AU- One Piece: Phantom Raiders

[batman4560]

Chapter 5: Mine of Broken Dreams

"Ughhh! You gotta be kidding me! This forest just doesn't stop, it's like a freaking jungle!" Mashyuu groaned, holding his rib and realizing that he was truly in pain and danger. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned when he realized he was still leaving a trail from his feet and his wings were tired from flying for an hour. Ragnar had survived the collapse of the Pyramid and following the Pirate. The man continued through the forest and stopped at what he considered the edge. The forest became far less dense and overbearingly hot, instead opening to a clearing with a mountain cliff opposite the injured Skypiean. Mashyuu pressed his back to a near by tree and slumped to the floor, disgusted at how dirty he had become but happy with the fact that he found a cave, the sun was starting to set and he was overjoyed that he could sleep in something with a roof and maybe even not have to worry about Ragnar or Mars coming after him.

Slowly Mashyuu glanced about the clearing, looking at a large table that had papers and strange tools on them. It took a moment but Mashyuu managed to hoist himself up and stagger towards the table and look at the writing on the papers. "I can't read half of this...." He muttered, slipping all the papers into a small stack and folding them to fit into his back pocket. The man limped towards the cliff and climbed a rope ladder up into a tall cave that was far darker than he thought it would be. Mashyuu's hand felt along the wall until he managed to grab a small dial resting on a shelf. He held it away from his body and pressed a small button on the side causing the curled shell to expel a soft light.

Mashyuu looked up and followed the walls with his vision until they split off in two different directions. Then he glanced at the ground and saw a set of metal tracks that split off the same ways as the walls. The man sighed and stepped deeper into the mine, swinging to the right and into the hallway. Mashyuu wandered for an hour and stopped at a dead end where doors rested on the left and right of him. Mashyuu slammed his shoulder into the left door and grunted when it didn't budge then realized he had a devils fruit power now. His eyes rolled and he pushed his hand out, tossing the door into the room with an electromagnetic force. The man frowned and flashed the light into the room and smiled at what he saw. An old mattress with a fair sized backpack. Tired, the man wandered into the room, flicking his wrist and letting the door slam shut behind him, a twist of his thumb caused the lock to slam shut and hold firm.

It took a few moments to get comfortable on the mattress but the Pirate slowly started to drift off and eventually fell asleep. He awoke some time later, without a clue as to how long he had actually slept. Quickly he sat up and drew a deep breath of air, running his hands through his shaggy black locks until the hair started to untangle enough that he could not hurt himself with a passing hand. Glancing next to him he saw the backpack and yanked it open. Inside was a small set of smithing tools and a notebook that had seen better days. Quietly Mashyuu started to thumb through the book, already feeling better than he had the night before.

I found the forge's location. This discovery could change Skypiea forever. Better yet, the mine its in has real Skypiean Steel, not that cloud stuff that the people use. This metal is light weight and pure white when mixed and hammered correctly. The process has been hard and I've only managed to make a few ingots, but I'm sure with the forge it would be easier. If the stories are true, the forge should be a small box that can be transported in something as simple as my backpack. If not I'll have to hope that I'll be able to keep this mine a secret.

Mashyuu closed the book and quirked a brow. A secret forge that could be put in a back pack? That sounded a bit crazy even to the Captain but he had already seen enough insanity on the Island that it was at least worth checking out. Tossing the book back in the bag and looking around once again Mashyuu frowned when he didn't see anything however as he lifted it, something clattered. A bamboo cane fell from the bottom of the bag hidden by straps. The pirate reached to lift the cane and felt a magnetic pull radiate from it. His head twisted in confusion for a moment as he reached out and closed his hand, causing the thing to float to his grasp. Holding the cane in one hand, Mashyuu grasped the other and drew a blade from the bamboo cane. "Nice.... looks strong should help if anyone attacks."​

 

[batman4560]

Mashyuu vs Ragnar! The Final Battle!

Mashyuu flourished the blade, spun it around his right arm and tossed it in the air, twisted his body as the blade whipped about and started to fall. His left hand splayed open, the sword stopped mid air and started to spin, at the same time Mashyuu drew his whip blade and sent a charge through it with his devil fruit power and caused the blade to straighten and remain in place. Slowly he lowered the bamboo handled blade back into the scabbard and whipped the belt sword back around his waist and dusted off his hands. "Oh yeah, that will do nicely." Mashyuu whispered and stood up straight, patting the blade handle on his waist and spinning the cane around in his palm then slung it over his shoulder and took note of the screws holding the scabbard together, something he could use to quickly draw the blade if needed. Hoisting the bag with the book over his shoulder, Mashyuu started to open the door and stopped. Something was wrong, he wasn't alone in the mine.

Carefully Mashyuu opened the door, doing his best to not let it make a sound as it slowly swung open. The Skypiean Pirate slid his body out of the room and braced himself. He could hear something moving down the hall towards him. Then he saw it, a spark strike from the ground, spear tip meeting stone for just a moment before the foot falls became a charge. Mashyuu's knees bent and he jumped forward and up with the beat of his wings, causing a circle of dirt to shoot out around the man. "TRIBAL LUNGE!" Ragnar shouted, a blast of air cut through the hall from the force of Ragnar's charge, carrying the Skypiean in its wake. Ragnar blew the wall behind Mashyuu to rubble, causing the mine to quake while Mashyuu flipped over Ragnar and rolled to his feet, drawing his new sword and spinning to face Ragnar at the same time.

