Task:

Marcel was sitting upon one of the roofs in Logue Town, inspecting the various people below him. Everyone seemed rather cheerful today. Kids were out pretending to be pirates and marines while chasing each other, couples were strolling down the sidewalk, hand in hand, families were out sightseeing and couples were sitting on benches, feeding the local birds. It was quite a peaceful sight to Marcel who decided to take out his sketchbook and began to draw the things below him. He smiled softly to himself as he looked up from his sketchbook to make sure that what he was drawing was still fresh in his mind before looking back down at his book.

The one's who lived in the Blues seemed to have a completely different lifestyle than people of the Wano Country. Except for "Little Wano" of course. Marcel has experienced many different lifestyles and islands during his travels with his mother, but what he found here at the Blues, especially the East Blue felt completely peaceful. Marcel sighed in happiness as he drew, but soon his calm mood would change as the sudden sound of shouting had broke his concentration.

The samurai looked down to see that a figure was running past, maneuvering around and knocking over some of the citizens, with some marines giving chase. Marcel closed his book and put it away as his eyes followed the source of the commotion. "Even the most peaceful of towns still has their moments it seems." the samurai said to himself as he beat his fist on his chest to make sure he had his iron chest plate with him, which he did. He then gripped the hilt of his katana, "Master's Will" which was strapped safely to his left hip.

Without a second thought, Marcel stood up and began to run, jumping from building to building in the direction of the street rat and his pursuers.

Marcel had continued to dash from roof to roof, with the upper half of his body bent slightly forward and his hands stretched out to the back in an attempt to go faster. He would glance down at the street rat and marines who were still running to make sure he hasn't lost them. As Marcel took a closer look, he noticed that their were only five marines who looked to be no more than common foot soldiers. Why they were chasing this man was unknown to Marcel and he would usually care less, but the medical samurai was secretly hoping that something exciting would happen today since it has been pretty calm lately.

Marcel then noticed that the street rat had ducked into an alley. Marcel stopped at the edge of the last building which was overtop of the alley at the same time the marines arrived. Surprisingly, the fugitive seemed to have disappeared. It appeared that there was no way out of that alley except for the way he came in. Even the wall at the end was too big for someone to climb over that fast or even climb over at all. The marines looked to each other in confusion before leaving the alley to look elsewhere.

Marcel gave a small smirk before jumping down to the alley. He began to inspect the brick walls nearby until he noticed that a certain part of the walls felt odd. It felt a lot more like wood then bricks. The samurai then moved the wooden area to see a door sized entrance. "Oh?" Marcel said to himself in a silent but intrigued tone. He then walked into the passageway, not knowing what to expect.

Marcel walked down what seemed to be a long hallway. The only source of light was coming from the entryway and another entrance at the end. Heading towards the light is usually a bad thing but in this case, Marcel was hoping that something interesting would come of this. He had no clue what would be waiting for him on the other end. Could be riches, wonders, a magic lamp, or perhaps death. Either way, Marcel was prepared for it. He gripped the hilt of his sheathed katana as he approached the end of the hallway.

The samurai had entered a wide, square shaped room that had various items around. Marcel walked closer in as he inspected the room. Where did the guy go? Marcel thought to himself. This was surely the only place he could've went. He then noticed that there was another blocked entrance at the end of the room. He began to approach that direction, but suddenly stopped midway. Something wasn't right. Marcel slowly looked around, clenching the hilt of his blade as if he was expecting a sneak attack. The sound of footsteps quickly approaching caused Marcel to quickly turn around to see that he was approached by one of the basic marines that were chasing after the street rat.

"Who are you!? What is this place!? Have you seen a shady looking character around here?" the marine asked the samurai. Marcel simply stared at the marine, with his hand still on the hilt. The marine looked down to Marcel's weapon before attempting to get out his Den Den Mushi. Quickly, Marcel slashed at the Marine's hand, causing him to wince in pain. The medical samurai then dashed towards the marine and impaled him at the location of his heart, causing the marine to cough up blood before instantly dying.

Marcel slowly slid the blade out of his victim's chest and watched as he fell on his back. He then took out a small cloth and wiped the blood off of the blade before sheathing it. "Well, you can come on out I suppose." he said to what appeared to be himself only to find out that the street rat was hiding up on the ceiling using some kind of rope.
The street rat had a surprised expression on his face, not just from being found out, but from just witnessing the samurai take out a marine with ease.

