Serious: The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 5: As quiet as a fuss (Open to the Dusk Pirates, THIS IS A VACATION THREAD AND A PLOT MOVING THREAD)

It had been a few days after the events of Impel Down. Maximillion was freed and the Dusk Pirates were not only reunited but they were also increased in numbers. During the attack in the underwater prison, several people were freed and joined the rising crew of the rookie pirate, making it a great force. And not only that, but also the crew obtained two other things: The first one was the weapon of Lecter, the Chief Guard that Maximillion defeated in the end before escaping, and the other one was Anty, a great warship that absorbed a Devil Fruit to turn into an ant. With that weapon under his possession, Maximillion was pretty sure that he could destroy anything he wanted.

However, at that time he did not want to... His crew was pretty tired and everyone needed some rest. He would let them have a vacation for quite a while so that they would rest and had their powers restored, before the crew would make its next move. Maximillion had something in his mind... He did not want to reveal it, though at that time. Before he would let them have their break, though, Maximillion gathered the whole crew on Happy Dusky and while they were sailing he started explaining while he got everyone there. He spoke his words

"Well, well... With the new members of the crew, we are way too many to be on a ship. As a result, I have split you in divisions...". Then, he looked at the sun above him that was shining and smiled. He continued saying "Listen carefully... I am going to annouce who goes to each division. Firstly, in the First Division of the crew, I shall be the commander and the other members will be Frank, Quincy, Alexander and Wako.".

Upon listening to that, Koga looked towards the captain with an irritated yet funny face. He said "Wh-What?! You kicked me out of your division? How dare you, Maximillion?!". However, Maximillion did not even bother answering. Instead, he looked at Koga with a face that showed that if he continued he would be punished and so the human looking turtle stopped talking. "Sorry." he said, before letting Maximillion continue.

"Now, the Second Division... My brother, Manta, is going to command it... The members will be Ellen, Shrieker and Zetamor. Now, for the third, Koga is going to command you. R.A.M. 2, Gabriel and Dio will be there. In the Fifth Division, because of the nature of his power, Mercury is going to be the commander and there are never going to be any members there... Oh, and I forgot about the Fourth Division. The rest of you are going to be there. Now, as for your ships, do not worry... We will get a few of them soon... We are not lurking here for no reason." Maximillion completed saying, before he walked towards his room in order to have some rest.

As soon as Koga listened to his captain saying that he was going to be the captain of the Third Division, he jumped because of how much happy he was. That was great! He never expected Maximillion to trust him that much, especially now that he started acting like his former self. "Congratulations." R.A.M. 2 said to him with a message that appeared on the tiny screen on his forehead, while Koga hugged him because he was extremely happy. Then, the turtle moved towards Ellen. He smiled at her and said "Do you like me now that I am a commander? Hm?" and waited for an answer... That turtle was perverted for sure...

Meanwhile, Manta looked downwards. He was sent to another division instead of being with Maximillion? That hurt him very much, especially because he thought that Maximillion did not trust him. However, these thoughts quickly got out of his mind as he realised that he in fact placed him in another division in order to rule it like Maximillion would. After all, during Maximillion's absence, Manta was the temporary captain of the crew.

Finally, Mercury did not say a word. He kept his mouth closed, under his strange armor and he turned back towards the sea along with two soldiers that were walking with him in order to enjoy the view. "That man... Why does he trust me that much?" the Dark King wondered, while staring at the infinite sea...

A small speck appeared off on the horizon, moving slowly towards the Dusk pirates. It was Alexander, flying along casually in his speed form. The two pairs white wings that protruded from his back flapped in turn, keeping him aloft and moving him at a faster rate than using two would have. He had just come back from a short side trip. One had been more successful than he had ever hoped. In fact, it had been so successful that his date of departure from the crew had just been moved up.