"Ragnar! Can we do this some other place? You seem to like bringing walls down around us and I don't really feel like fighting you and a mine!" Mashyuu shouted while trying to seem like he was in control of a situation he was sure would end in him getting hurt again. Ragnar whipped about and hoisted his spear up and back then threw his arm forward along with the spear. A roar fell from Ragnar's mouth as he tossed the weapon. Mashyuu's left hand created a field around his arm, then covered his abs and chest while he stepped to the side, allowing the spear to pass him by. Ragnar grinned wide after the clattered to the ground away from Mashyuu. The Pirate Captain grunted and fell to a knee, even with his magnetic shield up, the spear managed to graze him and cut the man across the arm fairly deeply, and nicked his abs as well.

Mashyuu shook the sudden shock of pain from his body but was too late to realize Ragnar was already charging, and throwing his knee up into Mashyuu's face hard. Mashyuu grunted with the blow and was sent skidding across the ground next to the tracks and stopped with a crunch roughly thirty feet away from Ragnar's spear. He didn't move for a moment, instead taking a second to make sure his head was still on his neck. He groaned while Ragnar took his time walking to get his spear and lifted it off the ground. Mashyuu weakly reached out, grabbed the metal track for mine carts and sent a charge through it. The steel bar screeched and bent up then lashed like a whip at Ragnar. Ragnar jumped towards the thing, finding it was easier to dodge by charging than backing up. Mashyuu rolled to his left flank just as Ragnar stabbed down and impaled the ground where Mashyuu's chest and back had been an eye blink ago.

A flick of Mashyuu's leg sent Ragnar tumbling over but the man used his spear to catch himself and stay up. Mashyuu scrambled to his feet and both realized they were in too tight of a space to fight with their weapons. That was until Mashyuu's scabbard came flying through the air and smacked Ragnar in the face, knocking the man against the wall opposite Mashyuu. The dark haired Pirate darted out of the hall and flew towards the entrance to get to the clearing. Wind rushed past Mashyuu's body and face, part of that woke the man up and made him feel free. When he could feel the rays of the sun creeping through the mine entrance he folded his wings in, spun about and spread his wings again the moment he was out of the mine and flew up straight into the air. A blast of wind followed from the mine as Ragnar attacked again and just barely missed his target.

Soaring as high and fast as he could, Mashyuu drew his whip blade and sent a charge through it. Silver sparks leap't from the blade as it straightened and gleamed in the sunlight. "Magnetic Alignment...." Mashyuu muttered. Ragnar stopped and looked up at Mashyuu while bracing his body and closing his eyes. When he opened them they glowed with a golden light. "Mantra.... Sky Tiger Hunt!" In the blink of an eye, Ragnar reached to his boot while bending at the knee and drew a hidden short blade then lunged up with a beat of his smaller wings. Mashyuu began to spin his blades in the same direction, so that they never crossed at the center of his body. "...Nitoryu (Two Sword Style.)..." Mashyuu raised his weapons up and dove down at Ragnar, spinning in a drill like fashion the opposite direction of his blades. "...Judgement Slash!"

Mashyuu's blades caught Ragnar's spear, flung the weapon aside, his dagger never made contact with anything while Mashyuu shot past Ragnar and cut him from chest to calf in one rapid spin. Mashyuu stopped and landed on the ground on one knee and looked over his shoulder as Ragnar's mangled body spiraled down with a small shower of blood and crashed through the old wooden table. Ragnar moved for a moment, reached for the spear that had landed some ways off, knowing he'd never make it in time. Mashyuu stalked towards Ragnar and made it a point to step on the weapon and make sure it was broken for good. "Get lost, crawl your way home, see your family and pray I don't find you. Next time you attack me or my family, I'll feed your guts to the wildlife here." Mashyuu warned Ragnar, trying to be the Captain he promised Ion he could be....​

 

[batman4560]

"It's been days, should we go looking for him?" Jager asked, gesturing outside the ship towards the forest. Sano shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest while giving Ion and Sora a sideways glance. "Not yet, first we need to move on that Shaw guys war ship factory and take those things out before its too late. If those things get sent to the world below it could mean a lot of trouble for Pirates and raiders. Really its the idea of marines having a ship like ours or other pirates having it that worries me the most." Sano continued. "Agreed, my vote is for the four of us to go, leave a note for Mashyuu and wreck that place. Leave the others here to keep the ship safe." Ion muttered while pulling a pair of knee high boots on and fastening a belt around her flared hips to hang lazily to one side. Sora nodded, silently pondering if any of those ships might have anything the crew could add to the Skycleaver to make it better. "Yeah, after installing those new dials in the pipes and doing some basic work on the Skycleaver, there are some things I'd like to try if we can find some parts that will fit on her."

Mashyuu trugged back through the mines for the second day. He had followed the left wall long enough to have looped around and found some passages that led deeper into the mine, deeper than he thought it would and even came to a slant going down to a darkness that only a stashed light dial could break through. After hours of walking he stopped at what appeared to be a cave in. His head sank low, eyes shifted to glance over his shoulder and then back to the rocks making up the cave in. "Can't stop now, if that book is right, then there's good treasure here that's worth the work. The others should be okay for now." Mashyuu reasoned to himself in the dark and started to tug at rock after rock, letting the boulders slide down the caved in pile. "What you're looking for isn't there anymore...." A high pitched voice called from the darkness. Mashyuu turned to face the sound and his wings beat once, taking him off the ground a bit. Two glowing purple eyes lit the way first and from the darkness Kirra, Jarra and Daku appeared. In Jarra's hand was a stuffed sack. "You sent our brother back to us, humbled but alive. For that we owe you, outsider." Daku called out and motioned towards the sack in Jarra's hand. Kirra waved happily and Mashyuu noticed the rope marks on her wrists, a frown crossed his face. Jarra tossed the bag and let it slide to Mashyuu's feet as he landed. "Inside that bag is the forge you read about, and a few bars of Skypiean Steel. We left that notebook in the mine to trap prey down here. If you can forge that steel correctly it will come out a pure white and give you an edge over a lot of people, but it's going to be light steel either way. Good luck on your travels Mashyuu, we don't expect to see you again." Daku called out and took a step back, followed by her brother and sister, leaving the Pirate alone in the dark. Carefully he dropped to a knee and pulled the bag open, seeing a small box roughly the size of an end table that had a lever on it. Mashyuu spotted a bundle of pure white ingots of steel and hoisted the bag, then ran off for the exit and flew through the air towards the sky then the Sky Cleaver just as the sun was starting to set.

