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| - "Hurhurhurha..." giggled Thoosa to herself as she wobbly paddled a canoe up to the abandoned shore of an islet. As soon as the fore of the canoe struck land, Thoosa wasted absolutely no time in leaping out of the canoe and onto the sandy beach. Thoosa would then immediately proceed to unsteadily make her way up the coast. It wasn't long before Thoosa found herself to be approaching a tower of sorts. The kind of tower you would see in a production of Rapunzel. Standing guard, at what appeared to be the only reasonable entrance to the tower, was a pair of ironclad humans. Not your ordinary breed of humans though. But rather the substantially larger breed. The kind of humans that a Blue-Dweller could be forgiven for mistaking as giants. "What in the world?" muttered the first of the ironclads, more to himself than to his companion, at the very sight of Thoosa. It was very strange for the ironclad to be visited by anyone while he was on shift. And stranger still for the ironclad to be visited by what seemed to him to be a random drunkard of all things. But the strangest thing of all had to be the fact that the seemingly drunk visitor was some kind of one-eyed abomination... "Halt!" dutifully demanded the second of the ironclads from Thoosa. In response to the second of the ironclads, Thoosa came to a complete stop in acquiescence to his demands. However, not long after Thoosa did so, she commenced to gradually raise her head. Judging from the manner in which Thoosa was doing so, both of the ironclads could tell that Thoosa was seemingly searching the tower's walls for something. But what that something could be was a mystery to them. "State your business!" "I can see him," giddily answered Thoosa with a lecherous lick of her lips, greatly confusing the ironclads as she did so. It was then that Thoosa practically exploded with excitement. In a frightening display of predatory lust, Thoosa started to incessantly drool a puddle onto the ground before her feet. She anxiously clenched her hand into fists and then commenced to hop in place. Both of the ironclads couldn't help but to shiver as Thoosa's eye begun to reflect with a glimmer of unchecked desire. "I can see him! I can see the prince! It's true! The rurmors were! There really is a prince in this tower!" "So that's how it is," snorted the first of the ironclads an instant before he raised his flanged mace overhead. "Our liege is the rightful king of Presbyter! So in order to maintain the peace, Prince John is to remain in isolation for the rest of his-" "Poppu Karucha..." begun Thoosa an instant before she proceeded to use a leap to rocket herself straight up to the first of the ironclads' face. Before the first of the ironclads could so much as instinctively dilate his eyes in fear, Thoosa slammed a right haymaker into his left cheek. Said haymaker struck with enough force to send the first of the ironclads cartwheeling all the way to the ocean. And even then the first of the ironclads was cartwheeling along the surface of the ocean itself for quite some time. Eventually though, the first of the ironclads splashed into the ocean before floating to the top of it. Unmistakably unconscious. "...Faia! (Pop Culture, Fire!)" "B-b-but that's impossible!" spluttered the second of the ironclads in disbelief as Thoosa landed on her feet. The second of the ironclads then gritted his teeth in righteous fury before he launched a right hook at Thoosa in hopes of splattering Thoosa with the sheer hardness of his iron gauntlet. Much to the second of the ironclads' confusion, Thoosa did not make any attempts to avoid his hook. Instead she simply raised her left arm into the air! "Ha! What stupid girl! Do you really think you can block MY punch with just one-" "Saikuroppu Supesharu..." started Thoosa with a very cocky grin on display. Just a few moments before the second of the ironclads' fist would have squashed Thoosa, the muscles on Thoosa's left arm inflated to about three times the size of her head. As a result, Thoosa managed to simply CATCH the second of the ironclads' hook as if it was naught but a baseball that had been playfully thrown towards her. Before the second of the ironclads could react to this development, Thoosa utilized his hand as leverage for swinging him around and around and around. Not that long after, Thoosa flung the second of the ironclads towards the closed gates of the tower. “...Gure-to Suingu! (Cyclops Special, Great Swing!)” "What is going on out-" was all a tower guard managed to say before the second of the ironclads smashed straight through the tower's gates and then dropped directly onto him with a loud thunk. "I-I-Is that the Silver-Horned King?" stammered another tower guard at the sight of the fallen second of the ironclads. As the tower guard did so, Thoosa giddily pranced over the remains of the tower's gates and into the tower's lobby. In the meantime, Thoosa's left arm was shrinking back to its normal size. "PLEASE tell me that's not the Silver-Horned King!" "It's me alright," groaned the second of the ironclads, or the Silver-Horned King as he shall henceforth be known as, as he groggily pushed himself back onto his face. "This is crazy. How can such a tiny girl have so much strength in her? It's unreal I tell you," "Now where are those stairs? There has got to be some way for me to get up to my DREAMY prince," giggled Thoosa in singsong tone of voice. Much to the utter disbelief of the Silver-Horned King and the many tower guards, Thoosa then proceeded to skip RIGHT BY THEM. Paying them absolutely no heed as she set out in search for a way to climb the towers' many levels. "The prince in the tower. I'll bed him in an hour. Wash up in the shower. Make us both smell like flowers," "Just who the hell do you think I am!" roared the indignant Silver-Horned King before he lunged towards Thoosa with the both of his arms blurring into a flurry of punches. Thoosa