Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - NEVER Make Fun Of The Pirate!

Chapter 1

The X-Teens/New Mutants seem to love making a joke of Dartz being a real live Pirate...and not a Pirates of the Caribbean refrence...so he decides to get even with them his way no matter what anyone has to say about it

Dartz was currently chasing Jubilee, who he found had stolen one of his axes simply because he didn't like sharing any of his personal belongings "Jubilation!" He snarled as he tried not to get angry with them but this was the last of several last straws

Dartz tried to catch the young mutant but he was half blind as it was because of her unique powers and was quick on her feet with both his axes in her grasp, using gloves to keep her from being driven...you know...berserk and attack anything in sight as it did with anyone who held it but Dartz

"I don't think so, Dartz...you need to loosen up a little" Jubilee said quite happy with herself that she can outrun the Ghoul, but it wasn't lasting as Dartz was very tired of playing around as he caught her and held her in the air, he'd usually ground her and those responsible...Bobby, Scott...of all people, Evan and Kurt but thought of a much more evil punishment as he took his axes from her and dropped her on her butt without another word along with a glare that could burn holes through people

She was confused, because Dartz usually would let her have it for the pranks they pulled on him...he generally didn't give a shit if they pranked anyone else and while he didn't hate them, he did hate those damned pranks

Dartz knew she was following him and grinned even wider as he made it to Taeger's room "Oy, Taeger...I was thinking of us going out on a field trip"

"That had better not be yer reason for beating my door down, Dartz-san...and what would that have to do with me?" Taeger growled as he glared at Dartz who gave him a look that could kill "I need to get into contact with Cap'n Baccus...and ye don't have to come along...I'll be gone fer a few days though and those brats can't find out yet"

"How long are we talkin' here...and why so adamant to rejoin the Black Fang crew?" Taeger asks suspiciously as Dartz snarled, his patience growing thin "Look, I won't let Voorhees disect 'em like science experiments...depending on my mood and their overall behaviour...what day is today, by the way?"

'Kyō no nichiyōbi... Naze?' (Today's Sunday...why?) Taeger asks as Dartz grinned "Perfect...We'll be gone fer two whole weeks if things go as planned and we ain't gonna 'ave any more stale Pirate puns, if they value life and limb"

'Watashi wa sono saigo no bubun o kyatchi shite inai...' (I didn't catch that last part...) Taeger said as Dartz was already out the door "What last part?"

Dartz hurried off to Bane's room next "Oy, Asakura!" He said from the halls as both Bane and Tsume answered "What?!"

"Not you, woman!" Dartz snarled as his anger was shortlived as he caught Bane leaving his room "Call. Azazel. Now." He said simply

"What for?" Bane asks curiously as Dartz explained "I'm planning a trip..."

Bane was about to open his mouth when Dartz growled "No, Asakura...this ain't yer kind of adventure and yer not coming...I don't care how many times ya ask"

"Fine..." Bane pouted as he went over to his mirror, not seeing much of a choice and fogged it up with his breath, writing Azazel backwards which caused the mirror to glow faintly "Azazel-sama..."

"Oy, is that spell exclusive fer if ye only want to talk to 'zazel...and if not, can I borrow it?" Dartz asks as Bane shushes him, much to his impatience

"What do you want?" A large muscular demon with burnt looking skin and hollow eyes that showed nothing but a flickering flame for an eye that was big enough to be seen from both eyes as Dartz said "It's Bane an' Dartz, we want Azazel...not ye, ya Duskull" Dartz remarked the demon's uncanny appearence to a Pokémon

"How many times do I got to tell ya, Pirate...that I am NOT A FREAKING DUSKULL?!" The Demon, Azar said...he really had a default calm emotion despite his ability to feed off of any negative emotions around him, he's also extremely hard to kill even by Demon Lord standards and while he was dangerous, he wasn't even remotely one of Azazel's most dangerous demons, he was a very powerful Arch-Demon, just like all the Demons possessing Michael Darkstone though they are only slightly out of his league due to not being as lazy as he left with "Gimme a minute..."

"Lord Azazel..." Dartz heard the demon calling out as he left wherever they were seeing him from and surely Azazel took his place "Yes, Bane?"

Azazel seemed restless as Bane said "I'm actually not the one who would like to speak with you...it's Dartz-sama...you remember my bodyguard, right?"

"Yes yes, Asakura...what does he want though?" Azazel asks as Bane could tell his annoyance was growing as Dartz got straight to the point "yeah, that spell Bane used to call ye...can I use it to call someone else who ain't really cellphone savvy?"