The Phantom Raiders stepped off the Skycleaver, all ready to sneak back into the near by city and take out Shaw's shipyard, each with a determined look on their face when from the darkness, Mashyuu dropped down near them and collapsed to his knees, exhaustion, pain and lack of energy dropping him like an anvil. "AIIIIEEEEEYYYYYYYY!" Ion shouted from shocked fear and jumped back nearly ten feet, the others took up a defensive stance and when they realized it was their Captain, Ion shot to his side like a bullet and helped him up. "What did I miss? Why is everyone leaving?" Mashyuu asked while Ion noted he looked terrible. "Nothing that can't wait Cap." Sano commented with a grin on his face. "Found something we need to take care of in three day's time." Mashyuu grinned ear to ear, glanced at everyone's gear and looked at Sora's hips with old boomerangs on them. "Give me two of those days." Mashyuu commanded and headed to the ship to get some rest.​

 

[batman4560]

The sun started to rise over the clouds of Skypiea, Mashyuu stood in a pair of light trousers with boots, and a leather apron, his hair held back out of his eyes with a red head band. Standing in the brig of the Sky Cleaver, Mashyuu tossed a small book on a table near the door to the brig and walked towards the cube with a lever on it. Over his shoulder was the sack that had the Skypiean Steel bars. Sano and Jager were at the mine getting more ores that wasn't Skypiean steel in order to help Mashyuu, but he looked about the cube and examined the writing on it. It was in Skypiean but Mashyuu couldn't read much of it. Shrugging, Mashyuu placed one gloved hand on the top of the cube, then pulled a lever down on the cube. It made a funny metal grinding against metal sound then became warm to the touch. Stunned by the heat, Mashyuu jumped back and watched while the cube unfolded like a box that had no tape to support it. Inside, dials worked to produce a forge the likes of which Mashyuu had never seen before. A fire that produced no real heat, an anvil at the far left end of the forge, at the right a smelter and quencher.

"...huh.." Mashyuu muttered while looking at the device and the few tools Boris allowed him to take with him after working for the former Pirate. Hoisting up a pair of tongs Mashyuu grabbed a piece of steel out of the bag and dropped the rest on the floor. Mashyuu put the metal bar into the furnace of the forge and waited, watching the steel bar turn red hot. Carefully he used the tongs to pull the bar out and set it on the anvil. Hoisting a small but heavy hammer he started to flatten the bar until it had cooled and became hard again. He repeated the process until he had a sheet of metal that was roughly as thick as a silver dollar. Next he coated the steel in clay and put it back in the forge, heating it again and withdrawing it to hold at an angle, the weight of the heavy and cooked clay forced the bar to bend without breaking the pearl colored steel.

After it curved to Mashyuu's liking, he took a small hammer and knocked the clay off the bent steel and began to file the steel down to make a rounded edge at its center and smoothed out any grooves. Next he got to work with a small and sharp chisel, forcing the steel bar to resemble an angels wing. Finally he wrapped the thinner end of the wing with a light and thin rope and did the same to the center of the bent metal, inlaying it with a small gem. When he was happy with it, Mashyuu walked to the upper deck and faced the forest then hurled the thing as best as he could. The Boomerang soared through the air and started to curve back in towards Mashyuu, landing in the mast a few feet away from him. The Pirate yanked it out of the mast while Sano and Jager returned with a sack of ore each. "Sora! Come here!" Mashyuu called out. Sora arrived with her usual swagger and stared at the weapon in Mashyuu's hand. He flipped it in his palm once and placed it in hers. "This is yours now, yours is starting to look old and busted, thought this might serve you a little better."​

 

[batman4560]

Chapter 6: Sabotage!

Led by Sano, Mashyuu, Ion, Jager and Sora marched to the gate into the city of Skypiea proper. They had a few hours to kill before night fell and they could make their move so Ion suggested getting a better feel for the streets to make a get away plan instead of doing what they usually did.... running and causing a bigger mess. The gates were guarded by five men now, more than doubling the amount of guards that were there when Sano and Sora visited last. Each guard looked as if he wasn't willing to entertain the mess that the pirates had made before. Upon seeing the crew's shadows, the guards aimed spears at the end of the bridge and got ready. The Phantom Raiders walked across the curved bridge, Mashyuu dressed in his 'pirate garb' mask and all stepped in front of the group and pointed his left hand forward and closed his fingers into a fist. All of their spears lurched forward a bit, tugging at the group of Skypiean's hands. At the same time the gate behind them creaked like it was in pain. Mashyuu smirked and the others watched him with a wary awe. "Attract!" Mashyuu called out, all the metal in front of him including the gate doors creaked and launched in his direction, knocking the guards down and throwing them forward. The gates and the weapons stopped just a meter away from Mashyuu and he threw his hand back, causing the metal to sail behind the Raiders. Sano and Ion lunged forward, racing past Mashyuu and attacked the guards while they were recovering, quick solid blows sent the guards toppling over the bridge into water below it, the white sea of Skypiea washed the men away towards Shaw's old home. With the small group of guards taken care of Mashyuu and the others moved on, entering town.

