Serious: Coruckus Ridge

The days that followed were smooth sailing for the men on the ship, on the way to Coruckus Ridge they stopped at a marine base and dropped off the civilians on their ship along with the captain and his crew. The sun beat down on the men but the cool air of the ocean kept them from being weighed down by heat. "Captain Kenjiro, we'll be at the ridge in a few hours." a marine told the marine captain. Kenjiro glanced at him and gave a nod "Alright....Go fetch Heartly for me." Kenjiro said to the marine.

The young man stared off into the ocean "That ridge...I have to fix it's issues. It's a stain on our record as marines." Kenjiro thought. Meanwhile the recruit had gone off to Heartly "Captain Heartly? Captain Kenjiro requests to see you."

Enjoying the solitude the journey allowed him, Heartly had spent the journey looking out over the edge of the ship. Hearing a recruit's footsteps he turned as he spoke, Heartly nodded. Heading from the back of the ship towards Kenjiro's location, Heartly was still caught up in thought.

"Kenjiro, you called for me?" he asked curiously awaiting an answer. He knew they were probably almost there, but wasn't so focused on actually completing the mission as his mind continued to wander. But from the looks of it, the island seemed to be heavily under the rule of the families. Seems they also had their differences of opinion due to the way it was separated.

Seeing Kenjiro, Heartly quickly begun to analyse his pose and figured out what it was. Already roughly knowing the news that was coming, Heartly looked towards him then the island then back at Kenjiro.

It would be time to embark soon and they'd have to bring the island's rulers to their knees.

Kenjiro leaned against the rail, his mind heavy with thought. Could he and Heartly really take down an entire crime syndicate by themselves? It was something that had been lingering in his mind ever since Heartly agreed. Kenjiro looked out in the direction where they were sailing, he could already see the island. "It's time for the families and our fellow marines to pay for their sins" Kenjiro said to himself. He slid his new brass knuckles he had taken the days before on "And it'll be this crew that brings down the judgment.".

"Kenjiro, you called for me?" Kenjiro glanced at Heartly "We're approaching the ridge Heartly, our first line of duty is removing all corruption from the marines based there. It's the reason the families gained so much power." Kenjiro said. He looked off back to the island "There is also a matter of a more personal nature I have to ask you, but that will come in time, for now we focus on the task at hand."

Nodding Heartly figured this would be what the conversation was about and took a step forward to look at the island and try to figure more about it.

"Its going to be a hell of a job doing so, but I think we're ready for it. Seeing that there are two guard towers located at the harbour one at either side I'm going to suggest something. We don't sail right up to the island just yet."

Taking a few seconds to figure out a plan Heartly snatched up a pair of binoculars that had been left on the side and looked at the guard towers. After a quick look he managed to conjure up one.

"Right I've got it."

Turning to face the men he gave his plan.

"Kenjiro & I will head in on a small rowing boat. Once we arrive. We will take down the towers quietly. Any noise we make will only draw out reinforcements. Once we've taken the harbour we will let you know with a simple signal. Then we want you to sail the ship in. There is a reason I don't want the ship to be sailed in yet. Once we've taken it we can start plotting our attack on the island. From here I can see its a heavily industrial area with families selling people, manufacturing weaponry and god knows what else. So be ready for everything this place has to throw at you."

Turning to take one last look at the towers, Heartly smirked. He had a plan and would make sure it was carried out to a T. Heading over to a sail boat hanging from the ship, Heartly cast the cover off and hopped aboard. Gesturing to Kenjiro he hinted for him to climb aboard.

"As soon as Captain Kenjiro is aboard lower us and we'll be heading to the island and remember wait for our signal."

Kenjiro gave a nod in agreement to Heartly's plan, and hopped aboard the row boat with Heartly. The captain had a serious expression on his face as he stared off to the island. "Prepare for a great battle Heartly, they won't take kindly to us." Kenjiro said. They hadn't allowed marines new marines to that island since Kenjiro's attack. "Let's go then?"

Lowering the boat Heartly & Kenjiro were now sitting in the cold blue sea, Heartly looked towards Kenjiro and handed him the oars.

"You're rowing."

Turning around and lifting the binoculars, Heartly watched the towers and the men manning them.

