A New Chapter

**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play**: N/A
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:PuddingCups, User:YuveYu
**Setting:** Paradise
**Characters Involved**:
* **Marines**: Donnie, Tsubame

"So... y'know why you're here, right?"

Captain Donnie asked the newly-minted Ensign in front of him. The two were sitting at a table outside a small café on Longan, an island on which the 179th Branch of Marines resided. Surrounding them were other establishments: small, quaint, and rustic. And overall, the town was quite peaceful mainly because few, if any, dared to touch an island that was directly protected by Marines.

Donnie intended to "test" the Ensign's skills. After all, the jump from Warrant Officer to Ensign was enormous. It was almost a sort of graduation from completely hopeless fodder to somewhat relevant pawn. Such a transition was rare, of course. While the number of total Marine infantry ranged in the millions, Ensigns ranged in the thousands at most. In short, he wanted to make sure that this Ensign was up to the job. Or so he told everyone. In reality, the Captain was just bored out of his mind. Barely a month after returning from his sojourn in the New World, Donnie already found himself hungry for more. Even if he was scared of the demons there, even if he was ready to get the absolute tobacco kicked out of him (which was not an unfamiliar feeling for him in his short yet very active career), Donnie wanted some action. He had trained others before, and he found it quite interesting. If training this Ensign was his fix, then so be it. Still, despite this thirst for more, signs of tiredness showed themselves on his thin face as dark bags pooled underneath his eyes.

Taking off his pink sunglasses, Donnie looked at the Ensign in her eyes and took a long, drawn-out sip of his chai latte, slurping noises included.

Tsubame enjoyed first impressions, she enjoyed meeting new people with different personalities and loved to see their strange outlooks on the vast world that surrounded them. Growing up on a small and largely irrelevant island, it was the idea of both travel and justice that brought young Tsubame to the marines and the man before her was certainly not a disappointment.

"What I'm doing here?' Tsubame questioned, so nervous to answer that her hands shook as she lifted her simple cup of steaming hot tea. Before her lips could touch the rim, the cup was dropped, spilling all over the table. Scooting back her chair, Tsubame was shocked at the mess, her face filled with dread and tears. Her first day on the job and she already messed it all up! Bowing apologetically before raising a hand to her forehead, "I'm so sorry sir!" She sobbed, she hated how clumsy she was but it couldn't change!

Wiping up the mess with a nearby newspaper, she managed to sit down again, attempting to collect herself after the rather embarrassing incident. "I'm here to train sir." She answered firmly.

Furrowing his brow at Tsubame's quick cycle of moods, Donnie instead chose to first ignore her. Raising his arm and waving, he shouted, "Waiter dude!"

"Sir?" The waiter replied politely.

"I'd like to order four chai lattes for myself and one tea for the lady." Donnie replied, nodding his head. Rubbing his temples, he shooed the waiter away and looked back at Tsubame. "*Hmm, training? Should've planned something out.*" Donnie thought to himself. He certainly did take pleasure in training others, especially lording over them, but he wasn't exactly hands-on about it. He had even let his previous "apprentice" almost get eaten by a dragon-thing back on Rambutan. "*Good times... Nah, those were shit times. Let's take this seriously, mm'kay?*"

"So, uh, yeah, training! You've done plenty of that back on the base. Evident by uh... Yeah." Donnie said, looking her up and down. She definitely exercised, as shown by her clearly well-proportioned body. If he weren't so damn tired, he might've been down to get groovy with her. Shaking his head, his long pompadour wiggling in succession, Donnie continued, "Right, right... right... So, this is more of an interview y'know? Maybe, at most, there'll be some sort of sparrin' thing. Unless some baddies show up or somethin'."

"*Hey, if this turns out well. If she's not a complete dud, she can be an apprentice. Mhm. And she can do stuff for me... like paperwork!*" Donnie thought. With that in mind, his drained expression twisted upwards to form a welcoming smile - one that masqueraded petty anticipation and selfishness.

"An interview, right? Right. Question one. What's your favorite fruit?" Donnie asked, chuckling to himself.

