Episode 1: The First Ladder

To Set the Mood:

The door to Adrian's room exploded, two marines smashing into the wall across from it. The marines nearby yelled for the marines near them, a chain of yelling voices moving along the abandoned building. Bit by bit, more marines closed in on Adrian's location. Adrian walked out of his room, doing proper stretches and limbering up. "See, that's what I was missing when fighting that bastard." Looking at the marines he had apparently knocked out, he scavenged their pistols and knives and moved towards the room that had his belongings.

A flood of marines came forward, the first of which rushed him with a cutlass. Side-stepping it, Adrian spun and shot the marine clean through the cranium. In the same motion, he walked past another marine rushing him. Without even looking at the man, another brain blast spat over the adjacent wall. Tossing the pistols away, he grabbed for the knives while simultaneously avoiding three terrible shots. Walking calmly toward them, he shrugged at the trio once they were in his burst range. "Probably should've just followed command, not an actual human rat."

They were clearly in the weaker percentile, so they were dispatched easily. Still moving down the corridor, a duo actually tried teaming up against him with a bit more of a game plan. Adrian laughed at them as one lunged with a trident and going high while the other threw a set of weights connected by string at his ankles. Adrian hooked onto the trident with his knives while avoiding the weights, letting himself weigh down the pikeman. Kicking the marine in his armpit while also kicking the trident, he launched the polearm into the air and pushed away the marine simultaneously. Flipping back to his feet, he threw a knife into the former pikeman and spun, taking the trident into his hands and impaling the other marine.

Adrian pinned the marine against the wall, pushing as hard as he can to ensure they would have a hard time removing the marine. Walking away from the duo, Adrian realized he's passed two doors by now. Approaching the third door, he heard marines arming themselves inside. Ha, they don't know what's coming. Hearing a sudden, single set of footsteps, he turned his head to find a paralyzed marine. They just stood there, looking at Adrian who by now, was covered in marine blood. "Wrong place, wrong time, mate."

The marines within the room containing Adrian's equipment were discussing their game plan as they expected Adrian to find the place within any moment. They mostly talked about overwhelming him with large weapons and riddling him with bullet holes, which was a rather simple plan. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door that was hard and worried. One of the marines grabbed his cutlass and pistol and approached the door. "Hm? Yes? Is everything al--"

The wall adjacent to the door exploded through sheer force. Shrapnel pecked at the marines within and it deafened the marine at the door. When the dust cleared, a rather mutilated marine laid in the middle of the floor. Nobody knew what to say, but they all looked at the hole in the room. Adrian stood there, wielding a single knife. The one remotely courageous marine there spoke up first. "Oi, there's no way you made it through that many marines." Adrian looked at that marine with cold, dead eyes.

"You wanna come out here and look?" The marine didn't take the bluff, and they all tried rushing him from all sides. Adrian ducked the first attempted attack, sliding behind that marine and gripping him up. In a swift motion, he tossed the marine into two other marines, leaving him with two more to deal with attacking him for the moment. They both attempted to use polearms, prompting Adrian to go between them with a sliding crouch and rising with his knife on the right marine. To the left marine, he brought his knife after sliding it across the right marines' torso, neck and face and stabbed the left marine in the neck.

Ripping it out with a twist, Adrian pushed the bleeding out marine away and hacked into the right marine's neck three times. Turning to the three marines standing up, he picked up a spear and threw it like a javelin. It whirled into the chest of the middle marine in the trio, leaving a right and left marine. Picking up the other spear, the stuffed out their approach with a quick whirl using his body. Stabbing the left marine and lifting him, he baited the right marine to try and punish him. Dropping the left marine, he engaged the right marine in quick hand-to-hand.

Kicking the remaining marine in the knee, he brought him down a peg. Running behind the marine, Adrian grappled him and choked him as hard as he could. Yelling out cathartically, he felt the marine's neck cracking and snapping in place. Taking a moment, he looked at the room of bodies and brushed himself off. He took time to collect before grabbing his trident and arm piece and putting on his disguise. Adjusting his trident's pole to be only a meter, he looked out of the hole in the wall and saw a crowd of marines.

One after another, sometimes in two's or three's, took him on. He used a strategy involving repelling and pecking. Once he wore down most of the grunts, he moved on to manipulating their exhausted bodies to either make each other clash or so he can move around an incoming attack. Futile gunshots filled the air, Adrian worked his way through the marines that seemed endless as he moved upstairs and into wherever Rat-Ear was at. Half of the marines that challenged him fell, prompting the others to regroup.