Alexander had taken his ship with him on this side trip and he could have been using it to sail back, but instead he had chosen to fly. This was because his ship is much slower than he is and knowing the Dusks, he could very well need all the speed he had once he announced his intentions to leave. In reality he could have just stayed away from them, but he wasn't one to just run off without saying goodbye. Besides, if there was trouble to be had over him leaving, it was better to just get it over with so they could all move on with their lives.

Alexander was dressed as he had been before: A dark blue shirt, jeans, a belt across his waist and another across his chest, and a light blue scarf trailing behind him. There was just one difference. In place of the Silent Hunter, which was the katana he had brought with him to Impel Down and lost, and the katana he had taken from that guard, which had been broken, Alexander now carried a broadsword. It was large enough that he did not carry it at his side as he had done with his katanas. Instead he had it around his shoulders. The hilt looked fairly ordinary as far as swords go. It was the sheath that drew attention. The sheath was pure white and had two, large, oval sapphires planted in grooves at the top of the sheath. It alone looked more valuable than the simple gray hilt sticking out of it, but Alexander knew the true worth of the sword he carried.

As Alexander came into range of the Dusk pirate ship, he dropped from the sky and landed on the deck lightly. It looked like Maximillion had called a meeting and Alexander had just missed it. Well, there was no point in just standing around looking at everyone. He stepped forward and raised a hand in greeting.

"Hello everyone," Alexander said in a formal manner. "I have returned, just as I said that I would." He stepped through the crowd before Maximillion and looked over at his soon-to-be-former captain, smiling pleasantly. "Did I miss something, Maximillion?" he asked casually.

"Welcome back." Maximillion said with his unique voice that showed no kinds of emotions, as most of the times. "I was announcing about the divisions... The crew is going to be split in divisions. You shall be in the first division which is led by me.". Then, Maximillion kept walking towards his room. However, while moving, the captain turned his head towards Alexander and took a smile on his face, something that he rarely did. He opened his mouth and spoke some words that were shocking because they came from his mouth. He said "Oh... And one last thing... I am glad to have you back, Alexander. I forgot to thank you before you left, so I am thanking you now. If you need anything do not hesitate to ask me. I doubt it would be a waste of time to do you a favor.". Afterwards, he kept walking towards his room, finally entering in order to have some rest.

Meanwhile, while the captain was entering his cabin, Manta appeared, running towards him. However, before he could reach him, the captain was already inside his room and the sound of the lock getting locked was heard. He had just missed him. "Damn... I missed him..." Manta said with a disappointed look on his face. He looked towards Connie who was sitting on his shoulder and he said "Maybe this is a sign that I should not tell him... Right Connie-chan?" and waited from an answer from the chicken. That man really had schizophrenia...

It was a little annoying to Alexander that Maximillion had just walked away from him and into his room. Of course, he would have no idea that Alexander was planning to say he was leaving, but even so... Regardless, Alexander wasn't Alex, so he did not allow the emotion to reach his face or even bother him all that much. He simply remained calm and smiling.

"Hmmm...so that's the way he is going to be, is it?" Alexander said out loud after the door had locked. "Guess I can't tell him if he isn't out here. Oh well." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up newspaper. "Everyone, take a look at this." He tossed it in a random direction, which just so happened to be right at Frank. Alexander folded his arms across his chest. "It looks like we've got some new Shichibukai. Apparently they've got seven again, so the whole group is filled up. Their ugly mugs even made the front page."

As Manta was thinking all these things, he listened to Alexander's voice. Apparently, he had not seen him when he came and he totally ignored him when he was talking to Maximillion so he was shocked to see him standing nearby. "Did that pixie get back? Chk..." while looking at him throwing the newspaper towards Frank's direction. Surprisingly enough, the man was talking about a few new Shichibukai...

Upon listening to that, Koga, who was trying to flirt with Ellen but received no answer at all, jumped and caught the newspaper right in front of Frank's hands in order to read it by himself. He opened the newspaper with a smile on his face and said "I always read the news!" while he started reading the text. He read

"Breaking news!

