[IC] One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

[Hillan]

Chester punched the back of the quarters, planks flying everywhere. It huururrrtttss!" The voices cried out. "WELL YOU SHITHEADS SHOULD HAVE KEPT OFF OF MY SHIP THEN!" Chester retorted, fists flying everywhere, striking down the black hands that erupted, as well as demolishing all wall-planks, getting into the deeper isolation of the ship. The whole boat was rocking as Kuhn was forced to wake up, and he sure did. Pulling his revolver out, he fired two bullets - not at the spirits, but at his captain. Two dragonbreath bullets, as they hit Chester, fire erupted, burning him a little and breaking him out of his fit of rage.

"What the hell, Kuhn! Aim better!" He shouted, as Kuhn scoffed, sitting in his hammock, his right hand resting on the hammer of his revolver. "Cap'n. You need to calm down, dis cannot be solved with violence."

"Oh, you mean not shooting your crewmates?!"

"Touché."

Chester was crawling on the floor, trying to put out the fire on his ribs, he began rolling on the floor, once the fire seemed to be dying down, he grabbed his bottle of grog. "This will numb the pain" he siad as he squirted a few sips-worth of booze on the dwindling flames, suddenly, the fire erupted again. "AAH!" Chester shouted in semi-panic, running out of the room.

"HOW DID BOOZE MAKE THE FIRE WORSE?!" He cried, running out onto the deck, fast enough that the fire was put out. "Oh, no, it didn't. Just took a while for it to stop."

He peered back into the cabins. "Hey, Kuhn, Lina! I fixed it, no longer on fire!"

"You know, Lina, I'm starting to think da cap'n might be daft."

[Pacifista]

"YOU DON'T GET TO TALK! YOUR FIRST INSTINCT WAS TO LIGHT HIM ON FIRE!" Lina snarled. As hands shuffled on the flooring, Lina stamped at them from the doorway, but they weren't ceasing.

"Forget this! I'm going to Macario's ship! You idiots can bust up the Breeze for all I care!" Lina grumbled, rushing out as the ceaseless hands continued to move, grabbing at Chester and Kuhn, trying to pull them through the holes made in the wall.

[Hillan]

"Would he have listened to reason?" Kuhn asked, sarcastically, as the hands came towards him, Chester was still out on the deck. Kuhn was nimbly dodging the hands as they came towards him, graciously backstepping, or weaving to the side whenever the black hands came at him. "We have any clue what dis is? Never seen anyting like it."

He looked back at lina as she was gonna leave The Breeze. "Lil' lady. You mind asking da bookworm if he has any clue what's going on here?"

Chester was still moaning about Booze making the fire worse - perhaps his entire view of the world had been shattered at this point.

[Pacifista]

"...Fine."

Part of her just wanted to let them struggle the rest of then night. Part of her wasn't even serious about going to Macario's boat in the first place: she'd just wanted to tick them off. But truth was that Kuhn finally said something almost sensible.

---

"What you're saying isn't sensible."

Lina slumped where she stood, eyes lowered in glare, one twitching. Macario leaned back in his seat at his desk, lit by candlelight.

"Don't give me that look. Go back to bed. And tell the others to keep it down."

"You're saying tear-mites threw me and Chester off the boat!?"

"You're saying it was ghosts!"

"No! Maybe. It's something! Just come and take a look before there isn't any more ship to destroy."

Macario let out a sigh, grumbling, "Fiiiiine."

---

"Still think it's tear-mites?"

Macario gawked as he saw the writhing hands, still forming and unforming around Kuhn and Chester.

"Th-they infest boats and make the wood hollow and breakable..."

"And look like hands and faces?"

Macario didn't answer.

Stepping back towards the two, she said, "Okay, Macario's useless. What next?"

[Hillan]

Chester was meeting the black hands with his own fists, each hand was met with a closed fist and a wave of vibartions, shattering the hands, spraying black dust all over. "OH HI!" Chester shouted, looking back at Macario, as two hands grabbed his left forearm. He chopped the hands apart with his right hand, only for them to immediately reform and grab both of his hands, then, the drunk captain bit the hands in what seemed to be their arms, until they vanished.

IIITTTHUUUURTTSSS! The boat cried.

Kuhn glared, as he kept dodging them with side-steps, and those he couldn't dodge, because he was overwhelmed, he beat away with his revolver, hitting it with the grip of the pistol, while he held the barrel like a club.

[Pacifista]

"Weird, I thought they'd have calmed down by now," Lina grunted, kicking as they came to harass her. Looking up at the other two, she growled, "What did you do!?"

Shaking his head as a few hands tried to pull Macario down, he stepped free, before saying, "Well, I've never seen anything like this... But why...because the ship was broken?" Moving along, he made for the below deck, ordering, "You guys start looking around: there's got to be something else on board. Some kind of clue."

