Billy and Monty

It was a lovely afternoon on the Conomi Islands, and hopefully for the rookie bounty hunter known as Fresh the first real day in his career path. He hadn't been having the greatest luck so far, but he hadn't exactly been having a bad time either. So far East Blue was an enjoyable place to travel around and he was enjoying every person that he was meeting. Just because he hadn't already scuffled with some pirates or bandits wasn't particularly discouraging – he hadn't really been trying too hard looking for criminals, so in reality he would have been more concerned if there were just wanted criminals walking around unafraid of being caught. That was why he left the Grand Line with his father, after all. Kyuka Island had become quite a hot spot for notorious criminals.

Fresh was so sure that this place would be his sweet spot because it was a was a bit of an inbetween compared to other islands in the region – it wasn't a fully marine occupied island like Yotsuba where a criminal wouldn't dare try to hide, and it also wasn't the craziness of Loguetown where there was probably some sort of ne'er-do-well around every corner. It was a quaint area that still had a bit of a marine presence so there was a chance that some low key lawbreaker could be causing some mischief around here, but if things went bad he wouldn't have to run too far to be in safety.

Fresh had found himself in a nice little village, though he couldn't be sure of the name. As he continued down the street he couldn't help but notice that everyone bustling about on their midday business seemed to be in a good mood. It was nice. Finally, he found something that piqued his interest. In front of what seemed to be either a restaurant or tavern was a small wooden board that hosted several bounty posters. Fresh rested his right palm on the pommel of his sword as he eyed the names, faces, and numbers looking for something that he could tackle. "Perhaps I could find someone with a low bounty that also doesn't look too ruthless..."

Billy was on a day off because apparently marines need days off from catching pirates. He was wandering through the village until his stomach started to growl. So he decided to go find some place to eat, after searching for a bit he happened upon a nearby restaurant. Billy soon rushed inside and waited at a table patiently for food because waiting your turn is good manners he thought. As he waited there his stomach growling his arms folded on the table and his head burried in them, a waitress finally appeared causing billy to quickly sit up bolt right and start ordering food. As billy listed off all the types of food he wanted the waitress nodded and went to go get them.

Eventually the waitress came out with his food and billy quickly started to dig in happily eating. When a pirate crew burst in and started making a bunch of ruckus billy looked on in shock as they started making trouble. He started to think to himself it was his day off was he really supposed to go after pirates but quickly brushed it off thinking to himself [ justice never takes a vacation so neither should i!]

He then stood up paying a nearby waitress for his food because that kind of stuff was important. He couldn’t just leave to chase pirates without paying thats very bad even if he had a good reason. Once he was done paying the lady he takes out his pistol and says “ stop right there pirate skum! Your under arrest!” He then squeeled inside he been waiting a long time to say that!

After staring at the bounty board who for knows how long, the broomheaded pirate hunter had still come up with absolutely nothing. Fresh crossed his arms and turned his head to the side. "I guess beggars can't be choosers. I'll just go for the lowest number, even if they look tough." Just as Fresh reached his hand out to grab the poster of a guy named "Red Lobster", he noticed three figures enter the tavern out of the corner of his eye. They were chuckling to themselves rather menacingly, and it didn't look like they were going in to try to chicken parmesan.

"I don't really want to make any assumptions, but... they look like the type to cause trouble." He didn't really get a good look at any of their faces, so he couldn't compare to any of the heads he had practically memorized by staring at the board for so long. It couldn't hurt to just go into the restaurant and make sure nothing was going to happen, right? If it turned out he was being too cautious, he would just get himself some chicken parmesan. Fresh quickly made sure that his flintlock pistol was loaded before heading towards the door to the establishment.

Sure enough, just moments before entering, he heard a voice from inside cry out about pirates and somebody being under arrest. He was glad to be right about his hunch and not bigoted. With that, it was time for action. He could only assume it meant that at least one marine was in there, and they could probably use some help. Fresh calmly pulled the front door open slowly enough to not alert anyone of his presence, unless you were looking right at the door. One lone marine was aiming his pistol at the group. Just as one of the criminals was about to take out their own weapon Fresh walked up behind him, loudly clicked back the hammer of his flintlock pistol, and prodded the barrel sharply against his back.

