Serious: The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 4: The big move (Open to the Dusk Pirates)

"Gabriel" the boy said in a childish voice "I want to play with these guards" he said giggling and lifting his sword and the cutting a guard clean in half.

Wako was about to get hit by Miguel, but he stopped suddenly, and went towards another area. Wako of course hadn't even bothered going behind him, since it became apparent it would be a fight for someone else. He hadn't even gotten to use half his gadgets yet, neither his ace. Wakos eyes Lusted for more danger, looking around they almost had a feeling to them.. a bloody feeling. For him fun would be something dangerous, but what would be dangerous? looking around Wako noticed wolves around the area. "Hmm.. not dangerous enough.. I need something that can give me thrills..." Wako stood on the top of the building, looking around the area and almost forgetting the coldness he was surrounded by.

Manta smiled to the boy and started walking towards him as soon as he listened to his words. The boy was just like him... That personality was something that only one person Manta knew used to have... And that was himself. Gabriel was something like a younger Manta... And that was what the temporary captain of the Dusk Pirates liked. He said "Well, you can play with these corpses... I doubt there are any guards left for you to "play" with, unfortunately...". Knowing that way of thinking, Manta knew what the boy meant with the word "play". If Gabriel and Manta tagged together, they would definitely be a dangerous team...

At the same time, at level 5, the wolves looked at Wako. They all started walking towards him in order to attack him. However, a few seconds after they started walking at his direction, they stopped. Then, a loud growl was heard and a giant wolf, with double the size of the other wolves appeared in front of them, looking at Wako with an interested look on its face. It seemed like it wanted a battle with him...

Meanwhile, on level 3...

A man walks at a passageway, towards the elevator. He is followed by a person wearing a green boots who seems to be walking fast "Hm... There is no need to rush... We will probably arrive there shortly." the first one says, and the second one stops, afterwards.

And on top of that, in the Tarai Current...

Manolo smiled as he looked at Impel Down from a closer place. Along with the rest of his ships, he was heading towards the prison to take down the pirates... A young man with marine clothes approached him and said
"Sir! We have finally arrived!"
"Good..." Manolo said as he turned his head to look at his subordinates. Then, he turned his head and watched at the Exi Generals who were also on their ships. They were almost ready to attack in Impel Down... Especially Manolo who had to get rid of them to not risk having his plot found out...

Frank was in no condition for a long fight, the wounds in his back hurt like, hell, they WERE gunshots, and the pain shot through his body with each breath he took. Still, he wasn't going to give in to his weaknesses after the long way his crew did. Seeing Miguel fly off, Frank knew what was going to come, his opponent was a ranged fighter, and Frank will have to close the gap.

While Miguel was flying, Frank grabbed his left shoulder and pulled it with might, detaching his left arm with a sickening sound of stitches being ripped.

"I'll tell you how it is possible" Frank said in response to Miguel's question. "The answer is very simple, you couldn't kill me because I AM NOT EVEN ALIVE!" Frank shouted before he began dashing towards Miguel, using the snow as a sliding surface to skate towards him. He then raised his detached arm in front of him, and began spinning it around to shield himself from the bullets. His teeth were grinding tightly as the pain of the bullets hitting his arm reach his body, even though it was detached the pain was still transmitted. "KOGA! QUINCY! GO FIND MAX!" He shouted as he got closer to Miguel. "ZOMBIE BAT!" He shouted as he swung his arm like a bat, trying to knock the gun out of Miguel's hand and stop the stream of bullets from hurting him.

Alexander turned away from the duel and looked for Quincy. He would need the doctor to do something about the wounds on Ellen's body. He spotted Quincy over by Koga. Both the doctor and the turtle seemed to be entranced by the battle. With a sigh, Alexander heaved Ellen up over his shoulder and flew over to Quincy and Koga. He dropped the young woman gently into the snow next to them and then gave Quincy a light rap on the head.

"Hey, 'stars for eyes', get to work," Alexander ordered. "We've got injured." Then, not waiting to see if Quincy heard him, he turned to Koga giving him a rap as well. "And you, like Frank said, shouldn't we be out looking for Maximillion? We're wasting time just standing around here. You know what he looks like so I can take the air and provide back up and give you early warnings on sneak attacks if you go and look into the cells from the ground level."

