First Topic

Yuurei would had told Gideon to follow them, but not as an order, but as a way to let him know that they weren’t going to allow these crooks to take an innocent girl away from her family and friends. His friend would jump into the water, without hestiation, and he could see that they were moving further away from the ground. His eyes widen, a bead of sweat rolled down to the side of his face. He didn't have wings to fly, so falling would be scary. Still, being on Gideon's back made him feel like he was riding an animal. The thief could just imagine if he did have a sea creature as a friend. The travel through the sea was weird right now. The reason behind this was simple, and it was because he had been drinking. It was a weird sensation, but it wasn’t to throw up. No, he had drunk on the ship before, and it was similar to that. He kept his focus though as he knew that, or at least hope that they would be able to catch up to the boat. They didn’t really have a plan, but honestly he didn’t think they needed a plan. They were trying to rescue a girl, and that was it. It was getting dark, however, and it would be hard for them to see if they didn’t move faster.  

He knew that Gideon was doing the best he could, so he didn’t say a word to the giant. He just kept a look out in the hopes that he would be able see something. It was hard to see in the dark, but he doubt that they would be able to miss a ship of that caliber. It looked the ship was able to hold fifty men in it easily. Still, even with the size of that ship it was hard to find it throughout the dark. The thief would continue to look as it was hard to see until they got closer to the UpperYard. The ship was waiting at what looked like a portside that was created not too long ago. ”Big guy stop moving.” He told Gideon as he was trying to see if there were any movements from the ship. Yuurei was close enough that his Observation would reach, so he figured it was best to use it.

”Let’s see if there is anybody on the ship, or if they just left it.” He closed his eyes when he did this it felt like a wave was sent out all around him. He had felt the large number of the people on that ship, but the man he had grabbed before wasn’t with them. It wasn’t just that, but the waitress wasn’t there either. His eyes open a bit disappointed on the information that he was able to gather. He looked in the direction of the Upperyard, and knew how big that place was. ”The girl, and the man from the tavern aren’t on the ship Gideon. We are going to capture one of them alive, and gain all the information we can from them.” He said this to his friend. Yuurei’s eyes widen when he felt something strange.

His face turned in the direction of the ship as he knew what was happening. ”Jump back Gideon, do I now, no questions!” Yuurei shouted this out loud, and this time it was definitely an order. The people on the ship had noticed that the giant was there, and some of the men on that ship were in the tavern. Well actually everyone on the ship was from the tavern earlier, but there was one presences that was new. The men on that ship had shot arrows, and cannonballs straight towards the two of them. If Gideon would listen to Yuurei’s order, he would have been safe from the attack without any of them going through. The thief had taken out his blades, however just in case his friend wasn’t able to react in time. He would have to defend himself, and this particular area of his friend.

If Gideon would be able to react and doge on time, or get hit by the incoming barrage, Yuurei had other things in mind. ”Gideon throw me towards the ship. I know you have the strength to do it. Just make sure it towards the side of it. I’m going to cut their ships artillery, so that way they can’t continue to do this.” He explained his reason for wanting his friend to do this. He also helped that Gideon would be able to do it. His swords were in his hands, and he was ready whenever his friend was. The night was darkening, but their battle had just begun.

1/20 Haki

Gideon had swam as fast as he could to keep in sight of the ship and judging by the direction they were headed, it seems they were making their way towards the Upper Yard. Of course, Gideon began to see a pattern, when it came to dodging the law, performing anything shady, or just keep away from public view for some reason, people tend to use the Upper Yard as their haven. Ever since he met Yuurei, they've been running into trouble, and every time, that trouble would always end up connecting to the Upper Yard.

Yuurei called for Gideon to stop and immediately after, the giant slowed his swim so he wouldn't be spotted. As he slowly waded through the water, keeping himself afloat enough for Yuurei to lay upon his back, the two viewed the ship, or at least Yuurei had viewed the ship. If what the swordsman had stated is true, then the waitress was removed from the ship once it was docked at the shore of the Upper Yard. From Gideon's point of view, he couldn't make out the specks that were the crew upon the ship, so he simply waited until he received orders; he began to feel a bit impatient, ready to jump at the first command.

Suddenly, Yuurei called out, Gideon jolted as best as he could, but being in water was limiting his movement, so all he managed to do was splash water as the ammunition were coming in; luckily for him, Yuurei was able to deflect those that were going to hit their mark. Cannon blasts sounded though luckly none of them hit home, but caused nearby water to splash. "Time to send them something worse than a fruitcake" Gideon took Yuurei in hand, pulled back as much as he could while in water and tossed the swordsman over to the ship, hoping that he landed by the artillery.

In the meantime, Gideon dove underwater to avoid further projectiles from hitting him and thankfully because of the setting sun, normal vision wouldn't have line of sight of of him as he made his way through the water towards the ship. As far as he knew, by what Yuurei had stated, the waitress wasn't on the ship, meaning that the two pirates could go all out on the enemy without worrying about any civilian casualties.

