The sun was looking to clock out and finish its shift as the sky grew dimmer and dimmer with each passing minute. It glowed a passionate red as it did so. This made the moon have a dusty orange tint to it and the sky have a dark reddish orange hue. A few clouds here and there drifted in the skies, but it wasn't noteworthy weather just some nice colors. These unique colors brought out a unique crowd of people, at least that's what Giovanni believed. This was partly because he felt an irresistible urge to hit the town tonight and he himself was a unique person, that much was undeniably a fact.

For those reasons he was out and about walking the town. Two of his close mates were with him, both of them being in their mid 20s while Giovanni was their senior. Giovanni and one of his companions had a bottle of booze in their hand that they had bought from a roadside stall. Giovanni's bottle was close to empty, so he had slowed his roll as to make the quarter of the bottle that was left last. He did a bit of pre-gaming before leaving the inn he had rented for all his company too, so this bottle was just doing well to sustain his buzz. His typically brown colored skin had a hint of red blush to it from the effects of the alcohol. "Remind me why he can't drink again? It's kind of killing my buzz." This was Ford speaking, Giovanni's ally who was drinking, but apparently not happily. "I need someone responsible around if I'm going to be drinking. And if he's drunk too, then that leaves no one." When he spoke his hands waded back and forth in front of him, then when he was done he looked over at Forde who was taking a deep chug out his bottle. "You really love Madine don't you?" Giovanni nodded and took a quick swig from his bottle. Enough to equate to a shot, though the booze wasn't nearly as potent as liquor. "Aye. She's a good woman. I've done enough of them wrong to earn an eternity in Hell, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna keep fucking 'em over." "That's admirable, but I don't see what the point in stopping now is when you're already four wives deep." Orson spoke this time, his hands butterflied open resting on the back of his head as he walked with the group. This was how most of their days went as of late. Them just bantering with one another in a drunken stupor until it resulted in a fist fight. Then they'd be on unfriendly terms for about two days, then make up during another drunken outing.

"I'm not a religious man, but I'm a man of principals. Just because you've already committed a sin, doesn't mean keep sinning. People's lives are involved." Giovanni was noticeably become irritated with how Orson wasn't understanding what he was getting at. Little did he know, Orson did understand and actually agreed with him, but he just wanted to get back at Giovanni for breaking his nose in their last drunken brawl. "Eh . . . It ain't sinning if you're winning. And I don't think you're taking losses by getting pussy man. And in all honesty, I don't see what women see in you, so you not using your gift is a bit disrespectful to whoever's out there controlling things." That was in reference to a Greater Power akin to God, but none of the trio were especially religious or religious at all.

When Orson said this Giovanni made an ugly face and looked up at the sky begging for the patience to deal with his foolishness. During his lapse in attention, Forde and Orson shared a glance that put them on the same page, to get on Giovanni's nerves till he blew his top. "He kinda has a point." Forde took another sip from his bottle. His words caused Orson to chuckle silently while looking away from Giovanni to hide it. "But that's not the point!" "Then what is it?" Forde had no sense of urgency or unrest in his voice and spoke as if he was asking a genuine question innocently which pissed Giovanni off even further. He'd rather know he was being fucked with than think these two were this thick skulled to understand how love worked. "The point is I'm living with my heart and not my dick. Fuck!" He wafted away the conversation as he walked a bit faster than the duo, easily possible due to his size advantage over them. As he wafted with one hand, he finished his drink with the other, his patience for the conversation was gone and another dim witted remark would push him over the edge. Forde and Orson stopped in their tracks as they saw him do this and paused for a moment. Normally one would feel bad for doing this to a supposed friend, but instead they bursted out laughing upon seeing Giovanni at the end of his nerves.

"We're fucking with you, we know what you were getting at!" "Yeah we were just playing around. You actually have a point for once." The two continued laughing and Giovanni stopped in his tracks stressed out. The alcohol wasn't helping him keep it together despite him only being buzzed. "When we get a ship, you two are gonna have the filthiest job there is." Giovanni had walked back tot he group, his bottle was thrown recklessly to the side, shattering against a brick wall.

All that said and done, the trio was back to normal and everyone's nerves and tolerance for each other was reset. "So what's the plan today?" Forde asked as he dusted off his bottle too, but pushed it out to a stranger who reflexively grabbed it. Letting go of the bottle in the strangers grasp, he was relieved of the burden of tossing it. "Looks like we booked front row tickets to watching this guy get the crap beat out of 'em"

I'm so sorry sir, I didn't look where I was going.

The man pleaded with for his life with another male who stood imposingly in the street. The trio and a few other bystanders watched on. Some in horror, some amused and entertained. "Hm?" Giovanni looked at the aggressor and had a strange churning in his stomach. Orson and Forde looked at him when he hummed curiously. "What is it?" Giovanni began to walk forward, his loose haori like garb flowing as he effortlessly parted the crowd of people with his huge fram. "It's a ghost." He said still within earshot of Forde and Orson. They raised their brows and looked at one another, before following Giovanni through the parted sea of people.

P-please don't kill me I have kids.

A ring had basically formed around the scene and Giovanni had entered it. He'd be coming from the assailants left side and the victims right. "Hey!" He shouted loud enough to hopefully summon the brown skinned man's attention. "He said he has kids. You may not respect him, but his kids ain't done nothing to you to deserve to be orphaned." If his "hey" wasn't enough to get the guy's attention he'd step in between the two himself. He normally would have watched the spectacle. Especially while drunk, he didn't want to go and get carried away and take out a city block. But this guy had a striking resemblance to the first and only man Giovanni was ever first mate to. Baron Sr.

