You wanna be a hero or sumthin?

Somewhere in the south blue en route to Baterilla

Billowing clouds black as coal began to coalesce over the tiny fisherman's boat upon a whipped up the south blue ocean. The ship rocked back and forth as water assailed its crew. "Alright ladies, just like before, to your stations"! The voice boomed over the deck as the figure struggled to keep the ship level. Others ran straight for the mast's lines. Stein however was assigned the role of prepping the net with three others. The net's fiber was slippery as water continued to splash his face. He felt faint, hands trembling as he tried to lift the net toward a hook on the side of the ship. " Oi newbie, you did it perfectly earlier, what gives"? A voice to his left boomed as a burly arm grasped the net and gave him some slack. "Ey thanks sir", steins managed to sputter out before ship rocked back violently, sending him crashing to ground due tot he slippery deck.

However thanks to their efforts, the purse siene was set. A wooden pull swung toward the ocean and cast a 50 foot net into the raging sea. The fellow from earlier yanked him by his collar and tossed stein into cabin before rushing back to the net. Stein on the other hand caught his breath and winced at his sore muscles when he felt a tug at the ship's side. He gritted his teeth and rushed to group of men pulling a line in order to bring the net up. Fortunately for them it was a routine action, but for a panicking stein he would be face to face with a net full of fish, swinging hard enough to kill a man. " Oi watch out kid"!

Although it was too late, it bashed stein and swept over the deck to its normal destination. Stein panicked, but managed to reform his sandy body into a position that looked as if he managed to roll away on the floor. " damn you newby, pay attention. you gave us a startle"! The others in the crew punched his arm and shook him to express their concern and relief. However, the captain stood silent at the wheel, and swallowed hard. "he was made...of sand"? The captain kept recalling the moment where nothing above his knees were left, leaving behind to stubs in the dark stormy night. "no im drinking too much", he said while tossing his flask into the ocean.

The boat would be arriving in port a few hours later. Stein sat on the deck, looking up at the full moon. He kept thinking back at that moment, when he could have been knocked out and into the ocean. His hand clenched without him realizing it, as he took deep breaths trying to calm his wound up nerves. However, as he tried to find his balance another person strolled out to the deck. He stood next to stein with a lit cigar, inhaling deeply before spewing out the toxic grey cloud of smoke. " What's a boy of your caliber doing on our humble fisherman's ship"?

Stein looked at him with an inquisitive but puzzled expression. “ I don’t know what cha mean, isn’t falling over due to panic...unless youre saying a stupid person like me. Sorry sir I didnt mean to cause you guy---”, was all he could say before he heard a gun being cocked. “Sir”? Stein said with a twitching mouth trying to form a smile. “You ate the devil’s fruit, which chiz why you coudint work during tonight’s storm right”? The man’s face was grim, eyes full of distrust. Stein nodded and said, “ sorry sir, im just trying to find my footing in this world. I dunno what to do except earn money”.

The fellow retracted his gun and put the cigar out by stamping it into the deck. “There’s a fellow from the revolutionary army in batterell’a that you should meet. He might teach you something about this world”. He turned to stein who started to slouch from relief and said, “ Oi don’t tell the captain ya hur”? Steins nodded as he looked at the stain. “ but sir if I may ask, what's his name and how do I find him”?

The fellow stopped at the door way and held his index finger at his lips to give him a shush gesture. “ Best not to ask too many questions”. A moment later he shut the door behind him, to reveal a couple of fellows playing cards by lantern light. The shadows that they cast were only the precipice of the abyss that they represented. “Saul, see what cha can do with the logia kid”, said the captain who was whispering into a den den mushi.

Stein blinked at the man's response and nodded. He averted his gaze, but not before noticing a phoenix on the man's forearm. It was a nice tattoo he thought before returning to his own sleeping quarters. Stein laid inside his hammock below a heavy snorer above him and to his right a sleep talker. "oi little way want to show me the lower east sidddee"? Stein turned against the wall and covered his ears with his pillow to try and drown out the noise. He shrugged and relaxed after a couple of minutes and sighed, pulling out a spoon from his pocket. "Mom..dad...I miss ya", he said closing his eyes trying to get some shut eye.

At the break of dawn he was greeted by seagulls squacking over head and a vibrant city dock. Stein shook the hand of the captain, who gave him a smile back but didn't immediately let go.  " uhhs sir"? Stein played along, but the fellow slapped stein's back and pushed him forward with a hearty laugh, " ge haha ha ha, go on now, thanks for your hard work". Stein gulped and stumbled down the plank, just barely avoiding the edge by jumping up and over the gap to the pier.  He sighed and looked forward, toward the vibrant beach hope.