"Yes..as long as you know each other's names" Azazel says, now practically radiating boredom "Is that all...?"

"Yeah...that's all" Dartz said happily as he left for his room to try it as Azazel asks Bane "What's got him so happy...especially when he's almost never happy enough to make others actually aware of it?"

"He's not happy, he's actually really pissed...he's going back to his crew for a while to knock your son and his friends down a peg or two...they've been making fun of him as a Pirate and got a bit carried away"

"I see...should I intervene?" Azazel asks as Bane glared at him "Stay out of it for your own good...we both know Dartz' pride isn't something to be trifled with and they need to be taught a lesson anyway by all the Pirate puns I can hear from just about anywhere I am in the mansion, if you ask me"

Azazel shook his head as he disappeared from Bane's mirror as Bane said to himself with a sigh of relief "I just hope he doesn't make me regret telling you off from getting involved...Azazel-sama"

Dartz makes it back to his room and quickly does as Bane did, but writing 'Baccus' in place of 'Azazel' on his fogged mirror...

That was until he heard someone swearing in Esperanto, a language that no one in the mansion, other than Dartz himself knew 'Hej, ĉu la kapitano scias, ke vi uzas tiun lingvon en sia ŝipo?' (Hey, does the captain know you use that kind of language on his ship?)

The Orc, Quinlan almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice he thought he'd never hear again in his lifetime as he cleaned the Captain's quarters as he turned and gasped 'Ĉu vi, sinjoro Dartz ... kuraĝas, ke vi tuj supreniros kaj ne diros al mi ion?' (Is that you, Mr. Dartz...how dare you just up and leave and not tell me anything?)

"What're ya doin' in the Cap'n's quarters and where is he?" Dartz asks as Baccus' voice said "I'm here, Dartz-sama...ye think I don't know about this spell...how's Bane doin'?"

"Yeah, Bane's fine...got any space on the brig fer me an' a couple despicable deckhands?" Dartz asks getting straight to the point, a habit of his especially when he's annoyed, as Baccus replied as he came into full view, standing at only a few feet taller than Dartz "Always..."

"So...is this the room you were given 'ere, Dartz-san?" Baccus asks looking around the room in slight awe as Dartz said with a proud grin "Yeah...nice, huh...and I even got a free Coffee Machine from my Kitten as a welcoming gift" Dartz was one of the Ghouls who neither absolutely loved nor absolutely hated Coffee, depending on his mood and preferred alcohol over coffee most times

Dartz could almost hear a record scratch awkwardly at the look Baccus gave at the word 'Kitten' as soon as it came out of his mouth 'Anata no koneko?' (Your Kitten?) He asked slowly with a look on his face as he was both expecting and not expecting his first mate to find several lovers at the mansion as Dartz said, almost childishly "Don't give me that expression, Cap'n...you'll meet her when I get there, I gotta go"

"See ya then..." Baccus said with the same expression as when Dartz said 'Kitten' as he disappeared from the mirror

Dartz decided to call a meeting of all the adult Mutants and Ghouls in the mansion...some faces he was delighted to see while some he would be much more delighted if he could never see again

"Any idea why we're here, Kemono-san (Beast)?" Bane asks Beast as he replied "Your guess is as good as mine, Bane"

"Oy, that's odd...where's Dartz-sama at?" Taeger asks as almost everyone shrugged

Logan was there, beside Xavier...Logan had heard right from Michael Darkstone himself the kind of men Xavier and Magneto were...how they were pressuring him into joining either of their sides against the other simply because of how powerful he was...reminded Logan of his own and Jean's first and quite similar first meeting with Charles and Logan's relationship with him was almost nonexistent now as Dartz had ripped half of his left leg off in an angry outrage...Dartz never had much to do with him to begin with, due to his nature of not being so quick to trust others, especially upon just meeting them

Logan stopped the Pirate...as much as he didn't want to...from killing him then and there and Logan has never spoken to anyone since or gotten near Xavier as he got the point and moved away from the heartbroken feral, Logan still would defend Xavier's life where no one else would but his time in the mansion running short, Xavier found every reason to keep him there because it was no secret, that if he left, he was never coming back...he wasn't doing it because he forgave Xavier, but because keeping him alive was a much better punishment than killing him...for now and the students shouldn't be made to suffer any more than they already have because of him

Logan grumbled as he turned to leave but Kakuzu stopped him with a hand on his shoulder as the claws immediately came out "Wait...please"

Logan snarled "Don't touch me...I am not staying in the same room as him...or so help me-" Logan pointed at Xavier accusingly as tears appeared in his eyes and Kakuzu lets him go but he finds that they're locked in as more of Logan's pent up anger came to the surface "Dartz...open this goddamn door before I rip it off and beat ya to death with it!"

