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| - Captain Falstaff, as well as the other Marines in the base, looked up with widened eyes as Vital strode down the hallway, carrying Knave with his prosthetic arm. “What is this?” the Captain said, standing up and facing Vital, “what are you doing with that Marine?!” “He was the one who set the explosives in the cafeteria,” Vital responded, “I was nearby and saw him preparing to set another explosive charge.” He dropped the green-haired boy to the floor. “He’s also a Devil Fruit user.” “A Devil Fruit user?” Falstaff repeated, rubbing his chin, “Hmmm...... what’s his ability?” “Something to do with heat,” Vital replied, “but we weren’t fighting long.” “I see,” the Captain muttered, “well.... tie him up and toss him in a cell. Vital, you’ll be in charge of guarding him.” “Yes sir,” Vital replied, before snatching Knave up again and beginning to head down the corridor, towards the jail cells. “Stop,” came Coco’s voice. The Captain and the other Marines turned to face the albino as he strode gently into the room, hands clasped behind his back. He was wearing a white jacket with red highlights, the buttons located on the back so it could be taken off easily. “I’ll be taking care of this, Captain.” “Coco!” Falstaff growled, standing up to face his subordinate, “what are you doing here?” “Taking charge of the situation,” Coco replied cooly, “throwing him into the cell? Really? We need to set an example. This man is not worthy of being a marine. He must die.” “Then what will you do?” Captain Cheney shot back, “kill him slowly and painfully?” “Of course not,” Coco purred, “he’ll die a quick death. But we need to make him suffer first.” He turned to several other Marines who had slid into the room quietly after him. “Prepare the ring!” “The ring?” Falstaff asked, raising an eyebrow, “you... wanna fight this man?” “Yep,” Coco said, “we need to raise the men’s morale. Having one of us beat a traitor within an inch of his life with their bare hands will give them confidence.” As they spoke, the Marines in the room cleared the area, as those who had followed Coco in quickly roped off a large square space in the floor. Coco slid off his jacket, exposing a thin, muscular psyche, training bandages similar to Knave’s on his arms. He stepped into the ring, then turned around, pointing at finger at Knave. “You. The green one,” he said. “Y-yeah?” Knave asked groggily, lifting his head up from where he was hanging by Vital’s hand, both eyes half closed. “Wanna fight me in a match?” Coco asked, sneering, “if you win I’ll let you go.” “Uh....” Knave muttered, “yeah, sure.” “Stop this!” the Captain barked, striding up imperiously to the psuedo arena, “if you want to fight anyone, fight me!” “Okay then,” Coco replied quickly, “it was going to happen sooner or later. I’ll fight you first, and whoever wins decides the fate of this brat.” “I.... take.... offense...” Knave grumbled unhappily from where he was standing. “Agreed,” Falstaff growled back, “it’s about time I got rid of those insane beliefs of yours.” “Dad, wait!” Sid cried, leaping over the rope and darting for his father. Right before he reached he, however, a heavily clothed Marine seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing front of him. “Noir! Get out of the way.” “No,” Noir replied, suddenly throwing both his hands forward, releasing a blast of wind that pushed Sid back, who quickly righted himself and charged again. This time, however, Mesh rose from his position and moved surprisingly quickly in front of Noir. “I said,” Sid growled, leaping into the air, and stopping a few feet above Mesh’s face, “GET OUT OF MY WAY! RANKYAKU!” He swung his leg forward, releasing a compressed air slash to flew towards Mesh’s face. “Tekkai,” the giant replied, simply raising an arm as the Rankyaku slammed against it, pushing him back but only slightly. “Rokushiki?!” Sid asked, surprised, “but how-?” “We’ve all been training under Coco-sama,” Noir replied, leaping up onto Mesh’s shoulder, “it was your fault, Sid-kun, for teaching Coco-sama the basics when you were both children.” “Shut up!” Sid growled at the clothed Marine, “you don’t know anything about back then!” “Of course,” Noir went on, ignoring Sid, “some of us.... aren’t as proficient. So we improvised.” He raised his arm, pointing it at Sid again. “Shigan: Amukyanon (Arm Cannon)!” Another shockwave of air flew from his arm, striking Sid and pushing him away again. “Stop, Noir!” Captain Cheney barked, pausing on his way to the ring, in the middle of removing his captain’s jacket. The clothed Marine immediately relaxed, and leaned up against the side of Mesh’s head. “Of course, sir,” Noir replied, a bit snarkily. Coco chose the time to yawn impatiently, as he was now standing on one side of the ‘ring’. The Captain grunted, then finished removing his Captain’s coat and stepped into the ring himself, on the opposite side of Coco. “I can tell your Doriki’s gone up since the last time we sparred,” the Captain said simply, “back when you and Sid were kids.” “You know about as much of that time as Noir,” Coco replied, crouching slightly, his arms raised to his jaw, “fool.” “Guess I’ll add insubordination to your charges then,” Falstaff grunted, quickly assuming his own fighting position. Silence filled the area for at least a minute, before one of Coco’s subordinates stepped up, as a brown flag slid from his sleeve. He raised it up into the air, then brought it down rapidly, with a large swwwisshing noise. “FIGHT!” another Marine called. “Tekkai Ken: Iguruhitto Shukketsu!” the Captain cried, his right arm darting out as his muscles became as strong as steel, aiming the punch for Coco’s face. “Soru: Odoroki Ken,” Coco replied lazily, as he vanished, appearing right in front of the Captain, his fist colliding with his own. The force of their impact whipped the air around them into a frenzy, and the two fighters danced back, sweat already on their faces. “Shigan: 5-Pon Yubi!” Falstaff growled, extending his other hand, lifting up all five fingers, one after the other. He then crouched. “Tekkai: Ashi Fokasu!” Muscles bulged on his legs, and he was launched