Alicia and LuroLuro enjoyed going up against the opponents he fought, some were harder then the people he usually went up against but in the end none of them really got his blood pumping or his heart racing too much, he still appreciated the fights and thanked each one for the match well when they woke up anyway.
Eventually he found he was the winner of group C which brought a wide smile to his face, he would be going up against anyone in the finals next, he couldn’t wait but he was going to take advantage of the ten minute opportunity and get himself something to drink finally.
Luro was a bit late when it came to reaching the arena, a little more so than his two opponents. Running as fast as he could he ran through his entrance to see Ikaros and Alicia out, he had two full bottles of rum on his belt along with a flintlock pistol and a half drunk bottle of rum in his hand. Resting his hands on his knees he caught his breath holding up his free hand before he spoke between breaths.
“I...I’m here…” he said before straightening his body and rotating his right shoulder. “Man it took forever to find a place with something to drink, still I made it.”
Luro looked at Alicia then at Ikaros and he couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself before he brought the rum to his lips and downing the rest in one motion put the bottle back on his belt.
“This is great I get to fight two strong people at once, a fishman and you,” Luro took his rifle off his back as he stared at Alicia.
“You have this way about you, it kind of reminds me of a man I know except his was more like a lion waiting for you to invade his territory, yours reminds me more like a poisonous cobra about to strike, I can tell your dangerous but I’m naturally curious about what you are, still if I get too close if your bite doesn’t get me, your poison certainly will. I going to enjoy every part of you Alicia Tashigi.”
Luro stopped himself for a moment and held up a hand before bringing it to his head.
“No that’s not right, what I mean is I’m going to enjoy examining all you have...no hold on…”
Luro brought his hand to his chin and looked over at Ikaros giving a small wave to please wait before tapping his chin.
“Oh I got it I’m going to enjoy examining all you have to offer, no that’s not it either, what I mean is I want to fight you and examine how strong you are, not what I wouldn’t mind seeing parts of you but you’re my enemy so we have to fight physically with weapons. I think I meant I wanted to fight you to get to know you, that’s it that’s what I meant, there we go I knew I’d get it.”
Luro didn’t even notice the bell rang for a moment but when he heard the announcer he perked up.
“Oh right we’re fighting each other, listen I want to take you on without interruption so I’m going to fight this guy over here first since I’ve always wanted to fight a fishman, you mind waiting a moment I really want to indulge in this fight, though fighting both of you at the same time would be nice too...no no I want a good memory of fighting a fishman better fight him first.”
When Alicia stood and began to walk towards the door to the tavern, the punters who had managed to settle back down after the tension went silent, as if she would strike down anyone who would so much as breath in her direction. Though in truth she was fairly gentle by nature and only demonstrated her prowess against those who would seek to harm her. Of course this tournament was an exception as it was a sport which made it a circumstance she wouldn't count. Even if some of her opponents were less than serious about the competition than she was. When she arrived back at the tournament she pushed back through the doors, making her way in just as the final fight was announced. She made her way over to her spot at the center of the arena, regarding the fishman with a subtle nod of her head before taking her position. Little did she know just how odd her other opponent would be when he turned up panting and resting on his knees, clutching a bottle of rum.
As he spoke to her she merely raised an eyebrow, which then changed to a look of slight confusion, which then lead to a small blush which ended up in a combination of all three expressions as he finished his statement.
'So I'm a cobra? or am I lion... did he just call me a man?' she thought to herself before she refocused as he asked if she would wait for him to fight the fishman. She considered it for a moment before taking a step back, motioning with her arm in the direction of the other sword wielder. "Be my guest" she replied with a small smile. Her purpose in this tournament had already been fulfilled when she defeated Elise who claimed to be the best swordsman on the island. Anything after that was merely training for her along with a little fun on the side. In any case allowing the red haired man to fight the fishman one on one would allow her to observe strengths and weaknesses of the victor, allowing her an advantage when she'd take her stance against whoever would win this duel.