"I'll keep an eye out for anything. Need to know what these guys are up to in the towers. You never know, they might recognise us, I mean we're hardly both no bodies. We're both Naval Captains."

With a nod Kenjiro took the oars and began rowing, he kept them going at a slow steady pace as to keep them being noticed. "That's not even mentioning that I've been here once so I'm easy to recognize. So Heartly looks like we're gonna be awhile before we land ashore and last time we were stuck on a boat and had minimal movement I entertained you with a story, now it's your turn." Kenjiro said with a chuckle. Kenjiro had his easy going persona going again but the young marine was alert to his surroundings and knew one wrong move could end with one of them injured or worse, dead.

"But, in all seriousness Heartly, I hope you're prepared for what you're going to see on this island. It's not pretty and honestly, it's one of the biggest hell holes in all four blues. If you get a drink, cover it and watch the person who makes it carefully, keep your money close to yourself and always look over your shoulder or else you will get stabbed or shot." Kenjiro said in a serious tone.

Watching as Kenjiro rowed, Heartly listened to all he had to say and understood this much. Kenjiro was known on the island and it was a dangerous lawless heap of shit.

"I'll keep that in mind, the island's a shit tip."

Looking towards the shore then the towers, Heartly started to think again. He knew for a fact himself & Kenjiro were in trouble if they were caught in the water, but as soon as they hit land, they'd be just fine. However with these guards on watch they needed to avoid being recognised. Looking towards Kenjiro who'd been here before, Heartly tossed him his scarf.

"Kenjiro I've got a plan. I want you to wrap my scraf around the lower half of your face. They shouldn't be able to recognise you and they won't recognise me."

Reaching for his Heart Stopper, Heartly looked towards the towers and started questioning if he had enough bullets, realizing he didn't he shook his head and directed towards the shore.

"Lets get their as soon as we can. You take the right and I'll take the left, but remember try to avoid gun fire or any loud bangs. I'll do that same. Best way to take them down would be close combat."

Releasing his Heart Stopper, Heartly clenched his fist and smiled. He had his deathly powers of a Hell Hound to deliver unto these pirates.

"Kenjiro I've got a plan. I want you to wrap my scarf around the lower half of your face. They shouldn't be able to recognize you and they won't recognize me." with a nod Kenjiro took the scarf and wrapped it around the lower half of his face, the only part visible was his nose bridge and eyes. Kenjiro continued rowing and soon enough they landed ashore, standing up Kenjiro began making his way to the guard tower Heartly told him to go to.

Climbing up Kenjiro noticed his target watching the ocean, they obviously hadn't noticed them yet. Walking up silently to the man Kenjiro transformed his right hand into a short sword and held the man to him with his left, his hand covering the man's mouth. Stabbing into his body Kenjiro hit the man's lung effectively making him slowly drown in his own blood. Dropping the man blood began to pool out of the wound and drip out of the man's mouth. Kenjiro looked down giving an uncaring look before looking off to see smoke from the other guard tower. "I would love to stay here and watch you suffer more due to the fact you look like you work for that slaver Stein, but it seems my partner is already finished and I won't slow him down." Kenjiro said before stabbing the blade through the man's eye and into his brain stem, severing it, an instant kill.

Moving towards Heartly's position Kenjiro waited for Heartly to finish and for them to meet up.

Arriving on the shore, Heartly quickly hastened towards his tower.

Inu Inu: Black Dog

Charging quickly towards the tower Heartly threw himself into a roll aiming for the tower's struts and allowed his heated body to do the work. Not only breaking it into pieces but also searing the building and its contents including the soldiers who were currently posted within.

Inu Inu: Black Dog: Blazing Boulder

Shattering the back right strut the tower slowly begun to topple towards the other tower until Heartly smashed the other rear strut and it crashed down slightly behind the other tower. Crashing into the ground Heartly stopped rolling and changed back into his human form. Approaching the two guards who'd jumped for cover he looked down on them with his heart stopper in hand as blood covered their clothing and seemed to leak from their heads and various other wounds. Looking at the two of them, Heartly shook his head.

"Its a real shame when I have to do stuff like this."

Kicking one of the two in the face Heartly knocked him unconscious as for the other guard he pistol whipped her around the face with his revolver. Placing it back it its holster, Heartly looked towards Kenjiro.

