Serious: The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 1: Dawn

Frank was concentrated. He could feel his toenail suffering the deadly sea water. He couldn't let Zigfreed take his toenail. But it was more than that. Zigfreed humiliated Frank and his new crew by sparing their lives, Frank was determined to show the foolish marine how wrong he was. "Let's do this" he said.

Hector had spent most of his tie on the ship staring out at the sea quietly, trying not to get too close to the humans. They seemed to be a lively bunch, but he wasn't sure about joining them in their frolicking or whatever it was they did. He only moved when they arrived at the base, curious about what would await them.
Looking at the scene before him, he frowned. It looked a little like those arenas he had read about, the ones where they used to have gladiators fight to the death.... Except it was a marine base.... He wondered if they'd each have an opponent to fight. Maybe it was a tournament? Either way, human ways of settling issues sure were weird.
He felt the slight need to remind his as of now crew that he wasn't really that useful on land at all, but decided against it. It was kind of obvious to him, really. And something inside him was protesting heavily of giving his weaknesses to humans, even obvious ones. Either way, they'd find out soon enough.

"Listen carefully... We are going to play a game before you start fighting me..." were the words of Zigfreed to the Dusk Pirates while he pointed towards them with his cane. "Me and my subordinates are about to enter the building. My six dear apprentices, otherwise known as the Exi-Generals, will be having six keys that lead to my room... You have to get all of the six keys in order to get to me. Everything is allowed in your battles. These are all the rules you have to know... For now...". Then, the Vice Admiral turned his back on the pirates and disappeared from the place in no time. It was clear what he wanted. He would battle the pirates only if they managed to beat the Exi-Generals! A series of epic battles was about to start!

As soon as the Vice-Admiral disappeared, a man with a completely pale skin and long and wide black pants started talking. He said "Well, before we begin, I would like to introduce myself, as well as my other friends...". He stopped for a moment and he looked towards the other marines to see if they were not agreeing with him. Apparently, they were all okay with that. He said "I am Manolo, the Leader of the Exi-Generals. Of course, the real leader is Zigfreed-sama... But I am the one who is the second in command." Afterwards, he stopped talking for a while and pointed towards the other generals. He started introducing them while pointing at them. At first, he pointed towards a man with a red suit. He said "That man over there is Roduko...". Then, he moved his finger towards a man with blue suit. He said "Here is Watcher..." and continued by pointing towards two other men. One of them had strange green hair and the other one had blue hair and some weird red glasses. "These guys are Jelayir and Oven...". Finally, he pointed towards a shirtless marine. He completed the introduction by saying "And that quiet guy over there is Dragunov... This is it with the introduction...".

In no time after the introduction was done, the marines started laughing at the same time. They all said "Pirates... We shall be waiting inside... Get ready... We will show you no mercy... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" before they run inside the building in the blink of an eye. The fighting game between the Marines and the Pirates had just started! Who would emerge victorious?! Maximillion and the rest of the Dusk Pirates, or the Marines of the G-8 Basement?

Maximillion did not say anything the whole time. The captain was just watching. Instead, he wanted to see the behaviors of the crew's enemies so that he would organise his plan better and go with it. After all, he had one... A plan that would ensure his victory against Zigfreed... He turned towards his crew and asked "Is everyone ready? I am going..." before he headed inside the building and got seperated from the crew. The captain was about to do something... Something that would ensure his victory, as he believed... What could that be?

As he was leaving, Koga gave a positive answer. However, as he saw him entering the building by his own, he was surprised. He believed that the captain would assist the crew the whole time. He could understand, though, that his captain would return back with the crew soon and so he did not worry about him at all. Instead, he turned his head towards everyone and said "We should go inside..." as he started moving towards the building. R.A.M. 2 followed from behind as well. He did not want to leave the turtle by himself... The crew had finally made its move!