Tsubame noticed the mans lack of organization but took it as nothing more than a colorful character trait. She scratched her head as the man seemed to spar with himself in his mind, asking questions back and forth she could only watch in amusement. "Haha, well I guess you're right." She said kindly, folding her hands in her lap as she sat anxiously, squirming in her seat with nervousness.

The thought of an interview stressed Tsubame out! But it was definitely easier than training. Besides, maybe this was some sort of weird bonding exercise? After all, he did look like a strange man. She was interested in the questions he would ask and imagined some of her own just in case, tilting her head as a thought cloud appeared above her head and dreamed of interesting ideas of this interview. Of course that was popped when he asked her favorite fruit, stumbling awake from her day dream she snapped back to reality.

"Oh! Hmm~ my favorite fruit? What a difficult question!" Tsubame was shocked by the question, she put far too much thought into it. Was it a trick? Did he want a specific answer! Shaking the thoughts from her head she answered plainly. "Well, I would say the one I ate a long time ago but..." Her face turned blue remembering the taste. "It was terrible! So maybe... figs!"

"Figs. Decent choice." Donnie began, curling his lips down in an an affirmative expression while nodding. But something else piqued his interest. A bad fruit? Why did she like it so much? Did she, perchance, consume something a bit more magical? Oddly enough, the previous trainee had a Devil Fruit as well, certainly an interesting coincidence. Still, his suspicion of her abilities was just a hunch. For the most part, Devil Fruits were the stuff of myths. Maybe she just had an odd fetish towards rotten fruit.

Raising his arm, Donnie asked, "Tell me more about that "terrible" fruit. Please." Then, clenching his fist, wispy white feathers appeared to sprout out of it, only to pop off and float away in the light breeze. His arm returning to normal, he lowered it down and picked up his cup of tea to take another sip. "Didya eat a Devil Fruit?"

He seemed to be very interested, a part of her wanted to jump up and celebrate. She had aced the test! Maybe being in the navy wouldn't be so hard after all. Then of course he asked about her devil fruit, causing Tsubame a great deal of panic, her face turning red and blushing a bit. "Oh yeah, that's what they're called." It seemed she had forgotten before. "I ate the Yomu Yomu no Mi, would you like a demonstration?" She asked, tilting her head and grabbing her glasses which hung from her shirt collar, putting them on. "I bet you'd be an interested read." She teased, though not certain the man would know what she meant.

Donnie had indeed no idea what she meant. He was one to pick up on small details, despite his lazy demeanor (currently even lazier than usual), but this one evaded him. Read? What could that mean? He had fought against Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia-users a like. Paramecia fruits would could grant the user some strange eye power, or it could be a predatory Zoan, which literally alters the user's eyes. As Donnie spun out, he rubbed his forehead and thought to himself, "*Oh, boy...*"

"Sure, uh, yeah. But please tell me what it does first..." Donnie began, scratching his head nervously and chuckling weakly. "I've seen too many of them for my own good... Chains, genies, eight-headed snake monsters... even coal! You wouldn't imagine how crazy that can be. Hmm. Yeesh. Just be careful, mm'kay? Don't blow up the town. Bahaha."

Tsubame could see the fear in his eyes, clearly he had ran into some troublesome things in his past. Though she hadn't encountered many, she had heard stories of both pirates and marines with much more devastating powers than hers. The kinds that could destroy islands and kill hundreds, or protect islands and save hundreds depending on how they were wielded. Tsubame preferred the later. Though her fruit wasn't quite as strong as some of the logias that roamed the deadly sea, it had it's uses.

"Wellll, what it does? That's easy. Anyone I touch is turned into a book for five minutes." Holding up her hand, her fingers expressed the number she had just blurted out. "Of course that doesn't sound very useful." She giggled to herself before revealing the full extent of her ability. "Once they are a book, I can read everything about them. Their past, personality, abilities. You see... in someone's autobiography, there's no secrets." Tilting her head slightly the young girl smiled, swaying in her chair playfully as she hummed a bit.

