Hearing the dark-haired man's reply did nothing to ease Eva's paranoia. He said he was seeking employment, but was he already a crew member? Or was he really just a clueless bystander? If only she knew who he was; it would make things a lot easier. She never was one for small talk, especially if she was trying to interrogate someone without them knowing it. She liked her usual strategy of shooting first, asking questions later. Most of the time, she didn't need to ask any questions since she had all her information beforehand. Maybe she shouldn't have gone through with this plan so blindingly.

As she started to follow the man to the ship while glancing around for good viewpoints on top of any close buildings, she was surprised to see a piece of paper land smack dab on his face. She covered her mouth to refrain herself from laughing but was soon distracted. From the corner of her eye, Eva saw Lucky Luck rushing towards them and safely assumed that he was chasing the paper just by looking at his sweaty face. She flinched when he tripped and was glad to have had her mouth already covered. It was getting harder for her to not burst out in laughter. When Lucky Luck finally got up, he looked irritated as he asked the bespectacled man for his map. A map?

Eva had no chance to divulge this new information when she heard a deep voice behind her. Glancing back, she saw a tall man in a marine's jacket. Her eyes popped when she saw the captain bars on his jacket. What was a man of his rank doing here? Did he also come to stop Black Hole Merrick?

"Second mate Ricden!" The bespectacled man called out cheerfully. Eva looked back at her acquaintance, surprised to see that they knew each other. But before she knew it, the man suddenly took off running towards Merrick's ship, leaving her and Lucky Luck at the mercy of the Captain. She would have been incredibly confused if the name Ricden didn't sound so familiar.

Where have I heard that before? Eva spun around, her eyes wide again but this time in realization. "Red Lightning Ricden?!" She shouted, sizing up the man now that she knew who he was. She had heard of his exploits and rumors about his Devil Fruit powers but still gave him a glare. Even if she was impressed she still didn't care for Marine, especially if one was about to take a bounty from her.

"What business do you have here?" She inquired, standing her ground in front of the much taller man. Eva knew it would be idiotic of her to fight such a high-ranking official and decided to try and buy some time. Even if Merrick and his crew set sail, she could still shoot him down. Getting to him would be an issue, but a few more bullets at his crew and a dingy could do wonders.

The Red Lighting looked at Eva "hunting a new crew of pirates," he replied simply turning away from her he raised his right arm and pointing two fingers at the direction that Hendel. Red arc's of electricity jumped around John's arm in-till he shot it at in front of the running ex-marine causing an explosion. John reached into his Jacket and pulled out a Den Den Mushi he clicked the button on its top, "to all marines in Loguetown head to dock 13 to apprehend some pirates!" he order placing the snail back in his Jacket. The marine captain turn to Lucky Luck "another bounty this is my lucky day, so are you going to come quietly?" he asked more electricity arcing on both of his arms.

He looked back up to the tall figure and nodded embarrassedly. “…Ye-” but before even getting the map back the dark haired man turned around, looking quite nervous and covered his face with his map. ‘What the hell?’ With a confused and somewhat annoyed stare wondered what the hell was the man was doing. He stood up from his fallen position and just tried to ask the nervous man his map back. “Hey can I ge-” The tall man ran all of a sudden, pulling a dolly and bolted out quickly like his life depend on it. He quickly noticed the run away man still clutching it. “My map!” He screamed loudly at the running man. Then he saw lighting being shot towards the running man causing an explosion. He took a step back wondering who would do that.

“Another bounty this is my lucky day, so are you going to come quietly” When he heard the voice he slowly turned around and couldn’t believe it. It was Red Lighting, he had heard stories about this man and his power. He stared at the tall man as he wondered why he was here. There was another person there, a woman but he didn't bother much to notice.

Taking a deep breath “Sure why not.” He replied in a cool and sarcastic voice even though he was scared deep, really deep inside. He needed to escape, that man that ran off still had his map and in front of him is a captain with electricity coming out of his arms. It would be stupid and a death sentence if he fights him. "But I have to say no." He grabbed a red card and threw it close to the marine, causing a small explosion enough to distract him. He had hope that would have aid him from his escape as he ran away from Red Lighting and towards the dark haired man who still have his map.

When the red-haired giant responded, it wasn't quite the answer he was looking for, but it still wasn't a no and that was something. "Hertha, if you dont mind me calling you that, it is completely understandable why you would hesitate. Im coming right out of the back woods, no crew signed on yet, most people haven't heard or seen tail of me since the incident many years ago, yet here I am trying recruit myself a last minute crew with."