They had attacked first, so it was time for the dup to make their counterattack. He nodded at Gideon as he had already mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen. He focused as he knew this was going to be a scary ride. He heard his friend’s words as he could only chuckle from them, and he crouched as he felt the arm cocking back, and soon he was tossed straight towards the ship. Yuurei’s face flapped when he was soaring through the air, and he was moving quickly. His friend was indeed a strong person, and it was interesting to know that their power weren’t far apart. Still, he squinted his eyes as he was inching closer and closer to the ship. The men on that ship were trying to see what happened to the two guys, and the man with the mask noticed that there was something heading towards them.

He was surprised that they would even attempt to do this. He could tell Yuurei didn’t have wings, so he figured he had been thrown at the ship, or he had some form of ability to fly. The swords man’s had coated his blades except for Benehime and when he got close enough to their artillery, he swung his arms around as his blades had connected with the cannon’s and ballista. As he moved passed the weaponry, the men on the ship were surprised that he had moved through the air like that. Still, Yuurei knew this would happen, and soon when he reach the end of the ship, he was falling and towards the water. The momentum of the tossed had died out for him, and behind him he could hear the chains of explosion from the destruction of the cannons. The men close to those weapons would be the first ones to be taken out as they were caught by their own weapon.

For the Ballista, some men would have large pieces of woods hit them and knocking them to the ground, some rendering unconscious, and others dead through bad luck. While he was falling, he stood in the air for a second as he was trying to swim towards the deck of the ship, but he wasn’t make any progress. The thief would soon fall due to gravity, and he had to stop himself from falling. He had thrust his right hand forward as he stabbed the ship with the blades, and they dragged down as they cut a good amount of the side of the ship. Still, this allowed Yuurei to stop from falling into the water. He sighed as he was happy he didn’t get thrown further than the ship was located. ”Hopefully Gideon gets a surprised attack.” He said this as he was getting ready for what to come next.

”Prepare yourself men. These guys are after the boss’s son, and they have harmed a lot of our friends. We will make sure to take them out, and make sure that they know who they are messing with! Center yourself in the middle of the ship.” The man with the skull said these things as he wrapped his hands with chain. It wasn’t just that. He had pulled out broken spear, or it looked broken, and it had a chain on the edge of it, which had a weird crafted blade. The man scanned the area as he waited for these people’s attack. Yuurei had swung himself back, and forth, and with enough momentum, he lifted and tossed himself upward, and onto the ship. With his landing on the deck, he could be met with a bunch of men who were ready to stop him.

Still, they were nothing but flies to him, and his friend, but the big guy with the mask was different. Yuurei felt a bit worry with him, and felt like he was someone they had to worry about. The men on the ship started running towards Yuurei as he was the man to attack, but the swordsman’s ran towards them as well. His torso would turn towards his right, and then with momentum he would swing his torso to the left side, which allowed him to spin around, or the deck as he got close to his first contact. The pirates stopped running as they saw one of their friend’s being sliced up, and after a second, the man dropped to the ground gushing out blood. The impact was strong enough that two wind slashes started spiraling around Yuurei and around the ship. Those who were not quick enough were taken by the wind slash without mercy. Their body’s would be taken into the air, and soon enough be cut up indiscriminately by the wind.

The man with the mask was able to dodge the attack by jumping up into the air instead of away from it. ”He is a strong one. Still, he is no match for me.” He said to himself. When the wing would disperse a lot of the men here would have been taken out, and Yuurei would have looked up to see this man dropping down to the deck of the ship. ”So, it was you who took her away.” He said this, but the man with the mask didn’t say anything. Gideon would have the opportunity to attack this man from behind, and if he did he would miss as the man would dodge the giant’s attack.

2/20 Haki

Technique Used:

When Yuurei cut through the barrels of the cannons and the ballistas, the debris fell into the water, Gideon seeing this just when he reached the side of the ship. He readied his thirty foot sword, Jormungandr, and swam upward. The moment he broke through the surface of the water, he roared like an attacking alligator, swinging his giant sword at the same time unlocking it into whip-mode which then slammed onto the side of the ship, then bent, allowing it's upper half to slam onto the deck of the ship.

The masked man managed to jump out of the way of the incoming monstrous blade the moment it erupted from the water below, however other pirates weren't so lucky; as Jormungandr dug it's ridged teeth into the planks of the boat, hooking itself, it had caught about three pirates in it's jaw. Though they were still alive, they would soon die from the weight Gideon had placed upon the blade as he began climbing up the side of the ship, using his blade as a means. With another two pulls, the giant was soon upon the deck of the ship, drenched and ready for battle.

With a tug in the opposite direction, Gideon was able to free his blade from the deck and snap it back into place, returning it to it's sword form.

"You giant freak! You really think you can handle the lot of us on our turf!?" one of the pirates threatened. At least two dozen pirates were already on the deck of the ship while the others were making their way from underneath. All hands that were already on deck had draw their swords, clubs and a few had rifles.

For three of them that had picked up their rifles by a rack, Gideon took his first move by aiming at them; he took a deep breath, clicked his teeth and within a moment, he exhaled a stream of fire that engulf the riflemen and the rack filled with guns, "Welcome to Hell's Kitchen" Gideon said confidently as he scanned the area for the handful of men that began approaching him.

"Bastard! You'll pay for those!" Another pirate yelled as he rushed the giant with his sword swinging.