"Personality? Abilities? Hmm, fine by me." Donnie affirmed, pulling a comb out of his shirt pocket and stroking his pompadour with it. Jokingly, he commented, "Pretty sure there's nothin' 'bout my personality to add. All play and no work. Yep. For sure." After returning the comb, he continued, "Don't do it on me. Find your own target or somethi..."

"*...you push me off the plank again and I'll...*" Poppy's words echoed in his head. Come to think of it, it had been a few months since he had last seen her. His first "apprentice." When he thought about how aloofly he had treated her, he cringed and shook his head, as if he were clearing a bad dream. "Right, right, actually... Do it on me! I'm open" Donnie offered, nervously chuckling while wagging his finger. He then spread his arms out and closed his eyes, looking away fearfully as he expected the newbie Ensign to work her magic.

It seemed Tsubame was a little quick to jump the gun, after he said fine by me she had edged forward and landed her hand somewhere on his body, allowing the transformation to start. "Autobiography!" She called out. The last thing she heard was don't do it on me, followed by do it on me as the golden light transformed her superior into a pulp fiction novel. Tsubame squealed, "WHAT THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO! OH No! HE'S GONNA KILL ME!" She freaked out, with tears in her eyes before she examined the book.

The cover was very stereotypical, appearing to be him holding a woman known as Poppy in his arms. Sniffling, Tsubame recovered as she began to speed read, the pages of the boys life flying past, information about Papanapple Island, his sister, his devil fruit, and even his rare blood type. The best part was, Donnie was still able to talk as a book! Through his picture on the cover, his mouth could move and everything, allowing Tsubame to communicate.

"I'm sorry boss... I didn't listen all the way through! I just got so excited!" Tsubame exclaimed, moving on to the next chapter.

"Hmm, what're you 'pologizin' for? Just... uh... don't read that... and that!" Donnie, in the form of cheesy cover art, naturally buffed up and given a more handsome face, said as he dropped the Poppy he was holding. Leaping over the cover and onto the inside of the book, he flailed hands as he tried to cover certain parts of the text within his book with his hands. "On second thought..." Donnie mumbled as he thought about what he didn't want the Ensign to see. The "special grade" slaves, his mess-up up while protecting the Yami Yami no Mi... the truth about Oblitesco! Did she even know about that place? Even Donnie himself was not supposed to know about it.

As Tsubame continued to read through, she would come across his battle with Cruz Ted, also known as "Big Tex." While one side was cluttered with text, written in a shallow style with rather basic grammar, the other had an image to represent this great battle. It showed another depiction of Donnie, this one sporting a strong chin while being even buffer than the one that Donnie himself was represented in on the cover. This depiction appeared to have a perfectly- proportioned (and frankly, massive) foot placed right on top of Cruz, who appeared demonic with bulbous, almost horrifying features, while wrapped in comically large chains. It would be hard to believe that the pirate was in fact a human!

However, Tsubame would notice something strange. While Donnie was too tired for his own good to notice, the waiter that had served him and Tsubame would bear a striking resemblance to the Big Tex. While his horseshoe mustache and long hair were shaved and cut, this waiter appeared to have the same gaunt face and thin eyes that the supposedly-arrested vigilante pirate had!

The young ensign felt a lot like what she was reading was highly illegal! Everything seemed so secretive, despite Donnie's attempts to stop her, his voice rang through her ears but her eyes were sharp on the pages, reading every word. Most of the chapters felt as if they should have some sort of yellow tape to stop her from turning to the next page, but her fruit was a very powerful one when it came to information gathering! "No use in trying to hide anything, once I've got you're autobiography, there is no secrets!" Tsubame said eagerly as she continued her speed read, shocked at one of the later things she found.

It seemed to be a battle. Tsubame placed a finger on her lip as she awkwardly stared at a picture, tilting her head and pulling it closer as if to get a better look. "Hey boss, this pirate looks awfully familiar..." Tsubame said, looking up from the book and catching a good glimpse at their waiter. Nearly screaming she held back her emotions, her brow beggining to sweat with panic as she calmly closed the book, sliding it onto the table and rubbing the back of her head. *"Uh oh."* she huffed under her breath, peicing the puzzle together.