widened her smil in response to the Silver-Horned King's violent approach. She then performed a complete about-face; swaying like a pendulum as she did so in order to avoid being punched during the performance. As she finished the about-face, Thoosa threw a straight punch with her right. And as a result of her perfect timing, Thoosa's punch caught the Silver-Horned King right in his nose. With a grunt, Thoosa quickly converted the straight into a hook which launched the Silver-Horned King through one of the walls of the tower. After spending a good amount of time hurtling through the air, the Silver-Horned King would crash onto the sands of the islet. Unmistakably unconscious. "Not my prince! That's who!" answered Thoosa only an instant before she burst out into laughter. "Hurhurhurha!" "W-w-what kind of monster is that?" stammered a tower guard whose body had been paralyzed by the horrific implications of the Silver-Horned King's defeat. "Unbelievable, simply unbelievable! She defeated the Silver-Horned King with her bare hands?" "H-h-hey! One of you need to go alert the Gold-Horned King!" snapped the Captain of the Tower Guard at his subordinates. "Otherwise we have no chance of victory here!" "N-n-no dice Captain!" outright sobbed one of the tower guards as he hung up the receiver to a Ko Den Den Mushi. "Word from the top is that they can see the Gold-Horned King floating in the East Blue!" "You mean to tell me that the Gold-Horned King and the Silver-Horned King have BOTH been taken out?" snarled the Captain of the Tower Guard as he watch Thoosa frolic about the place with seemingly no care in the world other than the location of the stairs. "Taken out by this LITTLE GIRL of all people?" "Excuse me, but where are the stairs?" asked Thoosa of a tower guard, immediately prompting the tower guard to fearfully point towards a nearby door. For the Captain of the Tower Guard, that was the last straw. "Thank you very much!" "I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!" screamed the infuriated Captain of the Tower Guard as he withdrew his rapier from its scabbard. With a quick thrust, the Captain of the Tower Guard propelled a beam of air towards Thoosa's head. Without taking so much as a single glance at the Captain of the Tower Guard or his beam, Thoosa titled her neck JUST enough for the beam to completely miss its target. As a result of such, the beam slammed into the very door which lead to the stairs. Upon making impact with the door, the beam exploded into a gale of slicing winds. Said gale easily ripped the door to shreds and as a result opened the way for Thoosa. "I'm much oblige, much oblige indeed!" thanked Thoosa with a toothy grin on her face as she gleefully proceeded to race up the stairs. In a fit of rage, the Captain of the Tower Guard immaturely stamped his foot upon the ground before he took after Thoosa. Because Thoosa wasn't in that much of a rush, it wasn't long before the Captain of the Tower Guard caught up to her. "Hmm? Did you need something mister?" "Don't screw with me!" spat the Captain of the Tower Guard right before he thrust yet another beam of air towards Thoosa, hoping that the close-quarters would prevent Thoosa from dodging. With a haste that was very close to being downright incomprehensible to the Captain of the Tower Guard, Thoosa dashed into a leap onto the wall and then utilized the wall as leverage for a leap which took her over the Captain of the Tower Guard's beam. "You have got to be kidding me! She's not just strong, but fast as well?" "Saikuroppu Supesharu, Furea Faia! (Cyclops Special, Flare Fire!)" chimed Thoosa as her leap took her to a wall that she subsequently kicked off of as a means of propelling herself straight towards the Captain of the Tower Guard. The Captain of the Tower Guard reared his rapier in preparation for skewing Thoosa, but it was then that Thoosa begun to spew the brightest of radiances from her mouth. The Captain of the Tower Guard wasn't sure if it was a flame or simply pure light. The only thing he knew for sure was that the radiance was blinding him far worse than any darkness ever had. “Poppu Karucha, Obafuroingu Hito! (Pop Culture, Overflowing Heat!)” called Thoosa as she took full advantage of the Captain of the Tower Guard's blindness to assault him with impunity. After a few mid-air spins, during which she transferred a large number of vibrations originating from just about every other muscle in her body to the muscles within her right leg, Thoosa slammed a fiery kick into the side of the Captain of the Tower Guard's head. With an expression of terror firmly plastered onto his face, the Captain of the Tower Guard was set ablaze from the top of head to the tips of his toes and then sent cartwheeling through the wall of the tower's staircase. Shortly afterward, the Captain of the Tower Guard crashed onto the floor of the tower's lobby with enough of an impact to produce a sizable crater. "How strange of him to attack me when he was being helpful just a few moments ago," noted Thoosa with a shrug. The cyclops then continued her climb up the tower, completely unimpeded this time around. After a good, five minutes of running; Thoosa found herself standing before a grandiose door. With a gulp of nervousness, Thoosa kicked down the door and then proudly strode inside of the following room. "Hello my prince. Your Princess Charming, has arrived!” “Forbsville, Presbyter. It's a lot more urban than I thought it'd be,” commented Zacchaeus Ibrahim as he docked his sloop at a wooden pier rather than the sizable wharf that the larger ships were choosing to dock at. At the very sight of him, a fisherman jumped to his feet and then quickly burst into a sprint towards the town ahead. Ibrahim couldn't help but to sigh at the fisherman's retreat, even though he was fully accustomed to such reactions by this point. Just about all World Government officials were regarded with caution by most folks. While those who