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

Meanwhile, across the world,news of that cataclysmic showdown between that armada of dangerous and notoriously powerful figures that took place on the island of Thunder, were already scattering across not just the seas across the infamous and cruel New World, but also they were already spreading across the Grand Line, even the Blues. The newspaper was talking about the event, in a way likening it as a "small scale apocalypse, that gave a glimpse on the world that things were picked up a notch". At least, that was the exact words of several journals around the Blues. In the gazette, it was simply stated as "a clash between 4 ruffians". Of course, they weren't going to reveal everything they knew, and of course, outside of the Government themselves, the rest of the world was not aware of how dangerous things were becoming.

As Koga looked at the sky, he started remembering what took place on Raijin Island after the attack of Iken and his alliance against the Dusk Pirates and the Black Cross Pirates... A few incidents occurred, incidents which he was about to regret soon afterwards...

[Flashback]

As Koga meets with Lappy, somewhere at the mysterious Raijin Island, he stares at him with a serious look on his face. While he looked calm, he was in fact angry. After all, Lappy at his eyes was nothing more than a mere replacement for the turtle of the Dusk Pirates. He was an animal, just like Koga, which Maximillion took in the crew right after Koga abandoned it. He was the one who was doing his job now, he had Koga's role in the crew...

"So, you are my replacement, huh?" asked Koga at the lapahn.

The lapahn would not understand. After all, he didn't know a lot about Koga. After all, he had heard stories about him, but not too much. He did not even meet him before in the first place, so it was natural for him to not know who he was.

"Bun." said the lapahn, meaning "What do you mean?"

Koga understood what Lappy said. He was an animal, as well. He could understand the animalistic language. "You are the crew's pet, aren't you?" he asked.

"Bun." nodded Lappy.

"Then, I guess we have to fight!" said Koga who grabbed his naginata and rushed towards the lapahn in an attempt to slash it. The lapahn would jump out of the way, dodging the incoming attack and would perform a kick at Koga's face, while falling down on the ground. Koga was struck with the foot and not with the claws and as a result, he received mere damage. He had a quite sturdy body. He was well-trained. This kick could not harm him very much.

"Bun, bun?" asked Lappy meaning "How was that?"

"Much worse than this!" replied Koga who moved faster than before towards Lappy and started a rampage of continuous slashes against the lapahn. While Lappy would try and dodge the attacks, the more Koga attacked, the more he would get tired, resulting in himself lowering his guard.

"Naginata Slash!" said Koga while moving his naginata diagonically in order to slash him at the chest, but the lapahn would defend himself by moving his right arm forward as a form of shield, having it slashed instead and having it chopped down.

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!" screamed the lapahn in pain and fell on his knees, while Koga stared at him with a very serious and dark expression on his face.

"This was your punishment for kicking me. Now get lost and take your arm with you to show it to your boss and your friends. Find a way and tell them that Koga did this to you... They will understand." said Koga and then he turned his back, slowly walking away from the place.

[Flashback ends]

"I... I become more like him." said Koga after remembering all that stuff. "Maximillion... I couldn't leave from your crew unpoisoned from your madness, after all." finished Koga. However, in his eyes it was obvious that he was thinking of something else as well. He stared at his naginata and he started walking away again...

"So, is this a done business, eh? Mahiato?" Wally speaks, with a broad, wide and cheesy, but with a certain tone of evil sipping around the atmosphere, smile on his rugged face.
"Indeed, Master Wally-sama. You have the support of the Flower Kingdom's underground world with your side, as you requested for me to achieve~" The young man speaks, and removes his cloth. Underneath, he is almost shirtless, well, rather, he doesn't wear a shirt, but he does have suspenders on. He also wears standard blue jeans, which were extremely well polished and shiny towards the endings.

Introduction Box:
A co-worker of the Black Cross Pirates, Mahiato Zagress.
Assassin, Bounty: 203,000,000 Beli.

"As you have requested, all of us have been undergoing with negotiations. Be sure that soon you shall have the entirety of New World's broker world on your side. After all..." the man is speaking, and, looking at his eyes, and listening to his tone, it's obvious that he deeply admires Wally. ".. You are going to be .. the Pirate King! HAHAHAHA!!"

Sinister plotting in the background!!

Meanwhile, Koga was thinking the rest of the story. He was thinking what happened right after his battle against the oversized rabbit finished and what he did. His actions were making him feel anxious. He did something that would actually change his life forever. Or at least that was what the humanoid turtle thought... The truth in fact was much more different than he ever dared to imagine...

