"There's a blood moon tonight." An old man, dressed in red stared up at the crimson orb burning in the starry sky.

"That a good omen, or not?" Next to the old man stood a hunched back private at the wheel. "What with our merry work, and all, I can't tell." One of his eyes was three times the size of average and the other one narrowed at the darkened ship they headed towards.

The old man shrugged. "Hard to say. Tempting to say its a good sign, means there'll be a good show tonight, but." He shrugged. "No point in reading the stars anyways. None of that stuff ever works out with a read anyways." He crossed his arms.

"Go ahead and give the signal." He said to another marine waiting at the back of the cabin. "Don't want those damn pirates getting jumpy and firing on us, again."

The youth nodded and hurried away to flash the signals.

"Hopefully we'll get a pretty penny for this lot." The hunch back said as he directed the ship.

"Maybe. Some of them look pretty strong. Others." Another shrug.

"Well I'm sure the show will be good, if nothing else."

The marine captain nodded. "Should be."
*******************
Meishu Kenja frowned as she took her seat. Around her, the pitter-patter of pirate banter thickened the air like bad breath in a sauna. The crowd was huge. She'd figured maybe there'd be a dozen or so lowlifes in attendance, but even with the shadows, it was easy to tell there were more than fifty crowded into the make-shift arena.

Down the rows was a large ring, with a sea prism cage around it. In there, in a few minutes, if scum followed their schedule, there'd be a few prisoners thrown inside. They'd fight to the death, and the winner would get to go on another round. Then another. Till the one person left standing got a chance to join the lighthouse pirates or made to kneel before the axeman.

Kukui exhaled in depression at the situation he'd found himself in. In an effort to not draw attention to himself and to avoid anyone seeing his abilities, Kukui decided to sail in the more empty oceans, away from most islands and trading routes. What Kukui wasn't expecting was that he wasn't the only one with this idea, as a group of pirates laying low was also in those waters. Talk about unlucky! They quickly saw his small vessel and captured him. And once they realized the boat he was in was connected to him it only got worse! A strike to the back of his head and a pair of Sea Prism cuffs later and he now finds himself being readied for what he could only describe as a "Death Match".

He gulped at the thought. Being forced to ... kill someone. He had been preparing for it sure, wanting revenge and all, but the thought of killing a random person he didn't even know hurt him. "I have to get out of here, no matter what." He whispered to himself as he experimented with his fingers what his body was still able to do with the cuffs on, trying to make twigs grow from his fingers.

The thought of killing another human for others entertainment made Mei sick to her stomach. The sounds of the other prisoners made it hard for her to hear her own thoughts. I need to get out of here, Mei thought, burying her face in her hands. How did she get herself in this situation? She didn't even do anything! It's not like she killed anyone, anyways.

Her attention was brought off her nausea and onto the strange, green-haired kid. Poor kid.. He doesn't deserve this. What if I have to kill him? She had to do something to keep her mind off this horrid event called "Death match." What type of heathen would watch a kid fight? Disgusting...

Mei laid her head back and pulled her straw hat over her face. A nap might help me take my mind off this mess... And with that, The strange woman fell asleep, trying to ignore the horrible situation she was in.

"Ugh...my head..." grumbled a fish-woman, her eyes darting around in the dim room to try and parse out where she was. Usually for a fish-man, traveling via the sea made sense before the Grand Line, given that most Sea Kings were so big, it was easy to stay out of their way...that is, unless, you're in choppy waters and can't exactly make out where you are. For the woman named Cera Nemy, this resulted in her being eaten, and ironically saved by pirates that caught the Sea King, only to then be knocked out and brought to this place.

...Wherever this place was.

It wouldn't be long until she learned just what they were here for, a death match to determine if they had the right to join some pirates...or be executed.

...What the heck kind of deal was that!?

Gritting her teeth, Cera would try to break her cuffs off, but the Sea Prism Stone was stronger than diamond. Even with her strength she doubted she could even break these in the water, and instead started thinking of how to get through this without killing anyone.

Looking at her palm, she reasoned that she could poison everyone to look like they were dying in agony...but her poison barely lasted a few minutes from just a touch. She didn't want to kill anyone, even if it meant having to die.

Alright! Alright!" A young marine shouted, banging on the cage bars as he moved down the rows of imprisoned soldiers. "Up you go. Everyone up! We'll be unloading all of you in a few minutes here and nobody wants anybody to be dragged, trust me. We're not the nicest of marines, as you guys should hopefully know by now. So get up and be ready to be led off."

"Humph." A grilled figure sitting with the adventurers in their cages gritted his teeth. The stranger's face was filled with lines like a map to nowhere anyone wanted to go. His small brown eyes looked like beast peering through a thick rainforest. "What a bunch of crap. Disgusting to see how bad they've gotten." He shook his head. "Damn marines. They're either dogmatic psychopaths or crookeder than a winding tree branch." He spit and looked over the surrounding faces.

