Chapter 42

Grandline, Paradise, Jaya

Early in the morning on his third day on Jaya, Azul strechted himself and with a giant yawn stepped off of his vessel, beginning his stretching routine that he once again incorporated whenever he landed on an island followed by the practise of some movements to get his tired extremities working, just as the sun peeked over the horizon as if to check if the air was clear enough to rise and shine. After another half an hour Azul was ready for the day and started to think on what to do today. Originally he wanted to find some opponent to fight against but all the pirates on this island seemed so unbelievably fragile that he didn't feel like doing so. Instead he had decided to train a little in solitude, so his skills didn't rust. And so he ventured towards the town once again to buy some breakfast, which tasted alright for his tastes. Could have been worse, for example if he were to cook himself. As he was wolfing down his breakfast and rinsed the remaining food down his throat some kind of argument attracted his attention from the outside. At first he thought it was nothing but the usual morons but then he felt his instincts glow in yearning, making him laugh in delight, earning him a few weird glances from the now slowly hungover pirates that slept in the bar, before walking out of the bar. What greeted him was a group of three men and two women, pirates from the looks of it, standing before a big-ass man with a white shirt and long black hair tied together under some kind of black bandana and a bottle of rum in his hands, occasionally taking a large bite out of a pile of pies. He had a menacing grin on his face, missing a few teeth, and laughing loudly after one of the group of men yelled at him which earned said man a violent fist into his face, making the rest draw their weapons in reaction.

"You will pay for your crimes Teach! Old man Whitebeard will not let you get away with what you've done!" another man yelled before charging at the large man with a warcry, followed by his squad, all being swiftly knocked down, hard.

"Zehahahahaha, the old man has no power over me and soon I'll be unstoppable! Look at me now! I've already aquired the strongest devilfruit there is! Who could possibly stop me? You? Zehahahahaha!" The large fellow laughed, making many bystanders step back, except the occasional rockie pirate that thought himself to be a bigshot that could take on the world.

One of those rookie pirates, ignoring the context of their previous discussion completely, walked up to the large fellow with a c.o.c.ky grin on his masked face. Pulling a long knife out of his belt and leaning it on his shoulder he couldn't help but look down on the fatty.

"You rookies get c.o.c.kier by the day, you know that fatty? If you are lucky my captain could offer you a position on his ship grahahaha" The man in the furmantle with the knife on his shoulder laughed, throwing his head back.

Some bystander couldn't help but murmur to some collegue of his: "That's the first mate of Bellamy the hyena! Now the big guy is in some serious trouble. Especially if his captain shows up. Did you witness how Bellamy took out that executioner guy the other day? F.u.c.k.i.n.g scary, I tell ya!"

The little man whispered, gulping at what he had witnessed the other day.

"Rookie? You little shit are calling ME a rookie? Zehahahahaha! I've been sailing the seas since before you were born boy! Zehahahaha" The large man laughed the man right into the face, occasionally gulping down large mouths full of rum, bringing a slight redness to his cheeks.

"You damn fatso! I'll show you just who the roo-" with a bang the mans face got carved in and he flew straight through the crowd that had come to spectate the explosive conversation. Though it wasn't the large man that had sent the first mate flying. No, it was another large fellow. One who didn't wear a shirt but besides his trousers wore nothing but a bloodthirsty grin on his face, eyes alight with excitment.

"So you are a former member of the Whitebeard-pirates ehh? My lucky day to finally find a worthy opponent at last! I had given up hope by now, hehehehe" Azul laughed in a happy manner, while cracking his neck left and right, never leaving the big man out of his sight.

His words though made the crowds eyes widen in shock. Whitebeard-pirates? For real? And this moron was actually picking a fight with such a guy?

"Zehahahaha, would you look at that! A man after my own tastes! How would you like to join my crew? Blackbeard is my name and I'll be sailing for the new world once I've gotten myself a proper crew, Zehahahaha" Blackbeard said, while spreading his big arms in invitation to join him on his endevours.

"And become your subordinate and a pirate at that? Please, don't insult me like that. I want no part in your pathetic little band of treasure hunters or some such. No, I want only one thing, but you'll probably not gonna give it to me for free so I'll have to take it from you by force. Luckily for me, I like that part the most!" Azul said, bringing his left leg to the front and his hands up in a guard, a monstrous grin on his face, before he unleashed his haki on the surroundings, making Blackbeards eyes widen in surprise. The heat of the air rose, the ground cracked and small pebbles of dirt ascended around Azul slowly into the air while the crowd began to collapse one by one until only those a 100 meters away could stay standing, sweating bullets while doing so.

"Conquerors haki! Never expected to meet another king here of all places!" Blackbeard said while standing up, unleashing his own conquerors haki, making them clash in between them, with none getting the upperhand. That however was soon forgotten as Azul hardened his face, all excitment forgotten, sharpening his mind, and rushed forward towards his opponent, whom he had admittedly underestimated. Never again! And so the battle began which would soon become known as 'the reckoning' in remembrance for the one that emerged victorious from the fight...