were unfortunate to have the World Government's insignia emblazoned onto the back of their suit jacket were downright FEARED. And as you've might have guessed, Ibrahim was amongst those unfortunates. “It keeps the pirates away at the very least,” “Kobarabarabahahaaaa!” “Or not,” sighed Ibrahim as he finished securing his sloop to the pier. With much hesitation, Ibrahim turned around and as a result came face-to-face with a lanky man whom was holding the both of his arms overhead while at the same time pointing the both of his hands downward. “Kobarabarabahahaaaa! Looks like I've got ourselves another customer. Kobarabarabahahaaaa!” heartily guffawed the man with all of the mirth of a birthday child. “Kobara- kobara-kobarabarabahahaaaa!” “What do you want,” groaned Ibrahim with a droplet of sweat trickling down the side of his head. Much to Ibrahim's chagrin, his question served as prompt for yet another bout of laughter from the man before him. “Kobarabarabahahaaaa! I want what's due to me! This is private property you see?” explained the skinny-skinny man in a number of chortles and simpers. Ibrahim blankly stared at the man before him for quite some before he finally resigned himself to simply shaking his head. “How much would you like?” asked Ibrahim of the man, a most devilish smirk arising to his face as he did so. The main questioningly raised an eyebrow at Ibrahim before simply shrugging off Ibrahim's unexplained mirth. “100,000 File:Bsymbol.gif!” cheered the man, happy that he apparently managed to sucker yet another foreigner to Presbyter. Much to the man's surprise though, Ibrahim placed a grand total of 500,000 File:Bsymbol.gif into his hand rather than the 100,000 File:Bsymbol.gif he demanded. “H-h-hey. What is-” “That's five time as much as you charge,” snickered Ibrahim with a glint of malice reflecting from his eyes and fangs. “So I expect five times as much of a service from you. Guard this sloop and its contents with your LIFE. If so much as a SINGLE CHIP OF ITS WOOD is misplaced, you can expect a complaint from me. Is that understood?” “Kobarabarabahahaaaa! What you makes you think I care about any complain of...” was all the man managed to say before Ibrahim showed his back to the man with a thumb pointing towards the insignia that was emblazoned there. The insignia of the World Government itself. “...s-s-so what? That's just for show isn't-” “It's not for show,” snickered Ibrahim with eerily luminescent eyes and bared fangs, appearing like an absolute demon to the man before him. “The name is Zacchaeus Ibrahim. Scum such as yourself would know me as the Harbinger of the Saudade. Even pirates must pay their due. So now it is time you payed yours. With your very life if need be. Fail to perform as I have asked and you will find that even Impel Down itself pales in comparison to the kind of fate that a TAX COLLECTOR can inflict upon you!” “H-h-hey!” stuttered the now-regretful man as he backed away from Ibrahim, offering Ibrahim all 500,000 of his beli back. “I-I-I never wanted any trouble. Just an easy paycheck! The kind the guys down at the wharf get all of the time. I-I'm sorry okay! Please don't make me do this!” “I'll be back in a few days,” apathetically responded Ibrahim as he took a picture of the man with a peculiar-looking Mushi and then proceeded to take his leave from the pier altogether. Leaving the now-despondent man in his wake. “Please do try to have fun keeping my possessions safe from my innumerable enemies. Lest you'll soon find yourself with innumerable enemies in return. Ta!” “It tastes SO good!” squealed Thoosa after having swallowed an entire mouthful of cheesecake. Thoosa gently placed her hands upon her cheeks and then swooned into the air. Literally into the air where she was kept aloft by naught but the pure euphoria she was experiencing at the moment. Eventually Thoosa gradually sank back into her chair at the table of a fancy coffeehouse. Immediately after she did so, Thoosa reached for another piece of cheesecake with her fork. But before Thoosa could retrieve the piece, the cheesecake's plate was slid away from her. “Nhuuu!” “So what's your name?” asked Prince John as he slid the cheesecake's plate away from Thoosa, a coy smile forming on the Prince's fair face as the Prince did so. Thoosa couldn't help but to pout in response to Prince John's behavior. However, it wasn't long before Thoosa dismissed her pout with a snort aimed towards the Prince and then proceeded to stubbornly crossed her arms. Prince John simply chuckled at Thoosa's resistance before he theatrically raised his own fork into the air, catching Thoosa's eye as he did so. “Don't mind if I do,” “Nhuuu!” abruptly cried Thoosa as she uncrossed her arms and then futilely attempted to reach over the table for the plate of cheesecake. With a knowing smile on his face, Prince John slid the cheesecake a bit closer to himself before he placed his fork back onto its respective napkin. He then took a sip of his apple cider as he awaited the inevitable begging. “Give it to me! Give it to me Prince! I want it! I want it badly!” “So tell me...” begun Prince John with a victorious chuckle, sliding the plate of cheese cake just a bit closer to Thoosa as he did so. “...what is your name?” “It's Thoosa,” sniffle a defeated Thoosa, earning herself the plate of cheesecake from Prince John as a result of doing so. With a squee, Thoosa forked off another piece of cheesecake for herself and then stuck the piece into her mouth as quickly as she could. “So good! It's just so good! Ahh~” “Thoosa is it?” said the Prince more to himself than to Thoosa as he watched Thoosa pick away at the cheesecake with little to no restraint. “It's truly a beautiful name. But I'm afraid it happens to be a wearisomely common one amongst your kind,” “How do you know so much about, well, everything?” asked Thoosa while she was sucking on her fork in order to ensure she consumed as much of the cheesecake as she could. “Weren't