This guy was giving him a tough time though he'd never admit it, but things were about to change. Jack swung his gun over his shoulder and onto his back as it was on a strap and could be manouvered so. He then changed to mace and shield while the guy was trying to mock him, he felt this was right as he'd tried offensive and that had failed so maybe defensive would be bettter. He blocked the jab that was coming at him with his shield, then parried backwards as the spearman began spinning the thing wildly, blocking again as the spear came at him in a slashing motion before quickly having to block another jab aimed for his solar plexus. "Best you got? I'm not remotely tired yet but you seem like you're trying your hardest."

_________________

Hodo saw the blow to his stomach coming at the last second and was able to tighten his muscles to soften the hit, but reeled at the force of the blow to his face, and rolled with it, sprang off of one roof and onto another just as the explosion rocked the area and destroyed a house. Hodo blinked in surprise. "Wow." He glanced around and noticed a few of his shipmates heading towards a boat on the far side of the island.

He stood up, facing the three hitmen and grinned devilishly. "All right, you sons of bitches, let's get fucking serious!" He struck a fighting stance, took a calming breath and faced off against them. He lunged forward, closing the gap. As he started to get in range, he shouted, "Soru!" and disappeared from sight. He reappeared behind them, landing with the tips of his feet, just loud enough for them to be distracted. "Soru!" He disappeared again and reappeared in front of one of the ones who had climbed up, just outside his attack range. "Soru!" He once again phased behind them, and spun a quarter of a turn, swinging his leg in a wide arc towards them, launching a blade of air at all three of them at once. "Rankyaku!" Then, without uttering the move, he used the Soru technique again and disappeared from sight.

An instant later, Hodo reappeared nearly 100 feet away, in the alley between one of the houses, and sprinted towards the boat he had seen on the far side of the island. He didn't stop to see if his attack had taken the three hitmen by surprise, but hopefully they would either be dead or think he was planning another attack from somewhere else and be too confused to know he had escaped.

_________________

[Loop Lionheart - Its showtime]

The silver clad knight wasted no time to react to the sudden flood of hostile bodies. His senses having long picked up the sound of their feet upon the wooden decks below and their laughable imitations of a threatening aura, he stood still, an unmovable mountain of calm, as they attempted to surround him and his unexpected allies. Yet even while his attention remained transfixed upon the pumpkins before him, his senses reached out through the entire deck taking in even the most tiny of details of his assailants’ movements and skill.

Loop snorted.

Underlings. Useless cannon fodder, meant to die by the dozens on the front lines for nothing more than a minute strategic advantage. Sad yet necessary in times of war and conflict, such as these. Still, he had admit, a small part of his soul wept at the prospect of slaughtering these poor ignorant men. They who like moronic pups did not know any better than attempting to bite a lion through use of numbers. The knight forced that small part to be silent. These men who killed without remorse, who plundered the innocent, who willingly joined the ranks of the cruellest of pirates, deserved nothing more than to face the consequences of their own action. As such, this day, they would face death in the hands of one who they tried to wrong.

"My...friends, if i can call you such." Loop whispered, addressing the pumpkins a few moments before their position was swarmed. "I know not what your true goal is, but i ask for your aid in this blood stained night." He gazed almost pleadingly at the living vegetables. "Lest the lives of my allies on your island come to a sudden and horrid in the face of these ships' cannons, go and complete the tasks of which i spoke off. I shall hold these cretins here as you work." And then there was no more time for talking.

He closed his eyes as they approached him, he took a deep breath as they surrounded him and when their swords closed in, he fell upon them like the living embodiment of righteous vengeance. As his code of honour demanded, the knight preached his judgement upon them like a regal executioner, even as his spring blade cut them down.

'We Knights of the Royal Coil have sworn to cut out the heart of anyone who has rotten it."

Even as he stood still, two silver slashes slammed upon the approaching weapons with blinding speed and power, sending them completely off course.

"As one of champions of this order, i judged you truly as monsters with no hope of salvation."

Their now redirected forward momentum combined with Loop's powerful strike, threw them helplessly off balance and into an inevitable collision course with one another. The barrage of attacks virtually flowed around the knight, harmlessly avoiding him.

"As such, i am be obliged to turn my vows into actions, even if they lead to my downfall."

Overextended, confused and left lacking of any sort of stable footing, the small army of nameless pirates unknowingly found themselves in the mercy of the highly trained and talented combatant they had once tried to bury beneath their swords.

"As a knight of the royal coil i will deliver..."

The last two slices of his Spring rain attack flashed through any who were close enough for him to cut down.