The book had shown a glorious but one sided battle where Donnie had emerged victorious and now the rootin-tottin no good doer was out and back for revenge! Her mind questioned the best way to approach this, the pirate was after Donnie who was currently a book, he didn't have anything against her. A lowly ranking marine, he'd want nothing to do with! She had a huge advantage which she planned to use in full! Luckily she had read the details of the fight and knew of Big Tex's abilities, something which would undoubtedly help her when she chose to attack.

"Your chai lattes, sir..." The waiter returned, only to see Donnie missing from his seat. Gritting his teeth, he was about to ask Tsubame until...

"H-huh? A pirate!? Where? Which one?" Donnie exclaimed, swiveling his two-dimensional artsy to see if he can see the threat, though the pages of the book obstructed him entirely. However, Donnie's actions would not go unnoticed. His voice echoing clearly, with the pages acting as some sort of rudimentary megaphone, he had made his presence clear, but even more importantly, he had revealed the waiter's true identity!

In one swift motion, Ted ripped off his waiter outfit, revealing a rather stereotypical "Gaucho" getup. He then reached for his pocket menacingly. Tsubame, at that point, may have expected Ted to whip out the Tenken, or "Heavenly Punishment," but if that were true, that would be wrong. Knowing this she would instead see that Donnie had the Tenken in his own possession and had secretly been training to use it with little avail... So what was Ted reaching for?

Following a hand motion faster than the eye could track later, Ted pointed an ornate pistol at Tsubame and interrogated, "So it seems... little girly... that the Lieutenant... er... Captain is here... Donnie estas? Tototo..."

"Oi, oi... Whose voice is that? Swear I've heard it somewhere. To? To. Hmm." Donnie commented from the sidelines.

Tsubame expected it to be an easy fight, as she knew a lot about her opponent. Unexpectedly, he had changed his move set! No longer having the weapon he fought Donnie with, Tsubame was unpleasantly surprised to see a pistol aimed at her head. She gripped the arm of the chair she sat in, her expression becoming increasingly worried before suddenly she had a master plan!

"What are you talking about! This book? You're crazy! Books don't talk." Tsubame grabbed the book and held it against her chest, hoping her cleavage would muffle out Donnie's rather loud and distinct voice. "Besides Donnie's over there!" Tsubame pointed across the way, hoping that Ted would be dumb enough to just turn around and fall for it.

Ted took the bait and followed the direction for a few meters. Squinting, his eyes glowed red for a quick second. Raising his gun, multiple shots sounded out, each one sounding as if they landed in someone's chest, despite there visibly being no one there. Cries for help and sprays of blood followed... ones that came from within their homes, behind doors and walls. Just how good of a sharpshooter was Ted? Unfortunately for the faux vigilante, Ted would find that in the massacre he had just committed, none of his victims was Donnie. "So it seems... that I'm... better at gunning... than swording... And you lied..."

"W-what were those sounds, Tsubame? What's goin' on?" Donnie asked, his voice tainted with nervousness.

Swiveling back around, in another swift motion, Ted pointed his pistol at Tsubame. "So it seems... you don't know... where *he* is..."

Aiming at Tsubame's forehead, Ted pulled the trigger.

Tsubame was angered as she heard the innocent cries, how could someone be so cruel? Part of her felt like surrendering, that small thought in the back of her mind that shouted as loud as it could **This is impossible!** However, Tsubame was as equally brave as she was naïve and a different part of her mind yelled **You can do it!** and so the plan was put into action.

As Ted aimed the gun at Tsubame's forehead, she tried to remain fearless. After all, that was what she wanted him to do. As the bullet flew forward at rather fast speeds, things seemed to mentally slow down for Tsubame giving her reaction time. "Sorry about this boss..." She mumbled, lifting the book from her chest and opening it very quickly in front of her face, the bullet didn't even dent the book! Why? Because the books are indestructible, in fact the bullet simply bounced off as if it was nothing more than rubber.

At this point, Ted would be able to see Donnie on the cover most likely freaking out as he hadn't had any idea about the novels invulnerability, a fact that Tsubame knew with great confidence would confuse the pirate. Using this to her advantage, Tsubame would grab the edge of the table, doing a hand stand before spinning her legs in a rapid circular motion, flying like a helicopter towards Big Tex. "Spinning bird kick!" She shouted, her high heels sparkling in the sun, acting as weapons that would cut like blades if the kicks made contact.

