rest to his new sniper. However, they didn't really coordinate well...

"Wait! I haven't even loaded my weapon yet!" Hyman yelled at him from a building nearby.

"WHAT?! I PICKED YOU BECAUSE YOU LOOKED TRUSTWORTHY!" Francis' eyes popped out.

"You are going down "Loser"." the marines reffered to Francis, using his epithet.

"Huh?! Something is wrong! I am a Win-" before the captain could complete his sentence the marines started shooting, prompting him to move out of the way in an attempt to avoid their shots, barely avoiding most of them while others missed and a few barely struck him. "ATTACK HYMAN!!!" Francis complained.

"Kaghaghaghagh!" a cough was heared from the core of the dust cloud that erupted from where Swig body slammed Jinjen. As the dust began to clear, the silhouette of Swig's human form could be seen standing over the small crater he created with the sheer weight of his hybrid point. He was slouching forward, with his left hand pressed against his lower back and his right hand covering his mouth from the dust. "Damn the weight sure put my back to the test~ KAAGHAGHAGHA!" He coughed again, fanning the dust away from his face with his right hand.

"Is the annoying little brat down at least?" He wondered out loud, scanning the crater for Jinjen. He better be down, since Swig wasn't certain he could assume the hybrid point again without throwing his back all together. 'I REALLY need to get back in shape...' He thought, but the sound of shots fired around him stopped his search. He was now surrounded by marines who seemed to be focusing their shots at Francis, who was flying above them with his hair acting like a propeller. He couldn't really help Francis from this spot except by drawing some of the fire towards him.

"Sorry!" Hyman said, while pointing with his shotgun towards the enemies, who in the case were the marines. "Let's go..." he started shooting, striking them down one after another with his remarkable aim. The former captain of the Two Sided Adventurers, who was picked by Francis as the crew's sniper was something more than good. He was quite strong. "Just be careful! I don't want Shan Yang to get shot!" he said to his new captain, while still shooting towards the marines.

"Just take them down! I will protect Shan Yang at all costs!" Francis reassured Hyman.

"Damn it! He's really good! He's shooting much faster than we do!" the marines exclaimed, as most of them were already down and Francis was still flying on the air with his hair, getting shot much less than he was before.

"Those are the Winner Pirates, for you!" Francis smiled as he looked at the marines who were getting shot by his new sniper.

Meanwhile, next to Jinjen...

"Damn it..." Jinjen could barely speak. "Out of my arrogance, I let my guard down and ended up like this... How pathetic." he said, before letting out a sigh. "But... Tenma A. Swig... You are... in danger." he said, before closing his eyes, falling unconscious. What was the meaning behind the marine's words?

"Hm? Both arms? Alright, fine by me. Let's duke it out." Shadow blinks at the sight, but after he finishes commenting on it, he grins at the marine, then proceeds to actually dash straight to the attack's trajectory, a move that would probably give off the impression that the rogue vagabond was actually out of his mind. As the powerful attack -yes, he was aware that this one's quite a big one- rains down, he actually pulls one of his blades and swings it to connect, while he firmly presses his foot on the ground. But, his other sword, he actually places it back on the sheath as he proceeds to this "maneuver". What was going on?