"...Retribution!"

Loop's spring blade fell back to its scabbard with a distinctive metal clang. His cold gaze fell upon the remaining pirates, piercing through their very souls.

"Gaze upon the results of your own bloodthirsty ways. Your aggression against your fellow man was what brought your comrades' downfall. I am but a mirror of your own flaws, reflecting the sin of violence back at any who commit it. If you value your own lives, flee! Lay down your arms and go in search of peace for the rest of your years! Do you not see?! The path you now follow can lead only to RUIN!" The knight yelled, his voice powerful and ever-present.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

OOC: Loop has startled the witch!


-Aelelia + Matthew-

The overhead toss caught the big man completely off-guard, his attack had been a feint meant to force the little girl to jump aside and then he would have simply reswung the blade to cleave her in half midair, but now he was the one overwhelmed.
In the process of the throw he had abandoned the unruly heavy axe and watched in terror as it faced him, his impact with the wall forced his axe to cut right through his back. Killed by his very own weapon.

Matthews opponent burst into flames and howled in pain, dropping his rapier in the madness that followed his mind. The flames licked and burned hungrily, devouring and scarring his flesh hideously. When it was all over, all that remained was a scorched lump of man who had once been a pirate.

More explosions rocked the city around them, the cannonballs had returned in full force on the area. It was time to go!
Within a few minutes run, Aelelia having to help the large man keep his balance with the torn up leg, they arrived at the docks unhasseled, the explosions had taken the lives of just about every gem-pirate on the island, something else had killed the ones here on the beach.


-Kurz-

In his desperate run and frantic firing, the sniper had managed to kill off most of the enemies that were crowding the docks from immediate threat. More were coming from the city but the explosions were traveling faster than they were, killing them almost instantly in the flames and rubble of the city. Two more figures came from the smoke, Aelelia and Matthew limping on her shoulder, none followed. Other figures were appearing through the smoke, more crewmates! They were all ok.


-Stitch and Sow-

(I'll leave this to you MM, ya seem to have a good idea of what you need to be doing. I'll just assume you've been at the docks for a bit. Do as you feel)


-Arca-

In the depths of the ship was a presence. A sleeping one yet clear as day. The moment the arachnid man entered through the porthole he could feel it suffocating him, drowning anything in a blanket of constant madness and anger that threatened to destroy itself. After a few steady breaths it was gone entirely, not even a flicker remained of what he had just felt. Seemingly vanished or had never truly been there.


-Kino-

Loops display of skill and bloodshed was admirable, and the stench of blood was strong on the ship. Yet through that it was apparent that nobody else was left on the ship, this belonged to them now. Yet that wasn't entirely true. Deep below him there was a strange feeling, a deep malice that stunk of spilled blood, it flickered for a moment but disappeared. They needed to be prepared, fast.


-Jack Valentine-

The spearmans attacks stopped suddenly, his face turned milky white and he nearly dropped the spear mid-attack. Shaking his head to clear the mind from what he'd felt, the spearman jumped backwards with his jaw agape. He had felt the resonance of the Red Gemlord, he was here! Not close, but the man could assume where it was.
Turning to Jack he spoke quietly. "Get back to your ship, if you're the strongest then your crew is gonna need you REAL fast." With that, the spearman took off in a full run to the docks, but he looked to be going to the ship that was lit, not the one coated in darkness where Jack would find his crew. Something didn't feel right.
"We'll meet again, Valentine, and I'll bust your skull in for sure!" The spearman called out, a declaration of rivals.


-Hodo-

The hitman was able to follow Hodo's movements after the first Soru, the boys body was incomplete for the techniques so he could hear the body screaming in silent agony as the abilities were used, his two accomplices were not so skilled and fell to the rankyaku. Hodo had fled to the ship, the hitman in black stood atop the building in silence before taking off for his own ship. No sense chasing dead meat.


-Loop-

The ship shuddered for a brief moment but nothing seemed to be the matter, shifting his attention to the docks he could see his crew forming up steadily, rowboats on the beaches intact and could be used to cross over to the ship.
Yet there was this feeling of pure malice, borderline pity, radiating from the ship that was now coated in blood, the weaklings that had fallen against him could now be seen in a better light as the moon broke from the clouds that had slowly been forming for the last few hours. On their wrists were iron circlets with a small marking in them, these man had been slaves.
They were innocent from the sins of the pirates that had swarmed the island, yet Loop had culled them all. These poor souls were forced to work below deck, that was why they were so weak, some had wished for death and willingly been felled.
Innocent blood was mixing with the filthy blood of the oppressors, here on the very deck he stood.

