Hoshikita stood at the outskirts of the forest, waiting for the rest of his patrol to arrive at their rendezvous point. He had been informed, along with the rest of the marines who had traveled here to assist with the investigation, that they would be conducting a thorough search of the island in an attempt to find the culprits of the recent disappearances. His division had been assigned to search the forests that were located a few hundred yards away from the outskirts of the castle town. Hoshikita had woken up and arrived at the meeting point early so that he could get some fresh air and sunshine, and he felt that it had really paid off. He could hear a blue jay singing past the treeline, and the air smelled of pine trees. It wasn't often that Hoshikita got to come out and experience nature, and he appreciated the small moment to himself.

That moment couldn't last forever though, and after about half an hour Hoshikita spotted some figures approaching in the distance. He assumed that it would be the rest of his division, as it was approaching the designated time for them to start their search. Hoshikita perked up a bit at their supposed approach, as he was quite eager to begin exploring the forest, err, searching the forest. He had been quite glad when he'd heard that they were to search the forest as opposed to the city, as Hoshikita hadn't gotten to spend much time in nature during his childhood in Logue Town, and seeing new parts of the world and new environments was one of his main motivations for becoming a marine. Still, it wouldn't be right to enter the forest without back up, as it was very possible that this forest was where whatever was causing the disappearances was holed up, and going in alone could spell disaster for an unprepared marine. So, with baited breath, he awaited the arrival of his fellow marines, convincing himself that the figures he saw approaching in the distance were them.

"I swear, they just want us to end up as the victims of some serial killer. A forest is their home of advantage I tell you!" Axel began to talk to the two marines other than Lieutenant Cross and Ensign Bainbrydge while they walked from the docks to the outskirts of Briss Kingdom's forest. After leaving Baterilla and heading back to the base to give Captain Moria their information, they did other marine duties until that information they gathered was connected with information from other marine groups. At the end of it all, everything pointed to Briss Kingdom, so perhaps the kidnappers were located there. hat is why Lieutenant Cross and his team from the Baterilla investigation were called upon to see what was going on. During their break from these missions, Axel was promoted to Lieutenant, showing bravery and competence needed for the spot, but the young man was still skeptical and afraid of their next move. If the kidnappers were located in the forest, they would obviously be prepared for intruders, and would go slasher on their asses. Fortunately it was daytime and the sun was shining brightly upon the forest, so Axel didn't worry as much as he would have, but that didn't really change anything. A good enemy was prepared for a stealthy blow even during the day. Axel had his hands on his revolvers the whole time, quite paranoid as him and the two marines met up with Lieutenant Cross.

"Hey Cross, are we ready to go searching?" Axel asked with a smile on his face, not trying to show his fright to the tall man. The white spiky-haired marine looked around and noticed that some other tall figure was missing, which answered his question for him. "Hmmm, I don't see Wade. Maybe he will be here in a minute or so," Axel added, then walked over to a tree and leaned his back against it, with his hands still on his gun holsters.

WC: 329
TWC: 329

Wade was slowly walking to the rendezvous point, taking his time. He wore what he always did: vest, slacks, top hat and such. He was also using his cane to walk as well. However, something was different about the usually happy Tall Boy today. His hat was tipped down and he did not bear a smile. Rather, he wore a frown and was in deep thought. Though he was merely a Ensign, he along with his Marine brothers and sister were sent to essentially find kidnappers. Not just plain ones either. Given just how they were doing it along with the fact no one ever even notices a struggle when a kidnapping happens signifies that these guys were professionals. They know what their doing and thus, by extent, know how to combat the authorities. There is a good chance that some of them , if not he himself, could get killed. Or worse. And yet....Wade was at peace of mind with that.

He chose to be a Marine for a reason. He will not run away in the face of the enemy if they so appear. Oh no. He will not. He will go and combat them. Even if every bone his body were to shatter and every organ were to rupture. It is his duty to protect the innocents and he will follow through on it. With a sigh, he came back to reality. Enough will the philosophical thinking, it's time to actually do something. Deciding that he has already wasted to much time as it is, Wade went ahead and kicked off to the forest. It wasn't that far away anyway. He quickly stopped once he was in-front of both Hoshi and Axel, turning around a tipping his hat to them with a smile. "Hello boys. We ready for the descent?" He would ask, just waiting for a fight.