The small city of Skypiea was filled to the brim with people, more so than Mock Town below even. The din of people chattering filled the ears of the Phantom Raiders, leaving most of them a bit overwhelmed at the sense overload... They found themselves sitting on a patio at a local coffee shop, Sora sipped her coffee and nodded across the street to draw everyone's attention to the factory across from them. "That's the place. Sano and I scoped it out earlier, from what we could tell, roughly one hundred men at any given time, most of them working on the ships while the rest either make sure the men are doing their jobs or engineers to keep the dials and weapons working. Gonna be hard to deal with them all and sabotage the ships. If you can keep em all off my back I can make sure the ships don't work correctly." Ion looked at the building and watched the smoke rise from stacks made of some sort of limestone at the top of the building while squinting. "Guards on the roof, looks like riflemen." Jager sat back, listening to the others casually talk about ruining a factories ships. "Well whats to stop them from fixing the ships or making more?" He finally asked, causing everyone to look his way. "He's right, we gotta take down the entire building. Nobody has a job when this is over." Mashyuu agreed and nodded as if he were giving a captain's order. The group continued their talk for another forty minutes then all split up...

Mashyuu pulled a door open and stepped into a rather large smithy's. The doors were far taller than Mashyuu expected and the rooms were three times as large. Part of him expected the massive building to be like a shopping center and not one large shop. As he scanned the massive building and the near by stands a voice boomed from the right. "Stop him! Please!" A blonde man in a bombers jacket with goggles over his eyes darted out of a room and down the hall towards Mashyuu and the front doors. Under his right arm was a bundle of swords. With a near blinding speed the man slid under Mashyuu's legs and threw his left arm out. "Cross Stitch!" He called out while swinging his left arm in an arc. From the back of his hand a needle hooked to a spool of thread wooshed in the air and pinned the laces of Mashyuu's boots to the ground along with the bottoms of his pants legs. Mashyuu made a lunge for the man and fell forward, eating the floor in the process. Just as the man started to sprint out the front door, A massive club wrapped in white cloth appeared in front of him and smashed into his face full force. The blonde mans eyes rolled into the back of his head, bone crunched and bent while his head fell back and his body kept going forward, causing him to flip backwards mid air and his entire form crashed to the ground. Jager picked the dazed man up by the scruff of his jacket and dragged him back into the shop, shutting the door behind him.

After struggling for a fair bit, Mashyuu used his devil fruit powers to hold the mans arms out at his sides so he couldn't use whatever trick he used to pin the Pirate to the ground again. Jager went to the side of the shop and gasped, against the wall, behind a counter were four people, three Skypiean workers and a blacksmith that was half Giant, half Skypiean. "Well that explains the doors. Here let me cut you down." Jager muttered under his breath and set to work freeing the others. "You don't get it man! I gotta get money to get off this crazy Island, I can't survive a fall and I can't get a ship without money, nobody wants to hire a helmsman right now... at least nobody I'd trust." The blonde pleaded as Jager and the others came from the other room. At Mashyuu's feet was the bundle of swords the man had stolen. The half Giant lumbered into the room, his long face, red with rage and frustration was covered by long black hair that was matted to his face by sweat from struggling in his binds. "I should take your head off!" The man shouted. Jager took a half step back, not wanting to make a Giant, even a half Giant mad. "Wait wait, is anyone hurt? If not I'll take this guy out of here and deal with him myself. But first I came to buy some tools for a smithy if you have any?" Mashyuu lifted a brow as if he were waiting for an answer. Lazily he kicked the bundle back to the giant's feet and the man nodded his approval. "Sure, where do I send em?" Mashyuu nodded to Jager and in turn the cook jotted down on a small piece of paper the location of the Skycleaver. "I'd prefer to not just say where we are docked for my own safety." Mashyuu explained. "Aye I understand, now lets settled the bill.... half off for saving my goods and taking that piece of trash out of here."

Jager, Mashyuu and the blonde walked out of the shop and back into town, then quickly rounded a corner. Before the blonde could even make a move to run or attack, Mashyuu slammed his fist into the mans jaw and sent him sprawling onto the floor. "That was for making me face plant in there. Now, if you want off this island listen to me carefully. I need a Helmsman on my ship, but you're gonna come with me first, I'm not dumb enough to trust you to sail my ship without throwing you in the fire first, if you turn on me, you're gonna have a bounty and if we pull this off, you won't be on Sky Island much longer, understood?" Mashyuu reached his gloved hand out to the man and the blonde glanced at Mashyuu and Jager then reached up for Mashyuu's hand. "Yeah sure, Anthony Mercer at your services, my friends call me Anton. What can the stitch-stitch devil fruit eater do to earn his keep?"​

 

[batman4560]

Sora and Ion strolled around town, both the ladies were silent during the first half of their walk, avoiding eye contact, barely walking together at all really. The duo caught one another stealing glances at each other once in a while until Sora, the less patient of the two snapped and said something first. "What the hell do you keep looking at me for? Wanna make out or hit me?" Sora shouted, spit flying from her mouth while passerby's stopped to stare. Ion glared at Sora and drew up close to the woman so only she could hear what Ion had to say. "I don't like how reckless you are, you put the others in danger from day one and I think you're gonna get us all killed one day. Didn't want the others to hear me tell you. So get your shit together." Sora folded her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one leg, hip cocking to the side while she looked past Ion. A sideways smile slid over her lips and Sora whispered softly. "I'm a shipwright and thief. Some would call that a Pirate. If I were gonna try to get you guys hurt, I'd have turned you into the Government or left you with the marines back on Mock Town." Her eyes locked on Ion's purple eyes for a moment then shifted past her face to someone walking into Shaw's workshop.