A soft rain began to fall as the moonlight disappeared behind the thick black clouds, the steady downpour seemed to do nothing about the blood of the fallen on Loops armor.

_________________
"But when one of it's baby chicks is in trouble, Momma comes a run'nin' and a squawkin and a run'nin''." -General Treistar

{Mister Stitch& Sow}

_Charron_On the dock, then onto the ship_

On the docks, the scarecrow man sheathed his sword as he approached the newly acquired ship courtesy of the Gem Warlords. His pumpkins, Dex and Hex, were swimming behind him while Nex and Tex, glared at the knight and then went below to fulfill his request to ready the iron cannons, loading them with their cannon balls, measuring the right amount of gun powder, and position them exactly where they need be to hit the other ship. The pumpkins did not care for the insults to their master or the treatment, they will remember and wait. The monster that resided in the Scarecrow's chest return to its domain as soon as its master boarded the ship with a huge leap thanks to the tentacles. His monster lowered him gently to the floor of the new ship. However, his red and green button eyes, glazed down upon the slain bodies on floor of the ship.

" I don't believe a champion of order, would strike down captives." The scarecrow remarked to the knight. He then knelled before one of the dead captives and closed the other man's eyes with his brown glove. " You rush into things too quickly. A calm demeanor and patience should be had to approaching a strange situation. " He went on to say to the Knight as he already did not like the man for destroying his smoking pipe, but his actions now further appalled him. The scarecrow turned to the fox boy, Kino. " My assessment of the gem warlords, leads me to the conclusion that we should abandon this island as quickly as possible." He said to the boy " Hopefully, before we find out, where that deep hatred disappeared to."

" As we are now, we can't hope to win. We need to go somewhere, anywhere, to give us enough time to figure out a way to overcome them." The scarecrow pleaded to them. " What say you, Kino? Hopefully, the right choice. " He asked of the would be captain.

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

Kurz Weber: Floating Away

Kurz smiled as he saw his crew before noticing the piece of wood he was sitting on was floating away from the island. "Shit." he sighed to himself before grabbing another nearby plank to use as an oar. "Throw me a rope?" he yelled over to his comrades, hoping someone would be nice enough to save the injured sniper. Just then, he realized his shoulder hurt. He passed out from blood loss.

_________________
They taped over your mouth, scribbled out the truth with their lies, you little spies - You will release your life, joining with the god-damned world of the dead and the lonely. - Я сошла с ума, Mне нужна она
Innuendo Squad's Resident Lesbian
Mother of darkness, mother of light, earth beneath us, soul in flight, songs of love and love of light, guide us to our heart.
We all come from the Goddess and to her we shall return like a drop of rain flowing to the ocean.

*The Deck*

The fox wrinkled its nose before turning back to Kino. Unfortunately, he still had a powerful sense of smell. He pinched his nose before saying "Alright, Dr. Halloween, let's get out of here." He noticed the sniper floating away and said "Anyone know how to swim? I'm kinda deficient on that point and I guess Dr. Halloween carries the same weakness." He picked up a rope and threw it. It was a poor throw and landed five feet away. "Hey, buddy, yohoo! Get the rope!"

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

Matthew saw the unconscious sniper floating of to sea and immediately limped towards the railing. he reached around and grabbed a meat hook from his belt and tied it to a rope. The pain in his leg wasn't that bad, he had worse things happen to it but the fact that he hadn't eaten anything in quite a while was getting to him. he swung the hook over his head and threw it. it landed a few feet away. He quickly reeled it in and swung it again. this time it landed a bit over the man and as Matthew started pulling, it hooked behind the mans belt. When the unconscious man was at the side of the boat he passed the rope to the nearest crew member and walked towards the entrance of the ship. He needed food fast or else he was going to faint.

_________________
Dragonborn Dragonborn, by his honour is sworn, to keep evil forever at bay
and the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout.

Dragonborn for your blessing we pray, and the scrolls have fortold, of black wings in the cold
that when brothers wage war come unfurled, Alduin bane of kings, ancient shadow unbound
with a hunger to swallow the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU

Hodo neared the edge of the island when suddenly he felt dizzy and his vision went sideways. He managed to catch himself in time as he fell, and he pressed his palm against his forehead. The techniques... they still put far too much strain on his body. After all this time, his mastery was still a long way away. As he tried to stand, he felt the dull pain in his leg. A sprain?

Nothing too serious, but he had to be careful.

He managed to stand without too much effort, and then cleared his head of dizziness. Then he ran the rest of the way towards the boat, and jumped into the air, which brought him about halfway to the height of the brow.