Miguel laughed as he looked at the zombie that came towards him. Even in his injured state, the Chief Guard of Impel Down would not let himself lose like that to the likes of the Dusk Pirates and especially to Frank who was a mere and pathetic human who was lucky enough to come back to life somehow. Without saying anything at all, he raised his gun once again while the zombie approached him and he disappeared from his previous spot. He reappeared a few steps behind him and started shooting while running in a circular way to attack the zombie from all sides. As he run with his abnormally extreme speed, a circle of bullets came towards Frank that was closing in an extremely fast rate and would cause him quite some damage if it hit him. Upon forming the bullet circle, the man stopped and said "Bullet Storm..." while waiting to see the effects of his move. Would it be successful or not? And what would Frank do if the move was not successful?

Meanwhile, upon listening to his comrades' words, Koga decided to finally make his move and go with the plan. His comrades encouraged him to run and save Maximillion. If he did it, he could prove himself to be useful and he would finally do something in this whole battle. However, in order to do so, he would have to be strong enough to reach the cell in which Maximillion was kept... And there was no way for that to happen if he did not turn into his Turtle Fishman form. The last time he used the Turtle Fishman technique, he noticed something strange. He got three fingers on his hands and thanks to the SIQ Quincy gave to him, he was much bigger and stronger than he should normally be. His shell was also bigger and seemed to be more helpful in attacks. Everything was so strange...

Knowing that he had no other choice if he wanted to save Maximillion, Koga started screaming as he used the technique. The turtle screamed loudly, making everyone in the level hear him. As he screamed, his muscles started getting bigger and bigger while his fingers started taking human form. His head was taking human shape. His body was turning into muscular and a strange yellow liquid came out, that never came out of his body before. As soon as he was done, he took a few deep breaths and looked at his hands. Apparently, he was fine... For a moment he thought that he would be killed. Something strange was going on, though. Koga could not feel his power getting lost. The other times he used this technique, he could feel his power decreasing, but this time his power was steady... He tried to figure out why he felt like that in the begining. He turned towards Quincy. He had seen the man transforming due to the medicines he took... Could that be? Could his exposion to the SIQ and the IQ he normally had alter his genes to the point that they turned to that of a fishman? He did not know at all. He tried to find an answer but he could not. The only thing that came to his mind was the option of having his genes altered... After all, under normal circumstances Koga should not be able to talk either but thanks to the IQ that he ate, his brain developed to the point that he could think and speak like a human. However, he would not care about this strange event, for the moment. He had to save Maximillion. As soon as he was done with saving him, he would ask Quincy what happened to get an answer...

Without losing any time, he turned his head towards Quincy and Alexander. Then, he looked towards the unconscious Ellen and Wako who was standing on the top of a building. Seconds later, he turned his head towards Frank who was taking on Miguel. And finally, he turned his head towards the stairs that were being guarded by Manta and the rest of the crew. Koga was glad that he was in a crew with people like these... Now, it was his time to help them and prove that he was not the worthless person of the crew. It was about time to show them what he could really do.

As the ground was frozen, he realized that he could slide with his shell easily to move faster around the floor. The turtle grabbed his shell and threw it on the ground. Afterwards, he kicked it with much strength, making it slide very fast, and jumped on it, moving with it. With great speeds, he slided around the level and started looking at the cells around him... But little did he know that there was another person in the prison that could mean very big trouble for him...

In another place at the level, a minute ago...

"Fishman... Shriker Gatroid... You are so unlucky to meet me... As the Vice-Warden of the prison, I cannot let you free Maximillion Maimou. It's my duty you see..." a man with butler clothes said to Shrieker, who was staying at a place, surrounded by black goo. However, before he attacked him, he listened to a scream. Realising that the rest of the Dusk Pirates were nearby, Jack Yomi, the Vice-Warden decided to head towards them and put an end to them before it would be too late...

And so, while Koga was sliding... As he slided with his shell, his shell started sinking on the frozen ground, along with him. "What the..." Koga said, as he grabbed his shell and jumped away, only to see that he was approached by a dark goo and a man with strange, butler clothes. "Who are you?" Koga said with a surprised face and the man replied "Well, well... I should ask that to you... For coming to my prison...". A dangerous encounter had just taken place! What would happen next?

