Anton could only stand and watch in horror as Maria laid on the floor, her skin already ashen from the poison which had cruelly taken her life. Standing over her, her captain looked down at her, completely unfazed by the death he had given her. Hell, he even seemed amused by it all! "Poison is such a clean way to kill a person, wouldn't you agree?" the man spoke, completely calm as the poisonous cloud dissipated, showing no effect on him, "No messy blood or gore to clean up. Only a body that you can simply throw overboard."

"You...you killed her..."

The blonde man blinked, looking over at the horrified marine for the first time. "Indeed I did. After all, it was you who proved that she was of no use to me. After all, a captain needs only the best of servants, and if one can't fulfill their task, well, what use are they?" Anton's horrified expression changed to a baleful scowl. "She didn't deserve that!" The man merely chuckled. "I don't understand why you're so upset about all of this. After all, as a marine, isn't it your entire job to see pirates dead?" Anton's scowl deepened. "Our duty is to protect the lives of the innocent. Not heartlessly kill someone who can't even fight back!"

The pirate captain merely laughed. "Well then, if that's what you want," he slowly drew his sword, a rather stylish looking rapier, "Then would killing you satisfy you? After all, you can still 'fight back', am I right?" Though his shoulder was still in pain from Maria's strike, Anton held up her katana in both hands, glaring hatefully at him. This didn't seem to put a damper on the man's amusement at all. "I'll take that as a yes. Well then, let's see how this heroic little bug does against the Curse Baron Cornetto himself!"

Anton didn't even bother to respond to the man's words. He charged forward, wanting nothing more than to put an end to him.

Anton swung with all his might, only for Cornetto to bat the blade aside with his rapier, stepping aside as Anton moved past. He still wasn't used to the lighter blade that Maria wielded, but his own was sitting for too close to Cornetto for him to grab safely. As he move past though, Cornetto brought his free hand up, and with a flick of his wrist, Anton felt something splash against his right shoulder. Suddenly, there was a sharp, burning sensation, causing a small cry of pain from the marine. Jumping back, his hand quickly moved to wipe away what was burning him, seeing some sort of dark purple ooze on him. Frantically wiping it away, he could see a small burn on his shoulder. "What the hell?"

Cornetto chuckled. ""It's like I said before, poisoning is the most wonderful way to dispose of someone." As he spoke, he slowly brought his hand up, that same dark slime now oozing from his skin. "And nothing does it better than the Doku Doku no Mi. The poison fruit." Anton remembered the gas he had used to kill Maria. So it wasn't just some device he had up his sleeve. He literally could produce poison at will. And with Anton's devil fruit, poison was especially bad for him. Cornetto seemed to know this and only chuckled. "Well now, what are you going to do little bug? Are you going to stand down like a good little marine dog should? Or is the insect going to try and pick a fight with the bug spray?"

There was something about the man's tone that instantly made the decision for Anton. If he had this sort of power, there was no telling what he would do if he was left alone. Gripping the sword again, Anton began to change, morphing into his hybrid form. He suddenly kicked himself off of the floor, shooting towards him at high speed.

Cornetto merely smirked. "The bug spray it is." Suddenly, a cloud of haze completely engulfed Anton.

Anton shot out the other side of the cloud, collapsing to the floor, coughing and hacking. His lungs burned as the poisonous gas seared his throat and chest. He tried to get to his feet, but his body was trembling, making keeping his balance difficult. Cornetto turned to the gasping marine, chuckling ruthlessly. "Not bad," he chuckled, "Most insects just drop with the first little puff of gas." Anton let out a growl, pushing himself up and coming at him with his sword. However, still dizzy from the gas, his movements were sloppy and the attack quickly blocked by Cornetto's blade. "Hmm, but locusts are usually more stubborn than most bugs aren't they? Well, I guess I'll have to resort to something a little stronger."

