Fortune Maker Incident, Part B: 'Chase' - Open to Cryptic & myself- -REVISED-

Punk Hazard, blazing side

"That should do it for now. Time to formulate a plan for what to do next." The vaguely annoying feline remarked to the others. They apparently reached what appeared to be a large, abandoned and in poor state laboratory; or rather, the remains of what was once a facility related to experimentation. Having fought with individuals on their way here, however easy they were to dispatch, was bad news; surely they had at least some connection with their target(s), so by now their presence was already known. Thus they would have to try a different approach to accomplish their goal. Not to mention that they didn't even knew which direction those vagabonds headed to.

"Did you guys really had to start a fight? I thought you were of the stealth type, were you not?!"
'Former Revolutionary; user of the Ope Open no Mi: "Chainmail" Catz, bounty: 300,000,000 Beli'

"Um, you are correct, but we couldn't just ignore such atrocities, could we not, sir?"
'Underworld associate; user of the Suke Suke no Mi, awakened user: "Pumpkin" Pumpking, bounty: 368,000,000 Beli'

"... He is right. Couldn't just walk by after seeing those lowlifes mistreat what were certainly slaves to get their way. If we were to lose our humanity to satisfy our anger, what would that make us?"
'Pirate; Cool Magician: "Sorcerer" Hawks, bounty: 200,000,000 Beli'

"It would just make us pirates! Or bandits ... which we are supposed to be! Dammit! Ugh ..." Catz shakes his head around in disdain. "You attacked first ..." Hawks adds.

"We ought to formulate a plan and execute, prondo. It is becoming increasingly apparent that they do not intent to perform any form of dealings here; this is clearly just a pit stop to them. Although, I do wonder ... why did they burnt their ship? Even if they were on to us, doubt they'd be afraid of us. Let alone to try to cover their tracks. It is bizarre ... could it be that someone else is after the Talani princess, too?" Hawks questioned himself, however the latter statement was mainly directed towards Jade.

Punk Hazard, frozen side
There was a lot of action, people moving cargo around, transferring materials into a large, luxurious looking ship with a massive lion head in its front. They all seemed to be hectic, in a hurry, like time was running short. "How much longer until we are good to go?"

"This better leaves before the pre-decided schedule; do not make me repeat that you runts."
'Royal Shichibukai; user of the Ito Ito no Mi, Zick Leoris, bounty: 470,000,000 Beli [frozen]'

"Hurry up already. We need to dispatch this ship out of this despicable place as soon as humanly possible. We are running out of time. We cannot have them get back that Mink Princess. Too much is at stake. Do not make me turn you all into lifeless, eternal servants of mine ..."
'Officer of the Fortune Pirates; user of the Shi Shi no Mi, "Necromancer" Liliana, bounty: 750,000,000 Beli'

"Sir! We were just informed that a group of people annihilated the entire patrol units stationed at the blazing side of the island!" A pirate suddenly yelled at the pair, while approaching them with a Den Den Mushi, probably one that he received said report from.

"What?!" Both the figures growl in visible anger.

After this scuffle they were all covered in sweat, the exertion in the already blazing temperatures made their attacks particularly brutal. Currently she was shuffling among the wounded, providing what healing she could to the exploited civilians - her healing skills now could be channeled through the moisture of her breath.
Pirate: "The Curator" Sanura Jade 250,000,000 Beli

She paused for a moment to acknowledge the magician as she approached another injured individual.  Before she could say anything, she saw part of a tattoo peaking from a tear in his shirt as she reached to move the fabric, a hand grabbed her wrist.  Pulling free, she tore the shirt away, her eyes narrowing at the full tattoo. Hr gaze quickly darted around the man's frame, as if searching for something.  At last her eyes settled on a necklace, not unlike those worn by other members of the injured tribe. She tore it from his neck and quickly crushed it on the ground. Among the broken resin and wood was a tiny den den mush recording device, now destroyed.  

Jade seized the mans neck as a claw pressed against the tattoo, a triangle with spear through it, emblem of an elite Marine reconnaissance unit known as Specula. "What the hell are you doing here, loathsome spy?"

The injured man lifted his grey eyes, defiance flickering in them for a moment, he spoke between coughs, blood running from his mouth. "Loathsome spy - that's rich coming from a Yonkou's spy unit." He gave a slight glance at Hawks. "... or have you been dismissed for incompetence."
Marine Reconnaissance "Specula" Special Agent: "Philosopher" Nahara

Jade squeezed his throat harder. "Incompetence.  It seems that you are the one covered in blood, and caught by enemy agents and have no contact to high command. Now - why the hell would Marines be spying on their own allies?"