Luro grinned and turned fully towards Ikaros Ryu resting his rifle on his shoulder.
“Thanks Alicia Tashigi, we’re enemies and all that but you can call me Luro while we fight. I like nice people, be right back.”
Luro walked over to the fishman taking his rifle off his shoulder and pointing it at him with a small grin as Ikaros stared back at him.
“All right Ika...Ikairu...Koru...Lur...no that’s my name.”
“Ikaros Ryu,” the fishman said.
“That’s too hard to remember I’m going to call you Ikki, anyway let’s go!”
“Ikki…” Ryu said as Luro ran at him laughing as he closed the distance between, Ryu stabbed one of his legs at him with the intent to trip him up, Luro grinned seeing the attack and jumped stepping off his leg and flying through the air.
He fell towards Ryu bringing his gun back to attack however, he noticed Ryu promptly stab his sword at him, Luro arched a brow but swung his gun hitting the sword but the force of the attack sent him flying back through the air.
He hit the ground hard landing on his back but he rolled backwards stumbling a little.
“Oh you’re way stronger than I thought’d you’d be,” Luro said grinning. “Guess I shouldn’t hold back then, time for strategy!”
Luro put his rifle on his back and ran forward towards Ryu, he ducked and weaved between his legs and closed the distance between them, Ryu launched one of his legs at him and Luro grabbed it as it flew by, he did the same catching another leg before grinning up at him.
“Ah ha! I got two of your...uh..six legs...I did not think this all the way through.”
Luro’s eyes widened as he leaned his head dodging the attacks of Ryu’s other leg an irritated expression showing on the fishman’s face as he raised his sword up causing Luro to nervously chuckle.
Luro leaned over and bit one of his legs causing Ryu to yell before slamming one of his tentacles into his chest sending him sliding back.
Luro eventually came to a stop and gripped his chest patting it a few times.
“Hmmm senseless violence would be much easier if I didn’t see two of this guy,” Luro said smiling a little.
Ryu shook his head and turned towards Alicia spinning his swords in his hand seeming done with Luro’s antics, however he noticed Luro wasn’t finished out of the corner of his eyes.
Luro sprinted towards Ryu again however this time when he got closer he didn’t attack, when Ryu responded by bringing his sword back Luro promptly hurled his rifle at his chest, the sudden attacked caught Ryu off guard but he raised his tentacle catching Luro’s rifle however Luro jumping off the tentacle that grabbed it turned his body and with a small spin slammed his foot into the side of Ryu’s head sending him flying off to the side dropping his rifle in the process. Luro hit the ground spinning catching his rifle in the middle of it and promptly readied it before aiming it at Ryu a wide grin on his face, however he noticed Ryu had already recovered having stopped himself mid flight with his legs and was holding his blades at the ready to respond.
“Oh ho you’re pretty resilient,” Luro said twirling his rifle and holding it behind his neck with both his arms resting on each end of the rifle.
“Hmmm guess I gotta play a little dirty.”
Luro took one of the bottles off his belt and spinning it hurled it at Ryu as he dashed at him, Ryu shook his head and started to dodge the bottle but noticed something else come flying at him, he brought both his swords down knocking both the objects away, he noticed the other was Luro’s Flintlock pistol, he promptly turned to Luro but he was nowhere to be seen.
He looked all around for him his gaze moving to Tashigi for a moment but Luro was literally hiding underneath his legs, he put a finger to his mouth to Tashigi before promptly raising his rifle straight up finding his target, Ryu’s eyes widened in pain and he yelled before he jumped back...right over the edge of the stage.
“I got some lasses with that move,” Luro said grinning as he watched Ryu go off the stage. “Nice fighting you!”
He didn’t noticed two of Ryu’s legs had gripped the edge before he turned towards Tashigi.
“Alright then shall we get started?”