He suddenly flicked his hand and suddenly a blob of purple bile splattered against Anton's face. The grasshopper zoan cried out, stumbling back before Cornetto gave him a sharp kick to the sternum. It wasn't particularly hard, but it enough to knock him on his back as he clawed at the poison burning his face. The cursed baron let out a sharp laugh, watching him writhing on the ground. "But wait, there's more!" he laughed, and suddenly Anton's entire body was covered with the corrosive ooze. The poison did nothing to his clothes, but was searing the young marine's skin, despite the exo-skeleton. He couldn't remember ever being in this much pain. All he could do was writhe in agony as the twisted pirate captain laughed. "Well, that wasn't so hard, now was it? I really don't understand why Lestalt and Maria had so much trouble with you."

He turned his gaze over to the grand ship next door, the Grand Maiden. "Now that I think about it, my whole crew seems to have been having trouble taking this ship, now haven't they? It seems I'll have to take care of it myself. Shouldn't be too hard. Like clearing out an infestation." From on the ground, his body wracked with agony, Anton watched as that thick purple slime surrounded the pirate, slowly extending up and onto the ship. Almost like a fish through water, Cornetto's body floated up through the ooze, using the poison as a means to get up onto the ship. "No..."

Cornetto stepped onto the deck, the poison melting into a puddle of ooze behind him as he looked around. He gave a small whistle, appreciating what he was seeing of the ship so far. "Even the upper deck shows how refined this ship is. Definitely a prize worthy of myself. The only issue is that it's completely infested." Dark slime began to cover him. "I think a good gassing will do the trick. Wouldn't want to damage the ship itself."

Back on his ship, Anton slowly crawled towards his discarded sword, his skin burning from the poison he had been subjected to. "No..." Cornetto glanced down, seeing the crawling marine and chuckled. "Still alive huh? I must say, impressive. Shouldn't be long though. At least you'll get to see just how badly you failed." His feet slowly lifted off the ground as the poison surrounding him began to take on the shape of a cobra, its fangs open wide. Holding his sword, Anton slowly pushed himself to his feet. "S-Stop it..." Cornetto laughed. "Stop? Why should I do that? I was born into this world to have whatever I desire. I don't stop until I want to stop." Poison vapours escaped the 'snake's' mouth. "And I wont stop until everything on this ship is dead!" The snake drew its head back, ready to spew its deadly payload onto the ship.

"I SAID STOOOOOOOOP!"

Suddenly, Cornetto froze. He didn't know what it was, but a sudden chill suddenly went through his body. Nothing had touched him, but something about the man's words had stopped him, at least enough to cause him pause. Very slowly, he turned his head in the direction of his beaten opponent.

Only for his 'defeated opponent to suddenly crash into him, sword slashing across his sternum. Cornetto cried out as he and Anton crashed down onto the deck, the pirate's venom serpent dissolving into nothing. He couldn't believe what just happened. He slowly climbed to his feet, his hand reaching for his torso, seeing the blood on his hand. He actually managed to hurt him. Nobody had been able to hurt him! His body trembled, half out of this new sensation of pain, and half out of rage as he turned to glare at Anton, who was shakily rising to his feet. "What...are you?"

Anton, wracked with pain and losing strength, managed to stand upright, pointing his family blade at the pirate. "I am Marine Commander Anton La'croix" he spoke out, his eyes hard despite the condition of his body, "And I'll never let you have this ship!"

Seeing that stare, those words of defiance, and the fact that this man actually managed to hurt him, caused the Cursed Baron to let out a roar of rage, his sword ready to skewer this man who had earned his ire.

Spoiler:

With a roar of anger, Cornetto shot towards Anton like a bullet, his sword outstretched as a dark, viscous liquid covered the steel. "Toxin Blade!" Anton swung his sword, catching the strike and knocking it aside before it could touch him, avoiding both the sword, and it's harmful poison. Before Cornetto could pull back, Anton lashed out with a kick, catching the pirate in his wounded sternum. Cornetto groaned and slid back, clutching where the wound was, giving Anton a baleful glare. "Damn you!" The venomous pirate leaped back, extending a hand and a cloud of purple gas filled the air.

