Chapter 34

AN: I know this chapter is pretty short for how long it's been, but I spent a lot of time finishing the now-completed edits! I finally got through it all and uploaded it all at once! Now, there are slight changes to the story, which mainly better explain plot points or certain ideas, and it's much more streamlined. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 34

-(Unknown Island)-

THOOM!

The ground shakes as two titans clash. One, an old man that held the power to shatter reality itself, the other a beast, furiously attacking to claim his rightful place as the strongest. "KAIDO!" the old man bellows, and a fist surrounded in warped white light slams into the beast's face, warping it into a twisted mess, and cracks spread out in the air around the two, shattering the very atoms themselves. Blood spurts from the monster's skin and the cracks spread across him, shredding the weak humanity.

"GRAH!" Kaido roars a roar of rage, grabbing his bastard opponent's wrist and pulling it away, lunging forward as he did, his own gargantuan fist into Whitebeard's own jaw. Both of their weapons lay meters away, discarded as the two giants traded blows.

Crunch.

A deep, wet sound reached the ears of all watching the titanic battle as Edward Newgate's bones are cracked. A roar of approval from the men with spikes in their heads. A scream of anguish from the sons.

"HARGH!" Newgate's voice booms, and the ground between the two splits as his fist glows, and the two Captains are separated.

"Give it up, Newgate," Kaido rumbles across the gap, blood streaming down his body, "You haven't held a candle to me yet."

The strongest man in the world clenches his aching jaw as he wraps his fingers around the hilt of his gargantuan glaive, simply standing up, staring at his foe. The words didn't need to be said, his determination spoke for him. He wasn't beaten yet.

"..." the massive monster who had orchestrated the whole offensive on Newgate's territory stands there, silent. The two powerhouses stare each other down, staying stock-still as if waiting for a signal. It comes in the form of a fist enveloped in white light.

Crk!

The ground beneath Kaido shatters, thousands of miniscule shards exploding out with the force only worthy of a Yonko. "Hrgh!" veins pop in Whitebeard's forehead as he brings his curled digits up, crushing them further, and the ground beneath Kaido is turned to dust.

"Damn you-!" the Beast grunts as he sinks into the ground, "Newgate!"

The father of the Whitebeard pirates growls, and the entire island begins to shake violently, tearing the ground asunder. Lava spewed as the crust was cracked, mountains formed, and massive chunks of earth were obliterated, fractured into nothingness. This was the power capable of destroying the world.

"Graaaaaaaah!" Kaido bellows in rage, grabbing his massive club out of the air as it hurtles past, "I'll kill you, Whitebeard!" he leaps, an inhuman feat for one his size, and bears down on his foe, prepared to smash him to nothing with his Haki-blackened weapon.

"Brat," a single word comes from Whitebeard's mouth, and that familiar white light envelops his glaive as Kaido plunges, striking the glaive's shaft, sending out a shockwave that blasts away the dust and smoke surrounding the two. Then, Edward Newgate pushes back, and the strongest beast in the world is shoved away as the strongest man swings his glaive, impacting Kaido's side with the force of one thousand cannons.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" the beast roars as cracks spread from the point of impact, splitting his skin once more, sending yet more blood spewing forth from his body.

THOOM!

A blast of lava spews forth from the cracks in the ground around the two, and the field is bathed in pungent orange light. As Kaido stumbles back, Whitebeard's musculature bulges as he charges, smashing into his foe. "HRGH!" the Captain of the strongest crew in the world grabs Kaido by his massive, protruding horns, and wrenches the beast's head to the side, forcing him into the burst of magma.

"GRAAAAAH!" Kaido screams in pain as the molten rock scalds his skin, melting his hair and face into blackened, flaming husks. In a fit of instinctual rage, Kaido lashes out, catching his foe on the side of the head, knocking Newgate away. Once this was achieved, the beast surges forward, pressing the attack, slamming his fists into the dazed Whitebeard over and over and over.

"Pops! No!" a faint cry rises up from the Moby Dick and her escort ships, bobbing around in the churning seas outside the island. From the wooden deck, a single blue streak blasts forth, determined to free his titan of a Captain. Whitebeard's eye catches sight, and with raw willpower, he stomps his foot down, burying it into the earth, and catches Kaido's fists.

"MY SON!" he bellows, furious, "STAY OUT OF THIS!" the streak stops, hesitating, unsure of the action to take, "IF I FALL, YOU MUST TAKE THE MOBY DICK AND PROTECT OUR FAMILY! YOU ARE ALL THE FUTURE!" Marco hesitates, hovering in the air, but flies back to the ship, as per orders.

