"T-Thanks, Captain." Said Trenza awkwardly with a slight frown as she watched Kane's corpse sink into the water, only to be eaten by the massive shark swimming about.
Ignoring Trenza, I looked around for an exit or anything that stood out, but other than the chute we all entered from, there was nothing remarkable about this room; the shark was the most interesting thing, which wasn't even interesting.
"So what happened here? I smell a lot of blood in the air." Asked Diddy curiously while looking around, observing the empty room, though an unknown voice was heard before anyone could answer.
"You three have managed to escape my trap, but it seems like it cost the lives of one of your crew members; that is unfortunate. I was hoping for at least two of you to die." Said Mirage as she eyed Sebas before looking between Diddy and Freyja, who tried to find the source of the voice, though they came up empty-handed.
"Eh, who's this? You're the one who poisoned the room and caused Sebas to freak out?" Questioned Freyja with a frown while holding Scar and Grand as she looked at a speaker in the corner of the room.
"Tch, that old bitch is Mirage, the one who forced us to participate in her stupid death match, like fucking psycho! She's also the woman; I'm going to put a bullet in her head!" Yelled Trenza angrily with a smirk, her words slightly surprising Freyja and Diddy.
"She must be one crazy evil woman if she made Trenza super angry." Muttered Freyja with a raised eyebrow, looking at Trenza while Grand and Scar wordlessly nodded.
"My name is Mirage, but you five can call me Madam Mirage; I'm the owner of this island, also known as illusionary island. You five have unfortunately chosen this route, which means you will all be dying here; no hard feelings, though; it's nothing personal." Stated Mirage calmly as she took a sip of tea before glancing at Pill, who nodded in response and pressed a few buttons.
Listening to this woman talk, I didn't really have any idea why she was speaking as if she had already killed us, but I had honestly stopped paying attention and was entirely focused on looking for a path to escape, which I've found two, though all of a sudden, numerous small openings appeared on the side of the wall, followed by what seemed to be a nozzle emerging from said opening.
"Phase 1 has been completed; I hope you enjoy phase 2; just a warning though, no flames." Said Mirage with a slight smirk before her voice suddenly cut off, followed by a high-pitched sound emerging from the numerous nozzles.
"What the? D-Did she just leave!? Hmph, cowardly bitch, now that our beloved Captain has arrived, she scurries away like a frightened critter; come and face us like a man!" Yelled Trenza angrily as she stood up on Diddy's shoulder and raised her pistols to the away, nearly falling off, but he caught her leg with his tail.
"Do not ever repeat, beloved Captain, or I'm letting that shark eat you." Said Diddy with a growl, squinting his eyes as he looked down at Trenza, who meekly nodded while smiling.
"Um, is it just me, or is it suddenly getting harder to breathe?" Asked Scar with a frown as his breathing became uneven before looking at Grand, who also breathed unevenly.
"Hmm, no, I'm completely fine; the air actually feels rather nice." Replied Trenza with a shake of her head as she deeply inhaled the air while smiling.
Although I didn't say anything, I also felt the same as Scar; my breathing was still fine, but every time I took a breath, I noticed the taste of the air was more diluted than usual, almost as if something else was in the air, yet I couldn't smell or taste it.
'Now, something in the air that can conceal itself from two of my senses is rare. Hmm, what could it be?' Mused Diddy with a thoughtful expression while Grand, Scar, Trenza, and even Sebas were starting to have trouble breathing.
"Ugh, why do I feel nauseous? Are my wounds worse than I thought?" Questioned Grand with a slightly pale face as he rubbed his head, while Scar and Trenza looked similar.
"Methane?" Muttered Diddy quietly before he suddenly widened his eyes and deeply inhaled the air, which further cemented his suspicion.
"Hehe, no wonder I couldn't smell or taste anything; methane is completely odorless, colorless, and tasteless." Added Diddy with a chuckle as he looked at Trenza, who was lying weakly on his shoulder, feeling completely exhausted.