Gideon nonchalantly putted the man off the side of the boat with his sword as if he was playing golf, "The oven has just been preheated, now it's time to get the ingredients together so they can be diced" he said with a determined expression and attitude ready for battle. Though the pirates were battle-ready as well, they did show a hint of concern which gave Gideon the confidence he needed.

"Yuurei was right, witty banter does help" Gideon smiled, the nervousness he normally had in battle wasn't present, he felt like a warrior.

Technique Used:

The masked man had noticed what was happening to his crew, which got him angry. He couldn’t believe this was happening to his crewmates, and it was angering him. When each member was slaughter by the two he wanted to destroy them. He landed on the deck of the ship, and when he gathered himself, he rushed straight towards Yuurei as it was the man who he felt would continue to destroy the ship, if he was left untouched. The swordsmen’s eyes were already glued on the tall man as he was making his way over here. ”He’s fast. I can barely see him with my eyes. I have to use Observation just to keep up with where he is.” He said to Yuurei. The pirate had gotten into position, and he felt and knew where the attack was heading. The man thrusted the spear towards Yuurei’s face, but missed, still the man smiled as he had used the chain that connected the spear with his blade to his advantage.

The swordsman remembered why this weapon looked familiar. A man who used chains had fought him before. Yuurei sucked his teeth as he knew where this was going. The masked man jumped over him, and the chain wrapped around Yuurei’s neck. The man flipped in midair and soon enough he tossed Yuurei off the ship, and into the Upper Yard. The thief was sent flying as he could feel the bruising that was on his neck at the moment. He tried to gasp for air, but couldn’t at that moment. The swordsman would hit the ground, and bounce over and over again as he continued to hit the ground. What stopped him from going any further was the connection to a tree. The impact on his back made him gasp for air as blood had come out of his mouth.

The thief noticed that with this one attack, the man was strong. Yuurei had to thank the god that he had seen this skill before, as he had armament on his head, and on his arms. He did, however suffered cuts, and he felt the pain on his back. He got up slowly from the attack as his legs were a bit shaky from that attacked. He was moving forward though as he had to get back on that ship, and help his friend out. Yuurei started running towards the port as he had made his way out of the forest. Yes, the thief had been sent flying quite the distance. When he got to the port, he was getting ready to jump back on the ship, but he didn’t, and there was a reason for it.

The masked man had thrown Yuurei quite some distance away. ”You like to be tossed, so I figured I would do the same.” He said as he looked towards the giant. He cracked his neck when he saw Gideon and he figured that it was his turn to feel the pain his crew felt. He got into a running positon as he looked at Gideon. Then it happened, the man rushed towards Gideon, and when he got into position he leaped into the air, and swung his blade straight at the giant. Whether, or not he would block it, or get hit by the attack, he would use the impact to push himself around Gideon and thrust his foot on his side, and sent him flying towards the direction where Yuurei would arrive at. T

The masked man would land on the deck of the ship, and sighed. ”YA TWO WILL PAY!” He shouted out loud as he was clearly not happy. The ten feet human rushed over to the side of the ship that was closest to the port, and jumped off the ship and landed behind Yuurei. The swordsman would turn to look at the man who was fighting the both of them. ”I get it now. You took us away from the ship, so nobody else would get hurt there. You don’t seem as bad I thought you were. Then why did you take that girl.” He spoke to him, but it was tiring to do that. The masked man kept his fighting position as he looked at Yuurei, and possibly Gideon.

”You disrespected my captain’s son, that is why. I don’t allowed anything go when it involves my crew.” He said this angrily. ”Yeah but he started it. She said sorry, and he still wanted to strike her. That is how all of this happened, can you just release her, and everything will be okay.” He said this, but the man stared into Yuurei’s eyes. ”Negotiations are no longer available. You guys have killed my friends.” The man said this as he rushed towards Yuurei. The thief readied himself as he kept his Observation, activated as the man ran straight at him. The thief would see his spear being thrust towards him, but Yuurei had parried it, and at the same time he did it in a direction, so the man couldn’t do what he had done to him again.

Still, the masked man had brought his blade upward and straight towards Yuurei. The young man wasn’t going to be able to dodge this attack, but he figured he would send an attack of his own. The swordsman would coat Kusanagi, and EgeKing, and at the same time his entire torso. He gritted his teeth as he could feel his back being cut by the blade with the force of his power. Still, he did the same thing, but had Armament on it. He was able to slash the man across his face, but he was able to dodge it in a way that he didn’t take a death hit. His masked fell, which brought him to jump away from Yuurei and pick up the mask, and put it back on. ”What is your name, Swordsman?” He asked Yuurei. ”The name is Yuurei. What is yours?” He asked in return. ”I am Scowl, from the Skull crew.” He said this as he looked over to Gideon.

4/20 Haki

It was like sweeping the deck the way Gideon was putting away pirates to and fro, barely a struggle, and breaking no sweat. There was not a single worry within him, until he spotted someone familiar being tossed right by him, "Yuurei!?" he was surprised, nothing, as far as he has known, as ever tossed the pirate thief.