Approaching the door to Rat-Ear's room, he was sent crashing into the wall with a door exploding against him. Once Adrian brushed off the shrapnel resting on him, he saw a brooding Rat-Ear standing in the broken doorway. "I don't give a shit about these people. They were money, and now they're not." Adrian laughed, standing up and extending his trident to its full length.

"Yeah, and useless to boot. Wasting their time, you did too." Rat-Ear patted his club, taking a step forward. "Hm? How so?" Adrian took a step forward himself, looking up at the monstrous pirate with unwavering confidence. "Well, you did your deeds at a very tightly guarded island. Got lucky with how many marines you got to turn coat. But now I'm going to rest your dirty ass head on my trident here." "I'll crush you here just like I would've before." "You're going to regret not doing that already, you cliche pile of ignorant trash."

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Adrian uses LT [WINTER BURN] on Rat-Ear
Adrian uses UT on Rat-Ear

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Rat-Ear uses LT [CLUB SMASH] on Adrian
Rat-Ear uses LT [BOSS BASH] on Adrian
Rat-Ear uses UT on Adrian

The member 'Adrian' has done the following action : Dices roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 12, 5

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 13, 4, 10

As the two stared into each other's eyes, Adrian could tell there was something off about Rat-Ear. His hands very subtly trembled and there was a slight flutter to Rat-Ear's eyelids. Adrian wasn't in the best shape, but he was still nearly fully rested for battle. Adrian took advantage of this, starting the fight off by him smacking Rat-Ear's side with his Trident and pushing, lifting up the pirate and bringing him up. Using Rat-Ear's weight against him, he slammed the pirate down LT [WINTER BURN].

The floor beneath them rumbled and cracked severely, worrying Adrian. Spinning his Trident, he brought it down into the pirate's back, stabbing and removing the pike [UT]. Rat-Ear was in the process of coming to a stand, bursting with speed and slamming Adrian in the chest with a blunt part of his club LT [CLUB SMASH]. Adrian was sent into a messy tumble, nearly going down the stairs.

Rat-Ear appeared in the air, coming down with a heavy fist LT [BOSS BASH]. Adrian rolled out of the way, nearly taking a flailing club to the face in the process but it also barely missed [UT]. Adrian took several steps backwards, Rat-Ear moving forward at the same pace. "Ha, good shot. Got a good grip on that thing." Adrian smiled, swiftly and briefly twirling his trident around his body. "Yeah, they say kings use these. Decided that was quite fitting for me." Rat-Ear laughed heartily, a boom filling the room. "What a claim! A king! More like a pawn, ready to be crushed between my club and my hands and fed to my rats!"

"I'm used to rats, bring your worst, mouse."

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ATK VS. DEF Check:

Reflex Check:

Techniques Used:

Stats:

Cooldowns:

Adrian uses AoET [WINTER BARK] on Rat-Ear

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Rat-Ear uses LT [RAT SNACK] on Adrian
Rat-Ear uses LT [RAT PACK] on Adrian
Rat-Ear uses UT on Adrian

The member 'Adrian' has done the following action : Dices roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 7

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 9, 17, 16

As Rat-Ear neared Adrian, the lone marine looked around himself to see the floor was under immense pressure while also being heavily damaged. He knew he could damage Rat-Ear if he could take him through the building. Rat-Ear attempted to catch Adrian off-guard, trying to snack on him with no success LT [RAT SNACK]. Adrian spun around Rat-Ear, pushing him away harmlessly. Breathing heavily, Adrian noticed the position he put Rat-Ear in and kept his momentum going. Spinning with his trident, he jumped into the air and slammed down on Rat-Ear AoET [WINTER BARK].

A massive shockwave spread throughout the room, causing it all to crumble and they both crashed through the floor. Rat-Ear launched downward much faster than Adrian, looking up at the ageless man and throwing a rat at him LT [RAT PACK]. "W-What!? Was that in your pocket this whole time!?" The rat snapped onto Adrian, clawing and biting him. Adrian tossed and turned as he landed, distracted by the vicious, over-sized rat. Rat-Ear sluggishly stood, stumbling over to Adrian and kicking him across the room [UT].

"Lil' Johnny always stays in me pockets. Always ready to bite." Adrian eventually removed the rat, crushing the rat between his hands and flinging away the guts. Rat-Ear was stunned, shocked by Adrian's equally vicious actions. Adrian used his trident to prop himself up, coming to his feet. "They say my shots are like raw Tequila. Dirty and rough." Rat-Ear moved his had forward, confused by Adrian's random claim.