you in that tower most of your life? Where did you learn all of this from?” “I believe the rule is...” begun Prince John as Thoosa forked off yet another piece of the cheesecake. “...that information would only be traded as punishment for surrendering. So until I've surrendered to my taste buds, I will not be revealing even the most minute of details,” “Hurhurhurha,” suddenly laughed Thoosa, piquing Prince John's interest as she did so. It was then that, without so much as a single warning, Thoosa shoved her fork into Prince John's mouth alongside the cheesecake that was attached to the fork. The pupils of Prince John's eyes immediately dilated to the size of a baseball as the image of Thoosa sucking on the fork came to his mind. To make matter worse, it was at that exact point that his tongue begun to register the SWEETNESS of the cheesecake. Against his better judgement, Prince John absently wondered whether it was the cheesecake he was tasting or the soft lips of the cyclops whom saved him from eternal captivity. “So tell me, what is your name my little prince?” “It's John,” instinctively answered Prince John in a rather loud moan of all things. As soon as the Prince realized what he had just done, his face instantaneously flushed into a sanguine that was far more prominent-looking than even blood itself. A grin of predatory lust made its way to Thoosa's face as the Prince's face continued to grow redder and redder. With her trademark laugh, Thoosa removed her fork from the Prince's mouth. Taking extreme care to leave the cheesecake behind as she did so. Right after Thoosa did so, Prince John found himself being racked with an extreme longing. For, in spite of the fact that the cheesecake was still present, a good portion of the sweetness had left Prince John's mouth alongside the fork. And by this point the Prince had a rather profound taste for such sweetness... “I'd like to have my seconds now,” stated Prince John in a manner that was as dignified as he could manage at the moment, trying to preserve as much of his pride as he could. “John is it?” parroted Thoosa as she slid the cheesecake John's way, visibly startling John as she did so. “It's truly a beautiful name. But I'm afraid it happens to be a wearisomely common one amongst your kind. Hmm? Oh I'm sorry. Was there something else that you wanted from me? My prince?” “I-I-I...” stammered John in defeat. He knew there was no way he was going to do anything but surrender. But he didn't know how to surrender in this situation. How does one go about asking for such a thing? And right in the middle of the public to make matters worse! “...I want-” “EVERYBODY PUT YOUR HANDS INTO THE GODDAMN AIR!” “To not have my first date ever be ruined by a random mugging,” sighed Prince John with a roll over his eyes. Thoosa frowned at the interruption, looking up to see what all of the commotion was about as she did so. Much to Thoosa's confusion, their apparent mugger was a boy with not just one of the scrawniest physiques she's ever seen but sickly white, ear-length hair as well. The mugger had a flabbergasted expression on his face, as if even he couldn't believe that he was mugging the coffeehouse, and was dressed in a manner that wouldn't even have been fitting for a bum. To put it simply, the mugger was a very sad sight to see. And he didn't in the least bit appear as if he could posed a threat to Prince John. Much less Thoosa. “I-I-I'm serious! G-g-give me all of the 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills t-t-that you have or else!” practically whimpered the mugger, inducing naught but a sweatdrop from the coffeehouse's personnel and patrons alike. Prince John maneuver into backwardly sitting in his chair, chuckling at the cuteness of the mugger's timidness as he did so. “D-d-don't make me resort to v-v-violence!” “Here kid,” chuckled one of the waitresses as she willingly handed the mugger a bill of 1000 File:Bsymbol.gif for his trouble. The mugger stared at the bill for a rather long amount of time before suddenly offering the bill back to the woman. “You don't want it? Was this all just a cry for attention then?” “Absolutely not!” refuted the mugger with a stomp of his foot. “I'm seriously robbing you guys...it's just that I can only count by ones. So I need all of the money in 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills so I can know how much I've collected,” “Aww! Isn't he just adorably stupid?” cooed Thoosa, prompting just about everyone in the coffeehouse to nod in agreement with her. “I'm n-n-not adorable!” vividly protested the mugger with his arms flailing about the place. It was then that, by complete accident mind you, one of the mugger's hands came down upon a wooden table and chopped it cleanly in half. Immediately the entire coffeehouse gaped in unison at the table's destruction. And it was only at this time that Thoosa took notice of the fact that the cobblestones that the mugger was standing on had been beaten into an earthen crater by the mugger's stomps! “I'll say it one more time, give me all of your 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills or else!” “Tell me kid...” spoke the man seated at the now-destroyed table as he withdrew a flintlock pistol from his person. Immediately the coffeehouse as a whole flew into a panic. Everyone but Thoosa, Prince John, mugger himself, and a few others begun to scream at the top of their lungs at the very sight of the flintlock pistol. While completely ignoring the screams of the people around him, the main lifted his flintlock pistol so that its barrel was perfectly aimed at the mugger's chest. The man then adopted an arrogant-looking scowl as he placed a finger on the flintlock pistol's trigger, softly pressing upon the trigger as a non-verbal threat to fire. “...where do you get off interrupting my meal with such blatant nonsense? And how's about I take your life as payment for that very meal? The one your antics spilled on