The Great Ghost Race: Start!

[highseasmods]

[It’s early morning, but the sky is dull and leaden. Those who have been in this world since the beginning may recognize a familiar tang of ozone in the air as the clouds above roil softly. Hidden electricity seems to snap through the air and raises the fine hairs on the back of your neck.

The participants' ships sit on either side of the little bay, ready to move into the current that will sweep everyone up the reverse waterfall. The captains are steel-eyed. Cannons are being prepared. On the spits of land on either side, a crowd is watching, cheering and howling their approval. They quiet down as a man stands on a raised platform to the right, a crude, dented megaphone in his hands as he screams to be heard across the bay in deference to the rising wind that whips down from the east.]

Welcome to the 110th Annual Great Ghost Race, ye gnarly toothless sons of bitches!

[The crowd roars and the pirates around you do, too. As if in response, the clouds above start to roil faster, as if coming to the boil, lacing with murky green light. The man begins to shout again:]

If ye be children of the sea, ready to brave the dangers all the world has to offer—

[Crews begin to scramble up the riggings, ready to untie the sails. The clouds bubble and a green mist begins to form at the very peak of the mountain, clutching at the sides of it. The crowd turns toward it, cheering, fists raised:]

GET YE GONE!

[Sails snap open and the ships pull into the massive current. As you hit it yourself, you’ll feel a massive tug that will send anyone unprepared stumbling backwards. Ships in front of, behind, and around are struggling to stay in the current as it narrows, going toward the top of the great peak. One or two veer off and smash into the rocky sides. Gravity pulls –but something more incredible is happening just on the peak.

Davy Jones, wreathed in a green mist, coalesces into being, watching everyone with burning red eyes. He is larger than life. A giant that straddles the twin peaks. You can see a bone under patches of swirling green skin. The crowd below roars. As the first ships pass under Jones’ great form, the crews roar at him: curses, blessings, asking for favors, promising an end. One ship remains quiet and those red eyes flash. A moment later a green lightning bolt snaps from the clouds and smashes into it, sending it twisting backwards, flying back overhead as it smashes into ships below.

For you, whether you cheer or not, he will watch you with burning eyes, before throwing back his head and laughing, his voice filling the air like thunder.

At the peak, there are other things to think about. The great waterfall like a river is tumbling down below and already two ships have smashed into one another, creating a burning wreckage. After cresting the point, your ship goes careening down, barely in your control, lost in the current. Other ships will fire on you, cannonballs coming in from the sides. One or two will try to send men aboard. Even if you are lucky and miss that, there’s wreckage to be avoided, sharp rocks, and occasional snaps of green lightning.

Should you survive this and hit the open sea, you will head right into a driving rain that soaks everything, the waves rough and wild.

Welcome to the Great Ghost Race!]


[ooc: We encourage you to play this out and crews to play with each other! For the sake of organization, post your ship/crew name below like you would any thread opener and say in the subject what you are open for:

Ex. Straw Hat Pirates, open for all combat.

Also, have fun!]

Comments

Katabami | OTA

[seadevil]

[Now this is a race as a race should be! Motochika has spent he past few weeks diligently getting the Katabami ready for anything that might come their way, but something as exciting as this? Better than even he could have expected. Despite the chaos surrounding them, the captain has a wild grin on his face as he barks orders and steers the ship through all the obstacles in its way.

It's going to be up to everyone else to fight off opponents, though, as much as he might like to join the fray himself. Still, it's not as if the crew can't hold their own in a fight.]

Well, this is great fun, isn't it?

[And he's just crazy enough to mean it.]

[rebellions]

["Fun" is a one way to put it. As much as Ragna isn't overly interested in the race for the sake of competition, there's a piece of a goddamn jewel that's supposed to be able to send him back to his world at the stake, which is enough to make him put off his whining and join the crew's struggle.

Or at least such was the case prior to the Davy Jones' entry.

Once the ghostly form makes its appearance in the sky, the ears of the Katabami will be met with a high-pitched, almost inhuman screech; looking around for its source will prove useless, as it seems it vanished into thin air... along with Ragna, curiously enough.

... Somebody might want to drag him back on board, as it's unlikely he'll go out on his own after witnessing that.]

[curseking]

[Mitsunari has no patience for people. In general. But he especially has no patience for people who turn tail and run away when they're needed, especially if those people happen to be named Ragna the Lord Slanderer.

The nerve of him! As if insulting Hideyoshi wasn't enough, now he proves himself to be a coward! It's to be expected, he thinks, but it's no less disgusting.

Mitsunari decides he must retrieve his crewmate, and quickly.]

Where did you flee to, Ragna?! Show yourself!

[rebellions]

[EXCUSE YOU HE'S NOT A COWARD

... Except when ghosts are involved. As much as Ragna hates the thought of showing his greatest fear in front of others, he doesn't really have much control over it. As such, Mitsunari can find the Grim Reaper in a position hardly fitting his title: namely, he's curled up between barrels beneath the deck, his ears covered with his hands as he continues to whisper something akin to "it's not real" over and over again.

You see, he's really not good with ghosts...]

[curseking]

[Oh, for goodness' sake--

While this is a sad state to find Ragna in, it doesn't make Mitsunari feel any sympathy. Quite the opposite.]