"The name's Gerld by the way. Not sure if any of you wish to know that. The way I see it, I'll be leaving while most of you would won't, unless fate has other plans. And if so then you're welcome to search me down for revenge." He made a point to pause and look any of his seven cellmates in the eyes.

There was a lurch as the ship came to dock by the lighthouse pirate’s ship. "Speak of the devil, am I right?" The marine laughed. A light appeared at the edge of the boat before hidden doors were swung open to reveal a group of rough-looking men.

A man in forties, under a red cap, and smiling with as many teeth as holes were teeth had been stepping forwards. "Well, let's see here. What did you guys bring me?" He took a moment to stroll through the cages before settling on the one where the group.

"Bah. All of these chumps look like they're nearly dead already." He pointed at the group's cage. "Just take these guys and throw them into the cages. Doubt they'd be able to drag up much excitement from the crowd in one-on-one battles, but maybe in a battle royal they'll do a bit more good." He spits in the cage's direction and turned around as the prisoners were pulled out and pushed forwards into the light from the pirate's ship.
*****************
The captives were led through a narrow hallway for a few minutes before they were split up from the majority of prisoners.

Little by little, the chanting of murmurs of their audience could be heard. There was a different kind of light from the cheap bulbs their captives used in the halls. They came out into a ramp, and were might by the applause of dozens if not hundreds of spectators, eager for their blood.

The man from earlier appeared in front of a large steel cage made of sea prism. He gave a wave and the crowd's applause burst into a grateful uproar.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the pirate captain bellowed. "I apologize for the delays." He shook his head. "There were a few hiccups on the way," he paused. His frown shifted into a sly grin. "So let's not waste any more time, right?"

The crowd agreed with chants of "Aye" and "About time."

"Good. Good." The captain made a motion, and the prisoners were pushed forwards to stand beside him. "So then to get things started off with a bang how about the classic free-for-all?"

The crowd cried for blood.

"Glad you're all so excited." The captain snapped his fingers and the screens in front of the audience turned on with pictures of the 'contestants.'

"I think we wasted enough time waiting for this. So I'll just open up the betting screens."

The crowd was bursting with excitement.

"Well then." The man's smile reached his cheeks. "Throw them into the fire. Let's see whose bright enough to be lighthouse pirate material."

The prisoners were tossed into the large cage. The doors were locked. A second passed before there was a beep that could hardly be heard over the crowd. Their seaprism shackles fell off.

@WanderingDragon
Gerld raised his hand to rub at his wrist. There deep gashes thanks to how tight the pirates had them. "Garbage." He grit his teeth. "Any chance they have for needless cruelty, they'll take it." With a sigh, the man looked up and narrowed his gaze. His eyes were locked on a young man.

"I'm sorry." He said, walking towards his opponent. "It's nothing personal. I'll make it as quick as I can, if you'd like."

@Conejitoooo
"Crap!" Caddocc winced as she pulled her arm up to gauge the damage. "Bastards." She clenched her jaw. Those pirate scum were in for a rude shock if they thought she'd join after killing everyone there. They'd be lucky if her fury subsided a little so she would only kill the ones nearby when she was let out.

"But at least they didn't unarm me." She said to her surprise, noting her babies were still there. "So that's something." Her mood rose up as she looked around for her first victim.

"Ahh." She smiled and started towards a woman with two swords. "Hey there!" She called out. "While we're here, might as well have fun. I see you've got yourself two swords there. Can you really use both of them at once?" Little by little as she walked she started to jog, run, sprint, and lunge at her target, thrusting a hand with a blade forwards.

@Crimson Lion
A figure in a cloak paused to look around. HIs body trembled as he noted one fighter and then another. He didn't want anything to do with any of them. They all looked like they were ready to kill or could kill. Had killed? He didn't know, but he wasn't ready yet. At the most, he was a quarter ready.

"Uh. Uh." Large man with a wrinkled face? No. He was scary. Woman with two swords? No. She was scary. Skinny man with a knife that was hurrying to the fishlady? No, he was scary. Fishman? No. She was scary. The one the wrinkled man moved towards? No, getting involved was scary.

Who wasn't scary?

Swallowing hard, the figure paused at the only person left. The younger man didn't look like he could do well in a fight. Spring jack liked that about the stranger.

"Hey!" He called, hurrying over to the fighter. "I guess it's you and me, right?" The cloaked figure looked around. "And you don't look like you can fight either. Which means we're closer to equal, right? Right?" The figure paused as it nervously skittered towards the young man with green hair. "It's fair, a fight between us, isn't it?"

@The Irish Tree
Earlong Tsk didn't know what was going on. He'd been asleep for a while, and things looked to have changed a few times since then. It didn't matter. None of the surrounding strangers mattered. Only the leader who said they had to fight or die matter.

