Chapter 3, part 2: Sharkbait


---The day before the operation---

Lina fashioned herself a hammock in an old abandoned hospital out of old bedsheets and some old nails lying around. Her den den rang, " beedil beedil beedil bee". She glared at it with blood shot eyes and a cloudy head, with fatigue coursing through her veins. Despite her arms feeling like sandbags, she answered the call. " Tired of being on the run yet girl"? She let the snail rest on her stomach and yawned deeply. " Yah but I ain't going thar. Galley-La co. Marines. Governmint. S'---all the same". They've had this conversation more than once. Things were tough,but she preferred to be a lone wolf than compromise her principles anymore than she had already done so, in order to survive." I got an idea how to get those hammerheads,but I'll need dche'er trust skips". She shrugged and gave him the go ahead. The den den fell silent, heavy footsteps were fast approaching. Their thunderous stomps echoed down the half, with only the grunt's in fighting as the only hindrance she really had at this point. " Found you poppet". The snail was different, it had a pair of black sunglasses and a scaley face. With sharp knife like teeth smiling back at her.
She tossed the snail out the window and threw on her cloak as the first fishman barged into the room. It slashed down onto her, nearly cutting her in half. She lunged forth, strong foot forward as she unleashed her sorrowful Sandai Kitetsu, " Silver fang". The fishmen fell silent, their legs buckling under as she zipped past them.

She lunged forth and nearly jumped down every flight of stairs in an effort to get out of there. On the second floor she unsheathed her blade to slash a door leading out of the stairwell, using her shoulder to crash through it. Her pursuer slashed horizontally, but she managed to duck under it while rolling forward and out the nearest window. Dropping nearly 20 feet off the ground and into the dirt, pain shot up through her limbs and if they were set on fire.But with no time to rest she fought through the pain with a scowl, rushing into the construction zone 8.

Chapter 3, part 3:Blood in the water?

Lina dashed forward, just barely avoiding falling flat on her face by catching herself by falling on her palms. She grimaced as her hands ripped apart before sprinting into the construction zone. Following not too far behind is a hammer head accompanied by a group of what could thought of as his brothers. He took a deep breath, taking in the scent of her blood deeply. " Pursue,but don't kill". As if they were a pack of wild dogs given the go ahead by their master, his fellow fishmen charged into the fray. " Remember, touch but don't kill boiiis"! The group gave a collective roar as they began smashing through the everything in tier paths.

Lina slammed into a wall and quickly dashed up a flight of stairs. She grimaced and fought the fire in her chest and bullets firing from her limbs. As she reached the top of the stairs a blunt force sent her flying across the walkway. Each roll ripped her clothes up and when she pushed upright to see a man wielding a mallet. By reflex she flicked her blade out of its sheath and sliced in an upward diagonal arch from her sheath, " Silver fang". The gargantuan mallet was split in half and too was the attacker's right side of his body from the shoulder blade down to the abdomen. From the ground floor she heard some cackling. " Cute, silver fang bwhahaha".

She instinctively vaulted over the railing and sprinted away, only to find another hammerhead throwing a whirring left hook. She fought the pain and threw herself to the floor. The lack of oxygen felt like a vice grip as she lunged forward shoving her blade into his muscular abdomen. He grabbed her hair and pulled hard,but she used her momentum to shove with her screaming legs outward. The movement sent her blade flying out of his left side as she stumbled forward leaving the bleeding mess behind. Before she had time to move again a massive set of teeth came lunging at her. With a bit of luck and adrenaline fueled reflexes, she ducked out of the way of the diving hammerhead.

Chapter 3, part 4:The JONE-S brothers

The wall of meat flew into a pile of cinderblocks, one ending up jamming its jaw in the process. He stood up eyes wild and ready to die. The block exploded into dust, scattering debris across the area. Built similarly to S'laeigh, but a bit shorter and stockier, he showed off his teeth proudly. "So you're the one who brought coirterns to our big bro, fisher". Even though he was the runt of the family, he still towered over Lina. Standing on the outskirts of the fight was another Jones family member and their grunts who cut off lina's escape routes.



" If you're going to kill me, just do it", she said while placing her blade into its sheath. The jones brothers laughed, with the older brother tossing a head to jaws. " oi oi oi, we're gonna do this fair and square. We ain't no marines". He caught the head in his right hand and took a hefty bite out of the skull like an apple and laughed. With a bloody smile on his face he lunged forth with his jaws opened wide. She ducked forward and let her blade fly, sure as shirley it'd hit its mark.

To her credit it was the perfect swing, against a defenseless enemy with no way to defend himself. But her sandai kitetsu broke upon his stomach as if it were stone. His chest smashed into her face and his knee found its mark, cleanly blasting her chest into oblivion. She resisted falling flat on her back and skid across the floor, coughing up blood and barely  able to breath. Her vision blurred and body locked up. The pain is so unbearable. I'm so tired. so hungry. so...sooThe fishman gently picked her up by the temples with his thumb and index finger. He gave her a once over and stuck his nose into her chest, sniffing her beaten and battered body. " c'mon poppet, you can't be done yet. where's that spirit at"? He placed his ear to her chest, playfully pretending as if he was looking for it.

