[Arc][Kano Arc][Part 1] Delicious Debut - The Sweetest Enemy Returns

Thu Jul 16, 2020 1:01 am

Current Quest:

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)

And so the wanted poster found its way before him... and it would soon find itself crumpled up and tossed aside. In a manner similar to how this man felt.

480,000,000. A bounty that belonged to a man deserving. A man that he saved... at the cost of his own manhood. That was the perception from the bloodshot eyes belonging to none other than the once great, Brood Xaldin Bach. A man dejected and of broken spirit. A husk of a dangerously devious entity. One that sailed the seas and brought terror to all those whom faced him...now brought low by the sting of defeat. Where others rose above their losses...Brood had suffered defeat after defeat. Most of his commanding officers abandoned him, finding prospects elsewhere ...and Brood.... well, he was doing his best to exist.

Few individuals brought an unadulterated terror to their foes at Brood's level. Usually such a fearsome reputation belonged to those in the big leagues...and even now as he sit in the booth that he had made his home, he could do naught but reflect on what it would have been like to achieve such heights. He had lost his crew a total of three times and it was enough to shatter any man's perception of being a good leader. Where his own aspirations so lofty that they would always remain out of his reach? He could not say. But he didn't have to force himself to think about it. Fortunately, he was a man whom was constantly drunk.

Even now as he looked down into the liquid that sat within his mug, he felt nothing. A quick and all consuming numbness that consumed him. The only time he had ever felt alive in the past... was with those whom he called his family. Yet they were long gone now. The Primetime Pirates had faded from the limelight...and as a result, Brood quickly removed himself from giving a fuck. Not that such an action was all that complicated for him. He had submerged himself into a sea of never-ending liquor, and yet comfort alluded him all the same. He was a cursed man. Doomed to be lost in his wallowing pit of self doubt.

He looked completely disheveled. His rough and coarse beard caked with the foam at the head of his drink, though one would need to look hard to identify it given how white his hair happened to be. He had grown in size, but it had less to do with growing fat...and more with becoming more defined. He might have spent all of his time drinking...but he didn't seem to ever stop fighting. He held back a lot...since he gave up the life for what felt like years now. But he did his very best to make it all work. Right? Who knew. All that mattered now was finishing off this pint and then falling into a deep sleep.

Yet...something called out to him. A familiar scent wafted through the mostly empty bar. It couldn't be... His eyes would lift upwards from the golden hued ambrosia that sustained his livelihood. He'd pause briefly....speaking with an abundantly clear expression of curiosity displayed upon his face. "What the hell... Seraphina?"

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sucré @ gs

Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:47 pm

@
Sorry about the wait guys
word count: 580 / 580 / 5000

Here to light it up, Set the world on fire.

Seraphina was more than a little annoyed at the amount of money and effort she had put into getting to Kano Country. If the captain really valued his life then he had better be on this island. The time for her to return to the crew had already come and past. She had done exactly like she had instructed them she would and used the transponder snail that had been left with her to call the ship. However, she had been met with silence or actually silence would have been better than no one answering at all. So she had remained on the island that she had parted ways with the crew at.

There was no point in worrying over the crew as there was nothing they couldn't handle especially with the captain there with them where ever they were. The only emotion is sparked in her was irritation as they didn't even bother to answer the snail. She wasn't helpless though and made the most of her extra time spent on the island she had been present on. It was once the news coo arrived that she had finally found an inkling of where they could be. Reports from Las Camp spoke of a large scale battle and hinted at the participants that fought against the marines. Well if they weren't answering her calls then she would just have to go find their sorry asses herself.

Thus here she finally was after persuading the captain of a ship with a large sum of money to take her with him to Kano Country. She wasn't sure where they might be but this was as good a place as any to start. It didn't take long for her to realize she was in the right place, however, as she asked around about her captain and the ship they had once sailed on. She couldn't see hide nor hair of the Bigtime but she was sure that her captain couldn't have made it very far. In fact, none of the locals spoke as if he had been arrested by the marines. It was only a matter of time before she could give the big lug what for.

