[Episode] We're All Blue Here

“All loyal subjects of magnanimous 5nd wise King Philip, be on the lookout for a dangerous Pirate captain that has been seen skulking within our glorious kingdom. This individual is a blue haired woman who is wanted for piracy among other inhumane crimes! If you spot any suspicious individuals be sure to report to the nearest Marine and avoid any and all contact with the person. This message will now repeat!” This message had been on repeat for over an hour now over the sun kissed city and was echoing throughout the alleyway that a certain blue haired Pirate captain found herself in.

“I just wanted one drink! This isn’t my fault!” Miku told her First Mate, the eternally smiling Emi Roromiya. The two had just landed on this island along with the rest of the Meddling Kids the night before and at Miku’s demand stopped for fresh supplies. In truth the Rascal was simply bored and saw a new island that seemed a reasonably safe spot to have a night on the town. Though it was strange how much Marine presence there was to avoid after docking at a random beach.

The bluenette had simply assumed it was bad timing on their part and demanded the next morning that Emi take her scouting for a proper place for the rest of the Kids to let loose. Of course, nothing ever went to plans for the young woman when it came to her simply wanting to relax and not get into trouble. After the amount of times she got into trouble one would assume she would have learned. It simply seemed that Miku was in a strange sort of denial about the whole thing as the very thought mortified her.

The two women were currently skulking through some alleyways and trying to avoid any and all patrols that were combing the city for them. Luckily skulking through alleys was a sort of hobby for Miku as she had grown up in them as an urchin on Centaurea. “So, I’m all for a good fight but I really don’t like the odds of how many Marines I’m seeing and the two of us.” Miku whispered to Emi as the were pressed against the corner of a building as the shorter woman peeked around the corner. “Kinda reminds me of Las Camp with how heavy their presence is. Did we end up somewhere important?” Miku asked as she remembered blatantly ignoring anything everyone on her crew said about the island before heading off to find her dive bar of choice.

As the Rascal peeked around the corner she actually listened to Emi’s explanation about the island. ‘So this place IS important. Huh, what made this kingdom important enough for the World Government to ‘influence’ it with this much security and wealth and not her home Centaurea. It was a kingdom too.’ Though that argument flopped even in her own head. Centaurea was really only referred to as a kingdom in old tales and history books. No one would really call it a kingdom now. The woman let out a sigh before grinning as Emi reminded her of how well they did in Las Camp.

“I can’t deny that, we did great back there.” It was as Miku said that when she turned around just in time to see a new woman who had just started laughing a small distance behind them. Miku immediately put up her fists and took a light stance so she could evade if necessary. At first look the woman was unarmed and seemed to be trying to be diplomatic. The captain’s eyes roamed around the alley but saw no entrances or doorways. Her eyes then darted up and figured she could make that jump down, so too could this woman. This taller woman with blue hair and better figure than her own. Miku’s temper flared for a second before she ground it out.

“If you don’t want to get hurt I suggest you forget you ever saw us in this alleyway.” Miku said threateningly despite the woman not looking very aggressive. “We didn’t do anything,” The Rascal paused and added a quick addendum, “here.” before continuing. “But I won’t let you turn us over to the Marines.” Miku looked over at Emi and then back to the woman. “So, what’s your choice? I like to think we’re offering a reasonable deal. Though don’t think we can’t take you out before you get out the other side of this alley.” The threat wasn’t empty in the least as Miku was ready to dash after this woman and knock her out if necessary.

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As the three woman stood off against one another in that alley, a platoon of Marines led by a Captain were walking down the street Miku was just looking down. It just so happened that when she looked away they turned onto the street from the block over. The Captain was well dressed and was walking in front of his men, tossing orders and gesturing for them to knock on each door to inquire about possible sightings. Alleys were to be searched, stands inspected, rooftops monitored, all while making sure a clear line of sight was intact so no one suddenly disappeared. The man had cropped brown hair, a heavy set of brows, a frown, and black eyes that were constantly sweeping the streets. At his side was a metal baton that was well worn.

Despite her reputation, the Rowdy Rascal wasn’t actually used to intimidating others and having it actually work. Most people either accused her of being a criminal and attacked or immediately sought out local law enforcement to report her presence. Therefore when the taller bluenette did neither it did throw Miku off slightly.

Miku listened to the taller woman’s spiel about how the vague description matched herself and was causing her problems too. The Rascal actually felt a pang of sympathy for the woman when she mentioned her own crew had probably booked it without her. Miku had full confidence her Kids would never leave her behind unless she specifically told them to, and even then they might not do so. So to hear this woman state that she didn’t have the same hope for her own crew was saddening.

However the moment of sympathy was quickly dashed when Emi warned about some Marine’s moving in on their position. The situation was getting dire and the woman they were currently squaring off against seemed to be feeling that too as her following sentences was much less confident than before and tinged slightly with desperation. Miku didn’t like the thought of teaming up with someone she didn’t trust but she’d teamed up with worse sorts before. Like that pretty boy Marine.