Lina muttered, "Like another hole punched in the wall..."

[Hillan]

"Things haven't calmed down over here!" Chester shouted, dodging hands, counter-attacking once more. He was pushed to the floor, but as his face was gonna collide with the deck, his fist shot out, puncturing the deck, sending him down into the cargo hold, shreds of planks following him down. Kuhn kept being pushed backwards, and just a few seconds later, he stepped down the hole his captain had made, falling on top of Chester.

"Kuhn! Get off me!" he shouted, and Kuhn grunted. "Aye Cap'n."

"What is this place, anyway?" Chester asked. "Would be da cargo bay."

"Where my booze is?"

"If we had any in cargo, sure." Kuhn mentioned. "What do you mean?" Chester asked, afraid that his gunner was suggesting the unthinkable.

"No need to worry. We ain't out. Dis all in the kitchen, what's left of it, anyway."

"Phew" Chester said, as he pushed the now rather comfortable sitting kuhn on his back off of him, Kuhn climbed back onto his feet and looked around. "But wait a sodding minute here." Kuhn noted, gripping his pistol. "Nobody's sodding anything on my ship." Chester added.

"Shh."

As he looked around, there were no hands here. Kuhn glanced in the far distance, there were a small denture in the wall - a few planks hung loose, where they had been hit with the cannon ball it almost seemed like.

He walked there, Chester began digging in various crates, looking for booze. Instead, he only found another piece of paper that seemed to have fallen out of Macario's briefcase. "Hey, I found one more of Macario's dicks."

"... Excuse me?" Kuhn asked fro mthe other side of the deck, as he approached the small hole in the wall, he pushed away a couple of the planks, and it seemed the cannon ball had revealed a hidden compartment of the deck - like a room. Inside was a drawing board, and blueprints of the ship.

"Oi. Dis da shipwright's room. Kuhn added, as hands began emerging as Kuhn got close to the board, picking up one of the blueprints. "Oh this boat's been mistreated for quite some time.." He pondered, as a lot of the repairs that had been done over the years were completely off the original design, thus effectively hurting the ship.

[Pacifista]

As echoes of the boat's screams came fro mthe fresh hole, Lina stooped down, covering her face in her hands. "Oh my god..." she groaned.

"My ship doesn't have room for four, assholes!" Macario cried, dropping down, thumping down on the lower deck. However, the hands and faces seemed to change mood: with Kuhn and Chester in the shipwright's room, previously hidden, the arms and faces seemed to be holding back, as if they were watching.

Stepping to the doorway, he saw the paper Chester was waving around. Snatching it, he grumbled, "What's this?"

"Pretty sure it's one of your dick drawings, dude."

"No, it's just paper with a mold stain, idiot." Flipping it over, he showed a twisted, spiral pattern. Looking over Chester and Kuhn, he glanced back to the faces and arms, before pushing in. Looking on the ground, he blinked. "Oh..."

In the corner of the small room, in the shadow of the desk, was a light lump, molded green, the fuzz on the wood marking out a spiral pattern.

"Correct me if I'm wrong: but that looks like it was a Devil Fruit."

_{"Stay out of there..."}

The hands seemed to shudder while the heads wheezed, pulling back, as the sounds of footsteps was heard, echoing off the walls. A form came out of the darkness.

Lina blinked at everyone staring at her. "What?"

_{"Stay out of...there..."} Came a soft voice from behind Lina. Turning, she squeaked in fright before joining Chester, Kuhn, and Macario in the crowded door frame. The faces and arms bowed way for what seemed like a small boy. A raincoat drapes his face, and a cracked hammer hung in his hands, but he had no distinct form: like a shade he was but one color, a murky black, as if smudged into existence. On his lacking face, he only had two blank holes for eyes and a deep frown. His rain boots shuffled to a stop.

_{"Stay out of...me..."}

[Hillan]

Kuhn - perceptive as he could be agree'd with Macario "Sure is." regarding the Devil Fruit. Chester had given up his search for booze, when he found a single bottle of grog - no one could really explain how, but he had managed, so he was happy, almost bragging about his treasure as he walked into the little room Kuhn had found. "Hey, what's that sound?"

Then the boy walked up.

"Sup kid." Chester said, turning back to Macario and Kuhn. "So, what do we make of all this?"

"Hey, what was that sound?"

"... Fuck me." Chester added, as he stood right next to the ghostly form - shocked, he fell to the ground, crawling a bit backwards - but not before taking another couple of swigs.

Kuhn got out his gun, aiming it at the Ghost. "All right. Who da hell are ya?"