Tsk liked to fight and planned on taking full advantage of the situation. He'd make sure to bury his knife in everyone around him, at least once. That way his rusty blade, the one his father gave him, would absorb iron and stop rusting. MAybe there'd even be enough so he could go home and be forgiven.

He rushed forwards, his eyes sight on a fishman. He'd never dipped his blade in a Fishman before. Maybe their blood would be better because they were used to not dying in the water. AS he ran, a white trail of dust hung in the air behind him.
******
Meishu leaned forwards. Her eyes were wide, like a dim yellow man being forced to eat all the doughnuts in hell. She could hardly believe it. There he was. Gerld was right there!

She knew there was a chance she'd find him as the lighthouse pirate's prisoner but didn't believe it. The man was one of the toughest, and that came from one of the most reliable sources she'd ever met.

He was a prisoner, being forced to fight to the death, among a sea of gambling, blood-thirsty pirates.

Frowning, she leaned back into her seat and took in the scene before her.

How was she going to get him out?

"Hey!" A cloaked man called out to Kukui. He turned and moved over to face the fighter. "I guess it's you and me, right?" The cloaked figure looked around. "And you don't look like you can fight either. Which means we're closer to equal, right? Right?" The figure paused as it nervously skittered towards the young man with green hair. "It's fair, a fight between us, isn't it?"

Kukui gulped before staring. What should he do now? Fighting this man wasn’t even an option to Kukui, neither of them wanted to truly fight each other and Kukui understood that this hesitation in both of them would give him a chance to escape. But with the whole cage around them being seastone he was unable to escape through the ground like he’d usually do. His only option now was to create a “Path” to escape.

Kukui held his hand up, palm forward. “Please sir, forgive me!!” He said with a plan forming in his head. Dull poles of wood began flying out of his hand at the cloaked man, shooting around him but in reality he was aiming for the spaces in between the bars. At the same time he was creating something within his body, a sort of shield in case the worst outcome.

There were times when someone needed to fight in life. And in a gladiatorial cage match, that time was most definitely when someone was charging at you with a knife. Running wasn't an option with this cage in place all around them, and even if she did run, that would just tire her out before too long. As such, she would stand and face the man charging at her and take a deep breath. She stood completely still as he approached, remaining in a state of complete calm just before his knife would break the skin covering her heart.

Side-stepping with a pivot, she would grab his arm at the elbow and close the distance, her free hand slamming into his chest, sending a tremendous amount of force through his body that felt like his back was being torn open. "Ten Tile True Punch," she said, as the ripple of force completed its path, knocking the man back ten feet, topped off with the sea slug woman giving him a stern look. "I don't like hurting people. But if you keep coming at me, I'm going to have to."

While she made her threat, Cera would look around for some way out...maybe if she incapacitated everyone and made it seem like she killed them, they'd let her out? Then she could get help! Maybe call the marines and- Oh that's right the marines were in on this.

...Why did just living have to be so difficult!?

Meishu frowned. It was hard to pull away from what she was seeing, she didn't want to miss anything, but the fact there wasn't anything she could do at the moment made it easier to get up and walk away from her seat. Someone, one of the no name pirates who'd hit on her earlier called over for her to go back. She ignored him and went out the back staging area's back doors.

Frowning she walked down a haul towards the outside where the boats were and calculated her plan as well as she could.

There were more variables than what she would've liked, but she couldn't do anything about that.
She'd just have to have faith that Gerld would know what to do.
*******************
Gerld frowned as he stepped up to the young man. The poor soul was probably broken. He didn't look to have even enough strength left inside to push him off his feet. "It's a cruel world" he sighed. "Someday I'll make it better, and repent for the road, but for now there's no room to give pity." With a quick, violent slash of his hands, the young man's body slumped to the floor.

"Now then." He looked over the rest of the inmates, ignoring the pirate captain's praise of his work. "Whose next?"

Everyone was the same. So he started walking and would deal with whoever he'd make contact with first.

It looked to be a young man dealing with a cloaked figure.

"Least it looks like he's got a devil fruit. That'll make it kind of fair."

CaddDocc didn't bother slowing down when she neared the woman with the swords, because she was certain the fellow prisoner's calmness was an act devised to make her lower her guard, or bluff her out of the attack. Netiher would workd. She was going to survive, and she was going to find Fin and make him pay. With a scream she thrust the spear forwards, and it connected. The razor edge did not stop at connecting but moved into the young woman, and then out of her.

"I.." Caddocc took a step back as her opponent slumped to the floor. "I thought she'd...."

@Crimson Lion
"What is that?" The figured tensed for a moment at the sight of the sticks coming out of his opponents hands before he leaped several feet away, dropping his cloak as he did so.

