Returning to the un-natural quiet of the WhitePearl house from the chaotic melee of the previous evening was a strange transition that was perhaps more unnerving than all of the other events combined.

Julia had lain in her bed all night and all morning simply staring up at the ceiling, rolling over to face away from the door whenever someone else other than Edward Falcon entered the room. She hadn't said anything. Only a blank stare would come in reply if anyone addressed her.

Damages to the house had been significant. The living room had been almost completely demolished, holes blown up through the floor boards into upstairs rooms and the chimney was tittering on the brink of collapse.

Thankfully not soon after, as if sensing the transpiring events, the storm quieted and died down. The rain stopped and the howling winds slowed to a gentle breeze.

Ayame had taken a beating. Bruises ran all over her body and Wang-Tang was convinced she had a fractured arm. More than just her physical injured worried him. Since she woke up she appeared distant and far away, as if some part of her very self had been taken.

Her Power Stone.

Wang-Tang was still learning how they worked, but one thing he knew for sure what that the more a Stone was sued, the more the owner became attached to it.

The girl winced as she tried to sit up off the sofa. Wang-Tang put a hand on her shoulder and told her to sit back down. Reassuring smile on his face. She blushed and did as she was told. Gunrock's six kids started making 'kissy' faces at them from the hallways

Almost immediately a car came screeching down the muddy road at full speed, sliding to a stop directly in front of the house's front entrance. The driver, a chauffer dressed in black, got out first and walked around to the back passenger seats.

Apollus watched him from an upstairs window as he opened the door and bowed his head respectfully as a man stepped out.

"Good lord." Apollus began. The passenger glanced around and the devastation of the house, then walked straight up to the front door. It was already open with police going in and out.

"Hey, just who are you?" Gunrock demanded, glaring down at the man as he stepped through into the hallway. He was old, probably in his lat sixties with short white hair a beard that dipped down below his chin. His eyes were a very dark chocolate brown. His clothing, a smart grey jacket with golden needlework and a pair of long almost pure white pants, suggested he was of privileged standing.

"Where is she?" He demanded outright not even giving the Mexican a single glance. "Where is Julia?"

"I'm not telling anything to a popinjay like you!" Gunrock snorted, looking over the man's dress with a contemptuous eye.

"Mr. Gunrock, please do not speak like that to our host." Apollus panted running down the stairs. "This is his house we're standing in."

"Huh?" The Mexican asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You are standing in the presence of Lord WhitePearl." Gunrock adopted a sudden stricken and panicked look and turned back to the old man with a nervous smile.

"When I heard about my daughter's financial support for this expedition, I knew it would come to this eventually." Falcon glanced up to see Lord WhitePearl standing at the top of the stairs staring at the closed door that lead into Julia's room. He had Julia's father before, during the original trip to Louisiana years ago. "But I hadn't any idea how late the hour was until I received word of Old Man Andrew's death." Ryoma, who was leaning against the open window sill with his katana scabbard held in one hand, opened his eyes and studied Lord WhitePearl in detail.

Apollus and Gunrock came up the stairs right after him.

"You know about…" Falcon begun, but found he hadn't the descriptive language that did last night's events any justice. Lord WhitePearl just nodded.

"It's all my fault." He sighed. "I should never have expected the mental conditioning would last forever and beyond that, I should never have started this disaster." His face twisted in the darkest of frowns. "I wish I'd never laid eyes on that damn stone."

"Stone?" Falcon repeated with raided eyebrows. "Power Stone?" Lord WhitePearl pushed his lips together tightly, before relaxing his shoulders and pulling up the empty chair on the landing.

"Perhaps it is best if I start at the beginning."

-

The voices were once again silenced, drowned out by the engulfing melody of his mother. Clasped in his burnt hands, Jack held the stone close to himself; refusing to let it go. He wanted to push it right into his heart by every time he tried he was met with pain. Instead, he was forced to be merely content with its proximity.

