The Grand Maiden. Anton La'croix had never seen a ship like it in his entire life. Boasted as the finest cruise ship ever built in all the blues, and it certainly showed. The ship was massive, and it's design was almost akin to a floating palace. Fine food, good service, plenty to keep the rich and the noble busy, they certainly spared no expense on this. And Anton was one of the people fortunate to be on it!

Granted, he among many other marines, we're selected mainly to act as security. After all, with so many of the rich and powerful here, it was only natural they would need protecting. The marine commander suspected that he was selected possibly because of his clothing (his attire allowed him to blend right in with the nobility here), and that Stelbourg had pulled some strings. Personally, Anton didn't mind one bit. The assignment was relatively peaceful. The most he had to do was calm down a drunk noble or two who had gotten too excited.

Right now, Anton was in the quarters reserved for the marines, washing up. Someone had managed to spill a glass of wine on him, thankfully he was able to get the stain out. They had some pretty good cleaning liquid here. He was all alone in the room, just quietly humming as he washed his coat. Now this was the sort of assignment he could get used to. Nice, peaceful, and actually fun.

And then everything went to hell, particularly when five men suddenly barged into the room. Anton spun around, immediately recognizing that these men were neither guests, marines, or the staff (though they did dress somewhat nicely). The main giveaway was the weapons they were holding, as well as the murderous intent they had in their eyes when they saw him. A second or so later, they were diving at him, swords at the ready.

And their swords seemed to bounce off of him harmlessly. And they were no longer looking at a man. Their target had seemed to have turned into some sort of strange grasshopper creature.

The attackers looked down at their swords, before looking back up at the hybrid zoan, who in turn was looking down at them. Then the zoan screamed and lashed out with a long, powerful leg. The leg swept around. Catching all five and lifting them into the air, sending them flying into a wall. The five slumped to the floor, groaning, senseless, and unable to figure out just what the hell happened.

A minute or so later, after making sure they were all tied up, Anton burst from the room, back in his human form, putting his still damp coat back on, sword in hand. Just what the hell was happening on this ship?


5 T0 pirates defeated

When Anton burst out onto the upper decks, the place was in complete pandemonium. People were screaming and running, while others were chasing and attacking with swords, axes, and other weaponry. Bodies lay scattered on the ground, both of guest, servant and marine alike.

A pirate attack!? Why did something like this have to happen now?

One of the pirates spied Anton and made a charge for him, sword at the ready. Anton brought his own blade up, blocking the attack and shoving him back with all his strength. The pirate stumbled back before Anton suddenly shot in, swinging upwards and catching the pirate in the torso. His enemy cried out in surprise before crashing to the floor, bleeding badly.

A scream caught his attention next, seeing a pair of nobles running in a panic away from a trio of pirates chasing after them. He had to act fast. Quickly jumping back, Anton shifted into his hybrid form, kicking off of the wall at high speed and slamming himself into the three pirates like a battering ram. The pirates were sent flying, bouncing along the ground like bowling pins before crashing into the wall. Many of the passengers screamed upon seeing the freaky grasshopper man, but Anton had long since gotten used to it. As long as they didn't try to attack him, everything was ok.

Then, speak of the devil, a gunshot rang out and Anton stumbled forward, feeling something strike him in the back. It was moments like this that Anton was very grateful for the exoskeleton that his devil fruit provided. He'd be long dead by now if he didn't have it. He slowly turned, seeing a pirate with a pistol aimed at him, or rather, checking what was wrong with the weapon, since it didn't seem to have an effect. Anton barreled towards him, screaming as the pirate began to panic. Unfortunately, a pistol wasn't exactly the best defense for a sword, and a couple of swings later and the pirate was down.

Anton stood over the defeated pirate, panting. He really needed to calm himself. After all, the pirate hadn't even hurt him, just damaged his coat. Looking around to make sure everyone in the general area was alright (they were, though clearly scared of the grasshopper), Anton broke into a run towards the sounds of fighting, intent on helping out even more.


5 T0 pirates defeated.
10/15 T0 pirates defeated total.

Anton dashed through the large set of double doors, leading into a massive ballroom (yes, the ship was large enough to have its own ballroom). The place was an absolute mess. Furniture smashed, food scattered all over the place, and frightened men, women and children being herded like cattle by their pirate attackers. Anton identified a number of marine bodies laying around the room. This was insane! How the hell had the pirates managed to overwhelm the marines here so easily?

He didn't have time to think about that. Right now, he had to protect the innocents before those pirates did the unthinkable. Without thinking, Anton charged in, sword in hand and catching one of the pirates by surprise. One slash was all it took to bring the man down, and alert the others of his presence. The rest of the pirates let back, weapons at the ready. Needless to say, they were shocked by the grasshopper man that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Anton held his sword before him, looking around at the pirates. There were plenty in the room, easily outnumbering the lone marine. His exoskeleton would provide some protection, but it wouldn't be hard to overwhelm him. Anton had to try and bring as many down as he could before they swarmed him, giving the people time to escape. Anton suddenly left up into the air, almost hitting the roof of the ballroom as he came down on a couple of pirates grouped together. The two brought their weapons up to defend themselves, but they proved ineffective against the large missile coming down top of them, slamming them into the floor.

Two more quickly moved to intercept him. Anton suddenly flipped himself over, catching himself on his hands and began to spin around, his legs out and flailing like a living, green propeller. The long limbs caught hold of the two pirates, swinging them around and around before finally launching them into the air, crashing into more of them like living bowling balls. The marine quickly sprang back to his feet, sword in hand and ready. That was a good number he sheered off, but there were still plenty more waiting to fight him.

Then, behind him, he heard a sound. The massive pair of double doors on the other side of the ballroom, behind Anton, slowly began to open. The pirates seemed to back away, as Anton heard a strange sound coming from behind him.

Was that...the sound of a horse?


5 T0 Pirates defeated.

15/15 T0 Pirates defeated. Task accomplished!

To be continued in "The Pirate Knight"