racking his knuckles, Gideon took off his leather jacket, abandoning it to the floor. Raising his fists to his chin, the man began to pivot the weight on his left and right feet in a shuffling like motion. Clenching his fists, Gideon focused Chi into the his fists, maintaining steady eye contact with the Royal Guard members and their leader Babula, who by his own calculations were approximately, eight meters from his current position. Examining the swordsman closely, a pretty okay guess seeing as the man was carrying two oddly shaped blades, with curves ranging to about twenty inches at least in length, Gideon paid close attention to the man's body, not the blades at which he wielded. It was his body's motion that would lead Gideon to decide his course of action, not the man's scimitar motions. Close attention was paid to the wrists, especially. "Come on. You said you were going to kick my ass, right?" Babula said, taunting the man. "Closer said the spider to the fly." Babula spoke, as he inched closer to Gideon. At the rate he was approaching Gideon, within the first couples inches, he was walking but then his formation altered into that of slight jog, covering at least 0.5 Meters by the seconds that passed. It was slow march, which taught him either the blades were too heavy or the man focused more on striking. At times like these, Gideon would look back to the words of his mentor. "How do you think you win a fight?" Lloyd asked, onlooking Gideon who now laid face up, due to exhaustion and covered in bruises from Lloyd's intense training. "Be stronger than your opponent." Gideon responded. "That's a pretty juvenile way of looking at things. However, that is one of the three ways technically a fight can be one in my book." Lloyd said, resting his head in his hand. "Three ways... What are the other two?" Gideon inquired. "It's how you lost in our spar today. Obviously, it was a combination of all three for you because your weak and sloppy. Fighting is an art. No matter how strong you get or how fast you react, it means nothing unless you can actually apply them. Simply put, the two other ways to win a fight is to either wait for your opponent to make a mistake and capitalise on it or using your own movements to force them into making a mistake." Lloyd said, returning himself to an upright position. "For example, as much as Chi as we put into our fists, boxing is boxing. They are two main forms of using boxing in actual fight. In-Boxing and Out-Boxing. Knowing both of these forms and applying them to an actual combat context effectively, will be the key to a hand full of victories. You might not be able to say... Flatten a building with one punch with this style but if used correctly, you can leave your opponents in a pool of their own saliva and blood with the Roaring Waves Style." Lloyd exclaimed with pride. Snapping back to the situation, Babula was approximately, four meters away from Gideon at this point. Extending his arms outwards, the man would attempt to use a scissor like motion, clamping his blades down on Gideon from a horizontal angle. Gideon's decision lied now in either moving into the heart of the attack, or retreating away from the reach of the attack. Exhaling calmly, "In" Gideon thought, deciding which form he'd use in a split second. Thinking back, "So when do I use in and when do I use out!?" Gideon exclaimed in frustration. "Your such a winey little brat. It depends on the situation. That's like asking when should you eat with your hands and when should you use chopsticks, ya' don't know until you know what meal your sizing up!" Lloyd exclaimed to the bratty question. Gideon altered the pace of his shuffle, when there was exactly, three meters between them. Shifting his weight to the left, Gideon moved from his current position, and shuffled about nineteen inches or so to the left, ducking downwards and pushing off towards the weapon master. Two meters separated the two now, stopping his forward motion, Gideon leaned backwards, "White Noise" Gideon exclaimed. A focused amount of Chi broke from his hand, firing off in the form of a projectile, the hurricane like blast made contact with the swordsman, catching him off guard as Babula didn't expect their first exchange to be a mid-range battle. The force of the punch pushed the man who had made some distance back about five meters, making the gap, seven meters in total.

The force of the strike caused slight breakage to several points across Babula's body but strangely enough, it wasn't heavy damage but the Prince's vision felt blurry. Dazed for a few moments to his feet, a few of his men took up the charge in his steed, advancing towards the boxer as well. Each guard carried pretty standard swords in their hands but they were slow, much slower than the movements of the commanding officer. Dashing forward, in a leap closing, two meters, Gideon ran forward another two. The guard's closed the rest of the distance, three in number, the lead commenced his attack with a sword slash with a blade about twenty inches in length. Shifting to the right, shuffling the weight on his toes, "Roaring Ruckus" Gideon delivered a monstrous right hook with a slight spin to the man's temple. The last two men used Gideon's striking time to take advantage, Gideon taking a slash to his back and another to his chest. As the punched guard hit the floor, his vision distorted dropping his sword. Weaving from side to side, Gideon advanced to the left, avoiding the pathway guard who stood in front of him but swinging his body during the motion back to the right, delivering the right hook to the side body. "Mega Injection! Dragoon Force!" Gideon exclaimed. After impact, Gideon didn't laze around like prior, dashing forward with the momentum of the punch and weaving motion, spinning to face the guard who was behind him. The man attempting a variety of sword slashes, attempting three in total, which Gideon shuffled around, closing the distance, after the first slash, popping the man with a quick one-two to his temple. The man's weapon dropped from the force of the impact, rattling his skull, cracking it slightly. "Sit Down" Gideon exclaimed to the guard.

