Naval Battle Treasure Pirates

[Ziosa]

@The Fool

The Dwarf's attack would have been powerful enough to defeat/heavily injure many New World pirates or high-ranked Marines, a pirate in the West Blue had no real chance of stopping it. Tearing across the deck between her and Mad Treasure, the sturdy wood of the Sea Pixie splinters under her feet as she goes and creates a large trail of dust and debris behind her.

To the pirate captain, she basically vanished; one second slowly moving her blade and the next thing he saw was a blur already part way towards him. He tried to raise his arms and chains, but they were way too slow. Although it looked and felt like one impact, Jade's blade slashed him multiple times in very quick succession; each one fluidly going into the next and feeling like one big powerful attack. The rose-like shape heavily damages the metal chains he created and Mad Treasure himself, making a loud sound that echoes across the deck.

Many of the people still able to fight look towards the sound and stop attacking/defending. Some of them are able to see a blurred shape fly through the air, sent flying from the force of the Warrant Officer's powerful technique. Hitting the deck hard, the previously confident and grinning man just lies there and breathes heavily. Blood starts to pool on the wood around him, slowly spreading as his eyes flickered open and look to the sky.

A faint, broken breath escaped him.

“So… this is how it ends…”

This time, he did not try to stand.

Despite knowing her attack should be enough to end the fight, Jade stands in her fighting stance where she stopped after finishing her technique. Psycho P was still down but Naomi had yet to be hurt outside of the brief surprise attack the Dwarf did earlier. Seeing her captain get hit by such a big attack causes the woman's bow to lower but the blonde doesn't relax until she hears Mad Treasure's words. Seeing that the battle was basically over, Jade puts her sword in the scabbard on her back and gives Nikko a slight apology at not using the Cursed Weapon's power that much.

Slowly approaching the injured man with small steps and appearing so nonthreatening that most of the pirates can't believe she is the one that did the attack, she stops a metre or so away from his head; their eyes now being basically level if he looked at her. "...I guess you understand the gap between us better now and how hard I am to break" Her tone is light but not condescending or filled with humour as she brings up some of the things they talked about earlier "I hope I didn't crack your spirit too much but we are in a hurry so I could no longer afford to take it easy and hold back"

 

[The Fool]

[TREASURE PIRATES]​

Post 23 - [ @Ziosa ]​

Silence rolled across the deck after the impact.

Dust drifted through the air. Splintered wood settled. The Sea Pixie groaned beneath the damage carved into her planks.

Mad Treasure lay where he had fallen, breath dragging through his chest in shallow pulls. Blood spread steadily beneath him, dark against the timber. The chains that had once moved like living things now lay twisted and broken around his arms.

He stared at the sky for a long moment before forcing his eyes to focus. The sun had shifted. Time had passed. Far more than he would have liked.

Around him, the fighting had stalled. Pirates and Revolutionaries alike looked towards their captain. Some of his crew still held their weapons. None of them moved.

Naomi’s fingers loosened around her bow. She had felt the strike in her bones. Heard the way metal had torn. For a heartbeat she had expected him not to rise again.

When his eyes flickered open, relief and dread tangled tightly in her chest. He was alive. Barely.

Psycho P lay on his side, vision swimming, teeth clenched against the pain. He had seen captains fall before. He had never imagined seeing this one broken so completely. Rage tried to surface, but even he could feel it. The gap. The difference in weight between monsters and men.

Jade stood where she had finished, posture steady, watching.

After a moment she returned her blade to its scabbard and approached with measured steps. Calm. Controlled. Almost gentle in appearance. It was hard to reconcile that small figure with the devastation carved across the deck.

She stopped near his head. From where he lay, they were nearly eye level.

"...I guess you understand the gap between us better now and how hard I am to break"

Her voice was light, not mocking. Simply certain.

"I hope I didn't crack your spirit too much but we are in a hurry so I could no longer afford to take it easy and hold back"

Mad Treasure let out something that might once have been a laugh. It broke apart into a cough, blood touching his lips.

So this was the difference.

He had ruled his sea. Dominated weaker crews. Bent towns and ships to his will. But this was something else entirely. A force that did not strain. Did not rage. Did not even hate him.

Just surpassed him.

Naomi watched his expression change. The grin was gone. Not replaced with fear, but with understanding.

Psycho P closed his eyes briefly. If their captain gave the word, he would still try to stand. Even now.

Mad Treasure’s gaze stayed on the sky a second longer before shifting back to Jade.

The gap had always been there.

He had simply been too proud to see it.

