Inside the practice room.
"Wow…"
Hana Quinn's face brightened with excitement, her eyes glittering as if someone had just opened a treasure chest full of candy and chaos.
"Quick, quick, let's get out there!"
Betty, usually unreadable, had a flicker of genuine interest on her elegant face.
"Let's verify if what Ethan said is true."
Baccarat watched the blood-red aura swirling around Ethan's body as he trained, swinging each strike with the seriousness of a man chiseling his own legend.
"Ethan, darling, don't you want to go see the result?" she asked with a gentle smile.
"The result is already set. No need to look."
Ethan didn't even glance up. The air trembled around his movements, each swing as clean and merciless as a guillotine's whisper.
Betty snorted softly and headed for the exit. "As expected."
"Our captain doesn't care about these things." Hana laughed, brushing her blue hair behind her shoulder.
Baccarat let out a sigh. "We'll tell you the answer later. Try not to break the ship while you train."
The three left the room, their footsteps echoing across the deck.
"Come on, Mr. Burgess…"
Pato hopped in place, spinning around like a wind-up toy fueled by chaos. "Mr. Lafitte too! Fight hard! Nukikikiki!"
Doc Q stood up, rare for him, leaning heavily on his scythe-like umbrella. His smile was crooked in a way that made flowers want to wilt.
"Don't listen to the captain. Fight without fear."
"If you're going to fight," he murmured, raising a pale finger, "then fight as if your names are on the gravestones already."
Burgess snarled. "Doc Q, shut your rotten mouth!"
"If the captain kills you one day, don't expect me to mourn you."
Lafitte adjusted his top hat and offered a gentlemanly bow.
"The captain's temperament… well, it certainly allows for such outcomes. Please don't tempt fate too much, Doc Q."
Hana approached with a bright grin. "Exactly! One day Ethan's going to snap your neck like a twig."
Betty flicked ash off her cigarette. "Won't be our problem. We'll pretend we didn't hear anything."
"You're all terrible," Baccarat scolded, crossing her arms. "Stop painting Ethan as some savage monster."
"Our captain is gentle… in his own terrifying way."
Lafitte glanced toward the practice room.
"Isn't the captain coming to observe?"
Burgess cracked his knuckles. "Forget it. He won't come. He only cares about training. Nothing else matters."
"Isn't that perfect?" Doc Q smiled. "Without the captain watching, you two can fight… properly."
He took a slow breath.
"With no restraint at all."
Burgess ignored him and pointed at Lafitte.
"I'm going to crush you. Weihahahaha!"
He leapt off the ship and landed on the small island with a boom.
Lafitte, as elegant as a shadow carving itself into the air, smiled and flashed away.
Hana looked at Doc Q. "Aren't you going?"
"I'm fragile," Doc Q answered, walking with his unnatural slowness. "Getting down might kill me."
Betty sighed. "Let's get to the railing."
Everyone gathered, gazing at the lush island below.
Tall green trees.Exotic flowers twisting like silent fireworks.Vines growing over old stone.
An untouched place.
"Captain Burgess! Captain Lafitte! Fight well!" Pato shouted, legs kicking in excitement. "Hit each other! Make sparks! Make craters!"
"Don't lose, Burgess! Don't embarrass me!"
"I live for this! Violence! Glorious violence!"
"I declare the battle has BEGUN!"
A roar of cheers erupted, shaking the sky.
Baccarat sighed. "Why are they all like this?"
Hana giggled. "They're adorable. I kind of want to scream with them."
Betty exhaled a long ribbon of smoke. "Let's see what this Lafitte is capable of. Ethan rarely endorses people."
On the island, Burgess and Lafitte faced each other.
A breeze rolled through, carrying petals like drifting sparks.
"Last warning, Lafitte. Admit defeat while you still can." Burgess rolled his neck, thunder clinging to his jaw.
"The vice-captain position is calling me," Lafitte answered gently. "But don't worry. I'll be merciful."
"Enough chat. Bring it!"
Burgess stomped the ground, dust exploding, and charged like a living comet.
