Task:

The wind chill going through the ghost town didn't seem to effect Gerard as it once had when he first arrived. Maybe because he was excited for the upcoming battle. As soon as he had made his announcement, he had made a beeline straight for the abandoned town to wait. He didn't know how long he would wait for his first challenger to turn up. Who knows, maybe none would turn up and he would win by default. Then again, that wasn't very fun. He needed to beat these guys to show he was the real deal afterall.

However, he didn't have to wait as long as he fear, for soon sixteen men arrived in the town. Gerard quirked an eyebrow. He had expected three people, not a mini army. Most of them weren't of any note, but the man up front immediately caught Gerard's eye. The man was dragging a massive cleaver behind him, and the way he swayed said that either this guy was under the influence of something, or drunk off his ass. A strange state to be in when walking into a battle.

As they approached, the man looked over to see Gerard, with one eye covered by a patch. "Hey!" he called out, even his voice slurred, "You the guy who issued the challenge?" Gerard quirked an eyebrow. Who was this guy? "Yeah, that would be me," The drunken man gave a small smirk. "Ok, good. Was afraid this would be a waste of time. Men, waste him."

And it was then that the other fifteen men rose their weapons and opened fire.

Gerard let out a yelp of surprise as the pirates opened fire on him, his body just in time changing into gas as the bullets shot through him, hitting the ruined building behind him. Damn pirates. He should have figured that they wouldn't send one person to fight him. After all, they were criminals, and criminals didn't play by the rules. Sure, Gerard was a criminal himself, but at least he was doing this by himself. Granted that was because he didn't have anyone to help him.

With the pirates attacks doing nothing to him. Gerard shot forward, gas streaming out behind him. He extended a hand out and unleashed a cloud of gas directly at the pirate crew. As the gas spread out, he couldn't help but notice the drunken captain leaping to the side, leaving his own men to take the brunt of the attack. Six of them managed to move out of the way of the gas cloud, while the remaining nine ended up choking and crying out in pain. The remaining pirates stepped back from the gas, bringing up their weapons and opening fire. Judging by their expressions, they were starting to realize just what the hell they were fighting, but all they could do was keep on fighting.

And Gerard was going to respond in kind. Remembering his battle back on Spider Miles, the gas man lept back as he held his cane out before him. Suddenly a stream of flames shot out, heading straight for the gas cloud. No sooner did the flames connect with the gas cloud, did the ball of noxious gas erupt, temporarily into a mini sun before fading away. The blast sending the other pirates sprawling on the ground. Those that were in the gas cloud were down for the count. I mean, how many people could withstand being in the heart of an explosion like that?

As the remaining pirates groaned and tried to climb back to their feet, Gerard turned his attention to their captain. The man had been standing off to the side this entire time, watching the rather short fight. The man was taking a swig from a flask he carried, and not at all bothered by the fact that Gerard had effectively cooked some of his men.

And if Gerard knew anything, it was the guys who were this cool in a fight that were always a problem.

The one eyed drunk took a swig of his flask, seemingly amused by the display Gerard showed. "Well, guess you weren't just blowing hot air after all with that little speech of yours." The man chuckled at his bad little pun, causing Gerard to roll his eyes. Meanwhile, the remaining pirates who weren't crispy were hauling themselves to their feet and trying to put some distance between themselves and the explosive gas man.

"I always try to leave a good impression," Gerard replied, pointing his cane towards the drunken pirate, "So, are you simply going to stand there, or are you going to put that cleaver of yours to use?" Gerard didn't think the drunk could do anything really. No matter how big the sword, it was pointless if it didn't touch him. The pirate took another swig of his booze, a smirk on his face. "Just wanted to see what I was up against before I stepped in." So he used his goons as test dummies to get a scope of Gerard's abilities? Cold.

Suddenly, the pirate shot forward, his cleaver kicking up snow as it dragged along the ground. Closing in, the captain swung his cleaver, the blade slicing through Gerard's gaseous form without any effect. "Hah!" Gerard laughed. Guess the drunk wasn't paying too much attention. But then, the captain made an expression like he was going to blow.

And a streak of flame shot out.

Gerard let out a cry of shock, immediately thrusting a hand out. A blast of gas shot out, shoving the thief backwards. Though when the flames and the gas collided, it generated a small explosion, knocking the two of them apart and almost knocking Gerard off of his feet. The damn bastard could also breath fire!?

The captain seemed unfazed by the explosion, chuckling. "Weren't expecting that were you? You think I don't know what a logia is? Well now, you've got two choices. Either go gas and get burned, or stay flesh and blood and get cleaved in half."

Gerard gulped as the pirate held out his cleaver. This was going to be a harder fight than he thought.

