Serious: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Javaman (Open)

Bruce stumbled upon shore of some island near the beginning of the Grandline. He look ragged, even for a shark-fishman. His clothes were tattered, he looked tired , and he was covered in small injuries. The sand beneath his feet was hot and loose, giving way with every step he took. Further and further he trudged, all they while the more scorched his soles became and the more exhausted he began to feel. His large body felt heavy, as heavy as his labored breath. Bruce had spent weeks under water. He thought that if he went deep enough they wouldn't be able to find him. He was wrong.

Bruce didn't think it was possible but somehow he made it off that beach. Down the road towards their smell, the smell that could mean life or death for someone like Bruce. There was a human settlement a few miles away. It was always a tricky thing, a fishman interacting with humans; especially a fishman as gigantic as Bruce was. People do things, unpredictable and terrible things when they're scared and Bruce inspired fear with his mere presence. It was better than it used to be. Most people in the Grandline at least have seen him in a picture in some news paper or another. Bruce is a Shichibukai after all, one of the more infamous pirates on the line. Still the sight of an eighty foot tall shark-man would be enough to make the blood curdle in most.

Despite it being miles into the island the city Bruce found seemed to be some kind of port. It was mostly comprised of cobbled stone with old wooden buildings, many of which were much to small for Bruce. As he entered the town he could sense a source of moving water. The people reacted as Bruce had anticipated, a calm kind of subservient panic. It's likely how they acted when most pirates or marines visited. The strangeness of it all made Bruce forget of his exhaustion for a bit. It was obviously a port town and he could sense water but there was no water to be seen, save a fountain here and there. Walking into the town scare Bruce could hear the flow of some invisible river. "How does any of this make any sense?" Bruce mumbled to himself. The stone in the square had a strange coolness, cool to the touch. Bruce's soles soaked in the cool damp feeling of the stone. He stared at the fountain in the center of the square as it shot water into the air. It smelt of life, like a river or the ocean would.

"Coffee Break!" a voice was heard somewhere near the fountain Bruce was staring at. Then, the voices of several people around where mixed, forming one single sound, the sound of the annoying crowd. And in the middle of that newly formed sound, there was one man standing. He was the one who got all the people around him, looking at him and thus not noticing Bruce who had just arrived at the area.

The man was a young man, 20 years old at the best. He had a very young and clean face. He wore a red colored robe and a black and red colored hat. He also wore a white vest which was buttoned and light brown pants with a pair of black colored boots. "Free coffee! Free coffee for everyone!" he kept yelling around, gathering more and more people. He had been doing that for a while and he was so devoted at whatever he was doing to the point that even himself didn't notice Bruce. And that was really weird considering the fact that Bruce was not only a fishman but also a gigantic fishman.

Bruce was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice he was starting to drift off. He needed to get supplies and leave. It would be terrible if Bruce's presence put innocent people in danger. Shaking himself out of his daze Bruce noticed a new scent in the air. It was completely awful, it smelled like something had been burned to a crisp to someone with a sense of smell like Bruce. For that very reason Bruce had really never been a fan of coffee. It was however something he could use at this point, something to help him keep awake long enough to take care of his business and get out of town.

Bruce walked over towards the smell. There was a large crowd gathering around the source. In the middle there was a man yelling out. FREE COFFEE! FREE COOOFFEEEEE!!! Not only was the man giving it away for free, it seemed as if he was creating it from his body. "What a useless devil fruit." mumbled Bruce under his breath. Bruce kneeled down forcing the crowd to part for him. He placed his hands together upside down creating a cup. "Fill'em up little man." Bruce said. The combined volume of his cupped hands was similar to a large barrel.

"Woah!" the crowd disperesed as Bruce arrived. His enormous size, combined with the fact that he belonged to a strange species of fishmen, made the crowd shake in fear as it was something more than obvious that he was no person one could mess with. If that guy got angry because of one of them, maybe he could start a rampage and cause several damage to all of them.

However, the man who sold the coffee didn't see it that way. While he gulped at the view of the gigantic fishman, he immediately calmed down as he noticed the way the fishman asked for coffee. He was creating a cup with his hands, his big hands. "Excuse me for a second." he said with a serious tone on his voice, before picking up an awkward smile on his face. "I think it would not be very noble of me to serve you my coffee at your own hands. Not to mention that the flavor might be altered." he explained himself before grabbing an empty big cup from his bag. Then, he procceeded to use his ability to generate coffee, filling it completely before offering it to Bruce. "Here you go." the young man said as he was about to give the cup to the shark fishman.

"Kehehehe!" Brunce half cackled and half dismissed the statement.  "I'm not so concerned about the flavor of the stuff as much as I am of the effects it has.  I need a bit of a boost to keep a head, of whatever it is tailing me.  Whether or not the stuff tastes like pond water is of little concern for me." said the fishman staring at the cup the man pulled out.  "Grrmmmm" Bruce sighed, the little javaman was being quite persistent.  Coincidently, Bruce's deep throated sigh would likely sound like some sort of quiet growl to most of the humans around him.  

Bruce pulled one of his hands back as he simultaneously reached out with the other.  Instead of grabbing for the cup of coffee he reached for the javaman.  "How about you just pour it into my mouth as you create it.  I don't really have the time to waste sitting around here drinking these small cups all day.  I need to get out of here before HE comes for me, I can't allow my presence here put these people in danger." Bruce said rather bluntly.  Normally the fishman wouldn't have said something so carelessly, but he was exhausted and had little patients for niceties. For a moment Bruce almost looked like some kind of frightened animal. He regained his composure almost instantly, but doing so only served to further tire him out. His focus was slipping and his began to exhaustion show.

