Aboard the King Crab, numerous men charged forward at Dr. Feya, swords, maces, and other weapons drawn. Her clever shockwave tactic knocked them all aside, not a single armed man escaping the force. A few went overboard, but most were only knocked around and quickly got back up. Meanwhile, actual trees had begun sprouting up the front of the vessel, warping the woo and causing it to begin a slight tilt. Yet another problem arose, as the Rum Runner had fired upon them! The first shot was still too far away to get a good aim, so it splashed harmlessly in the water, the flame around the cannonball starved of oxygen in the process. However it wasn't long before the next few shots were to come. Faced with so many dilemmas at once, The Vice had to prioritize his problems.
"Detain the woman with minimal force!" he barked out.
"I need men to raise the Shell Shield!""Sire yes sir!" a number of sailors cried out. A goo number of them broke away from Feya to head to some sort of mechanism on the bow. Meanwhile, Krabbe himself withdrew his sword and held it in his left, non-pincer covered hand. With speed not normally associated with a person covered in as much bulky armor as he was, he dove overboard. As the bounty hunter dropped, he sliced and slashed at each of the trees that were now growing out of his ship, killing them before their growth could become too much of a nuisance on his prized ship. Then he reached the water, splashing downward and rising up to float. He gripped the front of the King Crab using his pincer arm, and with three deft slashes he severed the vine connecting each ship together. Satisfied for the moment, he sheathed his blade one more time and spoke into the pocket den den mushi he still had, his words echoing across the sea for all to hear.
"Shrimp Brigade, I need you to prioritize the first mate! Crush the Mushroom Kid as quickly as possible, before he does catastrophic damage to my beloved ship!"Yeah, he was pissed off. Meanwhile, Lilliana's new invention globbed up one of the King Crab's cannons as they quickly approached one another. Unfortunately the rest of her shots, as well as Slick's second flaming cannonball, were simply not destined to accomplish their tasks. The sailors at the bow of the ship worked hard to spin a wheel, the effects of which were apparent for all to see. Creating a small tidal wave, a shining crimson object rose up from beneath the ocean waves. Laughing, Krabbe hitched a ride on his secret defense. Within a few seconds it was in place: the entire ship's hull had been surrounded by several segmented plates of a giant crab shell! Slick's cannonball struck the red carapace, but bounce off harmlessly. Lilliana's gum shot stuck not to the cannons that she aimed for, but the defensive shell. Well, at least with that shell in place they couldn't fire those cannons back!
That's when Lilliana got aboard the ship, and made her threats. If ever there was a fun mechanism to wreak havoc on, it would be that Shell Shield!
"Not so fast, pirates!" Krabbe had made it back to the top deck. As water dripped all over his armored body, he slowly approached the duo of Feya and Lilliana. One hand was gripping his sheathed blade, while the other pointed at the two menacingly with his claw.
"Mechanized Angel Lilliana and... Someone else. Whatever. Give in now, or I will squeeze you into surrender." The claw snapped a couple times with enough force that the two women could feel the air around them being distorted.
"You should know who I am, and that you have no chance of beating me. I am the man who killed the giant crab of the South Blue with my bare hands! This armor, this claw, even my ship itself, were all constructed as a monument to my victory that day! Ever since I have remained unbeaten by any pirate scum, or mouthy marines that don't know how to properly respect a bounty hunter of my quality! So for your own health, I'd suggest walking yourselves right into my brig. After all, I get the same bounty no matter how many limbs I crush from your bodies!"As this was all occurring, the Rum Runner had problems of its own to deal with. More specifically, down in the cargo hold where a group of five brightly colored fighters emerged from a torpedo and posed in bizarre, wacky ways while music played for them. They met with three members of the Red Rums, even though they were only aware of two. Caesar wasted absolutely no time in sending out a volley of electro towards Violent, the dual pistol wielder, but the attack never made it to his target. Fast as one could see, Green stuck out the metal trident he held, intercepting the electric charge with the three pronged weapon like a lightning rod. The electricity fizzled out as it connected with the rubber grip.
As this was happening, captain Cedric Boone showed up on the scene and unloaded a volley of his shotgun shot into the crowd of Shrimp Brigade. Nobody expected Yellow to swing his heavy chain-ball right in front of the point blank shot, catching all of the pellets on one side of his hefty weapon. It appeared these five, while incredibly flamboyant and weird, had some truly capable combat skills and were not to be trifled with. So trifle Dirk did not. As one that melded into the shadows and secrets of the world, he went completely unnoticed by the bright, in your face attitude of this group. He managed to successfully sneak up on Yellow and plant his kitchen knife exactly where he had intended. The weapon sunk deep into Yellow's collar, near the neck and the warrior let out a massive scream of pain! Blood splattered out as Dirk withdrew the weapon, severely injuring, maybe even crippling the ball and chain user.
"I've got your back!" Blue shouted, flipping back over Yellow's head with a flourish. He landed near Dirk, and searched the stacks of rum cases for his target. Dirk had already become one with the shadows again. "Get your ass back out here so I can plant my foot up it!" Blue shouted in frustration. He held up his spiked knuckles menacingly.
"Shrimp Brigade, I need you to prioritize the first mate! Crush the Mushroom Kid as quickly as possible, before he does catastrophic damage to my beloved ship!" The order was clear for all to hear.
"You heard Krabbe!" Red called out, pointing to the ceiling like his was the drill that would pierce the heavens. "Keep these losers off of my back. I'll go see if a skeleton can live without its skull!" With that, he leaped toward Green, who held his trident out parallel to the floor, and launched their leader like a complicated and dangerous game of leapfrog right over the Red Rums' heads. In a second Red was already up the stairs heading for the top deck.
Bang! A single bullet whizzed right passed Boone's head, coming dangerously close to hitting him in the ear. The sound of shattered glass behind him told the captain all he needed to know about where it had actually landed.
"I hear you're the sharpshooting captain of this crew!" Violent exclaimed, holding one pistol up by his head and another outstretched, the pistol he had just shot. "I didn't have to miss. I like a challenge, a gentleman's duel. You in?"
A second later, Shrimp Brigade Red had made it to the upper deck and spotted the two remaining Red Rum pirates. Slick manning one of the cannons, and first mate Bonesword currently on the helm of the ship. This would be too easy. "'Ello there, Bonehead!" he called out, taking a most
bizarre and befuddling pose. "Shrimp Brigade Red, Voice of the Heavens! Here to bring you to justice!"