Rumors are what lead her to a particular bar. There were all types of different sorry-looking individuals inside but only one seemed to match the description of her captain. He didn't look quite the same as she had last seen him, however, that didn't change that it was clearly him wallowing in his self-pity. He sat by himself at a booth and looked awfully disheveled but clearly not out of place. It was clear to her that something must have happened if he didn't have any other crew members by his side especially one particularly tiny one. If she had had any doubts about who he was when he looked up and called out to her. She had been ready to tear this idiot a new one for ignoring her calls but that feeling dropped if only for the moment once she saw him looking like this. He was supposed to be fearsome but nothing about his current state would strike fear into anyone except maybe his build.

"Well well well. Wallowing in our own self-pity captain. I suppose that's a good enough reason to ignore my calls." Despite the words that left her mouth containing a pinch of edge there was a softer smile on her face as she sat down across from him.

Gonna break the rules and hearts in twos

coded by heroin of gs and adox

Mon Dec 21, 2020 7:01 pm

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)

Brood took a moment to look over his first mate, eyes glazing over momentarily as he attempted to gather all of the information that was pounding against his head in relentless persistence. With a sharp inhale, the king of crucifixion coughed hard enough to cause blood to seep from the corners of his lips. A common sight for those whom he had made his family all those years ago.

His brow furrowed and he spoke with a booming authority not too dissimilar to how he did before his great exodus into the realm of infinite depression. "All we ever face is failure after failure-eh, how could you expect-ee me not to sulk, Sera?" He questioned her with a serious look plastered against his world weary face. There was something missing there. A lack of ferocity.

He took a moment to reach for his drink and pressed it against his lips with such aggression that it almost caused him to wince. He slurped down the brew with enough vigor to wash the blood away, taking it back into himself once more. With his eyes now wider than before he went to slam the mug down on the table, yet when it made contact it merely broke off a section of the table entirely.

His strength was still as monstrous as it had ever been, though it seemed that in this so-called Paradise... strength was hardly everything. With a huff he let himself be expressed with vitriol soaked words. "I-eh am sick and tired-eh of dealing with all of this... disappointment-ee. I was meant to be a terror on the seas... now I'm just a fucking joke."

He wasn't exaggerating, at least he knew he wasn't. It was plastered that he got his ass beat by that big ass lizard brained imbecile... and for what? He would never become a Shichibukai if he failed to beat the people that already sat in power there. It was a pain in the ass. The fact that he shamed the North Blue as well was...obnoxious. But one thing was for certain. He wasn't quite ready to be in the Grand Line...

That did give him an idea, however. "I want to go back-ee out there... to avenge all of our family-eh that has died. But I don't see a way-eh to do so. I don't have the faith to avenge our fallen-eh." He spoke with ferocity. "You're-ee an amazing Doctor, you should-eh be world renown... I am not the man-eh I once was." He offered her a chance. He didn't know what he was missing and he wasn't even sure he'd find it.

{ 438 | 974| 5,000 }

sucré @ gs

Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:47 am

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)
I will be finishing this as a solo.

Although no words left her mouth, the silence told him all that he needed to know. No one could convince him that he was weaker now compared to his past. His entire time sailing he had faced nothing but hardship. He had already lost multiple crews in the past. Friends and subordinates who put their lives on the line to see his ambitions come to fruition. The time to wallow in self-pity was not now. Far as he looked past the doc towards the entrance of this bar, he could see the remaining members of the Primetime Pirates. They still believed in him, his vision, and the crew. There was much work to be done.

He never sought to become the king of pirates. He just wanted money and a safe haven for those that he thought to be his family. If he was going to be the king of anything, it would be the king of the underworld. He wanted to have sway with both the government and pirates alike and to be a neutral force in the world. But he had never realized this ambition before, he had drifted from Island to Island causing havoc with no rhyme or reason.

