Flashback: Reina zipped and zoo'd about as she walked to her old captain's office. She was in her usual happy go lucky mood as she rejoiced not having to deal with patrol for a few minutes. "Zoommmm, ziiiiippppppppaahhhhhh", she said. The guard escorting the young woman rolled his eyes and gestured for her to walk in with a motion of his arms inward. Reina without much thought entered the room to find her captain with a giant mountain of papers, a scowl which was almost permanently written on his face. He raised his head, blood shot eyes met her own. " Mind explaining what happened with the smiths"?

Reina stepped back, eyes averted to a random corner in the room. " Ehh well uhhmm you see, that's a funny story". Her captain slammed his fist into the table with deep interrupted breathing. " You're going to water 7 for a while, understand"?
She looked at him with a puzzled look, with her head slightly tilted to the side. " Any particular reason sir"? He turned in his chaired and rested his chin on his fist, propped up on the table with his flexed arm. " Aqua laguna's coming early this year. This'll be your chance to make a name for yourself and experience working with the world government". Reina began shaking her head and flailing her arms around not to go,but the others didn't want for her as they dragged her from his office and onto a warship headed for Water 7. There she was, on another annoying ship on her way to her new base for a while.
One good thing came form the experience. She found out about the aqua laguna and the fact that she could commission a ship at this place.

Instantly she fell in love with the prospect of going to water 7.

Current:
Upon arriving she spent the next few days annoyed and frustrated. The guards were meaner and the officers were making her do a lot of errands since she was naturally strong. One instance was helping a bratty daughter of a high ranking cypher pol member carry her things home. She had a ton of servants,but apparently she wanted to make someone suffer every day. Reina was that novelty for that day.

So here she was, at the deadman's cove. A famous bar with shipwrights and travelers. She found out that this place was the perfect place to make connections with people on the island and hopefully start the process of making her own dream ship.

First things first though. Her first instinct was to go to the bar in memory of Rear admiral Cerulean and down a pint of ale. " Barkeep, gimme an order of yer biggest mug of ale"!

Bazel hadn't been at Water 7 long, on his ship was his crew members, himself and a special visitor, the one and only best swordswomen alive, Kash Kringle. When Baz awoke from his sleep Kash was there awaiting the man to awake. Literally as Bazel opened his eyes the first thing he saw was Kash. She just stared at him and Bazel returned the favor as the captain just stared at her more "Why are you here Kash" asked Bazel who was greeted by a giant fist upside the head that sent him back to sleep. Faust sighed as he looked at Kash "Nice going, he'll be up in an hour" said Faust as he left the room.

After the hour paced Bazel awoke and once again saw Kash in his face. Bazel's eyes opened wide "HEY KASH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE GREATEST SWORDSWOMAN ALIVE" said Bazel as a means of keeping the woman on his good side. She would take a seat in the chair next to Bazel's bed. "His name is Kiretsu Morishige" said Kash before she leaned back in her seat. "Who the hell is that" asked Bazel. "He's a Shichibukai and someone who may or may not have taken your sister in for the slave trade..among things." said Kash as she started to think about her best friend Leparo who was now in prison. "I'm trusting you can deal with that information as you see fit." Bazel looked distraught after hearing the information left to him by Kash. His tears dripping on the bed as he clenched the blankets "Kash" said Bazel as she proceed out of the room. "Hmm?" said the woman as she turned her head slightly "I'm going to kick his ass and get my sister" the woman smirked "I know" she said before walking out of the room and off the boat.

Now Bazel was feeling much better, though he was sore in some spots that wouldn't stop him from checking out the island of Water 7. Bazel hasn't come here since ironically him and Ellie were kids. He thought of all the fun they had here in Water 7, even the time Bazel almost drowned because he didn't know how to swim. Now though it was different, Bazel was here as a way to save his sister instead of have fun with her. "Find Kiretsu, Kick his ass, get Elizabeth" Bazel kept repeating it in his head as he looked around Water 7 before he found himself a nice bar to walk into. Once inside Bazel looked around and noticed how everyone stared at him. They definitely recognized him but no one looked too violent and angry towards the rookie. "Oi bar keep..." said Bazel everyone looked at the youngster walk to the bar and place a stack of beli on the counter. "Next round on me eh?" smiled Bazel as he took himself a seat, besides him was a red head woman chugging ale.. She stuck out to Bazel. She just had a different type of vibe.

