Sabaody Archipelago: 000/ Sabaody General Hospital

21:52

Running down the hall the Baring family frantically made their way to the staircase that Dina and Baioretto had just previously come up "Where is Juno, why isn't he coming with us." spoke Cudo as he looked back. "Trust me, the best thing for us is to get as far away from here as possible, those were his orders." the image of Baioretto being choked out haunted the mind of Dina as she ran with her father, opening the door to the staircase there was one of the assassins and it froze Dina because she wasn't expecting it and that's when Cudo punched the man in the face knocking him down the stairs and clean on his ass. Dina looked back at her father in amazement "What? I wasn't letting Juno have all the fun." he said in jest. When Dina turned to continue her descent Cudo shook his hand in pain from punching someone, you would think it was his first time doing that. Successfully making it out of the hospital they would start their journey back towards the parts of Sabaody where they could effectively protect themselves and that's when it happened, a large explosion happened which caused the duo to freeze, descending right in front of them was Grato who made a small crater around his landing, dusting himself off the man kept his usually bleak face the same. "Well then, shall we finish this now that the distraction is taken care of?"

Immediately Dina began to worry once those words escaped the mouth of Grato, had he truly killed Baioretto? someone she had seen as so strong and smart was defeated so easily.. "Y-y-you're a monster!" she yelled out before he released a slight and rare smirk "I know." Lifting his right arm Grato would aim his pistol at Dina who was seven meters away, standing still in protest Dina was prepared once more to take the bullet, pulling her by her arm was her father jerking her body away from the situation making sure his daughter didn't get caught. The duo cut down an alley which was near the hospital. A sigh escaped Grato's mouth "There's always a chase I suppose." lighting a cigarette he'd start his motion towards the alleyway before he himself started moving at a great speed.

"We have to go back for Juno Father!" yelled Dina as she tried to fight her father's strength which he was exerting to nearly drag her down the alleyway. "No, we wouldn't be any help to him if we go back to that damn hospital, if he was truly defeated then I will mourn his death but I don't think you can take someone like Juno out that easy!" spoke Cudo with a glimmer of hope in his eye while he continued to run, "How do you know that father!" protested Dina "Because, he's special." spoke her father which shocked Dina while also getting her focused on escaping Grato herself. "Maybe we can get the marines, they can help us!." spoke Dina. As the light at the end of the alleyway shined her father turned back "That might be a good idea Dina, we are close to their districts." A fist met the face of Cudo at the end of the alleyway sending him clashing against a storefront twelve meters from impact. "Silly bitch, I am the marines." spoke Grato who had actually slapped Cudo with his pistol.

Sabaody Archipelago: 1 - The Badlands

22:00

Dina stood there shocked to see Grato had caught up them too this fast and that he had already disposed of her father. In a petrified panic the young girl attempted to escape Grato by running pass him which wasn't the best choice of actions as she was gripped by her hair and slammed to the ground violently. Screaming in pain Dina had no course of action left which meant she was at Grato's mercy. "The long game, it always works.. especially when the prey make it fun." spoke the assassin. "You see little girl. I'm the only marine who's dumb enough to come in this damn area. Nothing but killers and rapist here, do you know why Baioretto chose to bring you to this hospital? Because it's the only one he wouldn't have been killed on sight in. Because I own this shit." The smoke from his cigarette loomed in the air over the downed body while he leaned in closer with each passing word. His right arm free he'd bring his pistol down towards the back of Dina's head. "First I'm gonna kill you, then I'm gonna kill that meddling fucker of a father you have."

Removing the safety from his pistol, the cold steel pressing against the back of Dina's skull, this was an execution. "Any last words?" asked Grato "Yea, you take too fucking long!" yelled Baioretto who was nearly out of the alley running towards Grato with a katana, Grato had a choice, take the stab from Baioretto which at this angle from Grato being downed would have easily killed him or taking the life of Dina. "You little fuck, you never stay down." spoke Grato as he pulled his gun from Dina's head aiming it towards Baioretto leg to which he side stepped each strike before leaping upwards with a flying right knee to Grato's face causing him to dismount from the body of Dina and actually stunning him. Baioretto would then follow up with a sword stab through the left side of Grato's ribs pushing him back into a building.