And one minute ago, at Maximillion's cell...

"Mercury... I have great news..." Maximillion said with an evil look on his face. "Soon enough, our friends are coming... And when they come over here, we will be free and ready to do as we wish! Hmphmphmphmphmphmph!"

Gabriel hung his head and whined. He wanted to play NOW. He looked over at the man.

"Then who do I play with?" he asked

Alexander nodded to Quincy and then took to the air, flying after Koga. He made sure to keep his eyes open, scanning the area repeatedly for any sign of an enemy. It was unfortunate that he somehow missed the Vice Warden until it was too late to warn his ally.

Alexander stayed where he was, deciding it was best to simply observe for the moment. If he was needed, he could easily drop in and help out. This would be doubly useful if he could turn it into a surprise attack. And so to make sure he didn't ruin the surprise, Alexander switched to his leathery bat wings, pulling the other wings back into his body. Now, as he flew high above Koga and the Vice Warden, he no longer made any sound when he flapped his wings. The Vice Warden would have already had to have seen him to know he was here.

As Alexander was flying, something fell on him. Despite the fact that what dropped on him did not cause any damage at all, it was enough to cause a sound to make Jack to hear him. Upon listening to this, he raised his head and looked towards Alexander with an interested face. He said with a serious voice "Well, well... Do you really think I have been unprepared... Alexander D. Remmington?". Then, he raised his hand upwards and showed the top of the floor. There was a bog on the top of the building and drops of it were falling on the ground, like a rain of swamp. "The closed building of Impel Down is something more than helpful to me... I can set up the powers of my Numa-Numa no Mi on anything and swallow anybody inside my bottomless bogs. That is why I am the Vice-Warden of this prison...". Then, the man pointed towards Koga. He raised his hand and opened his fingers widely. He said "Swamp Ball!" as he launched a tiny boggy ball towards Koga in an attempt to surround his body and sufficate him it. Another battle had just started! Who would emerge victorious?

Quincy rushed off to help Ellen who had passed out in the middle of battle. The pills he had given her must have worn out. Quincy grabbed her and took her to a safe place to begin surgery. He opened her mouth, and began doing CPR to make sure that she was breathing. He checked on her heatbeat to make sure she was alive. He could hear her heartbeat meaning she was breathing and still alive. Quincy just performed mouth to mouth for nothing. He turned red when learning he taken advantage of young girl like that "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Unfortunately Ellen need to rest and nothing Quincy had could give her to restore her energy. An energy pill would be too risky. Quincy would just have to protect her until she woken up.

Wako noticed a giant wolf behind him, his smile grew larger as he noticed its obvious superiority to the other wolves. He immediately got on his knees and looked to the heavens, an imaginary light soon hit him from the skies/ceiling. "Thank you God, I had my doubts but you always make me happy.. Amen." Wako stood on his two feet and looked up at the Big wolf. "In the name of the Dusk Pirates *coughandmyfuncough* I will kick your ass!!... although I don't mean that in the literal term." Wako still had his blades on his shoes, a foot of distance each. He quickly held his cards ready, prepared to fight the wolf if it attacked him.

"NOW LETS HAVE SOME FUN!!! HAHAHAA!!!"

"Seems he is not as much of an idiot as I originally took him for," Alexander commented, looking up at the ceiling.

He glanced down just in time to see the swamp ball. He knew he couldn't move fast enough to block it. Not with the wings he was using. So, because there was nothing else he could do, he took that moment to switch back to his white, speed wings and hoped that Koga would not be hit.

Seeing the Swamp Ball moving towards him, the turtle jumped out of the way at the last second, dodging the attack successfully. However, he would not be lucky enough the next time. That time was definitely powerful... Jack's Numa Numa no Mi abilities were something that was extremely dangerous, especially in a closed building as there would not be many places to run.

As he noticed this, Koga decided to play his trump card. He would let Alexander battle the Vice-Guard while himself would be freeing Maximillion from his cell. Without wasting any time, the turtle said to his comrade "Hold him back, Alexander, until I free Maximillion! I won't miss the chance!" and he started running towards the cells that could be seen in the distance... He was going to search for his captain and free him.