Reina slumped in her chair gesturing for a refill, tapping the glass against the counter with an annoying manner at the barkeep. Who for reasons she couldn't really understand or cared to was sort of in a state of shock. He suddenly went from being polite and tactful to sweating a little bit a stutter when he spoke, " ay-a--aaye miss". The man was still sort of disorganized as he filled up the glass and it started to overflow on the floor. " Ahhhh-ah terribly sorry". Reina's eyes became mere slits,but she didn't mind it much. Without a gesture of her hand he gave her the mug again. Tapping her fingers on the counter, she skimmed a paper left by another customer. " yada yada yada festival, yada yada bazel, yada yada aspiring new rookie"?

As Reina started to circle this man's name, she noticed the bar was distinctly quiet. What usually was a place that was lively and full of life, now seemed to be a ghost town. Turning the opposite manner from the newcomer, she took note at the awe from the people in the bar. They weren't fearful, so much as star struck. A few jaws dropped and sleazy women wooing in her direction, she spit at their direction and turned back to her drink, slumped and somewhat defeated by all respects. To her right she peered over to find a red headed guy who seemingly just wanted a drink.

It took her a few moments,but she looked back at the paper as the sound of beli slapping the table resounded throughout the dead quiet tavern. The regulars all roared in excitement, but none of that mattered to her. Her attention locked on the paper, she looked at him and then back at the paper. " Red head---check, frilly coat? hmm check, orange eyes"? Reina was now curious, trying to non-invasively get a look at his eye color. She didn't want to pry for something as silly as, oi can I see your eyes sir? Even reina had standards, such a thing would make her a freak in her own eyes. Her foot started to rock rather rapidly, making her leg look like a vibrating engine. " Hey mister hot shot with all those beli. Do you go by the name---", she paused for a second and glanced back at the paper quickly. " a mister ba-b-bazilll-ah? Bazil, that be you"?

As the cheering in the bar erupted Bazel took his seat at the bar where he himself was handed a giant mug of ale. Bazel wasn't much of the drinker but considering his stay here on Water 7 might be longer than expected, he needed to get as familiar with these people as possible. Whether that was buying them drinks or things like that, these people would become Bazel's best friends before this was all said and done with. The barkeep began to clean the counter in front of Bazel even though he seemed type shook up "Don't worry, I'm not here to do your pub any harm. I just came to check it out as I pass through town" said a calm Bazel before he picked up his cup to have a drink.

To the side of Bazel was the aforementioned red head who wasn't bad on the eyes. Bazel could tell she was sizing him up but what was odd was the fact he couldn't tell if it was accidental or not. The woman came off more star struck than wary if anything. As Bazel began to put his cup down that is when the woman began to speak to him. She referred to Bazel as Mr. Hotshot which was semi ironic given his natural affinity for all things fire. He chuckled as she asked if he had a name before she stopped and realized that the man she was talking to was Bazel. This caused a slight chuckle from the man who would turn to the woman "Nice to meet you, I'm Baz" said the red haired man as the people in the pub were going crazy with their free drinks.

Reina blinked a few times with a blank stare, " hmm". Immediately she whipped out a picket sized spiral bound notepad. It was a little beaten and crumpled, signs of water damage and slight red blotches stained its cover. She turned back from him momentarily and flipped through the pages. " Baz baz baz, where 'ave I heard that before?" she said to herself as she took another swig of her drink. Suddenly a big smile came across her face. She planted her hands into the stool and lifted herself off the stool and landed on her feet in an instant. Proudly the red head flexed her arm and slapped her bicep, " So you're the firebird huh?!"

With that she concentrated everything on her palm with a strained look upon her face. In her palm a slight spark began to take form in the middle, a tiny ember willed into existence. It burned brightly, illuminating her palm before spurting out of existence as quickly as it had come to be. " One day firebird, I wanna challenge you to a duel. Fire vs fire, Mano y Mana. One versus one!". She would declare with a her hands at her hips with a triumphant pose.

That's when a blonde girl came darting in faster than Reina could really pick up. It was her self proclaimed assistant and friend Lana. She threw her hand over the red head's mouth and brought her down to one knee with one arm pulled outward. " Please forgive my friend,sir", she said, pulling even harder on reina's strained arm. " She's not only a slacker,but also a dreamer and decided to look through bounties a few days ago. Making them her sworn rivals....", said lana. She was a little nervous herself,but tried to play it off as if she had no inkling of the man. Perhaps trying to play it off as if he were a stranger or someone who was mistaken for the actual fire bird.

