[Arc] The Rowdy Rascal, and Buster Babs in, A Great Slam and then Some! - Part 1

“Miku, I don’t think it’s such a good idea for you to be out here after what went down back at Las Camp.” Grunted the tall lanky form that belonged to head of her crew, Cedric. He was currently walking beside the much shorter Miku who was waving a hand in the air as if to dismiss his worries. “Look, no one’s going to mess with me after all that noise. Plus I ain’t no coward, isn’t that right?” The Rascal asked as she looked over at the other young man walking slightly behind on her other side. His yellow scarf was covering his lower face as he aggressively stared at anyone who looked their way. His response was a simple grunt at the statement. “Wilder, you’re not still mad about missing out on Las Camp are you?” The angry youth's eyes flicked towards his captain for a second before going back to staring angrily at anyone he could.

The Rascal sighed and shook her head as Cedric simply stuck his hands in his pockets, allowing the topic to drop for now. Though he didn’t stop constantly surveying their surroundings for anything suspicious while they walked. The town they found themselves in wasn’t too picky with who they harbored for the right amount of Berries, a common theme on most islands. Miku had gotten tired of being stuck on her ship for so long and needed to stretch her legs some, though she hadn’t planned on having two bodyguards following her. “I don’t need you two babysitting me, I could take both of you with on arm behind my back. And what happened to calling me Captain?” Miku stated again with a frown on her face.

“That’s not the point, Captain.” Cedric said with an emphasis on the title. The angry blonde suddenly cut in by grunting again, gaining the attention of the his two bickering crew-mates he was traveling with. “Not to sound paranoid but I think some of these people recognize you Cap’n.” With these words Cedric quickly looked around but didn’t see anything suspicious among the citizens they were walking past. “I don’t see anything, are you sure?” The blonde in question simply shrugged, “Just a feeling.” The non-committal response caused Cedric to frown and stay even more vigilant than before. “You two are worrying too much, how about we find a nice place to get a few drinks.” The question was more of a statement as this was Miku’s plan the whole time. This caused both boys to look at one another nervously.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the whole crew for that?” Cedric asked in an attempt to dissuade his Captain from starting trouble. “I’m just going to have one or two.” Miku said listing off with her fingers as she said it and swinging the two digits in front of Cedric’s face, ignoring the fact she barely reached his face. “Maybe he has a point, Cap’n.” Wilder chimed in while looking away from the short woman. The Rascal was quickly getting annoyed at being second guessed and was beginning to frown. “Are you two trying to imply something?” Miku asked slowly while looking straight ahead. The two men looked at one another as they realized they were treading on thin ice at the moment. After a few moments of silence, and an intense silent conversation conveyed through eye movements right over Miku’s head, Wilder sighed and sagged his shoulders. The blonde lowered his scarf down from his face and let it hang around his neck.

“Look, Cap’n, I'm not saying every time we go drinking with you somewhere we get into some sorta trouble.” Wilder said slowly but in a solid voice. Cedric was actually impressed as his eyebrows shot up at how well it was being handled. “But,” Miku immediately turned her head and glared up at the slightly taller blond, “you, ah, you tend to…” Wilder looked to Cedric for help but the tall boy had suddenly found something interesting to look at. Wilder eventually sighed in defeat, “Nevermind, let’s get some drinks, Cap’n.” Miku simply grinned and nodded her head in approval at his acceptance of her demands. The Rascal picked up her pace in hopes of finding a bar or tavern while the two Meddling Kids walked behind her, dejectedly hoping nothing would go wrong today.

The three Meddling Kids continued their search for an adequate watering hole, as per the orders of their thirsty captain. Cedric had shifted his attention from looking for suspicious individuals to possible places they could find cold drinks, though it seemed they were in a market if all the stalls full of produce and fresh goods were anything to go by. His blonde companion had simply returned to glaring at every civilian that tossed them concerned glances or challenging glares. Of course none of them would actually step up to do anything, not if they really knew who Miku was and what she was capable of.

It was during these internal musings of Cedric that he suddenly felt someone bump into him from behind. Miku had heard someone yelling behind them and noticed that Cedric had ignored it, thus she was able to witness the pink haired Rabbit run full speed into him. An amused smile appeared on her lips as Cedric panicked and tumbled forward before catching himself and spinning on his feet to meet whoever had shoved him. The look of confusion and bewilderment at spotting the shorter Mink caused no end of amusement for the Rascal who was enjoying his reaction.

