Genius and Instincts

Once more Mikoto pushed in deeper towards his opponent. His quick legs allowed him to plow his way into his opponent's gut and ready the cannons. A fast flurry of fists flew from Mikoto's arms. Each one arcing in like a lunging wolf eager to tear flesh and tear through bones. It was like a monstrous wolf pack had descended upon Alistair. Each one biting and ripping for its own chunk of flesh.

Alistair easily dodged through the storm of blows and back-pedaled through the entire mess of powerful shots. He was surprised that Mikoto hadn't launched another Rapid-Fire as soon as his arms were better. Not just surprised, but a little annoyed. Mikoto's current punches barely even scratched his armor. Alistair's countering technique threw an opponent's power back in their face, but throwing one of Mikoto's wimpy punches back at him wouldn't do Alistair any good. It wouldn't even hurt Mikoto probably.

Nonetheless Alistair knew better than to stand around and do nothing. A weak counter was better than no damage whatsoever. As a result Alistair let one of his own fists fly. The punch bolted through the air and stunned Mikoto, causing the young Devil Fruit user to wheel back and temporarily halt the incessant attacks.

That opening was all Alistair needed to launch an attack. A smooth transition throughout his entire body, launching a clean strike with his baton right at Mikoto's side. Mikoto's body bent not from the force of the blow, but more from his own reflexes. He had sensed the attack and moved his body at a similar speed and direction to soften the blow. Of course, even the slightest touch from Alistair's baton caused a burning pain in Mikoto's side.

Then again Mikoto was still standing cause it was only a brief moment of impact. Mikoto rotated around doing a cartwheel to avoid Alistair's reach and get out of it. However, once he had his distance back he gripped his side and gritted his teeth. The pain was still throbbing throughout his bones, he didn't really want to experience that nay more this fight.

Then again he didn't really have a choice. Close quarters combat was all he knew. Mikoto dove right back into the fight, both of his arms up and ready to punch. He blasted off and launched a swinging punch from below. The move was simple, short, and fast. Even with an expertly timed sway back Alistair couldn't completely avoid the blow and wound up with a light nick in his chin.

It could've been worse and it was about to be. Mikoto's punches rocketed out from his side. They were like a machine-gun locating each of their targets quickly and without slowing down. Of course, even with his extreme speed and precision, Alistair was just as good. The speed and precision of his dodges and counter attempts prevented Mikoto from other getting a good blow in.

Mikoto tried time and time again to continuously apply pressure, but each push he threw in just met a wall or nothing at all. Despite Alistair's seemingly frail body he did an excellent job at avoiding each blow as they came. He prepared a counter, having a punch waiting to cross in at every waiting moment was smart. It prevented Mikoto from accelerating in at any moment. If Mikoto went to high gear an exchange of equal level would be waiting for him.

Meeting such challenges head-on was Mikoto's lineage however. He charged in. A boosted sprint right into his chest, followed by a feint. An after-image left in Mikoto's place had its head bashed in while Mikoto circled around.

Mikoto kept the same distance all the way around keeping Alistair just outside of reach as he raced about him. Even with his baton adding an extra foot or so to Alistair's reach it wouldn't be enough. Combining an offensive presence alongside nearly perfect defensive maneuvering.

A few quick jabs from the coyote kid tested the distance. He had to step in a little bit to plant one, but it was worth it to make sure he didn't get hit in exchange. Eventually his punches came in with a little cleaner of a cut. Mikoto couldn't even remember the last time he felt this in control of a fight.

While Alistair's baton prevented Mikoto from instantly finishing him off, Mikoto could toy and pick him apart from this distance. And he began to do so. Quick, fast, and easy punches flew from Mikoto's side. Each one toyfully judged the distance between them. They barely touched Alistair, simply flying in and giving him a light tap before returning to its owner's side.

However, as his punches flew they sped up becoming more and more harmful. Each time one of his punches found their way in he would double his efforts. Making the next punch faster and stronger.

Eventually these punches began to whittle away at his opponent's defense. There was a nice cut to each of his punches. They were swift and had nice angles to them. If they had been sword stroke they would've been considered those of a master.

Perhaps as his punches began to land a bit more regularly Mikoto began to get carried away. He began to step in more and more, put more power behind the punches while keeping less distance. While knowingly nobody would fault him for such actions, it was still every bit as reckless and stupid as anything Mikoto had done.

Mikoto swung forward, sensing a bit of weakness in his opponent. His hands and arm went smoothly into the motion for his Rapid-Fire. His arm began pumping upwards, firing multiples punches already, the moment of impact coming. However, just as Mikoto's fist began it way towards Alistair's face, Alistair's fist curved and headed down towards Mikoto's face.

Whether it was through luck, planning or reflexes Alistair's fist hit first. Mikoto felt all of the power from his own attack be thrown right back in his face. Mikoto's head was flung backwards from the punch, he temporarily lost all consciousness. His world going black for a brief moment.

Despite losing consciousness Mikoto stayed standing. His legs didn't buckle under his own weight, whether it was just from his regular training regimen or his willpower at this point. He didn't want to fall against this guy. Even unconscious that singular thought permeated throughout his entire body.