"Huh?" Melik was surprised to learn that the gigantic fishman was tailed by somebody, and that somebody was even more dangerous than the fishman himself. It was obvious that Bruce was speaking about a giant threat, considering the fact that he himself was strong enough. However, that didn't have anything to do with Melik, so Melik simply decided to ignore it. Instead, it was his chance to market his product. While the majority of the people left, there were still a few who were not afraid of Bruce and they were willing to stay to get their free coffee. It was a good chance for the young man to demonstrate his fruit ability and amaze the crowds.

"Fine!" he said as he opened the palm of his hands and pointed towards Bruce's open mouth. "I am sorry if I happen to dirt you with my coffee." he apologized beforehand and he shot a blast of coffee, aiming at Bruce's mouth.

Dagon was falling. Falling fast. Then he remembered what had happened. He tried to fight a harpy lady and kicked him out of the sky. Crazy hot bitch. Dagon was in no danger however. Before he impacted the buildings beneath him, he used his "float" technique and landed cleanly on a rooftop. Then he heard a familiar voice. "How about you just pour it into my mouth as you create it?" Dagon cocked his head towards the ever menacing ancient fishman, bruce.  "I don't really have the time to waste sitting around here drinking these small cups all day.  I need to get out of here before HE comes for me, I can't allow my presence here put these people in danger." Dagon snarled a light laugh. Bruce cared about the people here. What a joke. But after his long journey, dagon thought about having some coffee himself. It would be a nice, rejuvinating change of pace.

"Good luck hiding from anyone as big as you are."

Dagon floated adjacent to bruce's right ear. He paid little attention to the coffee man, as coffee was just simply coffee. Why would he even care? All he cared about was that Bruce was here for some reason. That couldn't mean good news.

Crunch

Dagon snatched a cup of coffee out of the air as the blast went towards bruce. As his crunch retracted, he could taste the coffee. It wasn't bad coffee, albeit a tad bitter.

Bruce guzzled down the scorching hot liquid as it came out of the man's hands. For such a useless ability, Bruce found it particularly useful in that moment. When Bruce had just about had his fill someone came floating down. Dagon he was one of Karasu's army of assassins. Bruce focused his senses on the new arrival. He closed his mouth causing some of the coffee to run down his face to his chest.

"You reek of blood, much of it isn't even yours." Bruce said ignoring the fellow fishman's statement. Bruce was half tempted to flick the fishman off of his shoulder out of pure contempt for his master. What does Karasu want with me? Surely he would come together with HIM just for someone as small as I" said the giant fishman half pondering the situation. Bruce was fairly certain that Karasu wouldn't work with or for Derge, nor did he believe someone of Karau's level would fall to Derge without some big incident coming out of it. It was big news when he took out Iken and then on top of that defeated the Navy's most admired marine. From what Bruce had heard the fight destroyed an entire island and killed thousands. Bruce grimaced at the thought of the sheer loss of life.

Bruce sighed at the thought of having to deal with someone as bothersome as Karasu. He would never allowed Karasu to help him, Bruce was certain that owing the assassin would be as bad as being on HIS hit list. It was a while before Bruce realized he was still holding the human in his hand. "Oh yeah, sorry about that..." Bruce said placed the human back down onto the ground. "Look here humans! I am a Shichibukai, one of the seven great pirate warlords in employee of the World Government and representative of Fishman Island. Buy this man's coffee, it's literally the best I've ever had." said the fishman to try and return the favor. Bruce wasn't necessarily lying when he said it was the best...it was in fact the first time he's ever had coffee.

Turning away, Bruce began to walk away from the Javaman and the small number of people still in the crowd. "We'll talk away from those that panic easily." said Bruce with his head slightly tilt towards the shoulder that Dagon resided.

"What the hell is that guy capable of doing? And how can he talk so casually to that big fishman!" Melik scratched his head with his other hand out of curiosity, looking at Dagon. "Well, he might be a friend of his... I mean they are both fishmen. They are probably friends who are teasing each other..." he made a guess, although he was not on point. Then, he payed attention to Bruce who was speaking to Dagon, only to realise something...

"Huh? That guy is a Shichibukai?!" Melik gulped as soon as he listened to Bruce's words. "Those guys... They are pirates who are related to the World Government! I mean... If I could make him a friend of mine, he would definitely help me ship my coffee to every corner of the Grand Line! Those guys are in the middle of piracy and the navy... They have access to both factions." he started thinking. Melik had the belief that he could take advantage of the menacing Warlord. "If we become friends, he might even advertise my coffee... And my dream of becoming a coffee tycoon will become reality!" he kept thinking as his eyes shined out of excitement and coffee started dropping out of his body in the form of sweat. "Oh crap!" he snapped out of it as he realized that he got dirty.

And after snapping out of it, he took a minute to rethink anything Bruce said. The fishman, before Melik took the chance to approach him and make him his friend, had already advertised his product. Now that was some luck! "Oh shit." he mumbled.

Dagon took the liberty of surveying the area. He found a nice location away from general traffic with no risk of ambush, a corner of an abandoned chapel at the edge of the outskirts slightly southeast from them. Dagon quickly returned to to Bruce.

"There appears to be a convenient location to the south east where we won't draw unecessary attention, and won't be easily snuck up on."

Dagon glided on ahead to the spot and waited for bruce to follow. When bruce arrived, he swooped into the shade of the large tower. It would be a nice spot for bruce to sit down if he wanted to. A nice coincidence.

"I am not here on behalf of karasu. As you can likely tell from my bounty" dagon gestures to his conveniently placed bounty poster, "Karasu and I don't have much contact anymore".

