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| - ....But not with Stormy. Knave stood there, hands outstretched as if to block, as the sword cleaved a line across his chest, Beerus having tried to change his strike at the last minute. Blood quickly burst from the wound, and the marimo lad stumbled, regaining his balance. “Bastard,” Beerus growled, beginning to remove his sword. “KNAVE!” Stormy yelled, throwing her arm out as if to catch him. But the young pirate stood, his hand quickly snapping out and grabbing hold of Beerus’s wrist, pulling him back into his old position. He looked up, grinning. “Ciaosususu,” he laughed darkly, “looks like I’ve got you.” “What?!” Beerus asked, panic filling his eyes, “no, no-” “I told you,” Knave began, heat and kinetic energy covering his fist, “bastards like you...” “Dahlia-sama!” Beerus cried frantically, desperately pushing away, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry-” “I REALLY HATE!” Knave yelled, bringing his fist forward and smashing it against the now open space in his armor, a massive air shockwave exploding around them. Beerus’ ribs collapsed like paper, blood flying from his mouth. He flew from Knave’s hand, smashing into the wall, the brick giving way under the impact. The former lord flew into the night sky, leaving the center pole behind completely. Quiet filled the space then, the only sounds being of Knave panting and the various grunts who were watching in fear breathing. Then, Knave pulled himself up, throwing his hands in the air, “WE DID IT!” “KANPAI!” the grunts yelled, throwing their arms up as well. Quickly, they began rolling the explosive carts out, prepping them for detonation, “WE DID IT! WE DID IT!” Stormy came up from behind, gripping Knave in a pseudo-bear hug. “Thanks,” she said, under her breath. “No problem,” Knave said, perfectly out loud, having no sense of subtley, “a deal’s a deal, right? You’re gonna join?” The white-haired doctor sighed, shaking her head. “Yeah, I guess. It WAS an agreement, after all.” “Oi!” one of the grunts called, “let’s push these things in!” “Push?” Knave asked, his eyes lighting up like stars, “explosions?” “Wait!” Stormy said, “you might want me to look at that sword wou-” “EXPLOSIONS!” Knave cried happily, skipping over to the carts. A sweatdrop fell down the back of Stormy’s head. Knave and two other grunts gripped the handles on the explosive carts, poised over the edge of the main shaft. The way was clear for them now, and all they had to do was drop them. The fuses of the carts were lit, and the group pushed them- Right then, a massive vine flew up the shaft, exploding past them and knocking them backward, the carts flying with them. “Oh, shi-” the group began, as the fuses finally burned out. A massive explosion enveloped them. Several other vines flew up to D’Artagnan’s level first, tearing through the cork, and causing the balcony to be scraped. “What the hell?!” the grunts yelled, leaping back. The Majin, still struggling to regain consciousness, stirred, facing the vines. “It can’t be!” the medical grunt gasped, right as several more vines crashed into the balcony where they stood, smashing it into pieces and caving in the wall. The grunts screamed as they began to fall, flying rapidly towards the floor of the pipe. Art moved almost by instinct, grabbing as many grunts as he could with his hands, and then, placing his legs carefully on another falling bit of rubble, pushed, sending them flying into the air, towards the city. The massive sound of crushing rubble and explosions drew Sid’s attention, as he whipped around, skidding to a stop and looking up as the main pole crumbled and felll away, revealing a large series of gigantic vines staying oddly still. “W-what the?” Sid asked, his eyes widening, the dango stick dropping from his mouth, “what happened in there?” Almost as soon as he said it, the vines returned to life, rapidly whipping around in a cyclone-esque motion, intertwining and tightening, then shifting and pulsing, wind being blown away from it. Sid lowered his stance and raised his arm, keeping himself in place as the wind buffeted the city. Finally, the vines stopped moving, and appeared to be one large column of plant. At that moment, the plant exploded outwards, green goo flying all over the island, Sid having to twitch to the side to avoid a gob heading for