"Tie up the guards we want to take as many as we can in alive. I'll call in the ship."

Heading over to the shore Heartly lifted a mushi to his mouth.

"Prisoner ship, your clear to dock." he said thinking that if anyone was listening in, they'd at least believe it was really the prisoner ship.

As Heartly continued off to the shore Kenjiro looked down at their prisoners in disgust. They were working for one of these families, it didn't matter which they were all responsible for the slaves and prostitutes that come from this area. Kenjiro clenched his teeth as his anger built up thinking of the suffering these people had inflicted onto others. The lives and dreams they crushed, the women and children they broke and sold. He knew he couldn't kill them all but he was going to torture one, make him truly suffer and make sure the marines knew not to lay a finger on him. Tying them up Kenjiro hauled them all out to the shore as their ship came by, marines began loading them up and as they grabbed the last one Kenjiro took the marine by the shoulder. "I want this one in a windowless cell with a steel door, I don't want a single hair on his head out of place while in prison. Am I understood marine?"

The marine gave a nod and hauled him up with the rest. Turning towards Heartly Kenjiro spoke "We should go to town now."

As the ship landed on the shore and the prisoners were taken aboard, Heartly had to agree with Kenjiro that it was time they headed further in land. Looking over the men aboard the ship, Heartly started.

"Guys clean up this port Kenjiro & I will be heading into town to find out more about this place and plan an attack. Everyone else I'd prefer it if you all stay her to protect one another and keep each other in order."

Turning to Kenjiro Heartly continued.

"I'm all for making a move on these guys, but what're the families again? We want to start with the one causing the most trouble."

Kenjiro watched as the ship sailed off, he made plans for his prisoner and he'd be begging for a death sentence when Kenjiro was done with him. When asked of the families Kenjiro spoke "Nakamura, Stein, Schmitt and Hondo. Nakamura is the largest family out of the four and the other three pay them, their all martial artist and are on par with some of the best fighters in all of the blues. Stein are who we've been running into, slavers, gun slingers and marksmen. Which is why their duty is to guard the coast from ships. Schmitt are drug dealers and run a prostitution ring, their also tanks and able to take heavy amounts of damage and deal out just as much. Then there's Hondo who act as the muscle for the other three families, body guards, collectors, all the grunt work. If we attack anyone we attack Hondo as it removes a good chunk of profit from them."

Kenjiro began walking towards town and readjusted his scarf "After we take down Hondo one of us is going to become the new head of the family. Their fiercely loyal to their families head due to his strength and if one of us beat him. We can take control of a fourth of the island."

Heartly locked this information about the four families away into his brain. The four families sounded like they had it made. Thinking about them he attempted to figure out which would be best for them to take down first. Removing the Hondo family as Kenjiro wanted would remove their protection but they'd still be under heavy fire from Stein family since they were the marksman. Taking out the Stein family would clearly be slightly more difficult but provide them with a greater opportunity for stealth. Taking on Schmitt would be more beneficial for the general public as fewer drugs would be let out and at an earlier rate whilst also less people would suffer and the current people within their grasp would enjoy their freedom sooner. And then there was the Nakamura family. A family of martial artists. These sounded the least dangerous.

Ranking the families in order of importance Heartly came to the conclusion:

Hondo - 1st
Stein - 2nd
Schmitt - 3rd
Nakamura - 4th

Looking at Kenjiro Heartly replied.

"If we take down the Hondo family first we'll be opening up the other families for ourselves but we're still going to have to deal with marksmen and sharpshooters, so I propose an idea. You have a much greater chance dealing with marksman since you've got a better range than myself. So how about you take the rooftops and I'll handle the ground. You can take down the marksmen and then aid me with any heavy hitters on the ground if I need it and you can even scout ahead."

Following after Kenjiro, Heartly started to see the opening of the town. It didn't look good. Cobbled streets large buildings which reached up to into the skies. The town seemed to have a general Victorian appearance to it. A large clock tower in the far distance with a bell stood out among the buildings.

It was time.