The man that Sora was watching wore a black tuxedo, with white gloves and had pitch toned wings. The mans dark hair was carefully parted in the center and went past his green eyes down to his jawline. He entered the workshop and shut the door carefully behind him. Ion glanced out of the corner of her eye at the man then back to Sora. "Give me a reason to trust you Sora, lets try to work together on this." Ion muttered and started to walk down the road again, circling the five story workshop. The ladies moved closer together then, a little more friendly after laying their cards on the table, even if they didn't understand one another, they could agree on trying to work together for some common goals.

Sano sat at a local bar, a large jug of ale in his left hand, his head in his right. The world swam in his head for a long moment. A deep breath entered his lungs and he lurched forward for a moment but held his ale down. "Buddy are you gonna be okay?" The tender asked Sano, in turn Sano held up his thumb then grasped the tender by his collar and tugged the man forward over the bar a bit. "Ya can do somthin for me..... wuddya know about Shaw?" Sano asked under his breath and let the tender go. "...Shaw? Angela or Mr. Shaw?" the Tender asked while making sure his shirt was straight and that nobody was watching, his face turned a bit red and he flushed slightly worried someone had noticed what was happening. "...Both of em, I got a score to settle." Sano tipped the jug back and finished it off, slamming it on the bard and sliding more money than the jug was worth across the table for the tender.

The man eyed the money for a moment then walked over towards the door and locked it tight, slowly he turned to face Sano and shook his head. "You don't want any part of that family. The Shaw's are dangerous, slave owning folks who sell weapons to the highest bidders. The sea below, savages on other parts of the island, Giants, military officials.... It's dangerous out there and the Shaw's aren't making it any better. Whatever score you think you have to settle, you can't do it alone." Sano grinned wide, hearing that the family was as immoral as Mashyuu had made it out was enough for Sano to back his Captain no matter what.​

 

[batman4560]

The sun set on Skypiea, and with it, darkness swiftly overtook the heavenly realm. Smoke from factories rose and created new clouds that drifted into the distance, shops shut down and the trio of Mashyuu, Jager and Anton stepped out of the half Giant's shop, a small belt wrapped around his waist with samples of metals he was interested in trying to forge new weapons from. Jager tied a head band with a silver plate across his forehead and Anton tightened the gloves on his hands with metal guarded spools of wire and needles. Sora and Ion waited outside of the factory, watching guards move back and fourth, and Sano came stumbling over towards the women with a grin on his face and a jug of ale in his hand. "Ladies! We ready for this?" He asked, wrapping an arm around both women. Sora leaned in and kissed his cheek like a lover flirting while Ion shrugged him off and made sure her doctors coat had supplies in it. She pulled her cestus on over her forearms and fists and Sora patted her hips to show she had her boomerangs ready.

The trio walked to Sano and the ladies, Anton looking the two beauties up and down with a grin on his lips until Jager slapped the back of his head with the cloth wrapped club that rested over his shoulders. "Phantom Raiders, this is Anton, he's gonna be joining us from now on and I think his particular skill will come in real handy here." Anton pulled his goggles on over his face and shot finger pistols to the others one at a time. Ion rolled her eyes, Sora scoffed and Sano was far too drunk to make heads or tails of what the man was doing with the others but figured another pair of hands couldn't hurt things. "Howzza Donin?" Sano slurred and lifted his jug to take the last pull from it. Anton shook his head side to side and glanced at Mashyuu. "This the brawler you were tellin me about? Sano?" Mashyuu nodded and clapped his hands. "Alright enough for the introductions for now. Come on." The group stalked as carefully as six could closer towards the factory into an alley where they could hide in the darkness of the city.

"Okay... Anton and I will fly to the roof and take out the guards there, then I'll go back down and get Sora, Sora you're gonna stay up top and cover us once the guards and the men on the catwalks are dealt with, you come down and rig the ships. Sano, Ion and myself will deal with anyone on the ground, Jager I want you with Anton, keep him safe while Anton makes sure those ships are all connected so if one goes they all go." Mashyuu explained, everyone listening carefully aside from Sano who was slumped against the wall and fiddling with the handle of his explosive flail.

"He gonna be okay?" Jager asked, realizing that he had never seen Sano drink so much and that was even more concerning since they were about to go into a fight. Mashyuu and Sora eyed one another up and started to chuckle. "Of course, the first time Sano and I fought side be side he could barely stand he was so boozed up." Sano lifted his empty jug and gave the group a salute then tossed the jug aside and dragged himself up to his feet. "Okay, lesst gu beat suumados goonz up'n stff." He slurred and pulled the flail from his waist. Sora giggled and Ion pulled something from her jacket and handed it to Sano. "Drink it, it won't help you now but it will keep the hangover at bay in the morning.... Moron."​

 

[batman4560]

"Okay get that ship loaded with dials, then drag it to the hanger doors, Mr. Shaw wants this stuff shipping by sunrise!" A barrel chested foreman shouted to a crew of workers. The surly man strolled past the front doors while a black winged Skypiean with dark hair in a bowl cut, wearing a black tuxedo walked by, inspecting ships that were lifted off the ground by heavy chains roughly a story up. In the corner of the building, Anton, Jager and Sora slipped into the building through a skylight, mostly using the bound up clothes of other Skypieans, the guards as a rope. As they touched down on the catwalks Sora pulled a few tools from her belt and hopped onto one of the ships, swiftly followed by Anton. Jager drew his club and cracked his neck, hunching down to try and hide as best as he could in the shadows.