"Hear me out first, matey...I promise to make it worth yer while" Dartz said shrewdly as he suddenly appeared before the group with his head slightly down "Those kids o' yours...I know about the promise we made in order to stay here an' all...but I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself with these Pirate jokes...half o' which don't even make sense"

"That's what this is about...jokes?" Scar asked as Dartz said "that's why I made this decision to go back to Baccus fer a while..." this shocked everyone but that wasn't all

"Those twats are gonna learn the hard way...they're comin' with me" Dartz says as Logan swings at him but couldn't touch him as he caught his arm and looked him dead in the eye "They're gonna learn..don't worry, Logan...I'll leave their lives in good hands, their own, cuz my tolerance of these jokes are at a very real all time low right now, to the point where it'll scar my pride if I don't do somethin' about it, then somethin' else might end up scarred, which I bet we both don't want...I still have great tolerance unlike the other Black Fangs however"

Xavier was about to protest, but Dartz wasn't having any of that as he backhands him and sends him flying out of his wheelchair "Who the hell do ye think ya are...the decision's already been made...I don't need the permission of a traitor to do anything around here, I thought I made that clear with yer leg!"

"I WANT MY LEG BACK, YOU MONSTER!" Xavier snarled as Dartz came his way and he struggled to get away from him as he grinned threateningly at the quivering headmaster "Aw...I a'ready ate it, yer arms are next...start gettin' the idea that I'm ever going to listen to ye outta yer head fast"

"Dartz...that's enough" a voice said as a reclusive Orc came into the room, he was a wanderer named Grimm who had orange on black eyes, dark green skin and bald head covered by a white bandana...Dartz wasn't sure if the young Orc was trying to immitate him or not

He was fit for nearly 200 years old...still moderately young for a Orc but not a child, he has the potential to have the abilities of both Orc and Mutant abilities simply because he had family/distant ancestors who were either Orc or Mutant and his late mother also being a mutant...he's also very important to Dartz because he was one of the many abandoned, discarded and/or unwanted children of another very important person to Dartz...named Voorhees

He wants nothing to do with Voorhees however, even less with his siblings numbering in the hundreds...he would likely kill his father or any of his kin if they crossed paths

He understood how much the Orc he refuses to consider his father was not only far stronger than him, but was also very, very, extremely sadistic in nature and he wanted to tag along with Dartz but didn't ask, not wanting the Pirate to worry about him as he got Dartz' attention "I know you're going to see my...father"

"And...?" Dartz asked knowing he either had more to say or wanted to come along, something Dartz won't allow "I told ya what he's like in horrific detail, yet ye still wanna see him...knowing ya have no chance of winning a fight or even leaving said fight alive against him?"

"Yeah, but only to confirm that he actually exists" Grimm said as Dartz walked away "Fine...as long as ye have a way of watchin' from afar without him knowing or worse...being able to get ya within reach...he's not a threat you can handle when he's angry yet"

Grimm already knew how terrible it would be getting anywhere near Voorhees, that's why he's been so obsessed about the Blackbird and had begged Logan to teach him everything about it to the point where he could use it on his own...Forge, another of the newest to him mutants at the mansion, even helped him build a version of the Blackbird suited to not just his colossal size but even attuned to his magic as well

"My father...a threat?" Grimm said, he was young by his kind's terms but he was much stronger, larger and smarter than any adult human...he wasn't foolish enough to think he could even get the drop on his father without severe repercussions but he had to know why he was still an Orc Chief in the first place despite how evil he was percieved to be as Dartz said "You don't have it in ya...I can see it that you can't kill him even if you were strong enough to even approach him, much less do it and ye 'ave every single right to be terrified cuz I can't beat him either and ye can't even beat me yet, so ye got a long way to go before I let ye face Voors...hard to imagine, ain't it?"

"This guy is that powerful?" Logan asked as Dartz admitted with a nod "Aye, we fought for nearly four days straight to a standstill when it got on our Cap'n's last nerve and neither of us lost any vigor...he's never gonna try makin' a guinea pig outta me again, that's fer sure but I doubt he's really weaker than the Cap'n as he says he is"

"Why would you say that?" Bane said, naturally curious as Dartz explained "Cuz I'm stronger than the Cap'n...have been since I was a child, probably my teens and he nearly killed me without even fighting seriously enough a couple times before"..