the-” “S-s-stop...” stuttered the mugger only an instant before he socked the man quickly enough to prevent the man from firing his flintlock pistol in retaliation. Everyone within the coffeehouse, including even Thoosa and Prince John, couldn't help but to allow their mouths to drop into enormous gapes as the mugger's punch sent the man wildly hurtling through a wall of the coffeehouse into being embedded within the wall of the neighboring structure. To make matters worse, it wasn't long before that very wall gave in and collapsed right on top of the man. “...talking! N-no more talking for a-a-anyone! Just give me the 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills or else you'll end up like t-t-that guy!” “Well...” begun a blonde woman – named Akuginu Amimono – while her expression was shifting from a gape to a clearly troubled smile. Akuginu was sturdily built in a somewhat intimidating manner. She was also haphazardly dressed in a collared shirt with long sleeves, sleeveless undershirt, a pair of baggy pants, and a pair of sandals. “...I'm not even going to bother to act like that didn't catch me off guard! Looks SURE can be deceiving no nowadays!” “Not so much when you have the right kind of papers on hand,” lightly chuckled a second blonde woman – named Dokumi Amimono – who was elegantly clothed in a naught but a little black dress and a pair of high heels. As Dokumi did so, she placed a bounty poster on the table Akuginu and her were sharing. Not the kind of poster that would have been issued by the World Government mind you. But rather the kind to be issued by some less scrupulous organizations. Not that far less scrupulous though. With the World Government being as corrupt as it was.... “Believe it or not, this man might just be our current target. What a pleasant coincidence for him to come to us...” “Definitely didn't see that one coming,” murmured a young man who was STILL gaping at the mugger's handiwork. The man had an overall slender form, somewhat of a rosy complexion, and black hair which only reached as far as his ears. He was professionally dressed in a collared shirt, a tie, a vest, and a pair of dress pants. But he was also strangely wearing a pair of certainly unprofessional shoes. The man started to stand up from his chair only to be dissuaded from finishing by a soft hand taking a firm hold of one of his rough ones. “Is something the matter, Iroppoi-ittouhei?” “Don't go making any unnecessary trouble for us, Aharon-gochou!” pleaded Iroppoi to Aharon. Iroppoi was a tanned woman with a figure which was more than voluptuous enough to be worthy of worship and waist-length brown hair. Her attire consisted of a pinstriped suit coat worn over a pink blouse, a pinstriped miniskirt, a pair of stockings which were suspended from a garter belt, and a pair of high heels. “We're supposed to be OFF-DUTY today!” “Perhaps,” growled Aharon as he acquiesced to Iroppoi's plea by retaking his seat, prompting Iroppoi to let out a sigh of relief. “But I will do as I must if it becomes necessary for me to do so!” “H-h-how could a wee-little fella like that do something like THAT,” stammered out a flabbergasted Prince John. Thoosa could only shake her head in disbelief cause she didn't exactly know the answer to that question herself. “You!” suddenly exclaimed the mugger as he pointed at Prince John of all people. “You look wealthy. Give me all of your 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills or else that lady friend of yours is going to get a booboo!” “That's lady friend with benefits!” corrected Thoosa, loudly slamming the palms of her hands down upon her table as she did so. “Thank you very much!” “Shouldn't you have been more concerned about the threat of injury?” asked Prince John with a droplet of sweat trickling down the side of his head. Prince John then turned his attention back to the mugger with a shrug. “Looks can be deceiving. I don't have so much as a single beli on me. And even if I did, there is no such thing as a 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bill. Amounts that low are minted as coins,” “Liar!” accused the mugger with clenched fists. “Coins aren't made of mints! You better stop playing games with me and just hand over the bucks! B-b-but only the 1 b-b-beli ones though,” “Coins aren't made of mints?” a confused Prince John repeated after the mugger right before he suddenly realized what the mugger had mistaken the meaning of his words for. Of course, such a realization left Prince John speechless in the face of the mugger's sheer stupidity. Speechless and sad. Saddened by the fact that anyone COULD be so stupid. Suddenly Prince John wished he had some money to give the mugger for his troubles. “Dear child, bless your heart. Just...bless your heart,” “I don't need your blessings! Just your money!” expressively whined the mugger in a temper tantrum-sort of way, completely ignorant of the phrase's derogatory undertones. “Seriously! This is the last warning for ALL of you. If you guys continue to horde the 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills to yourselves, Allied Mundi is going to start swinging!” “How about I count it for you?” offered the waitress from before, her eyes practically sparkling with pity. “And maybe I can teach you some of your multiples while I'm at it,” “I guess that might be alright,” considered Allied, causing a great many to sigh out the breath they had been holding. “But it's a lot to count you know. A whopping 52,000,000 File:Bsymbol.gif,” “FIFTY-TWO MILLION BELI?” screamed everyone in the coffeeshop, Thoosa and Prince John included. “I told you it was a lot to count,” giggled Allied with sheepish grin. The waitress gawked at Allied for a short while before she unceremoniously fainted. “Huh? W-w-what's wrong lady? Did the very thought of counting so high up wear you out or something?” “There is no way you're collecting that much money in 1 File:Bsymbol.gif!” yelled an incredulous Prince John. “Especially not from a place like this! You would need to rob a bank or something to collect that much in 1 File:Bsymbol.gif,” “B-b-but I already did that,” sniffed Allied with watering eyes. At first everyone went “Daaw!” at the cuteness of it all. But then their brains registered the meaning behind Allied's words. And as a result, all hell broke loose. