This new bit of information was news to Zypha, when Croma said August was 'extremely fast', it was a phrase that told her his speed was above the ordinary which could certainly prove useful, of course she did not know any of the specifics. Of course everyone had left all the thinking up to her so now she had to come up with a plan. She took a look back at her ragtag group, the only one she really knew about decently was Abigail so she'd have to work pretty much blind. Thankfully she was more than ready to take action herself.

Zypha took the spyglass for a moment to study the cave before handing it back to Abigail. "I'm not too worried about the pirates but those beasts could be trouble." Zypha licked her right index finger and held it up into the wind, thankfully it appeared they were downwind instead of upwind meaning there was less of a chance for the big cats to smell them out. "Alright so here is what we'll do. I'm going on ahead and I am going to climb to the top of the cave and try to sneak in via the ceiling." Zypha took a quick check over her equipment to make sure her scythe were ready for work.

"There are more of them than us so it will be to our advantage if we can hole them up inside and not give them the chance to walk around freely outside. There are two actually doing their job so if we can take them out first we should be able to get the jump on them so if he is as speedy as you say, perhaps he will be best for that part. The tricky part will be dealing with their pets when they let them loose as they will be quite strong and fast. Now, as soon as they realize they are under attack they'll try to mobilize which should give me the cover I need to slip inside from the top. If you need help I'll ambush them from on high, otherwise I'll just head inward and take out whatever is left over. If possible, try to get them to bunch together so Abi can take them out." After outlining her plan, Zypha took a good last look at the 'crew'.

"I expect you all to pull your weight out there or this will be a bad experience. Well lets get to it and not die." Zypha then took off as quickly as she could, heading for the cliff side while keeping as hidden as possible, she made her way up, using the back ends of her scythe as claws to scale the mountain-side as she made her way as quietly as possible toward the top of the entrance. It was a bold strategy, hopefully her companions would be able to figure out the rest on their own.

As Zypha made her way on top of the entrance, she managed to sneak past un-noticed. She could now overhear some conversations that the pirates were having, though. "Oh come on, Jim! I thought ya liked my jaguar!" One of the pirates said, who stood beside a jaguar. "Not when it SHITS on my FOOT." A second pirate barked back at him, who was facing him. The two men with the other jaguar who were sitting on the ground, at the campfire, were simply singing and drinking ale, and just didn't care. The two pirates who were standing and guarding the entrance very well weren't saying a single word, keeping their eyes on their immediate surroundings.

The man was getting more and more annoyed with Alan's attitude. He hopped up and down in frustration, and unsheathed his blade. He pointed it at Alan's neck. "Yer lucky da boss doesn't want us to kill ya! If it were up to me, you'd be dead already!" He roared. The last pirate who was leaning against the cave wall and reading the newspaper looked up at the pirate who was with Alan for a moment, to see what the fuss was about. He shrugged and returned back to reading his newspaper.

Alan's teeth shone and gritted together at the sight of the blade. His heart pumped, his eyes dilated, the adrenaline fueled his singing voice to only be louder. "HUA HUA HUA, YOU CAN'T KILL ME THEN? I TOLD YOU I LIKED MY ODDS!" Alan's laugh was throaty, neck dancing around the blade, outlining the edge. Flesh taunted steel. Alan's pupils shot downward, and his toothy grin became one-sided. "SAY, IS THAT JAGUAR SHIT ON YER' FOOT?" Alan said. Before the pirate could respond, Alan would bring a steel-toed boot down onto the pirate's foot, aiming for the toes. Alan's wrists were tied together in seastone, but his hands were free to grasp at short ranges. In the midst of the pirate's pain, Alan would turn swiftly and attempt to rip the key away from the pirate's belt with big, meaty hands, hiding freedom within the palm of a hand.

Abigail stood between the others, watching the conversation about where to go from here, with her hands behind her back. The plan wasn't overly complicated. She liked that, because the more details they worked out, the more likely it was something was going on. With things this loose, she was sure, they could improvise in the event, likely event too, something didn't go the way they wanted. Without saying a word, she nodded at Zypha when she mentioned getting their enemies to bunch up so she could fry them together in a single shot.

She waited for August to leave, watching him move towards the group with the jaguars. "Well, that was easy." She mused. "For someone who doesn't like being in the middle of a fight he was sure ready to be used as a red hearing." She smiled, and started jogging after him. "Hopefully he won't get himself killed. I'm getting tired of people I'm aligned with dying." As the red pirate ran, red sparks of lightning began gathering around her left hand.