Qunicy was unimpressed by the generals thinking that this was a waste of time. By spending more time and energy fighting these Exi-Generals they would have a lower chance of beating Zigfreed well a lower chance. Nonetheless Quincy followed Koga and the cyborg into the building. Maybe if he hurried he could get two keys instead of one impressing everyone else. Quincy also wondered which opponent would he face. Hopefully not the leader or the higher ups.

Hector had quite the proble figuring out how to even get to the ground. He had finally managed to grab on to the reiling and let himself fall to the ground ratehr unelegantly. Damn. He rubbed his tail, it hurt a bit. This was why he hated land.
While he quietly listened to the.... what, exi-generals? weird... he counted them in his head. Six of them. Seven of the pirates..... Which meant two of them would make a team... wait. One of the pirates was a turtle. There was no freaking way a turtle would hold its own in a fight against someone so strong! Which meant, once again, there would be no team. At least not one with someone big enough to carry him. At least not if he didn't voice his concerns right now! Agh!What a humilitation!
"Guys?.... Uh, I mean, Guys!"
he tried to sound as self assured and tough as possible, which was hard considering how he was trying to tell them he couldn't walk.
"I kinda.... Need some help with... uh.... walking.."
He whispered the last thing. God, how emberassing. They'd all laugh at him! Damn those humans and their fancy.... legs...

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Frank complained after hearing the rules of the Exi-general's little game. "This is a total waste of time! My toenaail is drowning as we speak! Come back hear dammit!" He shouted after the fleeing generals. He was eager to start his fights against those annoying air heads and removed his biker's jacket, revealing a blue body filled with stitches and bruises. He tossed the jacket into the ship, he didn't want it to get dirty with blood. He was just about to run ahead after his captain when Hector spoke. 'Can't walk? seariously?!' He thought, he didn't see the funny side of this, this only meant one less comrade. Or not? Maybe the merman was useful after all? He knew that a few fishmen and mermen had weird abilities and monstrous strength, maybe this guy could still deliver some nasty punches? Frank could use him like a weapon or something. "I'll help ya" Frank said. He than picked Hector up to his shoulder and secured him with one inhumanly powerful arm. "Ready?!" He asked his new passenger before he started running towards the building.

"Read... aagh!"
He had wanted to answer him properly, maybe protest a little, but was cut off when his new carrier suddenly started moving without even waiting for his answer. Out of reflex, he grabbed on to his shoulders, holding tight. This wasn't actually as bad as when that one fishman had carried him through the air. Not as high. And technically speaking, he wasn't relying on the help of a human here. frank was, well, dead after all. Not even his mother could find any fault in that, right? Right? Rubbish, of course she could. But right now, Hector needed to concentrate on how to be useful in the fight that was no doubt coming up.

As Quincy entered the building along with R.A.M. 2 and Koga, the door to enter the building closed, leaving the merman and the zombie out of the building. Now, they had to make their way inside the building by force and that was not the easiest thing to do as the Navarone Foretress was famous for enduring itself against pirate attacks... What would the zombie and the merman do to get inside the building and assist their crewmates?

Meanwhile, inside the building, R.A.M. 2, Koga and Quincy are running. However, as they run two walls appear all of a sudden, seperating the team members. Now, they had to find a way to reunite with each other... Otherwise, they could be ambushed by the Exi-Generals and fall under their trap. Zigfreed and the Exi-Generals were prepared for everything. They had set up traps in the whole building... It would be very difficult to survive in that game of life and death...

In no time after the three crewmates got seperated, a figure appeared right in front of Quincy. He was one of the Exi-Generals. The man was wearing a red suit and a red tie. He was Roduko of the marine troup... He looked towards Quincy and said "You look quite intelligent... So I chose you to be my opponent.". Although these words sounded useless, there was a secret message behind them... A message that Roduko gave without wanting, by mistake. Will Quincy get the message and what will he do against his battle with Roduko?

Quincy shot a chemical ball from his hand. He didn't get the hidden message, but he didn't attack either. "Give the key to me, and let me out of here. No harm will come to you. I really don't feel like fighting you right now." He said awaiting Roduko response. Quincy wanted to save his energy for the vice admiral.