When he landed the oddness of his body stood out like a flare in the middle of the ocean. Everything above his hips was skinny like the twigs coming out of Kukui, but everything below was bulged as if his skin was gritting its teeth, trying to keep the iron sinew inside. "Hey that's not right." The man pointed at his chosen target. "Did you eat a devil fruit?" He pointed at himself. "So we can't fight? We shouldn't should we?" He frowned as he watched the stranger.

"No choice, I guess." With a headshake the man took a deep breath, got into a sprinter's stance, and rocketed towards the green-haired man. When he closed the distance he swung a leg forward, which was on fire from the speed.

@The Irish Tree
Unexpected. Tsk could not help but feel a slight bit of disappointment as he flew through the air from several monstrous strikes that seemed to tremble throughout his entire body. That had happened before. He was used to it. On some level he rather enjoyed it. The disappointing part was his blade was still rusty instead of bloody. How would he ever get it nice and shiny again if he kept having it dulled by air and time? Unacceptable.

He hit with a loud thud, and bounced several times before coming at a stop against the seastone prison. He heard the woman threatening him about getting up, but he wasn't interested in that. It would take a lot more than what the woman Fishman was capable of to keep him down. His eyes went down to his chest, covered with bruises that were already starting to scar over thanks to his fruit.

"No. No. No." He got up and pointed his blade at the fishman. "I need to cover the blade. Cover it like oil." He rushed forwards again.

*****************
"Now then?" Which one of these is the biggest? Behind Meishu the lighthouse beckoned friends and warned away enemeis. "Where to start?" There was a flare in her hands. She hummed a sea Shantae she recently heard from a few pirates she travelled with. It was about long-lost lovers who hated the sea that kept them apart.

Tempting as it was she didn't drop light the marine's ship on fire first. Instead she lit one made out of cheap would that looked like it wasn't properly treated. She doubted it would take more than a few minutes before people started to smell the smoke.

Another torch appeared in her hand. Another boat. A third one went up in flames.

This man was beginning to grow disgusting in his determination to gut Cera like a fish. There were many ways to deal with this, but not a single one of them could be done with words alone. Thus, the fish-woman would raise her hands once more into a fighting stance and stared down her opponent. His chest's bruises were already healing completely...a feat that was only possible for a Devil Fruit user, in her mind. After all, it wasn't like she'd inflicted no damage. This man...was a fighting freak that seemed immune to pain.

"Please, reflect upon your actions when you wake up..." Cera said, eyes closing for a moment as she took in a deep breathe, her lungs swelling to the brim with air before she opened her eyes again to see her opponent. "Jihi Seiken...Kyusho Jitsu" she whispered, before expelling all the air in her lungs and taking a step forward. She was now right within Fsk's range, but her left hand moved to his wrist, using the most ginger application of force as she moved the wrist and knife away while the right hand jabbed at his shoulders, then his stomach. Fsk's efforts to move his arms would suddenly prove futile, as the fish-woman stared him down while his body's most basic functions ceased. Before it came time to realize that he should run, her hands struck at his knees and mid-thighs, causing his body to fall forward.

"Osu!" Cera cried, before slamming her palm into his chin, the force of the blow sending him flying back and onto his back, nerves incapable of functioning with the flow of his brain disrupted. It wasn't even damage that was keeping him on the ground, it was his body refusing to listen to him. Cera would then reach out, grabbing him by his hair to lift his head before a swift strike was given to the back of his neck, knocking him out for the time being. Now, Cera would turn to face whoever else she had to. No one had to die by her hand today, if she could continue to win fights like this.

Kukui leaps into action as he fires his arm roots forwards, wood bobbed and weaved around the sprinter as he tried to obstruct his path before completely surrounding the man, imprisoning him in a wooded straightjacket. "Ki Ki No Binding!!!" He yelled as he flung the man and his now wood prison to the side, his hands detaching from the wood as he did. Kukui watched around him. If he could just reach his wooden poles he had shot earlier he could get out of the cage, but what of the enemies outside of it? They'd catch him immediately.

"If I ran alone I'd be caught .. But if it was everyone." He said in a low voice as he looked around. A plan forming in his head as he tried to look for the cages entrance.

Four boats were on fire. They belonged to some of the weaker pirate crews. There were a few who had people on board, but Meishu took care of them. She left them tied up somewhere safe, but concealed. She was aware there'd be plenty of blood on her hands before everything was over with, but sometimes all you can do is pretend there's a code to fallow. Keep the weak from burning up when you can.

Hands in her pockets, she watched as the lines of the rope she tied between the boats caught on fire, and spread to the other ships. With the dry wind, she doubted it would take more than a few more minutes before enough boats lit up to cause an uproar.

