While, Vivi was meeting her fan club. Ben had let the other girls do their own activity. He decided to do some training first. He walked out to the deck of the Miss Love Duck. He went to the front of the ship. He stretched his muscles first. Ben then did 100 push-ups, 100 squats and 100 sit-ups. He did this in record time. He then did 10 laps around the Miss Love Duck. As he was doing the rounds, he saw Marianne, Honey, Alvida, Zala, Mikita and Robin on the deck of the ship. He thought of visiting them later.
Ben finished where he started. He thought that was a good warm-up. He thought back to fighting Simon, he remembered doing a new attack. He tried hard to remember it. He remembered feeling a warm sensation in his stomach. He tried to picture and feel it again. Ben felt the fire in his stomach. He started to channel it. "Demon Inferno Fire," Ben said as he unleashed a torrent of black charcoal flames from his mouth. It went a few metres. Ben saw the flames from his mouth. He smiled at it.
"Demon Inferno Fire," Ben said again. There was a black flame which left his mouth. Ben tried this a few times until he got used to the attack. He worked on it for a few hours and now was exhausted from the repeated attack. He transformed back into his human form. He let out a breath of relief and decided to check on his girls.
He went to the centre of the deck on the starboard side. He saw Marianne laid down on a picnic blanket exhausted. She was breathing heavily. Ben approached Marianne trying to catch her breath. He sat down next to her. "I see you are working hard," Ben said.
Marianne looked at Ben. She was covered in sweat. She got up and tried to look away. "Ben," Marianne said.
Ben smiled and hugged her back. "You are always cute," Ben whispered.
Marianne smiled. Ben let her go. Marianne turned around. She smiled at Ben. "What have you been up to?" Ben asked.
"I have completed the exercise half a dozen times in the last few hours," Marianne said proudly.
"Wow, good job," Ben said, congratulating her.
"Ben," Marianne said. She looked a little worried.
"If you are going to apologise again then I am going to need to punish you for it," Ben joked.
"Okay," Marianne said. She smiled. She added, "We need to get more shields for everyone."
"That I agree," Ben nodded.
He hugged Marianne for a bit then said, "After I went down did you see Simon`s body?"
Marianne thought for a second. "When you punched Simon he went flying off the building. It was so cool!" Marianne exclaimed.
"After that I did not see him," Marianne added.
"Okay," Ben replied. He thought that he was defeated for sure from the quest being completed however he may not be dead. He thought about the Hate Pirates being formed from old adversaries. Although he did not care too much. Ben thought, he defeated once, he will defeat them again. His girls are also getting stronger by the day.
"You think he is alive?" Marianne asked.
"Maybe, but I will defeat him as many times as it takes," Ben stated. Marianne's eyes looked like they were sparkling.
"Okay, I am going to let you rest now and I will check on the others," Ben said. Marianne nodded. Ben kissed her forehead and got up. He saw Alvida on the other side of the centre part of the deck swinging her iron mace around. She was wearing a pink sports bra and pink yoga pants. She looked stunning.
"Wow," Ben said.
Alvida, who was in a serious training session, was sweating. Beads of sweat streamed down her face. Her sports bra was now soaked. She was breathing quickly. Alvida looked to see Ben. A smile appeared on her face.
"Hello my love," Alvida greeted. She held Seraphina in her hand.
"It looks like it was made for you," Ben said.
"It was gifted by you so it is my love," Alvida said. Her eyes filled with affection.
"So how is the training going?" Ben asked.
"It's making progress. Seraphina seems to possess a certain something," Alvida observed.
"A certain something?" Ben inquired.
"It's hard to tell, but it is very powerful," Alvida explained.
"We can work on it together to find the mystery.," Ben suggested, approaching her with open arms.
"My love, I'm a bit…" Alvida began, but Ben hugged her before she could finish.
"You'll always be perfect for me," Ben reassured her. Alvida smiled, reciprocating the embrace.
"I love you," Alvida firmly stated.
"I love you too," Ben replied, and the two of them held each other in a warm embrace for a few minutes.
"I think it's time for some rest now, you have been working on this the entire day," Ben said.
Alvida giggled. "I will finish up and then take some rest, you are going to see the other girls now," Alvida said.
"That I am," Ben replied. He kissed her forehead and let her go.
"See you later my love," Alvida said. Ben acknowledged it and waved back. He started to make his way to the back of the centre part of the ship. He thought the girls had used the space efficiently so they could train in their own section. The middle portion of the ship was pretty big.
He saw Honey training. "Liquid Ignition," Honey said with her hands forward. From her palms a torrent of red liquid shot out. As it let out it travelled and hit the sea. At the moment of impact it spontaneously combusted. There were small flames for a few seconds until the ocean had extinguished them.
"Amazing," Ben said.
Honey looked to see Ben looking at her. She smiled. Honey was wearing a one-piece high cut thong leotard bodysuit. It looked sexy on her.
"It's something I have been working on in case we needed it for Simon," Honey explained.
"Fire is universally feared. We'll undoubtedly find a use for it," Ben acknowledged.
Honey nodded.
"Your devil fruit has so many surprises," Ben remarked.
"And it's all thanks to you," Honey replied.
Ben walked up, enveloping her in a warm hug that she gladly accepted and savoured. "I did nothing. It was all you," Ben insisted.
