A deafening explosion sent rumbles throughout the Main Stage.
Yet even still, those knocked out by Admiral Strife's haki remained unconscious.
A black smoke cloud wafts in the air.
"JINZO!"
And no answer came back to Swiss.
"Shit! You see anything?" Grit peered through the smoke, searching for any semblance of life.
"Not yet!" Raito replied.
"Oh god, what if they got blown to bits? Jinzo's spirit will be haunting this place forever!" Swiss said.
"…" James Shelby watched the black smoke slowly dissipate, "Looks like we dodged a PR nightmare. That explosion would have easily killed 30,000."
"Too right, boss." A Shelby henchman said, "Thank fuck we won't have to deal with the press."
Admiral Strife, from his position sitting atop that ladder, had remained unsurprised by what just happened.
"How interesting." Admiral Strife contemplated.
The smoke began to clear, and as its thickness eased, the results became crystal.
"Nani?" Swiss quavered.
Two figures stood in that smoke.
One had a white suit with a black tie. His blond hair in a short business cut. A pair of ruby eyes beaming through his mask.
Next to him, was a significantly smaller figure. He wore a familiar burgundy suit with his black suit jacket draped over his shoulders.
A crimson blade in his hands.
"Jinzo!" Swiss cried.
"Thank goodness!" Raito sighed in relief.
"…" Grit could not allow himself to celebrate. Not yet.
"Someone actually survived that?!" Saint Lauren doubted.
Saint Lazlo was too busy choking on his candy bar to comment.
James Shelby downed his whiskey. After an 'ahh!' of satisfaction, he gazed down at the stage.
"Jinx, just what are you up to..?" James Shelby pondered.
Jinzo opened his eyes to still be alive.
No one around except for Jinx the announcer.
"I'm.. Alive?" Jinzo said in disbelief.
"I can't answer that for you."
Jinx had gotten a little too into Jinzo's personal space.
Jinx sniffed the air around Jinzo like a curious puppy, "Mmm. You smell incredible, Ken Jinzo."
"My smell?" Jinzo cautioned as he took a few steps back away from Jinx.
Jinx took a great big one last whiff of the air *SNIFFFF!*, before his stomach rumbled and he had to swallow back buckets of saliva.
Jinzo took note of the pronounced gulp and the hungry pair of ruby eyes behind that mask.
"Wunderbar!" Jinx regally quipped.
"Um, thank you for saving me. But why did you do it?" Jinzo asked timidly.
"Hahahaha." Jinx placed a hand on his brow.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"!"
It was a laugh that was as equally unhinged as it was magnanimous. The combination was unlike anything Swiss company had ever heard.
Everyone watched Jinx's insane laugh with the utmost caution.
"Hahaha, you're funny, Ken Jinzo. Do I need a reason to want to watch such a magnificent blade in action?"
"Umm." Jinzo flinched, his eyes glancing down at his crimson blade, "I suppose not? But now I don't have an opponent."
"Yeah! So get away from him, you sick fuck!" Swiss shouted from the distance.
"No need to worry, I'll be your opponent. You have five minutes to show me what you got, Ken Jinzo."
At these words, Jinx snapped his fingers up to the air, which prompted a katana to drop from the sky into his hands.
It had a white sheathe and a gold hilt.
*ZING!*
Its blade underneath, the color of blood crimson.
"Crim-..?" Jinzo gasped, "W-.."
"Who am I?" Jinx completed his sentence with a chuckle.
"I am Jinx, the announcer of this here Main Stage."
"You know what I mean.." Jinzo calmly retorted.
"Hahaha, I'm not at liberty to share my life story in a place such as this. How about over dinner?" Jinx responded, licking his lips.
"Fuck that, Jinzo! That guy is bad news-!"
Swiss tried to shout to his companion, but alas, a sword had come slashing towards him.
*CLANG!*
"Eh, I forgot about you.." Swiss sighed.
He had locked swords with none other than Captain King-Hit.
"You won't have to worry about forgetting anything soon!"
Captain King-Hit and Swiss engaged in a flurry of sword strikes.
"Tch! You're better than the other day." Swiss noted.
"Baka! You caught me off guard! When I put my mind to it, I'm one of the best swordsmen in the South Blue!"
Their battle quickly became fierce. The two of them now completely ensconced in their duel.
Meanwhile, Captain King-Hit and Swiss were not the only one that got amongst their battles.
Furio began juggling his knives.
"Observe, Joka! My knife technique was initially taught to me for self-defense! Ever since I left the troupe, I began practicing my juggling to kill again! Let's see how you handle this!"
Furio sent several knives flying toward Kimagure Joka.
"… +"
Kimagure Joka remained calm as he casually and acrobatically dodged the flying knives.
"Too easy, Furio-san. 3"
"Look again!"
"!~"
From Kimagure Joka's blind spot came a knife to his face.
Thankfully, Kimagure Joka managed to dodge in time.
"Where did that one come from? +"
Looking around, Kimagure Joka saw how the knives that Furio was throwing were changing their trajectory in the air as if they were boomerangs.
They got sent out, flying straight at great speeds, before eventually turning around and returning to Furio.
"Feast your eyes, you copycat bastard! My juggling skills perfectly compliments these returning knives! I can have as many as thirty flying around at once!"
