Walk in the Rain

Chio laid down two cards, then picked two of them up.

Chio: 2000 Belli.

Mark: Call, raise you 3000.

Chio: Feeling ambicious are we?

Mark and Chio shared a wry grin, holding their cards close to their faces so that neither of them could pick up a tell.

Mark: If you're nervous, you can always fold. Save me the trouble.

Chio: Oh, I'm in. Call.

Rinji: You sure about this, Chio?

Rinji whispered from his side.

Rinji: Remember, we need food, we don't need lobster and steak, though that would be a great bonus.

Chio: Back off, tuna-breath, I know what I'm doing.

Mark: I didn't know they allowed cats in this bar. You know, you could bet me that cat, I think my mates would like a crew mascot.

Rinji gave him a glare at the comment, and decided to ignore it as stupid banter.

Chio: Alright, you raised so you go first.

Mark: Two pair, queens high.

Chio: Well that's 5000 in the bag, three pair.

Mark's expression took a nose dive at this, he scowled at Chio, no one could have that good of luck. What he didn't know was that it was not Chio's luck, it was Rinji's extreme senses that caught Mark off guard. When Mark was bluffing, Rinji would tap Chio on the leg one time, when Mark had a great hand, Rinji would tap his leg twice. Strangely enough, no one wanted to play a cat in poker.

Mark: Son of a bitch... you're not walki--

Chio: Welp, it's been fun, but I'm gonna go get some eats, see you--

Mark: I'll see you in hell!

Before Mark could even unholster his gun, Chio's leg came flying out of seemingly nowhere. His hands planeted onto the table between them, and his legs spun around overhead and collided with Mark's cheek. Chio flipped down off of the table as Mark hit his head hard onto the ground, and Rinji cleaned off the table of chip, including Mark's leftover.

Chio: Alright, lets find Usagi and get off this island, this will be enough to get us to the New World.

Rinji: Mewhahahaha! Probably get us fat along the way.

The two of them gathered their things and exited the tavern, Rinji not bothering to return his mug as he continued to sip his beer.

Usagi: With that attentiveness, we're not going to last ten seconds in the New World.

She stood, her back against the wall beside the door, arms crossed, and a baby carrot hanging from his lips.

Chio: Yeah, thanks for the reassurance. We just happened to get more money for those stupid puzzles you like to put together.

Before he knew it, she had already swiped the cash from Chio's pocket.

Chio: Hey!

Usagi: And that's 3000 you owe me.

Chio took the rest of the money, glowering at Usagi with a dubious look. But that was when all of them noticed a peculiar fog overtaking the streets. It was dark, and the fog began to curl around at their ankles.

Stanley: What is this? I can't move!

From down the street, they heard a group of three men struggling as the fog seemed to affect them differently than the rest.

Matsu: Agh!! My skin is burning! AAGGH!!

All of them began to fall, and before too long, all of them were falling to the ground, and their bodies were completely engulfed in it.

Rinji looked down the other side of the street to see a very skinny, dark figure standing in the middle of the road with three cloth bags, slightly twitching beside him. As the fog swept across the figure, he and his prisoners were completely gone, as was the fog.

Rinji: ...ah hell.