165 stamina:

Hoshikita was correct in thinking that the figures approaching in the distance were his fellow Marines, and he gave a friendly wave as they approached the rendezvous point. He recognized Axel and the other two ensigns from the day before, but quickly realized that Wade wasn't with them. It wasn't immediate cause for concern, but Hoshikita wondered where the dapper dressed man was and whether he was close behind. As Axel approached he had a smile on his face, and he asked if they were all ready to begin their search. Hoshikita was about to answer that they should probably wait for Wade, but Axel, apparently having assumed the man would already be here, noticed immediately that he wasn't there and presumed that he'd be there in a minute or so. "Hey there, Axel."  Cross greeted, before moving on to comment on his question. "Yeah, wouldn't do to be heading off without him. Hope he didn't get lost on the way here."He said, scratching an itch that had formed on his left cheek as he spoke.

It seemed that Axel was right about Wade being there within a minute or so, as Hoshikita was able to spot him slowly walking towards them about ten meters away, and the long legged man was about to wave over to him before the pale faced marine appeared before the group in an instant. Hoshikita recognized the technique as Soru, and wondered if it had truly been necessary to use it for such a mundane purpose, but relented that Wade was probably the best judge of how to use his own body and he refrained from mentioning it. When everyone noticed that Wade had arrived, he asked whether they were ready to get going, and Hoshikita gave a nod in affirmation. "Now that we're all here it seems like as good a time as any to get started. Lot of forest to comb through." Hoshikita began, looking back towards the forest. "We should probably split up to cover ground, but try to stay within earshot of somebody else if you can. Don't wanna get lost or caught by something unexpected out there." He added, planning to certainly take the advice to heart himself and only hoping the others would do the same. If there were no objections or questions pointed towards him, Hoshikita would start heading off into the forest, assuming that the others would follow suit.

The group was finally ready to get going when Ensign Bainbrydge seemingly teleported himself to their location. This wasn't the first time that Axel saw him do some crazy shit. The last time, his body acted lie steel, breaking the sword that attempted to slice him in half.

"Wow Wade, you gotta teach me that sometime," Axel commented, smiling at the tall man. Lieutenant Cross suggested that they split up and alert the others if they find anything interesting. If this was going to be anything like the last mission, Axel would end up not being any help at all and leaning on the others to get all of the details. The marksmen was going to try harder this time however.

"Alright. Let's go then," Axel replied, heading into the forest with his allies. After walking into the forest deep enough to be engulfed in tall trees which blocked out a lot of the sun's rays, and see many animals trailing the grassy road, the young man would branch away from his group to the east.

After a few meters of walking alone, Axel found a brook, and beyond that the grass field turned into a rocky field, but the trees didn't let up. That was unfortunate for him, as there was a sniper aimed right at his face just a few meters across that brook, up above on a branch in a tall tree. It was a good thing Axel looked up before the woman behind the gun pulled the trigger. During the hiatus from the mission, Axel ate a devil fruit that gave him the abilities of a Peregrine Falcon, and one of those abilities include allowing him to see 8 times further than most, and see clearly throughout that distance. He spotted the sniper as well as a hand connecting to the handle. She noticed that he noticed her and pulled the trigger right away, but a dodge-roll allowed the marine to get away before that happened. The shot might have alerted the others, but that depended on how far away they were.

Wade listened to Hoshi and nodded but said nothing. He also smiled warmly at Axel in response to his amazement. It would be fun to train him. His smile quickly went away however, as the trio had began to enter the forest. He would walk behind his friends, still using his cane, still not smiling. He listened intently to all the sounds around him. Any sound at all. From the rustle of leaves to the pitter patter of the small footsteps of the animals. He had to wary, least he and his allies fall victim as well. Though he had been ordered to go and branch out over the area, he decided to walk behind Hoshi. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them and they were gonna be attacked. Thus, he naturally stuck to him. Axel was far better off than they were, he thought. He was a sniper after all. These types of areas were made for him.