Infiltration had been successful as Zypha carefully made her way along the ceiling, careful not to dislodge any rock that wanted to give in to the sweet call of gravity. It was slow going but it worked and she had effectively made it behind enemy lines. Looking down below she could see and interesting drama start to unfold before her eyes. There was some unintelligent jabbing of fodder type minions but of great interest was the one who was in prison at the moment.

He was a very large and robust man with one of the biggest and firmest jaws Zypha had ever seen, even from her not so great angle on the ceiling. He was also a very loud man, which really fit his image she had to admit, in any even he was in sea stone cuffs, meaning he was also quite dangerous and quite possibly a devil-fruit user. Zypha watched, waiting for the right moment to strike, she had to bottom button done so her jacket didn't hang down from her view on high.

The closest pirates to her position at the moment were the one having a hard time with the prisoner and the two party-goers along with their pet jaguar. In any case now was not the time to engage, or would have been the case if it were not for her comrades starting their assault from the front and the large prisoner doing his darned best to steal the pirates key.

These two distractions would quickly force her hand. She had to quickly decide on her own course of action. There were a few options, drop down and take out the pirate with the prisoner and attempt to quickly free the man to aid her, try to take out the jaguar or hit the two drunkards to keep them from reinforcing the front. It would be dangerous to try for the jaguar as beasts had sharp danger instincts but it was the most dangerous opponent at the moment. The man looked like her could take care of himself plus it was unknown if he would become friend or foe as the Grand Line was filled with crazy individuals, plus it would put her in direct sight of the 'campers'.

As such her best option was to take out the drunks as quickly as possible and then set her sights on the large cat. She moved into position for a silent and stealthy drop assault and waited for the right moment to drop down and put an end to their merriment. She waited till the enemy was distracted by August in the front and then fell, her blades aimed downward to take their lives before they knew what hit them...

As August charged at the pirates, he succesfully punched one of the pirates at the campfire in the back of the head, knocking him out instantly. The pirates turned towards him as the remaining pirate at the campfire quickly and sloppily scrambled to his feet. "What the hell?!" He shouted, staggering back by the surprise attack.

The two well-guarding pirates took note of what was going on and grabbed their flintlock pistols, taking aim at August. They fired a few bullets at his chest. They ended up completely missing their target due to August's amazing speed however. The jaguar near the campfire charged at August afterwards, leaping at him. It attempted to pin his shoulders to the ground with it's paws and bite him in the neck.

The two arguing pirates with the second Jaguar seized their argument immediately, drawing their blades as they moved in towards August. The pirate who was reading the newspaper did the same, dropping his newspaper to the ground as he moved to August with his blade.

As the drunkard from the campfire staggered back, Zypha's blades rammed through his back and the man collapsed to the ground with severe injuries.

The man who stood beside Alan grit his teeth as August,Zypha and Abigail showed up. "What the heck's going on?!" He screamed. Due to the distraction from August and Zypha, Alan managed to snatch the key from him without him noticing.

Alan fell backward once he had the key, pressing his back into the wall. He left room for his giant hands to work with the key, as deftly as meaty hands could. Struggle, grunting, and general mumbled swearing came from the large sailor's mouth. He had difficulty picking the lock, sausage fingers fumbling with the dainty metal. Eventually, and if nobody noticed, the key finally found its mark.

He would keep the seastone cuffs on as he strode behind the pirate who had put a sword to his neck. Whistling, Alan burst from the cuffs and clasped his hands together above his head, intending to bring down a mighty hammer fist down upon the back of the pirate's head.

"Late again." Abigail cursed under her breath as she made her way to join her crew mates in the battle. Though, she took comfort in the fact she'd been racing off against two much quicker team members.

"Hostile take over." Abigail muttered to the man who wanted to know what was going on. "What does it look like?" Her eyes turned for a moment, and she locked on August and the trouble he was currently having with a large cat. "Grr. One moment " She muttered and raised her hand, whose glow dimmed ever so slightly. She wasn't above killing enemies, but animals, most of them, weren't on her list for comfortable kills. So she'd lower the power "Dendo-dendo snake." She hissed and let loose a streak of red energy that raced straight towards the creature.

It was utter chaos in the enemy camp, which was perfect for Zypha as she completed her first sneak attack without too much effort. On the ground she removed her blades quickly and turned toward her next target. Her first victim wasn't dead but he wouldn't be able to do anything in that condition so she ignored him, he'd make a good source of information for later.

Most of the enemy was distracted by August which made it easy for Zypha to move in. With her first target down she jumped on the second pirate who had started on his way toward August since the jaguar nearby had sped off after the speedster. Her attack was quick and lethal, like the claws of a preying mantis her scythe would slice into her target to end his life. The first pirate was lucky she had missed his vitals but this next one would not be so lucky.

Alan succesfully hammered his hands into the back of the man's head, knocking him out.