Eden stared out at the ocean far into the distance. "But I can promise one thing, I aint giving up. I once made a promise, a promise that I refuse to die until I fulfill. Let me be the stepping stone on your journey. Even if you don't stick with me until the en-" Eden's speech was interrupted by an explosion along the docks, almost immediately followed by another smaller one. He quick ran to the rail of the deck, he saw two men running towards his ship and another very large man next to a lady with a sniper. "I really need to be more aware of my surroundings" He stated as he firmly planted his face into his palm.

Eden turned to Hertha "Well, it seems as though the welcoming committee is here, and it would be rude of us ignore them, wouldn't you agree?" he said as he then jumped down to the dock. He ran forward towards the men approaching his ship, "If you can't fight him hide on my ship. And if you know how to prepare a ship for sail, please do so." He shouted to each of them as there wasn't much time to halt and chat. He was sure anyone else near his ship would have heard him but he didn't care, anybody that needed help was going to get it.

Eden slowed to a stop about eight meters from the man who was clearly a Marine, it wasn't more than a moment before he really witnessed who it was. John Ricden aka Red Lightning, a certain man which held a certain dark corner in Eden heart. It was the man who had taken out his grew, a couple years ago and Eden would have loved for the chance to rip him to pieces on the event horizon of a black hole. Now though, he had a clearer head on his shoulders and knew this was not the time or place for petty revenge. His fists were clenched tight in a process of releasing his anger, but also slowly increasing the level of gravity between them, as he finally spoke to the man before him arcing with red streaks of lightning. "Well what brings you to this neck of the woods, Captain?"

Hertha hummed thoughtfully as he replied to her statement. To his credit, he was not acting like some kind of pompous ass who continued to demand her pledge to be his crew member, but neither was he giving up on her. He did raise some good points. While she was familiar with sailing and even sometimes working with pirates, all be it in a limited capacity, she was unfamiliar with working on a pirate ship. It would be good experience, a stepping stone to greater things. He was making it clear that he wasn't asking for her warriors oath. He wanted someone strong and trustworthy to help him start from scratch, and he had the respect for her, it seemed, to let her go her own way. Still, joining the crew of an aimless captain wasn't quite how she pictured her start into piracy. Before he could finish his statement or she could give him a reply an explosion shook the deck.

The red-headed giant turned to look in the direction of the commotion, wasn't every day a quite little dock was suddenly shook by a boom like that after all. A large man...in a marine uniform no less, and a lady with what appeared to be a long range gun. The Elbafin warrior sneered at the weapon, while she respected marksmen as a task requiring equal skill and practice as any warrior she didn't much like to be up against them. They tended to run away rather than clash head on, a troublesome tactic. She raised an eyebrow at Eden's rather dry and direct call to arms. She grinned widely "Aye, tis rude to not give a proper welcome to new comers." she replied sliding her sword back over her shoulder and standing up.

She arrived shortly behind Eden, standing perhaps arms length away from the captain. her blade still rested in it's sheath on her shoulder, but her shield was now in place on her arm. The length of an average door, but perfectly round the sturdy defensive device looked as if it could with stand the blast of a small caliber cannon. She blinked at the sight of joh Ricden standing before her. "Red lighting, eh?" she said with what sounded like half a scoff "Why couldn't I get a name like that? My 'air is as red as it comes and I hit as hard as a thunda bolt. Why does everyone get a nice title but me?"

As the smoke cleared, Handel could be seen crouching next to a small blast crater, with his hands covering his head, his dolly and trunk laying to his side. Handel was visibly shaken, having never been on the receiving end of a lightning bolt. He realized, much to his fortune, that he wasn't dead, and this meant that Ricden didn't want him dead either. This was in Handel's favor because he was, in essence, his own hostage, and if they wanted him alive, he could hold his own life for ransom if it came down to it.

The two that had been conversing at the ship stopped talking and headed towards Handel. He recognized the red-haired man from posters but due to Handel's close call, he was unable to place the man at the moment, but Handel knew now that this was no ordinary fruit merchant. The man seemed to be offering sanctuary while giving orders at the same time. Handel knew what to do. He couldn't confront Ricden in a fair face-to-face fight as this man was about to do. The large woman followed the red-haired man, thundering past Handel, who looked on after them, wondering how they could possibly be prepared to fight a man with such a destructive ability. In following them with his eyes, he noticed Lucky behind him, reminding him that he still held the boy's map. "Good," Handel thought to himself, "Someone to manipulate."

