His Eye Scope equipped to his right eye and the night vision activated, Birdie lifted up the Proton Canon and trained the weapons sights on one of Cervantes' men who was outside of the estates. He wasn't eh best shot, but with this weapon he didn't need to be. Pressing his finger on the trigger, the rifle fired off a beam of plasma that struck roughly near where he aimed the weapon. The result was an explosion that blew up a small bit of the enormous estate and ended up taking a few of the watchmen out as well.

He chuckled deviously as he then unloaded with the Proton Cannon and fired at the estate without rest. He knew how Cervantes was and knew this wouldn't draw the bastard out from wherever he was, but it just felt good to let off some steam. Destroying more of the estate and expending all of the gas in the Proton Cannon, Birdie tossed the useless gun to the ground and picked up his Gatling Gun. Running forward to close in the distance between him and the estate to about 25m, he opened fire on the men who had come outside to observe what was going in. The darkness of the night had veiled him all the while he advanced forward so his location wasn't determined until he began spraying with the Gatling Gun. Not aiming at any particular person, but at the bodies he saw in general, he sprayed the weapon until it whirled emptily and fired no more bullets.

Tossing that gun to the ground it was time to get up close and personal to settle things between him and Cervantes. As he dashed forward he activated his Kenbunshoku Haki and took his Eye Scope off his eye. Shoving the gadget into one of his pockets, he moved his right hand to Cerberus which was on his right hip. A nice sawed off shotgun, the first man that ran at him was mercilessly met with a blast from the beast. While it didn't bother him as he fought against those who were once his allies, he found it a bit odd to kill familiar faces. This is just an obstacle in my pathway. He thought to himself as he blasted yet another man, then tucked the shotgun away without reloading it.

Still on the outside of the estate near the rubble his cannon created, Birdie battled with the riff-raff of pirates who were officially his ex-crewmates. "Where the fuck is Verde?" He questioned as he continued to fight. His haki kept him on his toes and aware of the attacks that were made on him from multiple angles. A major issue came however once a squad of riflemen had emerged out the destroyed wall he had created with the Proton Cannon. Having fought along side each other for so long, their chemistry and synchronization was spectacular and all that was needed to expose Birdie to the firestorm was a shout from one of the riflemen. "Fuck." He shielded himself with his arms and tucked his head as he administered and full body usage of Tekkai and coated his arms and legs with Busoshoku Haki. His torso was of course effected by Tekkai, but also covered by his arms which were crossed in front of him for optimal coverage. The result was the bullets ricocheting off of Birdie as if he were crafted from metal.

Still clad in his armament haki, but not Tekkai, as the riflemen reloaded their single shot rifles, Birdie lifted a hand to the pitch black sky. Should one have analyzed his hand they'd see he was making the Ryusoken grip as he jammed his hand downwards at his feet and plunged it into the earth. More specifically the earth happened to be something similar to cobblestone, as apparently they were fighting on Porter's patio or courtyard or something similar to it. Not stopping there, Birdie clenched his claws in closed with a tight grip causing the whole area around him save for where he stood to fracture and collapse. The portion of the estate that was in range came tumbling down as a result of not having a sturdy foundation underneath it. As a result the riflemen were buried beneath the rubble. As for the fighters who were around Birdie prior to the arrival of the shooters, they found their feet and ankles getting trapped in the shattered ground. The more they moved the more they dug themselves deeper into the rubble, the only way to free themselves was from someone giving them a helping hand or using some sort of ability that your average human couldn't pull off. In other words they were neutralized and Birdie wasn't one to really deal with things that didn't need to be dealt with. Especially not now.

Spoiler:

Analyzing the destruction around him, He leaped forward to one reliable piece of shattered cobblestone that could support his weight for even a small moment. Landing lithely on this platform he jumped off of it causing it to crumble underneath the pressure from him jumping. Where his jump lead him was headed towards the wall of rubble his previous attack had created. As he sailed towards it he maintained the Ryusoken hand placement, but with his "claws" clenched closed and by his side. Right as he drew within the immediate vicinity of the wall of debris, he violently opened his claws causing a shockwave of sorts to be released. It wasn't strong but it was enough to clear a small hole in the rubble that he could slip through before the rest of it toppled down and replaced what was blown away. Now safely inside the estate, the displaced rubble showering down prior to him safely landing, he was welcomed with what looked like that one scene from Kill Bill with all the asian guys in the hotel.