"Hello, Mr. Turtle." A voice is heard, and, from within the shadows, a darkened figure emerges, walking vigorously towards the man .. turtle .. android .. thing. The person speaking to him, quite tall apparently, and lean and slender, but massive, seems to wear a long white, and somewhat furry coat. There are several zigzag lines across it, and the man was also wearing shades. He was also bold, and with just some thick and prominent sideburns as the only sight of hair on his face. Whoever he was, he was giving out a feeling, a sensation of overwhelming power. Who was that man?

"Erm, hello." said Koga with a surprised voice on his face as he turned his head and noticed the mysterious man with the somewhat furry coat. As the figure of the man was shadowed, Koga could not understand whether the man was a friend or an enemy but the voice did not sound THAT familiar. "May I ask who you are?" he continued by asking the mysterious man. Apparently, as he did not know who the man was, the turtle wanted to find out whether the man belonged to the Black Cross Pirates, the Dusk Pirates or some other organization. After all, it was pretty natural for crews except from those two to be on Raijin Island, after the battle of Iken and Maximillion so that they would find out what really happened when those two collided with each other...

"My name is Cornelious .. Cornelious Black. I have some questions to make you, regarding Iken." The mysterious sturdy figure asks, with a calm, slow, but serious tone of voice. Whoever this person was, also seemed to be absolute; what he just said didn't sounded like a request, or a favor being asked. It sounded like the man just bluntly and directly demanded that Koga answers whatever question he may have had for him. Was he a marine? A bounty hunter? Another high-leveled pirate that roamed these seas?

"I-I don't know anything, I swear!!!" said Koga, obviously lying. He had a look on his face that was actually proving that he was lying and his body slightly trembled, in fear because he could realize that his words would not be believed. He gulped as he stared at the man's eyes and then he took a deep breath, hoping to relax from the stress. Koga knew what actually happened with the two sea emperors, Iken and Maximillion, but he wad determined, at least for the time being, to not reveal the truth to the man who introduced himself as Cornelius Black. After all that man could be a member of an enemy pirate crew, the marines, a bounty hunter, a world government agent or maybe another powerful individual.

"I see ..." The unknown man says, letting out a soft sound of irritation and frustration. Slowly, he then removes his hands, which he had placed in pockets found on the front side of his coat, and he begins to crack his fingers, one by one. Then, when he is done, he raises his glare towards Koga again. "Then I guess you are no longer useful." His tone is calm, but something about how he said that, as well as his whole posture, suggests that this man was, apparently, intending to try to murder Koga!

Meanwhile, Dude is taking a cigarette break, walking across the ship's deck. The ship is already in the process of being patched up, and the process is going exceptionally quickly. But, ship's aside, the mechanic/scientist of the crew appears to be working on something else, as he exited from a room with a label "Surgery-Artifacts Room". What has he done, and why is he smirking?

"I-I am what?" asked Koga with a surprised look on his face as he leaped back and stared at the unknown man who seemed to be having murderous intentions. Apparently, from the voice of the mysterious man and the way he cracked his fingers, Koga could understand that he meant no good for him. He didn't crack his fingers just to crack them nor he cracked them in order to relieve them. He cracked them to scare Koga, to scare the humanoid turtle so that he wouldn't be able to defend himself properly from the incoming attack.

"That bastard... He is going to attack me." thought Koga and he grabbed his turtle shell, as if it was some kind of weapon. He pointed with it to the enemy and with a serious look on his face. He smiled, in order to hide his fear, and he said "I am not going to let you attack me like that." before he started running towards the mysterious man and yelling "Shell Stamp!". Apparently, he was trying to hit the man with a straight forward attack with his shell.

"Shell Stamp?" The man monologues, before he just suddenly and inexplicably disappeared, what was left was a loud bang, almost as if a thunder had struck. The man had appeared some distance away, in the same posture as he was before, and watches over Koga. Apparently, the unknown adversary just moved so incredibly fast, he left out a loud blast of air in the spot he was standing before. Just how fast was he to accomplish that? Not even Soru had such explosive and forceful momentum. Whoever he was, this person must have been extremely powerful. "I changed my mind, I shall let you live. Make sure to inform Iken, if you ever see him again, that ... The Shinkuhane Organization targets him as it's next prey. Farawell, you are not needed, after all." he then vanishes, with an equally explosive force. Who where these "Shinkuhane" dudes now?!