" not.ready.to.die". He chuckled once more, ready to ask her a question when he saw her right arm still clutching the hilt of her sword tightly. The air around it started to swirl, its flames started to dance freely. Her eyes glowed in the moonlight, taking the fishman aback long enough to slice his arm off. As she fell to the floor, she acted as if new life was breathed into her, swinging the blade out to clean the blood from it. He roared and lunched to bite her, teeth jet black. Falling upon her like a rock, light fading from his eyes as she slashed upwards to shave the top of his body off cleanly. Blood decorated the scene and her blackened blade free of filth.

It slid into her sheath, even smoother than usual. Lina zipped to the nearest exit and out of the area. The remaining JONE-S brother crushed one of his subordinates skulls in his hand. " What the fuck are you doing, go after her"! They stammered and hesistated, unsure of what to do. " But but he-lost and we're not dirty like marines! he lost the battle of will fair and square"!

Chapter 3, finale: The Pulverizer

Lina slashed her way through the grunts, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. The hammerhead on the other hand pushed his defiant grunt into the wall with his index finger, until he was pinned to the wall. His smile was gone and the spirit of competition evaporated from his eyes. He paused for a moment as the others got the message and ran off to deal with Lina. Black spread across his pronounced skull, humming lightly during the process. " The time for fun and games has passed".With that he brought his massive skull down upon the grunt, leaving nothing more than a puddle of flesh and entrails.

His grunts on the other hand were hot on her trail, firing wildly into the dark and leaving a destruction in her wake. The bigger grunts went forward, trying to meet her in close quarters with little success. As she ran a cleaver ripped through the air and slammed into the ground, throwing dust into the air. In the confusion she spun forward while crudely bringing her blade down upon two grunts' throats, before spinning around and bringing her blade into the last grunt's torso. Something was wrong though, it was stuck in the fishman's ribcage. With his dying breath he smiled grimly grasping the blade with his bare hands and pulled it in further. "buh bye skippy".

The roof crashed in, the last JONE-S brother landed behind her with a thunderous crash. He brought his head up and slammed it into the duo. With no other choice she let go just in time, to avoid becoming mincemeat. He stood up and took a look at the blade which took his brothers. He gave her a scowl and drove it cleanly into the cement. " No more smiles? No more fun and games"?

He approached her wordlessly, solemnly shaking his head. "They play'd the game. they lost. I.Don't.Lose". He tossed her around a bit, making sure to not let her go. He was faster and fresh. She couldn't outrun him nor could she juke him. Her beloved blade was out of reach and she was backed into a corner. He took one step forward and leaned back, before launching himself toward her. At that moment she could only think on one thing: I.
Won't. Lose.

She lunged forward with reckless abandon, meeting him head on. They clashed, causing the building to shake and thunderous booms to reverberate into the night. He growled, no roared with all his might with crimson staining his body. She grimaced, pain now becoming one with her. She refused to fall. Refused to budge, her thoughts didn't cloud up this time. This time the challenge was deliberate. The two opponents leaned back for one last headbutt. Jetblack coursing through their veins. They both simultaneously shouted at the top of their lungs, " I yield to no one. Die now"!

They met for one last headbutt. Neither willing to budge but only one would leave that building.

Gran Voyage Epilogue

Lina wasn't able to move anymore,but she refused to fall. He opponent's face was planted firmly into the ground with pronounced cracks running through the camp. Dill and his cronies found her practically locked in place and delirious. The construction zone from the outside looked like a bloodbath and several corpses were found all over water 7, mostly human. When she awoke it was in a Galley-La Co. hospital room, with all the wires and iv's hooked up to her. She and her blade were battered and bruised. Her first instinct was to stand. Pain coursed through her body, his limbs wrapped up in casts to prevent her fractures from getting worse. " siddown pup. You're gonna be hu'r a while".

Lina sat silent for a moment, shoulders slumped and tears coursing down her cheek. " If it hurts jus lay yer ass in bed. You'll have all the time in the wurld to pursue those scumbags later". A nurse lightly scooched her back into bed and gave her a new iv. " now now skips. Lie down, yer in good hands".

She and Dill didn't say much. He ate his giant mackeral with one side of his mouth and smoked with the other. She stared blankly at the wall, unsure of what to do. " So, what do ya wanna know so I can git on outta this joint greenfoot"? Lina turned her head, lips quivering. " Is it over"? He shook his head and explained this was just the tip of the iceberg. These hammerheads were the grunts of the bunch, the lowest of the low. They were errand boys in the grand scheme of things and their ranks despite the falling out, were refreshed. As he left the room he said, " Eventually you'll wanna find the black market on baltigo. At the very least, the head of this small syndicate should be stationed there". She said nothing, reflecting on what had happened. A grin made it way across her soft lips. " I'll get those bastards and make em pay. especially Alphonse, that piece of shit".