Serious; The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 11; End? (Open to the Dusk Pirates and allies)

It had been two weeks after the attack of the Unknown Pirates. Thanks to Quincy, all of the people who took part in the battle against the commanders and the bosses of the Unknown Pirates would be healed. Everybody looked like they were okay and the Dusk Pirates would continue their work on the island. The first week, the members of the crew would rebuild the place that was destroyed, while the second day they would expand the basement. The latest battle with the enemy forces changed the landscape of the island significantly and the basement was expanded. A second, underground basement would be created at the bottom of the pit that was formed during the battle against the Unknown Pirates. That basement would serve as a place where the Dusk Pirates would hold their weapon artillery, as a hideout. Also, it had a room that was very suitable for training purposes. However, the Dusk Pirates were not allowed to stay there after it was completed, as if Maximillion wanted to hide something. Instead, Maximillion would focus the crew at building the basement who was outside, the original basement. After all, from that basement they could see the sea and the ships that would come to the place. As a result, he would prefer it over the other, underground basement that had no vision at the surface of the island.

Manta (With Maximillion)

"Maximillion... The newspaper has arrived on the island." Manta said to Maximillion after entering his office. Manta had changed significantly in these two weeks. His hair were sewed and they were not messy. They were pretty long and they were reaching his butt behind. Also, his clothes were slightly changed. He was now wearing a white robe around him instead of his usual black one and he also wore a white, blue stripped shirt instead of his black stripped one. At his shoulder, there was Connie, his pet chicken, as always, though he did not have the egg that he was carrying all the time with him after the crew got to Raijin Island.

"I see..." Maximillion said with a smile on his face. "I really want to see what the news are... It has been a while since I read it in order to be excited when I read the news right now... I really want to see if the word of the defeat of Wormus was spread around the world... HMPHMPHMPHMPHMPH!!!" Maximillion continued saying with an evil look on his face and Manta walked towards him, giving him the newspaper. Then, Maximillion grabbed it and was about to read the first page. However, before he read it, Manta talked.

"You will be something more than satisfied when you read the news... Take a look." Manta said and Maximillion looked at the first page of the newspaper. A big image of Wormus was seen and below it there was the image of the five commanders that belonged to his own division. Cargoan, Deeran, Sogun, Orianna and Moe. Their bounty posters were crossed. They had either been announced as dead or as captured...

"From the looks of it, it seems like the ones we allowed to escape were captured..." Maximillion said to Manta and Manta nodded. "Then I guess I should be expecting a bounty increase for some of our members, right?" Maximillion continued saying and Manta nodded. "I am pretty sure that those people talked about the ferocity and the strength of the Dusk Pirates when they were captured. HMPHMPHMPHMPHMPH!!!" Maximillion finished and Manta, along with Connie, smiled.

"And it is not only that." Manta continued. "Look... They have an article about our crew... They seem to be afraid now that we officially declared land as our very own territory." Manta completed.

"I know." Maximillion finished and they both started laughing with an emotionless laughter.

Lappy

Lappy was alone at the first basement. He was there as all of the Dusk Pirates seemed to be there, all of them were doing their very own stuff. Lappy would train by himself in order to become stronger and stronger. The lapahn, after the difficulty he had against Gracius, realized that he had to be much stronger if he wanted to keep up with the rest of his crewmates inside the New World. As a result, the creature was throwing several punches on the air in order to increase his strength and his speed. He would punch more and more the air of Raijin Island, while scarying thunders were causing a fuss at the sky and were making the island look as a very dark place. "Kya! Kya! Kya!" Lappy would say each time he would throw a punch. His goal was to throw 1,000 punches with each hand, no matter how much time that would take. And hopefully for the fighter of the Dusk Pirates, he was about to end his training soon. After training for some time, he was finally about to finish the training session of the thousand punches and take a rest.

