Chapter 3.2: The Beginning of Something Big! Black Market Beat Down! [Task]

Task Info:

Hunter had mostly recovered from his injuries he received in Foosha Village, with many thanks going to Saori and the good many hours of rest he managed to get in on the trip. All of the gunshot wounds went clean through or just skimmed him, so thankfully there wasn't any need to go pulling out any rounds from his abdomen and arms, and any nicks or minor slash wounds he received weren't anything to sweat too heavily about. What time he hadn't spent getting accustomed to the BeatRoot, getting patched up or resting, Hunter had been on crow's nest duty or working on washing the bloodstains out of his jacket which, as he predicted, was a bitch to get the blood out of the white material. Now, with his now crisp and clean jacket on, feeling a lot better than he had on the journey,  he stretched as he disembarked from the crew's home/major mode of transportation. The young man wore his usual attire, with the Quadruple M hidden once again by it's white cloth covering, toolbag in hand, and his glasses-covered eyes shadowed slightly by the bill of his newsie cap. The captain had pretty much rushed off the ship as soon as they had secured the ship to the docks in his trademark, nearly invisible, blur of speed and Hunter couldn't help but sigh at the sight. He had witnessed the  Captain's Zoom-Zoom Fruit when he first met the man, watched as he dispatched enemies easily with his speed during their escape from Dawn Island and crossed the BeatRoot within times that would make a stopwatch have a stroke. He had slowly been getting used to seeing and feeling the blur that was Fujin rushing past him over the course of the small amount of time he had known the white-haired man. Popping his neck a couple of times and rolling the shoulder that didn't have a machine gun resting on it, he sighed happily at the sound of bones cracking. Turning back to the BeatRoot, he yelled to the others on the ship. "I'm headed out to the market, if anyone wants to know where to find me or go with! Gonna see about getting some shopping done and picking up some info from the locals, so if anyone wants me to see about picking something up, I'm taking orders!" He looked around the docks as he awaited any replies he was going to get, noticing a odd lack of Marines, which struck him as very odd for such a large, well-known town with a large Marine Base, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

In the last few hours Arc had learned how to pilot a ship. Sort of. I mean sure he almost ran then aground five times and he may have been going the wrong way half the time needlessly draining their food supply but he felt he had done pretty good to only kinda break the steering wheel. Hopefully everyone on board would have learned to never again let him steer. Because honestly that just an awful idea. The plus sized man was more then happy when he finally managed to get the Beetroot safely parked, sheer luck being the only thing stopping him from crashing it into the island. Regardless they were safe now and Arc practically jumped off the side of the boat onto the dock, he landed on his feet with a thud and stretched a bit. "Aw man finally got off that boat. It's a miracle we are alive!" He casually followed after Hunter. "I'll go with you mate! Don't want you to have to go out alone! Never know when those marine types will get all up in our business."

As he said it Arc noticed the very distinct lack of marines around. He scratched his chin "Speaking of which I don't see any seagulls around... Must be our lucky day!" Feeling as if everything was really looking up the champion walked happily into town, just assuming Hunter would be close behind. Arc still hadn't really grasped the whole pirate out law concept, I mean he knew he had ticked off the marines but being as green behind the ears as he was he had little to no idea what greater consequences that had. So naturally he would stroll right into the town as if nothing had happened on the island before not bothering to take any measures to conceal his identity at all. It likely wouldn't be necessary to conceal his identity as he was small fry pirate anyway but still his aloofness was off the charts. "By the way Hunter! We need to get a new steering wheel. I kind of broke the old one."

"I'll go with you mate! Don't want you to have to go out alone! Never know when those marine types will get all up in our business." Shooting the taller, blond man a thankful look, Hunter was glad that one of crew decided to come along. He had been hoping to have someone to watch his back and have around for conversation on his excursion out to the Loguetown market. "Speaking of which I don't see any seagulls around... Must be our lucky day!" Hunter hummed at Arc's observation which matched his own. The lack of the World Government's forces around the docks did pique the brunette's curiosity and also slightly unnerved him. If the Marine's were unaccounted for, it was a clear sign that they were off doing something else, and that could mean something as simple as a mandatory meeting or training, or something like they were busy preparing to deal with any and all pirates on the island.