According to the World Government and the marines, the seven warlords of the sea have finally been reformed. With Kenjiro Nakamura's acceptance in the group of the seven powerful pirates the world has nothing to fear anymore.
According to an announcement of the marines, the new members of the seven warlords are all extremely powerful. With the new recruits, the new people who will be making the group shall be:
-William E. Waldon, the child with the extreme power and the former bounty of 97,000,000 Beli.
-Gael Iura.
-Namor Oceanus, the captain of the Purple Heart Pirates.
-Shiv "The Devourer" Mistwolf, the pirate with the extremely high bounty of 178,000,000 Beli and the pirate with the highest bounty among the group.
-Youri Mountain, a former member of the Steel Village and a pirate with a former bounty of 79,000,000 Beli.
-Karasu Ammo, a mysterious individual that is rumored to have worked with yonkou Anubis. It is unkown why he was chosen for the position as he had no bounty.
-Kenjiro Nakamura, another former member of Steel Village. He is the captain of the Flame Fist Pirates and had a bounty of 26,150,000.
"With these people at our side, the pirates will no longer be wild!" many marines have said, supporting the idea of the Government to hire pirates to assist them.
It is difficult for us to see if this system will work or not... At least, we can feel happy that the World Government is trying to protect us from the pirates."

"Amazing..." Koga said with a surprised look on his face. "They already seem to have forgot us... They did not even mention anything... WHY?! DON'T WE HAVE A HEART?! DID WE NOT TRY?! WHY?!". "Stop it you idiot!" Manta said while punch Koga at the face in a friendly way, telling him to stop. "Would you prefer to be chased by the marines? No, you would not... So simply stop...". "Whatever." Koga replied and then he gave the newspaper back at Alexander as it belonged to him.

Quincy was preparing his equipment on the deck just in case if anyone had any injuries that needed tending to. He was tired as heck and desperately needed rest, but his duty as doctor drove him to work. Once he heard the maxmillion was dividing the crew into divisions. To make things better he placed him into his division. Quincy could only smile in smug that maximillion trusted him that much. "Looks like I'm not the only one who u have fallen out of favor, Mantra." Then he saw alex dresses especially nice today "what's the occasion, friend?"

When Koga snatched the paper clean off the air, a being of rage awoke behind him. The being took the form of a large figure, sporting a pair of pupil-less eyes and a mouth filled with grinding teeth. The figure raised a thick arm high into the air, towering the deformed turtle and casting a horrific shadow on him, the kind associated with the horror franchise. Just as Koga finished reading the paper out loud, and commenting on what was said in it, the arm was launched at his head, producing a sound that was usually followed by a referee announcing a successful KO.

"WAIT FOR YOUR TURN DAMMIT!" Frank shouted at Koga. "I can read too you know?!" Frank shouted again, although several years have passed since the last time he read anything. "These marines are so ridiculous... When will they learn that hiring pirates for a marine's job is useless? Those idiots in level 4 are a dead proof!" Frank noted, trying to joke about the crew's last and by far greatest adventure.

That last adventure had it's impact on the infamous zombie. The endless amount of urgent stitching and the ridiculous amounts of damage he sustained left new scars on his dead body. It didn't bother Frank too much, for he was unbelievably hideous as it was, but since none of these wound were going to heal, he wasn't too happy about it either. But, it was nice to know that his actions i the break-in bore fruit, and he was assigned to the first division. He will be working directly for Maximillion, and even more importantly, he won't have to tolerate too many new recruits. These facts brought a smile to Frank's face, after he got rid of his rage at Koga.

Koga was lying unconscious because of the punch he received from Frank... That punch, even if it was harmless because it was performed against a friend, made him fall unconscious. That was something good as he would never close his mouth if he stayed awake... Frank had done the right thing and everyone would not listen to the idiotic speeches of the perverted turtle...