forward, fingers extended. “Rankyaku Ami!” Coco intoned, leaping slightly up into the air, and spinning around quickly, launching a large series of compressed air slashes, as they quickly interlapped to form a net-like structure. It collided with the Captain’s technique, and blood spat from numerous wounds on his hand and arms. While Falstaff recoiled, grunting, Coco landed on the floor, then, keeping his head low, charged forward, raising up a hand and twisting it forward. “Shigan Kiri!” Captain Cheney scowled, slamming both of his hands together, then had the fingers facing forward, forming a claw shape. “Shigan: Wani no Ago!” he yelled, bringing the hands towards the ground, intent on intercepting Coco. However, right before Coco’s technique reached the acquired zone, the albino Marine spun in midair, landing on leg right in front of the Captain, whilst throwing the other one up. “Rankyaku!” he cried, as the compressed air slash tore into the Captain’s shoulder. “Gah!” Falstaff cried, stumbling back as Coco leaped to his feet. “Cicicicicicici,” Coco sniggered, “does it hurt? Does it really hurt? You can give up, you know. Either that or I can just kill you.” He stopped, surprised, as Falstaff stood up, apparently having no damage. “Stupid brat,” the Captain yelled, “falling for a trick like that! Kami-e Pinboru!” He leaped forward, and began bouncing off the different surfaces in the room, moving around Coco at incredible speeds. “Shigan: Heddo Shoten!” He suddenly righted himself, then lunged straight at Coco’s chest, still keeping up his speed, his head briefly glinting with the steel color of a blade. “Cicici!” Coco hacked, “and did you think I’d fall for THAT trick?!” “Eh?” Falstaff said, the apparent boast causing him to slow down slightly. That was all that Coco needed. “Shigan Boju!” the albino crowed triumphantly as he thrust out his finger, catching the moving Captain in the chest, spearing through his lung and stopping him rapidly, the whiplash sending his arms and legs flying forward. With another bit of push, Coco sent the Captain flying across the room and smashing into the wall. “Dad!” Sid yelled, charging across the room. However, before he could reach there, Noir seemed to teleport in front of him. “We said stay away!” the cloaked Marine growled, shoving his arms forward, this time placing them directly on Sid’s chest, “Shigan: Amukyanon Saidai!” The explosive push of wind sent Sid skidding along the dirt ground, eventually righting himself, but not before he himself smashed into the wall. “I win!” Coco cried, throwing his hands up, “Noir, Mesh, Vital! Begin the plan!” “Yes sir!” the three yelled, before leaping into action. Vital, still carrying Knave, leaped into the air and landed near the Captain’s unconscious form. He quickly used his good hand to remove a pair of handcuffs and slapped them onto Falstaff’s hands. Noir, meanwhile, whipped around in an almost perfect 360-degree motion, his arms releasing another shock wave as he moved. “Shigan: Amukyanon 360-Do!” The Marines watching cried out as the sudden burst of wind either pushed them back or knocked the guns from their hands. Mesh, on the other hand, immediately pulled out three large wooden steaks from his pockets, then began slamming them on certain parts of the rope area, effectively sealing the audience back. However, right as he prepared to place the last one, something... odd happened. “Two Knife Style: Wood Plank Placement Stopper!” D’Artagnan cried as he leaped out of the crowd, sending compressed air slashes from his knives and cutting the wooden steak the giant held to pieces. He then landed in the ring, striking as heroic a pose as possible. “Eh?” Mesh grumbled, staring at the board as though he didn’t completely understood what happened, “what happened-?” “Mesh!” Noir yelled from his position, “just punch the sunshine head!” “Sunshine head?” Art asked indignantly, “I am not a sunshine head! I am D’Artagnan, ex-Majin extraordin- GRAH!” Before he could finish his impressive speech, Mesh had lept across the room, delivering a powerful blow to the Majin’s face. Art was sent flying across the room, crashing into the wall. As D’Artagnan slid to the floor, knocked out, Mesh strode across, snatching him up and tossing him into the crowd again. “Stop biting me!” Vital barked as Knave weakly sunk his teeth into the Marine’s arm, supposedly incredibly angry, but with the seastone touching his skin he looked more like a drowned puppy. “N-no,” Knave moaned, “you assholes.... hurt the ossan.... bastards...” “I said stop!” Vital yelled, ramming Knave’s face into the ground again, lifting him up, and preparing for a second one. “Vital, stop!” Coco called, the sound of his voice somehow causing all within the hall to fall silent, “...I said I’d fight that brat if I beat the Captain, remember? Still up for the offer, marimo?” “H-H-H-H-Hell yeah!” Knave struggled to yell, “I’ll kick.... your ass!” “Excellent, cicicicicici!” Coco guffawed, “then bring him into the ring, Vital.... after your... special treatment.” “Yessir,” Vital responded, dragging Knave along on the ground and then dumping him within the ring. Before Knave could stand up, however, Vital opened a small compartment on his prosthetic arm, as a small amount of fine dust fell into Knave’s hair. “What the heck is this?!” Knave asked, frantically rubbing his hair, but to no effect. “Heavily diluted ground up seastone,” Vital replied simply, “it keeps you from using your Devil Fruit abilities and even weakens you a little bit, but you can still move and fight.” “Thanks!” Knave said, smiling happily, “at least you’re not totally crippling me this time.” “E-er, you're welcome, I guess,” Vital muttered, before taking a step back and leaping back behind the line. “Alright then!” Coco said, raising his arms up once more, “let’s show this brat, and everyone like him, what happens to anyone who dares to even touch God’s servants, the Marines!” A loud cheer rose up from the audience, as Knave got to his feet, while the flag Marine from earlier lifted up said flag again. “FIGHT!” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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