Wilder, on the other hand, showed no signs of amusement as he quickly reached for his club with narrowed suspicious eyes at the Rabbit Mink. Though he was stopped from drawing his club by Miku raising a single hand in a silent gesture to hold. The blonde grimaced and settled for keeping his hand on his weapons hilt. The Rabbit was now talking with exaggerated gestures, apparently she had overheard their captains desire to wet her whistle and had offered to guide them to the nearest watering hole. Wilder didn’t buy this girls act for a second and didn’t believe in coincidence though he could tell that his captain wasn’t going to listen as she had a bemused expression.

The Rascal who had been silent was simply entertained as the Rabbit Minx, which she was almost positive about since Emi had given her a detailed run down on the difference between Mink and Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, continued to ramble on despite making a small scene by running into Cedric. The bluenette was once again slightly irked that the Mink was taller than her, which was only enhanced by her long rabbit ears but that was easily buried as always. Miku wasn’t a fool, it was too convenient that this girl would suddenly appear offering to guide them to a bar. It was most likely someone who scammed travelers out of Berries somehow, possibly someone who was like some of her own crew were before joining up. The Rascal wasn’t too worried as the Rabbit didn’t seem too threatening and she had two of her crew with her, thus she would see how this played out.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, we aren’t the nicest bunch ourselves.” The Rascal would say in response to the girl’s warning about the patrons and staff of the bar she knew about. Of course the smile on Miku’s face wasn’t exactly the most threatening and made it seem as if she wasn’t taking this warning seriously, which she wasn’t. “Though I’m glad to hear that they make ‘good ass drinks’!” the Rascal said with a large smile. The bluenette then proceeded to walk towards the building as the Mink introduced herself, “Name’s Miku. Now let’s get some drinks!” The Rascal threw her fist into the air as she walked into the establishment.

Wilder just glared at the Mink before following after his captain into the building with a grimace. Cedric simply slumped his shoulders and walked towards Noel while extending his hand. “Sorry about them, I’m Ced-AAAAAAAAAAH!” The brunette interrupted his own introduction when he suddenly screamed, in mostly shock, when his hand was shocked with a very very low voltage that scared him more than it should. He quickly let go, shook his hand, composed himself, and walked quickly into the bar.

“Cedric, why is your face so red!?” The Rascal could be heard calling towards her last crew member through the front door of the establishment. The three Meddling Kids walked into the half full bar, it seemed the clientele were mostly the rough and tumble type as Noel had warned. The stares and grunts were meant to be intimidating but Miku ignored it all to keep teasing Cedric as the two made their way to the bar. Wilder simply met all silent challenged with his own angry stares which caused a few of the more surly patrons to look away, others didn’t. The three were seated at a bar with Cedric in the middle, a free stool beside Miku and Wilder respectively.

“A round for me and my boys here!” Miku yelled loudly as she began to grow excited at the prospective drink to come. “Oh, and one more for our pink friend.” She added as an afterthought to thank her for finding the place for them.

Miku raised an eyebrow at the entrance of Noel, the girl was very comedic in everything she did it seemed. It wasn’t anything too new for her as some kids on the street used that personality trait to help cope with the rough lives they lived. Though the shoes were a bit much in her opinion. When Noel sat next to Miku she seemed to put a lot of weight into the use of the word ‘friend’. “Don’t make a big deal of it, it’s just a drink.” Miku said with a hint of bemusement. “Anyway, us girls gotta stick together. It’s tough out here for use.” The Rascal shot Noel a grin as the bunny girl seemed out of her element.

While waiting for the drinks to arrive Miku observed their tag along for a while from the side of her peripheral. The girl was energetic, as her constant spinning so clearly showed, but she was also pretty athletic. Plus she was a Mink, which meant her appearance as a cute rabbit girl was definitely deceiving by her very nature. The Rascal smirked at the habits of the girl, it really did remind her of some children back on Centaurea. Strange, as time passed she kept thinking of Centaurea fondly. It was… a definite change from how she felt about the island before finally setting off.