"That is nothing!" Roduko said while launching a shockwave from his feet that deflected the chemical ball back towards Quincy. He said "You know... The Exi-Generals are apprentices of Zigfreed-san... We are all masters of the Shockwave Style. Zigfreed-san is a master of the Shockwave battling style and he can launch shockwaves even from his cane... And as for the Exi-Generals they can also use one of the shockwave abilities from different body parts... We might not be masters of that battling style, but we can still use it. As for me, I am a master at the foot Shockwave style... And I can do anything with my feet. Want to see?" while launching a shockwave from his right foot that aimed for Quincy's body. The first battle between a member of the Dusk Pirates and the Exi-Generals had finally started!

Meanwhile, Maximillion seemed to be gone while Koga and R.A.M. 2 were searching for each other and Quincy... And all of that while Hector and Frank were outside, searching for a place to infiltrate the building! What would the outcome between the two forces be? Who will emerge victorious? The almighty Dusk Pirates or the very strong Exi-Generals?

Quincy simply just shrugged "I simply don't care. If you what you say is true then all I have to do is take out your legs." Quincy summoned a huge chemical using both his hands. He threw it upon the ground below him sending a huge explosion beneath his feet. The shockwave of the explosion sent quincy toward his oppenent. Qunicy aimed at his legs hoping to jab his elbow between the joint in his knee. The blow would surely brake his leg.

"Dammit what now?!". Frank was facing a problem. Even when he was alive he wasn't the sharpest pencil in the case and now, with a bullet hole through his brain, It wasn't getting any better. He could try and pound the door open but it seemed pretty solid. He could try and rip himself apart to slide under the door and reassemble on the other side but he'll have to leave Hector behind for that. "Any bright ideas?" He asked his shoulder passenger.

"Pathetic!" were the words of the Exi-General who looked at the enemy coming towards him. In no time, the marine launched shockwaves from his feet on the ground that gave him force to jump high and dodge the attack very easily. Then, as he looked at Quincy who was below him he said "Time to die! Shockwave!" and launched an attack that aimed for the doctor's spine. The battle was intense. Was there any way to defeat Roduko? He was not the strongest one of the Exi-Generals, yet he possessed great power... What a man...

Meanwhile, R.A.M. 2 was running around, searching for Koga and Quincy. Apparently, he could listen to some voices and impact sounds from nearby. Somebody was having a battle. However, before he started heading for the place where the sounds came from, he felt somebody touching him on the back. The cyborg turned his head and looked. There was somebody behind him... And that man was one of the Exi-Generals. He said "Hello there!" with a french accent. The man had strange green not long but not short hair and wore black clothes. He said "I am Jelayir, one of the Exi-Generals..." with a french accent again. R.A.M. 2 had also encountered one of the Exi-Generals! Another epic battle was about to start!

And as these things happened, Koga was still searching for his comrades, Maximillion was still missing, Frank and Hector were still outside and yet four of the Exi-Generals had not made their moves yet... And in Zigfreed's room... The Vice-Admiral walks towards a chess. On the chess there are six white pawns from the one side and seven black pawns on the other side. The Vice-Admiral removes a black pawn. Then, he moves two white pawns towards two black pawns and asks the black king's pawn "Maximillion-sama... What is taking your crew so long? Hm...".

What could possibly be going on? Did all these things happen by luck or was there an even bigger plot behind these events? And why would Zigfreed force the pirates to battle his subordinates to give the pirates a chance of battling him while he could simply battle the Dusk Pirates all at once? There were many mysteries that were not answered yet...