"Rrrrgh," Kaido growls, yanking his bloody fist from Newgate's grasp, and he lunges, catching the older man in the gut.

"Hrk!" Whitebeard grunts as blood spurts from his mouth, and he stumbles back, each step shaking the ground.

"I'm ending this, old man!" the strongest Beast rears back, scales suddenly sprouting along his entire body, his eyes warping into reptilian slits, massive horns morphing from his skull. His face expanded, elongated and grew, growing into a large reptilian snout, with teeth and long wavy whiskers. His arms shrunk slightly, alluding to his final form yet evening out his proportions. Yet those same proportions would be ruined later, as Kaido himself grew taller, more and more massive by the second, his neck thickening and growing until it was as long and large as his torso. A large tail, complete with black ridge-like formations began sprouting from his back, blue scales growing from his skin, his legs becoming even shorter as they were almost absorbed. Then, it was done. A hybrid of man and mythological beast, prepared to do anything to be on top. And one that was nearly twice his foe's size.

"What is this?" Newgate asks, clutching his glaive even tighter, "I knew you were a beast, but you weren't in possession of a Devil Fruit last time you attacked me."

"It is a Devil Fruit ability that lets me turn into an eastern dragon, something even you can't beat," Kaido brags, "Now, kill me, if you even can."

"That form is ridiculous," Whitebeard scoffs, "You look like a log with arms."

"Rrrgh," Kaido's fanged snout twists into a disgusting frown, "This is but half of my Zoan abilities, old man. I can go further."

"So you turn into a large snake," Whitebeard simply scoffs, blood trickling down his chin, "How befitting of you, Kaido."

"..." there was only silence after that comment, and the dragon-beast's lips were curled up into a snarl, the eyes seemingly becoming more bloodshot by the second, and tongues of fire suddenly burst through the gaps, "GREAT FLAME!" Kaido roars, and his large, serpentine body stretches forward, blasting a gout of hellfire towards the strongest man.

"Hn!" Whitebeard grunts as the fire slams into his body, and his feet are forced back along the ground, tearing troughs in the heat-baked ground. Magma spews forth from the shattered earth nearby, coming close to burning him as well, and the flames of the dragon illuminate the smoke-filled sky. Newgate could feel his insides heating up, his toughened skin beginning to give way. Refusing to be taken by an attack so pitiful, the Yonko infused his willpower into his body, covering it with an invisible strength. He did not need more than a weak barrier. The heat of Kaido's attack quickly lessened, becoming no more than a tickle, "Is that all you have, beast?" Whitebeard grumbles, and he pulls back his weapon, muscles once more bulging to unholy size as the power of the earth envelops his trusted glaive, "Ha!" his scratchy voice bellows, and he holds the weapon out in front of him, splitting the flames, which billowed out around him, licking at him from all sides now. Like an ancient knight, he trudged forward, enveloped in flames, an invisible armor infused into his skin. Closer and closer he drew to his foe, and once he was but three meters away, he placed his glaive on his back and lunged forward with a burst of strength, grabbing the top and bottom jaws with his hands.

"Gah!?" Kaido gasps with surprise.

"Grrrrraaaaaaugh!" Newgate bellows, lifting his twice as large opponent up and over his back, slamming his long body to the ground, where it gave way to a spring of magma bubbling beneath the surface. The entire island shook, the waves caused by it actually going against the tide, reversing the very currents.

"GYAAAAAAARGH!" Kaido screeches, the molten rock splashing against his scaly hide as he slowly sinks in, "Curse you, Whitebea-!" he is cut off as the earth swallows him whole.

"Haaa…" the Strongest Man pants, releasing his haki, "Haaaa…" he stands tall, refusing to collapse as his mind calms. He searches out with Observation, to confirm his foe's death. Below him, he could sense the thrashing form of the Strongest Beast just below the surface. Whitebeard slowly lifts his arm, hand glowing, and cracks the rocks around the impact point, having them fill in the gap. It was only once his foe was fully trapped that he allowed himself to relax.

"Pops!" he hears the voice of Marco, his strongest son, closing in from the air, "You won!"

"MARCO!" Whitebeard roars, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?"

"I-!"

CRACK!

A loud noise sounds from the ground in front of him, spiderwebs crackling out from below.