But as he looked at the faces of those who followed his command, he knew his reason now. What kind of father could not protect their own children and what kind of father wouldn't want to?

His eyes lowered his vision tracking his open palm that rested in front of his face now. How could he allow one defeat in a string of many to bring him low? He was no coward, right? Perhaps that was his issue all along. He behaved like a coward and it was through that cowardice that he ended up here. Running away from that sexual harassment dinosaur? Pathetic.

The time for being pathetic had finally come to an end.

Pushing his way past the grunts in the entryway, Desmond walked up to the table. His eyes glowered, focusing on his captain.

"I think ya had more den enough time ta be an emotional little bitch, boss-sama." The muscle-bound freak spoke with a large grin on his face.

Brood’s eyes rose towards the only person that had been by his side since the very beginning of his escapades throughout his Pirate career. The man that was too brazen and bull-headed to be in any substantial role of importance, but he was the most important person in Brood’s entire sphere of influence. His second, his confidant. To that end, he could do naught but smirk at the recklessness this man displayed speaking to him in such a disrespectful manner.

Though, any on his crew that had entered his inner circle had the right to speak freely in his presence. He was no tyrant.

“Eh. Says the man who-ee has been sitting on-ee his as this whole eh-time.”

“PEeervvaVa!! An whatcha think ya doin’ right now cap’n??”

“....Ee….”

“So let's get ta fuck outta here. Whatcha say?”

Desmond extended his mighty arm out towards his captain, and Brood looked upon it with a blank expression on his face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking and according to everyone at the table, at that moment, it wasn’t as though the captain could retract how he felt in this moment.

“......Fine.”

He took his best friend by the hand, gripping it tightly as he found himself being pulled up to his feet. Brood dusted himself off, a look of sheer determination on his face all the while.

On that note, a man with a suspicious smile walked into the tavern rubbing his fingers together in a clearly sensual manner. His cherry-red cheeks indicating his intoxicated state clearly. He wore the suit of the primetime pirates, but over his shoulder was a yukata that hang off his shoulders perfectly. Adorned with several pink cherry blossoms and the like. On his waist, he wore a gourd, strapped to his body with a silky white sash.

"....ee-Festus??"

Several months ago, Banaro Island

"This is fucking annoying. How much longer do we need ta wait here, Cap’n? I'm all fer novelty but this place is ridiculous."

"What? Don't like the old west vibes, Dezzy?"

"Both of you shut up-ee, we only recently managed to eh-escape Water 7 with the Rat. Now-ee we need to get out of here before the Marines-eh hone in on our ee-location."

Desmond crossed his massive arms over his chest and stared at the numerous wooden buildings with ill intention. He knew there was still work to be done. Before they left this place it was best to gather as much information as possible. Desmond thought with his dick, but he was no idiot. He used to be a member of a certain Palace guard.

“Boss-kun, wouldn’t it be betta if we just got our bearings fer a bit? We need work, might be a lead or two here.”

Brood contemplated this proposal and figured that it held merit. Especially given the circumstances that his crew had currently found themselves being subject to. It was in their best interest to get as many contracts under their belt as possible before things… turned sour.

As a man of sweetness, that was just something he could not abide.

The trio of pirates made their way deeper into the Island. Joining Brood and Desmond was none other than Molly Hitski, whom Brood had saved several months back.

Looking out over the town the trio made their way deeper in, though Brood did his best not to alert too much attention to himself. Utilizing his sugar to create a realistic false face for himself. There was nothing he could do to stop people from recognizing Desmond and Molly… but fortunately, neither had any sizable bounty to speak of.

A fact that rubbed the pair the wrong way assuredly.

“Let’s pop into the ee-saloon, might get-eh some ee-information there?”

His command was obeyed swiftly and without incident. A fact that Brood didn’t even have to dwell on or be thankful for. He had a rapport with his men and his charisma was natural. It was how he was able to keep pushing despite having unreliable and weak individuals flock to him like gulls.

