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| - The cloaked figure stepped onto Nexxas, his feet leaving his small rowboat with no sound at all. He looked up, his bright red eyes finding the area where the ‘tournament’ was taking place. He crouched, then took off, his legs moving with incredible speed, propelling him forward at an astonishing pace. Though almost no one around him would know it, the darkness from the shadows of the buildings are him seemed to shift as he ran by, as though they were being pulled towards him.... Knave’s white aura sprang up around him, as he crouched low, preparing an attack. Mothma did something similar, spinning his jitte around rapidly as he waited for Knave attack. And attack Knave did. “Naga Naga no Heat Canon!” Knave cried, leaping forward and aiming a heat-and-kinetic energy powered punch at the Marine Commander. However, Mothma moved even faster! His jitte spun through the air as it caught Knave’s wrist between its two prongs. He grunted in effort, then twisted his body around, hurling Knave towards a nearby building. Knave turned around in midair, his feet colliding with the building, it miraculously staying stable, as he pushed off it, flying through the air towards Mothma. “Naga Naga no Lariat!” Knave cried, shifting the side to allow his forearm to collide with Mothma’s neck. The Commander raised his jitte, taking the hit, but the impact blew him off his feet, sending him crashing into a nearby house. “Naga Naga no Rapid Fire!” Knave cried, raising his hands as millions of tiny bursts of heat and kinetic energy flew out of his palms, peppering the area where the Marine had landed. Mothma exploded out of the wall, swatting a few blasts out of the way before swinging his jitte as hard as he could at Knave’s head. The marimo lad quickly raised his arm, taking the hit. However, much like before, the force of the impact overcame him, and he was thrown off his feet, skidding sideways on the dirt. Mothma wasted no time, slamming his jitte into the floor, then concentrating, releasing a burst of some kind of energy. The ground began to split and crack as Knave lept to his feet, quickly dodging the fast-forming cracks. “Wow!” Knave exclaimed, “how the hell are you doing this?” “A criminal such as yourself does not need to know!” Mothma countered, removing his jitte from the ground and preparing for another strike, “all you need to know is what the inside of a cell looks like!” “Nah,” Knave said, shaking his head, “I’ll pass on that.” “You don’t get to pass!!” Mothma howled, charging forward, swinging his jitte as hard as he could. Knave countered, surrounding his hand with the white flame energy once more and sending a blow of his own. “Naga Naga no Heat Canon!” The jitte and fist clashed, releasing a massive shockwave that caused the buildings around them to tremble down to their foundations! The two were blown apart, Mothma crashing into several buildings, as Knave righted himself, skidding away. “Ciaosususu!” Knave laughed, “finally, it’s getting interest-” “Knave!” Stormy called. Knave looked around, seeing his crew running towards him. “We need to get out of here, right now!” Art said, “Sid says he spotted a few Marine ships heading towards here!” “But what about supplies?” Knave asked, sticking out his lower lip. “We’ll get those on the way!” Sid called out irritably, “let’s just move!” “Fine, fine!” Knave pouted, quickly beginning to run ahead of them, “but I get first dibs on the food!” “Oh hell no,” Sid growled, leaping into the air, “I’m not letting you pick our food! Geppo!” “Hey, wait for me!” Art called, increasing his own speed to catch up with them. “Dammit, don’t leave me behind!” Stormy cried, charging after them as well. “Gao!” Gopher cried happily, following behind them at a slightly slower pace. “Guhh.....” Mothma groaned, pulling himself out of the rubble, “damn pirate.... I’ll kill him!” He leaped out of the rubble, reaching out for his jitte.... And something grabbed his arm. The Marine looked up to see a figure wearing a long brown cloak, his very pale arm and hand holding Mothma’s in place. “Let go of me,” the Marine growled, “or I’ll arrest you along with the pirate brat.” “I don’t think you will,” the figure said, lifting his head to expose his bright red eyes, “because I’ll be killing you here.” He said this in perfect deadpan. “You’ll what?!” Mothma barked. “It’s too late,” the figure went on, “there are shadows inside your body, darkness. And since I’m in contact, I can kill you easily.” “Who the hell do you think you are?!” the Marine cried, seizing his jitte with his other hand and swinging it at the figure. “I don’t think that’s any of your concern,” the figure said, as dark tendrils ripped through Mothma’s body, killing him instantly. The tendrils withdrew, appearing to have never been there at all. The figure let go, allowing the body to drop to the ground. The figure pulled away his hood, exposing a somewhat handsome young man with very pale skin and light purple hair tied in a ponytail. He stared at the retreating Marimos, then quietly walked away, letting out a small sigh. “Allright, hurry, hurry, hurry,” Sid barked as the crew quickly loaded a large amount of their newely gotten supplies, “the warships will be on us in a minute or so-” “Marimo Pirates!” came a voice over a megaphone Den Den Mushi, “surrender! We have you surrounded!” And, sure enough, three Marine ships had encircled the Shooting Star, various Marines aiming weapons at them. “Ah, crap,” Art said, sinking into a fighting position, “okay, Sid, let’s-” “Wait,” Knave said, stepping up to the railing, “I’ll take these guys.” “Really?” his crew asked, collectively raising an eyebrow. “Yep!” Knave said, cracking his knuckles, “you guys just get ready to head to Reverse Mountain! I’m gonna be having some fun!” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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