The giant turned to find who it was who managed such a feat. One lone pirate with a mask stood about twenty meters away; he knew it must have been him because the other pirates took steps back, allowing this lone masked man to take center stage. With this ominous atmosphere, Gideon figured he needed to get behind Yuurei, or at least hold this guy off until Yuurei got back, but before the giant could move, the masked man sped towards him. His speed was so impressive, it shocked Gideon and the moment the speedster was in the air aiming for his head, the giant managed to save himself by reacting in pure subconscious self defense, bringing Jormungandr up to his face; the blades clashed but the momentum of the speedy pirate was strong enough to push against the giant's blade, forcing it to slam into Gideon's face, throwing him into a small daze. Gideon tumbled for a split second, and before he could gather himself, the masked man moved about and kicked him with such force, the giant toppled over the side of the ship and onto the beach.

Sand kicked up, creating a small cloud which soon settled, blades clashed and swung before Gideon opened his eyes to view what was happening. There on the beach, stood the man, no longer masked, who introduced himself as Scowl of the Skull Crew. Yuurei, now the back of his jacket cut, and him exchanged names as if it was all simply business, "Gideon Wodan" Gideon introduced himself as he managed to slowly stand back up. He patted the sand off his pants as the conversation between the smaller pirates went on. This being was fast and powerful. The giant looked upon the crew on the ship who chose to remain there watching the fight, then he locked eyes with Scowl, it was obvious that this man wouldn't allow anyone to get onto that ship again, and judging by the crew's positioning, they didn't want to risk leaving the ship either. The only option now was to assist Yuurei in fighting this two against one.

Though this would probably be the most powerful opponent he as faced so far, Gideon wasn't entirely scared, though he was worried, yes, but something about fighting beside Yuurei, a friend, made it all the easier to bare.

"Let's see how you deal against my Hell's Kitchen style" Gideon readied Jormungandr again, this time he held it with both hands, ready for whatever attack this guy might-

It was as if he blinked. Scowl sped off and aimed for Gideon's shins, but the giant was ready for this, he quickly slammed Jormungandr down, the blade piercing the sand, blocking off Scowl's direct line, but it didn't stop him, the speed-demon rounded about the wall and managed to swipe cut the giant's jeans before the big man reacted by kicking Scowl and sending him towards Yuurei.

Yuurei’s eyes widen when the man was off to Gideon. He was quick and strong, and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get there on time. He could only hope that his friend would be able to do something. He watched the event as he was getting ready to rush to help. His feet started moving the moment Gideon had placed his blade down and into the sand to block an attack. At first he thought his friend was safe, but that speed was crazy. Soon he had hit Gideon, but the giant had kicked him, which Yuurei was surprised by that, but it effected the man for sure. He only knew this because when Gideon tossed him, he could tell that the two were similar in terms of strength. The man had been sent flying towards him, and Yuurei was getting ready to attack the man.

Scowl was surprised that the giant had such strength, but he should have known better. He had tossed this pirate with ease. The kick did bruise, and it probably fractured something, but it was not something he couldn’t fight through. His eyes scanned the area behind him, and in a split second he noticed that Yuurei was behind him. The pirate had swung his blades, but Scowl shifted himself to the best of his ability, bringing Yuurei to miss with his left hand, but the pirate was at least able to catch him with his right hand. Scowled grunted from the pain, but he had a counterattack in the making. The kick the giant had done to him had his spear tip flying in front of him, and he thrust his arm back, which brought it straight towards Yuurei’s thigh. The thief couldn’t act quickly enough as he had armament to block the attacked, but it pierced his skin, and his teeth gritted from the pain.

The spear wouldn’t last long on Yuurei’s leg because Scowl was still in the momentum of moving passed Yuurei. He hit the ground rolling through the sand, and used that momentum to stop himself in a crouching position. Those two were strong, but he knew that he could take them on if this was a fair fight. The thief could feel the pain in his leg, but he knew he had to fight through it, and he knew he could. Scowl started running towards Yuurei without a second to waste; this guys was fast, and being stabbed on the leg only slowed him down a little. He pushed forward as well as Yuurei slashed at him with his left hand like a claw attack, but he had stopped it with his sword. He then used the chain to toss the spear at Yuurei, but he wasn’t going to allow that to happen again. He used his right to parry the spear down, but what he didn’t noticed was that the man had thrown a punch at the same time.

When he took note of this due to his Observation, he had been snuffed straight on his right cheek. Yuurei couldn’t use his Armament at that moment, and he felt something crack. It wasn’t a broken jaw, but a hairline fracture, but of course it hurt either way. It wasn’t just that, but Yuurei was sent flying, and when he hit the sand he kept moving until he hit the water. The water would splash against the back of Yuurei as he spat out blood from his mouth. His mouth was bloody from that attack, and he noticed that he had a cut on his face. He touched it and looked at Scowl angrily.

Still, Scowl didn’t have time to just stand there, he went straight after Gideon this time. The giant had to go, and even though he was strong Scowl noticed that he was slow. The man had noticed his mask on the floor, and picked it up and put it on to cover his face again as he continued his quick strides. The man had would make his way to Gideon, and he was quick on his feet as always. This time this man had started to throw a bunch of different combination of attacks towards Gideon. They were similar to the ones that he had done to Yuurei, and that caught the man off, so he could only wonder what would happen with the giant. The thief was panting as he had taken a beating, the cut he took to his side, the stab wound from the spear, the bruising to his neck and back, the messed up jaw. This took a lot out of him, but he had to continue to fight. He was not going to allow Gideon to suffer, or die; they had something to do after this, and it was to save that waitress.