Meanwhile, Manta turned his head and looked towards Quincy with a serious look on his face. It was clearly obvious that the doctor of the crew was trying to irritate him at all costs. "What did you say?!" Manta asked with an angry voice, as he grabbed his scythe and pointed towards the white haired doctor. "I am giving you the chance to apologize, otherwise, you will be turned to a chicken!". Manta wanted Quincy to apologize... Apparently, Manta did not have the sense of humour that the cook of the crew had.

And as those things happened, R.A.M. 2 was looking towards everyone with a look on his face that was commenting without any words about their stupid mannerisms...

Alexander frowned as he took the newspaper back. He didn't look angry, though. He was just thinking about what Koga had said. This was about the time that Frank knocked out Koga.

"Perhaps they do not mention us because they do not want to admit their own failures," Alexander spoke softly, even though the turtle could no longer hear him. "No doubt they are embarrassed that their supposed super-prison was taken down by a mere handful of pirates and escaped prisoners. We didn't even try to sneak in either, so they have no excuses." He turned to Quincy, mildly surprised by the man's words. "Occasion...? Whatever do you mean?"

Alexander looked down at himself and back up at Quincy, still confused. He could see nothing different about himself or his clothing. And Alex hadn't snuck a party hat onto his head just before giving him control over their body. Then he remembered his sword.

"Oh, this?" Alexander reached back and took the weapon, sheath and all, off of his back. He held it out in front of him, one hand on the middle of the sheath and the other on the hilt. "It is a little fancy for my tastes, I suppose." He ran the hand that was holding the sheath over one of the sapphires. "But this sheath is extraordinarily durable, so I have left it as is in the hope that it will remain so. Not to mention, my brother would be angry if I changed it. He likes pretty things. No matter." He looked up from his sword and turned his head to see each and every person around him. "I have not returned to discuss my newest blade. I came back...partly because I said I would...and for one other reason." He took his weapon and slipped the strap over his head once more. With Frank raging at Koga and Manta ready to pound Quincy into a pulp, there was only one thing that Alexander could think of that he was pretty sure would grab all of their attention at once. Alexander's face broke out into a wide grin. "You see, I'm resigning from this crew."

Wako had woken-up with a slight head ache, his last encounter had forced him to drink alot of Alcohol.. something he promised himself he would not do anymore for this exact reason, the day after he woke-up in the Dusks ship he was completely helpless, throwing up for 36 hours without being able to rest, the slightest bit of light seemed to make his eyes hurt to the point of passing out, and worse yet his headaches were actually Migranes that would send an average man to the hospital (that was without the light). Wako stayed in this condition for a few days, and today it seemed he was able to leave his room. Walking out of the bathroom (It's still a room cuz it says so in the name to him xD) Wako moved towards the ship that Maximillion wanted everyone in and listened to his speech. Wako seemed perfectly healthy now except for the headaches he still has.

Wako waited till Maximillion went inside his room, since he was almost scared of the weird man. He moves towards the only normal looking person in this fiasco, a man that had a pet chicken - How crazy can a guy with a chicken be? - it was only when Wako got near that he realized manta was TALKING to the chicken. Wakos face turned pale as he ran back to the corner. "Welp, I guess being part of a crew with freaks of Nature makes me the normal member in the group hehehe!! Beware my title!!" Wako made a quick belt that seemed like the kind you'd see around wrestlers waists, on the Big belt buckle the only design that put was the word 'NORMAL' in big letters. "HAHA!! this belt shall also signify my Sober pledge!!!!"

When Wako saw a newspaper fall from a bird and land on Koga Wako ran and popped his head behind Kogas, reading what he was reading. "Hmm.. with the seven warlords chosen we might have a bit of a problem.. I'll have to make sure to stay close to you guys from now on to protect myse-... I mean you guys." Wako took a colorful string and laid it on Kogas head. "There, now you are protected... that'll be 30,000,000 belli!" Wako put another colorful string on Franks head and expected an equal amount of payment, he decided to skip Alex since all of the normal looking ones seemed to be the ones with mental disorders of some sort... and not the good kind that make you mentally retarded. (Wako thought of it as 'the good kind' because it beats having mentally insane.)

