[Saga] [Part 4] Black as Tar

"Me?" a loud echoing chuckle left the humanoid octopus-cyclops-longarm hybrid of a creature, blowing away even the clouds that were up in the air. "Call me the one who rules this world. This world, of YOURS."

As the last word was said with a menacing tone, the large light pink tentacle bust through the fluffy cloud floor and immediately wrapped around Ryoichi, taking him closer to the creature's large eye to stare right into his soul with it.

"Urgh... Ruler, huh... And what does an ugly creature like you do at a beautiful place like this?"

Amused, and yet insulted at the same time, the creature squeezed the tentacles of his around Ryoichi harder, so hard in fact that some of the cracks echoed through the sky, leaving Ryoichi to scream out in pain.

"So you got jokes. Very funny. You bafoon have no idea what you have gotten yourself into. But no matter... I am a generous god after all, and will let you know that this is the end."

"Tsk... God... End of... What? For a generous... God... You make zero sense." through the pain of the body being crushed, Ryoichi spoke with a less audible tone.

The tentacle that was gripping around Ryoichi was raised up together with Ryoichi himself. "Fix your trusting... Deep down, you know why you are here... But I shall let you leave this forsaken place that you call a paradise in your own right. Keep living."

And with that, the creature who referred to himself as god tossed Ryoichi, breaking through the pillowy surface, and sending him flying down into the darkness that awaited him below the surface.


"Clear!"

Melanie shouted out louder than the den den mushi could manage to keep beeping. It was to notify Doc Black that Ryoichi was ready to receive the medication... And the medication Doc Black sure did give him.

With both hands holding onto the syringe, Doc Black brought the needle down, tearing a hole into Ryoichi's skin, breaking into the chest to inject the medication he had prepared to combat the man's racing heartbeat and ease the fever.

"Hang in there. We'll get through it" Doc Black said assuringly to Ryoichi who did not hear a thing, but Melanie did. It did not take too long for the medicine in tandem with the antidote to do its thing, and the Den Den Mushi was the indicator of it with the beeping, stabilizing.

"He seems to be stabilizing... Thank goodness." Melanie remarked to Doc Black who nod his head and took a step away from Ryoichi. "Now it's the waiting game once more."


"Hey, who do you think you are messing wi...- WOAH!"

From between the festival area tents, a mass horde of people was emerging. Those who stand in their way get tossed aside, or worse... The loud-mouthed one faced the less harsh of those options... But not all were that lucky.

On the surface, it looked like just your regular old "civilians" and other pirates acting like they were out of their minds as if the people were zombies themselves, but they did not look like how they have been described in the massive world of fantasies. Only the forces above knew what they were thinking right now or why they even decided to act as they were.

It did not take long for them to start targeting various ships, included among them was the "borrowed" ship of the pirates looking like the fairies themselves.

"The ships are under attack! Everyone, defend the ship!"

The shouts echoed off the multiple ships, all with similar messages, some even tried to leave the shores, even succeeding at that... The marines dressed like fairy pirates were not amongst the latter group... In fact, their ship seemed to be the main center of the horde for some reason. Coincidence? Or an orchestrated ambush and others simply are caught in the crossfire?

[664/2185/25 685]

Anton glared up at the monstrous clown up above, who in turn gave an amused chuckle. "Ah yes, the typical sneer of a hero. So defiant, and yet so helpless." Anton didn't feel helpless, though he figured he was at a disadvantage without his swords. Plus, it was clear that this man had some sort of Devil Fruit. Perhaps a Logia type? That certainly made things difficult. "What do you want?" he asked, "Why are you doing this?" Loko gave a laugh, "Oh, that should be obvious Rear Admiral. I'm just here to add a few more additions to my crew." his twisted smile seemed to widen, "Though, I believe I have much bigger ambitions than most of the folks here."

