Warming Up For Company [open]

[Miguel Van Helsing]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 450px; padding: 10px;][bg=121212] THIS IS A GAME. DO NOT TRUST YOUR EARS. WHAT YOU HEAR ARE LIES. If she wanted to rile me up, she’s going to have to try much harder than that. I’ve had better attempts from those prissy nobles. Miguel’s face remained calm and composed even though no one else would see his expression as he flew towards the hill. In fact, it had remained that entire time while she was commenting on his miniature construct and his wings. While it was utterly galling for the giantess to just dismiss everyone else in the area and think that he was just going to pardon the suspects, he had heard worse. Besides, he was sure that he can prove her dead wrong soon enough. Maybe then she’d stop calling him adorable and respect him –or fear him, he wasn’t picky- like she should. It was unlikely with these pirate types unless he threatened bodily harm –and sometimes not even then- but even supposed angels can hope, can’t they? Miguel sighed at his thoughts and stopped in front of the massive hill. He then circled it a couple of times, committing the structure and features of the chosen hill into memory. Given the naturally rugged features of this rounded hill, it looked like he had a lot of work to do if he was going to carve a statue that perfectly fit his standards. Time to bring out the big guns…. Miguel put back his weapon on its holster on his back and then flew back and cracked his knuckles. Let’s get to work! Calling upon the powers that the fruit cursed him with, Miguel made his hands glow bright neon blue, making them look almost as bright as lightning with their brilliance. Without hesitation, he moved his hands in two wide arcs, which unleashed two waving beams of light that cut through the sides of snowy hill like a hot knife through butter. Miguel continued moving his hands while circling the statue, this time much more carefully as he carved out a crude outline of the figure floating beside him. His eyes were narrowed in concentration as he slowly carved out the outline, not even flinching as huge sections of the hill fell onto the ground below with powerful crashes that could probably be heard all the way from the hot spring. While he could afford to skew a bit at this stage, his pride won’t allow it. All pairs of eyes were on the silver figure heading off into the distance until Gragtar was poked by a giant finger, causing him to nearly fall over from surprise. Fortunately, he managed to right himself on time before he fell to the ground and dirtied himself and his Admiral’s coat, though he only managed to do so by waving his free arm around like a drowning human and stumbling around for a bit like a drunken dolt. Now normally, he wouldn’t care about a little grime on his uniform because he thought it gave the clothes more character, but he really didn’t want to disobey the Admiral’s orders… nor did he want to see his reaction if he actually got his coat dirty when he was explicitly told to keep it safe. “Zoggit! Whucha dat dat fer?!” Gragtar sputtered as he turned around to glare at the giantess. Shichibukai or not, he wasn’t going back down if she wanted to pick a fight while the Admiral was gone. He wasn’t afraid of some oversized naked woman! Upon hearing her question though, Gragtar actually snorted. “Boss iz always like dat. ‘e’z always az cold az ice.” When he and his squad heard her second question though, they all burst out into laughter, causing the pirates to look at them like they spontaneously grew a couple more heads. It took a few moments before the laughter and the snickers died down, and a few more before Gragtar regained enough air in his lungs to reply to that question. “Dat’s the most stoopid fing I’z herd all day!” Gragtar snorted, unable to stop another round of chuckles despite the fact that the giantess would probably be offended by it. “Da boss don’t fink dat any git iz better den any udder git, not even ‘imself! Boss finks dat everyone iz equal under da law, so ‘e treats everyone da same way.” “He doesn’t say anything, but we suspect that his attitude one of the few reasons why the brass even allow him to promote non-humans to officer positions without him being accused of favouritism or other crazy things.” The wolf marine from earlier piped up with a shrug. “It’s nice to serve the people and all, but even I have to admit that the system we have is a little… biased, even though two of the Admirals aren’t even human.” “Ya, dat’z always bin weird.” One of the other greenskins spoke as well, feeling a little bit braver now that the wolf had also spoken. Gragtar let his squad members speak before tilting his head. “Why’z yoo ask?” TAGGING: VALKYRIE | WORDS: 830 | NOTES: CHAT

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[Valkyrie]

Valkyrie blinked. She had barely caught the part about the Admiral being always cold when the disbelief washed over her. These little creatures were laughing. At her. And it had been a completely honest question too. The corner of her eye twitched, her mouth twisted into an irritated smirk and her fingers slowly curled into a crushing fist. While the men were snickering, the shadow of the giantess crept over them. So, these lousy chuckle clowns thought she was joking or something, huh? Well, that was just fine. She had a special punchline for them too...

While the Admiral might’ve not been a real angel, there must’ve been some sort of divine intervention that allowed Valkyrie to hold back her vengeful fury long enough for the Marines to stop laughing. Unfortunately, the green-skinned Lieutenant then proceeded to make his situation even worse. This time it was the sheer surprise that stopped the giantess. Did this puny critter just mock her, one of the most violent and feared Shichibukai? Did he have a death wish? A dark shade descended upon her face and her eyes practically gleamed white with pure killing intent.