"I not let them take you Momma, not again." Sitting the darkness, alone, hiding from them all; concealing himself in the shadows to ensure they would never take her away again; Jack the Slayer gibbered constantly to himself.

Since it had been taken, Jack had been empty and devoid of nearly all his will. Only the voiced that has gently whispered in his head guided him.

Hurled back through the vast concept of time, Jack re-experienced his childhood. Memories recent and old blurred into one until causality was no longer in effect. There was a meaningless omnipresent 'now'.

The jewel in his hands suddenly sparked and Jack was brought back to recognise the normal passage of time. Feeling returned and eventually he found himself back in the hiding place he had located.

Form, the shadows of the collapsed building he watched the lines of the river and marsh empty out into the ocean in a jagged coastline nearly ripped to pieces by tropical storms. The ruin in the swamp was the remains of a town, now long abandoned. Vines and creepers choked the streets, half collapsed buildings and even an old townhouse.

His gaze wasn't fixed on that. Rather he gazed out towards the sky.

Something was coming.

"What is it Momma?" He asked looking down at the aqua stone. It did not reply. Instead it simply glowing its respective colour dully.

Clouds were still thick in the sky even with the storms passing and the sun was nearly invisible behind the grey screen. Jack watched as slowly, a large shape began to emerge out of the gloom. Formless at first, a mere darkened blob which slowly but surely began to take a more definite shape.

Then as it broke through the clouds, Jack recognised the bow of a Turbine Ship.

A massive flying vessel kept aloft by jets of steam and the rotating fans underneath the hull. Its sail wings were spread out wider than usual along either side and across the bow, carved into the woodwork was a figure head was the image of a Octopus.

The ship crossed the sky until it was nearly hovering over the abandoned buildings within the swamp, half choked by the ever-growing flora. Once it was directly over him, it stayed there and maintained itself high in the air.

Jack watched the vessel, never taking his single working eye off it for a moment despite the wind its fans were blowing down into his face.

A rope ladder was tossed off the side from the deck, trailing a long way down to the point where it almost made contact with the ground.

Jack's placed the stone into his jacket pocket and readied his arms to reach for his daggers as someone began to climb down the ladder in leaps and bounds.

"Ahoy there!" The figure cried out once it reached the bottom, hanging there with one foot on the lowest rope step and a large metallic clamp for a hand on one higher up. The man waved to Jack with his only good hand.

He was unshaven and had several missing teeth, a loss that showed when he smiled down at him. The left eye was concealed by a mask that was shaped to resemble the eye socket of a sky. His hair was long and silver, tied back by a red ribbon under a bandana and mariners hat. "You must be Jack."

The boy took several steps back.

"Who you?" He demanded, twitching his finger and with one fluid movement he seemed to summon a dagger to him.

"Real name's Jonathon Cross." The mariners replied apparently unfazed by the weapon. "But folks just call me Kraken." More men were descending off the rope ladder. Some were even dropping from the ship itself, using bronze contraptions strapped to their backs like wings to slow them down. Even Jack could see they were surrounding him.

"What you want?" The boy demanded, flicking his other hand and the last dagger came to him.

"Little stone about 'yar big." Kraken replied, gesturing with his good hand to indicate an object about the size of a fist. "I know you have one."

"Me no have stone, go away!" Jack snapped in reply. Kraken spilt a large grin. He reached into his blue jacket and withdrew a glass vial. Inside was a neon green liquid that glowed dully. Kraken held it closer towards Jack and the glow seemed to intensify.

"Boys…" The pirate began. "Why don't you teach this young man the penalty for lying?" All those around him reached for the pistols at their side at once as the Turbine ship above moved on, sailing over the treetops to find a more suitable place to land.

"Our pleasure boss." A large man in a red bandana and open dark blue shirt sneered in reply, cracking his knuckles together.

The pupil in Jack's eye narrowed to a near dot and convulsing with anger, the boy charged right at them with both daggers held back ready to strike.

-

Ayame winced as the sling was hung into place, her arm hoisted across her chest. Wang-Tang placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and tied the knot on her shoulder.

