Serious; The Dusk Pirates; Chapter 7; The aftermath of the battle of Calm Belt! The Ultimate Return! (Open to the Dusk Pirates - Completed)

It had been a few days after the events of the Calm Belt... The Dusk Pirates had left Maximillion and ever since that time they did not get any information from him. The crew was now butchered. After the war, many of the people that were inside left from it. Some of them would leave because they were scared and some others because they were disappointed by Maximillion. However, there were a few that would stay behind... Manta, Frank, Quincy and Ellen were still behind and they were waiting at a small island around the Calm Belt, called "Katana Island". The island was a good place that was well-known for the weapons that the people on it were creating and the closest island to the Calm Belt.

As the sun shined, Manta got up from his bed. Apparently, the crew was disguised and they lived in a hotel in the town of the island. The crew had lost so many members that the four of them could not do anything at all. Even Manta agreed to dress himself and not reveal his true identity. The marines could still be around and search for them... If they got dressed, after all, they would not be suspected by anybody. Who would suspect a young man, an old man and a beautiful lady?

There was a problem, though... Frank would still grab the attention of people. However, Manta quickly came up with a plan. He proposed to have Frank butchered and move him through bags so that nobody would see him until they would get into the hotel room. There, he would stick his body parts back together and everything would be fine...

However, that day, that Manta woke up, some bad news were about to arrive. As the cook of the Dusk Pirates opened the window, a bird carrying a newspaper appeared. Intrigued to learn what the news would say, the man grabbed the newspaper and he started reading it carefully... And while he read it, his eyes fell on a journal that surprised him and made him sad at the same time. The journal's title was written with very big letters.

"THE CAPTAIN OF THE DUSK PIRATES MAXIMILLION "MASTERMIND" MAIMOU HAS SUCCESSFULLY BEEN ELIMINATED BY THE MARINES."

Quincy had walked into the room of Mantra now old and his muscles whithered. He slowly moved toward him as fast as his legs could take him with the aid of his cane. He was surprising well dressed considering he was a pirate. It would add to his disguse considering that marines wouldn't recognize him since he had aged drastically from his picture in the bounty poster. In his hand was the newspaper revealing their captain's death "Well it seems the crazy bastard finally got himself killed." Quincy threw the paper toward Mantra's feet "I guess you will be taking over as captain now, sonnie. Its what max would have wanted."

Ellen Niarbel was in the room next door to Quincy and Manta, continuing with her usual work, making explosives. Ofcourse, due to being forced to stay undercover, Ellen couldn't make much, and even then only some of her cherry bombs since they left the least materials behind after being made. She sighed after she finished puring the gun powder into the diminutive bomb, and began working on it's fuse. It just wasn't fair! Not only did she lose her workshop after one of the Dusk Pirate ships sank, but she wasn't aloud to blow anything up, not even things the crew hated, like marines for example. Although it didn't make her angry, it did annoy Ellen that she had to have a sudden change of clothes as well as dyeing her hair to help keep a low profile. Her hair was now green, not red, and was tied into buns at the side of her head, no longer into pigtails. The fur jacket, her sleevless shirt, the cargo trousers and her trainners were all gone, replaced with a red chinesse long dress and a pair of red stilletos. The stilletos are what really annoyed Ellen, hardly any balance with them at all, which would really get in the way when she could blow things up for a change. She sgrunted in frustration as she realised she couldn't get herself to concentrate on her work and decided to just leave her things as they were and work on them later. She stormed out of he rroom, shutting the door behind her, and stormed into Manta's room. "I'm tired of waiting around! Let's go blow something up already! What wrong with you two? You seem like both got punched in the stomache!", she growled angrily, ignorant to what news had arrived.

"Silence, everybody." Manta said with a quiet voice and with a saddened look on his face. "First, Quincy, you are not an old man so stop acting like that. Do not call me sonnie. You are just three years older than I am... Secondly, stay quiet Ellen. The last thing I want now is to be chased by those foolish marines... Maximillion... How could he do this to us?! How could he let himself die in the hands of those pitiful marines?! If only... If only he let us stay with him... Listen, Ellen. My brother is dead... And now we are the only ones left... And with the bounties we have on our heads, be sure that we will not have an easy life. So, be patient. Be patient until I organize the crew again... If you go out and explode the whole place, then we are doomed to die... They will not let us get away like that. So, be quiet and just stay with us... Right?".

Normally, Manta would not behave like that. He was the kind of guy who would have turned Quincy into a chicken for calling his brother a crazy bastard and who would yell at Ellen for the possible problems she could cause. However, at that time, he was so sad that he could not do anything at all... He would just make his position clear to his three crewmates before trying to continue his brother's will and unite the crew to restore it back to its former glory. With his brother gone, Manta was the only one to inherit the will of Maximillion. The love Manta had for his brother made him have the same goals as him and at that time he was eager to do anything to succeed with his goals.

