"Hey!" Roared a familiar voice several feet behind both Shio and Akura."Yee just gonna stand there waitin' yer master like a good lit'l pup or are we gonna have that date now?"The blonde stood boldly. A single hand slid deep into her pocket while the other clutched tightly onto a burlap sack of loot that she'd raided moments before arriving. Oddly enough, Goldilocks didn't seem all too phase by the clashing powers of the world's strongest booming and zipping across Torino Kingdom. She had a hardy constitution and an incredible resolve that bordered close to stubborn idiocy. As she addressed Akura there was a wild smirk that stretched her lips, similar to that of the Cheshire smile that was embedded into the Herculean man's flesh. There was a certain fire in her eyes that brimmed with passion, if not, a bit sadistic and crazed. Naturally, she knew the odds were stacked against her, duking it out with the right hand of one of the Yonkou but nevertheless she was prepared to prove her worth. She emitted her own, feint spirit, a veil of darkness shrouded her in a black mist; sizzling from her like thin ribbons of fire.
"It ain't polite tah keep a girl waitin' ya know."
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The battle between Yonkou first mate and Seven Warlord had been heating up. Several attacks exchanged - none a killing blow, but it was clear Akura had been on the defensive for most of the bout. With his last kingdom splitting assault, Shio had been thrown away to leave him to his own devices. Standing from his latest attack, he wiped himself off before lifting his giant sword above his head with a single arm, turning slyly to eye Goldi from behind himself. Eyes slit, staring, not saying a word. He didn't have time for this, but the promise from earlier would weight heavily on him if he didn't comply. His body turned, a electricity flowing off his form and coursing off into the air - the natural ability of the Mink tribe. Electro. "Fine. I will indulge your plea, woman." Air crackled, sparking under his might; his fury completely destroying the earth which he stood on. Slowly he'd step towards her, body rising, then falling, with each passing moment. It seemed that the man from earlier was no longer present and only the beast remained. "The only mercy I allow is not killing you. However -" The instant his word finished, he was in front of her, hand out to grab her neck and toss Goldi into a building a few feet away. " - I spare no quarter otherwise." There he stood in his majesty. There she lay beneath him. As it should be. As it would be.
In an blinding flash the man was in front of her. Goldilocks could hardly blink before realizing that she was being held up by the throat several feet above the ground. Suddenly, she felt a rush of air striking her back and her opponent's image becoming distant. The impact of her back slamming through a concrete wall jarred her but the pain meant nothing to her. She was caught off guard. Surely, she knew the man was strong but she'd underestimated how illogically swift he was with such a large body. Her body lay slumped against a bed of rubble. The taste of copper ripe in her mouth as a trickle of blood trailed down from her lip to her chin. There was a moment of numbness but her body was quick to repair itself using the dark instrument stored within her. The towering shadow of the broad giant loomed over her. Her gaze met the crimsons in his eyes as he spoke his bold words,"Wouldn't have it any other way~"She chimed, her tongue sweeping up her own blood; leaving only a light reddened stain against her jawline.
And then everything grew black.
A ghastly purplish void suddenly pooled at Akura's feet. It layered the cracked walls and the holed, collapsing ceiling. This vile lagoon bit at the man's feet and started to urge him into the bottomless pit like quick sand; the more he'd fight the harder gravity would fight back. Without the use of her hands Goldy's body arched and contorted from the ground and back on its feet like some undead beast. Her eye never left him, her stare was spryly menacing."Now sink!"The woman snapped her fingers. The pit instantly increasing its efforts to swallow the man whole at a more hastened pace. Instead of a slow, proper meal, the blackhole was going to devour the titan all at once without chewing.
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The cockiness to stand before him and to think for even a moment she was able to do so, brought a brow to quirk. Her sauntering stance to get right back up after such an attack intrigued him; as if this was all but a game to her. Perhaps she didn't quite understand the concept of life and death or it was a possibility she was above it all. Who knew. Either way, it was clear Goldi was a glutton for punishment. Though she held her reasons, he saw that when the mist of black first starting coming off her form. The formation of black and purple didn't make him shiver or fear. There were two assumptions here as the dark pulled him down and that she was either a Paramecia User or a Logia one. If the latter, then this was going to much easier than he initially thought. "I'll teach you a lesson about Devil Fruits." His words would blanket over her darkness, a single fist raising in the air as he sank deeper, but still no alarm to his features. "For you Logia, your element is considered a portion of yourself. Anyone able to use Haki will be able to hurt you if your element is spread throughout the area." With a quick slam, his fist went straight into her darkness, coated by a black armor - the most advanced Busoshoku Haki.
