Dante Bellux, always the hungry soul, never content with where the God's, Fate, or his actions had placed him in life. For that reason he always strived to progress and rise above. He'd lost count of how many generations of peers he had shed and left behind, because of this insatiable thirst he had.

Deciding the time to act on the ceaseless grumbling his metaphorical stomach growled with was now, Dante came to a stand. Pressing his feet against the sand dusted ground, he also pressed air out his mouth through his lips in a stressed out manner. On his two feet standing upright, the male was dressed in his usual garbs with the additional of a red and tan zig-zag horizontal lined poncho. This draped down to his mid-thighs covering the machete on his right hip and pistol tucked in his pants pressed against his belly, the grip of the loaded pistol easily accessible as it was only covered by the poncho and not his shirt or foolishly all the way in his pants.

Conveniently on Alabasta's outskirts, the freelancer walked to the gates of the prestigious city only to be stopped by one of the many guards present.  "What's your business in Alabasta?" Birdie turned his attention to the guard and scrunched his mouth to the side in a disappointed manner. "I'm here to get trading license." Semi truthful. Dante had plans to try to talk to a certain contact he was directed to by an old business partner. Apparently the Black Market was partly responsible for Alabasta's current booming economy and Dante wanted a piece of that pie. The guard scoffed at Dante's expense before apparently giving Dante the spiel of how things would go down. "We have enough of you foreign leeches trying to slide into our city and suck our blood before moving to the next cash cow. How about you head to Rainbase or something." A vein on Dante's forehead swelled in annoyance, but he tried his best to keep his cool. Just as he opened his mouth, someone placed a hand on his shoulder silencing him.

"I'm sure one more "leech" couldn't hurt us that much. Besides, this guy doesn't seem too bad." Birdie looked to the owner of the hand on his shoulder, seeing a man dressed similar to him as far as the cascading poncho went, but atop his head he had a western cowboy hat on. He was of dark complexion and had a thick mustache that made a cul de sac around his mouth, leaving his chin bare. Locking eyes with Dante the man gave a sin lathered grin that showing his cigarette stained teeth and released the smell of his last meal. Dante forcibly reciprocated the expression though he hoped his breath was more pleasant than this stranger's. The guard looked at this exchange and before he could respond the stranger spoke again. "You owe me one anyways señor, consider us equal now." Without even waiting for the ok, the stranger began to walk forward and beckoned for Dante to follow him.

Taking the free pass, Dante walked passed the guard not even giving him a departing glance as he did so. Barely in the walls of Alabasta, Dante stopped walking and confronted the man. "What's the catch?" The stranger turned to face Dante and began to laugh, his laugh a deep husky one that can from the stomach. It had a hint of rasp to it as if the man had been drinking. "I'm just trying to help out a fellow tradesmen señor, no catch." He winked at Dante which made him crack a smile. While he wasn't at ease around the fellow, Dante found that he already liked the man, he had a quality Dante himself which he could build upon. This trait was the ability to make one feel uncomfortable while acting with casualty. If you were a fellow tradesmen you would have capitalized on the favor you just did me, but to each their own I guess." Dante gave a bit of a laugh before he walked off towards another road that the stranger wasn't walking on.

"Woah woah, not so fast muchacho. Maybe I lied. The least you can do for me is enjoy a drink with me." He held out his hands with his offer, as he did so the slack of his poncho was tugged on. The beaming sun's rays hit something on the man's waist that was partly metal causing it to shimmer for the short instance it was revealed, assumably a weapon, but this didn't tip Dante off, everyone carried weapons. Figuring it couldn't hurt and it could be an opportunity to network, Dante only paused for a moment in thought before drudging along with the mysterious man.

 

As Dante walked alongside the man he noticed how he had to walk at a pace that was a bit faster than the man's own due to their height difference. Dante being tall for an normal human, a shadowing 6`3, this mystery man stood at least nine feet tall. Give or take a couple inches, but the fact was that the man was a behemoth, though Dante had seen bigger. "So what type of trade is it that you deal in?" Neither of the men had yet given the other their name and while Dante was interested in asking the man for his name, he wasn't willing to reciprocate.

Not that he had much notoriety to his name, not yet at least, but you never knew who you were in the company of and it was probably better off kept like this. "Most don't smile upon it, but I'm in the slave trading business. Not much of a show of morality, but it keeps my pockets fed muchacho." The man didn't strike Dante as the clean type, but it still was a bit surprising to see someone involved in the slave trading business. "What about you eh? You strike me as a Black Market man too." Dante chuckled at how he was corralled by this man who had labeled him with not even interacting with him before hand. "Not yet, I've been trying to establish a secure foothold. That's why I'm here. Not much of a secret that Alabsta's successful economy is because of the Black Market."The mystery man nodded and laughed his deep raspy laugh.

"I hope you're prepared to fight for scraps muchacho, the big dogs have a firm grasp on the bigger pieces of the pie. And there are a lot of you dreamy eyed fellows coming in by the day. You like getting your hands dirty?" Dante looked over at the man with a raised brow. This wasn't just a conversation between two traders, it seemed more like an interview. Dante stopped in the road, the district the two were in a little more poverty stricken and less populated. "Would I happen to be talking to one of the big dogs right now?" The man stopped and laughed even harder this time. "If I happened to be one what would your response be muchacho?" The man's tone implied he was daring Dante to show his guts.

"I'd just recommend that you sleep with one eye open" He grinned in the man's face and in return the man mirrored his expression. "Bird's of a feather muchacho. I'm not one of these bigger fish yet, but I'm looking to hook them one by one and take their seat. You interested in being my partner in crime?" If they truly were bird's of a feather then this man was already plotting to backstab Dante when the time for spoils of war came upon them. He'd just have to kill him first. "Dante Bellux." He extended his hand to officialize their partnership, however temporary it may be. "Cervantes." As there hands met and clasped each other Dante was itching with anxiety. Not that he suspected Cervantes would attack him, he knew that the man was looking to leech him dry, just as Dante planned to do to him. But anxious about the outcome of this pairing.