Nathan was as most crew members in the first basement. Since Nathan has free time after a lot of hard days, Nathan decided to spent this free time training. Nathan could already cut steel but not with his already famous 'no cut' cut, when he can cut things without actually swinging towards the opponent yet the cuts anything he watns, even if he wants something that's behind him. Well he is not able to do this with steel. His training method was though very interesting. He was facing against the wall but with enough space between him and the wall to swing with the katana and behind him he put a big block of steel. At first it seemed dumb, like a little child playing with a katana facing a wall and swinging and actually not really knowing why yet we all know by Nathan there is nothing to see with eyes, probably most of the crew mates think that he is an idiot now but why would he care? After a long time trying it just wasn't working for him. He took some time off when he saw Lappy, he liked this guy he was an interesting person. Nathan went to Lappy and said with a smily voice Don't try to hard or you will be better than the whole crew! Hahaha. While he took of his hood and said down on the ground.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" the animal screamed in fear when he listened to the voice of Nathan and jumped high because of his fear. Apparently, the lapahn had a few reasons to be afraid of the almighty swordsman of the Dusk Pirates. That guy was not a human in Lappy's eyes... He had seen his mastery over the sword, the way he handled it and the way he cut down his enemies and he knew clearly that this guy was a demon inside a human vessel. Despite the calm nature of Nathan, the one that he showed most of the times, that person was the embodiment of monstrosity and strength, a ferocious beast that was waiting to find the most interesting pray to hunt down with his sword. He was the ideal swordsman for the Dusk Pirates, the swordsman that Maximillion wanted inside his crew ever since he started his career as a pirate captain.

When the animal landed down on the ground, it moved away from the swordsman with a few back steps. His body was trembling because of the fear and he could not speak. He was so scared that he even stopped his training. "Bun?" Lappy asked, meaning what Nathan wanted from him, why he approached him. He was afraid that he was there in order to cut him down and eat him for his meat.

Hey, hey. Don't jump like that, I only want a little chat, I like how you train. Nathan said with a bright smile on his face, even though a smile isn't seen often but yet Lappy is a very funny guy to Nathan. Lappy, you're always behind me, never in front of me. Remember that. What Nathan meant with this words is that Lappy is always under the protection of Nathan and never an enemy in his eyes. It may not seems so but Nathan loves everyone from the crew, and he likes to chat time to time too. You're getting stronger and stronger, keep on going! Nathan said and unsheated his sword.

Quincy was starting his experiments in the basement along with lappy and Nathan. Why was he performing dangerous experiments in a training room full of destructive unstable pirates? He was creating a brand new weapon and needed a fresh supply of test subjects. Of course Quincy wasn't going to use himself. His crewmates would be perfect. This new weapon is a catalyst for the growth horomone in human beings. In short it would turn them into giants. With this weapon, the dusk pirates would be the most dominant force in the new world.

Iken sat in the proverbial drivers seat, of the great city ship of Atlantis. Turned away from the dash, Iken used the free spaced to his right to aid in cleaning his swords. He ran water down the blades to clean them and then used a stone to sharpen before again applying some water to wash away any sharpening filings. Taking a cloth and oil, Iken fished up by shining and polishing his swords to help protect against rust. Like usual, his One Souls blade was polished to the point it was like a mirror where one could gaze upon themselves in a flawless reflection. Where other blades may have taken hours of work, this particular sword literally took days. Next to that was his dial sword, the Burning Tempest. Its design and the material it's made out of makes it a rather durable blade. Being tungstan it's non-magnetic and has an extremely high melting point making it a great weapon to battle Maximillion with. However, what makes it the prefect weapon is that fact it can be equipped with dials, flame, heat, electricity, and ax, virtually reducing the effectiveness of the powerful Yonkou's liquid metal down to a negotiable level. Iken's final sword, and probably his most valuable wouldn't be joining him for the battle. His ancestral sword would be in the possession of Emily Robson, his lover and soon to be wife. Like the Tempest the Kings Sword is non-magnetic and is extremely thermal resistant. However unlike the latter, the Sword of Kings also non-conductive thanks to the devil fruit canceling seastone that had been applied to it.