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY DID THAT?” “It's a LOT more urban that I thought it would be,” grumbled Ibrahim as he strode along a cobblestone and repeatedly swatted away at the next grubby hand which tried to pick at one of his pockets. In stark contrast to the implications of its name, the heart of Forbsville was filled to the brim with a variety of shops. And of course, there were an equal variety of thieves whom were ready and willing to prey upon those seeking to enjoy the services of those shops. And the variant Ibrahim seemed to be attracting the most was the pickpocket. Or pickpockets that is. “That tears it,” snarled a fed up Ibrahim as his Kenbunshoku Haki informed him of the approach of yet another hand that was reaching for the coin sack that was dangling from his hip. Right before the hand could lay its fingers upon the coin sack, Ibrahim snatched it into his own. Much to Ibrahim's surprise, the hand was soft to the touch. Ibrahim had originally planned on squeezing the hand until he managed to crush as many of its bones as he possibly could. But instead of doing that, the adolescent Majin utilized the hand as leverage for yanking the hand's owner right out of the crowd and into Ibrahim's face. This time around, Ibrahim was not surprised by what he saw. “Yeah, yeah. You got me. Good for you,” grumbled an elven woman with a rosy complexion, a pair of eyes which each shone as green as an emerald, and jet-black hair which extended as far as her modest bust. The elf's right ear was pierced with a single, gold ring whilst her left ear was pierced with two of them. And she was dressed in a high-collared jacket, a t-shirt which bottom was tied in a manner that left her midriff open for view, a brown belt which had a dainty-looking rapier hanging from it, a pair of pants with a slit cut into each of them, and a pair of boots. “Now hand me some of that coin I was trying to steal. Or else the next thing you'll be getting is a rape charge from my upcoming scream,” “I can easily afford to take such a charge to court,” snorted Ibrahim with a roll of his eyes. “But I'm willing to bet that you can ill-afford to do so. More likely than not, the court fees alone will place you in an inescapable debt to the state. While the penalty you receive after your inevitable defeat will all but assure you a prison sentence for your inability to pay the mandatory reparations,” “Well...” droned the elf as she backed as far away from Ibrahim as his grip on her hand would allow. “...that's a new one. Never met a guy with a response like that before,” “The others probably weren't S-Class Tax Collectors,” Ibrahim dryly pointed out just as the elven woman futily started to try and pull her hand free of his own. For as long as three minutes, Ibrahim quietly watched the elven woman struggle for naught. By the fourth minute, it became apparent to Ibrahim that the elven woman was NOT going to simply give up. “Your persistence is admirable, but futile. My grip has been reinforced with the Busoshoku Haki. Not enough to induce any visible changes, but more than enough for one such as yourself to handle. I suggest you resign yourself to parley,” “Surrender isn't in my dictionary,” grunted the elven woman as she placed a foot on Ibrahim's chest so that she could use the Majin himself as leverage in her bid to pull her hand free of his. Unfortunately for the elven woman, such leverage prooved itself to be completely and utterly useless to her cause. “But I do have resignation in there. So yeah, let's talk!” “Zacchaeus Ibrahim. Tax Collector,” stated Ibrahim as a short introduction. “Arid. Pickpocket and Blackmailer!” exclaimed the elven woman with pride. Ibrahim questioningly raised an eyebrow at Arid's exclamation, non-verbally questioning whether or not Arid should be as proud about her occupations as she seemed to be. “What? Shame isn't in my dictionary, you know?” “Right,” said Ibrahim in an empty tone of voice, having decided to simply leave Arid's pride as it was. “I have a proposition for you,” “I'm not a hooker,” suddenly blurted out Arid without so much as a single warning, stunning Ibrahim as a result of having done so. “My desperation for cash hasn't developed to that point yet. Now if you would excuse me-” “I wasn't propositioning you for sex,” explained Ibrahim as he slammed his free hand right into the very middle of his face. “I meant that I'm willing to pay you for a service-” “You're REALLY not helping your case here,” snickered Arid at Ibrahim's second poor choice of words. Ibrahim merely stared at Arid for a short while before it finally occurred to him what Arid meant. Ibrahim then perform a rather loud facepalm with his free hand once again. “Since my raw beauty has apparently dropped your mind into the very deepest of the gutters, allow me to hazard a guess. You want me to steal something for you?” “No,” said Ibrahim in a groan that carried all of the frustration that had been inflicted upon him by Arid's antics. “I want you to accompany me. I was hoping that the presence of another would curb the pickpockets' tendency to chose me as their target,” “You're absolutely right about that!” agreed Arid in a manner that was more than just a little to enthusiastic for Ibrahim's taste. “From my experience, a couple is always less of a target than a lone individual. And the reason for that is because one of them is almost always standing in the way of my path to the coin. So it's much less of a hassle to target someone whom is by his- or herself than it is to somehow make it pass such an obstructive individual,” “I