Chapter 43

Grandline, Paradise, Jaya

The strawhats had been sailing for a few days now and finally arrived in Jaya, just as the sun began to rise. Not wanting to let such an opportunity slip through their hands the whole crew decided to leave the empty docks behind and explore the island. Though to a few of them it seemed strange that an island that was said to be a safe haven for pirates was so deserted but soon after entering the core of the city they saw why.

They arrived on a scene of two people standing opposite each other while bodies littered the floor around them. One of the two people was a big man with black hair while the other one seemed strangely familiar to the crew until they finally registered the man. Azul.

At first they wanted to rush forward to help him but a look from Zoro silenced them into not interrupting what seemed like single combat to him. And so they stayed and watched, over time understanding just how far away they were from being able to compete in the big leagues, or at least what they thought the big leagues to be.

Azul meanwhile assessed his opponent, just as he did Azul. Until, not wanting to wait any longer Azul rushed forward, kicking of the ground in a mighty jump, throwing a thrustkick right at Blackbeards c.h.e.s.t. Blackbeard however turned slightly to the side and tried to backhand the swiftly arriving Azul right into the face with his fist. In response Azul turned on his own axis, putting one hand on the ground and while dodging under the backhand whirled on the ground in a circular motion, kicking Blackbeards feet out from under said man who promptly crashed into the ground, groaning slightly from the impact but otherwise seemed completely fine. Azul though pressed on, not giving his opponent any chance to recover, raising his leg into the air and bringing it down upon Blackbeard whos eyes widened slightly before swiftly rolling out of the way, and not a second to soon. Azuls kick meanwhile arrived on the ground and with a resounding boom shattered the earth beneath his feet, sending cracks through the ground in a spiderwebs fashion. Blackbeard though had used his momentum from the roll he used to dodge the kick to come back on his feet and jumped a little backwards to gain some distance, assessing his opponent once more.

"I guess it's time to bring out the big guns ehh, boy? Zehahaha" Blackbeard said while laughing in excitement to finally be able to test his devilfruit against a strong opponent.

"Behold!" He spoke and began to get covered in darkness, which soon turned into a turning and twisting cloud right behind him, stretching and consuming a meter around the large fellow everything that wasn't strongly fixed onto something else.

Marveling at his own power Blackbeard began to laugh even louder and soon smashed his hand that was completely covered in darkness onto the ground, and the result made Azuls eyes sharpen in thought.

"Black hole!" Blackbeard roared, covering nearby houses, people and trees in darkness, which caused those to slowly descend into the all covering black mass, making many a victim scream out in fright or for help towards their comrades who in turn shrank back in fear. Azul meanwhile was also standing inside the fog and felt his control over fire slowly get siphoned away which made his eyes widen in realisation.

'No way. He can even absorb a devilfruits powers? F.u.c.k! I gotta take this a whole lot more serious than I thought!' Azul thought to himself, jumping out of the darkness, swiftly gaining back his control, before igniting his feet in midair into roaring red flames, now standing midair, and kept on observing the mad-laughing Blackbeard as he enjoyed the distruction he was causing towards his surroundings. Not long after his initial move everything he had wanted to sink had disappeared from view in the darkness below that began to receed towards Blackbeard. The moment it had reached him, Blackbeard thrust his hand back on to the ground and roared: "Expulsion!" which caused everything and everyone he had swallowed before to be spit out again, completely crushed from the gravity of his darkness.

Azul meanwhile had decided he had seen enough to formulate a rough idea about what Blackbeard seemed to be capable of and crouched down as if to jump towards his enemy, though what he did differed a little. Not wanting to play around any longer Azuls eyes turned yellow with a flash and dark grey thick hair started to sprout all over his body, his muscles bulging, growing in height, while his face was elongating and sharp canines grew from his mouth. Finishing of his transformation flames exploded from his arms and the rest of his legs, accompanied by an earthshattering roar that made everyone present flinch at the volume, even Blackbeard recoiled.

"So you ate a devilfruit as well? A mystical Zoan by the looks of it Zehahahaha" Blackbeard spoke while a few drops of sweat developped on his forehead. His control over his devilfruit was not as good as he wished it were, and fighting someone with a mystical Zoan would be a real challenge for his abilities!

Azul meanwhile had stood up to his full height of now 4 meters until he muttered, nearly unaudible:

"second form: forming the beast!", which tightened all the bulging muscles on Azuls form, reducing his overall huge form into a tighter, more human-like appearance while still retaining his appearance. One huge difference though was that his feet and arms now consisted of pure fire, as if they had been a piece of iron stuck too long inside the fire, shining with a redly white glow, the hottest form of fire. No more billowing flames to accompany him, no. Everything seemingly screamed efficency. After his change had been completed a glowing red light appeared in the middle of his c.h.e.s.t, glowing with a pulsating light.