Pushing their way into the dusty den, Brood’s attention immediately fell onto a disheveled, homeless-looking man with long shaggy black hair. It wasn’t because the man seemed impressive. But because the man was swaying around in a drunken stupor all by his lonesome.

All the while putting off a threatening aura comparable to Brood’s own.

Despite his eyes fixating on the mysterious figure, Molly and Desmond made a beeline toward the bar, taking seats and ordering themselves drinks. Effectively distracting themselves from the mission of gathering information. Though, in truth, Brood knew this was the best possible outcome.

Those two were worthless.

Strangely enough, however, he noticed the shaggy man making a gesture with his hand. Waving him down. Brood’s face flickered with confusion… but he made his way over never-the-less. Taking a seat across from the disheveled man.

“You’re Brood Xaldin Bach…hic, outfit gives you away from… hic- a mile away. A gimp suit? Really? Not many people running …HICCUP!!... around in those. But hey… don’t mind me… mmm… just hehe… listen to an old man’s plea will ya?”

Present…

Brood’s face was wracked with confusion. He had recruited Festus to the crew a few months ago… but they had parted ways after an incident prior to returning to the Blues. That was the reason that Festus wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It was the reason why Brood couldn’t throw his full might against his enemies. He embarrassed himself in front of one of the Yonko.

A realization that left him in this pitiful, sorry state.

But it was strange for him to show up out of nowhere like this. Especially after what happened between himself and Ricky. But… if this man was here. Then it wasn’t the end of the world.

"One thing is for certain… hic we can't spend all of our time just floating from Island… hic- to Island. I have a plan in mind that will make us a lot of money. We need to get… HICCUP!!... everybody together first, and we can discuss this properly."

With that noted, Brood looked over towards a lesser member of the crew, nodding his head. In response, the grunt ran off to gather up the rest of the men from outside. In moments the room was packed to the brim with all of the figures who mattered to the crew, at least at this moment.

Brood rose his hand to quell the gossiping rabble, his focus strictly on Festus now. A man who swallowed a great deal of air before speaking. Doing his best to deal with his mysterious hiccups.

“Here’s the deal… we should become…hic a business. Piracy is cool n’ all. But money…hic- is a whole hell of a lot more sustainable… I don’t know what kind of business… but hey …HICCUP!!... I ain’t the thinker in this group. I just come up with the foundation.”

{ 1,524| 2,498 | 5,000 }

sucré @ gs

Mon Apr 17, 2023 3:18 am

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)

Brood had to admit he didn't quite understand the full extent of this plan. Why would they become a business? Wouldn't it be easier to simply pillage and rob everybody that got their way.

No one replied to the festering one's statement. Not at first anyway.

After a lull in the discussion Academia decided to speak. Though by the tone of his voice it seemed as though he was far more intrigued by this proposition than Brood initially was.

“There are benefits to creating an organization, it’d give us a more prominent presence in locations outside of our current location. A steady source of income and a protocol for our employees to abide by when flying our flag would go a long way in increasing our reach.”

“But what benefit is there to having a large reach? We aren’t aiming to be a Yonko crew.”

Ricky wasn’t sold on this idea, though it wasn’t entirely his fault. Given the circumstances, it was simply easier to keep doing what they were doing. They were pirates. Why would they suddenly pivot and take up a more complex avenue to making money.

Especially if money was the ultimate goal.

“That is true, however, this crew has already …hic… worked with a Yonko’s crew. Despite ultimately playing no significant role in the …hic-... outcome of that battle. The crew’s name was still associated with someone …HICCUP!!… of prominence.”

“Which means that if we were to capitalize on that association with certain clientele, we’d get our foot in the door.”

Ricky backed down in his outburst, which caused Academia to smugly smirk underneath his rebreather.

“Such a connection couldn’t be sustained forever, however.”