It'd connect with her own body, sending her reeling in whatever direction she so chose. The force of said blood a serious contender for the amount of pain she could take; enhanced with Haki only made said attack stronger. This was the power of a Yonkou's Right Hand and Goldi dared act as if something as simple as this was enough? Through her pain he'd walk out the darkness, the coating keeping him from being swallowed any longer. It had to be frightening to see such a monster stroll through something you thought you controlled. "Do not rely on your Devil Fruit girl. It is an asset, not a weapon. You are the weapon." He'd await for her to come at him again this time, to continue to. . teach, he should say.
Sinking as expected but much slower as she'd hoped.
The force of her pool was nothing minor, It was difficult for a normal man to combat gravity, let alone the force of a concentrated black hole; but this was no mere man. She watched his fist grow black as he lectured her on the intricacies of combating Devil Fruits and their uses. She'd never witnessed Haki before but she'd seen the word tossed around in combat-based books and instruction manuals now and again. Its force when slamming into the pool of darkness her body had been attached to, however, was enough for her to reel in pain when he struck it.
The blackness was quick to retreat back to her, like a wounded pup. It snapped back to her person and sent the rest of her careening through the rest of the building and out back into the open. The left foot that was once the pool returned to its physical state, mangled and crushed but not beyond repair for someone with her capabilities. She'd half holler, half moan from the pain, the oddities of her masochistic self showing as she shivered from excitement. Goldilocks skipped across the ground once, then twice before regaining her composure mid-flight to come to a skidding halt.
Even still, she could here his lesson in battle ethics, being schooled into not using her fruit as a weapon but as an asset. The blackness within her was quick to repair her body. Her wounds were sewn shut, the shattered bones within her foot were mended back into one cohesive unit. Muscle structure recomposed and made new. However, this wasn't the swiftest of processes but given her rush of adrenaline her body healed a little faster."An asset, aye?"She murmured, her smirk now replaced by a mildly arrogant scowl as she stumbled back to her feet; her pitch black hands digging deep into the dirt so she could balance herself to get up. The blackness faded exclusively from her hands to create a veil around her body. The strike and his resurfacing had left a good dozen feet between them and that much distance from the slowly crumbling building and its debris.
Goldilocks reached for something at her waist. Revealing a chain that was bound several times around her. And at her side was a girthy anchor three feet in length; just inches above the ground. She unraveled the long twine of chain from around her. Then she'd grip its tail end, wrap it around the knuckles on her left hand, then clutch near its center with her right. Excluding the anchor, the chain was around ten feet. She twirled the large object effortlessly at her side. The anchor and chain becoming a mystified purplish-black just like her back had before and its weight was deceptively heavy."Alright, big guy. Round two!"She barked before taking off into a sprint to close the distance a few feet before throwing out her anchor. As it sped towards him Akura would notice something off with it. It wasn't shooting towards him in a straight line, but rather curving hard from the left then zig-zagging in motion as if being manipulated like an extension of the blonde pirate herself. In its course it'd wind up shotting from the left side, aiming to drill into Akura's spine.
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The view from where he stood was a resounding defeat. Eyes of dark crimson dare not peer at the sight of such disposal; it was beneath him to watch an enemy fall so suddenly and just as sound. For a moment of peace was spared, he'd take it to analyze what she'd just shown him. His hand rose, staring it it with a far off but apparent gaze, stronger than average. Her power was unique, but a logia nonetheless. If he could somehow teach her, hone her, she could be. . Bah! He didn't have time for that right now. Shaking his head from side to side, Akura turned to prepare an exit. Surely she was down for the count after an attack like that. "Master Dekura is probably facing off against that Blackheart. Not to mention, the woman is still roaming about. I best make haste befor-"Something was amiss. Suddenly, his nose sniffed upward, eyes slit. Body grew tense in warning. He'd shift back around slowly to see that the woman he'd struck earlier was still very much alive and making her way back to him with some sort of chain in hand. But. . There was no way she could be standing after a blow like that. Though he wasn't serious, he'd gauged her power. That attack should've left her wounded a bit more than this.
"As I thought, her power must be far more complex than simply controlling that black mist." To what end would he behold this woman's ability. Before, you could say Akura was paying mind to Goldilocks. The way she held herself. The way she spoke and walked. It did form some sort of minute attraction, but now. . Could it be excitement growing within the beast? If even for a moment, she'd see it; the almost crazed look in his eye from this kind of combat. While it was true Dekura was the leader of the Mad Cat pirates, that didn't per say mean he was the strongest. Oh no, what Goldi faced. What she'd awakened, was a feral monstrosity that'd been locked away from the world. Afraid to show his true face. And now? Well. . The kicker was right on the horizon. All the destruction, the decay! The vile sight of it all was so familiar to him that it almost brought a beautiful tear. Romance was in the air!