Reina groaned as soon as she was allowed to speak, " Why you always gotta rain on my parade lana? This was my moment to be cool"! An audible crack resounded throughout the bar even over the noise. " Lana whose arms clung to reina's with her legs wrapped around her bicep, pulled reina to the floor. " You got the festival to worry about stupid. Stop playing around and apologize for being a loud ass"!

This woman was definitely different from the type Bazle was use to dealing with. This woman seemed to be very animated and willing to fight. She whipped out a notepad and started flipping through it and proceeded to mumble Bazel's name as if she did a research paper on the red haired pirate. Bazel stood there confused as he began to slouch wondering what was taking the woman so long to figure out her thoughts. After she took a swig from her mug she jumped up and it appeared she knew who Bazel was. She even called him the firebird which made him smirk "Firebird eh? That's what they call me these days?" said Bazel as this woman's energy started to reach a new level.

While she was exerting all of this energy even causing her hands to catch flame as she made a declaration to Bazel she would notice Bazel wasn't even paying attention to her as he looked at his pinky after he just cleaned earwax out of his right ear "Yea, that's cool redhead." said Bazel before his eyes shifted to the door as he saw the entrance of some blonde who came and stood in front of the woman and cut her off from continuing her speech. She spoke about how her friend was kind of crazy when it came to people who were famous. The blonde would put the woman in a weird body lock as she took her to the ground "Eh, bounty book?" said Bazel who actually started paying attention "I made it into one of those things?" he looked incredibly happy about that because Bazel didn't know he was coming up in the world.

Reina felt her body finally be released, her arm stung unmercifully as evidenced by her grimane and sweat slipping down her forehead. Her face planted to the floor as her body went limp and she groaned on the floor. Lana on the other hand was happily sitting on her back and holding her arms behind her back. She took a few moments to really answer him, pretending to concentrate on restraining Reina. " Well you see...yea she tends to think with her muscles and not her brain. Anytime someone even remotely matches someone in the bounty book,she goes crazy".

The blonde began to kneel beside her and guided a defeated reina to her seat. " So tell me Reina, does this guy have black orbs for eyes"? Reina squinted at Baz, tilting her head for a second with a confused expression on her face. " Well...no he doesn't have black orbs for eyes". Lana lifted on hand with a finger held up, " Exactly and would a criminal of his caliber just stroll around town? Without his demonic body guards"?

Reina shook her head, no this man even if he played along with her assumptions did not meet the requirements. To her she acknowledged the fact that he didn't recognize the nickname, didn't have jet black eyes or fire demon gang with him. " I'm sorry mister. I thought you were a super cool pirate I could fight one day, but was wrong". She said, with a limp head and hunched posture.

Baz was watching these two women just make a fool of themselves as his eyes began to squint while he scratched his right cheek with his right index finger "I swear these girls have to be the craziest girls I've ever met. I need to get out of here before it rubs off" thought Asher as the second woman would try and help the redhead woman up. They began to cover their basis about their Bazel being Bazel theory. It started with checking Bazel for black orbs for eyes. Bazel began to look up and imagine a version of him with black orbs for eyes which wasn't a very pretty sight. "Black orbs...." uttered Bazel. He was trying to understand where all of these rumors started about him having black orbs for eyes. The blonde friend even said something about Baz having "demonic guards" it was at this point Bazel began to think about all of these little tidbits about who he actually was and composed a sketch in his mind. It was a dragon looking creature with guards following him as he breathed fire. Bazel began to chuckle at the thought of this creature actually being the description of him. The woman began to apologize thinking Bazel was a person she had aspirations of fighting. Bazel began to cry as his head grew twice the size "She thinks I'm super cool" the cheerful music behind Bazel made him feel like a super hero for the moment. After he snapped back to reality Bazel smirked "No, you're right. I am Bazel D. Wiggins" said the firebird as he smirked. "I'm just a regular person though, don't know where all the black orb stories came from through"

Reina and Lana stared intently at the potential bazel person, who had a pensive expression after hearing the stories about him. He would utter a few things to himself, nothing more than maybe reflecting outloud at the idea of being portrayed as a fire demon. Lana took this opportunity to try and sweep it under the rug as he was lost in thought. She leaned in close to reina's ear, maybe not more than a few inches. " Don't say or do anything stupid, we might be in the clear", with that she released the red head. She winced a little as control of her body came back to her. She spun her palm a few times to exercise it and loosen it up, momentarily wincing when he came back to reality. He looked up back at the girls with a sly smirk, telling em he was just an ordinary guy. Reina glared at him for a second and slightly stuck her tongue out at him, " PPffffft, normal people ain't worth millions". As for Lana, she just shook her head and moved away to use the little girls room.