Meanwhile, at Wako's place... The white wolf continued walking slowly towards his enemy. Then, it raised its front right leg and in an attempt to damage the clown-looking pirate, it tried to cut him down with the claws of the leg... Would the attack work or not? The wolf would find out soon!

Frank was shocked when he notices how fast Miguel was. Seeing him disappear and dodge his attack, the zombie knew that bad news were rushing at him. He ducked low just when Miguel began shooting his bullets from all sides. Thanks to his low position, Frank was able to dodge the ring of bullets that passed above him.

'This guy is too fast for me...' Frank thought to himself, 'But I did manage to hit him with the help of the element of surprise...' the zombie remembered. He shot his hands into the thick snow, and pushed them aside to cause a pile of snow to jump up and cover him. When the snow landed back on the floor, Frank was already well under it, tunneling through the thick layer of snow on the floor of the 5th level. Digging in the snow was much easier than digging through solid ground and it was easier for Frank to sense Miguel's feet from under the snow. From his new cover, Frank was planing his next surprise.

Miguel smiled as he looked at the surprised face of his enemy, who could not believe that the man possessed such unbelievable speed. He believed that he had a psychological advantage over his enemy and he would take the chance to defeat him. Without wasting any time, after Frank dodged the bullets, he started shooting towards him quickly. However, he was surprised to see Frank disappeared below a pile of snow. Who knew where he had gone... "Where the heck is he?!" Miguel shouted while he was searching for the zombie to attack him. "COME OUT AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" he shouted.

Meanwhile, at level 4...

Manta looked at the boy. Gabriel seemed to be sad because he could not "play" with the guards. However, Manta could not do anything at all, as there were no more guards left around the floor... At least, that was what he thought. After all, since they entered the building, the crew eliminated many guards and injured much more. There should be a few of them standing...

And on top of that, outside of Impel Down...

In no time, the marine ships of the Exi-Generals were docking! Manolo, prepared for everything, set his foot on the place and then he looked at the prison. "Impel Down... This place... Hmph..." he said and he started walking slowly towards the prison's entrance, with the rest of the marine soldiers that came with him. Manolo had finally arrived!

"Sure..." Alexander muttered. "I can do that." With a flap of his wings he flew down so that he was hovering just above the ground in front of the Vice Warden. He held out his katana with its point aimed at the Vice Warden's chest and, after a huge yawn, pronounced, "I'm going to...eh, I've given this speech so many times today it has lost its touch. So let's just do things like this: I'll stand here and protect Koga's back and you can do whatever you want since I honestly don't care."

Wako was surprised to see the wolf walk towards him, he was expecting for the wolf to hug him at the rate he was going. In his mind attacks are fast, not in a slow manner. It took him by complete surprise when the wolf raised its paw and threw it downwards aiming at Wakos entire body, the slash could kill him if it hit. Wako took out his front leg attempting to Block the attack, but once the paw hit his leg the Impact from it sent him downwards, cracking the floor under him and sending him to the room underneath him, Wako got up after landing on the floor, smoke covering the room he fell in, unable to see his surroundings or the room he was in now. "Things just keep getting more and more interesting... HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!" taking a spare beer bottle from the guard he stole it form he took a continuous sip until the entire bottle was empty. He then waited for the wolf to enter the room, "This might be the perfect chance to do something EXTRA fun!"

As Quincy tried to treat Ellen, the female shipwright stired for a moment and barerly managed to eve open her eyes to a slight gap, her vision blured entirely. She attempted get up and but realised she couldn't let alone open her eyes properly, and merely murmered; "Leg was shot. Need to get back up. Want to blow uo that prick.", before drifitng back into unconciousness once more, still struggling to bring back enough energy.

As the wolf noticed its prey falling inside the room, it did not miss the chance. It jumped below and entered the room, looking at the enemy who was holding a beer on his hand. Now, a battle between the two of them would take place... The strongest of the level 5 beasts was about to fight Wako of the Dusk Pirates... And without doubt, that battle would be an epic one! Who would emerge victorious?! The wolf or the clown?