There were pirates all over the place waiting for him eagerly apparently. Swords, knives, axes, daggers, guns, pipes, you name it, they had it. Birdie scoffed at the sight, they never seemed this riled up and enthusiastic when he tried to rally them up for a job. "So what's the special occasion?" He jested playfully as he eyed and assessed their numbers, roughly forty of them present. "Cervantes told us how you just used us and him and now you plan on going on to go on and do you own thing." Birdie laughed at the irony of what they were told, but he couldn't blame them for being left in the dark. He also wasn't obligated to fill them in on every single detail of his life and goals however. "So why not just let a guy go on and live his life? Killing me here won't benefit you guys any would it?" He didn't expect to get through to them with reasoning, but he figured it was worth a shot, because he knew fighting with Cervantes would wear him out if it came down to it. "Cervantes happened to get his hands on one of your explosives a while back and says whoever can kill you can use it however they want. Anyone with a brain would know it means a ticket to claiming fame since the World Government wants you dead, but hasn't put a face to your name." Birdie shook his head in a disappointed fashion. "Any idiot can make a simple Time Bomb, but what are you going to do after that to keep the act going? You really think you can one-up what went down a the Reverie or even mimic it?"

Spoiler:

"Fuck this guy and this talking, lets just get it over with!" As the man shouted he slung a bazooka up onto his shoulder and didn't hesitate to fire it straight at Birdie. "Well fuck." As the missile head sailed his way, he jumped over to his right in a diving fashion and rolled as he came into contact with the ground. While he easily dodged the missile and wasn't phased much by the explosion since it missed so hard, the explosion did trigger a tremor. The area he was in already having its foundation damaged by his Ryusoken attack, the blast from the bazooka was enough to cause another section of the estate to collapse and this time Birdie was susceptible to the weight of it.

Not having much time to come up with a cop out, he answered with t technique that expended a lot of his energy and that he was actually saving for Cervantes. Pressing his wrist together and bringing them both to his left side, he kept his hands as fist, before thrusting them upwards at the incoming ceiling before it made contact with him. This created a powerful blast of energy, a technique few knew even existed and even fewer knew how to utilize. Easily decimating the threat and practically vaporizing it, Birdie was out of harms way, but a bit winded from using the Rokugan. "I was hoping to save that for Cervantes . . ." Not known for his combat abilities and just seen as one who facilitated things and made shit, the pirates were shocked to see Birdie execute such a technique.

"I'm not just a gear head, I grew up getting into street fights too you shit heads." He laughed softly in a dismissive way as he determined what approach he'd take to this situation. He was granted that luxury however as the same man with the bazooka had loaded up for round two and was prepping to fire. "I don't plan on missing this time!" Firing his second rocket at Birdie, he pressed his thumb to his middle finger's fingernail then flicked the air. Having helped Verde craft many weapons and a bazooka of his own, he was well aware of the logistics behind in. With a well aimed flick, he fired off a variant of the Shigan which flew through the air unnoticed to pierce the warhead. Additionally it triggered the volatile nature of the missile causing it to detonate prematurely which created a nice smokescreen and took out a few pirates.

Spoiler:

Taking advantage of the situation he latched his Eye Scope to his right eye and activated the Thermal Vision. Continuing to fire off his Shigans, he ran towards the veil of smoke able to see the bodies of pirates within and beyond it. Picking them off with ease, once he closed in on the mob he opened his melee assault with a springing jump upwards and a stern kick tot he side of someone's head. Landing with a nice bend in his knees, his observation haki alerted him of the bodies approaching from behind. Pivoting to turn around and face them, he reformed his claws and thrusted both his hands forward, piercing in the chest of both pirates.

No time to relish int he small victory he turned his attention to his left, to see one pirate coming, but sensed another on his right with his haki. Pulling his hands out of the bodies they just plunged in they turned into fist and swung at the pirate coming from his left. Rocking the guy with a strong hook, Birdie turned to face the other pirate, but was struck before he could do so. Brass knuckles protecting the man's fist, Birdie knew his jawbone was surely bruised from the jab. Another one tossed at his face, Birdie ducked it and answered with a lunging knee into the man's gut. Keeled over in pain, Birdie grabbed the man's shoulders from above and slung him over as he turned to his left in a wild fashion. Using the man's body as a weapon he slammed into at least three other pirates, before he was let go resulting in him being flung away probably into a wall.