"Geppou." Using his good leg, he quickly sprang off the air using just enough force to propel him the rest of the way to set foot on the ship. He winced for an instant as his sprained leg protested silently, and then he calmly waved to the captain. "Yo, Kino." He glanced around. Good, they were almost ready to depart.

And then Matthew thrust a rope into his hand, and as he grabbed it, he instantly felt the pull, which he wasn't quite ready for, and it jerked him towards the side of the ship. "Tekkai!" He slammed his foot against the rail at the last second and held fast. Then he eased out of his Iron Body and started pulling Kurz up to the ship. "Geez, Matt, a little warning, ah?"

_________________

-Artemis Flint-

An eerie silence took hold of the ship, the only thing that broke it was the sound of a door creaking open from the deck. An ashen-skinned man with long white hair stood in it's frame wearing white and blue striped pajama's with a matching sleep cap, a teddy bear in similar attire rested in his left arm lovingly.

As the man went to rub his eyes, the crew would see his iron gauntlet shimmer in the darkness. "What's with all the noise?! I told you to keep it d-" The words were caught in his throat as he stepped forward and felt something wet touch his uncovered foot, he knew it wasn't water because it was thicker and seemed to stick to the sole of his foot. It was blood!

Looking up with his eyes wide open he saw his crew and the slaves slaughtered like sheep, multiple slash wounds being the fatal blow, then saw the knight standing in the middle of the carnage while his crew was busily preparing to steal this very ship away right under his nose... Artemis didn't understand it until he realized they were not in ruined city they had just conquered but instead were in some forgotten island, it was all becoming clear.

"I recognize you, knight. You belong to those high and mighty crusaders of the Royal Coil don't you? How far have you fallen from grace to kill innocent men trying to defend the lives of everyone on this ship." Shaking his head side to side in shame as he picked up a fallen cutlass and whipped it across the ship. Impaled upon it were Tex and Nex, before they could get below deck.

"I know for a fact that Sapphire and Amethyst were on that island, the mere fact that you are all here means they have either been killed or simply failed to stop you." Artemis' voice was calm, relaxed even, but had a sinister edge to it. It seemed to whisper of death and destruction subtly.

"I'll make you a deal, knight of the Royal Coil, if you can land a single attack on my Mr.Bunsington," Pointing at the bear with the black-clad gauntlet. "Then I will let you have this ship and the lives of your crew. I'd rather not hassle your wounded and weak while Sapphire roams, I think I fear his righteous attitude almost as much as I do the very sea that swirls around us."

With a playful smile, Artemis took no stance or pose and simply waited. The knight had the first attack.

_________________

~Aelelia~

Aelelia dragged Matthew up onto the only ship even remotely near the docks, just in time to see a fearsome-looking man telling the knight who had escaped with them that he would let them all go free with the ship if the knight could land a hit on a... teddy bear? The kindhearted girl was still shaken from having seen her opponent kill himself with his own axe earlier, but the bear dressed in pyjamas was enough to make her do a double-take before helping the other man sit down against the side of the ship. It was a beautiful craft, thin and sleek, it was guaranteed to be fast in the water, much more so than the armored battle cruiser they had come to the island on. There weren't many naval warships that could keep up with a scouting ship like that. But Aelelia took in little of the boat, instead staring at the pyjama-clad stranger. The upset from seeing so many men die was visibile to all on the boat, her deep purple eyes glimmered with tears, and her slim frame shook within her great captain's coat. So many people died, and it was all the fault of the warlords, following them to the island like this.

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

_ On the ship_

" Wait a moment, did he call me, Doctor Halloween?" The scarecrow man realized as he stood on the deck of the ship. He was stroking chin under his sack mask, pondering this fact over like he was in his own little world as the city burns. " I suppose, I haven't introduce myself and my appearance is quite dreadful so it does make sense, but why does it make me sad." He thought with his head low looking down at the water below. He moaned silently on the rails on the ship, depressed by this revelation. Even the appearance of the pajama man did not stir him out of his depression. His thoughts were now plaguing him " Now my wife has rejected me, why do I have some much misery. "

A tiny version of the scarecrow popped right out of the opening of his purple top hat. His minions Nex and Tex had be struck by a cutlass, the scarecrow man turned around and drew forth his blade. He spun his blade in the air and struck the floor board in front of him. He wielded the sword much like a cane, his button eyes, and his attention was now focused on the pajama man. The words, the other man expressed, his tone, all told him something about that man. He was another gem warlord that was for sure as the way he referred the other two were like friends and not superiors. " My, My, my plan certainly has gone well beyond expectations. A third Gem Warlord, how marvelous, heh heh." The scarecrow remarked, matching his own sinister chuckle with that madman's.

