Holy shit, this guy's fast! Jackie thought as he ran through the crowds and narrow alleyways. Whoever this was knew the city inside and out. They were running into the most crowded areas, and trying to throw him off by dashing into other streets and alleys.

They dodged into what seemed like the hundredth alleyway, and Jackie rapidly followed, bumping into bystanders and other seedy people.

Somewhere close by, a skinny man with long black hair and a ferret-like face named Kristan was getting down to business with two men in black suits, both of them several inches taller than he was. Having his own two bodyguards, Rodri and Cassava, both just as tall and much stronger than the two men he was dealing with, made him feel relieved.

"This better not be some bullshit, Christian." One of the two, a man with short red hair and a monocle on his left eye hissed at him. He was clearly the leader, and had a polished silver lined pistols strapped to his waist.

Kristan narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna say it again. My name is Kristan, not Christian. And this certainly isn't bullshit. If you want the cannabis, you're going to have to pay for it."

He waved a small grey sack full of cannabis flower heads at him.

The second man, who was rather skinny and had wide eyes that pierced through everything he looked at with a javelin-like stare, peered suspiciously at the package.

"And you tell us these flower heads will be good for business?" He didn't even try to sound less doubtful.

Rodri whispered in Kristan's ear, "Want us to just beat the shit outta them?" Kristan gave him an impatient glance and ignored him.

"I promise you, people will be buying these left and right. If you smoke it once, you need to smoke it again. And again and again. You'll be swarmed with customers, and I'll be your supplier. Everyone wins." He told them, making himself sound as convincing as possible.

"And what of the legal issues?" The first man asked, adjusting the monocle on his eye. "I've...arranged everything with the king himself. We're safe as long as nobody in the army finds out." He replied.

The two men looked amiable now as they quietly discussed matters between themselves. As Kristan watched this play out, Cassava whispered in his ear, "So, boss, is the deal going well?"

He waved his hand frantically at him, signalling him to stay away.

The two finally stepped up towards Kristan. "Alright. We're in." The leader said, and extended his hand towards the pineapple-sized sack filled with the precious flower heads. Kristan extended his hand to give it to him.

Before anyone could react, a small figure in a grey, torn up cloak flashed past them, knocking into Kristan, who dropped the sack onto the ground. "What the-"

"OUTTA THE FUCKING WAY!" Someone shrieked at them and rushed past the group of men, stepping right on top of the precious package on the ground, crushing every single cannabis flower head in it.

Kristan stood there, staring at the flattened sack in utter disbelief.

*****

As Jackie continued running, he saw the thief dart into another path to the left. Goddamn it! How many escape routes does this guy have?! He thought as he rushed on after them.

As Valeria ran into the path, she immediately realized she had made a horrible, perhaps unfixable mistake. In front of her was a dead end, a drab stone wall too high for her to climb. Hearing the footsteps rush behind her, she quickly spun back with a dagger in hand to confront her persuer.

She couldn't see much of the man because of the hood over his head and the old cloak he wore, but she could tell he had blonde hair and a small scar across the left side of his face, right next to the chin.

She pointed the dagger at him. "Don't come any closer, or you're getting stabbed!" She was startled by the strength in her own voice. Bravery and bravado wasn't her thing, after all.

Jackie didn't even flinch. He had his cutlass with him, hidden in the scabbard behind his cloak, and a small loaded pistol given to him by Whitebeard. And even without them, he knew he could easily bring this little girl to her knees.

So he laughed, completely letting his guard down and putting his hands on his waist. "I doubt you're gonna stab me, kid. You're about as threatening as a housecat to me."

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She scowled, and raised the dagger higher. "T-That's what you think! I've stabbed plenty of people who'd run after me before. You're no different!" Her voice was high and squeaky now, the conviction in it completely evaporated.

"Then why do your hands tremble?" He asked kindly as he gently touched her small hands with no hesitation.

Valeria's eyes widened at this strange man's lack of fear, or at the very least, self-evaluation at approaching a child claiming she'd stab him.

Stab him! Stab him!

STAB HIM!!

Her senses screamed at her to do it. Fear, anxiety, shock, the blood throbbing at her temples. Everything was telling her to stab him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of rapid footsteps on the stone pavement. Jackie turned around, and saw three men run into the small, narrow path they were in. Huh. Looks like we're cornered.

"You...you bastard...fucking...piece of..." The least athletic-looking of the three wheezed at them. He was thin, wiry and had scraggly black hair that appeared to reach his lower back. In front of him were two remarkably similar bozos, both tall and muscular without a single strand of hair on their heads.

