[CENTER][h1][color=EB054D][b]RICO[/b][/color][/h1][/center][hr]The wane of Rico and Andou’s escape was matched by the gradual drowning of any will to fight. Lindsay’s hot-headed mind for battle didn’t survive the defeat of Ensign Torrent and the Commander himself, and with the man still in danger, the Marines agreed to live and let leave: they would fish their fallen leader out of the drink, while Andou and Rico would be allowed to patch themselves up, take some supplies, and go. Well, as long as they did so before Lindsay woke.

Bandages on his shoulder, Andou looked up from his small vessel to the railing of the battleship, one spot still quite broken, reduced to flotsam. Tossing the butt of his cigarette into the drink, he watched as Rico hopped down, landing into a separate vessel, the small sailboats originally meant for supply runs or rescuing fallen personnel. Once the other boat settled, Andou asked, [COLOR=8C8E6E]“Hey kid, I’ve got a question for you.”[/color]

Rico’s head shot up, eyes narrowed. [COLOR=EB054D]“Oh yeah? I’ve got a question for [i]you[/i]. Why can’t I go to Shuffle Island with you?”[/color]

Andou shook his head. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“My debts are my own business. I’ll take care of them on my own. In the meantime, if you can’t get there yourself, you aren’t about to become Pirate King, not while I’m alive at least. I don’t care if you have to hitch a ride, buy passage, commandeer a vessel...hell, shadow me if you think you can: just get there in one piece and I’ll join your damn crew. How big is it, anyway?”[/color]

Rico pouted at Andou’s meaningful and good reason for their separation, but he quickly recovered, blinking, [COLOR=EB054D]“Huh? You’re the first one to join the Inferno Pirates!”[/color]

[COLOR=8C8E6E]“I’m...you...you’ve gotta be shitting me.”[/color] There was an audible smack as Andou slapped his forehead. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but oh well, I’m true to my word.”[/color] Letting out a long, low breath, he finally got to his original question, [COLOR=8C8E6E]“What the hell happened in that fight anyway? You knock the railing down?”[/color]

[COLOR=EB054D]“Mmmm, nah I just jumped on it.”[/color]

Andou winced. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“Wait, so you won on accident? He had you pretty cornered. It was either get burned and blast into the ocean, or jump back and fall in anyway. Or, no, hold on. You’re pretty quick on your feet to jump off the railing after it fell, actually. Even if I came up with that mid-fall, I probably would’ve just gotten dunked if I lost my footing like that, and you’re a Fruit user so-”[/color]

[COLOR=EB054D]“Oh, no, I wanted it to break,”[/color] Rico explained with a giggle. [COLOR=EB054D]“If I didn’t see it coming, yeah, I probably would have hit the water.”[/color]

Andou’s eyelids strained as the man was assailed by varying thoughts. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“What? You didn’t break it, but you figured it would? There’s no way you could know that!”[/color]

[COLOR=EB054D]“I didn’t know! I...how do I explain it...”[/color] Rico crossed his arms over his chest. [COLOR=EB054D]“It’s like...with the way my luck’s been today I figured it probably would, so I tried it. Then the railing went down and I was able to counterattack once I jumped off.”[/color]

Andou’s eyes gradually widened. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“You...you sunavabitch. You gambled on my luck.”[/color] Andou slumped, back resting against the mast of his ship as he sunk to a sitting position. With a cold laugh, he muttered, [COLOR=8C8E6E]“You just might make it to number one dumbest person I’ve ever met.”[/color]

Rico smiled, pumping his fist. Then, realization dawned. [COLOR=EB054D]“Wait, hey!”[/color]

[COLOR=8C8E6E]“His name was Jaq,”[/color] Andou began, Rico’s mounting frustration being stemmed. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“He was an old friend of mind. Reminds me of you a little: reckless to a fault. He was the only other person to try and gamble on me. Well, except me, but it always goes bad for me no matter what I do. And guess what: he isn’t around any more. If you honestly think I’m a fit for your crew, then you’ll be walking down the same road as him. And if you still want me to join you after that, [i]knowing[/i] what happens when you bet on me, then kid, you are without a doubt the dumbest person I’ve ever met.”[/color]

Rico’s mouth widened into a smile, pronounced canines flashing. [COLOR=EB054D]“Maybe the world could use a little bit more stupidity. I don’t think anyone smart ever said they were going to be Pirate King, after all.”[/color]

Andou shook his head. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“At least you’re self aware.”[/color] Rico jabbed out, Andou raising his hand reflexively to catch a flash of gold. Glancing down, he held a piece of hard candy in a shiny wrapper. [COLOR=8C8E6E]“Huh?”[/color]

[COLOR=EB054D]“Butterscotch for the road? They’re my favorite, but I have some strawberry ones if you want that one instead.”[/color]

[COLOR=8C8E6E]“Hard candy!? What kind of geezer do I look like to you!?”[/color]

[COLOR=EB054D]“YOU DON’T NEED TO BE OLD TO LIKE HARD CANDY, IT’S FOR EVERYONE!”[/COLOR] Rico shrieked, the intensity knocking Andou off guard. [COLOR=EB054D]“Sorry.”[/color]

Finally standing, Andou said, [COLOR=8C8E6E]“Honestly, the other reason we need to split is that you are too goddamn much. I need some detox before we end up on the ship together. It means I’ll last a little bit longer on this earth before you inevitably bring the both of us to our graves.”[/color]

Rico was in awe. [COLOR=EB054D]“That is the rudest thing anyone’s ever said to me. The guy who said my mom should have drowned me after I was born is up there but jokes on him, I don’t even have a mom!”[/color]

[COLOR=8C8E6E]“Yep, I can feel the symptoms. I’m gonna head off before it’s too late for me,”[/color] Andou finished, unfurling his sail. Despite himself, once Rico was going off on his own way, he popped the butterscotch into his mouth. So sickly sweet it was making his teeth hurt…[hr]“And you just let them get away, huh?” Lindsay moaned, patting down his burn marks with an ointment drenched rag, the ship’s doctor managing his other wounds. The Seaman opened his mouth to defend himself, but Lindsay insisted, “What’s done is done. The lot of you couldn’t have stopped him easily without some smarts, and honestly, he’s not without wits himself, to pull one over on me like that.” Lindsay grit his teeth as he reconsidered the end of their battle. What a devious foe, to act like a simple child only to go outside of the box like that in the end, purposefully breaking the railing to get away. Strength and wits indeed. There was no other way he would do that, Lindsay reasoned with himself. “I’ll write the report for HQ. Do we have a picture?”

“Yes sir! It’s not the best but it’ll do. What should the bounty be?”

Lindsay shook his head. “Eh, I’ll let them figure it out, they love that. Especially the epithets. He’s an odd case though: he’s not violent or dangerous on his own, but with that nasty power and his chaotic temperament, he’ll be a thorn in the side of any lawman he runs into.”

“Yes sir! What was his name again?”

Lindsay stared. “Ah.” A league away, in the opposite direction, Andou too let out a low ‘Ah’. The two men of different walks in life, sailing their own separate ways, came up with the same realization at roughly the same point in time.

[b][i]I [COLOR=8C8E6E]never[/color] got that [COLOR=8C8E6E]stupid brat’s[/color] name![/i][/b]

An a ways away, a small dot on the horizon marked the position of Rico, the seemingly anonymous young boy who’s name would one day ring out all over this ocean. A hand shielded his eyes from the sun as his nameless vessel trailed off on its wayward, unknown path, like a firework bolting out into the blue.