Breathing windily, Gideon turned his body's direction towards the commanding officer, who was still stunned trying to figure out the cause to the blur in his vision. He could see Gideon put only at times, every now and again his vision would blur in and out, as if he had a need for seeing spectacles.  

 

erplexed, this was the terminology that Babula's body was experiencing at this current point. As the Chi pulsated through his body, messing with his vision all he could do was stay in his current position with his eyes wide open, as if he'd seen a ghost. The other three struck soldiers also aimlessly, shuffled backwards away from the man, still suffering the wounds from the attack, until finally, passing out, some from fear other from the severity of the pain. It set a chill over the soldiers, to see their Commander who was trained in the Royal Court and had received several political awards shaken by a pure rookie. "What's wrong Prince, you look like you've seen a ghost of something?" Gideon inquired, still shuffling in his boxing stance in case of any on-coming attacks. "Ha!" the man exclaimed, stopping his shaking hand to clutch his blade. "I'm not afraid of anything, I'll end this shortly... Just give me-" the man's speech was cut short by the simple walking motion Gideon did towards the man, it appeared as if a huge blurry dot was getting closer and closer, swinging his scimitar's but stepping backwards, the man was frantic, slashing at air. Only around six meters and some separated the two now. "I can't toy with him... Soon the Chi will regulate out of his body." Gideon thought. Dashing forward, the prideful Babula could loose no more face in his men's presence, rushing forward, closing about three meters, while Gideon stepped inwards, leaping the remaining two until there was but a one meter distance between them. Gideon was well aware of the length of the man's blades, paying close attention their dexterity and position, the man's vision cleared up momentarily, using this advantage, he slammed his scimitar's into the ground, cracking the earth's surface at a 1.5 x 1.5 Meter radius, "Ground Clippers" the man exclaimed. This breakage caused Gideon to loose his footing for his shuffle, clipping the butterflies wings. This motion however left Babula's upper body exposed, only having a free scimitar in his left hand. Inching several millimeters forward, Gideon achieved striking distance, "Gatling Shells" Gideon exclaimed, firing off three quick jabs to the man's temple. The jabs were light but the carried enough whiplash forcing the man to wedge his blade free from the ground. Leaving now, his mid-section exposed but ejecting his head from striking range. Reaching his arms outwards, Gideon, forsook his chance to strike with the jabs, in fear of loosing his arm to the scimitar but instead launched a punch towards a few inches below the man's solar plexus to his liver. "Liver Punch!" Gideon exclaimed.

The punch drained all of the wind out of the man's body, Babula truly clutched for air in the moments after the liver punch had made contact. Gideon retreated at least a meter backwards and focused large volumes of Chi into his right fist. "White Noise!" Gideon exclaimed, firing off a Chi blast which pushed the man into a crowd of his onlooking soldiers. The force launched a few of the soldiers onto the floor, at least two in number while the remaining men tried to tend to their Captain's wounds. Creating a wall, of about five men, the men barricaded their Captain's body, while the medical team examined him. "Shit... I'm starting to get tired... I'm fighting too safe." Gideon thought. "Whatcha feeling is called Gobbling." Gideon exclaimed. "It's part of the way I fight... Without giving too much away, it pretty much shuts down ya' motor skills for a bit." Gideon explained, breathing quickly to regain his energy. "You'll go back to Sipping soon... Til' then enjoy the ride." Gideon said, dashing towards the guards in the barricade. The deputy sergeant commanded the men to maintain the barricade while they lifted Babula to safety. Q observed the situation, arm still bleeding out from his amputated arm, barely awake from pure willpower. "You weren't kidding kid... You're actually not half bad. Uooloohaha" the man exclaimed with his weird laugh. "Two more hits... All I need is two more good hits and this is over." Gideon said to Q. "Superb." Q said returning to his feet. "Here" Q said, ruffling through his pocket, he turned over a snail phone to Gideon. "Dial a few numbers for me brat!" Q exclaimed. Placing in the sequence into the phone, Q called up his emergency escape team. "Fifteen minutes!" the man exclaimed, as Gideon turned over the phone to him as soon the sequence was completed. "Fine! Just get it done!" Q shouted. Looking towards Gideon, now standing behind him, using him as a shield. "Can you hold them off for fifteen more minutes? We'll be able to escape to the drop off point, finish up this deal and flee Rainbase." Q stated. "In fifteen minutes... The remainder of these punks will be unconscious." Gideon said cracking his neck.