Yuurei was getting up slowly from the ground as he could feel himself trembling with a mixture of excitement, fear, and exhaustion. When he looked over to see how Gideon was doing, he would be surprised to what he saw.

5/20 Haki

Gideon felt the pain coming from his leg. He had thought Scowl was interrupted from his intended attack, but it seemed his sword hit it's marks. Looking down upon his leg, he could see a streak of blood dripping from a tear in his jeans. This enemy was worse than a bug and it was taking both him and Yuurei to attempt to squash him.

The battle raged on but Scowl showed little sign of slowing, he maneuvered as if he was dancing with Yuurei, causing him to falter, forcing him to struggle, albeit the pirate thief was doing well, it didn't prevent him from receiving injuries of his own. "Damn it!" Gideon was stupefied, angered that he wasn't moving fast enough to assist.

Gideon blinked and Yuurei was sent flying to the water. Scowl was already making his way towards the giant, and in what seemed like two long strides, the masked man closed the gap quickly. Gideon took a step back, trying to gain a defensive stance which was a mistake, in doing so, it allowed Scowl footing, the smaller man jumped upon the giant's knee and when jumping off of it, the force pushed the knee downward, forcing Gideon to remain rooted for that second. As a reaction, Gideon pulled Jormungandr up to block the incoming killer-bug. Scowl, learning from before, threw his chain, wrapping it around the blade, then giving it a tug, he then used the chain to swing around the blade. As quickly as Gideon could register the incoming swing, he did as he did before but with the only thing he had at hand - his forearm.

Scowl's spear hit Gideon's forearm right-on, for that moment, the clash sounded as if the spear hit something dense like metal, though Gideon somehow prevent worse damage, the spear still punctured his skin, "Agh!" with such pain and the enemy being so close to his face, Gideon couldn't react to the next move, Scowl then landed upon Gideon's forehead and with a quick stomp, the giant's head slammed into the sandy beach. Another cloud of sandy debris kicked up.

The audience that is the Skull Pirates aboard the ship cheered, raising moral for the entire crew.

Scowl didn't let up.

Though he couldn't see for the moment because of the cloud, he began swinging his chain about, the blade going wild, trying to find it's mark, and when it did, it began slicing through Gideon's clothing. Knowing what was happening, the giant curled up, his arms brought up to protect his face. The blade would tear through the sleeves, the zipper, the jeans, here and there, blood would lash out, but all the while the blade would feel some time of resistance, as if it was hitting something dense.

When the cloud settled, the giant and the masked man caught eyes with one another. Gideon saw that he had dropped Jormungandr just a meter away, however when he tried to reach for it, Scowl was quick enough to not only reach the blade first but then kick it. The giant thirty foot blade darted through the air, aiming straight for Yuurei.

Yuurei had saw his friend getting beat up, and his eyes widen when he saw Gideon being slammed to the ground with such force. His arms shook out of him being nervous, and scared that his friend was going to be injured to the point where he couldn’t continue, or dead. He wasn’t going to allow that to happen. There was no way he would let him do that, he was getting ready to start moving, and he noticed that the sand debris in the air had started to disperse. The thief started to slow down on his run as he was hoping Gideon was still breathing. He closed his eyes as he could feel the presence of his friend, and knew he was still alive. He could see the black coating on one of Gideon’s arm, and wasn’t surprised. He always knew that Gideon had it in him, but it took him to get into this scary situation to use it.

The anger on his face could be seen, and he started running towards the giant and Scowl. The thing is that man’s perception was good, and he knew he was coming. There was that, and Yuurei figured he wouldn’t allow this to continue any longer. ”Sto…” He was about to say something, but he noticed that a blade was heading straight towards him. That sword was Gideon, and the man was able to just kick it straight at Yuurei. That was a huge blade, and Yuurei would have tried to break the weapon, but it was his friends. Instead, he side stepped as best as he could and parried the huge blade with all four blades. As he continued to run he was able to slightly push the blade away from him as it would stick straight into the sand.

This gave Scowl time, and he looked at Gideon, and shifted back to Yuurei. The giant would have to get up from the beating he took, and while that happened he would fight with Yuurei. He could gritted his teeth as he could feel the blood coming out of his side from an earlier attack. It wasn’t just that, but these two had been doing their best together, and it was why he kept them separated. Scowl ran straight at Yuurei meeting with him face to face. The thief knew that he would have to be on guard. The two had started rapidly striking at each other as Yuurei tried his best not let up. Scowl would do the same thing and every now and then the two of them would have no choice, but to let a blade to bypass and cut a piece of them. They would grunt one after the other as they continued to fight.

Yuurei would throw a kick, but was met with a kick from Scowl as the both of them had been kicked on the side, and both would grit their teeth and stumble back. The thief would breathe hard, and it looked like Scowl was getting there too, but not like Yuurei. They both would regain their footing and move towards each other again. This man was quick, and if it weren’t for his Observation, then he would have been mincemeat by now. ”Just who are you guys?” He asked Scowl. ”My boss wants to change Skypiea. He wanted to free the slaves, but to do that he needs to do something huge on Angel City, and he will succeed. Nobody will stop him!” He said this as the two continued to clash their weapons as things looked even.

