The room was dimly lit, only a few oil lamps in the meeting locale as the three figures sat on the round table, one empty chair. One of them was wearing a beret, he was looking to the side, whispering something to his second-in-command. "This face works, right?" He asked, gruffly, making a rather stern expression. [Boss "Iron" Cerulean, leader of the Azure Company; 30,000,000 Bounty.]

The man in the top-knot ponytail and kimono nodded. "It does indeed, sir. Very grim. The others will know how you feel." [Marv "The Ninja"; Azura Company Second in Command; 9,000,000 Bounty.]

"Good, at ease." the large man sitting down said, as the ninja leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms in meditation. 

Straight across from Cerulean, leaning back in his chair, a man in a straight laced red suit, black and white scarf hanging on his shoulders, brushed some of his bushy black hair away. Snorting, his even bushier black beard rustled as he looked behind him, a shirtless man, bandages over burn scars, laid on the ground like a lump. "Look at 'em, over there lookin' posh. This is why they got Stagio and we got stuck with Meesei. Like every fuckin' year." ["Assembly" Leader Vermillion, leader of the Crimson Company; 27,000,000 Beli Bounty]

The object of his scorn grumbled, "I'm telling you we should take care of...whoever they are...bro!" ["Dread" Chadwick Burgundy, Crimson Company Second in Command; 7,000,000 Bounty]

In the third chair was the green haired woman, younger than either of them men by far. Behind her was her sister-in-arms. She spoke softly. "You two both seem too tense. Just relax, I'm sure old man Goldenrod's gonna show up any minute now, kuhuhu." She smiled. "Heads says he'll show up in five minutes." She wagered, flipping the coin she had been toying with between her fingers up into the air. ["Lucky" Chief Viridian, leader of the Verdant Company; 24,000,000 Bounty] He green hair swept to the side by the motion.

 As the coin was flipping through the air, it was caught my the brown-leather clad hand of Kobicha, the second in command. "I don't think it's wise to take bets with the two gentlemen right now." She advised. ["Tactician" Kobicha, Verdant Company Second In Command; 7,000,000 Bounty]

"Yeah, guess you should listen to her: she was smart enough to run from the big bad...Cheese?" Vermillion said.

"Chester!" came a growl from the door as it came open. Stepping in backwards, a teen in a vellow vest over a white dress shirt, a sword at his hip, his short orange hair jabbing out under his black banded fedora. Turning around, he moved the wheelchair to face the table, pushing it forwards as the older man sitting within, neck caught in a brace, left arm, shoulder, and knee kept in casts. "Move that extra chair!" he snarled. [Head "Tycoon" Goldenrod, leader of the Quartz Company; 29,000,000 Bounty]

The boy was already moving. "Yeah pops." ["Lad" Saffron, Quartz Company Second in Command; 10,000,000 Bounty]. Moving the chair, he slipped the wheelchair to the table, filling it's four corners with the four pillars that managed the North Blue.

"Is that not the name of the shithead who messed with our operation on Melonberry?" Cerulean asked Marv, whom nodded. "Yes, sir. You sent me to challenge the captain of the.. Grog Warrior Pirate Crew to a duel in your name. But him and his mates.. Ambushed me." Marv explained, hanging his head in shame. Cerulean nodded in acknowledgement, a scowl on his face.

"Kuhuhu, so it would seem this Chester guy is quite the problem, then? Disrupted Melonberry and your sugar monopoly, and I think it's safe to assume he put you in that chair, then, old man?" Viridian cooed.

"And if not dealt with, his crew could threaten our entire operation!" Goldenrod proclaimed, bringing the room into a contemplative halt.

Vermillion clicked his tongue. "Just cause you got the shit kicked outta ya doesn't mean-"

"They've charged into two of our headquarters and made mockery of all too many of our strongest men. Issac the Rounin, Jeko the Quack, and Deadeye Kuhn...all three were on my payroll, but none of them were able to stop those...Grog Warriors, from tearing apart my headquarters. And from what I've heard, no one else has been able to give them pause either." Finishing his statement, Goldenrod glanced between Chad, Kobicha, and Marv, while Saff stood behind him, not even hiding the smugness on his face.

"You had all those two idiots on your payroll? Who's that Kuhn kid, never heard of 'em." Cerulean exclaimed, frowning as he did. Viridian chimed in. "I know him, Dustcity Deadeye. Kuhuhuh, he thinks he's the best marksman in the entire North Blue. Can't have someone spreading such rumors. Reflects poorly on myself."  She cooed.

"How are we to handle these Grog Warriors, then?" Viridian asked. "We'll have to deal with them." Cerulean responded. "I'll propose that I take out their captain, and that would be the end of it all. That Chester guy's been a torn in my side for far too long. And in return for me killing him, you guys will all forgo taxing Azure company when they tread on your territory for the next year." He propsed, and the other leaders groaned.

