Grand Voyage- Log 98

Log 98: Confrontation's End
“This island’s like a damn maze!” D’Artagnan cried in anger and frustration, grasping both sides of his head as he rushed through the forest, the rest of the crew trailing behind him,

“We just have to keep heading forward, right?” Stormy asked, “we should find Knave eventually!”

“Eventually the problem!” Pura answered, “we don’t know if there are any of those bounty hunters here or not!”

“I-I agree with Pura-san!” Kagome added.

“WOW!” Mercuia cried, her eyes lighting up with stars, “I’VE NEVER RUN THROUGH A FOREST WITH A GROUP OF CONSTANTLY-BICKERING FRIENDS ALL AROUND ME BEFORE!”

“IS EVERYTHING A NEW EXPERIENCE TO YOU?!” the rest of the crew barked back at her!

“YES!” their archaeologist responded, giving them the thumbs up.

Damn it.... Blitzkrieg panted, as he slowly pushed him along the floor of the jungle. The bounty hunter kept to the nearby shrubbery and similar plants, in the hopes that it would keep his adversaries from catching up to him at any reasonable speed. ''Damn you all to hell! his mind finished, I won’t forgive you for this! Not at-''

“There he is!” Knave, the bald parrot, Karasuke, and Kumasuke cried as one, exploding out of a nearby bush and pointing collectively at him!

“AAAAAHH!!!” the bounty hunter cried back in shock, before leaping to his feet and running as fast as he possibly could, in the hopes of escaping them! The four companions simply charged after him, hounding him every step of the way as he continued to rush away from them.

“Just-!” Blitzkrieg arrived at a cliff face... and they were standing there.

“....Leave-!” this time he discovered a small group of hedge bushes... and they were standing there.

“...Me-!” he ran into an area with a rather large pond... and they were standing there, on the opposite side.

“..ALONE!” the bounty hunter finished, as he whipped around at superhuman speeds, rushing back into the forest from whence he had came! He continued to plow forward in that direction, in the hopes that he could somehow get rid of them, once and for all!

He exploded out of another massive group of trees, and found himself slightly airborne, thanks to a lowering of the ground and the fact that he had jumped into the exit himself... and waiting for him was another group of people, those he hadn’t seen before.

No! he thought to himself, lifting up his gauntlet and pulling a small switch on it, I’ll kill the whole lot of you!

As soon as he had pulled the switch, the gauntlet opened up slightly, and at least eight ropes exploded out, fanning out until they surrounded the group on all sides, each rope angling for one or two of them! On the end of each rope lay a diamond-shaped blade, flying down towards them as well.

“Incoming!” Sid called as the bounty hunter exploded out of the trees, already aiming his attack.

The crew reacted as quickly as they could, each one leaping slightly to the side and allowing the blades to whip past them, sinking harmlessly into the ground and doing no damage whatsoever, save for the pain inflicted upon the earth and grass itself.

No...nononono...no.... Blitzkrieg thought to himself, his heart sinking painfully, ''there’s more of them?! But I thought the brat was alo-''

At that moment, Knave exploded out of the trees where the bounty hunter had just left, his entire body being surrounded by a massive amount of heat and kinetic energy with the appearance of what seemed to be white flame, burning away the rest of his ‘disguise’ as he lifted up his hand. The white flame energy seemed to swirl around his fist, concentrating into it as one point. “Naga Naga no...” he began...

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ALONE!!!” Blitzkrieg howled as he brought his rifle around and aiming it directly at Knave.

“...HEAT CANNON!” Knave cried, bringing his fist forward and smashing right into the barrel of the gun! The rifle fired, the bullet striking the heat energy and being forced back by the pure force of both the heat and kinetic energy, as well as the strength of Knave’s fist itself! The bullet shot back into the barrel, and Knave’s fist and power did the rest, crashing in and bending the barrel back on itself. Then, when the bullet arrived in the center of the gun, the weapon exploded, the blast striking Blitzkrieg directly on the face, knocking him backwards and sending him crashing to the ground!

As the smoke cleared, the bounty hunter’s face was revealed again, this time with his eyes whited out. He was knocked out.

Knave landed on the ground, the remaining smoldering bits of the leaves around him dropping to the ground as his animal companions raced in after him. As soon as they had arrived, they stopped, seeing the marimo lad’s real form for the first time.

“...A human?” Karasuke asked, his eyes widening and the bird taking a step backwards.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” the bald parrot whispered, his wing caressing his chin slightly.

Kumasuke stayed silent, simply frozen in place.

“...What, you guys didn’t know?” Knave asked, tilting his head as a green-colored question mark appeared beside his head.

“OF COURSE WE DIDN’T, YOU WERE ALL COVERED UP!” the three birds yelled, slapping the air with their wings and paw.

“Well, he obviously can’t be the Animal King,” Kumasuke grumbled, reaching briefly for his sake jug before realizing it was no longer there.

“Damn it!” Karasuke cried, dropping to the ground and placing his forehead on the ground, “we were so close this time, too!”

“...I don’t see why he can’t be,” the bald parrot said.

“EH?!” the other two animals gaped.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Knave answered, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish fashion, “I already have my own dream, so I don’t think that you can really make me do this...”

We’ve been completely ignored, his crew through silently, their forms having turned paper white as black lines lanced from the sky through them, an aura of gloom surrounding their entirety. However, they all returned to normal, ears perking slightly, as the conversation continued.

“A dream, eh?” the bald parrot asked, “and what might that be, young human?”

“Ciaosususususususu!” Knave laughed, “that’s easy! I’m gonna change the world!”

There was a brief pause as all who were there took the words in.

“Changing the world?” Karasuke asked, lifting up his head, “I don’t get it..”

“Not that hard to understand,” Knave muttered.

“Well, then I suppose I can’t keep you from following that goal of yours,” the bald parrot sighed, “alas, we’ll have to wait some more, won’t we?”

At that moment, the entire island began to shudder, the gathered group glancing around rapidly. Slowly and surely, massive streams of jet exploded out of the water around them, arcing into the air, the water dancing around beautifully... and forming the shape of a crown!

“What the?!” Kumasuke and Karasuke gasped, taking a step backwards.

“B-but there hasn’t been a king crowned yet!” Karasuke mumbled to himself.

“Pfh....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the old parrot suddenly laughed, throwing his head up into the air, “it doesn’t matter, does it?! I’ve been waiting my entire life to see a sight such as this! Whoever the king actually is... this is a still a cause of celebration!”

“You mean-?!” Knave gasped, his eyes shining as he leaned towards the bald parrot.

“A PARTY!”

~End of Log~

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