[Pacifista]

_{"Just...leave...}

Grumbling, Lina grabbed Kuhn's gun, trying to force the line of sight away from the thing. "Kuhn don't shoot him!"

"Oh...no fucking way," Macario blurted. "I think that's a Klaubertamann!"

"Bless you."

"I know what I said! They're spirits that are said to visit crews in danger..."

"Well, he kinda looks like all the arms and stuff we're seeing, so he's the danger."

_{"I'm...the danger?"} he croaked.

Macario nodded. "I'm starting to get it... I think some how this Klaubertamann ate the Devil Fruit. The Flower Flower Fruit, if I had to guess."

"So how do we get rid of him?" Lina growled.

Macario shrugged. "Well, I'd assume that the ships they show up at get destroyed soon after, but maybe the Devil Fruit is what's keeping him going?" scratching his head, he muttered, "Well, he seems pretty displeased with us, but I don't think we can get rid of him without getting rid of the ship." Turning to Chester, he said, "Your call, Cap."

[Hillan]

As Lina tried to move Kuhn's barrel, Kuhn held the gun in place, the girl yanking it and yet the iron didn't move an inch. "Having fun, little lady?" He asked, still looking at the spirit, pulling the hammer back.

Till Macario interrupted him, that was.

His expaination kind of made sense. "So he is a ghost after all?" Chester asked, he pondered for a moment. "Hey, kid. You wanna hurt us?"

_{"I'm huuurrt"}

"I'll take that as a no." Chester said, as Kuhn lowered his gun. "If you won't hurt us, and you won't steal my booze, you can stay." Chester said. "Kuhn and Macario will patch the boat up."

"Wait a minute" Kuhn said

"That's an order, cowboy." Chester said, waving him off, walking away, chugging his booze.

[Pacifista]

As Chester made his decision, Lina finally pulled her hands away from Kuhn's firearm. Letting out a sigh, Macario said, "Well, I'll help in a second. Let me get some pants on..."

As he shuffled off, the hands and faces from the walls began to retract, but the Klaubertamann persisted, watching. Waiting.

---

As the sun crawled its way into the morning, peeking through the remaining holes in the ship's hull, Lina, now fully dressed, came down to the working men, plate full of fresh rice balls. Letting out a stiff yawn, she went over to the other side of the room, sitting down next to the Klaubertamann, who also sat, watching the work, sitting still like the dead.

[Hillan]

Kuhn, wearing his tanktop on his torso, plus a pair of khaki shorts was working hard, his hat had a few nails stuck in the belt, he also had a couple in his mouth, in his hand was a hammer, and in the other was a plank. He was directing Macario in how to setup the planks properly, long since given up on doing the same with his captain. Chester, wearing another torn and dirty T-shirt sat in the corner, a newspaper on his face, blocking out the sun shining in, ever so often, the sound of him gulping down grog from the bottle he was holding was heard.

Kuhn looked over at Lina, and grinned, he was starving. "Ah, food!" He said, with delight, hammering in the last nail of the plank, before turning to Lina, grabbing two riceballs that he ate really quickly. Chester peered over from the newspaper. "I guess i can take one, too." He said, Kuhn lazily threw one to him, Chester catching it and eating it.

"Lina, what the hell is this?" He asked, annoyed.

"Riceballs are supposed to have sugar in them! And Booze in the middle!" He shouted, flustered.
"No, that's not quite right, Cap'n." Kuhn told him, surprised.

"Yes they are! Maybe not in the backwoods town you're from, but in all the civilized parts of the North Blue, that's how it's done!" Chester cried, while also gulping down on the food, even sneaking his way to grabbing two more from the plate. "I'm eating. But know it's under protest."

[Pacifista]

Mid bite, Macario grumbled, "If you have time to whine you have time to work."

"And booze in rice is the worst..." Lina began, before trailing off. Lowering her head in thought, resting her palm against her face, she muttered, "But...if I cooked rice in booze...no, that wouldn't work. Unless...it was rice wine. No, it would probably burn away, so maybe I should just add some with the water?"

Slowing down, she stopped herself, before turning back to the klaubertamann. She wondered, "Feeling better?"

He said nothing. But he also didn't say 'it hurts', despite the occasional pounding of hammers, so Lina took that as a good sign. But despite all the shenanigans, the crew was just back to normal as always.

As she watched the spirit, it began to fade, leaning away and falling back into the ship. It muttered softly, _{"Be...careful..."}

Lina let out a sigh, certain that it was more worried about itself. But for now, at least, they had the blessings, if not simply the indifference, of their host...

[Hillan]

The room was dimly lit, only a few oil lamps in the meeting locale as the three figures sat on the round table, one empty chair. One of them was wearing a beret, he was looking to the side, whispering something to his second-in-command. "This face works, right?" He asked, gruffly, making a rather stern expression. [Boss "Iron" Cerulean, leader of the Azure Company; 30,000,000 Bounty.]

