[Episode] Never Meet Your Heroes

Quest Info:

The thing that woke Stone up from his long slumber was the hot, muggy weather of Mane Grove. The big man was currently seated under a tree near the center of the village he and the other marines had docked at. Upon the arrest of Nishiki and his father Soragoi, Stone had ordered his subordinates to party the remainder of the day away. However, the Lieutenant had no clue if they actually did. After making sure that the two Fishman would not escape under his watch Stone had promptly nursed his wounds before drinking just a single beer and going to sleep.

Truthfully, Stone had expected to be a lot more beat up considering it has only been a day since his battle with Nishiki and his father. Only a couple of bruises and cuts remained visible on his skin, That is not to say that the wounds did not hurt the marine, he would find that out for himself when he got up from his makeshift seat. After the bear-man finally stood up he felt as if he was fighting again for real, albeit this time he had to deal with the added pain of his terrible hangover.  

The rest of the morning was mostly uneventful. Stone made small talk with some of his closest friends among the crew that had also been left behind, which was quite difficult considering that besides the Fishman incident nothing happened on the island. The lack of activities on the island had made it even more upsetting when the sushi shop was destroyed, as that was the reason that Crepe had wanted to visit the island in the first place.

Shortly after Stone returned to the town's square a younger-looking seaman recruit ran up to him. “Lieutenant Stone, Captain Crepe and the others will be back shortly.”

Putting his hands in his face Stone sighed. “Alright, thanks for letting me know ahead of time.”

Captain Crepe’s ship, The Triple Stack

“Drahahahaha! I still can’t believe that the big fucker had it in ‘im!” An extremely small, bald man sat on top of a tall stack of books that had been placed near a table. The man was currently shooting dice with another man, who looked very plain barring his obnoxious, neon green hair.

“Oh come on Shorty, We all know that you’ve been rooting for Stone since the beginning”

A vein visibly appeared on the forehead of the short man in response to the green-haired man’s jab. “You think I could possibly get mad! Get real! Why I oughta… Step outside right now and let's settle this like men seaweed brain!”

The door then opened. Crepe then walked through and grabbed all of the money currently on the table, causing the two officers to voice their disappointment. Crepe then cleared his throat and spoke in a very stern voice, “Tommy, Mato, We are almost back in Mane Grove. Quit messin’ around before we have to take this outside, You think that a good idea still, Tommy?”

Tommy gulped and shook his head, “No Sir!”

Pleased with the response Crepe smiled and left the room, returning to the deck of the ship. When the two officers were sure that Crepe was out of eavesdropping range, they spoke to each other while leaving the break room themselves, “He really is no fun when sober huh?”

Mato nodded in agreement, “You're telling me. If only we could find a way to get him to drink with us again.”

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