"You guided me and gave me encouragement. That meant a lot to me," Honey expressed.
"I will always care for you," Ben replied. Their eyes locked. Honey closed her eyes. Ben leaned in and gently kissed her lips before pulling back. A smile adorned Honey's face, mirrored by one on Ben's.
As Honey opened her eyes, she found herself in Ben's warm embrace. "I'm also working on new moves," she shared.
"That is cool, anything to see now?" Ben asked.
Honey paused. "I want to work on it a bit longer," Honey replied.
"Whenever you are ready," Ben said. He smiled and let go.
"I am going to check on the rest, it's getting a bit late," Ben added. Honey nodded and waved at Ben.
Ben walked to the other side of the centre deck. He was back on the starboard side where Marianne was on the top side. He looked to see Marianne doing push-ups. He smiled at her working hard to train her petite body.
Ben saw Zala training with her devil fruit. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts to train. Her hands were large spike balls and she was punching the air in rapid succession. "Looking dangerous," Ben said.
Zala turned around to punch in the direction of the voice. Ben put his hands up. "Careful," Ben cautioned.
Zala smiled. "One wrong move and you could be on the receiving end of these bad girls," Zala warned with a smirk.
"You would not hurt your captain," Ben joked.
"Stinger Finger," Zala said as she turned her fingers into long spikes. She hovered around his crotch area. "I can cut it off, however a lot of people including me will be very upset," Zala said as she turned her finger back to normal and smiled at Ben.
Ben thought she could, however she never would. He knew a lot of his girls could do a lot. Mikita could probably crush his insides. He shook his head and those thoughts and looked at Zala and smiled. He approached and hugged her. "I love you," Ben said.
Those three words meant alot to Zala. "I love you too," Zala replied and hugged back.
"So, what have you been working on?" Ben inquired. Zala let go of Ben and took a step back.
"This," she replied, transforming her leg into a long spike. "Stinger Kick," Zala added.
"Nice," Ben complimented.
"I can use this in combination with other attacks," Zala explained. Ben smiled. He looked at Zala who was working hard.
"It's getting dark," Ben remarked.
"I know, I will finish off and call it a day," Zala responded . Ben walked back to the stern of the ship. He saw Robin and Mikita. Mikita was training. She was trying to do push-ups with one hand.
Robin was looking out into the ocean. She had a smile on her face. "It is a beautiful night," Ben commented.
"Oh, Captain, nice to see you," Robin greeted, following up with, "It's very nice."
"How are you feeling?" Ben asked.
"A little sore," Robin responded, meeting Ben's gaze. "But that training is effective for keeping the body fit," she added.
"That's good to hear," Ben acknowledged, and added, "but you know that was not what I was asking."
Robin looked and smiled at Ben. "I wonder what you are asking?" Robin said.
Ben touched Robin`s shoulder. "We can talk when you are ready," Ben said. Robin was still smiling.
"Do you think this training is helping us to learn haki?" Ben asked.
"Only time will tell," Robin replied. Ben nodded and smiled. He put his arm over Robin`s shoulder and they watched the sky together in silence.
"I am going to see how Mikita is doing," Ben said.
"See you later Captain," Robin said. Ben thought Robin will come around eventually to them. Their first session together was probably a big moment for her.
Ben approached to find Mikita doing a one-handed push-up. She showed progress, though still encountering some difficulty. "Hi, Mikita," Ben greeted.
Mikita released herself, collapsing momentarily. "Ben," she responded, rising to her feet and casting a glance at him.
"Now, I'm distracted," Mikita teased Ben.
"You are going further now?" Ben asked.
"Yes, that training regime is good, however, I wanted something a bit more challenging," Mikita replied.
"Don't you want to work on your devil fruit?" Ben asked.
"I don't want to damage the Miss Love Duck," Mikita replied. Ben nodded. He thought even himself was targeting the ocean for his attack. He was also careful not to damage the Miss Love Duck. He thought they might need a special room to train where they can let loose, for now maybe they should stop on an island for these training sessions but then they would lose time sailing to their next island.
"I am sorry," Ben apologised.
"For what, I don't want to hear that," Mikita said.
Ben walked up and hugged her. "I know you want to get stronger but we don't have the tools yet for it, I am sorry that you cant go all out to train here. I will get something for you all," Ben said.
Mikita sighed. "I thought Vivi was the softie," Mikita remarked. She smiled, "But I like how you care for us and our dreams."
"I will always care for you, all of you are precious to me," Ben said.
Mikita was hugging Ben back. "I wonder how many lines you have," she giggled.
"As many as I need to keep you smiling," Ben replied.
Mikita sighed. She rubbed her head on his chest. "Mikita, would you like to be with me?" Ben asked. He knew Mikita was doing a great job however he felt like he might have neglected her a bit but she had her spirits up. He thought it was time.
Mikita's face lit up like a rocket. "Yes," she responded. Ben picked up Mikita in his arms and held her in the princess position.
"Let's go," Ben said.
"Now?" Mikita questioned.
"Yes now," Ben responded.
"But I am stinky after the workout," Mikita said, feeling a bit conscious of herself.
"No you are not, but we can have a quick shower before," Ben replied. Mikita nodded.