The Delicacy of Defeat!
And the Sweet Taste of Victory!
Sage stumbled back onto her feet, but she was forced to keep one hand on her side at all times in order to dull the pain. She squeezed it tightly, it felt like some of her bones were knocked loose from Kentan's strike and she wanted desperately to put them back into their place to get rid of the pain and be able to continue this fight. But with the pain searing through her, she doubted that she could keep it up. Kentan's strikes hit as hard and nearly as fast as a locomotive.
Kentan kept his eyes trained on Sage. His body was in worse shape then hers was, but he continued on. Despite the wounded leg, the sick smell on his breath, and the wounded back he had all obtained from this one fight against a girl about half his size, he didn't seem fazed. "Are you going to get out of the kitchen, mon cherie? Leave the cooking to the real chefs and the battling to the real fighters?"
Sage simply looked upwards at him. Her entire body ached and she wanted to drop dead and give up, but…Zesiro. Zesiro was still lying in the corner of the room, with wounds Sage could never withstand in her wildest fantasies and, yet, Zesiro was still alive. He was still alive and still clinging to life, fighting against death with the little strength he had left. Sage slowly removed her hand from her side as another wave of pain hit her, but she didn't falter. If Zesiro chose to continue to fight with wounds like that, then a 'minor' pain in her side wouldn't stop her.
She brought both of her hands up and in front of her. She gritted her teeth and focused. Another small sphere of pure pressure began to form in her body. She was having troubles concentrating though on creating the small ball of pressure due to the pain in her side, that she wasn't doing it was fast. Before she whipped one together in a matter of seconds, but this one was taking much longer. Too long.
Kentan rushed forward with his large ladle. He swung it wide, aiming for Sage's already damaged side. Sage let go of the pressure ball, letting it disappear back into thin air as she dove to the side, barely avoiding contact with the iron hammer-like utensil. Kentan quickly adjusted his attack and swung his weight around lifting the ladle back up and down with enough force to smash it into the earth and deliver devastating results.
Sage looked to her side, where the ladle was embedded into the concrete. She was lucky, apparently the pain surging through Kentan's body and, more importantly his leg, was throwing his concentration off as well. He couldn't aim as well as he used to and that threw his ladle a couple of inches to the side, missing Sage. Kentan quickly lifted the large ladle back up, an effort that only managed to hurt him more. The weight of his ladle combined with his damaged back brought on a whole new wave of pain to his body. He would have to try to avoid downward smashes as much as possible, lifting his large ladle back into the air put too much stress on his back.
Kentan twisted around and brought his ladle around him in a sweeping motion, forming a twister with his iron weapon, knocking everything within quite a few feet of him down. Sage hit the dirt once more and felt his hammer swing over her and the draft from it lift her hair up and away from her body.
Sage cowered on the ground for a few more precious seconds as Kentan tried to regain his balance. His injured leg was causing him a lot of problems now. Most his swings put pressure on his legs in order to perform the huge turns and pivots necessary to put that much momentum behind them. He needed to end this fast before Sage noticed. He brought his ladle back up and brought it straight up until it was parallel with his body. He then swung his body forward bringing his ladle around with a golfing motion and incredible strength guaranteed to smash skulls if it ever came in contact with a person.
Sage dove forward once again in a clumsy manner, barely avoiding the swift and incredibly potent swing. She was still writhing in pain from her side and she was debating about whether or not she could even bring her body to a standing position. She spared a quick glance over her shoulder at Kentan. He was breathing heavily, he was wearing himself out. Not only was he standing on a damaged leg, but he had been swinging that large mallet-like weapon around for the entire fight. Not to mention the fact that he had to chase Sage around the Marine Base while lugging it with him.