Giovanni watched on as the man's life was thankfully spared. Some people int he crowd sighed with relief, others groaned and scoffed as the situation was diffused. Slowly the crowd began to disperse leaving Giovanni, Baron, Forde and Orson as the only still traffic in the streets.

Do I... know you from somewhere old timer

Giovanni wasn't sure how to answer the question, because he knew for a fact he didn't know who this man was, despite the striking resemblance he had to a man of Giovanni's past. "No, I'm sure we have never met before." Giovanni wasn't one to try to explain and decode a situation for someone unless it was dire. This situation wasn't and besides, it'd cause the mink hybrid too much heartache to go thumbing through his memories of Baron Sr. and their time together. "What's a guy like you doing out here picking on small fries?" Giovanni was obviously nudging at the fact Baron had an air about him that leaned towards the fact that he was stronger than your average person. Giovanni was all for fighting, but only against those who were also up for the challenge. Never innocents.

Orson and Forde had weaseled through the traffic and stood idle at Giovanni's side. Forde with his hands in his pockets and Orson had his heads still on his head with a bit of a bored expression. After Baron would respond to Giovanni, if he did, the old head would ask another question, this time trying to see what kind of man the fletching was. "If you have some steam to blow off, why not fight someone who'd give you a run for your money. Unless picking on weaklings is more up your ally." Giovanni flashed a smug toothy grin, trying to edge the stranger into a spar. Forde laughed at this and Orson just rolled his eyes. He was always trying to fight with someone, hopefully one day he'd find someone to knock him into the ground and leave him there.

Giovanni observed the silent man in an amused fashion. A smug grin was on his face and he crossed his arms at his chest, assuming the opening assault would be more conventional. Orson and Forde quickly cleared the area, because they knew how reckless Giovanni could be when fighting. "That's what I like to see." He laughed as the man turned and reached down to the earth and as soon as his hand touched it, Giovanni knew a fight was coming his way.

The earth itself began to split open, but it did so in a sluggish manner, that allowed Giovanni to react and reallocate his weight, but he still did so with urgency. They way the ground pulled apart would make him do a split if he didn't move either of his feet, so obviously he would. Leaning over and putting his weight on his right leg, he gave a quick laugh at the man's opening tactic while he took a hop over more to his right for safety measures. He'd continue to hop back as the hole widened, but wouldn't jump into any obstructions like a wall or light post.

The technique was unexpected, but too slow to actually be a real threat to the minkman. Each time he hopped he landed securely on both feet, and while he hopped he kept his eyes on foe curiously. His arm had adopted the qualities of the earth which was quite impressive and interesting. So he's a Devil Fruit eater? What wasn't yet to be proven impressive or foolish was the fact, he had opened a hole beneath Giovanni, but jumped at Giovanni. This meant he'd fall into his very own pit. Giovanni wasn't sure what the guy was up to, but he would have made his own attack while he observed his peculiar opponent, took a quick breath, and was back hopping.

"HEY!"

He released the breath he took to shouted pretty loud. Not loud enough to really cause more than irritation to bystanders, but still loud enough to administer the desired effects he wanted onto the ghost of Baron Sr. His ears would begin to warm up as a bit of blood would trickle from his ruptured ear drums. They'd recover in due time, but for a while he'd be completely deaf and disoriented.

In a perfect world as a result of his sonic attack, one would close their eyes in reaction to the pain. This was a tactic Giovanni used many times over and over with this way of attacking, so he was accustomed to moving the moment the target's eyes slammed shut. If they didn't close, he'd still move. Not to his foe, for the earth had split open in the street and proceeding to the long haired man meant to fall into a mysterious pit.

Instead he'd proceed upwards and at an angle so that he'd be able to descend onto the roof of a two story building safely. This would put him 6m high on the edge of the roof looking down to where his enemy was. "Yo-" He stopped speaking prematurely after remembering the guy would probably be deaf for a while. No point in taunting if it won't be a rouse out of someone.

Spoiler:

Giovanni had been off his game and had a lapse of attention. Perhaps it was due to the fact he was facing someone who so closely resembled a fallen ally from the past. One he regarded as a close brother to him at that. He had his consciousness hijacked and brought back to a time where the two men had a stand off with a crew of marines for a week on end. "What the hell is he doing?" Forde shielded the sun's rays out of his eyes with a single hand. The other was pressed against his hips as he squinted his eyes up at Giovanni who was on the roof. "Don't know. Looks like he's taking this guy a bit too lightly though." Orson and Forde watched as the man emerged from the building's surface as a mound of dirt and smothered him. "Huh!?"

Instead of his mind roaming where he didn't will it to, this time his body was being forced to traverse elsewhere. Off the rooftop and onto the ground, soon enough he was dragged underneath the terrain's surface and the victor of the bout emerged from the ground. Bidding a farewell to both Orson and Forde, the two were left to relay the man's message and dig Giovanni out the ground. When he was pulled up, he was still out cold. "He didn't drink much, so it couldn't have been the alcohol." Orson shrugged in response to Forde's words. "Who cares. Old man got his ass whooped. He had it coming to him." They hoisted the large heaping pile of muscles over their shoulders and joined forces to carry him back to their lodgings. "Yeah, but he won't be happy to hear it. That guy might have bit off more than he can chew." Forde was already thinking of how violent Giovanni's wake would be. They'd probably have to use the man power of their whole conglomerate to hold the man inside for the night instead of letting him out to seek to even the score. "Or maybe he'll be humbled by the whole thing." Forde gave Orson a side eye at his wishful thinking which caused the two to break out into laughter over how far fetched that was.

[Exit]