Bummm Bummm Bummm!.....Bummm Bummm Bummm! A hollow slam echoed off the hanger doors to the left, then to the right the front doors echoed as something crashed against them. The workers, the foreman and the man in the tux all stopped and looked at the doors with a long, silent pause. The front doors smashed in, Snao staggered into the room hanger and glanced about while yawning and dropping the jug he had been carrying. "Eh? Oi! This ain't where I parked my boat...!" A few of the workers on a ship who were staring at the doors when they were knocked open started to laugh at the drunk and relaxed their stances, causing others to laugh at how worried they had been. Suddenly the hanger doors crumpled like balls of paper, were yanked off the hinges and flew into the darkness of the town. Everyone jerked and stared at the now missing doors and the figure that was slowly walking up to them. The clack of a cane striking the ground echoed while a black jacket flapped in the wind and Mashyuu's wings spread wide. He stopped in the middle of the hanger bay doorway and lifted his red gloved fingers to his face, pressing his white and red mask over his eyes and flipped his hair back all the while wearing a large grin. "Phantom Raiders.... Attack!"

Ion darted into the room behind then around Sano, her heeled shoes clacked rapidly as her darted for the first worker she saw, hand pulling back then lancing out with an open palm to smash into the jaw of thew worker, forcing his teeth to clatter together before he was sent off his feet and crashed into a crate. Using her own momentum and body weight she twisted and came to a stop while swinging the same hand back and forming a fist to back hand the workers buddy who was staring in confusion at the scene. The man in the tux watched as the Phantom Raiders made their move, nodded his head as if he understood what was happening then glanced up to spy Jager lurking. His wings spread and he started to lift off the ground when a heavy chain wrapped around his legs and yanked him hard back down.

"No, no! I'm yer' opponent! Sanoske Impor!" Sano raced at the man who was busy standing up and dusting himself off causally. Mashyuu watched the man dust himself off and felt an odd kinship but spotted the foreman sneaking up behind Sano. Flinging his black jacket open, Mashyuu revealed six throwing blades stuck to his chest with his devil fruit power and waved his free hand lazily. The knives floated up around him and started to point in random directions. "Cloud of Knives!" Mashyuu flicked his wrist towards the foreman and a knife caught the man in the shin, forcing him to fall.

The black winged man stepped out of Sano's now fallen chain as the brawler yanked his flail back to his hand and eyed the well dressed Skypiean. "This just will not do. Lord Shaw expects these to be out now and I'm afraid that I cannot let a rat like you do as you please here. Now prepare yourself for the fight of your life... savage." The man lifted his hand and inspected the white gloves on his his hands then vanished and appeared next to Sano, the Skypiean's eyes glowing while his right hand flashed and changed from white to a black with silver highlight color. He lashed out at Sano and the man ducked, lifted one arm while holding the chain of his flail and wrapped it around the winged man's forearm and wrist then with all of his strength, threw himself forward and flipped the Skypiean into the ground with a thud.

On the Catwalk, a small troupe of workers jumped from one ship and started to shout down at the others, Jager, who was still hiding in the shadows slowly stood, pulling his club back and opening a hidden cap in the handle of the weapon to let water pour out. "Fishman Karate: Tube Ride!" He thrust his weapon out like he was stabbing the air all while standing to his full height. A rolling wave of water sped past Jager and crashed into the troupe of men, throwing them from the Catwalk. Anton jumped from one ship to the other, each time he yanked his hands towards his chest and more thread unraveled from the spools on his gloves, until he had reached the last ship and stopped, twisted around and ran back the other way. As he ran, the ships all started to lurch in their chains that hung from steel rafters. The threads tightened and the ships started to stick together as if they were one giant boat.​

 

[batman4560]

Ion jumped up on a set of horses with boards laid across them. Swiftly she lifted her leg, the dress she wore rode high on her skirt, showing off plenty of leg. The two men that were chasing after her stopped and stared at the smooth creamy skin on display and Ion winked at the men, causing them to blush until Ion dropped her foot down on the crown of one of the men's heads then flipped, landed behind the duo and smashed both their heads together. Ion watched as one dropped in heap and the other staggered. She went to strike him when a boomerang whipped from the shadows and smashed into the mans face then bounced back up into the darkness and into Sora's hand. Sora winked at Ion and vanished back into the ship she was working on, pushing a cannon ball out of a cannon port, the lead ball whistled through the air and smashed into the floor, shattering part of it and flinging debris all over the place.

Ion jumped back, lifted her arms and deflected a piece of wood, landed in a three point stance and slid back into the back of Sano. Sano grunted and threw his elbow into Ion's ribs, knocking her aside while he ducked, a white gloved fist crossed through the air at where the pairs heads would have been. Ion stumbled aside and Sano came up with his head aimed right for the black winged Skypiean's jaw. The man jumped back a pace, his wings carrying him just far enough to be safe from Sano's leaping strike. Sano grinned and dragged his hand across his lower lip, wiping blood from a cut. "Not bad, almost didn't see ya swipe for my head when ya jumped back. So... ya got a name?" Sano asked, impressed with his current opponent. The man pulled the gloves on his hands tighter and glanced at the streak of blood over his left set of knuckles. "Jupiter, not that it will matter. Soon I'll have all of your filthy heads for lord Shaw."

Jupiter raced forward, his wings spreading and beating with every step he took, each time it pushed him faster at Sano, who was already pretty close. Jupiter jumped up and spun, leveling a kick into Sano's chest that folded the brawler over and sent him whistling like a rocket across the warehouse into a stack of crates that exploded when Sano smashed into them then crumbled to the floor in a mess. Sano pushed the crates away slowly while Jupiter stalked towards the man and started to chuckle under his breath at the sight before him. "Impressive little blue sea dweller. You used Mantra and didn't realize it, its why you don't have any broken bones. I too use Mantra but not the kind that protects you. Tell me, has this happened before?" As Sano was pushing crates away he jerked his wrist hard one time, causing the flail to snake backwards towards the two of them rapidly.