The snake like chain caught his eye, but he cared not for it. In a massive hulk, a full on sprint occurred within the span of Goldi covering her distance. He'd meet her right there at the halfway point just as her chain went whipping out. A free arm would grasp it as other let the force from his initial run go full force into her body, a tackle that'd send her flying off into the distance once again. But he hadn't done this to just do harm, to see it first hand. This power she had to seemingly return from the dead.
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A split second. Only for a split second did she see that sadistic grin.
Was Goldilocks actually able to invoke an emotional response from the titan?
She felt the pulling of her anchor once it was caught. However, she'd expected this much as well as her own loss but she'd at least prove that she wasn't one of weak body and mind. Her resolve was a chaotic, if not suicidal one, but it was her own nonetheless.
Just one punch.That was her short-term goal, just a single punch. She let herself be swept from her feet, having used the momentum and this fractionally cracked open window of opportunity to rocket herself onward into a collision course with the unstoppable force veering into her. Her arm shot out moments before impact, her fist wound up colliding with the man's nose just as he'd strike her down with his grand chariot charge of a tackle. Despite how hardy a single person was, the face was littered with soft spots, the nose being one of the easier to damage targets. He may not have noticed her strike, for immediately after she'd be sent flying in the opposite direction, but eventually he'd notice the blood and the stinging pain of a possibly broken nose.
Like a ball of iron being shoot from its cannon, Goldilocks was sent careening away from Akura in a stagnantly straight arrow. Like an aircraft touching ground she'd come to a slow impact with the surface before tumbling countless times across the dirt like a skipping pebble. Her body's flight finally came to an end as it lay limp nearly out of the man's visage. Still as the fading clouds out in this unusually open space. Had they already bypassed all of the buildings? Even through her entangled hair which masked her one good eye, she could still peer into the sky. A flash of reflection coursed through her mind as the darkness surrounded her and a smirk graced her lips once more. Thoughts of the choices she'd made and the ones she planned on following through with. Bones cracked, the leaking of blood from her mouth and her numerous wounds were stitched up by the power of her fruit without even lifting a finger.
Ah, that was right.
She needed something that made her as durable physically as she was mentally. A jack of all trades, master of none mentality gave her every skill she'd need on her journey. Even if she had to ventured through the New World on her own she was more than capable and more than prepared enough to do so.She murmured. A diminishing chuckle followed. Her reflective thoughts were washed away in an instant. She didn't need to reminisce on the past as some sort of psychiatric parlor trick to move on to the future. An arm rose to the air, her clothes tattered but her flesh was free of marks and bruises. The rest of her body followed as if the darkness itself guided her back to her feet like some sort of marionette doll. Of course, the damage hadn't been completely nullified, the portion that wasn't just cosmetic just made sure that she didn't die from her wounds. The pain and dizziness she felt was all quite real.
Without ceasing, undoubtedly, Goldi's fist would collide directly with its mark!
Akura hadn't felt. . pain in quite some time. The shocking feel of the collision with his face caused him to tense for all but a moment. Even the gash on his shoulder wasn't anything like this; for one reason or another, this hurt so much more. This was true pain. It was a psychological factor. While he was sure, so sure, that this was farther beneath him than the sun to an ant, she had somehow landed a blow. Somehow, hurt him! That Blackheart from earlier, he'd expected that. He'd seen her power and everything that she was capable of doing. But this woman. . ! A free hand went up slowly, touching his bloodied nose for a moment. There wasn't even a lot, only a small trickle, but it had been enough to wake him from his peaceful slumber. The realization that he, the strongest of the Mad Cat Pirates, had actually been hurt, slowly set itself in. Like iron striking hit, the chord hit was like no other. All of his restraint diminished to an astounding degree. It was pointless to hold back against this woman.
Her determination was as amazing as her fruit. With his own two eyes he'd watch the girl rise from the dead yet again, this time he himself saw just what her fruit was giving her. It healed. Broken bones. Wounds. Cuts. Gashes. It healed it all! What in the world kind of power was this? His astonishment slowly quelled, hand going down to his side. This entire time he hadn't even been using twenty five percent of his actual power, but she'd done it. Unlocked his cage and now, she was going to get one hundred percent! Feral slit hues stared forth as her hand shot out, a single foot stepping forward in protest of her foolish command. Come?! Who in heavens hell was she to command him?! "You impudent girl!" His voice had changed. The calm and quaint Akura, had finally been shaken. Body mass began to shift, he grew larger. Skin that prior was a almost pale became dark black and hair flourished down his backside. Of course, he too had eaten a devil fruit, but he hadn't used it in quite some time. The transformation engulfed his form, destroying all prior thoughts on making sure the woman was at least safe.