As reina was about to speak further while wagging her finger at Bazel she abruptly stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to her half empty mug of ale. There pushing his way through the cowboy styled doors was man with a malicious air about him. He stood tall with head held high, perhaps with a little too high. His slightly squinted eyes were exactly the way Reina pictured bazel's to be, blackened orbs who you couldn't see any light reflecting on them. He had a toothy smile, proudly displaying his money and status in a tavern of people who were barely scraping by, much less taking care of their own pearly whites. Lana peered from the little girl's room, shivering in her boots. The wano looking fellow placed his hands at his hips proudly and looked about as his presence was slowly being registered by the tavern's customers. The atmosphere became heavy, almost suffocating as people looked down or averted their eyes from him. 

He was dressed in a fancy suit tailored to his body with a trench coat to protect it against the weather in water 7. As if he didn't realize what was going on, he left his coat with one of the guards stationed at the doorway and took a seat up next to bazel. " bar keep, I'll have one mug of ale please". The bar keep nodded, head down as he began to serve the man. Leaning on his arm he looked past bazel to a slouched Reina with a smile that was deceptively innocuous, " ahh commodre Reina was it? Good job on the vampire freak. We were swarmed with retards complaining about it that it was rather sickening". He held his hand up and stared at it for a sec, " you can only silence so many before it gets boring ya know? gotta keep them world gov appearances amiright"?



Reina looked back at him with a grin with a hint of blood lust, " Hello Banshee, that isn't something ya normally admit about your job right? cipher pol doesn't want its dirtylaundry out in the open right"?

Banshee's General appearance minus the blood.:

Bazel was very much so entertained by the women that he couldn't stop himself from laughing just a bit. He didn't run into people who recognized him every day. These two were probably affiliated with someone or something that required they knew up and coming pirates along with those who were solidified in the business. Reina would say that normal people weren't worth millions. Bazel blinked as he heard her words "Last time I checked my bounty I was in the high teens. It couldn't have gone up that much could it?" thought the firebird who began to wonder what could have made him such a notable figure in these parts. It was then the pub doors would swing forward allowing a man to come into the bar. Bazel automatically felt the energy the man had with him. He started to look down and his facial expression began to change.

Reaching in his pocket Bazel would pull a stack of beli out and place it on the counter. "Barkeep.." said Bazel before picking up his mug and chugging his brew. Slamming the mug on the table "Sorry for one is about to happen. That should cover the damages." at the same time this happened the man in the trench coat smirked as he knew what was about to happen. The entire bar silent after Bazel slammed his mug. Bazel thought back to his conversation with Kash "His name is Banshee. He is one of Kiretsu's men and highly trusted in his organization. You find him you'll find your sister." said Kash. Like a flash in a pan Bazel vanished leaving nothing but heated air and smoke in his position near Reina. Now he was inches from the trenched coated figure with his right arm full of fire. Bringing his cocked back right arm Forward Bazel would be greeted by the right hand of the man as the force of the first took both men outside. The punch took the man an inch from the edge of the street. The two men continued to clash as the same smirk stayed on the mans face as he kept his iron grip on Bazel. "Now now if you keep this up you'll never find Elizabeth" those words forced Bazel to grow angrier as his heat amplified, causing the pub to start melting instead of catching flames. It was as if his arm was a jet. The right hand of Banshee would raise punching Bazel in the stomach which winded him ceasing the from. From there he would toss the devil fruit user over into the water right behind him. Bazel would begin to sink instantly as he couldn't swim

As Reina turned away she heard coins slammed against the counter with reckless abandon. As abruptly as she turned to see the stack of beli falling over itself, more money than she had ever seen in her life time, he disappeared after warning the barkeep. A spark of flames left in his wake followed by a strong gust of searing hot air scattering the beli around the bar keep. Reina winced, instinctively activating her kami haki at the danger signs ringing throughout her body. It was at this moment she wanted to run more than anything, a primal fear she had not known of since she first met Ice heart back in the North blue. A sense of helplessness as the situation went from bad to worse in the blink of an eye, " Everyone scatter, get down", she gestured with a sweep of her right arm to the rest of the bar's patrons. 