"Bad idea. You heard the guy, you're under arrest." Fresh had never done anything nearly this dangerous in his life, but somehow it felt completely natural. It was looking like he had picked out the right line of work for himself.

Billy angrily stared at the pirates as they got ready to draw there weapons, causing billy to get ready to fire. When suddenly he noticed someone sneaking up on the pirates and point his flint lock pistol at the captains head. Billy was about to relax a bit when he saw that but it didn’t look like they were about to give up.

In what seemed like the longest few seconds of his life billy saw the two crew members turn around and draw there weapons then go to attack fresh. They quickly swung there swords at him from flanking positions. While the captain quickly activated his devil fruit, the lobster lobster no mi turning him into a hybrid lobster person. He was clearly hoping the shell would be strong enough to withstand the bullet,from the gun pointed at his head.

Then with one fluid motion tried to turn his head down in a attempt to avoid the bullet if it hasn’t fired yet.
Billy put away his pistol quickly and turned into a hybrid raptor person, then charged at the captain hoping to get in a attack while his attention was focused on the person behind him. If billy got in range in time he would try to shove his claws into a slit between the lobsters shell plates.

It seemed that despite having the initial upper hand, things were quickly about to turn into a bit of a mess. Despite having a gun right to the captain's head, he decided to make a move anyway. Fresh wasn't actually expecting him to react like that so quickly, so unfortunately the bounty hunter didn't think to actually pull the trigger on him before he began his transformation.

Now, having lived on a resort island in Paradise his entire life, he had seen some strange things. He had seen giant beast-like animals, talking animals, animals that walked on two legs like humans, fish people... but never had he ever seen a human being transform into an animal. If this were a more casual setting, he would have a few questions for the guy. Unfortunately, this guy wanted to beat him up, so that wasn't going to happen. Fresh backed off as some very strange lizard-like creature wearing clothes charged at the lobster man.

Unfortunately for the lobster man he had been anticipating taking a bullet from the guy in front of him rather than being blindsided by the marine he had forgotten about momentarily. He didn't even have time to react as a pair of sharp raptor claws sunk right into him, slipping through his natural armor. The pirate shrieked in pain as blood immediately spurted out of his side, and he blindly swung at his attacker with one of his meaty hand claws.

Since the lobster was being taken care of, Fresh was stuck in another pickle. He was about to be double teamed by the two remaining goons. Fresh decided the best course of action was to use that trusty bullet he hadn't managed to fire off yet. Without remorse he pulled the trigger and shot the swordsman who was trying to flank him from the left right in the torso, and he immediately crumpled to the ground. With his free hand he sloppily pulled out his shortsword upside down, just in time to prevent the remaining swordsman from cutting him right open. His guard was pretty weak and off balance, however, and was only just enough to prevent injury.

After stabbing the man billy quickly decided to back up, there was no reason to get greedy and go for a second strike, that could just lead to problems. Apparently he was right as the big lobster claw came flailing at him, it wasn’t entirely unexpected since a counter was expected after inflicting a wound. Billy quickly ducked under the claw and decided to run outside for more room and to limit damage to the bar. He was confident that the lobster wouldn’t want him to get away after being stabbed like that. After all what kind pirate lets someone walk away after stabbing them.

If the lobster did come outside billy would try to confuse him by running around him in wide circles outt of the range of his claws.

Meanwhile in the tavern the one guy goes down and starts to bleed out while the other guy yells “you bastard!! Your going to pay for that!” He then tries to test the weak guard by pushing down harder. If it doesn’t work he would proceed to try to kick fresh hoping hes distracted enough on guarding against the sword for it to work.
If it does work he would try to angryily charge or slash at him.

The lobster man growled in anger as he swing missed its target and quickly made chase as the marine ran outside. He was very pissed that some goody two shoes would even think about trying to stop his fun. The pirate captain burst out of the exit to the establishment and blindly lunged at the raptor with one of his claws. The marine had already begun his plan of circling him out of range, however, so his swipe was in vain. The pirate decided to circumvent this by darting right at Billy with each claw extended on either side of him in an attempt to box him off and stop his scurrying about. "You don't get to mess with Red Lobster and get off easy!"

