Anton slowly turned, his sword held tightly in his hands, just in case any of the pirates in the room tried to attack him when he wasn't looking. What he saw was a bit surprising. Entering the room was a man, dressed in a similar fashion to the rest of the pirates present (as in, very foppish), carrying a massive broadsword that was even bigger than he was. What was most noticeable though was that the pirate was riding atop the biggest horse Anton had ever seen, decked out in equine armour and other ornaments. What was a horse doing on a ship? And why was somebody riding it?

"Well now," the rider spoke, his voice thick with arrogance, "What do we have here? A noble actually able to fight?" Anton was about to correct him when he remembered his attire. Guess mistaking him for a noble was understandable. "Actually," Anton spoke up, "I am Commander Anton La'croix of the marines," He stood up tall, pointing his sword at the man, hoping to give off an intimidating image. Instead, the man simply laughed. "A marine you say? And here I thought there were none amongst this poultry group who could actually challenge us. Cutting you lot down has proven very easy." Anton clenched his teeth in anger. Talking about death so casually, even laughing about it!

The man finally stopped laughing, but the smirk on his face remained. "Well then, since you've proven a little bit of a distraction, I think I'll have the honour of crushing you under hoof." He held his sword out in front of him in a dramatic pose. "Witness this moment ladies and gentlemen. I, the Pirate Knight Lestalt of the Aristocrat Pirates will squash this little bug with one swing of my sword!"

Anton rose an eyebrow. "The Aristocrat Pirates? There's nothing aristocratic about you! Dressing up like a fop does not make you an aristocrat. Besides, it looks like you'll have trouble swinging that sword of yours. Your arm's trembling." For once since their encounter, the smirk vanished from Lestalt's face. Mainly because, well, Anton was right. His arm had been trembling holding that heavy blade. "Enough talk!" he yelled out, "Time to put an end to this little resistance!" With a yell, he dug his feet into the horse's side, sending it charging towards Anton. Anton braced himself, holding his sword ready as Lestalt held it high. He swung the heavy blade down at him as he charged past.

The two blades clashed, the sound of metal striking echoing throughout the massive ballroom.

The blades clashed, and a sword went flying through the air. All eyes were on it as it spun through the air, before landing and embedding itself into the floor.

It should be noted that the sword in question wasn't Anton's. His was still gripped in his hands. The sword had in fact been Lestalt's, knocked out of his hand as he rode past. Everyone stared at the blade in silence, while Lestalt himself was looking at his now empty hand in shock. It was only after a moment that Anton slowly turned to look at the disarmed knight. "Erm, do you want me to give you your sword back?"

This caused Lestalt to snap out of his shock, turning in his saddle to snarl at the marine. "Sh-Shut up! I know what you're doing!" "Yeah, I don't think you do." "Shut up!" Any sense of refinement had gone out the window as he turned his horse to face him. "I'll grind you into dust!" With a yell, Lestalt charged towards Anton, his horse's hooves thundering as he closed in, fully intent on crushing the grasshopper zoan under the massive weight of his steed.

Unfortunately for him, Anton reacted faster, leaping straight into the air and managing to avoid the massive horse. Lestalt looked up in shock as Anton shot straight up into the air, turning and catching himself on the ballroom's ceiling. "Hopper Tackle!" Anton shot from the ceiling like a bullet, shooting down towards Lestalt. The knight tried to move, but his horse proved too slow. Anton crashed into him head on, knocking the pirate from his horse and slamming him into the floor. Anton was sure he felt some bones break as the "Pirate Knight" slumped to the floor like a ragdoll.

Anton slowly climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. "Looks like I'm not one getting squashed today," Anton replied. Man, he was on a roll with the snarky one liners today.

"Such an insult. I expected better."

Anton blinked, looking around for the source of the voice. His eyes slowly turned towards Lestalt's horse, who had walked over towards the dropped sword. It was then he noticed that nobody seemed at all bothered by Lestalt's defeat. The horse slowly turned its head to look at Anton. "I apologize for irritation."

Anton's eyes almost bugged out of his head. Why was the horse talking!?


'Pirate Knight Lestalt' defeated. Or is he?

Anton stood there, his eyes wide as he stared at the horse. The horse spoke. Since when were there talking horses? The horse in question seemed to find his expression amusing, giving a small chuckle. "I guess an explanation is in order. Very well, you've certainly earned it." Anton watched as the horse's body seemed to shift and change. Its muscular structure began to resemble that of a muscular man's, its from legs turning into hands. The horse man stood itself upright, looking down at the smaller marine. It didn't take a genius to work out what was going on.

"A horse zoan?" Anton murmured. The horse man nodded. "Indeed. I apologize for the deception," he looked over at the downed 'Lestalt', "That man there is merely a cover, a disguise if you will." It was then that all the pieces fell into place. "Wait a second. Are you saying that, YOU'RE the Pirate Knight Lestalt?" "Indeed." The horse zoan reached out, picking up the massive sword, which now seemed to fit nicely into his hands.

Brandishing the sword with two hands, he turned to Anton. "Now, with that explanation out of the way, I'm afraid it's time to get back to business. While you've shown to be skilled, you're still an enemy to our crew. A pity. We could have used someone like you. Forgive me." Realizing what was going on, Anton jumped back, his sword held tightly in his hands. The real battle against Lestalt was about to begin, and he was getting the distinct feeling that this man would prove a much more difficult fight than his camouflage did.

Spoiler:

Swords clashed once again, both combatants pushing back against eachother. Lestalt's size and strength gave the horse zoan the advantage, causing Anton to slide back on the floor as he held his own. With a grunt, Lestalt pushed the grasshopper man back, their sword sliding apart before trying to swing at Anton. The grasshopper man lept to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade. Quickly recovering, Anton sprang towards the pirate knight, his sword ready to attack him from the side.