"It matters not! Prepare to die!" Jupiter spread his wings and went wide eyed when Sano sprang up and flicked a switch on the handle of his flail. "You like to fly huh!? Fly yer way to hell! Hangman's-" Sano twisted and spun his arm, causing the chain near him to wrap and tie tight while the back of the chain twisted around Jupiter's neck tight. Sano jumped up and over a catwalk, twisting his chain between the rail and the floor of the catwalk as he came down. The weight of Sano's massive body coming down yanked Jupiter straight up into the bottom of the catwalk. The sudden stop caused the steel end of the now flaming flail to snap and swing up into Jupiter's face! "Noose!" The explosion that came from the flail hitting Jupiter in the face and the scream of pain that echoed was loud enough to cause everyone else to stop for a moment before Sano let his weapon go and Jupiter's now lifeless body dragged the chain back down to the ground when his body clattered with a deadly thud.​

 

[batman4560]

Sano drew a deep breath and cracked his neck, behind him Mashyuu yelled in excitement while swinging his cane sword in wide arcs, driving back five men who could barely hold their weapons thanks to Mashyuu using his devil fruit to yank the metal blades side to side. "Foolish of you to turn your back on me." Jupiter leaned in close to Sano, tossing his flail at the Pirates feet and driving his knee into Sano's spine hard. Sano crumpled for a moment, staggering forward a few paces before stopping and shaking the pain out of his body. "You thought a silly move like that would finish me, after I told you I can see all?" Jupiter snarled and beat his wings, black feathers shot at Sano and covered the Pirate's face while Jupiter started to soar around the room, bouncing from side to side so that it was hard to get a direct line on his movements. Sano kicked his flail back up into his hands and took a deep breath, centering himself while he closed his eyes. Blocking out everyting, Sano started to spin his chain about, feeling how it bounced and vibrated in the air until he could count accurately how many times it clanked in a full circle, then he gave it more slack and started to whip it around the room as far out as he could. Mashyuu, Ion, and the ground workers all ducked the chain while Jupiter stayed above it and dove straight for Sano. With a sudden and violent jerk, Sano yanked his weapon down to wrap around his forearm while he dropped to a knee. Jupiter was already committed to the flight and gasped when Sano's arm lit on fire thanks to the dial in the flail. At the same time Anton pulled his hand back and tossed a needle line at Jupiter, letting the needle thread through the back of his suit. Sano aimed and jumped while scowling in flaming pain. "FIRE DEVIL!" Sano's fist twisted and launched a pillar of fire straight into Jupiter's chest and stomach, at the same time Anton yanked up, pulling Jupiter into the bottom of a ship while Anton jumped down to the ground level and shouted at Mashyuu. "Ships are tied together Cap!" Mashyuu kicked a worker in the chest and sent him sprawling backwards then reached up at the ships. "Jager, get Sora out of there! Time to bring these things down!" Mashyuu ordered.

Ion slammed back into a rail, pain shot through her face for a split second before she focused up again. The Foreman who had a knife sticking in his leg at one point squared up his shoulders and came in for a rush of punches. The flurry left Ion on the back foot, her body ducking and dodging rapidly, if not for her quick and thin body she would have been pummeled maybe to death. She watched, waited, while stepping side to side until she saw an opening then went for it. Her shoulder tensed, left foot slid out and all her weight went into it while she snapped her hand out. "Hurricane Backfist!" She threw her body into a backspin and smashed the back of her fist, where the cestus had the most metal, straight into the jaw of the Foreman. The burly man went white in the eyes and staggered back slowly. Ion was on him in an instant, aiming her outstretched fingers with medical precision. "ONE INCH PUNCH!" Her fist rapidly replaced where her fingers were and moved an inch into the solar plexus of the Foreman, sending the Skypiean soaring through the air and out the front doors.

Sora jumped from the top deck of a ship, Jager at her side. The Fishman grabbed Sora's waist and the pair landed hard but safely on the ground below. "Raiders, we're leaving!" Sano called out and Sora lifted a small square box with a red button on it. Pressing it, the ships started to lurch and the piping exploded, causing the glass in the warehouse to shatter. As the Phantom Raiders made their escape, Mashyuu stopped at the front doors, still aiming his left arm at the ships and he started to pull his hand in. The ships all lurched in his direction. He could feel all the nails, metal bindings and cables that held the ships together. With one final yank he pulled all the ships down while they continued to explode, causing the entire warehouse to topple in on itself with a deafening crash!​

 

[batman4560]

Chapter 7: Plan of Attack

"Nice job everyone! After that display we shouldn't have any of Shaw's ships on the blue sea aside from ours!" Mashyuu cheered atop the main deck of the Skycleaver. He spun around the mast while his wings flapped lazily, giving him the appearance of someone who was floating on air. With a sigh of relief he slipped to his rear and sat, looking up at the night sky and the stars that filled it. Past his dark locks, his blue eyes shined with the light reflected from the stars and a sinking feeling took him over. He had every reason to feel good about what was coming next but his heart was heavy. Without noticing it, Ion slipped in next to Mashyuu and sat down, resting her head on his shoulder and pointing at the stars. "It's just exploding gas out there, like a sun. Everyone else is headed to bed, you coming?" Her arm fell and her cestus covered hand rested on his. So lost in thought was Mashyuu that he barely registered Ion was even there. "Hey, do I need to check on you after all? It seemed like you had that fight in hand for once but you're not being your normal self.... in fact you haven't been since we got here. What's up?" Mashyuu frowned and jitterred back to his senses, glanced at Ion resting her head on his shoulder and didn't seem to mind it for once. He nodded his head and ran a hand through his hair to pull it out of his face. "Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking about the next steps. If we move first thing in the morning we might be able to take some land from Shaw."