"There." He said with a small smile. "It'll be a good few weeks before that comes off I'm afraid." Gunrock's kids were still taunting them from a distance. The oldest was mimicking the act of taking a damsel in his arms and fresh kissing her, the others laughing at his act.

"Ah my love, my heart and soul…" He chanted, affecting a very bad French accent. Several others rolled over clutched at their stomachs and laughing.

Ayame angrily twirled her fingers and a shuriken appeared in her good hand. The throwing star crossed the distance between them and sank into the wood of the door frame. The message was very clear.

"Back off twerps." She told them in a very shrill voice rimmed with venom.

All six of them raised their arms as if in surrender and backed off in complete silence, never taking their eyes off the ninja girl for a moment until they were safely out of firing range.

"They're all like little versions of Gunrock." Wang-Tang managed, suppressing a short chuckle. Ayame smiled to, but the action was forced.

The theft of her stone had left her feeling empty, as if with its leaving it had taken something important along with it.

"Feels like part of your soul's gone doesn't it?" Wan-Tang asked without looking at her. Ayame glanced up at him. He was staring off into space, out through the window and at the horizon on the far side. "Power Stones are odd things. The more one is used, the more the user feels attached to it, almost to the point where it becomes a part of oneself." He reached into his pocket and withdrew his Power Stone, holding the emerald green jewel aloft for her to see.

Gunrock's children watched from the sidelines, their gaze attracted to the rock; all six of them staring at it in awe.

"When Kraken stole my stone, I felt as if he had taken my soul with it. That feeling of lose only truly went away as soon as I recovered it." Wang-Tang carried on. "And it wasn't just the stone's power I was suffering withdrawal symptoms from either.

The more I fight with this stone, the more it and my spirit become intertwined." He smiled grimly. "Eventually I think there'll come a point where one wouldn't be able to distinguish between my soul and the Stone."

"Was that what happened to me?" Ayame asked, thinking aloud her thoughts. "Was I becoming one in spirit with the stone?" She brought her legs up and hugged them to herself as best she could with one arm. "Why?"

"Those who use Power Stones can do so by means of their spirit." Wang-Tang explained. "Ryoma told me once that a Power Stone will often chose its wieldier, even if it already has an owner; it was go to whom it deems more worthy.

The Power and the spirit become one in a sense, unlocking the hidden potential within.

But then there are those like Kraken, who don't use their spirits, who force the stones to do their bidding by the use of Black Magic or in some other cases, emotions of the extreme variety, like anger or the pain of loss."

"Pain of loss?" Ayame repeated. Wang-Tang blinked, realizing he had said more than he was supposed to. He glanced around to make sure others were out of earshot.

"Alright…" He leaned back into the sofa, sliding his Power Stone back into his pocket. "I want you to promise me that you won't tell either Ryoma or Falcon that I told you this." Ayame nodded once. "Just over a year ago, when we first encountered the pirate king; the cruise ship we were one was attacked by his original ship; the King Octopus.

His crew boarded the vessel and took what they were after from the vault. As they were leaving, Kraken used a Power Stone to tear the ship in half. Hundreds died, including a young girl called Alicia. She was Edward Falcon's cousin." Ayame held a hand to her mouth.

"He….Kraken killed children?" She asked in stunned horror.

"Whole families." Was the reply. Her eyes widened. "He was simply after the Power Stone in the ships vault." Wang-Tang explained. "It was nothing personal, but anyone in convenient to him as always been the first to die.

He is a pirate after all." Ayame sat there in silence, digesting his bit of information.

She harboured no illusions about Kraken's willingness to do utterly evil things to get what he wanted, but this… whole families, just for being in his way? What kind of man would do such things?

"Eventually, Falcon, Ryoma and I chased him all the way to his fortress in the Bering straights, the pirate stronghold known as SkullHaven.

We took the stones from him after the battle. That should have been enough, but Falcon wanted more.