Removing the blade Baioretto watched as the blood seeped from Grato's body. He'd begin to laugh a bit as his hair became undone and was nearing his end, or at least that is what Baioretto though. "When you came to the Red Lotus, I always knew I'd be the one to kill you" looking down Baioretto saw that Grato's gun was pointed at his abdomen, a gun rang out and Baioretto was already on the move, he dodged major damage but he was bleeding and badly, kneeing the arm of Grato had adjusted the shot and helped keep Baioretto alive. Their location remained right near the wooded areas of the most dangerous portion of Sabaody.  Dina was helping her father up from blow he had previously suffered. "Let's move, he'll be up soon." spoke a bleeding Baioretto, who used his blade as a means of keeping him standing. "Juno you're.." spoke Dina who was almost brought to tears from all the damage that had been done to both her father and Juno. "I'll be fine, let's go.." said Baioretto who began to cough up blood. His clothes were shredded his body was a mess and lastly.. His sunglasses were broken.

Sabaody Archipelago: 1 - The Badlands

22:49

Unconscious was Baioretto as his body laid sleep under the shirt of Cudo. After buying them some time from Grato the trio fled to the Lawless Lands where Baioretto decided it was best to get his wounds cauterized immediately so his wounds would be closed by the time Grato came and he should be fully functional and unaffected from shock around that time. This is why he currently laid near Dina and Cudo who were both talking. "So, this Grato guy, he's a cop and that's what this is all about? He's funneling all his illegal money through his branch as a means of cleaning it for his personal use. I won't lie it's smart but all this violence over extra money, it's unnecessary to say the least." said Cudo to which Dina shook her head in agreement, "To think, they sent Baioretto to kill us, just think about it! that when we met him in the hotel, he was probably thinking about how he was going to get the job done." Cudo started to think about what his daughter was saying before he stopped and stared at her "What father?" she asked him in seriousness. "Who the hell is Baioretto" he asked in reply.

It hit Dina that her father wasn't present for any of Baioretto's combats nor his confession of guilt towards the girl "Oh, that's Juno's work name father." spoke Dina in reply to her fathers question. Cudo was probably more confused now than he was earlier "Work name? His work name means Violet" spoke Cudo while confused. "Maybe it's because of his hair.." spoke Dina as she smiled looking over to Baioretto. This caused Cudo to smile after noticing his daughters gleefulness every time she saw or spoke about Baioretto. "I've noticed how you looked at that boy every time you've seen him ya know." spoke Cudo to which Dina's face began to glow red. "Stop it father!" the girl replied. "I'm just saying, I've noticed he's done the same thing with you." spoke Cudo to which Dina smiled towards the sleeping assassin.

Sabaody Archipelago: 1 - The Badlands

22:54

The duo continued their small talk while Baioretto slept off his ailments and that is when they heard one of the branches they planted on their perimeter get stepped on, immediately their facial expressions changed and grew more serious, Baioretto probably wasn't ready to be awoken but it couldn't be helped just yet. Juno looked at her father and he nodded his head "I'll go check it out, you get Juno up and ready." grabbing Baioretto's sword Cudo started to make his way towards where the noise was heard coming from. He was scared out of his mind and the image of him walking off to the most dangerous situation he had ever been in caused Dina to worry on levels she didn't even know she could. "Please be okay father.." thought Dina before she ran off to Baioretto. As for Cudo he made his way to the perimeter and didn't notice anything strange about the branch breaking besides lack of whatever broke it, assuming it was an animal Cudo began to make his way back towards Dina and Juno but was immediately shot at from the darkness of the forest.

Scrambling through the trees Cudo was trying his best to avoid any bullets. "You pesky fucker." spoke Grato as he continued to shook at Cudo who was making this look like a game of wack-a-mole and seriously annoying Grato. Dina would hear these gunshots and start frantically waking up Baioretto who was in the deepest slumber he could be in. "Come on Juno, wake up we need you!" spoke Dina as she calmly got closer to his face and started yelling at him "Wake up dumbass!" she yelled as he woke up looking around checking his surroundings "Where's Cudo!" asking Baioretto while he tried to catch his breathe while examining the area. "He's fighting Grato, we had to wake you up a little early." said Dina as she removed her father's shirt from Baioretto revealing his cauterized wound  "What'? where's my sword." asked Baioretto as he started to push off the tree near him standing up "My Father has it.." spoke Dina cautiously. Baioretto looked at the girl in confusion before he started to gain his barrings step by step until he was in a full sprint towards the gunfire.