.The next morning, with the help of Taeger, Bane and Kakuzu...Dartz wakes up the teens (rudely if they had to) at 3 A.M before the sun was even up

"Oy, Berserk-kun...Mewosamasu (wake up)" Kakuzu entered Berserker's room as he lifted and tossed him out of bed as he replied "Hey, what a rude awakening!"

"I tried it nicely and it didn't work...not my fault" Kakuzu said in his defence "you don't wanna be late for your trip or keep Dartz-san waiting, do you?"

"I can send him to wake you himself" Kakuzu narrowed his eyes to see Kurt, Kitty, Rogue and Amara walking out of their rooms stiffly, controlled by Bane's shadows and Yang throwing Spyke and Multiple's many clones out of their rooms as he drags Piotr out, still half asleep and in his metal form

"Do they need to pack anything, Dartz-san?" Yang asks as he walks out with one of the newest mutants, Chase Long aka Beastkin and a rather displeased looking X-23 as Dartz said, far more annoyed than any of them could even fathom right now "No...just change outta yer panjamas"

He looked at Berserker, who was almost nude and tapped his head as he tried to hide himself "I wouldn't recommend sleeping like that where we're goin'...ye ain't too young to get sodomized or worse and ya don't to give 'em any ideas"

"Worse...what could be worse than that?" Berserker asks as Dartz grinned like a shark "I'll leave that to yer imaginations...or worst nightmares"

Dartz and the tired mutants leave for the port immediately, once there it was only a matter of patience...

Dartz sat near the edge of the sea port and meditated...something the mutants have seen all the Ghouls do except him as an eerie fog sets in as they could see the shadows of at least 100 ships in the distant fog, the largest of which came right up beside them

"I think we found 'em, Capitan" a voice said as Dartz opened his eyes and used Wind magic to clear the fog to reveal a large ship right infront of them as Berserker and Multple both said at the same time "Whoa..."

Dartz grabbed the two in a mean wedgie "This ain't no warning, boys...it's a threat...where yer assigned, ya stay until I decide we're goin' back and I'll say it again if ya thought this was a joke the last time I said it, Pirate jokes will cost ye more than yer life on these ships and I'm not helping any o' ya until I'm satisfied...that goes fer everyone, got it?"

"Yes, sir" Everyone said as the crew came to see what all the ruckus was about, all but the Captain came to see what was going on "Whatcha got there, Master Dartz?" Voorhees asks, the Orc wore a grin on his face as he saw some of the teens' expressions

"New recruits...Where's the Cap'n at?" Dartz asks as Rat pointed back "Oh, he's here...somewhere about"

"Let us on then..." Dartz said as Berserker poked and pointed at Voorhees, who was watching to see who was the unlucky fool that would be stuck with him "Hey, is that Grimm's dad...why is he looking at us like a huge meal?"

"Ask him yerself, he's right there, ain't he?" Dartz said as Voorhees heard him and landed before Berserker with one leap "Ask me what?"

"Are those tusks...like hogs and elephants?" Multiple asks earning a deadly glare but an answer "They're canines, brat and where do you get off call my canines tusks anyway?...there's very few Orcs you'd see that don't have them unless they haven't grown in yet"

'Mendokusē' (What a drag) Ulysses chimes in as he leaned against one of the sails with his arms folded and a bored expression with his eyes on the X-Teens, he was never quick to trust anyone upon first meeting them 'Anata wa neko o kowagatte, vu~ōruhyesu-san... Kare wa sudeni' (Your scaring the brat, Voorhees-san...leave him be already)

"Aw, hush up...I only wanted a closer look" Voorhees said as he jumped back to the ship, they were all bored as the teens all walked on a board bridge onto the ship with Dartz right behind them

"How about we introduce ourselves..." Dartz says as Voorhees points at Multiple "You first..." his complaining about the kind of attention he was getting from especially Voorhees also got the Captain's attention "Oy, who in the hell's fighting on my goddamn ship?!" Baccus snarls as the X-Men were caught like a deer in the headlights and Multiple accidentally stumbled right into the angry captain

Baccus was much scarier up close as he was taller than Dartz and Rat but shorter than almost all the others with snow white hair that is almost never entirely seen in any other way beside is long ponytail, he wore baggy cargo pants with many pockets with a grey vest covered by the most expensive looking thing on him a light purple haori with real gold trim.

