Grand Voyage- Log 23

Log 23: Dahlia Part 4
“It hurts~” Knave groaned as Stormy, now clad in jeans and a pink tank top with a large red bow on her chest area, the new outfit showing off more of her very fine figure, quickly applied another band aid to one of the bruises left by the airplane. “Quit whining,” she snapped, “if you’re a man, then deal with it.”

“She’s right, you know!” Sid cried, spinning happily in place, his eyes having assumed the likeness of cartoonish hearts, “oh my darling angel, beautiful giver of medical love, could you please allow me to-”

“No,” Stormy replied simply, imbedding her foot into Sid’s head, causing the blue-haired navigator to drop to the floor.

“Throw myself...” Sid groaned as he hit the ground.

“Hmm...” Knave pondered, having suddenly appearing in front of a small mirror that sat on one of the walls of the medical bay, “you’re pretty good at this stuff.”

“Of course I am,” Stormy said matter-of-factly, “I wouldn’t be the chief medical officer of the resistance if I wasn’t.”

“I see,” Knave said, the absent-minded tone of his voice and the fact that he was still staring at the mirror poking his bandages proving he didn’t. This fact was not lost upon Stormy, who promptly huffed, finished putting away the materials, and prepared to walk out of the room again.

However, at that moment, Calico slammed open the door, catching a still-lying there Sid on the head, releasing a small squeak of pain. The resistance leader stormed in, followed by D’Artagnan, who was glancing around, examining the structure.

“Yo, Art!” Knave cried, happily leaping over to his first mate, “where were you? Who’s this guy?” He pointed to Calico.

“He’s the-” Art began.

“I’m the leader of the resistance,” Calico said, extending his hand, “and I assume you’re the Captain of the Marimo Pirates?”

“The who what when now?” Knave asked, taking Calico’s hand anyway.

“Oh dear,” Art sighed, “this is gonna take awhile...”

Seven minutes later...

“Oh, I see,” Knave said, brightening, “so you want us to blow up a plant!”

“Well, not really,” Calico started, “it’s a bit more complicated than that-”

“Trust me,” Art said, “that’s as much as he’ll understand.”

“I see,” Calico said, sweat dropping, “then, can I count on you and your crew?”

“As long as its fun!” Knave said, grinning happily, “Ciaosusususususu!”

“And as long as I can work with Stormy-chan!” Sid said, leaping to his feet and wiggling his body happily.

“I doubt it,” Calico said bluntly, causing Sid to huddle in the corner, deep in depression, “Stormy prefers to look alone, but with our endgame coming soon... she might not have a choice.”

“So does that mean?” Sid began, hope filling his face.

“It will probably not be you,” Calico returned, causing Sid to crash to the floor, weeping quietly, “I’ll probably pair her with Bayn or one of the others who’s good at taking orders.”

“I’m good at-”

“Give it up,” Art said, as Sid fled out of the room, tears exploding from his face.

Silence filled the area for a short bit (I say that a lot, don’t I? Huh.), and then Calico began walking out.

“It’s time to announce the final battle.”

“No, no!” Soldier 1 yelled, before a massive line of blood erupted from his chest, cutting through his armor like it was swiss cheese.

“Please-” Soldier 2 began, before a similar fate befell him, however, this time it was his head itself that was cut. The two bodies of the now dead soldiers toppled to the floor at the feet of a fairly tall man, with short-cropped blonde hair, wearing moss green armor and holding a large rapier.

“You mean to tell me,” the man began, flicking the rapier around and releasing large compressed air strikes, cutting up the room around him, “that some scum from that pitiful resistance and some nobody pirate managed to wreck our entire food service?”

“Y-yes, Lord Beerus,” one of his attendant’s said, trembling slightly, “with the amount of food that was either spoiled, lost, or eaten by them, I-I doubt we can even muster up enough to get half of last year’s crop.”

“Hmm...” Lord Beerus, “king” of Sensui Island pondered as he walked aimlessly around the large reception hall in the center of the island’s main column, “it looks like we have no choice. Prepare the evacuation boats if neccessary, but until then, pull out all our bonus food stores. There will be no compensation feast this year.”

“But sir,” the attendant said, “the people will rebel if they-” A massive blood spurt appeared on his chest, and the attendant dropped to the floor. Beerus sighed again, wiping his rapier on a nearby curtain to get the blood off. He gave a knowing look to Peter, his main contact in the SIDC, and Clover, his head of attendants. Clover quickly vanished to prepare, while Peter simply sat down in a small chair.

“Tell me, Peter,” Beerus said, taking a place on his own throne, “why DID you let the obvious pirates into the harbor?”

“It seemed,” Peter began, “as though they could be potentially useful. And besides, we’ve let pirates who are obviously in disguise through before. It was a bit refreshing to let some obvious pirates in.”