"Do I look like I have any?"
Was Hectors first answer, maybe a little snappy in tone, made after only a second and no thought at all.
Gates.... Just his luck. He looked up the walls. He could use his grappling hook, but what then? And besides, he didn't know if it'd hang on anywhere, if it'd be safe, or how high this wall was exactly.... Or if it'd get them any closer to their aims, which he doubted.
"Me, I can get in if they have some sort of water... stream going in somewhere..."
Again, he doubted it.
"But maybe there's some other way to open this door."
Despina had always been a good thief... Little lock picker.... But him? His hands weren't made to pick locks, neither to smash them, at least not on land.

"Dammit..." Frank hissed. He wanted to help his comrades fight. How can a turtle and a weird cyborg can handle a death trap like this fortress?
'Why do these Exi-dorks go through all this trouble just to fight us? That Zig-fish was powerful enough to finish us all alone' He thought. This thought quickly left his head when he got a new bright idea, a rarity in Frank's mind. He moved towards the door and attempted to find it's lock. "Maybe I can..." He wondered to himself. When he finally found the lock he grabbed one his pinkies and yanked it's nail off. He than held the nail, that was jumping around his palm, in eye-height and spoke in a bossing tone. "Listen up soldier! You are now assigned with the all important break in operation! You are to enter that lock and not come out until you hacked it open! understood?!" Frank yelled at the nail. The nail bended over, performing something that reminded a salute before jumping into the key hole. Weak clanks and chings could be heard from the lock as the nail wriggled inside it, attempting to bust it open.

As the nail was making its way inside the keyhole and tried to open it, a huge clank was heard and the door fell down, causing a great sound that could be heard to anyone inside the basement. Apparently, the keyhole of the door was too old and it was easily destroyed by a small nail. And not only that, but the door could not handle it at all and the door fell! That was really something! Who would believe that the zombie and the merman would make an entrance to the building, just like that?! Wow... Now, Hector and Frank would be able to proceed inside the building and assist their fellow teammates against the battle with the Exi-Generals! The real showdown was about to start!

Meanwhile, R.A.M. 2 started responding to Jelayir. The cyborg was surprised with the appearance man. In a few seconds, a message appeared on the tiny screen on the cyborg's head. The message said "Please, do not harm me! Please!". Despite the fact that the cyborg came to the place determined to battle, he knew that there was no way to defeat one of the Exi-Generals by himself. Although he had some strength and a secret weapon, he could not do anything at all. He would only be able to help in a two versus two battle... How would the cyborg escape from Jelayir's wrath? Was there any possible way for it to escape the battle with the general?!

On the other hand, Koga was moving as fast as possible, hoping to find either R.A.M. 2 or Quincy. However, the more he run, the more he got lost. That turtle was definitely dumb. The dumbest turtle ever... Not only he did not find anyone, but it made things difficult for the others to find him. As he run, though, he listened to a person talking to somebody behind a door. He looked from the keyhole. The person who was talking was Watcher of the Exi-Generals. The marine was having a conversation about something with somebody. However, that person was standing hidden behind a chair. He said "Damn you Boss! When will you finally get rid of Zigfreed? Don't you understand that I am bored of waiting! If you aren't going to do anything, I'm going to tell him about your secret plan of using the newly formed Dusks to get rid of him!". Koga was shocked. These words about schemes and the newly formed Dusks... Could that be? Could Watcher be talking to Maximillion? An evil scheme was going on... And Maximillion was a mastermind of evil schemes. Plus, the captain was hiding something from the crew. He entered the building before the others did, did not tell the crew the plan he had to get rid of the Vice Admiral and forced them to come to a battle against a man whom they could barely scratch because of his Devil Fruit abilities! Could Maximillion be acting the whole time?! Without knowing what to do, Koga started running away, hoping to not get spotted and trying to find the others to inform them about the situation...

And at the same time, in Zigfreed's office... "What is taking you and your crew so long Maximillion-sama? And when will you finally go on with your plan? I cannot wait...". The Vice-Admiral seemed to know about a plan that Maximillion was about to try. Could he know about Watcher's betrayal and the secret plan that was created behind his back? Did he predict all of the movements of the Dusk Pirates as well as the Exi-Generals so far, or not?