"H-huh?" Was all Donnie let out as he found himself facing the bullet. He would've reflexively transformed into a Zoan (what little good that would do), but he found that he somehow lost his powers by being an image. As the bullet collided with the book, all Donnie could do was cower miserably, looking away and hoping that Tsubame had some sort of plan and wasn't just sacrificing her commanding officer.

Luckily, Tsubame did have a plan, or, well, she didn't particularly need one. Finding himself intact as apparently, the bullets somehow did no damage to him, Donnie let out a sigh. However, he noticed one rather severe discrepancy. As locks of his golden hair fluttered in front of his face, he realized that his pompadour has disassembled itself out of stress. "Not again..." Donnie mumbled to himself.

Ted was even more confused. Why were his bullets blocked by a book, a thin, poorly-printed, and cheap one at that? In his moment of stupor, he failed to notice the Ensign getting up from her seat and mounting a counterattack. And by the time the pirate had regained his bearings, he noticed that a sharp high heel shoe was about to clip him. Raising his free arm just in time to block while stepping back, he cleanly dodged out of the way, with those feet only grazing him... or so he thought.

Moments later, what appeared to be a small graze had extended across his rwist, and as Tsubame finished her attack, Ted would find that the entire hand was now detached. Sailing across the air as a black spot silhouetted against the sun, Ted was about to drop his jaw in surprise. However, he already been surprised once. "Fool me once..." as the saying went. Using this opportunity, Ted raised his gun up and fired at the dismembered body part. As each bullet tore it apart, it splattered blood and gore everywhere, and while Ted was prepared for this, subsequently shielding his eyes, he doubted Tsubame would be.

Tsubame was happy her attack had done something at the least, his hand was out of commission and that was nothing to scoff at. Though that would put most people out of the game, this pirate seemed to very eager. He clearly held a great grudge against Donnie and he seemed to not even flinch at the pain. Landing on her feet, she watched as the pirate shot his own hand, wondering why anyone would do that, as the blood splattered against her she soon found out.

Luckily, Tsubame had another trick up her sleeve! Throwing the book at the pirate, it seemed the five minutes was up. A golden light would shine before Donnie was released from the literary prison. "Well look who finally decided to show up." Tsubame teasted, wiping the blood from her face.

Donnie was unaware that his time as book was limited. In fact, he was secretly crossing his fingers that this unknown attacker (from his own perspective) wouldn't kill Tsubame and leave him stuck as a book forever. So when he felt Tsubame raise him up and hurl him, Donnie sputtered "Whaddya doin'!?" while grabbing tufts of his discombobulated hair fearfully. Midair, however, Donnie received another surprise when he transformed back into his human form. However, with almost no time to react, Donnie found himself still hurtling towards Ted, and before he knew it, he had tackled Ted to the ground with his body weight. Unfortunately, this would not be the end for Ted.

"*BANG!*"

A lout gunshot sounded out from underneath Donnie, with Donnie's body shook wildly to absorb the bullet's force. The Captain's eyes widened with surprise as he felt pain, starting from his stomach, surge up and out. Or maybe that was his blood, which had now formed a steady river out of his mouth. Donnie's jaw dropped in surprise, though the only sounds that came out of it were defeated whimpers. The surprise and pain disappeared as quickly as it arrived, though, as Donnie's eyes rolled back.

"Tototo..." Ted chuckled from underneath. Flipping Donnie's limp body off of himself, Ted, covered in the blood of his enemy, stood back up. "No... book to defend... anymore? Toto... Might as well kill... you... too..."

Raising his pistol once again, he fired at Tsubame once again, this time at her chest, though his aim was far more rushed. Donnie wasn't dead yet, but he may as well have been in the state that he was in. Ted needed to kill the witnesses and hoof it now, or he'd be in for execution this time.