It was at this moment that Furio picked up the pace.
He caught and threw knives so quickly and fluidly that it would not be accurate to call this an act of juggling anymore.
This was an act of martial prowess.
Kimagure Joka had found himself trapped in Furio's vortex of knives.
There were so many flying at Kimagure Joka from so many different directions.
All Kimagure Joka could do was dodge.
And dodge he did. It was as if he was a feather sporadically moving depending on the wind.
For now, Furio and Kimagure Joka were in a stalemate.
'Kukuku. Impressive, Furio-san. But how long can you keep this up? 3'
…
"Okay, let's get this over with."
Raito strolled towards Bonnie and Clyde.
"Not another step, or we'll open fire!" Said Clyde, pointing her Tommy gun at Raito.
"Out of our way, asshole!" Bonnie joined his lover in pointing their guns.
"If you say so."
"!"
Raito burst from his spot in a ninja dash, circling Bonnie and Clyde.
"Shit!"
"Let him have it!"
Bonnie and Clyde sprayed and prayed with their Tommy guns.
A swarm of bullets darted their way towards Raito.
Yet Raito was too quick and nimble.
Like an Olympic gymnast, Raito tumbled around, making excellent use of back handsprings to dodge the bullets.
"Idiots. You're supposed to aim where I'm going to be, not where I already am."
Upon saying these words, Raito reached into his ninja pouch and started throwing shurikens at Bonnie and Clyde.
The way he acrobatically dodged while also accurately throwing projectiles was done in a way befitting Raito's reputation as the Genius of the Waves.
"Get down!" Bonnie shouted, tackling his lover to the ground and protecting her.
But Raito did not allow them time to regather themselves.
He dashed his way towards the lovers on the ground.
He was upon them. He reached for his tanto blade and prepared to stab Bonnie in the back.
But just before he was about to-
*CH. CH.*
"!"
*BANG!*
Raito had just managed to notice the object sticking out through Bonnie's suit jacket.
From the ground, Clyde had taken her shotgun and shot through Bonnie's suit jacket, completely surprising Raito.
Raito cocked his neck back, narrowly avoiding the burst of shotgun bullets.
He tumbled to the ground before springing himself back to his feet.
"That was close!" Raito declared, somewhat impressed.
"Heh heh, one of the oldest tricks in the book."
Bonnie and Clyde got up from the ground and brushed the dust off their suits.
"Next time, you won't be so lucky!"
…
Grit wasted no time in getting into his fight with Saha and the seven dwarfs.
After the up and down roller coaster of emotions that was thinking he just witnessed the death of Jinzo, Grit needed to get doing what he always knew best.
Battle.
Ever since he could stand, Grit had a sword in his hands.
It is on the battlefield where all his thoughts crumble into nothing.
It is on the battlefield that Grit's mind is free.
Not that there was anything for him to think about in his current fight.
Saha and his dwarfs were not making any significant progress.
They had Grit encircled, to which Grit welcomed the challenge.
Any time a dwarf tried getting close, a deadly swing of Grit's Demon Slayer had them promptly back out of range.
It was like watching a pack of hyenas take on a lone lion. Slowly but surely, they nipped at his heels.
Saha and his men started to get cocky.
"Haaaah!" A dwarf wielding an Axe came from behind Grit.
"!" With speed far too unfair for someone swinging such a massive blade, Grit responded.
His Demon Slayer swung, shredding at the ax-wielding dwarf's flesh.
"Gah!" the dwarf cried, retreating.
While this happened, the other dwarfs took advantage of Grit being preoccupied.
Cuts to his thighs, torso, and shoulders had been inflicted before Grit could swing his Demon Slayer back the other way.
"Ah, fuck!"
Grit felt the blood slowly trickle out of his superficial wounds.
"Buzzing bastards. I feel like I'm fighting a swarm of flies.."
Grit then noticed how the Ax-wielding Dwarf he had wounded earlier was now shrouded in a more intense yellow mist.
When the glowing stopped, the cut on the dwarf had been healed- the wound completely closed.
"…"
"You're starting to realize it now, aren't you, Swordsman? That's the look every man has given us once they figure out what they started. Nothing can overcome our teamwork!"
Saha gloated like he enjoyed savoring these sorts of moments. He gave Grit the impression of being a control freak.
Grit chuckled before shooting Saha a menacing smile, "I was just admiring how pathetic you all are."
He then rested the Demon Slayer on his shoulder, "Come. I've seen through your tricks now. Next to get close, dies."
…
The clangs of swords and pops of bullets did well to fill the awkward silence left behind by the thousands of unconscious audience members.
Through it all, Jinzo and Jinx had continued their standoff.
"Why do you want to fight me so much? Seems strange to go out of your way to save someone just so you can fight them for five minutes." Jinzo said.
"It would be longer, but I don't think I'd be able to control myself.."
Jinx raised his crimson katana and pointed it at Jinzo.
"No more talk. Show me what you can do!"
*CLANG!*
Their crimson blades collided.
Creating sparks of carmine.
—
[ssyffix: yo!]
[ssyffix: one of those fighting chapters, lol]
[ssyffix: these are always the hardest to write, imo. Managing all the events as they happen at once in real-time xD]
[ssyffix: hope you enjoyed. and as alwayz, thx 4 reading!]