The darkness had illuminated the battlefield. Before getting too far from Dina the wounded Baioretto turned around "Did you do what I asked you to do?" asked Baioretto towards the girl "Yep!" she replied to which Baioretto smiled, he had a plan in place which should get him out of this Grato mess. While Grato continued to advance and attack Cudo he started laughing while his cigarette pointed him out like a sore thumb "Give it up Barings, you won't make it out alive doing this shit all night." that's when Cudo came up from Grato's right side "I think I can last awhile doing this!" yelled Cudo as he lunged from behind a tree attacking Grato with Baioretto's katana. Legitimately caught off guard Grato stepped backed and swayed out of the way from each strike before aiming his gun forward shooting Cudo in his left shoulder.

The shot knocked the blade from his hands and caused Cudo to stumble backwards into the tree he came from behind, he started to lose a lot of blood but his wound wasn't placed well enough to kill him "Considering, the kid is already dead... I'm just gonna put you down and take your daughter for myself."  pointing his gun at the parked Cudo it seemed the man had met his fate, he closed his eyes and prepared to be sent into the afterlife until Baioretto came in leaping, striking Grato in the face causing him to stumble. "I told you, I'm gonna kill you" said a smiling Baioretto as he pushed off of Grato on contact flipping to the ground where he slid back and picked up his sword. "I'm really tired of you kid, you're more trouble than you've ever been." spoke Grato as his facial expression changed from his smirk to that of a grimacing tyrant. Slicing away at Grato the man was swaying out of the way of each strike before eventually going on the offensive which caused Baioretto to do the same thing, the earlier damage done to the ribs of Grato had paid dividends in slowing down his movements. A slick slide from Baioretto got him to the right side of Grato instead of his front region, slicing downwards against the leg Baioretto sliced the right Achilles of Grato.

A scream of pain came from Grato as he started frantically flailing his arms around in an attempt to hit Baioretto but the ranked four assassin was too small for the enraged Grato to get his hands on, stabbing his blade backwards Baioretto sliced right into Grato's right palm causing his gun to drop. The adrenaline of Grato had kicked in and he stood and began to charge Baioretto and that is what the young assassin wanted. Running and leading Grato into the right area "Now" yelled Baioretto as Dina jumped out of a tree holding a vine, the vine was connected to a noose on the ground which locked around the leg of Grato. "You little motherfucker!" yelled Grato before his leg began ensnared in the trap sending him 20 meters upwards while dangling upside down. "You've been calling me that since you let me shadow your kills way back when" said a smirking Baioretto.

"Every last one of my dogs in the marines are gonna kill you kid, remember that! They're gonna fucking kill you!" With his katana in his right hand through his broken sunglasses Baioretto closed his left eye and stuck his tongue towards his upper lip while he focused his angles and started to cock his arm back in a throwing motion before he finally decided it was time to shut Grato up. The blade was released from Baioretto's hands and slicing through the air the blade pierced the skull of Grato stabbing him right between the eyes "Shut up" said Baioretto after the last breathes had escaped Grato's body.

Sabaody Archipelago: 73/ The Hotel District

6:19

"That fire in the forest, You think it had anything to do with Grato and Baioretto?" asked Bossman while he was taken to his office by Teipan and Raid, both men remained silence before a smiling Teipan "Knowing Grato, he was probably removing all the evidence before he called in his marine unit to officially rule it a crime scene." said Teipand t which Bossman nodded that "Ah that sounds like a Grato move." spoke the older man. As trio entered the office of Bossman they were shocked at what they saw, it was dismounted head of Grato on the table where the assassinations were given out. Besides the head was an ecstatic Baioretto who was eating his favorite breakfast to order every time he came to Headquarters, hash brown with runny eggs and the most premium of bacon. "Oh Baioretto, you survived the encounter with Grato I see, and only took you a day to defeat him I see." spoke the elderly man to which Raid scoffed "If he was taken out by someone so weak he shouldn't have been with us to begin with." if Raid wasn't so scary Baioretto would probably goad him into combat. "Raid I'll respond to that comment when I'm in fighting condition. But for now I eat."