Heartly & Kenjiro VS The Hondo Family

Kenjiro listened to Heartly and couldn't help but agree, as they walked off into town Kenjiro took a turn into an alleyway and climbed up to the rooftops. Moving as stealthy as a man without stealth training could Kenjiro snuck up onto one of the riflemen and hit his windpipe with the brass knuckles, the man fell to all fours before a kick to the face came knocking him out. Moving onto the next riflemen Kenjiro instead pierced the back of the man's head, an instant kill. The cycle continued of Kenjiro taking out the riflemen before the rooftops were safe, transforming his right hand into a Gatling gun Kenjiro looked down at Heartly and gave a nod as a 'ready to go'.

Watching Kenjiro perform assassination after assassination, Heartly shook his head. He'd have preferred taking them alive, but everyone had their own way of doing things. Getting the signal from Kenjiro, Heartly made his way forward. Looking around the corner he caught sight of two soldiers. Taking a deep breath he changed.

Inu Inu: Hybrid Standing at a height of 8 feet and feeling his limbs heating up Heartly stepped around the corner.

Charging towards them the two men Heartly cast himself into a roll.

Inu Inu: Hybird: Draco Roll

He knew for a fact that even if they tried stopping him all that'd happen is they burn their hands. Smashing into the two men, they both were knocked aside slightly burnt. Leaping to his feet Heartly delivered a round house kick to one of the two guards smashing his face against the wall.

As the other guard reached for Heartly's extended leg Heartly smirked as he watched him burn his hands upon gripping it. Recoiling in agony, the guard grunted looking at Heartly.

Inu Inu: Hybrid: Face Plant

Moving behind the large burly guard Heartly kicked off of a wall propelling himself to the right height and slammed his hand into the back of the guard's head. Pushing him downwards, Heartly managed to smash his face into the ground. Stomping on it for safe measure, Heartly looked at the brute then up towards Kenjiro giving him the signal that he was alright.

(Sorry if the post is naff, also if it goes against the plot, I’ll change it if so)
 
Evelyn felt her unconsciousness unravel, she had awoken. She groaned, trying to move her arms and legs, but the rattle of chains kept her pinned completely to the floor. She was trapped, she felt her rage grow as she tried to struggle against them, but they were too many even for her great strength. She felt vulnerable, where was she? She heard rustle and bustle around her.
 
(Note: Her memory, so it’s a little foggy, as will be my writing)
[FLASHBACK]
 
Evelyn had arrived at the island and marine base. She towered over the people there and quite a few of the buildings too. This was one of her tours of duty and she’d be gone in a couple of days, nothing more nothing less. She quite enjoyed the little place, at least… Until she noticed something. A man, normal human had lured her toward one of the alleyways to which she could bare- no, she couldn’t’ fit through at all, so she had to kneel down. The man brandished a currency at her, beli. The universal symbol of greed, at East Castle they just used gold in its purest form.
 
He said that things would go badly for her if she didn’t accidently line her pockets. She blinked at him, confused. “Doest thou threaten me?” She asked, her brow furrowing. It looked like she spooked him a little, probably by her size, before he simply went straight and said it was a bribe. Next thing the man knew he had a hand wrapped around him and was on his way toward the marine base.
 
It wasn’t going to take long to put the man in a cell, he was screaming his head off. He attempted to bribe her, HER. Suddenly, she felt something smack against her cheek. It didn’t hurt much, she looked around, finding nothing there. She looked to the ground, there was nothing there. Suddenly she felt it again, on the other side, then there was more, and more. It felt like someone was kicking her, she roared in anger, but found that there were too many buildings, she had to watch where she was.
 
She felt it again, this time on her temple, it didn’t knock her out, but it did cause dizziness. She fell to a kneeling position before feeling it one last time.
 
[BACK TO PRESENT]
 
Damn it… It hadn’t crossed her mind that there were more of them. She didn’t even know the capabilities on those upon the island. She thought it was just another as she was looking around the land of the Blues before she would start to fulfil her debt. She tried to speak, but they’d wrapped a large cloth around her mouth. She looked to the side and found an outside fruit shop suspiciously without any kind of roof, they must’ve taken it off and used it to stop her from making a scene.
 
She couldn’t move at all, where were the others? There was a marine presence here, was there not? She saw a few resting in a tavern after a hard morning’s work! She felt her right eye twitch and her anger grow. Somebody was going to pay for this. Growling emanated from her throat. She couldn’t’ say anything, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make herself be heard. With her size, hopefully someone would notice.