"As if I am going to meet him soon... You guys have no idea where Iken and Maximillion are..." whispered Koga as Cornelius started leaving. Then he took a deep breath and sighed, obviously thinking of something. Now it was pretty clear that Koga actually knew what was going on with the two sea emperors. However, something actually worried the turtle humanoid... Who was that man and what was that organization he was talking about? It looked like more and more enemies were appearing in the new world and they looked really, really scary. "I have to inform the Dusk Pirates about that man..." he thought while heading towards the place he knew they used to be

Meanwhile, Wally returns to the base camp, chuckling around, and drinking large gulps from that over-sized sake pot he was carrying around. Remaining silent for a few moments, while checking everyone out, he suddenly lets out a loud laugh, before he sits down atop a chopped off tree's trunk.

"Alright, this looks good to go; we will be leaving now! ... tho, neither Max's little bro is seen around, so guess you guys will have to inform him and the rest."
"I assume that means that "it" went as expected.." Suigo comments, apparently aware of something that most others were not, but Wally was.
"Weee-hahaha, of course!" Wally responds back, now back to eating, this time a large loaf of bread, thrown by one of the crew members located in the camp.

"Well, leaving like this is actually good for us... You guys really bring trouble whenever you arrive! Haha!" said Ellen jokingly and she grinned. "After all, I have to be able to experiment on my bombs freely... I have to improve the "Melon"." she finished. That woman... She was making that bomb for such a long period of time... She was making a weapon for her crew that would make the crew even deadlier than it already was. "Furthermore, we might not stay here for too long... I have to make a few repairs at the ships and we might set sail, as well. It all depends on Frank." she kept talking.

"Anyway... I guess this is where we are going to say goodbye, huh?" asked Quincy to the Black Cross Pirates. "Whatever... Whether you leave or not, I want all of you to know that even if Maximillion is not here, we are here to support the alliance." he said, showing their devotion over the alliance.

"Can't be helped, when  you are the best, everyone tries to challenge ya! Biihahaha!!" Sabres butts in, letting out a large and long laugh after speaking out his mind. Meanwhile, Suigo was already finished packing and, along with the others sitting around the camp, begins to walk towards the shore, where the ship was docked. Wally walks towards Quincy, but before he gets to talk, from the left, a cargo cart is being pulled towards everyone, carried by several of the Black Cross pirates. On top of it, there seemed to be something large laying down. Dude also arrives, and nods at Wally. "Let's get going, ya blasted bastard!" he says, laughing alongside his captain, before he turns to Quincy. "I've done my part of the remodeling on that damn Lapahm, you can toy around with the rest." So, he did something to him, after all? God knows what.

Wally then does what he was intending to do before Dude's interception, and hands over a Black Den Den Mushi on Quincy's hands. Where was he finding so many of these, who knew? Not that this was inconvenient a habit, in any way. "Excellent. Let's keep in touch. And ya guys take it easy, don't die in this shitty ocean! Weee-hahaha, until we meet again!" Saying that, the captain of the Black Cross passes next to the Dusk pirates, and towards the shore as well. It was time for separation again.

"We definitely will not." a voice was heard from behind Wally and a man appeared, who apparently seemed to be none other than Manta. It looked like he was done doing what he had to do and he returned back to greet his allies. "We definitely will not die and we are indeed going to keep in touch. Especially as long as Maximillion is not here..." said Manta. "We might meet sooner than you expect. Chkchkchkchkchkchk!!!" he finished. Then, he turned his head towards Dude and Sabres. "Dude... Thank you for Lappy... And Sabres, we will meet soon enough to continue that battle we had!" he finished and laughed once more.

"Biiiihahahaha, sure thing, but make sure you can keep up with me by then!!" Sabres says, laughing loudly, having raised both his arms, flexing his powerful and huge muscles as he walks away along with the rest of the crew, in high spirits, as always.

"Ehehehe, no sweat, was looking for a subject to experiment with this on ... you should know that there's a chance that he won't survive this, but if he does.. boy, if it works as I planned, this bunny's going to make even mighty dragons weep in fear!" Dude also speaks up, his parting words being about Lappy, and regarding what he did to him. He was almost completely covered in a while veil, so his friends would have to remove to see his condition. Nonetheless, the pirate scientist probably did a good work, to be that confident.

"Until we meet again. Follow me, Maha." Suigo simply says his goodbyes, without much of a comment or promise, typical of his stern and distant disposition about most things.

"Next time we cross paths, be sure that I will be the one parents use to make their children be obedient, Weee-hahaha!!" Wally also speaks, and the whole team soon disappears, soon to leave this island and into the next adventure!

"Goodbye." said Manta while waving his hand at his allies. "Sabres you bastard... I am definitely going to take you down the next time we meet! That way we will find out who is stronger and who is weaker. Do you not agree, Quincy?" asked Manta while turning his head towards Quincy.