The man in the top-knot ponytail and kimono nodded. "It does indeed, sir. Very grim. The others will know how you feel." [Marv "The Ninja"; Azura Company Second in Command; 9,000,000 Bounty.]

"Good, at ease." the large man sitting down said, as the ninja leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms in meditation.

Straight across from Cerulean, leaning back in his chair, a man in a straight laced red suit, black and white scarf hanging on his shoulders, brushed some of his bushy black hair away. Snorting, his even bushier black beard rustled as he looked behind him, a shirtless man, bandages over burn scars, laid on the ground like a lump. "Look at 'em, over there lookin' posh. This is why they got Stagio and we got stuck with Meesei. Like every fuckin' year." ["Assembly" Leader Vermillion, leader of the Crimson Company; 27,000,000 Beli Bounty]

The object of his scorn grumbled, "I'm telling you we should take care of...whoever they are...bro!" ["Dread" Chadwick Burgundy, Crimson Company Second in Command; 7,000,000 Bounty]

In the third chair was the green haired woman, younger than either of them men by far. Behind her was her sister-in-arms. She spoke softly. "You two both seem too tense. Just relax, I'm sure old man Goldenrod's gonna show up any minute now, kuhuhu." She smiled. "Heads says he'll show up in five minutes." She wagered, flipping the coin she had been toying with between her fingers up into the air. ["Lucky" Chief Viridian, leader of the Verdant Company; 24,000,000 Bounty] He green hair swept to the side by the motion.

As the coin was flipping through the air, it was caught my the brown-leather clad hand of Kobicha, the second in command. "I don't think it's wise to take bets with the two gentlemen right now." She advised. ["Tactician" Kobicha, Verdant Company Second In Command; 7,000,000 Bounty]

"Yeah, guess you should listen to her: she was smart enough to run from the big bad...Cheese?" Vermillion said.

"Chester!" came a growl from the door as it came open. Stepping in backwards, a teen in a vellow vest over a white dress shirt, a sword at his hip, his short orange hair jabbing out under his black banded fedora. Turning around, he moved the wheelchair to face the table, pushing it forwards as the older man sitting within, neck caught in a brace, left arm, shoulder, and knee kept in casts. "Move that extra chair!" he snarled. [Head "Tycoon" Goldenrod, leader of the Quartz Company; 29,000,000 Bounty]

The boy was already moving. "Yeah pops." ["Lad" Saffron, Quartz Company Second in Command; 10,000,000 Bounty]. Moving the chair, he slipped the wheelchair to the table, filling it's four corners with the four pillars that managed the North Blue.

"Is that not the name of the shithead who messed with our operation on Melonberry?" Cerulean asked Marv, whom nodded. "Yes, sir. You sent me to challenge the captain of the.. Grog Warrior Pirate Crew to a duel in your name. But him and his mates.. Ambushed me." Marv explained, hanging his head in shame. Cerulean nodded in acknowledgement, a scowl on his face.

"Kuhuhu, so it would seem this Chester guy is quite the problem, then? Disrupted Melonberry and your sugar monopoly, and I think it's safe to assume he put you in that chair, then, old man?" Viridian cooed.

"And if not dealt with, his crew could threaten our entire operation!" Goldenrod proclaimed, bringing the room into a contemplative halt.

Vermillion clicked his tongue. "Just cause you got the shit kicked outta ya doesn't mean-"

"They've charged into two of our headquarters and made mockery of all too many of our strongest men. Issac the Rounin, Jeko the Quack, and Deadeye Kuhn...all three were on my payroll, but none of them were able to stop those...Grog Warriors, from tearing apart my headquarters. And from what I've heard, no one else has been able to give them pause either." Finishing his statement, Goldenrod glanced between Chad, Kobicha, and Marv, while Saff stood behind him, not even hiding the smugness on his face.

"You had all those two idiots on your payroll? Who's that Kuhn kid, never heard of 'em." Cerulean exclaimed, frowning as he did. Viridian chimed in. "I know him, Dustcity Deadeye. Kuhuhuh, he thinks he's the best marksman in the entire North Blue. Can't have someone spreading such rumors. Reflects poorly on myself." She cooed.

"How are we to handle these Grog Warriors, then?" Viridian asked. "We'll have to deal with them." Cerulean responded. "I'll propose that I take out their captain, and that would be the end of it all. That Chester guy's been a torn in my side for far too long. And in return for me killing him, you guys will all forgo taxing Azure company when they tread on your territory for the next year." He propsed, and the other leaders groaned.

"Not on your life!" Goldrenrod cried, before devolving into a coughing fit.