As Wade walked, he kept his distance from Hoshi. He walked a good six feet away from him, as to not be detected, and walked very lightly. Eventually, the duo would come upon a small clearing in the forest. Trees surrounded it, though it was quite large. It was essentially a open a field. Uneasy, Wade continued to walked. Suddenly, he heard a single gunshot that echoed throughout the area and quickly looked about. "Axel!" He said as he turned, only to find a cross dressing man come at him. He quickly jumped into a flying knee, aiming directly at Wade's face. Wade, raised a guard and hardened his body in a attempt to defend the attack. The knee connected with his raised arms, Wade was sent skidding backwards, stopping once he was a little past Hoshi. "That.......hurt...." Wade said as he lowered his guard and looked at the man who stood there, taking a bizarre fighting stance.

150 Stamina:

As they all entered the forest, Hoshikita noticed the two other marines head off to the west, and Axel split off to the east. Wade had seemingly decided to stick closer to him, which wasn't a bother to Hoshikita, though he did have some reservations about Axel being the only one to set off alone. The other marine had just been promoted to Lieutenant as well though, and Hoshikita resigned that he would probably be fine by himself. Wade appeared to be listening and looking intently for any signs of strange activity, and the long legged marine figured he better work a bit harder at it himself. He kept an eye out for any signs of activity in the forest, from beaten paths to broken branches, and anything that might have been caused by a human. After searching for a good while, Hoshikita started to think that there was probably no one out in this forest, either that or they were quite good at hiding their tracks. Starting to get frustrated, Hoshikita looked back over to Wade and stopped for a second. "Since we're not having any luck on the ground, I'm gonna try and get a bird's eye view." He said before turning up towards the tree tops and shooting off through the air with a series of powerful kicks.

Hoshikita was easily able to reach the upper branches of the trees with his Geppou, and he stood near the trunk and took in a deep breath to relax for a moment. More than anything he'd wanted to come up here to clear his head rather than actually thinking he'd be able to see something. However, rather than see something, he heard it, and it was a rather loud gunshot. Hoshikita first assumed that it was Axel firing the gun, but even so, if he was firing that likely meant there was something worthy of being shot at, and that he might need assistance. Hoshikita cursed himself for leaving Axel to be the only one to head off by himself, and his own stupidity for suggesting they split up to cover ground, and he began to maneuver himself down the tree. The branches were close together enough that he was able to get down rather easily without having to resort to Rokushiki, and he got down to the lowest of the branches that was about eight feet off of the ground. Once there, he noticed that Wade was no longer alone, and that there was a man dressed like a woman apparently in combat with him. Hoshikita hesitated for a moment, wondering what he should do now that both Axel and Wade appeared to be in danger, but he decided that Axel's situation was more urgent. Hoshikita didn't know how many enemies he was facing, and he had faith that his fellow marine would be capable of holding his own against the uniquely dressed man. "I'm leaving him to you, Wade. I'm gonna go check on Axel." He said, signing off with a peace sign and an extended thumb before shooting off into the forest with a Soru of his own, aimed in the direction of where he'd heard the gun go off. The branch he was standing on broke from the pressure of his kicks, and Hoshikita sped between the trees at high speeds before breaking into a sprint in that direction, keeping an eye out for Axel or any other enemies in the forest.

320/350:

"Too slow my friend. Too slow," Axel commented after he completed his dodge roll. During that action, he pulled out the revolver attached to the right side of his belt and aimed near the sniper, launching two bullets. He wasn't specifically aiming for the enemy that was shooting at him, but he wanted to be sure that the assailant would be too worried to keep her aim and move elsewhere while he hopped on a stone path that would get him across the brook. By the time the marine arrived on the other side, the enemy was gone, but he heard footsteps from above. She turned around and went deeper into the forest. There was a chance that this shooter had more than just a sniper. Perhaps a flintlock pistol that she would use to shoot Axel once he went in too deep, so he decided to take to the skies.