However, the green-skin seemed to have the luck on his side. His unexpected words about the Admiral actually managed to catch Valkyrie’s attention before she brought her Haki-coated fist down. Hold on, he what? As the explanation went on and other Marines pitched in, her features softened slowly and she lowered her hand to cup her chin thoughtfully. At times like these, Kenbunshoku Haki would’ve been handy, but she was fairly sure the little men weren’t lying. Otherwise they would’ve picked something more believable than a story of a Marine Officer who wasn’t an uptight and selfish dumbass. Her gaze wandered off to the distance where the man worked.

Maybe Gintaka wasn’t all that bad... Maybe...

When the Lieutenant asked the return question, Valkyrie suddenly snapped back into reality. She glanced away and scoffed "Rihah, what a boring boy scout. And here I was hoping you would spill something interesting about him, like how he gets off on torturing pirates or something." Acting absolutely disinterested, she lowered herself into the water and rested her head on her hands. "But of course he has to be a dull goody-goody... Everyone is equal... Yaaawn, I bet I would just feel bad for killing a stupid wuss like him." If the Marines knew what was good for them, they wouldn’t question her transparent excuses for clearly losing all interest in hurting the Admiral.

However, the Admiral really owed them one, even if he didn’t realize it.

Deep down, even the violent and rude giantess held certain respect to honor and people who followed a personal code. Thus Gintaka had earned quite a few points in her eyes. While she had no intention of becoming the best friends with the Admiral, at least she wouldn’t try to actively bully him anymore. ...Maybe. Her pride still demanded payback and she had never been the forgiving type. But... The more she thought about it, the more inclined she felt to go easy on the winged little man. She gave a curious glance at the little Marines. It was also kind of funny how dedicated they were to their "boss"... Maybe she really could put their differences aside.

Just this once.

[Miguel Van Helsing]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 450px; padding: 10px;][bg=121212] THIS IS A GAME. DO NOT TRUST YOUR EARS. WHAT YOU HEAR ARE LIES. Marines were trained to maintain nerves of steel in any situation. Admiral Gintaka personally made sure that no one in his personal fleet had anything less than the toughest of nerves. Now, their conditioning was being put to the test with a homicidal giantess after their blood. Well it was true for the greenskins, who could instinctively feel the killing intent rolling off of the giantess. The others were too busy laughing at the ridiculous assumption she made about their Admiral. It was a good thing too, or else the atmosphere would’ve been much tenser and uncomfortable than it already was with the suspects still looking at them like they escaped from some asylum. However, it was also a bad thing as it left only the greenskins –who had never been good with either strategy and diplomacy- to try and plan something to either pacify the giantess or get them out of dodge should she actually act on those urges. Fortunately for all of them though, the lieutenant’s words seemed to actually affect the giantess enough to actually lower her fist and adopt a thoughtful expression. Crisis averted. Now that there was no chance of being creamed by a giant fist, Gragtar let himself relax and shrug. “Fink watevah ya want. Datz how da Boss rollz.” “Besides, that wouldn’t be very angelic now, wouldn’t it?” One of the few human Marines pointed out hesitantly. “Torturing pirates.” There was also another thing he wanted to point out, but he wasn’t nearly suicidal enough to do it. He’d seen the tail end of her near explosion, after all. “Too bad. Dat soundz fun!” One of the other greenskins grinned maniacally, causing some of the pirates within the vicinity to flinch and slowly move away from the crazy greenskinned freaks. Gragtar levelled a fierce glare at that particularly mouthy greenskin as well as all of the other greenskins, who looked positively giddy at the prospect. “All uv yooz idjitz rein it in. Yoo all remember wat da Boss sed, aight?” “Yezzir!” The greenskins replied, looking a little sheepish as they lowered their weapons. The other members of their squad simply shook their head wearily, already used to this sort of thing. “I wonder what the Admiral is doing now…?” The wolf marine muttered as he turned his gaze towards the direction where said Admiral had flown off to. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he could swear that he could hear crashes and rumbles coming from that direction. What in the world does making a statue have to do with those kinds of sounds? Was he in some kind of trouble? Did he need back-up? Not that they would be able to help much if an unknown threat actually made an Admiral struggle, but they sure as well were going to try. Well, that’s… the easiest part down. Didn’t take as long as I thought. Miguel maintained his calm composure as he looked at the finished crude outline of the giantess. Right now the statue looked like some featureless golem instead of the three-dimensional representation floating beside him, but that was to be expected. He still had a lot of work to do before this thing actually reached his lofty standards. Now for the simplest part… the legs. Hopefully this won’t take long. Miguel cracked his knuckles again before he held his hands in front of him. A bright yellow glow encompassed them before they blasted out beams of light that started changing the surface of the figure again. Maybe I should have brought along some background music to try and cover up the noise…. Miguel pondered to himself idly as he started carving out the giantess’ pants. I wonder if the boys are behaving like they should? It’s really too bad that I can’t sense them from here. The wolf snorted. He was probably having a better time making that statue than they were with the giant Shichibukai, uppity suspects and overzealous greenskins at this hot spring in the middle of nowhere. "Shouldn’t the Admiral being a big wuss like that make it easier to kill the guy?” The wolf’s ears twitched when he heard one foolhardy suspect speak up. “After all, sissies don’t deserve to be in the Grand Line! Why should you feel bad about offing a weakling like him? Those World Government people might even thank you!” At those words, the entire Marine squad started to radiate copious amounts of killing intent as they slowly reached for their weapons. Badmouthing an Admiral was enough to trigger their ire, but death threats? The mouthy moron didn’t know that he was digging his own grave, especially since they didn’t have an alliance to consider like with the Shichibukai. “I mean, if it were me, I woulda killed the guy myself for thinking like that!” The pirate laughed, completely unaware of the glares being sent his way by the Marines or the warnings that his other companions were trying to give him. “Why, I bet anyone of use can kick the guy’s ass easily! Admirals are so overrated!” He continued, completely forgetting that he was cowering at the sight of him earlier. “Yoo really fink dat, fool?” Gragtar gritted out as his hands started to clench and unclench. “Of course! Why, we can all take you wimpy Marines on and win without breaking a sweat! We’ve done it before!” The pirate boasted, laughing heartily. “Right guys?” However, only silence answered him. “…Guys?” TAGGING: VALKYRIE | WORDS: 911 | NOTES: CHAT