"That was incredible!" the street rat said to Marcel as he jumped down behind him.

"I have a strong distaste towards marines." Marcel said to the street rat as he turned around to face him. "Can't blame ya, sir! They have been a thorn in my ass for quite a while now." the street rat commented as he chuckled to himself. Marcel took a better look at the person he saved, seeing that he appeared be in his teens, perhaps seventeen, wearing worn out clothes and a white headband with messy hair. He looked to be homeless and judging by the appearance of this little hideout, he has ben for quite sometime.

"You see something you like?" the street rat asked with a smirk before chuckling a little. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" he replied quickly after. Marcel just continued to stare at him with an unamused expression. "I'm guessing the marines are after you because of your "snappy" remarks? Marcel commented before sighing as he took another look around the room. "Looks like I'm not the only one with snappy remarks." the street rat added with a snicker. "Well, I guess you could say that all of the things you see here wasn't exactly purchased." he said as he gestured at the various objects here.

It makes sense now, but what was odd was the things that were stolen. Normally, a homeless person would steal essentials or alcohol. But, this place was littered with mostly things you'd see at some sort of valentine's day stand. "The name's Niddala by the way. You might be wondering why I have all these hearts, flowers and crap." he said to Marcel who remained silent but was indeed curious. Niddala then gestured to the other pathway and proceeded to open the entrance.

Marcel followed the boy through a shorter hallway into another big room. At the end of the room was some sort of shrine with a small picture of a girl in the middle. Marcel had a rather puzzled look on his face as he looked at the shrine. This seem rather creepy to the samurai. Niddala turned around to face Marcel, giving him a ta-da like expression, only to look at him in confusion. "She's a girl who came here from Alabasta. The moment I saw her, I fell instantly in love. I've been "collecting" various things in an attempt to win her over, but I have yet t find the right item." the street rat explained rather sadly.

Marcel still didn't really understand this, but he did know that getting someone to love you takes time and a lot of work, not showering them with gifts. He simply shrugged it off and turned around, about to leave. "H-hey, wait!" Niddala said to the samurai while grabbing one of his arms. Marcel stood there and glanced at the boy, waiting to see what he had to say.

"You seem pretty strong. I know I don't have much, but can you please help me out?" the street rat pleaded. "I'm sorry, but I am no expert on love and relationships." Marcel replied as he turned his head back forward. Niddala shook his head before saying, "No, no not with that. I believe I may have found out what that perfect item is for her, but I need a bodyguard in case the other marines show up. Please, just until I received the item and gave it to her." Marcel sighed and turned around to face the street rat. "Why don't I just buy this item for you?" he asked Niddala, trying to be reasonable.

"No! The item must come from me. If someone else gets it for me, then it wouldn't be from me." Marcel was amused by the boy's pride, causing him to smirk a little. "Very well, I suppose." Marcel said with a shrug as Niddala began to rejoice.

Marcel and Niddala have begun ducking past buildings with Niddala in the lead. Niddala has pretty much grown up his entire life having to do this sort of stuff while Marcel was trained to be speedy so they were both quite good at sneaking around. Niddala peeked from behind a building, his eyes focused on a pawn shop. That was their destination. Niddala took a good look around to see if the area was clear of marines. After doing so, he turned to Marcel and gave him a quick nod as they proceeded towards to pawn shop. The two walked into the shop, casually as if they were paying customers and began to look around as such.

Niddala walked towards the back of the shop where the item he was looking for was located. In a display on the back counter was a golden necklace with a hear in the center. It looked clean and completely brand new compared to the other love junk the street rat has collected. Niddala looked at it in awe as Marcel observed their surroundings. Just then, the shop door opened again and just their luck, it was another marine. It was one of the marine's who were chasing after Niddala earlier. Marcel nudged the street rat who turned around to see the marine. "Are you serious?" he whispered as he looked on with Marcel.

