A Yonkou Supreme

The difference in the two warriors shone and everybody who had the pleasure of watching was in awe. It appeared as if Mikoto was managing to suppress Kai with speed. However, that was about the extent of it. It seemed like Mikoto was suppressing Kai, but in all honesty it was more like the other way around. Kai was snuffing out all of Mikoto's possible attack attempts.

None of his attacks pierced through the massive armored hull that was around the monstrous Kai. Not only that, but Kai was actually managing to keep up with Mikoto's punches. His shoulder block was exactly what made him a capable fighter. He matched his own blocks with Mikoto's rhythmic punches. Learning the distance was the first step and so far Kai had that all matched up. He knew the distance and the time it took for Mikoto's punch to land.

He was fast, but still inexperienced as far as Kai was concerned. He had some good fights, he had learned a lot, but not enough to be ready to fight some on the level of a Yonkou. And Kai was just the person to show the great distance that had been created between them. And he was going to do so now.

Kai stepped forward and let a punch flow. It was smooth, well-placed, and quick. Not at the same speed level as Mikoto's, but faster than most people could probably ever follow.

Nonetheless his punch found a good place even through the myriad of Mikoto's. Unlike Mikoto's technique which relied on finding a good spot to land a punch, Kai didn't need to bother with that bullcrap. Once more, perhaps had it been a more worthy opponent in his eyes he would've bothered with it. But his opinion towards Mikoto was incredibly low.

The guy looked frail, so there was no worry for Kai. Even a misplaced punch would knock the wind out of him. It was a good plan, and it probably would've worked had it not been for Mikoto's instincts and Haki. He weaved his head to the side and finally managed to get a good opinion from Kai. He knew this was a big deal, a nice trick and all of that stuff.

Especially when you recall that Mikoto's speed was much faster than Kai and even worse Kai always dropped his guard when he threw a punch. And now that was open. Had Kai landed that hit, without a doubt Mikoto would've been flattened out. But this was definitely different. Mikoto had gotten away clean once again.

Kai thought of himself as a giant and now he was going to be cut down by someone half his size. It was smooth, had a nice cut, and was quick. If it had had a lot more power than it could've possibly had cut Kai down. However, Mikoto's power was lacking and Kai's defense wasn't. Kai smiled, looking down at his opponent.

Kai's one free arm snapped forward, firmly lodging itself in Mikoto's liver and forcing him back. That immediately created distance between them, which would've made it even easier for Mikoto to use his legs, but he couldn't.

With just one punch Kai had managed to render all of Mikoto's punches useless. That punch was probably one of Kai's weaker blows, but it still shook Mikoto all the way to the bone. His legs had been brought to a near permanent stop. He couldn't rush around him again like he used. Mikoto shivered, taking a deep breath and tried to restart his legs.

A slight snap came through and Mikoto was going once more, but everybody could tell that it was slower than before. The stamina he had before had been cut in half, his body was already trying to tell him to stop. With just one punch Kai had managed to completely stump Mikoto's body. Mikoto ignored the pain. He stepped forward and without hesitation, punched.

It seemed as if the fight was beginning to swing back into Mikoto's favor. However, a desolate and ominous feeling overcame them all again as they understood that it wasn't going to happen like that. Things were going to repeat themselves. Kai had confirmed something during that last exchange. As long as they exchanged blows he would definitely come out on top. And now that Kai had a plan he would stick to it.

Kai plowed in. any distance that had formed in between them had disappeared like a magic trick. No matter what happens or how it occurs Kai understood to defeat Mikoto you needed to stop those feet. If you accomplished that then without a doubt you could pave the road to Mikoto's defeat. And Kai had stopped the feet of many other men, usually along with their breathing.

Mikoto managed to get some good hints on when Kai rushed him, but just as Kai thought Mikoto's pay-off wasn't nearly as big as his. Now that Kai was within hitting range that's exactly what he planned to do. Fast, powerful punches flew. Each one was enough to break down even a brick wall. Of course, what he was aiming at wasn't a brick wall.

Even with his legs dead Mikoto still had enough ability and skill to dodge. His upperbody alone was enough. He pivoted around using his waist, hips, and abdomen to vary the location of his chest, making it nearly impossible for his opponent to land even one clean hit amongst his superior speed and agility. Mikoto stayed on the defense and there was nothing wrong with that. As long as he could keep it up.

With every fist Kai threw it seemed like he drew closer and closer. Eventually one would connect, Mikoto's speed seemed only to be suppressing it, delaying the inevitable. One clean hit. One powerful hit would result in the end of the fight.

