Serious: The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 1: Dawn

After having his life saved from a man he had never met before, Maximillion Maimou, the once evil mastermind who was making plans to take over the world, had a change of heart and since then he has been travelling in the Grand Line, hoping to find some new friends. On his journeys, he managed to find Koga, a talking turtle who was in his previous crew as his pet. Along with his pet the man traveled to many places and in one of these places he also managed to find a strange man with the name of Frank. That man, was a Devil Fruit user, user of the Yomi Yomi no Mi who turned into a zombie as his found his body semi-rotted. With his two friends, Maximillion is travelling across the various islands of the Grand Line... And now, his newly formed pirate crew, the Dusk Pirates are about to live an adventure that they never lived before...

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CHAPTER 1

DAWN

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Maximillion had been sitting on the deck. The weather looked good. The sun was shining and the place was hot. It would be the perfect chance for him to go out to the deck, take a book he wanted to read and start reading. For hours, the man was reading. He had been reading the book since he had woken up. That man definitely liked books...

On the other hand, Koga was doing the chores. As he was treated as the weakest member of the crew due to his small body size and due to the fact that he was a turtle, he was responsible for doing all the chores until the crew found somebody to do this kind of work. As he was cleaning the deck he whispered "Damn you, Maximillion... Just because you are a captain, you think you can do everything you want?!".

One second after the turtle said that a shockwave came towards it and hit right in front of it, scaring the turtle so much that he dropped all of the cleaning equipment he had been carrying and started jumping around. He slowly moved towards Maximillion with an angry face, jumped on his and asked while pointing towards his face with his front right leg "What was that for?! Huh?! Tell me!!!". Maximillion sighed. He said "Stop whispering... Especially about me... I want to read..." while slapping the turtle in a funny way to get off his body.

The turtle was send many meters away as he was slapped. He looked at the man and said "Whatever... I forgive you...", forgiving Maximillion for his behavior. He knew that his captain acted like this not to punish him but because he actually had friendly feelings for him. There was no intend to embarass him or anything, after all. It was just a funny "arguement" between two friends that was settled...peacefully.

A pair of blue arms were playing a happy song in the ship's front. The arms simply stood on the deck with their flat under-sides, the left one holding the fiddle and the right was playing. The arms belonged to Frank who enjoyed the morning sun in the crow's nest.
Frank heard Koga and Max arguing and decided to have a little fun. Frank's arms stopped playing and sneaked behind Koga with small leaps. The pair of hands reached Koga and tapped him on his back. "Oi Koga! would you like a hand? Nehehehehe" Frank shouted to Koga, cracking up from his own joke. Frank's humor was pretty much built around zombie jokes and he couldn't miss an opportunity to have a little laugh. Unfortunately for Frank, he laughed too hard and after leaning in the wrong place, fell down from the nest to the deck. He landed with a strong thud and a cloud of dust. His head than rolled on deck after detaching from his body. "Ouch! That would definitely need some stitches" he said.

"What are you laughing for you..." were the first words of Koga to his zombie friend. However, before he completed the sentence he looked at the zombie falling from the nest to the deck and get covered in a cloud of dust, making him stop speaking and start laughing instead. "Oi Frank! Would you like a hand? Tehehehehe!" he said ironically, repeating the zombie's previous words a little bit altered. Despite that, though, the turtle quickly run towards him and looked at him. He asked "Are you alright?" with a worried face.

On the other side, Maximillion looked at both the zombie and the turtle with an angered face. He clenched his right fist and he said with a voice that showed no emotions at all "You are...annoying me. I cannot read my book.". That voice was similar to the voice of Maximillion while he was leading the Avenger Pirates. Koga was kind of scared by listening to him talking like that. Could that be? Did he turn to the evil person he once was again? However, before he jumped to any conclusions, the captain started laughing with his unique laughter, as he saw the weird expression of the turtle. "Hmphmphmphmphmphmph! I got you there, you dumb turtle!" he completed as he closed his book and started walking towards Frank. He asked politely "Do you need some help, my friend?"