 

[Ziosa]

@The Fool

She didn't move or get any closer, letting the pirate captain react and come to terms with it on his own. Before she was even a Revolutionary, Jade had to deal with many people who saw her size and dismissed her as weak or unimportant. Even Marines that were suppose to be comrades often thought she won't be able to pull her weight and moaned to their friends about "tiny girls who shouldn't be where they don't belong". All of them changed their tune when they saw she was actually stronger than them, but it made her quickly come to terms with always having to prove herself. Even when she went up the ranks and had various feats to her name, the Dwarf was still hardly ever automatically seen on the same level as other of the same rank. Part of it was her height but a lot of it was her personality, all her instructors throughout her life had called her 'soft' or too easygoing/naive.

Jade had decided to ignore everyone and keep doing her own things, becoming who she was today. However she had been defeated many times before reaching her current power and had even gone through similar crisises as Mad Treasure was currently going through, although not quite on the same level as she had never thought of herself as the strongest due to always knowing there was someone more powerful than her. In the Marines it was all the people a higher rank than her and after eventually seeing an Admiral in action she actually thought she would never come close to reaching that level. Now she was in the Revolutionary Army and was a pretty high rank there wasn't as many but she still knew there were people stronger than her, like the Executives and the Chief of Staff Sabo.

While the small girl was half-reminiscing near the defeated Mad Treasure, the fighting had sort of come to a stop. Seeing that most people had stopped moving and having ran out of enemies to attack on the gold ship quite a while before, Zazu soars through the air around the ship and heads down to the deck. Landing on the wood with a thud, the large bird rocks the boat a bit and then fold up it's large wings. Standing not too far from where Mad Treasure was lying, they slowly make their way over; having spotted Jade and knowing she was the one to go to for orders, if the fight wasn't over, or attention/fun if it was.

Smiling up at the bird despite being smaller than one of Zazu's feathers, Jade was quite unprepared for what he did next. Being from a Sky Island where basically everyone was competing for food and the weak were killed by the strong, Zazu was not the type of animal to waste what they thought was an opportunity. Seeing the pirate captain bleeding out on the floor and knowing he was pretty powerful, the bird decided to eat him since it looked like he was going to die anyway. Before even the Warrant Officer could fully react and figure out what he was about to do, the large creature looks down at the heavily injured man and suddenly darts forwards with their beak wide open. In less time than most people watching could blink, Zazu engulfs Mad Treasure's entire body and moves his head upwards to swallow.

 

[The Fool]

[TREASURE PIRATES]​

Post 24 - [ @Ziosa ]​

Zazu’s beak snapped shut around Mad Treasure’s broken body.

For a heartbeat the world held its breath.

Naomi did not even have time to scream before the great bird lifted its head. A thick motion travelled down its throat as it swallowed, deliberate and final.

Where their captain had lain bleeding only moments before, there was now nothing but smeared crimson soaking into the planks.

Silence fell heavy and unnatural.

Naomi stared at the empty space, her mind refusing to shape what her eyes were seeing. Mad Treasure had filled decks with his presence. His voice had boomed over storms. His laughter had cut through cannon fire. Men had followed that sound without question.

Now there was only the sea.

Psycho P’s breath came sharp through his teeth. He pushed himself up on shaking arms, vision swimming, staring at the bird as though willing it to choke, to falter, to undo what had just been done.

It did not.

Zazu merely settled its wings closer to its body, head tilting slightly, as if confused by the stillness that followed.

The crew did not move.

Some pirates took a step back. Others simply stood frozen, weapons hanging useless at their sides. The golden deck felt colder. Smaller. The ship that had once seemed invincible now felt like a coffin adrift.

Naomi’s fingers curled slowly into fists.

No final words. No last command. No grand declaration.

Mad Treasure had ruled his sea with certainty.

And he had vanished in a single swallow.

 

[Ziosa]

@The Fool

Along with everyone else, Jade just looks at Zazu for several moments trying to process what just happened. She knew he was a wild bird about a week ago but she thought she had the others had trained him a bit so he wouldn't do stuff like this. Unlike the others though she was more surprised at how quick it happened than anything else. The large bird didn't hesitate at all before doing it and even if she wasn't caught off-guard the Dwarf would probably have been too slow/small to stop him in time anyway.