The marine showed the owner of the shop a wanted poster with a picture of Niddala. The owner than pointed towards the back of the store. As soon as that happened, Niddala gave an "Oh crap." expression as the marine began to approach the two. Marcel gripped the hilt of his katana as Niddala grabbed a nearby hard object to shatter the glass containing the necklace before grabbing it. Marcel charged towards the marine with his katana already unsheathed, quickly impaling the poor officer through the neck, causing the owner to scream in the process.

Marcel quickly kicked the body off of his blade and charged towards the door with Niddala close behind. Just when they thought they were out of danger, they were welcomed by three more low ranked marines who were armed with swords. "Welp! They are all yours, umm." Niddala said as he paused at the last time, just now realizing that he didn't get the samurai's name. "Marcel." he said to Niddala as he slowly walked towards the three marines who were telling them that they were under arrest.

As the marines noticed that their demands weren't being met, they charged towards Marcel who now had a small smirk on his face, welcoming the attack. One of the marines attempted a horizontal slash which was simply ducked by the samurai who retaliated by piercing his katana through that marine's chest, killing him. Marcel quickly got up and kicked the second marine in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. The samurai immediately turned towards Niddala who had the third marine rushing towards him with killing intent. Marcel dashed towards that marine and caused him to trip backwards onto Marcel's blade, piercing through the back of his neck, killing him.

Marcel then slid the katana out of the marine just in time to duck the incoming slash from the second marine who bounced back up from the kick. Marcel rammed the hilt of his katana at the second marine's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Marcel took this opportunity to quickly turn around and impale the marine in the chest with his blade, killing him as well. "You are truly amazing!" Niddala praised the samurai who was looking around at the cowering citizens.

Just then, the area got completely quiet with only the sound of footsteps being heard with everyone's attention going towards the foot steps.

The scene shifts to a marine base in Logue Town in the office of a Marine Captain who was talking on a Den Den Mushi while eating crackers from a bag. "You say you see them?" the marine captain asked whoever he was talking to. The captain suddenly spat out some of the crackers with a bit of shock on his face. "What the hell do you mean "they're dead."?!?!" the captain shouted as he bashed his fists onto his desk.

"You say you see the ones who did it right and that Niddala is one of them? Good, don't let them escape, kill them if you want. I'll be there in a little." the captain ordered as he hung up the Den Den Mushi. He then opened the drawer on his desk and took out a picture of a familiar girl.

Back to the area with the Pawn Shop. The figure who was walking towards the samurai and the street rat had put away his Den Den Mushi with a grin on his face. "Gotcha, Captain." he said to himself as he slammed the knuckles of what appeared to be iron like gloves together. The person approaching the two was a Marine Commander. He took a good look around at the bloody mess and shook his head. "I hate foot soldiers. Can never get the job done." he said as he turned his attention back to Marcel and Niddala, mainly Niddala.

"Alright, shrimp! Gotta message from my captain. He said that your time's up!" he said as he moved his head back and fourth, making cracking noises. Niddala stood there, hugging onto the necklace with a concerned look on his face, as his breathing grew heavy. Marcel then stood in front of the street rat with a calm but serious look on his face. He glared at the commander with killing intent. "Oh? You must be the squirt who killed off all my men. Bravo! I guess I'll take you out real quick before I smash in that dirty little street rat's face." The commander said with a smirk as he rushed at Marcel. The samurai stood his ground with his katana facing towards the commander. He breathed in then out and ducked the commander's first punch. The commander then tried to get Marcel with an uppercut with the other hand only to miss as Marcel went around the commander to his back. The commander attempted to backhand the fast moving samurai but was dodged as well by Marcel bending back a little.

The commander then turned around and tried to smash Marcel to the ground with both hands, only for marcel to slide to the commander's side. The commander continued his failed attempts at hitting Marcel who was pretty much dancing around this foolish marine. Marcel was clearly taunting him which aggravated the commander who was now getting more sloppy with his attacks due to his anger. Marcel then found his way behind the commander and proceeded to elbow him in the back of the neck, causing the brute commander to fall face first on the ground.

Marcel then sat on the commander's back and quickly impaled the katana through the back of the marine's head, killing him instantly. Marcel slowly slid the katana out of the marine's head and looked back to Niddala, giving him an "all clear" look. Niddala as distracted by someone else however. He had a look of complete shock and fear on his face. Marcel looked to where the street rat was looking and saw that another marine has joined the fray, looking much more fierce than the one that was just slain.