"I don't think so!" Lestalt called out, bringing a leg up to block the sword swing with his hoof. As Anton tried to recover, Lestalt turned on him, bringing his sword back to swing. Anton's eyes widened as he saw electricity crackle along the blade before he swung. The grasshopper barely managed to parry the strike, but a sharp shock ran through him when the blades connected, knocking him back. He managed to get back onto his feet and jump back, putting some distance between himself and Lestalt.

"What the hell? Electricity?" Anton groaned, his muscles still spasming lightly from the shock, "What's up with that sword?" Lestalt let out a chuckle, holding his blade out in front of him. "This has nothing to do with the sword," Lestalt explained, "This is the swordsman's greatest art. Behold, the power of destruction!" He swung his sword with all his might, an arc of air, crackling with electricity fired from the blade, shooting towards Anton at high speed. The grasshopper zoan only just managed to avoid the attack before it struck the wall behind him, slicing into it and leaving a massive gash.

This is bad. Very bad. My exoskeleton can only take so much, and now there's electricty thrown into the mix? How am I supposed to fight something like this?

Anton looked around, trying to find anything that could help him. Meanwhile, Lestalt slowly advanced on him. He could feel the floor shake with each step.

Ok, think Anton. He's big, strong, can channel electricity. There has to be some way to counter it. But how? And he sure is taking his time getting over here isn't he?

Anton's eyes widened when it hit him.

That's it!

Anton suddenly shot forward, sword in hand. Lestalt saw it coming and brought his own sword up to counter, crackling with electricity. However, when he swung, Anton suddenly veered off to the side, avoiding the blade before suddenly leaping back towards Lestalt. The massive horse zoan didn't have time to bring up a defense before the sword sliced into his side. Lestalt let out a yell of pain and anger as he spun, attempting a backhanded strike with the sword. However, Anton was faster, leaping out of the way before rebounding off of the floor and striking the pirate knight from behind. Lestalt roared and lurched his whole body towards the marine, intent on slamming him into the floor. Anton merely jumped up and kicked himself off of the zoan's back, causing Lestalt to stumble forward. As Anton landed, Lestalt recovered and turned to face his opponent.

The knight growled as he held his sword, the blade crackling with electricity, as if to show his anger. While Anton was still intimidated by the sight, a part of him was feeling more confident now. Lestalt may have the size, strength, and the power, but Anton had the speed.

Now the question was, how long can he keep this up? How long could he go avoiding Lestalt's blows?

Lestalt grunted and snarled as their swords clashed over and over again. Fueled by his increasing anger and frustration, his blows failed to connect with the fast moving grasshopper. Every time their swords connected, Anton bounced away fast enough to avoid a severe shock, only catching a light graze from the electricity. Meanwhile, Anton managed to land small hits one after another, hitting and backing off before Lestalt could counter. It was clear though that both sides were starting to wear each other down. Anton from the shocks, and Lestalt from the multitude of wounds he was accumulating. However, the pirate knight was not about to give up.

"You can't keep this up forever!" he bellowed, parrying another incoming attack from the grasshopper. Anton wasn't ready to admit it, but he was right. The electricity, though not as severe thanks to his quick movements, was beginning to take its toll. And the massive horse zoan had far more stamina than he did. In this battle of attrition, he would win out. Anton had to think of something and quick. He had to get a good, hard blow in to end this.

Then it came to him. As Lestalt came in to strike, Anton lept to the side, avoiding the blow and landing against the wall. Without missing a beat, Anton kicked himself off of the wall, shooting towards Lestalt. The horse pirate brought his sword up to block, but instead of attacking, Anton shot past him, using the momentum of his jump to bounce himself higher and faster. Reaching the ceiling, he shot himself down towards Lestalt again, again forgoing attacking him in favour of shooting past him. Lestalt was having trouble keeping track as the marine continued to pick up speed, bouncing around the room and past him, continuously faking him out. Lestalt let out a roar of anger.

"Are you going to keep bouncing around or are you going to attack me!?" he bellowed, his sword crackling with electricity. Anton bounced up onto the wall, turning and launching himself straight at Lestalt, sword at the ready. The pirate knight wasn't going to block this time. He lunged towards his incoming foe. With a roar, he thrust as his opponent came within range. A lance of electricity shot from the blade, intent on skewering his enemy.

Instead, the lance struck the wall behind Anton as the green missile shot past, delivering a brutal blow to the horse zoan, blood flying. All was still for a moment, both combatants frozen in place.

"Well...played..."

His sword falling to the ground, Lestalt collapse to the floor with a crash. Anton panted heavily, trying to catch his breath as he looked back at his defeated opponent. He had done it. The Pirate Knight was defeated! The remaining pirates, having watched the fight from a distance, were shocked. They hadn't expected their leader to be beaten. They began to flee the ballroom, trying to get away from the strong grasshopper man. Anton couldn't help but smile as he walked over to the defeated Lestalt.

"It's over," he said calmly, "The Aristocrat Pirates are done." "Not yet..." Lestalt spoke weakly, giving a small chuckle, "I believe you though I was the captain, correct? A worthy assumption, but wrong. I'm merely the quartermaster. The real captain is still out there, fighting to claim this ship. You're fight's not over yet...Anton...La'croix." Anton's eyes widened as Lestalt drifted into unconsciousness. There were still more pirates to deal with? This nightmare wasn't over yet.


Lestalt the Pirate Knight (The real one) defeated!