The Strength of Shane

"Man," Shane mumbled as he lifted himself up and off of the ground, "can't believe I had to use that technique just to beat you." Shane cracked his neck as he rotated his head and tried to re-invigorate himself. He walked over to the nearby table and lifted up a glass from it. He held the glass up in front of his face and peered at the red wine inside. "Boring. I thought you Shichibukai fellows were supposed to be tough. Then I again I guess you did force me to use that technique."

The third and final A. Fox Brother was laid out on the ground beneath Shane's massive physique. He looked absolutely tired, meanwhile Shane in striking contrast looked like he was in nearly perfect shape. He was breathing a little heavily and a few minor scars, but overall he was in good shape. He would just get even stronger from here on out as well.

This was the first fight with a Shichibukai he had ever had, which was surprising considering his level of strength. It was amazing he had never picked a fight with another one. He was even on the island with Underground Rally Arena and Trevor as well and yet, he never tried to challenge him. Shane was somebody who for some odd reason never challenged a Shichibukai until now. He had never seen them as an opponent worth his time to try and fight them.

In all honesty, being here wasn't even fully for him. He had heard of Mikoto fighting against Trevor and then against Kraven. And he had watched Mikoto's own insane growth time and time again against both of them. For the time being he could put his fight with Mikoto on hold because he knew by the time they were done here Mikoto would be on another level. Hopefully by the time everything was done Mikoto would be on his level.

Shane toted his large axe onto his shoulder. Shane paused as he heard a voice echoing from behind him. "You're not supposed to be here," Bando stated as he came out from around the corner. "This is Queen Helena's sacred room. The room where she put the final plans for Paradise into action. In this small room they gave birth to a devstatingly powerful 'shield'."

"I have no interest in this room," muttered Shane as he headed out of the room. However, he was gripped by Bando's hand and he was pulled him in tightly.

"I mean you have no place here on this island," Bando pointed out as he took another step for Shane, "I know about your past and how you've made your way here. That Devil Fruit was the Devil Fruit of a Marine Vice Admiral and on top of stealing it you stole many other facts from the World Government."

"If they wanted to keep it a secret they should've elected someone stronger to protect it, but instead they elected someone like him," Shane stated, "an entire roster of Marines, Yonkous, and potential Shichibukai candidates. Its my own personal hit list!"

"You've done all of that, ruined many Marines' lives just so you could figure out who to fight?" asked Bando, finally understanding the depth of Shane's personality. However, the large pirate captain simply shrugged and laughed it off. "The World Government wants your head because they are afraid you are going to abuse that list."

"And none of that matters to you," Shane laughed. "I'm just going around and causing a huge ruckus to try and have fun. Where does that put a bug in your plans? I'm still going to protect this island."

"But for the wrong reasons."
"Really? Cause I've never felt righter!" Shane stated with a loud puff of his chest. "We all have our reasons to do our own stuff, don't we? You're here for whatever reason, Mikoto is just here because he's a hopeless fool, and I just want to wreck stuff."

"Which is exactly why I cannot condone you being here," Bando pointed out. "I may have come to stop the Fox Brothers, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn a blind eye to whatever you do. The legacy of Queen Helena is something that must be forgotten and yet it must be protected."

"So you want me to bash someone's head in or something," Shane asked as he hefted his weapon into the air, "cause I'll do that for you."

"I wasn't asking for your help!" Bando shouted, "The Void Century is a time when a lot of chaos ran free and of course, you were considered blessed if you just avoided it. This island managed to remain safe due to the power of Queen Helena. A powerful 'shield' existed on this island. One that protected it and its residents from all possible outsiders as long as Queen Helena was around.

"But what if a darker secret existed beneath all of this. What if there was a true reason why Queen Helena had to have such a powerful tool at her disposal?"

"To protect her people."

"Or to protect a secret of hers," Bando pointed out. "The real reason such a devastating tool was born was to feed Queen Helena's thirst for power. To hide her ultimate secret from the world. Something she regretted ever giving birth to."

Shane shrugged and turned to leave, "I have no interest in a children' nursery rhyme, maybe call up Mikoto when you are both done with your own mission of taking down one of those pesky Shichibukais." Shane was suddenly thrown to the ground as Bando slammed his fist into the side of his face.

"Eh, my first mission was always to protect the secret of Queen Helena. Whatever it may have been," Bando stated as he reached and pulled a pistol free from his side, taking aim at Shane. "And I'm sorry, but I cannot leave even the possibility of you and your wanton nature accidentally stumbling upon it, destroying it, or something even worse."

"Well, who I am to turn down a fight?" asked Shane as he dragged himself up and onto his feet, "and you'd probably be a fairly good warm-up for me." Shane strode for him, already arming his weapon as he prepared to make a powerful swing straight for Bando's head, blow his head clear off.