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[Valkyrie]

So much for suppressing the violent urges... It had been going well enough too. Valkyrie had silently kept an eye on the Marines, not really bothering to answer them on what could only be described as a matter of opinion. The torture would’ve been amusing, but of course the Lieutenant had to be a killjoy. Then the braggart had to open his big mouth... Valkyrie gave the man a flat stare. It immediately reminded her of why she had wanted to... and still kind of wanted to... kill them all, the Marines included. All these men were exactly the type to brag about seeing her nude... This one was just the most talkative. That’s how she saw it.

And this time she wasn’t going to just sit still.

Slowly, a huge hand approached the bragging man, index finger coiling against the base of the thumb. By the time the mouthy pirate noticed what was going on, it was far too late. "Bye~" With a blindingly fast flick, Valkyrie launched the screaming human into the air. He flew nearly hundred feet away, right into a big pile of snow. Only a twitching leg was left visible after the flight and crash. Before the other pirates could even try to protest, the giantess gave them a chilling smirk that silenced them on the spot. "I only promised I wouldn’t kill you. I never said anything about hurting you. Risisisisi..." And she certainly wanted to hurt them... Badly...

Next, the Shichibukai turned her focus towards the Marines. "And you... Don’t go thinking anything stupid, like you can command me or something." Distrust and dislike gleamed in her eyes, though it was nowhere near potent enough to be outright hate. "I am not your big friend or some common girl you can just ogle. The only reason you are still alive is because I happen to like Gintaka. He is the only thing standing between you and a cold grave." As usual, she was telling things as they were. Blunt and unfiltered. Even at the risk that some people would’ve had a field day with a feared pirate admitting she liked a Marine.

Suddenly, Valkyrie’s teeth twisted to a predatory grin. She pushed herself up from the spring, casting a shadow over the mere men once again, dripping hot water over those who stood too close. "But... There is absolutely nothing stopping me from making you wish I would kill you." While her ominous tone and appearance were intimidating enough to get most humans trembling and there was clear aura of vengeance emanating from her, more observant people could’ve noticed a distinct lack of actual killing intent...

However, before the giantess could actually do anything, a freezing gust brushed against her bare skin, immediately making her shiver violently. She was quick to lie down onto her stomach and sink chin deep back into the water, making the spring overflow a bit. "...Except for that. Hmph, you sure are a lucky bunch." Even if she had only intended to bully them a bit, just to see if she could get them to panic or anything equally amusing, she still acted like the wind had just saved the Marines from something unspeakable. After all, she had a reputation to maintain and meeting that adorable Admiral hadn’t helped one bit.

With the bullying plan foiled by the frigid weather, the Shichibukai lost quite a lot of wind from her sails. She was awfully disappointed and tried to find something, anything interesting to distract her. Giving the Marines a curious glance, Valkyrie voiced what was half a question, half a thought spoken out loud. "How do you handle this weather anyway? I understand the furry ones, but rest of you look like you’d need thicker coats." The giantess herself couldn’t stand cold. It didn’t hamper her in the slightest. She just hated the feeling of chill and shivers. Unfortunately, she had only realized that after arriving to Hyokaido... The result of spending most of her life in warm climates...

As Valkyrie pondered about it, a mischievous idea suddenly popped into her mind. She adopted her most inviting tone while a sultry smile crept on her lips. "Hmmm~ Wouldn’t you brave Marines rather join me than freeze to death? The water is heavenly, you know~" Of course, it was a trick question. Among all the Marines, there were only two people she liked enough to let them join her without any hidden intentions. Others wishing for that would’ve had to be especially smooth or amusing. However... This trick question was especially devious, because even Valkyrie was yet to decide what kind of answer would offend her and give her an excuse to hurt the little men.

This would be one for the coin, no doubt, but first she wanted to see their reactions.