Shaking his head to rid himself of his paranoia, Hunter couldn't help but grin at the sight of Arc taking a lead ahead of him, showing that either Arc had balls of steel or didn't quite grasp the concept that Pirates weren't exactly every town's idea of people to welcome with open arms. "I don't think we'll have to worry too much about the 'gulls today, but let's keep our eyes peeled on the off-chance they're aiming to blindside us. Though, I probably just sound paranoid saying that. You're probably right, it's probably just our lucky day." Thinking on it more, while it was likely that their wanted posters had already been printed by the Navy, they were still small-fry compared to more well-known pirates, so they still had a possibility to just slip under the Marine's radars until they became a bit more infamous. "By the way Hunter! We need to get a new steering wheel. I kind of broke the old one."

Chuckling some in response, the marksman began to match the pace of the champion, moving up to walk beside the larger man. "I wouldn't worry too much about the wheel, Arc. If we can't find one laying around, give me a few minutes with some sheet metal and some bolts, and I think I can patch up the old one. I'm no shipwright, but I can do that much. Being a gunsmith teaches ya how to work with metal and wood pretty well."

When the two began to approach the more market-like area of the town, Hunter couldn't help but try to take everything in but failed. There were simply too many stalls and people going in and out of the local stores for Hunter to process all he was looking at. "Suddenly getting a bit of information overload." Chuckling nervously, he lifted the bill of his hat slightly. "Anything in particular you think we need or might want? I know that we're gonna need more food reserves to stock up on, I don't think Saori would say no if we came back with a few medical supplies, and I was gonna look around for some paper, books, and maybe a painting or two to spruce up my room. Well, those things and more gunpowder and bits and bobs to keep my gun running in tip-top shape. Anything I'm missing, or you're interested in looking for yourself?"

Arc scratched his head "Well I really need to dig up something I stashed here a while back. But aside from that all I can think of is apples. Apples are great. Dad always told me to bring apples on a sea trip." Walking into the market Arc was immediately distracted by all manners of things "Oh woah this place is really busy! I wonder what kind of stuff they have for sale!" Almost like a kid in a candy store he ran around the vendors looking at their various wares occasionally when he saw something cool he would yell at Hunter "Hey we need this!" Regardless of if it was really needed or not. The world was big and Arc had seen so little so even the most mundane of trinkets caught his attention.

One particular stall was selling small strange cylinders of colorful paper and cardboard. Arc bulldozed through several people to get to it. He picked up one such cylinder and held it between his fingers "Ooooh! What's this?" The old man working the stall grinned at him "You sire are holding in your hand a fire cracker!" Arc appraised the strange cylinder, it didn't look like a cracker and it certainly wasn't on fire "Are you sure sir? This doesn't look like my crackers back home. I'm not sure paper is even edible." The man laughed "You misunderstand my boy! You see that little white string on the end? When you set it on fire it will burn up and go into the fire cracker and then explode!" Ark instantly reconsidered holding it near his mouth and held it at a slight distance but his curiosity stopped him from setting it down "Eh? So it's a weapon? Why would you make such a colorful weapon?" The vendor seemed to be seriously getting a kick out of this "Oh no not a weapon at all! It explodes with bright light! It's meant to be beautiful. It creates a vibrant display of light that cannot be captured in any art. Great for festivals and raising moral on tough journeys. But the firecracker is only one of many of my fireworks as you may see I have many many neat things!" He gestured around his shop at the wide variety of fireworks available. Ark's jaw hit the floor "That sounds incredible!"

He looked out into the crowds to find Hunter "Oi Hunter! Come over here we need these! Lots and lots of these!"

"Well I really need to dig up something I stashed here a while back. But aside from that all I can think of is apples. Apples are great. Dad always told me to bring apples on a sea trip." Raising his eyebrow at Arc's mentioning of having something stashed on the island, Hunter made a mental note to  ask Arc what exactly it was he had hidden. "Apples are pretty healthy, so I can see why he'd say to bring some. Let's make sure to grab a crate or two of them before we leave along with the other supplies." Hunter began to look more closely at the stalls and the signs on the shops to see what sold what, not noticing that Arc had walked off for a moment. Once he realized he had lost sight of Arc, he began to scan the crowd's for the larger man, but catching sight of him wasn't what lead him to the champion, it was his yelling. "Hey we need this!"