Things seemed to have completely turned around, and not in favour of Gerard. He quickly brought his cane up, just in time to catch the massive cleaver the pirate captain swung at him, the force of the blow knocking Gerard off of his feet. The thief managed to scramble back, shifting into gas just as the captain's remaining goons opened fire. He couldn't stay in his gaseous form, or risk being burned by the captain's fire breath. But he couldn't stay flesh and blood because of the goons firing on him. The most he could do was keep his distance and avoid taking damage.

With a blast of gas, Gerard sent himself flying backward, flying through one of the broken windows of one of the old buildings. There was a light tearing sound as Gerard rolled backwards, springing to his feet. He glanced over his shoulder to find that his jacket had been torn by a piece of glass.

"This was my favourite jacket..."

Gerard growled as he moved to the window. While he couldn't use his gas too much, he did have other means to fight. He had put a decent amount of distance between himself and the captain, and the rest of the goons had moved to some decent positions to fire on him. Quickly loading his cane, Gerard raised his weapon up and opened fire. A bullet tore into one of the remaining pirates, sending him crumbling to the ground. The others, realizing that Gerard hadn't showed all of his tricks, tried to run for cover, but quick reloading and reflexes allowed Gerard to floor three more of them before the remaining two were safely behind cover.

It was at that point that the captain finally reached Gerard's position, swinging his might cleaver. Gerard leaped back just in time for the weapon to slice through the stone, sending rock crumbling to the ground. Gerard had managed to leap back, watching as the pirate captain stepped into the ruined building. A smirk was on the drunken man's face. "Well well, you're just full of surprises ain't ya? Well, let's see you use that gun of yours in here?"

Gerard took a step back, looking around. There wasn't a lot of space in here, especially not enough to keep his distance while he reloaded. He could try to escape through another window, but with the pirate captain this close, it put him at too much risk of being hit by either his cleaver or his fire breath. The space was just too confined.

Confined.

Then it hit him. A smirk spread across his face. "Oh trust me, I don't need a gun to bring you down."

The captain charged forward, swinging his mighty cleaver at Gerard. The thief brought his cane up in time to catch the blow, the force knocking him against one of the walls. But the captain didn't relent. Shoving forward, he pressed his blade against the cane, effectively pinning Gerard against the wall. The one eyed drunk leaned in, a vicious smirk on his face. "So tell me, how do you plan to get out of this one?" There was cruel amusement in his voice, more saying his words to mock him. Gerard strained against the weapon being pushed against him, but much to the captain's surprise, a smirk appeared on the thief's face. "Like this!"

Suddenly, Gerard blew a cloud of that venomous poison gas right in the captain's face. The man yelled out and stumbled back, his hands reaching for his eyes. "Graah! Damn you!" He quickly reached for his flask, ready to give a good dose of fire breath, when suddenly something looped around his leg. "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that." With a yank, the pirate captain was sent sprawling to the floor. He couldn't see properly due to the stinging gas messing with his eye. "You let it loose in here, and you're going up along with this whole house." The captain paused. Gerard was right! By going into the house, he had effectively left himself inside of a ticking time bomb. His biggest advantage, his fire breath, gone due to the threat it proved to himself.

He had to get out of there! With his eye stinging, the captain tried to scramble out through the hole he had made in the wall. However, Gerard was both faster, AND had no issues with his vision. The thief delivered a sharp kick to the side, knocking the captain down. Then, with a burst of gas from his leg, Gerard launched himself out of the house through the hole, out into the open.

And pointed his cane at the gas filled house. Flames followed soon after.

The house erupted into a violent explosion. Rocks and debris was sent flying, some of it even passing through Gerard's now gaseous body. He didn't have to worry about the flames now that the source of them was being exploded. As the explosion died down, Gerard peered into the smoke, trying to see what happened to his opponent.

His eyes widened when he saw a form stand up. The drunken pirate, badly burnt, and barely on his feet, let out a roar of fury, ready to destroy the man who did this to him.

"Nope!"

A gunshot rang out and the pirate was knocked off of his feet, collapsing to the floor, finally spent. Gerard sighed as he lowered his cane. He had to admit, he was kind of scared there for a moment. I mean, the guy survived an explosion point blank!

There was the sound of retreating footsteps and Gerard looked back to see the remaining pirates running for their lives. He honestly couldn't blame them, and he really wasn't in the mood to go after them. The gas man looked back at the tear in his jacket and let out an annoyed sigh. "I cannot let this stand," he murmured, before turning to head back into town. Maybe he could find a tailor to fix his jacket before his next opponent showed up. He was not going to fight in ruined clothing!