Frank didn't appreciate Koga's joke but he figured he deserved it. "Lemme see..." Frank said. His hands leaped their way to his body and attached to their respective places. His body than took his head off the ground and fixed it to his neck. "Well I think I broke a hip. Than again, I broke that hip 37 times so..." He said. With one twisting motion a sickening sound of bones being pushed into place was heard. "All better!" Frank claimed.
After dealing with his zombie problems Frank turned to ask his captain a question. "Say captain, do we have a destination or are we sailing for the horizon?"

Maximillion smiled as he listened to his comrade's question. Indeed, he had a location in his mind. However, he did not know how to say it. Although Maximillion had changed a lot since the Atlantis War, he still bore a grudge from that war and that was his defeat at the hands of a marine vice admiral. That marine vice admiral attacked him from behind while he was battling two other equally ranked strong marines and so Maximillion wanted to take his revenge for that sneak attack. The destination of the crew was a marine basement... And that basement was the one that was being run by that man who dared to attack him... He sighed and said "I do not want to lie to you... But we are heading straight to G-8, a marine stronghold that is also known as Navarone. I have a grudge to settle...".

Koga looked at Maximillion with a serious face. It seemed like the man wanted to clear his past. If he managed to defeat the man who ashamed him in the war, then he would regain his pride... Furthermore, if Maximillion defeated the Vice Admiral then he would settle most of the scores of his past and he would look to the future. As soon as that enemy was defeated, it would be a new start for Maximillion. The DAWN of a new life and the DUSK of his previous evil life. He said "Okay, captain. Agreed!" before he picked up his cleaning equipment again and started cleaning the place.

"Roger that captain!" Frank said. Frank was practically fearless thanks to almost a hundred years of wounds and after experiencing death once. He didn't know much about the grudge his captain had but he did notice that the captain was fighting something in his past and would gladly help his captain defeat it.

"Thank you everyone..." he said with a smile on his face. Then, he stared at the sea. The way the wind was blowing, he would probably arrive at his destination in around six hours. However, that was way too late. He wanted to be there sooner. He knew about the marine stronghold. After learning where his enemy was usually staying, Maximillion made an investigation about the island and the basement and found out that at 9 PM the "fangs of G-8" appear and make the lake around the stronghold so shallow that it is impossible for any ship to move. Breaking into the stronghold would require some time and so if the crew tried to attack at night they would probably be annihilated by the marine forces. The crew would better arrive earlier, otherwise they were doomed.

Seeing that, the man said "Hang on something for a while, everyone!" as he moved at the back side of the ship. He looked at the quiet sea. He said "Damn you..." as he moved both his hands forward. He had a plan so that they would travel faster. He pointed with his hands towards the sea and said "Time for us to start moving! Shockwave!" as he launched his signature shockwave from his hands, causing a very big wave. The wave dragged the ship and if the captain continually did that the crew would probably arrive in less than an hour...

Koga looked at his captain. He could not understand what he was about to do when he got to the back side of the ship. However, as soon as he noticed that he moved his hands forward he understood that he was about to use a Shockwave attack. He told his zombie comrade ,who probably had not seen the captain using this attack before, "Get ready! He is using it!" with a happy face.

"He's using what?" Frank asked before the answer punched him in the face. The violent shockwave that Maximillion released from his hands sent the ship forward, and fast."Wow!" Frank said as he lost his balance and stumbled for a few meters until he managed to grab on to a wooden post. The ship was traveling at six times the speed it had before and Frank only had one thought in his head 'Oh god please don't let my arm rip right now'.

"Hmphmphmphmphmphmphmphmphmph!" was heard from Maximillion. Despite the fact that he changed, he could not change his weird laughter at all. The captain of the Dusk Pirates was definitely enjoying it. The wave was dragging the ship and the ship was moving faster than ever. He said "Do you like it guys?" with a smile on his face. "We are about to arrive in no time! Who knows what will happen if I use more Shockwaves!" and then he started launching Shockwaves more rapidly, creating bigger waves. Water was falling on the ship from above and the waves were so big that it looked like the crew was in the middle of a storm despite the fact that there were not even clouds on the sky...