Mikoto quickly snapped back to the world of the living and just in time, too. Alistair's attack soared right back at him piercing the space he just was. Was being the operative word. Even half-conscious Mikoto's speed was nothing to be trifled with. Of course, for the first time in this fight Mikoto had been forced to stop those legs.

Then again he was in no mood to keep them from moving. He could still feel the damage from Alistair's rough attack in his legs, but he wasn't about to stay still just because of that. Mikoto charged forward right into the midst once more. He bobbed and weaved all the up against his opponent. Once within his range Mikoto went for another strike, however this time he was a bit more weary of the counter.

Mikoto once more started out with the same light jabs to judge the distance, rushing in like a maniac would serve him no good here. He'd take his time and get back the same feeling of control once more. Once again Mikoto had no problem maintaining control. Alistair tended to ignore the body shots as his armor was more than sturdy enough to absorb them and he only used sways to avoid head shots.

Mikoto may have felt completely in control of the fight but Alistair was the one actually in control. He had feeding Mikoto's ego, letting him get in the cheap body shots while remaining in control of the part of him that actually mattered. His unguarded head couldn't possibly take a Rapid-Fire, so as long as he protected it and prepared a counter against it he would be more than fine and Mikoto would continue to flounder.

Alistair knew the target, technique and approximate speed of the only technique Mikoto had that frightened him. As long as he kept calm and continued to think around Mikoto's techniques he would have successfully sealed the crazy coyote's techniques and prevented him from ever managing to take him down.

Nothing else concerned Alistair's strategies. Mikoto's Geppou technique had to be factored in, just in case he tried to use an aerial Rapid-Fire, but that didn't matter too much to Alistair a counter to it would be all the same. After-Image suffered from similar problems as Geppou. As far as they were concerned they would only open up a chance for Mikoto to get a Rapid-Fire in, not defeat Alistair without it.

Alistair's preparations were all well placed. He was excellent at beating down Mikoto, it was going to be a harsh battle for the coyote. Even dodging his opponent's shots had been putting a large burden on Mikoto. His opponent was good at applying pressure to him.

Mikoto was finding it harder and harder to pry open an advantageous spot. Of course, he applied as much of his own pressure as he could, but it didn't seem to faze Alistair who remained calm even in the face of danger. It was simply a matter of difference in their experiences and ways of fighting.

Alistair naturally remained calm in the face of danger cause he had already concocted a plan he would see through to the end regardless of what happens. His faith in his brain lead to faith in his plan and faith in his victory.

Meanwhile Mikoto was a stark contrast. No plan, no faith, only attempts. His belief in his own strength didn't even matter as Alistair had already seen him through with a powerful counter, his own strength would be his downfall. Not to mention these small love taps to Alistair's gut didn't even seem to be affecting him.

Mikoto's speed was keeping Alistair pressured, if he dropped his fist too much or retreated it too much to guard with it, he'd lose his ability to counter and there was no way he could risk that. The slightest drop in his pressure would bring about the end of the fight. The pressure wasn't really something he considered all too important. It wouldn't defeat Mikoto. The counter or his baton were the only thing he could rely on to win.

Of course, Mikoto still wasn't on the end of his ropes either. He still had a few tricks left for himself. Then again he hadn't used them in awhile. His reliance on the Rapid-Fire and After-Image were just proof that he had lost his original power. He had come to rely on nothing more than those tricks, but he still had a few more of those tricks remaining from the old days.

First shift into his Beast form. Mikoto's entire body shrunk up into the small coyote form. Without arms and a much smaller body mass it lacked the power of both of his hybrid form and his human form, but it made up for it with a much more stream-lined body. Without the extra mass holding him back, his speed would undoubtedly increase.

Mikoto bolted forward like a missile. He covered the ground quickly and dashed beneath Alistair, he ran right in-between Alistair's legs, or almost. Mikoto transformed back into his human form at the last moment, stretching his arms out and sweeping Alistair's legs out from under him. Mikoto flipped over and pinned Alistair down using his human legs to keep him on the ground.

Mikoto pulled his arm back and instantly his fur covered his entire body as he returned his hybrid form. "Rapid-Fire x Twenty-Fi-"

Using his limited reach Alistair's hands snapped back with his baton and struck at Mikoto knee. Once more the force was greatly limited, but the baton's anti-Devil Fruit characteristics made it burn like the dickens and forced Mikoto off of him.

Mikoto had originally lacked the power of the Rapid-Fire and had relied on the variability of his Devil Fruit to push back opponents. Even back at Reverse Mountain he had the versatility of his Devil Fruit aiding him, but he had let it down over the recent fights letting it disappear into anonymity. Nonetheless he refused to allow it to continue to dissolve. He would apply all of his pressure here and now to finish up his opponent. Of course, he couldn't just keep it up with own techniques. As much as he hated it, he had said it before he hadn't used it in awhile. He couldn't keep up with it as he was currently.

His current power was too low, he needed to fight back with everything he had, everything he ever had. He couldn't use his Rapid-Fire and his other two techniques weren't enough to pummel him back. Even the flexibility of his three forms probably wasn't enough. Then again who said that was the limit of his powers?

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