 

oldiers without commands are like chickens with no head. Dragons with no scales and lizards with no legs. The soldiers panicked primarily focusing on protecting their Captain from Gideon's onslaught, however, Gideon simply stood in his current position watching the soldier's barricade as the Captain's body which was limp, was dragged away by the remaining medical team and guard. Plopping onto the ground, the soldiers perimeter distanced between their position with keen eye on Gideon. "Tsk. This is why I've always hated the ideal of an army. Not a creative bone in their body. Once you cut the head off the snake, everyone breaks down" Gideon stated, examining the position. Now that he was in a resting state, Gideon noticed that his wounds were bleeding out from the scimitar's sharpness. Placing hand over the cut, unable to reach the one on his back, he pondered. "Wait. Where in the world is Nitro?" Gideon asked with a very curious expression on his face, almost childlike. Q pointed to the man who was now hiding behind a nearby create on-looking the whole scene. Meanwhile in the soldier's camp, the medical crew was puzzled. Babula had suffered a variety of minor breaks and bruises from the impact but it wasn't any damage physically that should've been able to cause this form of paralysis he was experiencing. "He must've used some ability on his body and until we find out what exactly his attack method was... I'm afraid I can't treat him." the head doctor in the platoon reported.

"Hey!" one of the soldiers exclaimed. "Why are you even helping that monster!?" one of the frustrated soldier's further continued. "Q's murdered innocents, sold women into slavery, smuggling Rain Powder into the country, crippling us with drought after drought!" the man shouted. "I can't understand why anyone one, especially someone of your caliber would rise to his aide!" the young soldier continued. "Hey kid." Gideon responded. "What's your name?" Gideon inquired. "Lee... Lee Daniels, scout for the Royal Guard!" the man said proudly, clutching onto his spear. "I think you should quit, Lee Daniels of the Royal Guard. If your asking me this question, it means you don't understand the core principle that runs this world. Why? Why do I need to agree with someone's actions or way of life to protect them? If the money's right, I really don't care. If he ever committed any of those crimes in front my eyes... I'd punch him right into the mud but he hasn't. Even if he does, those with not enough power to stop it have no reason to speak. This is your country right? Why does your government allow a man like him to even wrack a rap sheet like this anyway!?" Gideon shouted. "The answer is simple. He simply had more power than you.. Whose here screaming at his contracted." Gideon replied. "Instead of taking up arms and fighting! I have no qualms against the good guys... I just think government workers are 'good' when they feel like and evil to no end when their government asks. A necessary evil I guess." Gideon's irritate tone faded as he shrugged. "Enough, Lee!" Babula shouted, returning to his feet. "Clearway!" the man commanded. Picking up his scimitars with his stance, the man walked to the front of the pack, resting the blades dull side on his shoulder. "Heh... Did my speech put some pep in your step, punk." Gideon said grinning. "I just can't believe men like you still exist in this world. Stand up. I'll end this." Babula shouted, his vision still very much impaired. "Heh." Gideon said, returning to his feet.

 

don't need to see." Babula declared, closing his eyes. Stepping forward a few inches away from his men, Babula extending his scimitar's outward, raising his arms to shoulder level. Putting his body into a spin, the friction of the man's revolutions began to kick up a vacuum of air around his body. Babula's body began to spin almost like a top, cutting a clean slit through anything his blade came into contact with. "That's it!" Lee declared. "Captain Babula's Killer Top Technique!" the young soldier screamed. "Really... Killer Top." Gideon exclaimed sighing. As the top inched closer and closer by the meter, Gideon began to shuffle the weight on his legs once more. Turning his body towards the spinning soldier, focusing Chi into his fists, Gideon created distance between the two men, giving him more distance to accelerate, hoping backward twenty inches. Pushing forward, Gideon began to pick up speed with his momentum, dashing towards the spinning top in a break neck pace. Closing the distance, which was around eight meters at the point due distance traveled by the man's spiral technique, a collision between the two men where bound to happen. "White... Noise." Gideon exclaimed, stopping his advance when he noticed a slight suction coming off the man's movements, firing off a flash of Chi, the force of the attack managed to break the man's momentum. Tumbling forward, Gideon closing the remaining distance of the distorted fighter. The man's jaw was wide open and Babula's main concern was fighting to regain footing. "Injection Contact!" Gideon exclaimed, landing a vicious right hook to the man's jaw. "Succession Contact!" Gideon declared directly after, following up the massive hook with four quick jabs. The effects of the Chi swarming around in Babula's body caused his lower body to give out on him, dropping him to his knees, his jaw now suffering a slight break from the hook and the jab's success. "Gatling Shells." Gideon shouted, firing off three quick left jabs to pick-up a finishing rhythm, slamming three hooks directly after which rocked Babula's body. A thud was examined, the light left the eyes of all the solider's in attendance. Babula had fallen, however, Gideon's assault didn't end, dashing forward, Gideon began to fire off rapid jabs towards the remaining soldiers. Lee, seeing his captain fallen was fearless, dashing to intercept the vigilante.

