"That was a disaster, boss" said Yassop, cleaning his rifle.
"Tell me about it" said Benn, moving an arm where Buggy bitted him.
"Hey! Easy! We are only going to need a new army" said Shanks and all the others turned to look at him with dead in the eyes.
"No, Shanks, we don´t need newborns, we need gifted older vampires. So let´s call our allies or we are not going back there" said Benn, crossing his arms.
"But the only way we survive is…"
"Yes, it is, that's why I´m asking you to do this. I don´t want to put them in danger too, specially you know who, but it´s the only way"
"Okay, we will call our allies too, but first we have to pay someone a visit" said Shanks and begin to walk towards the woods.
"Who?" asked Rockstar.
"Diez Drake" answered the redhead.
"Are you sure he is going to help us? He left our coven, for God´s sake!" asked Benn.
"Relax, he is, he owns me a favor" answered his boss smiling.
-Flashback-
After the Rumanians fell, Shanks started a new life as a pirate. A lot in his crew were human, but his second in command and sharpshooters were a different history. That day they were enjoying a nice afternoon partying and drinking in the moonlight after sinking a few Spanish merchant ships, full of gold that was now theirs.
"What are you thinking now, captain?" asked Benn, stepping closer to his friend, who have been there immobile for hours instead of joining the party.
"Today is the anniversary of… one of the worst days of my life" said the redhead, thinking about the time when he was with Mihawk and his hearth, dead for a long time, started to hurt so much in his chest that he wanted to toss himself to a burning ship.
"Oh? And what happened today?"
"We lost a war against the Italian and I was forced to flee from my home, leaving… well, you know" said Shanks, blushing.
"You have a girlfriend or something? Was she killed in the war?"
"It was a he and my creator. And no, but he wasn´t able to get out"
"Oh… then you still have hope to see him again"
"Yes, I hope so" said the captain before a cannon ball nearly hit them, shaking everybody onboard. Shanks growled under his breath and dashed towards the other end of the ship.
"Captain, who is attacking us?" asked one of his sailors.
"Do you see the same as me, Benn?" asked the redhead, looking straight at the other ship. Even in the darkest night he could see better than any other been.
"Yes. Damn, he came here" answered the vice captain.
"Akagami! Your reign of terror in the seas ended up here! As an officer of the Royal Navy, I arrest you today!" yelled a masked man from the other ship.
"Commodore Diez Drake" said Shanks rolling his eyes.
"Yes, it´s me! Prepare to die!" yelled the stupid human and he ordered his men to fight the pirates. The two bands fought and the outlaws win, which was obvious with the four vampires by their side. The commodore was now lying on the deck of his ship, bleeding and dying.
"Akagami… you bastard…" said the navy officer.
"What did you say, commodore? You should have stayed away from me today, it´s a painful day for me and I didn´t want to be bothered today"
"Kill me…" asked the marine spitting blood. Shanks catch some of it in his finger and took it into his mouth.
"Nice blood, it tastes great…" said the redhead.
"Kill me, you damn fucking pirate!"
"I don´t think so… Hum, you are a great swordsmen and fighter, you could be a valuable asset for our crew"
"I won´t ever be a pirate… If you want me to join your crew, I´m glad I´m dying" said the commodore, smiling.
"That could be easily arranged. Benn, Yassop, take him to my room. Don´t move him so much or he is going to bleed faster" ordered the captain.
"Right away, cap" said the vampires and dragged the dying man into their captain´s room. Once they put him in the bed, they left. Then the redhead himself enter the room with a goofy smile on his face and came closer to him, opening and closing his jaws.
"I haven´t done these in a long time, since Lucky Roo was about to die"
"What are you… going to do?" muttered the marine.
"Oh, well, just turning you into a vampire, like me, Benn, Yassop and Lucky Roo" said Shanks before biting near his hearth to increase the speed of the transformation.
"No! It hurts!" screamed Drake.
"It will heal you"
"No, I…I… I don´t want to be a monster!"
"Then fight the poison"
"H-H-H-How?"
"I will let that to you. Bye!" said the pirate before leaving. Alone in that bedroom, Diez Drake only wanted to stop that poison in his veins and though that vampires didn´t have a heartbeat.
"If I keep my hearth beating I will win over the poison" he said and continue breathing, continue trying to fight and keep his humanity. After five days of intense burning and pain, he woke up, feeling the previous burning only in his throat.
"Hello, commodore. I see that you are finally awake" said the goofy redhead from the door.
"What- What happened?" asked Drake, putting a hand over his neck, trying to ease the pain.
"Well, it didn´t work. Shame, the right answer was stopping your hearth. You keep it beating so congratulations, you are a vampire now" said the captain.
"No…"
"Of course it´s true, are you thirsty?"
"NO!"
"I think that is a yes…Typical, all newborns are terribly thirsty"
"I will throw myself overboard!" threated Drake.
