"Where did that buffon go?!" Rebecca drew a pistol and looked around with a little worry and a lot of anger.
"I don't know!? You know how Captain he kinda does whatever he wants!" Anderson unraveled his fishing line and extended his Haki trying to find anything. Harlen however was much calmer.
"It's training." His Haki had quickly overshadowed Anderson's allowing him to see much more around him and in much greater detail. Harlen looked around before looking at his crewmates, "There's about 30 monkeys surrounding us just watching. I think he wants us to beat them."
"What?!/That makes sense." Rebecca and Anderson had different reactions. Rebecca looked at Anderson with bewilderment.
"Hey! I thought you were on my side! Why aren't you more pissed he just left us to fight some animals?!" Anderson simply shrugged.
"He's the captain. If he wants us to get stronger fighting wild animals I kinda just assumed that's how he got so strong. Doubt he'd make us do anything he hasn't. Just doesn't seem like that kinda guy." His answer was simple but satisfied Harlen, and Rebecca a little.
"Fine! But this is still bullshit!" Harlen waved her off and took point walking in front.
"Anderson takes our tail and makes sure nothing attacks from the back. I'll lead towards the village. Rebecca just shoot anything that gets in our way." The other two Celestial Dragon pirates nodded and quickly followed his orders. Harlen slipped on his brass knuckles before he started moving.
They were cautious and moved slowly before a Monkey fell from the trees. Anderson acted first since it happened behind them with his fishing line wrapping around the monkey before him and Rebecca opened fire into the monkey. As the bullets flew through the air more monkeys started falling from trees in anger and rushed them.
"STAY CLOSE!" Harlen rushed in between Anderson and Rebecca grabbing a monkey by its face before slamming it into the ground. He kept running and engaged a group of three monkeys in a fist fight. The monkey he slammed into the ground tried to get up but found a bullet through its skull causing the other monkeys to roar in anger.
Harlen dodged a punch before finding a monkey flying at him in a drop kick. His Haki caught another monkey going to attack his back while there was one trying to drop on his head. Harlen knew he didn't have time to move so he gathered Haki into his right arm and lower back.
He tanked the drop kick only moving a few inches before tanking a punch to his back that hurt the monkey more than him. With the same arm covered in Haki he went for an uppercut right into the monkey above him launching it into a nearby tree.
Harlen dodged another punch before jumping back to create space. He was quickly surprised when a monkey did get the drop on him and was about to hit him in the skull when a fishing line pulled it away roughly and a bullet took its skull off. Harlen thanked Anderson in his head before charging towards the now four monkeys he had been fighting.
He ran into a slide right under two flying monkeys before leg sweeping the other two. They easily dodged it with a jump but were still caught with a Capoeira kick into one of their jaws launching it into the other one. Harlen jumped up over a monkey before grabbing another one mid air and bringing it down to cushion his fall before rolling off it. He kept rolling to dodge monkeys before he ended up on his back and pushed off his hands into standing.
Harlen quickly blocked two attacks with Haki before slamming his hands into the ears of a nearby monkey. It shouted in pain but was silenced with a bullet through the skull. Harlen turned on his foot and threw a punch that caught a monkey's fist. The monkey held in air for a second before its wrist gave a sickening snap and it was launched backwards.
Anderson wasn't as crowded as Harlen as he used his fishing line to keep a distance. Thanks to Armament, anytime a monkey got too close it met a black hook that would launch it back before black string would tie it up and a black bullet would tear its head apart. He repeated the process a few times, finding much more than 30 monkeys attacking them.
Rebecca on the other hand was in a fist fight with one of the monkeys that attacked her. She had tried to reload but found the monkey too persistent to ignore. She barely avoided a punch before lowering her body in the same stance Harlen taught her before kicking with much more force than one would assume she was capable of.
The monkey was caught off guard and became dizzy giving Rebecca the time to slip a bullet down a musket pistol and take aim. He pulled the trigger and quickly reloaded before she felt a chill down her neck and crouched. A monkey went flying over her head before a fishing line caught it.
Rebecca pushed her initial surprise away and aimed her pistol and shot the monkey midair feeling it much easier to shoot now. She focused on the feeling and could hear almost every monkey in a thirty foot radius. She took a deep breath and reloaded her pistol before she ran to stand back to back with Anderson.