He immediately noticed most ships he was seeing around him were a mix of civilian vessels, commercial fishermen vessels, and ferries bringing loads of bright eyed tourists. The sun beat down upon stein and the clear blue sky greeted him with enough heat to make him regret coming. As he strode forward he saw plenty of your expected fish stands selling goods just caught the night before, some even that morning. Upon reaching the paved streets of beach hope, one could see street stands full of people selling food and other little knick knacks. Stein briefly picked up a souvenir of a man named chakujira, who was giving him a thumb's up and a figure of a dirty looking mink pirate scowling back at him with its fangs bared. He noticed most preffered to walk about the city, but there were horse stalls toward the exits in case someone wanted to travel along the lush country side. He scratched his chin and began to ponder what his first move should be. " Do I check the taverns or look for a brothel? decisions decisions", he said making his way deeper into the city.

It was evening when Stein stepped into the tavern’s doorway, but he felt a shiver down his spine. He turned about face to look into the night, with only the moon and a couple of oil street lamps to illuminate the quiet street. He shivered and shook his head as he strolled in for a room. The figure who he had a funny intuition about slipped away moments after he went inside, heading toward the beach hope’s port under the cover of night. This game of cat and mouse would continue for a few weeks. Stein spent his time working odd jobs in the morning to pay for his room and board, the afternoon doing basic training, and night visiting various bars, dives, and clubs looking for this mysterious contact. It was only after he decided to take a stroll to a secluded path leading to an ocean side view that the man following him finally appeared.

Stein eyed the fellow who moved too deliberately to simply be a fellow tourist. He wore a worn vest with his chiseled chest bare. His pants were thankfully new, but he was the type to wear socks with his slippers. Stein eyed his feet and twitched, before turning back to the ocean with a nonchalant expression. “ oi what’s wrong with my slippers”? The man asked, holding his arms out in a ‘what gives’ type of manner. Stein shrugged his shoulders and said, “ nothing. I just thought I recognized your hat for some reason, sorry”.

The man sauntered over and leaned against the guardrail next to stein and said, “ I figured you’d notice. Do you know how many times you turn around? It’s creepy. Relax kiddo”, he said slapping stein’s back”. Stein gasped for a moment and breathed hard for a second. He felt the slap travel throughout, causing his heart to stop for a split second it seemed. He grasped his chest before grinning. “ you’re not some regular old guy huh”?

“I feel like you’ve been told not to ask questions before”, he said with a chuckle. Stein shivered and grinned as well. He turned to the fellow, to see a phoenix tattoo etched into his craggy and slightly flabby forearm. Stein blinked and found himself looking at the sky, before his senses caught up with him. He instinctively grasped the man’s arm, who had his fingers wrapped around his throat firmly. The ocean roared below him, crashing into the cliff’s side with a thunderous crash. “Listen boy, you’re gonna answer my questions or I’ll drag you to the ocean’s depths. Blink if you comprehend”. Stein glared at him with fiery eyes, as his body started to turn into sand.

“Oh hoho ho”

The man tossed Stein casually, but with enough force to send him tumbling for a couple of feet. He left a trail of sand in his wake, with streams of it flowing off his body into heaps underneath him. "What did you..do to me"? The man glared at Stein with his hand instinctively reaching for his blade. “ Yer eyes, I dislike them. They're full of fire, but also fucking naive”, he said before pointed at him. “ I just want to dig them out and toss them into the ocean”.  Stein stood up slowly with his shoulders back and a bead of sweat racing down his cheek. “ Are you going to kill me”? Stein asked, with trembling first brought to his chest.

The fellow grimaced at him and said, “Probably not, but I was told to see if you might be useful. But from the looks of it you’re too soft. Find a nice secluded island and hide away while you can”. Stein’s brow raised at the statement before asking, “ Were those fishermen also--”? The man laughed even louder, nearly stumbling down the sloped path leading to town. “ che che hee hee hah ahha ha ha, don’t do that. I can see why the captain wanted to toss you overboard”. The man began to approach stein who grit his teeth, before stepping back one step. “ You never know who’s listening, naive boy. But enough of that, what is it that you want in life”?

Stein stopped treading backwards when there was no room left. “Dunno, but my father told me to search for something before he was shot”. The man grinned and said, “ Might as well tell me. Stein paused and closed his eyes for a moment.“ I want to find what my father said to look for. It was my father’s parting gift before some men shot him to death”. The man stopped in his tracks and tilted his head slightly. “Marines”?