The jaguar's attempt to pin August to the ground failed due to his quick movements, and was struck straight in the face by Abigail's attack. The beast was electrocuted violently and collapsed into the ground.

The man who dropped his newpaper earlier was distracted by August, and was struck in the back by Zypha's blades.

Now, there were 4 pirates and 1 jaguar remaining.

As the two well-guarding pirates missed August completely, a few stray bullets ended up striking Croma in the chest instead. Her body went limp and collapsed into the ground. The bullets struck some of her vital organs, killing her. The two pirates turned their attention to Zypha and Alan. One of them rushed at Zypha, grabbing his blade. He slashed diagonally at her chest. The second one turned to Alan and charged at him with his own blade, aiming to stab the man in the stomach.

The two pirates that moved at August stared as he ran around. One of them charged at Abigail and slashed horizontally at her neck while the other grabbed his flint-lock pistol and began shooting at August's direction in hopes of getting lucky to hit him and to keep him on a distance.

The last Jaguar decided to do whatever he wanted as it's masters no longer had it restrained. It turned towards Zypha after the man slashed at her, charging at her left and attempting to bite her in her left side.

Alan paced in place, hands forward, in the traditional athletic stance. He remembered his days in the old football league, giant hands ready to take the pigskin. Though, this time the center was a pissed off pirate. And the football was a metal, pointed sword with the intent to impale. Not much difference, really. Though, Alan didn't catch with his hands anymore.

As the sword drew close to his being, Alan lurched over as a pelican might swoop upon a crab. His maw opened wide, the flat side of the blade surfing along the enamel of his teeth. And in the contraction of his jaw, another set of enamel came crashing down upon the blade. The weapon skidded to a halt between the trap of Alan's pearly whites. He'd caught the blade. Alan grunted, bringing his neck upward to face the man, likely raising his arm with the maneuver. He stared him right in the eyes, lifting his eyebrows a couple of times. His tongue flicked outward to edge the side of the sword in play.

"HUA! GOOD FUN! NOW, MY TURN."

Though, his words were likely misunderstood with a sword between his teeth. In any case, the bulky, sword-eating pirate would bring a flying fist upward and into the bottom of the man's chin, a massive cannon of an arm performing an uppercut on the pirate's tender face flesh.

The cat was a monster of muscle, but that didn't do much in the way of protecting it from an electric based attack. It went down without much protest. "Damn." Abigail muttered at the beast she downed. "Hope I didn't hurt it too badly."

She frowned and started to shake her head, but didn't finish thanks to the movement she detected in the corner of her eye. "Oh crap!" She shouted as she turned and tried to pull back, only partially succeeding in avoiding the attack. Her throat wasn't split open and her head was still attached at the end, but a deep gouge of flesh was left on the side of her neck, and blood flowed freely. "Damn it." the red headed pirate shouted as her own blade appeared in her hands. She took a step forward and jammed the blade forward, aiming for her attacker's chest.

Zypha already had the overwhelming advantage as one of the pirates tried to attack her as it was easy to see it coming, at least that would have been the case if she hadn't noticed the other jaguar circling around for a pounce on her left. "Always a complication of course." She mentally groaned and proceeded with her counter.

Stepping back to let the pirate swing past her she quickly grabbed at his sword arm to pull the pirate into the jaguar's path. No doubt the impact would take them both down but at least it would be the pirate and not her who had a bite taken out of him. It would be up to the others to save her while she was pinned down temporarily.

Alan's fist rammed hard into his opponent's face, sending the pirate flying. He was knocked out instantly.

As Abigail thrusted her blade forward, she struck her attacker right in the heart, and the man fell to the ground.

Zypha was succesful to pull the man into the Jaguar's path. As the beast ended up crashing into the pirate and Zypha, it ended up biting the man in the leg instead. Both Zypha and the man fell onto the ground. The jaguar didn't stop, and lunged at the downed pirate's neck, ripping his neck open with it's teeth. After the man's body went limp, the beast attempted to bite Zypha in the neck next. But before it was able to do so, August succesfully rammed his fist into the pirate who had been shooting at him. The man was knocked out cold, and was sent flying. He crashed right into the Jaguar's head, knocking it out as well.

There were no longer any threats. While Zypha was on the ground, the newspaper that one of the pirates had been reading was carried along by the wind, and ended up landing right beside her. There were several articles, but one could have grabbed her attention: "Incident on Erdol Island"

Alan spewed the blade from his maw. The metal crashed against the cave floor, tinkering to a halt after it fell. The fist that had made contact with the pirate sent flying opened and closed. He made sure no bones were broken, clenching the fingers into a tight ball. Afterward, he pounded his exposed chest with that closed, right fist. Repeatedly, it slammed against his skin as he bellowed a victorious laugh. His chest swelled a bright red as it rose with every roar and chuckle.

