Old and New

Mikoto side-stepped the first few incoming blows from Alistair's baton, ducking and weaving with swift steps forward until he back in front of Alistair. He wasn't quite certain about returning to the basics, its been too long since he had used them and relied on them alone. He would have to merge all of the abilities and techniques he had learned and obtained so far in a brilliant burst.

And to start it off he'd go big. If he remembered what he had learned, his latest ability wasn't something suited to offense either. The Colors of Observation Haki would only further augment his speed and defense. He needed something that was offensive. Something of equal level to the Rapid-Fire. He had no idea of what that something was, but he was confident that he'd discover it.

When the going got tough the quicker he learned. He had heard people developed quickly in cases like this and he assumed he was just like one of those. Mikoto pushed back against the ground and felt his legs completely tense up. Something of equal power? It took him awhile to think of how to create the Rapid-Fire and he was surprised at how it turned out.

"If you're giving up, can you speed it up and just jump off of the side of the ship?" asked Alistair, "I'd rather not have to toss you off myself."

"I'm afraid you're going to be the one giving up in a second!" Mikoto growled as he jumped up and into the sky. Geppou was a good start. He began bouncing left and right, letting his speed gradually build up as his entire body ricocheted back and forth.

The slender baton slid out of Alistair's coat as he turned around to take aim at Mikoto, sensing an attack coming from him. He'd counter any attack Mikoto launched at him. He could already predict what it was going to be as well, the guy was all too predictable.

Suddenly Mikoto's body shot out like a rocket, his entire body supporting his next punch. He turned his side-to-side motion that he had created with his Geppou into pure forward motion. All of the speed and strength his body could summon was formed right behind his punch. If Mikoto's punch connected with Alistair it would've been without a doubt a finishing blow.

However, Mikoto's momentum and strength had not only been stolen from him, but it was dealt right back at him in the form of a counter. Alistair's entire body rotated into the blow, his superior intellect telling him exactly where Mikoto was coming from and where he would've been at the moment his swing finished.

Alistair may not have had the speed and instinct as Mikoto, but he was gifted with a godly process of thought. Against someone like Mikoto's whose techniques and skills were well known due to his antics Alistair could skip past the getting to understand their style phase and instead focus only on getting to know his speed and power levels. Had it been Bando, a man with no great reputation, he would've had more time to beat him down before he could counter him so well.

There was, unfortunately, no time for Mikoto to change up his style and learn a new fighting style, so he would just have to improvise. He lifted his body up and off of the ground, his eyes becoming fiercely trained on his opponent.

"I saw that coming," Mikoto muttered as he came up and onto his feet. His Colors of Observation Haki had warned him in time, but he supposed it was too much to believe that a few spars with Zesiro would turn him into a master of the technique. He was well-trained enough so he sensed it at the last moment and could use Geppou to slam on the brakes, but it didn't completely reduce the damage.

"Well, that was a learning process," muttered Mikoto as he rolled his head around between his shoulders. "I guess I shouldn't count on using that technique against you any more, huh?"

"That's right," Alistair pointed out, "a 'flowing right' is a classic blow. You throw a punch while you run past your opponent. Its a good moving technique that allows you to put all of your weight behind a punch while staying in motion. Ordinarily such a punch would be a good move for you, but the more movement one of your punches have to it..."

"The easier it is to counter," Mikoto stated piecing it all together. So, a small punch that still has as much power and speed as his Rapid-Fire? Was such a thing even possible? "I guess until I figure out how to take you down I'll just stick to my usual methods. Gatling." Mikoto stepped forward ad let loose a blitz of powerful and quick punches with no real target in mind.

They were quick and varied. Mikoto was letting his body decide where the punches went, so Alistair couldn't use his knowledge to predict where Mikoto was aiming. It was a nice attempt, but nonetheless Alistair was still reading Mikoto's body perfectly.

Finally Mikoto twisted around, catapulting himself above Alistair's head and landing back on his feet only to take back to the sky with Geppou. Only this time he didn't rely on his Geppou to build up speed and instead just kept climbing into the sky. Alistair tired to keep watch of Mikoto, but Mikoto planned his run right past the sun, temporarily blinding Alistair.

Mikoto's entire body began to rotate around into a powerful. Using one of his legs to use Geppou and create a sideways motion he turned himself around again and again. "Wolfen Drill!" Mikoto turned around, placing his claws together to form a sharp spinning point. From there Mikoto used his Geppou once more to kick himself off.

A powerful spinning drilling blow right at his opponent. With his claws leading the assault and his arms spinning in front of his face Alistair's powerful counter couldn't even touch him. The tension grew thick as Mikoto narrowed in on Alistair, the powerful twisting mass of fangs and claws drawing near.

At the very last moment Alistair side-stepped, but Mikoto with his Haki sensed such a move coming from him and applied a smooth steer with Geppou to change direction and followed him. However, with the slightest amount of distance re-appearing in them Alistair had enough time to flick his baton out, smashing it into Mikoto and using the change of his direction back against him, wheeling the captain back and into the ground.

