Black Bone Tower Part 35

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Without a single piece of warning, Marcus was there, his head still vibrating, but his fist just as fast in smashing against Rinji's face. The catman was sent into the wall hard enough to leave a small indention, and as soon as he hit, his eyes opened, his claws outstretched and caught onto the two hands that meant to collide with is chest, grasping them tight while his razor sharp points dug into them as hard as they could, but drew no blood. Rinji scowled at the eyes that stared back at him, one of them a pink, flashing-bright eye that grinned at him with a horrible malice that made his stomach churn.

Marcus: Three years, they kept me in a glass cage. They injected me with mixtures that would kill a normal human being, but my body accepted it! [Pulled back his fist and smashed it for Rinji's skull.]

Rinji quickly poofed out of existence in a puff of purple smoke, and appeared behind Marcus. His claws sliced into Marcus's back, but once again, he shrugged it off, and his fist collided with the side of Rinji's head and knocked him into the wall. This time both of Marcus's fists took turns in smashing against Rinji's left ribcage, and the right side of his jaw, causing him to spit a bad bit of blood.

Marcus: I sat in that cage! My entire body begged me to die but I told it to hold onto what life it could! [Rinji grasped both of his arms once again, this time they struggled against Marcus's enormous strength.] You cannot imagine what I've been through, and how long I've waited for a chance to be recognized! The skin they tore from my bones! The muscles they hardened with their new serums, their new miracle tissue repairs! All of them they gave to me! They turned me into this, then they expected me to die!

As fast as lightning, Marcus pulled Rinji from the wall and swung him directly into Dala, who sped toward Marcus's suspected blind spot, both of them connected at the head and knocked Dala into the floor, hard, and Rinji felt a horrible flash of pain from the side of his head. To add to that, Marcus painted his hand with a black haki, and planted his fist into the Nekojin's sternum, then grasped his head, pulling him into his knee and completely crushed the breath from Rinji's lungs. He tried his damnedest to draw in a breath and catch Marcus's next attack. His fist was like a steel brick, and he was blinded by a direct hit between his eyes. The world went black, and Rinji felt something that he had not felt in so many years of his life.

Helpless, that's what he was, Rinji felt nothing in that moment but helpless. Even if he could turn into vapor, or attack Marcus with any of his Cheshire powers, Marcus was completely solid on every front. His blows took apart Rinji's wall of stamina brick by brick. His legs were starting to buckle under the pressure, and his entire body begged for the pain to stop. Blood began to trickle down from his forehead, and his broken rib howled in pain at every single movement. Still, there came the blows. After three more punches in his forearm, his arm pit, and his temporalis, where his ear met his head, he glared in defiance at the grinning Marcus Loster.

His paw reached up and caught Marcus's fist, this time Loster was surprised to feel his fist impacting a seemingly metal surface of Rinji's hand.

Rinji: Rinji Hagane Tsume! [One hand caught Marcus's fist, the other impacted Marcus's face, and hard, causing him to slide straight back.]

As Marcus slid, he approached Dala's position, and she used her second wind to zip straight under his vision, and spin. She spiraled into him, her claw spinning and drilling into his midsection hard! She dug so deep into his hardened torso that he actually let out a cry of pain as blood spilled out of the hole. Just as he was going to grab her, Dala jumped straight back, and stood beside Rinji, who dropped to one knee.

Dala: Rinji!? [She turned to him, gasping at his terrible condition.]

Rinji: Dala! Look--

Marcus was on her in an instant, and his hand grasped her throat hard. His strength was unbelievable. She could not breathe, even a little. She looked on in terror as Marcus's pink eye shined toward her, and his grin widened as he looked deep into her feline eyes.

Ellis ashed her cigarette and looked out toward the sea from wince they came. She leaned against the rail, and sighed a long stream of smoke, and snubbed her smoke onto a coffee can's side and threw it in with the other hundred-or-so butts that were already there. They had been waiting there for entirely too long, she would have already gone back in the tower if she didn't have patients that required round-the-clock care in Rinji's room already. She had every faith Kimi and Jiro would find Rinji and Dala, but she just hated the waiting itself. She would feel so much better if she were in there, doing her part to help the active cause itself. Instead, she had to run support, which she knew was equally as important. Then again, there was the waiting again. It was a vicious cycle of thought she went through, and it almost caused her to light another cigarette, were it not for a mighty roar of a very large, brutish man from the shore.