"Huh? Don't make no fuckin' sense!" Adrian spun his head around, taking a basic battle stance. "Shhh, shh....You'll get it soon enough." Adrian flicked his eyes across the room, taking in all the details. It was dark, lit only by the hole in the ceiling. It was a generic, empty room with plenty of grime in the nooks and crannies. Rat-Ear banged his club on the ground, roaring at Adrian. "ENOUGH of this! Just die already!" "Hmmm....Nah."

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ATK VS. DEF Check:

Reflex Check:

Techniques Used:

Stats:

Durations / Cooldowns:

Adrian uses HT [J-Q FINISHING SHOT] on Rat-Ear
Adrian uses UT on Rat-Ear

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Rat-Ear uses LT [ANGRY CLUB] on Adrian
Rat-Ear uses LT [ANGRY CLUB] on Adrian
Rat-Ear uses UT on Adrian

The member 'Adrian' has done the following action : Dices roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 11, 19

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 13, 18, 20

The two had a brief stand-off where nothing, but eventually engaged in trading weak blows. They just went back and forth, scrapes and grazes adorning their bodies. Rat-Ear handled his club quite handily, as did Adrian with his trident. This exchange of numerous, virtually harmless blows went on for several minutes. Eventually, they both disarmed each other and just went at it hand-to-hand. Adrian was lucky the pirate wasn't at his best, especially since he also wasn't working at one-hundred percent.

Like before, they both yelled at each-other recklessly as they pounded on one-another. Little did they know, the regrouped marines were coming and ready to execute both of them to clean the mess. They stormed near the room during the battle's finale, but weren't quite there yet. As the two barraged each other, Adrian pushed Rat-Ear away and in the same motion, retrieved Pain (his trident). Lifting it up, he looked at Rat-Ear who was now illuminated by the hole in the ceiling. It was a moment of truest clarity as he stared the boar in the eyes.

He saw Rat-Ear as a savage, rabbid animal and he was going to put him down like such. "Huh? You think this is it? You think this is how it ends for me? I know those eyes! BRING ME ALL YOU G--" Adrian shot himself in the middle of Rat-Ear's final words, trident driving into his chest. The trident was specifically aimed for the heart, stabbing clean into it. Adrian didn't speak or yell, he just charged forward with Rat-Ear's body and slammed him into the wall ahead. Adrian put a foot on Rat-Ear's waist and pulled out Pain with a kick. "Fuck you, filthy rodent."

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Suddenly, the room flooded with Marines brandishing swords and pistols and rifles (oh my!). Adrian came out of the shadows with Rat-Ear's head, stabbing the bottom part of Pain into the ground and mounting Rat-Ear's Head on the trident pike. The room went silent, looking at the frail-looking boy as he tore off his arm piece. Adrian did a single rotation, looking at the crowd that closed into a circle.

"So, who wants to start it off?"

The first round of marines attacking him approached with flailing blades, which let Adrian exploit their weak form to riposte and parry repeatedly. Blood flung along the ground as Adrian took the fallen marines and used their swords and pistols to slay any marine that attacked. This went on for quite a while, traitor after traitor falling to Adrian's justice. As the herd thinned, the fire in Adrian's eyes grew. The burning sense of justice brewed within his gut as he put down the traitors that jeopardized the safety of all the civilians on Las Camp and the integrity of the marines that did their job.

After it was all done, the room was drenched on every inch with blood, flesh, sweat and bone. Adrian himself sat down in the epicenter of where the fight took place, his disguise drenched and removed from his body. At this point, he didn't care who saw him out of his disguise. They'd likely be surprised by his handiwork, but it was necessary in his mind. He sat there, alone for a good half hour before standing up and attempting to find the exit. He didn't really truly try, exploring the abandoned building in isolation and even revisiting the corridor of bodies he left behind.

When he did come to the exit, he entered a world of bright and sunny light. He smiled and took in the cleaner air. Looking forward, his smile faded away as the fire of relief was snuffed out by the sight of the poor medic laying on the ground with a slight pool of blood around his head several meters away. "Nothing...ever changes." Adrian figured the medic wasn't supposed to leave and they got suspicious of them. Adrian realized he was in an abandoned building that was well away from the main part of Las Camp, somewhere on the edge.

