Serious: The Adventures of the Untouchable Pirates - Chapter 2

Jackson tilted his head to look at Stand Upman. "And yet another request to attack the government." Turning back to the hooded man, Jackson regained his serious composure. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told the last guy. We're not at the point where we want to draw that much attention to ourselves. Besides, haven't you even looked at our bounties? What makes you think we could do that? Nice offer though." Bringing up his bounty was something he hadn't tried against the last person. Maybe it would have avoided that pointless conflict. This day was just getting ridiculous.

The mysterious man gazed at Jackson as if he was reading his mind. "I was not asking you to attack the government like that worthless pirate trash, Roger-" Jackson was shocked, "How did you know about Roger Seawalker!?!" Dartz replied without showing any emotion, "I know all and see all. Their is nothing that you can hide from me. I also know very well about your bounties. However, it doesn't change the situation one bit. I came here to confirm and arrest the murderers of Marine Commodore Cain D. Marko and not to make small talk."
Jackson was very shocked that Dartz knew all this information, however he tried to not show it and simply replied, "I am sorry, amigo. I don't know who murderer Cain and cannot help you. However if I find out anything, I will let you know-" before he finished that sentence, his body was being held up by the throat in mid-air with his back up against an extremely reinforced wall made of 100 feet of reinforced Steel. The wall looked very seriously dented/bended and cracked. As if it were going to collapse any second. However it did not look that way just a millionth of a second ago, at that point in time it was in perfect/Optimum condition. What had happened was that Dartz launched himself at Jackson with his right arm extended and connected and grabbed him by the throat at overwhelming speed and the momentum pushed back the Pirate all the way to the wall where his back had impacted with the wall and the strength of the impact had seriously damaged that wall to the point where a single gust of wind can collapse and shatter the reinforced wall. This all happened too fast for even the fastest of humans to see or be able to react to. Dartz spoke, "Don't lie to me." Dartz attempted to choke Jackson but released him before doing any serious damage. He then gave Jackson room to breath and recover. "Now will you to cooperate?"

(This is meant as a statement not a hit since it doesn't count as a battle. Dartz is simply making a statement by showing off his power. Nothing more.)

Jackson staggered from the sudden, powerful blow. Attempting to stand up, he laughed as well as coughed roughly. "Marko... Marko... can't say it rings a bell." In truth, the cyborg never did share his name. And there were no witnesses anyway. Jackson thought this might be the man the hooded figure was referring to, but made no outward signs of this recognition. Either way, this day was getting to be a pain in the ass. Again Jackson took his seat, not even looking at his attacker. "Right now you're no different from the last one. Attack and ask for cooperation. If you want cooperation, you can gain that with words."

Raising his hand to get the bartender's attention he called for two mugs. One for him, the other for this peculiar man. "So... who's Marko?"

Dartz sat down to drink and then answered the pirate's question. He spoke, "Perhaps you don't know his name, probably because he keeps forgetting to tell people it. I keep telling him to tell your victoms, the name of the person who killed them. In the end he was an arrogant fool who thought he could bring entire pirate crews to justice single-handedly. Anyways, I will tell you what he looks like or more accurately what he looked like. Now I think this will help you remember as there is not many people like him. He is 9'3" and weighs 550 pounds. He is extremely buff and muscular. He wears a white Gi, white pants, and white shoes, and seastone Gauntlets. He uses Skypeia's Dial Technology and he is a Cyborg who runs on milk. Considering theres probably not another one like him on the face off this planet, that should jog your memory. So spill it, who killed him?"

Both Jackson and Stand knew that this man was indeed talking about the cyborg, but the captain was the next one to act. Cool and calm, he showed a look of confusion on his face, holding his mug just short of his mouth. To anyone it would seem as though he was racking his brain to see if he could even recall the description. After a moment, he turned to Stand who by this point had already caught on. "Stand; we know that guy?" Sipping his own drink through a wildly shaped straw, never removing his mask, Stand replied, "I wouldn't care less what this guy looks like, but no. We don't know 'em."

Dartz drank some more while listening to their 'fairytale'. Not buying it for a second but playing along he said, "I see." He already knew that they would deny having this knowledge, that was obvious. It is something all criminals do, deny, deny, and deny. Dartz continued, "Well then its settled, I will accompany you on your travels. I have a feeling that if I stick with you guys, I will meet the ones responsible..."