Now that Iken had finished clean and polishing his swords, his mind began to wonder once again. The thoughts that involved facing down his old friend, one of the most powerful men in the world and all of the implications that came with that ran through his mind. It was like hundreds of hives of bees buzzing through his head, each worker bee was a thought that lead to another. How was Koga going to hold up? Could he really hold his own against him? Did Iken make any miscalculations? Was his backup sufficient to keep Roberto Wally, his crew, and Maximillion's crew out of their fight? What if Karasu shows towards the end of the battle, would he try to take both of them out in their weakened states? Would Emily or anyone else he brought with him actually be safe? Iken knew that if he lost, all of the people he cared for would be in danger as long as Maximllion was allowed to roam free. It would be a lot easier and a hell of a lot safe to just end him there and then. That wasn't Iken though, he wasn't going to kill someone he considered a friend, an ally just to save himself from a little stress. Out of all of the things that worried him, there was one he could deal with then and there.

Standing up for the first time in hours, Iken walked around until he found him. Iken could have easily sniffed him out, but he chose to just walk around so he could take the time to think. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he knew he had to say something. Placing his hand on Koga's shoulder, Iken took a seat next to him. "How are you holding up, friend? I know facing Maximillion and your old friends for the first time in so long must be hard for you. Maximillion was my friend a close ally, and I don't know if I could have beaten Unholy without him. However despite that, I can't allow him to go around killing and hurting all of these people anymore. Now I need someone of great character to fill the void he left, someone I can trust to help me in the battle. I need you, Koga to fight alongside me loyally against Maximillion's tyranny. What do you say friend, will you help me?" Iken asked Koga sincerely.

Lappy (With Nathan)

Lappy's body was trembling the whole time that Nathan was speaking. Apparently, as Lappy knew what Nathan was really capable off, he overreacted over anything. As a result, even the simple voice of Nathan was sounding to Lappy's ears as the voice of the dangerous hunter who would easily slay the animal to get his skin and fur. However, when Lappy actually listened to what Nathan had to say, he stopped. He realized that Nathan was in fact quite friendly to him. When he complemented him about his strength, Lappy's face got red in a funny way and he took an innocent smile on his face. This was the first time he actually listened to these words... "Bun?" he questioned, meaning "Do you think so?"

Koga (With Iken)

Koga was wondering for quite a while... While the ship of Iken and the Alliance was approaching the seas of Raijin Island, where Maximillion was rumored to be, he was thinking of several things... Several things related to the past, things related to the Dusk Pirates. With his current action, he was going to face off against his former captain and not only that, but also he would take on all of his good friends. Despite the fact that Koga left the crew, he was still valuing all the other members of the Dusk Pirates as friends and he did not want to do them any harm. Frank, Quincy, Ellen and that crazy clown... All of them were peopled that he thought them to be friends. It was pretty weird... Knowing that he would face off all of them was something really bad for him. He felt as if he had a chain in his heart... He knew that he was doing the right thing as long as all of them were sticking with Maximillion, but he could not accept it. And that was really bad... Koga knew that doing the right thing was not good by itself as long as he felt wrong about his good actions. He was extremely confused.

"You friggin' wolf! These are my friends!" were some words that came inside Koga's mind. Those words... He was remembering the moment when he spoke them... The crew was inside Impel Down, trying to free their captain from the clutches of the World Government and while the battle was going on, in the bravest moment of his whole life, Koga fought against the wolves who were guarding the fifth floor of Impel Down in order to protect every member of the Dusk Pirates who was around. During that battle, he receiving his "X" shaped scar in the chest... And he would never, never forget that moment, as long as he had that scar.
"What's the big idea little guy?" another sentence came to his mind afterwards and the voice of Quincy was heard inside him. Those were his words when Koga battled with the powerful wolves, before the man injected him with a strange syrum that increased his size and power and also gave him a steroid, closing the wound of the little turtle and turning him slightly older.
"Oi Koga! would you like a hand? Nehehehehe" more words were heard. Those were words that Frank said to Koga when he was badly beaten by Maximillion in a funny way when the journey of the Dusk Pirates started... Frank... That guy was the muscle of the crew, a very powerful man. Frank was a good guy and he would do a lot of things for his friends... If only there was not Maximillion... Frank would be very different.
"PERVERTED TURTLE!" the voice of Ellen was heard afterwards. While Koga was inside the crew, he would say many different perverted jokes to Ellen, only to get beaten badly by her...
As for Wako, even if that guy was Koga's friend, he did not recall many things. Apparently, Koga was always trying to forget the stupidity of Wako and the idiotic things he would say, to the point that he did not actually want to recall his moments with him. However, he could still not forget him, as he was his friend.