Having witnessed his opponents change Blackbeards eyes narrowed. He knew exactly how dangerous Zoan-users were in close combat. After all he had had the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e before while he was sailing under Whitebeard. He needed to use every chance he could get his hands on to siphon off the mans devilfruit powers or this would be a short fight, judging by the temperatur the mans arms and legs were giving of, making the air around them flicker in heat.

"Black vortex!"

Following his outcry a strong suction force enveloped Azul who at first resisted the traction by using the air below his feet to keep him in place as if he were to push of a rock for example.

But soon he decided that this was a waste of time, since the gravity only seemed to increase, and let himself be pulled towards the blackhole in Blackbeards hand, who grinned at his success.

Soon the grin began to fade though as he tried to grab Azul by the neck as he rushed towards Blackbeard due to the suction, only to have his arm grabbed in turn, making him cry out in pain, as his skin sizzled and burned under the raw heat of the beasts arms. Following that was a lessening in the tractionforce, which the beast promptly used to smash his other arm into Blackbeards elbow from the inside, making Blackbeards pulling arm focus into a different direction, away from Azul who afterwards was completely free from the suction, making full use of it. Letting Blackbeards arm go he slashed his claws over the mans broad c.h.e.s.t, making his flesh burn and the appearing blood evaporate. Blackbeard having no other choice but to retreat once more tried to smash his fist into Azuls face but he instead ducked under it, brought his left hand onto the ground, and pushed himself into an upwards kick, with his head near the ground, smashing his right foot straight under Blackbeards chin, who was lifted into the air with blood flying out of his mouth. Not letting the moment slip through his hands, Azul crouched down onto all four while Blackbeard began to fall down, pulling a handgun out of his belt, hoping to regain some momentum by wounding his opponent and not giving his enemy any time to make his move. Azul though exploded forwards, growling in his deep beastly voice: "second stance: rising towards the sun!"

With an explosion of displaced air, cracking the ground behind him, Azul arrived below the falling Blackbeard whos eyes had widened in horror, seeing the brightening of the beasts arms until they were so bright it was hard to look into their direction. With an upwards jump Azul brought both of his arms in a crescent shape upwards onto Blackbeards back, slicing deeply into his backside, making him rise further into the air and cry out in pain once more, though Azuls move was not yet completed. He had thought this moveset out while watching the sun rise each morning. And so he implemented its rise over the sky into said move. First striking the opponent into the air with a slashing motion, afterwards increasing their rush through the air by a few kicks to the midsection and ending their journey by ruthlessly striking them with piercing claws straight into their sternum, crushing them beneath him in the earth.

His movement was accompanied by the earth getting torn to pieces for 20 meters in diameter, causing the astonished strawhats and nearby pirates to wobble on their feet, until only silence remained.

That was until a shot echoed through the air, hitting the unsuspecting Azul straight into the leg, making him fall onto one knee. Next a man descended from the sky, with wings for arms, right into the craters center where Blackbeard was located. The man hurried himself with retaining his captain, letting his walking stick fall to the ground, and pulling the uncouncious and heavily injured blackbeard out of the hole.

Meanwhile Azul tried to rush over to finish his fight, but was interrupted by another shot that he managed to dodge this time due to his haki, though he could not spot the shooter which meant he was incredibly far away.

Knowing he was being denied his victory, Azuls inner flame, fueled by the smirching of his honor as a warrior, roared and exploded out of him, increasing the temperatur around him enourmously, making the wingman sweat in dawning horror at the heat that was smashing into his face.

"You will not escape your fate Blackbeard! Your life is mine by right!" Azul roared to the heavens, making his hands turn into black miasma which he brought in a rush down upon his opponent, trying to ripp his soul away from him. The wingman however sensing the danger, smashed Azul into the face with a foot so that he could only touch Blackbeards soul slightly. Feeling his instincts cry in satisfaction, Azul focused on the point of contact with Blackbeards soul and found some of the miasma still being present there, which he could feel like a beacon at the back of his head. Concentrating he formed the miasma ontop of Blackbeards soul into a mark, which drilled itself into said mans soul.

'I will find you again Blackbeard. And next time you will not be so lucky!' Azul said with a violent grin, now having found a way to track down Blackbeard whereever he went, before turning himself back into his human form and marching out of the battleground while Blackbeard and the Birdman were flying away into the distance...