He gave a small wave of his hand. Suddenly, one of the Big Tops beside Anton jerked, their limbs jerking like a puppet while all the while whimpering in fear. Their eyes were silently pleading with Anton to do something. Anton took a step back as Loko chuckled. "Impressive, isn't it? The Tar Tar fruit can be surprisingly versitile when one puts their mind to it. Most people would treat it as simply a sticky Logia. But, I've always been more of the creative sort. It's amazing what a little tar and the proper imagination can do." Anton snarled, looking back at Loko. "How could you do this. Aren't they your comrades? Aren't they your friends?" "Comrades? Friends?" Loko chuckled cruelly, "Merely words. No, the correct term your looking for is slaves." Anton sneered. "You're a monster."

Loko threw back his head and laughed. "Exactly! And this is a world where monsters rule! Surely you know that by now?" he looked Anton straight in the eyes, "The Yonko that rule the New World, the Celestial Dragons who rule you from on high. If you're big enough, strong enough, frightening enough, you rule. Hell, your government even rewards that sort of thing. After all, isn't that what the Shichibukai system is?" he gave another laugh. "And soon, I'll be up there with them! With the powers of the Tar Tar Fruit, I'll have a powerful army to carve out my own kingdom in this world. One that would only continue to grow!"

Anton could only imagine. He remembered what he did to Sturm. If he could sieze control of people like that, imagine if he got his hands on some really powerful people. Helpless to do anything but be weapons for this demented madman. "You need to be stopped." Loko grinned. "A typical response. Though I think you'll find that's a lot easier said than done."

Slowly, ropes of black tar started to descend from the top of the tower. As they came closer Anton could make out several figures wrapped up in the black ooze. Alcibiades, the various hosts, and... "Lune! Sol!" Anton's eyes widened in horror, seeing the two women hanging there in a daze. Loko chuckled, "Ah yes, your two little sweethearts. Caught them snooping around. Such a shame really. All that power at your disposal, and you can't do a thing for them." Anger boiled up in Anton as he snarled at Loko. "You bastard!" "Yes yes, I've heard that one before. Shame, I was hoping for something a little more creative." he shrugged and gave a small sigh, "Now, as much as I love to have this little chat, I'm afraid I have some business to attend to."

It was at that point that Anton started to hear it. Screams and the sound of chaos echoing out from the distance. Both he and Nero looked over. "What's going on?" Loko grinned wickedly, "the recruitment process has begun." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the Big Tops began to convulse, letting out muffled screams as the tar that simply held them in place began to spread and cover them. Soon, they were nothing more than humanoid shapes of tar, turning to look towards him. Even the encased Barnaby was now moving as well. "And I believe it's time I brought you into the fold, Mr. La'croix."

Anton and Nero backed up into eachother as they found themselves surrounded by the tar covered pirates. This was bad. Sure, Anton could try and use his Devil Fruit abilities to escape, but that would involve abandoning Nero, Lune and Sol. He simply couldn't allow that. Plus, he knew beneath that tar were a bunch of helpless people, unable to control their actions. Could Anton really allow himself to harm them?

Dangling above it all, Sol let out a small groan, as she slowly drifted back into consciousness. Lune groaned and squirmed as her hot blooded sister slowly opened her eyes, seeing Anton surrounded down below. "Anton..."

Loko laughed. "What's the matter Mr. La'croix? Afraid to hurt a bunch of pirates? After all, you're a marine aren't you? Beating down on pirates is what you do. Don't tell me you've gone soft. Surely you got your rank somehow." "He's not...like that..." Loko blinked, his smile fading for a brief moment before looking over at the source of the voice. Everyone looked up as suddenly, the tar rope holding onto Sol burst into flames. Loko found himself recoiling before the young woman, now free, fell to the floor. Beside her, the tar holding Lune suddenly broke free and fell to the floor, the now frozen tar shattering on the ground. A few of the tar pirates fell back, allowing Anton to run over to them. "Sol! Lune!"

Loko now gave a small snear. "Cold and fire? Guess that was more than just special affects. This can be a bit problematic." That twisted grin spread across his face, "Oh well, I'll just kill them then!"

One of the tar pirates lunged towards them, before a sharp kick from Anton sent them sprawling back. "Nero!" Anton yelled out, "Get them both out of here, now! I'll hold them off!" Nero paused, a little surprised by this. "What? Are you serious?" Loko was right. Anton was a marine. So why was he willing to put himself in danger to help him? "Yes! Now grab them and get out of here!" Nero glanced at the two women. They were only barely conscious and were in no condition to run or fight. He nodded at Anton as he quickly scooped them up.

