The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 12; The aftermath of the clash (Open to the Dusk Pirates and allies)

It had been a while after the incident of Raijin Island. Apparently, after the sudden attack of the former friend and ally of Maximillion Maimou, Samakage Iken, the place was quite destroyed. The main basement of the Dusk Pirates had become nothing more than mere ruins and everything looked pretty much destroyed. Everything except from the second basement of the Dusk Pirates and their ship of course. However, that was of no importance at that time. What mattered was the current state of the Dusk Pirates... From the looks of it, both Iken and Maximillion had disappeared during the battle against each other. Same for Jiper after his battle against Wally. The only ones who were staying on Raijin Island were the Dusk Pirates, the Black Cross Pirates and another unexpected person...

"Damn that Iken!!!" Manta commented while looking at the crew's ruined basement. "That guy destroyed everything!!!" he angrily says.

"Yes, they really caused some damage..." Quincy agrees with Manta.

"Chk... And Maximillion is gone, as well. Where has that bastard gone?!" Manta yells for his brother. "He is always doing this... He thinks he can leave like that!!! BULLSHIT!!!".

"Relax, it's no big deal... Our captain always returns back to us, eventually." Quincy tries to comfort Manta.

"Whatever..." Manta says and then turns his head, only to see Lappy.

Apparently, the appearance of Lappy had significantly changed. The oversized lapahn was quite different after the battle. Unlike his previous appearance, the fighter of the Dusk Pirates was missing an arm. His arm was cut during the battle of Raijin Island by somebody, making him look completely different. His long right arm with the banana-long claws was missing, which was making Lappy look weaker and more incapable of fighting in the New World than he already was. The part where he was cut down was covered with bandages and he had a serious and disappointed look on his face at the same time.

"Bun..." he said, disappointed.

"You lost something, too, huh?" Manta asks Lappy, disappointed.

The aftermath of the battle was now visible!!!

Soon, a ship begins to draw nearer to the shore closest to the spot where the Dusk Pirates have been resting and coping from the aftermath of the battle that took place for an entire 3 days. It was the Black Cross pirates ship, slightly battered, but otherwise in a good enough shape to continue sailing.

The ship docks, and soon, a few figures are seen getting off the ship. It was Sabres, Dude and a few of the other crew members. Raising his shades away from his eyes, a rare sight, to reveal his blue/green eyes, Dude scouts the area, before he lets out a small chuckle.
"Yeah, good call to order us to stay away until the battle was over. I wonder if Yonko-sir was smart enough to do something similar." he comments, both him and the other people that came off the ship seem to be in a really good shape. After all, Wally himself ordered that they leave the island and focus on taking down the enemy ships instead, which they were able to do, thanks to their ship's sheer power. But even it didn't escaped without some damages. One of the masts was completely toppled down, and there were a few holes and slashing fractures here and there around the ship's main body.

Soon they arrive to where the Dusk Pirates have been resting, and Sabres quickly notices that they all look gloomy and battered. "Tsk, staying into the island, that was not very wise, you should do the same thing we were ordered to do." Dude tells Manta, not being intending to take things lightly or not insult Manta for what he believed was a foolish act.

"You might be right, though, I am not a chicken to run away. Oh, wait, now that I think of it, I AM a chicken. I am the chicken-man, after all. Chk." Manta replies to Dude, who seems to be trying to give a lecture to Manta. "As long as most of us are okay, it doesn't matter." Manta continues speaking. None of us died, at all, so everything is okay... Frank is okay, Nathan is okay, I am okay, Quincy is okay, Ellen is okay and Lappy... Oh well, that lapahn lost an arm, but that doesn't matter. Most of us are okay." he continues speaking and turns his head towards Lappy, only to see him crying. "Chk. Actually, it does matter, but nevermind, Quincy will find a way to cure him. Isn't that right, Quincy?" he finishes speaking and then turns his head towards the doctor of the Dusk Pirates.

"Yes, Manta..." he says while smiling.

"Teh, whatever floats your boat. This place is messed up, tho. You sure you need a broken island like that? .. Anyway, we'll get the ship fixed and slowly depart, we have other businesses to attend to." Dude says, and sits on a pile of broken down woods. Meanwhile, Sabres is randomly lifting up debris, apparently he's looking for something. "Hey, where the hell's Wally?" he then asks. Was he looking for his captain under the rumble?