He wanted revenge. He wanted to massacre the entire pirate gang for their involvement in Alicia death. He wanted to coat the entire fortress in their blood."

That did not sound like the Edward Falcon she was aware of at all. "That desire was reflected in the stone and his powers went array.

His spirit wasn't in cooperation with the stone and the result was Falcon nearly lost control.

It was Mel who finally managed to bring him to his senses." The Chinese boy sighed and sat up almost rigid. "So you see, the connection between Power Stone and the spirit is exceptionally strong and its absence is nearly disastrous.

Ayame was staring down at the floor as if she were unable to meet his gaze. He cupper her face and gently pulled her to face him. She brown eyes were brimmed with uncertainty.

Ever since she had followed the Samurai to England her life had been turned completely upside down and his journey was challenging her conceptions of life to the point where she couldn't be sure of anything anymore.

"I wish I'd never left Oedo." She said out load.

"Do you really?" He asked. Ayame was silent for a brief moment before a smile parted her lips.

"No." How could she, when leaving had placed her amongst people she could truly call friends? Or how it had placed her under the wings of this boy?

"If the Power Stones have shown me nothing else Ayame, its that there's nothing stronger known to man than its own spirit."

"Do you always come up with speeches like that?"

"I have a whole draw full of them written down." He replied with a smile.

Ayame felt her face grow warm when she suddenly became aware of how closer her face was to his, and continuing to move towards it.

Wang-Tang managed his own blush as they felt each others breath on their faces.

Before anything monumental could happen however one of Gunrock's kids decided now was the time to send a wet towel flying across the room to smack into Ayame's face.

"Good one!" Another laughed, patting the offender on the shoulder. Wang-Tang watched as Ayame dragged the towel off her face, her expression bordering on pure evil and eyes burning with unrivalled wrath.

Hell hath no fury like a teenage girl under the influence of hormones.

-

"When I was living in this house, I was a collector of rare antiquities." Lord WhitePearl was landing on the landing, staring out across the expanse of the garden lawn towards the rim of the swamp at the far side. His hands were folded behind his back and heels pressed tightly together. The noise of crying kids had begun to quiet from downstairs. "Little Julia was only about seven at the time and she was utterly fascinated by all the trinkets from various cultures and countries I would bring home to put in my private museum."

Falcon sat nearby, listening to every word intently. Ryoma was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Apollus and Gunrock stood nearby, almost standing to attention. Not a single one of them dared to make a noise that could interrupt

"One summer, I received word of a rare collection of gemstones that had been discovered in a lost tomb in Egypt. The British Museum wanted me to oversee the American distribution of the find.

I went there immediately and was greeted with a sight beyond my wildest expectations." The lord paused for a moment, considering if he should continue or not. Then he relented and relaxed his shoulders. "Whatever was laid to rest in that crypt, it wasn't an Egyptian king or pharaoh.

Hieroglyphics translated at: The Tomb of the Visitor." Ryoma opened one eye, stared at Lord WhitePearl, then shut it again. "Within this tomb I discovered that a multitude of gemstones had been laid to accompany whoever that man was down the river of the dead.

One of them…" He stopped again and his voice sounded shaky. "One of them was a raven gemstone, a refined jewel that looked so beautiful I couldn't resist simply taking it for myself.

So I concealed it amongst my belongings and returned to America with it." The old mans face contorted with grief and regret. "I wish I'd simply put it down with the others that were going to the British Museum, but… when I saw it, I was overcome by a strange greed I'd never known before.

I simply couldn't control the compulsion. I had to have that stone."

"This stone…" Falcon began, reaching into his jacket. "Doses it look like this?" The lord WhitePearl looked back to see Falcon holding his own Power Stone aloft.

"Yes." He replied after a moment ."But it was jet black in colour."

"That sounds like a Power Stone without any question." Apollus ventured. Ryoma nodded once in agreement.

"When I brought it home, I laid it with a place of honour at centre of my collection." Lord WhitePearl continued. "When my daughter next came to marvel at my collection she…" He pushed his lips together tightly as if he as afraid to go on. "…she saw the black stone and took it up.