Fire erupted from Bazel's right arm as he cocked it back for a big blow. Reina without so much as a second of hesitation lunged forward and threw herself under his arm and went around the two men about to clash. She grabbed the stunned patrons by the collars and jumped away with them to get away from the epicenter of the fight. The first blown erupted in searing how fire which roared throughout the tavern, followed by a shockwave which sent everything in the bar not tied down into a  frenzy. Reina looked back to find the floorboards were they clashed destroyed and the surrounding area crushed by the sheer force of their two opposing forces. In a rush she regained her bearings and sprint to the entrance covered in burn marks to find the two figures in the street duking it out. Reina needed to activate her bushoukou haki just to stand in their presence, coating her stomach and arms with a think metal coat and hiding her head behind crossed arms as the force of the blows whipped up fierce winds which rattled the pub. "Reckless fools", she muttered under her breath as she grunted trying to watch the encounter transpire.

In that instant she felt the force of the Banshee's punch throw her back, the force causing an audible crack with extinguished his flames. Reina heard him mutter something about a woman named Elizabeth, " could he have known this was going to happen"? Reina growled, as she saw the firebird being tossed into the ocean. Banshee looked at her with his creepy toothy smile, " ahh I must be getting on my way now commodore, but let's meet again soon". With that he gave her a casual wink and off Reina went as she threw herself over the railing and into the murky waters. If he knew anything about Xing Jao, the man who he called banshee, then she had to save him. Using her natural strength, she propelled herself through the water and wrapped her arm around his waist. With the same force or perhaps even greater she kicked back to the surface and made sure to keep his head above water.

Naturally Lana came out late like Reina expected,but there she was with a rope. " Hey Reina take this"! She smirked and held onto the rope with one arm as multiple men from the bar, those of whom she saved pulled the two back up the damaged docks. Lana looked down at the soaked reina with a confused look on her face, unable to make eye contact as it dawned on her that the red head saved a pirate. 

stuff:

Bazel wasn't expecting to have been knocked in the ocean. Hell he wasn't expecting to be hit at all. As the breathe was taken from his body with that punch Baz grew angry knowing that this guy was that strong that he made Bazel look inferior to him in comparison. That angered the firebird as he balled his fist as he would begin to lose sight of the surface world. He closed his mouth and closed his eyes as he prepared to sink to the depths of Water 7. Hopefully his crew would carry on properly and not lose sight of the vision their captain had given for them before he would possibly die. As Baz began to cry underwater he wondered what would become of his sister and how things would work out for them in the end.. Hopefully someone could save her since Bazel couldn't do so. With the air in Bazel's lungs fading the firebird opened his mouth in an attempt to get air and was greeted with water which caused him to start fading. As he drifted still someone came and wrapped their arms around his waist and began to bring him back to the surface world. Bazel couldn't feel much of his body as he was recovering from fading. Gasping for air after spewing out Water Bazel would faint besides the woman who saved him. Bazel was still drained physically from his fight with Leparo which didn't help the firebird in his effort to fight Banshee.

The exhausted pirate coughed in her arms, coughing slightly as he was an unconscious mess drooping on the cold drenched deck in front of the tavern. Reina looked up at Lana not really sure what to tell her, that she wasn't really a loyal marine. That she was more akin to a pirate who desired to change the world. She believed the free spirit of the pirates was nothing more than a facade meant to cover up the greed of the powerful. The marines were nothing more than a puppet for the world government who held control over the world, even in territories who claimed to be independent were economically tied to them. She wanted to make it all crumble and it might come at the cost of her and her friend's lives. Right now this man in her arms, who she could cut down when he was no longer conscious might be a key to understanding the island's true nature.

" Lana I won't force you to walk down my path any further, but I'll most likely be stripped of my rank and sentenced at Enies lobby in the near future. But before that happens I want to pay back the slaver traders on this island. Whatever you choose to do, I will respect that decision". Reina did not beckon to her friend nor did she show an ounce of hesitation. At this very moment she was willing to toss her friend aside if it meant pursuing her long term goal of waging war against the world.

Lana did not make eye contact, but rather she grabbed her crimson haired friend's hand and dragged her off into the night. " I know a place where we can at least help him get back on his feet. Follow me". So she did, trusting her friend's word. If there was anyone who knew good places on the island to hide, it'd be the girl who was born and raised in its salty air.

It was a light house that was seemingly in disrepair. Once reina entered its maw, she noticed it was fully furnished by a gang of dock workers. " Listen guys, I need you to harbor this man for a day or two, would that be alright"? Lana spoke in a very frank tone, without a hint of her previous cowardice that she often scoffed at herself for. But her grip was powerful, almost crushing Reina's hand as they stood there at their doorstep, the men inside welcoming the trio in.

-Exit-

Bacon: 14,000 EP + 1 SP
Bean: 12,000 EP + 1 SP