Frank stood along with the others, staring with his empty eyes at the newspaper's title. He hated the fact that they had to hide, and hated the fact that they became so weak lately: Quincy, who used to be an intimidating monster, was now an old shell, Manta was a train wrack, and Ellen was on the verge of a breakdown, and to top it all off, he spent the last few days traveling in several different bags. It took him over an hour to reattach himself back together, and he knew he'll have to do it again the next time they leave the room. And now, the hope that things will eventually get better was reduced to a pulp, with the death of Maximillion.

"Poor fella, dying is a terrible feeling" Frank noted, speaking from past experience. He could still remember that split second of pain when the bullet went through his skull so many years ago, he could only hope the marines allowed Maximillion to pass away in a gentler way. The memory of the marines made Frank even angrier than before. He clenched his fists, producing several cracking sounds from his sheer strength. He gritted his teeth, looking for something to take his anger out on.

Of course, he couldn't punch anything, since they had to keep their presence a secret, so he finally lowered his gaze and admitted:" I really need to punch something, right now".

Ellen sulked a little when she heard Manta ordering her not to blow anything up, something she would never thought would come from a Dusk Pirate's lips, but kept a poker face before grumbling; "Fine, I won't blow anything up, at least not for a week." She understood that the Manta, Quincy, and Frank had some attatchment to the captain, or at the very least Frank and Manta did. Personally, Ellen had very little feelings over the captain, but thought it was best to not say anything since upset men were quite unpredictable, afterall this crew got into all sorts of battles which could mean more chances of testing her explosives. Though in honesty, she liked the fact Maximillion rarely discouraged her craving for destruction. "So we doing anything soon or we just lying around here for a bit?" Ellen asked as she sat on the bed, waiting for an answer, expecting there will be some talking for some time.

"Well... I do not even know what to do..." Manta said with a saddened look on his face, as he stared outwards to watch towards the sun. Moments of himself with Maximillion were coming in his mind. He remembered the times the two of them were small children... His older brother was the only one to care for him. Even if Maximillion really was not that kind of person, he used to protect Manta a lot. And that was why Manta was so devoted to him and believed in him. "How could you break your promise, Maximillion?". However, while he was thinking of those things a woman was heard screaming. She screamed "HELP ME!!!!!!! HE-HE IS ALIVE AND HE IS HERE! THE NEWSPAPERS LIED! HE IS ALIVE! MAXIMILLION MAIMOU IS ON OUR ISLAND! I SAW HIM LYING IN THE BEACH! CALL THE MARINES!!!!!!!!!"

"Huh?! What was that?" Manta said, surprised from the voices of the woman. "If she is telling the truth... Then... Who knows... Ellen! Frank! Quincy! Run towards the beach... Well, Quincy, running might be difficult for you but just try to keep up! Go!". Afterwards, he swiftly opened the door and he started running towards the beach, hoping that the words of the woman were true...

Quincy raised his cane to beat Mantra "You smart mouth brat, I can still run like I could back in my youth. I can still your ass you hooliagn. Owch my back!" Quincy fell onto the floor in pain from breaking his back. Even in pain he couldn't help but to laugh "I knew our captain couldn't be dead. I just knew. Boys break out the prune juice and rice pudding I'm taking us out tonight." Quincy needed assistance getting for he had fallen.

Frank's round eyes shot open as he heard the woman's cry. "I knew the captain wouldn't drop dead on us like that!" He lied as he raised his fist in the air. He grabbed Quincy with one of his arms and raised him over one of his shoulders. "Forget the damn door, we don't have to hide any more!" He shouted as he ran straight into the wall of the room. "Brace yourself doc! Woooooooooooohoooooooooo!" He shouted, finally letting the anger that he built inside of him out, it felt great.

The wall exploded as Frank punched it down, allowing him to burst out into the open and keep running, not showing the slightest bit of pain as a result of the collision. "Ooga booga booga!" He shouted at random people, making them run in fear. "The Dusk pirates are freaking back!" He cheerd as he kept running for the beach.

Ellen was spaced out for a few moments, day dreaming happily about sending the hotel sky high, until she noticed everyone had left and was rushing away somewhere. "Hey don't ditch me you jerks!" Ellen snarled as she leapt out of the window to chase after them, and imedietly stumbled on her stilletos and fell flat on his face. "Damn it! Stupid f***ing stilletos! I'm gonna blow these things up later when I get the chance!", she growled angrily at the unbalanced footwear, before taking them off and throwing them at a passerby in furry before running after the rest of the Dusk pirates calling after them; "Hey, I get to blow stuff up now right?"