As soon as Alexander spoke his words, everyone who happened to be around froze and did not say a thing. R.A.M. 2 stayed at his position and did not move an inch, Manta stopped talking to Quincy and did not move an inch as well and Mercury, who was standing at a corner with his two soldiers was looking in order to see where Alexander would bring the speech. The others did not seem to be speaking as well... There was absolute silence... The fuss had stopped in an instant and only the seagulls could be heard.

However, a few seconds later somebody was going to break that silence state... "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Koga said while getting up and dropping the colourful string that Wako placed at him on the floor, breaking the silence, stopping playing the unconscious guy and looking towards Alexander with eyes that were pleading him to stay at the crew. "Did something happen? Why do you want to leave? Did I do anything to you? I promise, I will stop being that annoying if you stay, I swear!" he continued saying and tears started coming from his face. "We are friends... Are we not?" he finally said, before he waited for an answer from Alexander.

On the other side, Manta stopped waiting for an answer from Quincy. These news were nothing more than something that he enjoyed with all his heart. Because he was happy, he decided to not try and punish the man... He would give him a chance because it was a good day. "You are lucky that I changed my mind because I am happy today." Manta said while placing his scythe back at his back. "So... What made you think of this, Alexander?" Manta asked him, as well, ignoring Koga's question.

Seeing his comrades making so many questions, R.A.M. 2 decided to not speak a word. He just stood there and waited to see what Alexander would say... He wanted to know why he would leave, too, and so he would let him explain before asking him why...

Frank was frozen just like all the others, that is until Koga broke it. He was shocked enough to not pay attention to Wako's string, that would have rewarded the clown with a punch in any other occasion. 'Why would anyone quit a crew that powerful?' Frank wondered as he listened to Koga's words. He kept quiet until he heard Koga's promise. The moment he heard it, Frank shot out of his seat and rushed all the way towards Alex, before kneeling on his knees and bursting into tears.

"PLEASE STAY! You have the power to shut this damn thing up!" Frank pleaded. For the first time in the history of the world, it appeared that something was strong enough to make Koga can it. "PLEASE STAY" Frank repeated as he assumed a praying position.

"Friends?" Alexander repeated. "I do not make friends. That would be my brother. And, like me, he has agreed that this is for the best." He glanced at Manta. "It was my intention to leave this crew right from the very start. Waster of lives, perhaps with your tiny mind you cannot comprehend a dream, but for a long time it has been my dream to become a Shichibukai." His smile slid from his features, changing to a frown. "I had hoped to take my place among their ranks before they became seven, but it matters not. I will just have to take that position from one of them." He looked over at Frank and rolled his eyes. "Get up off of your knees. It does not behoove you to beg like this. My mind cannot be changed at this point." He reached up and tapped the hilt of his broadsword. "Becoming a Shichibukai is also the reason for my little trip I have taken. To find this. And so now I have the power to accomplish my goal."

Quincy was about to throw a chemical ball into mantra's face but then Alex's breaking news stopped him. "We are nakama. Aren't we why would you leave us after all we went through in Impel down?" Quincy hugged Alex in an attempt to force him to stay "we don't want you to go!" With the seven warlords now together and the government on their tail they needed Alex. He was of their most precious crewmates.

"Hm? What do you mean? Your trip to find this?" Manta said with a serious look on his face, while pointing towards Alexander with his scythe. "Listen pirate... You are nothing compared to me... For quite long, I let you go, thinking that you were here to serve my brother. I do not care for you at all, I do not care whether you live or die, I do not care no matter what you do... But one thing is for certain... Your dream does not stand a chance compared to OUR dreams! You want to serve that pathetic Government... You want to betray my brother... You want to betray ME! Do you think that I will let you go like that?" he continued saying, eager to challenge Alexander to a battle.