"Captain is busy right now. He's fine, however." A familiar voice is heard, and from the left, on what remains of a small rocky road, Suigo alongside with Maha are walking towards the crowd. That response had Sabres tilt his head, wondering what the captain was up to right now, but Dude just shrugs it off and randomly pulls off a large bottle of sake, beginning to drink at the same time.

Elsewhere, in front of a large crater, Wally is seen sitting atop a chopped off tree trunk that he seems to have carried there and was using as a seat. He has some filthy bandages around his arms and head, and some on his torso, his clothes are still in tatters, but he seems fine otherwise. He at some point throws something down the crater. Looking below, someone was laying in the middle of a crater. "Here's some bread, eat it this time, I won't bother going down to feed you. We are not exactly friends after all, wee-hahaha!" Who was he talking to?!

Along with Suigo, there was apparently one more man coming. That man was none other than Maha Mararlberma, Suigo's apprentice and a rookie swordsman within the Black Cross Pirates. While Maha had a serious look on his face, he would not speak as the conversation that was taking place was a friendly chat between the superior officers of the crew. Maha had nothing to tell when those people used to talk. If he talked, without being asked anything, that would be blasphemy and disrespect towards the face of his higher ups. He had to show the proper respect, after all.

"Wally, is missing, as well?" Manta wondered by the time he listened to his allies' words. "Then that leaves only the subordinates here, I guess... Chk." he finishes speaking.

"Well, what shall we do now, Manta?" Quincy scratched his head and asked the captain's brother.

"That, I do not know..." Manta sighed and then he turned his head around, hoping to see Frank. "It is up to Frank, you know. He is the officially appointed vice captain so he is the one who should decide what we shall do next." he replies to his comrade. "Oh, well, I guess we have to wait for him." he finishes.

"We cannot stay here for much longer; the news have spread out already." Suigo says to Manta, and throws a newspaper that he was holding with his right hand, towards the man. On the cover was a photo of a large explosion, taken from some good distance away from the island, and next were a number of photos of the main people that took part in this skirmish, including the bounty posters of Wally, Maximillion, and all the wanted pirates of both crews. An article speaks about what seemed to be equal to that of a natural disaster, amongst other things.

"Hahahaha, says here that the Black Cross made "a comeback that we would only expect from a pirate crew as dangerous as themselves.", this is fun, they almost cheered for us!" Dude shouts, raising his bottle of sake, cheering, then gulping down the bottle's material.

"Damn it, I only hope they do not know that Maximillion is gone!" Manta says with a worried look on his face and he grabs the newspaper that Suigo dropped to him, immediately. "If it becomes known to the public that Maximillion is missing along with Iken, then the whole pirate society will start an uprising. I am afraid that there might be problems with the world's balance! Not to mention that the Unknown Pirates will probably take advantage of the situation to take over Raijin Island once again. We should not forget that this place used to be their very own territory." he continues speaking and he opens the newspaper, reading a part of the article. While reading, he stays silent and observes at everything the journalists have written in the article. "Damn it..." he says while closing the newspaper. "They seem to know too much." he finishes.

"There is no need to worry about the territory, Manta." Quincy interferes. "This place has been screwed after the battle. Every building we made so far except from the second basement is nothing more than ruins. There is nothing you should worry about regarding the island. Who wants it anymore, after all?" he explains.

"You might be right, stupid doctor." Manta sighs. "So now, what shall you and the rest of the Black Cross Pirates do?" he asks Suigo.

"As soon as captain is done with his .. erh, shenanigans, we are to deport to Dressrosa. We have business to do there. And what will you do?" Suigo responds, taking a bit of a leadership role, since his captain was apparently more interested into sitting on the other side of the island, next to that crater, with someone laying in the middle. Come to think of it, who was in there anyway?!

"What will you do about that now, fella?" Wally asks, looking down towards the laying person. He then throws a small bottle of sake down the pit as well, chuckling. "I'm sure that freaking phoenix is going to get really flustered when you tell him about the stage that was going on after my "defeat". But, it had to happen, you people were too all over me, I had to device a way to get ya to lose interest! Wee-hahaha!"

"What we will do you ask... Oh that, I do not know." Manta says with a disappointed look on his face. "Frank is the Vice Captain, he is the one to decide. Apparently, my brother did not trust me as a captain... The zombie is the one who is going to decide about the fate of the Dusk Pirates for the time my brother is missing." Manta says with a disappointed look on his face, being jealous towards Frank for being the crew's vice captain. "If the zombie does not make a choice, though, I have something in my mind..." Manta completes with an evil look on his face.