[Miguel Van Helsing]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 450px; padding: 10px;][bg=121212] THIS IS A GAME. DO NOT TRUST YOUR EARS. WHAT YOU HEAR ARE LIES. Silence prevailed amongst the remaining pirates and the Marines for a few moments, before a few of the latter started clapping slowly at the way the blowhard was dispatched. Serves him right for badmouthing the Admiral and the entire Marine corps! Still, it was rather surprising that the giantess actually acted against the blowhard. Maybe she liked their Admiral enough to defend his honor? The entire squad almost snorted in unison at the thought. A pirate actually liking a Marine? They could believe a pirate respecting a Marine since they’ve heard it happen, but it was preposterous to even suggest that a pirate could actually like a Marine, Shichibukai or not. They abruptly stopped clapping when the giantess turned her ire on them. Honestly, by this point in time they were more surprised that she actually liked Admiral Gintaka than they were about her threat, because the latter was normal for pirates. Moreover, she actually admitted to it. That was almost unheard of from pirates, even if she was a Shichibukai. Despite their surprise though, most of the Marines were still nervous enough about her threat that they took a small step away from her, thinking that she might really be serious. The only ones that stood their ground were the furry and the green skinned Marines, who noticed that there wasn’t any real killing intent within her threats. Both the pirates and Marines let out sighs of relief when a sudden icy gust of wind suddenly blew past and saved the day by making the giantess go back into the hot spring and take her plans of making their lives miserable with her. However, before anyone else could say anything else, they suddenly heard muffled sounds from the direction of the mouthy pirate’s trajectory. The Marines ignored it –they weren’t about to help someone who insulted the entire corps and their Admiral- but some of the pirates began to subtly edge towards their comrade. Like they like it or not, he was still their crewmember. He was useful even though he did stuff like this all the time. While some of the pirates were creeping over to help their comrade out of the snow, most of the Marines were completely and utterly quiet; unsure what to do while their Admiral was off doing God-knows-what for that statue the giantess wanted. They didn’t know how their Admiral would find a way to carve out a statue with nothing but his guan dao –which was explicitly not the best tool for carving out detailed figures- his devil fruit powers –which they knew almost nothing about- and his bare hands, but they were sure that he would find a way. After all, he always fulfils his promises… somehow. The others that weren’t thinking about the Admiral were basically bored out of their minds. It sucked playing hostage to a giantess. They were Marines, damn it all! They were supposed to do the saving, not the other way around! Well, at least they weren’t being saved by civilians, or God forbid, other pirates. That would be extremely humiliating. Both groups within the squad were jolted out of their thoughts when the giantess suddenly asked them why they weren’t “Eet dun look like eet, but we’z got real fick skin!” Gragtar grinned and smacked his chest a couple of times with a fist. “Eetz like fur! Only leadery.” The giantess’ remark reminded the few humans in the squad of the cold, permeating chill that went through their uniforms and seeped to their very bones, forcing them to hold back a few shivers that threatened to erupt from their bodies. “As for us….” One human female began, shrugging. “It’s probably because we were too busy minding other things, like chasing after them. The adrenaline rush blocked the cold out, you know how it is.” Smaller creatures were also less affected by the cold since they had less surface area to lose heat from, unlike the sea kings or giants. But she wasn’t going to add that. The giantess might take offense or something. The place became mostly quiet again for a few moments, with only the shuffling of the pirate’s feet and the muffled complaints from the tossed pirate keeping it from becoming absolutely silent. It didn’t last long. "Hmmm~ Wouldn’t you brave Marines rather join me than freeze to death? The water is heavenly, you know~" Now normally, any normal hot-blooded man would snap up that offer in a heartbeat. However, their previous interactions with her were more than enough of a deterrent for them, especially given her hatred for perverted little mice. They didn’t want to be turned into paste, thank you very much. “No thank you.” One of the human Marines piped up, acting as the spokesperson for the entire squad. “We’re fine where we are. We don’t wish to inconvenience you.” There, maybe sucking up to the Shichibukai would let them keep their hides for a little longer. “How about us?” The captain of the pirates scowled. “Don’t we get an invite? We are fellow pirates, aren’t we? Even if you are a dog of the government.” Behind him, his fellow pirates facepalmed while the Marine squad resisted the urge to snicker. Now that was just a stupid thing to say. Who knows how she would react? Why do people around here keep tempting fate without the Admiral around? The Marines really hoped that the Admiral would hurry up with the statue so that the attention can be focused on him instead. Just how long did it take to make a nice one, anyway? Hiss…. Finally! Carved and polished to perfection. The Admiral surveyed his work with an approving look in his eyes. The legs of the statue now resembled those of his three-dimensional figure, though it didn’t have any color. Paint wouldn’t work on ice and snow anyway. Now for the arms, sword, and torso. He resisted the urge to sigh. Well at least I’m halfway through. I wonder if this would have been any faster if I had enlisted my men to help though. He paused for a moment before shaking his head. Probably not. Oh well. TAGGING: VALKYRIE | WORDS: 1029 | NOTES: WAITING GAME

TEMPLATE BY SAMARECARM OF OTE

[Valkyrie]

The giantess kept her curious gaze on the little Marines. It might’ve not been a story, but it was still interesting to hear little tidbits like this. She had been traveling for a long time, but all the scuffles against uppity Marines and overconfident pirates hadn’t left much time for getting to know other races. When they cleverly declined her devious offer, she reached towards her coin, smiling mysteriously. The answer had been quite good, but she still want to see if Lady Luck agreed. Heads, she would let them off and think of something else for amusement… Tails, she would get her amusement out of seeing how long these little green men could hold their breath...