The transformation didn't take too long. The first thing that changed was that he grew dark gray and whit fur all over his body, and then he grew a beak on his face, and his eyes turned pure black. He grew claws on his hands and even on his feet which caused his sandals to break. Finally the bird man grew long wings on his back. As soon as the transformation began, he ascended into the sky by flapping his wings as hard as he could. Once he was a few dozen meters into the sky, he was above the highest tall trees, and those their leaves gave cover to the branches below, their were some spots that allowed Axel to see movement, especially with his enhanced eyesight. Once he saw some leaves move a few meters ahead of him, he moved out. He now flew just above the top of the trees, and would do so until he got close to the woman that continued to jump across the branches below. Once he was above her, he ascended just an extra meter and aimed the revolver that was already in his hand. Unfortunately, she saw something weird floating above her and took out her flintlock pistol to aim as well. Axel shot as soon as the woman leaped onto the next branch, and she shot at that time as well. Her shot grazed the bottom of Axel's right wing, but his grazed the left side of her left leg's thigh. Weary about his wings sustaining anymore damage, Axel would retract them back into his skin and land on the nearest branch. The enemy dropped down to the ground below and hid behind a tree that was a few feet from the tree Axel was on.

"If you come out and surrender, I won't shoot you to death," Axel said smiling. He still felt the pain from his grazed wing, but that wouldn't stop him yet.

"No can do. I was ordered to assassinate you, so I will," she replied back. She began to run deeper into the forest after that, and Axel continued to chase her, with him being the one leaping across the branches now.

Wade didn't face Hoshi as he told him to handle the man himself so he could go and check on Axel. He said nothing in response. Rather, he kept staring at the cross dresser before him. He was fast. Very fast and was strong to boot. Wade, knowing this was going to be a tough battle, slowly grew a smile on a face. The man before him grew a confused look on his face. "Why are you smiling!?ARE YOU MOCKING ME!?" He suddenly yelled, instantly becoming angry. Wade, however, said nothing. With a fast twirl of his cane he pointed at the man. "Come at me. Now." He said, adding weight to his usually smooth and calm voice. The cross dresser was taken aback, surprised by this sudden change. However, this did not last long as he quickly charged at Wade in a...ballet body formation? Knowing not to underestimate his opponent, Wade came at him too and so began their battle. The man (Jin) went into a twirl which turned into a spinning high kick, aimed at Wade's chin. Wade managed to raise hand and grabbed it by the ankle, stopping the attack. He then quickly swung with his metal cane, which Jin ducked under before snatching his leg back.

He suddenly did another whirl again did the same attack once more with the opposing leg this time. Once again Wade raised his hand in a effort to grab it, but Jin had something else in mind. Upon making contact with his hand, Jin hooked his leg around Wade's hand and, with a swift movement, threw him onto the ground. Wade turned around onto his back and then quickly got into his feet, the man not doing a series of various ballet stances. A cocky, arrogant smile was on his face as he did them. He was toying with Wade. With a grunt, he slowly got up. Deciding to take the offensive, he used Soru and, once close enough, attempted to do a gut punch to stun him. Jin, however, managed to keep up with his speed and raised his knee in defense. Though it did stop the punch, it did not take away the force from it, especially from the speed was going at. Jin skidded back a good six feet and felt a bruise forming on his leg. Cursing silently, he looked up, only to find Wade was already on him. With two swift thwacks, he struck Jin with his metal cane. One strike on the back of the head and one the front. Having bought himself sometime with those two head strikes (disoriented Jin), he quickly reeled back his arm and let out a Shigan onto Jin's chest.

