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The two continued, and soon a thick layer of sweat adorned Nicholas' body. They had been fighting for at least 10 minutes now, and it was having an effect on his body. His breath came out in pants, his vision blurred with sweat and yet he persisted, refusing to give up.

Admiration was starting to show in his opponent's eye. It was clear that Nicholas had lost this fight, and yet he persisted. Even with his dagger, he had proven his worth against him.

His opponent thrust out, seeking to end the fight quickly, but Nicholas dodged.

"I've seen that attack already! It won't be enough!"

The following attack however, an uppercut slash surprised Nicholas, cutting him shallowly, and he began to bleed for freely now. Nicholas swore.

[Chaos Slash 1/5]
[Waiting For Sword 5/8]

"Give up." His opponent looked back at Nicholas, emotionlessly, though his eye still contained that small sparkle. "You've lost this fight."

Nicholas growled, squeezing his dagger harder.

"No. Not yet." Not while there was still breath in his lungs, while blood still continued to flow. It wasn't over by a long shot.

He dashed forward, thrusting at his opponent, an attack that was blocked easily, before slashing again. His plagiarism earned him nothing, as his opponent simply predicted his attack, blocking again and shoving him back again.

"You can't beat me."

[Chaos Slash 2/5]
[Waiting For Sword 6/8]

With a roar, Nicholas persisted. By now, his onlookers had stopped watching. It was clear, all too clear that Nicholas was as good as dead, it was really a matter of time, until his opponent struck the killing blow. But until then, he would continue fighting.

Hands slippery with his blood and sweat, he continued to attack, his ferocity sending his opponent back slightly, surprising him slightly. But it was easy, oh too easy for him to then defend himself and control the flow of the fight, directing Nicholas into a circular pattern, until a well aimed thrust (which was barely blocked), followed by an uppercut slash disarmed Nicholas.

[Chaos Slash 3/5]
[Waiting For Sword 7/8]

"Finish it." Nicholas whispered, eyes closed, the blade poised at his neck. His opponent shook his head.

"I don't kill unarmed opponents. Pick up your blade."

Nicholas' brief moment of confusion was replaced with joy, pure joy, along with his own sparkle of admiration, as he kicked up his dagger.

"Shall we continue?"

Nicholas nodded. "But first...what is your name? I wish to know the name of the one who kills me."

He shook his head. "They'll be no killing today boy. But my name is Shanks."

Nicholas' eyes widened. He knew that name, what pirate didn't? Another smile appeared on his face.

"Yes..." he breathed.

[Chaos Slash 4/5]
[Waiting For Blade 8/8 FINISHED]

Nicholas bowed low, ignoring the pains it caused him as he did so.

"Then, forgive me for this fight, good sir." Shanks chuckled.

"No, no it was a good fight. My men tend to love to over-react to situations. They enjoy a good battle."

Nicholas smiled at that. "I can see why. Fighting you has...taught me much, surprisingly. Shall we continue?"

Shanks laughed again, a hearty one that filled Nicholas with such warmth, that he almost forgot the blood pooling near his feet.

"Maybe after you've patched yourself up...Don't worry, I'll be here, waiting."

Again, Nicholas bowed low. "Thank you."

And with that, he turned and left, one hand clasped onto his wound.

[Chaos Slash 5/5]

It was an odd sound, one she was unfamiler with. Cheering...clapping....singing.....dancing.... Though it then hit Cindy like a ton of bricks. “Oh my! It's a party!” Cindy said with a tone of glee. Cindy stood up to her feet and dusted herslef off not wanting to look dirty. She always wanted to look her best though, even when no one was around. It was part of being from a wealthy family, she was always looking to impress with her nice clothes. Her adoptive had always told her “You never know who's watching you, some nice young man could just jump out at you!”

2/4 3 Bullet Combo

Cindy decided she would head towards the noise, it couldn't possibly hurt her. Slowly she walked through the mist, mostly watching her feet for fear of tripping though she was still ever aware that she was getting close to the party. What happened next shocked her greatly though. As she wandered three bullets whizzed past her head and she instantly dropped to the ground for fear of what would happen next. Through the mist she then heard a voice, the voice belonged to a man, one whom sounded very strong and strident at that though that only made Cindy that much more scared....

4/4

"Yo-You're the great pirate sniper Yasopp!" Cindy said aloud to the man with a hint of fear in her tone. Yasopp simply chuckled and said "So I see you've heard of me?" Cindy simply slowly nodded her head in acknowledgment. Yasopp chuckled though his vision soon went directly to Cindy's pistol. Yasopp cocked his eyebrow and began scratching his chin making a bit of a "Hmm..." sound as he did so. Cindy was a bit confused by the whole thing, she had no idea what he was thinking.

2/5 5 Bullet Combo

Yasopp simply chuckled at the hot headed young girl. "Hey there, why don't you cool your jets. You may have been taught how to use a pistol but I doubt that you've ever been taught how to use a pistol using the pirate methods..." Cindy rant stopped here, it was true. All of the training which she had received was from a man whom graduated from a High Class college somewhere in the Grand Line. Cindy sighed lightly to herself as she finally broke down saying "Alright, I would like to learn..."

4/5 5 Bullet Combo

Yasopp couldn't help but burst out into laughter at that remark. "Child, things get much crazier when you're learning from Yasopp! It's all about how you play your cards, ya'know?" Cindy really didn't understand where he was coming from but went a long with it anyway. "Now, allow me to demonstrate..." and with that he unhollstered his pistol and gave it a few good spins saying "Now watch closely...specifically pay attention to my hands." Yasopp then pulled the trigger...

1/6 10 Bullet Combo

Cindy sighed and lifted up her pistol, she really didn't know how this was supposed to work but apparently it would. With a grimace she pulled the trigger on her pistol five times but only three bullets left the gun and the hammer clicked. Cindy turned to Yasopp saying "See? This is just what I was talking about. You can't logically fire five bullets from a gun with a three bullet capacity." Yasopp grabbed the bridge of his nose and applied pressure in frustration.

3/6 10 Bullet Combo