Trials of the World, Chapter 4

Greetings, readers~. I hope you are doing well~. We are coming to a close on the Smear Island Arc, short as it was, just this chapter and Chapter 5 and we'll be finished with this arc here~. Well, I hope you enjoy chapter 4 of Trials of the World~.

## Chapter 4

**Play: Trials of the World, Opening #1, Get Over**

**Summary of Last Chapter/Setting: Kyoto has finally made it to Torch Town and found the island's most dangerous resident, Rando. Convinced of making him apart of his crew, Kyoto challenged Rando so that he may see reason. However, as the battle progressed onward, Kyoto made it his mission to change Rando's way of thinking so he wouldn't be so full of despair and live his life suffering despite his past. Before they could finish their battle, Marine Captain Tutu invaded the island for the sole purpose of capturing Rando. Seeing Tutu as an obstacle in their fight, Kyoto and Rando decide to join forces temporarily to defeat Tutu.**

Tutu smirked at the opponents he was facing. Clearly unprepared for the world and its obstacles, he believed for this to be a simple battle, especially considering the casualties that both Rando and Kyoto have given each other. Tutu extended his left arm towards Kyoto and Rando, palm facing upward. "This battle will be over quickly. I do not see a reason for meeeeee to battleeee," Tutu said arrogantly. He moved his arm upward in the air, and then snaps his fingers, signaling for his Marine troops to begin attacking Kyoto and Rando.

All Marine forces, excluding Tutu, began running towards Kyoto and Rando, surrounding them in a circle so that escape was impossible. Those with rifles aimed their weapon at the Pirates, and those with swords waited patiently to see if any reaction came from them. Kyoto and Rando looked at each other and then back at the Marine forces. Despite the overwhelming numbers they were facing, they rushed towards the Marine soldiers without hesitation. Tutu ordered for the riflers to open fire toward Kyoto and Rando. Kyoto fell asleep whilst running, increasing his instinct so that he may dodge the bullets more easily, while Rando slashed his sword at the incoming bullets.

Tutu, seeing that using only riflers wasn't working, ordered for the swordsmen to begin assaulting Rando and Kyoto. They rushed in without hesitation, screaming all the while, already chanting their victory. Several swordsmen surrounded Rando and then run towards him one by one. Rando effortlessly clashed with them, blocking their sword attacks, and then knocking them back, having the Marine soldiers behind them fall like bowling pins. A swordsman attacked Rando from behind by jumping in the air with his sword being held with his two hands, readying to strike Rando. Rando turned around and clashed with the Marine soldier. The soldier tried to apply more strength, but his sword was weaker and broke, causing for the soldier to be sliced down the middle of his face, receiving a large scar. The marine soldier held his face with both of his hands and started screaming. Rando used this opportunity to grab the soldier by the collar and then throw him toward oncoming Marine soldiers, knocking them all on the floor. At that moment, Rando had four riflers surround him, with their guns pointed at him. Rando merely smirked and then ducked. At that moment, he spun around and slashed the knees of the four soldiers, having them fall on the floor in pain. Rando picked up the four rifles the soldiers were originally using and transformed them into four eyeballs. He then commanded the eyeballs to pummel Marine soldiers, injuring them at high speeds. This made them drop their weapons, to which Rando created more eyeballs so that he would have more to his arsenal. However, he left one sword unchanged and decided to wield it so he could use it.

Kyoto, still asleep, continued to dodge the bullets that the riflers were shooting. When in range of a rifler, he punched them in the gut, causing them to clench their stomach. At that moment, Kyoto kicked them in the head, causing them to spin in the air and hit the ground. Due to the force of the kick, it would normally knock out the Marine soldier, or leave them in immense pain. He did this with several riflers so that he'd have less to worry about. However, eventually the swordsmen caught up to Kyoto and began slashing. Kyoto opened his eyes and jumped backwards from the slashes he was receiving. Due to jumping back several times, he eventually met a house, but, before his back reached the house, he used it as a place to jump off of and speed through the air. This shocked the Marine soldiers, causing them to lower their guard. Reaching the Marine soldiers, Kyoto punched several of them in the face, and used the falling Marine soldiers as stepping stones so that he could continue to move at fast speeds in the air, knocking out several other Marine soldiers.

Tutu began to grind his teeth, upset with the results of his commands. He commanded for more soldiers to attack Rando and Kyoto.

"But sir Tutu, we don't have any more Marine soldiers on the ship! You already called them out, sir!" a Marine soldier said.