" You're friends are fine for now. I prefer to understand my enemy, before I slain them." He mentioned to the other man. His sword was stuck in the floor as he released his grip around the handle. He brought both hands together and then formed a square. " I don't care what kind of game, your playing. All I need to do is perform an Examination." He said as he then stuffed his gloved hands into his blue dress jacket. The teddy bear, Mr Bunsington, the gem warlord held so lovely spoke, very softly " You're ugly and your mother doesn't love you."

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

[Loop Lionheart – Pissed as hell! Limit-breeeeak!!!]

The noble knight's eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. Beneath the light of the moon, torn bodies of prisoners and slaves lay where Loop had once assumed pirates would. The iron chains that wound up their limbs could tell no other tale. Silently he studied the bodies, filled with morbid fascination. Why had these men, innocent and enslaved as they were, charged at him even at the face of certain doom? Why had they been so fearless in their attempt to assault him, when it was painfully obvious he was one with both the ability and willingness to free them?

Understanding dawned a second later and in the face of such evil, something snapped within the knight.

As rain started to fall from the heavens above, his eyes went downcast, A deep ache bloomed within Loop’s heart and sorrow overcame his mind. Yet not for the reasons some would think, for along with them came rage. The knight’s grip on his sword tightened and his hands shook. His teeth gritted tightly enough for his gums to bleed. As the mental dams he had placed to contain feelings such as wrath and blood-lust overflowed, his emerald eyes thundered with primal fury.

So submerged was the knight in his own surging emotions, that he didn’t even register the peculiar scarecrow’s arrival or its words. Instead his eyes remained transfixed at the deck of the ship, where the probable cause of his ire, most surely lay and quietly he watched as the aforementioned mass of killer intent approached the upper decks of the ship. It was not long until the human shaped monster with the teddy bear on its shoulder, showed its face.

"This is your doing, isn't it?" Loop growled after a brief moment of silence. He could feel more and more people steadily gathering at their. The members of the ragtag pirate crew he sailed with, if his senses where correct, which they always were. Yet his choose to ignore his unlikely allies in favour of delivering justice upon the abomination than now faced him.

Slowly he entered the proper stance, his body lowering as his feet moved ever so slightly apart, his shacking hands griping tightly the sword pressed against his side.

“Innocent men trying to defend the lives of everyone on this ship, my springing ass.” Loop hissed, his voice trembling with barely controlled fury. “These men, innocent as they are, have been ripped from their homes and placed into slavery. Judging by their physical condition, they’ve been tortured, they’ve been abused! Enough to fear their captors more than the swift death my sword could deliver and after all that, after all that torment, you send them to die on your whims? You cowardly tyrant.”

He knew the chances of him winning where slim, hell, this attack was properly suicide, but Loop had little choice. His honour was at risk.

“My friends” He begun, addressing the pirates around him. “I shall be the one to face this fiend. I know I may fall, but the code on which I am sworn demands that I try to end him. There is no need for you to put your selves at risk. I implore you to use the time I will attempt buy in order to retreat to the enemy’s second vessel and escape.”
The time had come.

Loop shot forwards in a blinding feat of speed. All the power he had been collecting in his muscles for the past minute exploding for the sake of a single, perfect attack. As time slowed, Loop sailed across the wooden deck in a blur. His smouldering gaze affixed at the horrid warlord, he unleashed his righteous springblade at nearly four times its regular swiftness and power. The blade, catching the light of the moon above, drew a visible path of light behind it as it moved. It was a straight path, a radiant path, a perfect path, a path similar to the one he wanted to set the world upon.

And it was set to pass straight through the gem warlord’s head and by some strange coincidence, the body of the teddy bear.

“Breaking all limits! A knight’s perfect drawing of spring!”

[Coil –Wut?]

The peculiar bird creature was completely disappointed by its findings at the top of the lighthouse, which was of course, naught. He had tried looking around, waiting motionlessly, staring owlishly and fiddling with the machinery but pretty much nothing interesting or new had happened. To make matters worse, there wasn’t anything near the lighthouse to rouse his interests.

Well, at least until a few seconds ago.

It hadn’t really been the ships or the cannons. It hadn’t even been the gigantic mass of killer intent, not really. What had drawn coil to fly to the crow’s nest of the warlords ship had been a mildly unusual burst of emotion through his established telepathtic link with the Knight of the Moronic something or the other. This was the reason why the bird now found itself staring stupidly at the group of pirates and one warlord below as they fought.