“I’ll never understand you,” Beerus said simply, “but that’s what’s so interesting. Still, it seems they’ve joined up with the resistance. Find and kill them.”

“Yessir,” Peter said, standing up and quickly walking out of the room.

Beerus sat on his throne, then let out a deep sigh. “I’ll be there soon, Dahlia-sama,” he murmured, “I won’t let your festival fail this year!”

“Attention!” Calico cried into the large megaphone Den Den Mushi that was placed on the large platform overlooking the main room of the base. All the members of the resistance stopped their activities, turning their attention to their leader. The newly christened Marimos and Stormy slid in from their respective doors, pressed against the wall.

“It’s been a long twelve years,” Calico said, “but it is finally time. We have done our best, but the city is still crumbling around us. It is no longer time for quiet plans or subversive actions. We must strike quickly and decisively.”

Silence filled the air at this proclamation.

“We’ve finally completed our secret elevator leading to the top of the main column. With this we can quickly arrive at the top and will be able to strike at any part of the city. We’ll also have to plug the waterfall in order to keep us from being washed away. With the water gone, people will notice quickly. That’s when we’ll move, and we’ll take down all remnants of the government here.

“Then, we need to use the blocked column to deliver explosives straight down into the plant, or the Dahlia as the people in charge like to call it. Once we kill it, we’ll have successfully liberated this island.”

Calico moved quickly, pushing his hands into his pockets and then yanking them out, sending thousands of paper airplanes flying through the air, straight into the hands of many resistance members, the Marimos excepted. Once they were unfolded, they revealed a precise set of orders.

“Now that you have your instructions,” Calico continued, “I’d like to introduce three pirates that will be helping us, acting as pseudo-bodyguards, insurance if you will. Each one will go with one of the three convoys.”

“First, with the Water Block Convoy, we have D’Artagnan.” The Majin nodded.

“With the Bomb Convoy, we have Dhahaka D. Knave.” All the members of the resistance did a double take, while Knave simply grinned and waved a peace sign at them with his fingers.

“And finally, with the Clear-Out Convoy, we have Sid Cheney.” Sid nodded grimly, already preparing himself for battle, stretching slightly.

“All of you, group up. We’re beginning in three hours, right as the night hits.” And with that, Calico walked away from the platform, back into the base.

“I can’t believe this,” Stormy groaned, as she glanced around at the other members of the Bomb Convoy. It was specifically made up of her, Bayne, a large assortment of grunts, and, to her chagrin, Knave.

“What’s up?” Bayn asked, pulling on some fingerless gloves, spikes attacked to the knuckles, “seems like we have enough people.”

“I know, I know,” Stormy sighed, “but I should have been with the Clear-Out Convoy! They’re seeing the most combat, and thus, should probably have the greatest medic with them.”

“I think the boss’s being kind,” one of the grunts said, “after all, you’re the one who wants to destroy the damn plant the most Stor-”

“I thought we agreed,” Stormy seethed, her hand now gripping the grunt in a choke hold, “not to EVER mention that!”

“S-sorry,” the grunt gasped as she dropped him.

“And YOU!” Stormy whipped around, pointing an accusing finger at Knave, who was sitting quiet innocently in a Indian sitting position, looking for all the world like a preschooler about to be scolded, “what the hell’s up with that name?!”

“What do you mean?” Knave asked, “I like it...”

“Come off it!” Stormy growled, “naming yourself after a ghost story used to scare children! That’s pathetic!”

“What story?” Knave asked.

“Dhahaka D. Spade!” she hissed, “The Phantom Pirate, the one all the mothers use to scare their kids with! You think that makes you cool, using that name?”

“I dunno,” Knave drawled, “I was born with this name. I don’t even know what story you’re talking about.”

“How can you not know who Dhahaka D. Spade is?!” Stormy asked, “did you not have parents growing-”

“Nope,” Knave said cheerily, “never even saw ‘em once.”

Stormy fell silent, slightly regretting her earlier harshness. “Not even once? Do you even know who they are?”

“Not a clue! Ciaosususususu!”

“Then who raised you?”

“Aniki,” Knave said simply, “and a bit from her, but...” He shuddered slightly, “It was mostly aniki, I guess.”

“Who’s Ani-”

“On a more important note!” Knave said suddenly, leaping to his feet and grinning happily, eyes assuming the likeness of stars, “we’re gonna be able to blow something up, right?”

“That... is our job, yes,” Stormy said, sweatdropping.

“Awesome!” Knave crowed, throwing his hands into the air, “this is gonna be the best night ever-”

“It’s time!” Calico yelled, as he suddenly leaped onto the platform. “Let’s move, everyone, move!”

~End of Log~

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