Alicia moved away as the fight began, casually taking a seat on the ground with her sword on her lap as she watched the one called Luro engage the Fishman. The engagement was interesting and she found herself pleasantly surprised when Luro proved that he wasn't all about shooting and hoping for the best. She'd met far too many gun users in her time who felt that aimlessly spamming the trigger would earn them an easy kill. But this one demonstrated a greater degree of skill which peaked her interest as he continued his attack on the fishman who she remembered was named Ryu. When Luro deceived Ryu before shooting him from underneath she gave a short clap of her hands to accompany the cheers of the audience as they marveled at his strategy. However her expression shortly changed to one with a slight frown as she realized something which Luro hadn't.
In the beat of an eyelid she was already on her feet and dashing towards Luro, her hand gliding to the hilt of her sword as she bent herself into a leaning sprint. The announcer excitedly spoke over the audience, "Here it is folks! Bow Black has entered the fray!" he said, the crowd responding with a roar. Alicia would close the gap to Luro, waiting for his counter which she'd parry with a flick of her wrist. It was then that Luro would hopefully realize his mistake and her true intention as she jumped and used him as a platform to kick herself from as she launched herself into the air just as Ryu threw himself from the edge of the stage and towards Luro's back. Alicia met Ryu midair and struck a massive blow against his attack, rolling herself in mid air from the momentum of the clash. Ryu's eyes widened in surprise as the small women appeared seemingly out of nowhere to block his ambush on Luro.
As she rolled mid air she slammed her foot into Ryu's stomach, sending him hurtling away in a different direction. The fishman recovered as he landed and slid on his feet a few meters, Alicia landing and rolling into a defensive stance opposite where he landed. Alicia looked less than pleased, "A true swordsman attacks their opponent on equal ground, not from the shadows like an assassin" she said before she spun the blade around her wrist with trained speed and precision. "I apologize Luro, but I'm afraid I must take part in this fight from now on, whether you stand in my way or not" she said softly as she readied herself for an attack stance. The announcer spoke again, "Bow Black intercepted Ryu! what a turn of events!!" he almost screamed, "Ladies and gentlemen you are witnessing one historical battle here today at Utsukushi's own arena!" he continued, further exciting the audience.
Ryu placed a hand on his stomach as he recomposed from the strike, his own expression looking less than pleased as he felt insulted at her accusation and likely a little ashamed. It was his turn to advance now as he accelerated towards her. Alicia took in a deep breath, exhaling as she began walking forwards, as he closed towards her she took a quick few steps into his range, her blade flashing forwards as their swords met. A flurry of blows creating tiny sparks of light as the two fighters exchanged their blows, each of them impressively fast and accurate. Ryu then stepped to the side, one of his tentacled arms shooting out to latch her arm which held her sword. He pulled her from her feet and into the air where she once again followed the momentum into a forwards roll before slamming both her legs into his face, causing him to stagger backwards as she fell towards the floor. As she landed she rolled backwards into a defensive stance just as before. Ryu looked to be getting irritated now, pulling out another blade with his other arm.
Luro lowered his body and went to attack Alicia but her response knocked his attack away which caused him to grin as he changed his footing to try and respond to her, however he quickly noticed that she wasn’t trying to attack him and remained still as she stepped off him and attacked something else, when he turned and noticed it was Ryu his eyebrows arched as he turned towards the two as they started going at it.
He could have sworn he knocked the guy off but looking at him now that didn’t seem to be the case. Still as he watched the two he watched Alicia fight, he noticed she was good but he didn’t expect her to be this skilled, she fended off his attacks with a scary kind of precision, he opened his other rum bottle and started drinking from it as he watched the two go at it.
It was hard to look away, the sparks flying between them as they fought and the sheer ferocity reminded him of two ships going at it, except instead of cannonballs they fired swords at each other…except those probably wouldn’t be as effective, interesting to watch but not effective.
Luro started thinking about the idea of ships shooting swords but he was pulled back to the fight as Alicia spoke to him mentioning her involvement.