Meanwhile, Fresh had found himself in a little bit of a pickle. The swordsman he was now dealing with was rather miffed that he had taken out his friend. His anger was a wee bit justified, sure, but it meant that he was probably going to fight a bit more rough. Fortunately, Fresh was still as calm and collected as ever. Though his weak and off balance guard was about to be easily crumpled, he took a quick look to his left and saw exactly what he needed to do to give himself the upper hand. With his free hand he tucked the pistol right back into his holster and used what strength he had in his awkward position to push forward with his sword as his guard finally gave out and his shortsword came right out of his head. Fortunaely, his manuever had given him just enough space that the attacker's sword came right down in a vertical slash that was just out of his reach, leaving him unscathed.

Now, he could do the only thing he could think of doing. Fresh quickly grabbed the back of the wooden chair that was directly to his left with both of his hands and hurled it right at the pirate with all of his (rather average) strength. This is just what I thought this would be like, Fresh thought to himself. I like it.

Billy expected him to come out, it was the most natural move after all. Getting stabbed hurts and no one wants someone to be able to do that and get away. Thankfully it seemed this pirate seemed rather stupid and played right into billies hands. When he charged billy it was one of the worst possible things he could’ve done, it was also one of the things billy was hoping would happen.  By the time he reached billy he was already almost behind him having reached the back section of his left flank.  Billy then moved completely behind him and tried again to stab him again by sticking his claws in between the plates like before. If he succeeded he would quickly back away to avoid any counter attacks.

He would be paying close attention to his arms and to see if he tried to turn around. So he could hopefully avoid those pincers, meanwhile with fresh he was about to be over taken by the pirate
When just as he was pressing down he would say “i got you now you little shit.” When suddenly the guard would stabilize, causing him to get angry and push harder. When out of no where he sees a chair coming at him to late to block it, the chair smashes against him. The pirate staggers backwards , stunned by being hit with the chair he struggles to regain his composure before its to late.

Red Lobster's frustration was getting to him. He could only watch as his desperate lunge failed miserably and he gave his adversary an almost perfect opening to dig into him one more time. The pirate captain yelled again in anger as Billy's claws made contact and more blood was drawn. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled, clunching his side. He might have been a zoan user with sturdy armor, but he wasn't a superhuman. This was starting to hurt. "You bloody government dogs... I'm getting sick of this!" He angrily lashed out at the marine, firing a flurry of claw swipes and punches at him.

As soon as the chair left Fresh's hands, he knew that he would have to act fast. He was currently unarmed, and though he had just bought himself some time the pirate still technically had the upper hand. He didn't have the time to even look up and see if the chair had connected or not, the important thing right now was retrieving his blade which was currently on the ground in front of him. Once he had his hands on the handle of the blade, he surmised that his trick had in fact worked, as he was expecting to have been attacked by now if it hadn't. Now that he had his blade comfortably in his hands in a way that he could properly use it, it was time for him to give this pirate a taste of his shortsword.

Fresh got a good look at the pirate and saw that he was in fact caught off guard by the chair throw, and was still having trouble regaining his composure. That one quick bit of improvisation had apparently turned the tables entirely on the situation. Fresh lunged at the pirate and took a diagonal slash at his unguarded chest.

Billy could tell he was getting really frustrated after last stab even if he couldn’t realize it before. Though he had to admit this guy was pretty tough, a tougher then billy most likely. Two stab wounds and he was still as good as ever. Thankfully billy seemed to be faster and have the advantage currently though he had to be careful since that could change with one bad blow. He then heard the man yell and billy corrected him saying “ i think you mean bloody heroes of justice you pirate scum. If your getting sick of this then giveup before its to late for you.” Clearly he wasn’t giving up as he started angrily lashing out.

As he did billy kept backing up trying to stay out of his reach while looking for another opening to attack. As he watched the claws carefully trying to look for a pattern if there was one, while retreating backwards. He yelled to the citizens “for your own safety please exit the streets citizens until this situation is resolved.”