Letting out a sigh, Vermillion grumbled, "Let's see you take care of him first. Then we'll go over the terms."

Groaning, Chad sat up, saying, "Those other guys though..." Pointing across the room at Marv, he said, "Seriously, they messed you up too, didn't they brah?" Massaging his head, he muttered, "I keep forgetting..."

"W-What?! Me, the mighty Marv losing to some nobody pirates?! Of course not Chadwick!" Marv deflected, shocked. Cerulean grinded his teeth. "You think I'm a fool, Vermillion? You will agree to my terms before I go and take this guy's head."

Vermillion chortled, "You said yerself he's your problem. Shall we call a vote?" Vermillion raised his hand. "The Grog Whatevers are Boss Cerulean's problem: yeah or nah?"

Viridian raised her hand, prompting a snarl from Cerulean, whom looked sharply at Goldenrod, who he assumed would be willing to trade some money for taking out the Grog Warriors, but his hand was already up. "I don't have the manpower to fight them myself."

Vermillion chortled, "Majority rules."

Cerulean frowned. "Fine. I'll kill the captain and that will be the end of it."

"Excellent." Viridian said.

"Marv, we'll devise a plan to get him alone. I think a duel is in place here." Cerulean mused, his face breaking into a smile.

"Is that everythin' Grog Warrior related then?" Vermillion posed.

"Actually..." Goldenrod interjected. "Don Mono got back to me on theo ther half of that incident..."

---

Sometime later, on board the Hinnon Breeze, the Boozehounds were relaxing from repairing their ship. Chester was laying in the lookout basket on top of the boat, his legs hanging off of the edge, a bottle in his teeth, as usual, dozing in between conciousness and sleep. Kuhn was working on a new bullet in his quarters, while the others were busy doing other things. Kuhn did however have sight out of his quarters to the sea near the coast line of Stagio Island, where he saw a small ship with blue sails on it approach the Hinnon Breeze, not paying much attention to it, Kuhn continued his work. In a couple of minutes, he looked back out of the window, and saw that the boat was still coming towards them, at full speed.

He grabbed his pistol, and headed up towardas the deck. "Oi, Cap'n!" He shouted "Lina, Macario.. Ghostboy!" He called, Chester grumbling from above on the mast.

"I think we're about to get company.. From Azure Company... Let's give dem comp- I'll stop right there." Kuhn said, realizing how silly his sentence was turning into.

The boat pulled up next to them, garning the attention of Chester, whom was now crawling down from the top of the mast on the netted rope, his head first, using his one hand and his legs, bottle in his other. He fell the last two meters, landing on his face, making sure not to break the bottle. He regained his composure as the blue clad ninja with the topknot leapt out of the Azure Boat, and landed in front of them, Kuhn looking at him with sharp eyes.

"Oi, ain't dis dat dude who jumped us' a couple days ago?"

"Oh yeah, punched the snot out of him, didn't we?" Chester said, worming his way on the ground, eventually standing up. "What do you want? round two?"

The ninja remained quiet, as he looked at Chester, pointed his finger at him, and then vanished, drawing his katana on his back as he vanished, appearing behind Chester, his blade in a slashing motion.

"The hell are you do-" Chester asked, only to realize the ninja had cut his bottle in half, now there was grog on the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?!" Chester shouted, as the ninja looked back at him. "Boss Cerulean wants to meet you, Grog Warrior Chester. Showdown for Melonbery. Just you and him, mano y mano. One on one, on Stagio Island, in the plaza. A duel to the death. Just you, none of your friends. Got that?" He said, as the flustered Chester walked towards him, about to give him a piece of his mind.

"You got that?" Marv asked Chester, as Chester walked towards him, Marv walked to the side of him, Chester's side was now facing Marv's ship, as Chester's had shot out at speeds faster than Marv could've reacted to, with a loud bang, Marv was sent flying back into his ship, landing flat against their mast, making the entire ship wobble heavily, before balancing itself again. Marv was knocked out cold, blood pooring out of his nose, missing a couple of teeth. His crewmates all shocked, as they set sail.

"Yeah, I got it, I'll be there." Chester said coldly, his face darkened with anger about the spilled booze from before.

"Oh yeah, Lina, I guess I can fulfill my promise now!" He said, turning to Lina, with a smile, once the anger over the spilled grog had settled, he had found another bottle to sate his thirst.

"... What pomise is he talkin' about?"

"You do realize it's a trap, don't you, cap'n?" Kuhn asked Chester, whom shrugged. "Who cares."

"I 'spose so, ye." Kuhn added, before everyone went back to their duties.

"Hey, did he mention when the duel was supposed to take place?" Chester asked, and everyone else shrugged, only for a knife to be thrown at them from the ship sailing away, a note attached to the knife.