Koga, from the other side was screaming endlessly, despite the fact that nothing would happen to him if he fell on the water because he was a turtle. He could not understand why he should scream most. Should he scream because he was abroad a ship that was being violently move from a big wave or should he scream because his captain was laughing and enjoying it? He did not know, for sure. While screaming he said "OH MY GOD! HELP US! PLEASE LET ME GO TO THE PARADISE... I WANT A MERMAID!!!". The turtle was showing his pervert side for good... What a turtle...

What the hell?
Hector had been underwater, close to the ground, even, enjoying a little... snack and thinking about nothing in particular (except for the usual: his life and what to do with it, whether humans sucked or were the best thing ever, whether or not he was the worst kind of traitor and deserved to be killed in the most horrible way possible or actually the only one with a brain in his whole family.... Oh, and when he'd get to fix his damn claw!) when suddenly, something moved above him. Really fast. He dropped the fish he had been holding, thinking it could be sharks attracted by the smell of blood when he found it was..... a ship?
Which lead him to his current situation. What the hell?!
For a moment, he looked after it, his mouth opened a bit and his eyebrows raised. Gee, that was.... unusual....
He turned away again. Human business. Where had his snack went?
While his eyes were still searching for it, he noticed more and more that his curiousity had been peaked and his mind had been made up the moment the thought of humanity being out here doing this stuff had shyly intorduced itself to the usual chaos inside his head.
A split second later, he was already following the ship underwater. Damn, that thing was fast!
But Hector was a member of the fastest species alive. When it came to water, anyway....
He didn't actually want to make his presence known to the humans, just stay long enough to figure what was going on. Yeah, as if that had ever worked before.....
Still, for now, he settled for swimming next to the ship, close to the surface, barely noticeable as a shadow if you looked for it.

Maximillion had been using his Shockwaves on the water more and more and would keep doing that but he stopped as he noticed a shadow underneath the water. He could not understand what it was at all. Was it the shadow of a treasure box? Or could it be something bigger like a sunk ship that had hundreds of treasure boxes inside it? One thing was for sure! He had to investigate it. He knew that the Vice Admiral would not leave from the stronghold anyway. However, he would investigate quickly.

He stopped using the shockwaves and a bunch of water that came from the waves fell on the ship. As he was hit by the sea-water he started getting more and more tired due to the fact that he was a devil fruit user. However, in order to hide it, he did not show how much tired he got... He looked at Koga. The turtle was hiding inside his shell. He said "Stupid turtle! Come out of your shell!".

Irritated from the captain's orders, the turtle got out, prepared to fight. He said angered "WHO DID YOU CALL STUPID, YOU IDIOT?! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I AM THE INFAMOUS SEA-KING HUNTER! THE NINJA-TURTLE! KOGA THE INVINCIBLE~~~!".

Maximillion sighed. He took a deep breath and said "Firstly, you are the most stupid creature I ever met. You are a turtle and yet you are afraid of waves. Secondly, who do you think you called an idiot. Just because I changed, that does not mean I am accepting comments like these from the likes of you. I can change back to my old self... *evil look* Thirdly, I am your captain! And finally, stop being useless to me and check the area underwater. I believe there is something down there."

Koga was about to respond however when he looked at the captain's evil look he understood that he would be in trouble if he did. He said "Yes Max-sama!" as he jumped into the water and started swimming. Maximillion looked at Frank and said "He is so stupid... He can be scared off easily. Yet, he is useful and a valuable friend... Hmphmpmhpmphmphmphmph."

Underwater, Koga started looking. The turtle would do whatever Maximillion said as he was afraid that he would be punished. He was at the mercy of his captain if the captain wanted it... However, Koga enjoyed that. He knew that Maximillion will always be there to protect him as he believes he is valuable. That was the main reason he sticked with him in the first place, even if when he was evil...