Stein nodded and said, “ probably, they raided my home and took my family’s life. All I want to know is what my father’s message means”. The old man shook his head and began to rub his temples. “ Lemme guess, you hate the marines correct? Is that why you sought out the revolutionaries”? Stein shook his head and said, “ they’re gone already, nothing will bring them back. All I want is to know what my father’s message means”.

The man lit a cigar and took a few steps back, his gaze trailed up to the sky. Stein looked up, trying to see what he was looking at. “ Go be a pirate or something, you don’t belong here among us. I’ll tell them you left yesterday”. Stein shook his head and said, “ you know what I tried doing 3 months ago. So do you know about my father? He too had a tattoo like yours”. The man simply dragged another breathe of his cigar before saying, “you’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t stop spouting out shit so desperately kid, we're done here".

"what do I need to do to prove my worth then"?

Stein stood at the sidewalk with a blank expression for a couple of minutes, just taking in the scenery around him. Normally he doesn't pay any mind to marines, but now that he was he needed to avoid them, it seemed like they were everywhere. He saw two having lunch at a local cafe and across the street, two were marching and jawing with the locals. Lucky for him Beach hope's premier hotel which was hosting a massive celebration. With most of the island's security concentrated downtown, he made his way into the slums. In contrast to a scene full of shops with happy customers, souvenir stands, and good food stands at the beck and call of the public; Beach hope's underbelly was fraught with disrepair. He was met by sections which had no roads to begin with and boarded up shops. There was the occasional person lighting up a pipe and others who were drinking themselves into a stupor.

Stein slipped into an alleyway behind a restaurant which forked in four different directions. He heard different screams, grunts, and signs of struggle whichever direction he listened to. He scowled at the situation as he released sand in every direction with a snap of his fingers. Sand began float in every direction, allowing him to get a feel for which one lead to an underground nightclub. “Path 1 has a few people, path 2..no thanks, path 3 is empty”, he said to himself. Which left the fourth path, which was the darkest one but also the louded. He pondered whether or not he misread the situation until he found a pair of big fellows standing next to an iron door.

“ Can I help you, scrawny one”, said the tubby one who could stand to lose a few pounds. However he towered over stein standing at 8 feet tall. His cheek fat along was wider than his torso. The other one was only slightly taller, but he was built like a tank, with arms that looked like pillars. Stein scratched his cheek and said, “looking for a good time, maybe some of those “drinks” if you catch my drift”, he said with air quotations. The two of them looked at eachother and said, “ wouldn’t you be more comfortable in town? You can get ale there”. Stein shook his head and said, “ I wanna get hiiiighhh asss a kiiteee man”. They looked at him with a sense of guilt, but reluctantly let him go in. “ just becareful little man”. Stein grinned and nodded, knowing he got through the hard part without a fight. “ phew my heart skipped a beat”.

Stein began to weave through the crowd of partying drug addicts. The smell of liquor mixed with the stench of perfume to create a rank odor that made stein’s eyes water. Each step he took had a different sensation. He heard things pop under his step, other times he’d slide ever so slightly with wide obvious eyes of panic. Sometimes the smell of vomit made itself apparent, making stein grimace at these people. Someone in the crowd gave the signal causing three people to close in on stein. Who for all in intensive purposes was trying to defuse an argument with an angry couple.

“ you grabbed my ass, YOU PIECE OF SHIT”, she screamed with mascara running down her cheeks. A fellow with dilated pupils charged toward stein, trying to grab him with a tackle. To the untrained eye it looked like stein avoided it, but in reality the man’s arms slipped through steins body involuntarily. Stein moved like he dodged successful with a distraught expression. “ look I ain’t that type of guy, can’t we just move along”? Just as the man was going to charge again, he saw a sword jutting from stein’s chest. He looked down as well and tilted his head. Sand started to spill from his wound, hitting the floor with splash. The assailants were already gone, but not before panic struck them. Stein on the other hand pulled the sword out of his chest and said, “ ahhh tada it was a trick”. He grinned and tried to play it off, with sweat running down his cheek. Those around him however were either too high to notice or too entranced to care. The couple teared up and began to run as fast as they could through the rave. Leaving stein to make his way out of the crowd and to a set of stairs leading up to a dark second floor.

While the rest of the club was dancing to the obnoxious beat of the dj, stein found himself climbing up the stairs. Each step felt unreal, because he expected more bouncers. The fact that the path was clear, but no one else was coming and going from this direction was a red flag to him. He shook his head and pressed forward, to find an unattended door. Stein placed his palm on the door and released sand into the crevice beneath it, to feel a presence of 7 or 8 people all standing still. “ either they’re passed or are waiting for me”, he said under his breath. As he opened the door, he felt cool air wash over him, which was a great contrast to the muggy and uncirculated air from the club.