Before I knew what was happening, it was like the shadows themselves were engulfing her. Every ounce of darkness within that room swirled around like a vortex, wrapping themselves around her body.

She screamed, crying for help. But there was nothing I could do. Whenever I got close the shadows seemed to take physical form, throwing me back.

I could do nothing but watch as the devil that damn stone generated possessed her."

"Possessed?" Falcon asked. Lord WhitePearl turned to face the Englishman comply in response.

"When she looked me after it was over, the expression on her face it was… it was…" He paused to swallow a lump in his throat. "It was NOT Julia who was looking at me." The memory of that demonic glare the young woman had taken last night flashed across Falcon's mind and he knew exactly what the lord was trying to describe. "She killed one of my employees without a second thought and tried to do away with me." He pulled down the collar of his jacket and reveal several scars across his neck.

They looked like the claw marks from the attack of a savage animal.

"But I managed to subdue her. Eventually the effect of the stone wore off and she returned to normal… but she was forever tainted by the experience.

Whatever else that evil icon did, it gave my daughter spilt personalities.

One is the girl whom you all know; but the other is a darker side. A manifestation of wants and desires, a culmination of lust and frustration."

"A dark side." Ryoma stated opening both eyes. "Then that proves it. This is the work of the Power Stone of shadows." Falcon nodded in agreement.

"The Dark Stone." Amongst all the nine stones, two stood out amongst the rest.

They were the Light Stone and its polar opposite, the Dark Stone. There had been little for Falcon to go on in his research but he did find references in various texts to the Dark Stone's control over shadows and the darker side of human nature.

"Do you still have it good sir?" Apollus asked.

"You think after what happened to my daughter that I would keep that evil thing?" Lord WhitePearl asked with a raised eyebrow. "No I did not keep it.

I concealed it within a bolted metallic box and then took a trip in a Turbine ship over the Atlantic Ocean.

Once I was over the open sea, I dropped it overboard and watched it sink into the abyss." He stopped to clear his throat. "Afterwards, in order to keep Julia's darker side under control, my wife and I had to give her hypnotic suggestion. Putting in mental barriers to keep her other self locked away.

But that incident had tainted our lives and they would never be the same. I was unable to bear the presence of my collection after that, so I sold it all to various museums around the world and set into the Turbine ship business." Looking emotional drained, Lord WhitePearl descended into a chair in the corner. His hand held to the bridge of his nose.

"Well, that certainly explains a few things." Gunrock sighed testing his neck muscles as he broke the awkward silence.

Falcon sat there in silence. He hadn't known. She had been only seven? That means she was struggling with this even during that time when they first met.

The Englishman suddenly felt guilty. Not for turning down her affections, but for giving her the cold shoulder whenever she tried to be close to him.

It was not pity he felt for her. It was contempt he felt for himself.

"I do not know what the Power Stones are exactly…" Lord WhitePearl continued staring down at the floor. "But that incident convinced me that their power isn't meant to be wielded by men.

They are forces beyond our understanding and they should not be in the hands of mortals." He fixed Falcon with a gaze. "My advice to you is to abandon this quest before inevitable tragedy strikes." Silence endured for a moment.

"The Power Stones are indeed powerful tools." Ryoma said voicing his opinion. "In the wrong or even inexperienced hands they can be used to commit great acts of evil.

We quest not to control the stones ourselves, but to keep them out of the clutches of those who would." He reached into his robes and withdrew his own Power Stone. "I once saw a man use this very stone to open the heavens and send a thunder bolt down to tear a cruise ship in half.

The memory of that event replayed itself over in Falcon's mind, crossing across his eyes unbidden.

He tried his best to banish it, but the image of the sinking vessel would not leave his recollection. The feeling of helplessness as he watched that innocent little girl sink with it was heightened and he had to take a deep breath to steady himself.

"The only way I can be assured that it will not be used like that again is to keep it with me." The samurai added one last time, looking down into the depths of the jewel in his grasp.

