Graveyard of a Madman Part 21

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''The chase was on. They had successfully hidden the ship within the enormous shipyard, among all of the thousands of ship of similar size and shape, and taken down their flags and sails so that it was completely unnoticeable, but there were far too many Marines to go unnoticed as they exited the shipyard. Glory took one step onto the sidewalk, and there the whistle blew. Soldiers, infantry, gunmen, swordsmen of all kinds came out of the woodworks in their Military Uniforms. As the front line turned their rifles to shoot, Jolly D. Hope was directly in their firing range, and to the other crewmates' horror, this did not deter them! Timber was quick to grab Hope, and pull her behind him. He activated his Z Cell-powered Magne-gloves and opened his palm toward them. In an instant, all of their rifles turned on each other, causing them to shoot one another in the legs.''

Timber: Come on! [Picked up Hope and started running.]

Glory: [Pushed Spike.] Go go go!

Spike: But I wanna--

Glory: No time to argue! Go!

''They raced down the street, with an entire batallion of Marines at their heels. Sakura went to the back of their line, and as soon as the marines fired their first shot, she unsheathed her sword and reflected it straight back at all of them, slowing them down a lot out of panic. It was such a gigantic city. Glory was quick to jump to the side, entering them into an alleyway, and all of them followed suit. With grace, Glory dodged the trashcans and boxes from side to side, then flipped up, putting her hand on the wooden fence and landing on the other side, almost hitting the dumpster. ''

Glory: Whoa! Close... [Kept running as Spike jumped down beside her and followed.]

''Chris was quick to turn into a Clay-hardened bridge, and allowed the rest of the group to run over him and cross with little effort. Lys did not take this kindness, opting to phase through the fence on her own. As Chris crossed over the fence, the Marines turn into the alleyway. Lys took quick hold of the dumpster, and with a brilliant show of strength, thrust it straight through the fence, splinters flew all over, and the huge metal box crashed straight into the Marines, causing their front line of men to fly backwards and fall, hard. Once again, it slowed them down, but they were still running.''

''That was when they ran into yet another Marine Patrol Squadron that was at the other end of the alley. But before the Marines could even react to seeing them, the ever ready Wyatt was quick to draw both the King and Queen, his tonfa guns in both hands, and fully open fire! The Marines were forced to duck down behind the walls and buildings in the street.''

Wyatt: Think of something quick!

Spike: To hell with this! [Gripped his fist hard and smashed it through the building's brick wall beside them] Come on! [He rushed to get in.]

''Once everyone was in the kitchen of that small apartment, Chris was very quick to grow his claw over the wall, and harden them into bricks as well. All of them hid against the walls, away from the windows. The Marines ran past the building, and met up with the other squadron, who apparently didn't see where they went, as they were far too busy ducking for cover. The Marines split up and began to run either which way in order to scour the area. Once that was done, Glory slid down the wall, sweat dripping from her face. ''

''All of them panted, catching their breath and sitting in the various seats spread out through the room. ''

Glory: Well, that was... something, I guess. [Still panting.] I suppose the obvious question would be, now what?

She looked around them room, and some of them looked at her, but Chris did not, instead, surprisingly, he seemed deep in thought.

Timber: Well, we can't stay here too long, they're bound to come back and search every nook and cranny for us.

Aphro: Is anyone hurt? Are we all okay? Hope? Did you get hurt, sweetie?

Hope: [Smiled, her face still pale from such a frightening situation.] I'm okay, thank you.

Hanuman: Hmph, Hanuman search kitchen. [Whispered, knowing that they needed to stay quiet as he moved to the kitchen.]

''All of them paused for a moment when they all heard the Marines start to make a ruckus again. Wyatt was quick to move to the window, but stay as hidden as he could, staring out to see what was going on.''

Glory: What is it, Wyatt?

Wyatt: Oh, wow... you guys aren't going to believe this.

Knave was running down the street, guns were firing around him left and right. Even for him, this was entirely too many Marines! There must have been thousands of them on the island by now! He noted that there was a serious lack of people on the streets, giving evidence that the entire island was on lockdown.

The Jollys didn't see anyway around it, they had to chance it. Wyatt opened the door as Knave approached their street crossing.

Wyatt: Knave! [Tried to throw his voice some as best he could, but he wasn't very good at it. Little did he know that there was a soldier on the corner of the same building they were hiding in.]

Soldier: AGH! SIR! [Blew his whistle.] The Jolly Pirates!

Wyatt: DAMNIT! [Pulled out his rifle fist and smashed a spring-loaded boxing glove into his face, knocking him out.] It's no good! Let's go!

''Before he knew it, Knave was suddenly surrounded by the Jolly Pirates, all of them running along with him. ''

Knave: Eh?! Eh?! EH!?!?! [Looked around him.] Chris?!

Chris: Hey, Knave-chan!

Knave: [Sour look.] Don't call me that... So you guys made it to the island? That's awesome!

Glory: I'm sorry, Knave, what part of this crappy situation is awesome?!

''That was when Hanuman turned his head as he ran, his ears perking up. He knew he heard something from down the street that they were about to cross. He looked hard down that street as it came into view, there were no Marines around there, but when he squinted hard, he noticed that there was a recognizable face waving toward them. He was the silver-haired guy who liked to kick a lot.''