Jin yelped in pain and jumped back, holding his chest. He looked up at Wade and in a single instance, the man was filled with rage. "How.....DARE YOU!" He yelled. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY MAJESTIC BODY! THIS BODY THAT I HAVE TRAINED FOR CONSTANT HOURS A-" Wade sighed, blocking out most of the rambling. He took these few moments as a way to rest. Though their struggle was relatively short, he tired due to the fact of how much adrenaline he had pumping in his body. Placing a hand in his pocket and holding the cane with the other one, he sighed. However, he quickly snapped back into reality as the man got back into a fighting stance. "Urabure Swan Butokai!" He yelled, with some image of two drunk swans appearing behind him. Wade quickly got into a battle stance as Jin came to him. "Kami-e" Wade mumbled as a barrage of attacks happened. His body going limped, he began to sway from side to side, dodging the various kicks and punches thrown at him. However, Jin then drew his leg back, as if preparing for a kick. "Hakucho..." He would say, with Wade lifting his arms up in defense and setting up his Tekkai. "ARABESQUE!"

Wade was sent flying back into a tree, crashing into it badly. He slowly slid to the ground and coughed up some blood. "Hahaha!" Jin laughed triumphantly, putting his hands on his hips. Wade didn't get up. Oh no. It was obvious his martial prowess was rather inferior compared to this man's. His speed was definitely outclassed as well. He really only had on option left. Slowly, his began to change and morph. His legs began to fuse into each other to make a tail and his clothes disappeared. His top-hat fell from his head and onto the ground. His skin turned into black and white scales while his underside turned into a white color. His size also increased drastically. "Hahah.ha...haha..haa....?" Jin would say as he now looked at the 35 foot hybrid snake man in-front of him. Wade towered over him and looked down onto him, his hands balled into fists. Jin took a few steps back, stunned at the sudden change. He was frightened by this boost, but kept his fear down. Rather, he suddenly jumped in the air until he was at head level with Wade. "Urabu-" Jin would begin to say before being smacked down to the ground with Wade's giant hand. Jin laid flat on the ground, stunned from the pain and the shock of the attack. Wade, wanting to finish, reeled his arm back. "Shigan." And with that, with tense speed, he struck Jin with his finger. Due to the finger being super-sized, it did not penetrate Jin. Rather, it crushed him further and, having aimed at his chest, Jin's ribs, lungs, and heart are crushed as well. Jin was defeated.

With a sigh, he transformed back and laid down, flat on his own back, panting. There was a loud cracking sound when he did the Shigan, the sound of the very ground cracking. It was quite loud. Hopefully the others heard it. For now, however, Wade decided to rest.

75 Stamina:

Hoshikita was dashing through the forest, desperately searching for any sign of Axel or anyone who might be intending to do harm to them. He felt as if his feet weren't carrying him fast enough, and he considered utilizing his Rokushiki techniques to increase his speed, but quickly resigned that he needed to keep his stamina up in case these enemies were troublesome. The thick trees prevented Hoshikita from getting a far view from any point, and the foliage was too close knit for him to see anything from higher up, so he was resigned to continue running and hope that he heard something again. Luckily for him, there was another two gunshots fired off in the forest, and he was able to slightly change his direction until that was exactly where he was headed. He hoped that Axel was holding his own, and he looked back over his shoulder as he wondered if Wade was alright as well. Hoshikita was quite distressed that they were all split up now, and he hoped that he wouldn't get ambushed while he was alone while he was still searching for Axel.

That fear seemed to be unfounded however as Hoshikita caught a glimpse of Axel through the trees. The other marine was hopping across a brook, and Hoshikita didn't want to call out to him for fear of startling him or alerting the enemy to their presence. Instead, he moved more carefully and stealthily than before while still trying to keep the same pace and started to head after him. As Hoshikita moved, he saw Axel stop for a moment before his entire body began to alter and shift, growing a down of feathers, claws, and wings. Hoshikita was rather put off by the strange metamorphosis, but he had seen Zoan Devil Fruit users before, and he was able to assume that the abilities were granted by such. Still, Hoshikita hadn't known that his fellow marine had eaten of those cursed Devil Fruits, and he made a note to be slightly more wary of Axel from then on. Hoshikita was a bit overly superstitious, and was quite cautious of such spooky things as sea devils and the like. Still, he couldn't allow his reservations to cloud his judgement, and he took to the air after his fellow marine with a Geppou. He shot off into the air after the avian marksman, boosting himself up with well timed kicks against the air until he'd broken the tree line. He saw Axel some meters away, flying above the trees with his pistols at the ready.