After a while, the turtle saw the merman. He could not understand exactly what he was, but he could see him moving. He said "Let's take a look..." as he moved towards him to find out what he really was... Much to his surprise he was a merman. What was a merman doing at that place? He just had to ask... and so he asked "Hey you! What are you doing here?" in a funny way.

When the ship finally stopped, Frank was blasted forward by the aftershock, leaving his arm behind to dangle from the post like a flag. He rolled for a few seconds and banged into the railing of the ship, he was VERY clumsy. After the collision Frank got up, a bit woozy. If he was in a cartoon birds were probably flying around his head right now. "Whhhy diddd we stop?" Frank said, speaking like a drunk after a night of clubbing. He than stepped to the railing and threw up to the ocean, missing Koga by a few inches. The water not only made him weak but also nausious and he preferred the fast ride from before than this. He continued by stumbling back to the post and grabbing his arm. "I should really stitch this up..." He said, knowing he was too lazy to do so right now.

"Ew, a talking turtle!"
Hector couldn't stop himself from saying that, but he wanted to slap himself for it. Ew? Seriously? And he had seen things like that before! Some time ago....
"I mean, look, sorry about this you're not really that... I mean, I was just curious about...."
Wait! It had come from the ship! It was allied with the humans! They were most likely the worst scum ever!
With a fast move of his fin, Hector catapulted himself towards the thing and grabbed hold of it. He couldn't let it report!
He held it a few inches from his yellow eyes and glared at it. Too bad he couldn't read its thoughts or anything. Helena had always been good at it, though not as good as Cassiopeia, she had been a genius.... wait, this wasn't the time to think about his sisters! At all! They were probably out hunting for him by now!
"I ask the questions, little amphibian!"
Were.... turtles amphibians? Reptiles? It was kind of emberassing that he didn't know. But he didn't let it interfere with his glaring. He knew he looked imposing when he did that, with his slit pupils and grim look, sharp teeth and all.... When he looked at human children that way, they started to cry. Or they threw stones. Or both.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"

In the begining, the talking turtle did not know what to do. That merman looked way too awkard. He seemed to be nervous about something... He probably had his own problems. However, after Koga listened to the response of him that he was the one to make the questions, he started being cautious towards him. The merman could attack him at any moment. He had to be careful. However, it was impossible for him to be as he was ready to laugh out loud. The way the merman looked at him made him think like he wanted to scare him. Definitely, the merman could scare some people but not Koga. Koga was working under Maximillion after all... And when Maximillion got angry he was a lot scarier than Hector and any people Koga met in his whole life (despite the fact that he did not meet a lot of people personally).

Ignoring the merman's questions at the begining, the turtle was looking at the merman, trying to not laugh. After a few seconds of silence, though, he said "Whatever..." in order to relax and start speaking properly. He continued "I am Koga... A turtle as you noticed. And I am a pirate. I came here because my scary captain who, luckily for you, had a personality change recently and now he will not sell you as a slave when he finds you, asked me to investigate the area underwater. Now may I ask my questions?". Wow! The turtle was rude for sure...

Meanwhile on the ship, Maximillion waited for Koga. As he was waiting, he moved towards Frank. He said "Relax, buddy. It is just some sea-water. You will be okay in no time...". The captain was worrying for the zombie a little bit but he was sure that he would be fine, just like he was.

After the sea water cleared a little Frank gained his spunk back and began stitching his arm back. This task came with excruciating pain to other people but Frank has already stitched himself more than a thousand times and barely flinched. "Sorry 'bout that captain, I REALLY hate sea water" Frank said, not knowing that his captain was a devil fruit user as well. "I'll check how Koga is doing" Frank said and stepped to the railing. "Captain, you should probably take a look at this..." Frank said. From his position, Frank could see the forms of Koga and what appeared to be a merman that was choking him. "Why would a merman go around and choke a sea turtle? sea turtles can't even fight" Frank said.