Hanuman: Hanuman see friend! Hanuman go this way!! [He shouted, and directed all of them to follow as he turned right and headed down that street with the much taller, wider buildings.]

''No one cared to argue, any idea was better than no idea. When they made it farther down the street, all of their eyes perked up as they, too, saw a familiar face''.

Sakura: Chio! [To their surprise, her voice was a little more excited than normal. Perhaps she was more worried than they originally thought.]

''Chio stood with his hand waving toward them. Then his eyes got serious as he saw the force of Marines headed toward him now. They got within listening distance, and he pointed down the alley he stood in front of.''

Chio: Down this way! Go straight down that way!

Glory: What about you!? [She was about to pass him.]

Chio: They can't know where you're going! I'll cover you!

''With that, Chio allowed the last of them to pass, and he jumped straight up into the air, about sixteen feet. Then, with flailing legs, his kicks began to shine.''

Chio: Ran Kyaku! Chio SENKA!!!!

''That was when the entire patrol of Marines were pelted by flying energy blades released in wave after wave. Some of them attempted to fire, but were cut down hard. The barrage of blades was so terrible that they were forced to retreat back behind the nearest building, and even that was starting to take a serious beating.''

''Before they knew it, the attack was halted. The first brave soul to stick his head out to look for Chio was somewhat relieved to see that he was gone.''

---

''The whole lot of the Jolly Pirates ran for as long as they could before Chio caught back up to them. ''

Glory: Chio! Oh, thank you so much! It's so good to see you again!

Chio: Oh, don't mention it. Everyone stop! Stop!

''All of them stopped, and looked to see that they were in front of a theater. Jana Chi was quick to open the door to the main hall of the theater and allowed them all inside. She looked both ways, and then closed the door. Once again, all of them panted, and sweated a horrible amount. It was entirely too hot on that island to be running so damn much. Both Jana and Chio walked toward the hall of theaters.''

Chio: Alright, come on, we've been waiting for you.

''The Jolly Pirates were a little sluggish, but they followed the two of them down the hall to Theater 16 that was set to show a play called "The Slug Who Loved Me 3: The Slimey Truth." Chio opened the door, and there they all were.''

Pura: Knave!

''Once she called his name, all of the Marimo pirates looked back and gave him a warm welcome, along with the Jolly Pirates! Usagi ran up to Sakura, and they shared a bow, Usagi even going so far as to embrace, which Sakura allowed, with a tiny smile on her face. There was much of a merry reunion between the Pop Band Pirates and all of the crews, and a friendly introduction as the the Marimo Pirates met the Tiger-Stripe Pirates for the first time.''

Rinji: Alright, my dear friends, I am so happy to see all of you made it okay. Though I had no idea that the Jolly Pirates would be joining us today. Please, take your seats, and we can begin. Knave, Chris, come up here and join us.

''Rinji patted the two chairs that sat beside him, while Thoosa sat on the other side of him. She wasn't really one to accept such royal treatment just for being a Captain of her crew, but she was already so hyped up on all of the theater candy she'd eaten that she really didn't care either way! Chris and Knave walked up to the stage and sat in the two empty chairs, and they looked out to see that it was pretty damn near a full house in that theater. Forty-One attendants if you didn't count the four on stage, for an astounding forty five pirates all in one place, plus one, Kiria who accompanied Rinji to the theater in order to hide.''

Thoosa: Whoo! This is awesome! I can't believe I'm here! Hurhurhurhurhurha! Should we set up our instruments up here? I'd love to play for you guys!

Knave: Dude! Great idea!

Rinji: Oh, yeah! Why don't we send out flyers while we're at it! I'm sure the guys patrolling the streets would love to hear it too!

Thoosa: [Le gasp!] Really?!?!

Rinji: NO!! Good gravy, woman! Sheesh. Anyway! This is a serious problem! If we don't think of something fast, we're all going to end up in the biggest ass-ramming prison in the entire World Government, and I hear the rammers are ramming like never before.

Thoosa: [Blushed.] Sounds wonderful... [Looked at the other Captains to see them all give her odd looks.] Aherm, yes, that is bad.

Chris: They almost hurt my crew! They out numbered us and almost shot us! They're a bunch of bullies, and bullying with not be tolerated!

Kimi: Yeah! [Stood up in the aisle] We need a plan of attack! We're all at least five times stronger than any Marine!

Glory: Whoa whoa whoa, that may be true but there are literally thousands of them out there, not to mention they're being led by Vice Admiral Polatsu!

Rinji: Polatsu is with them?

Glory: Oh yes, he was at the head of the line.

Jiro: Yes, if you remember, he was one of the Vice Admirals that was accompanied by one, Kitomo Rise. With the recent news of her death, it is no wonder that he would seek retribution.

Rinji: Admiral Rise is dead?

Jiro: Yes, Rinji... Killed by a dragon.

''This brought a dismal silence to the room, the mere mention of the dragon was not a comforting thought. Rinji's eyes went wide, and he sat back in his chair, finding himself deep in thought.''

Graveyard of a Madman Part 22