Valkyrie was going to just ignore the pirates and toss her coin, when the words of tempting fate finally reached her. They echoed in her head, their meaning painfully sinking into her mind. Her smile faded and gaze turned piercing. She had never been very sensitive, usually remaining indifferent to all sorts of insults, but there were certain sore spots that made her blood boil and the pirate captain had just hit one of the worst dead on. It would’ve been bad enough from someone with actual power, but hearing it from a weakling made it far worse. After a moment of stunned silence, she let out an eerily quiet mutter.

"To hell with the promise… For that... Everyone dies."

Without wasting another breath, she took a blindingly fast swing right through the pirate group. Anyone and anything even a blink too slow got blown away several hundred feet, assuming that they were even sturdy enough to survive the impact from the Haki-imbued knuckles. Immediately afterwards, she slammed her other fist straight down, effortlessly splitting the ice and stone underneath. Her first intention was to push herself up quickly, but she also aimed to crush or scatter the Marines. When she had said everyone… She wasn’t kidding… One didn’t need especially keen senses to feel the pure hatred and resentment burning within her. It was a sensation of terror that could’ve paralyzed a weaker being.

Within a heartbeat, the giantess was towering above the small mortals, while the hot water at her feet was splitting into white waves and splashing everywhere. Pillars of steam, carried by little whirlwinds, circled around her and distorted her silhouette, making her seem all the more vengeful and all the more dangerous. The wind was as freezing as ever, but her rage roared hotter. She was only trembling because of the insult. It was absolutely unforgivable. After everything she had done, all the people she had killed, just to secure reputation as a monster, at the very least, there were still people who thought like this...

Valkyrie’s anger echoed loud and clear across the glacier. "A GOVERNMENT DOG? So I am just some bitch who surrendered, huh? Wrong! They came to me! They offered this! I only accepted because I thought it would be convenient!" She glanced at the Marines, gritting her teeth together, only barely managing to put her feelings into words rather than direct violence. "I thought… Maybe Marines would stop getting in my way at every turn… Maybe even help with things you humans have made so difficult for big people… But no such luck..." It took an immense amount of willpower to admit even she needed help with certain things, but she figured any reveals didn’t matter at this point.

These pathetic mouth-breathers were going to die soon anyway.

"Tch, doesn’t matter. I’m going to kill all of you. But my blade is too good for you worthless rats… No, I’m not even going to stain the sheath with the blood of mouthy weaklings…" She slammed her fist into her palm in a display of sheer strength and mastery of Haki, creating a whirlwind that made even her wet hair briefly billow behind her. "I will crush you with this same body you so openly eyed. I will keep hitting until there is nothing but red stains left. And when I’m done, I will take my time washing those stains off, until you bugs are just a lousy memory!"

It would’ve taken a miracle to stop her now.