Tutu, infuriated, knocked the Marine soldier out who spoke against him and took the soldier's sword. He began to run towards the Marine ship, ashamed that his plan was failing. Kyoto saw this this and alerted Rando. Rando was too busy dealing with the Marine soldiers to give chase. Kyoto jumped into the air and jumped on a Marine soldier's head. He then jumped on several other Marine soldier's heads so that he could meet up with Rando. Upon reaching Rando, Kyoto and Rando put their backs against each other as a final wave of Marine soldiers surrounded them.

"These guys just don't give up, huh? Ah well," Kyoto yawns. "This seems like the last of them. Let's do this quick so that ballerina guy won't leave the island, alright?"

"Hmph, taking orders from you is the last thing I would want, but, it seems we've got no other choice," Rando said smirking.

The Marine soldiers started closing in. Very few riflers remained, so the majority were swordsmen, making it much easier for Kyoto and Rando. They awaited for them to get closer to them so that they could strike. As the Marine soldiers got closer in range, Rando and Kyoto tackled their enemies. Rando slashed his two swords at the incoming Marines, knocking their weapons to the side and then slashing them in the stomach.

Kyoto dodged the incoming slashes from the Marine soldiers while knocking their weapons to the floor, leaving them defenseless. He took these chances to punch them in the forehead, knocking them out.

These attacks continued on the Marine soldiers, causing several of them to receive painful wounds, or being knocked out.

"T-they're monsters! Run back to the ship!" a Marine soldier called out, fearing for his life.

Whatever were left of the forces, they ran towards the Marine ship, trying to escape from Kyoto and Rando's range. Kyoto and Rando saw this and started to give chase. Being faster than the Marine soldiers, they easily caught up. Rando slashed his way through while Kyoto followed behind him. They eventually reached the shore, where there were still Marine soldiers trying to get on board. Tutu was knocking the soldiers off the plank so that no one else could get on the ship.

"You're all spineless! Go back in there and fight them!" Tutu said angrily.

"Those guys are monsters! Let us on!" a Marine soldier shouted.

Soon, a riot broke out and the Marine soldiers became more agitated, trying to knock Tutu into the water. Kyoto and Rando, however, were still going through the Marines rather quickly, knocking several to the sides. Tutu saw this and stopped fighting with the Marines that were trying to get on board, and instead started running further into the ship so that he could get to the steering wheel. Finally being able to board the ship, the Marine soldiers began running onto the ship for safety. However, due to them being scared, they began raising the plank, despite there being several Marine soldiers, with or without wounds, on the island. While this was happening, Kyoto and Rando were near the ship, but weren't able to get on the plank in time.

"Do you trust me?" Kyoto asked Rando.

"Not really," Rando replied back.

"That's good enough for me!" Kyoto said grinning and laughing. He walked in front of Rando and faced him. He then grabbed Rando's arms and started spinning in place. Kyoto soon closed his eyes and fell asleep. Using the extra strength Kyoto gets while in his sleep-state, he threw Rando in the air towards the ship.

The Marine soldiers on the ship started pointing in the air and started to yell.

"What is wrong with you maggots?!" Tutu yelled at them. He looked up at the sky and was completely dumbfounded. His jaw dropped to an insane proportion, his nose started to drip some snot, and his eyes bugged out.

Rando landed on the Marine ship on his feet, causing a loud thud when he hit the ground. The Marine soldiers became terrified that they started running around the ship, screaming and yelling that they were gonna die. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore and started to jump into the water.

Meanwhile, Kyoto piled up several bodies atop each other so that he could get a good stepping stone. After finishing up, Kyoto jumped on top of the pile of bodies, and, using them as a stepping stone, he jumped off of them and onto the Marine ship. The ship had only three people on it, Marine Captain Tutu, Rando and Kyoto. Tutu started shaking and stepping back slowly.

"So it seems that the Marines have not changed in all these years. Still unable to hold the title of 'Justice'. It's been 37 years. 37 years of complete and utter torture," Rando points the sword in his right hand at Tutu. "You DARE come back here, challenge me, and then run away as if nothing has happened? I'm going to make you regret EVER defying me!" Rando rushed at Tutu.

Tutu escaped from his trance and blocked Rando's initial attack with the sword he holds. Rando continued to relentlessly slash at Tutu with great anger and force, while all Tutu could do is block the onslaught of attacks, slightly moving back. Kyoto stood there and watched the battle carefully.

"You there! Boy! Help me out, and there could be a reward in it for you!" Tutu said despairingly while blocking Rando's attacks.