"Chkchkchkchkchkchkchkchk!" Manta laughed as he noticed that his crew went all out and that they all started running in the streets of the little town of Katana Island, while laughing and scaring the people who were around. Frank had already started scaring people off because of his strange appearance and Ellen was ready to blow up the place at any time. Quincy apparently could not do anything, but even if he could not, he looked so old that a normal human would mistreat him as a zombie and thus he would scare them. If Maximillion really was the person that scared off that woman, nothing would be left of the island anyway so that the crew would not be chased again. If those bystanders reported Maximillion, that would be a big problem for the Dusk Pirates...

"Blow up whatever you want, Ellen." Manta said with an evil look on his face. "After all, if that guy this woman was talking about really is Maximillion, he is going to destroy this island anyway! Chkchkchkchkchkchkchkchk!". Then, he started increasing the speed with which he was running towards the beach and he screamed as he slashed a bystander, who was in front of his way, with his scythe "Wait for me Maximillion! Your little brother is coming!"

Ellen grinned maddly when she heard she has permission to got to twon with her explosives on the, well, town. "Finally some destruction!" she exclaimed happily, but not before grudingly picking up Quincy and dragging him along while she lit a mtach with her spare hand, before holding it int her teeth and lighting a few cherry bombs she took out of her hiding place and tossing them around as if she were throwing petals around giggling with insane glee as she heard the cries of helpless victims being caught in each explosion. "Oh how I missed this! It;s purely wonderful!" she exclaimed with joyous tears, still dragging Quincy along as the pursuit to the beack continued.

"Chkchkchkchkchkchkchk!" Manta laughed madly as the crew kept running towards the beach in order to search for Maximillion. The more the time passed and the faster Manta run, the more his heart would beat at the thought of that his brother was actually alive and he happened to be on the beach of the island they were. As he attacked anything in front his path, a few bystanders tried to stop him and all of them ended up dying from his scythe. The four members of the Dusk Pirates were causing a great rampage over the little town of the island...

And as they run and run, the crew finally arrived at the beach. Manta stared towards the beach. Apparently, there was a man who was sitting on the sand and he was staring at the sky. The man seemed to be okay, but something strange was going on with him. He did not look like Maximillion. He had black pants, black sandals and a black shirt that was opened, revealing a scarred chest. That guy did not really look a lot like Maximillion. However, there was something common. His hair was actually like his brother's as a result, Manta moved towards him and he said "Brother?" with a trembling voice.

The man did not move an inch. He did not seem to do anything. Instead, a sound came from his mouth. He said "Hmph?".

Frank ran after Manta, trying to keep up with the frantic cook that was spilling blood all over the place. "How you holding up there Doc?" He asked Quincy over his shoulder, but didn't really pay attention since he was going to continue running anyway. People who walked by ran in fear as he passed them, but ti might have been because of Manta that ripped whoever interrupted him to shreds. "Spread the rumor, The Dusk pirates are ALIVE" Frank shouted at them, which was weird since he was dead.

When they finally got to the beach, Frank noticed the sitting figure. It reminded Max, and he didn't really pay attention to the clothing since he judged people's appearance by their hair. He stopped next to Manta, letting him speak first, and when he heard the figures response, there was no doubt. "Hell yea!" Frank roared, lowering Quincy to the ground and helping him get to his feet. "Those silly marines thought they could take down the Dusk Pirates, they are even dumber than I thought!" He said.

Quincy began hitting frank with his cane as he carried him toward the beach "You brat, I can run to the beach myself. Ahh thats the problem with youth now and days. They move too fast. I can remember back my days we use to take our time to do things, and make sure we did it right. Not the young people. The young people today...ohh there is some pudding. Frank go back we are missing the pudding." When Frank put Quincy on the ground his legs collapsed dropping him to the ground. This body was useless. He was too old to be any use. Quicy turned toward the stranger "Great beans in the basket, its a ghost. Heart attack"

As Ellen caught up with the others she stared at her last cherry bomb somenly, before lighting it with a dark smile and tossing it behind her, giggling as she heard the explosion, until she noticed the mysterious figure. "Who the hell's this guy? Man that lady must of been blind if she thought this dude was old Maxie! He looks a bit like him I admit, but his clothes are all wrong and and Maxie never had a scar. I'd blow him up but I'm out of my wonderful tools of destruction.", she blathered casually, frowning with geniunie sadness at the comment of her lack of explosives.

"What? Do you not remember me because I look like a cast away?" the man said as he got up and turned himself towards the Dusk Pirates to finally reveal his face. Apparently that guy really was Maximillion. He had the same hair style as Maximillion, the same emotionless look on his face and the same skin color. Despite the fact that the guy's whole body from his legs up to his face was completely scarred, it was easy for anybody to realize that he really was Maximillion.