[Miguel Van Helsing]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 450px; padding: 10px;][bg=121212] THIS IS A GAME. DO NOT TRUST YOUR EARS. WHAT YOU HEAR ARE LIES. "To hell with the promise… For that... Everyone dies." With that, everything exploded. Literally. A few pirates were able to dodge the Haki-imbued fist, but the rest were too slow to dodge and were struck with that fist. Those pirates had every bone in their body smashed to pieces if not outright turned into powder. The tougher ones were able to hold onto their lives by a thread, but those with weaker constitutions were killed instantly. The ground below then cracked violently as the giantess’ fist slammed on it, causing the ice-covered earth around them to rumble violently even as she hoisted herself up from the spring again. The pillars of steam created by the huge amounts of hot water spilling out and hitting the ice created a truly terrifying visage of a vengeful goddess, ready to unleash her wrath on the foolish mortals who pushed her over the edge. It was now obvious to everyone at the hot springs that she couldn’t be reasoned with anymore, especially with the Admiral gone. And just like that, everything that Admiral Gintaka had so painstakingly repaired had come crashing down in flames. “For the record, pirate, this is why we don’t like people like you.” The female human Marine muttered quietly and disdainfully to the pirate captain while the giantess was ranting at the top of her lungs. “You jackasses keep fucking up the progress we make even when we’re trying to save your hides.” “Yah!” Gragtar added in a whisper, looking both angry and terrified as he drew out his weapon- a serrated chopper. “Yoo zoggin’ idjitz dun eet now! We’z lucky eef da Boss gitz bak ‘ere in time ta save uz!” Suddenly, a light bulb went off inside the female Marine’s head at her superior’s statement, causing her to grin. “Who says we have to wait for him to get back here by himself? We can just go and fetch him!” “Dat’z a gud idea, Gale!” A little hope entered Gragtar’s eyes at the thought. “Private Ryan! Private Raphiel! Yoo twoz da fastest runnahs we ‘ave, so eetz up ta yoo two ta git da Boss ta cum bak ‘ere fast! Dun wurry ‘bout da big lass. We’z hold ‘er off until da Boss gits ‘ere.” The humanoid wolf and the humanoid cheetah saluted. “Yes sir!” They whispered. “On mah signal, yooz two make a break fer it, awright? Git me?” The two nodded. “Good.” As the Marines readied themselves for battle, the few pirates that were still able to stand on their own two feet were looking really pale and sheepish. They had really messed up, and they were just realizing it. “We’re sorry….” The captain said in a small voice, while the few crewmembers that were still alive and conscious were cringing behind him. “We didn’t mean to set her off…. Can we help?” However, the Marines were now ignoring him out of sheer hatred. It was entirely his fault, so why should they listen to him, help him, or even try to let him help? Surely Admiral Gintaka wouldn’t mind if they left them in the Shichibukai’s hands once he heard what these idiots did. After all, they knew that he absolutely hated having his plans derailed, especially like this. Besides, they were probably going to mess it up one way or another if their earlier behaviour was any indication. “Eef itz a brawl ya want, lass….” Gragtar gripped his serrated chopper, looking unusually grim as he stared down the intimidating visage of the giantess. He could already feel his blood boiling. “Den itz a brawl ya’ll git!” “WAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!” Gragtar and the other greenskins bellowed as they instinctively imbued Haki in their arms and weapons and slammed them into the ground simultaneously, causing an enormous cloud of snow, ice, and debris that was large enough to cover the giantess and probably obscure her vision. Ryan and Raphiel quickly took off running as fast as they could in the direction that they remembered seeing the Admiral fly off to while still obscured by the improvised smokescreen. Raphiel would have normally overtaken Ryan easily, being of the cheetah breed and all, but he was forced to run at Ryan’s speed since he was completely unused to running in this kind of terrain. Ryan, on the other hand, was completely at home in this kind of terrain and so was able to unleash his full running speed, enabling him to keep up with Raphiel. Now, the race was on! Miguel slowly put his hands down to his sides and let out a sigh. It had taken him a while, but he had finally finished her arms and torso. He still had to do her sword before he could move on to her face and hair, which was probably the most important part of the statue. As such, he needed a little break to regain his bearings and focus before he started on that. Just a minute ought to do. Miguel sat on the statue’s shoulder and let himself relax and close his eyes for a bit. After counting to sixty inside his head, he opened his eyes again and flew off from his improvised perch, ready to start again. This shouldn’t take much longer. After all, it isn’t like anything bad is happening at the hot springs, right? If only he knew how wrong he was…. TAGGING: VALKYRIE | WORDS: 897 | NOTES: SET-UPS

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[Valkyrie]

Valkyrie was simply too furious to pay much attention to what the little people were planning. Struggling was meaningless, she had proven that countless times and refused to believe this would be any different. They were on entirely different levels. An Admiral’s personal crew or not, they were just average Marines, while she was one of the well-feared Shichibukai, a force of pure destruction, not some… government dog… The sheer thought made her hatred flare. And if these luckless whisper mice thought her slightly, but amusingly, incorrect title as the 'greatest swordsman in the world' meant she was only dangerous with a blade, they were in for a nightmarish surprise...

When the Marines kicked up the blinding cloud, the giantess didn’t even flinch. "Like it'll make any difference!" She spat and suddenly leapt high into the air. Soaring over the makeshift smokescreen, she pulled her fist back and coiled in preparation. Mere moments later, she came down with the force of a meteor, slamming her fist into the ice. The impact shook the entire glacier and left a mighty crater in the stone. Anything caught underneath was now flat as paper. To make matters worse, her landing caused a powerful shockwave around her that blasted away all who were unprepared or unable to stand their ground against the howling winds.

As a quick follow up, Valkyrie remained in kneeling position and suddenly snapped her leg around in a sweeping kick. It scraped ice and stone along as if they had been mere sand. Anyone unfortunate enough to get in the way would’ve had to face flesh as tough as steel. In addition, the sheer force and speed of the attack distorted the air, leaving chaotic gusts in its wake. Even unarmed, the giantess really lived up to the the handle of Whirlwind Valkyrie. As many stories had warned, humans rarely had any hope of stopping a rampaging giant and she was going to hammer that lesson in with all her might.

Valkyrie stood up and surveyed the start of destruction with narrow eyes. With all the snow and dust her attacks had just kicked up, it was difficult to see where the little bugs had gone. If they thought they could just get away in the chaos, they were gravely mistaken. She had never let an insult go unpunished and she wouldn’t start now. Not even Gintaka could stop her or convince her otherwise. If that fool ever even showed up, he would no doubt take the side of his dear Marines, without even sparing a thought to how badly they had all insulted her pride and honor with this farce. She could just feel it...

The giantess lowered her gaze and cracked her knuckles in anticipation as the dust began to settle. She pushed all the unnecessary thoughts aside and focused only on her fiery rage. The moment she spotted some movement, she stabbed her fingers forward, attempting to grab and mercilessly crush whatever she could reach. With Haki, even her fingernails were like blades that aimed to cut anything that barely slipped her grasp.