She could already smell the smoke in the air.
@Crimson Lion
Gerld smiled at the sight of the man, with legs thick as trees, being shoved aside by the devil fruit user. He wasn't sure which tree it was, exactly, but he wasn't too worried about it. The user was too young to pose much of a threat, even if he had one of the strongest fruits. Battle sense was scarier than raw power and that needed time.

"Hey there!" Gerld called as walked towards the man who used the branches. "I see you're capable of defending yourself. Please do. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I can't let myself be stopped here. So please put up a good fight so that I won't live with guilt"

Gerld squeezed his fist hard enough to make his knuckles pop. "Here I come. Be ready. I'm a master of the six powers and won't give you any warning after this."

With that he vanished and reappeared in front of the young man who used branches, finger extended, shooting out towards the man's chest.

@The Irish Tree
Tsk moved for the kill. The kill was gone. The Fishman was on him, had him. Before he could swipe at her she undid him. He wanted to fight but the strings were cut, and he couldn't stand. Then she hit him in the back of the neck, hard and percise like cutting the last line that kept the puppet from collapsing, and then all he saw was darkness.

The woman with the blade in her hand, and the dead swordswoman at her feet stared at the Fishman in shock, and the lunatic at her feet. It seemed like destiny had seen to it that they should be at odds.

"Shit." She swallowed hard, taking a step back. "So I guess it's me against that thing?" Suddenly her mouth was dry.

"Okay." She said, shaking her head and retaking the step she lost to fear. "Hey." She called at the woman because if she didn't, all she'd be able to do was cower. "Don't think this is all over. There are still a few more of us in here and you're not getting out until it's just you."

She drew a chain and started to swing the blade around, readying herself to launch an attack.

Damn, she was scared. It wasn't enough she took her first life today, a draining victory if there ever was one, but now the easiest option available to keep her living was a fishwoman who took out a lunatic.

The weirdest thing though was she thought you were supposed to smell copper when anxiety struck, not wood burning.
************
Little by little the roar of the spectators, demanding blood, and baying for the last of their treasure not to be sucked away by a bad gambling habit, died down. Roars, wavered. Cries dwindled. Jeers lost the strength to move from one side of the arena to another. Gradually the confident calls were replaced with confusion. The pirates and gamblers stopped to sniff the air.

"What's that?" Someone finally called.
"Is that smoke?"
"Something's burning"
There was a slam as the doors banged open behind them.
"Hey!" A young woman with wild eyes yelled. "The boats! They're on fire!"
"Which one!"
"Looks like all of them!"
"What?"
Dozens of men started talking, and getting up to check on their transportation.

"What in the blazes is going on." The lighthouse pirates captain bellowed, getting up on the stage, in front of the fighters.

"Jeezus" The young woman with purple hair rolled her eyes. "The boats are on fire! What part of that don't you understand?"

The captain's eyes went wide. "Shit." He pointed to some of his men. "Well this show is done. Everyone's leaving and I doubt they'll be in the mood to gamble when all the mess is sorted out. Hurry up and get those men out of there and take them back down to the cells. We'll put them up for another night."

He aimed his gaze at another group of men. "As for the rest of you come with me. If those fires spread far enough they'll take down the lighthouse with them!"

****
After the captain disappeared his second in command started shouting for the combatants to stop fighting and tossed a cabin boy a pair of keys to open the door. All the other pirates aimed their rifles, shaking and ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

"This will be over momentarily," Cera said to the woman, before taking a step forward and suddenly sprinting, closing the gap in the blink of an eye. She would grab the length of the chain coming out of the woman's hand, her own fist about to slam into her stomach before the smell of smoke became overwhelming, and the cages opened. Shifting her stance, Cera looked back and immediately lost all tension, practically deflating as she let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! We're saved!" she said, releasing her opponent and hugging her, patting her on the back. "That was scary..." she muttered, before stepping away, picking Fsk's unconscious body up like it weighed nothing, and heading towards the door.

Practically skipping out the door, Cera took in her surroundings, as well as the riflemen trained on her. "All this smoke isn't good for everyone's lungs..." she muttered, patting Fsk on the back as she kept on carrying him out. "Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know where the fire started?" she would ask anyone she could nearby, unknowingly asking the Second in Command as she got closer to him.

As the large man's fingers shot forwards, Kukui enacted his plan, and began to focus his devil fruit abilities into first his chest and then the rest of his body as he quickly created 2 things. The first was a body double, a wooden copy that wouldn’t completely lose its color until a couple minutes later, and the second was a half foot long wooden branch that his real body was going to hide in. Through the years he had used this technique multiple times in order to escape conflict and capture. And he dubbed the technique: Ki Ki No Hidden Root!

“N-no!!” He feigned as his ‘body’ fell to the ground, the transfer into the wooden stick complete. With the stick hidden under his body, Kukui sighed out in relief before realizing something, he smelled … burning wood? Was he on fire? Kukui peeked both out of the stick and from under the “body” in hopes of seeing where it was coming from and when he glanced to where the door was he was surprised.