"HUA HUA HUA! HUA HUA HUA!"

@IceHeart

The titanic man swiveled in place, keeping one foot to the floor as he turned. Everything about the man was large, including his presence. He placed two hands upon his hips, green eyes surveying the gladiator crew. Noticing one of the pirates had fallen to the cave floor, he began sauntering over. The cave echoed with every step as he approached, rubber tread upon stone. Extending his tire-sized hand, he held it open in front of Zypha to assist her to her feet, if she accepted. He would remain there with his colossal smile before addressing Zypha's crew.

"OH, I DO APPRECIATE A CREW WHO HAS GOOD FUN! LET'S BAND TOGETHER, UNTIL THE GOLD FADES FROM OUR EYES!"

As she collapsed on the ground under the pirate and jaguar Zypha knew she would be done for unless someone intervened. The Jaguar ripped out the throat of the man on top of her, making blood fly all over the place, a good portion of the red liquid splattered on her front and face. Zypha glared back as the beast readied itself to bite into her tender neck, wondering if perhaps this would be how she died but that was not the case.

Just as the Jaguar started to strike the body of one of the enemy pirates smashed into the jaguar right in the head, instantly knocking out the large feline. With the beast out of the way Zypha managed to push the dead pirate's corpse off her with some difficulty, as she had been knocked down pretty hard and was still recovering from being slammed on the hard ground. Because of this she did not noticed who had sent the pirate flying her way but that was of little consequence as the ex-prisoner inside the cave sauntered over to her after giving out a obnoxiously loud laugh.

Zypha looked up at his larger than life figure, she had noticed he was a huge man but by the Grand Line he was like an over-sized grizzly, but a lot less furry and without claws of course. She nearly stared at his gigantic hand but quickly looked up at his large, green eyes as she decided to take up his offer and tried to grasp his hand but due to its size she only managed some of his fingers.

"Appreciated." She managed to say as Alan helped her to his feet and then he bellowed out,

"OH, I DO APPRECIATE A CREW WHO HAS GOOD FUN! LET'S BAND TOGETHER, UNTIL THE GOLD FADES FROM OUR EYES!"

Now that she was standing in front of him, his enormity really just overshadowed her and she was not a diminutive woman by any means, in fact she was probably a bit larger than average due to her well-toned frame but this man made her seem like a child or even a doll by comparison. She could not help but feel a little awe for how well-built the man was and his voice certainly matched his appearance, loud and overbearing.

"If there was any gold in our eyes I would have plucked them out by now." Zypha replied sarcastically to the large fellow. He certainly seemed like a capable man and for now they needed all the help they could get. Also, the man was obviously an enemy of the people in control of the island so at least their interests most likely aligned for now. She noticed her hand was still on his, her attention taken away by trying to fit all of him into her vision she had stayed her hand for longer than she had intended and could feel the man's great strength. She removed her hand as casually as possible and took in the situation, noticing who had lived and who had died.

"The pirate I first took down should still be alive, let's see what we can get out of him. As for you," she looked back at Alan again, realized her face was a bloody mess and used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away most of the blood, though a few spots remained. "Well you're certainly large so I'm sure you'll prove useful."

She was about to continue as she tried to appear in complete control, and hide her little mistake, when she noticed the headline on the newspaper on the ground. It was about the island they had been on before and could have useful information, or at least see what the newspapers thought about the Twin Lotus Pirates, if they were mentioned at all in the article. She snatched up the article, finally able to bring herself to terms with the enormity of Alan and read over the article as quickly as she could.

@Whimsley

Incident on Erdol Island

'One week ago, the World Government received a report from the citizens of Erdol Island that the Marines who protected their island had been abusing their authority. Along with this, they received support and supplies by the pirate group known as the 'Twin Lotus Pirates'. Naturally, the World Government intervened immediately. They sent a Navy ship to the island post-haste, and brought the corrupt Marines, lead by former captain Yami and the Twin Lotus Pirates to justice, either by capturing or killing them. However, two of the pirates have managed to escape. Fortunately, these pirates have been caught on camera transponder snails within the Navy Base, and wanted posters have been made. Posters of the pirates have been sent along with this newspaper, among the many other wanted posters.'

On the very bottom of the newspaper, there was one final line. "This newspaper has been approved by the World Government."

There were many posters hidden within the newspaper, but they all seemed to be about rookie pirates. Two in particular would grab their attention: 'Lotus Scythe Zypha: 30 Million Beri. Dead or Alive.' and 'Lightning Blade Abigail: 18 Million beri. Dead or Alive.'