[Miguel Van Helsing]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 450px; padding: 10px;][bg=121212] THIS IS A GAME. DO NOT TRUST YOUR EARS. WHAT YOU HEAR ARE LIES. Gragtar’s head snapped up, somehow rapidly paling even though his skin was a dark green. He’d heard what the giantess said, making his gut “Boyz! Back ‘way now!” Gragtar bellowed as he quickly turned around and started running away as fast as he could in a different direction from the messengers, trusting his gut instincts. “Move yer zogging arsez!” If the Marines weren’t as disciplined and well-trained as they were or if they didn’t trust Gragtar the way they did despite him being a fairly simple greenskin, they would’ve wasted time questioning their squad leader’s decisions. But since Admiral Gintaka only allowed the most disciplined Marines into his personal fleet, they immediately turned around and started running after their squad leader as well without question. It was a good thing too, because if they had stayed where they were standing, they would’ve been turned into bloody smears on the ice by the giantess’ fist. As it were though, most of them were sent tumbling away from her fist by the enormous shockwave, sending them even further away. However, there were a few skilled ones that managed to use the shockwave to propel themselves further away despite the pain. Among those few were the chosen messengers, who used the shockwave to bring them further away from the battle by riding it as well as they could without cringing in pain. Easier said than done, but they were experts at it. Surprisingly Gragtar was one of those skilled few as well, which allowed him to see the captain’s body fly past him as he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Acting quickly, he snatched the captain’s body out of the air. “Scattah!” He shouted as an afterthought. “Yer comin’ wit me, humie!” Gragtar grinned evilly as he instinctively jumped very high to avoid an enormous sweeping leg. “Yooz got lotz ta anzwer fer!” “That’s if we get out of this alive, Marine.” The captain sneered despite having his hide saved by said Marine. “We will, humie.” Gragtar boasted with an even wider grin. “We will. Wen we’z get frough with ya, yooz gonna wish dat yooz one of yer downed boyz.” “Great.” The captain grumbled unenthusiastically. “Why don’t you just kill me already, barbarian? Save yourself the trouble.” “I’z leave ya to da Boss.” Gragtar shrugged as he landed and continued running. “’e’z bettah at punishment dan me. Much bettah.” Meanwhile, the others weren’t nearly as calm as Gragtar. Some of them had snatched a pirate as well and slung them over their shoulders as they were running, though they didn’t bother to talk to them. Instead, they just kept running, keeping ahead of the giantess’ leg sweep with the help of the boost that the shockwave had given them. A few unlucky greenskins were even targeted by the giantess’ hand, but they quickly dodged to the side with determined huffs. Some went to the left, some went to the right; those of the latter had large cuts on their uniforms from her razor-sharp fingernails. That didn’t deter them from continuing to run though. Their subboss Gragtar said to scatter, so they were now going in completely random directions away from the giantess, like the rest of the squad. It was cowardly, but their Admiral preferred his men alive with their honor dinged than dead with their honor intact, especially with a giantess after them. They can always redeem themselves at a later date anyway. They all just hoped that Admiral Gintaka managed to get here before the giantess managed to catch and kill them all for real. Most of them were praying that those rumors of him being the fastest thing alive were true, because it certainly would help right now. Like that song said, they needed a hero! And fast! Because frankly, there was no way in hell that they would be able to beat her into submission…. “Damn….” Raphiel panted as he continued running beside his comrade. “Just how –pant- far did –pant- did the –pant- admiral go, any-pant-way?!” Ryan snorted. “He’s somewhat close. His scent’s getting stronger. Still hard to get a bid on since he’s flying, but I still have a hold of it so it’s no worry.” He then added something. “And by the way, you really should get more endurance exercises in, man. The panting is kinda pathetic.” “Shut up.” The cheetah grumbled as he continued to pant. “Save –huff- your comments –huff- for some other –huff huff- time!” Ryan smirked. “Gotta keep the spirits up somehow.” “Jerk.” “I know.” Ryan smirked even wider. “I know- what the?!” Ryan suddenly screeched to a halt, kicking up a lot of snow and dust. This caused Raphiel to sputter and crash into the snow-covered ground, making a sizable mound with his face in the process. The cheetah groaned for a bit before pushing himself up, looking dishevelled but otherwise perfectly okay from the impromptu crash. “What the hell was that for, you stupid mutt?!” Raphiel seethed. “We’re not supposed to be lollygagging!” Ryan was too busy gaping and staring at something up in the distance to respond, making Raphiel even angrier. “Are you even listening to me?! We’re in a life-or-death situation here!” The wolf beastman finally responded by raising a hand and pointing a finger towards the sight he was gaping at. “Look….” “Alright, fine. What’s so special…?” Raphiel turned around with a scowl, only for him to imitate his squadmate’s reaction at the sight of huge hakama-clad legs that was seemingly carved from either a glacier or an icy hill. The statue or carving was so large and expansive that the farthest he could see of the statue was the upper torso and parts of its arms. Raphiel could only utter one thing at the sight. “…Whoa.” Hearing Raphiel’s muttered exclamation was enough to snap Ryan out of his own awe-induced shock. “Yeah. It’s freakin’ huge! That wasn’t here before. I wonder who made it?” It only took the both of them a few moments before they remembered the giantess’ wish before she went absolutely bananas over the government dog comment. Didn’t she say that she wanted a statue? But that would mean that Admiral Gintaka would have done this entire thing by himself. In less than an hour. With only a small floating model as a reference, probably using only his Guan Dao. “Admiral Gintaka is amazing….” Raphiel muttered in reverence. “To have made this entirely by himself in a fraction of the time a team of professional artists would have taken. It’s just… amazing.” “I… I have no words.” Ryan admitted, shrugging. “There is nothing that can describe this… this… this… miracle.” They spent a few more moments gaping at it before they finally remembered what they were supposed to be doing. Namely, getting Admiral Gintaka to go back and solve the mess that the pirate captain’s mouth started. Since he was probably up at the top of the positively massive statue –seriously, it had to be at least twice the height of the giantess- they needed to either climb up or holler. Frankly, they didn’t have the energy for the former, so they glanced at each other and nodded before cupping their hands in fronts of their mouths. “ADMIRAL GINTAKA! ADMIRAL GINTAKA! OVER HERE!” With one last wave of Miguel’s hand, he carved out the last few features of the Shichibukai’s face. Finally, he was done! It actually took him far less time than he had estimated, which was excellent. At least he was keeping with his own standards, even though he was stuck doing drudge work for the sake of the alliance that the World Government wanted to keep. That giantess ought to appreciate this. Miguel thought to himself as he looked over the entire statue in satisfaction. This should be grandiose enough for her. “ADMIRAL GINTAKA! ADMIRAL GINTAKA! OVER HERE!” His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by… faint shouting from the ground? Frowning, Miguel enhanced his vision and looked down to the ground to see if he wasn’t just hearing things. To his surprise, he saw two of the Marines he left in the hot springs with the giantess here. A chill crept up his spine at the sight of them; somehow, he got a bad feeling about this. He hoped he was wrong, but he had to check. Squashing down the dread he was starting to feel, he jumped from his perch on the giantess’ shoulder and dove down. A few seconds before hitting the ground, he spread his wings and flapped them, slowing his fall enough for him to land safely on the ground with a soft thump. Miguel’s frown slightly deepened at the sight of the two dishevelled Marines. ”Privates, why aren’t you with the rest of your squad?” “Sir….” Ryan was suddenly glad that no one could see him pale through his fur. “It’s the Shichibukai! She’s gone berserk and started attacking everyone!” Miguel’s eyes actually widened in shock. ”…What? Explain. Now.” The two privates launched into the story, recapping the events that had happened since his departure…. TAGGING: VALKYRIE | WORDS: 1515 | NOTES: SET-UPS

