The Meeting with the Demon!
"Its called Geppou," muttered Ko as he stopped his running motion and landed on the ground. "Mine is a little bit rougher then other people's. I fire rapid kicks as if I'm running and these kicks provide me with enough force to push me into the air." Ko smirked as he stretched once he landed on the ground.
"Let me fill in the bare details that are probably missing in many of your guys' minds," shouted the Longarm as he continued with his announcement. "Geppou is a very powerful technique that exists in an extremely powerful and highly hidden fighting style known as Rokushiki. The number of masters of this fighting style is so small that between the numbers of Rokushiki masters are just barely outside of the single digits. People who have mastered even one are said to be powerful enough to wipe out a hundred men in a blink of an eye!"
The crowd oohed and aah-ed at the explanation. Several of them got excited at the prospect of seeing the power of such a man in a fight. The Marines in the stands got incredibly upset and many of them left the stadium. Rokushiki was supposed to be a government secret that never left the Marines, but it appeared that some random pirate got his hands on the skill. It was a downright embarrassment to them. If it wasn't for the fact that they were outnumbered and probably even outgunned in this arena, they would start a riot and immediately kill Ko just to help bury the secrets.
Ko smirked as he gripped his jacket and made sure it was secure. He shook his head and tried to prepare for the fight. "And in case you are wondering since my feet did not technically touch the ground when I was knocked outside the ring that did not count as a ring-out. This fight will continue! Or at least for another minute cause when that minute is up I will be standing as the victor!"
Mikoto cringed at the thought. His arm was currently out of commission due to the Rapid Fire...that one backlash made that move incredibly unsafe for him to use. The trade-off was a huge source of power for no use of it for a set period of time. Mikoto's best bet was to use his superior speed and after-image technique to avoid Ko's attack until his arm was healed. Then Mikoto would just move in and take him out. Mikoto moved back as far as he could and pushed his body closer and closer to the edge of the arena. This distance made sure he could dodge any of Ko's attack.
Ko chuckled as he looked on at Mikoto from his position on the opposite side of the ring. "Let me guess, planning on using your speed? I'm gonna let you in on a little surprised...compared to me, you'll be moving in slow motion." Ko jumped forward. "This is the second move of my Rokushiki training, Soru!" Ko disappeared. The entire audience gasped in surprise.
The next instant Ko was in front of Mikoto. Ko twisted his entire body around in the air, launching a sideways kick into Mikoto's side. Mikoto grunted as he was tossed back from the kick. Even worse, Mikoto was now knocked back and into the air above the pit. Backing up to the edge of the pit was the wrong move. If he fell he would hit the bottom of the pit and lose. He wasn't in the mood to lose! Zesiro and Rosa both won! What kind of captain loses when his crew put their lives on to save him? He twisted around and pushed his feet into the wall of the pit with a tremendous push, he shot up from the wall and flew back into the ring next to Ko.
Even though Mikoto managed to stay in the ring and come back from a tremendous hit it still wasn't anything worth getting excited about. Mikoto's best strength was his speed, but apparently his opponent had a technique to match his speed, if not excel past it. Ko started moving already once more with Soru towards Mikoto. Ko stretched out using a punch with his spear-like arm. Mikoto dodged to the side of the strike, just barely using an incredible speed for a short burst. Ko landed on the ground and immediately shot back out towards Mikoto. Mikoto prepared for a second dodge.
"Geppou!" shouted Ko. He took off into the air above Mikoto. Mikoto looked up trying to keep track of Ko. Ko spun around and launched a downwards punch with his spear. Mikoto lowered his body and jumped back, desperate to keep out of Ko's range. Ko moved after him, still running about in the air. Ko remained on top of Mikoto as the two of them moved throughout the ring.
"Sightless!" commanded Ko as he thrust his spear at Mikoto. Mikoto dodged backwards, confident he avoided it. Then he felt a sharp prick in his chest. Mikoto's eyes widened as he was forced back as an invisible force hit his chest. Mikoto hit the ground.
Mikoto stood back up and coughed up dirt as he tried to regain his bearings. Mikoto had seen that technique before. Trevor used a brand of it when they fought. Trevor used Haki to extend his destructive power past his hands. Ko did the same thing. Rather then extending and then striking like Trevor did, though Ko used Haki and sent a spiral of the hardening Haki out and at him using the spearhead as the base. It was beginning to look like Ko might just be a good enough warm-up for Trevor after all.
Mikoto dodged forward and began to close in on Ko. Ko smiled as he took his jacket out of its spear-like form and back into the shield form. Mikoto jumped forward and launched a midair kick at the shield. Ko was pushed back from the kick, but the shield absorbed almost all of the damage leaving Ko at full power. Ko laughed as he twisted his body around and positioned himself above Mikoto. "Brainless!" Ko used Geppou and jumped downwards and on top of Mikoto with his shield going first. Ko crashed forward, sandwiching Mikoto between him and the ground.
Mikoto squeezed out of the tight spot and backed up. The jacket Ko used gave him a pretty impressive mixed of power and defense combine that with the speed of Soru and Ko was a tough customer. Ko's prediction had come and went by several minutes. The feeling was just starting to return to Mikoto's hand from his Rapid Fire. That was hands down his best bet at ending this match, but Ko wasn't waiting for the last couple of seconds to past.