“-Which is exactly why we use it just to build up the organization proper.”

Academia hijacked the conversation. But he didn’t feel bad about it. Especially given the fact that Festus had admitted that he wasn’t the kind of man to develop the details of a plan.

Arching forward from his seat, elbows pressed against the wooden table and causing a waning, strained sound to groan out from his massive weight, Brood decided to chime in finally.

“What sort of organization-ee would this ee-be?”

Clearly he wasn’t yet against the idea. But he had to see what the intentions were. What did his crewmates see that he didn’t. Brood never had the ambition to become a Yonko, but he did want to be someone of great influence in the world. So that he could provide his family with a safe haven away from all prying eyes.

So he could live the privileged life that he couldn’t have on Spider Miles.

“We could dabble in a bit of everything.”

“S’long as we get ta’ fight, I don’t give a shit what we do.”

Jackson was notably silent during these proceedings. Having nothing of merit to add, despite being seated nearby. He merely clicked the lighter in his head rhythmically. Waiting for the opportunity to strike out. His body language indicated that he was in the same boat as Molly.

Which made sense given that the pair worked closely together.

“Sounds like all we are going to end up doing is pissing off the Marines.”

“That’s the best part, we will be able to parlay this foundation into becoming a member of the World Government, albeit loosely.”

Brood leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Ee-Shichibukai?”

“Precisely, Boss-sama. If we could get a spot on the Shi-”

“I get the ee-concept. We need to ensure that we-eh are safeguarded from interference from the major players.”

Without missing a beat, the large lumbering figure that was Desmond Wilkes slammed back his frothy mug of mead before responding in kind.

“Ye, unfortunately we ain’t as strong as ya boss-kun, peeervavava!”

This caused a number of the crew to begin to chuckle amongst themselves. Fully aware of what would be at stake in this particular occupational route.

“So then… how should-ee we start?”

“...Hic... You’re down? …Hic-... Excellent, that is what I like to …HICCUP!!... hear.”

“We need to increase our recruitment efforts first. It is important that we cover our bases. We will need people with unique skill sets. We can place them in managerial roles so that they can impart these skills onto others.”

Erudite tapped her pin to her chin, she had been taking notes this entire time, thinking about how badly she needed people that actually knew how to crew a ship.

“Sounds about right, suge… I don’t see any reason we couldn’t rustle up some naval experts here. The Happo navy must have former sailors that were either discharged or finished their terms of service.”

“Okay that only solves our issues out at sea.” Ricky interjected.

“True. Hmm… well darlin’.”

Erudite placed a flier she had noticed on the way here onto the table, in front of Brood. In a spot where all of the commanding officers could get a good look at it.

“Says here that there is a school fer people here that are fixin’ to learn Hasshoken. Thought that was a technique exclusive to that one family though.”

She hadn’t met anyone who used the technique personally. But there were a great deal of individuals in the sea that could use it, or at least some variation of it. So having a school that utilized the combat style on the island in which it originated wasn’t solely out of the question.

“So we could potentially recruit skilled seafarers and fellas’ with specialized combat techniques… That’s a good start at least.”

Some of the grunts nearby immediately looked offended by the statement but couldn’t argue with her words all that much. It was true that the crew had a powerful ship, but it was relying far too much on overwhelming firepower to deal with ships that, quite frankly, weren’t up to snuff.

“We won’t be able to get these things easily, we’ll have to acquire some contacts as well. Someone to tie our interests in each of the blues.”

“Networking ain’t no easy task, ‘specially if ya don’t know anybody.”

An idea flashed across Desmond’s face, as though he used his neglected brain power for a change for something other than chasing skirts.

“Oi, Boss-kun, we could always track down da pirate ya were working wit’ in Las Camp, ta midget with ta lightnin’.

“Good-ee idea.”