TEMPLATE BY SAMARECARM OF OTE

[Valkyrie]

So close, yet still so far... Valkyrie could feel cowardly mice slipping between her fingers, just barely out of reach. Her scratches were doing some damage, but it wasn’t even nearly enough. In the face of this humiliation, she would settle for nothing less than death. However, the little people were pretty good runners. They had already scattered and trying to chase some of them would’ve meant others would’ve gotten away. Even if she took a lot larger steps, there was no way she could catch them all like this. Unfortunately for them, the Shichibukai was more than just dangerous. As many rumors knew, she also happened to be dangerously creative, especially when it came to hurting people.

Valkyrie dropped onto her knees and simultaneously bashed her fist into the already sizable crater, followed by another punch, another, yet another, faster and faster. As her fists picked up speed and power from her burning rage, it was like an earthquake had hit the glacier. Everything was shaking, making things even more difficult for the runners. The weakest areas were shifting and splitting in two, causing cracks to appear here and there. It might’ve seemed like Valkyrie had suddenly gone mad, but she had a plan and a very dark one at that. She didn’t need to catch the luckless mouth-breathers... if she could hit them from here.

Once the glacier at her feet was suitably pulverized, the giantess stopped punching and filled her palms with shattered stones. What would’ve been sizable stones for humans were like pebbles for her. A psychotic smirk briefly flashed on her features as she focused on her bloodthirsty glare on her targets. Suddenly, he swung her arms in wide arc, putting serious power behind each motion. Without wasting any time even seeing if she hit anything, she knelt for more stones. Again and again, she grabbed large handfuls and tossed them after the fleeing Marines. Those with sharp ears could’ve sworn the rocks whistled as they sailed through air. Now, some people thought arrows or bullets imbued with Haki were incredibly dangerous...

Some people didn’t think big enough.

When the first stones reached their marks, the glacier started trembling again. Each impact was like an artillery shell hitting the ground. Sharp splinters of ice and rock exploded in every direction. The bombardment was more than comparable to the firepower of a Navy battleship, with every thrown handful representing a cannon barrage. Her aim was dangerously good too, ensuring that anyone stupid enough to run straight was getting caught right in the middle of the lethal rain. If she hadn’t been absolutely furious, she might’ve appreciated the ensuing chaos.

After making sure to toss at least two handfuls after each fleeing bug, Valkyrie turned her rage towards the Lieutenant and especially the worthless sack of stupidity he carried. For them, she had very special plans... The giantess stabbed her enormous fingers into the glacier and gritted her teeth. With a violent heave, she displayed her full strength and tore off a chunk larger than an average house. Taking aim, she roared the last warning they were ever going to get. "Dodge this!" She sent the massive stone hurtling their way at merciless speed. A dark shadow covered the escaping greenskin and his prisoner, their death approaching faster than anyone could run...