"MARCO!" Newgate bellows, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

The blue phoenix reels back, but not before a stream of red-hot flame erupts from the ground, enveloping him. "AAAAAAAUGH!" Whitebeard's adoptive child screams as he plummets to the ground, hitting it with a crunch.

THOOM! the ground explodes, a long, serpentine form rising forth. Magma slowly boiled away, sloshing off massive, green scales in huge waves, and as Kaido rose into the air, his form wavering through the heat. His arms were all but gone, but underneath his scales, huge muscles rippled, and on his back, those black ridges rose even taller, like mountains, and large whiskers waved out, twisting in the air. A gargantuan snout peeled back to reveal massive ivory teeth, and his huge tail snaked behind him. His size was massive, easily dwarfing the Strongest Man in the World. A full Eastern Dragon.

"So, Newgate," a deep, rumbling voice shook the air, "Am I a snake now?"

But Whitebeard wasn't looking at the dragon. He was staring at the spot where his son had fallen, wisps of smoke rising up from the cracked ground. No movement.

"Answer me!" Kaido roars, but there was no response, "WHITEBEARD!"

"My son…" the Strongest Man mutters.

"What was that?" Kaido growls, floating closer.

"You…" Newgate locks eyes with the dragon, the orbs filled with nothing but rage, "You harmed my son!"

"And what are you going to- hrk!" Kaido tries to mock him, but the Strongest Man's hands were already on the large whiskers protruding from his snout, "Gah!" he grimaces as Whitebeard plants his foot on the dragon's nose, pushing against it while pulling on the whiskers.

"You will pay for that with your life, Snake," Newgate growls, the air three kilometers out shaking with the force of his voice, "HYAGH!" he pulls, and with a sound not unlike fracturing paper, the ong, wavy whiskers are torn from Kaido's snout, blood spurting in every direction, boiling and sizzling as it strikes the heated ground.

"GRAAAAAAAAAH!" the Strongest Beast roars, coiling and contorting his long, snakelike body as he recoils, the sounds of his pain causing the wood on some of the boats out at sea to crack, "Enough!" he growls, blood pouring down his teeth. That very same blood is quickly vaporized as a massive heat, twice as powerful as the last, builds up in his gullet, licking at the air through his teeth, "Great Flame!" he bellows once more, and a blast of heat bursts forth, enveloping the entire half of the island in a massive inferno of death, melting rocks into solid masses, incinerating what little vegetation remained in that hellhole, and turning the sky an even darker shade of black.

"Hrrrgh…" Whitebeard growls, the heat licking at his heels. His entire body was covered in a new invisible shield, an armament coating still not required. He took a step forward, his massive boot sinking into the slowly liquidizing stone. The rage inside of him was impossible, a level that he had not felt for years, not since Rogers' Death. How dare this upstart monster harm his son, his family? He reached behind his back with one hand, clutching his trusted weapon once more, the power of the earth focusing at the blade. He sweeps back, muscles expanding to sizes unparalleled by any other attack, "This…" he stares ahead, at where he knew Kaido's damned mouth was, "Is nothing!" he sweeps forward with his weapon, and as it swept, the world around it warped, thousands of cracks appearing through the air, racing towards his foe.

Kaido sees the attack, quickly stopping his own, leaving the earth to cool, and quickly twists and curls, trying to evade. His massive form evades the largest of the cracks, but the thousands of smaller fractures splash across his body, creating miniature fissures in his hardened scales. "Rrrgh!" he grunts in pain, thousands of tiny cuts ravaging him. But, he kept moving, twisting around the larger crack, which were spreading all out. They were easy to avoid, moving slower than the others, but they were connecting with each other, almost making a… a… "NO!" Kaido bellows, realizing what Newgate was trying to do, and he saw dozens of connected cracks, all circled around his body. Even when he was angry, his tactical mind was masterful, "YOU WILL NOT TRAP ME!" but it was too late. Everywhere the beast looked, he only saw rends in reality. All places but straight ahead, at Newgate himself. Whitebeard wanted Kaido to charge right at him? Kaido would charge right through him. Growling in rage, the dragon flew at his enemy, heat building in his gullet, "GREAT FLAME!" he roars, unleashing a torrent of fire that raged ahead, enveloping the Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Rrrrgh!" Whitebeard clenches his jaw, planting his feet, and he rears back his free hand, preparing to clash, and it glows with white energy. The flames washed over him, but they did nothing but tickle him. Kaido closed. Fifty meters. Forty meters. Thirty. Twenty. Ten, "Rrrrraaaaaagh!" Newgate bellows, and he slings his arm forward, catching a surprised Kaido on the nose of his snout. The ground beneath him sloshes and shifts as he slides, digging yet more troughs into the now-more-malleable surface. However, he slowly ground to a halt, his foe in his forceful grip. He glances at the rest of Kaido's body, still somewhat trapped in the cracks, and he slams the butt of his glaive against the ground, mercilessly causing dozens of cracks to spread from the larger ones and across Kaido's end.