"Of course!" said Quincy while rushing towards Manta in an attempt to slash him with his claws.

"Chk! You are going down, you beast!" said Manta while grabbing his scythe.

"Oh my... If they continue like that, we will definitely not survive to meet them again." commented Ellen while looking at the others.

Meanwhile, Lappy said "Bun, bun!" hoping that anybody would remove the veil that was almost completely covering him.

The Dusk Pirates would soon depart, as well...

As Wally walks, he notices the Dusk pirates going on some sort of free for all, and, smirking, he turns back towards the direction he was walking. A small image crosses his mind, one of 3 guys that seemed to be in their teenage years, battling and goofing around. "Weee-hahahaha.." he lets out a soft laugh while walking. *It's almost there, the grant stage. I will be the pirate king, soon...!* he thinks to himself.

Meanwhile, going away, is a small boat that has the Marine insignia on the small cloth it has on that lone mast. There's one man inside, and, as he, unknown how but, appears to be making the boat go remarkably fast for its size, sighs. "This is bad .. what I've figured out ... I need to inform the Central so we take actions, before it's too late." Another unknown man, speaking some mysterious words!

And, lastly, that Cornelious person is communicating with someone via some sort of device, it's not a Den Den Mushi. "Exactly ... we need to act fast. Or else the opportunity shall be lost...!"

Introduction Box:
Commander of the 6th Faction of the Shinkuhane Alliance
Cornelious Black
Bounty: 350,000,000 Beli.

Mysterious and ominous winds everywhere!!

"Oh my..." thought Manta as the Black Cross Pirates left and he was about to speak something before Koga appeared in front of everybody, surprising the group and especially Manta who never expected to see him in front of his eyes again. "Koga... It has been a while." he said while looking at the turtle humanoid as he appeared.

"I see you are all safe and sound... All except from your new pet." said the turtle humanoid to everybody, surprising them once again, this time with his words. Apparently, he was kind of informing everybody that he was the one who was responsible for the attack against Lappy. "I am here for two reasons." he proceeded to explain the reason he came there. "First, I want to apologize to your pet... I am sorry for what I did and I really mean it. I over reacted in front of your pressence." said the turtle with a sad look on his face, which revealed that he really meant what he said. "And now, secondly..."

"Secondly what, Koga? Let me guess... Is it that you want me to behead you with my scythe?" said Manta while rushing towards Koga, who would jump out of the attack's way to avoid the slash.

"No, it's not that... I am not here to battle!" explained Koga. "Listen... It would be wise for you to not attack me... You have something I want and I have something you need."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Listen carefully, Manta... I have trapped Maximillion inside my naginata which I hid somewhere and I will only free him for one reason..." said Koga, shocking everybody.

"What-What do you mean?" asked Manta with a trembling voice.

"Maximillion is trapped within my weapon and I will only free him under a certain condition..." said Koga.

"No... This cannot be!" said Quincy.

"It is happening... And as I said I will only free him under a certain condition." said Koga.

"And that is?" asked Manta.

Hikero Umi Country, somewhere in the New World,

A figure is seen shutting down what seemed to be a communication device, a device that seemed different from what everyone else would use for such occasions. The figure is seen sitting on a rocky surface, right next to the edge of the land, right next to a long scarp that went down to what seemed to be the mainland, covered in flames. But, these flames looked different. For one, the tress burning wouldn't fall down, it would actually give a, crazy indeed, impression than the trees themselves were releasing the flames themselves.

Next to the figure there's a tall man, with a costume matching Cornelious black, even shades in his eyes, but he had long, flowing blonde hair that went down his waist. He was sitting with his arms crossed behind his back. He figure looks towards the massive landscape he was able to look at from up there, before he lets out a sigh, and turns towards the other man. "Prepare our factions; war is imminent."
What is happening?!

"Hey, hey! This is unfair!" said Manta to Koga with an evil look on his face. "You are asking us for way too much!" he completed.

"Why is that? I just want to guarantee my safety." said Koga, smiling.

"And what makes you think that you will be safe that way." commented Quincy.

"Nothing makes me be sure about it... I just believe in the words of my former comrades. You see, when I left from the crew, I wanted to find the strength to become able to stop Maximillion. I stopped him and he is safe and sound. Now, all I want is to be safe again and live my life as I used to." explained Koga.

"Your quest is denied immediately. And you have to know something... If I ever find a way to free Maximillion, you shall be exterminated immediately. Get it?" said Manta and he approached Koga. Then, he touched him on the face with his hand's palm, creating a weird green colored egg which he grabbed afterwards. "If you want your safety, go to the World Government... I am pretty sure that they will give you a good position if they found out what you did to my brother in exchange of him, of course." finished Manta and turned his back at Koga.