At that moment, Hoshikita saw some trees shake and a heard a loud snapping sound in the direction that he had left Wade. He hoped that the other marine would be okay, but he knew that he would never get anything done if he kept spending his time running between the two of them. What they all needed to do now that they knew they were under attack was group up and come up with a plan. Neither time nor the situation seemed to be on their side however, and Hoshikita could only hope that everyone would be alright. He continued to move over towards Axel, ready to give him support and leap into the fray himself. Then, hearing more gunshots go off Hoshikita saw Axel stagger in the air for a moment before he descended below the treeline. Hoshikita followed after him, darting through the air with well timed kicks before he landed on a branch nearby Axel and going back to relying on his natural acrobatic prowess to remain in the trees. Axel seemed to be pursuing a woman who was running on the ground, and she was seemingly injured. Hoshikita could only assume that there was a reason Axel was chasing her, and he hopped after him through the treetops. "Hey Axel, got everything under control?" Hoshikita would ask, using his long legs to keep up with Axel among the tree branches now.

297.5/350:

As Axel hopped from branch to branch, he noticed a tall figure descending from above the tree and started  running with him. Axel looked to his right and noticed that it was Cross. The gunner was still in his bird form minus the wings, and he hasn't showed many of his allies this form yet, so it was quite embarassing for him to be revealed that way, but the bird man couldn't focus on that right now. He had to chase down this lady while replying to Hoshikata's question.

"Yep, I think I do Lieutenant. This girl was trying to snipe me, and I heard some kind of snap in the other direction, so I assumed that you and Ensign Bainbrydge were handling that situation, but it is just him then I suppose, or the other two marines. It seems that they knew we were coming, and do indeed  know something is up, so I will try and capture her alive. Now excuse me while I get her pinned, please," Axel told Cross. As they ran across the branches, they were getting closer and closer to the female who was slowed down by the wound on her left leg. After a few seconds, she was almost directly under the branches that Axel and Cross would jump on. Feeling threatened, she looked upwards behind her and pointed the flintlock pistol in her right hand at the branch a few feet behind her that Axel just landed. She pulled the trigger, but was too late. Axel jumped right as the bullet was launched. It grazed the top of the branch, but he was long off of it, jumping not towards the next branch, but this time to the ground just two feet behind the lady. She shot again, this time with the bullet aimed at the man's head, but he ducked on time, aimed his revolver at her right leg, and fired. She tried to run as fast as she could once she realized she failed to hit the marine with that last bullet, but failed. She ended up falling to the rocky ground. Not taking any chances, Axel aimed the revolver at her body, which had it's back to the sky at this point.

"Surrender and tell us everything please," Axel smiled in his bird form

Wade laid on the ground for what seemed like forever to him. He heard more and more gunshots until there was a stop. The tall boy sighed and, with hesitance and few cripes and moans of pain, he stood. Nothing too seriously injured, though he'll be sore for a while. Now standing up and dusting himself off, he looked about, looking for a certain two items. After a few moments, he found them. Bending down, he grabbed his oh so classy top-hat and placed it back onto the top of his head where it belonged. Afterwards he picked up his cane and twirled it about. Now he looked back at the rather battered body of Jin. Walking to it, he grabbed it and held as he suddenly ran in the direction Hoshi was going. It wasn't long until the ground changed from grass to rocks. Eventually, he managed to find a brook. With a ungraceful hop he continued over it and resumed running, moving about faster as he heard more gunfire. Panting as he progressed, he began to see some forms in the distance. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to him to be Hoshi and......Axel? A humanoid bird in his clothing? Wade shook his head. He knew better and naturally assumed it to be a zoan fruit. Who knew Axel ate one. The third figure was seemingly a woman on the ground. Injured and panting. "Oi...." Wade would say when he's close enough.

He had some noticably beaten and had some bruises and scuff marks, along with being tired. He would then proceed to throw Jin's much more battered body onto the ground, his chest crushed, eyes white, and mouth along with nose bloodied. Unmoving.