On the other side of the two girls, Cedric and Wilder were having their own conversation. “Just drop it, asshat.” The taller of the two said as the shorter blonde continued to pester his friend for his girlish scream. “I don’t know, I thought the Cap’n and Emi were the only women in our crew, didn’t know you were too.” The brunette shot a dirty look at the blonde, “Don’t forget Laguna.” He growled out while impatiently awaiting his drink. He could really use that beer to help him compose himself. “Right, the fishy one.” Wilder said while rolling his eyes and turning away from the crew’s unofficial ‘second’. “That’s racist.” “Don’t care.”

As Miku got bored of watching Noel spin in circles she noticed the bartender finally sliding down the beers for her group. The boys got theirs first, so much for chivalry, and she nabbed hers and Noel’s for her. “Here, thanks for finding this place so quickly.” Miku said as she handed Noel her glass. “Cheers!” Miku offered the Rabbit a raised glass before chugging down nearly half its contents. “Aaaaah, now that’s refreshing!” A wide smile was on Miku’s face as she looked to Noel to see how she was enjoying her drink. “You weren’t kidding, this place ain’t too shabby when it comes to their drinks.” With this she downed the glass and slammed it on the counter. “Another!” she happily cried, drawing the attention of nearly everyone.

“Captain, you should slow down, you said just two…” Cedric said while taking a sip from his own drink. Wilder rolled his eyes again and ignored the two, taking swigs from his drink and glaring at some other patrons. “I know my limits, Cedric.” The short woman rolled her eyes and spun on her stool away from her overly concerned crewmate. “So, Noel, what do you do around here?” Miku asked with a small content smile on her lips. “Besides guide people to the local dive bar.” She added cheekily.

It was definitely too cute when the pink Mink tried to mimic Miku’s chugging ability. It was a skill she was quite proud of and had won her many a bet. No one expected the short woman to be able to actually do it. Though it always made the alcohol hit her a lot faster than even she liked to admit. Her face was already slightly red from the mere act of chugging for so long. Though she did chuckle a bit when Noel muttered about the beer not being as good as carrots. It must have been a joke, because everyone knew carrots were the scourge of the seas. It would never be found on the Scorned Lady.

“Yeah, it ain’t too shabby here. The stools only squeak slightly, the bar doesn’t seem like it’s rotting from the inside, and the beer here is pretty damn good.” Miku said in agreement with the pink Mink. The Rascal was watching the bartender with mild interest, waiting for her drink to arrive and wondering what this girl was really after so far. She hadn’t made any moves for Miku’s purse, hasn’t signaled anyone from what she could tell, or even mentioned the weird looks she’d been getting from the locals.

It was during this pondering that Miku suddenly saw a blur of motion from her left, where Noel was, a shattering noise somewhere behind her and to the right followed by an angry shout. So this was it then? Get her group into trouble with the locals in a bar fight? Not the most original but it was her group was known to do on occasion… Miku actually flinched internally as she recounted all the times she got into trouble in a bar. Maybe, just maybe, her crew was onto something there.

It was as this thought passed Miku’s thoughts that Noel actually yelled that her own Meddling Kids had been the perpetrators of this most heinous act. Not too far from the truth, Wilder’s done this exact thing before. The two young men knew there was no reasoning in situations such as this and gave each other looks. Wilder’s face had a feral grin on it with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes while Cedric’s had a firm frown on it as he quickly nodded in permission towards Wilder. The two then grabbed their drinks and threw them at the other undrenched ruffians at the table before rushing straight at them in just another bar brawl. Wilder had actually grabbed the stool he had been sitting on while Cedric just went straight in with his fists.

Miku simply sighed in defeat at the self fulfilling prophecy that was her somehow getting into trouble in bars. The Rascal actually looked into her empty mug with a slight pout before turning back towards the mink with her lips pressed into a serious line. “So, what’s next? I suspected something was up but I didn’t expect something so… this.” Miku said while raising an arm to gesture to the chaos occuring behind her. “So what is it? Did we piss someone off? You after the bounty on my head?” Miku asked as she sat there at the bar. “Or are you with the Marines?” As she said this a dark look passed over her face and her knuckles audibly cracked as she tightend her hands into fists. “Well, Noel?” Miku asked while awaiting the girls response. Her temper was beginning to simmer and the Rascal was going to snap at any time but she needed to know why the Mink was after her. Maybe Cedric wasn’t overly paranoid after all.