Well... she had to admit her plan was not going good! She wanted to blame Donnie, who clearly hadn't been paying attention, but she couldn't go pointing the finger. It was her fault for relying on him. No. This was all up to her. This crazy cowboy meant business and it was about time he realized he wasn't getting his way.. he was missing one hand, all Tsubame had to handle was the other. Feeling her pocket, she confirmed that there was a pair of handcuffs, so distracted by her thoughts she forgot there was a bullet coming her way! Leaning to the side slightly, the bullet grazed her arm.

She grabbed the wound, groaning. "God... don't you ever give up." She screamed, running forward, her hand still blocking the wound. Leaping up, she saw Donnie critically injured on the floor, a thought which almost brought tears to her eyes, her brain sending freaked out messages. **AHHHH! MY FIRST DAY ON AN IMPORTANT JOB AND I TOTALLY SCREWED UP! WHAAAA!** She shook her head and continued with the attack, ending up somewhere near the man, though purposely landing somewhere towards his armed side. "Lightning kicks!" She chanted, her leg flashing forward as her high heel delivered multiple strikes in succession.

She put a lot into this move. She had already gotten one of his hands, her arm was bleeding, she felt tired... not so much physically, but this fight was a lot! Blood covered most of her outfit, which was gross, and to top it off her superior was knocked out and needed medical help. What a first day on the job.

Ted grinned as he saw his bullet finally mean something by harming Tsubame on her arm. Though he was naturally already prideful, a feeling he hadn't experienced before since he was in the heat of the battle was raw pain. The stump that was once his hand began to spurt out more and more blood as it throbbed horribly. Letting out a weak cough, beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Frankly, Ted was in no good condition either.

Bringing his pistol up to fire again, he saw a screaming Tsubame sailing towards him, and before he could pull the trigger, he would be victim to a volley of her sharp shoe attacks. The first few landed on on different portions of his arm, piercing precise, deep holes in it. Roaring in pain, Ted haphazardly reeled back while still gripping onto his weapon, but Tsubame pursued further with even more kicks. As each kick, with some now landing on his torso, rattled his body, his hand would reflexively grip out of sharp spikes of pain, accidentally firing the gun. So with each kick that Tsubame landed, Ted would fire a bullet in a random angle towards Tsubame's direction.

At this point, it become a bloody battle of wills. As she kicked he shot and it was more so about who could take more, and Tsubame with a determined grin kept kicking. Though bullets flew at her left and right, she managed to sway and swerve most of them, with a few graving her here and there. She did anything she could to keep kicking, and of course winced with pain throughout the entire process, luckily, the wild western pirates aim was thrown off and it was only when a bullet lodged into her shoulder that things really took effect.

The kicking stopped, but she felt she had done enough to put him out of commission, though part of her wondered.. this was a crazy criminal! You couldn't just assume! And so, she decided it was high time, or high noon, to finish the job. Using her kicks to get closer, she used the arm with merely grazing to touch the man and transform into a book, naturally he was nothing more than an old western.

After that, Tsubame fell to the floor, clutching the book in her arms and wrapping a pair of handcuffs around it, ensuring that when he returned to normal he would be in them. Looking towards Donnie, she had a shortness of breath. "Are you gonna make it boss? She questioned, tilting her head slightly as she grabbed her shoulder and twitched. She had taken a lot of damage!

"Shit... that was Ted, eh?" Donnie asked, coughing weakly. His skin was pale. It wasn't perfectly white, but it matched the tone of an orange creamsicle. Needless to say, he wasn't in a good condition. As his body shook from the coughing, more blood began to bleed out from his stomach and into his shirt. As for Tsubase, Donne didn't bother to ask. An Ensign like her must have the fortitude to suck it up no matter what. Plus, he was sure that she'd be fine. It was just a bullet graze, and she had managed to take down a whole, experienced pirate by herself... and within the newbie stages at that! A medal was certainly in order, and Donnie was certainly impressed. He hadn't even received any medals himself until his last few months as an Ensign

Taking a sharp breath, he quickly exhaled as the expansion of his chest caused the wound to hurt even more. Correcting himself by taking a series of short breaths, Donnie continued, "I-I'll be fine... maybe..." He looked down at his wound and back up at Tsubame's face. Because of his blood type, he normally dealt with most wounds by himself, and he had enough medical prowess to get by. He wanted to avoid blood transfusions as much as he could. Bruises and Scrapes? He patched them up himself. Cuts and lacerations? He stitched them up himself. But a bullet...