He stepped forth into the light and heard the door shut behind him. He was greeted with seven fellows in snazzy suits, with flintlock pistols trained on him. “ hold your position there, boy”. Stein shrugged at the situation and walked forward regardless of their order. “ what if I don’t”? The fellows snarled at him and fired dozens of shots into his body. However he shot merely left a pockmark or flew past him into the marble floor behind him, leaving obvious cracks in it.Stein’s arm turned into sand as he pulled it back, “ impossible…”. Stein shook his head before he sent the grunt flying toward the bar behind him. His body audibly snapped as the stools flew across the room randomly. Another pulled a knife and roared with all his might as he drove it into stein’s neck. “Fool that won’t work”! Shouted another as he ran with another guard toward the exit. “Mm-ma-monster”, he uttered before stein grabbed his arm and slammed him into a glass table behind them. Stein stared at the bloody messed the man was in and slowly pulled the knife out, which was accompanied by sand falling onto his bloodied face. “ keep it ya filthy animal”, stein said as he dropped it on the floor. The rest of the guards were frozen in place, with bated breaths, waiting for their end. Stein passed them without a second thought and entered the room they were guarding.

“ see ya boys”

Stein pushed forward and found stairs leading up to a lounge. He found a marine captain standing with his arms folded across his chest. To his side was a man who swiveled around in a chair with a scowl etched into his visage. Stein tilted his head to the side and rubbed his chin at the development. “ What’s a marine doing in a dangerous place like this without his platoon”? The two of them looked to each other and clapped slowly. “I suppose there’s no hiding it, he’s here for his cut”, he said gesturing to the briefcase on his table. “ what brings you here young fellow? You’re not going to try to stop our little business here right”?

Stein shook his head in disgust and said, “ Any sane person would try to stop you. You’ve turned those people into livestock who only care about their fix”, he said while he folded his own arms. “ as I weaved through that crowd, I didn’t hear couples laughing, or see friends enjoying a dance...what I saw were people flailing their arms wildly and even…”, he said pausing because it made him squeamish.

The fellow at the desk walked forward, to stand at the opposite side of the marine. He slicked his hair back out of habit and said, “ We provide a necessary service. The marines have only have to worry about drug addicts that escape and we keep the island’s poor in a haze on their dime. What harm is actually being done here”? He paused and said with a sincere expression, “ Do you know how many people were fighting in the streets, stealing, and causing the tourist issues before we came along? A good portion of them are tourists who were robbed and couldnt get off the island”.

He grinned and said, “ now why don’t you run along while the adults do business. We can even compensate you if that’s what you desire, boy”. Stein stood there seething with rage at what they’ve done to these people, his body began to sound like shifting sand. “ I came here because of a job request in exchange for some information, but now I’m here to put an end to this operation, personally”.

The member 'Stein' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 10, 9, 18

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 18, 8, 2

The marine captain stepped to the side, with his arms crossed. The mob boss grinned as he began to loosen his tie. " Now that you mention it boy, there seems to be blood stains on your dingy clothes. I assume it was from my men"? Stein clenched his fist and nodded, waiting for his adversary who charged with speed he wasn't expecting. Within an instant he drew a flintlock handgun and planted it right under stein's chin, firing it with glee[boss LT 1]. The room fell silent for a moment, as both men expect blood and brain matter to stain the ceiling. However, what they found was a pock mark and sand flowing from his victim's skull.

Stein's head leveled out to look his adversary in the eye, his arm became a stream of rapidly moving sand. He stepped back while the mob boss was in shock and swiped him horizontally at his chest shouting, "scourge's blessing"![P1 LT1] The arm made of sand whipped violently to collide with the mob boss, sending tumbling across the floor. The boss rolled a couple of times, thinking he gave himself a little breathing room. He grit his teeth and crouched, grabbing his second pistol. The two of them charged at eachother, with stein cocked his right arm for another attack while diving toward him. Again the mob boss shot at stien[boss LT 2], this time blowing a hole into his right arm as he swung[P1 Lt 2], causing the attack to crash into his marble floor in a heap of sand and wind. The mob boss began to panick. He drew an pineapple grenade[boss MT 3] and pulled the pin, but as he did so, Stein kicked it out of his hand[Player UT 3], sending it flying out his window while scarring the mob boss' hand.