His poster did not simply read dead or alive, like so many other pirates. The extent of his maliciousnesd and his danger to everything around him, on top of acting against the government who wants to control him, they have marked him as No Future. Aka, dead only. This most recent change had occured just months ago, while trading in the tormented isles. He went on a killing spree trying to escape from a mobster named Risa, and caused the deaths of pirates, civilian, and soldier alike not to mention billions in property damage. It was bad enough they rose his bounty in the first place to 300mil when he accidently destroyed a marine base 2 years ago, but now they officially considered him an insult to their existence.

"I got kicked out of the clouds by a very sexy and very wild harpy, and found you by chance. I figured now would be as good a time as any to discuss... Topics."

Bruce could feel some of the haze lift. The coffee was allowing him to think a lot clearer. Albeit hesitantly Bruce followed the directions of his fellow fishman. Dagon wasn't likely in the employ of HIM, Karasu would never allow his weapon wander too far. At least that's what Bruce thought until the two finally arrived at their destination. Dagon pointed out his own bounty poster, one with a large increase from the last one Bruce had seen. "Gods...What did you do?" Bruce questioned. Shichibukai and their crew have somewhat of an immunity from the law. As long as they show when they're called upon they can continue their trade without fear of prosecution. The immunity, however does have its limits.

"Not only did you get an increase in your bounty, it's rather sizable. If I wasn't certain the means behind it were dastardly, I'd find that rather impressive." said Bruce with his mind racing. He's not close to Karasu anymore. The fool forced Karasu's hand and now he's practically out floating, connected only by a frayed tether. This is the time that HE usually pounces. If HE hasn't gotten to Dagon yet, it was only a matter of time. No matter what, Bruce needed to find a way to prevent that; he just had to figure out how. Dagon could feel the separation, he could feel the weakness in Karasu and was looking for someone stronger. Karasu trained him to be a weapon so well that Dagon even began thinking like a weapon. He craved a master that would use him effectively, a master that would in extension make him even more powerful. Bruce could tell Dagon craved that power. "Psshehehet" Bruce could help but laugh at the irony. The person that could most effectively make use of the leech-fishman was none other than the man he was made and trained to kill. If Dagon was a sword, HE would be a master swordsman which just happens to be perfectly suited to the sword in question.

Bruce could sense it. Dagon had become rather strong, a light years worth of difference from the last time Bruce had seen him. If Bruce tried to kill Dagon, he wasn't sure if he would even win, little lone come out on top without destroying the entire island. Regardless, Bruce had to prevent HIM from getting Dagon in his clutches. As Dagon was talking about some Harpy, Bruce noticed the coffee human from before. He had followed the two of them. For an instant a thought shot through Bruce's mind. What if the human was working for HIM? That wouldn't be beyond his capabilities, tire Bruce out and send him towards something that would reinvigorate him; only for it to be a trap. Consuming something created by someone's fruit was completely and utterly stupid, especially when Bruce knew nothing about him. "Wait...what the fuck is a harpy? Is that some type of Skypian?" questioned Bruce. Bruce was becoming jittery and a bit paranoid.

"What the hell?" Melik thought at the view of the two fishmen as soon as they began moving away, going somewhere more private so they could have their important conversation. "No way... I have found the fountain of gold right here! I can't afford to lose it! I have found my own One Piece..." he mumbled, ignoring the rest of the crowd who was around, still waiting for coffee. Apparently, Bruce had taken the place of several people around and they were still waiting to be serviced with a hot cup of coffee. "Hey, have you stopped giving us coffee?" a man asked, making Melik come back to his senses once again. "Erm... no, of course not. It still is time for a... Coffee Break!" Melik said with a smile on his face as he started moving his hands weirdly, making peculiar gestures before he started creating coffee out of his hands that was moving towards the mouth of the potential customers, taking weird shapes for each person as it moved. Some of the coffee moved in a spiral form, some others moved in the form of a heart beam and some other waves were like a liquid rose made of coffee. Melik was putting up a show for his customers. After all, he knew that he had to impress them so they could win their heart and make them his own customers.

"Amazing!" a person said as he viewed at the show. "Kohihihihihi!" Melik laughed. "And now for the end..." he said as he raised his hand, pointing at the sky. Then, he shot a large blast which moved above, faster and faster as the time passed. A few seconds later, the blast split into several smaller blasts, as if it was a firework. "Ha!" Melik quickly grabbed a few cups of coffee and placed them in front of himself, before the remnants of the "firework" coffee fell inside them, ready to be served. "Is that good enough for you, good people?" he asked rhetorically with a smile on his face.

"YESSSSSSS!!!" the crowd replied in excitement. And now, since the crowd had been satisfied, Melik had the time to go after Bruce and try to approach him. There was no way he would waste his chancce. After all, Melik was viewing the fishman as his golden jackpot.

"Have you ever read a poneglyph of history?"

Dagon chuckled lightly. During dagon's past year without karasu's hand on his shoulder, dagon had been able to expand further into the underworld. In fact the entire reason he swindled Risa in the first place was because somehow his mob had come across a poneglyph, and karasu had requested dagon get rid of it before Derge could find it, as he was the only DIA affiliate close enough to find it before Derge. Dagon made traced a copy of it before disposing of it at the bottom of the cave network in the tormented isles, sunk deep into the oceanic volcano. Karasu had a contact who interpreted it for them.

"Once long ago, there were the angels, the devils, the wjin, and the druids. When the angels descended from heaven, they met the wjin of the air, the aarpokra. In the devil tongue of old, the word is pronounced harpykra. The wjin of the air bread with the angels. Most of the hybrids maintained their angelic properties, and the devils called them Skypako. As the ancient races split into the modern races, the devil-druids began to wage war. The soldiers called the sky warriors Skypeans. Some of the skypeans could fly, however. Some of the Skypako had retained the properties of their wjin ancestors, and retained the appearance of a bird. These warriors had the same superiority complex as the angels, without the incomparable intelligence. They were instead primal, like their primordial halves. The soldiers called these beasts Harpy. Now they are called the bird people, the same phrase that the old tongue's Harpy meant."

