Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners

Legends.

They tell stories of heroes, champions, slayers of evil, always seeking victory or fighting for others. They speak of maidens of great magic always following the seasons. They share tales of far away lands and great adventure. And they tell of unique individuals who band together as a family. They also tell of a one man army who had nothing left to lose.

But not all stories are about heroes or magic, nor they have a happy ending.

In fact, there are myths of terror, tragedy, horror that shall keep you up at night. Legends tell stories of monsters, demons that bring great despair, nightmares beyond your wildest imagination.

And even monsters have champions of their own. Titans of great power that dwarf even the mightiest of armies. These monstrosities, these four champions only fight for one thing.

Grimm.

You know of three of these beasts, Amon, Acnologia and Red. So now is the time to show the tale of the final champion. A tale that simply goes by:

The Duel of the Sea.

Screams were heard all around a village, fires ravaged the town as people from all over were running for their lives.

BANG

BANG

BANG

Bodies dropped to the ground as pirates pillaged the town, killing anyone who would be dumb enough to try and fight them off.

"No, please…! No! Gaaaah!"

The mayor of the village was thrown out of his home and into the streets.

Clop

Clop

Clop

The mayor looked up to see a peg leg in front of his face and then looked up to see a man wearing a red pirate jacket and a black undershirt, complete with a dark red beard and a typical pirate hat.

"Y-you're… A-Ahab!"

The pirate unsheathed his scimitar and pointed it at his face.

"Captain Ahab." He responded. "Where are you keeping your treasure?"

"I-I don't kno-"

With a swift hand motion, blood started pouring from his cheek.

"It'll be your throat next if you answer incorrectly the second time."

The mayor gulped in fear. "I-It's… it's in the safe in my office."

"Good choice."

He walked off with a hint of gleeful greediness in his eyes as he walked into his office and found the safe in question. He pulled out a stick of dynamite and lit it up as he walked outside of the door and waited several feet away.

The resounding explosion destroyed the wall as he walked in with a whistle and opened it up, seeing valuable pearls and diamonds within.

He pulled out his bag and shoved everything in and then put it over his shoulder as he walked out carefreely.

"Pleasure doin' business with you, mate!" He tipped his hat to him and walked off with a hearty laugh as his crew got on the ship as it turned around and set for the high seas once more.

"Hahahahaha!" Ahab tossed the bag onto the deck. "Special delivery, boys!" He said as his crew celebrated before diving in and collecting what they wanted, leaving just a few diamonds for Ahab, but he didn't seem to care.

Ahab was an average kid in a humble village somewhere near the ocean at Mistral, but one day, they were pillaged by vicious pirates who ransacked the entire town. He was one of the few survivors who were spared as the captain had plans for them to become their prisoners of war.

Ahab hated this and vowed to make the captain pay for what he did to his friends and family. One night, when no one was looking, he escaped his prison and snuck into the shadows where the captain had decided to take a nightly stroll around the ship, completely drunk with a bottle of rum.

With only a knife, he snuck up behind the captain to try and slit his throat… but he had a better idea. He was tasked to help store cannonballs into the cannons and watched the crew blow up rival ships or towns. He was really good at it given the compliments from his slave owners.

So quietly, he pulled away one of the cannons from the opposite side and loaded up a cannonball and aimed it directly toward the captain. He grabbed the trigger and whistled to get his attention. The drunken captain turned around… and got blown up, sending him flying into the water where his remains were eaten up by hungry sharks as only his hat, shoes, broken bottle of whiskey, flintlock and scimitar remained where he once stood.

Ahab picked up the hat right as the crew came to see what all the fuss was about. Their eyes widened as he picked up the captain's weapons and pointed the flintlock at the crew.

"I'm the captain now."

Overnight, he ordered the entire crew to jump off the plank where sharks were waiting. They jumped down and one by one, the sharks had their meals while Ahab and his few fellow prisoners commanded the ship. They studied what each crewmember did before Ahab committed mutiny.

He grabbed the wheel and as much as he wanted to go back home… he had to admit, the sea was pretty fun. With a smirk, he commandeered the wheel and sailed off to new adventures, gaining a mighty pirate crew over the years who had respected him alongside his semblance.