"Liver Punch!" Gideon fired off a shot towards the young soldiers liver, avoiding his thrust of the man's spear, the soldier dropped to his feet, abandoning his spear after loosing his ability to breathe. His forward momentum didn't end, Gideon rushed through the pack of fleeing soldiers delivering powerful, yet light Chi filled hooks to rock their body and eyesight. "Sit the **** Down" Gideon concluded, slamming his one-two combination into the last of soldier who decided to fight. At this stage, ten soldier's remain. Rushing in a forward motion, the soldier's resolved to recover their Captain's body. Shuffling in his current position, Gideon didn't advance after he saw the determination in the men's eyes. A single soldier came running forward, lunging towards the boxer. Shuffling to the side, Gideon shifted his body, delivering a quick right hook to the man's head, rendering him unconscious. Walking forward again, these two solider's carried maces, using his speed, Gideon deliver two quick jabs to the men's adam's apple, digging his raw fists simultaneously into the soldier's jawlines, with a right and left hook. Seven remained. It was simply a number's game at this point. The soldiers circled around the man, creating a perimeter from which he couldn't escape. "White Noise." Gideon fired off another blast of Chi, breaking away three of the solider's in the formation into mid-air. Only three remained. Sticking out his tongue like a rabid beast, Gideon dashed forward, at this stage the solider's forfeited all resistance. "Injection Contact!" Gideon shouted, landing another crippling blow to the defenceless soldier that dropped his guard. Pushing off the momentum of the hook, Gideon threw a feint at the soldier literally standing six inches apart, landing an uppercut toward's the soldier's jaw. "Punk Smash!" Gideon exclaimed.

Reaching his fist outward to the last man, Gideon fired a wicked blow to the soldier's heart, stopping his heart and finishing off with a right hook to this face. The whole squadron was eliminated, a sick smile danced across Gideon's face. Walking towards Q, Gideon dropped onto the ground, "See. Ten minutes. Where ya' people at?" Gideon said, chuckling to himself. "M-M-Monster." Nitro and Q said almost instantly and in harmony. Gideon laid on the floor, almost out of energy to breath staring at the ceiling, he was completely burnt out, drenched in sweat.  

hose of the soldiers who could move still, crawled. Many of whom passed out struggling to create distance between themselves and the man. However, most of them, were knocked out cold. "What in the world are you kid!?" Nitro inquired. With one of his eyes half open, Gideon tilted his head towards Nitro's direction. "I'm the man whose going to be filthy rich after this shit, fam'. Oi! Q, you better pay my ass well!" Gideon exclaimed. "Yeah Yeah... You did well kid... I ain't that much of a scumbag... Lost my fucking hand already today, I ain't trying to fuck with your juju." the man said, lighting another cigar. "Anyway. My men have arrived." Q stated watching as his reinforcement's raided the container, coming to Gideon's, Q's and Nitro's position. Struggling to his feet, Gideon wobbled over to Babula's position. Leaning inward, Gideon bite the man on the ear. "Look... I'm just doing this shit to look crazy as I can be to Q. I don't got much time or breath, Oi. I'll give you Q and his men for a reward from the Government. His deal is supposedly on the outskirts of Rainbase. Once I collect my payment from him... My job will be done." Gideon said, pulling away leaving Babula's ear in a bloody mess. "Did he just bite off that man's ear!?" one of Q's men exclaimed, throwing up in his mouth. Showing his bloody and grim smile, "Let's get outta here, boss." Gideon said eerily. "Yeah..." Q said chuckling. "What in the world kind of monster am I working with!? He must be a demon! How am I going to break the news to this kid that we can't leave yet" Q thought.