see,” chuckled Ibrahim an instant before he quickly modified his grip of Arid's hand so that his fingers were entwined with hers. “I believe this should suffice,” “Huh?” uttered Arid with her head tilted in a manner that was cutely reminiscent of a bewildered puppy. “We'll walk like this. Hand-in-hand. With you on the side of my coin sack. That way it becomes that much less of an inviting target. Just as you explained,” chuckled Ibrahim some more. “Yeah. But. Well,” murmured Arid more to herself than to Ibrahim as she mused over the fact that her scheme had beeen ruined by something as simple as holding hands. “Ah damn it,” “If you were expecting me to allow the very pickpocket I caught in the act of stealing from me to simply walk beside my coin sack unimpeded, you highly underestimated me. Besides, did you not say that a COUPLE is less of a target? Don't you think we should look the part?” chuckled Ibrahim for good this time. Arid glowered at Ibrahim for his teasing before she uttered her own groan of frustration. “How much am I being payed for this?” “100,000 File:Bsymbol.gif,” “HUNDRED THOUSAND BELI?” literally spat Arid in disbelief. With Arid's hand still within his own, Ibrahim simply shrugged. “Whenever the World Government asks me to travel in-between the Blues, they give me 600,000 File:Bsymbol.gif for the travel expenses. Normally, I manage to save all of that money for myself by sailing myself to my destinations. Rather than paying for some kind of ferry,” explained Ibrahim with yet another shrug. Ibrahim was then met with a gentle squeeze upon his hand and an excited grin from Arid. “Well then, where to my love?” cooed Arid in a manner that Ibrahim couldn't help but to believe to not be an attempt to fall into character. But rather an attempt to endear herself to him. Sweet. “City Hall,” answered Ibrahim with a grin of his own. A cocky grin that was unique to arrogant Zacchaeus such as himself. “Where the Good Duke awaits!” “H-h-how did things turn out like this?” wheezed a bloody pulp of a man an instant before he dropped to the ground and fell unconscious upon the ruins of the coffeeshop. What used to be a fine place to take a load off was now nothing more a hill of debris. A hill which had yet to be annexed by any king or queen. “I thought we were all supposed to be ganging up on Mundi,” huffed Prince John in-between desperate gasps for air. The Prince was armed with just a rather simple-looking longsword that he looted from a fallen contestant so-to-speak and was currently standing on a lower part of the hill than any of the other six contestants. “How did this round up becoming a tag-team royal rumble?” “All of the innocents have already been evacuated...” grumbled Iroppoi whose portion of the hill was higher up than John's but lower than the portions of the other five. Though Iroppoi was armed with a large number of flintlock pistols, her posture alone was a clear indication of her prowess in hand-to-hand combat. “...so Aharon-gochou, is any more of this really necessary?” “Hurhurhurha,” literally drooled Thoosa whilst she was ogling Iroppoi to a far greater extent than anyone was aware of. Using her Cyclopsian gaze to peer right through all of Iroppoi's clothing. Thoosa was completely unarmed and, as you might have guessed from the pattern, she stood higher than Iroppoi and Prince John. But lower than the others. “Is it really necessary for you to talk? My sexy, sexy goddess. Hurhurhurha,” “In order to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again, we must arrest the perpetrators of this crime!” zealously answered Aharon. Much like Thoosa, Aharon was completely unarmed. But unlike Iroppoi, Aharon's posture didn't make him out to be a martial artist of any level of skill. However, Aharon was the consumer of the Namako Namako no Mi, Model: Blue Dragon. And he was more than a little inventive when it came to utilizing it in battle. Last but not least, Aharon stood at a greater elevation than Thoosa, Iroppoi, and Prince John. But at a lesser one than the remaining three. “Necessary Justice isn't Lazy Justice! It goes beyond just the now. Aren't those your words, Iroppoi-ittouhei?” “A fearsome man carrying the surname of Mundi,” murmured Akuginu while she was reading the bounty poster that Dokumi had placed on their table. “We've confirmed that he is a Mundi; however, I'm not so sure if he fits the fearsome part...” “He is surely fearsome in battle. Perhaps that is what they mean by fearsome this time around,” proposed Dokumi. Unbeknownst anyone present but them, Akuginu and Dokumi were world-class assassins who both carried a bounty of 200,000,000 File:Bsymbol.gif. With the secret to their success being their individual consumption of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. Akuginu was the consumer of the Kumo Kumo no Mi, Model: Darwin's Bark Spider, while Dokumi was the consumer of the Kumo Kumo No Mi, Model: Spitting Spider. “I truly hope that is what they meant. It'd be kind of refreshing for them to start using fearsome for strong people rather than strong-looking people,” Akuginu was unarmed while Dokumi was armed with a pair of white-bladed daggers. Akuginu stood above Aharon, Thoosa, Iroppoi, and Prince John. While Dokumi stood above Akuginu, Aharon, Thoosa, Iroppoi, and Prince John. “All of you shut up!” demanded the current King of the Hill, the small-boned Allied Mundi himself. Allied then threw his hands into the air before he flew into a short-lived rant. “You guys just keep on talking and talking. Talking and talking! Well I've had just about enough of it! No more talking for you, and no more asking from me! I am just going to TAKE your 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bills!” “We've been over this!” screamed Prince John with a finger point at Allied in an accusative manner. “There is no such thing as a 1 File:Bsymbol.gif bill! Get over it!” “I said no talking!” roared Allied as he threw himself off of the top of