Unlike most pirate captains, he took no pleasure in killing fellow humans or Faunus. Rather, he'd want to only intimidate them as the shiny value of gold and treasure fascinated him and he would always divide it up against his crew. He only wanted to kill those who he deemed were scumbags of Remnant, but his conquest had him kill innocents as well… something that he tried to avoid as much as possible, but tried as he might, pillaging villages always came with a few casualties, much to his dismay.

Such is the life of a pirate.

However, he would also had his fair share of aquatic Grimm that he personally saw to it that he killed, especially when a few of them killed his men who were unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire.

But one such Grimm would prove to be his biggest adversary. A Grimm that he liked to call… Old Ulysses.

The Grimm was a giant Humpback Whale, filled to the brim with bones on its fins and razor sharp teeth as dark liquid would spew out of its blowhole… a liquid so acidic, it would make the sturdiest of metals disintegrate within seconds. The dark red eyes along with the crossbones on its face with razor sharp pointy spikes on its back…

It was enough to bring even the bravest of captains to pause.

But not Ahab.

Time and time again, he and his crew would fight the giant beast… and at one point, Ulysses slammed the ship hard enough to make the captain go overboard. He climbed back onto the ship, but not before Ulysses tried to grab him and yanked him down. His crew grabbed him and it was a vicious tug of war… but in the end, they pulled him up and Ulysses only swam away with just a leg.

But this did not deter Ahab. No, it inspired him to fight him further. A challenge to the death, as he calls it! He knew he would be nearby when he would feel some phantom pain surge through his pain. That's when he knew his old foe was near… and it excited him for they battled time and time again, but it would always end up in a draw.

Ahab took control of the wheel and sailed off to his hideout, and once he got there, they all threw their treasures inside of the cave.

"Good work today, boys!" Ahab praised. "Now let's see if we can't do another heist-"

"Captain!" A pirate cried out and pointed off toward a black storm cloud.

"Hmmm…" Ahab looked through a telescope to see some Grimm tearing apart a rival pirate crew and taking a hold of the ship. "Bah, it seems as if those poor saps got struck by a Grimm ambush."

"What do we do?"

"What we always do. Put 'em out of their misery. Load up the cannons and head out! It's a good day for the Grimm to die!"

"Aye aye!"

The sails were hoisted as the ship sailed off toward the dark storm and once they made contact with the pirate ship as several pirates were either nearly dying or were currently being eaten by several Grimm…

Ahab paused as his bones felt achy and the phantom pain came in roaring like a lion to him. In fact, everything blurred out. That meant one thing…

He let out a smirk.

"He's here. I can feel it."

"...-Apta-... CAPTAIN!"

"Hmm?" Ahab snapped out of it.

"Orders!"

"Fire."

"FIIIIREEEE!"

The cannons fired at the opposing pirate ship, obliterating what was left of the ship and the fellow pirates while the Grimm were wiped out instantaneously.

However, their victory was short lived when the boat rocked violently.

"Wh-whoa! Whoooooa!"

One crewmate nearly fell overboard, but Ahab swooped in and grabbed a hold of him, pulling him back.

"Thank you, sir! …What just hit us? Did we hit a reef?"

"No. It's him."

The crew paled almost immediately.

"What do we do? Do we fight or run?"

"I want you all to go back to the hideout. I'll deal with him personally."

"But sir! There's a high probability that you won't make it!"

"Ahahahaha! I lived a good hearty life!" Ahab smiled. "Take care of yourselves, lads. I'll see you when the beast goes belly up. I'll distract him while you make a run for it."

The crewmates nodded as they got on the lifeboats and took off right as Old Ulysses surfaced and chased after the crew. Ahab immediately grabbed the Harpoon Gun and aimed it at the Grimm. He pulled the trigger as the harpoon embedded itself on the Grimm, as it let out a roar before turning around to face Ahab.

BGM: Flags of Fury (Kingdom Hearts III)

"Come on, you sea squabber! Let's end this!"

The giant Humpback "bellowed" (or whatever sound Humpback Whales make) in agreement as Ulysses went underwater as Ahab loaded up the cannons.

"It's been an honor, lads…" He said quietly as a gigantic whirlpool started to form as the gigantic storm cloud above him started to rain.

The ship leaned into the whirlpool as Ahab grabbed the wheel and made it rotate with the waves as he went back down as he saw Ulysses on the other side, firing spikes from its blowhole. Ahab swiftly batted them away with his scimitar and then aimed the cannons, firing at the scarred beast.