He had no idea how to deal with it. Having done service for G-3 while unaffiliated, he started off as a commissioned Ensign, so he was already in the "big(ish) leagues." Donnie chuckled at the irony. Guns were the most common weapons on the seas, and he didn't know how to take a bullet. "T-the higher up... you go... The l-less... you get shot at. P-people like swords more... Bahaha"

Looking down at his wound for a second time, Donnie assessed the damage using his limited medical knowledge. A shot to the abdomen? That much bleeding? He needed a surgery as soon as possible. Hopefully, if he reached received that medical attention quickly enough, he would be fine. Explaining his analysis with extreme detail and explicitness, he said, "Hmm... Surgery..."

Tsubame eyes her boss, blood flowing from him like a water fountain. Her mind began to race with ideas, and in the end the best one crossed the finish line. With the pirate taken care of, at least for now, she made sure he was handcuffed before leaping into action. Hovering over his body, she assessed the wounds and remembered a very interesting chapter of Donnie's book. "You're used to doing this yourself, aren't you? Well... luckily I have a photographic memory." Tsubame hmphed, closing her eyes as she found Donnie's first aid kit, something he almost always carried with him.

"I remember every procedure you've done to yourself, now I just have to put that information to good use!" Clapping her hands together she cracked open the kit and began her work, preforming the necessary actions needed to help stop the bleeding, clean the wounds, the things she was capable of doing herself. Eventually, it was enough for him to at least make it to a real professional doctor. It seemed to take quite a long time, wrapping and wiping, it was a lot of work! The healing business. It made Tsubame glad she wasn't in some medical unit.

Wiping her forehead down, she stepped back, "There ya go boss! I think that's..." Looking down Tsubame's jaw suddenly dropped as a hole opened up started spitting blood everywhere! "Just kidding! Oh would you look at that.." She said, dropping back down and putting yet another bandage on to apply heavier pressure. "Okay now It's really done!" She saluted.

"Baaaahhhh..." Donnie let out a sigh in both relief and tiredness, his pompadour having reformed itself when he was released from the book, managed to fall apart once again. Turning his head, almost fully covered in long locks of golden hair, over to Tsubame, he mumbled something under his breath. Something that contained the word "Junior," though any other dialogue was blotted out by incessant groaning. He was on the path to recovery, thanks to Tsubame's help, but he still felt like death.

Donnie would then try to get up, but he found himself unable to. The bandages were still fresh, and too much movement would mess them up. That was fine, Donnie could lie here, on the hard, stone ground, for a while. Despite his relieved demeanor and aside from the molten pain in his gut, however, he was sickeningly uneasy. His career, short as it was, was filled with action! Wins and losses, allies and foes... His life was great. So would *everything* that he had done, the lives that he had changed, the scars he had earned all be for nothing in the face of a mere bullet? Was that it? This wasn't Tsubame's fault. Her move was rash, for sure, but there was a deeper problem here.

If he had just protected himself, this wouldn't have been a problem. Other Marine Captains could likely pull some sort of Rokushiki technique out of their ass to avoid the bullet, but what did Donnie have? Basic Soru and Tekkai that he can only use when transformed? Even deeper, hehe just wasn't up to the bar. He was a Zoan user, a natural at physical strength, yet he found himself more often being bested physically by every fruit on type of fruit on the table. He just needed a boost. Somehow, some way... Each and every one of his enemies could take a bullet head-on, but what could Donnie do? So far, he was just a punching bag. Screw the tar, he was already a feathered flake.

Sighing dreadfully, Donnie felt the corners of his vision begin to darken as his consciousness began to seep into an inky darkness. As his neck lost strength, causing his head to roll to the side. Just barely in the pinhole of his vision, he could see his hand. Unlike the rest of his fingers, tensed and twitchy, his middle finger was relaxes, assuming deep grayish-black in color.