Battle Log Eight

The White Rock

Allen stood alone on the deck of the White Rock, quietly smoking his cigar with his back against the railing. Despite the restlessness of everyone on the ship, he remained the calmest out of all of them.

"If you panic, you can't think. And if you can't think, you will die. So do whatever you need to do to keep your head."

The Captain had many sayings he always stuck by, and this was one of them. Even now, despite the urgency of the situation, he had casually walked off to the lower decks to take his weapon. Allen found it remarkable that he never seemed to need anything to keep himself calm. Even he himself relied on cigars and the smell of smoke to keep his cool, but the Captain had always been that way.

BOOM. BANG.

He rolled his eyes. The sound of exploding cannonfire had been persistent for the last few minutes, and it was really wearing his patience thin. Couldn't they tell that they were doing precisely no damage to Cotton's Den?

"Allen!" He looked to the right, and saw Sally walking towards him from behind the main mast. "I'm itchin' to go ya know. When do I get to get off and start firin'?"

With a loud screech, something leaped from the top of the mast and fell onto her muscular shoulder. "Key!" She cried, and lifted the large brown monkey above her head. "Where have ya been? I looked everywhere for ya!"

Allen ignored this joyous reunion. "You go when the Den falls. And that's pretty much inevitable at this point, so just stay put a little longer." He took out the cigar from his mouth and puffed out a thick cloud of smoke.

Sally fanned away the smoke and scowled. "I don't like this so-called strategy of sitting around and waiting for the wall to collapse. Lets just jump in already!" She said, combing her dark hair back with one big, colored hand. There was no real need to, considering the fact that it was already tied in a bun at the back of her head.

Allen didn't like it any more than she did, but he knew why it was done. "Cotton and Borris are fighting to thin out their forces right now. If we leap in with them, there's going to be too many needless deaths." He muttered, silently cursing that shitty monkey now tugging at Sally's chainmail vest. He had first stolen a couple of ingredients from the lab, which he could tolerate. But yesterday, he went too far when he stole a piece of cake Allen had bought from one of the troublemakers aboard the ship for three gold.

"Where's Caine?" Eddie asked, walking up to Allen. He had braided his hair so it wouldn't get in the way, and now sported one of Caine's old uniforms, a grey short-sleeved coat with two large buttons holding the division in the middle together. Underneath, he wore his own white dress-shirt.

"That's "Captain" to you, newbie." Allen muttered, eyeing the man carefully. "I don't know how it is for you in your crew or on board the Ivory, but here? You will address him with respect."

Eddie simply shrugged. He had absolutely no intention of calling anyone apart from Jackie his Captain, but saw no need to argue with a seventeen year old in the current situation either. "Well, where is he? We're in kind of a pickle here you know." He said, moving his head a few inches in the direction of the water barrier. The explosive sounds of cannonfire seemed to be growing louder by the minute. Cotton had certainly managed to buy them time, but it wouldn't be long now until the barrier either gave way, or whoever she was fighting forced her to drop it completely.

The one who answered was not Allen, but the black woman next to him. "Hah! I'll have you know, he's gone down to the room with the iron door next to his lab. He's got this big ass weapon he uses locked up in there. Till he gets back, we always cover for him!" This seemed rather inconvenient to Eddie, but again he felt a sort of indifference towards it. Who was he to question what this crew did?

Allen grabbed the top of the railing and hauled himself up. "Now, then. I think we have ourselves a guest we need to deal with." He said, puffing out another cloud of smoke. It drifted up straight into Eddie's face and he found himself wondering if the kid had puffed it at him on purpose. Nelly placed her bulging forearm on the far shorter Allen's head and laughed. "What guest are ya talking about?"

"That one."

The sound of cannonfire against the Den was near-deafening now, and Eddie realized this wasn't cannonfire at all. It was too consistent, too rapid. This was-

BOOOM.

The Den shattered, spraying water all over the ship as something huge burst through the barrier. The steady patter of rain and the wild flow of falling seawater was not quite enough to hide the face or clothes of the woman flying through the air and straight for the White Rock. She landed rather roughly, skidding to a stop just a few feet from the main mast towering above the ship. She wore a pair of patched black trousers and a red shirt completely drenched in the rain. Her short brown hair swung forward over her face, dripping water slowly.