The empty warehouse couldn't yet be abandoned, "I need more men than this!" Q exclaimed. "Sorry boss! Only the six of us were in the area, the others are at the job site. If you want to clear this place out completely, we have to wait until more men arrive! Our camel's can't handle all of that weight." Q's personnel informed. "Fuck." Gideon thought. "Well kid, you heard the man. We can't leave until more of men arrive... With that power of yours... We'll be fine-" Q said confidently as Gideon dropped to the floor from exhaustion, very much conscious however. Q almost shit himself from the slight movement of the man, getting his hand tend to by his medical staff. "Just lemme... Catch my breath." Gideon stated. "This could be really bad..." Gideon thought, trying to control his breathing. "If I knew that shit I wouldn't have went all out... Fuck." Gideon thought in frustration. "If reinforcements get sent here from the main branch it's over." Gideon thought, staring at warehouses ceiling. Much like Gideon feared, approximately twenty-five meters away by foot are reinforcement, summoned by the carrier eagle Babula trained to call for reinforcements had he not returned within the hour.

 

swear to God if you drop me right Nitro, I'll kick your ass as soon as I regain my strength!" Gideon exclaimed. "Shhhhshh!" Q exclaimed, passively. The men now hid within the backroom of the warehouse, approximately, twenty-five meters or so away from the conflict with Babula and his men. "I can't believe this... I thought you were good money kid!" Q exclaimed. "Are you shitting me!? You think that Captain was just a walk in the fucking park, oi!" Gideon shouted. "Shshsh... Keep your damn voice down." Q said in frustration. "Look! Can you still fight or do I abandon you here!?" Q inquired. "Give me a few minutes... Once I catch my breathe... If they aren't around Babula's level, we'll be fine." Gideon informed. Nitro placed the man onto the floor, propping him against shelves which were plastered with documents. The lanterns from the nearby shops in Rainbase warmly lit the room, Gideon reached up above his pulling down a few of the papers out of curiosity. "What in the world is the room?" Gideon asked himself puzzled in thought. Nitro plopped right next to the pirate, leaning in towards his ear to converse, whispering at levels that Q couldn't hear. Q and his men kept plastered to the door, each on edge as the search inside the container begun but the voices and footsteps were far away. "This is room is where he keeps all the contacts for the people he's bamboozled out of their tax money. Q makes his living by taking a protection tax from all of the smaller stalls within Rainbase that aren't under the Royal Court's protection. Here in Alabasta, you need a license to sell. Not everyone are locals, so most people can't always get approved. Q provides protection for those guards who try to do monthly check-ups on the business in the more obscure parts of town. He's a cornerstone in the Underworld of Alabasta." Nitro informed. "Looks I've gotten myself tied up with a pretty shady dude." Gideon said grinning. Meanwhile, Babula's crippled body was transported by the guards who were still able to a nearby clinic, as the remainder of Babula's unit inspected the container. "It's wiped bare. Our spies told us that this place housed over twenty sand vessels. Shit! If they sold them to the Bandits, this would mean more protection for the merchant's travelling through the desert. Especially the dead zone areas." one of the guards exclaimed in panic. 'Dead Zone Areas' are those where the deserts temperatures reach levels that travel is no longer possible by regular means. Bandits use the Sand Vessels to hide in the Dead Zone Areas, as many of these points are located alongside main travel points for merchants in Alabasta.