Her stared at her in distasteful silence before she pulled a small syringe from a pouch, and plunged it roughly into the mans thigh, injecting a thick serum - one of the few non-obnoxious concoctions Ginji created. "This should loosen your lips. I'll ask again: Why are you spying on your allies?"

"Allies." The man spat bitterly. "Shichibukai, that one in particular, are self interested traitors that will break away precisely as soon as they think they hold the upper hand and are save from retaliation. Going rogue and into hiding with a princess of a presumed dead ... is not something that will go unnoticed or unpunished. A recovery mission to apprehend the girl ..."

"Recovery? Why?  What interest could the WG possibly have in the last relic of a fallen kingdom?  It's gone - everyone but a handful is dead - it's not like she could muster an army of - what a few dozen un-trained civilians?  Why bother?  It's over and has been over for 25 years."

"It's not about her, it about what she represents."

"Represents? The forgotten past?"

"If you think anything is forgotten, you haven't been paying attention.  This princess is a living reminder of the time that a place stood up to falling in line before the might of the WG.  While the consequences were dire, knowing this girl survived and represents that defiance makes her a rallying point to incite rebellion.  We can't allow her to go free, not because anyone is afraid of her ragtag group of misfit refugees, but because she represents the hope to carry on fighting. You don't leave any shred of the old regime behind after a coup if you don't want rebellion or civil war - there must be one surviving power left alive."

"So you do plan to kill her."

"There is no other way - now that her presence is known, we cant have anyone mobilizing to free her. Why the hell do you care so much - I know how Shichubukai plan to leverage her but what some ex-yonkou lackeys have at stake is beyond me ... it doesn't matter she will be dead soo-"

A swift elbow to the face silenced the man; she could hear no more. Jades eyes were glowing with rage.  The government planned to execute an innocent girl they had confused with herself.

She stood, walking over to Hawks. "When he comes to, get what ever information you can before I rip him apart."

"Oh, found you." Hawks remarked, just as Jade was finished with that individual; it was obvious that this duress bestowed upon her since birth was becomming more and more unbearable. Especially with all the stakes added upon it over a mere timespan of a few weeks. Still, there was no room nor point for excess backlash; he wasn't into the idea of ending lives. Not a favorable trait on someone marked as a "pirate".

"Right ... am certain he's not worth the dismembering process nor energy waste. Might as well be used as a leverage should we come across more of his peers." he nonchalantly said, while ensuring that the character is tied and detained should he come to his senses and attempts to escape.

"Found an observatory. Ya lovebirds might wanna come along here. Both a good watch point as well as coverage. Unless if you fancy the idea of being sitting ducks in a highly dangerous and inhospitable pocket of shit-hell hole." Catz snarled in the distance, ironically defeating the purpose of being covered and in relative secrecy.

"So, do we have any leads or ideas as to how to approach the other side? As far as I know there's supposed to be a port there, which offers an opening to depart to the south; towards the direction of the archipelago Yonko 'Fortune Maker' inhibits and controls. Basically, if they leave, our mission is 100% over." Hawks explains while pointing at a large, overly decorated and sparkly map he pulled out of hammer's space, once he and Jade, along with their newest, albeit captive and unconcious addition, arrived. Meawhile, Pumpkin was on the background, shaking his head and muttering "brainstorm" to himself, almost as if attempting to motivate himself into an epiphany.

Jade was on the cusp of violence, having something she already knew thrown back at her, reminding her that she's always been a prisoner and now someone else was being punished for it. She was almost relieved as Hawks appeared to spare the man from her teeth. "Do with him as you please." She scowled, watching as the agent was restrained and bound with much more grace and gentleness than she was capable of. The agent was not incorrect about leaving old symbols alive. Even an heir to a fallen place who wants nothing to do with reviving it, will still prompt those who do want a revival to rally behind them and use their existence as a spark of hope - a spark of revolution. Revolution had always been a dangerous seductress - overthrowing a broken power structure may be noble, but unless you have full logistics worked on how to replace it, it only ends in anarchy and blood. The best thing would be for the Princess to die - not physically, but die as Jade herself had done so she could live in freedom and not be a hunted. They would never stop until her head was on the executioner's block. She turned away, sighing as Catz began barking about how everyone was bad at their jobs in his usual disgruntled tone.