The Rascal was NOT happy right now. Her drink was ruined, her boys were in another bar fight, the bartender was glaring straight at her with that look that screamed ‘you’re cut off for life’, and now there was a frozen stiff Rabbit Mink thinking twice about she just caused. The worst part, this completely undermined her defense from right before they got here. She was NEVER going to hear the end of this from those two. Eventually Noel seemed to have gathered her thoughts because the rabbit had regained her grin. That caused Miku’s eye to twitch, she was glad to see someone was having fun.

As Noel dragged out her denial of having a nefarious plot, which only caused Miku to tighten her fists as she prepared to slug the damn troublemaker, she spun in the chair before jumping right into Miku’s face. They were way too close for the young woman’s comfort and she had no idea what Noel was planning. A light blush actually began to rise on the Rascal’s face as her eyes widened in surprise, that was until she realized the rabbit mink was no longer in her face. The Rascal was actually stunned for a moment as her processed what had just happened and tried sorting the flux of emotions she had just gone through.

In the background, the bar fight had properly begun with Wilder and Cedric being surrounded by the bar thugs. Wilder was still using the stool he was on as a blunt instrument of destruction while Cedric focused more on defending Wilder’s exposed back. He was actually annoyed that the blonde was fighting so recklessly expecting him to watch his back. It didn’t help that the brunette was also trying to keep an eye on his captain. As Cedric actually looked over to see how Miku was doing he saw Noel, the one who blamed them for some reason, suddenly move up to his captain. From his angle behind Miku he couldn’t see what Noel was doing but the way those ears were slightly tilted opposed to Miku’s head made it look like they were… kissing?!? Cedric’s jaw actually dropped as he imagined the sight from a different angle causing his face to redden. Of course a punch to his side brought him back to reality as he was forced to look away from whatever was happening with those two.

Back with the very confused Miku, it took her a few seconds to realize that one, her hat was gone, two, Noel had actually tricked her, and three, said rabbit girl had just hopped out the front door. The Rascal slowly turned her head towards the door, got up, pushed her stool back towards the bar, and slowly turned to her crew who was still fighting. “Boys, stay here, I’ll be right back.” Her tone was almost too calm as she turned back towards the front door.

The Rascal then suddenly dashed towards the door, crashing through chairs, tables, drunkards, and eventually breaking through the door itself as it swung into her. The shattered pieces of wood all flew out onto the street along with the Rascal herself who was radiating waves anger and murderous intent.

“IT’S RABBIT SEASON!!!!” Miku roared as she quickly looked around for her prey before dashing as quickly as she could after her. “I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU TO A PULP, YOU LITTLE PEST!!!” Miku roared in anger as she literally charged through anything and anyone in her path.

‘Oh that rabbit is going to be mince meat, I’m going to have some new slippers, I’m going to have Biggs cook her into a stew, I’m going to tie those big floppy ears around her own neck! I’m going to-’ Miku’s internal, and extremely violent, rant was all she could hear as her eyes zoomed in on the Noel’s back. The Rascal saw nothing else and easily charged through the crowd they were running through. Several people were tripped, shoved, trampled, or simply tossed aside as the Rascal refused to let anything slow her down.

Eventually the rabbit ducked into a market thinking it would slow down the furious Miku, she was wrong. Miku simply charged straight through the front door barreling into the man who was shouting after Noel, shoving several stands aside and crashing straight into a table that had cabbages stacked on it. “MY CABBAGES!!!!!” The man yelled from the floor as he reached out as if to catch them all with one arm. A single tear fell down his face. He cursed that Rascal and her heinous act against his cabbages, he swore to make sure she got her comeuppance. Or at least report this crime to the local authorities. He then slowly got up and started picking up his cabbages.

Miku instead only saw Noel taunting her as she crashed through the Market and out the back after her. The rabbit slunk towards an alley in hopes of losing the Rascal, but little did she know that Miku grew up as an alley rat with other homeless orphans on Centaurea. Thus when Miku entered the alley and saw the rabbit ascending toward the rooftops she simply grinned before coming up with an idea. She ran to the building Noel was climbing, reared back her fist, set her feet in a wide stance, and released a bone shattering punch that caused the wall to crumble completely revealing the inside of the building.