"You want this map?" Handel asked rhetorically, "Then you're coming with me, cabin boy!" Handel then grabbed his dolly and pulled it up after himself as he ran up the ramp onto the ship. Prepping the ship for sail would go exponentially faster with a helper. Shortening this time would allow Handel to perhaps have time to setup his own combat equipment and aid his mysterious protectors in their fight against Ricden and the Marine reinforcements he had undoubtedly called as part of standard procedure.

Ricden had patiently waited for the explosion to subsisted he notice some one familiar. "Well Eden im here to take down this new pirate crew of yours," he replied to his question feeling the gravity between him and Eden increasing. The marine captain glance over Eden shoulder to see Handel and Luck "very interesting crew you are gathering. I hope they know what happen to your last crew." John raised an eyebrow at Hertha coming up to them, he heard what the giant woman said to him "its because I can shoot bolts of red lighting. Now Im going to give you a chance to give up and come quietly or else...," as John said it arcs of red electricity jumped across both of his arms as the sounds of dozens of boots coming towards them.

Hertha shrugged at the marines retort "A fair point, but I think the name suits me better anyways. But I should introduce myself regardless." she said raising her free hand and drawing her large blade. Once free from the sheath she banged it against her shield thrice, to a booming sound each time. Afterwards she took a battle ready stance, her shield held before here and her blade pulled back ready to be slashed forward at a moment's notice. "I AM HERTHA, DAUGHTER OF THE DRED PIRATE, BALDER THE BLOODY, THE GREAT WARRIOR OF ELBAF!" She declared in her loudest voice, hoping it would reach the ears of the approaching marine back up. Even nearly 50 years after her father's death she knew his name carried weight. Many was the marine ship he had sunk, many the battles he had won. she had preferred to keep it a secret, but if she was going to commit to piracy, no need to hold that secret back now.

"If you are pointing a blade at my captain." She glanced at Eden and added with a wry smile "for now at least" then turned her glare back at the Marine "Then you'll have to spill my blood first."

Eva's head was spinning with the sudden turn of events. First, Red Lightning had acknowledged her like she was a mere fly on the wall then Lucky Luck created a small diversion for himself to run off with Handel or whoever that glasses-wearing weirdo was. Then out of nowhere, Black Hole Merrick himself and the giant red-haired woman now known as Heartha appeared to confront the Marine captain and his oncoming subordinates. And with their arrival came a heavy air that weighed down on Eva's shoulders. She wasn't so sure if it was from the tension between the two sides or a result of Merrick's known gravity power. Eva decided to ponder on that thought later as she glanced over both parties. Even though she was standing in between them, neither side made any acknowledgment of her. Whether it was a good or bad thing was primarily up to what the blonde's next move was. She had three options;

If she helped the Marines, they would arrest or execute the pirates right then and there without giving her any credit or money. Red Lightning could probably deal with them all himself and might not even hesitate to turn on her.

If she helped the pirates, not only would she be going against her morale code but she would also ensure a bounty on her head. And there was also the fact that she would be on the receiving end of Ricden's wrath.

If she left... she would never forgive herself. Even though she usually tried to avoid direct combat, that didn't mean she ever ran away from a fight. She was strategic on how she fought, especially since her physical prowess wasn't the very best. However, she had just gained a new power that might turn the tables of this battle.

After taking one last time to look over the two opposing sides, Eva let out a heavy sigh. I'm seriously going to regret this later... That next moment, she pointed her free hand at Ricden and his subordinates.

"Tempest Burst!" She shouted as she sent a gust of wind at the Marines, successfully pushing a good number of them back into the alleyways from which they came. Eva didn't know if her attack had any effect on Ricden since she wasted no time rushing towards Merrick and Heartha.

"You may not know who I am, but I want to make a quick deal with you Black Hole Merrick." Eva stated, "We are heavily outnumbered so I'll give you and your rag-tag team cover if you give me safe passage to another town far from this place. As much as I hate pirates, I hate Marines who try to take what's rightfully mine even more. We have a deal?" She offered her free hand to the red-haired pirate with a mixture of determination and annoyance in her eyes. In truth, she wasn't sure if Merrick would agree, but there was no harm in trying. She already made the first move.And if he did allow her on board his ship, Eva would make sure to sleep with her pistol ready.