The crew of two did not like the sound of that in the least, but Jackson let out another laugh. "Then do you care to ride on our shoulders while we swim the Grand Line? You have already noticed that we are out a ship. He changed his expression quickly to one of disgust before lying yet again. "When I find that sea king that tore my ship up there will be hell to pay."

Dartz responded to their comment, "Don't worry about that, you can use my ship its docked right at the harbor. Its big enough to fit an army of millions. It has the firepower to destroy an Island in seconds. Don't worry I will help you find your seaking too if you but help me find the one's responsible..." Dartz knew that the pirates were hiding something and that not all they said was 100% accurate. However he decided to play along until he discovers their true intentions.

Leaning forward, Jackson began to speak in a whispered tone to the hooded man. "I appreciate the offer, but I will never sail below another man's flag." He paused for a moment, trying to take a look at this man's face. "And there still exists the question of just who you are. One minute you're talking of justice like a marine, the next you're offering aid to pirates. I hope it's obvious that I can't trust you."

Dartz's expression and tone was unchanging, "If you don't want to sail under another man's flag then I can buy you a new ship which you can hang your own personal flag on. This isn't a matter of trust, its a matter of you doing me a favor in return for my...generosity." He awaited their answer, but he didn't really care. One way or another they would help him whether they wanted to or not. If they continued to refuse to cooperate, he would have no choice but to use force.

Jackson allowed himself a smile. "Again, you give us an all to generous offer." He leaned back into a sitting position, drinking again deeply. Stand meanwhile simply sat, not taking his eyes off of the hooded man. Putting the drinking vessel down and taking a deep breath, Jackson's grin never left his face. "However, you do me a great disservice by ignoring my other query. Just. Who. Are. You?"

Dartz kept drinking his Drink and spoke without even stopping his drinking, "The name is Dartz, my friends call me Master Dartz-sama. Does that satisfy you?" It amazed everyone how he could drink and talk at the same time.

Jackson was disappointed. He had not heard that name before and by the look of Stand, neither had he. Turning back to Dartz, Jackson spoke again. "Well then Dartz, you make all these fine, even glorious offers, but what is really expected of us? No one gives away a ship just because they feel like it." Eyes narrowing, Jackson suddenly had a very serious look on his face. The rest of the bar however, seemed to ignore them.

Dartz expression and mood was are mysterious as the moon. You could never tell what he is thinking or how he feels about anything. He lazily spoke, "Do you really want to know? I expect to travel with you, nothing more, nothing less. I expect that I will come face to face with Cain's Murderer during our travels together. This is a fact that I guarantee will happen. My goal is to find and deal with him. You don't need to worry about that, unless...your hiding something? If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear from me. Simple, is it not?" Dartz continued to gaze mysteriously, not a care in the world. He would get vengence for Cain one way or the other. He didn't really care what the outcome of this discussion would lead to, if they would be stubbornly uncooperative then he would deal with them without breaking a sweat, if need be. It wouldn't even qualify as a warm-up.

Needless to say, Jackson did not want to travel with this man. He would have to get creative if he wanted him to leave. "What? You think that traveling with me, on a smaller boat no less, will find you one man in this vast ocean? I'm sorry, but not only do you seem absolutely insane, but I'm very, very sure you're with the government." His face changed again as Jackson beamed a large smile and snickered. "Nothing personal, but you seem about as trustworthy as, well, a pirate."

Dartz was so offended by that remark. That before Jackson finished speaking, Dartz phased in front of him in mid-air and attempted to knee Jackson's head at point-blank range. Needless to say that this attack has the power to instantly vaporize a normal person's head. He then spoke, "Never put me in the same category as you!" He did not mean to lose his cool like that but Jackson's cold words got to him.

The captain was not about ready to take another blow and rose his sword only just out of its sheath to block using, generously, the flat of the blade. He was taken off guard however, by the sheer force of the blow as the chair tipped backwards quickly, smacking into the wall. Jackson however, did not lose his focus and simply smiled at Dartz. "Well then. A pirate you may not be, but I'm still thinking either Marine, or crazy." Not lowering his sword, Jackson reached for his mug and took another swig. "Help me narrow it down."

Dartz resumed this cool, calm, and collected self and sipped some more of his drink. He then spoke, "You can put your sword away, You wouldn't strike a poor, helpless, unarmed, old man wearing glassess would you?"
Jackson surprised, "Huh? Your not poor, your not old and your not wearing any glass-" Before Jackson was able to finish that sentence it seemed as if it wasn't Dartz standing there anymore. He was wearing ragged, begger clothes, he had a white beard and was wearing glasses. His hair had changed from light-blue to white. Jackson and his crew were really confused about this turn of events. What actually happened was that he used his remarkable Marine Admiral-level Superhuman speed to zoom out of there and steal begger clothes from some random blind begger on the other side of the planet, he also found a fake White Beard and glasses from a store. Then he got back to his original position so fast that the Pirates could not have noticed that he moved an inch from his spot. Dartz spoke, "To answer your question, I am not a marine. That's for sure."