"Stop this!" Koga said to Manta with an angry look on his face, being serious for one of the few times in his life. "Alexander is a friend of us and has only helped us! You cannot do that!". "Shut up." Manta responded, before using his Chicken Beam towards Koga, turning the turtle into a chicken. Koga stared at him in his chicken form and started trembling in fear about how determined Manta was to take things far... Then, he did the same with Quincy and Frank who were pleading the "traitor" to stay... He launched his chicken beam and attempted to turn them to chickens... Frank was turned into an undead chicken because he was a zombie already and Quincy to a normal chicken...

Seeing what Manta did, nobody else said anything. They would just wait and see what Alexander's answer would be. If Alexander accepted the challenge, they would interefere as well...

Alexander didn't move to return the hug. His face was set in a neutral position. This hug...it meant nothing to him. None of these people meant anything. At one time he would have fought to protect them. Perhaps he might have even taken a chance and ended up dying for them. Not anymore. His dream was all that mattered to him. It was all that ever had mattered to him.

Inside their collective mind, Alexander could hear Alex sniffing. He sounded like he was going to cry. That was why Alexander had been the one to face them. His brother simply couldn't handle it.

Then Manta spoke. Alexander listened, and at first, he made no reply. But then:

"Maybe you're right," he admitted. "Becoming a Shichibukai does not quite compare with being a Yonkou. But my dream is not made void by yours..." For the first time his eyes hardened. "...and I will not allow you to crush it."

Then, quite suddenly, Frank, Koga, and Quincy were turned into chickens. Alexander was surprised, but not much. He already knew that Manta held no value in others.

Alexander sighed. "You poor, stupid man. Even if you succeed and kill me, your own crewmates will be after your head from this point forward. Not to mention that no one will trust you ever again."

"Hm? Do you really think that they will not trust me? Chkchkchkchkchkchkchkchkchkchkchk! Let me laugh!" was the answer of Manta to the pirate, who was saying that he would not allow Maximillion's dream to crush his.

"Who said that our dream is simply centered around becoming a yonkou? Maximillion... AND ME shall take over... THE WORLD..." Manta replied with his eyes hardened in a same way as Alexander's and with a wide smile on his face that showed his madness completely.

"As for not being trusted... I have an answer for you, Alexander... NOBODY EVER TRUSTED ME IN MY LIFE. NOBODY EVER CARED FOR ME IN MY LIFE. ONLY MAXIMILLION HELPED ME... ONLY HIM... AND THAT IS WHY I DEVOTED MY LIFE TO HIM AND HIS GOAL, SO ANYBODY WHO IS GOING TO BETRAY HIM IS COMMITING BETRAYAL AGAINST ME AS WELL! YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Manta finally said, before preparing his scythe for a battle against the pirate that decided to leave the crew.

R.A.M. 2 was going to intefere and before he did so, he was turned into a chicken, much to the surprise of everyone...

"Interesting...trying to take over the world..." Alexander murmured. He shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me what you want. So long as you are not in my way." He promptly turned and walked towards the edge of the ship. His wings straightened up in preparation to start flapping. "Oh, and one last thing," Alexander said. "Do not take me for a fool or you will understand exactly why I have decided to risk returning to this place..."

"Oh really?! I don't care why you risked returning here... FOOL!" Manta said with an evil look on his face as he prepared himself to go with an attack against the man that was ready to fly away. With an angry look on his face, because he thought himself to be betrayed, Manta pointed towards Alexander with his powerful scythe and he launched a chicken beam against him in an attempt to turn him into a chicken and make Alexander be at the mercy of the cook of the Dusk Pirates.

"DIE!" Manta shouted angrily and waited to see whether Alexander would be turned into a chicken from his chicken beam or not. He would find out soon... Very soon...

"That fool..." was all Alexander thought.

He turned and in the same motion reached up and grasped his sword by the hilt. As the beam came into range, it almost seemed to slow down in front of Alexander's sensitive eyes. He waited...waited...waited...now. At the last possible second, Alexander drew his sword and cut through the beam with it. The moment the blade met the beam, the beam simply vanished. It was such a smooth maneuver that had Alexander's former swordmaster seen it, he would have cried with joy.