Ulysses roared and opened his mouth, spewing out acidic gunk that struck part of the ship, but this did not deter him as he loaded up a harpoon cannon and fired, striking the side of the Grimm as it jerked about in pain, but let out a respectable grunt toward his adversary, causing Ahab to tip his hat back at the beast.

However, Ulysses sunk under the water and swam opposite as he breached out of the water from the bow of the ship, making sure to strike the mast and causing it to fall on the deck. Ahab rolled out of the way and let out a chuckle.

"Going after my ship, are ya? I see how it is!"

The whirlpool continued to grow as the ship creaked and started to tilt slightly into the eye of the whirlpool, but as far as Ahab was concerned, he was having fun!

Ulysses breached out of the water again as Ahab aimed his flintlock and fired several shots into the beast before it landed in the water again, his tail slamming into the side of the ship to rock it, but Ahab held on with a smirk as Ulysses swam underneath the ship and then proceeded to launch himself up, cleanly splitting the ship in two as Ahab latched onto the bow of the ship.

"Hahahahaha! Is that the best you can do!" He laughed as the bow began to sink as Ulysses would swim up and started chomping down to try and eat his adversary. He let out a hearty laugh as he jumped down and slid of what was left of the deck as Ulysses opened up his mouth… and chomped down the moment his whole body made it in.

Ulysses let out a roar as the whirlpool ceased as the beast sunk underwater and swam off.

End BGM

However, inside of the beast, Ahab was alive and well.

"What say you, Old Ulysses?"

His hands started to vibrate as he activated his semblance.

"Shall we both go out together?"

He punched the tongue of the beast, causing it to vibrate… and underwater, Ulysses began to jerk suddenly.

"Ha ha! How do you like my quaking semblance! I waited a long time for this!" He cackled as he ran around the inside of his mouth, punching the sides and the teeth, even giving a few clean hits in his mouth.

Ulysses began to tremble violently as massive quakes rampaged inside of the beast as he let out several pained whimpers.

Ahab pulled back his fist.

"Hahahaha! THAR SHE BLOWS!" He declared and swung his fist down one last time, causing Ulysses to violently implode as the Grimm slowly started to rise up to the surface while fading away.

Once it reached the surface, it faded away completely and the only thing left behind was Ahab's hat.

Ahab's crew had watched on as they all saluted their fair captain, tears rolling down their cheeks as they went off toward their hideout.

Word soon spread that Old Ulysses had been killed by Captain Ahab who heroically went down with his ship and took down the mighty beast. Even those who had crossed his path and lived despite their villages plundered respected the man who destroyed Old Ulysses.

The legend goes as the Duel of the Sea, but this tale also has a secondary title.

The Tale of Captain Ahab

The book closed as Shuichi softly smiled.

"Finally… now I have all four books of the four champions."

"Alright kids! Let me tell you a story!"

"...Uh oh." Shuichi hurried off to find Kokichi, where a small class unrelated to Hathaway had visited the station for a tour.

Kokichi cleared his throat as he started to dance. "There once was a really ancient fish surely sent from the depths of the sea~ Spawned by the sea witch who birthed a Titanic of a whale because she refused to say no to se-"

"STOP!" Shuichi yelled. "That is not how the song goes!"

"That old version is boring… my version is way more fun~"

Shuichi groaned. "Good grief… Alright, allow me to tell you a tale of an old captain that goes by Captain Ahab…"

This Gaiden idea was from Wyvern!

Ibuki: Thar she blows!

Deadpool: Went out like a man!

Indeed. Now, to share some things that I forgot to talk about in the last Paldean chapter:

First off: Yes, I've seen the Bowser vs Eggman Death Battle and it was AWESOME. A much better battle for Bowser compared to the sad one sided affair that was Bowser vs Ganondorf. ...Though the next one is a big "But why though?" involving Among Us vs Fall Guys.

Secondly: The Game Awards. ...What. Just... what? Why does DLC qualify for GOTY now? And why the hell is one of the nominations DLC for Elden Ring? These Game Awards get worse every year and I'm glad I stopped after 2018. (Wrap it up, Geoff...)

...Anyway, that's about it, but before I go... allow me to tease an upcoming one shot that will be happening very soon. So keep an eye out for it!