Still, Scowl had the upper and the man had jumped over Yuurei bringing the chain towards the thief’s neck again. He saw this coming, and knew he couldn’t allow that to happen again. He would let go of all of his swords, and this was the second time he had to deal with this bullshit. This time the man was much stronger. He grabbed a hold of the chain as Scowl dropped to the ground and kneel to bring Yuurei’s hands closer to his neck. ”I refuse to die this way!” He shouted as it was a battle of strength. Yuurei’s being slightly betters, but he was exhausted, so he was indeed struggling. Scowl needed to hurry this up and he knew that because of the giant. ”Gideon!” He shouted, and he would hope his friend would react and get this man off him, but in a way he had to be careful he didn’t take Yuurei as well.

If Gideon got Yuurei out of this predicament he would be ready to get pick up his swords, and continue on with this fight. The two of them needed to work together to beat Scowl.

7/20 Haki

Throughout his body, Gideon ached from the cuts, his heart thumping hard as his brain registered every open wound, he was lucky Scowl's attention was drawn, but unlucky that his favored blade was tossed to the side; he needed to get to it, though once he got to his knees and saw how much both Scowl and Yuurei were trading blows and how close the two were, he realized Jormungandr was too big and too slow to strike Scowl and even if he did managed to hit the mark, it would be too likely to end up striking Yuurei as well. They needed a plan.

Gideon took the moment to catch his breath; his body continued to ache, cold air rushed through the cuts in his clothing and brushed the wounds, and even though his adrenaline should have null such pain, he could feel it, these cuts were too numerous, he just needed a second, a second to get his footing.

Then Yuurei called to him. There he was, being choked by the chain wielder. Damn it! Gideon was thinking about going for Mjolgera, it's smaller, but the way Scowl was positioned, he was too close to Yuurei and any kind of swing from such a hammer from a giant would crush the both of them.

Gideon resorted to tactic which he and Yuurei normally called a 'Crowd Control', he went into his fannypack and pulled out a flask, he quickly took a big swig before tossing the oversized flask to the side and ran towards the two. After two strides, Gideon quickly dove for them; he landed onto the sand causing debris to kick up again, blinding Scowl just long enough for Gideon to bring his left hand right next to the masked man. The debris settled and the two locked eyes with one another, Gideon's hand positioned so close and in a way that looked like he was about to flick a fly off his favorite meal.

Fly Flicker:

With a flick of his finger, his best flick, the strongest flick he had ever given, he smashed into Scowl, but not as he had hoped. Scowl was quick, quick enough to removed the chains from Yuurei's neck and use to block the power of the finger, but the force still pushed him a few meters back, skidding across the sand.

Scowl's eyes lit up, angered his technique was broken by a mere flick of a finger; he readied his blade, about to dice up Gideon, but the giant was already making his next move, with his right hand he grabbed Yuurei and ... he burped.

A cloud of mist that smelled a lot like liquor escaped his lips and filled the area. Gideon then quickly got to his knees and pulled back his throwing arm, "Tell me where" Gideon said to Yuurei. Given the position, the both of them were so use to the giant throwing the thief combo, Yuurei would know the intention here and once he pointed the direction, Gideon would throw Yuurei with all his might right at Scowl, hoping this stupid trick might just work.

Techniques Used:

When Yuurei thought his friend wouldn’t make it, the man had come through and bailed him out. He didn’t know what Gideon had done exactly because he was preoccupied on making sure his neck didn’t get snap, but it got him free. He grabbed his blades, and as soon as he did that Gideon had picked up him from the floor and into his hand. At first Yuurei was confused with what he was doing, but when he noticed that his hand had been pushed back, the thief had a smirk on his face. He had smell the alcohol in the air and knew what they were about to do. Scowl was upset with what was going on. He didn’t know what the giant had done, but he had blinded him. It was dark outside already, and now this damn mist had worsen his vision. He looked around he figured that these two had planned this out.

Still, he knew that he had to do something to ruin their plan, but what exactly? Yuurei had placed his swords back into their scabbard except for Benehime, and Kusanagi. His eyes focused as he scanned the area. He felt Scowl in the mist, but he felt like something was off. ”Wait on it. I think he’s planning something.” He said as he was in the palm of Gideon’s hand. Scowl had decided it was best to jump out of the mist, and when Yuurei felt the man’s presence going into the air, he had smiled because that was the perfect opportunity. ”There Gideon in the sky at three o’clock!” He pointed his blade in the direction where he wanted to be tossed at. His friend would do exactly that, and Yuurei would be tossed with amazing strength and towards Scowl. The man would soon come out of the mist, but he was surprised to what he came out to.

Scowl didn’t think Yuurei would be flying straight at him without being able to see him. The masked man decided it was best to block this incoming attack, and then gather himself for what was next. Yuurei on the other hand had other plans. He knew that he couldn’t beat Scowl by himself, but there were two of them here for a reason. The swordsman’s sword had been coated in Armament at this point, and Yuurei swung his blade with all his might, plus the velocity he was moving in due to Gideon’s toss. Yuurei was able to bypass Scowl’s weapon as they had finally given up, and broke. It wasn’t just that, but his blades had reached the man’s stomach as he cut straight through Scowl. The masked man’s eyes widen as he was surprised by the attack, and how powerful it was.