Anton immediately jumped back, covering his mouth to avoid breathing in the gas. However, the gas of poison now prevented him from seeing his target. Holding his sword tightly, he tried to see him through the haze, only for a blob of purple poison to suddenly come out of the smoke, coming close to hitting him. Anton had to quickly shift to the side to avoid getting hit. Suddenly, the marine was barraged by these shots of poison, barely having any time to avoid them, especially in his weakened state. He couldn't sit here and let him keep doing this. He had to get in there and fight back!

As the shots fired towards him, Anton closed his eyes and held his breath, launching himself into the cloud, in the direction the shots were coming from. Some of the shots hit him, causing a cry of pain as he suddenly slammed into something. A direct hit! Cornetto cried out as the pair of them flew from the poison cloud, falling back onto the deck of the pirate ship below. Anton slammed into the ship's mast, only managing to grab onto the rigging as Cornetto slammed into the floor with a crunch. Anton's vision from his trip through the poison, his body stinging from the contact poison.

Cornetto let out a groan as he slowly pulled himself to his feet, his body aching from the impact as he looked up to see Anton hanging above him. The aristocratic pirate captain was seeing red as black ooze seemed to leek from every pore in his body. "You damn, miserable, wretched excuse for an insect..." his voice barely contained his rage as the poison surrounded him, forming into a gigantic snake. "I'll make you suffer a hundred times for this indignation. Once this is done, you'll be begging me to end your life!" his eyes bugged out in rage, "And then I'll put you through it a hundred times more, because I damn well want to! Black Adder!"

As the snake shot out towards him, Anton kicked himself off of the mast, shooting himself towards it. Holding his sword in his feet, the marine began spinning at high speeds. "Hopper Drill!"

Anton shot straight into the serpant's mouth. His whole body was swollen up by pain as he bore through the toxic slime. Suddenly, his attack connected, his sword piercing straight through Cornetto's body. The pirate let out a shriek of pain as the pair of them shot out the serpant's back and slammed into the ship's floor, Anton's drill still spinning at high speeds. And after all the ship had withstood, it seemed to be able to take no more. The pair crashed through the ship's floor, boring through each level of the ship. Anyone watching would have sworn they saw the ruined ship practically break in half.

The last thing Anton remembered before his vision went black, was the pair of them bursting out into the water beneath the ship, and his body locking up.

The first thing Anton felt as he slowly drifted back into consciousness as pain. Not the agonizing pain he felt during his fight, but rather a dull, persistent aching that covered his entire body. He let out a low groan of pain as he slowly shifted his body, only then becoming aware of the fact that he appeared to be laying in something soft.

"He's coming to! It worked!"

Anton could only barely recognise the voice as he slowly opened his eyes, light flooding his senses and his vision blurred. As things slowly came into focus, he noticed there were two figures looking over him, one much larger than the other. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could recognise the larger of the two as his superior officer, Captain Stelbourg.

"C...Captain?" he murmured, his voice sounding hoarse and weak, "What...what are you...doing here?" He moved to try and sit up, but his body hurt too much. The marine captain placed his hands on his shoulders to keep him down. "Don't move around right now. You still have a long way to go before you've recovered." Anton made no move to resist him. "What...happened?"

The second figure, a man with glasses, spoke up, "You were pulled out of the water after your fight. Your body has been subjected to some pretty severe poisons, but we've managed to clear the worst of it. You'll be bed ridden for a while, but if we keep up the treatment you'll make a full recovery in time." Anton laid there for a moment, taking it all in. "What about...the pirates?" he spoke up. Stelbourg smiled. "We arrived to round up the rest of them. With their captain and top officers defeated, they rolled over easily enough. We never did find the captain though." Anton remembered them both going into the water. If someone had pulled Anton out, no doubt that they would have left the monstrous captain to die. "Then...it's over?"

Stelbourg smiled. "Indeed it is. Witnesses have told us what you did during the attack. You did very well Commander. You're a true hero. Now then, get some rest. You're going to need it." Anton relaxed and slowly closed his eyes. A hero. He never would have expected himself to ever be called that. It wasn't long before the heroic marine had fallen back asleep.


[Task Complete! Arc Complete!]