On her shoulder was a skinny boy, maybe around the age of 15 or 16. His brown hair was short and tidy, and he had two guns strapped to pockets on his forearms.

She spoke while facing away from the three at the railing. "Name's Lyza. Where's Caine?" Allen brushed the water on his face off and shook his head. "No Caine here."

The woman laughed distrustfully. "Like hell. I don't have any interest in scrub like you, but I'll play your little game." She pointed at them. "Which one of you is the strongest?"

Allen took a long draw from his cigar and blew out a cloud of smoke. This woman seemed like trouble, based on how much Ley she had. The boy, the others could most likely handle.

"That would be-"

"ME, OF COURSE!" He cringed at the voice, and turned around.

Standing just beyond the main mast and on top of two barrels stacked together at a side of the ship was Gerard. He had raised his chin up so high that all they could see was his the underside of his jaw and the ridiculous black afro he wore on his head. The yellow vest he wore exposed the entirety of his chest and upper stomach, revealing his toned muscles.

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"WELL? HOW DO YOU LIKE MY FABULOUS REVEAL?" He shouted, with his arms spread apart, as though he was welcoming a hug from someone.

Lyza stared at him incredulously. There was nothing she could see about him that could make anybody believe he was the strongest. She did, however, take note of the two identical one-sided axes he held in each hand. "Who the hell are you?"

Gerard finally lowered his chin, revealing a clean shaven face and eyebrows thick enough to put caterpillars to shame. His hooked nose and wrinkled forehead did not paint an elegant picture. "WHO AM I?" He screamed.

"WHY, I AM GERARD STERNENMANN! I am the star man of this pirate crew, and I will be your opponent today, Madame Rysa!" His screaming made Allen cover his ears, both out of second-hand embarrassment and because of his volume.

Lyza thought about correcting the man, but she decided it was better not to speak further to a clear fool like this one. "Fine, then. I'll blow you away and get this over with." With that, she leaped forward at him, fist pulled back to shatter him to pieces upon immediate contact.

Gerard skipped off the barrels into the air, executed a perfect somersault, and brought his right arm down on the oncoming Lyza. She raised her guarded arm up to the axe with an air of confidence, and felt the blade unexpectedly dig into her flesh.

What?!

There was no way she could be bleeding this quickly into the battle. But why? Her Ley should have been enough to easily bounce the axe off her body, if not shatter the blade entirely.

"Surprised, Madame Rysa?" Gerard asked, quickly raising his left arm with a smirk. Infuriated but still fairly calm, she hurled her arm to the side, sending him flying towards the mast. His back hit the iron pole hard, but fortunately did no significant damage to the structure. "Ow, Madame! How mean." He said, raising an axe near his now somewhat more menacing face. She could see her face reflected in the glimmering surface of the steel.

This fool is more trouble than I thought. But then again, she should have expected trouble from anybody working directly under Whitebeard.

Gerard smiled. "I'm sure you were wondering how I could counter your strength when my own is so far beneath yours." He struck another pose, now tilting his head so far down that all she could see was his oversized afro. He moved his arms behind his back and moved his right foot forward with an elegance that did not match the pose. "And I'm sure you will eventually figure it out through the course of our battle, since you are a Captain. I have no intention of revealing my hand to you, Madame Lyza."

His correct pronunciation of her name did not go unnoticed. He's no fool...just a very shrewd fellow. He had been intentionally pretending to be an idiot to mislead her.

"Fine, then. Don't imagine for a second that you will win against me." She said, grinning in anticipation. It had been a while since she had been challenged this way.

"Hey, now. Didn't I mention I was the strongest one here?" Allen said from behind her. The three had swiftly taken advantage of the situation and flanked her on all sides. She now had four enemies surrounding her. "Why bring a child to the battlefield? Don't assume we won't attack you just because you were cowardly enough to do something like this." The blonde-haired man to her right said disapprovingly.