”You two make a good duo. It’s why I tried to make sure you two didn’t…” He couldn’t finish as his eyes roll back, and blood splattered from his torso as he fell to the ground. It was the same for Yuurei he had taken Scowl out with the help with Gideon, and he couldn’t have asked for anything else. The pirates on the ship were surprised to see the fight end to Scowl’s lost. It also made them nervous because if he lost to these two, then how were they going to win? ”Let’s get those two now. They are hurt, and Scowl did most of the work, so we might as well finish it for the man who fought for us.” One of the pirates said this, and they all nodded and started running on the gangplank and towards the two of them.

Yuurei was still free-falling because he didn’t have anything to stab his sword onto. They still had a mess of pirates to deal with, but the thief had a solution to this situation, if he was caught before hitting the ground. ”Man who knew we would find a strong pirate on Skypiea.” He said this mainly to himself as he wasn’t sure Gideon could hear him.


8/20

With Yuurei in Gideon's hand, the swordsman had pointed his sword in a certain direction. Gideon quickly moved one of his fingers and felt Yuurei's blade and glide his finger across it, such a touch and sharpness, he would normally admire as a cook with excellent hand skills to handle blades would do, but the moment called for his full focus; once he got the direction where Yuurei wanted him to throw him, the giant didn't question why it was towards the air, he simply threw.

After throwing the pirate thief, Gideon immediately dove forward and after a tumble, he found himself out of the alcoholic mist, he managed to look up just in time to see both pirates plummeting through the air, as per usual, the giant reached out his arm and caught the falling pirate. Then he looked towards Scowl who collided with the sandy beach, not moving, not knowing if he was alive or not. At this point, it didn't matter, much was at stake, and still much is at stake. But this moment here was a win. Gideon looked to Yuurei and smiled brightly, they got out of a such a problem alive.

The mist dispersed to reveal the entire crew departing the gangplank and running towards the two winners; though this was sudden, it wasn't a surprise to Gideon, it was too expected and with the strongest of the crew down, he felt no hesitation, "Hey, Yuurei, what do you think would happen if you combined your whirlwind with my Spitfire?" he turned to Yuurei who was still on the palm of his hand and smiled, but treated the question as rhetorical as he took in a deep breath, clicked his teeth and within a moment, he exhaled a stream of fire that engulfed most of the exiting crew and kept the rest at bay, giving them no choice but to wait until the fire was out before continuing their charge.

While he was following down from the sky, he found it weird that he was falling from the sky, and onto the sky. The way he thought about that was confusing, but for those who didn’t understand it was simple. He was in the air, and land he was falling onto was also in the sky. There are strong people all over this word. I thought Dracon was the strongest person in Skypiea, but I was wrong. There seems to be a lot of strong and scary people on this island. He thought to himself. He knew, or at least he was hoping that Gideon would catch him, and soon enough his back and bounced on the palm of his friend’s hand. He sighed, and smiled as he could see his friend looking at his palm. He picked up his right hand and let out a thumbs up to let Gideon know that he did a good job.

Yuurei didn’t forget about the men who were on the boat. He was happy that they didn’t take care of them first. The duo didn’t know where in the Upper Yard the rest of the crew were located. These guys were going to spill out this information one way or the other. He sat up as he looked in the direction of the ship as he noticed the people running into the shores, and towards them. He shook his head as they were smart to attack them while they were, but he knew their attempt was futile. They were weak on their own, so they wouldn’t be able to do much unless the two were on death’s door. He heard Gideon’s words, and his eyes widen as this was a good idea for combo attack for the two of them.

”We would have to practice that. If the wind is to strong, then the fire would be blown out, but if they are portioned evenly, then the wind would feed the fire expanding it more than it already is. Let’s give it a try, but first let’s see who wants to live first.” He said this as he looked down at the group of men that were inching closer to them. ”I WILL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO LIVE! IF YOU STOP MOVING TOWARDS US, AND TELL US WHERE TO GO, THEN WE WILL LET YOU LIVE!” He shouted as he was being honest with them. He was sure the campsite was already aware of them being on the shores. The only thing he needed from them was to tell them where to go. They had heard his words, but chose to ignore it. They had the right to believe they could win.

Yuurei was exhausted, and Gideon had taken a beating. They were in a sticky  situation and they knew it. ”Put me down, and let’s try that idea.” He said this, and when Gideon would put him down. He sighed as he could feel his body being sore from him being tossed around today. He started running towards them as he could feel the pain on his leg, but knew he would have to take care of it later. The pirate ran towards the group of man, and when he got close enough he turned his torso to his right, and then used the momentum to turn his torso to his left allowing him to spin around as he planted his feet on the ground, and moved his legs accordingly. His blades  would follow through as they would cut the first pirate down, and then the huge spiraling wind slash would appear afterwards.