With a flap of his wings, Alexander was gone, momentarily moving too fast to be seen. He reappeared behind Manta and he swung his sword at the chickenman, but this was not done to cut him. As Alexander's sword cleaved through the air, it unleashed the chicken beam it had struck moments before and the beam shot towards Manta's back.

"Huh? My... Beam?" Manta said with a worried face, as he looked at the swordsman launching the chicken beam back at Manta in order to turn him into a chicken. However, Manta knew how to deal with the chicken beam. After all, that was created by him. Hopefully for him, he had a technique in his arsenal that allowed him to coat the blade of his scythe with the chicken energy. If he managed to synchronize the moment he coated the weapon with his energy with the moment the chicken beam would hit him, he could amplify the power of Alexander' Chicken Beam and use it against him.

"Chicken Hunter Mode!" Manta said as he moved his scythe towards the beam and chicken energy appeared around it, fusing with the energy that Alexander launched against Manta. Manta was safe from his Chicken Beam... For now. Then, with a smile on his face, he jumped towards his enemy and attempted to strike him with the weapon. At that point, anything that the scythe would hit would instantly be turned into a chicken... The last technique that Manta used was one of his deadliest techniques.

"Hmmm...I was hoping for an easy victory," Alexander said. "Ah well."

Alexander spun, his body blurring as he built up momentum and struck his blade against Manta's to stop it. Suddenly, the glow vanished from Manta's weapon and reappeared around Alexander's. The winged man smiled, but this time it was not the fake playful smile he had used earlier. This one was far crueler then that one. It was like the former persona of Alexander had quite suddenly slipped away.

"Don't you get it yet?" he hissed. "My sword has absorbed the Enerugi-Enerugi no mi. With this I can absorb the power of your beams and turn them against you..."

Alexander hopped back a couple of feet and then vanished once more with a flap of his wings. He was using his full speed to dash towards Manta, swinging his sword to try and cut the chicken man with his now beam-infused sword.

"Aerial Slash!"

As Alexander attempted to slash Manta down with his powerful sword that was now echanced in a similar way his scythe would be in the Chicken Hunter Mode, Manta used his Shockwave Rush technique to move with Soru speeds and barely dodge the powerful attack of Alexander at the last second. Manta was completely surprised. Why would the man leave to get a sword and come back to the crew to announce that he was going to leave... Why...

"Could it be?" Manta thought."That bastard... He-He went to get this weapon in order to use it against me and eliminate me! He has manipulated me into battling him and I did not even notice!" was his thought, before he prepared himself to go with an attack. He grabbed his scythe with both hands and with a serious look on his face, he said while swinging it "Air Blade!" as he launched an air blade against Alexander in an attempt to cut him down... Would the attack work or not?

Alexander didn't hesitate. As the air blade was launched at him, he rushed towards it. When he came into range of the attack, he swung his sword at it, chopping it in half and managing to disperse most of the attack. However, parts of it still remained and cut into his sides, letting out some blood which spilled towards the deck. Despite this, Alexander's purpose for doing this was accomplished. By charging headfirst into air blade, he gained a split second more than he would have otherwise had to counterattack.

He used to this second to thrust his sword towards Manta's chest. If he could just cut him a little bit, he would have him.

"Damn!" Manta thought and took a worried face as the chicken beam echanced sword was going to hit him. In a desperate attempt to protect himself from his weapon's own power, Manta blocked the slash attack with his scythe. However, his eyes widened as he noticed that from such a close distance, Alexander could release the energy and turn him into a chicken instantly. "NO!" he thought.

However, when he was out of luck, Maximillion got out of his cabin. The captain had listened to the fuss and so he went to see what was going on. He looked at Alexander's sword and Manta's scythe clashing and he said "Please, stop it... You do not let me have my sleep... Manta, stop it already... And Alexander, please, let him be... He will not chase you. You are free to go.". Maximillion was there to ensure that Manta would not do anything to Alexander...