"At noon." The note read.

"Ninjas, man." He exclaimed with a huff.

[Pacifista]

"Promises, huh..." Lina muttered to herself as she lounged on deck, the amusement from Chester's quick win over Marv already passed.

A lantern flaring in her head, she hopped up, calling, "What time is it?"

Looking to the sky, Macario estimated, "Bout 10 to 11, I'd say."

Lina nodded, before suggesting, "We should get going. Don't want to keep Boss Cerulean waiting. Or Chester." Glancing over to him, she noted, "I thought you'd be more pumped about this..."

"It's one on one though, so I guess we should just enjoy the festivities."

Lina gave a knowing smile. "I have a better idea."

---

"Stagio Island Wine Tasting Contest: 7 PM," read the sign.

Though it was still some time off, the contest ground, a small plaza on the more rustic Muntjacn Island, was abuzz with workers lining up chairs, cleaning wine glasses, and ordering bottles, labeled carefully behind closed doors. Scoping it out, Lina eyed the advertisement for the grand prize: the annual bottle of Four Color Wine, an expertly concocted wine made from four different colors of grapes, giving different flavors based the level of volume the drink came from in the bottle. An absolute master craft.

From their concealed spot, Lina turned back to Kuhn and Macario, concluding, "It'd be perfect to use to celebrate after Chester beats Cerulean, don't you think?"

Macario shrugged, "I'm not the biggest wine guy."

"Huh? We're going to steal it," Lina said casually. Macario gawked. "We're pirates!"

Macario sighed, "Speak for yourself."

[Hillan]

The boat had docked on Stagio island long enough for Chester to get off and head towards the city square - but before he could, he needed to get another drink. In the middle of the plaza, he found a stand with a man selling the homegrown Crystal-Grog, a clear liquid he promised was the strongest grog on the whole island. Chester looked at the man, his wrinkly face, his balding head and his gray stands of hair left a rather pathetic impression on the young pirate. The old man's crooked back and poor posture, skinny arms and legs solidified the impression.

"Hey, young man, fancy a drink? A thousand bellies and you'll get the strongest drink on the whole island!" The man promise, puffing his rather small chest in from under the unbuttoned patterned shirt, his shorts were matching.

"I like your shirt and your shorts, you look trustworthy!" Chester exclaimed, swiftly, the man blinked quickly, "Uh, thanks? I am! For you, young man, you get my great Clear-Grog for only half the price!" The old man said, and Chester grinned. "... I don't have any money on me." He remembered, frowning. "Damn, and I really need a drink."

"O-Oh" The old man responded. "Well then, you can move along then."

"Give me a bottle and I'll pay you later."

"That's not how it works, idiot!" The man responded, holding the large bottle in his hand. Chester huffed. "Yes it is! I'll pay you two thousand for it in an hour when I've got some money, you can trust me, I'm a pirate!" He shouted, and the man smacked him in the forehead. "I said no! Beat it you filth!"

"GIMME IT!" Chester shouted, leaping on the man and the bottle, putting his teeth around the base of the bottle, as he was using his arms to try and push the old man away from the bottle, squatting on the counter of the man's little shop. The old man had Chester's hands in his face, as he was trying to punch the pirate off of him.

PLOP And like that, the bottle had escaped the old man's grasp, flying through the air, knocked by the force of Chester's jaw, it twirled in the air and Chester caught it. "FINE, TAKE IT. BUT I WANT TEN THOUSAND FOR IT!" The old man shouted, laying in the sand of the plaza. Chester nodded."If it's as good as you say, you can have however much you want." Chester said, as he uncorked it and took a big swig of the strongest booze on the whole island. His satisfied smirk turned sour after a couple of mouthfuls.

"HEY! THIS IS JUST REGULAR WATER!" He shouted, the old man quickly propped himself back up on the counter. "But of course. Why would I keep the strongest, legendary Clear-Grog on my person? Then any scoundrel would steal it." He said, smart, Chester walked towards him, his face blank as he put his forearm against the man's throat and pushed him against the wall.

"You. Do. Not. Joke. About. Booze." He spit in the man's face as he spoke. The old man quivering stuttered out "b-By the waterfront, m-my stash, you can take two bottles f-f-free of charge!" The old man shouted, as Chester's expression turned from rage to glee.

".. Great! Thanks!" He shouted, as the old man was let down and he walked towards the directions he had been given.

Some five minutes later, a hulking man walked up to the old man, checking his face in the glass panel on the side, seeing his reflection, he tested a few different facial expressions, one cheeky smile, one scowl and one smug smile, he decided on the scowl as he turned to the old man. "You! You've seen a man around here? About this tall, average build, blonde hair, reeks of booze? Absolute idiot?"