"Not on your life!" Goldrenrod cried, before devolving into a coughing fit.

Letting out a sigh, Vermillion grumbled, "Let's see you take care of him first. Then we'll go over the terms."

Groaning, Chad sat up, saying, "Those other guys though..." Pointing across the room at Marv, he said, "Seriously, they messed you up too, didn't they brah?" Massaging his head, he muttered, "I keep forgetting..."

"W-What?! Me, the mighty Marv losing to some nobody pirates?! Of course not Chadwick!" Marv deflected, shocked. Cerulean grinded his teeth. "You think I'm a fool, Vermillion? You will agree to my terms before I go and take this guy's head."

Vermillion chortled, "You said yerself he's your problem. Shall we call a vote?" Vermillion raised his hand. "The Grog Whatevers are Boss Cerulean's problem: yeah or nah?"

Viridian raised her hand, prompting a snarl from Cerulean, whom looked sharply at Goldenrod, who he assumed would be willing to trade some money for taking out the Grog Warriors, but his hand was already up. "I don't have the manpower to fight them myself."

Vermillion chortled, "Majority rules."

Cerulean frowned. "Fine. I'll kill the captain and that will be the end of it."

"Excellent." Viridian said.

"Marv, we'll devise a plan to get him alone. I think a duel is in place here." Cerulean mused, his face breaking into a smile.

"Is that everythin' Grog Warrior related then?" Vermillion posed.

"Actually..." Goldenrod interjected. "Don Mono got back to me on theo ther half of that incident..."


[hr]

Sometime later, on board the Hinnon Breeze, the Boozehounds were relaxing from repairing their ship. Chester was laying in the lookout basket on top of the boat, his legs hanging off of the edge, a bottle in his teeth, as usual, dozing in between conciousness and sleep. Kuhn was working on a new bullet in his quarters, while the others were busy doing other things. Kuhn did however have sight out of his quarters to the sea near the coast line of Stagio Island, where he saw a small ship with blue sails on it approach the Hinnon Breeze, not paying much attention to it, Kuhn continued his work. In a couple of minutes, he looked back out of the window, and saw that the boat was still coming towards them, at full speed. 

He grabbed his pistol, and headed up towardas the deck. "Oi, Cap'n!" He shouted "Lina, Macario.. Ghostboy!" He called, Chester grumbling from above on the mast.

"I think we're about to get company.. From Azure Company... Let's give dem comp- I'll stop right there."  Kuhn said, realizing how silly his sentence was turning into.

The boat pulled up next to them, garning the attention of Chester, whom was now crawling down from the top of the mast on the netted rope, his head first, using his one hand and his legs, bottle in his other. He fell the last two meters, landing on his face, making sure not to break the bottle. He regained his composure as the blue clad ninja with the topknot leapt out of the Azure Boat, and landed in front of them, Kuhn looking at him with sharp eyes.

"Oi, ain't dis dat dude who jumped us' a couple days ago?"

"Oh yeah, punched the snot out of him, didn't we?" Chester said, worming his way on the ground, eventually standing up. "What do you want? round two?"

The ninja remained quiet, as he looked at Chester, pointed his finger at him, and then vanished, drawing his katana on his back as he vanished, appearing behind Chester, his blade in a slashing motion.

"The hell are you do-" Chester asked, only to realize the ninja had cut his bottle in half, now there was grog on the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?!" Chester shouted, as the ninja looked back at him. "Boss Cerulean wants to meet you, Grog Warrior Chester. Showdown for Melonbery. Just you and him, mano y mano. One on one, on Stagio Island, in the plaza. A duel to the death. Just you, none of your friends. Got that?" He said, as the flustered Chester walked towards him, about to give him a piece of his mind.

"You got that?" Marv asked Chester, as Chester walked towards him, Marv walked to the side of him, Chester's side was now facing Marv's ship, as Chester's had shot out at speeds faster than Marv could've reacted to, with a loud bang, Marv was sent flying back into his ship, landing flat against their mast, making the entire ship wobble heavily, before balancing itself again. Marv was knocked out cold, blood pooring out of his nose, missing a couple of teeth. His crewmates all shocked, as they set sail. 

[b]"Yeah, I got it, I'll be there."[/b] Chester said coldly, his face darkened with anger about the spilled booze from before.

"Oh yeah, Lina, I guess I can fulfill my promise now!" He said, turning to Lina, with a smile, once the anger over the spilled grog had settled, he had found another bottle to sate his thirst.

"... What pomise is he talkin' about?"

"You do realize it's a trap, don't you, cap'n?" Kuhn asked Chester, whom shrugged. "Who cares."

"I 'spose so, ye." Kuhn added, before everyone went back to their duties.

"Hey, did he mention when the duel was supposed to take place?" Chester asked, and everyone else shrugged, only for a knife to be thrown at them from the ship sailing away, a note attached to the knife.

"At noon." The note read.

"Ninjas, man." He exclaimed with a huff.