The door was wide open for anyone to leave!!! A webbed foot passed his line of vision as it headed towards the door and Kukui realized it was his chance. He launched a long thin branch forward and wrapped it around the woman’s leg in an attempt to hitch a ride.

Yes! He had done it! He had successfully escaped!!! …

… is what he thought, only to look up and realize that the fishman woman, and by extension himself, were now surrounded by a multitude of pirates with their guns pointing at them.

‘What?’ He thought, flabbergasted, as he shook within his wooden body.

"Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know where the fire started?"

‘WHAT?!’ He thought again, flabbergasted, as he shook within his WOODEN body. ‘Oooooooh no, I picked the wrong boat to stow away on!’

The prates were smarter than Meishu thought. A group of them came rushing out and raced towards the burning boats. She was certain it would take longer before they started to think something was wrong, and further after that for them to believe it was more than just their imagination.

Kudos to them.

She just wished she gave them more credit, and didn't assume they'd all blame everything on their imagination, because starting fires at the sides of the buildings to smoke them out wasn't needed. Judging by the way the numbers of people pouring out didn't seem enough to account for the entire pirate group meant they were either killing of the prisoners, waiting for them to kill themselves off, or rounding them up to take them back to their cells.

Either way, she'd wait for the men to stop pouring out and then head inside to aid in any way she could.

@The Irish Tree
Fsk offered no resistance as the fishwoman picked him up. Despite the utter defeat he was coming too. It wasn't much as he felt himself to be deep in an ocean with only a tiny prick of light to signal which way he needed to go. He was moving though and he'd get there sooner rather than later.

The woman gasped at the way the fishwoman moved. She knew that being out of the water didn't immediately mean a fishperson was at a disadvantage but she had no idea they could still move so fast. By the time the woman recognized what was happening she was already air born and reeling from the impact of the strikes. It was too much too quickly. All she could think up was how bad of a start this was to her adventure, but would it be the end too? She wanted to know, but she needed a long nap first.

"Where you need to go is stand by that wall" a pirate snapped "And wait for us to round up the rest of the prisoners so you all can be marched back to the cells."
**********************

"What now?" Gerld muttered, brushing the broken pieces from his hand. Something was up with the body at his feet. HIs attack was instantly fatal but there should've been more blood, any blood. He decided to put it outside his mind for the moment. Things were escalating in a strange direction.

Chaos erupted as the pirates cried for people to do one of two things: go out to put the fire on your boat out, or help with the prisoners. To his annoyance more of the pirates stayed, with guns pointed at them then not. Which was just as well. He didn't doubt he'd be able to get out now.

"I'm coming." He said, strolling forwards with his hand at his side. "Keep your hands where I can see them," a grunt snapped, raising up his rifle to look down the sights.

In a blur, Gerld vanished only to reappear in front of the pirate. "Here. YOu can see them now right?" With a violent shot to the chin, the man was lifted off the air. There was a crack and it left little doubt when the man came back down he wasn't getting back up.

"Oh shit!" ONe of the pirates shouted. "That's the one that gave us trouble." Without a word he raised up his gun and fired. "They're probably all going to try and get out. Don't give them a chance!" Without a word the others brought up their guns to fire too.

"Hold. HOld it." The Lighthouse Lt, a skinny man with big eyes, and strange pointed ears snapped. "Don't fire! If you kill them that'll be money burned and the captain won't be happy!"

The men didn't listen. They were spooked. The sound of gunfire filled the air.
**************************

@Crimson Lion
Getting up to a wall so they could be rounded up to be led to safety didn't sound too bad, at least it was a chance to live to fight another day. However, between the large man with the red hair starting a fight so pullets were flying everywhere and the fact that the fire was moving inside, along the ground, towards the cells was a bit disconcerting. It would reach the center arena in a matter of moments.

Cera wasn't all that surprised that someone was going to stick it to the man with guns pointed at them...but now she had to assume that her lot was thrown in with him, from the countless guns being pointed at them. Still, these were far more favorable odds than the ones she'd had when she came out of that Sea King's belly. Dodging a gun wasn't unfeasible so long as you had a fair amount of distance a line of sight, assuming you had the reflexes to dodge it to begin with. Right now though, much to Kukui's dismay around her ankle, he'd find that she was charging back into the cage to extract any injured persons that weren't dead. She let the brute outside do most of the fighting, before emerging with Fsk, the woman she'd knocked out, and potentially a few others on her back, secured by a quickly knotted together mix of their spare clothes.