(-with Mikoto-)

A suddenly strong scent suddenly cut into Mikoto's senses. However, even better than Mikoto's nose right now was his instincts. He could feel something flaring up within him. He was growing closer and closer to his opponent now. He knew that for certain. His opponent was probably thinking the same thing. The sort of feeling he got while he was in a fight came rushing over him. Once more he supposed his blood began to boil.

He was going to have to go from full blast once again. Mikoto blasted off, racing through the machine in search of his opponent. He didn't know if he could find him easily, but at least he knew he was somewhere around. And Mikoto was ready to really pound his opponent into the ground. All of the hair stood up on Mikoto's body as he rushed down once more.

He really had no idea where he was going just ultimately zipping from one location to the next. The floating ship seemed to be fairly complex at least to Mikoto. He could make out certain rooms like the engine room or storage room, but ultimately he didn't find the nap room or kitchen, which seemed to him like a major oversight when building anything. Nonetheless Mikoto was bored and had come to the conclusion that this ship was ultimately just a waste of space.

The only problem was his next option was to jump off of the ship and try to use Geppou to slow his fall. However, Mikoto wasn't quite in the mood to leave this ship just yet. Like he said he felt like somebody else was here.

And it only took a few seconds for his instincts to be realized. He didn't exactly hear or see anyone, but he did know someone else was around. Kurai Ai's voice suddenly blasted into his head. He recalled Kurai Ai did mention that she could control all of someone's senses such as hearing so that must've been what was happening.

Kurai Ai slowly fed Mikoto information. There was no way for her to know he was here, so she was probably just sending it in to Mikoto and Shane, or possibly anybody who was around and who could help. Mikoto felt his hair stand on end once more. He felt like it was all becoming too real for now. And that excited him.

He supposed hanging out with Shane for this short period of time had turned himself into like a sort of small version of him. He was getting excited more and more as time went on. He could see why Shane got excited from even the slightest prospect of a fight and Mikoto now wanted it as well. Mikoto slammed his feet into the ground and took off. He was now zooming in on his opponent. He wouldn't stop till he found them.

"I'm coming!" shouted Mikoto, letting his voice carry throughout the entire hall of the ship. "If you hear me Kurai shout something back!"

"I'm here!"

Mikoto twisted around and immediately hunted back down. He was following the sound of her screams as he narrowed the search. Finally he found himself standing in front of his opponent. Mikoto smiled, revealing a series of teeth right at his opponent. Mikoto transformed into his full beast mode.

"I was really hoping I could avoid fighting you," muttered Alistair as he slid the baton out of his sleeve, "I was just hoping to grab Kura Ai and then leave. Possibly with my brothers, but even they are expendable in order to help me create this new world I want."

"I'm sorry, but you aren't leaving," muttered Mikoto, "and you are not going to avoid fighting me. And if Shane's power is any indication you are not going to be seeing your brothers either. He's not stopping until at least one of them is beneath his boot heel."

Alistair blew air out of his mouth and then directed his gaze up at the ceiling. "As usual I'm overlooked," he muttered to himself, "most people who heard of me and my brothers as a Shichibukai immediately cast me out. My two brothers are much more offensive opponents, but I am every bit as deadly as either one of them. Perhaps even more so thanks to my intellect."

"Fine by me!" shouted Mikoto as he jumped backwards and taking to the air. He may not be as intellectual as his opponent, but he knew a few things. Like how friction was less in the air than on the ground. In other words, if he was fast on the ground...how fast could he possibly be in the air? "Geppou!"

Mikoto vanished into another near lightning bolt of a blur right at his opponent. Alistair tried to bring his weapon up and block the charge. Alistair managed to block it using his superior intellect and ability to predict, but surprisingly it was knocked away. Despite the fact that Alistair could see the smoke coming off of Mikoto's fist from just coming into contact with his weapon, Mikoto showed no signs of slowing down.

Oh, rather he did. Mikoto suddenly slammed himself to a stop, pausing completely in front of Alistair. Mikoto gripped his right wrist with his left hand. He pulled himself together for that brief moment, all of his power flowing right into that hand. He supported it with an unwavering power. He took a small step back, but only in order to put even more power behind his punch. "Rapid-Fire x25!"

It was insane blast of power straight forward. His arm pumped up and down as he twisted into the punch. The powerful continuous machine gun-like fire ripped through the space and right into Alistair's gut. Of course, Mikoto quickly shifted his weight across his feet and quickly fired another blast with his left this time, "Rapid-Fire x 25!"

Alistair gritted his teeth, although ultimately he had come just as prepared as Mikoto did. A tightly woven and super durable layer of leather armor was hidden beneath his shirt, it aided in absorbing the blow and he managed not to take any damage. He gritted his teeth and survived the harsh blow.

A Different Level of Geniu