Baccus demanded respect, but he also gave respect where it was due and right now he was pissed and a force no one wants to mess with right now 'Watashi wa korera no fune no senchō de, anata wa anata ga anatada to omotte imasu... Watashi wa seichōshita otona kara noso no yōna burei o yōnin shinai to wakarimasu ka?' (I'm the captain of these vessels, who do you think you are...do you realize that I don't tolerate that kind of disrespect from grown adults...much less children?)

"I'm Baccus...you...girl" Baccus suddenly pointed at X-23 "I'll turn this ship around this instant and go back an' drop ya'll off at that dock, but under one circumstance...if ye fight me and win, that is"

Laura was one of the best hand to hand fighters among them, outside of Logan himself but that didn't boost her confidence against Baccus as she popped her claws and went in.

Baccus dodged her every attack without the use of his Kakugan and with so much ease that he might as well had taught her those moves "She's winning!" Berserker says as Voorhees shot him down with "The Cap'n seems to be enjoying this a bit too much...he's toying with the poor girl, if the only one of us that could even hit him was Dartz, she's screwed and she knows it"

Berserker looked and didn't seem to see what the Orc was talking about until she was sent flying back with one punch to the gut into one of the sails as she landed on the ground "I win and yer not settin' foot off this ship unless Dartz is headin' back or it's through Voorhees...an' none o' this goin' home bullcrap, got that...I just ain't in the mood for belly achin' today" Voorhees grinned like the devil at the prospect that he could do as he pleased with any deserters who even tries to walk the plank

Baccus then took out a feather pen and a paper as he took the names of his new shipmates "Gimme yer names...whoever is yer partner will also be yer cabinmate"

"Berserker and she's X-23" Berserker chirped pointing at himself and a still fuming Laura as Baccus warned with a glare "I'll take Laura-chan but yer hardly a Berserker, if I've ever seen one...I want the name yer mother gave ya, no codenames here"

"Ray Crisp..." Dartz said, having memorized all their names as he pointed them out "Jean Grey, Katherine Pryde...put her with me, please...Scott Summers, Voorhees will have a field day with that little prick, Kurt Wagner, Anna-Marie, Tabitha Smith, Amara Aquilla, Bobby Drake, Sam Gurthie, Rahne Sincair, Roberto Da Costa, Jubilation Lee, Piotr 'Peter' Rasputin, Remy LeBeau, Chase Long and I'm sure ya know Jamie Maddrox by now"

"Oy, Dartz...Is this the little Bechamel I'll be taking?" Quinlan suddenly appears behind Kitty and puts his arms around her with a purr, you could smell the alcohol on him long before ever seeing him, which wasn't normal as he wasn't a heavy drinker as much as Dartz...he was easily the lightest drinker on the Crew currently as Dartz quickly pulls her to him "She's with me, Quin...buzz off and Cap'n can have the Cajun, even if I don't trust letting him out of my sight" Remy tried to steal from Dartz on several occasions and failed, he also saw a glint in the Cajun's eye upon seeing some of Gedharm's trinkets

"Quinlan, get on the other side now" Baccus ordered as the Orc flinched "Aye aye, Captain"

"I wonder if we should wait for someone else to come...two certain people are freakin' late anyway" Gedharm asks as Dartz says "What's the point...ya come late, ya lose out and they'll be 'ere long enough to meet 'em all eventually"

That's when Hunter Gilliam appeared, he was a mysterious and unscrupulous person in a strange armor he refuses to remove and he seems to have found some stragglers that somehow hopped onboard just before they left with Dartz

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain...but I found these stragglers onboard on of the other ships" Hunter said as threw three youngsters to the ground before them without any concern if he was rough with them "I believe they're mutants, a rather unintelligent human calling a Ghoul his master...and a spawn of Orochimaru"

It was Renji, Chase Cyclonis/Cobrax, James Scotland/Upgrade and Renji's less than pleased master, Komamura who came out of nowhere "Oy, that's my baka-prentise you're messing with, scumbag!"

Ike punched where Hunter stood, but he dodged much faster than the Binge Eater could hit him "I'm the only one allowed to call him stupid for no reason"

"K-Komamura-san?" Baccus stumbled a bit as Ike looked at him "So you're the idiot captain of this bunch of morons...Baccus-sama?"