Dagon could sense someone getting closer. He couldn't see it, but his sense of smell and sense of sound were vibrant.

"But that's not important. What is important is you are one of two people in the world who can open up fishman island to the underworld. Fishman island has lots of goods, and there are items that are illegal for fishmen to obtain under the WG that most fishmen could care less about. I was wanting to see if I could strike a deal."

Dagon smiled slightly. It was obvious he had his own gain in mind as usual. Money, food, power. But there was more to it than that. When dagon wanted things, he was already well known, even before the bounty increase, for taking what he wants. Especially after the fiasco where dagon had to be the fall guy for freeing the slaves of marejois rather than his shichibukai counterparts. This decision of Karasu's was particularly angering to dagon, despite his willingness to take credit. Karasu would rather take the easy way out by using him as a scapegoat as he would using some of his vast resources to pin it on someone like risa, who runs his own underworld slave trade. But this event had showed something. He cared about freedom. And this trade would not just provide revenue and trade booms in the fishman islands; it would make them less dependent on the government. That was nothing but a win win as far as dagon was concerned.

"I'm sure you'll agree the terms to be rather symbiotic."

Bruce shifted his weight and pressed his back against the wall of one of the towers.  He leant into the shade listening to Dagon's explanation.  "I've seen one before, but I was unable to read the thing." Bruce admitted.  He slid down the wall coming to a sitting position with his back to the wall.  Bruce was trying to relax and concentrate on his surroundings.  Dagon spoke of ancient races and of angels and demons - all things that most would consider merely fantasy.  Bruce wasn't so certain that the more ridiculous stories didn't at least have some shred of truth in them.  

"I've heard a story like this." said Bruce.  The fishman was simple and hadn't had much of an opinion on the existence of such things as gods and the like.  Bruce had little reason to doubt their existence nor believe in such a thing.  There was something that was nagging and Bruce, however.  "No, not like this.  Practically the same, if I was being honest." said the fishman.  Bruce leaned forward and placed his right hand cupped over his left fist.  He appeared to have paid more attention to the story than he was letting on.  "Change the angels and demons into two factions of humans that had been separated for millennia by some god or force, and this is exactly the story Iken told of his ancestors.  Albeit, Iken's version of the story had much more detail in certain parts and less in others." said Bruce exchanging his story.  Bruce realized he was suddenly struck by a feeling of loss, Iken had been a walking poneglyph.  "Iken and his clan seemed to have intimate knowledge of these tablets.  With the loss of them both, the only herald of all of that forgotten information is Derge.  I hate to admit it, little lone say his name but I believe he will shape the future of this world.  If Iken represented knowledge and the potential of the good side of humanity in that millennia old battle, than Derge certain representes the demons and thus destruction of all that civilization has built." said Bruce getting into a bit of a rant.  

"The underworld huh?" said Bruce in a somewhat hushed response.  Another philosophical question of right and wrong, good and evil.  "Honestly I could see how the island could benefit as well as how this could harm it.  It's easy for a civilian to say the underworld network and pirates are the bad ones and that the world government and the rulers that back them are good.  It's never so black and white as that.  Iken's clan fervently believed that the "GOD" that brought upon the cataclysm that separated their ancestors was none other than those that refer to them as gods now, the Celestial Dragons." said Bruce going off in another tangent.  He didn't need to contemplate it any longer, he know how to answer.  "I'll allow it with certain conditions.  Firstly this must appear to be nothing more than a trade deal, completely on the up and up.  Second, no slaves.  We will not be providing nor receiving any slaves of any race.  Finally, any merchandise is subject to inspection by either the port guards or myself.  By and far some of the best candy in the world is made in Fishman Island, and our sea-salt caramel is unlike any other.  It would be a good opportunity for the island to be able to manufacture and expand upon a trade they excel at without the burdensome trade agreements and embargos implemented by the World Government." Bruce said with a strong resolve.  He wasn't going to negotiate or budge on his side of the deal.  It was a take it or lose it situation.

Dagon's smile changed slightly, into a more somber and bittersweet smile. Anyone who didn't understand his personality would assume he was reminiscing good times in a bad situation. This was not the case however. Dagon reached to his left bracelet, and removed it. He never took it off, not for breeding, feeding, fighting, or any reason. No one, not even karasu, had seen the scars. Bruce would see a deep, blackened scar in likeness of two X's connected to each other, with small chain link patterns forming the XX pattern twice. It was obviously an extremely painful trauma. Dagon straightened his arm, turning it sideaways. Slowly, as if forcing the motion, dagon revealed the mark of the dragon. It was surrounded by such dark black skin that it appeared to be glowing. He knew that Bruce would understand. He had been held by searing hot electric chains. The first layer wasn't enough to keep him still so they added another. Then they had branded him. As soon as the pity came to bruce's eye's, as fleeting as it was, he snapped his bracelet back over the scars. Dagon felt weak. He hadn't shared this part of himself with anybody, not even his master, and yet he felt compelled by his fellow kin.

"I wasn't raised on fishman island. I didn't have family to protect me. I was born and lived in the forbidden trench." The trench connects the undersea of paradise to the new world by passig beneath the red line, looping out into the calm belt and back into the grandline in a circle. It was considered forbidden territory for fishman and merpeople. Only the worst where banished there, and the creatures there could terrify strong new world pirates. He was sure Bruce would know the one of which he spoke. "I survived until I could escape. When I did, they found me. I was naturally wary and aggressive. They punished me for it. Again. And again. Then I sold to their employers, the dragon's. After I escaped, I wandered, avoiding capture. Then I found karasu, and they couldn't get me anymore." This story had only been shared with one other: Karasu himself. And it was only to convince him to let hin participate in the freeing of the slaves of marejois 3 years prior. No one had known why dagon had done it, no one understood. But now Bruce understood, for even karasu could not understand as someone else who had truly lived in horror such as that.