Kyoto yawned. "No, I'm fine. It seems like a lot of work to go over there and help you out," Kyoto said while turning his head to the right and looking at the ocean.

"Y-you-" Tutu was cut off when Rando was able to toss his sword to the side, leaving Tutu vulnerable. Rando pointed the blade of his left sword at Tutu, the blade near Tutu's nose. "N-now, n-now... Let's not be hasty. I'm sorry for what my brother did several years ago, and h-how we didn't respond earlier when we should've... B-bu-but... That's the past, right?" Tutu said holding his hands right in front of him, sweating immensely, and backing up. He eventually hit the wall. He started to tremble, knowing that his fate has been sealed.

"You want mercy? After everything that's happened to me, and you expect me to give YOU mercy?" Rando clenched his left hand, and began to scowl. "You're pathetic. Just like your brother, your life is forfeit," Rando moved his right arm backwards, readying to strike Tutu. "Goodbye, Marine Captain Tutu," Rando lunged his sword at Tutu, however, what he hit wasn't Tutu. "W-what...?"

**Play: Tragic Memories**

Kyoto's left hand started to bleed from being impaled by Rando's sword. Rando tried to pull out the sword from Kyoto's hand, but Kyoto gripped the sword so it wouldn't be freed. "Rando," Kyoto shook his head side-to-side. "That's enough. Killing this person will not make the suffering disappear."

Rando continued struggling, but to no avail. His face no longer scowling, but near crying. "Let go of my sword! I must kill him!"

Kyoto stood there, staring at Rando's attempts to free the sword from his grip. Rando tried one final time to free the sword, but gave up. He let go of the sword that was pierced in Kyoto's hand and dropped to the ground. He stared at the floor, dazed. "Why... Why do you remind me of them so much?" tears started to form in Rando's eyes. "Why do you remind me of my parents so much...? Why do you care about me so much?!" Rando looked upward at Kyoto, tears streaming down his face.

Kyoto stared at Rando for a few moments and then spoke. "Because, I know what it's like to not have your parents be there anymore. My parents disappeared after my 9th birthday. I may not have suffered as much as you, but, I know that you're torn up inside. To lose the only people in your life that cared for you is completely heartbreaking. To have it turn you into what you've become is understandable. However, you cannot let it anchor you here. You have so much talent that you could be using for other things. I'm giving you an opportunity to leave this island and escape your past," Kyoto took the sword that was pierced in his left hand out and dropped it on the floor. He extended the same hand to Rando. "But, more importantly, I want you to join my family. It's only just me, but I want to make a Pirate Crew that I can call my family. People to protect, people to go on adventures with, people to laugh and have fun with, but most importantly, people to spend the rest of my life with. I don't care what you've done in your past, as long as you're with me, I will make sure that nothing bad happens to you again."

Rando let go of the sword in his right hand and stared at the sky crying. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH," Rando doubled over to the ground with his arms on the ground. "...........15 years... 15 years of having to live alone and getting revenge on this island for what it has done to me and my family. Living here every day, monitoring the other towns, seeing who is dying, and who is still left living. Everyday being reminded of what's happened to me. It drove me to insanity. It drove me to become this... Monster. If my parents were still alive, they would be horrified at what I've become. Heh... No matter what the Marines did, they could never stop Spring Cleaning, the one event that changed my life forever. I had to take action and kill them all, no one else would. The Marines stopped coming, and so did the island's hope, including my own. Then, you came along, a miracle, challenged me to battle and evenly matched me. You helped me defeat the Marines that interrupted our battle... And now we're here..." Rando got up from the floor and looked at Kyoto. "Kyoto, was it?"

"Indeed it is," Kyoto said with a smile.

Rando stared at Kyoto for a few seconds and then nodded. "I'll accept your offer. Please, allow me into your crew," Rando said. He shook Kyoto's left hand, covering his own hand in blood.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Kyoto said grinning like a child. "However, what about ballerina guy over there?"

"I got it," Rando said while kneeling down to pick up a sword. Tutu was already off the ship and running towards Torch Town. Rando extended the sword and then pulled it back, aiming it at Tutu. Soon, Tutu ran near a wall, and Rando threw his sword with his last amount of strength. It flew through the air, off the ship and pierced Tutu's haori, sending him, along with the haori to one of the broken walls around Torch Town, piercing the wall and suspending Tutu in the air. Kyoto and Rando looked at each other, and then grinned.

**Play: Trials of the World, Ending #2**

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