"Eeew..."
Hector said, before he realised how girly that sounded and thought of something insanely manly to add. He couldn't think of anything.... No nail related puns or manly advice, but the door stole all of his spotlight away anything when it came crashing down. hector couldn't help it, he jerked back a bit, alost falling off of the zombie but holding on by slinging his arms around his carriers neck out of reflex. When he realised how gay that looked, he let go faster then neccesary and looked away. Awkward.
"Well.... Let's go on, then."

Frank took a moment to note the merman's strange behavior. "You sure are one strange fella huh? Don't worry, most people react much worse when they see pull my finger" Frank said with a joking tone. He didn't mind the neck rubbing or the girly comments that much. He than caught his focus back and sprinted into the fortress with battle cries of "Bring it on fools!".

Fools? Who did you just call a fool, you freak?" were the words of a man who appeared in front of the two team mates in an instant. The man wore a hat and had a pale skin. He wore strange black-colored clothes and carried something that looked like a book with him. He had a marine coat on his back. Apparently, that man was Manolo of the Exi-Generals, their leader. He was the man who was right below the Vice-Admiral and he was -without doubt- the strongest of the Exi-Generals. He coughed as he looked at the two male creatures, because they were definitely not really men, and said "I am waiting for an answer...". The third of the Exi-Generals appeared on the battlefield! What would happen next?!

Meanwhile, Koga, after searching for R.A.M. 2 for quite long, he finally managed to find him, confronting Jelayir. The cyborg was not battling the marine at all. He was only dodging his shockwave attacks that were performed from his hair. That was a strange usage of the Shockwaves. It looked like the shockwave style was not only based on hands and feet or on items, but it could be used with other body parts. It would be really great if Maximillion managed to use it like that, too. However, Koga had not forgot. His captain had probably betrayed them and used the crew once more for an evil scheme. This time, the turtle was determined to put an end to Maximillion. He believed in him and he disappointed him... He said "Stop the battle R.A.M. 2! Run away! We are doomed to lose! We are betrayed!". Jelayir, though, reacted differently than Koga expected. He turned his head and asked "What do you mean?". It seemed like the marine did not know about the captain's "betrayal". What could possibly be going on?

"If you're waiting for an apology..." Frank said, pulling his left arm off as he spoke. "THEN KEEP WAITING FOOL! DEAD-A-RANG!!!" He shouted, throwing his detached arm like a giant boomerang. The throw was strong enough to shatter stones. "Stop your games and surrender!" Frank said after the throw, not stopping for one second to wonder who his opponent is.

Manolo sighed as he looked at the hand coming towards him and disappeared from the place, appearing behind his enemy, after whispering "Soru!". Apparently, the marine was a user of one of the six arts. That was a proof of the man's strength. He whispered to the zombie "I will not bother fighting you here... I just came to give you a message. I will be waiting for you at the door before Zigfreed's place... You can fight me there.". Then, he used Soru once again, leaving away and fleeing from the battle with the zombie... However, he promised that he would be waiting for him... Manolo was probably sent by the Vice-Admiral to give a clue to the pirates and speed up the process of the fighting game. What was about to happen in the future? Would that possible plan work?

Meanwhile, Dragunov of the Exi-Generals started making his move. Seeing that Manolo left the zombie and the fishman alone, he thought that it was a great chance for him to go and take on the merman... It had been a while since he had seen one. He wanted to have a talk with Hector... A talk that could probably provide him with some information he needed... What is Dragunov up to and how much eager is he to make it real? Will he succeed or not? Who knows...

Thanks to Frank's careless attack, Hector's balance on Frank's shoulder was disturbed and he fell to the ground, without Frank even noticing. "MORE GAMES? MORE DELAYS?! No wonder you marines can't catch anything!" Frank shouted after the general, hoping to tease him back. After he failed, Frank started running forward, completely oblivious to the fact that Hector wasn't with him anymore, he was too pissed to notice. "Where is this room dammit?!" He shouted as he ran around the corridors.