Baioretto continued his breakfast as Bossman looked at Teipan before looking at Raid and the three looked back at Baioretto before walking over to the table and sitting adjacent to Baioretto just as they did in days past. They watched him eat his breakfast and it was an awkward silence "So, you started that fire in the woods?" asked Teipan to the glutton of an assassin Baioretto. Mouth stuffed Baioretto smiled "Yep, I couldn't leave his body just hanging around, what kind of death would that be for someone known as "The Cleaner", right?" said a joking Baioretto "Why did you bring him here?" it was clear Baioretto was already over that fight, grabbing the knife near his plate caused Raid and Teipan to both get wary which caused Baioretto to stop eating and look up at his former employers "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have tried it this late." said Baioretto. The silence continued for roughly twenty minutes before Bossman sighed "Okay Juno, what do you want?" and that's when the fork of Baioretto's hit the table and he smiled "Did you know that the debt you sent me after the Barings family for belonged to Grato and this was his way of covering it up?" both assassins looked at Bossman as they didn't know this "Oh, so you didn't know." said a surprised Baioretto. "What does that have to do with you being here?" asked Raid to which Baioretto put his hands together and started clapping, "Great question, well truthfully.. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be going after the Barings family again." said Baioretto. Bossman stirred in his thoughts for awhile before leaning forward. "They're safe." said Bossman at which point Baioretto stood up and walked around the table heading to the exit. "That's all I needed to hear." spoke the former Red Lotus assassin before exiting the room.[/color]

Sabaody Archipelago: 55/ Shipping District - Barings Coating Company

10:54

"So they don't want me and my father anymore?" is what Dina said to Baioretto while the two walked along the docks. Baioretto with his usual smirk couldn't resist to mess with her for a bit "Not entirely.." said the former assassin and that's when the look of panic appeared on Dina to which Baioretto quickly noticed "No, no I'm joking! They said you and your father are safe!" to which Dina grew furious and started chasing Baioretto along the docks for a good ten minutes. "You fool! this wasn't funny! this is my life you're joking about!" she exclaimed all the while Baioretto ran with a smile on his face because he knew this angry was from joy. When he finally let Dina catch him she tackled him and began to claw at him repeatedly "Slow down you animal" said Baioretto as he managed to escape her grasp and stand on his feet. That's when the face of happiness turned to that of despair for Dina, "What's wrong?" asked Baioretto. The girl started to look at the sky "If you aren't working for the Red Lotus anymore.. and my family is safe.. what will you do?" asked Dina.

Baioretto smiled, which is when Dina looked back down and noticed now he was looking up to the skies. "Well.. I always wanted to see the world ya know? See what makes people go so crazy over being free." said Baioretto which caused Dina to hug him. "Just promise, you'll be safe and come back when you can!" she said while hugging Baioretto as tight as she could. "Deal" said Baioretto as he embraced Dina with a hug of his own. It was then a whistling noise came within striking distance, looking to his left Baioretto saw Cudo and immediately broke the hug with Dina with a glowing red cheeks. "Come with me for a second kid." said Cudo as he took Baioretto to his personal office and sat him down. It was truly grand what he did here with all the coating and how ships turned out when they were done, to think someday Baioretto himself would be getting this done for his own ship. "This world, it's harsh kid.. And after you killed a ranked marine official.. and a crime lord in the same, you'll infamy will grow and overtime it will grow more.." Baioretto wasn't entirely sure what Cudo was getting at. The coater stood and walked grabbing a chest off another counter in his study, placing it on the desk between him and Baioretto, "Take this, Baioretto. I think it'll do you more justice than it would do myself." said Cudo. It was a yellow devil fruit, large and rare as they always were. "T-thank you Cudo.." said Baioretto as he took the chest after having a heart to heart with Cudo that is. Leaving Barings Coating Company Baioretto looked back at Cudo and Dina waving goodbye to him before he set off with his chest.

The End.

Grand Summary: I like it overall, it flowed well and kept me interested. It didn't overextend and the short story itself knew exactly what it was and where it wanted to go. The Red Lotus organization is interesting and I hope they pop back up in Juno's life as he progresses and makes a name for himself as a pirate. I have to say the action/fighting sequences were well written so kudos to that.

Beli: 25,000,000
Bounty: 20,000,000 (You terrorized a hospital, burned down a forest and killed a Marine official. Even if the WG can't directly admit to Gato working for them, they're aware of your presence and the danger you are)
Prestige: 1 (Not really a pirate activity but it's a good start to your piracy life you'll now be embarking on).
Doriki: 1
Bonus: 1x Devil Fruit