Kenjiro gave a nod to Heartly and began moving only to be stopped by a man, the man stood at five feet eleven and looked only to weight around 170 lbs. Kenjiro's eyes narrowed and the man smirked "I see you remember me, marine." the man said. "Alexander Nakamura, the right hand man of Takashi Nakamura. Of course I remember scum like you." Kenjiro said. The two stared at each other before launching at each other, the fight however wasn't long. The man had hit around Kenjiro's chest four times and Kenjiro was frozen in place. "Feel lucky, you could be killed at any moment within the next 60 seconds, but I will allow you to live. It's the extent of my mercy." the man said before kicking Kenjiro off.

Kenjiro soared through the air, hitting rooftop after rooftop before falling into a building without a roof, struggling to look up Kenjiro saw a chained up giant woman. Due to his body being for lack of a better word, dead for the time being Kenjiro couldn't speak, hell he could barely move as it were. It was an excruciating 30 seconds before Kenjiro could finally speak "Who...are you?" the marine asked before managing to stand. Noticing her mouth had been tied Kenjiro sighed "Right, pry can't speak then eh?" Kenjiro advanced to her and grabbed ahold onto the piece of clothing he could get a good grip on "Sorry about this." Kenjiro said as he began his ascent up the giant woman. Standing on her shoulder he took grip of the cloth and transformed his hand into a short sword and sliced through it, causing it to fall away and allow her to speak.

*Back Outside with Heartly and Alexander*

Alexander looked down at Heartly and a small smirk came across his face "Allow this to be a warning to you, you marine are not welcome on this island and never will be. Leave now while you can." Alex said as he quickly ran off, to report to Takashi.

Seeing Kenjiro nod to him, Heartly watched him as he made his way along the rooftops until he ran into a tall man who seemed to speak to him. Watching them exchange words followed by a few attacks, Heartly gritted his teeth. He needed Kenjiro to beat this man and soon.

When the final blow was landed unto Kenjiro, Heartly watched as he came crashing down and finally vanished behind a wall. In shock, Heartly felt the need to run after Kenjiro and make sure he was alright, but when Alexander spoke, Heartly looked into his eyes with a burning passion to put these bastards behind bars.

As Alexander warned him and told him he should leave whilst he still could, Heartly caught hold of an all too familiar scent. Smiling as he sniffed it up his eyes opened and he looked towards Alexander.

"Its funny you should say that. I've got a warning for you mate. I can smell death when its near and I just caught a huge whiff. This islands in danger. Not because the Navy are here & not because that psychopath Kenjiro's here, but because you brought the Hell Hound to your sinful little island. And I'm going to make everyone of you pay."

Evelyn heard a thud near her, she had restricted neck movement due to the sheer amount of chains put around her, they were all pegged down into the ground. She saw someone on the far edge of her eye, before feeling something on her cheek. Someone was climbing up her face. Soon he came into view, a normal sized human, she kept her eyes on him. From his clothing, he was a marine, thank the King!
 
That is, until he changed his hand into a sword. As soon as it was cut, “Small warlock! Take me from these chains and I shalt not purge you!” it was the best thing she could offer him. Of course, from his perspective it’d be more like “SMALL WARLOCK!!! TAKE ME FROM THESE CHAINS AND I SHALT NOT PURGE YOU!!!" due to size difference. After all, men such as him are unnatural, and shouldn’t exist in the world, but she would be in his debt if he helped her.
 
…She kind of hoped he wouldn’t help her, if she struggled enough, maybe she could break the chains?
 
The chains were attached to the walls and dug into the ground as pegs, it’d be doubtful that she could get out on her own.

Kenjiro held his ears as the giant woman spoke "Please for the love of God keep your voice down to what you consider a whisper. Size difference means a sound difference ya know. On top of that I'm not a warlock I'm a marine captain." Kenjiro said, Moving down towards the chains Kenjiro transformed his right hand into a Gatling gun and blasted at the chains until they eventually shattered and fell apart, freeing the woman. "Now come along, we have a job to do." Kenjiro said in a serious tone.

*Alexander and Heartly*

Alexander had stopped in his tracks and looked back at the marine, with a whistle guards came flooding in and surrounded Heartly. "Have fun, marine" and with that Alex managed to vanish within the flood of people and escape.