Harlen kept beating a monkey into a tree even as others attacked him until the monkey stopped moving. He huffed with little exhaustion before turning around with an angry glare. He reached out and caught a punch before ducking an entire monkey flying at him. He rose up with an upper cut into the monkey he caught and while still holding it slamming it into the ground like he was the Hulk.
Harlen let go of the limp monkey before sidestepping another flying monkey in annoyance before kicking out and slamming a monkey into a tree. He turned around kicking another monkey in the neck before dropping low and throwing multiple quick punches into two monkeys ribs. He felt a crack with each punch but just increased his strength and Haki with each attack until he was huffing in the middle of a bunch of dead monkeys.
He didn't find any more using his Haki before sitting down and taking a breather. *AWROOOOOOO* He didn't get long before he looked up to see a group of wolves coming into the clearing having smelt the blood.
"Oh you gotta be shitting me?! This couldn't be worse!" Rebecca was getting low on ammo and slightly panicked seeing more wild animals. Anderson and Harlen however looked deadpan at Rebecca confusing her. "What? Was it something I said?"
*RROAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR* The group slowly turned around to see two grizzly bears walking into the clearing. Harlen gulped and cursed Markus in his mind before standing up.
"I'll take dumb and dumber you guys get the mutts!" Harlen took off first as he ran right at the bears. Anderson and Rebecca were worried for him but listened and quickly went to engage the pack of wolves.
Anderson started by trying to trap the wolves legs with his fishing line but was easily avoided as Rebecca stood next to him and fired at the wolves once they landed. She hit one wolf's leg but it only slowed it down as the other wolves started trying to circle them. Anderson quickly casted his line again this time catching a wolf and shooting it with Rebecca before they out there backs together and looked at the circling wolves.
"I better get some good ass compensation for this shit." Rebecca gritted her teeth in annoyance as she watched the wolves carefully. Anderson snorted.
"And some well deserved rest." Rebecca nodded but kept focused. The wolves made the first move with Anderson quickly casting his line and catching one. Rebecca kneeled to dodge a wolf that Anderson also avoided with Haki before filling the tied wolf with lead.
Rebecca rolled across the ground dodging a wolf before hearing a voice and barely avoiding a wolf by rolling to her right. She recovered quickly and ducked under Anderson, slapping a wolf with an Armament-covered fishing pole. Anderson used the momentum to tie up a wolf and shot at it.
Rebecca used the moment to shoot a charging wolf before hearing another voice and dodging a wolf that was quickly tied up and slammed into the ground. She went to shoot it to find a wolf slamming into her. She was about to get bit when the wolf's head fell on top of Rebecca freaking her out. She pushed the wolf off and looked around before realizing what happened and sighed in relief.
She calmed herself quickly and reloaded before helping Anderson finish off the last wolf. She decided to take a breather when she couldn't hear anymore wolves and properly fell to her ass to watch Harlen fight the bears. Anderson recovered his fishing line before joining to watch as Harlen, on the back of a small bear, snapped its neck with Armament covered arms.
****
Harlen charged at the two bears with a sharp glare. He ran into a slide getting behind the bears before jumping up and kicking the two in the side. They both swayed but held strong against his Haki before both swiping their paws at him.
Harlen leaned back and limboed under the paws before throwing two quick jabs into both bears' snouts stunning them. Harlen quickly targeted the smaller bear and kicked its neck before ducking under its jaw to its other side and throwing two quick punches. He quickly jumped back barely dodging an attack from the smaller bear while the larger bear roared.
Harlen charged the bear again, dodging a paw and landing a right hook into the bear neck causing it to spasm. He quickly uppercutted the bear and used all his Haki and strength to kick the bear into the larger bear only barely slowing its charge enough for him to spin out of the way. He landed in a stance facing the smaller bear before charging it again.
He dodged two paw swipes before the bear tried falling on him but Harlen easily dodged and grabbed the bear's ear. He smiled and jumped on the bear's back before digging his right hand into the bear's neck and grabbing it. He raised his left arm covered in Haki and started slamming his fist into the bear's skull.
Harlen let go for a second to land two extra punches with his right hand before he was flung off. He landed upright and watched as the bear swayed before crashing down. He ran and jumped off the bear's body into a superman punch right into the larger bear's gut. The bear crashed to the ground but recovered quickly with a bite into Harlen's Armament covered forearm.