"Sea turtles cannot even talk, Frank. However, Koga is with us... and talks... a lot... He talks so much that I want to cut his tongue and make it my meal... He talks so much that I wish to start slapping him all the time... He talks so much that I want to break his shell... Whatever forget that. Koga is not an ordinary turtle. He can defend himself." were the words of the captain to his zombie comrade. "There is no need to worry." he concluded.

And he was right. Koga was definitely not an ordinary turtle. He was a talking turtle that was training himself very hard so that he would get the chance to become the strongest turtle in the world and be able to defeat the disgusting sea-king creatures. That was why Maximillion got him in his first crew for the first time. Because he could see the passion in his eyes to get stronger... as well as a dumb, yet adorable turtle that would be easily convinced to do whatever he liked!

"Now that you mention it, Koga IS a talking sea turtle! how did I miss that?" Frank said. Koga spoke so often that Frank almost forgot that it was unique. He turned to watch Koga rescue himself.

Wasn't he scary?
His mother had always said he was scary! Wasn't he....
All it took was one turtle and all his self esteem was blown away. He scratched the back of his head, almost emberassed for his manners.
"Look, sorry. I didn't mean to, yanno..... I'll just... let you go. If you promise not to backstab me the first chance you get!"
That had almost sounded desperate. And a bit paranoid, as well. went from emberassed right to paranoid in a manner of seconds....
Carefully, Hector released the turtle.
"So does this mean your captain... I mean, the human scum wants something from me?"
Damn, he always had to correct himself on such things. It wasn't captain, or honourable, or even slightly liked, it was scum, bastard and primate. All his good parents had taught him.... All of it had been wasted. He was such a failure of a son. No wonder they wanted him dead.

"Tehehe! I got him!" was the first thought of the turtle as soon as he realised that his words reached the heart of the merman. Koga wanted to offend the merman and make him feel bad for his behavior towards him and he did it! And not only that but he also made him feel bad! That was the epic win of the epic turtle! However, the turtle noticed that something was bothering the merman. Did he offend him so much that he made him feel very bad? He could not know and he would not learn, unless he asked. Ignoring what the merman said about backstabing him and about his captain, as Koga used to say the same things about Maximillion (for fun, though), he moved above the water to inform Maximillion about Hector's pressence.

As soon as he got out of the water, he said to his captain "I found a merman inside. We can catch him and sell him as a slave. He looks a little bit idiot. So what do you say captain?". Maximillion laughed. Did he corrupt Koga that much? Normally, Maximillion would say that thing to Koga and Koga should be the one to decline that! He said "Well... NO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I WANT FRIENDS NOW, NOT ENEMIES! NOW GET INSIDE THE SEA AND DO NOT COME OUT AGAIN UNLESS YOU CONVINCE THAT MERMAN TO JOIN OUR CREW! I DO NOT CARE WHETHER HE WANTS OR NOT, BUT I ALWAYS WANTED A MERMAN IN MY SHIP!".

Although Koga and probably Frank, too, could not understand why Maximillion wanted the merman to join, Maximillion had a reason. It was not only to gain a new friend, but he also wanted a strong underwater fighter to join his crew as well as somebody that could help him make his way to Fishman Island. There was something inside Fishman Island that he wanted desperately. The secrets of Karate Fishman was what he wanted. If he managed to learn that battling style, combined with his Shockwave style he would turn into one of the strongest fighters in the world, for sure...

As soon as Koga moved underwater, he looked at Hector. He took a deep breath and said to the merman. "Listen. I do not know why he insists, but he wants you to join his crew. He has not even met you... Why would he want you to join? Anyway, he said that you will go with him whether you want or not.".

That was awkard. Very awkard. What an invitation to join a pirate crew! Maximillion did not even know Hector. He had not even seen his face before... It looked like Maximillion kept some of his crazy personality, even after he had that personality change... What a strange man, indeed!