"Excuse me, pardon me, SEIKEN!" Cera said, leaping over a pirate's sword swing, using his shoulders as a springboard to leap even further before slamming her fist into the side of a rifle aimed at her, completely destroying it in the process. The stunned pirate holding the stock and trigger with nowhere for the bullet to go clicked the trigger, only for the projectile to weakly slide out as Cera ran on by. "Mister Savage Fighter, I'm leaving with the injured. Don't die," she said, running upstairs and keeping an eye out for any more incoming fire to dodge as she endured the pain of running across floors that were starting to catch fire. She'd be fine if she could jump into the water...a motion that, if Kukui was onboard for, would mean him drowning. But at least he was just barely high up enough to not get scorched to cinders.

Kukuis hold on his small wooden form began to seriously loosen as Cera ran back into the cage to help more people. Once Cera had began to climb the stairs after jumping off a guards shoulder Kukui realized how close they where to the fire and, no longer able to hold up being bottled up in a small piece of wood, was immediately ejected when said piece of wood began to darken from the heat. Kukui sprawled onto the staircase, his shirt now catching flames, began to climb up the stairs in panic as bullets shot past him.

Once outside a new dread creeped into him. There was water, right there ... and it was ocean water. 'But still!' He thought as he felt the flames finally go through his shirt to his back, "I'd rather drown then burn to death!!!" He exclaimed as he dove into the water.

His head momentarily rose above the water, "Somebody! P-PLEASE HELP!!!" He yelled as he began to try and paddle himself up, desperately trying to garb onto anything around him as he felt the water drain his strength, feeling his body sink into the water.

One of the pirates cursed something. Gerld couldn't hear the man over the building roar of the flames, but the venom in his voice was clear. No doubt the figure was using language that would make an old woman blush, or bring down the thunder(It was hard to tell with old women.) The man raised a sword and swung at him. It didn't connect with anything but air. For the pirate's honest effort, he was launched across the room, into a wall, where he hit with a sickening thud. He slid down and made no effort to stand.

He countered another pirate's raised gun with a rock, and a precise blow to the temple. The man crumpled to the floor in a heap of sweat and body hair. "So many damn pirates," Gerld muttered.

The fisherwoman hurried past him. She said something about people and fighting. He didn't bother to respond, because he figured she wasn't interested in fighting him, unless there was a brand new martial art that centered on showing your back to someone while you run with a bunch of limp bodies tied on.

@The Irish Tree
"Hey! Hey!" The small skinny man with big eyes jumped and pointed as the fisherwoman made off with the majority of their entertainment. "What are you guys doing? Don't just waste all your energy with the old man. There's a perfectly good fisherwoman and weapon users getting away!"

"Sir! We'd love to get them, but" the pirate started before finding Gerld's fist pumped into his eye. The pirate went limp.

"Ugh!" The second in command shouted. Frowning, he turned and hurried off after the fisherwoman. He moved far faster than his thin form hinted at and was easily able to maneuver out of Gerld's outstretched arm.

As he closed the distance on the fisherwoman. His fingers twisted into claws. When he reached her, he full intended on taking off her head.

Tree captives back in their cells were better than none, and none was what he was afraid of if the woman managed to get to the water.

@Crimson Lion
"Ugg!" The lighthouse pirate's fist's creaked from the pressure. Frowning, he watched the ship burning. There wasn't any way to save it. There wasn't any way to save any of the ships. Whatever, or whoever he presumed, started the fire had done a thorough job. They'd seen to it that the ships burning would take just long enough to pull at the pirate's attention before bursting into flaming pieces of debris which wouldn't be saved.

"Damn it!" The giant shouted as he slammed his cap onto the ground.

"Somebody! Ppp-lease help me!" A thin voice called among a sudden splashing nearby.

"Oh." The captain's eyes narrowed as he noted a figure flailing at the water, one of their captives. "Well I'll be damned. Looks like that idiot Wolly let the dogs out." With a snap of his fingers, the captain pointed at the struggling man. "Alright. Let's go and pick him up. At the very least we'll need some fighters to try and recuperate for today's loss." The man whistled and motioned for the others to follow him in their rowboats.

*****
A long line of red appeared on Gerld's face. It started at the temple and ran down to his chin.

"Not so tough now, huh, old man!" One of the pirate's, a brash youth with black teeth and bug eyes, sneered as he hopped back before Gerld could knock his head off. "Looks like someone's getting a bit winded, eh?"

Gerld fought off the temptation to clutch at his chest. Instead he stood up to his full height and glared down at the grunt.

"You ain't so tough." The grunt's grin widened. Several of the pirates which he thought were knocked out started getting to their feet. A few others moved in, swords held out in front of them. "You're barely standing. Look at how hard that chest is heaving. At this rate you'll be lucky if just standing up won't lead to a heart att..."

The pirate stopped. His jaw dropped. Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the rest of him fell.

"Hey there!" A short woman with purple hair nodded. "You're Gerld, right?"

