Finally Bogard remembered his Den Den Mushi, Jax could not believe his ears when his captain finally decided to listen to him. Jax would have thought that he was in heaven if it wasn’t for the people trying to kill him.

Bogard destroyed the restaurant’s ceiling and jumped up on the roof while making bold declarations of becoming the next Pirate King. This gave Jax enough time to appear on the roof and then teleport to a set of houses that were behind the Marine perimeter. He had complete belief in his crew and their ability to beat up on a bunch of grunts.

The marines probably had another perimeter of snipers behind their soldiers in order to pick off the crew easily rather than engaging them in a full-fledged fight. That the crew had to break through two lines of Marines and then find the quickest way to their ship, and then try to sail out of Loguetown while praying that the Marines didn’t already have the harbor blockaded. None of that would matter if the crew wasn’t able to get out of the restaurant alive.

Jax had to decide between either taking out soldiers at the restaurant or breaking down the second line of snipers that he assumed were somewhere in the city. This meant he had to watch both in front of him and behind him in order to not die. If he was wrong about the second line of snipers then he wasted precious time and his team might be overwhelmed. On the other hand, if there was a second line and he didn’t take care of them first it could lead to a lot of problems farther down the road, literally.

“Captain, I am heading farther into the city to take out any snipers that they may have posted. I’m gonna leave these grunts to you,” Jax reported to his captain through baby Den Den Mushi. With that, Jax pulled out his pistols. They work better with his partial teleportation than a rifle, so he decided to switch over since he didn’t really need long range accuracy if he could move in closer.

Once the dust cleared and the raining debris had finally stopped, Zepp shook his head when he saw that Johnny, his partner on the cannonball voyage, was nowhere to be found. “Eh, he’ll be fine.” the man muttered, brushing some pebbles off of the visor of his marine cap. In any case, the pirates had managed to “escape” before the two could do anything, so that was a “loss” on their part. And if that wasn’t enough, there were a lot of wounded troops strewn about what used to be the port.

Suddenly, the roaring of Anaru could be heard rumbling through the port, complete with the large man’s trademark barking about “Rock Solid Justice”. “Heyyyy, good to see you’re still alive and kicking, big guy.” Zepp greeted as he stepped over some rubble. If nothing else, Anaru could be counted on to be resilient. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for the men under his command. Or his ship, for that matter.

“Lemme see if I can get Captain Depression on the line for ya, ‘kay?” he stated, pulling a mini Den Den Mushi out of his jean pocket.
“Oy, sleepyhead. The Gorilla’s looking right as rain, so you should probably try catching up with the rowdy bunch who came through here. They left quite a mess, so I expect you to be able to pay them back in full.” he explained once he was put through to Freyja herself. While it wasn’t often that any of the 99th got to see any truly serious action, he figured that the Captain of the 99th division would be able to handle herself just fine. And besides, she wouldn’t be alone in the endeavour, as Zepp well knew.

One could've expected Pirates to be uneducated, they had never gotten trained in combat, they were all self-taught. Their skills and tactics hadn't been formed by years of hard training, hours of studying the art of war of the commanders and generals that came before. They hadn't been taught guerrilla tactics, using your smaller numbers to beat an overwhelming foe. But most importantly, they didn't know compassion. Not for others, and not for one and another. That was why, in the end, the legacy of these pirates would fade, and their way of living would not stand the test of time. Where the ways of villany, cruelty and hatred would falter. Compassion, truth, and Justice would always stand tall.

This, was a perfect example of that. Once Johnny had dispersed, the dashed around the deck, filling the floor with two meter-thick smoke, as thick as the foggiest cloud. Depriving the pirates of oxygen. Johnny watched as the group would struggle to breath - and then he saw the spark fly from the man in the mask. Surprised, Johnny dashed into the Captain's cabin, closing the door behind him, the smoke still thick on the deck, the smoke ignited, a firey explosion erupted on the deck, explosion loud enough to break the door off of it's hinges. Johnny stood on the side of it, the door blowing past him at quite a high speed. He grinned.

"You ever think before you blow shit up?" Johnny shouted, lighting another cigarette, the flames erupting high, burning through the deck, climbing up the mast.