Meh, it was a way to kill time.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

[Artemis Flint - You. Fucked with. MR. BUNSINGTON!]

Artemis froze as the scarecrow made Mr. Bunsington insult him. He looked at him in burning rage, then right at the knight as he charged. He took the blow directly the chest, blocking the blow to the teddy bear. He stared right at the knight. His eyes bore into the very mans soul. Blood ebbed from the wound, but he seemed to not feel, not even NOTICE the fact that he was bleeding. "Is this all that a Knight of the Royal Coil can muster with a fully launched attack? Pitiful." He spat the last word out as if he was spitting out spoiled milk.

He clenched his hand into a fist and drove it home with all the force he could muster from a stationary stance, crushing the knights armor as the attack connected with the stunned mans chest, the force of the blow rocketing the poor knight to the opposite end of the ship in a complete wreck. "Fighting a gemlord head on is foolish, especially for a lowly knight such as yourself." Slowly and deliberatly, Artemis turned to stare at the scarecrow Mr. Stitch&Sow with eyes that did nothing to stifle his displeasureat the attempt of trickery towards his beloved teddy bear. "Now... for the one who defiled Mr. Bunsington, I have quite a suitable punishment in mind for that."

Taking a small crouching stance, Artemis covered the distance to the doctor in a fraction of a second as he was carried by the rage flowing in his veins. Despite the large wound in his chest, it seemed as though Artemis was completely blocking it out and focusing entirely on the scarecrow. With savage force and inhuman speed, the Ruby gemlord tore off the poor scarecrows head with his iron hand before tossing it casually to the small girl Aelelia. "Here, have a present kid."

_________________

~Aelelia~

Aelelia looked down at the scarecrow's head as it landed in her hands, having reached up instinctively when she saw it flying towards her. Her small body stopped shaking, and she blinked the tears out of her eyes. She forced out a laugh, and then her smile was back again. This man was terrifying, but she would keep smiling, for the crew. She bent down and gently set down the scarecrow's head, stepping over it and closer to the gemlord. Her amethyst eyes were locked onto the man, filled with determination. She knew she didn't have the slightest chance of winning, but there were people here whom she was duty-bound to protect, and they needed this ship. "I don't take presents from strangers." She stood between him and the rest of the crew, standing tall and smiling.

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

*The Deck*

During that exchange, Kino crouched to the ground and became the fox again. When Artemis acted, so did Kino. His feet made no sound as he charged at his back. He wasn't fast enough to stop the Warlord, of course, so he was unable to help Stitch. However, he wasn't going to let the bastard get away with that without attempting anything. He launched himself at the Warlord's back and turned into his hybrid form as he flew. "Nine Worlds!" He put all of his force into his fist in an attempt to protect his crew.

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

(OOC: For reference on Hodo's moves)

As Hodo pulled Kurz onto the deck, and when shit started to go down, Hodo simply dropped him to the deck and charged. He still had one good leg and a little sprain wasn't going to stop him from helping out with a good brawl. He hopped off the deck and then kicked at the air. "Geppo!" He launched himself in an arc over the warlord, and raised his hands with his thumbs curled over his middle fingers.

"Tobu Shigan: Bachi!" He flicked his fingers out in rapid succession, sending sharp blasts of air like bullets at the warlord, raining down on him as he passed overhead.

As he landed, he spun quickly on his good leg, then hopped into the air just enough to flick the same leg straight out, snapping a narrow blade at the Warlord, in a path that would just miss Kino. "Rankyaku: Sen!"

Hodo kicked off the ground quickly -- "Soru!" -- and closed the gap, getting ready to impart a few well-placed Shigan.

_________________

Matthew had watched the events unfold with amusement.
Now he was turning one of the cannons on deck towards the gemwarlord.
Hit the teddy bear win the ship he thought while loading the cannonball
into the barrel, sounds simple enough. He took aim just as he always had and
Brought his flame-dial to the fuse. Then his voice boomed across the deck,
Watch out! and with a loud blast the cannonball shot straight towards
the warlord and more importantly his beloved teddy bear.

_________________
Dragonborn Dragonborn, by his honour is sworn, to keep evil forever at bay
and the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout.

Dragonborn for your blessing we pray, and the scrolls have fortold, of black wings in the cold
that when brothers wage war come unfurled, Alduin bane of kings, ancient shadow unbound
with a hunger to swallow the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU

[Jack Valentine] 'Time to stack the deck.'