"Needless to say, I accept your terms. My only conditions are that Karasu know nothing of my deal with you, and that the world government, not even Cortez or Cipher Pole agents, shall benefit from anything we do. Moreover, this pact shall be only our individual profit and the benefit of fishman island. Personally, I would be willing to levy off a portion of my profit for marejois refugees, assuming you would portion the same quantity."

Dagon's senses spiked. He could hear steam, he could hear a hearbeat, and he could hear footsteps. The air had a tinge of bitterness and musk. The image of the man he had seen just earlier popped into his mind. The coffee salesmen had followed them. Dagon wondered how much the man valued his life, but was not in a trigger happy mood. The turn of the conversation had Dagon acting as his honest self, and he had no desire to kill this man particularly, given any reputation he had had no longer needed to be upheld in front of Bruce. Dagon's ring-hand twitched slightly.

"It seems Mr. Coffee has followed us. I suppose we should see what he wants."

Dagon jumped to the top of the ruined cathedral in one bound, almost effortlessly. It was clear how much he had grown in the last 3 years. He was almost a whole new weapon. When he landed, he lifted his head to gaze upon the city, memorizing its landscape, roads, alleys, and etc while watching the man draw near. He apparently had no ill intent from what Dagon could tell. But he was not in the habit of speaking to those who weren't strong enough for him. He had seen no reason to believe this man was worth speaking to directly, and waited for bruce to make the first move.

By the time Dagon noticed Melik, the man had already started trembling in fear. It was obvious that the two fishmen were talking about some serious business. The appearance of a man like Melik there would interrupt the two and mess the serious tone of the conversation of the two. As a result, Melik would become afraid of what was about to come next. The truth was that his business instict was great. If he managed to persuade Bruce to become the person of his campaign, his business would rise to the top and he would become very rich. For Melik, Bruce was a moving treasure. However, on the other hand, if he made the enormous shark fishman as well as the leech fishman, Dagon, mad, he would face the consequences which were nothing less than having his life taken at the best. His survival instinct was in a contradiction with his business instinct. But Melik knew that this was how business used to work. The greatest businessmen usually took risks, after all.

"Oh my, I shouldn't tremble in fear..." Melik thought as soon as he realized that Dagon was looking at him. "If they come to realize that I am afraid of them, they might see me as pray... Moreover, the Shichibukai will never co-operate with me and even if he does so, he will view me as a pawn. I need to show that I am not afraid of them, but without offending them at the very least." he kept thinking, trying to figure out a way to succeed in his goal, without endangering himself. "Excuse me for my behavior, gentlemen." Melik spoke politely to the two fishmen and he turned to Bruce next. "You sir spoke great words about my coffee and I wanted to meet you and thank you personally. The majority of the crowd was excited with my coffee and it is all thanks to you. As a result, I could not leave this island without a gift for you." he bowed as he spoke, before he grabbed a giant cup from his bag and used his power to fill it with coffee, which he would serve to Bruce.

"However, interrupting your conversation is not polite either." he continued speaking before grabbing another cup of coffee. Then, he bowed again, this time in front of Dagon before he used his Devil Fruit ability to fill the second cup with the same type of coffee, which he would proceed to serve to the leech fishman. "I can see that the two of you are speaking about something serious and some good quality coffee would be great for the meeting. Do you not agree?" he asked to the two men. Melik was very polite. After all, he had his try his best to befriend the two and more importantly Bruce.

Bruce could see that Dagon's mood change, he could feel it with his perception abilities. Before the Leech-fishman even removed the bracelet, Bruce had an idea of what was about to happen. Countless had done the same, they pulled off some type of coverage and let show their mark. Men, women, and children of all races, Bruce had seen it on all of them. Seeing the mark on Dagon made the mark on Bruce's chest ache. While Dagon did see pity in Bruce's eyes, it wasn't just for him; it was for all those that had been forced into servitude. Bruce glance turned from Dagon for a moment. The brand was the same but the marks from the chains were worse than anything Bruce had. Bruce regretted not fighting back more than he did, he regretted betraying his nature in exchanged for his survival; he wished he had those marks.

"Aye. There is safety in numbers, something that apparently neither of us had. I hail from somewhere in the Calm Belt, a clan of hunters that fed upon seakings. Trust me friend, even with our size all of the warriors in my village failed to save me from capture. I know not whether I'm the last one of my species left alive. I found that village abandoned, there was no trace of my clan left. I don't know if there were all wiped out or if they abandoned it because of the attack or even if it's some migratory pattern. All that remains now are a few broken bodies and signs of the battle from that night." said Bruce telling his story. Usually telling his story put the others' into perspective but Dagon was probably one of the few that had a story as bad as Bruce's. The survival rate for the young primitive type fishman in that trench was low. Someone more ignorant to the practices of the Celestial Dragon's would see his capture as a gift. Bruce knew better, a death in that trench at a young age would have been a gift compared to what they did to their slaves.

Bruce sighed when he heard Dagon's terms. "I have no desire to profit off of this venture. Any profit I could receive is better off in the coffers and pockets of the people residing in Fishman Island. I agree to all other terms including the refugee fund." said Bruce sternly. It annoyed him that after the moment they had, that Dagon would still think Bruce was in this for any kind of profit.

"Yes, yes. I could sense him the entire time. He isn't a threat to either of us." Bruce relayed as Dagon leapt onto the tower. His ability and strength came to a bit of a surprise to Bruce. Even if Bruce could sense Dagon's strength, to jump that high; it was quite the feat. This kind of agility would be troublesome if Bruce ever had to face off against his fellow fishman.