The sun came up over the Skycleaver and the Phantom Raiders stood at the gang plank of the ship, most of them looking a little pissed at Mashyuu who stood at the end of the ship. "Sano, Ion, Mercer, and myself, we are heading back to the plantation. I have a score to settle with Mars and if he's smart he's got some friends with him. I don't want to get caught with our pants down." Sora crossed her arms over her ample chest and scowled at Mashyuu. "So we're just supposed to stay here and keep the ship warm?" She gestured to Jager and the Skypiean squad. "Aye, ya know it's not like that Sora, but ya gotta admit that you ain't the best fighter an same goes for shark tooth. Ya both best suited for staying here at the moment. If we can find a cabin boy or something then that changes." Sano reasoned while taking a swig of something and putting his flask away. At the same time Jager walked by, looked up at the sun and smiled with approval before laying down under the mast and taking an early morning nap. Mashyuu shrugged his shoulders and beat his wings once while jumping and spinning then took off for the plantation he used to live on. Sano hopped the rail and took off after him while Mercer and Ion strolled behind the others lazily, chatting about something that didn't seem to have any importance to anything.

Sora watched the four walk off and continued to pout for a few moments until they were so far away that she couldn't see them anymore. Rolling her eyes, she headed below deck and started to work on something she had noticed was wrong with the ship when they landed. The others headed to the kitchen for breakfast while the water around the Skycleaver started to bubble slowly and the heads of men sprouted from the foam of the cloud sea.

The land team of Phantom Raiders stopped near the forest next to the plantation and hid in the shadows. Mashyuu closed his eyes and focused for a moment, still working on using his Mantra on command. His face strained with focus for a moment and when his eyes opened were red. "The manor has what looks like nine people inside, I can't tell who is a slave and who isn't though..." He muttered in annoyance and let the red fade from his eyes. "Who cares? Im'ma beat em all up anyway." Sano gave everyone a sideways grin and held one spiked gloved fist up while rolling his shoulder and walking boldly towards the large fence that kept the plantation split from the rest of the area. "I'm only here to make sure you two don't kill yourselves." Ion muttered and tugged her doctors bag over her shoulder while Mercer remained silent, wondering what sort of insane group he signed on with. Mashyuu followed Sano and matched his stride, drawing his cane blade and slipping the scabbard into his belt.
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[batman4560]

Sano and Mashyuu strode confidently towards the front doors of the fence while Ion and Mercer watched the two from the tree line. Mercer slipped back and started drawing threads from his gloves and waved his hand rapidly. "Cross Stitch.." He muttered while the wire gleamed faintly between clusters of trees, creating a net of trip wires at every angle between trees. "Something feels wrong about this. Jager said that last time there were too many guards and they had to be told to back off and let their boss deal with Mashyuu. Now there's nobody atop the walls?" Ion reasoned under her breath and almost hugged herself out of concern, as if she was swarmed with a foreboding case of dread, and for a moment her eyes flashed a light hue of purple.

As the Skypiean Pirate Captain and his Quartermaster neared the front gates, Mashyuu reached his red gloved hand out and yanked it in towards himself. "Attract!" He shouted, the doors cried on their hinges before being forced towards Mashyuu before he flicked his hand idly aside. "Repel!" The doors launched into the air towards the side of the mansion before a hail of gun fire from behind the wall ripped the doors into shredded cheese. Mashyuu and Sano strolled into the plantation and took in the surroundings of the land until Mashyuu's eyes landed on Mars, again dressed in his white suit and loading a pair of guns. At the same time, he strolled towards Mashyuu and Sano with a grin on his smug face while Mashyuu's left hand flicked at his chest, drawing a throwing dagger and launching it at full strength, with a little extra force from his devil fruit. Mars spun his gun around one finger, waved it across the front of his face and deflected the dagger with little effort. "Enough of the tantrum boy. I've grown weary of you and your... pirates. If you don't lay down your weapons and surrender, the two you left at the ship won't survive the night. The winged cripple will be mounted on the gate and the fish will be eaten." Mars warned the duo.

Mashyuu and Sano froze and glanced at one another. Mars had to have at least known they were at the ship but he didn't make mention of the other Skypieans. Were they safe? Was he bluffing? Rolling his eyes and groaning, Sano tossed his flail and spiked gloves to the ground and lifted his hands. Unlike Sano, a deep desire to never be in binds again filled Mashyuu's heart. His eyes grew wide with rage, a low, animalistic growl echoed in his lungs and his hand snapped for the dagger on his chest.

At the Skycleaver, Jager laid under the mast of the ship, half asleep but listening intently to the waves crash against the wood and metal of the ship. He knew the moment their heads came up above the water. His hand grasped the club near him and he rose in one swift motion, whirling the club and shouting. "SLAVERS!!!!!" He hoped that everyone heard him. As he shouted, three Skypiean's with swords that looked like clouds jumped over the rail of the ship and tried to cut at Jager but he managed to deflect the strikes with his club. However he didn't notice the fourth and fifth slip in behind and jab their blades into the side of his leg and just under the shoulder. Jager drew a sharp breath and fell to his knee, swinging his club back and striking one Skypiean before the others jumped him and beat him repeatedly with the hilts of their blades until he stopped moving. It wasn't long before most of the men were coming back up from below deck, dragging Sora by the hair. Her top was ripped open at the side, a large bruise forming on her face right over the eye and in her hair line. Three of the Skypieans had gashes in their arms and legs, one had a broken wing, the other was on the steps with a boomerang in his eye.​