One Piece: Open Waters (IC, 1x1, Pacifista and DeusExMachina)

[Pacifista]

Cornelius listened to Mia’s points quietly, nodding appropriately. The crowd was mostly quiet, comments and chatter occasionally being thrown around. As Mia lifted Javinder up, he moaned, his legs still dragging on the ground due to his height.

With her piece said, Cornelius decided to add to it, “I think it’s the latter option. Having a ship means having an escape route. I can’t really see the pirates hiding out until the ship docked. However, now there’s no need for that. However, either way, the guards are working with the pirates, aren’t they?” Cornelius looked at the crowd, and as if on cue, a certain guard was pushed out, a bit more decorated than the others. He seemed nervous, and though he was armed with a blade, he didn’t look like it was about to wield it with both Cornelius and Mia still standing. “So, is anyone going to give us answers, or should we start beating them out of you?” Though he didn’t notice, some passengers were heading off, presumably to let the rest of the ship know what had happened.

There was a short snicker from Javinder, still being held up. “I’d say you’re on the mark, except on one point. The guards were Vermillion Pirates before they were hired; I doubt anyone else on the ship knows, and they were able to show the rest of us here, just like you thought. However, the Captain isn’t here. This was just one quick operation for funding, pulled by a part of the Avian Squadron. The Vermillion Pirates aren’t just a single, small pirate group...” He grinned cockily.

Cornelius had little choice but to accept what he said as truth. Twirling his batons, he walked over to the passengers, who backed away from the guards, now ousted as Vermillion Pirates. “How many of you guys am I going to have to beat the crap out of until you surrender?” They didn’t seem too keen on fighting, throwing their weapons aside.

With that done, Williamson let his arms drop to his side, and he moved back towards Mia. However, he suddenly collapsed, hitting the ground hard as the room began to fill with tough looking ship workers, a few curious low class passengers, and the ship’s captain. Cornelius’ wounds came back hurting with the adrenaline from the fight having worn off.

[DeusExMachina]

Mia tossed Javinder aside and said "Well boy, looks like your pirate days are over. once we hit port, we'll turn you over for some cash. With the equipment and command you seem to have over the others, you must have at least a decent price over your head." Before he could move, she kicked him hard in the gut and then delivered a hit to the temple to knock him out so he couldn't escape. She absorbed her dice and barely kept herself standing, as her own power had finally reached it's limit.

She dashed over to Cornelius and gently sat him up against a wall, calling for anyone with medical experience to come over and take a look at him. Once he started getting attention, she walked over to the captain of the ship and began to discuss payment for their action. She flashed the cash she had stolen and made them agree to just let her off with the money. It'd be easier all around, and they agreed that Cornelius and her both deserved a nice payout for saving the ship.

She walked back over to Cornelius and smiled, saying 'Well captain, what's our next move?"

[Pacifista]

As Mia dealt with Javinder and turned her attention to Cornelius, the Captain of the Golden Crest began to give orders to his loyal crew members, dealing with the guards appropriately. Cornelius groaned a bit as Mia helped him up. “Man, I need to be more careful,” He mumbled. He was still mostly conscious, but he couldn’t do much when his leg gave out.

At Mia’s comment Cornelius looked at her, recalling something before saying, “Oh yeah, I did say something about that, didn’t I? Didn’t get to finish though, I suppose, but if you want to follow me, I wouldn’t say no, would I?” His smile widened as a ship’s doctor approached, beginning his work on Cornelius’ wounds.

“Mister, er, I believe you should be taken to a bed somewhere, to rest once I finish your first aid. I don’t have the supplies to patch you up, but if you’re still conscious after that, I don’t that will be much of a problem,” the balding doctor said.

Cornelius nodded, and with some help, he was moved to an unused cabin. He insisted Mai should be allowed to stay as well, and once his treatment was finished, the doctor went to help with anyone else who might be injured, though it didn’t seem like many were hurt given how the situation unfolded. He promised to check back later though.

Now in one of the formerly empty cabins, Cornelius stretched out on the bed, most of his clothes on a pile, a bit of blood on them, while he still wore his shorts and hat, bandages on his leg, stomach, and shoulder. Glad to be able to relax, he took a breath, before muttering with a laugh, “You’re too strong! You made me look bad.”

Now that they were able to talk alone, Cornelius started, “Well, now that you’re my shipmate...well, would be shipmate, since we don’t have a ship, I suppose we should get around to a couple things. Though first, tell me about your Fruit. You can make dice, I guess?” He leaned in, quite interested. “Oh yeah, and I guess I should tell you about my, er, project. Have you ever heard of Impel Down?”

[DeusExMachina]

Mia chuckled and just stood back to let the doctor work. Once they were alone in the cabin, she chuckled and said "Well, straight to the point I see. That's good at least." She smiled as she began to recall the events that led her to the fruit and said "If you want to know about the fruit, you gotta know the back story behind it. i've only had it a year though, so it's a short story."