And that was his goal. The punches kept coming, clean and well-aimed. For the time being Mikoto had forced into a completely defensive role. And while he was keeping it up, it wouldn't be much longer now.

And it wasn't. A strong right broke through Mikoto's guard and sent him reeling back against a tree. Despite Mikoto's light and somewhat weak body, he still managed to dent the tree and embed himself into it. It was Kai's win.

Or was it?

Shane had fully recovered. He was already back on his feet, creating a blast of explosions all the way behind his arm as he rocketed it forward and right at Kai's head. Kai turned into it, lifting his guard up and taking the blow like a champion with his massive arms blocking him from most of the damage. Of course, in that instant Shane knew what was coming next. He knew it would be coming if this attack failed. He gritted his teeth and accepted it.

Kai's left fist swung up from below, knocking Shane's head up and exposing it to the world. And more importantly his right fist. The second blow came down like an axe right into Shane's face and forcing the proud warrior into the ground beneath him. Shane groaned as he clenched his stomach and even Mikoto who was still embedded in the nearby tree didn't move.

There was a soft and silent, yet still cocky laugh emanating from Kai's mouth. He turned to look at them both, both of them bowing down at his superior strength. He lifted his arms into the air and relished in the after fight warm bathing light. "This is why you don't need to bother heeding Lady Victoria Shogun's call. Cause as long as I grace this earth no human shall ever surpass me!"

He turned and began to leave, but stopped as he found a small group of miscellaneous pirates gathering in the woods. They had come from many different directions and they all remained paused in between a couple of tress, looking on at the destruction he had left in his wake. Kai took one last look behind him and took it all in for himself. With that he began to head back to Jugo's ship.

However, at the very edge of the clearing, he, Shane, and Mikoto had made with their rough fighting he came into an obstacle. He stopped, looking clearly at the person in front of him. Kai's mouth rippled as he quietly barked, "move." He was met with an odd resistance despite his recent show of force, "did you not hear me, whelp? I said move."

The man standing in his way was Hiro-Shu. The proud iron giant of the crew, who remained completely immovable in his path. Hiro-Shu moved his head slightly to look past that of Kai and at Mikoto who was just barely beginning to move out of the tree. Finally Hiro-Shu turned around and looked Kai straight in the eye.

"We're the Infinity Pirates," he stated as he took his own step forward, purposefully bumping Kai's shoulder, causing him to stagger slightly, "remember our name, because we will be removing you from your throne." This was the signal for the rest of the nearby pirates to move, almost all of whom belonged to one crew or the other. They rushed to their respective captain's side, except for Hiro-Shu who took his time in his gallant stride towards his captain.

Kai remained standing there for a few more seconds, completely befuddled. He had just squashed an insect of the lowest possible standing, and then another insect even farther below, at a standing Kai didn't even know existed just told him they were going to take him down? It was either foolish pride or misplaced trust in Kai's opinion, but...but all the same Kai was sweating as he watched the pirate walk past him.

The world was infinitesimally large place. From where Kai was standing the distance between him and Mikoto was impossibly large for him to ever overcome. But perhaps in comparison to the world it was really incredibly short. Kai disappeared fro

m the clearing without another word.

"We saw a bunch of people fall from the skies and then we heard explosions," chattered Rosa as she hovered over Mikoto, who had barely gained any kind of movement yet. Nonetheless he managed to smile.

"Who the heck was that?" shivered Lily as she glanced back behind her and through the trees where Kai had disappeared. "I've never seen him before."

"He's famous worldwide," muttered Zesiro as he looked over at them, "the fact that you haven't heard of him is surprising. Even outside of pirate circles he's well known. He's done a lot of stuff and I'm not jut talking about him beating the crap out of people. He's popular all over the place. But I guess I don't really need to explain it to you for what he's really well-known for. He's a Yonkou of incredible power and potential."

"Well, I guess that makes some sense here," moaned Sage as she looked at the poor and broken body of the proud captain. She knew he was never the strongest captain out there, but still this was just incredibly sad. Not to mention that Shane, another powerful partner was also in horrible shape. She couldn't believe how everything was beginning to look like.

Had they really come this far and really had that much further left to go? They had defeated three Shichibukais. Came all the way from the East Blue and yet...and yet there was still a monster like that? Somebody who could still fight like that and win with such insane strength and power? And if there was how many other people like that are left?

There are four Yonkous, three Admirals, one Fleet Admiral, and four more Shichibukais waiting in the wings. Sage could almost feel the life leaving her body. There was really that many remaining? It seemed impossibly high. They had come so far and yet they still had so much further to go. And another careful glance back at Mikoto brought up the most important question.

Could they really do it?

Another Yonkou?

The Third Side of the War