"Brother..." Manta said with a relieved face. If that guy was not Maximillion and if Manta was not Manta, Manta would definitely hug his brother. However, Manta did not do so as he was Manta, after all. "We had been waiting for you..." he said to his brother and Maximillion smiled, surprising his brother as he was not in a battle, just like he would do during the short period after he was saved by Iken. However, that smile did not come from that Maximillion. It came from the real Maximillion, the insane monster that once dreamed of taking over the whole world. "We can talk later Manta..." he said with a quiet voice as he started walking towards the village. It was one of the few times that Maximillion behaved like that... He was calm and he did not show arrogance. He was probably up to something...

While he walked towards the village, the man said to his crewmates and he pointed towards a small boat "Well, well... There is a boat nearby... Get over there and move it towards the sea. I shall come soon. You know, you are lucky that you found me... Otherwise you would end up... Oh wait, nevermind. You will find out eventually. Now, go.". Afterwards, he kept walking towards the town and Manta looked at him surprised before he followed his orders and run towards the boat to move it in the sea. Something was about to happen.

Frank wasn't sure what happened. First off, Maximillion looked awful, he was scared and wounded, who ever did this to him had to be a powerful marine. Secondly, he wasn't even happy to see the crew, he just wore an emotionless face that gave away nothing. Of course, Frank was used to that face by now, but the scars and the cold greeting were a weird addition. He stepped out of Maximillion's way, watching as he walked towards the village.

"What do you think happened to him?" Frank asked Manta as he followed him to the small boat. "I'm gonna beat the crap out of whoever did this to him" he added.

Ellen grumbled under her breath at Maximillion simply ordering them around, though she was mostly annoyed because he hadn't mentioned anything about the fact she needed a new workshop, though she was quite sure if she asked for one now she'd end up very dead. She sprinted towards the ship Maximillion pointed at earlier, gaining ground towards while thinking to herself; Huh, looks like Maxie got some real injuries. guess even he has trouble against vice-admirals. Eh, i'd probably wouldn't stand much of a chance against a comadore myself, ofcourse I might just be able to blow them up! As she was just a few feet away from the ship, she stood there happily daydreaming about blowing up Derge, happily imagining his limbs being scattered around. After all, a girl could dream.

Quincy just laid on the ground "Hey don't you bastard leave me here." He rolled back and forth to pull himself. When he finally pulled himself up after building enough speed. His back gave up on him leaving to fall on the ground in pain. "Damn you young people. Can't even help an innocent old man from the ground. I need aid frank. I have fallen and I can't get up." Quincy just rolled on sides to follow the dusk pirates "I remember back when I was young. That was the good old days back when were fighting in Impel Down. Oh at least I think we were in Impel Down. Hmmm I wonder did I imagine that? Oh look there is Max. Hey max! Remember that time when we rescued you from impel down? Did we survive?"

As the crew moved towards the boat, Maximillion decided to make his movement. He was about to do something that would prove to the marines that they are wrong and would show them that even if they took him on in the middle of the sea while he had little to no assistance, he managed to survive and return safe and sound. He was about to do something very simple to prove that. He was going to destroy the whole island.

As he slowly walked inside the town, the innocent bystanders were all surprised to see him. They were running around, scared of his pressence as he had a great bounty, a bounty of over 300,000,000 Beli. He was a deadly pirate, a pirate that most people were afraid of. "HEEEEEEEEELP!" a few people screamed as they run away from him.

"Hmph." Maximillion said with a serious look on his face. Then, he took a deep breath and he said "Last Resort - Final Explosion.". Instantly afterwards, the pirate started using his fruit powers. He started creating at an extremely fast rate venom and steel lava from his hands... For many minutes, the captain was creating... He was creating more and more... Each second that passed, great amounts of his two elements were gathered around him. "Katana Island... This is your last day." Maximillion remarked and the people who were running around looked towards him with a shocked look on the face.

10 minutes later...

Manta and the rest of the Dusk Pirates were staring at the island from inside the boat. The boat was already away from the sea, but Manta would not move it, waiting for Maximillion. And as the crew watched at the island something unexpected happened that shocked even Manta himself. A large and powerful explosion took place, as if a series of volcanoes errupted. Maximillion's steel lava started moving through the whole island while his poison gas was spreading from the air of the island. No houses were left, no people survived. The only one standing was the captain of the Dusk Pirates who seemed to be quite tired. That was the message of the captain of the Dusk Pirates about his return. He was now back, prepared for more evil things. He was more determined than ever to become the Pirate King. And so, he started moving towards the boat to reunite with his crew in order to leave from the island... Now, he would need a new powerful ship and he had a great idea in his mind...

[End of the thread]