"We definitely need to report this to Prince Ubuntu immediately!" one of the soldiers said with a grim expression on his face. "Are you crazy! If the mayor finds out about this we're screwed! This retrieval mission was supposed to be a simple cease and desist. If he founds out his little brother screwed the pooch..." another one of the soldiers said scratching his head. "Look. Just find Q! I don't know what kind of muscle he has working for him this time around but if we can retrieve him, we have the whole operation." the man preached. "Besides... Prince Ubuntu has already went ahead of us to intercept those ships." the man said confidently. Exactly 2 kilometers from Rainbase, in an instant, Q's contacts for the trade off were under heavy fire. "What in the world-" the man's complaint was cut short from the bullet now wedged into his forehead. Landing onto one of the main ship vessels, Ubuntu walked towards Q's right hand man, Sally. "Well. If isn't Sally Withers... I heard a lot about you from my reports in the city. Treason, murder, embezzlement... You and Q seem to keep quite busy." Ubuntu said, flapping his wings gallantly. Sally breathing heavily, severely damaged from Ubuntu's rare ammunition, Ubuntu stood exactly one meter from the man, aiming his pistol toward's his forehead. "Why don't you come a little closer... I'll show you a good time." Sally said grinning. "I'm fine right here. Besides... The warrant on your head is dead or alive. To us of the Royal Family, your crime syndicate is nothing but a pain in my ass. As if I don't have enough to deal with in Rainbase alone." Ubuntu said, firing two shots into Sally's forehead. Spinning his pistol on his index finger, Ubuntu place the gun into his holster. Boarding the ship, several of Ubuntu's men raided behind him, "Sir! We've retrieved the Rain Powder and various other illegal contraband from the other ships." the man reported. "How many more of Q's Kingpin's are left now?" Ubuntu inquired. "From this raid alone sir, we've wiped out all of his upper echelon. The only people left are Nitro Briggs, Q himself and their new muscle that seems to be the architect of the vessels. The last one... Well, we found him dead in the Casino's-" the man's speech was cut short, "Enough. Damn criminals... Ruining innocent people's lives for their own personal gain... I'll hunt them all down,bastards." Ubuntu said, smiling shyly once he arrived at the word he viewed as profanity. "Sir... Your smiling again." the man reported embarrassingly.  

ime seems to move so much slower when you're being hunted. The only person at peace with being caged mice in the back of the container was Gideon. He laid on the floor of the room, focusing all of his energy on regaining strength, recollecting the fight he had between himself and Babula. "That guy was good... I still got cut though. Means I'm still too reckless." Gideon said to himself, staring at his right fist, which raised above his missionary state to block the glare from coming through the back window. The men in the room hustled endlessly, packing files upon files of contracts into crates, trying to prepare for when Q's reinforcement had indeed arrive. "Do it quietly! Goddamnit! I need to get my guns outta of my main office too" Q said, scratching his head with his still useful arm. "For someone who just lost his hand... You seem pretty accustomed." Gideon said, peering over at Q. "I lost my leg awhile back in a smuggle gone south. Got a robotic foot, I'mma do the same with this hand. I learn money gets you everything kid. With the right connections, who needs brute strength if you can hire people like yourselves to do the dirty work. This world revolves on coin. If ya' don't have it, you can't get in the right rooms. Talk to the right people... You smell me, yeah?" Q said rambling on with a smiley smile on his face. "No Justice among thieves and knaves."Gideon said ominously. "Exactly. What's your story kid, how about joining my crew permanently after this?" Q inquired grinning. "Not interested." Gideon responded almost immediately.

"I'm no saint but I'm not heartless either. Your way of living is against my morale compass. People who get stepped on and let it happen, they deserved to be robbed from. However, those who oppose you seem to end up dead... Any man who kills just to reassure himself dominance isn't a man I want to be calling boss for too long, boss" Gideon said patronizing the mobster. The man gave out a hearty laugh, "I like little pricks like you. You reminds me of me before I snapped, eh. Look brat. I'mma monster... Not going to lie about it. Let me give you a word of advice from my own observation of that fight. Your just as much of a monster as me. I saw that look in your eyes... That thrill when your fist sunk into that pompous brat's face. Priceless. Word of advice,kid. The more you run from it... The worst it'll come out when it's all piled in." Q said grinning. "You're right. I am no different from you. I never claimed to be better. The difference between you and I however Q is this." Gideon said, rolling into a ball before springing to his feet. "I pave my own destiny. I'm not bounded by the whims others." Gideon said grinning, pushing face directly towards Q's, make sure their eyes met. Q nervously blurted, "Watch your mouth brat-" the conversation was interrupted by the loud sound of incoming foot steps. "Surround the perimeter, they must be around here somewhere!" one of the soldiers shouted. "Looks like our guests have arrive, punk." Gideon said smiling, pulling away from his stare down with Q.

 

