Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction using elements not belonging to the author. Such elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities with other stories by other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.

Author's notes: Sorry for the very long delay. I had a lot of school work on my hands.

The seekers of Soul Edge scrambled out of their beds and on to the deck. They had suddenly been awakened by Cassandra, who was telling them to get up and get ready to fight. They got to the deck just as Siegfried rolled the helm to the left.

"What, in the world is happening, Siegfried?" Maxi yelled as he stood up.

"A pirate ship is after us. Cervantes is on the helm." Siegfried yelled.

With the mention of the pirate's name the warriors quickly went to action. Maxi replaced the knight on the helm as Taki used the telescope to confirm the danger.

"He's right. That's Cervantes alright."

On board the Adrian, Cervantes could clearly see the ship changing course. They were trying to get away from him. The pirate only smiled and thought to himself.

'Don't even think about it.'

Yunsung kept an eye on the approaching ship. It was gaining on them really fast.

"Maxi, we need to get faster."

"This is as fast as she could go." Maxi shouted out.

"We'll have to prepare for a fight if ever he boards." Mitsurugi said.

"We don't have to as long as keep our distance we won't have to worry." Raphael answered.

"I don't think so." Siegfried said in a voice full of dread.

All of them looked at the knight. He was just looking out to the ship behind them, as if waiting for something.

Cervantes assessed the distance between him and his prey. As soon as he was sure the distance was enough, he left the helm and descended to the deck. He began to run the length of his ship and then, with the power of the demon sword, jumped fifty feet into the air

Everyone on the ship was surprised at what the pirate had done. He jumped the relatively big gap between the ships and landed in their midst. The pirate immediately stood up. Brandishing the Soul Edge in each hand, the pirate looked at the small band of warriors who were going to oppose him. As he looked at them he noticed a female warrior among them. Her scarlet suit clung tightly to her, exposing the substantial curves of her body.

Cervantes smiled maniacally. "I still remember you."

In a flash, Cervantes disappeared before them and reappeared in front of Taki, his hand holding her on the chin. "I've waited so long to pay you back for the pain you caused me."

Flaring in anger, the female ninja drew her sword to cut down the pirate. Unfortunately, Cervantes disappeared even before Taki could bring down her arm. She quickly predicted where on the ship teleported to and raced to attack him.

"I'll destroy you, demon."

Taking out the two blades she possessed, Taki pressed her attacks against Cervantes. She used every skill she had in her arsenal to take down the pirate, but he just blocked every one.

Cervantes was clearly enjoying the fight. He had experienced some difficulty when he first fought the ninja, but now it was a piece of cake. This time he will win.

Taki was finally fed up and decided to use her most powerful attack. She was in the middle of executing it when Cervantes made an unexpected move. He swung his swords to the side, hitting his enemy's hands and causing her to drop her weapons.

Taki felt a chill run down her spine. In a flash she was hit in her belly and in several other parts of her body. In a flash, she was thrown into the air. She was expecting to hit the deck or fall to the sea. Instead she felt something warm around her body. She looked up and found out that she was cradled in Mitsurugi's arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'll survive." She said as she put a hand on her bleeding side.

"Stay here. Yoshimitsu and I will take care of him." Mitsurugi said as he handed her to Talim and Amy. He then turned to the masked figure beside him. "Yoshi, lets go."

The two warriors attacked simultaneously. Yoshimitsu took to the air while Mitsurugi charged forward. They planned to attack the pirate from two directions, lessening his chances to win. Unfortunately, they have underestimated the pirate.

Cervantes just stood his ground. His enemies had used a valid tactic, able to destroy an ordinary opponent, but he was no ordinary opponent. Sensing Yoshimitsu's approach, he let go of the sword in his right hand. He reached high above him and caught the ninja's sword.

'Impossible!' Yoshimitsu said in horror.

With a great force, Cervantes spun his victim once around his head and let go, letting the ninja hit one of the ships cabin doors, which broke because of the impact.

The sight of his friend's fate only caused Mitsurugi to hasten his attack. He had already drawn his sword and was about to strike when the sword Cervantes let go suddenly jumped back to its wielder's raised hand. As soon as he gripped the sword the pirate brought it down with great force. This caused the rounin to change his plan from attack to defence.