Anton quickly turned, switching into his hybrid form and firing a blast of air at the incoming tar pirates, knocking them aside and clearing a path for Nero. "Go!" As Nero ran through the opening, Loko laughed. [b]"Playing the hero are we? I should have thought as much. Very well then. It's not like they have anywhere to run anyway!


Meanwhile, things were devolving into chaos at the ship. The crew were in a panic as they were under attack. In the med bay, Celia's eyes suddenly snapped open. The woman started to convulse, coughing and hacking, as she started to cough up black...


Post Word Count: 1,182
Total Word Count: 3,577

ROUND 1
Yumiko uses:
[Toggle] Mythical Form
[Haki] Busoshoku Haki
[HT] Weasel's Claws on The Horde
[LT] Weasel's Tail on The Horde
[UT] on The Horde
(Rolled one dice too many. Disregarding the last die.)

The Horde uses:
[MT] on Yumiko
[LT] on Yumiko
[LT] on Yumiko
[UT] on Yumiko

Mini-Boss defeated.

---

COMBAT TRACKERS:

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

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 13, 9, 9, 7

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 17, 12, 8, 4

Like a meteor falling from the sky at an abnormal speed, Ryoichi landed in a bed... Metaphorically of course, because in the reality, he already was in bed, in a coma. Upon crashlanding, all he could see was darkness and hear what sounded like whispers... Turning into shouts... And growls.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh... Braaaaaaaains...."

"GET THE HELL AWAY!"

A couple of explosions echoed in the background of it all.

"Who do you think you are?!"

"Sir Ayugai! Sir Black! Lady Adder! Lady Stanson!"

"No!"

"W...What is going on?" Ryoichi asked himself as he was facing the darkness, only to finally then see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was his animalistic hearing finally kicking in, as he was returning back to the world of the living... And finally, his eyes opened.

He was met by the gentle light that was still shining through the window, casting shadows all over the rest of the room which had the candlelights extinguished. Ryoichi rested his hand on his head, feeling the dizziness. Waking up was but only the first step to full recovery.

Initially, the room seemed empty, it was hard to exactly see what was going on through all the shadows and thus, Ryoichi planned on standing up to go and see what is going on. As he was doing so, he could hear a familiar sound... Growling. Not that of an animal even... It was odd, he was on the ship... He was not in his bear form.

He turned his attention to where the sound came from and slowly began to move towards it. With the still rather weak body, he combed his way through the dim room and placed his hand on something... Or rather someone's shoulder.

"Hey what is going on? What the?"

It was a familiar figure, that being Celia herself... But she did not look like the typical Celia he knew. The clear indication of it was the leaking murky sludge with hollow eyes... And the fact that the moment he touched her shoulder he wanted to bite her.

"Hey... Stop this." Ryoichi remarked on her freaky behavior right after he had managed to avoid her usually beautiful teeth. But she was relentless, going as far to keep on trying to tackle him, bite him... Punch him... Or even, shoot him.

Luckily for Ryoichi, these creatures were an easy pushover... It felt like they were just ragdolls moved by a couple of strings... And it did not take much but give a slight jab in Celias face and throw her down on the ground.

"Ugh... What time... Is it? Where are we?" he asked with a weak tone from himself, looking around to spot something... Only to have the panting voice enter his ear. "Who's there?"

A step closer finally revealed who it was.

"Yumiko? Is that... You? Are you okay?"

[476/2661/26 161]

"Put us down!" Sol struggled against Nero's grasp as the large man ran through the chaos, trying to make his way back toward the Red Cap Pirates' ship. The entire island was in utter pandemonium, with controlled pirates attacking others, trying to spread Loko's tar and his control over to them. The once bright, carnival-like atmosphere had been replaced from something in a horror story.

A part of Nero was wondering why he was doing this. He knew that 'Puck' was really a marine, so why help him? Why not run back to his old crew and assist his father and brother. He could even see some of the Centurian Pirates amongst the possessed and controlled. Anyone else would have just abandoned the marines at this point.