Meanwhile, Jack looked at the turtle, who was leaving in order to go and get Maximillion out of his cell. He could not let him go. However, he also knew that if he started chasing him, he would leave an opening for his enemy to attack him. He had to trap Alexander in his swamp quickly, before heading towards the turtle. And so, as he had that in his mind, he said to the man who was claiming that he would protect Koga "Hmph... You may try and protect him... You have to know that the people you got through before were nothing compared to me. Swamp Rain!". Then, he raised his hand and shot a ball of swamp on the sky above. The ball soon turned into small drops and started falling towards Alexander. The ball would not cause much damage at all. However, it would be enough to coat Alexander's body with it and make his movements very very slower...

And a spot nearby... Koga was moving towards the cells... He was approaching the cells as fast as possible in order to free his captain... He was determined to do it, no matter what. He was with him for a long time, after all...

And in the cells nearby... Maximillion looked at a figure that was coming towards him. That figure was not somebody he had seen before. The body was strange. Even if his movements ressembled these of Koga's, the turtle was normally much smaller and didn't have a human's body. No matter if he couldn't understand who that person was, though, the way he moved made him realise one thing: He was coming there to save him, otherwise, he wouldn't be running away from Jack.

"Get ready Mercury... In one minute from now on, we will be out!"
"Huh?! What are you saying? TAKE US WITH YOU!" the prisoners said, as they looked at the man who was claiming to be going out.
"There is no way I will take idiots like you with me."
"What did you say? You bastard... Get us out, or we are killing you at the first chance.
"I will only take Mercury with me and that is final. If you have any complains, then I would be glad to hear them after I get out... Hmphmphmphmphmphmph!"
"YOU BASTARD! JUST WAIT FOR US TO GET OUT!"
"S-Sir... Do you really want to take me with you? Do you really want somebody weak like me in your crew?"
"Do not worry, my friend... Your armor is going to come with us, too..."

Miguel's shouts weren't acting in his favor, they just allowed Frank to sense him better. After positioning himself under the feet of the guard, Frank prepared for his attack. He knew that his body wasn't going to last through much more of this, and he needed to make sure whatever attack he'll land next will hit. "Yomi Yomi No Astral" He whispered and closed his eyes. At that moment, a weird cloud-like object shot out of his chest. The object traveled through the snow and into Miguel's shoes.

After possessing the shoes, Frank, who was in his soul form, began his dirty trick. He tried to tie Miguel's shoes with each other by the laces, stopping him from making his speedy dodges. If it would work, Frank's fight will become much easier to win.

Quincy immediately began treating Ellen's leg. He took out his medical kit pouring alcohol on his medical tools in order to sterilize them. He injected Ellen with an sedative in order to keep her from moving in this delicate procedure. Quincy slowy put his pincers inside Ellen's leg gently pulling out the bullet.

Alexander wasn't sure what Jack was doing. Nor did he fully understand what the man's powers were. However, he could guess and what he thought it might be was not pleasant. He also knew that in his current condition he wouldn't be able to fight for a very long time. Not only were his injuries severe to the point that he could not properly use either of his legs and one of his arms, but he had lost a lot of blood and could feel the weight of all his fights crashing down on him. So he took the initiative.

Flapping his wings, Alexander zipped forward so that he was going straight at Jack. Flying into close range wasn't all of Alexander's strategy, however. He also turned himself so that his body was now vertical. Then he spun, holding out his katana in front of him to cut anything or anyone that came into range.

"Windmill Scythe!"

This was the attack he had previously used at the top of the stairs which led to level five. This time he was using it so that if any of the swamp droplets came towards him, the wind currents from his rapidly spinning body would blow them away. He was also doing it so that is sword would be ready to cut or block any more projectile attacks from Jack.

As Frank moved in order to possess his shoes, Miguel was surprised. He was not only surprised because the zombie turned into a ghost-like form and started leaving his body, but because he could not understand why he was doing that. He tried to dodge by running away, but at the last second, the ghost entered his shoes and started possessing them, making it difficult for him to move. "Damn it..." the man said as he noticed what the zombie was doing. Frank could have an advantage with this technique, now... Who knew what would happen next. Would the man defeat the zombie or would the zombie defeat the man? The battle was so intense and yet nothing had been seen...

