"What are they doing?"
Ace questioned unable to understand the situation as he stares at the scene below him. "They're going to fight." Marco said, walking over as he joins Ace at the rail. "When Hakuren challenges people, she dislikes speaking it out openly. She just sends out a message through her illusion to communicate rather than using mouth." Satch added, coming back over to Ace who looks down at the two. Hakuren now has her ice naginata in her hand.
"She's always been a sore loser. Last time she nearly got herself killed after losing to Jimbei, guess she's still pretty piss over that."
"Hahahaha…yeah, she definitely seems like that type."
Ace laughed, seemingly amused as Satch gives him a strange glaze, but soon turns his attention back as the crew cheers. Ace watches as Hakuren immediately hops back to pull a distance from Jimbei who calmly stares at her. Then, Hakuren started circling around Jimbei who still stands there; refusing to move as his eyes follows her movement. She just walks and walks, never once picking up her pace with both their glazes lock onto each other. Slowly, she started spinning her naginta in her left hand rapidly, causing mist to leak out from the dry ice of her blade. Then for a split second, Ace caught a glimpse of Hakuren's body, leaving what seems like ghost trails. Her body left another shadow of herself like the trail of a moth flying over the fire in the night.
Then in a blink of an eye, she vanished into thin air.
"Oh, she's using Shadow Step already!!"
"Commander Hakuren's really serious this time!"
"Well…she's Hakuren after all."
"Shadow step?"
Ace said as Satch turns to Ace. "That's what we call that move. That girl may be weak in power, but when it comes to speed, I haven't seen any others like hers. You could tell too can't you? By moving back and forth at a quick pace, she could create ghost trails. Though that trail is only use to cause confusion to the opponent's eyes, to lead them off for a split second before she takes that time to conceal herself somewhere else." Satch explained as Ace look back down at Jimbei who stands there, still not moving.
The mist grows thicker and thicker until the entire ship is shrouded within the mist.
"What's going on?"
"Can't see!"
"Where are they!?"
The crews shouted everywhere. However, Ace pays them no attention. His keen eyes look down, clearly able to see Jimbei through the mist, but still not Hakuren. Then, it happened. Jimbei quickly spins around just as the blade of the naginata thrusts out from the cloud of mist that aimed for his neck. However, Jimbei quickly reacted by punching the side of the blade to knock it away. The minute the naginata disappears, another appears behind him, then another, and another. Soon, rapid fire of blades shot out from everywhere around him.
Unable to block all from the rapid assault, the blade stabbed into Jimbei's forearm, drawing out a river of fresh crimson red blood. But Jimbei didn't even flinch. Instead, he grabs the blade tightly, not letting Hakuren pulls back and with a tug, Hakuren flew out of the mist. Still clenching onto her naginata, Jimbei pulls Hakuren towards him and with his free hand, he aim a punch towards her. Just when his fist is only an inch away, Hakuren push herself onto the pole of her naginata and kicks off, swiftly dodging Jimbei's fist. With a twirl in the air, she does a spin and slams her leg down at Jimbei who used his good arm to block. Taking the chance while his arm is occupied, Hakuren grabs her naginata and rips it out.
"Ha!"
Jimbei shouted as he quickly tosses Hakuren off him and get into position. "Fisherman Karate! Arabesque Brick Fist!" He shouted as he thrusts his fist out. But that instant, Hakuren vanishes and a couple seconds later, one proportion of the mist was suddenly blown away by the force of Jimbei's punch. "Your speed is amazing as usual, Hakuren-san." Jimbei commented as he turns around to face the silhouette of Hakuren standing within the mist. She didn't speak but just waves her arm. Then in a blink of an eye, the mist spread out and fade away, revealing the two once more.
"Not going to use your mist, Hakuren-san?"
Jimbei asked as Hakuren grip onto her naginata tighter. "It would be meaningless if I were to slice you open in such cowardly way." She whispered in her cold, ghostly voice. "Ha!" She shouted, spinning her naginata over her head before thrusting the opposite end of the naginata right into the wooden floor of the deck.