He doubted anyone heard the yelling through the thick walls, despite the building definitely experiencing decay. Walking forward with trident and disguise in hand and his arm piece equipped, he just made way for the nearest commanding officer. Somehow he avoided all of the day patrols while he walked back to the marine Headquarters. He hid his belongings temporarily and played the role of civilian, abruptly being stopped by a patrol once he neared the entrance. "Hey! Kid...uh, fuck. Kid!" "Y-yeah? O-officer! I need help..." "Yes! Of course, what happened?" "R....Rat..." Adrian figured they would know who Rat-Ear was based on how he was wanted.

Baiting them with his innocent boy act, they all became alarmed. They took Adrian into the headquarters where he may or may not be identified by a much higher ranking marine but he could still play the fragile victim. Thank god it's over...I'm starving.

Adrian was surrounded by marines gawking at him, eyes speaking paragraphs on how they likely thought he was an ant that avoided the boot that was Rat-Ear. Little did they know he gave Rat-Ear a proper end and killed all of the traitorous marines endangering their lives. Meanwhile, Rat-Ear's crew was still at large but lacked the muscle Rat-Ear had. They would be dealt with another day, as they likely were long gone. Adrian was eventually met by a higher ranked Marine. In fact, it was Ryuji himself. A Rear Admiral was in his presence and did a good job getting to the point and not stumbling over worries and pity.

Everyone of the marines around him looked at him with pity but had no actions behind their sympathy. They didn't know or understand what was really tugging at Adrian's heart, as it was a detail nobody could see that didn't know he was from Tequila Wolf. When Ryuji got him a blanket, he embraced it happily. It was cold in the room, likely because the marines were too whiny about the heat. Ryuji asked him what happened, prompting Adrian to look at him with sad puppy-dog eyes.

"I...I've been held captive by marines for weeks. They were planning on auctioning me off to R...Rat-Ear. I spent the past day trying to escape after he...he--" Adrian's lips quivered as he cried, covering his bloody face with the blanket. He took a minute to bring himself to continue telling them what happened, but also did his best to imply Rat-Ear violated him. "It was awful. I...did my best to survive...I hope I'm not in trouble. They beat me...they did terrible things." Adrian paused, clenching his eyes shut and breathing heavily.

Using the memories of his past to imitate that feeling of painful recollection and the effect it has on his outside expression, he reinforced the act he was putting on. "There were so many. I'm not as weak as I seem but I didn't want to fight my way out." Adrian sighed, tightening his grip on the blanket. "But I did. They were planning awful things and even forced a medic to help them when they beat me. I wasn't the first one, and they weren't just trying to auction me off. As I fought my way out, I found a room full of boxes." A detail that was true but was left out when he explored the building in isolation, Adrian tried to remain as calm as possible but showed lots of resistance to his emotions on the outside.

"Can I...? I just want to get this...stuff off of me." Adrian didn't mention how he killed Rat-Ear, but he wanted to leave them in momentary suspense. "I killed him. That's my information...I-I killed Rat-Ear!" He burst into tears, unable to continue spitting information.

Idiot. Adrian struggled a smile out, his lips trembling as the marine reassured him that he wasn't in any kind of trouble. Adrian waited until Ryuji left the room before taking the opportunity to clean himself up and eating. They gave him a better meal than what marines normally received, which was a nice exploitation of the system in his opinion. Eating warm, hearty stew he looked up at the ceiling and rested his head on his hand. He pondered on how he narrowly avoided being discovered and how he was able to end such a mess.

The past few days were quite successful, despite having lost time he would've spent on reading or finding better ways to earn money. Things that are more important to him, aside from the original intention. He truly wanted recognition for eliminating Rat-Ear, but he was a mere victim that escaped death and defilement. He wasn't Adrian Knight; a marine of burning justice. The outcome wasn't what he wanted, but he had a little bit of fun. Rat-Ear was challenging for him, especially during the first round.

When he was done eating, they gave him a private room for the night, which gave him the opportunity to leave and retrieve his belongings. Avoiding the patrols, he found a good spot by the shore to wash his disguise and clean his equipment. Once he finished, he returned to his actual quarters and fully expected the marines to panic over the boy's disappearance. An obvious response, but Adrian needed to keep himself hidden from the records regarding his true identity.

Adrian removed his disguise and locked his door, putting Pain in its display case. As he looked at the space where a window would be had he not covered it up, he thought about the marines he killed today. So many marines were corrupt, and no one knew. He wasn't the only impure marine and that alarmed him. How much of the Marines are like this? An arm and a leg? The whole body? Jeez....

[Topic End]