"Wait, ye know each other?" Dartz asks as Baccus said "We go way back...we were once brothers by a certain cause...Lazarus"

The X-Men don't know who Lazarus is because Baccus and Komamura - albeit a completely berserk and wild Komamura in his full wolf form - was able to beat him and force him into solitary confinement in the Crypt, but they nearly died in the process and Komamura has never gone full wolf since then as he still can't control it, if that's even possible anymore...Lazarus was that strong and they already knew that it was partly Kami's manipulation and torment as well as Lazarus no longer wishing to have any control was why Laz was so powerful and dangerous

Dartz knew about Lazarus from Baccus mentioning him before and even comparing Dartz' power and personality to his, a far tamer version but a happier one despite Dartz' life being one of the worst and least happy lives a Ghoul could have despite the optomistic nature he has about how he ended up accepting it

Baccus looked at the parchment he wrote the names on "Let me be very clear...anyone who deviates from where I put them is not going to like how angry I'll get...that goes fer everyone on this ship, I hope I'm very clear on that" he glared around as he assigned the mutants to who they would be living with

"Voorhees-sama..." he began as Voorhees licked his lips and looked at his captain with a slight groan "Ye gets Summers and Upgrade"

"Aye...come" Voorhees simply ordered the two to follow him as Scott refused to move, causing Voorhees to look back with a massive wave of Killing Intent that petrified all the students but Laura as Scott snarled "I won't go with him...anyone but him and Dartz"

This only made Voorhees' intent to kill him stronger until someone got enough as he turned to a swift fist to the face from Laura that knocked him over to Vorhees' feet "Move it, Summers or so help me, these pirates are gonna have to peel me off what's left of you!"

That had Scott scurrying behind the Orc Chief in hopes of being as far as possible from X-23, Vorhees smirked at her...thinking that Dartz' attitude may have rubbed off on her a bit, his respect was starting to grow for her but not to the point of him being friendly with any mutants yet "You...can visit my quarters to see how their first day is going if you like...drag your feet and I'll hurt you, kid" Vorhees looked at the sky for a moment, swearing he saw a high tech aircraft uncloak for merely a few seconds, but was gone after a while...as was his interest in whatever it was

Laura watched as Upgrade helped him to his feet and went after Voorhees as Scott glared at her but kept his mouth shut

"Grey, Amara, Rasputin...yer stayin' with Gedharm" Baccus continued as Gedharm tried to complain, not about who was staying with him, but about accomodation as his Cabin was usually littered with parchments, books and whatnot about his field of Archeology "Uh, Cap'n..my quarters are a bit jammed for space right now"

"Then ya have a few extra hands to get things in shape, Gedharm..." Baccus said simply as Gedharm shrugged "If you say so...this way"

"You seem more gentle than that other Orc..." Piotr replied as Gedharm looked back with a grin "That might be because he wants to harvest your organs, if he gets the chance...and I don't. Don't take anything on these ships at face value, especially from that old man"

"I'm sure one of the persons responsible for Dartz being so mad at us is with him right now" Amara adds

"Renji-san, Jubilation, Cyclonis" Baccus salid as he looked at them "Go with Ulysses"

Ulysses made a face as four persons made their way to him as he shot Kommamura a look until he clarified "Where my apprentice goes, I go...and I don't trust any Ghouls alone with him...deal with it"

"Hn" Ulysses kept giving Ike this look like he knew him from somewhere...as he saw his calm, but focussed and intimidating eyes...especially around a certain human as he said "Oy, Rat...I'll trade ya the human fer someone else"

Rat was about to agree until Ike silently dared him to from the corner of his suddenly hungry looking eyes as Rat trembled "I'll pass...I may be a good fighter but he looks like he'd kill us all on a whim as it is"

"How weak...and they say don't underestimate a human" Kommamura closed his eyes for a moment "you want him, you get me...no exceptions"

"Don't cause such a ruckus, White Wolf...or I might just have to kill you on the spot as a warning to any others" Baccus says, he remembered who Kommamura was and even idolized him at one point as Kommamura grinned almost too sarcastically "Don't make me sound so old in front of my baka-prentice, Baccus-san...especially when I'm still much older than you"

"Yer the one makin' yerself sound old here" Baccus says while laughing, which confused Pirate and X-Man alike, especially Dartz

Kommamura has gotten on Dartz' nerves since he first joined the X-Men...they openly despised one another and Renji quickly learned to avoid Dartz like the plague as he's attempted to purpously eat him on his first night, causing him to duke it out with the protective Ghoul...then, Ike dropped the bomb on why they found each other so familiar...Kommamura was there the night Dartz' family was massacred by Humans

Kommamura still had much more evil in his heart and was only beaten to his prey by the humans...but the young, vengeful Dartz tracked him down anyway with tracking abilities he never knew he even had.