Now, he'd have no choice but to eat her alive. "You. . With those eyes. . You test me?! You dare look upon me as if we are some kind of equal?! Then let me show what true strength looks like." With a single step he shook mountains. A single breath, a civilization could be ended. The man who'd alone was strong enough to be said to be able to take down an entire armada and never held a single scratch to tell the tale. This was Akura Lyon and he was to be her judge. With his form now completely different and power having risen to unseen heights, he'd merely wave his hand to the air. After, a sonic blast of pressure was sent forward in a crescent, smashing directly into the darkness summoned and careening away. It was like wind to a flame! In the second instant he'd finished his wave, Akura was behind her, standing in a mist of gold. His Devil fruit was one of the rarest the world had ever seen - a Mythical Zoan, The Nemean Lion. "Do you see now. ." It was a slow utterance to a quick assault; a simple flick. Enough power int it to send Goldi flying high into the sky, though he'd watch with cold eyes.". . the difference in our strength?"
Yes, the difference in their strength. In terms of actual raw power and speed, the flaxen freebooter was no match for the titan. Even as his strike drilled into her body she could feel a shock-wave of pure strength ripple her soul and shred the majority of her clothing in a sudden burst.
A Mythical Zoan? Well, that made sense.
There was an ability that held no counter-playability and she possessed it, however, the means to perform it through physical contact was nearly impossible. With a single, blinding motion, the blow threw skyward, the brisk wind hammering mercilessly against her half-naked back. She'd been blown away so hard that the velocity at which her body soared had broken the sound barrier. The air around her shattered, causing a thunderous quake through the skies. And yet, somehow, Goldilocks remained conscious. Dazed and fatigued, the pain coursing through her was inexplicable but darkness within her did its best to hastily stitch and repair her broken bones and internal bleeding. The pirate hat that once perched firmly atop her head had whimsically sailed through the air as its descent would end long before its owner.
How many times was this now? The number of time she'd been at Death's door? At this point she was a welcome guest in his home.
Another moment to think, but once again this moment wasn't seized. She wasn't down for the count just yet. Even as she became a darkened figure in the sky reaching the height of her ascension she mustered up just enough strength from her brief recovery to lift a single finger into the sky. Who it was directed at was unclear. However, Goldy would need to act now while her fatigued but partially repaired body allowed her to.
Ever since his first lecture Goldilocks had taken the words about her Devil Fruit abilities to heart; despite her unusual way of showing her gratitude. The woman was both a fighter and a strategist, going in bull-headed had been a ploy to setup her end-game; but she hadn't expected on getting her a** handed to her so badly. Recalling her rejuvenated form after the second time she'd been knocked down and sent out of the already broken up building, the darkness that once swarmed her palm that dug into the earth hadn't faded because she dispelled her fruit. No, she'd used her power to create a massive pool unbeknownst to Akura as he'd been facing Goldy at that time and not the carnage he'd left behind for her. To any bystanders the battlefield that was once littered with the scattered debris of annihilated buildings had now become a barren wasteland, just as the shrinking pool of blackness swallowed up the final, tipped-top of a roof before vanishing. What was devoured from a bird's eye view would've been a noticeable chunk of Torino Kingdom itself.
As Goldy's body returned to life yet again, a rift of darkness tore open the sky and blotted out the sun around those below her. It stretched and expanded and took the shape of the eye of something unholy. She knew she'd only have one chance at this so she needed to make it count. Even with the man's phenomenal speed there was no way he could comprehend what was happening and then reach her at this distance in the short time frame allotted. Her control over this ability was heavily limited as she hadn't yet found a full grasp over her powers.
LIBERATION!!!
Suddenly, an immeasurable amount of destruction was released from the fully expanded blackhole that lay in the sky. Debris of all forms. Stone and brick and metal. All from the various destroyed buildings in the area. A true hailstorm of chaos reigned down upon the earth, heating up and burning like a flurry of meteors falling from the sky; varying in size from medium sized rocks to full structures that towered nearly twenty feet. Some would scatter into the ocean, other recklessly at the shore and onto the earth as they held no clear path but the majority of the cascading death had been focused onto Akura's general location. As she sent her barrage at the first-mate, the pièce de résistance had come last in the form of a half eaten obelisk taken from the great tree of the island itself. Upon this hunk of would the size of seven men was the pirate herself. She perched upon it as if surfing through the sky as a falling star, guiding it like a captain would its vessel with her blackness. It followed behind the rest but was much large. Its weight when striking the air built an incredible amount of atmospheric friction that set its face ablaze and begun spreading across its body. And as the debris pelted the surface below, leaving marks of scorched earth and destruction in its wake, Goldy was on a suicidal collision course with her designated target.