"ZAZU!" Shouting very loud despite her stature, Jade looks up at the red and blue feathered creature with a frown and her hands on her hips. "Spit him out this instant, you can't go around just eating people!" She sounded more like someone reprimanding a pet or child than the high-ranking Revolutionary Army member she was. Most people wasn't sure why she was bothering as it was quite obvious Zazu had already swallowed Mad Treasure but they weren't going to stop her for various reasons, the most common being that they still hadn't processed what they saw.

Although he was a bird over 20 times bigger than her, Zazu looks away from where Jade is standing and somehow looks sheepish/embarrassed and remorseful. Trying to turn and walk away , the Dwarf moves around behind him and grabs his tail. If the situation wasn't so serious, it would actually be very humorous as the tiny girl was easily holding back the large bird from moving just by having one hand on a few feathers.

Not able to handle Jade's stare and knowing he can't break free from her grip, Zazu lifts up his head and after a few moments regurgitates Mad Treasure. The Warrant Officer quickly let's go of the tail goes to the front, jumping up to help set the pirate captain back down on the deck. Faster than most people can blink, Jade cleans him up and starts to check his breathing. Seeing he wasn't, the small girl gently tries to give him compressions on his chest.

Sophie and Amy didn't know what was going on as they were too busy tying up the pirates and helping injured people get to the medics. As such when they finally start to make their way to Jade, both are a bit confused why Zazu is staring at the floor looking sheepish and their leader was seemingly giving one of their enemies CPR.

 

[The Fool]

[TREASURE PIRATES]​

Final Post, Post 25 - [ @Ziosa ]​

The swallow echoed louder in Naomi’s head than any cannon blast.

One moment her captain had been there, broken but breathing. The next he was gone, consumed in a single, effortless motion. The deck felt wrong without him. Empty. As though something vital had been torn out of the world.

She could not move.

Psycho P felt his pulse hammering against his skull. Rage rose first, hot and useless, but it faltered beneath something colder. Helplessness. He had always believed that if things turned bad enough, if the world pressed hard enough, Mad Treasure would rise and crush it back.

Instead, he had disappeared down a bird’s throat.

Then the shout came.

Naomi flinched as the small officer’s voice cracked across the deck, sharp and commanding. She watched in numb disbelief as the tiny figure planted herself before the enormous creature and demanded it spit their captain out, as though scolding a misbehaving pet.

The absurdity of it scraped against her grief.

Psycho P almost barked a laugh, though there was no humour in it. Their captain, devourer of ships, terror of merchants, reduced to something that could be ordered back like a dropped ration.

The bird shifted under that glare. Naomi noticed it before anyone else did. The hesitation. The flicker of something almost like guilt in its posture. It tried to turn away.

The small officer moved quickly, circling behind and gripping the creature’s tail feathers. Naomi stared at the sight. A tiny hand halting a monster that had just swallowed her captain whole.

No one laughed.

There was a tense pause. Then the bird’s throat convulsed.

The sound that followed was sickening.

Mad Treasure’s body hit the deck in a slick, heavy heap, coated in blood and something darker. Naomi’s stomach twisted, but she stumbled forward all the same, drawn by instinct stronger than disgust.

Psycho P forced himself upright, ignoring the pain screaming through his body. His captain lay there again, real, tangible, not some swallowed memory.

But he was not moving.

The officer dropped beside him immediately, movements fast and clinical. Blood wiped away. Fingers pressed to his neck.

Nothing.

Naomi felt her breath catch as small hands began driving down against his chest in steady compressions. The sight was surreal. The same hands that had shattered him now trying to force life back into him.

Inside the dark, Mad Treasure drifted.

There was no gold. No crew. No roar of victory. Only pressure, distant and relentless, dragging him somewhere he had never intended to go.

Psycho P clenched his fists.

Not like this.

Naomi knelt beside her captain, eyes fixed on his face, willing it to twitch, to sneer, to breathe. The sea wind moved through her hair, indifferent as ever.

For the first time since she had joined him, she did not know if Mad Treasure would rise again.

 

[Ziosa]

@The Fool
I have permission to control Mad Treasure/NPCs

Jade thinking/talking
Mad Treasure thinking/talking

The small girl gently presses her small hands down on the pirate captain's chest time after time. She was trying not to use too much force as that will just make things work but isn't sure if she was pressing hard enough for it work. Everyone around her was quiet, either unable to move as they waited for their leader to breathe again or confused but staying silent as they watched their boss give CPR to an opponent that was still alive when they last looked over.