"You're too slow," Lafitte murmured.
He twisted his cane, and the moment blurred.
He vanished.
Not as a blur.Not as speed.But like a ripple swallowed by night.
Shock froze the deck above.
"Did anyone see—?" Hana gasped.
"No," Betty answered, eyes narrowing. "That wasn't raw speed. Something else happened."
Doc Q smiled, fascinated. "Oh… he's begun."
Burgess skid to a halt.
The air behind him thickened.
A whisper of blue mist spiraled.Light bent.Gravity seemed to dip.
Lafitte appeared upside-down in the air, tapping the brim of his hat.
"Your movements are… linear."
Burgess snarled, inhaling sharply—
Roar.
A sphere of white-blue energy gathered in his jaws, lightning lacing its surface like hungry vines.
"Oh? Impressive," Lafitte whispered. "But I'm not unarmed."
A soft pulse ran through the air.
The Malfestio awakened.
Behind him, a surge of nebulous feathers burst open, forming two enormous wings shimmering in gradients of blue, violet and silver.Bruma luminosa goteaba de sus plumas, derramándose como tinta viva.
Everyone on deck froze.
"What… wings…" Hana whispered, breathless.
"Zoan," Baccarat murmured. "But not any Zoan I've seen."
"No," Betty corrected, eyes reflecting the shifting colors. "This is… something else."
Pato screamed happily. "WINGS!! SHINY WINGS!!"
Lafitte beat them once.
fwuuush
A storm of sparkling dust fell, refracting light like a broken rainbow.
"It looks like… stars," Hana whispered.
Burgess didn't care.
He unleashed the laser cannon, blasting the forest to hell.
Boom.
Trees evaporated.Flowers disintegrated.The ground carved open like molten butter.
But Lafitte—
—was already gone.
He reappeared above Burgess, his presence carried by drifting mist.
"This is the Malfestio Nébula," Lafitte said softly.
The air shivered.
"Plume of Nebular Vertigo."
A wave of shimmering powder exploded from his wings, falling over Burgess like cursed snow.
Burgess staggered, vision twisting sideways.
"Huh? What— my legs—"
"Equilibrium compromised," Lafitte explained kindly. "Please endure."
Burgess roared, shaking his head.
"Don't underestimate me!"
He tried to charge again—
"Eclipse Lúgubre."
Darkness fell in a perfect circle around Burgess.Blue and purple shadows swallowed his senses.
Inside the eclipse:
Up became sideways.Sideways became nowhere.The world collapsed into surreal angles.
From above, Lafitte descended, cane glowing with eerie mist.
Doc Q shivered visibly. "He's terrifying. I like him."
Hana hugged the railing. "This is so cool!"
Burgess stumbled blindly, growling. "Fight me straight on!"
"Very well." Lafitte whispered one more word:
"Hypnosis."
A ripple of mental force crossed the air.A gentle, graceful attack.Beautiful, quiet, lethal.
Burgess froze mid-step.
The laser in his mouth flickered and sputtered out.
Everyone inhaled at once.
Just like that—
The fight was over.
"You lost, Burgess."
Burgess blinked.The eclipse faded.Lafitte's cane rested lightly at his throat.
Silence.Then an explosion of chatter.
"What happened!?" Hana yelled.
"Hypnosis combined with his abilities. No wonder Ethan said he'd win," Betty explained.
"Elegant and deadly," Baccarat murmured.
Doc Q clapped weakly. "He should fight the captain next."
Finally, Burgess processed everything.
He let out a barking laugh.
"Lafitte… you monster. I lost. Hah! Fine! You're the vice-captain!"
Lafitte bowed, wings folding into his back in a swirl of mist.
"It is my honor to serve this crew."
Thunderous applause took over the ship.
"Our vice-captain!!"
"He's amazing!!"
"Our crew is unstoppable now!!"
"Let's have a banquet!"
Pato jumped around like a sprite. "Banquet! Banquet!!"
And thus…
The Black Sun Pirates gained their vice-captain.