Following the voice, he eventually found Arc standing in a fireworks stand. It would've seemed that Arc and the owner of the stand had been having a rather interesting conversation about the wares the stall's owner was selling. "Oi Hunter! Come over here we need these! Lots and lots of these!" Hunter merely hummed in response, taking a critical eye to the man selling the fireworks and the fireworks themselves. Taking one of the firecrackers that Arc had been looking at, he began to looking it over. He tapped the body of the firecracker against a bit of the stall,  he looked over the wick, rolling it over with his fingers, and several other odd tests that made some others in the stall look over at him curiously. His analysis complete, Hunter couldn't help but scoff at the man selling the fireworks.

"I won't go saying anything against your business, but the quality of these aren't the best. Only someone from Fireworks Island like myself would probably even notice any issues with these, but just a tip, if you're gonna make the wicks of these fireworks with such a crappy material, at least make them longer so people don't go losing their fingers." Reaching into his bag, he pulled out one of his Peacekeepers. "I can make fireworks myself Arc, so there isn't much need to buy any of these, although I am tempted to buy some just to take them apart for more colored gunpowder."

Arc was shocked to find out that Hunter was also capable of making fire works so much so that he pretty much completely forgot about the old man and his apparently mediocre toys "That's really cool Hunter! You never told me that you could make stuff like that." He clapped his hands together and said "I guess that takes care of everything thing! I'm going to go pick up my package now. I'll see you soon Hunter!" With little other warning he charged off into an alley. His destination was out of town on a distant hill however his progress would be cut short as a few alley's down he found his path blocked by three marines with their back to him. On closer observation Arc noticed a pair of heavily clothed large individuals who hid their faces.

The center most marine wore a justice coat on his back but he certainly didn't look the captain type. He looked just about as strong as any run of the mill marine cadet, likely something shady going on with that. But Arc wasn't that observant, rather he was too busy listening to the conversation they were having. Coat marine said to the hidden men "In ten minutes will send our bag man to your ship, at that same time we expect the cargo to be at our ship. If we don't see your men we will sink your ship and we will hold your cargo carriers hostage until our bagman returns safely. Understand?" One of the men he was talking to nodded "Alright. Usual fashion then." The second man looked like he was about to say something but he spotted Arc standing behind the marines and exclaimed "
We have an eavesdropper!" Arc tilted his head to the side "What's that?" One of the marines shouted "He's trying to play with our minds! Get him!" Arc stared at them as the two marines both drew swords and faced him, the captain spun around and pulled a pistol as well. The two cloaked men pulled out seastone rods a fact that gave Arc a little pause. It wasn't until the captain took a rubbish shot at Ark that completely missed that he noticed "Oh hey we are fighting! Okay I can do that."

"That's really cool Hunter! You never told me that you could make stuff like that." The marksman merely shrugged, putting the Peacekeeper back into his bag. "Well, it's sorta my family's business. I was devoted to fireworks till I was about ten or so and then I messed up with making a custom firework and got a scar on my back as a souvenir. It was after that I got into gunsmithing, but I never really stopped making fireworks either." He began to look around at the other stalls before the sound of Arc's hands clapping caught his attention. "I guess that takes care of everything thing! I'm going to go pick up my package now. I'll see you soon Hunter!" And with that, Arc once again took off.

Hunter merely chuckled at the larger man's antics, scratching his cheek nervously. His enthusiasm was certainly respectable, but his memory left something to be desired as the blonde man seemed to have forgotten they hadn't actually bought anything yet. "Then again, I suppose it's better this way." Moving about the bazaar, the brunette proceeded to browse the locals shops, stopping to pick up a few crates of food, including two barrels of apples from Arc's request, a couple barrels of gunpowder and some materials to make bullets, and his final stop was to get some medical supplies for Saori. He wasn't able to find much in the way of medical things, a few bottles of painkillers, some things to clean wounds with, and a bunch of bandages, nothing that you wouldn't find in a standard first aid kit. He told all those he bought from how to get to the BeatRoot, and that he'd appreciate if they got what he bought there within like an hour or so. With that done, Hunter merely began to wonder around the marketplace, basically just window shopping, considering returning to the ship and waiting for the supplies to come in so he could go ahead and get them on the ship.