The pirate was still stunned By the chair sadly he regained his composure to late as he was lashed across the chest causing him to scream in pain. He was clearly running on adrenaline now and in a fit of rage swung his sword down at fresh hoping to get a hit.

Red Lobster continued his attempted assault on Billy, lunging at him viciously and slashing his meaty claws at him. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and each time he fell short and used up more energy. With every thrown punch his movements became slower and more labored. A fair amount of blood was collecting on the street. "Y-you... think you're..." Red Lobster couldn't even finish his sentence as his breathing became very labored. The next punch he threw took him off balance and he flopped on one knee. His adrenaline had faded, and he was now feeling the complete strain of both his exertion and losing quite amount of blood. Some attempt at speaking came out of his mouth before he fell face first into the ground, unconscious.

Fresh was surprised that his enemy was still standing after taking a hit like that. He was already bleeding quite profusely from his chest. Another cut from his sword could genuinely cause him to bleed out... Considering there were still a few panicked patrons and employees in this establishment looking on at the fight, he probably shouldn't kill him outright. That really wasn't a memory he wanted to give to anyone looking on. So, Fresh decided that he should probably go for a knockout.

Fresh readied his now bloodied sword to defend himself from the incoming adrenaline fueled strike. Now that he had planted his feet and had a good grip on his weapon, this attack was going to be much easier to defend from. It was a simple plan, really. First, he would successfully block the incoming attack. Then, he would use his strength to push back hard against the attacker's blade and knock him off of his rhythm. Then, he would just punch the guy in the face. He figured with the amount of blood loss this guy was experience, another good whack would take him out of commission in time to properly fix his cut. In a jail cell, of course.

Billy would keep dodging trying to buy time for his opponent to go unconscious from bloodloss. Which eventually he did thankfully because billy was exhausted. After the lobster collapsed and reverted to normal form, billy would then collapse on the ground returning to normal to catch his breath. Once he was sufficiently recovered he would attempt to hog tie the unconscious pirate captain. After that he would call the citizens out telling them its safe, he would then buy some bandages and wrap the pirates wounds so he doesn’t die anytime soon, hopefully.

Meanwhile in the bar fresh’s fight was wrapping up to as the pirate charged in he was no match for fresh’s excellent use of tactics. As the pirates sword collided in his mindless rage his stance and form were no good and he got sent off balance and soon after knocked out.

After this all happened a little bit later billy came in still exhausted and said “ i have to call this in and take these guys to jail now. Thanks though for the help citizen im billy nice to meet you.” then held out his hand to shake freshes hand, then waited to hear what his response was.

As Fresh's fist connected with the ne'er-do-well's face, a spurt of blood came out of the criminal's nose, some getting onto his hand. As the defeated pirate crumpled to the ground, Fresh simply stopped to look at his hand for a moment. Between the gunshot, the sword wound, and that punch, he had caused more bloodshed in the span of a few minutes than he ever had previously combined. He couldn't really think of anything to say about this, but it was certainly a milestone of some sort. "Huh." He then looked up and around at the patrons and employees of the bar that had been simply watching the spectacle unfold in shock and awe. "Sorry about all of that, everyone." He looked to a woman just coming out of cowering near the bar whom he assumed worked here. "Perhaps if I helped clean this mess up, I might be allowed to stay and order some food or drink?"

Before he could get a response, the marine that had been assisting him this whole time but had disappeared into the street with the big lobster man re-entered the bar. He looked a bit tired, but thankfully not injured. Fresh had also felt like he had gotten a good deal of exercise for the day. "Good to see you in one piece, officer." Fresh checked to make sure there wasn't any blood on his hand, then extended it to shake Billy's. "My name's Fresh. I'm a bounty hunter. Glad I could be of some assistance." Fresh almost thought about inquiring on whether he could get some credit for the taking out of Red Lobster, but since he actually hadn't taken the guy out himself and his two cronies were more than likely not worth anything, he abstained from asking. This was just the beginning of his career, anyhow. There would be bigger fish to fry that he could claim for just himself.

