A Place Called Nowhere Part 3

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''Rinji stepped out of his ship's main hall to come out on the large deck, and there, starboard to his ship was another large ship, about three quarters of the size of the Esper Karala. The ship's flag was a gold color, with a bearded Jolly Roger that wore a crown with little hearts floating all around it. It was a very bright wood that made up the ship as a whole, and the rails were all plated with gold. All of the men on the ship stepped out onto their deck, and there stood a man behind all of them who stood several feet taller than all of them. He was very large, bearded man with a crown on his head, clearly the one the Jolly Roger was fashioned after. He was wide, circular in his stature, and his arms were buff as if he worked out, he just didn't diet.''

''The Tiger-Stripe Pirates were already on the deck, Chio and Usagi followed Rinji out together, along with David and Emily who carried her giant scissors. Jiro pushed up his glasses and nodded to Rinji, who nodded back as all of them stood, not really in an aggressive stance, but also not at all in a passive stance. They stood there for a while, and the new ship advanced little by little, but made no move to get along side them to get in line with their cannons.''

''There they stood, and there the other ship stood. Every one on the other ship stood, staring at the Esper Karala. There they kept standing. There was more and more gazing with straight faces, and more and more they kept glaring.''

Rinji: Ummm... Ahoy?

Large Man: Captain Rinji and the Tiger-Stripe Pirates! I couldn't help but notice you are sailing in our waters as of right now!

Rinji: Well... Yes, I--

Large Man: I am King Joy of the Gold Crown Pirates! We have been sailing the Eastern New World for some time now, and the island that you are encroaching on just happens to be one of my own islands! We read the news, and we know what happened to Hot Dog Island! You will not take one step onto the soil of Burto Island! It is off limits!

Rinji: [Turned to Chio.] Did he just say KING Joy?

Chio: Yeah. [Nodded.] That's what I heard.

Rinji: We are not here to fight or cause a riot. We're simply here to gear up, because our destination lies beyond Burto Island.

Joy: Out of the question! Turn back now or face the wrath of my regime!

''There was a long pause. The air was clear at that moment, and the weather was wonderful. The sun showed brightly in the sky, and the wind had a very slight, but pleasant chill in it. Ellis leaned her butt on a rail with smoke floating up from a freshly lit cigarette. She didn't seem worried at all, in fact, there was a tiny smile on her face. Kimi stood with her two crewmates that she joined with, Dala and Jana. They exchanged glances, also smiling at the nostalgia of the whole situation.''

''His entire crew stood with him at that moment, plus the two new faces that joined them for that moment. The number of pirates on the Gold Crown Pirates trumped their numbers eight to one, but none of them were even remotely shaken by that fact. In fact it was in that moment that Dala, Kimi, and Jana stepped up to the edge of the rail, facing the pirate crew down directly.''

Rinji: The answer...

Kimi brought forth her axe in her hand, Nikk and Alice both brought forth their knives, Jiro pulled the strings on his guitar, which transformed into a gigantic sword, and Usagi angled her katana at a striking position from her waist.

Rinji: is no.

At that moment, King Joy's front runners began to position their boarding party, all of them swung their grappling hooks and threw them up toward the Esper Karala, however, all of the ropes were cut to shreds in an instant, leaving them wide-eyed and dumbfounded as to what happened.

Kimi: Let's give them a NOOGIIIIEEEEE!!! [Jumped off the rail, almost flying through the air, her axe held out to her side as she landed on the deck, striking down all of the ones who were in her way.]

''Before anyone knew it, the fight was on! Jana broke the arms of three Gold Crown Pirates as she landed on the rail, and kicked three teeth out of another one's mouth. Dala took down five men, and no one noticed until she was done.''

''As Kimi came back around from slicing down her seventh victim, she finally clashed her axe against an arm, clad in steel with a muscular man on the other end. He glared at her with his one eye, his other eye with a black patch on it. The goateed man's other arm swung around and punched her in the face rather hard. Kimi's head turned to the side, but then turned back at him with a grin.''

Kimi: That's more like it! [She spun around to gain up some momentum, and smashed her axe into him once again.]

''While he was able to block, this time the smile went off his face, and he started to slide backward. The steel armor on his forearm obviously bending a great deal.''

''At this point, most of the Tiger-Stripes were on board their ship, and pirates were going everywhere! Jiro looked off to his side to see a whole group of them coming toward him with their weapons drawn, and he pushed up his green sunglasses. With a single look, an aura spread from him and went directly at them. Their approach halted, and all of them fell to the ground with foam coming from their mouths. All except for one who stood firm on his feet.''

''As the last one tried to approach Jiro he was stopped by two bullets colliding with his midsection. He fell to the ground hard on his back. The blond catman looked beside him to see David with a smoking magnum pistol. He quickly reloaded the two shots, and glanced at Jiro, then at Emily, who also stood on the other side of Jiro.''

Jiro: So... I don't suppose I could fight without the two of you gazing at my every move?

Emily: No.

''Rinji finally arrived on the ship, seeing an opening that didn't have people fighting or flying by as they were hit. He weaved between battles as his crew was now battling the stronger members of the Gold Crown Pirates. The battle fodder had been dealt with, requiring little regard.''

''The captain looked off to the left to see a man in a martial art gi coming straight at him with a flying kick and a kia! Chio appeared directly above him, and spun around with a kick straight to the fighter's gut, bringing him to the ground hard! As he hit the deck, he opened his eyes and flipped to his feet in order to dodge Chio as he came straight down with his knee colliding with the deck hard enough to bring it into splinters.''

''The two of them got into their fighting stances, and glared one another down. The gi fighter was fast, and he lunged straight for Chio with a kick. His expression did not change as he kicked the fighter's ankle, causing it to spread out wide. As the gi fighter's defenses were wide open, he tried his best to fix it, but found Chio's foot colliding with his face, effectively breaking his nose and laying him down for a good long while.''

''Rinji was enjoying the visage of Chio's combat, however, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a mace heading directly toward him. Rinji quickly side-stepped the spiked mace as it hit the deck, shattering the area it hit. King Joy cursed as his mace wrecked another piece of his ship.''

Joy: Alright, Catman Rinji! You've made your point! Now you face the King of the Eastern New World!

''King Joy swung his mace at the air and lifted it, ready to smash into Rinji. His big burly, scowling face glared at him, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Captain Rinji rubbed his nose a little, and to Joy's surprise, he grinned, baring his fangs at the so-called "King."''

A Place Called Nowhere Part 4