"Shouldn't you focus on finding your captain, however?" Suigo simply asks what actually was pretty reasonable as an argument. Where did Maximillion vanished to, anyway? Iken had vanished too, and Wally wasn't responsible for any weird shenanigans, as he was too busy himself, destroying the island-erm, fighting against the formidable and slightly arrogant -much like Wally himself- Jiper.

Meanwhile, Dude is inspecting the missing part on Lappy, with a serious and focused expression on his face. He then turns up and raises one of his eyebrows, while a somewhat creepy and somewhat conceited grin forming on his lips. "I think we could work this on .. what do you say, bunny?"

"To be honest, no..." Manta says, surprising everybody around. "My brother... He has the tendacy to disappear after we reunite. He is always doing this! He did it when I reunited with him in Water 7, he did it after the Battle of Calm Belt when we fought against the marines and he also did it now... He is always coming back if he is alive... That is my brother and I have to accept it. That guy has survived a naval battle against Derge Namikaze Sr. and his subordinates without any ship to stand on. I trust him and I am sure that he shall return, eventually. We do not have to find him. He is going to find us." Manta explained and grinned. "However, until the time he returns, me and the rest of the crew have to continue the name of the Dusk Pirates so that my brother will find the force at its best state than ever." he finished. "Do you understand now?"

Meanwhile, Lappy stared at the scientist of the Black Cross Pirates with a surprised look on his face. Knowing that he was one of the greatest scientists in the Grand Line and the New World, the lapahn could not do anything but to accept the scientist's offer. "Bun!" Lappy agreed while nodding.

"Hey!" Quincy spoke. "I am here, too. I am the doctor of the crew! I can help on working on Lappy's arm, as well!" he expressed his desire to help the lapahn.

At the same time at Wally's spot...

Wally seemed to be talking with somebody. As soon as the bottle of sake was dropped towards that person, he quickly got up and he took off his mask. He grabbed the sake and he started drinking, before putting on his breathing mask back, to help him breath. "You may say whatever you want, Wally..." Jiper's voice was heard. "You think that you are going to emerge victorious from your game, huh? You are wrong, I'm afraid..." he started speaking, while scratching his face. "You have probably underestimated Nishki and the rest of the marines... Don't think that they don't have plans... In the near future, the marines will change to the point that even you yourself will not believe whether they are the marines or another force. I know better. They might have suffered defeats, but everything was just an act... You will eventually realize that they were up to something the whole time!" Jiper continued, saying something surprising about the marines. What was the meaning of his words?

Wally watches down as Jiper finally shows some reaction towards the dark man's presence and attempts to, apparently, chit chat with. Hearing the man out, Wally just casually pulls out a piece of smoked meat, slowly biting pieces off it as Jiper was saying all those things regarding the marines. Once he was done, and, while taking another bite, pulling a large fleshy string of meat away from the main part, Wally chuckles, then lets out a laugh, small bits of jerky flying off his mouth.
"Boy, you got some balls!" He yells, laughing, and then continues, but with a calmer, albeit still a bit jolly, tone. "Talking like that to the guy that beat the crap out of you really sounds funny .. but anyway, I have no fear towards the marines. They can do whatever they want for all I care! My plan is working perfectly so far, and that's all I care about anyway. If you are going to go see Nishki, tell him that when we do get to meet again, he better run away, because I won't be as kind as the last time. The age of pirates ... you can't stop it, it has started, ya know."

"Hahahahahahaha!!! Roberto D. Wally... You are quite funny." were Jiper's words, while jumping out of the pit he was in thanks to his Geppou usage. "To think you beat the crap out of me is really funny! Funny, funny, funny!" he kept talking while staring the man at the eyes. "Basically because you defeated me, that doesn't mean that you did it with ease. It was Iken's disappearance that made me withdraw from the battle and prevented me from going all-out. I wouldn't bother using my strength in trying and beat you. Even if I defeated you, I would waste most of my strength and your subordinates would end up killing me... It would not be wise for me to not conserve my strength to survive and escape and use it instead to just take a risk for defeating you." he finished talking. "As for your message, you should be sure that I will give it." he talked once more.