Watching the man make his leave, Heartly reached for his heart stopper. As he removed it and took aim he found it knocked from his hand by a foot from a guard. Leaping backwards to avoid being in such close quarters, Heartly smirked.

Inu Inu: Hybrid

Growing in height to 8 feet and gaining a smooth black fur which covered his entire body, Heartly looked towards the guards who'd arrived and clenched his fist tightly. It was time he showed them why he was such a dangerous mutt and what terror they'd unleashed by bringing him here.

"Very well, captain." Evelyn said, she was in the service of a warlock, it was a very shameful day for her indeed. She started to rise, the chains rattling as they fell to the floor. "Brace thyself for an aerial view." she added.

She tried to gently grab Kenjiro, her hands would roughly fit around his body but his arms would be free. She attempted to rise up with him in her hand so that they could reach where they needed to go quicker. "Which way, mine Lord?" she muttered should she as said be successful, holding him up so he had a better view, and would walk according to his instructions, if he avoided her grab then she would simply follow him.

Kenjiro was lifted into the air and he looked around "Rather beautiful view of the area up here." Kenjiro said with a chuckle. Looking out to Heartly he saw him battling the guards and saw Alexander escaping via roof tops. With a growl Kenjiro spoke "That man attacking the guards, you see him? If so attack the guards along with him he is a fellow captain and marine. In the mean time I also want you to toss me at that man there." Kenjiro said pointing towards Alexander who at the current time was fleeing.

Charging towards the first guard, Heartly cast himself into a Inu Inu: Hybrid: Draco Roll attack and brought him to his face with a scorch mark along his legs. Throwing himself onto his feet, Heartly brought his heel down atop the back of his head knocking guard #1 out.

Turning back around to see two more heading his way, Heartly watched as one fist came towards him. Raising his right arm and bringing it down Heartly pushed the fist aside and delivered his own knee towards the guard. Catching sight of another guard coming his way he felt his knee stopped and pushed off using his knee and arm allowing the other guard's attack with a sword to slide down between the two of them and the guard he'd pushed off of fall to his arse.

Charging forward as the guard with the blade slammed his sword into the ground, Heartly cracked his knee into the side of the guard holding the sword's head.

Causing him to stumble towards the other man, Heartly unleashed a Inu Inu: Hybrid: Draco Stomp landing atop the two guards, Heartly's foot crushed the guard #2 & 3's ribs piercing their other organs with the broken bones Heartly kicked off of them and back to the ground to feel a fist jabbing him in the kidney.

Grunting Heartly quickly responded with a Inu Inu: Hybrid: Draco Wrap wrapping his tail around the guard's calf he heard a scream and allowed his tail to leave the guard's leg as he brought his next technique to fruition. Inu Inu: Hybrid: Draco Roundhouse

Finding his foot captured in the guard's hands, Heartly gulped as he didn't seem to be effected by the heat.

"Ain't gonna to burn me 'ands lil' buddy! Can't feel nuthin' in me 'ands."

Spinning around and tossing Heartly from his grip towards a wall, Heartly grunted in pain as he hit the wall then the floor. Looking towards the brute who charged his way, Heartly rolled aside as the brute's foot came crashing down.

Looking towards the man and picked himself up.

Inu Inu: Hybrid: Jab

Landing five punches into his kidneys, Heartly smirked to see the man spinning around attempting to deal out a punch. Ducking down and avoiding it, Heartly drew in his right foot and launched it into the guard's stomach attempting to step through.

Stumbling back into the wall, the brute breathed heavily as he looked at Heartly.

"You won't bring down the families navy dog!"

"Why don't we let fate be the judge of that." Heartly replied as he delivered a Inu Inu: Hybrid: Draco Sky Paw finishing him off with a burning uppercut that smashed his head into the wall, Heartly turned walking away as pieces of the wall begun to fall and finally the wall shattered. Falling backwards and soon buried by the roof, the brute was now gone for good. Breathing heavily, Heartly looked back at the rubble then towards the building Kenjiro had fallen into.

He wanted to see if he was safe, but more importantly he wanted to bring down this family and now. He just wished that Alexander had been around to see just how dangerous he really was when you messed with the mutt.