Harlen used Tekkai to the best of his ability but quickly started punching the bear's neck, snout, and skull rapidly. The bear didn't give up even as its brain rattled and just increased its force slowly pushing into Harlen's arm. Harlen slammed his fist into the bear rapidly before jumping up and slamming his feet into the bear's skull, twisting his own arm but finally releasing it.
Harlen jumped back and rubbed his arm feeling his muscles having torn with a grimace. He pushed his left arm up back into place of its socket but couldn't fix the muscle pain so he just bit his cheek and got in his stance. He took and extended his Haki just in time to catch the smaller bear about to rip his right arm off with its jaws but quickly found Armament and Tekkai stopping it at his shoulder.
Harlen roared and tried to hit the bear off but quickly found the larger bear in front of him and biting his arm again. Harlen roared and reinforced his whole body with Tekkai to a whole other level before increasing his Haki. Harlen stood there, getting nawed on like a chew toy, with a scowl trying to find a way to get the bears off.
He could feel his muscles strain under the pressure and started sweating. His mind was racing a mile a minute trying to find a way out. He considered every current possibility but couldn't find a single way to win.
'I… I! I can't die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die anymore!! I WANNA LIVE!' "CAPTAIN!!" A wave pulsed out around Harlen stunning the bears. Harlen wasn't focused and in turmoil before his Observation noticed the bears release him slightly. He quickly released Tekkai and slapped the bears in the snout before rushing away and quickly facing the bears.
Harlen huffed covered in a layer of cold sweat quickly feeling self pity believing Markus had just helped him. He shook his head for the moment and rolled his arms before staring down the still stunned bears. He decided to first charge the larger bear and combat rolled under it.
He stood behind the bear and spun around with a powerful punch to its side before running across its spine and jumping into the air. The bear staggered under the force of the jump and could only look up before seeing a Haki dropkick slam its head into the ground.
The bear heard birds chirping from all the head trauma and collapsed. Harlen kept his Armament active as he quickly stomped its head repeatedly until he was knocked to the ground by the smaller bear. Harlen used his Haki and Tekkai to protect himself before firmly grasping the bear by its lower and upper jaw.
He kicked the bear up before using Soru on its chest, launching him into a flip that ended with him crashing to the ground while the bear did the same. They both got up and looked at each other. The bear roared while Harlen cracked his neck before they both charged each other.
Harlen dodged the first paw but tanked the second while throwing his own hook into the bear's neck before kicking its groin. The bear reached down in agony but Harlen didn't let up with rapid blows to its head and neck. The bear flew into a bigger rage and tried to charge him but he easily dodged and wrapped his arms around its neck.
The bear rampaged as it ran around but Harlen held strong and infused more Haki into his arms than before. He tightened his arms until they felt like they were gonna break before he felt a sickening squish and heard the crack as the bear finally stopped. Harlen collapsed with the bear and laid on the ground for a few minutes before Anderson and Rebecca arrived looking down at him.
"Need any help, Vice-Captain?" Anderson offered a hand with a smile while Rebecca offered some water. Harlen smiled and accepted both as he got up and took a gulp from the canteen.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap* "Magnifico! Wonderlucious! Absolutely Divine!" Markus appeared clapping with a huge smile on his face. "That was amazing work everyone! You all did amazing! Man, I have such a strong and reliable crew! I pick great people huh!"
"Alright Captain, humble. I would frankly like to rest after that." Harlen gave his own smile and waddled over to Markus with Anderson's help.
"Yeah I bet after that rest would be nice." Harlen froze and looked at Markus's weird smile.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Markus's smile became crazier making Harlen gulp.
"There are thousands of different beasts on this island. I say we stay here for another month or two for some training!" Harlen sighed while Rebecca and Anderson groaned at the idea of fighting more wild animals.
"Really captain?! Do we have to?" Rebecca pleaded with Markus to no avail and groaned as Markus just gave her more ammo and some encouragement.
"No need to be so down! I believe in you three! Just keep pushing yourselves and get stronger!" Markus smiled encouragingly and patted Harlen's back with Armament before he disappeared. His voice still echoed, "Good luck!"
Harlen quickly got up into his stance as more wolves walked into the area led by a much larger wolf with a scar across its muzzle. Anderson got behind Harlen and held his fishing rod tight with a focused glare while Rebecca stood behind him with her gun loaded and ready to fire.
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