Mad Treasure tried to move in the darkness, but it pushed down on him like a strong pressure and weight. Not able to even move his head to look around, all he can see is the unyielding black in front of his eyes. Various thoughts drifted around in his head, about the girl who had beaten him, the fight itself, the conversation before it, all the battles he won and even his crew. He knew he was dying, perhaps was even dead already and this was the afterlife. The man didn't even remember what happened; one moment he was lying on the ground heavily injured and looking up at the sky and the next moment he was here, surrounded by the dark. Did I bleed out that quickly? Having not seen how bad his injuries actually were, Mad Treasure couldn't be sure if something else had happened or if he had just lost too much blood very quickly.

It starts at the edge of his hearing, but in the silence of wherever he was the pirate was quickly brought out of his thoughts by the sound. As it got louder, he started being able to make out what it was "Thump, thump-thump...Thump, thump-thump..." Still unable to move, Mad Treasure couldn't look around to see if something was now here with him or otherwise figure out what the sound was/where it was coming from. Soon it reached deafening, making his ears ring and echo. Then out the corner of his eye, he saw it. A dot of white in the darkness that had appeared suddenly and was pulsing in time with the sound. Feeling his body move towards it without him controlling it, he has a brief moment where he thinks to try and resist but decides not to as the alternative seems to be the darkness.

Eyes shooting open and suddenly gasping for air, Mad Treasure comes back to the living world. Naomi sighs with relief and lets the bow fall to the ground, unwilling to even think about fighting the girl who had beaten her captain and brought him back from the brink. The helplessness in Psycho P's veins suddenly vanishes and the small amount of anger still there is replaced by a large amount of joy at seeing his leader alive again. The rest of the Treasure Pirates watching all look on in happiness and relief as well, able to handle losing but not their captain dying.

Jade moves away from the still bleeding but now breathing man, letting his crew come close to him. She then turns to the large bird who was trying to look small and failing "Right mister, lets have a talk.." Faster than most people could keep up with and the ones who could found themselves laughing as the small girl picked up the creature 20 times bigger than her by the foot and somehow balanced them as they walked to the back of the Sea Pixie. Neither of them or anyone else on the deck noticed several chains slightly moving towards Zazu as they passed.

With everyone dealing with the aftermath, time passed quite quickly. At first there was still animosity between the two sides but it quickly evaporated once they found out Jade had beaten Mad Treasure and then resuscitated him, nobody wanted to keep fighting after that. Sophie and Amy helped to transfer the pirates back to their ship or ordered others to do it when they were busy. Naomi and Psycho P took their captain to get first aid and then back to his quarters for rest, although he ignored the advice and came back to the Sea Pixie as his pride wouldn't let him leave without seeing Jade.

The Warrant Officer spent a while reprimanding and scolding Zazu before punishing him by making him go into a small room below deck and staying there until let out by her or Sophie. She then comes back and starts helping with things, cutting the time in half not because of efficiency but due to the Revolutionaries wanting to impress her so worked harder and the pirates fearing her for beating their captain so wanted to leave quicker. Before long everything was done and the Sea Pixie was ready to leave, the pirates deciding to stay anchored for a while so they and their captain could recover from the battle.

Followed closely by his two closest subordinates as he shouldn't be walking around, Mad Treasure goes from one ship to the other again and quickly approaches the spot where Jade was stood on a barrel talking to her right hand man. Knowing what this will be about, Sophie tells her leader that she is going to check on preparations to leave and walks off. Letting him come close, the Dwarf turns her body towards the three people she fought and they stop not far from her; Mad Treasure slightly in front and wrapped in bandages. "It's not often I thank someone but saving my life certainly counts" He wasn't quite sure how to start but wasn't going to let silence takeover so just starts talking. "Jade Belle, thank you" The pirate captain keeps it simple, knowing he also can't stay standing for too long without risking reopening his wounds ontop of not being sure what to say.

The small girl just smiles and waves it off like it's not big deal "It shouldn't have happened so I'm just glad you survived, even if you didn't breathe for a while" As she often does, Jade just talks without thinking and says something that might be upsetting for most people who nearly didn't live; but Mad Treasure just takes it in stride.

A quick grin and laugh ends in a slight coughing fit but he recovers after a few moments "Not as glad as I am, I want to die in something like a great battle; not being eaten" The two of them now have respect for the other and they talk for a while longer before Mad Treasure, Naomi and Psycho P head back to the golden ship Shark Emeralda. Jade waves to him and the rest of his crew, noone else does as they were nowhere close to friends and people did die during the battle.

The Sea Pixie slowly pulled away and the Revolutionaries regrouped and prepared for their actual mission. They were not late but are behind schedule as they head to their destination, Illusia Kingdom

Fin​