"Hey!"
Hector hissed. Second time he found himself on the ground today. He didn't have feet to catch himself, he wasn't meant to fall! Did his crewmember even realise how risky this was to him?!
He looked up, but could only see him run off. Before he could shout after him, he was already gone.
"Moron!"
He half shouted, not actually hoping he would even hear. So.... He crawled towards a wall and leaned against it. Alone. On land. With some sort of super strong enemy plus a quircky miniboss squad running around. Great, just.... just great. He was a team fighter, damn it! He could strangle people, sure, he could cripple them, but ever actual try of killing them? Messy and hard.
He sighed. Well, he was here now, no going back.
He cracked his fists and stretched his arms. Time to get crawling.

As soon as Frank left Hector, Dragunov started making his move. The marine had been watching the whole event form a Den Den Mushi that was spying the place. He knew from the very start that as soon as Manolo provoked the zombie, he would leave the merman allow and allow Dragunov to go on and try to kill the merman. Without losing any time, the man started heading towards Hector and in no time, he was there. He looked towards him and said "Hello, merman..." with a smirk on his face. He could not hide his evil intentions from Hector. Soon enough one more battle was about to start and this battle would be very difficult to win since Hector was out of water. What could possibly be the marine's evil intentions and what does he want to learn from Hector? And who is going to emerge victorious, after all?

Meanwhile, at the place where R.A.M. 2 and Koga were confronting Jelayir... The turtle looked with a serious face towards the marine. He said "You know very well what I mean, you bastard! Shell Smash!". Then, the turtle got out of his shell, stood on his back legs and picked the shell up with his right front leg. Apparently, by doing that, not only the turtle gained a speed boost but he also got a new weapon: His own Shell. Jelayir was surprised by the move of the turtle. Did the turtle think that he could beat him? That sounded ridiculous. Moreover, the turtle was not his original opponent. The opponent Jelayir chose was R.A.M. 2. Koga was supposed to battle with Watcher. However, as Watcher did not seem to appear at all, he would take Koga on as well. After all, what would a turtle do against him? Nothing. That's right.

Jelayir said with his french accent "Whatever..." as he pointed towards the turtle with his hair and launched a shockwave. Anyone would believe that the turtle would fall with that attack. After all, the turtle was overally small. Normally, it would be easy to take down a small creature. However, Koga knew exactly what to do. As the Shockwave approached him, he said "Shell Deflect!" and moved his shell towards the attack at the right time, not only deflecting it but also sending it back at Jelayir's face. The marine was surprised with that. He was caught off guard. The shockwave hit him on the face and caused him to bleed a lot. He looked towards Koga with an angered face. Jelayir was not irritated because he was hit by his own attack. He was irritated because he was humiliated by a turtle! He said "You imbeciles! You shall die!" before he started launching a barrage of shockaves from his hair that aimed for both Koga and the cyborg. Koga, unable to protect both of them at the same time if he was away said "Come behind me R.A.M. 2!" and the cyborg moved himself behind the turtle as the turtle deflected most of the shockwaves with his shell in a way that the shockwaves collided with each other without hitting the crewmates. Afterwards, Koga looked towards Jelayir with a determined face and said "You freaking green-hair! Shell Boomerang!" as he threw his shell towards the marine with extreme force, hitting him on the chest. Then, the shell returned back at the turtle, just like a boomerang. Who would believe that the turtle was such a good fighter. It was the first time the turtle battled seriously with somebody else and he showed great fighting abilities. Amazing, indeed...

Quincy threw a large chemical ball at the shockwave. He figured that both explosions would neutral each other, but he was wrong. Quincy flew back against from the shock, but at least he wasn't injured badly. He got up from the floor wiping the dirt from his clothes "You got my clothes all dirty."
Quicy surround himself and the general guy in a circle of green chemical fire by firing chemical balls from his fingers. This would limit the general's movements around the area.