Wally just continues to eat his smoked meat, hearing out Jiper's response to what he said. Letting him finish, he gets up, and walks past him. "Well, you are all rest up now, so guess I am going." he says, and walks towards the direction of where the others have settled down to rest and recover. After some more steps, he stops, and slightly turns his head, without looking at Jiper. "Holding back or not, you got badly injured so, if you go straight down that path, you'll find a boat. No need to act like a wounded hero and just die, this is the New World, doesn't matter if you are just strong, wee-hahaha!" Having said that, he resumes walking away, pretty confident that Jiper wouldn't actually try to harm the man as he walks away.

Jiper listened carefully to the words of the pirate. However, he would not speak a lot. Instead, he waited for the man to complete what he had to say and then with a smile on his face, which was covered by his breathing mask all the time, he said "I know, Wally... I know..." he said and he turned his back on the man, following the path which he showed to him. Even if he could actually get away from the island by constantly using his Geppou, he did not want to do so. Instead, he preferred to move with the boat, so that he would take his time and rest a little bit...

Atop a mountain, there's a person watching over with what seems to be binoculars. He watches over the camp site, then switches towards the natural port where the Black Cross Pirate's ship was resting, the pirates gathering around material, possibly to conduct a repair, then he switches towards the location of Wally and Jiper, and watches all the way until they separate. Then a large grin is formed, the only thing visible from within the shadows. "Fascinating."

Meanwhile, at the camp site, Dude is chasing around the lapah, who appears to be scared to death at the guy. Well, Dude's arm was surrounded by his power of static energy, while he was also holding a saw. "Hey, come back here, I am a professional, you jerk!"

"Anyway, I got to go... I have something to do. I will be back soon." Manta told Suigo with a serious look on his face, as if he had something important to do. Without mentioning where or why he was about to leave for a while, he simply started walking away in order to do something which he had in his mind. It looked like he was going somewhere, to a place he wanted to go alone... What was the brother of the Yonko Maximillion Maimou up to? Did he have something in his mind? And what could that be?

Meanwhile, at the place where the man with the binoculars is...

A person is approaching. The steps of the person can be heard, as he marches towards the mysterious man with the binoculars who happens to watch the Black Cross Pirates and specifically Wally. That person is a man who carries something large on his back. He is a quite tall individual with a green colored skin. He has long dark hair that reach his shoulders and glasses on his eyes. He doesn't wear anything at the upper part of his body except from a marine cape, covering the item he carries on his back, which is currently hidden. He also wears white colored pants and white shoes. Apparently, he seems to be unarmed.

"Fascinating, huh? What could be that fascinating?" the mysterious man who just appeared asks the other mysterious man.

"Oh, it's you again? What a bummer, I just can't seem to be able to get rid of you now, can I?" The first one, the one with the binoculars, says, without turning, until he wrapped the tool in some fabric and then placed it in a pocket, a pocket that was actually extremely small, yet somehow the item was able to not only be stored in, but it seemed as if nothing was put there to begin with. Turning, the man actually throws a javelin-like projectile towards the newcomer, right off the bat. "Long time no talk, tho!" The guy then adds. Were they enemies or friends?!

"Hm?" said the mysterious man while jumping out of the way, dodging the javelin which was thrown against him by the mysterious man with the binoculars. "Oi! Oi! Oi! You jerk! Why would you throw a javelin against me?!" asked the mysterious man with the long black hair, the mysterious green colored skin and the marine clothes. Immediately, he takes of the marine cape he wore on his back, revealing a giant turtle shell behind his well built body. He quickly comes out of the shell and grabs it with his right hand, as if he was about to smash it on some head. "Nobody messes with Koga, you know! I am Koga "The sea king hunter" called by a few, "The double agent pirate" called by others or the "ninja turtle" called by some more." the man revealed his identity to the man with the javelin.


"You want to fight, huh?" he asked, angrily.

"Ah!" The man then stammered a bit, before he cleared his throat and waves his hand, apparently greeting the person he just attacked, with a completely innocent and somewhat too "clean" cheesy wide grin. His pupils looked like coins viewed from the side too, he looked too weird with that stupid expression. Now that he was seen clearly, the man was actually a young one, probably in his early twenties, or even younger than that, with messy blonde hair, a really wide smile, and several piercings on his ears and lips. Specifically, he had several crucifix-like piercings on his ears. He was actually pretty handsome, in spite of that stupid face he was currently making. He was also sweating, how weird, was he feeling awkward about his assault?