"I heard what he said, turlte... It's not like he shouted or anything...."
He should be... flattered, he supposed? What was it with him and crews lately?
But working with humans.... He should be disgusted, shouldn't he? Definitely. So disgusted! So fascinated.... Finally, he could get to be near humans.... Which was bad, of course! Humilitating, even!
There was one thing, however, that took priority.
"Look, before I actually say yes or no, are there..... Oh, this'll sound so weird!"
he tried desperately to look anywhere not to look at the turtle. To look anywhere but at the turtle. He was blushing, he could feel it. He was emberassed. It didn't fit him at all to be emberassed. he tried to look away even harder.
"Are there.... any females on board? Don't take this the wrong way, but.... I think they bring bad luck, yeah, that's it!"
He was a genius! Now he wouldn't sound like a pervert! But wait a moment....
"Agh! I'm not... not sexist, I just.... I mean...."
He didn't even know what he meant anymore. he just wanted to know if there was anything that could make him go and fall for again. Like he always did... Human females were... his worst weakness, and he was a disgusting being for truly and honestly falling for them so often. He would never be done beating himself up over it, it had been what got him here in the first place. But he wouldn't actually tell the turtle that. Or anyone. Ever.

"Name's Koga! I told you!" were the first words of the talking turtle to the merman who seemed to not be willing to call him with his name. He was so unfriendly. He did not want to have any relationships with him at all. Why would he not want? Did he think that Koga was a freak because he was simply a talking turtle? That was impossible. After all, Koga was not half human-half fish. Hector was stranger than him, so there was probably something else in the merman's mind. However, he did not care as they were no friends at all. Instead of saying what he thought, he just shut up and listened to the other words the merman had to say.

As soon as he listened to the question he started laughing. Why would the merman think like this about the most beautiful species in the world? Even Koga, who was a turtle could not resist at the beauty of a beautiful woman. Why would a merman, who was half human think like that? Weird. Very weird. Koga could not understand what was inside the man's mind. Despite that, though, he responded to the question "No... Unfortunately there are not any women on our ship." with a sad look on his face.

Meanwhile, on the sea' surface Maximillion was standing along with Frank. He had been waiting for the annoying turtle to come out with the merman. That merman would be a prominent member of the crew for sure. With a merman on his side, Maximillion would definitely have an advantage in sea battles and much more... As he was waiting, though, something strange happened. Out of nowhere, a super fast ship appeared right next to the Dusk Pirates' ship. The ship was a little bit bigger than the pirate crew's ship and had not a pirate flag nor a navy flag. It was simply a cruise ship...

Out of the cruise's ship a voice was heard. Maximillion turned his head towards the ship. He could not see at the ship completely, but he could see and hear those who were at the edge of the cruise ship by the side of his own ship. As he turned his head and paid attention, he listened to a strange cane and somebody walking. He could understand that the way the cane hit the floor meant something. The one who hit the floor probably wanted to give a message to the pirates. He slowly walked and watched at the ship. The person had finally revealed himself.

The person who was giving the message was a man. He had an evil look on his face and blond hair that was covering one of his eyes. He was caring a cane on his left hand and wore black clothes that looked pretty much as an experienced soldier's. On his back there was a white coat. However, the coat was no ordinary coat. It was a marine coat. He said "Do not move the ship unless I tell you captain. Well, well... What do we have here? I see you did not understand my message and you did not escape. Just like at that time... Am I wrong Maximillion-sama? And what is that thing next to you? A zombie? Wow... Your crew is still a bunch of freaks... JUST LIKE AT THAT TIME!"

Maximillion stared at the man with a face that could show his murderous intent. Maximillion had never looked like that after he had that personality change. He got very angry and mad for some reason that could not be explained. And who was that marine who called him Maximillion-sama? There were so many questions... However, they would all be answered with the conversation that took place...