“Come back down here or I’ll bring down each building you run across!!!” Miku yelled as she prepared to knock down another wall which could bring the whole building down. This wasn’t a bluff and the inhabitants were already vacating the building itself.

~

Back in the bar

“This is getting out of hand, the captain’s run off after Noel.” Cedric told Wilder as the two were bobbing and weaving, exchanging blows with drunkards easily enough. Sadly they were outnumbered and easily boxed in, thus preventing them from chasing after the two women. “The Cap’n can handle the rabbit, this is way more fun!” Wilder responded while finally shattering the barstool he was wielding over someone’s head.

As the two continued fighting Cedric noticed that two of the last patrons to enter after them were off to the side fighting off some thugs themselves. It was when the woman pulled out a Marine standard issue den-den mushi and started barking orders into it that he realized this whole mess was about to get worse. “Shit.” Cedric said as he punched out another thug and blocking another blow right after. He leaned towards Wilder he had another guy in a headlock while punching in his face. “We got Marines incoming, we need to warn the Captain and get out of here.” He warned before noticing the two looking at them. “Aaah shit…” The brunette moaned as he realized they weren’t leaving anytime soon if that large brute of a marine cracking his knuckles and the woman’s grin meant anything.

The Rascal stood over Noel who was recovering from crumbling along with most of the buildings infrastructure. A murderous smirk was on her face with narrowed eyes that promised pain and reckoning. “No, I don’t.” Was her response to Noel’s comment which apparently caused the thief to realize that the two were mere inches apart and started to scramble back in a panic. Miku simply rotated her right arm menacingly while slowly closing the distance created between them. It wasn’t until the rabbit girl threatened to eat the hat that Miku actually paused with a look of confusion mixed with shock on her face. “What?” She asked dumbfounded before shaking her head and closing the distance menacingly once more.

“I just want my Cindy back!” Those words finally caused the Rascal to stop completely and look down at the cowering form of Noel who was terrified yet refused to return her cap. Had she actually been coerced into this who fiasco? Before Miku could ask any other questions or even continue speculating a new voice called out to her. The Rascal took a step away from Noel and turned to face some Marine who seemed put out at being here. His opening was pretty weak and would have been hilarious if Miku wasn’t already in a foul mood.

“No, I don’t think I will, ya marine bastard. Now why don’t you forget you saw me before I smear ya ugly mug all over this alleyway? I am NOT in the mood to deal with you idiotic bastards right now.” Miku growled towards the taller man while keeping an eye on Noel. “Now are we going to do this the easy or am I going to have to show you why I’m called the Rowdy Rascal?” Miku asked as she began to pull on her Knuckles and rolling up her sleeves to reveal her bracers. “We aren’t done, Noel. You sit tight.”

An exasperated sigh escaped the unlucky marine lieutenant’s lips as he listened patiently to the Rascal’s threats. The girl, while diminutive in size, seemed to be as bloodthirsty and violent as stated in the reports on her. “You know I can’t do that, Miku.” Edwards said with a lilt to his voice that seemed to ooze lethargy. The Lieutenant pulled out a pair of iron tonfa from within his Marine coat, they seemed well worn and sturdy. “Ara ara… I guess we’re gonna have to do this the hard way."

Miku herself was simply narrowing her eyes at the bastard and hoping he would just wander off and leave her to her business. It wasn’t like she was hurting anyone! In the background a loose piece of the building crumbled and struck a random panicked civilian on the head. ‘Well, no one important…’ Miku thought to herself while someone else began screaming about how the local and only doctor was passed out with a head wound. “Someone get the doctor!” “That WAS the doctor!!!”