"I confused you for someone else! No hard feels tho eh?" Saying that, the weird dude turns and just jumps out in the edge of the tall cliff, apparently falling into his premature demise.

"Hey! Where are you going?" asked Koga with a surprised look on his face as he noticed the man falling off the cliff. Then, in an instant, the turtle would drop his marine coat down and take off his shell, leaving his body outside it and the shell on his right hand. Afterwards, he would proceed with throwing the shell on the ground in such a manner that it would start gliding. As the shell was gliding, Koga jumped on it quickly and so he started moving with it, as well, with great speed. The turtle-man would start gliding the cliff, moving towards the young man. "Hang on! I am coming!" he said while approaching him.

"Ah? You are coming to get me? ... YOU LIKE ME?!" The young man screams, as the other man, Koga, has reached him as they both fall down this tall cliff edge. Apparently the young one misunderstood what Koga actually meant, because he had a scared expression on his face, which was then replaced with a totally nervous and awkwardly confused fool. "I am sorry sir, but I am straight .. but thanks for your .. uhhh .. good eye!" He then says, thumbing up with a fixed smile on his face, and, suddenly, in mid air, stops falling, and stays there, thus making Koga go beyond the point that he stopped. "I should be going now; the party is long over, after all! Nice meeting ya!"

"Hey, hey!" said Koga with a surprised look on his face, as the man stopped in the mid air. "I am straight as well!!!" he said while falling to avoid any misunderstandings with the mysterious man. After all, Koga only liked women and mermaids. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" he continued screaming afterwards while falling, not because he was worried but just for the effect. Who was the mysterious man whom Koga had just met and what were his motives? Koga had a lot to learn, after all.

"I guess I will see you again, some day, if you are going to be butting in with these people." The man then says, and, in the blink of an eye, just vanishes, as if he was pulled away into the hammer's space. He disappeared so fast and so sudden, it felt as if he was a mirage, or a mind's trick or something, as it made little to no sense for someone, or something for that matter, disappear in such a clean and direct way.

Into the thickness of a forest at one side of the island, one of the lucky regions that sustained only minor damage from all this carnage that took place for the past three days, Wally is walking through the rich vegetation. Soon he just reaches to a small gap where no tress were, but the trees nearby were almost completely hiding the sky. And there, in front of him, was that young man from before. Seeing him, Wally smiles. "So, got any new information?" Wally asks the boy.

So, another mysterious man working for Wally?! Or something more grim and sinister?

Meanwhile, at the second basement of the Dusk Pirates, the underground basement. Manta, after leaving from the place where the majority of the Black Cross Pirates and the Dusk Pirates were, opens the door that leads to the second basement of Maximillion. As he opens the door, a wide white room, empty in the inside can be seen. The walls are all white, the floor is white as well as the top of the basement is also white. As there are no furniture inside the basement and it is completely empty, resulting at each step echoing across the room. Manta quickly locks the door so that nobody could enter in the white room and watch at what he was about to do. He has a serious look on his face, not his standard evil and twisted look. He gulps as he closes the door and then he turns his head towards the other side of the room, staring at the wall. He starts walking towards the wall and eventually as he reaches it, he moves his hand on a specific spot, pushing the wall slightly, revealing a small hidden dark passage. He gulps once more as he stares at the passage and he begins walking in it, moving towards another room... Another room which was hiding a very big secret...

As he finished walking through the passage, he made his way to another room. The room looked much like a surveillance room, but there also was a bed and supplies. Apparently, somebody lived in it. On the floor were lying the eggshells of a big egg, as if something hatched recently.

"I came to see whether you are okay." asked Manta.
"Of course I am." said a male voice below the bad, obviously sleeping before Manta arrived.
"I see... If you want anything, do not hesitate to ask me."
"Of course I will not hesitate..." said the other man.

Wally was not the only one talking with mysterious people! Who was Manta talking to?

---

Meanwhile, at another part of the island...

Koga ultimately fell on the ground, though he was unharmed. The fall was big, but the mutant turtle was safe and sound, just like always, after all. The turtle had actually survived so many incidents that a fall like that could not harm him at all... As he fell, he got up and picked up his shell, placing it on his back again, wearing it. "Oh my..." he said and then he looked at the sky with a sad look on his face. "I guess I deserved this fall after what I did..." he spoke some words and took a deep breath, still having that disappointed look on his face. He was obviously sad about something...