Bruto: There you ARRRRRREEE!!!! [Pointed at the Panno Marie, and grunted his approval of finding them.]

Ellis cocked an eyebrow at this as a very large, seven-foot tall man lumbered toward them, nothing covering his upper torso, showing off his flawless, Adonis-like muscles. He had found the opening in the tower, no longer caring about the competition, no longer caring about the treasure, he escaped the tower in search of the Tiger-Stripe Pirates.

Bruto: You! How dare you befoul the competition with your underhanded murder, and treachery!

Ellis settled on the idea that it was, indeed, a good time for a second cigarette as she pulled out her King Full-Flavor cigarettes and lit another as Bruto made his way toward the ship, pointing his accusations.

Bruto: Of all things, mutilating our Captain, and killing him in cold blood as you go on your marry way to claim the treasure for yourself! Was his life worth all of those thousands of belli in BLOOD MONEY!?!

She kept standing there, her expression sheer flabbergasted befuddlement as he carefully climbed their ship's side in order to not break any of the fine wood it was built with, as he still had respect for fine craftsmanship.

Bruto: Take them down, Kin! Make them confess to their misdeeds!

Kin: Right! [Jumped off of Bruto's back and landed on the Panno Marie's deck.]

Ellis's eyes widened at Kin as he pulled out his katana and poised himself to attack.

Chio: Ey! [Whisper shouted] What the hell is wrong with you people?! We have sick crewmates that need their sleep in here! What are you thinking, yelling so damn much!?

Kin's eyes locked on Chio then, and charged, his sword wielded to his side as he came at him with an under-handed slice up toward Chio's head, in which he back-stepped, and then kicked straight for Kin's mid-section. Surprisingly, Kin jumped high into the air, and brought his sword down at Chio as he descended toward him. Runagai Chio was quick to act in grabbing both of Kin's wrists, stopping his sword's approach, and then send a swift upper kick into Kin's midsection, knocking him straight back and up, landing very near Bruto.

Bruto: Hmmmmm [Surveyed Chio's fighting prowess.] He is quite strong, it seems.

Kin: I'll get him! [Got up to his feet, his sword wielded once again. But that was when the door opened once again. This time, a pink-haired, kimono girl limped out of the room, using her sword as a crutch.]

Ellis turned toward Usagi as she exited the room and limped toward the other side of the main cabin.

Ellis: Usagi? You okay, sweetie?

Usagi: Bathroom...

Kin: That's her! The Swordwoman!

Bruto: Yes, she sliced up our Captain! She even broke his neck when he was helpless and crawling away! Take her down and make her confess!

Kin: On it!

Both Bruto and Kin charged forward, Bruto for Chio and Kin for Usagi, who kept limping slowly toward the bathroom.

Chio: Hey! Hold it! [Started for Kin, but the enormous body known as Bruto came forward with a gigantic punch in which Chio caught by kicking straight for it.] Chio HANDOU! [Impacted Bruto's fist and the two of them locked in combat.]

Kin: You're gonna paaaaayyyy!!! YEAAAHHHHHHH!!! [Came from the side of her with his sword outstretched, and sliced from side to side.]

Before Kin could even finish his slice, Usagi's sheathed sword came straight up and knocked his sword off course, making it go all around, missing her by inches. As the slice was complete, Kin didn't even see how he missed. The tip of her sword sheathe came swinging up and knocked his sword, sending it spiraling through the air and sticking into the front railing of the Panno Marie. That was when she pulled her blade from her scabbard and pointed the tip at Kin's face. Her eyes were sharp and scowled, concentrated into a focus that Kin had never seen before, especially by someone so gravely injured as Usagi.

Kin was suddenly kicked in the head and knocked straight to the ground from the side. As she came down beside Kin, Ellis ashed her cigarette and grunted her disapproval.

Ellis: Don't touch my patient.