Jack watched as the strange spearman turned whiter than Casper the friendly ghost and runs off. Once he was gone Jack let out a light sigh and began to rub areas where the spearman had caught him but Jack had made out that it hadn't hurt. Christ that guy was strong, well not strong but very resilliant. Jack then began to stroll his way over to the ship but noticed that most of the crew were on it's deck plus someone he'd not seen before, he watched as the man ripped off...Stitch&Sow! My god Jack ahd not seen him in ages, he looked more dishevelled than he used to but that was not the point, the guy had just ripped his head off and given it to Aelelia. Jack was not going to stand for that.

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_Ship_

Mentally, the scarecrow analyzed Ruby, take him apart his clothing, his flesh, his muscles, and his bones in search for a weak spot to target. None were present, however, it did give something to think about. As he studied the other gem warlord, and his wife, he noticed a lack of gems, but this one, had one embedded into head. The gems definitely play a role into this, a booster perhaps, the scarecrow pondered on the subject. If it wasn't obviously, the scarecrow would conclude that the gems in question are apart of their equipment, but what was different with Ruby, he wondered. His head was now separated from his body, but his mind still raced. Ruby was fast and his fighting style indicated that he is a type of brawler, yet why is his gem apart of his body instead his equipment, he wondered.

In the Vice Captain's hands, a spark of realization donned upon him. It was a guess, but at this point, it would make sense if in fact the gem functions as a boosters. As his head rested on the floor, and the other began their assault upon Ruby, he whispered " Hallo-Hallo..." His body began to move, moving wildly about like the average headless body until it tripped onto the floor with a loud thud. " Slime Surprise." he finished as a red substance started to leak out of the neck and onto the floor, spreading. Its color was eerily similar the crimson blood that spilled earlier. A tentacle from the body crawls its way over to the head to retrieve it while everyone was busy with Ruby, attacking him with all sorts of attacks.

The headless body arose from the floor with a single tentacle sticking out the body drawing the head towards it. The scarecrow man grabbed his head and inserted it back onto his body as he then mocked " My word, was that suppose to kill me? " He twisted his head from left to right . " Hallo-Hallo..." He started to say as he picked up his top hat. " Slapstick." He said as he placed on his purple top hat. Ruby would find that despite his quickness, his feet was stuck to the floor. If he were to look down his entire feet up to his calves were covered in a strange red goo. " Gamble." He continued as he looked toward Jack with his red and green button eyes.

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"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

Arka - Upper deck.

A hand gripped the railing at the back of the ship, then another, then another and a further three as Arka pulled himself up, swinging his legs over and landing with a thud, the metal tips of his boots, his goggles, and even some of his web patchings around his clothes reflecting a few scarce beams of moonlight. Like hell I was staying down there. He muttered as his arms freakishly jerked back into his body, the fingers wiggling wildly before they disappeared into the holes around his armpits. After he'd felt that weird pressure coming down on him, he'd gotten out of that room in a heartbeat, far too enclosed in the case something broke down the door. What's up with all the noise? he thought as he walked over to the railing, overlooking the main deck, scratching his head absently as his stomach grumbled, he hadn't eaten anything in ages now. Maybe I should have joined the marines, a lot less freedom but at least they tend to look after you, steady income, still get to see a lot of places. he muttered to himself as he looked down at the fighting going on. Ooohh. He smiled as he took in all the action, cannonballs, heads being torn off, trash talk Sweet, it's like the best wrestling match ever. He said giddily as he jumped onto the rail and crouched down on it, confident of both his balance and his ability to keep a firm grip on anything he was touching. All it needs now is...ah. He carefully shot out a web which latched onto one of the dead captives, he gave the string a good hard tug, even pushing his legs out as he leaned backwards. He straightened up, still standing at a thirty degree angle, horizontally to the railing he was on and caught the dead slaves body out of the air. Snacks. He said, grinning happily as he crouched down properly on the railing again, tore off the man's arm, dropped the rest of the body onto the deck below him and took a bite out of the guy's wrist. Ooh, tender. They must have worked him raw. COME ON, KICK 'EM IN THE HEAD. He yelled out, punching the air violently before taking another bite from the arm.

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“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

[Jack Valentine] "Below the Bar"

Jack knew his cue when Stitch called his attack, the gambler swung his rifle round and fired a dozen explosive round in quick succession before swinging it back round and launching forward. Hopefully his shots should have launched the warlord into the air so Jack's intent was to smash into his side with his hammer sending the warlord quite far into the ocean so Jack and the crew would be able to hold the guy back from the boat with either attacks from the crew or shots fired from the ships canon so they could make a break for it. "Ya messed with the wrong crew buddy-boy, we have more experience than ya usual rookie pirates, two of us even have bounties albeit one be probably forgotten but mine still stands even if I not done much to annoy the marines lately but that oughta change soon." Jack stated just as he was about to hit Artemis into the ocean.