"Damn it... Why am I remembering those things now?" Koga said and touched his head with his right hand. His head was aching over these thoughts. However, he knew that he had to overcome that difficulty... He had to in order to have the guts and the willpower to face off against Maximillion, in order to attempt to change Maximillion to a good person so that they could still be friends, just like they were at some point. He turned his head towards Iken. The man was speaking to him... He was understanding how he was feeling and that was the reason that Koga actually decided to side with him. "I know, Iken. I know. You can count on me." he said with a sad voice and he looked towards the sea once again, losing himself inside his thoughts, once more.

Yes, I do think that, you're getting stronger and stronger, but remember. It doesn't matter how much punches you can throw, one punch can be 3 times more usefull than 100 punches. Mark my words. Nathan said with a nice smile on his face, but then quickly changed his face expression, the nice looking eyes he had before changed to his angry beastish look. It seemed Nathan just twitched but he actually swinged with the sword right infront of Lappy, just a few centimeters and it would actually hit Lappy, but instead Lappy could feel just a little calmly breeze as the big steel block in the corner 30 meters behind Nathan suddenly collapsed into 2 parts. Finally. Nathan said and slowly sheated his katana

Lappy (With Nathan)

Lappy listened carefully to the words of Nathan. It looked like the swordsman of the Dusk Pirates was giving him some nice piece of advice that would become useful to Lappy later. What Nathan was saying was that Lappy should actually focus on training the strength of his attacks and not to try to launch more of them... At first, Lappy was confused but he immediately understood what Nathan said. He was saying that skills and technique was better than strength and speed. However, before he could thank him for the advice, something else happened. Nathan unsheathed his sword and pointed it in front of Lappy. Lappy's eyes twitched. He thought that he was about to stab him or something. But, as the breeze hit him, he turned his head behind, only to see the steel block afar getting cut in two and causing a very loud sound. That was what Nathan actually meant with his words, after all.

A fight is a strategy game, 'brains' and 'will' will make the difference, power is just a credibility added to the top, don't swap this 2 or you'll die. Nathan added to his demonstration, he liked Lappy a lot and wanted him to improve since he knew that stronger and stronger enemies are gonna show up eventually and Nathan doesn't want anyone to die. Hmmm, do you know where Maximillion is? I should probably talk with him Nathan asked the Lapahn while looking around the basement if he could see Maximillion anywhere. Yet he didn't seem to be in this basement. Nathan wanted to talk with Maximillion about future plans and what they are planning to do, they can't stay on their island forever.

Lappy was astonished at the view of the steel block that was cut in two from such a great distance. However, he actually started understanding that Lappy was not as dangerous as he thought regarding himself. Nathan was a member of the crew, after all. He was a member of the Dusk Pirates and he was a faithful member that was actually caring about the crew, as much as everybody else. He might have been a little bit lazy with his work and pretty much disobedient from times to times due to his playful and lazy personality, but he was also one of the top fighters of the crew and one of the most powerful swordsmen in the Grand Line. Lappy realized that he had to relax.

"Bun." he said and he nodded for the lesson that his crewmate was giving him and then he listened to his question. He nodded. He knew where the captain was. With a smile on his face, Lappy raised his right hand and pointed towards the building of Maximillion at the basement, revealing that the man was in his office. "Bun, bun!" he said, meaning "Over there!"