"You know, I was almost a little worried when I saw how you fought with LT.Silverback, but now you just did my job for me!" Johnny shouted, with a chuckle. Arming his pistols, he grabbed both of them and walked out of the cabin, aiming them at Xerxes. "Now, get on your god damn knees and put up your hands." He rose his eyebrow, keeping one pistol trained at Xerxes, and aimed the other one on the guy laying on the floor - the one he recalled seeing a bounty posted for - The one who was the reason for their name. Their captain.

JACKAL VENTMAW

Location:
Archepeligo known as the Conomi Islands.

Interacting:
@Ira
@LokiLeo789
@malmshodes
@Hillan

I was alerted to the sound of gunshots, heading out of the deck I caught the glimpse of a marine, Xerxes, and Melany before smoke filled my vision. Instinctively I'd transform again into my monstrous form, hoping the ship would hold my increased mass as I called out for my allies. The smoke and low oxygen didnt bother me too much as I was acclimated to such conditions frequently, however it made it impossible to see much, let alone smell. I noticed a spark, likely from Xerxes, and the smoke retreated. I didnt have time to look to see of the marine as I rushed past Xerxes and to Melany's side, scooping her up with of one of my arms the size of a tree trunk and holding her against my reptilian chest. I was about to ask Xerxes what happens but to my surprise I saw a marine speak and hold his gun at the captain. For a moment I was frozen in fear, and I reminiscent of a burning ship with a dying father and family. My crocodilian eyes then narrowed as I let out an enraged roar, following with words "You will not take this family too!" And launched a sphere of flames from my mouth at the marine. Immediately after firing the projectile Id run to the captain's side and pick him up with my other arm in the same manner I held Melany. I would then crouch to the ground, tail coiling around me as I hunched and kept both Melany and Marxo close between massive arms and my behemoth of a body. "Xerxes I'll keep them safe you take care of the marine!"

Of course, they had that guy who could turn into some type of Lizard, with big powerful scaley-armor, horns and the whole deal. Quite the show, really. "Neat." Johnny uttered upon seeing the transformation, feeling a sense of awe, the sense of awe distracted him from putting a bullet in the knocked out Captain, laying on the floor. Once the dino-man transformed, he blew fire at Johnny - these guys really didn't believe in the whole 'if at first you don't succeed' way of thinking.

The wave of Fire pierced Johnny, exploding against the wooden wall behind him, further spreading the fire on the ship. Johnny shot at the captain, but the bullet was reflected off of the Lizardman's skin. The Marine grinned and ugly smile. "Well, I'm out." He said, spinning his empty-pistols on his fingers, before tossing them aside, using the guns being thrown as distractions, as he turned into smoke, and darted ontop of the Lizard man, and the two less-so healthy pirates, covering them in Smoke.

"Come on now, Pirate scum. You wanna kill me? Go for it. I can't dodge from here." Johnny baited. "If you don't, they'll all suffocate." He mentioned, providing the masked man with a call, and no matter what he chose, he would choose the wrong one, as igniting Johnny would burn his crew, the smoke seeping through the Lizard man's tail and arms, getting into the lungs of the two other pirates. And if he didn't, they would suffocate.

He wanted to find out just how heartless this pirate was.
"Only way they live is if you surrender."

Location:

• On the Mental Floss near the Conomi Islands.

Interacting:

• @Tsukoreyu
• @malmshodes
• @dragonmancer
• @Ira
• @Hillan

---

The smoke man was more that meets the eye as he was able to pull his essence some the smoke and ignite the deck. Xerxes could care less about the well being of the others, they called themselves Sunny Massacres Pirates, they should have been more than capable of protecting themselves when the time came. Xerxes was the first mate, better for them to be injured by his flames than be executed cause he failed to protect them when the struggled to do it themselves.

Reappearing with a gun pointed at his Captain, was Jackal in his rhino form. Taking initiative, Jackal quickly picked up Melany and Marxo, both who seemed to be unaffected by his flames, not to mention the fact that the rhino himself was immune. He was never so happy to see Jackal in his life before. That quickly changed when he would actually be left to deal with it.

"Yeah, well, I always do." he said despondently as he scratched the back of his head.

The smoke man quickly changed tactics, choosing to attack the rest of the crew through suffocation and made Xerxes' chose. In his mind, the most logical choice was to…blow up Jackal and escape. Unfortunately, his damn heart wouldn't let him, he was to damn attached to the crew. Standing slowly, he pointed at the other Marine ship in the water, thier command ship he assumed.

Rubbing his fingers and palm together it created friction which in turn created static and sparks. The moment his unclasped his hand, the oxygen between it ignited, but he increased the amount of static in it, making the flame dense. He repeated this process, but this time allowed the oxygen molecules in the air to the work to produce more static. This fed the flame, but kept it small. Within seconds a ball of unstable volatile electrical fire the could be employed to release a beam that could burn things without setting an explosion, similar to a lens focusing sunlight, instead vaporizing its target pointing it in the direction of the command ship, its bright light could be easily seen by them. The flames were so dense, that even a lack of oxygen could not destroy its volatile abilities.

"I have a proposal. I single handily destroyed to two whole ships with this one move. Your hundreds of comrades, for my crew." Xerxes countered. Today, they would see if a marines sense of justice was as sound and just as others thought it to be.

@dragonmancer@Hillan
Melany smelled the smoke before she saw it. It was a rancid tang in the air that brought to mind rubber burning. "That smell." She mumbled, and her eyes went wide as she turned her attention to Xerxes, sure of what he was about to do. "Not on the ship...." She would've said more, had a lot more to say actually, but everything went boom before she got it out, and everything went up in flames. "We just got the ship." She muttered, shaking her head and getting to her feet.

There was a roar, and massive movement behind her. On instinct she grabbed a hold of her kunais and ready for a fight. A reptilian hand bigger than her reached out of the darkness and hefted her up like a rag doll. "Jackal" she coughed. "Don't worry about me. Get the captain" but there wasn't enough air for her to do more than whisper. Before she knew it she was hefted up. A few seconds later the captain was saved too. She wasn't sure if it was her words that got the sunny massacre's tank to do it, or the smoke guy. Either way the point was the man had been saved.

A new threat appeared almost as quickly as the fog. Smoke started to swirl around them. "Damn it." She muttered and started squirming. "Jackal, buddy, your fire proof right?" Melany coughed/ yelled towards Jackal's head. "Why not cover us up and ignite it all?"

JACKAL VENTMAW

Location:
Archepeligo known as the Conomi Islands.

Interacting:
@Ira
@LokiLeo789
@malmshodes
@Hillan

I watched melany leave my grip, The smoke was insufferable even if I could still breathe somewhat. The smell was awful and my senses were limited. I heard Melany speak to me. "I can survive without a scratch, however if I did that you two will be smouldering piles of dust." I paused as an idea came to my head. "Melany can you swim while holding onto to Marxo?" Thinking that I could ignite the ship while they are safe in the water.

Freya - Conomi Islands

@Dragonmancer@Hillan@LokiLeo789@NachoBachoPacho And anyone else near the burning Massacre Pirate ship

“Oy, sleepyhead. The Gorilla’s looking right as rain, so you should probably try catching up with the rowdy bunch who came through here. They left quite a mess, so I expect you to be able to pay them back in full.”

Her Den Den Mushi droning at her from it's table, Freya grumbled to herself, "You couldn't even wait five minutes?"

As her ship finally reared onto the scene, needless to say, there was a certain sort of chaos to the whole mess that had Freya missing the fact that she gave up her beauty rest for this. Not that she needed it.

Still, it was havoc. Everything appeared to be on fire, at least two ships had been largely obliterated, the survivors still scrambling to safety. Everything that wasn't obliterated seemed to be on fire, especially the deck on one ship that was covered in smoke. However, if her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, those coils of black smoke were mixed with a more healthy white, which implied John was getting work done. Also was that...was that a scary huge monster poking out of the smoke? Freya hadn't even seen anything like that on the Grand Line.

Barking maneuvers to her crew, she dropped down to the deck, pacing alongside the edge as her ship got closer to pulling up to the burning vessel's side, Freya keeping herself as close to that burning ship as she could, trying to get eyes on whatever was going on.

A Southblue Stand-Off, huh? Was that really the pirates plan, did he think he could destroy another two Vessels, and that it would mean this Marine - whom obviously isn't afraid of causing quite a lot of trouble, would back down? Did he not think this Marine trusted the commanding officers aboard the ship the masked man was aiming at. Johnny grinned, and put up his hand, smoke stopped pouring onto the Lizard Man, however, it would take hours for the smoke to dissipate, unless the wind picked up. All right.. Fine. Johnny said, for a moment, holding his hands up, he was standing on the railing, the flames were spreading towards him, the sails had all been burned to pieces and the mast was charred at the base, behind Xernes, the flames were going higher.

"But, you do realize you can't get away, anyway, right? Your ship is destroyed, your captain is knocked out, and your crew are all suffering from smoke-poisoning." Johnny said, his voice wasn't as chipper as it had been previously, it was a low, sad tone. "They will die unless they get medical attention. And I don't think you have any oxygen tanks. We do. You surrender, and I'll personally make sure your crew gets medical attention and makes full recovery, before being processed to stand fair trial for their crimes. But spending life in prison is better than dying here, on a burning ship. Your arm is broken, even if you could get off the ship, you can't carry them with you." Johnny spoke, his words were full of sympathy and reason, he was being as sincere as he possible could be.

"Please. Let me save their lives. There's been enough bloodshed for today. Be a noble man, show me there's good in even a criminal like you." The Ensign told the Pirate, bowing his head, pulling the brim of his cap over his face, shadows covered his eyes.

In the next second, The Marine moved faster than he had ever done in front of these pirates, using the Soru technique, he dashed to the other side of Xernes, and in half-a second he threw a kick at the Spark-Man, a crescent wave of smoke came from his leg. Nicotine Edge The wave was more powerful than a cannonball, and the smoke was the same flammable one he had produced at the start of his invasion of the ship. The wave smoked crashed against the spark pirate, a explosion errupting, and the kinetic force of the attack tore the ship in half quite easily due to the charred wood from the flames, breaking the back half off of the front, making the ship take in water in a matter of seconds.

"For the record, I don't trust pirates. And I didn't lie about saving your friends. But I don't take kindly to someone holding a gun to mine." The Marine spoke, standing on the back half of the ship, the broken off part that was floating away form the rest, tossing his cigarette bud at the deck of the half that were on the pirates side, igniting the rest of the smoke to put the ship on even more fire.

'Zepp' Wasn't gonna be too happy about this...

Location:

• On the Mental Floss near the Conomi Islands/On the Conomi Islands

Interacting:

• @malmshodes
• @dragonmancer
• @Ira
• @Hillan

---

Xerxes world slowed down to a snails pace. Both Melany's and Jackel's words fell on deaf ears, this situation was futile. The ship that he planned to blow up sailed towards them, Marxo was basically in a comma, Melany would be useless in this situation, and Jackal, was Jackal. If he destroyed this this any more then he already had, it would surly sink, despite the fact that he could put out the flames himself, the damage was done. Xerxes glanced at his crew, there would be no saving them today, unfortunately.

Xerxes was a shrewd man, he lacked morals and wasn't above used questionable tactics to ensure his own survival. He was perfectly capable of reading the situation and realizing that there was no getting out of this. Fortunately for him, he was an escape artist, he couldn't say much for the rest. In his head he was already calculating what it would take to get out of there, his muscles tensed and poised to jump the hell away.

Unfortunately, his planing was interrupted by an electric shock running through his brain. As the smoke man let go of his allies and spoke, which again fell on deaf ears, he could sense out what was gonna happen next, smoke mans next plan of attack. "Bullshit." Xerxes mumbled to himself. Before another word could escape his lips, the mans attack came. Within a blink of an eye, the whole thing took place, Xerxes brought his knee up to his stomach and leaned back on his grounded foot. The moment the smoke kick came, three explosions rocked the boat. The first was the Marines smoke kick, which ripped the ship in half, the other was his friction layer kicking in, creating another explosion that cushioned the blow, and the other was the torrent of flames being released the sole of his grounded foot.

Using the force of the Marines explosion, he launched himself into the air, the torrent released from his foot launching him upwards. He still felt the residual effects of the smoke mans attack, but he ignored it, like he always did. Since they weren't to far from shore he used the explosion to launch himself onto a shop building not to face from the battlefield. In another blink of an eye a massive explosion shook the island, electricity arcing from the crumbling building as he used it as a launch pad to jump half the island, and used a torrent of flames to slow his decent.

There was no way to describe the feeling of flying thought the air and falling. Especially the falling part. The feeling when one started to accelerate, within a few seconds he was falling at who knew how fast. Since Conomi was an Archepeligo, he had a plethora of Islands to jump to, he just had to make his way there. In the back of his head, images of his crew flashed and went away. Someone from the crew had to have gotten away. Unfortunately, he knew he wasn't in the clear, someone had to be after him. The last thing he wanted to hear was Rock Solid. He began is race, jumping from building to building to get to the next island, fatigue slowly weighting down on his mind and body.

JACKAL VENTMAW

Location:
Archepeligo known as the Conomi Islands.

Interacting:
@Ira
@LokiLeo789
@malmshodes
@Hillan
@Pacifista

As the smoke started to clear I rushed to another side of the ship, not dealing with Xerxes and the marine for the time being. It was futile, Xerxes was essentially defeated, Melany didn't have anything to stop the marines, and Marxo was unconscience. However I refused to allow not only myself, but the crew that I now serve from such a fate. We were pirates, we were made to be free from law and shackles, at least that is what his family taught him. Even if they don't execute us a fate in prison to a true pirate is a fate worse then death. We were scum, but we were scum that will not be rubbed clean so easily. At the very least, I did not want to endanger my crew anymore than they already were for my next plan of actions, so I had to be quick about it. I can sacrifice myself, but not my family with me. I'd slam over the massive, half the size of a house, bag of mostly fruit and vegetables over the boat, surprisingly it wasn't that badly on fire, and the sea water soon splashing over it kept it from further damaging the sac. floating in the water only half submerged like an iceberg. I'd throw both Melany and Marxo onto the floating bag, albeit my eyes still hazy from the still present smoke. Once freed from my grip, my entire body would erupt into what appeared to be a pillar of fire all around every inch of my scales. While the flames spread to the smoke my own fire focused and pressurized around my own body, to the point that a strong constant breeze was ever present around my inferno of a body. I'd roar as the ship began to tear apart from my own weight and heat. I hoped the smoke wasn't to bad for them, hopefully they can walk it off. At this moment, it was sink or swim, literally, though a devil fruit user like myself and this marine cannot perform the latter. The bag was soaked in sea water, which probably wouldn't help the health of Marxo but there was nothing I could do about that, and my heart sank when i noticed through the clearly smoke a navy ship approaching.

It was now the two of us on the boat, and with a single punch I would smash the already torn boat into several large burning chunks, waves rising and crashing, which would catch the bag and send it off some distance away from the wreckage. My size was now a disadvantage as I was now stranded on a large though sinking debris of the ship, the fire still around me didn't help. I was already exhausted of my own ability, the sea water splashing over me didn't help. The flames started to die down. I was desperate, and perhaps such desperation pays off, as I would leap off from my previous chunk of wreckage to another, until performing a leap that would seem impossible onto the makeshift raft of a bag with my other crew, shrinking into my human form mid air. The only conceivable land mass was the island archipeligo we were just one, so if my crew had another chance to escape, it would be there. After what I planned to do next, they were on there own, and they would likely be at the mercy of more marines, but there was nothing else I can do for them. I'd unmask myself, and exhaled a massive torrent of flames to the water, creating a brief engine that would send the ship back to another island of the archipeligo in almost the same speed marxo had performed, albeit with a slower drag time after the speed boost wore off. However as I stopped the breathe attack we were passing the navy ship, and I would leap off of the raft and onto the vessel of the enemy, transforming again into my beast form and landing with such a thud from weight and force that the entire ship nearly dunked bow first into the water before tilting back up in a rapid, tremor-like dissarray. As I made my landed, I gave a tremendous roar before my exhausted panting became clear. "You will not capture the rest of the Sunny Massacre pirates!" I shouted, still some vigor in my endurance. "Your only chance is to take me down! good luck with that!" I spewed a breathe of fire onto a section of the ship's deck before bracing a more defensive stance, tail ready and arms braced.

Jax kept moving quickly and quietly on the rooftops of Loguetown, he would soon be within eyesight of any snipers and he would then use his partial materialization to knock out the marines with a quick pistol whip that they would never see coming.

It was just simpler that way, they’re just fools following orders of corrupt leaders. They’re doing what it takes to survive in a world where the higher ups control the lives of their subordinates without giving a second thought about them. The key to taking out the perimeter of snipers was finding the head of the snake and cutting it off. That means there is at least a commander in charge of this attack. Though more likely there is a captain calling the shots. If the captain puts up more resistance than necessary then Jax would have to kill him. That would be regrettable, full-fledged violence was something he preferred to avoid if at all possible.

His materializations had started to improve since the first time he teleported. Whenever the crew docked all Jax would focus on is trying to cross the city they docked in as quickly as possible. It was a lot of hard work, but it really paid off. He could now materialize with his pistol and clothes so he wouldn’t have to get naked to fully materialize.

Jax was exhausted from exerting himself to take out what seemed like dozens of soldiers, but his hands don’t make the best eyes so it was hard to keep count. He decided to take a seat behind a chimney of a house and focus on regaining his energy.

ANARU KAHURANGI

Location: Conomi Islands.

Interacting with: @LokiLeo789 @Hillan @malmshodes @dragonmancer @Ira

Anaru had been observing what was occuring, while ordering his soldiers to regroup, retreating, and care to the injured. he was biding his time, waiting for the right moment, he didn't want to interfere with the smoke-man, but now that the exploding-man was escaping, it seemed time to act.

Anaru rolled his neck, as his body grew, his skin being covered with fur, as his arms especially beefed up. his eyes turned red, and he gained four sharp teeth, this was, of course, his hybrid state. Anaru clenched his body, focusing deep inside him, as everything seemed to slow around him. "One thousand years alone meditating, absorbing the world, is too long!" Anaru's body slimmed down, all the excess muscle was turned into a more lean build, attacking power was not sacrificed, speed however, was gained. Anaru gave one last look to the ninja-woman, and the man he assumed to be the captain. "I am not showing mercy on you two, but the exploding man abandoned you, his allies, and I can't forgive that." Anaru would have never left them there, if he hadn't had reinforcements next to him. he began to rapidly elbow behind him, positioning his elbows below him as he crouched down.

As Xerxes made his explosive escape, and was flying, he heard something strange. "R-R-R-R-ROCK SOLID!" as Anaru erupted from down below, several shock waves coming off of his form as he approaches, still swinging his elbows behind him, to prepare his fists, along with using 'nail gun' to propel himself even better. as Anaru reached Xerxes in the air, he let out a laugh, his body mass expanding, as he prepared an intense punch, and with his other arm, he fired several Nail guns, to change his direction several times, to confuse Xerxes. now above Xerxes' body, Anaru sent his fist down towards his back.

Footing recovered, flames licking the deck of the boat, Freya clenched her teeth, ordering, "Stand back! And keep those flames from spreading!"

But while Freya ordered her crew to be more reserved, Freya had no such plans. As much as she would like too, with her subordinates showing off so much, it wouldn't be cool of her to step back now.

Whipping out her sword, Freya slipped around the flames, her path curving as she angled her run towards the dragon. Closing her eyes against the smoke, she had no hesitance as she charged at Jackal.

@dragonmancer

JACKAL VENTMAW

Location:
Archepeligo known as the Conomi Islands.

Interacting:
@Ira
@LokiLeo789
@malmshodes
@Hillan
@Pacifista

Judging by her orders and bravery I could tell this woman was strong and indeed of high rank, this would not be a cakewalk compared to the marine grunts. Seeing as I had no idea what she was capable of it would be risky to be aggressive, besides the longer I stand the more time my allies have at escaping, or at least I hope they could get past Anaru. I had to have faith in what strength they had left. As she lunged at me, I made sure my arms were braced over my underbelly as my tail went to swing and smash her towards the deck of the ship. "Brave one, huh?! Show me your strength!" I shouted as my tail lunged in a swift and strong matter.

Jackal's jagged tail arced over his shoulder lashing down towards Freya. Yet, she did not falter. Through closed eyes, she saw a light, a faint line. All things had a light, and every action formed by will made a line.

Freya's feet shuffled, and she avoided that line. Jackal's tail scraped into the deck, just barely missing Freya. Her charged carried her by Jackal, and her sword flashed low, a dark aura about it, drawing across Jackal's leg, splashing the deck in a gout of red.

Fanning her blade out as she stood near the edge of the bow, Freya wouldn't mind if this was cut short. "Things aren't looking good for you and your mates, dragon kid." Freya taunted.

@dragonmancer

The gunslinger looked confused as Samehana jumped off the roof. Backwards. Ass first. Towards him. "What the...?" Keeping the grip on his whiskey in his right hand, Church took a step to the right and held out his left arm over where he previously stood, allowing him to perfectly catch the Fishwoman in such a way that it looked like she was casually sitting on his hand and forearm. His arm barely moved as he caught her, as ultimately she wasn't that heavy and Church was strong but if he kept his arm rigid she would've probably complained later that he bruised her or something. With a heavy sigh, Church twisted his arm and moved it back, to dump Samehana onto her feet on the ground. "Sometimes I wonder if you been hit in the head too many times," he joked, resting his arm on his guns again and turning to face Sancho. "Nice ass, though."

He couldn't resist the opportunity to say that, just to see what kind of reaction he'd get from her. Hopefully not a violent one, though Church would see it coming and dodge for sure. Despite being pretty strong himself he knew that Samehana was stronger and a directly blow from her would hurt like hell, assuming it wouldn't knock him out entirely. She had challenged him in the past to fistfights and while he could take on many opponents she was in a different league. She was too fast for him to land hits and so the fights would always turn into more of a challenge to see how long he could survive rather than seeing if he could defeat her. His advanced use of Haki meant he could survive for a long time, but with Samehana having more stamina than him it was always just a matter of time before she'd land a blow and it'd be done. He respected her for her strength and skill, though he didn't exactly respect her intelligence.

Sancho, on the other hand, was a bright kid. Strong in his own right, though Church knew he could handle the kid without using his guns if he had to. But especially he was charismatic. Evidenced by the fact he just convinced several Marines to let three suspicious people, Church being obviously armed, to go by without a bother. "The Marines back in the South Blue woulda just beat you for talking back," Church joked, still following behind Sancho alongside Samehana. At the mention of commandeering a ship, Church realized something. If they were to steal a Marine ship then they would have a much easier time at sea. Possibly they'd even find a Log Pose on-board. The ship they had been using for the past few months was small and quite pathetic. It wouldn't be strong enough to survive the trip to the Grand Line, but a Navy galleon might do the trick. "Well, now. That's a fine idea. And we get first pickin' too. Find their best ship and set sail, I assume? If there are guards we should take one or two hostage and throw the rest overboard, I'd say."

The scene turned worse... For the Pirates. sure, the Lizard was trying his best to buy his crew time, but all he did was send the three of them into a sure fire way of getting caught, they were hurt, or knocked out. It was a question of if their float would hold till they reached land, Johnny was sceptical. He was gonna chase after them and finish them all off, put them in cuffs, but he saw Zepp in the corner of his eye, and he figured he should focus on the task at hand.

Xerxes.

He was in the middle of the air, he could generate explosives, powerful ones, and he seemed to have some form of explosive field around his body - as seen when Johnny shot him. Yet, Anaru had injured him. Most interesting, indeed. Xerxes was in the air now, he had launched himself towards one of the Islands, and if he landed, catching him would be difficult. But he had made a crucial error. He went into the air.

Besides blowing himself up, he didn't have any means of changing direction - he couldn't possible know Geppo. But there was too many eyes peered right now, the ship with Freya and the dinosaur, filled with Johnny's fellow marines, as well as all of the other officers, and the pirates. He couldn't conceal his Rokushiki now, if he tried to use it, so he would have to avoid it.

Not that it would be too much of a problem. He saw Anaru scale a wall, before leaping into the air, using his air-pressure technique to gain momentum against the masked pirate who was in the air. Johnny grinned, and spit his cigarette into the air, the cigarette flying like a dart towards the pirate, it reached him, and it blew up in a tiny explosion.

Bending his knees, he leapt into the air, his legs turning into smoke.
"NICOTINE ROCKET" He shouted, his legs turning into the exhaust of an engine, as he was propelled at supersonic speed towards the declining Xerxes. Sure, he might see, or sense Johnny coming, but he was moving faster than he could with his Soru ability. Johnny approached from below, grabbing a hold of the pirates legs, the field exploding on his hands making the smoke dissipate for a second, before it reformed, grabbing hold of the now - non covered areas of his body.

"HIT HIM!" The Ensign shouted to the gorilla man, crashing down towards the two, shouting at the top of his lungs about rock hard Justice, and Johnny couldn't help but agree.

ROOOOOOOCKKKK HAAAARRRDDDD JUSTICCEEEE!