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[Loop - Ouch]

The ivory knight flew across the deck uncontrollably. His battered form utterly helpless to stop his course even as he crushed against the ship's railing. With a cry of pure anguish the slumped to the floor only a few steps away from unconsciousness. Yet, with an inhuman act of will, he forced his eyes open and his mind to work. Groggily his brain raced to access the situation. First, personal status. With several days of attrition finally taking their toll him, his mouth all torn up and his ribs broken, his body was more or less considered ruined. If the blood he was spitting was any indication, one of his ribs had probably pieced something important when it collapsed. Worse yet, Loop's chest-plate, now collapsed and pressing against his chest, made breathing almost impossible. A voice back in his head also informed him that while his spring blade was still in his hands, the blade was now resting out of its scabbard and unless Loop used Spring force, which he could not at the moment, to force it back in, his weapon was down to less that half its efficiency. Not that Loop had any strength left to fight with mind you.

With tremendous effort, Loop tore off his chest plate, allowing himself a brief respite as he scanned his surroundings. His allies were still fighting that monstrous gemlord. Loop cursed himself. He had been unable to buy them sometime to escape from a situation he himself might have caused. He had been rush and he had been foolish, he realized. His own zealotry and lack of skill now endangered the lives of the people who once saved him. The couldn't go on, he had to do something.

Wait a second, was that Coil?

Crap.

[Coil - Attack him, i dare you!]

The unnatural pet was surprisingly upset at the sight of Loop's fall. The guy may had been an unstable fanatical moron but he had been loyal enough to protect Coil's unearthly and divine cutenessness from harm time and time again. He was a good servant and if there was one thing coil hated, was seeing a good servant or an interesting object, which was the same thing really, get damaged.

The fluffy disaster shot downwards to the ship's deck, landing right in frond of the gem warlord with an angry expression on its face, which really looked nothing different from his regular apathetic one. With his glassy, nerve-wrecking, soulless eyes fixed on the source of its ire, Coil lost no time in showing his displeasure and soon a rapid string of never-ending hair raising caws bombarded the gemlord's ears.

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Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

[Artemis Flint - Cut it out D:]

Artemis grinned as the crew began their retaliation. He took the hit to his back, hardly flinching all the while. He span and kicked the fox thing away, only to receive the barrage directly, grinning like a madman as his body was pelted with the air force. He wound up as Hodo came at him, and launched a punch right at Hado's face, knocking him backwards. He spotted the cannon just before it was shot, and span to protect Mr. Bunsington, the knockback slammed him to the ground, cutting a gash along his arm from a nail that was sticking out, but the bear remained unharmed.

He noticed the scarecrow had gotten back up and reattached itself to it's body. Not very surprising. While his sticky goo had originally stuck him, the blood and rain had caused it to ooze off his body, returning to him full mobility. He took the full force of the explosive rounds in the back of his body, tearing up his back, but otherwise seemingly unfazed, but the folly in his opponent's attack was that his nearby temmates also took a portion of the blows. He stopped the hammer with his gloved hand and knocked it upwards, punching him in the gut.

"You know, you might wanna hurry it up, it looks like the marines are on their way." He said, spotting white sails in the distance. He then turned his attention down to the little bird screeching. He smiled and put Mr. Bunsington down beside him. "Shh, shh it's alright. Aw look, they're making friends!" He then proceeded to giggle like a maniac.

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[Coil - Wrong move]

The screeching bird went silent for a moment when the weird teddy bear was placed in frond of it. With wide unblinking eyes he stared at the soulless item looking back at him. For a full ten seconds Coil simply stood still, not making even the slightest noise, until finally he begun to flap his wings. He floated up and forward with agonizing sluggishness, until finally he came to land a few inches away from the bear.

"Coil!" Sounded Loop's voice somewhere in the distance. "You suicidal son of a bitch! Dont..."

Coil's beak impacted against the bear's head tacking off a few hairs. A pause. His head blurred, mechanically repeating his previous action at infinatum. Apparently, as Loop was to learn afterwards before cursing the universe for its hypocrisy, Coil hated the dead soulless eyes of the stuffed toy.

Out of sight the knight of the royal coil used the last of his strength to facepalm himself into unconsciousness.

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Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)