"Well, officer, if you would like any assistance in taking these three in, I'd be more than happy to assist. If not, I'll simply stay here and help these good people clean this place up."

After coming back into the bar, having finished with the lobster, he heard fresh comment so he casually replied “thanks good to see you are as well.” After that he then introduced himself to fresh, though when he got a response he found out he was actually a bounty hunter. he must’ve been here looking for work, with this in mind billy thought of giving him the bounty.

But waited till he found a good time to mention that. “ nice to meet you fresh, lets clean this place up together then i can give you lobster guy as the bounty as thanks for your help.” He never met a bounty hunter before but they seemed nice. Plus they helped go after criminals that marines weren’t able to at the moment which was always good.

He then started to help fresh clean up the place, trying to fix anything that may have been misplaced or moved during the struggle. He then wondered where bounty hunters turned people in to. So billy asked “by the way where do bounty hunters usually turn people in to get there money? is there a certain place you go to?” After asking that he sat down having finished fixing hisnside of the restaurant.

This young officer named Billy had just rather generously offered Fresh the bounty, even though he had just reconciled with himself that he wouldn't be getting it. It was a rather perfect turn of events, really. "Well thank you. That would be greatly appreciated, actually." He was trying to recall what the poster on the board had said Red Lobster's bounty was. He believed it was just one million beli. Even so, one million beli was a heck of a start for him. He nodded as Billy suggested they both help clean the place up. "Agreed." Fresh began the process of trying to return the place to what it looked like before the pirates had barged in.

The first order of business was dragging out the two unconscious pirates that were just getting their blood all over the floor. Thankfully it was just wood and not a carpet that could be stained, but it would still need to be cleaned up. Fresh asked an employee for some rope and they ran to the back to retrieve it. He then dragged the two still breathing bodies outside, tied them together with the short piece of rope, and propped them against the side of the outside wall. Upon returning inside he picked the chair up that he had thrown and placed it back at a table.

It was then that the marine, Billy, asked him about the logistics of bounty hunting. It was a good question, and one that he thankfully knew the answer to. "Pirates, dead or alive, are brought to marine bases, since it's the World Government putting out the bounty in the first place. From there they're either imprisoned, or if they are dead their remains are dealt with one way or another." Fresh had a question of his own, actually. If his memory was correct, this young man in front of him had also turned into some sort of animal. He was a bit curious about that, as if it was something he was going to be dealing with often he should probably know about that.

"People turning into animals... is that a common ability? I see that you and our friend Red Lobster both have the ability to do so."

Nods at his reaction he wasn’t even sure if marines could claim bounties, if they could though this guy may need it more. He had already mopped up all the blood on his side of the room plus things looked neat so he waited to see how fresh would do. Later on though after fresh answered the question he asked about bounty logistics, he would nod and say “ ok that makes sense. “

He hoped he wouldn’t get in trouble for working while on vacation but there was only one way to know. He just had to hope if he did get in trouble his explanation would get him out of it. Though it looked like fresh was thinking of something himself he wondered what it was but figured he would soon find out.

Sure enough he did as fresh asked him a question about how people could turn into animals he then thought about it. The question of if it was common never occurred to him so he would think for a second and say “normally the stronger the marine or pirates you are the more likely you get a ability like this I just got lucky and seem to be the exception. ”

Though to answer your question yes it is somewhat common and you get the ability by eating some nasty tasting fruit called a devil fruit.

Fresh was just finishing cleaning up the part of the mess that he had caused. There was a surprising amount of blood to wipe off of the floor and partially on a table and chair, and in Red Lobster's rushing outside he had knocked two plates full of food off of an adjacent table. Mashed potatoes and gravy were not easy to clean up, it seemed. Nevertheless he persisted, and by the end of Billy's explanation of his abilities and others like it (to which Fresh was still listening intently whilst cleaning) he had finally finished his duties.