Keeping his eyes busy and scanning the area he noticed a pirate with a flintlock pistol aiming at him. Jumping in the air just as the man fired, he avoided the bullet, then used Geppo to jump off the air and propel himself at the shooter. Extending a strong leg he kicked the man as he descended and disoriented him, to finish him with a strong uppercut. Hearing footsteps come up behind him, he turned to see what it was he had to defend against now to see three swordsman approaching. As they drew near they split up, one coming from Birdie's direct front, then the other two coming from his sides, albeit still in front of him. Each had their sword's prepped to slash at him in a separate manner, but Birdie didn't know who would swing first. Putting some focus on his haki, he stood with bent knees ready to react. The one of his right swinging first in a horizontal fashion, Birdie jumped backwards to keep out of the range of the swipe. Next was the swordsman on his left who poked at Birdie a few times forcing him to weave to his sides and sidestep. The next attacker was again the man on the right oddly enough who came at Birdie with a myriad of slashing attacks, but through this dance of swings Birdie picked up on a presence who had gotten behind him while he was busy dodging. "Dammit." Having slipped behind or around Birdie while he was putting up an evasive front, Birdie stopped in his tracks and raised his hand to catch the blade that was slashing at him. Too preoccupied to put up an augmenting defense along side the catch, Birdie just took the brunt of the slash to his hand. Before anything else could be done, his hand would adopt an ebony coating to it. Sure it was too late to mitigate the damage from the initial attack, but the armament would allow for Birdie to lock the man's sword in his grip and not let him pull it out and slice his hand even deeper. As for the swordsman who was behind him, Birdie attempted to strafe to his right and turn over his left shoulder to face him the same time he put out his hand to catch the sword from the other swordsman. The result was a fair cut in his side, but he sucked it up and stretched out his hand to clutch the man by his throat. What was different with this grip was that he used his Ryusoken claw to do it then he applied enough force to essentially crush the man's esophagus. He could have done more, but he figured letting him suffocate would be a shittier way to die for what he had done to Birdie. Throwing the man's body to the ground to quickly free up that left hand, with his right he turned it sideways with enough force to break the blade of the sword he had in his hand in half.

As the other swordsman came at him, his sword still unbroken and his throat uncrushed, Birdie put up his free left had as one would a shield to block an incoming attack. Armament haki now coating all the way up to his elbow, he blocked the sword swing with his forearm and stabbed the broken blade that was in his hand into the man's chest. Leaving the man to bleed to death, he turned to face the last swordsman with the broken sword. Adrenaline fueled his movements and the pain in his hand in side weren't even noticeable at the moment. Using his Ryusoken claw, he simply slashed at the man, his busoshoku Haki making his claws like a swords edge. Dispatching the three swordsmen, a few more men stood before him, but despicable voice halted any further fighting.

Spoiler:

"I didn't know you were so savvy in actual combat. If that was the case I would have came down and fought you without putting these miserable pirates through this. Hahahahaha." Cervantes' obnoxious laugh made Birdie's blood curdle with rage and anxiety. He stood a story above him on a balcony looking down at the whole scene. With him was a few henchman who had Verde, Bato, and Porter at gunpoint. "Not much to say now huh?" Birdie spat violently at Cervantes as he thought of what he would do in such a tough spot. "What I want is simple. You stay put and work for me, no more partnership, you're my bitch and you make what I want when I want and these three get to live." "Not really any wiggle room in this deal is there?" Birdie weighed out his options and though he valued those three because they were truly loyal to him, he knew he couldn't afford to make this deal with Cervantes. "Ok, s-" "And as a bonus I saw your legs off you keep you from running. Hahahahahaha!" While he wasn't about to ask what was stopping him from running, that right there was truly a deal breaker for Birdie. "Guess my first invention will be a fancy wheelchair then." He held his hands up and began walking forward, but Cervantes halted him in his tracks by withdrawing a pistol and aiming at him. "Oh no no no, no funny business. I know you're quite the slippery eel. Don't move, we're doing this now." The pirates who still stood began to laugh and snicker at the mention of this. Many volunteered their swords and knives for the procedure and they even began to close in on Birdie eager to get the show on the road.

While it was true he was winging it, to have the situation completely out of his control and having no more time left to stall, Birdie had to make his decision. It was true that the thought of sacrificing life after life was haunting, but now was the time that he came to terms with the fact that his dream could only be reached if the road was paved with bodies. May they be strangers, innocent bystanders, or even allies who proved to be loyal to him, what was most important to him had to be himself and his aspirations. Taking a moment to breathe as the pirates began to reach out to subdue him he exhaled and kept his composure before lashing out violently with his Ryusoken claws. Stabbing multiple unsuspecting pirates in a flash, he finished by swinging his arm out towards the air that separated him and a pillar that supported the balcony Cervantes was on. With all the other damage done to the area, this single pillar being destroyed was enough to cause a large portion of the balcony to crumble. "Son of a bitch!" As the balcony collapsed in a thunderous symphony in the midst of all the chaos Birdie heard two gunshots ring out. "Shit." Birdie didn't want to know who it was that he lost or even let himself teeter on the thought. As a result he trained his mind solely on killing Cervantes.