Dartz attacked with a vengeance but Ike showed the younger Ghoul no mercy and beat him to the very brink of death and Dartz lost his memory on most of what happened but never forgot Kommamura's scent. The two of them stuck in the middle of the ocean with each other was simply asking for trouble and it may be partly why he's been turned off from having anything to do with a Ghoul as an apprentice...something Dartz openly calls him a hypocrite for doing

"Hunter Gilliam...Rat...Udon" Baccus says as he said "Gilliam, ye can have Crisp and Rahne"

Ray looked at Gilliam who was not as bothered as Scott or some of the other Pirates about which of the X-Men he'd be with and didn't seem like one to complain, even when he and Rahne came beside him with curious looks...

"Don't touch the face, kids...we are in no hurry" Gilliam said as he wasn't leaving yet, all the mutants intrigued him and he was the least fond of troublemakers as he said "I wanna see who goes where"

He saw a girl beside the Captain, X-23 and Kitty beside Dartz as he summoned his large sword and growled at X-23 "Hey, stay away from the Captain and the First Mate, you two...I'll be watching all of you closely"

Kitty shrank behind Dartz, but X-23 simply popped her claws until Baccus put an arm in her way "Don't...ye won't last long enough to even whet his bloodlust"

"I will get my chance to play with you, don't worry..." Gilliam seems to have been watching her fight the Captain as he continued

"Kurt-san..." Baccus looked at the Elf with a look that said he knew more about him than anyone other than Dartz, Bane and Azazel as he replied very respectfully, afraid of even slightly making Baccus even think of being offended in any way "Ja, Captain?"

Baccus smiled at him "Yer with Rat...ye have no reason to be so scared...he's human and no one here will hurt ya unless they really wanna piss me off...Is there a need fer me to show what happens when I'm mad again?"

"No..." Kurt replies as Baccus was quickly disgusted by his fear and placed a hand on his head as he got slightly threatening "Wipe that look of fear off yer face...never show fear to me or I'll intentionally give ya a reason to fight someone...like Voorhees" he could read Kurt like a book as he saw Voorhees standing at the door of his quarters, looking at the sky before glaring right at Kurt's eyes while cracking his knuckles, making a sound that made Kurt wince...Kurt was more than determined to prove himself however, which even Voorhees saw and comments "That's what I'm talkin' about...I don't care which cabin you're in, I wanna train with ya...be out here before midnight and don't make me come lookin' for ya or I'll make Dartz really pissed if I find ya" Kurt smiled despite how terrified he was as Voorhees saluted to him and went back into his cabin

Baccus then smiled at him "If ye don't have it in ya to stand up fer yerself against anyone on this crew, including me, I'll throw ya overboard myself"

Kurt then went over to Rat, wondering what he'd do if he swung at Baccus and then had to fight the likes of Dartz, Hunter and, Gods forbid, Voorhees as well as Baccus himself as he noticed Hunter staring at him "don't worry, Elf...we don't intervene on any fights our knuckleheaded Captain picks or we might earn his wrath instead" he explained as Kurt met Rat

"Udon...ye have Anna-Marie and Sam" Baccus gave the two a 'move it or else' glare to move it over to Udon who lifted Rogue into the air with two fingers "Uh, Captain..."

"Udon, is there a problem?" Baccus asks as Udon replied "Are ya sure about putting this string bean with me?"

"Is there a problem accomodation wise?" Baccus asks as Udon said "Of course you know that's never the problem...I just doubt she'll survive very long" he kept gesturing at Rogue

"Excuse me?" Rogue asks with a lot of attitude but Udon ignores her as she slipped one of her gloves off and touched his face as he dropped her and fell to the ground, dizzy but still wide awake as Rogue jumped at him, swearing like a sailor in Orcish

"Hey...don't you dare swear on this ship in Orcish, brat or I will personally kick your ass and I don't care who on this ship I have to go through!" Callis, a student of Udon's that was also an Orc - the youngest, least experienced but toughest (in his own mind only) of the Orcs on the crew but the one with the most potential - with dark brown skin and wore tan pants and only remnants of a shirt showing his bone necklace, a ring of similar make on his left middle finger and smaller canines sticking out of his mouth like all of his kind as he barely missed with a punch at Rogue...he was older than the X-Men but wasn't an adult and could pass as one of their peers by his size and maturity

"That's enough, you two...great, now I have a female version of him to deal with" Udon rolled his eyes at his failed attempt to part the two as Rogue rared up to slap Callis through something as Rogue snarled "You did not just call me a brat when we're practically the same age"