She eyed the distance before turning back to Hawks. She began to open her mouth to object to the snide comment from that bothersome mink but her words caught in her throat as she watched the magician's elegant movements in slow motion. The fiery hell of their surroundings faded as her eyes followed the movement of the cylindrical shape he produced. She swallowed hard, watching deft fingers unfurl the illuminated parchment, lightly grazing over the intricately painted vellum - the most magnificent map she'd ever seen. Her emerald gaze followed his hands trailing over the the surface to smooth it out for better viewing, gasping as tiny flashbacks flickered one by one. What the hell was he thinking?! "Whaaaat are y-you doing with that kind of thing HERE! NOW?! IN A PLACE LIKE THI--- I um... mean of coooourse you brought a m...m... mmmmap ... to a ... um place... where there terrain is unfamiliar and requires ... thorough exploration..." Despite the heat, she shivered. She put a hand over her face and turned away to hid the stream of blood, as steam began to rise from her skin. The more he spoke the worse it got ... she lost consciousness about the time he starting speaking of ports.

"Right ... anyhow, it is thus imperative that we intercept them before they reach that specific point where the canal widens into a size too vast for us to be able to halt it ..." Hawks, displaying unforeseen serenity over the fact that his partner inexplicably showcased a myriad of bizarre behaviors which resulted in a loss of conciousness, continues to speak, professionally attempting to formulate a rigid plan for the group to execute.

Meanwhile, his efforts to remain as stern and serious as he could -harder than he was revealing it to be, as he was aware as to why she fell, not that it made any realistical sense even in this sort of context-, the others were occupied with being startled that Jade was now down.

"Oh no, Miss Cat fell down. Surely a rogue blow from our fights before felled her. We must save her! Someone, strip her!" Pumpking exclaims, while "hiding" himself in the corner.

"Why strip her?! How could that hel-well alright, perhaps her clothing is so tight that it constrains her blood from circlulating." Catz explains, dead-serious (supposedly), but also with a sudden red rash on his cheeks.

"EH? REALLY?! DOCTOS KNOW SO MUCH!" Pumpkin yells, with a similar color addition. Hawks merely shook his head in annoyance.

Jade's eyes opened in time to hear an idiotic exchange about the state of dress of her person. Her eyes flickered a and unsettling pale green, daring them to approach her at risk of losing their hands. She was finished having her garments torn asunder by her hands of idiots. "I'LL KILL AND EAT YOU ALL!"

Jade happened to notice their captured prisoner, horrified, but not by her remarks or his own ill treatment - but, rather by witnessing the spectacular stupidity of their group. "How -- are any of you alive. How di you make it to Punk Hazard -- how I'd you even make it out of you mother's womb?! How have I been captured by such a sorry group of unfit fools?"

He wasn't wrong but his incessant yapping was becoming a bother. Jade considered knocking him unconscious but it wouldn't do for them to have to carry him in this heat. Instead she tore a sliver of fabric from her top and used it to gag him so at least he would shut up.

Special Volume: News flash across the world, Part 1
Johnny Cool, along with Manta Maimou are apparently concerned, reading a newspaper those cover appears to regard both the events about the Cleyra ship being destroyed, as well as some partially obscured topic that seems to involve, given by the photo, Tiberius on a shipward-like facility. Behind them, a massive dinosaur lays defeated, with what appears to be a turtle-like creature stuck underneath.

---

"... I too am injured, yes indeed. Some fabric would be highly appreciated, yes?" Catz nonchalantly remarks, in a somewhat idiotic manner, and with an expression that implied a certain decree of the aforementioned stupidity. Their newest addition -albeit a captive one- was clearly correct in regards to his doubt about that group's capability to ... be alive and breathing.

"Seriously, do you guys even listen?! Focus here already." Hawks growls at everyone, an act that clearly yielded little to no result, as everyone continued to showcase their sub-optimal -a polite way to call everyone a moron- performance.

His demeanor however, quickly changed, from moderately annoyed to concerned. Their prisoner also seemed to notice something about at the same moment. "Can you sense it, Jade? Someone's crazy strong is approaching." Immediately after saying that, however, he seemed surprised at his own words. "Eh? That was odd ... it felt almost like I literally "sensed" a presence ... weird huh?"

Explanation Box: Apparently, whatever Ginji did to him, appears to have unlocked his Color of Observation

"And you are not wrong ... look!" Nahara shouted, trying to use his leg to point towards the direction. In the distance, up in the sky, it seemed as if someone was flying towards their outpost. "That's ... one of the Shichibukai!"

"!!!"

The air was so still and hot - thick, humid and stuck to the skin like tar; The entire environment felt like standing before, behind, below, and beneath a massive fire - heated, pulsing pressure assaulting every angle causing heat, frustration and discomfort, constantly with no reprieve. When a breeze abruptly rippled through the thick, stagnant air it was jarring and noticeable - but this wasn't just a sea gale, it was a feeling of beckoning and a threat. Her piercing emerald gaze sharpened and focused on the horizon. She acknowledged Hawks as the breeze tussled the flaxen tresses of his pale hair. All of her paranoia, fear, and guilt had been replaced with pure rage. "Aye. Let them come."