The smoke subsided, Lucky saw the dark haired man crouching near a small crater, and luckily the man was neither dead nor injured. When he saw the map undamaged he sighed in relief, maybe he should have also cared for the man but his main focus is to escape Red Lighting and get his map back. A red haired guy ran up close to him and said well also ordered something about hiding in his ship and preparing the ship sail. With the whole situation seemingly getting out of hand, he had to follow the man said like orders. Somewhere he felt like he seen the guy’s face but didn’t have enough time to process it. Soon an incredible tall woman with a huge sword followed the red head, as they were seemed going to fight the marine.

He could feel the tension increase dramatically. ‘Are they really going to fight him?’ Bespectacled with that thought, but as he was going to run towards the ship the dark haired man asked about wanting his map back. Lucky stared at him, defiantly getting annoyed. Then the man said, he was going with him and called him Cabin boy.

‘Cabin boy... seriously?’ He sighed with annoyance then ran up the ramp of the red head’s ship and started to help with preparing of the ship’s sail. He glanced over the dark haired man and murmured, “Never call me Cabin boy…”If he goes with the flow then maybe all this trouble passes by, he could get his map back and still be alive.

Eden chuckled as his giant companion followed after his retort. The humor helped to relax himself, "Don't worry about the title much, you wouldn't imagine what I used to be called before 'Black Hole'." He was surprised when she drew her sword and properly introduced herself to the lower half of the town, as the daughter of the great dread pirate. It was quite the dangerous title to claim and yet she did so, all the while claiming her spot on his crew. Eden was moved by the weighty gesture and released the bits of anger that stilled pulled at his fists. "Welcome Aboard, and thank you." Things were really looking good to him right now.

Suddenly out of the blue, the sniper girl, whom Eden had not paid much attention to, sent a current of wind blasting towards the approaching marines. She succeeded in knocking many down and slowing their advance but the chaos would soon be sorted out and they would be swarmed by marine lackeys, not much of a threat but a problem none the less. She then ran up to Eden and proposed her deal, it was definitely a tempting offer and Eden felt he may be able to sway her to his crew later on, so he firmly took her hand and shook upon the deal "Thanks for the assistance Ms.Solkreuz, I'll see to your safety personally. Take any distance you need and signal us when you see my ship prepped for sail. I may need you to set the ship on course with that wind, if you could manage" He released her hand so she could be on her way and turned back towards the marine captain.

He slowed the rise of gravity and brought it to a halt, as he stared down Ricden daringly. "After what you did Ricden, who didn't know what had happened to them. You and your corrupted foundation were so proud of your accomplishment that day." Eden's heart rate began to rise, and the tension in the air tightened as spoke his heart onto the probable battlefield. "but I'm still here, a nice little stain on any record of yours, and I did free that pirate crew, a crew more powerful and influential than I was. They went on with their dream, and they sail the grandline today. With that act of courage I made my mark on history, as a defender of freedom." Eden took a few steps forward claiming a fighting stance opposing Ricden. "If you're looking for a fight I haven't got long til I set sail. But I wont go down today, I have a promise to fulfill yet. That comes first."

Destinyfailhorror17 said
“Never call me Cabin boy…”

"Right," Handel replied noncommittally, "Let's get this thing ready to sail. Follow me and do what I tell you, we'll make a sailor of you yet." Handel began climbing the nets up the mast and onto the rigging. He headed to one side of the rig, and ordered Lucky to the other side. The sail was currently tied up. He and Lucky needed to untie it so that it could be lowered the moment they needed to set out. Handel hoped Lucky knew how to untie sail knots.

'Want a turn of events,' Ricden thought at what just happen. First the Giant red haired woman reviled her self to be the daughter of the dread pirate he made a mental note to ask her why she is short giant. Next that bounty hunter Eva attacked him and the marine reinforcements sending the the marines down a ally. And finally Eden spoke reminding him about that crew he freed and the problems they are still causing for the world government. "I'll give you a good one, I've been training since the last time we meet. I'll show you one of them," Ricden said. The marine captain jumped in the air "geppo," he said launching him higer up into the air with a small white cloud appearing under him, John raised both and pointed them at Eden "thunder storm!" he shouted sending many bolts of electricity at them.