One Single Punch

Enma was considering them lucky as he looked out over the land from their ship. Due to his efforts to knock back Docket Jr. the rest of the Marines had slowed their attack due to fear of the man that beat a Vice Admiral. Enma didn't mind that his drug had worn off awhile back, but he didn't have enough time to brew another one. Not to mention the pain from Docket's attacks still lingered. It was painful for Enma to just try and hold back the attackers, even with as few of them as they were.

Rosa's cannon fire had lessened as well, not due to Rosa's fatigue, but due to ammunition running low. They didn't have an infinite amount of it, so she began holding back and trying to spread the attacks out more. As the battle dragged on, they were losing. There were more Marines and fewer cannon balls. If this developed into a war of attrition and lasted even a second too long they would be done for. Another Marine came charging in.

Enma stepped forward and took him down within seconds with a quick sweep of his spear, knocking his feet out from beneath him. As a shot of false strength Enma brought his spear tip down into the man's shoulder and sent him away. Enma had no interest in killing them, he was a doctor after all, but seeing the other Marines slowly steel their confidence and prepare for another attack he was starting to debate if that was the only method for forcing them to back down.

One of the Marines standing around rushed in again. His act of bravery seemed to cause a stir as soon after that another five or six began to charge at Enma. Enma stepped forward, sweeping his long spear through the air and at the man. The man backed away for a second, but that didn't do him any good. Enma chased him in. He stepped in the same amount of distance that the man had stepped back, causing his spear to shoot forward and pierce him in the gut. The man collapsed to the ground. Enma swung around ready to face the remaining Marines, but instead was forced to duck.

A large golden weighted spear came crashing through with immense speed. The spear pierced into the first Marine's skull and shish-kebob'd him. The force of the throw had an added effect of forcing him over again and into the next Marine, causing an almost domino-like effect that brought them both down. At first Enma felt relieved at the thought of someone else helping him out defeat these marines, but he quickly remembered… just because they were enemies of his enemies, didn't necessarily make them his friends.

The man who pulled it was a large guy and Enma almost immediately recognized him from both the tournament and from Maria's tales. It was Mashiba. The man was intimidating to say the least. He reeked of blood and death, and his golden spear that he had just wrenched loose from a man's skull had been painted red. Mashiba turned his attention towards Enma and then up at the ship. He stepped in and with heavy shove threw his spear at the main mast. Enma swiveled around and shouted something about it. The spear blew into the mast, sending a large spray of debris around the deck.

Sadly, Enma was admittedly distracted by the attack, and he didn't notice Mashiba had slinked by him, fairly quickly at that. He frowned as he saw Mashiba was already on top of the ship, pulling his spear out of the mast. Enma charged upwards at Mashiba, bringing his spear around in an instant. The difference was astounding. Mashiba was stronger, his weapon was heavier. Mashiba's spear smashed into Enma's and blew both him and his weapon back. Mashiba did a quick lift checking his weapon's weight and took another step forward for Enma.

He lifted his spear up into the air and back down. A bone jutting from Enma's cheekbone, quickly redirected the heavy spear to the side, saving Enma from what was possibly a killing blow. Enma tried to take advantage of this moment, he lashed out with his own spear. Mashiba brought the brunt of his spear to the side and into Enma's head, knocking him over again.

Enma was too weak from his last fight with Docket and the endless wave of Marines. If he could just truly summon his full strength, he wouldn't be losing like this. Enma tried to get back up to his feet, but just as he did Mashiba's face was thrown sideways from a heavy punch. It was Hiro-Shu. The old iron golem had managed to climb out of bed and out onto the battlefield.

Mashiba smiled an insidious smile as he looked at his new opponent, but an old target. He began to twirl his large spear like it was nothing. The spear was gold which meant in terms of weight, it was pretty high, but Mashiba was throwing it, twirling it, and attacking with it like it weighed absolutely nothing. "I'm not done with you," said Mashiba as he took another step forward, he stopped twirling his spear as he approached Hiro-Shu. "A fight is over when one of the fighters stops breathing for good. And the last time we fought…it was going to be you." Mashiba jabbed his spear upwards at Hiro-Shu's neck, but stopped the instant before it connected, leaving it hovering there as a threat.

Hiro-Shu didn't return Mashiba's attack or even smile back at his old adversary. He simply brought his hand up and pushed the spear away from his neck. Hiro-Shu stepped away, putting a little more distance behind them like it was back in the arena. Mashiba's cruel smile disappeared as he did the same. Once they were a good distance apart both of them took their fighting stance.

Hiro-Shu brought both of his arms up and together forming a tight guard with his iron arms. His iron body already made it nearly impossible for someone to break through, but with his arms forming a tight shield in front of his body it would be nearly impossible for a fatal blow to break through. Of course, this was only if Hiro-Shu was fighting at his best. It was already obvious to both Mashiba and Enma that the damage from their previous fight was still hanging onto Hiro-Shu. He was still injured and at death's door. It would only require a light push from Mashiba.

Mashiba took on a much more offensive stance. His spear was drawn back all the way down at his waist, given the chance he would force it forward with all of his might. The two of them has clashed once before, so their stances were probably educated assumptions based on that. Hiro-Shu preparing to counter Mashiba's overwhelming offense, while Mashiba trying to break through Hiro-Shu's impressive defense.

Mashiba started things off. His spear was thrust through the air at the same time he took a step forward, its reach seemed to extend closer to Hiro-Shu then he thought was possible. He had to actual side-step in order to avoid getting his eye removed in an instant. His next attack was even faster, now that they were in range Mashiba quickly withdrew his spear and lashed out once again. A heavy swat from Hiro-Shu forced the spear around and allowed him to charge forward.