"Brrreeeeeee-hyakahahahahahahaha!"She laughed maniacally. No regard for human life.
The may have been the Mad Cat Pirates, but Goldilocks was sure that she was the only one with nine lives.
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Her power was noted. Her foolishness, noted. But her tact for self preservation and a mind that knew no bounds for regards other than the life humans so regularly lived - she'd equally discarded it all for a single ditch effort towards victory. The sight of her body going soaring off into the distance would never strike him as the end. Every time he struck her, she rose more powerful than before. Every time he put her down, she got right back up with this flaming look in her eyes. As if she was the one who was standing above the other. As if she were strong enough to stop him, to put up a fight in which the likes he'd never seen. Only once had he met someone with such a tenacious spirit that wasn't apart of their crew and that man was already a Yonkou. In respect he wouldn't turn away from her fleeting sight; as she was, a start flying true away and back to the skies which she'd pay homage to. Perhaps he would rue the day he trifled with this woman. As it was, he strength was minuscule in comparison but her power, it spoke for itself! The excitement once before welled again, shaking him. Knocking down the previous mental walls set in place so that this one man could ascertain the power he'd left behind for this duel.
Her Will was as strong as his Might. And thus, this gold haired woman ascertained her pirate moniker this day; Akura acknowledged her as such. "Gōld." Simple. Effective. She shined as bright as any diamond but revered much higher than that. This was the pinnacle of this new class of piracy.
He didn't bat an eye to it - only wavering momentarily to view the monstrous destructive wave coming to end them all. For a moment hues shut, body shrinking down to what looked to be human size. As small as Gōld herself even, but it was with the use of this technique that he'd single-handedly destroyed an entire island. Black energy whipped off his form as he took but a single step after taking shape; the mist of forsworn power emanating, as if Hell had just opened for a Demon to take its first steps into this new world. Careening, its force so strong the ground understood quickly his majesty and split apart with each quaking step. The giant blade nestled snug was unhinged and fell to the ground below, thudding loudly as chains split free. A single hand begged its edge, speaking singularly as he took off into the air.
"Ten Million Worlds Unite For This Single Cataclysm - If I Am The Vessel For My Blade, Let It Strike True And My Body Left Asunder For These Dubious Actions."
Almost in poetic sequence did his words match his actions, arm cocking back as he neared the beginning of that giant wave of debris. Smog hit him first. Pebble and rock, all kinds of sediment of earthen likeness. But it did nothing to cease him moving forward as black armor covered his body, enhanced further by Busoshoku Haki. It was here. It was now. "First Dan - Shiranbanshou Sekentei!" One swing was all it took. With a wave of his monstrous blade, a epic mass of wind and force shaped itself. Its exit so large, that it dwarfed the entire mess currently flooding from the sky! Graciously it drove itself through the earthen maw, eradicating as it flew forth and casting nothing aside but pebbles and bits of dust. The sound akin to a jet booming through the sky; the apprehensive nature of a technique like this strong enough to completely crash through everything in its path, but it wasn't done yet. As it was only a single slash, what little was left behind was more than enough to hinder Master Dekura wherever he may be fighting, so nothing was to be left
It happened a moment after the initial wave struck. Wind pulled back and the crescent itself seemed to pivot about on its side, suctioning inward! His force so powerful that it'd created a pulling motion of air, akin to her own Black Hole creation. Slowly the own of the massive attack glided to the earth below, landing peacefully without so much as a sound. Her entire assault, aside from a few specs of dirt and dust, had been stopped by a single pace of his sword. This was true power. "I take back what I said earlier woman. You're a lot stronger than I realized." He'd transform back as he began to walk off into the distance, heading to where he sensed his master. "If that will of yours ever wavers, I won't forgive you. I graciously invite you to the place where might like mine can be attained; the Grand Line." To his fleeting back she'd see it, a single fist in the air. Not only had she garnered her name as a pirate, but gained the respect of one like he. "Don't keep me waiting long, Gōld. You opened my cage. . "
The end to a climactic battle. The beginning to a world shaking journey. They'd meet against someday, on a dawn as radiant as this!