"So, it's something that this fruit of the devil allows you to do?" Fresh scratched his chin inquisitively. "And these abilities make you stronger... so then most of the strongest will have eaten one of these fruits?" That seemed like that could become rather problematic down the road. Fighting a regular bloke that's just strong is one thing, but if a lot of strong people can do dangerous things like turn into animals or who knows what else, things were certainly going to get interesting as he got further into his bounty hunting career. "Very interesting."

Now that the establishment was cleaned up and things were going relatively back to normal, Fresh decided it was time to take care of the criminals. "I'll go outside and check on the pirates. Then, perhaps, we could begin our journey to the nearest marine base?" He was sure that there would be one somewhere nearby, as an off-duty marine was just hanging around town. Hopefully not too far... dragging three bodies was going to be difficult enough. With that, he gave a goodbye nod to the nearest worker and headed outside. Sure enough, Red Lobster and his two cronies were still very much unconscious and tied up. That was good.

Billy would finish explaining to the best of his abilities and when asked, after hearing fresh’s next comment he would reply “ yes that is correct. “ He then hears the next question and says “from what i seen, that’s correct, most of the strongest people i know of have eaten devil fruits. Though all who eat a devil fruit loose the ability to swim and will drown in the sea.” He then hears fresh final comment for a bit and figures he’s talking to himself. Though billy did agree with the comment, devil fruits definitely did make things interesting.

After everything was all clean on both sides of the bar and everything was all cleaned up, billy heard fresh’s next comment. Causing him to nod he just realized that they shouldn’t leave the pirates alone to long or something could happen like they could escape. They had no idea if there was a larger crew looking for them. They should really leave this area as soon as possible before more show up and there out numbered. Billy would carefully watch from a window inside to make sure fresh is ok or if he needed to sneak away to get help.

When he confirmed they were ok, he would head out side and say “ about your earlier question, we can go to nearest base when ever your ready.  Though worried that we should leave soon as possible in case they have friends that come looking for them.” He then waited till he heard fresh’s response.

Fresh nodded as he intently listened to the marine's input on what they should do. He definitely agreed with Billy's sentiment. Their situation could only really get worse if they stayed here for much longer. Either the three pirates they had just subdued got a second wind and fought back or even ran away, or these three actually had some comrades that would come looking for them. Either way, both of those scenarios were rather undesirable. "I agree. The sooner we can reach that marine base with these men, the better."

Rather than wait for a response, the bounty hunter grabbed the length of rope that currently tied the two unconscious and bloodied pirates he had defeated together, and gave it a tug. These two were thankfully not that big – Fresh had quite a few centimeters on both of them – but dragging the two of the would still be rather exerting, possibly more exerting than the actual fight between either of them. That was fine, really. He was in rather good condition currently, so a bit of exercise wouldn't be a bad thing. He threw the rope over his shoulder and tugged on it again. This was a little bit easier.

"So, shall we?" Fresh gestured in the direction of the road. He wasn't actually sure which way they were going, so Billy was going to have to take the lead. "Hopefully you don't mind leading, officer. I don't know the way." Hopefully he didn't mind dragging Red Lobster along, either. Fresh probably wasn't strong enough to get all three of them.

Now that they were on their way, Fresh fell into his own thoughts. Today had been quite eventful, after all. He had only expected to catch a lead for his first hunt at the restaurant, not run right into them. Having a battle partner had been extremely helpful, too. His mother had very much been right, he sooner rather than later needed to find someone to go about his bounty hunting business with.

Billy watched as fresh grabbed the length of rope that currently tied the two unconscious and bloodied pirates so billy grabbed the pirate captain and went full raptor with the captain on his back. He then watched as fresh gestured towards the road causing him to nod. Fresh asked him to lead he shrugged and said “sure though shouldn’t bounty hunters know the way so can collect he bounty?” After that little exchange he walked off heading to the marine base. After all he was a marine and as a marine he knew he would’ve been informed of where the marine bases were on the islands they arrived on.

As they headed down the road towards the marine base. He hoped they would be able to get to the marine base without problems. He wondered if the crew found out then how would they get there before them. He though he was happy he was able to capture these pirates before they could cause problems. Though he may have been lucky before in the fight so he had to be careful in future fights. Things could easily go wrongly for him, he also had to get stronger so he could help more people.