"Grrrgh!" the dragon groans, but Whitebeard squeezes his snout, snapping his attention back to him.

"Kaido," Newgate says, "As much as I want to kill you," his grip tightens, and the dragon growls, "I know that the moment you die, the balance of power in the New World will be ruined, and the Marines will overtake all of your resources and launch campaigns against the rest of us. That will put my sons in more danger than before Roger."

"Why are you telling me this?" the beast asks, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Because," Whitebeard explains, "I don't want my sons to be in that danger, and we both know that you can't beat me."

"Oh, really?" Kaido growls, and a massive, bloodied tail moves to strike, but Newgate plants his glaive into the ground, imbuing Haki into it, and the glaive doesn't even budge when the tail strikes.

"No," the Strongest Man states, letting go of the snout, and Kaido narrows his eyes.

"Rrrgh," he growls, "What do you want?"

"Leave," Newgate says, "Leave and slither back to Wano Country like the snake you are. Leave all the islands your surprise attacks took, because if you can't beat me here, you clearly can't hold them."

"You expect me to just leave!?" the dragon roars, eyes flashing, and he rears up, teeth bared, "After all of this time, after all this effort!?"

"Yes," the Strongest Man answers simply, "And I know you will, because you're frightened deep down. You're scared."

"What!?" the beast exclaims in disbelief, "SCARED!? I am KAIDO! I fear nothing!"

"Then why did you not attack me when I was fighting Linlin?" Newgate questions, "That was a perfect time for you to strike and kill us both. Or do you remember when we were on our old crew, when I tore both of you down by myself?"

"Rrrrgh…" Kaido's teeth groan as they are ground against each other as he begrudgingly stays silent

A hundred meters away, a yellow-haired man in his early thirties staggers up, blue and yellow flames flickering all around his body as he regenerates. He blinks as he looks around at the hellish landscape - molten rock covered the ground in a massive area a ways away, huge crags and spikes torn and ripped from the earth. Huge geysers of lava burst from the ground, bubbling and boiling. The heat was insane! A crazy pressure was being exerted all over, nearly popping his ears, and he looks to where it was coming from. A massive snake-like beast was raised above the battlefield, twisting and curling as it floated. Below him, the massive form of Edward Newgate was dwarfed, but the look of pure fury on his face was unmistakable. Marco was not staying here to see what would happen.

Whitebeard saw a movement out of the corner of his eye, a small winged flame limping into the sky. Marco was safe, which relieved him to no end, and his anger waned. Turning back to Kaido, he stares his foe in the face. "Even if you got stronger since then, you and I both know that Roger's cabin boy is on his way," he says, that feeling of calm pressure moving ever closer from the direction of that island, Geas, "If he didn't stop for a few hours there, he would already be here, but once he arrives, you have no options but surrender."

"So you want me to SURRENDER!?" the dragon bellows, snapping his teeth mere inches from Newgate's face, "I WILL NOT STAND FOR THAT HUMILIATION!"

CRACK!

A massive spider web of cracks, each as long as Kaido himself, spread out as Whitebeard slams his free hand to the side. The beast goes quiet, drawing back and watching his fellow Yonko with a malicious eye. "That is not what I meant," the Strongest Man states, drawing back his arm, the cracks slowly fading as the air coalesces back into itself, "As I said earlier. Give. Up. And. Leave."

"RRRRAGH!" the dragon slams his tail against the ground, splitting the earth in two where he struck, "Never."

"Then you leave me no choice," Newgate clenches his fist, rearing back as the power of quakes flows through him.

"That won't work, Whitebeard!" Kaido roars, and the end of his bloodied tail whips, flicking droplets of blood into his foe's eyes.

"GYARGH!" Newgate stumbles back, the unexpected strike catching him off-guard.