A strange silence followed that no one had the courage to break. Gunrock eventually gathered the guts and spoke up.

"So what now huh?" He asked scratching the back of his head. "I mean, with Miss Julia out of it, what becomes of this expedition?"

"That bandaged fiend made off with Miss Ayame's Power Stone." Apollus replied. "Recovering it should be of paramount importance."

"The slayer could be miles away by now." Ryoma ventured.

"Julia injured him, he wouldn't be able to go very far." Falcon added as he stood up out of his chair. "I'd say he's probably somewhere within five to six miles."

"The town?"

"Nah, that's still too far."

"The old town." Lord WhitePearl suddenly interjected. "The original settlement that was swallowed up by the swamp. It lies directly to the south about a mile or two away. Some of the buildings there might provide one shelter."

"Then we start looking there." Ryoma pushed himself off the wall and slid his Katana scabbard back to his side. "Falcon, let us go."

"Right." Without warning there was a loud crashing sound from beyond the door into Julia's room. It was the sound of glass breaking. Without hesitation Lord WhitePearl flung himself at the door and tore it open.

The bed covers and sheets were strewn across the floor, ripped in small pieces. The window at the far side had been broken open. Ryoma rushed in and over to the window. Across the estate grounds he could see a figure running south towards the swamp. Even at this distance it was obvious it was Julia.

"She must have heard us talking." Lord WhitePearl stated as he reached the window, staring out after the fleeing figure. "She's heading towards the old town!"

"Her dark side must still have some control over her actions." Ryoma said. "She's going to try and avenge her friend."

"Jack'll tear her to pieces!" Falcon exclaimed. "We've gotta stop her."

"Already on it!" Gunrock yelled up as he bust out the front door after all, running as fast his large bulk could manage. Falcon and Ryoma jumped out the window to save time, rebounding off the wall to slow themselves down to avoid injury.

"Wait young master!" Apollus called out after them. "Wait for me!"

-

The first to try and bring Jack down where the first to die. The knife blades sliced through their throats with lighting fast reflexes, blood spraying out into the air and staining the green jacket and bandages. Darting between the suddenly confused pirates, Jack sliced he went, bring men down in moments; entire arms and even heads sent flying from their bodies.

Death came swiftly and by the time Jack ended his killing spree, ten men lay dead around him; their blood seeping over the cracked stone of the ruin and into the stagnant water of the swamp.

Octo, Pus and the other pirates; having now been shown Jack's skill; backed off to a safe distance.

"Actually captain, why don't you have a shot at him?" Puss asked, gesturing towards the boy. Kraken bore an unimpressed frown.

"Good help is just so hard to find." He muttered to himself, striding forward as his men backed off even more to give the two combatants as much elbow room as possible. Jack raised both blood stained daggered and charged, but Kraken slapped his attacks side with his good hand.

"Stone mine! Momma mine!" Jack snarled, leaping up into the air and bring his leg down in a kick .Kraken's right arm flew up, the pincer closing itself around the boys waist, stopping the attack. With the slayer firmly in his grasp, Kraken about faced and swung Jack down smashing his back into the stone ground.

Jack's arms twisted at impossible angles, the daggers in both grasp sinking into the ground to act as anchors. Taking hold of Kraken's arms with his legs, the boy used his own body as leveraged and tossed Kraken over him and straight into a tree.

The pirate king slid to the ground, leaves, twigs and pieces of bark falling with him. Kraken shook the debris out of his head and hoisted himself back up, apparently unfazed.

Jack twisted like a bending snake before arriving back on his feet.

"Lads, back off a moment." He announced and the pirates quickly began climbing back over the ruins away from them. Whenever their captain said he wanted space, it usually meant staying within a certain distance of him was hazardous to their health.

Jack watched Kraken was the pirate king reached into his jacket and withdrew another glass vial. Like the first, it contained a liquid but rather than being green; it was jet black.