Kentan charged forward once more in a desperate attempt to smash Sage with his large hammer. His strength carried him forward and at Sage. Sage reacted as quickly as she could she increased the pressure in Kentan's eardrum. Kentan quickly tilted to the side his entire body being thrown off balance as he began to fall to the ground. He picked up his ladle and tossed it using impressive aim and strength. The ladle sailed through the air and eventually smashed into Sage sending him skidding back eve further across the room with it.
Sage cried out in pain as the hard tiled floor burned into her due to the friction. She rolled over onto the front and tried to lift herself off of the ground, but the pain in her side once again coursed through her and sent her back crashing into the ground. She looked over at Kentan who was currently lying flat against the floor as well.
Kentan let out a heavy breath as he lifted himself up and off of the ground. He was soon back onto his feet. Sage cursed loudly. Apparently it was impossible to keep this guy down. Kentan walked forward, "back to those weak attacks? What's the matter? That previous attack only whetted my appetite. I'm hungry for more! I want another attack with that same potent flavor, that same kick. I mean if that was the main course…I'm wanting a desert of an equal rich flavor."
Sage rolled over onto her back to face Kentan. "You want it? Then here! You can have it!" She began concentrating once more, focusing the pressure into her hands to create a devastating attack. She flinched as the pain coursed through her, she couldn't focus enough. Where her last ball was about the size of a baseball this one wasn't even the size of her thumb. She couldn't focus long enough to create one of the same size and this one wasn't strong enough.
Kentan chuckled to himself as he gripped Sage's hair and pulled sharply back on it. Sage yelped as her head was forced back along with her hair, causing her to lose the small ball that she did have. She went from almost nothing back to nothing. She was out of options. This guy was nothing like her previous fights, he was nothing like the rest of her crew. That attack sent him flying such an incredible distance that even Zesiro would've been knocked out from it. But Kentan continued his stance he was still going strong and powerful, even without his weapon.
Kentan lifted Sage up to her feet and into the air, dangling her just inches off of the ground. Sage grunted as the pain in her side was steadily coming back, not to mention the new pain in her head from Kentan constant pulling and lifting on her hair. "There is no place for you in the Grand Line!" Kentan twisted around and tossed Sage back to the ground. "You are nothing more then a weak and frail little girl!" Kentan launched a swift kick into Sage's stomach, sending her backwards across the floor.
Kentan wiped his hair out of his eyes and he smiled, "Your crew keep getting into fights and you keep fighting alongside them like you are their equal, but you are not. That fish-guy back there may be nature's #1 mistake, but he's stronger then you, that 'Coyote Kid' better then you! The Iron Golem is better then you! Every single person on your crew is better then you. And, yet, you fight with them anyway. Honestly, they should've kicked you out as soon as they got their bounties."
"Not everyone on our crew is better then me," said Sage as she tried to catch her breath, "My bounty is pretty high for someone who shouldn't fight!"
"High in the East Blue is low in the Grand Line," said Kentan, "besides the only reason you got such a 'high' bounty is because of your Devil Fruit. Every other person on the crew got their bounties through hard work, sure, some of them got Devil Fruit powers, too, but I have a question for you. Would they all be on the ground right now struggling to breathe?"
Sage lifted her head up and looked back over at Zesiro. A bloody mess, but still struggling for life. He was struggling with holes in him and broken bones supporting him. The first time she met Mikoto he took a stab into the gut for her…Hiro-Shu was tough as iron…even Enma had impressive endurance from what she had seen. The only thing she could brag about was the fact that she could beat Ridley…and what kind of glory is that?
Sage breathed heavily as she pushed up against the floor, bringing her back up to her feet. The pain surged through again and her knees felt like they should've buckled beneath her, but she didn't let them. She brought herself up to her own two feet and prepared to continue the fight, "no, and I'm not going to either."
Kentan spun his ladle around in a circle on his hand as he prepared for another strike. "Still hanging on to some hopeless dream are we? I guess as a form of respect from chef to chef, the least I can do is let you eat until the last desert is served." Kentan charged forward, his mallet straight out in front of him plowing the way as he ran behind it.