But no, Nero had been raised better than that. Anton had shown to be rather honorable, and even now was risking his life to give them a chance to flee. If Cicero had instilled anything into Nero, it was a sense of honor, and Nero now had a debt to pay.

"If I let you two go back, you'd only be a distraction to him," Nero replied, keeping a firm grasp on the two struggling women. The two had managed to fully regain consciousness and were not happy at leaving Anton to face that mad clown alone. Lune attempted to bite down on Nero's arm, with limited success. The man's muscles were almost like rock. "But he's alone! And unarmed!" "Yes, and think of how much more of a handicap it would be if he has to worry about protecting you too!" Both girls paused, looking down in dismay. He was right of course, but they certainly didn't like it.

As they approached the ship, Nero could see that the chaos had reached them too. Was nowhere safe on this island? He found himself tightening his grip on the two women as he charged towards the fray. Despite all the deception, he was a part of this crew, and dammit he would fight to defend it!


Anton lashed out with a kick, forcing one of the tar zombies away from him, quickly shaking the encrouching tar off of his leg before jumping back to prevent another one from grabbing him. No matter how many times he hit them, they would just get back up and keep coming at him.

But that was the worst part, wasn't it. They weren't getting back up on their own. Underneath that tar was a poor soul, being puppeteered by that demented clown watching from the tower wall. They weren't in control of their actions. Hell, Anton could probably kill them and they would still get back up. That thought was causing Anton to pull his punches, to try and hold back. But there was so many of them, and they kept coming at him.

The tiny form of Lane lept from the crowd, landing onto his back. Anton struggled to throw the possessed dwarf off, some of that tar sticking to his back and starting to spread. At the same time, another tar zombie made for a grab, getting more of that creeping ooze onto him. He couldn't shake the stuff off forever, and in the end, he knew simply beating him wasn't Loko's goal.

Watching from his position on the tower wall, Loko let out a laugh. "Look at you! Can't you hear them? Can't you hear this whole island crying out? The sweet cries of panic, of fear? They're all in danger you know. Your crew, the very men you led here. In the end, they'll end up just like the rest. Puppets for me to control." He chuckled cruelly, "And here you are, not even giving your all to protect yourself. Imagine what they would think if they could see you now."

One of the zombies lept forward, grabbing hold of Anton's leg. The Rear Admiral kicked them off, but now that tar was starting to creep over his body. His leg was stuck to the floor as it started to cover him. He was finding it hard to move, to fight it all off.

Loko leaned in, his neck extending out as he brought his face close, his twisted grin spreading unnaturally across his face. "After all, they're just pirate scum, as you like to call them. Why stick your neck out to save them?"

The question of the century. Why was Anton holding back? These people were all criminals. It was Anton's job to remove them from society, to put a stop to them. Why show any mercy?

His mind went back everything over everything. The look of fear and terror on the Big Top's faces as Loko took control of them. Hearing Cicero's story, and how he and his men's lives were destroyed by a mad tyrant. To his meeting with Greed. It was easy to see them as just ruthless criminals, but these last few days had shown another side. It had shown they were human.

"Not everyone is inherently bad, be it marine, pirate, or even revolutionary."

"A good question to ask yourself is, "why did these people become pirates I the first place?" Sometimes the answer isn't as you might think."

All of a sudden there was a powerful shriek. The sheer force of it threw Loko back against the tower, the tar zombies thrown back as the black ooze covering Anton was torn away from him. Even the ground beneath his feet cracked under the sonic force.

And as soon as the shriek occured, silence instantly followed. Anton slowly stood up, panting heavily. "You want to know why?" he asked slowly, "Because in the end, I don't care if someone's a marine, a pirate, a revolutionary, or a civilian. If someone is in trouble," he shot a hard, determined glare at Loko, "Then I'm going to save them! Because it's the right thing to do dammit!"

Loko's face split into a wide grin. "Oh? Fancy yourself a hero do you?" "In all honesty, I never considered myself one. Hell, I didn't WANT to be one," Anton stood tall, "But now, that changes today. And the first thing I'm going to do, is bring you down! It's time for this little horror show of yours to end!"