((I believe I owe an explanation as to why I haven't posted for a while. I give this: Gohan, your last post, just... sigh.

That is all.))

((Oh come on, its funny! Why won't you reply))

Jackson looked at the man quizzically. "Yah. Apparently you're a showoff. And you failed yet again to narrow down just who you are." He laughed before continuing. "You look like an old man, maybe you have the same memory span. Try to act serious or I swear I will not follow you anywhere." The impression the pirates were getting now was that this man was completely insane. Jackson would not lower his weapon, and he had little reason to. He hadn't moved since he ended up leaning back in his chair with his sword facing up to block. The man across teh table was well out of reach of his blade.

Dartz decided to get serious. He saw that his little joke didn't help his situation any. "You want to know who I am? Fine. I am the one who has your life in my hands. I hold one of the highest positions in the Entire World. With a press of a button, I could have an army of battleships here in 5 minutes. So don't mess with me. You will help me, one way or another. I wanted to do this the easy way, but if you refuse to cooperate then we could this the hard way. Even I have a limit to my patience." He hoped his aquaintance would listen to logic and reason.

Jackson didn't laugh again, but his smile broadened. He knew things were about to get dicey, but that's where most of the fun was. To him, the sounds of the bar seemed to die down as he stared at Dartz long and hard. For a moment, the only thing he was focused on was the man seated in front of him. "So you are a Marine. Then you should know..." With one deep breath, Jackson finished off the rest of his drink and slammed the mug down hard on the wooden table. "That I will not be helping you with anything. But by what you say, why would a man of your stature require assistance from someone such as myself? You're probably familiar with my bounty." He paused for a moment, recalling their conversation. "And don't bring up the, I have a feeling that I'll find whoever offed my friend if I tag along with you specifically. That's bull and you know it. Mostly because you don't even know where I'm headed once I get a ship."

Dartz sighed, "I am not a marine, Marines are the enforcers of the World Government that serve under it. However I don't answer to anyone except my father. I have no affiliation with Marines, I just order them around as I see fit. On to the matter number 2. I didn't want to bring this up, but your suspected of the murder of Cain D. Marko on the grounds that he was after you and he never came back alive. So there is a chance that you offed him, whether you actually did it or not, doesn't matter. Even if theres the slightest possibility that you may have had some role to play in his demise, no matter how microscopi, I can't let you go. You said it yourself, your a nobody. So who in the world would care if your executed, right? Finding you wasn't just some cooincidence or some 'feeling' or did it have anything to do you with your bounty. You understand, don't you? I will ask you to come quietly. That is if you care the least bit about your life. You may thing, 'What does it matter, I will be executed either way. Why should I cooperate?' That would make an valid point but if you come quietly, I shall give you a fair trial to prove your innocence. However if you refuse or try to run, I will execute you on the spot and I won't lose any sleep over it, understood?"

Dartz hoped that Jackson was a reasonable pirate. Any attempt to refuse, resist, or escape will just result in his demise. His chances of survival in that scenario would be 0%, regardless of how you think about it. On the other hand if he went to trial, he has some chance to prove his innocence in front of a court of law. If he is truly innocent he will find a way to prove it to everyone else.

"One more thing to add: If you come quietly to trial, than that says to me that you might be innocent or at the very least smart. On the other hand, if you try anything, such as refusing, resisting, or attempting to flee. That says to me the opposite, that not only do you lack intelligence, logic, and reason. It also says to me that your probably responsible for Cain's death and therefore couldn't prove your innocence."

"You're lying. The punishment for being a pirate always has been death. Even if I prove I didn't kill your friend, I still get charged with piracy. That's where my intelligence lies." With that he stood up, tossed a couple of coins to the bartender, and began to walk out, stopping near Dartz to whisper a few words. "If you're still hellbent on seeing something, I suggest we settle our differences outside. After all, a man like yourself would cause far too much damage to the poor innocents." Just standing there, it was obvious Jackson was waiting for Dartz to stand.

Stand Upman couldn't help but cringe behind his mask. He knew how this would most likely end. He'd have to get creative himself if he wanted to help his captain.