pastime that was a favourite to Gideon was always whistling. Somehow, it's simple rhythmic tempo brought concentration to the man's movements. He hadn't whistled in recent years, actually, thinking back on this current situation the last time he whistled was the day his parents and townspeople were murdered. Nonetheless, that was the furthest thing from his thoughts. Opening the office door, Gideon walked out into the hallways which the solider's patrolled, though just a stone throw from his position and not noticing the man's figure, just as yet. It was three of them particularly which was in the hallway he was in and the interesting thing about this container was it's infrastructure. The section where Gideon had fought Babula was an open area which spanning quiet a distance and the container was packed with these open spaces, except for this part of the container. Rows after Rows of shelves, tightly packed with a variety of items hoarders and previous owners had left behind in the years. Each row was only about 1.5 meters in width, meaning it was tightly pack and not many men could fit within this particular section of the container. It was actually perfect for Gideon really, seeing as, only four row ways lead to the small shed like room where Q and the others hid. Meaning, from his current position, no matter what angle they approached, as long as he stood there, eventually they'd come into his view. This was the requiem point in Gideon's mind, the point that'd usher in the strategies for all of their demise. Dashing down the central hallway, the men where now about three meters away from the container's door. Now shuffling behind the entrances to the hallway, Gideon peered from behind his blindspot at the approaching foes. Picking up a single abandon barrel, Gideon hopped out, rolling the barrel down the row. Simple to avoid right, the men jumped into mid-air, it was the only way to dodge the barrel, other than that, the fate was simple, being struck or rolled over. However, the men didn't notice Gideon had already closed the distance, following shortly behind the barrel. When they noticed the man, one of the men attempted to blow his whistle. Gideon fired off a quick right hook to the man's jaw, "Injection Contact!" Gideon uttered, pushing the man into the shelves fram. The other two men stunned, grasped for their scimitar's from their back sheaths. "Secession Contact!" Gideon released two quicks jabs to each man, square in their nose causing them to grab their nose from the pain of the bruising. The moment they grabbed their noses, signal the chorus of their requiem, "Injection Contact!" Gideon fire off a single right hook, continuing the momentum, using the bigger soldier's body as a battering-ram to slam his companion into the container's large metallic shelf.  

The solider's from the row next door, noticed the commotion, trying to circle around to backup their fellow comrades. Gideon climbed through an opening in these shelves however, strategically positioning himself behind several crates within the heart of the shelves themselves. Several, exactly ten in numbered packed into the hallway with the battered allies, Gideon laid silently onlooking the scene. "I can't see! My visions all messed up..." the man exclaimed before passing out. "Damn it! This is same report who got from the other platoon that was with Babula... Loss of vision... Inability to move. What in the world is going on!?" the soldier exclaimed in frustration. The people of Alabasta, especially Rainbase were very spiritual in being, so Gideon's next move was nothing simply more than a scare tactic. Inching away slowly into the next row, which was empty now, Gideon lied flat on his stomach and utilised the hallow packing of the walls. The man began to whistle, due to the inclination of reverb in the room, it was impossible to pinpoint it's origin but the eerie melody drove fear into the soldier's hearts. "Maybe... It's a curse! Maybe he's cursing us! The Soul of the Old Prince has always haunted this area!" the man shouted in fear, grasping his head in frustration. "Ridiculous! Listen to yourself you idiots! It's just Q's men! Once we find them, we have them outnumbered! Relax!" the soldier exclaimed. Sneaking ahead about three meters and climbing back into the shelves, Gideon peered out at the men's position, which was approximately four meters away. Clutching his fist, the man charge Chi into his hand, sliding out of the shelves momentarily, "White Noise!" Gideon uttered. The men were so fanatical in their own realms, trying to discover the aliment that befell the current soldiers, that none of them noticed Gideon stepping out. The force of the whiplash pushed the packed up men like dominoes in a line to the floor, leaving several broken bones among the pack of ten. The commotion caused the remaining several guards to circle around towards their current location which was directly in front of the shed, each of them crashing into the metal door. Climbing back into the shelves, Gideon circled around, using the items on the shelves as coverage towards the entrance, his requiem zone, exactly one meter away from the men's current position. From the impact, none of the guards where moving and due to the tightly packed positioning, the attack cause much more impact than usual due to the hailstorm of bodies. Only seven soldiers remained.  

 

pile of bodies stacked up in front of the door to the container Q and Nitro were now secluded in. The remaining soldiers moved the broken and lifeless bodies of their comrades blocking the door's entrance to further inspect the container. "This is a mess! I'm calling for backup! Two of you put down the men and go and call for reinforcements!" the senior officer commanded, looking at the youngest of the soldier's in the remaining platoon. "Yes sir!" the men responded immediately, dashing down the hallway towards the entrance. "The rest of you! Open this goddamn door!" the man ordered. Three of the soldiers rammed their bodies against the dented, now flimsy metal door pushing it onto the ground, three of the soldiers advanced in. Taking a deep breath, dashing from the adjacent row, Gideon dashed towards the two soldiers that guarded the outside. Delivering a quick one-two to the nearest of the officers, "Sit The **** Down, punk!" Gideon shouted, almost as a war cry. The one-two, jab and hook was aimed towards the senior officers jaw, causing him to drop from the impact. The other quickly drew his weapon swinging downwards aimlessly at Gideon, the man parried and slammed his right hook into man's abdomen, targeting his liver. "Liver Punch! Now then!" Gideon said, turning away from the pile of bodies that rest on the floor, he dashed towards the soldiers who were now about fifteen meters down the hall. Dashing in a mad sprint, tried to close the distance between himself and the guards. As the men advanced, they looked backwards only find a funnel of dust being kicked up on their rear. At the centre of this smoke was a crazed blonde man with what seemed to be to them, glowing red eyes. The petrified soldier's quickened their pace, burning out half-way through the hallway, once the distance was close enough, Gideon fired off a charge Chi punch which sent the men into a tailspin, crashing towards the floor.