Rushing forward through the few pirates who weren't in shock and bowling some over, Birdie ran to the pile of rubble that was the balcony. "Fucking fuck! What the hell was that man!" Verde grunted for an unknown reason as he fought to get out the debris pile and though Birdie hated to admit it he was glad to hear Verde's voice over anyone else's. Simultaneously he felt guilty for he knew what the other two gunshots meant. The bit of dust settling from the destruction, Birdie saw a fram hunched over top another and the arm of the fram on top whaling down on the one below. Getting closer he saw Verde beating the gunmen to death with a fair sized rock. "Hey!" Verde didn't turn to face Birdie and simply kept smiting the gunmen until Birdie snagged him by the arm out of the pile of rubble. "Wait where's Cervantes?" He was no where to be found as Birdie scanned the debris, but his eyes did scroll onto Porter's body. The hole in his head was clean and the feeling Birdie felt in his stomach upon seeing it was gut wrenching. He quickly looked away and closed his eyes. "We don't have time to regret selfish decisions, get us the fuck out of here."

"Wait!" The call was muffled as the person who shouted was buried beneath the rocks. Verde looked over Birdie's shoulders to see the pirates making their rowdy approach to where they were then looked to Birdie to see him moving towards the rubble. "What the fuck are you doing, we don't have time for this, there's too many of these guys for me to fight. Cervantes booked it before the balcony collapsed, that's not him." "All the more reason to dig, it's Bato." Verde sighed sharply and snatched Birdie's shotgun off his hip and also wrangled ammunition off of him while he dug through the rocks. "Got his hand, help me out here?" A shotgun blast rang off and Verde stumbled backwards as a result of the kickback. "Busy." Another blast rang out as he lodged another round of birdshot into some pirates' chests. Crouching down to reload and take cover, bullets from the enemies bounced off the wall and debris near where Birdie and company were. "Got him." With a firm tug, Birdie pulled Bato out of the rubble and not caring to see what happened or what damage he sustained, he snatched Verde and used Geppo to jump up to the second story where the floor was still stable. Grunting in pain as he did so, before even landing he tossed them ahead to safe space, before he touched down. His wound on his side was bleeding profusely and his hand wound was worse from digging through the rocks.

Spoiler:

"Fuck, this wound is bad." He grunted in pain as he came up from a keeled over kneeling position clutching his side. "You telling me." Bato laid on the ground bleeding horribly himself, but his wound was much worse. "Cervantes pushed the gunman out the way to escape at the last second, so his shot was off. Guess this is better than dead though." His left eye was shot out, luckily the bullet hadn't went straight through and left him dead. "We need to get out of here. Porter told me he had an underground passage that led to a wine cellar a ways away from the estate. We could take that and get out." Birdie reached towards Verde who looked up at the outstretched hand and reached for it only for it to be pulled back then offered out again. A confused look on Verde's face made Birdie speak. "The gun." Verde shook his head in disbelief and mustered up the strength to stand up. "You're not going after that jackass, we not to count our losses and get the hell up out of here. Look at Bato's eye!" "We're supposed to just be fine with letting him get away with killing Porter?!" Bato groaned in pain as he sat himself up. "You killed Porter! It was your decision to do what you did and that was a consequence." Birdie's brow furrowed even harder and he grabbed Cerberus from Verde's hands. "This isn't about Porter dying, this is about your ego and you not being able to know when to count your losses. If we fuck around and chase this guy we're wasting time we could spend getting Bato's wound treated before he dies too. So what's it going to be, your pride or the only two actual loyal crew mates you have left?!" Birdie stood in silence for a moment, the sound of the rowdy pirates shouting and throwing rocks at them was the only noise being made.

"Bullets." At this Verde just let loose a sigh and shook his head one final time. Digging in his pockets to get the ammo he held it out to Birdie and as he reached for it, he tossed them to the destroyed balcony. "Good luck." He didn't bother to meet Birdie's eyes with his own as he bent down and helped Bato up. And without any words they left to get Bato treated.
"There are some stairs over here!" This echoed from one of the pirates and as he said it the sound of the crowd began to fade.

Committing himself to his decision to live for himself and being ok with having to sacrifice others for his own good, Birdie set out on a manhunt to find Cervantes.