the hill into a dive towards Prince John. “Just for that, I'm going to take yours fist!” “Come and try!” growled Prince John as he readied himself for a confrontation with the now-former King of the Hill. “Purinsu Cha-mingu no...” “His back is exposed. Let's do it!” said Dokumi as she clapsed her hands together and started to retch as if she was trying to make herself vomit. “Amimono Kenpo...” “If we must,” sighed Akuginu an instant before she started to mimic Dokumi's actions. “...Supure Inoru! (Webbing Kenpo, Spray and Prey!) It was then that the sisters simultaneously begun to discharge webbing from each of their mouths. And while their individual webbing were en route towards the descending Allied, they tangled into a unified whole which was perfectly shaped like a net. “Tch,” snorted Aharon at Allied's descent. Aharon then willed a sizable, dart-like object into protruding from each of his shoulders. With a grunt from Aharon, the dart-like objects rocketed from Aharon's shoulders straight towards Allied Mundi. “Mari-n Panku, Taikuumisairu! (Marine Punk, Anti-Aircraft Missile!) “You leave my boytoy alone!” demanded Thoosa of Allied an instant before she released the limits upon her right arm, immediately causing the arm to swell to a massive size. “Saikuroppu Supesharu...” “If I must,” groaned Iroppoi before she literally lashed out with her leg at an incomprehensibly fast speed; projecting a wildly hurtling, crescent air blade towards Allied as a result. “Rankyaku, Suto-mu Regguu! (Storm Leg, Storm Leg!)” “...Jaberin! (Prince Charming's Javelin!)” finished Prince John as he thrust his longsword two times. Prine John then thrust a third time, propelling a lengthy needle of air towards the incoming Allied as a direct result of doing so. “Chuusei Kentou...” snarled out Allied as he outstretched an arm towards the hill of debris. Less than a moment later, Allied's outstretched arm suddenly seemed to pull itself and the entirety of Allied's body towards the hill. As soon as the hand of his outstretched an arm came into contact with the hill, Allied quickly pushed off of the hill as a means of throwing himself sidewardly through the air. “...Seibi: Anchoring Fist! (Neutron Boxing, Complete Equipment: Anchoring Fist!)” “That's not good,” understated Prince John as the very worst case scenario started to play out. First, Aharon's dart-like objects rocketed into the net of combined webbing that had been created by the Amimono Sisters. Because of the combined webbing's sheer strength, the dart-like objects each got tangled into the net rather than pierced through it as one might have expected. Unfortunately, such an entanglement slowed the webbing down JUST enough for Iroppoi's crescent air blade to slam into its very center. As Iroppoi's crescent air blade exploded into fierce of gales, the net of webbing and dart-like objects were grinded together into a miniature sandstorm of poisonous grains. Before the sandstorm could manage to calm into a harmless sprinkle upon a vacant portion of the hill of debris, Prince John's needle of air slammed into it. Explosively. “That's not good at all,” “WHAT THE FU-” was all a bystander managed to say before the BOOM. What was once a miniature sandstorm of poisonous grains exploded into an enormous one. Not only was the entirety of the hill encompassed within the sandstorm, but also a large amount of the neighboring structures as well. Allied, Dokumi, Akuginu, Aharon, Thoosa, Iroppoi, Prince John, and more struggled to hold their breath as the toxic winds raged all around them. And all but two of them were too encumbered by how the winds were obscuring their vision to act any further. With the two exceptions being Allied Mundi and Thoosa. “Chuusei Kentou: Seibi: Anchoring Fist! (Neutron Boxing, Complete Equipment: Anchoring Fist!)” called Allied as he outstretched an arm towards Prince John. Like before, it wasn't long before the arm seemed to pull itself and the entirety of his body in the very direction it was outstretched towards. As Allied continued his descent towards Prince John, he reeled his outstretched arm back in preparation for a mighty punch! ”Chuusei Kentou...” “Hurhurhurha!” laughed Thoosa as she leaped towards Allied in order to intercept Allied's descent towards Prince John. Thoosa then reeled back her resized arm in preparation for a mighty punch of her own. “...Wan Hitto Nokku-auto! (Cyclops Special, One Hit Knockout!)" “...Seibi: Proton Hook! (Neutron Boxing, Complete Equipment: Proton Hook!)” finished Allied as he and Thoosa each threw a right hook towards the other's right fist. Allied's right hook was augmented by a centrifugal force which had been produced as a direct result of his perfectly proper technique. While Thoosa's right hook was augmented by the release of the full potential of the muscles within her right arm. The impact between these augmented hooks was cataclysmic. First and foremost, there was a light. Even the luminescence of the sun itself was overshone by the sheer brilliance of Allied and Thoosa's clash. And then there was a shockwave. A billow of energy which was quick to sweep everything away from Allied and Thoosa. The venomous squalls which had been blowing around them, all of the people whom had been encompassed within the aforementioned squalls alongside them, the even the very hill of debris the two of them had been fighting upon! EVERYTHING, had been tossed aside. Everything but Allied and Thoosa themselves. “This guy is strong!” thought Thoosa as the recoil of the impact separated Allied and her from each other. Both Allied and Thoosa went back-flipping onto a landing atop of one of the neighboring structures. The two of them then stared each other down. Allied with wavering eyes and Thoosa with a lustful gaze. “That tears it! I want him as well! With the Prince as my beauty and him as my beast, I may finally find some contentment in life! Hurhurhurha!”
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