The group pondered heavily for a moment, doing their best to weigh their options. Sensing that his crew was at a loss, Brood sighed heavily. He knew he had to do what was best for his crew, even if it wasn’t good for himself. He had been staring at the flier for quite some time. The martial arts form that was mentioned on it had not been Hasshoken at all. Far from it, in fact.

Whilst the Hasshoken, Eight Extremities Fist or Eight-Impact Fist, dealt with utilizing vibrations in order to create shockwaves capable of sunder defenses like a hammer. This style was known as Gosoken, Five Ancestor Fist or Ancestor’s Boxing, which utilized vibrations in order to pierce through an object like a nail.

It was a style that was taught to assassins. It was meant to be an all-out, one-hit, kill. That was the purpose of this style.

He knew that this style had been muddied by the man who taught it. So whatever these students were learning was some watered down, half assed version of the techniques that Brood had convinced his master to teach him all those years ago.

Even if he didn’t practice it’s tenets as often as he should.

“Well… I might ee-know someone here. But it’s not eh-going to be easy to get a hold of them.”

There were hushed whispers, most people here knew that Brood was from the North Blue. So they found it a bit strange that he’d have any connection outside of it already established.

“Elaborate if you’d be so kind.”

“Back when I was ee-starting out I got some help from an ee-old man… taught me everything I know about Haki… among other things. It's been years. He eh-might not be happy to hear from me, though.”

“Least surprisin’ thing said all night!! Perrrvavava!”

A few more grunts shared in with Desmond’s laughter, but otherwise the group was focused intently on this revelation.

“What happened?”

“He said he doesn’t ee-train criminals… and well... I went on to eh-become a big shot pirate so… here we are.”

Brood shrugged with little care present on his face. He broke a promise, but he was a gangster at heart. He could change his mind whenever he damn well felt like it. Not that his crew were made privy on that little aspect of his personality. One could simply chalk this up to… unexpected circumstances putting him down this path to crime.

“Darn tootin’, suge! Biggest and baddest in the North Blue.”

The men cheered and raised their glasses for their Captain. If he was the kind of man that smiled, then he’d have done so in that moment.

“I just want to make sure eh-everyone is truly on board with this… it means-ee we are going to need to become more… ee-professional.”

“We already dress the part, might as well make these suits matter.”

Molly said absent mindlessly as she fiddled with her hair, staring off out the window.

“A logical proposal… beyond establishing a network and finding the talent… we will need a location in whi-”

“Notice!! That place fuckin’ slaps! Perrrvavava! The revenue it generates alone could help fund many of our projects or whatever else ya nerds are inta’.”

Academia was surprised at the suggestion, especially given the fact that he wasn’t the kind of man that valued Desmond’s opinions in the slightest.

“Notice? What island is that, never heard of it.”

“It’s in the …hic... North Blue last time I checked. Hic-... pretty far from here. It’s an island known for its …HICCUP!!... lavish resorts.”

Murmurs between the fodder were overlooked as the conversation continued.

“Should we establish a base in each blue?”

“No, that is a waste of time and resources. We’re better off just having one stronghold in the blues if any.”

“I don’t want it as a ee-stronghold. I think we will just have it generate-eh money for us.”

Academia’s attention snapped towards Brood at this moment, confusion evident on the visible upper half of his face.

“Not to sound snippy, but we will need to establish a headquarters eventually, Boss-sama.”

With a raise of his hand Brood silenced Academia once more. As per usual.

“We will-ee. Just… not in the blues. We will own-eh the island… that’s it.”

“Hmm…”

Brood swiftly cut through the silence that had set in after his declaration. He had a target in mind from their escape from Water 7. An island that meant a great deal to his eventual bottom line.

“I want San Faldo.”

TRIVIA: Since Hasshoken is based on a northern-style Chinese martial art, I made it's inverse style based on a southern-style Chinese martial arts. Which are known to favor precision strikes opposed to strength.

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sucré @ gs

[Arc][Kano Arc][Part 1] Delicious Debut - The Sweetest Enemy Returns