Meanwhile, Jack looked at Alexander as he blocked his Swamp Rain attack. He was surprised to see somebody blocking his swamp techniques. Even if some of the people he battled and defeat in his life were at Alexander's calliber, that man was something else. He knew exactly what to do for every attack. It was extremely difficult to outsmart him. He would be a pain in the ass to defeat, especially now that Jack had to rush things so that Koga would not free Maximillion. "Hmph... Swamp Crush!" were the words of the Vice-Warden who launched a ball of swamp. However, this time the ball was different... The ball of swamp was getting dismantled as it moved in the air and it slowly revealed a huge building that Jack had absorbed with his swamp once before. "I don't like using this technique... But I have to end it fast..." he said as he looked at the building that was moving towards his enemy. How would Alexander deal with this?

[Flashback 1]

As Jack looks at the building that moved towards Alexander in order to crush him, he started remembering how he absorbed this with his Devil Fruit... And how he swore to himself that he would never allow anyone to attack Impel Down...

For long, the man was working in the prison. He was doing his level 5, duties as usual. Even if the place around him was cold, he was feeling okay. Just by thinking that he was protecting the world by dealing with these dangerous prisoners, the fact that he lived in an underwater basement did not make him care at all. Also, he used to have his friends there... The man was in good terms with Quatro, a man who was in level 2 and was responsible for the beasts, Miguel "The Immortal" the former Warden before Lucifer took over, who was now working as a Chief Guard, Kageroza Lecter, a man who also grew up in the prison almost at the same time as him and was just six years older than him, and the Thorn Princess... He was also in good terms with all the Vice-Guards and the Guards, including Lion "The Brute" and Draculo "The Tenth" as well as Kazuma... However, everything was about to change...
One day...
"What is it, father? What do you want me to do?"
"Don't call me father when we are working! I am the Warden at work!"
"Whatever... What is it... Warden?"
"I am watching you working so hard... And so I decided to send you on vacation."
"Really? Thank you very much! But who is going to do my duties?"
"Well... Do not worry about it... It's not like the prison will get attack while you are absent! Kahahahahahahaha!"
"Right..."

[Flashback 1 ends]

Wako could barely see the figure that was the wolf coming down from the roof, in this closed environment Wako could use all his abilities and his crew mates would never know which ones were used. Wako took out a bunch of poker cards, and threw them at his opponent, each card had the edges as sharp as a blade, and had very great accuracy when it came to being thrown. The cards were aimed right at the giant Wolf in front of him, Wako was actually feeling his adrenaline rush move throughout his body, this Wolf was making Wako actually have 'fun'.

"HAHAHA!! lets see you dodge my poker skills!!" one clue you had that Wako was having fun, was his obsessive puns and laughing. If the fight was too much for Wako he would be forced to use his strongest technique, one which he only uses for his 'funnest' opponents. Wako was hoping the wolf would live to the potential.

"HAHAHA!! I hope you understand why I have to kill you, to prove I am good enough for these freaks of nature. " Wako pointed to the outside, he meant to point at the freaks in the dusk pirates on the other side of the wall, he still considered himself normal... when he was obviously someone that belonged in a crew filled with freaks. (normally people would sneeze when someone talks behind their backs lol)

Alexander came to a halt. There was no point in continuing his attack and cutting down Jack if he was just going to get crushed by a building. Of course, he wasn't even sure he could reach Jack now in the first place. Though there might be one way to do it. It would take a lot of strength and strength was Alexander's specialty. If only he wasn't so tired. He didn't know how much more he could...

No time to think about it. Alexander pulled back his sword to his side, the building coming closer and closer.

"Ittoryu: Aerial Slice..."

Alexander performed one last flap of his wings. It was his strongest flap to date. His body disappeared in a virtual cloud of white feathers. A moment later, Alexander reappeared on the other side of the building, his sword now at his other side. The building quivered just before if separated into two.

"How do you...like that?" Alexander panted. "...I..." The blade of the katana he was holding shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Alexander looked at it, appearing to be mildly surprised. "Oh...that's funny..."

With that, his wings folded behind him and he plummeted face-first towards the ground. He slammed into the floor, having passed out from sheer exhaustion.