Her grin grew wider still. "It isn't that you can't afford to attack us, Braids. It's that you can't afford to hit him. Every single bit of damage you deliver to the boy will rebound to the dealer." She could almost hear the shock from the silence that followed this line.

"Surprised?" She asked, casually pointing her thumb back at Cassian, who shifted on her shoulder nervously. "You can come at me, all of you. One wrong, overly aggressive move...and you kill yourself."

The smile returned to Gerard's face. "Well, well! That's quite an incredible card you've got hidden there, then." He said, twirling around his axe skillfully.

"However...we aren't going to run from you because of that. We are pirates, after all. No pirate runs that easily." He pointed his axes at her. "And I'd love to see how long it will take before you start running, Madame Lyza."

She sighed, and reached into her pants' pocket. "Oh, well. Guess it would be better to show you just how outclassed you all are." She said, pulling out her hand to reveal about four or five metal beads wrapped underneath her fingers.

"I think I've already got you figured out, Afro...which is why I'm going to make sure I crush you entirely." She said, squeezing the beads in her hand. They watched as the steel beads began to melt, slowly dripping from her hand. But instead of falling to the floor, the liquid steel wound itself up and connected to the other hand, ceaselessly extending with ease. The two masses of steel split off like clay, and smoothened themselves over her hands, all the way to her elbows.

Without further ado, Gerard and Allen leaped forward, aiming to tighten the space she had. Lyza kicked the smoker aside first, and focused on Afro for the time being. She swung her fist towards the axe as he swung his left arm. Gerard had expected it to sink right through the the steel, but was alarmed to hear the unmistakable sound of steel hitting steel. He gripped the axe tightly and pushed, but the woman's arm barely moved. "What happened to all that flare, Ki user?" She growled at him with a toothy grin.

Shit!

He swerved to a side and prepared to swing his second axe, but paused.

BANG. Something huge slammed into Lyza's back, sending her to her knees. Through the sudden shock of pain, Lyza could smell the smoke from Allen's cigar even more strongly now. "How many times do I have to say it?" Allen muttered, thoroughly upset now as he stood over the kneeling figure of the enemy captain. She slowly turned her head, directing her eyes calmly at the boy behind her. The smoke was slowly expanding and spreading everywhere now, but his stern expression was just about visible. "I am the strongest here. You will fight me, not them. That is why I am here." He said, puffing out another cloud of smoke.

"She's figured out my axes, kiddo." Gerard said with a sheepish grin slowly creeping across his face. His eyes widened as he suddenly saw the boy sitting on her shoulder unstrap the pistol and smoothly swing it down to point at him. "I won't just sit here helplessly, you know!" He said, and fired. Gerard deflected the shot with ease, but it was clear to him now that Allen couldn't win this alone. Not with that boy still on her shoulders. They had to at least dislodge him from there before gaining any sort of strategic advantage.

He set aside the worries on how they would accomplish that for later. "Hey, vice-captain. I'm gonna help you out whether you want me to or not." He knew full well what Allen's response would be. Instead of replying, he wove the smoke around him to make an enlarged, semi-transparent fist around his right arm and slammed it into Lyza.

There was another massive bang, but this time, it was not the enemy that went flying.

It was Allen.

He gasped, barely absorbing the fact that he was flying through the air with his sides feeling as though...as though...

As though a massive fist had slammed into it. Damn, that kid! He must've thrown himself at my punch! It wasn't helpful to simply know what his mistake was. He needed a solution, and fast. He landed on his feet and looked around. Eddie had been accidentally knocked aside as he fell, but there was no time for apologies. Sally had disappeared, and he knew it was for the best. She would be needed elsewhere now that the fall of the Den was imminent, and her brute strength alone would not be enough against this beast.

CLINK. CLANG! He focused his eyes on the battle in front of him. Gerard was holding up, but his ability to do any damage alone was gone now.

Guess its now or never...

He thought, blowing out even more smoke from his cigar. It swirled around his fists and expanded, momentarily solidifying to form a pair of gauntlets. As he lunged forward, he thought about his Primis and felt a chill travel down his spine.

No. I've got to finish this with Gerard before it comes down to that.

I must.