The resulting explosion made some of his lower windows shatter and audible gasps escape from the lower levels. The mob boss Grit his teeth and began to tense up in front of stein, asking, ' What the fuck are you"?

Damage from the last round:
Stein 0
Mob boss:
-10
-5
-5

battle stuff:

rolling for reflex check

The member 'Stein' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 18, 3, 5

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 20, 13, 15

Stein brow raised as a smile formed on his face. He stepped forth and said, " I'm just a boy, mister". The mob boss punched the floor boards, to reveal a shotgun. Normally the moment he pumps it, people tend to flinch. However, he saw Stein tilt his head as if it was nothing. The mob boss fired the gun point blank into stien's head[Boss LT 1], leaving a pair of shoulders without a head. The boss pumped his gun with the same determination, firing again the headless sand human, blowing out half his lower abdomen with a single shot[boss LT 2]. Stein's body erupted into a storm of sand, that sounded like a swarm of locusts. His head was around half way done coalescing when he clasped his hands together, sending the sand toward the boss who gulped at what he saw. "monster"?

He tried to run, but realized too late that a concrete wall was behind him. He tried to flank the attack, but his misjudgement left him no room to move. Stein's sand wrapped around his arms and dragged him in as if 100 arms reached forth to bring him in. Stein gripped his interlocked fingers one[Player 1 HT], " Tomb of the scourge". The sound of bone crunching could be heard. Stein almost let his gaurd down, but that was until he saw the mob boss disperse the tomb with a single swipe of his powerful mangled arm. He stomped on the ground, causing the marble to break as the flowing sand fell off of him. A cabinet shot up from the floor, revealing a rocket launcher. The marine captain's eyes bulged as he dove down toward the entrance Stein first came from. The resulting explosion [Boss HT], rocked the building and send glass flying from the top floor and onto the slums beneath them. Rather than coalescing, Stein tried to attack the mob boss once more, first in the form of a claw made of sand[Player LT 1], which missed the panicked boss, who flew from his spot in haste. Stein crashed into the floor, causing more bits of rubble to fly in every direction, before he lashed out at the boss using a crescent sand bullet[ut 1]. His attack was inaccurate and flew into the wall above his target, leaving sand lingering it its wake.

Stein reformed his body slowly as the mob boss prepared for another counter attack. " I don't know what I need to do, but I will kill you, monster". He grinned at him and said, " an old man almost killed me, but you can't even make me flinch big scary mister".

Damage from the last round:
Stein 0
Mob boss:
-50

battle stuff:

rolling bowling

The member 'Stein' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 1, 2, 12

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 18, 10, 20

Stein took the initiative this time as his confidence surged from the his previous blow on the mob boss. He grinned shouted, "Wrath of the desert scourge"![Player HT 1] He chopped at the air vertically, causing a stream of sand to come spewing out toward the mob boss. However he missed, leave only a floor with a 6 foot hole carve into it. The mob boss had flanked stein who tried to grab his adversary, but he missed instead, only grabbing at the air this time[Player LT]. As he fell forward from his momentum, the mob boss connected his arm and knee[boss LT 1] upon stein's arm that reached out. This caused a massive boom in the room, but it resulted in no harm to stein due to his devil fruit. Although it didnt stop the boss from driving his knee into stein's chest[boss Lt 2], causing more sand to fly out. In his fit of frustration he tried grabbing stein to use a suplex on him[boss MT1], but his arms move through his body like it was actually sand.

The mob boss and Stein both stumbled forward before gaining their footing once more. " Fucking impossibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"!

Damage from the last round:
Stein 0
Mob boss:
0

battle stuff:

The member 'Stein' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 1, 8, 18

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 19, 2, 11

Stein's fist balled up as lifted it over his head and slammed it into the ground toward the mob boss, who was also just turning around. Stien said, " Sand.spikes"[player ht 1], with a hint of frustration. Several spikes jutted from the ground, some forming without little more than soothing sand of shifting sand. However the boss was too quick as he dodged the blow in order to send a grizzly uppercut at stein's chin[boss LT 1]. " God damn you brat, why are you in low spirits"? The two nearly punched eachother at the same time as stein grit his teeth, but he missed by a couple of inches and instead both fighters missed[boss LT][player LT]. Both grit their teeth again and pivoted to hit attack eachother once more. Stein managed to punch the mob boss' face[player UT 1] while the mob boss staggered for a step or two, he pivoted like a spinning top to round house kick stein twice, one in the head and the other on his leg on the way down[boss MT 1].

Damage from the last round:
Stein 0
Mob boss:
-5

battle stuff:

The member 'Stein' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 1, 11

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 1, 20, 15