Bruce watched the coffee man stand before Dagon and himself, trembling in the face of danger. If it had been before Namor had found him, there was a chance that the trembling would set off Bruce's predatory instinct. It wouldn't be to the point he would attack but more of a twitch, maybe a glint of hunger. "Aye, your coffee." Bruce said in response. All of the talk with Dagon got Bruce's mind in the business kind of mindset. "I don't suppose you'd want to manufacture your coffee out of Fishman Island would you? The sea salt caramels would go well with coffee, don't you think?" Bruce asked both Dagon and Melik. "Fishman Island's factory could easily be fitted to help produce coffee and the existing products could be used to enhance it as well." Bruce said throwing out ideas. He could sense Dagon's instincts kicking in and Bruce was trying his damnedest to counter those predatory instincts with something almost as strong, greed.

When the coffee man noticed dagon, he was shaking with fear. Dagon saw him like most people: prey. Another pest. Not worth concerning with. But then the man, stupidly enough, admitted to overhearing part of his conversation. Dagon was an underworld mastermind. He was very aware of its power and that this man could easily be a spy from any of many powerful people. He was also aware that the informationhe shared was both incriminating and extremely personal. He had never opened up on that kind of emotional level. Dagon's reflex was to kill him outright, and had he been with a more evil or less powerful entity, that is exactly what would had happened. But he was aware that Bruce had interacted with the man before, and he had already decided to let Bruce take the lead. Everything in his being demanded he kill him for self preservation. But he held it in check out of respect of Bruce. When Bruce tried to focus Dagon's attentions onto the value of the pest, he knew Bruce was trying to keep the man alive. Dagon would have to let him live for now.

"As a cook, I cannot deny it. His coffee is of a unique flavor that highly compliments our sweets. It would be profitable. It is entirely up to you. Remember Bruce, I am a monster created by monsters. I take what I want. I use what is mine however I see fit. I will have my vengeance. I want that more than anything else."

Dagon eyed the coffee man once more, sizing him up. This guy had no idea how easily this all could have ended. And how much danger he was in by being near Dagon. It was clear to anyone who could understand him. He was a weapon through and through. And this weapon wanted blood. As his desire to kill had irked, his thirst ablazed. He had not feed in a long time. He needed to feed. And this prey was just too ripe for the pickings. A glimmer of primal huntin would appear on him before he stepped off the ruined catherdral, landing almost tracelessly on the ground he had stood before.

"Fishman Island, huh?" Melik thought as soon as he listened to Bruce's words. "I never thought of that... I didn't really have that in my mind. To think that I could use the name of the Fishman Island's factory to export my products... Now that is something new. he kept thinking for a second. However, as he knew that he couldn't think for very long as that would bring out some suspicions for him about his motives, he decided to instantly speak. "Ha, I do not really know what to say. I would be something more than glad to work at the reknowned factories of fishman island. That way, I could help at making them even more known and my coffee would become more popular, as well. It is a win-win situation. I like it." he replied to Bruce immediately.

Of course, on the other hand, the slight thought that this could be a lie could come to his mind. Why would Bruce want to work with Melik that easily in the first place? There was money in the middle of course... But Melik also knew that his coffee was simply great, so there could be the chance that Bruce was speaking like a businessman, much like himself, and that he was honest.

[OOC: For a week I won't be having internet connection from my home, so I will post more rarely]

Bruce was annoyed with Dagon's words and with the way Dagon was representing himself. He was a stereotypical monster, to weak willed to decide for himself. He let himself be controlled by darker forces and that bothered Bruce. Bruce spent his entire life holding himself back to become a better person, and Dagon didn't even seem to try. There were times where Bruce acted like they did, just go on a killing spree. Kill all of them and show them what the terror they were inflicting on people looked like. Bruce knew his thoughts were hypocritical but the truly evil selfish people just pissed him off.

Turning towards Dagon, Bruce tried to play off his soured mood with sarcasm. "So should I be worried, making a trade deal with someone that apparently just takes whatever they want?" Bruce said with a smug smile. Bruce's smile faded after a while. He took a more serious tone. "Remember, I'm a predator too. I maybe better at controlling it than you are but in the end, if push comes to shove; I'll take what I want too." he said reaching down for the cup of coffee.

Bruce looked into the sky, he seemed somewhat perplexed. "What's...electrical currents?" said Bruce a moment before his eyes widened. Reaching down, Bruce covered Melik with his hand as metal objects began to rain down upon the area. Metal feathers stuck into the ground and the buildings and even into Bruce's skin. That was some task, sticking such a small projectile into Bruce's skin, the stuff had become as strong as steel over the years. There was a silence as about a dozen men with, metallic cybernetic wings began to hover above the three. The cyborgs all had differing degrees of modifications, most seemed to have some kind of mechanical device on one eye or the other.

"BOOM"

The hundreds of metal feathers exploded all in unison. Small craters littered the ground, the explosions were each around the strength of a hand cannon. Something that ships would use to shoot down the masts and sails of another ship. The individual explosions weren't particularly devastating, but the combined might of them all was quite something. "Goddamn that fucking hurt." said Bruce through all of the dust and debris still floating in the air. The spots in which the feathers pierced into Bruce's skin had blood trickling out of them. Explosions from the imbedded projectiles forced open the hole a bit. Normally an explosion of such a low caliber would have done little more than scuff Bruce. "Fucker picked the best suited to slowly kill me. Death by a thousand cuts huh?" Bruce said as the dust finally settled.

[Introduction Box]
Project Myth: Icarus
Death Co. Prototype
Forgotten Technology of Atlantis

Even Bruce had tragically misunderstood dagon. Everyone did. The only one who had ever understood him was Karasu, and what did he care? Dagon was simply another weapon to him. But what did he care what an overgrown, soft fishman like Bruce or what he thought? He sighed, and then he heard something. It was an unmistakable sound, one he'd never forget. The sound of electricity.