He began to look at a stall that was selling books, flipping through a few pages of a old novel, before he heard the gunshot. His mind began reeling, his time with his master forcing him to recognize the sound that many mass-produced guns made flashing in his mind. A standard issue Marine pistol was one of the easiest guns for him to recognize, as it was the first one he had learned the sound of. Fearing that Arc or another one of the crew was in trouble, Hunter shoved a handful of bills at the stall owner. "Just give me however many books this'll get me and send them to the ship in port with the jolly roger that looks like a infinity symbol!" And with that, Hunter sprinted off from the shocked book seller, his grip tightening  on his tool bag.

Whilst Hunter began running towards he heard the sound of the gunshot, he began to unravel the white cloth around the Quadruple M, placing it in his tool bag. Quickly loading in a clip, he continued at a breakneck pace towards the gunshot. Taking a turn into a alley, he began to hope that no one he knew was hurt. He began to follow along the alley till he heard the sound of yelling, and then made a turn towards the sound. As it would happen, he had found his way behind the cloaked figures that stood behind the Marines. Seeing the Marines and the seastone rods that the cloaked figures held, Hunter could only assume that something devious was going on here. He couldn't see who they were all facing, but he could only  assume it was a pirate or a eavesdropper. Quickly diving back behind the cover of the corner of the alley, he began to rustle around in his bag, looking for something to break up this little meeting of there's and see who the Marines were shooting at. He eventually found what he was looking for, in the form of a hermit crab shaped bomb that was coated with the same substance that attached C4 to walls, and a detonation remote. Peeking around the corner, he decided that the Marines were the real threat here, so he took aim, and threw the Exploding Hermit at who he assumed to be the Marine captain. The bottom of the Hermit impacted with the Marine's shoulder, and before he could notice, Hunter yelled around the corner, "If anyone like'd to keep themselves in one piece, I'd suggest jumping back a few feet!" He pressed the detonator, and the explosion ensued.

Skills Used-
Exploding Hermits: Remaining - 5/6, Cooldown - 0/2

The marines spun around as Hunter yelled at them throwing his bomb. The captain didn't seem to notice the imminent threat of the bomb on his shoulder and neither did his men but the hooded figures definitely did. They jumped back from the explosion went off meanwhile the marines were caught in the blast. The two lesser marines were knocked agaisnt the walls of the alley and collapsed to the ground deep fried extra crispy. The marine captain looking guy was was blow on his face completely knocked out and likely injured beyond recovery(well within a decent time frame). Arc was more fortunate however standing just out of the explosives range. In fact he almost seemed amused by the explosion "Aw cool!" Thanks to the narrow alley, the explosion and the size of the cloaked men Ark didn't even see Hunter throw the explosive leaving him a touch confused where it came from.

However he knew one thing for sure, it was fighting time. The hooded figures nodded at each other then put their backs to each other. "Seems we have been surrounded." One growled the other replied "Let's take these guys down and warn the boss!" Arc yelled in protest "Oi! Who do you think you are saying you can take me down?" One of them laughed "Sorry kid you can't beat us. We're fishmen!" Arc scratched his head "What's a fishman?" The two large men were stunned into silence, which Arc took as his cue to charge. Covering the short distance between them Arc planted his feet in front of his first foe and prepared to strike a blow. But his foe was fast and struck the champion over the head with his seastone rod. Arc's head spun from the strike but his feet did not even budge. Angered Arc coated his right hand in Haki, opened his hand wide into a palm strike before plunging his hand forward at the fishman's chest "Breaker Palm!" The blow landed and instantly the fishmen regretted their life choices.

The force of the blow immediately caused ribs to crack around the point of impact and sent the first fishman crashing into the second launching both out of the alley crashing into the street beyond. The martial artist responsible walked out of the alley shaking his right hand "Oi even with my haki that kind of hurt. You guys are made of tough stuff." The first fishman was already down and out while the second was pulling himself to his feet out from under his comrade "Just who the hell are you?" Arc grinned "I am Black Wall Highram. Learn the name or get crushed by it."