Mashiba spun to the side, quickly regaining his grip on his spear and at the same time distancing himself from the charging golem. Once he had the distance in his favor he attacked again. His spear shooting forward ferociously. Hiro-Shu barely managed to get past the spear's tip, he felt it clang against his iron armor, but that was barely a scrape and not even worthy of his attention for now. He charged in again. His heavy feet, smashing into the ground with each step until once more he was face-to-face with the demon.

Mashiba, realized that this meant he was in trouble. Close distance was Hiro-Shu's forte, not his. He quickly tried to speed away, but Hiro-Shu's massive trunk of an arm came swinging in. Hiro-Shu quickly stepped in and put in a massive rotation that increased both his speed and power. Mashiba grunted as he felt the iron singe the ends of his hair. He barely dodged it, but since he did he was rewarded with the opportunity to take his distance again. Pivoting to the side and jumping back, definitely separated them, but…Hiro-Shu quickly turned his momentum from his rotating punch to a forward charge. The distance was once more closed in an instant. Hiro-Shu was transforming his abnormally heavy weight into a momentous charge.

Mashiba was still trying to regain his footing as Hiro-Shu pressed forward. He wasn't even bothering to regain his proper footing. He threw his own punch out mid-charge, a reckless act from someone who was normally calm. Mashiba brought his spear forward and used the side of it to block the punch, but even with the impact being neutralized. Hiro-Shu's entire weight was behind this punch due to his charge. It blew Mashiba back regardless of his guard.

Mashiba dropped his guard and took aim at Hiro-Shu with his spear. He thrust his spear forward, aiming for Hiro-Shu's head once more. Due to Hiro-Shu's forward momentum, he couldn't back up to dodge it, so he had to sway to the side. He twisted his entire body around and once more he used his weight rather than speed to change his direction and avoid the thrust.

Enma was amazed by this. He had seen and sparred with Hiro-Shu quite often, but he never once tried this technique out against him. A technique that transfers his weight into speed…it was a fascinating idea and the fact that Hiro-Shu was pulling it off only confirmed the notion Enma had thought since the beginning. The Infinity Pirates was the right place to be.

Mikoto's rapid-fire technique took his strength, his speed, and turned it into pure power. Hiro-Shu's technique took his weight and replaced his weakness, his speed. They both managed evolve into new and more ferocious beasts through training and techniques. Enma didn't have anything like that, maybe that was why he felt compelled to try and strengthen his chances with other methods. However, Enma was starting to doubt that he had closed the gap at all. Hiro-Shu's strength seemed even further away than before…Enma took one step forward, Hiro-Shu took two…Enma had to wonder how many steps forward Mikoto had taken in that time.

Despite the fact that the fight was still going, it was becoming strikingly obvious who was winning out. Mashiba couldn't take his distance with his speed now. Hiro-Shu just kept charging forward, barreling in towards him again and again. Every time he did, he also threw a punch. A punch with his entire weight behind it…that was not something a normal human could take.

Mashiba jumped back to create more distance again, but something was different about this one. His grip was tight against his spear, his feet ready for impact as if he was going to attack the instant he landed. He was going for broke now. With the tables turned he was going for the same thing Hiro-Shu was betting on at the end of their last fight. A counter.

Hiro-Shu must've known this, but he didn't have a choice. He either goes headfirst into Mashiba's trap or he lets Mashiba keep the distance and take perfect advantage of this with his longer reach. Neither one was a good plan, but Hiro-Shu made up his mind. He barreled forward, using his weight as momentum once more. But that extra momentum would just be thrown back at him due to Mashiba's counter. All of the damage from their last fight was still remaining on Hiro-Shu, the charge only increased his momentum, increased his fighting power…increased the damage that Mashiba's counter would return.

Mashiba spun in even deeper. He was putting his entire strength into his punch. His face was still singed from their last fight. He remembered the counter that Hiro-Shu had almost inflicted on him during their last match. This would be him returning the favor. He would show Hiro-Shu that he could do what the golem couldn't. He would show him that the Demon Mashiba was the better out of the two.

Hiro-Shu prepared his punch. It was a wide swing, using all the extra momentum to deal the most damage possible. Unlike Hiro-Shu, Mashiba had no damage from their last fight, so Hiro-Shu had to inflict it all with this one punch. Hiro-Shu could do it. He had the strength to do it, the only thing that mattered was if he could get past Mashiba's counter.

Hiro-Shu swung. His fist cut through the air and for Mashiba's face. Mashiba reacted to it, he stepped in and thrust his own spear. The length in the spear as well Mashiba's speed hadn't slowed…he was still faster than Hiro-Shu. His counter would hit!

Or it would've hit, had Hiro-Shu's entire body shuddered to the side. He had used his extreme weight to throw himself off-balance and out of the way! Mashiba's spear pierced nothing but air. Hiro-Shu then shuddered his body back, changing his weight's direction, changing his momentum, and putting his fist back on track.

And his punch landed perfectly.

War Torn Family

Still being Beta-Read by Labyrinth-Designer

Dramatic music! Hiro-Shu unleashes a new technique undoubtedly something he had been practicing on with Mikoto (he was the one who was sparring Mikoto, when Mikoto developed Rapid-Fire. And now the fight between him and Mashiba with one punch straight to his kisser. Of course, Hiro-Shu's fight probably isn't the most exciting fight...especially since now only Karasu and Trevor, the two big monsters, are left.