The dragon surges forward, grabbing Newgate's head in his massive scaled hands. "I will kill you!" he bellows, pulling Whitebeard back and forcing him into the partially-molten ground, dragging him through it. Kaido's foe attempted to grasp the hand that held him, but the dragon's other hand batted the attempt aside. For what seemed like minutes, the Yonko was dragged through the ground, forming entire melting mountains out of what he carried with him. Whenever there was too much stone to drag him through, Kaido would lift him up, over it, and slam him, dragging him down the side of the hill. Then, after an eternity, he was tossed up, "GREAT FLAME!" the dragon roars, a pressurized stream of superheated flame enveloping Whitebeard, the force blasting him even higher, up to five hundred meters into the air. Then, Kaido rushed ahead, rising above Whitebeard, coiling and twisting into a wheel, "DIE, NEWGATE!" he bellows, and his body comes full circle, his massive tail whipping his foe downward.

"HRRRGH!" Whitebeard grunts as the muscled tail strikes, his ribs creaking, some cracking from the force, and he is thrown to the ground in less than a second. The Yonko could feel every bone in his body strain, his back popping from the impact, "Hngh," he groans, struggling up. He was still gripping his Glaive, miraculously, and used it as a support, shaking off what was likely a concussion.

"I will finish you!" Whitebeard looks up, and a massive tail bears down upon him. Thinking fast, Newgate imbues his willpower into the ground around him, planting his feet and holding up his glaive.

Thoom!

Air is blasted out as the two collide, Whitebeard's enhanced foothold holding as he parries the massive body part. "Hyagh!" the Yonko pushes his foe off him, and he rears back his free hand, striking the air in front of him, and a series of cracks race toward Kaido, striking him in multiple spots.

"GRAAAAH!" the dragon bellows, and in retaliation, he swings his tail horizontally, sweeping from the left. Newgate quickly places his glaive onto his back, holding out his arms and catching the tail in an arm lock, "Huh?" Kaido tries to yank his tail from Whitebeard's grasp, but it doesn't budge.

"Hyah!" Whitebeard begins spinning, carrying the massive foe in a circle, gathering momentum with each rotation, "Hyyyaaaaargh!" he bellows, releasing Kaido and sending his soaring into one of the Island's natural mountains, obliterating the mountainside into rubble.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" the dragon roars, rising and rushing the Strongest Man, with jaws drawn wide, but Whitebeard makes no offensive moves, simply bracing his feet, "MY JAWS WILL SPLIT YOU IN HALF!" he blasts forward along the ground, the earth being torn up in his massive wake, and he closes, jaws wide. Then, at the last second, Whitebeard takes a single step to the right-

SL-CRUNCH.

And Kaido bites into his left shoulder, teeth tearing all the way through. The force carries both fighters along, but Whitebeard grits his teeth, working through the pain and grinding to a halt. Then, with Kaido's mouth still enveloping nearly his entire left side, he pulls his Glaive out with his free arm, and twirls it, holding it in a reverse grip. Then, with the sound of tearing flesh, he turns further in towards the mouth, tearing some of the teeth through his arm and shoulder, one pair of the larger canines being torn through his side, but he worked through it, and his chest was now laid against the side of the snout. "It's over," he growls, and the Yonko stabs the Glaive as far away from him into Kaido's neck as he can. Now, he had a hand-hold.

"What…?" Kaido is confused, but his eyes widen as Whitebeard begins to pull on the handle, slowly twisting his neck, "No… NO!" he roars, trying to release his mouth, but Newgate grabs the dragon's bottom jawline with his left hand, still trapped in his mouth.

"Die, snake," Whitebeard growls, "HYAAAAAGH!" the Strongest Man bellows, pulling both hands toward him - the bottom jaw with his left, the neck with the Glaive, and slowly, so very slowly, Kaido's neck was twisted, until-

CRACK!

It gives. The massive beast's body goes limp, slumping to the cooling ground. "Hyaaaaah…" Newgate sighs, allowing the teeth to slide out from him, and he staggers back. His energy was waning, blood flowing freely from his left side. He slowly walks away from the body, using his Glaive like a walking stick. He pulls a small transponder snail from his pocket, the crushed body of the poor creature almost melting through his fingers. Feeling a pang of guilt, the titan slowly lowers himself, letting go of his glaive and creating a small fracture in the ground, laying it to rest.

Crack.

Newgate slowly stands, clutching his glaive as the sound comes from behind. He slowly turns from the makeshift grave, watching as the massive dragon slowly raises from the ground, and he grasps his weapon even tighter.

"I…" Kaido grunts, "Am unkillable."

"Nothing is unkillable to me," Newgate growls, narrowing his eyes, and he braces, preparing for another fight.