How did I figure out methane was filling the room? Well, really, it just happened to be a random fact I read about on the internet one day; there is no actual reason behind it. I was looking up some things and happened to come across some information about methane; not only did this Mirage give us a hint, but I could also tell the nozzles emerging from the wall were expelling some type of gas.
'Anyways, now that my curiosity is satisfied, let's leave; this place so far has been rather boring; relying on tricks, gases, and illusions to defeat your enemies isn't exactly what I'm interested in.' Mused Diddy with a shake of his head, and instead of approaching the chute he and Freyja appeared from, he propelled himself to the ceiling.
"Hmm, what're you doing, Diddy?" Asked Freyja curiously as she followed after Diddy, who floated in the air before what looked to be an opening sealed shut.
"Leaving this room, that's what I'm doing; you first." He replied Diddy as he reached forward, stabbing his nails into the metal before ripping it off, revealing what looked to be another much smaller chute.
"Oh my, I didn't know you could behave like a gentleman, Diddy; maybe you really will one day try to put a ring on my finger." Remarked Freyja in a sultry tone as she winked at Diddy before flying into the chute, carrying Scar and Grand.
"Tch, just know, even if you were the last remaining woman alive, I would rather die a virgin than ever sleep with you." Said Diddy in disgust as he looked at Freyja and although he does admit she rightfully deserves her title, he wasn't willing to get sexual with someone who had an untold amount of partners, even excluding the fact that she wanted him dead.
Following behind Freyja, I entered the chute before looking back down, and while smirking, I pointed my finger, shooting a tiny bolt of lightning into the room; which barely had enough time to enter the room before it sparked, followed by it instantly catching the entire room on fire.
"C-CAPTAIN!!" Yelled Trenza in fear as she watched with bated breaths a wall of fire force its way into the chute, heading towards them at break-neck speeds while Diddy merely laughed.
Quickly propelling myself into the chute lest I was to get consumed with the raging flames, I shot upwards, quickly passing Freyja, who just now felt the sudden increase in heat.
"Tch, slow dow- Son of a Bitch Diddy!" Said Freyja with a frown before looking down, only to see raging flame's head right for her, causing her to powerfully flap her wings, swiftly following right behind Diddy.
This chute must've been just as deep as the other one because even after ascending for nearly three straight minutes, I hadn't arrived towards the top, though, to be fair, I wasn't moving as fast as I could; I wasn't given the option when I was carrying the two people with weakest physiques, which allowed Freyja to pass me up.
"Hurry up, slow-poke." Said Freyja mockingly as she glanced at Diddy with a smirk while flying past him, annoying him.
A few seconds later, I saw Freyja smash through something, allowing light from above to enter the chute, which was already being illuminated by the raging fire behind me; exiting the chute, I dashed to the side, allowing the fire to shoot off into the sky.
"Now, that was rather fun, though It would've been better if it was more threatening." Remarked Diddy with a feral grin as he dropped Trenza on the ground beside him while enjoying the pillar of fire illuminating the night sky.
"You know, on our adventure in the Grandline, I have a feeling Captain will be our biggest obstacle in staying alive." Declared Scar as he stood up alongside Grand.
"Heh, you're only now figuring this out, Scar?" Asked Trenza rhetorically as she stood up with difficulty and glanced at Scar.
"Anyways, where are we at? We should still be near the house where we originally entered from." Said Freyja as she flew into the air, hovering just above the treeline while observing the surroundings.
"Now that we're finally out of immediate danger, what happened to Father?" Asked Grand as he rubbed his head before approaching Diddy, followed by Scar and Trenza, who all huddled around him.
"That Mirage woman or whoever she is poisoned the room, and I beat him up; he should be fine. I made sure to hold back some of my punches." Replied Diddy nonchalantly as he looked at Sebas before tossing his wounded body to Grand, who was caught by surprise, barely managing to catch him.
"You sure it was just some of your punches, Captain? He looks like he's about to keel over and die any second." Stated Scar with a frown as he checked upon Sebas before looking at Diddy, who grinned and shrugged his arms.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 192: One More!) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 73: New Skill) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 121: Heracles, The Warrior Botanist) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]