Mitsurugi could feel the floor start to break at the impact of the blow. With all of his strength, he pushed the pirate back and began to attack again. It would have worked, had his target not disappeared before his eyes.

In a flash Cervantes was in the air. With the evil power within him he quickly changed direction and began to decent. Mitsurugi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulders. In a few seconds, fell before Cervantes' feet. The rounin tried to stand up, but was prevented by the pirate's foot on his head.

"You're a brave soul to have challenged me. Maybe I will take your soul first and the woman's last." The pirate said as he brandished his glowing sword.

Taki tried to stand up and aid Mitsurugi, but her wounds prevented her. Cervantes was about to bring down his sword when he sensed an attack approaching him. He backed away from his prey just as Maxi's nunchakus hit the spot where he stood.

Almost suddenly, Xianghua and Kilik began to advance on Cervantes. The pirate began to block and parry every attack delivered by them. The three pressed on, yet they couldn't even land a blow on him. As time passed, they grew tired but their foes didn't even break a sweat.

Now it was Cervantes' turn to attack. He blocked Maxi's attack in such a way that the nunchaku would wrap around his hand. With one swipe he pulled the weapon out of Maxi's hand and delivered a blow that sent the dandy pirate flying.

"You'll pay for that!" yelled Kilik as he slammed the Kali-yuga towards the pirate. It would have hit its mark had not the target disappeared, leaving only the image of a surprised Xianghua. Kilik manage to stop the Kali-yuga before it hit the girl. He breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that enemy was behind her.

"Xianghua, look out behind you!"

The girl didn't even have time to turn around. As soon as she heard Kilik's words Xianghua felt a sharp force behind her neck. Her legs then began to give way as she fell into a tunnel of darkness. Before the abyss engulfed her, she uttered one word.

"Kilik."

Kilik stepped forward to catch Xianghua's falling body. She was unconscious, but alive. What happened to her made his blood boil. He gripped the Kali-yuga tightly and swung it forcefully on Cervantes. Kilik thought he had hit his mark, but he soon realized that it was only an afterimage. As the realization dawned on him a figure behind him slammed his weapon on Kilik's back. He fell on the floor, his left hand still wrapped around Xinaghua's still form.

Siegfried could not believe what had happened. Cervantes defeated six of their group's most powerful fighters, three of which have fought and defeated the Soul Edge. He looked at his still conscious comrades. Taki was wounded. Cassandra, Yunsung and Talim were ready to fight but he knew that they were no match for Cervantes. The only ones who had the remotest chance of surviving a battle with Cervantes was he, Raphael, and Ivy.

"Cassandra."

"Yes, Siegfried?"

"Take Taki, Talim, Yunsung, and Amy and escape."

"No, I won't!" Cassandra answered.

"We are ready to fight." Yunsung said. "We can take him on together."

"No, you can't!" Siegfried answered in an almost shouting voice. "Your powers are nothing compared to Cervantes'. There is no way you will survive him."

"He is right." Raphael added. "You must take Taki and get here wounds treated. She is one of the fighters who defeated Cervantes. He must not get his hands on her. Much more, I won't let Amy die so young"

Siegfried looked at what remains of their group. "You are all still young. You have your entire lives ahead of you. You must not die tonight."

He then looked at Cassandra. "Cassandra, I have vowed to become your knight. As such I must make sure of your well being. I will not fail in my promise."

Cassandra did not want to flee with out a fight but she knew that he was right. They were no match for the undead pirate.

"Very well. We will leave now. But please come back to us alive"

"May the spirits watch over you and give you victory." Talim said as she took Amy away.

The two men then looked at their opponent. "Are you up to it, Raphael?"

"Ready as ever." The Frenchman said as he brandished his rapier. "Are you ready, Ivy?"

It was then that Raphael noticed the state Ivy was in. She was pale all over. Her entire body was shaking. Raphael then saw her eyes. I was full of fear and was focused on Cervantes. This was a big problem.

"IVY!!!!"