Just as he noticed, Bruce noted the same fact. It seemed Bruce had similarly ranged perception to Dagon, but it seemed faster acting. Dagon memorized this of course, wanting to know everything about potential enemies or allies. Then the explosions hit. It hurt his ears. He could feel the subtle shock waves. It was a lot of weak explosions, but he heard exactly 564 sharp clanks and 101 soft clanks. As he began the hear creaking and crashing, he felt sharp thud hit his shoulder.

Dagon looked at the wound, and grew furious. He looked around, watching and listening as the surrounding area collapsed. One particularly large tower had fallen towards them but veered away; another went toward the market, and another to the town square. Then he heard the echoes of sharp thuds. The feathers that went up were landing. He heard screams as people realized they were about to die. He smiled. Their pain would be his pleasure. Their deaths meant less complications. That way he could focus more on his hatred.

He looked up into the sky and spotted 12 flying androids. They had wounded Dagon. Metal birds!?

Float

Dagon burst into the sky at sub soru speed. He charged around the icarus fighters. The dispersed and fired at him, but startled easy and kept a distance. Impossible to line up. So he gave up on lining them up. He launched his crunch at one of them. And predicted the movements of the others as a result. He had noticed they act in conjunction as if one mind, and it made them easier to predict. He used his natural momentum to inconspicuously launch a jude chop from his left foot just long enough that it would be hard to evade, while remaining as thin as he could manage. It would be hard to detect from any angle, and when it got close enough to distinguish the red tint, it would be too late to use complex maneuvers. Worst case scenario, he overlooks something and they expose more vital information to be exploited. Best case scenario, he never notices and get chopped in half and it nicks another one on the wing. Most likely scenario, one dead, 11 angry and wary. Dagon would gladly settle as long as progress was made.

[Versus Dagon]

The flying machines honed in on Dagon as he rose toward them.  They used evasive maneuvering that would send them away from the oncoming threat.  All twelve of the cyborgs began circling Dagon in a double spiral pattern, the spiral were spinning in opposite directions.  Those with a high perception would notice the mechanism over the eyes of the Icarus' activating when Dagon attacked.  Dagon's leech technique connected with leg of the unit he was aiming for.  The cyborg made a lazy attempt at dodging causing the technique to hit.  

It pulled most of the blood from the machines leg before it was able to detach it.  The Icarus used its metal wing to slice off the inflicted leg.  It was blood but it wasn't all blood.  If the liquid absorbed by the immediately transferred to Dagon for consumption he'd notice the taste was off.  The red-sliver liquid was a combination of the hosts blood and some kind of synthetic motor oil and coolant.  If Dagon consumed the mixture without the proper enhancements, it would surely poison him.


Dagon's second technique came as no surprise, the collective of Icarus' were able to monitor the technique and it's movements from the moment it was used.  The deceptive nature of the attack and the lack of information on the current target seemed to be enough.  With his prediction of the collectives maneuvers it seemed as Dagon would hit at least two maybe even three of the machines.  At the last possible moment two of the machines avoided the attack.  The two had no visual contact with the technique when it was avoided.  It was as if the machines had eyes in the back of their heads.  The third machine that took the hit preformed another lazy dodge and thus the attack connected.  It tore through the metallic component on its chest before coming to a stop in the cyborgs fleshy chest but not before leaving a deep gash.  Once again the mechanical sound of the visual receptors on the Icarus' responding could be heard.  

[Bruce]

((OOC: Max, I'm grab you for the time being and stick you in my pocket.))

When Bruce retracted his arm, the coffee man that had been standing there was gone.  Bruce stuck his fist in a pocket of the vest he wore on his chest.  The same one he kept the portable bubble  machine that Craig would often use.  Bruce shook vibrations that were still shaking through his body.  He was about to turn his attention to the flying machines when Dagon took off after them.  Bruce was about to follow when he heard screams.  The explosions caused two large towers from the cathedral ruins to fall towards the city.  One towards the above ground market place and the second towards the square.  

Bruce ran towards the middle, between the areas of where the towers would land.  Quickly he got into a wide stance.  His legs open wide with his feet and knees pointed out about 45 degrees.  Bruce pounded his closed fists together and closed his eyes; he brought his arms down while simultaneously opening his hands and turning them upside down until they rested just above his hips, forearms and open hands facing upward.  He took a deep breath before raising his arms upward and curling his fingers in.  The earth shook and a moment later pillars of water began to shoot from underground.  The giant fishman raised his arms to about chest level and the water began shooting at the towers in the form of needles or spears.  At first it was a few but then it grew until there were too many to count, all slamming into the falling towards.  The water was hitting so hard and so fast that the tower was turning into rubble while the needles burst forming a cloud of steam around the towers.  

"Ahhhhhaaa!" grunted Bruce as if he was lifting something heavy.  He opened his eyes and raised his hands over his head.  In the same moment the fog around what used to be the towers began to raise.  There was nothing there, it seemed the tower were being lifted up by the sheer force of the water.  That wasn't quite the case as the tower was in actuality reduced to powder and mixed with the water forming an over saturated concrete mix.  The muddy mixture rose up more before forming into the shape of a ball and spinning.  Bruce used water from the river, redirecting its power upward for the attack and now to propel himself upwards.  By half jumping and half being shot up, Bruce was able to rise higher than Dagon and the 11 remaining machines.  

The power and finesse of Bruce's technique indicated he was using something other than simple fishman karate.  Merman Combat allowed for more control over the water than the other form and this allowed Bruce to go all out while minimizing casualties and collateral damage.  Bruce placed his hands by his side, pulling more and more of the rivers water upwards into the dirty sphere of water that had been the towers.  The water began spinning faster as more of the river's water was directed towards Bruce.  "MOVE"  Bruce said clearly very angry.  He had drown these monsters here and it was hit fault that a lot of people almost died.  That was absolutely unacceptable!