Ko charged at Mikoto. With the use of Soru, he quickly closed in on Mikoto and was soon right in front of him. With a swing of his shield, he knocked Mikoto up into the air. On the ground their speeds were even, but in the air Ko was the only one with a free range of movements. He dashed into the air using a combinations of Soru and Geppou. Ko slowly began to spiral around Mikoto using this technique, "Endless!" Several kicks and punches flew at Mikoto keeping him trapped in the center of the storm that was Ko's attack. Whenever Mikoto flew to one-side, Ko moved to that side faster and knocked him back to the center. All the while Ko was using Geppou to keep kicking Mikoto higher and higher into the air.
Mikoto's eyes flashed open as Ko delivered another kick at him. Mikoto crouched his legs and jumped off of the leg, using the combined power of Mikoto's own jump along with Ko's kick sent Mikoto flying into the air. Ko's body was temporary off-kilter due to the move as well, his leg spinning due to the jump off of it. Mikoto twisted his body and brought it back down. Mikoto fell towards Ko, who was still frantically trying to regain his balance. Mikoto brought his fist forward aiming at the poor man's head, "Rapid Fire x 25!"
Mikoto's fist made clean-cut contact with Ko's face. Mikoto began pumping his arm forward launching a medley of punches into Ko's head. All 25 punches began to blur together into one finishing blow. The force of the punch blew Ko down and towards the ground. He had no chance to regain his balance, much less his consciousness from the blows. Ko hit the ground with an incredibly loud bang. The crowd roared as they watched the fight end.
Mikoto landed on the ground moments later. Mikoto's eyes remained on Ko's body. He felt Ko use Colors of Armaments Haki at the last moment before Mikoto landed even his second punch. The first punch may have been lucky, but Ko managed to defend himself from the rest. His punch power was probably halved, not something he was happy with. He expected the beast he had just knocked down to get back up and continue. It happened once with him, so who knew. Nothing happened though. Mikoto finally let his guard when the Longarm declared him the winner with a boisterous announcement.
"Mikoto had only agreed to one fight," murmured the next person who crawled into the stadium. The man had a small silver ponytail. He looked at Mikoto with cold gray eyes. Mikoto shuddered as he felt the sheer hate come from them. "I, as the second-in-command of the URA, will continue the URA Special fights. I am Duncan Sawyer, so anyone who is ready please step forward."
Duncan quickly twisted his head around and put it next to Mikoto's ear. "Go see Trevor-sama he wants to have a conversation with you," he whispered. "Also please refrain from causing too big of a ruckus, Trevor is expecting a guest and doesn't want you to ruin the décor."
Mikoto shrugged as he walked forward. He had no interest in ruining the décor and didn't particularly care to see Trevor, but knew that in that case he had no opinion. He didn't even notice that Trevor left the stadium. He expected to just look over and see that demon smile, looking over at him with a nonchalant smile. He shook the picture out of his mind and continued on. He looked out into the audience and saw Ridley, Zesiro, and the rest of his crew waving their hands trying to get his attention.
Mikoto simply nodded his head at them and waved back. Going off course wouldn't be that smart of a move, Trevor would simply act up and probably dismember half of the audience. And not to mention Mikoto was only at half-strength due to the fight, the same could probably be said for his crew. Mikoto just kept his head down and walked to the dining room where he was directed to.
Trevor sat at the end of a very large table. He smiled as he saw Mikoto, "there he is!" shouted Trevor as he opened his arms up and threw them into the air. "The fight was an amazing draw! The bets were flying at mach speed! Money and blood what more could a guy want! I don't have too much care for money, but I need it to keep this arena open so I hope your crew can keep up the work!" Mikoto shrugged it off, based on Trevor's wording, he wouldn't be fighting again.
"I just want you to know," continued Trevor, "that you will not be watching the fights tomorrow. I know, you probably want to watch your crew get ripped to shreds, but just calm down. My new guest just wants to make an extraordinary appearance and fears that another guest would just ruin it. So, he requested to be the only one there."
"Who is this other guest?" asked Mikoto as he finally decided to sit down. It was only him and Trevor in the big dining hall made for about twenty people. He didn't have any waiters or attendants nor bodyguards. Then again, Shichibukais probably didn't need bodyguards.
"I'm not too surprised you don't remember me," said the second voice as he clamped his hands down onto Mikoto. Mikoto jumped up and rotated around firing a single weak punch due to fatigue at Karasu. Karasu chuckled as he blocked the punch and pushed Mikoto aside. "I guess I must've caused some brain damage the last time we met." Mikoto's eyes went wide as he looked on at Karasu. Karasu was still dressed the same as before in training shorts and without a shirt. He also kept his crew cut and shades. However, there was one noticeable difference...his right arm had been torn completely off.
Karasu picked Mikoto up, who was still staring at his missing arm and moved him to the side of the table. Karasu took his seat at the other head of the table opposite of Trevor. Mikoto stared at Karasu. His entire body was riddled with scars and scrapes. The air around him felt different. Before being in the same room with him was like sharing a room with a demon, but now...it was like he was devolved. He lost his calm and cocky composure. He had completely forgone the fork and knife and was using his hand and mouth to rip the meat apart and eat it.
Even so, Mikoto couldn't help, but blurt out, "What happened?"
In the Ring Once More
Eh, eh! Not bad, right? What happened to Karasu? That's a question that still needs to be answered! But don't worry, there's going to be plenty of other things for you reviewers to think about until I do answer it. Like the next chapter...
ALSO! It has been decided. I will continue with this once every two day updates for the time being until Chapter 115. So, after Chapter 115 this story will become updated once every week again.