"Vice Admiral Zigfreed Von Strudel... How dare you come in front of me and talk like that about my crew?" were the first words of the angered captain to the marine. The marine laughed and pointed towards Maximillion with his cane. He said "You did not forget my name. Well, your ruined pride helped your memory. Did you see that you gained something from your defeat in the Atlantis War?". Maximillion looked at him with a much more angrier face. He said "Shut up!" as he pointed towards him with his right hand, prepared to launch his signature shockwave. "What will you do again, Zigfreed? Will you attack me from behind like at Atlantis?! WILL YOU PRETEND THAT YOU ARE STRONG? YOU WILL SEE MY WRATH IF YOU FACE ME FACE TO FACE!". The marine sighed. He said "I see you get angry easily... Oh man, you were much more dangerous before... Now, you are just a shadow of your former self, seeking for revenge over a vice admiral of the marines who was just doing his job. How pathetic you are, Maximillion-sama.".

Maximillion said "Whatever..." as he launched a Shockwave from his hand towards the Vice Admiral. However, Zigfreed moved his cane forward and said "A Shockwave? Stop copying me... Cane Shockwave!" as he moved the cane forward quickly, launching a strong shockwave attack that clashed with Maximillion's and the two attacks stopped. The captain of the Dusk Pirates was surprised. He said "You bastard... You copied my techniques... Did you not?!". Zigfreed started laughing once again. He said "Of course...NOT. You are not as smart as I thought you were. Did you think that I became a Vice Admiral just with a Devil Fruit ability? I KNOW how to fight, you know. And I know of the Shockwave Style, just like you do. However, I perform it with my cane. That is the only difference.". What a twist of the events! The Vice Admiral who was being targeted by the captain of the Dusk Pirates appeared right in front of him! An epic battle was about to take place on the sea!

At the same time, in a big box inside the kitchen, a green creature comes out of it and starts walking. Hopefully for him, the kitchen was empty and he could not be seen. What was going on? So many strange things at the same time!

After the sudden surprise of a cruise ship appearing near them, Frank stood beside his captain who apparently knew the captain of the ship. Frank's face stiffened when he heard the Vice Admiral's words. 'Zombie Freak... ZOMBIE FREAK?! I'll show you who's a freak!' Frank thought waiting for his captain to finish talking. After a clash of shockwaves, Frank gave the Vice Admiral an evil smile. "Zigfreed Von Strudel? Seriously? Can you BE anymore stereotypical?" Frank said with a dark voice, Detaching his left arm while he spoke. "I'll show you what a zombie can do! ZOMBIE BAT!" Frank said. Using his Inhuman strength, Frank swung the detached arm as though it was a bat. The powerful swing was strong enough to shatter bones and was aimed at the Vice Admiral's right shoulder.

Zigfreed started laughing as he looked at Frank coming towards him. Without even moving a single inch from his position, he moved his cane and he used it like a bat as well. The cane collided with the Zombie Bat attack and prevented it from hitting himself. The Vice Admiral, though, did not use the cane attack seriously. He just wanted to defend himself. Afterwards, Zigfreed asked with an evil smile on his face "Is that all you can do, Zombie-sama?" before his eyes started turning red. He said while looking Frank at the eyes "Look at me, Zombie-sama. This is going to be the ultimate experience of your dreams!" The Vice Admiral was using his Devil Fruit ability...

Maximillion said "No Frank! Stop it!" but it was too late. Frank's attack was already blocked by the Vice Admiral and he had started using his Devil Fruit ability. Maximillion knew the man's Devil Fruit ability better than anyone else. That man was the user of a very powerful Paramecia fruit. The captain of the Dusk Pirates had met many devil fruit users who happened to use the same fruit. However, this man was using a very unique fruit. A fruit that, although he knew about its existence, Maximillion believed it to be a myth. He was the user of the Nemu-Nemu no Mi, otherwise known as the Sleep-Sleep Fruit that granted the user the ability to make anyone fall asleep... In no time, many innocent bystanders who happened to be around the Vice-Admiral and looked at him at the eyes, using his Devil Fruit ability fell asleep extremely quickly...