"Huh? What are you doing, Manta?" asked Ellen. "That guy was our friend but he is a traitor! Will you let him go?"

"I am sorry, Ellen... Even if I want to kill that bastard, Maximillion would never do bad things to Koga... I think he cared about him as much as he did about myself, as well. I will not move until I receive a command by him to kill him, which I will definitely will when he gets freed... But I am not sure." said Manta.

"But..."

"There is no but! Koga is going to leave unharmed from here." finished Manta.

"I see... I guess I have to thank you, Manta... And Ellen, you are as hot as always." said Koga, making a perverted comment like he used to do in the past.

"Oh shut up!" she punched Koga at the head.

"Ouch!" said Koga who turned his back to leave. "Oh and something else... You guys should check the island... There are some weird visitors I found... You might be in trouble soon. You either have to leave from here or stay here and fight, but in your condition, the battle is going to be harsh. I am suggesting you to leave from here as fast as possible." suggested Koga.

"I see, but we have to stay here... There is one person I need to talk to before I leave." said Manta.

"Huh?" Koga was surprised.

"It does not concern you." said Manta.

"Oh, I see..." finished Koga.

A step is heard, and, some distance away from the spot the Dusk pirates and Koga were conversing, and atop a solid, cleanly cut piece of black-colored marble, it's that man from before, Cornelious, looking down towards the crowd. How did he get there, without anyone noticing him?

Holding his hands behind his back, the mysterious and arguably very dangerous man glares down at everyone. Some moments pass by, before he speaks, cutting out they guys who were about to actually talk. "I have received new orders to exterminate the Dusk pirates, while they are injured and weakened as they are now. Resistance is futile." He just calmly speaks, while cracking his fingers slowly, one by one like when he met up with Koga before, and as if it's the most normal thing in the world to effectively announce to a group of people that you are ordered to kill them.

Koga had reached a great distance from the main group of the Dusk Pirates but before he completely left, he turned his back, taking a last glimspe of them. However, that glimpse would make him return quickly back at them as he saw a man that appeared out of nowhere, talking to them. That man was none other than the mysterious man he encountered before, the man with the name of Cornelius Black. "Oh shit!" said Koga as he noticed Cornelius and he started running towards the direction of the Dusk
Pirates in order to reunite with them and help them in case a battle started against Cornelius.

Manta stared at Cornelious. That man looked quite scary, but for Manta scary guys were just stronger enemies than usual. Manta had no fear for his enemies most of the times. After all, he had that crazy blood, much like his brother. "Chkchkchkchkchkchk!" laughed Manta as soon as Cornelius spoke. "You say that distance is futile, chk? Interesting... I was about to say the same, as well!" explained Manta as he grabbed his scythe and pointed towards himself. "Protect me, Quincy!" said Manta as he launched a chicken beam towards himself, turning himself into a chicken, surprising everybody who was around. What was Manta planning?

"Okay, okay... I get it." said Quincy as he stood in front of Manta along with Ellen and Lappy and any other member of the Dusk Pirates who happened to be around.

"Stay safe and sound, you guys... I am coming, as well." said Koga as he run.

Meanwhile, at a great distance away from that incident... The mysterious masked man with the hologram form stares at the site of the battle and he laughs "Mufufufufufufufu!". What was going on? What did the mysterious man of the Unknown Pirates do at Raijin Island? Why did he keep observing the Dusk Pirates?

[OOC: I am glad that I see a great plot]

"I guess it's no use trying to convince someone to accept death, let alone a pirate. Fair enough." Cornelious slowly comments, before he slightly bends his body forward, facing towards the majority of the Dusk pirates who were about to confront him. And then, he disappears from that marble surface, again, leaving a loud, thunder-like sound as an aftermath, the surface actually cracking. This move, this was making that person move at an inconceivable speed yet ... this was not "Soru"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_a5_jsGPfg

A split second later, Cornelious's large frame appears on Quincy's side, not even facing directly at him, but instead straight ahead and past him, as a fist was hurled towards Quincy from the side. Something about that speed and momentum, something about that bizarre sensation of the air itself around the punch literally feeling as if distorting and collapsing into a roaring rumble ... it looked unbelievably powerful and dangerous a blow to just absorb and try to shake away! Quincy had to escape this unknown fighting style!

((OOC: Heh, glad you like these additions. This Alliance, I plan of having them become more prominent as we move on.))