CCCCRRRAAAASSSSSSHHHHH
The entire ship shakes as pieces of the ship start to crumble apart, as though the gravity has been switch into the sky and they're being drawn towards it. The crews around scream in fright as they clench onto whatever they can get their hands on. Hakuren just stands calmly on a piece of the broken deck as it slowly ascending up the sky. Eyes locked on her prey like a hawk, she kick off the board, jumping from one to the next and with a last leap, she flies over Jimbei's head. She slams her naginata down at Jimbei who dodges before started rapidly thrusting her weapon as though she wants nothing more than to puncture his body with holes.
"Fishman Karate!!"
Jinbei shouted, thrusting his palm towards Hakuren quickly ducks again as a breeze of wind flew by her, caressing her skin. "
"Tch…go roast yourself you stinking shark!"
Hakuren snapped, leaping back before stabbing her naginata right into the wood.
"Give me a break."
Marco complained before the four of them leaps away from their spots just in the nick of time as red hot flame shoot out from beneath their feet like pillars of fire. "Pretty amazing don't you think?" A voice said just as Ace jumps onto the piece of wood floating above his head, away from a fire pillar. At the voice, he turns and sees Tech behind him. He didn't even notice that he was still here. However, he didn't get much time to think about it as he suddenly feeling something straining his brain. The extreme hot temperature cracks against his skin as he looks around and spots Hakuren with Jimbei not far from them.
"If we stay in the illusion for too long, our minds will turn to mush."
Tech pointed out as Ace carefully walks around a pillar to see Jimbei rapidly dodging as Hakuren dashes towards him with unreal speed. Ace looks at the pillar of fire and inches his hand a bit closer to feel the heat burning against his skin. Then he looks back at Hakuren who's able to freely kick off at each fire pillar and dart around in zigzag pattern to accelerate her own speed. Even with his trained eyes he has trouble catching up to her movements…
"That punch just now…"
Ace whispered softly to himself, but Tech heard as he gives out a fat laugh.
"Zehahahaha!! You're pretty good to see it! Commander Hakuren can pack 10 pinches in a second!"
He said with his loud voice as Ace looks up at Tech.
"That's very amazing then."
"Got that right. And those are all her natural powers. Talk about one of the kind."
"Ah!!"
A gasp shot through the air, snapping Ace out from his little conversation. Turning in time, he saw Hakuren soar through the air before slamming into the ground. By now, both of them are bleeding and covered with bruises. However, both of them still look like they can still go on. Hakuren quickly climbs onto her feet as a jet of water shot by her, just missing her by a mere centimeter. Landing in a distant, she spit out a mouthful of blood before turning her cold glaze back to Jimbei.
Suddenly hearing soft crumbling sound, Ace turns to see the crews collapsing one by one. "Don't worry. They just can't take the stress from the power the illusion that's controlling their brain cells. Once unconscious, the illusion would have no effect on them." Satch said, landing beside Ace as another fire pillar erupts beside them. "But they can die if they are really convinced that what they see is real, isn't it? Even if you know it's fake, it doesn't mean you can control your fear of it." "You know quiet well, Ace. But no need to worry about that. None of the crews here are that dumb." Satch laughed as they watch the match as the moon and sun exchange places. And then, three days has past yet they're still at it.
"AH!!!!!"
Hakuren screamed as she crashes into the rail, her spine creating a sickening snap as Jimbei slowly get up from his stance. He walks towards Hakuren who's lying on the ground, motionless. Then all of the sudden, Hakuren vanishes, leaving broken pieces of poles in replacement as the real body appears behind Jimbei.
All the fire pillars shot towards them, twirling around them and sealing them within the globe which only provides so little space. Ace along with the other commanders and Tech stare while over more than half of the crews are already down. After a couple moments later, the globe deform as what appears to be explosions occurring everywhere inside, blasting the fire away and covering the ship within the dusty clouds.
Then the piece of wood he was standing on, the one that had float up at least 7 meters in the air, disappeared. When Ace look down, he realized for the first time that he's been standing on the undamaged deck all along. Nothing had moved…he was never up that high either…it was all just an illusion. That moment a nervous look immediately cross his face, understanding what the disappearance of illusions could mean.
"It's finally over."
Marco said as Ace looks up just in time to see Hakuren's naginata shooting out of the smoke and stabbing into the deck beside him. When the smoke cleared just enough, his eyes widens to see Jimbei standing on his knees, bleeding uncontrollably with Hakuren lying beside him. She's coated in blood from head to toe and unlike Jimbei, she's motionless. There's not even any sign of her breathing. "She still lost again." Satch muttered as Ace watches the nurses run towards them.