As the row boats surrounded Kukui, and the men started to reel him out of the water, he started to think. about how horrible this days been. Seriously WHAT THE HELL!!! Captured by pirates, forced to fight for strange reasons, and finally when he sees a glimmer of hope he gets almost burnt. And if all that wasn't enough he was forced to jump into the OCEAN and almost drowned.

Looking up at his saviours, he almost smiled before realizing he was now in a row boat, soaked in sea water, and recaptured. "Oh give me a break." He said dejectedly as he took a deep breath. Well, run or die? Right?

Mustering all the devil fruit abilities he could while soaking wet, he fired forth the biggest tree branch he could from his right arm in an attempt to push the pirates off the small row boat. Then using this extended branch arm he shot towards the dock, rooting the wood into the ground. Wether there are pirates still on the rowboat or not, Kukui quickly takes his arm out of the now makeshift wood bridge and runs along it, hoping to escape.

While Cera was glad that the brutish man named Gerld was giving her a chance to escape, she was at least somewhat worried for his safety. Even if he had no hesitation to kill others, in a situation like this...she supposed that her non-fatal approach was the far more strange one. But right now, she had lives on the line riding literally on her back. Even as the second in command approached, Cera was confident that she could handle anything...until the man moved at blinding speed, hand transforming into a claw.

"Another devil fruit user!?" she thought to herself, thinking that these things were supposed to be RARE or something. She could have sworn she'd seen at least two below deck as well...but right now, she didn't have the luxury to dodge. The people on her back might get thrown loose or worse, decapitated in her stead if she tried to duck. Her stance quickly shifted to a cross-arm block, intercepting his hand at the wrist leaving her just barely enough breathing room to keep his claw from flexing and decapitating her...but he had drawn blood, which began trickling down her neck even as she stared him down. "Let me pass, or I'm taking you into the sea with me," she threatened, stamping her foot on the ground and knocking a floorboard loose to strike him in the chin, causing him to recoil, giving her enough room to knock his claw away and kick his chest once, before making a break for it.

If she could make it to the water, she could swim away as fast as possible, probably capable of escaping even with a few bodies weighing her down.

"I am." Gerld blinked. He wanted to say something to cover up the confusion, uncertainty he was experiencing, but nothing came to mind. His temple was throbbing. It was hard to breathe.

"Good" The short woman with purple hair nodded. She stepped over the fallen pirate. "Glad to finally find you. The name's ." She paused. "I know Quibby." Another pause. The pirates stared, unsure what to do, but they knew not to make a move with their weapons. It was instinct. Something in the air was so thick and cold, despite the spreading flames. They couldn't have moved if there were swords at their backs.

Gerld gave the nod. "That's good enough for me." He turned to survey the remaining pirates. "And what about the rest of you?" The uncertainty had vanished from the giant's voice. In its place were coal and steel. "Do you want to continue the fight, or do you want to leave these flaming ruins and live to fight another day?"

The pirates paused to look at the woman. Her strange eyes were things they knew not to mess with. One by one, they put their weapons down. They took steps back, tentatively at first, but after three or four, the pirates turned around and rushed towards the exits.

@Crimson Lion
The captain of the Lighthouse pirates smiled. He wasn't happy. All the ships were as good as lost, and their prisoners were all gone. The derailed show and escaped prisoners were bad enough, but the political fallout, which would come crashing down due to the ships being burned while on his time, would create issues that would last for years. If anything, it would take decades before he'd return to his previous state of financial bliss.

So when the young man, the captive with a devil fruit, fell into their laps, he couldn't help but give a smile. It wasn't one of joy but of promise at what would befall the young man when things got settled. If nothing else, he'd take out his rage at the child, and make him pay for all the troubles that went on tonight.

At least that was what he was planning on before the young man, and an apparent devil fruit user did something foolish. He escaped, which to many would sound like the right decision under the circumstances. It wasn't, though, because the captain was going to get the man, come hell or high water, and he'd make the boy pay for every single individual step he had to take to put the lad back in chains.

"Well, don't just sit there looking shocked." He snarled at his crew. "Row after him. Get us back to the dock!" The men did as they were told.

The captain pulled out his flintlock pistol, one of a dozen, took aim, and started firing. He wasn't aiming for anything vital. He just wanted to take the boy's knees.

@The Irish Tree
"Argh!" The captain's second snarled as the fisherman's attack sent him reeling back. He didn't let the strike push him far, though. His leg shot into the floorboard, and he used it to stop and propel himself forwards. As he flew towards his target, his leg stretched, and the talon gleamed with three black points. They stretched outwards and slammed into the fisherman's back.

"You're not going anywhere!" The second squawked, his head white with beady eyes, perched upon a long, snake-like neck. The man's thin lips twisted into a razor-sharp beak. For a moment the head hung in the sky before he shot down like an arrow at one of the wounded invidiuals on the fishman's back.