At an unknown island of the New World, close to Raijin
"Is this all ? ... I am getting disappointed." Suigo calmly comments, as he is jumping from rock to rock, reaching the top of a small pillar of sorts. A really weird pillar come to think of it, the base was really thin, but as it progressed, the diameter of the structure was getting larger, reaching up to an actual small plateau. Everyone around them, there are such things, actually, even trees are really weird, but them instead, have an incredibly thick and large base that actually was covered with leaves and branches, and as it was going upwards, it would finish in a complex root system that was up in the skies, dozens and dozens of meters up. A small, isolated, and without any habitats environment, the "Upside Down Root island" . Back to Suigo, he watches below at what appears to be Maha. And there's seem to be several metallic-like plates wrapped around most of his body. "Just having the ability to see through the deepest of techniques means nothing if you don't have the body to perform them ... you must do an additional 500 push-ups."

Emily sat near the edge of the ship, her eyes watching the water as they went over it. Her hands were holding onto her blade tightly as her mind wondered into different thoughts. So much had happened to her with in just a few months. Her home island turned into a monster of destruction. Most likely leaving her to be the last of her island's people, But she was saved by the man whom she was now engaged. Her eyes shifted to the sky, watching the birds over head and the clouds as they drifted. "If I fight, and i have to make a choice to kill someone or be killed....will i be able to do it?" she thought to her self before closing her eyes and letting her heart and head fight it out inside her, the pain of it causing her to hold her stomach lightly.

Alright! Nathan said to the Lapahn and left him with a smile on his face. Nathan looked up to the basement to know where he is actually headed, and put his left hand to rest on the handle of his katana as he also passed the big steel block which was divorced into 2 parts and without any head movements just smiled as he passed it, he couldn't cut steel with his air cut until now. It was the first time he did it. He went slowly up the stairs and arrived at the 1 basement. He went to the doors where Maximillions office was hiding behind and smashed hard with his fist 3 times on the door. It's Nathan, captain! He said with a deep voice, waiting for Maximillions response.

Maximillion (With Manta and Nathan)

"Hello, Nathan..." Maximillion said with a serious look on his face at the moment he noticed that Nathan was outside his office. "You can come in." he continued saying with his serious - as always - voice and Manta moved towards the door, opening it so that Nathan could enter. "I am glad you are here... I wanted to talk to you, anyway." Maximillion continued.

Maha (With Suigo - Away from Raijin Island)

"I see, Suigo-sama..." Maha said while looking towards his superior officer who was taking a look at him from above. "I guess I have... to continue performing my push ups..." Maha continued saying and he started performing several push ups quickly. That was the order of his master and as a result he had no other option. He had to obey.

After hours of work Quincy had finally finished his newest weapon for the dusk pirates. The G-Cells were finally ready to be tested. Quincy had made many weapons for Maximillion, but this would top them all. Quincy however needed to test such a weapon, and it wasn't smart to use it on himself. He looked mencaing at Lappy. Animal testing has been to further the field of medcine before. "Hey buddy....come over here and let play doctor with your ole friend Quincy."

Lappy (With Quincy)

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Lappy screamed in fear as soon as he listened to Quincy and saw him having a strange thing he was working on for hours on his hands. Even if the animal was actually not the smartest member of the Dusk Pirates, he could understand that this was something that would be probably bad for him. Quincy had that wicked look on his face, the scary look that was about to cause Lappy so great fear that he would shit himself. "KYAAAAAAAAA!!!" he kept screaming and he started running away from the basement in order to find a safe spot for himself. He did not want to fall on Quincy's hands and become his lab rat.

Nathan entered the room and thanked Manta for opening the doors he then quick wanted to say something but Maximillion overtaked Nathan, when Nathan heard what Maximillion said he thought that they both wanted to talk for the same reason, in a way. Nathan then looked a little surprised at Maximillion and said: Really? I think I will spare my words then, tell me, why do you need to talk with me? and stood there infront of Maximillion table waiting for an answer, while he quick looked at Manta to see how he is following this conversation.