“Hmmm well why don’t we work together then, I’ll create an opening for you, then you finish him off,” Luro said before downing the rest of his drink and putting it back on his belt. “I’m satisfied having gotten to fight one besides I can’t kill captain ordered me to avoid it…oh and the rules too.”
Luro walked forward checking his rifle before picking up the pistol he had tossed and readying it, he walked with both guns his rifle in his right the pistols in his left as he stood a few feet from Ryu.
“Kinda cheating to use a third sword and attacking me from behind, as a pirate I like your dirty tactics and as your opponent I can kind respect it but as an enemy it’s kind of cheap.”
Ryu’s eyes narrowed at Luro before he raised the pistol and pointed it at his skull a small smirk forming on his lips as he spoke next.
“Let me return the favor by ripping each of your legs off and eating them for dinner tonight.”
“I’ll just grow them back,” Ryu spat back at him.
“What really you can do that? That’s actually pretty cool, huh well I was trying to threaten you but that won’t work. Uh what can kill you exactly so I do a better threat?”
“....uh…mating I suppose. My kind tends to die that way,” Ryu said clearly confused by the sudden question.
“Really that…wow I’m so sorry that sounds awful. Great way to go but…man…oh okay I got it then. I’m going to make you mate and watch you die.”
“Well even doing that it takes a bit for us to actually die, it’s not immediate, normally a couple of months generally. Besides that doesn’t really sound like a threat and watching me mate is a bit creepy.”
“Yeah you’re right on both accounts, hmm alright then I’m just going to shoot you, miss then hit you with my rifle in that order.”
“Wait what-”
Luro sprinted forward and ran towards his legs again, Ryu’s eyes twitched remembering what happened last time and promptly closed his legs keeping Luro from going under him, he slashed at different parts of Luro’s torso with the swords all at once however Luro grinned and sliding dodge the attacks one getting dangerously close to his head before pointing the pistol at his legs and firing, Ryu opened his legs to keep the bullet from hitting him which gave Luro just enough time to dive under him as he regained his footing.
Ryu promptly moved forward not about to suffer the same attack but as he did he felt something behind him, when he turned Luro was in the air his rifle brought back to attack a wide grin on his face.
“Feint successful,” Luro said grinning.
Luro let out a loud yell and slammed his rifle into the back of Ryu’s head, the force of the attack sent Ryu lurching forward his eyes shut at the pain.
“Tashigi now! Finish him off!”
She once again found herself to be pulling an expression of slight confusion as the two had a little back and forth about how to correctly insult the fishman. Such a thing in the heat of a fight was alien to her, having been raised to take her title seriously. It was kind of refreshing in a way, to see that despite the prowess of both these fighters they could still afford the time to stop and have a conversation like this. It was more Luro who seemed to instigate it but never the less she was taken back by it all. When Luro had suggested teaming up she agreed, feeling it was acceptable given the situation. She prepared herself as Luro went forth, declaring his intentions which turned out to be another form of deceit as he appeared behind Ryu, delivering a devastating blow to the back of his head. Her eyes caught the sight of Ryu's eyes closing and seized the opportunity, kicking off her back foot as she dashed forwards towards the staggering fishman. She closed towards him in seconds before delivering a singular viscous blow, her lungs exhaling fully as she struck with all her power and precision, using the back of her sword to avoid turning him into two pieces. Ryu let out a choking gargle and spat blood as the impact into his torso bent his body from the sheer force, taking him off the floor. Alicia spun the blade around her wrist again before delivering the finishing strike onto the same spot Luro had struck, sending his body back to the ground with a harsh thud as his body crumpled at her feet. Alicia whipped the blade out to her side before returning it to it's scabbard in one fluid movement. The audience roared and people jumped from their seats as the announcer called, "RYU IS DOWN!! TWO FIGHTERS REMAIN!!" he cried over the noise.