After a tense moment of silence Miku lowered her arms and nodded her head. “It’s the three of us then.” Miku quickly sidled up beside Emi and peeked around the corner, below the head of the other in an almost comical fashion. The short woman cursed to herself and quickly ducked back into the alley. The Marines were being led by a bastard in a coat, someone potentially strong. The Rascal had never actually bothered learning the Marine’s ranking system so only really differentiated the weak and strong by those coats they wore.

“We have to move, as for a plan…” Miku said as she moved towards a door that led into one the buildings they were hiding beside while signalling the two other women to follow her, “just keep up with us.” The Rascal grinned as she then proceeded to kick the door open and dash inside. The room she dashed into was a storage room of some kind, the Rascal didn’t make out any more details as she simply dashed straight for the next door she saw. This one was unlocked and Miku swung it open as she kept running at full speed, she hopped over a counter and noticed she’d emerged in a personal kitchen which lead into the living room of a small family all eating a meal.

Two adults stared at her, one with their mouth agape full of food and the other spitting out a beverage they’d been drinking. A young boy was pointing at her and shouting something to his parents. Miku simply dashed through their living room and jumped out an open window into their backyard. Once outside she waited momentarily for her two companions before looking up at their surroundings. There were plenty of houses they could dive into and use to move without attracting the immediate attention of the Marines, but the families would just keep reporting them moments after.

“Ah, fuck it, this way.” Miku said after only deliberating for a few seconds , she started running at a large estate that seemed to have significantly more land than those she’d seen before. Maybe they’d be able to hide on the property somewhere. This particular building was further down the open streetways of the village they were in. The Marines had apparently not reached this part of town yet. Miku wasn’t going to push her luck by asking why that was.

As they ran, Miku slowed down to speak to her newest tag along. “What’s your name? I’m Miku.” The Rascal didn’t bother introducing Emi as she was positive the energetic woman would do the honors herself. “As for our plan, that large building seems important and has a lot of walled off land, it looks like a good place to lay low and see if we can wait this out until the sun sets.” As the group approached the walls of the estate Miku whistled a bit as the opulence of the place became much more apparent the closer they got.

“Huh, think someone important lives here?” Miku asked out loud as the group finally reached the wall, a quick glance around showed no one was currently around. Looked like the people here all holed up as soon as the warning about her started blasting all over the town. Miku then turned to the wall and started looking for a place to aim a good punch to blast through the wall before stopping and realizing that just give them away.

“Can’t just plow through, huh?. Emi, can you give me a lift over?” The wall was at least fifteen feet tall and without anything to jump off of or damage Miku doubted she could get over on her own.

The Rascal nodded her head in thought while listening to her second’s suggestion vaulting over the wall. Though she began to immediately shake her head when she heard the taller blue haired woman, Alexa, suggest it was the actual king living here.

“Doubt the king would live so close to his people. Don’t they normally live in a more secure and fancy place than this?” Miku said as she looked around at the obvious lack of security. She continued surveying the area as Alexa kept talking and suggesting for Emi to NOT use her swords to vault her. ‘Emi will use those swords the first chance she can get.' The short captain thought to herself with a smirk.

Just as Miku was going to agree to Emi’s plan to launch herself over the wall Alexa finally said something that caught her unaware. ‘Damn fruit? Is she a Devil Fruit user?’ The bluenetter eyed the taller woman with a new look of interest. Devil Fruit were so strange to her and she’d seen some strange but powerful people due to those things. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with Alexa so Miku figured it wasn’t the ones that turned people into animals, which left the other two types. She’d probably learn which it was sooner rather than later so there was no reason to pry, for now.

“I’ll go ahead and wait for you two on the other side. Emi, launch me at full strength, I want a damn good view of where we’re jumping into.” With that Miku stepped back a good fifteen feet, assumed a sprinter’s stance, took a deep breath, and dashed full speed at Emi’s extended blade. The Rascal stepped on the flat of the extended blade and bent her knees just as she was launched into the air.

The rushing of wind deafened her ears and her eyes watered slightly blurring her vision as well but after a quick blink it was cleared away. The short woman was quickly reaching the apex of her arc and quickly surveyed the property she was falling onto. The building itself was made of plenty of marble and other fancy stone work. The yard was much larger than Miku thought as a garden full of hedges and trees created a sort of small labyrinth. It wasn’t intentionally such as it was very simple and had a rather large fountain at the center. Miku couldn’t make out the front of the building as she hadn’t managed to pass the height of the manor itself and felt the pull of gravity quickly causing her to descend.

As gravity started to force her back to the earth below Miku realized she had no real landing strategy. Her eyes widened and she began to frantically think of how to minimize the impact of the fall. Luckily she realized that she was headed straight towards a hedge but the relief was short lived as she crashed into said bush roughly and could feel multiple small scratches and splinters all along her arms and legs.

“That was a horrible idea.” Miku said to herself realizing she couldn’t pull herself out of the hedge without assistance. “This… is embarrassing…” The Rascal said to herself as she struggled and wriggled in an attempt to pull herself out of the dense hedge but to no avail. She began to growl the more she thrashed which then evolved into mutterings and curses as she began to verbally assault the vegetation holding her hostage.