‘Shit.’ Was Miku’s only thought as the Lieutenant simply stared at her with an unamused look on his face. “Whatever, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” With that Miku immediately focused her Haki into her eyes to increase her reflexes [Kenbunshoku Haki] and then dashed straight for Lieutenant Edwards. [LT Bum Rush] getting right into his guard before he could even track her movement properly. “Wha-” was all he managed to say with wide eyes before Miku drove her right fist right up into his chin in a dirty uppercut [HT Glass Chin].
This completely stunned the Lieutenant who stumbled back reeling from the intense pain, he felt as if his jaw was completely broken and a few of his teeth had actually been knocked loose. Blood began pouring from his jaw as he tried to recover quick enough to counter attack, however the Rascal quickly punched him again on the side of the head actually dragging him to the ground and pounding his head against the alley’s dirty floor. With the resounding sound of his skull being fractured against the disgusting floor of the alleyway his eyes rolled into his skull and he was unconscious.

The Rowdy Rascal looked down at the Marine and spit on him, “I tried to warn you, now you’re gonna die alone in this alley.” The Rascal had crushed enough skulls with the force of her punches to know when it was fatal or not. The Lieutenant wasn’t going to be getting back up from that ever again. The man was silently gasping and his muscles began to spasm on the floor as his brain was hemorrhaging internally, eventually he simply stopped and blood began to seep from his mouth and nose.

With that, Lieutenant Richard Edwards was no more.

The Rascal let out a deep calming breath as the sudden rush of adrenaline was still pumping through her. “Now, where were we-” Miku said as she turned back to Noel to realize she was no longer there. It seemed the rabbit had slunk off while she was focused on dealing with Mr. Dead in an Alley. “Damn it… She couldn’t have gone far. Hopefully.” With that said the Rascal began to follow the sound of frantic screaming, caws, and what she thought could be the presence of Noel. She hadn’t perfected that aspect of Haki but it was better than nothing.

Back in the Bar

The bar was a proper mess, shattered tables and chairs strewn about, windows smashed with bodies hanging out of them, there was a layer of fluids on the floor that was a mix of blood, vomit, booze, spit, and other substances that all mixed into a disgusting mixture. Standing in the middle of the bar stood Cedric and Wilder, back to back surrounded by Marines who had poured into the bar right as they finished off the last of the bar thugs.

“I hate to say it bu-” The taller brunette began to say before he was cut off by his shorter crewmate. “Called it.” Wilder finished while allowing his eyes to dart side to side, his hand slowly reaching for his metal staff that he used when fighting seriously, unlike Cedric who relied on his fists and legs alone. The female Marine from before had a superior smirk on her face as she knew she had the upper hand due to their numbers alone. The large Marine who originally accompanied her had just finished tossing out the last of the conscious vagrants and was by her side once again, grinning in excitement and cracking his knuckles.

“I want that one.” Wilder said with a feral smirk and excitement in his eyes as he challenged the buff marine by staring right back at him. Cedric simply sighed and looked at the numerous other marines who were ‘left’ to him. Sure none of them looked as tough as the monster staring down at Wilder but that didn’t make it any less a pain in the ass. “I hate you.” Was his response as the two split up to deal with their respective targets, all the marines charging forward in response.

The Alley

The Rascal jogged out of the alley, looking all around her before momentarily closing her eyes and blocking out the panicked screams of those around her. After sensing the general direction that Noel went she turned on her heel and began to run after the rabbit girl. Miku was much less angry, still annoyed and frustrated, but no longer seething. Crushing a dirty marine’s skull with her own fist had the tendency to be a great source of stress relief. Who knew?

As the short woman began to make some headway she began to overhear some cawing and familiar shouts before a sudden crashing sound. As Miku rounded a corner she was treated to a sight that she hadn’t expected. A crow was on the ground, HER hat in its beak, with Noel standing over it offering it a hand. Of course when the crow got shocked and retaliated weakly. It looked as if the two were actually fighting over her hat, how this situation had come to be Miku couldn’t even fathom. She simply stood in confusion looking as the crow actually manage to headbutt Noel.

‘This… This is just sad…’ Miku thought to herself as the two continued their brawl. It all ended, thankfully, with the crow flying off meekly and Noel celebrating with her hat in hand. The Rascal leaned against the corner of the building allowing the rabbit to have her moment. After a minute she decided to make herself known by coughing loudly into her fist to get Noels attention.

“As entertaining as that was to watch, I’d like my hat back. Now.” Miku said with no real malice in her voice but no room for mirth either. She then extended her gloved hand forward, palm up, expectantly. “Preferably before more damned Marines show up.” The Rascal urged in impatience in case the rabbit had any more bright ideas or tried to stall.