"U-h, yeah! I have. He was heading down the waterfront. A-Are you a friend of his?"

"I'm about to make his acquaintance..." The large man said with a sly smirk.

[Pacifista]

"We just need to find out where it is and get it. Though if we stick around we might want masks..."

Macario stood. Lina gasped, "Hey! What are you doing?"

Waving dismissively, Macario insisted, "I don't want anything to do with this. I'm just going back to the ship."

Lina harrumphed, "Fine, be that way!" As Macario headed off, Lina let out a sigh, "Well, we can manage without him..." Looking back over to the grounds, an eyebrow raised as she saw a troop of what appeared to be soldiers, but they didn't have the insignia of the Antler Kingdom on their armor. "Those guys again? ...Maybe they know something."

Standing properly, she suggested, "I'm going to see if I can find out anything." Heading down from their lookout point, Lina dared mull about the tasting ground.

"The contest isn't for a few hours, young lady."

Tensing up, Lina didn't except to be singled out so easily. Turning, a caped knight had approached her, Lina's eyes flashing in recognition at the elblem on his chest of a helm on a shield with a rapier. As he got a closer look, he tossed his medium length platinum blond hair over his shoulder, "Oh, excuse me. You are a proper lady, miss..."

"Er, I'm...L...ina."

Bowing slightly, he began, "It is my pleasure, Miss Lina. I am Sir Johannes von Reunthal of the Balder Kingdom, situated in the Grand Line."

Blinking, Lina said, "Er, what brings you here then? The festival?"

"One could say that. You look like a well meaning soul." Lina felt sweat bead on her forehead. "You haven't seen color coded thugs wandering about?"

"Th-the Companies!?"

Johannes' eyes widened, before his hand came to his chin, suspicious. Raising her hands, Lina explained, "Er, I've...run into a few of them. I'm...part of a shipping company, so we travel a lot. They're everywhere."

Johannes nodded. "Truly they are a blight. But what do you know of their engagements here?"

Swallowing, she said, "W-well, I haven't seen any of them here..."

Studying her, Johannes said, "Well, if you come across something, let me know. They always increase their activity here this time of year, and sightings imply that their top brass might be about, so if you alert me, we can bring those scoundrels to justice." Boldly, he brought his fist down on his breastplate, making a clanking noise.

Lina began to head off. "Don't find me, I'll find you!" Scuffling away, she ducked from sight, refusing to glance back. His eyes bored so deep into her pirate soul, didn't they!?

...Wait, she'd been a pirate for all of a week or two. What was she saying?

[Hillan]

Kuhn scoffed as Macario headed back to his boat. "Kind of a butter betty dat one, isn't he? I'll try and find out anyting about dis contest. See if I can figure out where da wine's being held, if we're to steal it proper." Kuhn noted, as he too made his way down from the lookout point, heading in the opposite direction to Lina. He had been walking for a good five minutes, as he came to a fourway crossroads. At all of the roads, there were signs that pointed in the direction of the road. The wooden signs all read the same thing; "Locksley Inn, 600 meters."

"Dat's... Strange." Kuhn thought to himself, taking the path to the left, he headed towards this Inn that somehow managed to be in four places at once. In another couple of minutes, the gunslinger arrived at the Locksley inn, a tavern like most others, the sign was shaped like an arrow, and in the doorway a guy wearing a feathered cap stood, leaning against the door. "Oi!" Kuhn asked, the man looking up at the stranger.
"What can I do ya' for?"

"You happen to know anything about the Wine Tasting Contest?" Kuhn asked, and the man froze up. "Yeah. It's over at The Locksley Inn. Filthy pricks stole it from us this year."

"... Mate, dis is da Locksley Inn, says so on da sign. Are you not part of dis here establishment?"

"Hm? What are you talking about? This is the Locksley Inn. I'm the bouncer, this is a high-class establishment, not like the shitty Locksley Inn."

"... What."

"Ya' daft, cowboy? This is a different place. the Locksley Inn is our biggest competition, always fighting for the wine contest with us and the other two inns, that are also both terrible, just not as bad as that one." The man explained, and Kuhn shook his head. "So.. There's four different inns?"

"Completely different. Yes."

".. All named Locksley Inn?"

"What? No. This is Locksley Inn. The others are Locksley, Locksley Inn, and the third one is the Locksley Inn."

"You're saying it weird.."

"What's so hard to understand? They're named after the four families who opened the inns, six hundred meters away from the crossroads some hundred years ago, back when Stagio Island was first founded."

"I- What. Know what? Nevermind. Do you have beer? I need a drink."

"We do, if you have cash. Or you can pay by other means."

".... Like?"

"We armwrestle a lot over here."

"I can do dat."