Loko let out a cruel laugh. "Is it now? Well then, you're more than welcome to try. Come at me 'Hero'! It's time for the climax to begin!"

"Showtime!"


Post Word Count: 1,084
Total Word Count: 4,661

"What's... Wrong? Need me to get you something?" with a low, weakened, and yet concerned tone Ryoichi asked Yumiko as she seemed to cover her mouth with her hand as if trying to stop something, but the brave weasel seemed to try and brush off what she called poison.

The word poison did not bowl well with Ryoichi though. Even having that word enter his ears made his head hurt and make him collapse down on his butt and lean his back against the wall. "Poison.. What exactly... Happened to me?" he asked lowly from himself. But his self-inquiry could only last for a very short time since Yumiko had finally begun to tell what was going on.

With one hand on his forehead and eyes closed, he kept listening to what Yumiko had to say, the whole story of it. "Under... Attack? Corruption seized?" for now that was all the questions he could muster out. It was clear, that Yumiko had a lot to get off her chest, her insecurity and something she for herself considers a weakness.

The unloading of Yumiko went so far that she even pulled a move Ryoichi had seen from her before, but one he was not particularly happy to see. She got on her knees, even slamming her forehead down on the floor. It was her way, or more specifically, her people's way of asking for help, and help she indeed did ask.

"Strength... Heh..." he lowered his hand from his forehead down on the ground, the head leaned back a bit so he could look up at the ceiling. "That makes... Two of us... Yumiko. My body... It is still, aching... I don't know... What caused this all..." a heavy sigh followed the weak-toned Ryoichi. It did not quite sound like Ryoichi at all.

With how he was feeling right now, nay, even with how he was looking like now, how can anyone even trust him to be able to achieve something right now? A brief moment of thinking lead him to remember something he had heard not too long ago. "Trusting... Fix... Ugh..."

He groaned as he felt a throbbing pain in his head while trying to help himself up to his feet. "Yumiko. I can help... You... But..." he stopped mid-sentence as he saw something... A key item that might help them both out in this situation.

He stumbled slowly over to the corner of the room where was a small shovel, and next to it, a broom. A lightbulb lit up in his head. It could be some of the most genius he had been thinking combat-wise. The hand flickered towards the broom, grabbing it, and immediately after it was snapped in half on top of his knees.

"Something told me... Where ever I was, to fix my trust. I trust you. I also trust you are able to substitute your blades... With these. I cannot promise... Victory. But these might ensure it, for us." he handed over two sticks that were snapped from the broomstick, each about half a length of a normal Katana.

Wether Yumiko took the sticks or not, Ryoichi was ready to head out for battle, the momentary hesitation was gone, but even he was sure this all sounded like a suicide mission... But he did not plan on going down without a fight.

[559/3220/26 720]

Anton La'croix uses:
Molting - toggle active
Survival Instinct - MT on self
Fast Hopping - LT on self
Hopper Kick - LT at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 16, 4

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 5, 4, 7, 14

Anton La'croix uses:
B-Flat - AoE at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 14, 10

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 16, 20, 12, 17

Anton La'croix uses:
Soul Shriek - HT at Loko
Grind Slash - LT at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
HT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 14, 1, 19

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 15, 6, 5

Anton La'croix uses:
Sonic Cannon - HT at Loko
Cavitation Kick - LT at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 12, 3, 14

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 14, 13, 19, 17

Anton La'croix uses:
Mighty Leap - HT at Loko
Pitch Bullet - LT at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 17, 1, 14

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 5, 9, 12

Extra roll for Loko's UT

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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'Reflex Check' : 19

Anton La'croix uses:
Great Spear - MT at Loko
Shed Skin - LT at Loko
Hopper Kick - LT at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
AoE at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 1, 6, 6, 4

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 4, 2

Anton La'croix uses:
Pirrouete - MT at Loko
Grind Slash - LT at Loko
Treble Kick - LT at Loko
UT at Loko

Loko Perriot uses:
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
Lt at Anton
UT at Anton

COMBAT TRACKERS: