As the cook of the Grog Warrior made her way to the inn, a man was thrown out through the door, she had neatly dodged the brawler before she peered inside, the smokey atmopshere of tobacco, alcohol and sweat let out a smell that would sting in most's eyes. There were several barmaidens carrying drinks and food to the patrons of the inn. Yet, in the very back, there was quite the ruckus going on. A lot of cheering, cursing and "What the hell" going on.

In the backroom sat five men one side of a table. They were all big guys, dockworkers, lumberjacks, carpenters, a ship hand and a mercenary bandit. All of their hands were pushed ontop of one another, pushing against a lone figure, much smaller in posture, a cigarette in his mouth, a bottle of cider in his hand, the smoke from the cigarette dancing in front of his eyepatch and over the brim of his hat.

The five men were pushing as hard as they could, while he took another swig of his drink, Veins popping in their faces as they put all of their combined strength into it, the Gunman's hand not moving an inch. "Ya' lot realize you're straight buggered by now, haven't you?" As a barwench walked past, he nodded for her to come over, as he put his empty bottle on her tray, using his now free hand to take out his cigarette from the corner of his mouth.

Kuhn's careless face changed for an instant, as he applied his strength, swinging his arm into the opposing side of the table, defeating all five of his opponents, as the five of them were thrown to the side, landing in a pile infront of Lina. He moved the position of his chair - which he had backwards, the backrest in front of him, resting his arms on it. "Now, dat didn't work out for ya, did it? You owe me another round." He cooed, as the five men tried to figure out what had happened. "Who the hell is this guy?!" One of them shouted, as the others broke into a laugh "I don't give a shit who he is, guy sure can armwrestle!"

Kuhn had a grin on his face, his demeanor seemed a bit more serious than usual. Less flirty than he usually was, his change in mood could be attributed to the bottle of cider he had downed. He caught a glimpse of Lina. "Oh hello there little lady!" He shouted. "Hey, guys, you owe my friend here a drink, too, or I'll beat your ass again."

"What brings you here? Find out anything useful?" He asked.

Skirting around the pile of losers, Lina reached Kuhn, her temper having simmered in bemusement. Crossing her arms over her chest, she seemed tired as she noted, "Finding out information was also your job...though I guess you found out how far you can throw a bar brawler."

As she finished the sentence, a mug slammed down on the table in front of her. Lina flinched, before realizing it seemed to be for her. Grumbling, she picked it up, daring a sip, crinkling her nose at the familiar beer taste. Though it seemed a bit more... Lina took another sip.

"H-hey!" She cried out, more at herself then anything. Trying to keep herself from getting distracted, she opened her mouth, before letting out a sigh. Taking a seat next to Kuhn, she muttered, "There's no way we're going to bumble through the heis-er...thef...t... The thing. Without getting caught." Taking another sip, it turned into more of a gulp as she downed half the mug. Coughing as she set the mug back down, she wiped her lip with her arm, before muttering, "It was for Chester anyway so who cares. He'd just drink it all and not even appreciate it. Besides...celebrating beating Cerulean is dumb since it was his fault anyway..."

A few moments later, she had finished her drink, wondering aloud, "Can beer be good? Like, is it even possible or do they just call it something else? It's dumb. Beer is dumb."

"Information? I did find out plenty. There's four inns like dis one. this is Locksley inn. And dere's three more. They're all said weird. People around here are right plunked in the brain." He informed her. "I think it's because of da drinkin'. Ain't good for ya." He said, taking sips off of the drink in his hand, his cheeks growing red as he felt the alcohol take it's roots in him.

After Lina's comments about beer, Kuhn glanced at her. "Beer is pretty good. I prefer a brisk cider, like dis one!" He exclaimed, chugging the entire bottle, letting out a burp as he was done, a lot of his natural grace and elegance was lost. One of the patrons, whom Kuhn had arm wrestled earler piped up. "Hey, calm down you lightweight, that's just your second drink" Kuhn looked at him with his brown eyes and growled, pushing back his chair from the table, and standing on the chair, one foot on the seat, the other on the back, a hand on his hand as he did.

"ALL RITE YA SLACKERS WHO WANTS A PIECE OF THE KUHN-MAN? BEST SHOT IN THE ENTIRE NORTH BLUE, I'LL BET ANYONE WHO TRIES TO PROVE ME OTHERWISE!" He shouted, his arms at his side for affect. From the back room, a soft giggle was heard. "You want to bet, about marksmanship? That's surely the name of my game." The green haired woman said, as she made her way out of the room. "My name is Elaina Dart, and I fancy myself quite the shot, and a gambler, at that. Nature decides who wins, and who loses, it's out of our hands. So, do you care to wager with me?" Elaina asked, smiling as she swept her green hair away from her face, her pale skin almost glowing, like her emerald eyes.

Kuhn's heartrate raced, and he smiled. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't take such a fine lady's request for a wager? What did ya have in mind, love?"

Elaina giggled. "I bet you can't shoot a beer bottle off someone's head. at 200 meters." Kuhn smiled, pulling up his revolver from it's holster, twirling it in his hand. "Dat it? What's da stakes?"

"Well, if you lose, I want that rifle of yours. It's a real beauty and would go great in my collection." Kuhn smirked. "Dat it?" Elaina nodded. "And when I win?" He responded.

"What do you want?"

"From a fair maiden like yourself? Nothing more but a kiss and your favor." He responded, feeling a jab in his ribs from Lina, smiling softly at her. "Oh, and one million Bellies, my rifle is worth a lot more then dat." He twirled his revolver again, and headed towards the door. Elaina held up her hand, in protest. "Wait, you can't use your revolver. That's a very modified gun. The gun does all the heavy lifting for you. Use this, instead." She said, handing him a very worn flintlock, probably more than a hundred years old. Kuhn scoffed. "Fine." Leaving his revolver in it's holster, he turned around and slung his rifle on his back, grabbing his bottle with hte other hand. "To raise da stakes, one to carry dat dere bottle on da head will be my little friend here." He said, looking at Lina. The patrons were all cheering at this little wager, as Kuhn walked outside, waiting for Lina to get positioned on the other side of the street, with a bottle on her head, as he examined the gun in his hand. It was old, really old. It was loaded, firing pin was intact, and the gunpowder wasn't great, but it would do.

The hair trigger however was terrible, it couldn't shoot straight worth nothing. "Heh, dis is one shoddy gun."

" A great marksman does not need a great gun, Kuhn." Elaina insisted on, and the gunner shrugged, taking another sip of his drink.

"You ready Lina?!" He shouted.

Bottled perched precariously, it twitched slightly as Lina tried to find her footing. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, mouth curled into a nasty pout.

"If you shoot me I'll haunt you!" Lina cried out. Feeling a shifting on top of her head, she caught the bottle, resetting it.

Kuhn grinned. " I wouldn't dream of shooting you!" He shouted, he looked Elaina in the eyes, and chugged the rest of the bottle. "Pucker up." He said, the pistol aimed at Lina, waving off to the side as he spoke and drank, he put the bottle away from his lips, and then he fired, the bullet flew off towards the side, hitting a pan hanging on a rack on the side of the inn, heading behind Lina, hitting a the metal breastplate of some schmuck in a armor on the other side of the street from such an angle it richotted, instead of pierce, back towards Lina. Due to it's many bounces, it had lost quite a lot of it's force, finally striking the top of the full bottle, it only hit it hard enough to pop off the lid, and make the bottle fall slowly down into Lina's crossed arms, good to drink.

Kuhn twirled the piece of shit flintlock in his hand, before handing it back, grip first to Elaina, whom was in fact, quite amused, as the other patrons of the inn all lost their minds at the shot the Grog Warrior Gunner had just taken. Kuhn smirked, as he stroked the brim of his hand with his finger. "All right, how about dat bet, love?"

Elaina chuckled. "You'll get your reward. But, Stagio Island gambling rules dictate that the loser of a wager has one day to pay. It was a good wager, Kuhn." She said, with a smile, blowing him a kiss before she walked in the other direction. Kuhn gestured that he caught the kiss and put it against his chest, towards his heart, his hand against his head.

"Hey, Lina! You can get back here now!" He shouted. "I made us a Mill. Think the Cap'n will be happy?"

Bottle still nestled in her crossed arms, Lina's surly expression didn't fade as she reached Kuhn, Elaina heading off. When she didn't immediately answer, Kuhn raised his hat, giving her a look.

Turning away in a huff, she muttered, "I can't believe you earned more in a few minutes than Chester and I did in a few days of work." Grabbing her bottle properly, she wondered, "Shouldn't Chester be done by now? Let's go back to the ship."

---

Metal scraping on the ground, there was a cry of fright as it tore through the air, rending a cutlass and a flintlock pistol in a deft motion. Smoke wafted through the air as the two goons in yellow turned to flee, but Johannes raised his hefty halberd. Hurling it, the blade cut at the legs of the goons, digging into the ground as two Balder soldiers moved in to apprehend them.

Retrieving his weapon, Johannes scanned the area: guards running about as the Quartz Company men were routed. A carriage, its horses cut loose an missing, now toppled on one wheel, the door hacked open, wines dripping onto the stone below. Johannes' eyes narrowed, fist curling into a ball.

Reaching the carriage, he looked inside, parsing over the smashed bottles to see an ornate case, split in to but not a drop of wine remaining. His fist smashed against the side of the carriage, splitting the wood. It was not the stolen wine that earned his ire, nor was it his failure.

It was the conceit. Those Companies continued to get their way, and Johannes had no idea where to begin with them. He could not grasp their mindset or predict their moves...who could? Even within them was a strong clash of ideology...

Turning as the distracting blaze was quenched, most of the Quartz raiders having escaped, Johannes let his eyes wandering, spotting the open ocean.

Many minutes had gone by since Cerulean had sent the captain of the Grog Warriors into the drink. He had felt his powers leaving him as soon as he went underwater, the undertow grabbing him, and for a minute, the Captain felt something he had never felt before. Fear? No, that wasn't it. Chester wasn't afraid of dying, some kind of disappointment, more like it. But, soon, that passed as well, he didn't have enough energy to be disappointed. His thoughts went blank, and right before his lungs started filling with water, he saw a bright light and he felt his body move, and soon, he broke through the surface of the water. A fishing boat, just out of the harbor had caught him in their net, along with several fish.

"That ain't no fish, George!"

"Are you sure, Gregory? I thunk it is."

"I dunn thunk it', George."

"I guess not, cut 'im lose, Gregory!" George replied, as Gregory grabbed a fishing knife and cut the net open, releasing the fish - and the pirate onto the deck. Chester began coughing, puking up water, as he reached towards the net - where his bottle still was, and he took a deep swig, before his eyes shut open and he spit the drink out.

"THE HELL?! IT'S JUST WATER?!" He cried out in a fit of rage, the booze once inside of the bottle had run out into the ocean, and the pirate ran towards the edge of the ship, trying to reach the water where he had been fished out off, as if to grab the booze, but the two fishermen held him back. "You have to turn the boat around, I have to kick Cerulean's ass!" Chester yelled, as he tore the two men from him, both of them fell backwards. "W-who are you? Why do you wanna fight Boss Cerulean?"

"..He ruined my BOOZE!"

As the sun set on the festivities, which seemed unhindered in the dying light, a door closed on a congregation, Boss Cerulean taking a seat as the Company leaders were assembled once again, this time without their lieutenants. Expectant eyes turned to the last arrival.

"The Captain is dead."

Goldenrod let a corner of his mouth gleam in a satisfied smile, before snorting, "And the others?"

"Aren't worth considering, fufufu," Viridian insisted.

Vermillion began, "Eh, if Chester boy's done then they ain't gonna be a hassle. And if they are, it's only your problem if they fuck with ya."

Goldenrod clicked his tongue. "Well then."

"Oh yeah, and this came in," Vermillion said, pulling forth a piece of paper. "Looks like those Balder boys ain't lettin' up. They're puttin' pressure on every island."

Viridian giggled, "Goldenrod's bribery didn't work, and neither did any of our hitmen."

Goldenrod hissed, "Those incorruptible types are an eyesore. He'll have a knife in his back before long, but in the meantime that Johannes fellow is a crick in the neck."

Cerulean sighed, "And are you going to make me clean up this problem too?"

"Nah nah nah, we were planning on moving a few things forward as it was, weren't we?" Vermillion recalled.

"Don Mono is growing rapidly in the Grand Line, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to fall behind," Goldenrod spat.

"And all of your setbacks means that the Companies are being taken for granted in the areas we dominate, and not taken seriously where we don't," Viridian stated.

Cerulean nodded, following along. "So...we change the public perception."

"The Four Color Festival isn't supposed to end tomorrow, but it will," Viridian cooed.

"And the whole Antler Kingdom will go with it, Balder be damned," Goldenrod growled.

Vermillion cried, "We're steppin' into the sunlight baby! The Four Color Companies are going public! Ahahahaha!"

Cerulean concurred, "At full force..."

Gregory and George had finally managed to quell the anger of the booze-induced Pirate, he had given them both more than a couple of bruises and a black eye each, but once they told him they had beer on their little schooner, he calmed down - chugging every bottle they had during the half hour it took for the small boat to make it's way back to land.

Chester's foot was placed firmly on the pier, his stolen boot tapping on the wooden planks, water squelching under his foot inside of the boot. It felt good to be on solid land. He began walking, he had to find the Breeze and figure out where the rest of his crew was - and if they knew anything about the location of the bastard Cerulean.

Squelch, Squelch..

He continued walking.

Squelch, Squelch..

He let out a loud sigh, smacking his hand into his forehead, he jumped onto his one leg, pulling off his boot and turning it around, out poured water - and a small fish. Then he did the opposite, puting his boot back on his right leg, standing on it. While doing so, he slipped on the fish that had landed under his foot, falling off of the pier - getting hung by his foot on a bit of rope hanging off of the side. He soon untangled himself, and made his way towards the docks, where the Hinnon Breeze laid in wait for him.

Gregory and George sat in their boat, spectating, drinking the last two beers they had.

"We sure he ain't no fish?"

"Ye, he's too stupid to be a fish."

"I 'spose you are right. He couldn't swim much, either."

"Sure are taking your damn time, guys..." Macario muttered at his absent shipmates. He sat on the railing of the ship casually, one leg dangling over the side of the boat, his briefcase safely tucked under his arm as he gazed down at the dock, bodies of beaten Company members scattered about, some trying to straggle off. Macario yelled out, "Trying bringing someone worth fighting!"

As his yell further chased them away, he caught another figure heading over, not wearing any particular color. As he got closer, he took a note of his condition, spotting his sluggishness. Unease growing, he hopped down, asking, "How'd it go, Chester?"

Chester looked over at Macario, and then at the blue-clad man crawling towards him, holding his leg that the Pirate had hit him in. The captain was looking down at the ground, a look of sorrow on his face. His blonde hair was dirtied from the seawater - not unheard off and his torn grey shirt had been stained by the blood leaking out of his chest in the X-shaped mark Cerulean had made, it was a shallow cut, sure, but it still stung.

Almost as much as the rage boiling inside of Chester. When Macario asked him how it was going, the blue clad man on the beach had made his way to Chester, holding out his hand. Chester saw the azure color, and let out a cold glare, freezing the man in place, only to deliver a swift kick to his ribs, sending him flying up onto a pile of other blue-clad idiots, knocking them all down like pins.

"It was a waste of my god damn time. That Blue clad FREAK is gonna pay for what he did!" Chester shouted, leaping onto the Hinnon Breeze.

"HE DESTROYED MY BOOZE! I'M GONNA KICK HIS ASS!" Chester shouted, letting the blue goons know that their boss had in fact failed, and there would be hell to pay.

Letting out a sigh, Macario hopped over to his ship, noting, "Cerulean got you good uh?" Dipping into his boat, he came out a few minutes later, returning to the deck of the Breeze with an armful of medical supplies. "Let's get you cleaned up. Save the explanation for when the others get back..."

---

"Boss! We've got trouble!" A blue clad man stepping up to Cerulean's hulking form on the streets of Stagio. As Cerulean turned to face him, he explained, "Chester's not dead! He showed up at the ship. Wounded, but..."

Cerulean scoffed. "Then he's not worth the effort. If he comes for me I'll squash him again. Our arrangement has already been settled."

---

A short while later, Chester's torso was properly bandaged while Macario kept watch, the Company goons wisely keeping their distance. As Lina and Kuhn finally returned, Lina grimaced at Chester's wounds, the whole Melonberry situation rushing back to her. Getting to the deck properly, she sat down on her knees, asking, "Did you get him?" It felt like it'd been ages, but she still remembered Reno's deal with Momo. If Cerulean won, that meant that the Azure Company would take back control of the island's affairs...

Macario got his supplies, and Chester dug into the medical bag he had brought. "Wait, you don't have any booze?.. For numbing the pain, I mean." He asked, only to be met with a look of dismay. Soon, he would be patched up, bandages on the stitches Macario had lazily put in - stitches that wouldn't even have been good enough to fit a patch in a pair of pants, even less so a human, Chester had bitched and moaned about his bedside manners sucking the entire time.

When the others arrived, Lina asked him questions, apparently concerned about her home. Chester's fingers were finding their way to his bandages, scratching at them, and soon even putting his fingers directly onto the skin, scratching it only for him to flinch in pain, and Kuhn slapping his hand to make him stop.

As he put his hand out of his wound, he sniffed the fingers and made a disgusted grimace. Kuhn looked at him, tired. "Da hell did ya' expect there, cap'n?" Chester shook his head. "Cerulean ambushed me. Got me by surprise, decked me in the chest and threw me in the water.. And worst of all.. He destroyed my drink. Where is he? I wanna beat him up!" He said, peering over the railing. Kuhn grabbed the somewhat shorter captain by the wrist, and pulled him onto the floor of the deck again. "Rest. Eat. I brought a few bottles of grog from da inn. And a bag of food, figured you and 'Muscles over here would need it." He said, pointing at Macario, tossing the second bag to Macario.

"What inn was that again?" Chester asked, between bits of the steak, and chugging down the bottle of rum Kuhn had gotten him.

".. Don't even get me' startd, Cap'n.."

Lina frowned, slumping a bit, tracing lines in the deck as she was consumed by her thoughts on her home. "So the Azure Company is in charge again..." Clenching her fist, she said with renewed vigor, "So we just need to beat Cerulean again! You're still a member of the Azure Company, technically!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Macario began. "We don't even know where he is."

"We could find them!" Lina suggested.

"I do hope so."

At the third voice, Lina turned about, while Macario moved his briefcase further away, perching over it defensively. Stepping from the gangplank onto the deck, the platinum blonde haired Johannes, halberd slung over his back.

Glancing up at the sails, swapped from their black counterparts, Johannes stated, "What reason for blank sails? No emblem of company or kingdom, no expression of the self." Eyes stern, he put it bluntly, "You're pirates, no?"

Teeth clenched, Lina held her arms up, surrendering her right to speak while she glanced back at Chester.

As the man in the armor boarded the ship, Kuhn had already registered him, and assesed how big of a threat he was - he looked sort of tough, but nothing he, Macario, or the Cap'n couldn't handle. More importantly, he did not look like he was from one of the companies. An ally, mayhaps. Lina did not look too surprised to see him, so it was safe to assume Lina knew him.

Chester, still stuck on the subject of Cerulean. "Oh, yeah. I guess he would count that as beating me. I'll just have to beat him up even worse, to get him back, then." Chester commented, putting his fist in his hand, as if to suggest his idea was groundbreaking. "That is how that would go, Cap'n." Kuhn said, bemused, but sarcastic. He looked over at Johannes, as soon as he opened his mouth, and Chester listened, carefully.

"Armor, long hair, no scars in the face. By the looks of things, you's a bitch, no?"

"... Cap'n.. Behave."

"I mean, you know what they say about assuming.."

".. What do they say about Assuming?"

"Do it often and frequently, right? Old Marineford motto, I believe."

"Just answer his damn question." Kuhn told him, rubbing his forehead, still incapable of quite comprehending Chester's logic. "Bitchy-ness aside. Yes, we are Pirates. You wanna fight?.. Or drink? Pleeeassee tell me you want to drink, I'm dying of thirst over here!"

Johannes had a baffled look on his face as he was forced to engage in Chester's...Chester. Lina took some pleasure in it, finding his innocent confusion endearing in light of the proud demeanor he'd previously displayed.

As he regained himself he began, "Pirates, then..." Taking another step forward, he dropped down to a seating position. "I would like your help in dealing with the Companies. From the sound of things, it seems like they are a mutual opponent."

Lina blinked, before noting, "Well, yeah, but why get our help? We're pirates, sure..."

"The World Government has had a long standing no tolerance policy towards pirates, certainly, but I am no Marine: I am a Knight Marshal of the Four Seasons."

Macario's eyes widened, and he chimed in, "Yeah, there's a rank for you..."

Johannes continued, "Our grand alliance will respect the bounties put out by the Government, and issue our own for dangerous criminals, but simply flying a flag is not a crime. Scuffling with the Companies is no crime. As far as I have seen, you have done no wrong."

"But I am a man who's lived among nobility for much of my life, and in the military I'm used to dealing with that which faces me in the field, not the expansive secrecy of these shady Companies. Even though they're known to be active here yearly, their crimes have few lines of commonality, and they don't seem to be operating in unison. I've been making arrests, but nowhere near the progress I'd hoped. You've had prior dealings with them, and you know more about how those in the underworld think, correct?"

"I hope to work out some kind of arrangement: one that will ultimately bring our mutual enemy to their knees. I simply don't know where to begin. I have sway with the Antler Kingdom, and complete command over my own men to offer. What do you say?"

Kuhn took in what Johannes was saying, he wanted their help to take down the companies. Kuhn was intrigued, as seen by his never moving gaze from Johannes, watching the knight's every move, his hand resting on the holster of his revolver. Johannes explained he, and his men, not explaining quite how many of them there were, would aid them in anyway they could. Kuhn figured that would be just fine, but when he looked over to his side, he saw Chester shaking.

"... We agree." He said, gritting his teeth. "We'll take down the Companies, and you can help."

"Eyup. Their biggest guy, Cerulean's got it out for the Cap'n here. And we've all got a bit of history with the Quartz company. The other two have been a pain in our necks for quite sometime, too."

Johannes loosed up a bit, nodding and he said, "Thank you. I was truly at my wits end..."

Lina stood, suggesting, "Let's go inside. I'll make some food."

A short while later, the four men sat at the table as Lina went into some quick prep work for a quick easy meal. Johannes studied her at work for a moment, perhaps unsure of the least piracy person in the room, before he turned to the others. "Let's get to business. I suppose, where to start...what exactly are the Companies doing in the Antler Kingdom every year?"

Macario let out a sigh, "There's definitely some competition between them, but it seemed like it was supposed to be friendly." He cringed, dreading the Dredical, before he continued, "They were working together when they tried to attack the ship though."

Johannes nodded. "There's a collaboration to their efforts, I believe. Apparently, as the Four Color Wine was stolen by Quartz Company members, the Abaggio Museum was ransacked by Azure, while the fencing around the royal palace was damaged by the Crimson Company. I don't know what the Verdan Company was doing but I wish to find out."

Lina muttered, "No clue..."

Macario noted, "They might be trying to regain some face though. The paper this morning said that they were up to some shit on Cransod. We were involved in a big mess on Kesrizu, and before...I read something in the paper about Melonberry, which you guys were involved in, apparently."

"I'm from there. Didn't I say something?" Lina noted.

Macario shrugged, "Sure."

Johannes murmured, "I see... The power dynamics of these Companies does rely on reputation. They could take an island with such an infamous presence alone, but if they are no longer taken seriously, to do so would require fighting, which would be costly to both sides. So, if they achieve something grand here when all their forces are present...but what?"

"I caught glimpses of dem Verdant people over at dat Locksley Inns."

"Which one was that, again Kuhn?" Chester called from down on the boat

".. Don't try me, Cap'n. It's been a long day for dis man." Kuhn told him, rubbing his forehead. While Chester had walked around the area of the boat, still within earshot, looking through the left behind things of the Company men. "Kesrizu was where I've been spending the past four months."

"Oh yeah! You worked for the bad guys! Then Macario over there kicked your ass!" Chester chimed in, and Kuhn shot him a one-eyed glare. "It was a draw. And I did not use real bullets." He deflected, before returning to the topic.

"I remember Goldenrod - dat shithead - had plans for dis week, around dis 'ere part of da Blue. He asked for extra men to be sent here. Nobody would tell me anyting, but 'tis all you information ya' get when you're a hired pistol."

"Could it have been just to steal the Wine? Dat seems a lil umambigious for Goldenrod..." Kuhn finished his thought, looking over at the other three on the deck, Chester had just arrived back on the deck, a bottle in his hand he had apparently looted from one of the packs on the ground. "Wait, they stole the wine? WE were gonna steal that wine!" Chester exclaimed. "I'mma beat the snot out of those two blue and yellow guys!"

"WE were gonna steal that wine."

Lifting her wooden spoon from a pan of rice, meat, and veggies cooking together, Lina's eyes widened. Chester...Chester didn't know anything, did he? She'd keep her head down for now...

Johannes waved his hand, "You said nothing about stealing wine."

"We totally did!" Chester retorted. Macario bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Regardless," Johannes said more forcefully, beginning, "The troop movements are ertainly strange... Extra men...there's more to it then just the Meet, that has to be certain."

"What fencing around the palace did the Reds rough up? Seems pretty out of place. Though the Crimson Company is basically a joke as far as I can tell."

Honing in on that, Johannes pondered for a moment, before noting, "If that's the one that's out of place...it may be the most important, n-" Holding his tongue, Johannes suddenly went quiet, before suggesting, "If...if they seek to regain face, then...taking over the palace, the country..."

Macario nodded along. "Yeah, the fence, building extra forces, causing the occasional chaos... Hell, the Reds were trying to force us into their group so they might be recruiting too."

"The Verdant Company!" Johannes exclaimed, suggesting, "They may be trying to make connections with the archipelago's existing criminal element." Punching his fist into his gauntlet, he said, "I think we've got it!"

As Johannes returned to his thought patterns, Lina tasted her food. Satisfied, he dished it out, finally taking a seat herself, stirring it around to cool it off while she listened in.

Macario said, "So, we know what they're going to do. I guess the question now is how we're gonna kick their asses..."