It was at this moment, Q's remaining forces swarmed the container, almost fifty in number. The men arrived strapped with pistols and swords, various camels, horses and carriages. "Your that brat from the other night!" one Q's men exclaimed. "Where's the boss!?" the man asked urgently. Pointing towards the back of the warehouse, the men picked up Gideon, riding through the containers on horseback. By the time they arrived at the back room, Q had already shot the remaining guards with bullets straight through their head. "You's boozo's are late." Q exclaimed, wiping the blood off his bloodied suit. "Sorry boss! We had some problems at the drop off point... We had to double back here and got the message from the others. Boss-" the man froze as he saw Q's missing hand. "Don't worry about it... Jeez... It's just a hand. Hurts more when you look at it like that." Q said, trying to qualm the pained expression on his man's face. "That brat with the blonde hair saved my life. Make sure he's paid well. By now..." Q said, removing a cigar from his jacket pocket and lighting it. "That bird brain should've realised I won." Q said chuckling. Ubuntu was furious, the shipment he had taken down and the inventory he'd recaptured was neither Q's or his organisation it was ships he had stolen from the Royal Guard. "He boosted our own damn ships... Then pretended as if they were his own! How many of our men did he pay off for this!?" Ubuntu shouted in a crazed rage. "If this gets back to the King... I'm having all of your heads for this! Back to Rainbase! Report his to Capital! I'll hunt for that miscreant myself from now on!" Ubuntu shouted, gushing back towards the city via his wings. As crazy as it sounds, Q had setup two trades on the same day. One, was the decoy trade off, where he used Albasta Kingdom State Ships, boosted them prior in another city as decoys for the major shipment trade off which occurred on other-side of Rainbase. Q had traded off all of his top brass personnel in a crude move to make sure the shipments definitely went through.  

 

he following movements allowed Q to secure over 100,000,000 beli deal. Ubuntu, taking out his fake fleet, had destroyed up to 20,000,000 Million in merchandise. However, the substantial gain in connections and power Q's trade off gain him, far surpassed the assets and resources he'd lost. Q was meticulous, he ran every aspect of his business himself. It was his biggest weakness and strongest trait. Q, Nitro and Gideon exited the warehouse, cleaning out every gun, parchment and spec of Rain Powder the base contained relocating all of it temporarily to the 'Club House'. In this case, it was indeed Q's win. Returning to the three story building, Gideon and Nitro sat in the Night Club area where they first had met, posted on the leather interior chairs. "I feel like I just helped the Devil steal another soul." Gideon said falling down from his sitting position using the coach as a bed. "It feels like that in the beginning but after awhile... You get accustomed to it" Nitro said laughing eerily with blank eyes. "The persons who are hurt most by people like him are the people. It's never the governments or the powers that be." Gideon stated. "So why? Why work with him?" Nitro asked, as if his heart was now doubting his allegiance to Q. "Cuz I can. Freedom to me is choosing whichever side I desire until I find a person for these fists of mine. When you protect bad people, equally 'good' pursuers chase them. It's the thrill of the fight I'm after I guess." Gideon said.

A live band ushered into the room, setting up their instruments and began to play up swing-jazz music. Q's closest friends, business partners and women of all shapes and sizes. The open party filled from wall to wall, large volumes of alcohol streamed from the bar. Gideon grabbed a couple beers from the bar and exited the festive vibe, sitting on the outside. Taking in the calm breezy atmosphere of the outside, Gideon reflected on the last few days. It was a win for the villains this time around, however, approaching almost 1km away was Ubuntu. The Mayor of Rainbase approached on the horizon and the objective was more sinister than the so called 'good' people Gideon ranted on about. The jazz flowed into the streets, the belly dancers motions excited the male parties into the patronage of more drinks. Q sat upstairs on the second floor, counting the haul from the ship trade off, stacking off the funding for Gideon's company bonus.