The same strong burning sensation was welling up in Mikoto, he was having trouble fighting back against it. He took a deep breath and tried to remain steady. Even worse than the repeated blows to his body was the repeated blows to his ego. Everything Mikoto used and summoned up was repetitively knocked down by Alistair's superior thought-process.

Mikoto slid back a few feet as he pumped his legs for a few minutes to get the blood pumping again.

"Are you out of options yet?" asked Alistair as he threateningly waved at his baton at him, "cause I am getting so tired of beating you up."

Mikoto whipped up into the air, throwing his entire weight behind a vicious downwards kick. Alistair blocked the blow with ease, reaching forward he wrapped his arm around Mikoto's leg and pulled him in close. Mikoto rolled around and onto his back. From there he launched several quick kicks right at his gut.

Alistiar released the grip and backed off of the coyote. Mikoto twisted around and immediately transformed into his beast form. A rush forward right at his opponent met with a massive swing from Alistair, but Mikoto was quick, transforming back into his hybrid form and flipping over the swing. Immediately Mikoto launched into another attack.

"Gigant Wolf Fang!" Mikoto aimed a dual attack at his opponent, one from below and one from above. Alistair's head rolled to the side as his arm rolled up and right back down aiming right back at Mikoto's attack.

Another smooth transition between his blows came again and again. Twisting around, Mikoto landed on the ground, rapidly whipping another kick out from his body and right at Alistair. Back to the basics. That was his goal. And he had the perfect technique to show off!

"Beast!" shouted Mikoto as he transformed back into his beast form. It was much smaller than the previous ones and a lot faster. Mikoto zigged and zagged his way back up and into his opponent's chest. He rolled over and even with the awkward body of a coyote, he could still twist around and use his front legs to steady himself. However, he was far from done. He quickly tucked his entire body down and tensed up.

"Human!" Mikoto's tiny and crunched up body, sprang free, completely. On top of that as he transformed from his beast to human form he had the momentum from the extending into a human form. His two legs jetted out and struck the air around Alistair's head, one on each side.

"What are you-"

The momentum continued to shift Mikoto's entire body was lifted into the air as his legs locked around Alistair's shoulders. "And Hybrid!" Mikoto glared down at Alistair as his legs locked in around Alistair's head, holding it steady. "Before I came to the Grand Line when I was back in the East Blue, the Three Form Melee was my strongest technique and now the Rapid-Fire is my best move. However, I always used them on separate incidents. So I guess you're lucky. You're the first person to face me at my best of two different seas."

"Get off of me!" barked Alistair, but Mikoto just grinned ear-to-ear.

"Twin Rapid-Fire x 100!" Mikoto shouted as he threw both of his fists back. Alistair panicked, grabbing his baton and tried to make a swing at Mikoto, but Mikoto just flexed his legs and tried to keep his arms in place using sheer muscles.

"Stop!" Alistair shouted, "this is the beginning of my era! You can't stop me! This is the beginning of the Fox Era! It'll be my time to shine! Nobody will be able to stop me! I'll take control of the entire world with this power! With this power nobody will be able to stop me! Not even you! Just wait and see with this power I will become a god!"

"I'm afraid that power will be just a little bit too late!" shouted Mikoto as his hands shot forward, finding its mark right on Alistair's cheek. They began to alternate, one right after the other. Left, then right, right then left. It came out quicker and quicker, forming a nearly simultaneous series of blows. They blurred together, throwing the monster back and against the ground.

With Mikoto's legs locked around his opponent's body, he couldn't fly back to lessen the damage and instead all of the damage was emptied out right in his head and neck. Finally Mikoto's continuous chain of 100 blows finished up and threw Alistair back, prying Alistair out of his legs and forcing him all the way across the small ship and against the ground. Mikoto landed on the ground, his two arms both hanging uselessly at his sides. Mikoto was going to declare himself the victor when he saw Alistair shuffle once more.

Alistair's body was lifted off of the floor. His breath heavy and ragged. His nose was crooked and bleeding, he was in no shape to do anything, but the fact was that he was somehow still capable of managing to bring himself up this much. He was already sitting up and his body was beginning to continue to stand up.

"I'm going to be a king...a champion! I will not let you bring me down here and now! I'll be the king once and for all, no matter what."

Mikoto lowered himself down, lowering his center of gravity. He separated his legs and stood astride, eying up Alistair from a distance. The once proud Shichibukai didn't even seem to recognize that he was here. Mikoto dashed forward, slamming on his speed and kicking off with all of his power.

Mikoto spun around and fired a powerful kick right up and through the air, catching Alistair's head and blowing him back and right off of the ship. Mikoto could hear Alistair's remaining cries of defiance on the way down.

The Man Who Took Down Three Shichibukais