Get up! This is pathetic!

[The man who defeated him in a one-on-one match should not be cowering at the sight of a ghost, even if that ghost is Davy Jones.]

[rebellions]

[As Mitsunari's voice reaches him, Ragna finally opens his eyes. Shit, he was found out, wasn't he? Still, no matter the circumstances, the Grim Reaper will definitely try to regain at least a small bit of his pride. He looks up to his crewmate, trying his best not to look terrified... and failing miserably.]

S-Shut the hell up!

[... It would probably sound more convincing if both his voice and body stopped trembling so much, huh.]

[curseking]

[Mitsunari's been fooled a lot in his life, but nope, he's not buying that. He glowers down at Ragna, contemptuous.]

Do not make me repeat myself! Get up!

And stop quaking like some terrified rat, it's revolting!

[The only way Mitsunari knows how to deal with frightened people is to be as unhelpful as possible.]

[rebellions]

[Truth to be told, if they were to switch places, Ragna would probably be equally unhelpful. However, that doesn't mean he's gonna take Mitsunari's insults humbly. He shoots up, glaring at the other man aggressively.]

... I told you to shut your trap, asshole. Or do you want me to beat the everloving crap outta you again, huh?

[... A threat like this might sound ironic coming from someone who just ran away screaming at the sight of a ghost, but it's not a kind of thing Ragna would pay attention to.]

[curseking]

[HIT BELOW THE BELT WHY DON'T YOU.

Mitsunari, to nobody's surprise, just keeps on talking.]

You be silent! It appalls me to know I lost to someone so blatantly weak of heart, but I will not be taken down by the likes of you again! And you will see that for yourself, rat-- when there are not more pressing matters to attend to!

[As mad as he still is about how that fight turned out, and as much as he'd like to finally punish Ragna for disrespecting Hideyoshi, he didn't come down here for a second duel.]

[allendsmeat]

Yeah! [snaps himself up to the crossbeam just in time to hear that, the mysterious pirate guy in tow] I'm gonna ride for a little bit, Moto-chan. Is that okay?

[seadevil]

I see no reason why not! Not content to sail your own ship? I should think she needs her captain at a time like this.

[Not that anyone is quite as skilled at steering a ship as the great Sea Devil of the West. Still, a ship shouldn't be without her captain.]

[allendsmeat]

Yeah I got knocked off. Trying to get my way back and you guys are pretty fast.

[so he'll just hang out]

By the way, do you know this guy? [dangles mysterious pirate for Moto-chan to see]

[seadevil]

Can't say as I do. Why? Where'd you pick that one up?

[There are quite a few other questions that probably need to be asked, but he's rather busy at the moment.]

[allendsmeat]

The shark guy whacked him over. [sighs] Figuring out where he goes is kind of a pain.

[seadevil]

[Luffy is a good lad, but not the sharpest.]

I don't suppose you've considered tending to the poor bastard and asking him when he wakes up?

[That would, he thinks, be what most reasonable men would do in that situation.]

[allendsmeat]

Yeah but by that time we'll be out at sea and I don't wanna be stuck with this jerk. [because who knows how long they'll have to keep him if that happens]

[seadevil]

Then you send him back with the Nav. Lad, you've been at this longer than I have, have you not? Perhaps if you took a moment to think...

[Though it seems that that may be too much to ask.]

OTA

[cherrybombpie]

[Kodachi's eyes were narrowed as she watched the image of Davy Jones. If only she had some sort of weapon to engage him with - she would have attacked him then and there!]

[As it was, she clung to the rigging as the wind whipped and the ships rolled. She climbed up quickly to release all of the rigging in her way, allowing the sails to catch wind and pitch the ship forward.]

[She ascended to the crow's nest, where she stood, eyes darting to all of the ships around her. They were going to win this race by hook or by crook - even if it meant she had to burn down the harbor and everyone else in it!]

[In fact, she already held a large cherry bomb aloft. It was unlit, but that wasn't a problem.]

[wanderer_from_ys]

Once again, your sense of fun has a broad interpretation, captain. *There might be the tiniest hint of sarcasm, but he's so polite about it!*

[seadevil]

Nonsense! This is the very definition of fun! Nothing gets the blood flowing like a little competition, eh? Let's make the most of it!

[And by this he means outracing everyone, blowing up anything combustible, and stealing everything that isn't nailed down. Until he can figure out how to pry up the nails.]

[wanderer_from_ys]

Until someone tries to blow up our ship...incoming! *Crack! Whatever small little bomb was thrown at them, Adol smacked it back into the sea with his sword.*

[seadevil]

[Motochika doesn't worry himself with the fate of the bomb, concerned as he is with keeping the boat afloat, intact, and as close to the lead as he can manage.]

They're welcome to try! If they didn't what sort of challenge would it be?

[Apparently imminent danger doesn't bother him much, either.]

[wanderer_from_ys]

Well, do you want me on bomb deflecting duty or somewhere else, Captain?

[seadevil]

[Motochika watches another bomb fly over the ship, thrown in too high an arc to actually do any damage.]

Keep those things off our deck and keep the sails in one piece and leave the rest to me!

[wanderer_from_ys]

You have a deal! Let's see what you can do against all these slower ships.