Kraken tossed it down and it smashed open on the ground. The contents sprayed out, a black sludge that surged down into the cracks in the stone. Other pieces of it surged like slugs towards the recent bodies and seemed to vanish once they reached them.

For a moment, there was utter silence.

Then the water in the swamp around them began frothing. Jack looked down as a skeletal hand reached up and tried to grab his ankle. He leapt out of the way, balancing himself on the top of a half collapsed wall as skeletal bodies began to heave themselves out of the depths.

The bodies of the dead pirates also began to move, reanimated corpses that heaved themselves up clumsily and took holds of their weapons. It was clear from the vacant looks on their faces that despite their mobility, they were still very much dead.

"Reanimation…" Kraken declared, putting his hands on his hips. "Page one of the 'How to be A Necromancer.' " A messy piece of black magic that required a bit of alchemy. Kraken didn't like using reanimated bodies as he preferred to rely on his own skills, but occasionally the technique didn't have its uses.

Those from the swamp were little more than walking skeletons, held together by whatever dark magic's the pirate king had his disposal. They picked up whatever weapons they could find like branches or even bricks and tossed them at Jack.

The slayer avoided them with his acrobatic skill, before racing in fact and slashing at them with his daggers. The blades simply fell through the gaps in the done and did not do any damage.

The skeletons lashed out and Jack was forced back into the arms of the waiting reanimated crewmen. They tried to pin his arms back, but Jack shot around and slashed them across the chest and stomach.

Despite the wounds in their bodies, they carried on as if nothing had happened; slashed at him with their cutlass'. Several raised their muskets and pistols ready to fire.

Jack dodged the steal balls before ducking low under slash attempts.

"Hand over the stone, boy and I'll call them off." Kraken called over, the smile over his show showing that he was enjoying this show.

"Momma is mine. Not yours! Mine!" Jack's voice hissed as he swept backwards to he edge of a drop into a pit of near raven black stagnant water. The corpses moved in on him, forcing him back step by step towards the pinnacle of the drop. "Girl not keep her! Nor you!" The stone in Jack's pocket suddenly started glowing, beams of blue light lancing out of this coat.

"What…" Not expecting this, Kraken declared out load taking a step backwards.

Jack's body twisted up and arched as the fusion form took hold. His limbs began long and thin, covered in blue plates of armour and the hands and feet morphed to become double edged serrated blades. His main body was quickly surrounded by a protective beetle like shell.

"Rolling Slash!" The left arm shot forward, the blades spinning around like a buzz saw. Several of the reanimated bodies were sliced in half, limbs, heads and torso flying up into the air. The skeletons attacked from behind, only to meet the same fate when the leg came arching around. The blow broke the bones apart and the fragments sprayed out wide and rained down upon the ground like snow.

Anything that got in Jack's way was sliced in pieces. The corpses sliced in small pieces. Brick and dust flew up into the air, cascading down like hail.

"I don't know how yee learned Power Fusion..." Kraken began with a snarl as he reached into his coat. "But you're going to have to do better than that to beat me!" Between his fingers were three more vials containing the same black liquid.

These the pirate king tossed straight into the ground releasing the necromantic magic to do its work. Out of the depths of the swamp came more summoned skeletal warriors. Numbering well into their dozens, they crawled up the vine infested ruins and quickly surrounded Jack; advancing on him with their long bony fingers outstretched ready to grab.

"That's the way boss!" Puss called out from the far sidelines. "No one tops the pirate king, not when it comes to black magic!"

"Yeah, show the little runt what happens when someone crosses the Octopus gang!" Octo called out waving a thick fist in the air.

Jack's arms spun out, slicing the skeletons in half as they came near; but their numbers threatened to completely overwhelm him. There was simply too many of them.

"Destroyer Dance!" One leg raised itself and Jack stood on the tip of one blade like foot and using their point, Jack started spinning around like a dancer. Runes and other arcane marking suddenly appearing around him on the ground, glowing bright neon blue. His arms spread out wide and the blades on the ends started spinning.