his face. And then he saw the creature’s real form. The grunts on Knave’s floor had been a tad lucky. Though they had been lit on fire by the explosion, their falling path had carried them right into a small space in the fountain’s floor, where sea water was allowed to enter. They crashed into it, quickly sinking. Stormy burst from the water, panting, her arm gripping the ‘ground’ in front of her. She yanked up Knave, who she had seized by the scarf (his shirt was long gone now), and with a heave of effort, pushed him onto the pavement. She quickly pulled herself up as well. “God.... dammit,” she swore, checking over her body for bruises, “I don’t know what happened, but it-” A massive roar echoed through Sensui Island. Stormy’s eyes flew upwards, completely ignoring the other grunts who were pulling themselves out along side her. “No.... no,” she gasped, almost shrinking back. Art crashed onto one of the sidewalks, swearing like a, well, sailor, several other grunts slamming down beside him, choosing to fall into unconsciousness rather than exclamate. The Majin pulled himself upwards, rubbing the dust from his eyes. “What the heck?” he asked under his breath, “one moment I’ve just beaten up a stupid bird guy and the next-” His eyes caught the horizon, the monstrous form now appearing from where the central column of Sensui Island once stood. His jaw dropped. “Oh dear.” The vines had merged, twisted, and then cocooned themselves. It had only taken instants for it to fully evolve, and then it rid itself of the bothersome cocoon. Dahlia’s true form was now visible. It was a massive plant creature, almost humanoid in shape, with black eye growths. If it had truly been human than it would have been quite a muscular one, as its “muscles” where large and bulging. The veins that did not make up the main body extended outward, forming fingerless “arms” and “hands”. An area above its eye growths ripped open, forming a “mouth”. Dahlia roared into the early morning sky. “Holy hell,” Calico gasped, halting his attack on Chima, the beast visible from the Resistance base, “what is that?” “Dahlia’s true form,” Chima replied grimly, “the form that Beerus initially did all he could to keep us from seeing. He was still doing it, of course.... but for different reasons.” “Was this our fate all along?” Calico asked, slumping to the floor again, “was this going to happen no matter what we did.” “It was inevitable,” the former king replied, “we could only delay the problem for so long.” Calico acted quickly, snatching a Den Den Mushi connected to all that the other members of the Resistance held. “GET ON THE LIFEBOATS!” he cried urgently, “GET OFF NOW! OR YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” “It’s.... over,” Stormy gasped, her pupils dilating slightly as she looked in horror at this monstrosity that ‘stood’ before here, “it’s.... all finished. No one’s going to survive.” She barely heard Calico’s frantic cry as she slumped to the ground. “Everyone’s going to die again. It was stupid, stupid of us to even try to oppose this thing. It was.... “ tears were dropping now, “stupid! STUPID! STUPID!” “What was?” Knave asked, pulling himself to his feet. He quickly spied the abomination. “Oh? What’s this?” “Get out of here,” Stormy begged frantically, “get out! Quick! It’s going to kill all of us!” “Jeez, calm down,” Knave said, walking forward to the edge of the sidewalk, staring up at the beast, “this thing pisses me off. I’m gonna kill it, okay?” “You’re gonna what-?” “Hey, wait your turn,” Sid said, walking out from the arch on the left and taking a position beside his captain, popping another dango stick into his mouth, “that thing pisses me off too.” “Me three,” Art said curtly, stepping out from the arch on the right and taking up a position on Knave’s other side, “how about we take it down together?” “Seems alright,” Knave said, perfectly calm, “doesn’t look like its gonna be easy though.” “Nothing’s been easy since I joined your damn crew,” Sid muttered. “Got that right,” D’Artagnan agreed. Stormy gaped a bit as her three new crewmembers stood in front of her, facing Dahlia, all preparing for combat. “Don’t worry,” Knave said, both serious and reassuring. All three spoke at once. “WE WON’T LET THIS ISLAND DIE!” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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