"Do it, it won´t work. The only thing that can kill you now is fire"
"I will burn this ship then!"
"No, you won´t, now come. We have landed and we are nearly as thirsty as you" said the redheaded vampire before dragging his new creation out of the room, but he stopped near the door. "Or better, see yourself first" said Shanks, putting the newborn in front of a mirror. Now Drake was amazed, he was the most beautiful male he have ever seen.
"It´s that really me?"
"Yes, one of the good things about being a vampire, a deadly beauty. Now come"
After the first drink Diez Drake was not the same anymore. He felt how the burning in his throat disappeared and his new strength… no power. Then, a few days later, once he have acclimated to being a pirate, something happened.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Drake in front of a mirror.
"What?" asked Shanks, poking his head put of the door.
"What the hell happened to me?" asked the newborn, covered in green skin, like a reptilian.
"Oh, it´s just a gift. Don´t worry, you will learn how to control it. I have one too, but it doesn´t work the same way" said the redhead.
"Then teach me! I don´t want to look like these all day!" demanded Drake. In a few days they got the ex marine to his human form and, after the initial scare, he practiced with his gift. In some months he could turn into a full dinosaur. And then, two years later, it happened…
"This is not me…" said Drake, after they fought against a few marines, after drinking one captain´s blood.
"It now is" said Shanks.
"No! It´s over! I will not be in these crew more time! I quit! I´m no longer a newborn, I can control myself pretty well! From now on I will be on my own way!" said the ex commodore.
"Okay, you are in your right" said his boss and the others nodded. They let him go and Drake started walking around the world like a lot of other vampires.
-End of the flashback-
"We saw him again a few years later, only for a little time. But our pre historic friend has a debt with me and he will do as I said if he can pay that debt"
"Then we will recruit him" said Rockstar
"Yes, him and his mate"
"Are you sure, Shanks? We don´t know if his gift is exact, it could cause more troubles than solving them" said Benn.
"Yes, I am. The Vulturys have a girl that have a gift like that. Now speed up, we could reach his place by dawn if we go faster"
"Roger, boss" said Yassop and they all speed up. They reached an open place in the middle of the woods with a little house in the middle. Suddenly, a huge green tyrannosaurus rex attacked them.
"Hello, Drake" said Shanks. Smiling and handling his creation with the help of his gift. Then the ex marine returned to his human state.
"What do you want with me, Akagami?" said in an angry voice.
"Just to ask you to repay your debt to me. Well, you and your beloved mate, I need both of your gifts to win a war"
"You started a war? With who?"
"The Italian I told you about"
"Then you tried to save your mate. Stupid, if I might tell you, even with an army of newborns you won´t be able to win against them"
"That´s why I need your strength and Basil´s ability"
"Don´t take Basil into these! If you need someone to fight, then take me! Or don´t fight and just get over it! Your mate wanted you to be free, no?!"
"You know that the Italian will haunt me and kill me and any vampire I have created. You and Basil included"
"That´s right, Drake" said a new voice. Then a blond man with huge eyes stepped out of the house and walked towards the other vampires. "I see the shadows of death approaching to us if we don´t fight the Vulturys"
"Who is that?" asked Rockstar.
"Basil Hawkins, the clairvoyant" answered Benn and remembered the day Drake returned to his old coven with a sick Hawkins in his arms.
-Flashback-
"He could still be saved! If you turn him! Please!" pleaded Drake, holding the blond near his body.
"You could do it"
"I´m young, I could screw it up. But you are old and knew how to do it. I´m begging you. Akagami, you know love, you used to have a mate, no? Please, turn him for me"
"Okay, but you own me a favor" said the redhead, before, bending down and biting Hawkins in the neck and near his hearth.
"What now?" asked the ex marine.
"Now you wait. Keep his hearth beating and everything will be alright. Once it´s over, he will be your responsibility"
"I will take a good care of him" said Drake, looking at the suffering gipsie.
-End of the flashback-
"We haven´t seen them for a long time" said Yassop.
"Then, what else did you see?" asked Shanks.
"They are watching us too, with their clairvoyant. I can be bad for her vision, with me in the game the future will constantly change"
"What should we do now?"
"Gather your allies: the Ds, baroque works, the Donquixote family…"
"Wait, clan craziness too?" asked Drake.
"They are great fighters, Drake, don´t underestimate them"
"Okay, then we should spread" said the redhead.
"What?!" asked Rockstar.
"The fastest, the better. We will see each other again with the rest of them in the outskirts of Volterra and attack when we are all together. Benn, Lucky Roo, go talk to the flamingo and his lover, Yassop, you with me, we will go to see the nutcases"
"And me?"
"You stay with Basil and Drake. Now off!" ordered Shanks.
"Roger, boss!" they screamed and soon disappeared.