His entire body becoming a weapon, Jack sliced through entire squads of skeletal warriors ripping them to pieces in moments.

He seemed to rise into the air, twirling like the centre of a hurricane as he went; tearing the reanimated bodies up with him. Then he plummeted sharply down, slicing anything too close in half down the centre.

Kraken was forced to back off, the blades slicing through the fabric of his coat.

The pirate had no more vials of alchemy based Black Magic as he hadn't anticipated he would need any more.

He had more spells, but had no intention of using any of them on this young pup.

A battle cry passing his lips he charged forward, swinging his bulky metal claw down. Jack parried away the blown and lashed out with another Rolling Slash. Kraken dodged and as he did so his body spun around, allowing his claw to come circling around gathering speed before smashing itself directly into Jack's right hand side.

The boy staggered to the side several places and this allowed the pirate king to go on the offensive, stabbing forward with his claw forcing Jack back step by step. With his good hand he tore the pistol at his side out of its holster and aimed it directly at the boys head.

Before he could pull the trigger, Jack brought his leg up sharply. It slammed into Kraken's stomach and the pirate doubled over, dropping his gun in the process.

Using the opportunity, Jack reared back before launching his arms forward with both blades spinning ready to slice and cut.

Using his good hand, Kraken sketched arcane runes in the air with the tips of two fingers and uttered the only spell he could think of at such short notice. A flash of light sprang out as a bolt of magical lightning arched forward.

The two attacks seemed to solid in mid air and the shockwave they produced tore Jack's Fusion form from his body and sent both combatants flying backwards until they crashed into solid objects.

"Ah son of a…" Was all Puss managed before the shockwave crashed into the spectator pirates, sending them all rolling across the ground. Several managed to grab hold of something to stop them flying away, while others was sent crash back into the swamp itself.

Falcon, Gunrock and Ryoma sent the ground shake beneath their feet as they passed through the trees, chasing the fleeting figure of Julia who in the chaos slipped away from sight.

Kraken hoisted himself back off the rubble, shoving a fallen slab of vine encrusted rock off him. Jack was a short distance away, slowing sitting up and shaking the brick dust out of the bandages. A sparkle in the thin daylight caught their eye and they both looked sharply away, to see the Power Stone lying amongst the vine and creepers.

"Momma mine!" Jack squealed, scrambling his way to his feet and bolting for the stone.

Kraken tore himself up and ran for it as well, trying to outdo Jack in the race. They both reached for the stone at they exact same time, and where both amazed when another hand reached down and snatched it up before either of them even came close.

Julia stood there, towering over them with the stone in her hand.

"Silly lady, my stone! Mine!" Jack snarled, a dagger sliding out of his sleeve. Before he could strike her, the stone started glowing soft blue between her fingers. Her face twisted into a depraved version of its former self, an expression of long frustration lust.

Falcon pushed the last few leaves aside just in time to get a close up view as the stone moved through the air, circled around the young woman before slamming directly into her chest. The fusion taking place almost immediately. The fact that Kraken was here to observe it matter little, as if the event before him was so mind stagger, it made little difference.

"By Jehovah!" Gunrock declared as Julia's transformation began. Her hair twisted, moulded itself into two long pony tails stretching down from the back of his head. Her loose nightgown contracted, formed itself into a body tight fitting white suit that stretched up her stomach and partly over her breasts. White leather boots rimmed with red that came up her claves seemed to appear out of nowhere, a high heal with a spike at he bottom. Her arms lengthened and gained scales like those on the legs of a bird, with long talons on the end of each finger.

Once it was over, Julia just stood there in her transformed state. Then slowly, she turned to look directly at Edward Falcon.

One shot of that gaze was enough to instantly paralyse him. Her mouth was set in a thick sadistic sneer and her skin seemed almost snow white. But her eyes were the worst. In them burned want and desire, a lust; not just for Falcon but for death and destruction.

All of Julia's repressed emotions and wants, personified in one single burst.

Falcon swallowed hard.