 

The bar that the were in route to wasn't too far from where the two stood off and acquainted themselves and their ambitions. Each man truly had the meddle to bring what they wanted into actuality, but only one of them would be able to achieve it. The laws each of them had followed and the tendencies that were instilled in them wouldn't allow for the other to sit alongside them once those above were removed. That bridge would be crossed in due time however, for now it was time to have a small celebration. No longer was this trip to the bar a meet and greet, but it was to celebrate their newfound partnership.

They engaged in small talk and bantered about with the other patrons, but neither of them disclosed much information about themselves, only their talents and a harmless story about an encounter or two. This let Dante know he truly had tied himself to a man who was as honed and hungry as he was.

"Now when I say this muchacho, it's not to place myself above you and try to claim a bigger piece of the loot once this is all said and done. I have a ship and men already in my ranks. So while we remain equals of course, I think you should play the role of my right hand in my crew. What do you think?" Dante completely understood and slightly preferred it this way. It had its negatives, of course he was outnumbered and should it ever come to it, he could be considered surrounded by the enemy, but he'd also be placed in the heart of Cervantes' operation which was now also Dante's operation as well. "I completely understand. It's for the greater benefit." Cervantes flashed his filthy teeth in excitement as Dante accepted to play right hand in his crew. Raising his shot glass of brown liquor, Dante raised his and clinked it against Cervantes' glass. Both of them downing the shot in unison, they shared an exhalation of alcohol stained breath. It really burned the throat and got the chest all heated up.

"Only thing is muchacho. We're based out in Mock Town on Jaya Island. I'm just here handling a bit of business." Dante waved the words out of the air, dismissing them as irrelevant. "I have nothing tying me down here or anywhere as a matter of fact. So Mock Town sounds fine, haven't been there in years actually." Dante had lived a short term, maybe 2 years on Jaya in a pirate crew that tragically disbanded due to some internal turmoil. Another trip couldn't hurt, especially if it held as many spoils as he purveyed it would.

 

Cervantes nodded to Dante, but then shook his hand to the bartender as he walked over to pour them more alcohol. "I think I had my fill of booze for today." Dante chuckled and nodded in agreement. "I'm well beyond my limit, especially for me to have the rest of the day to go about." Cervantes released his bellowing laugh as both stood and began to depart. Outside the doors of the place, Dante cursed under his breath. "Shit. Forgot to tip. I guess we'll part ways here and meet back up in Mock Town?" Cervantes nodded, placing his cowboy hat back atop his head. "I look forward to it muchacho." He flashed his dirty mouthful of teeth with his devilish grin and tipped his hat to Dante before walking off.

As he walked back into the bar, he felt as if the atmosphere was a bit different, but felt it was because of the lack of Cervantes and his energy when they interacted. Dante didn't pay much mind to the feeling however. Digging into his pockets to grab a few loose Beli in his pocket to tip with and set them on the counter of the bar. Turning to head out the door, he was welcomed with the bodies of a few random guys in front of him. "I'm guessing you just signed up to be Cervantes' newest cash cow?" Dante raised a brow and scrunched up his face as if he really couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'm going to stab in the dark and guess, you were at the gates entering the city and he scooped you up, then recruited you as his right hand? I'll give it two years until you end up dead in a ditch somewhere. He's been running that operation since I was a child." Helpless to hold it back, Dante began laughing hysterically. It had been the funniest thing he had heard in a while, so he hoped they'd excuse him. Calming down he placed a casual hand on the shoulder of the man who was talking. "I've only been played once and haven't gotten the shitty end of the stick ever since. I learn from my mistakes." He casually yet slyly slipped a hand into his poncho while he nonchalantly moved the other hand to the man's shoulder. Applying a bit of pressure the fellow pivoted to let Dante proceed to walk forward and as he did so the other men stepped aside. "I may be a bit young, but I've sat back and watched my mentors backstab countless amounts of people. I'm sure I can manage around someone who's been chewing on little fish his whole life."

Dante knew the city of Alabasta was full of leeches just like him. All he had done was disguise himself as a host to attract a fat juicy leech that he planned to bleed dry. "While I appreciate the heads up, I can't help but feel disrespected and underestimated." As he spoke he calmly turned around to face the same people he had just walked past.

 

His hand that had slithered into his poncho had gripped the handle of his six shot pistol and quickly he drew it and fired off a round. The pistol was still in the confines of his poncho, so it shot a whole straight through the garb before whizzing through the air and piercing into the thigh of the man who was spouting the bullshit at Dante. The man stumbled back in pain clutching his leg, before he fell backwards onto his ass which caused Dante to break out in laughter. "Get that son of a bitch!" The bartender's pleas of peace were muffled by the racket of the men rushing at Dante, they'd probably be ignored even if they were heard.  Jumping back to sustain the distance between him and the guys charging at him, he dispensed his five remaining bullets. Two hit one guy killing him as his chest was pierced twice, one bullet found itself lodged in a man's side probably piercing a vital organ, but surely halting his advance, the last two hit one guy in the face killing him on impact. "Not as feeble as you thought huh?" He laughed as he spoke and simultaneously fled the scene through the front door.

With the injured and dead littering the floor a few of the remaining miscreants tripped as they tried to come at Dante who had fled the bar. Not that he thought he couldn't beat them down, he easily could, but he wasn't looking to cause too much of a scene. Utilizing his Rokushiki techniques, he would be out of sight by the time they exited the bar and looked down either of the roads.

Kamisori -25
[Exit]