He figured that Gideon would use his Spitfire at that moment, and if he did it right, the fire that was used on his wind slash would spread out like wildfire and would be scarier than before. Some of the marines took note of all of this, and would start running away from Yuurei and Gideon. They didn’t want to be caught in this attack, but not all of them were safe. A lot of them would be caught by the attack, and shouting for their lives. After the wind disperse, Yuurei would looked in the general direction of those who were remaining. ”One more chance!” He shouted towards them as he wondered what they were going to do now.

Technique Used:

Though the Skull pirates received their final and only warning, they still marched forward in aggression and as a reply, Yuurei met them on and created a cyclone, sending and scattering a handful of enemy pirates from the force of the attack, Gideon had added onto the technique by breathing his 'spitfire' technique onto the cyclone, creating a short-lived but dazzling display that lit up the gangplank on fire and lit up the beach with light.

Enemy pirates screamed as they were tossed into the water by the force and for those who weren't sent flying, had voluntarily jumped into the water to extinguish the flames that bit at them. The rest of the crew pulled back onto the ship, trying to put out the flames that were devouring the gangplank, a good number of them stared down both Yuurei and Gideon, hesitating, wondering what they should do.

"We defeated Scowl, just the two of us" Gideon called to the Skull Pirates, "And we managed to dwindle your numbers without any of you laying a hand on us, so I suggest you take a knee instead of perishing" Though Gideon was talking 'big game', he didn't want to kill anymore people, however because of how these pirates were and the fact that the waitress was still being taken captive, he wouldn't hesitate on making lethal moves, for his, Yuurei's and the waitress's survival.

A few of them began quickly discussing the matter at hand, thankfully it gave Gideon and Yuurei some time to catch their breath. As the giant dealt with the pain of his wounds, the worse ones were the pierced wound on his forearm and the cut on his leg, however he did his best to prevent anyone from seeing this, even Yuurei, he wanted to make sure he was still able-body to continue fighting, because if he didn't, then these skull pirates would try and down him like a pack of wild animals fighting over the last scrap of food.

"We surrender" One of the men stepped forward to announce their decision, though they all agreed to give up, they all still held their weapons as if they were waiting for a change of plan at any moment.

Yuurei was waiting for an answer and it seemed like he wasn’t the only one either. His friend added to the simple words that he had said. He held his blades as he waited for their answer. The people in the water were either dead, or were unconscious through the pain they felt from the flames. While he was waiting for an answer he was panting as he was exhausted. One of his eyes was closed as he was trying to regain as much stamina back as he could. His head moved back and forth as he was trying to slow down his breathing and relax himself. It wouldn’t take long for the group of pirates to come to a conclusion. One of them stepped up, and told them that they surrender. That was good, but it wouldn’t have been a full surrender until they got the information they needed. ”That’s good to know. Now here is the hard part.” He paused as he couldn’t take it anymore.

The swordsman threw himself om the floor as he was no sitting down and looking over to all the pirates. ”I want you guys to tell me where your hideout is located, and why you guys are in Skypiea in the first place.” Yuurei didn’t ask this from them, he demanded them to tell him. They started talking to each other again as that was hard for them to do. They already betrayed the crew by surrendering, but now they had to throw them under the bus. He had a smirk on his face as he was sitting down and waiting for an answer. ”If you don’t tell us then that means you didn’t surrender.” They heard Yuurei’s warning as the man was sitting. They took note on the fact that he was exhausted, and figured that sending him to hideout would mean death for them.

They thought it was a good  plan, or at least it was the discussion they were having with each other. ”So what is it going to be?” He asked them as he was getting ready to get up. He placed his sword into the sand as he was going to use it to help him onto his feet. One of the pirates turned to look at him. ”The hideout North East of the shores. We occupy a large cave. And to answer your question, we came to Skypiea because our captain hates people who make other people their slave.” He heard those words, and thought about Mashyuu. They weren’t different, but there was the fact that the waitress was taken as a captive was where the line was drawn. ”You say that, but you allowed his son to capture the waitress against her will.” He said angrily to the group of men.

”I’m sure his father is going to smack the crap out of him when he sees that. Still, she should be happy she was captured.” The man said this by mistake. Yuurei heard those words, and wondered why he said that. Why would she happy about this? Is there something they aren’t telling me. He thought to himself as he looked at the pirates. ”Is there something you not telling me?” He asked. The pirate looked nervous when he was asked this. ”Um, no I told you everything.” He simply said. ”You are lying!” He started to get up slowly, and the pirate stretched his hand forward and started shaking his hands, which indicated Yuurei to stop. ”He has something big plan for Angel City. There is a compound where a lot of slavers are located, and he plans to make an explosive memory, whatever that means, but it is all I know.” He sighed, and Yuurei sat back down.

He motioned them away, and they nodded as they were moving back to the ship. The first thing they did was gather the body’s that were on the floor and took them back to the ship. They had even taken Scowl back to the ship. Yuurei, and Gideon wouldn’t know this, but the man was still alive. They had beaten him, but this man would cross them in the future again. ”So, North East Gideon. I think we should find a place to rest, but of course not here.” He said this as he was getting up slowly from where he sat. Whenever his friend was ready the two of them would make it into the forest of the Upper Yard. There they would be able to find a place to rest, which would be safe from the people they were fighting against. Yuurei’s mind was on the fact that Angel City was probably in trouble. This little rescue mission started to look like it was changing every second they spent fighting this crew.