Sage jumped to the side, her legs frantically trying to maintain her weight, but she moved just in time to see Kentan surge past her. Originally, Sage would've thought this was a big enough distance, but the force of Kentan's charge created a powerful back draft that whipped all around her and knocked her down to the ground. Kentan smiled as he turned around back at Sage, a cruel and mocking smile on his face. "I believe it is time for you to pick-up the check. The cost? Your lif…" Kentan was stopped short.
A large pure white blade had been driven from his back all the way through to his front, it jutted a good couple of inches out and into the air. Sage stared up at Kentan, who simply stared down at the sword, dumbfounded and surprised. Behind Kentan, stood…or kneeled, Zesiro.
Zesiro was on one knee, the other leg supporting most of his weight. His eyes were half-closed and he was bleeding everywhere over himself. His grip on the sword was loose, and his head was fuzzy. Behind him was long trail of blood that he made as he got up and moved to get closer to Kentan. His mouth was open in a half-smile, but blood was trailing out of his mouth, slowly.
"Zesiro!" gasped Sage staring at his gaping wounds and holes. He must've dashed over here in order to get to her in time, but he still wasn't in any shape to move. He was in such a bad shape, that it would've been hard to move even a finger, much less his legs.
Kentan swung around and brought his elbow into the side of Zesiro's face. Kentan pivoted around and faced Zesiro. "The lowly fishman!" shouted Kentan as he reached behind him with his free hand and yanked the sword free. "You dare to lay a hand on me!" Kentan lifted his foot up and brought it down with fury upon Zesiro's skull. Zesiro tried to let out a yell in pain, but his body was so torn up on the inside it wouldn't let him.
Kentan brought his other foot downwards onto Zesiro's chest. Blood squirted from his wounds. Zesiro kept his teeth gritted against each other in a desperate attempt to dull the pain. "I should've served you with tartar sauce the first second I saw you! You pathetic! Worthless! Insignificant!"
"Hey, Kentan!" shouted Sage interrupting him.
Kentan turned around and saw Sage with both of her hands forming a circle with the thumbs and forefingers. A small ball of pressure the size of tennis ball was in the middle of it. "I'm pretty sure it was you who said 'always make sure your opponent is down for good before you ignore her'. Pressure Ball!" The small ball flew out of Sage's hand and at Kentan. The ball collided with his chest, in the same area as Zesiro's sword was driven into. Kentan screamed as the ball ripped into him and threw him back. The ball, spinning began to enlarge the size of the sword wound in his chest, making it bigger and bigger. All the meanwhile, Kentan was thrown backwards and into another wall. The wall collapsed and shattered, covering Kentan with large chunks of rubble.
Sage kept her eyes trained on the large pile of rubble. "Please…just stay down…please…" Her energy was waning, a couple more minutes of a fight like that would probably exhaust her. The large pile of rubble, didn't move. It didn't even make a sound. Sage finally dropped her hands to her side, with a smile on her face. She won.
Rebelling Against the World!
Taking Down the Authorities!
Zesiro is still alive so you guys can all let out that collective breath you've been holding. He's come to the rescue and saved Sage's life and then she turned around and returned the favor. But Kentan's inhuman strength made it difficult getting hit with a pressure ball, stabbed with Zesiro's sword, and other minor wounds and he was still strong enough to fight. Anyways, the mystery of the Marine Base still hasn't been solved. Jugo is still running rampant within the building killing Marines and looting the place. Plus Mikoto still doesn't know where the fish is!
Also, OC creators take out your typing gloves and put on your thinking caps. As I have a very unique request. I need Shichibukais! Powerful beings of unmatchable powers! Make them as strong as you feel is necessary (within reason, please). But I'm open to any ideas you guys have! I will probably introduce a Shichibukai of my choice after this arc, so you better get typing! (If you already submitted a Shichibukai there is no need for you to submit a new one).