Maximillion (With Manta and Nathan)

"You see, Nathan... The last incident was pretty crucial for our crew... Not only because we actually officially claimed land for ourselves but also because your official presentation to the public was made... You see, after that short-battle of yours against that pathetic assassin that Wormus sent to get our heads, not only I actually showed to everybody why I picked you as the swordsman for my crew, but also you showed to the whole world the power of the Dusk Pirates." Maximillion said with a serious voice and he grabbed the newspaper. He threw it at the hands of Nathan at the page where the news about the Dusk Pirates were written. "Look at the bounties. Welcome to our world. You are now a wanted man." Maximillion finished and waited to see his subordinate's reaction.

As soon as Nathan got the newspaper in his hands his face showed how a surprised person looks like. 55 million? Wow, never expected that. Just because I killed one assassin? I guess I'm a target of bounty hunters now, ones I am somehow or at least was myself. So a wanted man huh? I can handle it. But my reason I wanted to talk to you was not the bounty. Tell me captain, are we making just plans for the future or are we expecting something, or better, someone? Ofcourse we could be just resting but yet the area is full of exited or dreadful fellings, some kind of tension I feel rarly.. Nathan said with a corious look on his face and again looked at Manta to see his reaction as he waited for Maximillion to answer.

Quincy ran to catch Lappy, but eventually lost him since his crewmate was a rabbit. Quincy growled at the lost of his lab rat. Now there was no way to find out would this work or not. The dusk mad doctor grabbed the vile of his G-Cells. He began to look for Lappy "Here rabbit rabbit come to Quincy. I got some medcine for you." Then something occured to Quincy. Why look for one crewmate where they had at least nine? Quincy just grinned hiding the vile behind his back as he looked for the other dusk pirates. He still kept an eye out for Lappy just in case though.

"If you survive my plan .. in 3 months, your physical strength will be multiplied by a factor of at least 4." Suigo responds back, and sits down on the rocky surface, taking off a large gourd, and drinking, while looking towards the horizon. The tall and serious swordsman looks calm and collected, as usual, despite something bothering him. "I have an ominous feeling."

Meanwhile, Raijin Island
"What do you mean you ate all the buffalos ?!!" You shitty GIRLY ogre!"
"Want to die early, you stupid light FRICTION bulb?!"
Dude and Sabres are in an argument over some petty matters, this time the reason appears to be meat. Some distance away, and on a long and big hammock, Wally is lying there and taking a nap, some bones and a few bottles are seen littering around the spot, seems he also just had a lot of food.

Maximillion (With Manta and Nathan)

"I see..." Maximillion said to his subordinate and then he took a smile on his face. "I will explain... It is natural for you to be confused." Maximillion continued speaking to Nathan and he started giving an explanation. "The time we spend here is not a waste of time... In fact, it is one of the most crucial missions. We are establishing our very first basement here and from now on, at the moment we fully complete it, we will be able to sail across the seas of the New World and take over areas more quickly and easily. That is why I want the whole crew to concentrate on establishing the basement and as soon as we are done, we will be able to set sail to the other places of the New World. Do you understand now, Nathan?" Maximillion finished and he waited to see the response of his swordsman.

Quincy walked throughout the island, until he saw the black cross pirates enjoying their stay. This was just unacceptable. They just invited themselves on the island which was their terrority, eating all their food, and they didn't invite him to the feast. Quincy casually just walked over there smiling toward the pirates. He walked over past the meat.

"Hey guys, I have brought over some.....wine. Yeah thats it wine. I know you are close friends to Maximillion-sama, so I thought I present you with gift."

Quincy then presented them with the vile of experimental G-cells. If he couldn't find Lappy these guys would do instead.

-Tsujo (On Iken's ship)-

Tsujo sat on a bench face down, his head in the his jacket being used like a pillow. He knew who Iken was and how strong he was, but he had also heard of Maximillion's accomplishments, and now they were going to go into battle. Tsujo was just a pirate fledgling. He could die out there. This battle was of great risk to Tsujo.. He opened his eyes and rolled onto his back. Tsujo would have to take a more strategic approach on this battle. He needed to help Iken, but he also needed to stay alive. Tsujo pulled his jacket back on and started pacing around the ship. He needed something to take his mind off the possibility of death.. A game, something to entertain him. Too bad there was nobody around him... With a smile on his face Tsujo left the room he was in to find someone.