***

Chester was digging through the stash of the lying merchant, trying to find the grog he had been promised, only finding either empty bottles, bottles filled with water, or those that was currently becoming alcohol, none of which was finished. Till his grubby hands made their way to the bottom of the rack, furthest in, breaking several bottles as he reached for it, he found the bottle, pulling it out, he smiled, heading outside from the little shack he had broken into, he uncorked it and took one sip, feeling the taste as the liquid energized him, the joy of the booze distracting him from noticing the shadowy figure appear from behind.

The sunlight reflected off of his arm as the forearm of the large man struck Chester in a upward motion, hitting Chester in the back, cutting the pirate up to the shoulder. Making him stumble forward turning around to face his opponent, as the larger - blue clad man cross slashed Chester in the chest with his arms, slicing his chest as blood splattered over the larger man. Chester fell to his knees, holding his chest in agony as he panted, caped figure grabbed him by the hair. "You should've stayed out of my business, little man." He threw him him as hard as he could in the other direction, towards the sea, he landed some ten meters out of the beach in the water, sinking like a rock.

The black haired, navy clad ninja emerged at his master's side, all markings of his previous encounter with the Grog Warriors were now gone, once again. "You can go tell Goldenrod that that Chester kid's taken care off." Cerulean instructed Marv, whom nodded. "Beautiful throw, sir." Cerulean gave him a smile, the cheeky, coy kind he had been practicing for the last few minutes, making his way down to the warehouse district.

"Thanks, Marv. I felt good about it."

[Pacifista]

"Where are you, Kuhn?" Lina mumbled, pouting from the lookout point. Sitting up, she took another glance down at the tasting ground out in front of the inn. She grimaced as there seemed to be more of a crowd mulling about. It was still more than a few hours until it began, but there was some antsiness. Lina's heart leapt as she realized a potential cause: was the wine arriving? Looking around, she started seeing some uniforms: purplish suits from the looks of it.

"Is there a reason you're snooping around, ma'am?"

Lina felt her heart split from her body. Hopping up, lips curled into an innocent smile, she saw as one of the purple suited men and come across the lookout.

"Hmm? What? Uh..."

"Why are you here?" He asked. She saw that he had an emblem on his breast of four berries, a spark shooting off as she realized he was part of the winery.

"I was..." Lina muttered, before realizing just how suspicious she looked with her sword in this weird place.

"She was just resting," came another voice. The two turned to see an orange haired boy about Lina's age. The guard look between the two, before he raised his fist, snarling, "So buzz off already!"

The guard's eye twinged in frustration before he turned off, leaving the two be. Lina let out a sigh, mumbling, "Thanks."

The boy was quiet for a moment, before asking, "So, what are you doing here?"

"...Snooping," Lina said plainly. As the boy frowned, she said, "Well, I'm not here for tasting, if that's what you think."

The boy seemed to think for a moment, before saying, "I think I know what you're after...do you-"

"Wait," Lina interrupted. Blinking, she realized, "Were...were you watching me?"

"Buh? Uh..." he stammered, stunned speechless. Lina gave an awkward smile before shuffling off.

Behind her, Saff watched her go, rapping his knuckles against his head.

---

Letting out a sigh, Macario lounged on the deck of the Breeze. He glanced around, as if certain spectral might pop up, before checking his hand, where a spherical compass lay.

"The Grand Line, huh?" He muttered. They were close. But then what? Macario had his duties, and the possibility they would align with the impossibly free spirit that was Chester was...unlikely.

...So? There was no commitment. Macario didn't have to help with any wine heists or company beatdowns. But the Saoboady Archipelago was a hell of a way away, and Chester seemed as likely to get there was anyone.

Macario's ear twitched, and he looked up to see a figure down below on his boat. Jumping up, he snarled, "Hey!" The figure, clad in green began to head away, when Macario realized he had something in his hands. Jumping up, Macario leapt over the railing, bearing down as the man jumped back to the dock. Pulling back his fist as he landed, he cried, "Xun!" A burst of air smashed the grunt away, launching him into the hull of another ship, where he smashed out of sight, the briefcase clattering to the dockside. Hopping over, Macario picked it up, dusting it off and checking the contents briefly. "Bastards..." he muttered.

Glancing over to the cityscape of Stagio island, his eyes widened. "They know we're here!" Clenching his fist, his foot made to move for a moment, before he turned back to the ship, slinging the briefcase over his shoulder. "They can handle themselves..."

---

Opening the door of the bustling inn, Lina stepped aside as a man was thrown through the doorframe. Grimacing, she saw Kuhn at the center of things. Why were he and Chester so competitive!?

As he arm wrestled the next contestant, Lina got a bit closer, yelling over the noise, "Kuhn! What do you think you're doing!?"