Meanwhile, Koga could see the cruise ship that had stopped right above his crew's ship. He said to Hector. "Please make up your mind soon! I got to see what is going on out there!" while waiting for the merman's response.

At the same time, inside the cruise ship that creature started looking around. After getting out of the kitchen he was spotted and people looked at him. The man was completely green and had a tiny screen on his forehead. He had completely grey eyes and he had no mouth at all. However, the most surprising thing with him was a message on his tiny screen. The message said "Why did the ship stop?" with capital letters. What a freaking creature!

"Who are you looking at..." Frank said with a sleepy voice before doubling over and falling asleep. His head got detached for his body when his body crashed of the deck and his detached hand lied near him. His body wasn't used to sleeping since he didn't really needed it as a dead man so he moved a lot in his sleep, cursing and mumbling "Kiss my dead A*s Zigfreed".

"Wow... What a zombie... He is so...strange... Zombie-sama... Why are you so strange?" were the ironic words of the Vice Admiral to the body of the zombie before he moved towards the head. Then, as soon as he reached it, he hit it with the cane (no damage or anything, just for the scene) and threw it towards the zombie's body so that it could catch it. He said "I would kiss your dead ass Zombie-sama... But you are too much for me..." before looking at Maximillion again. As soon as he looked at the captain of the Dusk Pirates, he said "Apparently, you would be in trouble, Maximillion-sama. However, I am not working today. I am on vacation. However, my vacation ends soon... So be prepared..."

Maximillion smirked. He said "You bastard! You are not getting away!" as he jumped on the cruise ship and used a Shockwave towards the Vice Admiral with all of his strength. However, the Vice Admiral used another Shockwave with his cane that served as a shield for himself and as the attacking shockwave collided with the defending shockwave a small explosion occured. Zigfreed was still unharmed, though. That man would be tough to beat for sure. He commented "You are strong Maximillion-sama. It is just your anger that is lowering your strength. If you focus on the battle you can do much more... Just like at that time..."

Maximillion smiled. He looked at Zigfreed and said "You really are good. You like manipulating people, do you not? I will not fall for that, though. I am not like everyone else...". Then, Zigfreed hit the floor once with his cane, something he used to do when he agreed with something, and he responded "Indeed, I do. And I know it will be difficult to manipulate you... However, everyone has their soft points... And when a man like me finds it... He definitely exploits it.". "Do not think you are so great Zigfreed. If you were, you would already be an Admiral... The marines know about your arrogance, that is why you are not an admiral yet. In fact, you are pathetic." was the answer of the pirate captain. Then, for the first time after their first encounter, Zigfreed looked towards him with an angry face. He picked his cane and pointed towards the captain. He said "You have said too much, scum. Cane Shockwave!" as he launched a shockwave from his cane towards Maximillion. The real battle between the two would start!

Maximillion said "It seems like I found your soft spot... And when a man like me finds it... He definitely exploits it..." as he launched a Shockwave on the floor, cracking it, that gave him enough force to jump high on the air and dodge the shockwave that hit the cracked floor and opened a hole in it. Two of these attacks at a spot and the ship was being destroyed! What a battle. Maximillion smiled. Afterwards, while falling, he moved his hands behind and launched shockwaves, repeling himself extremely fast towards the marine in order to strike him with his Shockwave Kick. However, the Vice Admiral would not let himself fall like that and before the attack reached him, he said "Sleep, Maximillion-sama!" as he looked at his eyes with his eyes that turned to red thanks to his Devil Fruit ability. Maximillion, before he could finish the attack fell on the floor sleeping. It looked like the battle was over... And the Vice Admiral was the winner once again. He said "Now, die Maximillion-sama. For offending me! Shockwave Pierce!" as he moved his cane that was about to launch a shockwave at the time it would make a contact with the captain's body in order to pierce through it. The captain was in trouble!

Meanwhile, as these events were going on the green creature got outside. He looked around and he watched at the Vice Admiral who was about to stab the man with his Shockwave Pierce attack! What would happen?! Would the captain be saved?