He grinned innocently. "How can I help you?"

The man glared at him, as did the two bodyguards. He replied, "You know full well what you did, you little bastard."

Jackie scratched his head with a confused expression his face. "No, mate, listen. I genuinely don't know what's pissed you off. What did I do now?" He asked, deliberately emphasising his English accent.

The man's eyes widened. "Oh? Ohoho? Looks like we have an English shitbag here! You're snapping your mouth at us right now, eh?!"

Jackie narrowed his eyes at him. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Fuck you! You damn motherfucker! You cost me my money! The amount of gold I was about to earn! My entire life plan! The two clients left because of your bullshit!

As the three men argued with her pursuer, Valeria quickly ran her eyes everywhere around the pathway, trying to find a way to sneak away real quick. But it was impossible. There were four people right in front of her, and by the looks of it, the other three weren't interested in letting her get away.

Suddenly, the man who appeared to be the leader pointed his finger at Valeria. "That kid is the one who made me drop the goods I was selling. So you move out of our way and let me kill her first. Got that?"

Jackie's expression turned dead serious. "Hey. I'm the one who stepped on your shit. Fight me if you want, but leave the kid out of this." The man rolled his eyes and laughed. "Like hell. She ran through us first. We kill her, and then you. I've got standards you know."

"Fuck your standards. Killing children is a standard to you?!" Jackie snarled, and pulled out his cutlass.

One of the two guards glanced at his boss. "Hey, Kristan, can we kill 'im now?"

"OBVIOUSLY! KILL HIM ALREADY!" He shrieked. Without a moment's hesitation, the two pulled out two daggers from their coats and lunged for Jackie.

One of them swung his arm low, towards Jackie's left leg. Jackie threw himself to the right and whipped his sword straight for the guy's neck. He missed by a hair, and was kicked towards the wall by the second guard.

"Stab him! Stab him already!" Kristan screamed at his men. The two turned towards Kristan simultaneously, and Jackie sprang forward in that crucial second. Before anyone could react, he slashed the second guard's knee, and the first one's foot. As both of them fell forward, he jumped back to his feet and cut off both their heads off in one smooth swing of his cutlass.

The two heads made a wet THUMP as they hit the ground.

Wait a second. There's a little girl right here! Fuck, she wasn't supposed to see that. He thought, suddenly mortified that she had to see something like that.

He looked at her uneasily, but she actually looked somewhat relieved. Guess she has seen some shit living in this dump.

He didn't have time for a monologue though. He heard Kristan running towards him from behind, and spun around. He saw a mere glint of silver in his hand before thrusting the sword up to meet the rapier in his hand. The metallic CLANK of two blades meeting echoed in the empty alleyway.

"You damn son of a bitch...you ruined everything!" He screamed as he pushed the rapier against Jackie's blade. "Nothing EVER goes my way, does it?!"

Jackie kicked the man in the stomach and threw himself back. Instead of lunging forward again, Kristan reached for his belt and pulled out a pistol. "Just die already." He said with a wide grin on his face.

Valeria gulped. No matter how fast this guy was, he couldn't avoid a bullet. But then...why does he look so calm?

She looked down, and saw that he was holding the cutlass in his left hand now, despite clearly being a right-handed swordsman. His right hand was hidden under the dirty old cloak he wore over his grey shirt. Valeria immediately knew what would happen next.

Unfortunately, Kristan did not.

BANG.

The bullet tore through the fabric of the cloak and slammed into Kristan's chest, just below the heart. The sound of the shot echoed off the stone walls of the buildings around them.

Kristan, still tightly holding onto his gun for dear life, collapsed to the ground. He coughed, and spoke up with a shaky, pained voice. "What the hell are you waiting for? Huh? I lost. Just kill me and get outta here."

Jackie looked around the alley. "I don't have time to waste on you. I've gotta get out of here right now, or Spanish guards are gonna come after us." He took the girl's hand, and started to run out.

"Good...lord...are you really not gonna...kill me?" Kristan wheezed. Jackie averted his eyes from the helpless figure of his opponent lying on the ground.

"Based on what I heard, whether you live or don't has nothing to do with me. If you want to live, then do it yourself." He replied darkly, and ran off. Kristan gazed at the empty spot where Jackie had just been standing.

Despite the situation, he couldn't help but chuckle at his predicament. As his vision grew blurrier by the second and the searing pain below his heart continued to grow, he briefly thought about wanting to start a family. He had planned to. There was a particularly beautiful girl named Sinatra who he'd been meaning to talk to.

Oh well. Guess I'll die.

He passed out, unaware that fast-paced footsteps were approaching his dying body.