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat in a manner that demanded attention as the two saw Captain Baccus standing before them growling with completely black pupilless eyes

This didn't stop Callis from swinging a kick at the Captain who promptly knocked him out in a heartbeat with one punch "Ye wanna be pickin' fights on my ship...yer both on deck swabbin' duty once dumbass here wakes up" Rogue looked ready to fight him but too afraid of him to even try, after seeing that X-23 wasn't even a match for him and Callis just getting his lights punched out

Baccus' reason for doing this wasn't to scar or make them scared of him, that wasn't a hard feat to accomplish, but to give them a little of the needed backbone to survive and fear truly no one, including him as he shoved Rogue hard enough that she backed into Udon still standing behind her

"Be careful of her deathly touch, Cap'n..." Udon warned as Baccus scowled "Why should I when she's scared of me?"

"The less ya fight back, the less of a threat ye become" Baccus directed this at Rogue, who unlike Laura had a trembling fist at her side until she recalled what Hunter told Laura that not many of them would take such a risk unless they rivalled him in power, which most of them did

Rogue touched Udon again, though not for so long that he'd stagger again as she tries to touch Baccus too, but he avoided it and was sent spinning onto the deck on his back with a force that made Dartz, Rat and Voorhees to come out of their respective quarters to see Baccus on his back

"Oy, Cap'n-" Dartz stopped to notice he was out cold as he gave Rogue a look very close to fear as he took the Captain to his quarters as she looked apologetic and worried

"Hey...don't look so worried...as long as the deck's clean by the time he's back on his feet, he won't be too mad and I'd be quick about it too, if I were you" Udon said, calming Rogue somewhat as he looked at her from the corner of his gray ringed pupils on black sclera, eyes that were no different from any of his kind, but with not as many abilities like a Ghoul's eyes and wasn't nearly as truly blood curdling as Voorhees'

Later that night, Baccus was awake to find the crew had all went to bed but the Ghouls and Dartz sat near the front of the ship looking at the moon...the deck was also clean enough to eat off of, he hadn't seen it so clean in years despite it being cleaned every other day

"Ye okay there, Cap'n?" Dartz asks as Baccus was still dazed but fine as he replied "I ain't dead yet, Dartz-san...that girl's got quite an arm though"

"Don't underestimate them...they're tougher than they look and my students...when they ain't Taeger's or Bane's" Dartz warns as Kommamura came up behind him, agreeing with Dartz "Baccus, he's right...they're more formidable than they look"

"Never saw ya as the teacher type, Ike-sama..." Baccus smirks at Ike's glare as he replied sharply "I am NOT a teacher at that school...their headmaster isn't to be trusted...not with my life"

Baccus heard what happened...Michael Darkstone left in a state of half-life...neither living nor dead and with no memory of what happened or anything but his own name and Kami Kurosaki met his end at the hands of Bane Asakura, who brought his body back and inherited his will of fire and Amaterasu

Of course, the Ghoul Lords attempted to take Amaterasu, Bane attempted to give them a run for their money saying it was a gift from the good Kami with his dying breath

So far, Dartz and the Black Fangs are the only people other than Bane himself who knows that he had Amaterasu because they knew how much of a hunted Ghoul Bane would be if the world at large knew that Amaterasu didn't die with Kami...some even felt that the black flames were responsible for Kami's fall from grace in the first place, which Dartz found very stupid and ridiculous...since Amaterasu itself was neither good nor evil.

"I've mulled it over and we've agreed to make ourselves a little more known to the populus, Dartz-san...if the humans be ready, at least" Baccus informs Dartz, who looked surprised to say the least

Baccus got up "Well, I'd get back to my quarters if I were ye...wouldn't wanna keep yer Kitten waitin'..."

Dartz ignores him as Baccus noticed the door to Dartz' quarters open and a blushing Pryde spying on them when she should be sleeping

"Go inside, it's very cold out here" Baccus says as even he was starting to feel the drop in temperature, but she seemed more worried about Dartz as she whispered "But, Dartz-"

"Is fine...yer worried 'bout somethin' ya don't need to worry about, he's used to the cold...he's my first mate, after all" Baccus cut her off as she closed the door

A/N - So, Rogue manages to knock Baccus out and Baccus knows that Kitty is head over heels for Dartz as the X-Men are a part of the Black Fang crew. How are they going to fare travelling on the high seas and I'll go a bit into Baccus' friendship and how he idolizes Kommamura. R&R