She smiled and said "When I was 20, I left home and began to work as a gambler, more like a swindler. I stole and pawned stuff from the rich, cheated people out of their money, that type of stuff. After that, I found the holy grail of items. A devil fruit, teh Gamble Gamble fruit to be precise. thoe things go for millions if not billions of beri, so of course being the money lover I am, I devised a plan to take it...Things went badly."

"When I went to steal it, I slipped and ate it...Yeah, clumsy, stupid me. I got caught, and I was so pissed at myself, and my body manifested a dice. Each dice has marks on it that do different things. If it's an x and a number, my physical abilities are multiplied by the number. If it's a weapon mark, the dice turns into that weapon. If it's a Zzz, I got to sleep. Hence why it's called the "gamble Gamble" fruit. Everytime you use the fruit's power, you roll the dice and take a gamble."

When he spoke about Impel down, Mia's jaw dropped and she said "If we're going there I might leave...That place is worse than hell I've heard. The biggest, maximum security prison for the worst of the worst pirates right? What does that place have to do with you?"

[Pacifista]

Cornelius listened quietly to Mia’s story. He couldn’t help but hold in a laugh when she explained how she ate her Fruit, but the Fruit’s powers were interesting. “Man, Devil Fruit are something else. Guess you must be pretty lucky if you didn’t roll a single Zzz today, huh?”

Changing subjects, he nodded at what she’d heard about Impel Down. “Yeah, I’ve heard of a lot of things, but only stories. When you think about it, the only stuff we could hear about comes from Government employees, as pirates don’t leave once they go in. But what does it have to do with me? There’s someone there, my dad. Er, well, kinda. He was imprisoned there,” Cornelius began to explain. He grasped his hands tightly, getting a little frustrated at his memories as he continued, “He...didn’t do anything worth getting imprisoned for, let alone Impel Down! I need to...” He stopped, feeling more doubt about the whole thing. Pushing aside his feelings for a moment, he decided to finish anyway. “I’m going to rescue him. It won’t be easy. Hell, it’s probably nearly impossible, but...” He looked up at Mia, adding, “If I were alone, it definitely would be, but with help? I think if you were with me on my crew, it’d be a little more possible. I’ll need more allies though, so...what do you say?”

She’d already asked to join, but not under the pretense of going along on what could very well be a suicide mission. “I’ll pay, of course, somehow. I wouldn’t expect anyone to go down there with nothing to gain but an old geezer,” Cornelius said with a slight grin. He still felt he was rushing into an explanation: too much was left to plan, as to try and brute force such a notable stronghold would be suicide.

[DeusExMachina]

Mia sighed and said "Hell, you don't have to pay. Whatever cash we get along the way, let me handle it. I'll distribute it among our crew. That, and let me handle the navigating. Still this...This is a pretty big thing. We're essentially going to go against the world government by attacking that stronghold. If we survive...Hell, if we can even make a dent in it, we'll be some of the most famous pirate, and then I can just imagine the bounties on our heads and the cash we'll be rolling in from just taking down famous hunters."

She chuckled and stood up, saying "So, where's our next stop? Give me a map, a compass, and a ship, and I guarantee that I can get you there. I'm guessing our first plan is the get the necessity of a pirate crew. A fighter besides me, a marksman of some kind, an engineer or something to handle the ship, a doctor to heal us up, and I guess someone who can cook. So, we need five more people...Sounds interesting, I wonder who we'll collect."

[Pacifista]

Cornelius gaped as Mia began to list off both her skills and some of the group they would need to conquer Impel Down. When his mind registered it, he grinned widely again, before bursting into laughter. After a moment, he stopped, clutching his stomach wound with a slight grimace of pain, before wiping it away and saying, “I’m glad I ran into you here.” Her suggestions gave him a little hope; previously he’d had a lot of doubt regarding this matter, but Mia was helping. Taking another steadying breath, he calmed down before saying, “We might want more than five: hell, an army would have trouble... we’ve got to find some good guys if we have a chance of making it work.” He looked at Mia again: he was certain most would call him insane if he even mentioned spitting on Impel Down’s front door.

Looking up at the ceiling, he said, “I’m gonna get a bit of rest. We’ll get dropped off at Tolyatti Island tomorrow I guess. We need a...lot. I’m gonna brainstorm a bit on the Impel Down thing tonight. Get some rest, you might be able to get another empty cabin; dunno how many were left over. Unless there’s something else you want to talk about?” He was sure she had questions, as did he.

[DeusExMachina]

Mia smiled and said "We don't need an army. I'm working on a few more abilities, and once I get those down, I could handle whole ships myself with my psychical multipliers. What we need is a team that knows what they're doing. A group of people who can execute a plan perfectly. We don't need to beat the government to get your dad, we just need to get in and get out. That doesn't take strength or numbers, it takes skill and execution."

She stood up and began to leave, saying "Don't worry, I prefer to sleep out under the stars with the ocean breeze, it's refreshing to say the least." She chuckled softly an left, heading to the outer deck and let herself fall asleep finally. She had used to much energy.