The marine that came in had smooth, shiny black hair that went back and monocle, and a black goatee. He walked in to the scene with a cane. "No him." Niddala said quietly in an "all hope is loss." type tone. The marine smirked at the street rat and began to laugh in an uptight rich person way. "Hello, Niddala." the marine said to Niddala in a sense of formality. Marcel turned to Niddala and asked, "An old friend?" The marine began to laugh once more after hearing Marcel's question.

"Oh, we are far from friends. You going to tell him, or should I, rat?" he questioned Niddala who just stood there, staring at the marine. Niddala raised his eyebrows and shrugged before turning back to Marcel. "Once upon a time, there was a filthy little homeless boy who fell for a majestic beauty from a faraway land. He tried many ways to wow the beauty, and even resulted to stealing, but alas, the poor boy has yet to win her heart. The poor boy was also running out of time. Not only were the guards after him day in and day out, he also had a rival who wanted to wow the same beauty as well. That rival, was the "king" of the guards. That rival....is me." the marine explained in a bit of a Shakespearian tone while also making hand gestures.

Marcel simply stared at the marine with a very puzzled expression. "...What?" Marcel simply said as he was completely lost. "I am the captain of these marines you killed right here! I am also in love with the very same girl that the street rat you are protecting is in love with and I am going to end that boy's life, which I am allowed to do thanks to you." The marine captain said bluntly. "If it wasn't for you going around killing my men with that boy with you, I wouldn't have gotten the all clear from my superiors to kill him." the captain said coldly.

Marcel simply shrugged it off and prepared himself. He didn't care too much about what the marine had to say. Marcel looked back at Niddala and gave him a quick, reassuring nod. Niddlala returned the nod before quickly looking back behind Marcel. "Look out!" the street rat screamed as his eyes widened. Marcel turned around to see that the marine captain was already close behind him in mid dash. The captain swung his cane towards Marcel's face who deflected it with his wrist which also caused some minor bruising to the samurai's wrist.

Marcel's katana came to blows with the captain's cane. Both opponents then jumped back a little, glaring into each other's eyes. The captain held his cane up and slowly unsheathed it, revealing it to be a sword. The captain then charged towards Marcel and took a fencing like pose. He then tried to jab Marcel with the tip of his sword. Marcel has never seen this style of sword fighting before and was having a difficult time trying to dodge it. He did get lucky a few times however, but ended up getting poked a few times at the chest but thanks to his iron chest plate, he didn't have to worry about them causing harm.

Marcel was able to get the upper hand and slammed the cane sword down with his katana, causing the captain to drop it. After that, Marcel began to "dance" around the marine, slashing him with his katana multiple times all over his body until the poor marine dropped to his knees, wincing in pain. The samurai finished him off by slicing his neck clean off. Blood came out of the neck area where the head use to be before the body fell down stomach first.

Marcel took out a small cloth and slowly cleaned the blade of his katana before sheathing it. Niddala just stared on in amazement. "Wow..." was all that Niddala he could get out his mouth.

"That was simply amazing, Marcel! You are certainly capable with that sword of yours!" Niddala praised Marcel some more as they walked down a sidewalk towards a house. The samurai simply smirked at the comments. He didn't care too much about the comments. He was thinking more about the trouble he would be in now since he did kill off seven marines a little while ago.

Niddala then stopped walking and sighed a little before turning around to Marcel. "I really do appreciate your help, Marcel. I wish I had something of value that I could give you in return." the street rat said rather sadly. Marcel simple shook his head and said, "In a way, you did give me something. A not so boring day." Marcel said with a small smile which cheered the boy up a little. "If you ever need help, you can always call upon me." Niddala said, confidently which caused Marcel to nod a little as they proceeded to the house where the street rat's love interest resided in.

Marcel stood back as Niddala walked up to the house. He turned around to Marcel who had his arms crossed. Niddala then faced the door, knocking it before looking down at the necklace. The door opened and Niddala was greeted by the girl. He offered the girl the necklace which caused her eyes to widen in surprise. She then embraced him for quite awhile. "Well then, I suppose love can be won over by items." Marcel in a bit of a surprised expression as he turned around and walked off from the scene.

"Hmm, I think it would be wise that I stay out of this town for now."

-Exit-