"I'm fine. Take a look at Hakuren-san first."
Jimbei said as Ace watch the nurses trying to approach Hakuren. But that moment, Hakuren's hand stretches up and grabs the nurse's wrist, stopping her. "I'm fine." She said breathlessly before starting to cough up blood.
"But-"
"I said I'm fine."
She growls softly and weakly. Then her hand slides off the nurse's wrist, leaving trail of mixture with both hers and Jimbei's blood before collapsing onto the ground. At that, the nurses quickly gather around her to examine her wounds.
"Her vital point is seriously damaged!"
"Her broken rib has stabbed into her right lung!!"
"Get her to the emergency room! Her heartbeat is slowing down!"
"Hurry!! There's no time!"
The nurse shouted before Ace watches them carry the female commander away while two nurses stay behind to tend to Jimbei's wounds. "She looks really badly beaten this time." Satch said seriously as Ace gently pulls Hakuren's naginata out from the floor.
…………………
…………………
"…Ah."
You winced softly before finally able to pull yourself up into a sitting position as you lean against the wall. You close your eyes slightly, trying to ease the pain as you stare at the bandages all over your body.
"Lost again…"
You muttered, slightly displease at the result as you stare at your bandaged hand. Ignoring the pain, you try to push yourself up, but that was a mistake as you wobble on your feet and accidentally knocked a vase over, shattering it on the ground. You quickly grab onto the wall, preventing you from tumbling over the shards as a knocking at the door is heard. "Who's there?" You questioned with your weak yet cold voice, pulling the blanket up to cover your chest since you're not wearing anything but bandages. Then the door slowly opens and reveals Ace…of course.
"What do you want in the middle of the night?"
You snapped emotionlessly as you stare at him with only one eye since your left one is bandaged up. "You shouldn't move around." Ace pointed out, gently placing your naginata against the wall before walking towards you casually. You clench onto the blanket while struggling not to collapse.
"Jimbei?"
"He left this afternoon."
"…"
"Are you alright?"
"Fine."
"But your feet…"
Ace trails off as you look down at your feet to see that they're bleeding really badly. Because of all the pain you're feeling right now, you didn't notice when you stepped over a piece of glass shard or two.
"Just leave."
You said but break down into a cough as you clench onto your chest in pain. At that, Ace hurries over as he helps move you back to your bed. When the pain finally eased slightly and makes your chest unclench for a brief moment, you take your chance and slap Ace's hand harshly away. "The nurse said one of your broken ribs struck your lung." Ace said, ignoring the slap as you gasp softly for air before relaxing. When you feel something touches the tip of your toe, you quickly shrink away and glare down at Ace.
"I thought I told you to leave. Are you deaf?"
You growled, but Ace ignores you as he grabs your foot and cuts the bandage loose. At that, the thought of kicking his head off from his shoulder came to your mind. But the moment you try to carry out your action, the joint in your legs itches in pain. And with no extra energy in you, you can't use your illusions otherwise it'll turn out ugly. "I said leave me alone." You said, aiming for a weak low kick but Ace just catches your feet before pulling out a couple glass shards. Being stubborn as you are, you refuse to show him any pain as you glare murderously at him.
"You need to take care of your body."
He just said, taking the roll of bandage off the counter before starting to bandage your feet. "Even if I cut my arm off it would have nothing to do with you." You snapped but Ace just ignored you as he focus on treating your wound. You didn't know why…You have a perfect change to kick him right in the face here and now, but you couldn't do it. You could feel the warmth coming from of those hands of his. The gentleness he touches you with which no one had done ever before. As much as you hate to admit it…his touch is rather…comfortably…making you forgotten all the anger from before and the anger from loosing your match again.
"Finish."
"…Get out."
You muttered beneath your breath, not really sure yourself if you meant what you said. Saying noting in return, Ace just walks out of your room. He gently closes the door behind him…leaving you once alone again within the dark room. It hasn't even been a mere second when you felt something wrong in this tiny space. Something is missing…already…this room felt as though it's missing something. You've never felt like this before as you stare down at your bandaged feet, wondering exactly what's going on…