Dagon finally had some blood, and he wanted more. He had to kill these guys and make some dinner.

Judo Strike

Dagon's eye's went red with blood. Is veins darkened, and became more pronounced. Then suddenly, his muscles expanded and contracted back, more toned and large than before. He had increased his power and speed substantially.

Shift

Dagon zoomed at full speed towards the cyborg without a leg. He could feel shockwaves bursting off of his movement; he was even faster than the cyborgs but not by much. He suddenly stopped and transfered all the momentum into throwing the leg with his crunch at the icarus. He then zoomed to the closest icarus with momentum he thought he could take advantage of.

Judo Stream

Dagon launched a blood canon ball from his mouth at the birdman he was launching towards, knowing that he would see it coming but trying to use their velocities to ensure he couldn't dodge it. The canonball could bust straight through their thick coating just like his judo chop, and wouldn't be detered by something like material. Best of all, the blood was full of his saliva and his venom. Even if the bird managed to half-dodge it and avoid a fatal hit, the poison would certainly cripple him. And then he could observe the change in behavior of the strange enemies before him.

Dagon was aware of bruce and the things going on around him, but was so focused on combat he was only recording information rather than processing it. He didn't even realize the strange sound was coming from video recording. He was too focused to think that far ahead. He wanted to kill them all and feast on them. The faster the better.

[Dagon]

His attack was seen, analyzed, and a counter strategy was created. Even if the Icarus that was targeted wasn't in a direct line of sight it knew exactly how to avoid the oncoming projectiles. The Icarus Dagon was aiming for began to spin at a high velocity using it's razor sharp wings to slice a part the projectiles into several small non threatening pieces.  It was clear that the cyborgs had more capabilities to them than they were letting on.

Dagon's head on path follow by an abrupt attack gave the second group little time to react.  However it seemed that was a two way road.  It was easy for the Icarus' in the group to aim for a path that would likely hit Dagon.  The five mechanical monstrosities, including the victim; fired upon the path Dagon was moving in.  Assuming Dagon took the direct path and continued his attack he would be met with a barrage of explosive feather shaped rounds.  The Icarus that was in the direct path of the attack, detached both wings.  It was timed for the exact moment Dagon's attack was blocking his view of the Icarus.  The wings shot forward just around the incoming sphere in an attempt to drive both of the wings into the joints connecting Dagon's arms to his torso.  If the wings hit directly, the sharp blade like projectiles would pierce almost completely through the fishman's chest before exploding.  The entire remaining payload left in both wings were set to explode a second after impact.  

[Bruce]

Dagon didn't listen...  No surprises there, he didn't seem like the kind that would take orders well.  It crossed Bruce's mind that this would be an opportune time to rid the world of a great threat.  Despite the fact that Bruce had the shot and a technique that could obliterate him with one shot prepared; that just wasn't the kind of person Bruce was.  At the very least Dagon moved out of the middle and into one of the groups.  "ULTRA MARINE DRILL X3" Bruce unleashed a massive beam of spiraling water with enough power to drill right through the island all the way down to the crust.  A large shadow loomed over two groups of birdmen.  The massive water and mud based attack was diving through the air with great velocity.  For the Icarus and their systems monitoring the battle it seemed like a straight forward attack to avoid.  Beside an easy dodge it looked as if it would involve a massive amount of collateral damage.  

"SPLITNER"  Just as the attack was about to pass by in the middle of the Icarus' it spilt into six equal pieces.  Six smaller but still devastating drill like constructs shot towards them.  Several of the six took direct hits, while two others avoided the initial attack only to be pulled in by sheer velocity.  All that took the direct hit bursting into nothing more than scraps of flesh and metal.  The final two came of with deep wounds and gashes, placing them into a critical damage faze.

Dagon had tunnel vision from his attack, but he had survived in a lightless trench for years. His senses were superb. He could detect each feather coming his way. Using his agility and his shield-like wings for control, he was able to barrel roll wth exact timing to avoid the majorite of the feathers. Timing alone could not account for 12 stray feathers. His wings, on the other hand, deflected 10 of the twelve, barely fazing dagon. Two feathers hit, one in his side and one in his leg. He was able to remove the feather in his side before its detonation through momentum and sheer force of blood and muscle. The other was further away from his heart and he didn't have the extra fraction of a second to propel it. It blew up, taking a small chunk out of his calf. But it didn't matter. Dagon had fed recently. His wounds sealed up almost instantaneously. His chest wound disappeared completely by the time of his attack. Dagon's let was almost fully healed when he sensed bruce's attack behind him. This almost distracted him from the wings propelled at him.

Slash

Dagon produced his pressurized water claws, and grabbed the wings in mid air, using the water to catch then in dagon's high-momentum and propel them without ever interrupting their inertia. Dagon was thankful of his time training with karasu and his men. If it wasn't for having to deal with their high-speed piercing attacks he would not have enough skill to pull this off without blowing up the wings. He propelled the wings at the nearest target's still available. One with no leg, one critically wounded and poisoned, two critically wounded, 4 dead, 1 critically wounded and unable to fly, and 3 unharmed, 2 of which were about to react to the post-hypersonic metal wings hurling towards them. Why not go for the last one already? Dagon dashed for the only untargeted cyborg, shifting at full speed. He noted that his leg was fully healed by the time he launched towards his new target, as it would have been painful if it hadn't been.

As he drew near to the new target, he pulled out his butcher blade, freshly saturated in fat, and placed it in his mouth. He got closer and closer, waiting for an offensive move or evasive action.