20 Final Confrontation

So as soon as Jack finished his words he whipped out a gun and shot at me. A bright light in front flashed and my instincts took over for me and manage to get most of the way of the strike.

He had fired a laser beam at my head and I had dodged in time that now I was only missing my left ear instead of my head.

I should have guessed Jack had a really powerful gun, I mean he gave them to his lieutenants so, of course, he kept the most powerful one.

It was a fucking laser, I had no leeway when it came dodging now. I had to predict where he was going to shoot or the shot was guaranteed to hit me.

So I tried to block his view as I did with Martin and did a Ground Drawer causing a massive pile of debris to fly into the air blocking his vision.

I did help as another soon followed tearing through the air and scoring me just under my ribs on the left side of my body. Leaving a hole that had already been cauterized by the heat of the beam.

I stumbled in pain but I had no time to rest and Crusher appeared from the dust and swung a mighty claw down at my head.

I moved a little letting the claw just barely miss me by an inch. While Crusher seemed strong and tough he was apparently not that fast.

And now I had a barrier between me and Jack to prevent him from shooting me immediately. I should have known the dust wouldn't stop him.

He probably has all his sense turned up to the max so all I did was make it harder on myself to see where the shots are coming from.

With that in mind, I moved to hit Crushed with a 3 Stage Hweechook to knock him out as soon as possible and swing the fight in my favor.

Crusher despite his speed managed to dodge the first one by an inch, blocked the second one, and was only hit by the third kick.

He must also have enhanced senses. Maybe a massively enhanced version of Martin's increased dynamic vision and the other general sensory boosts.

Shit, at least the kick did some damage staggering Crusher for a while. Then I heard from my left a footfall.

I immediately rolled to the ground and away from the noise. My instincts once again saved me as a beam at chest level had just whizzed above my head.

Shit, I need to keep better track of Jack. Right now he is the more dangerous threat between these 2 combatants and I need to remember that.

So I grabbed one of my 2 remaining pistols and shot at him. He easily saw it coming and dodged my moving his head slightly to the side.

Ok, so his perception is high enough that I will not be hitting him with a ranged attack that is not AOE. Man, I wished I had kept an RPG shell right about now.

Just as I thought things couldn't get any worse the remaining surviving Shark Eaters from the bombing started to trickle in from the underground entrance and from the surrounding fort.

Ok, executive decision there was no way I was going to beat them this time so I did a swift Axe Kick to the ground shattering it beneath my feet.

I had its intended effect and for a moment broke the footing of Jack, Crusher, and the surrounding men. I used that moment to Bo-bup into the growing mob.

This would hopefully stop Jack from shooting blindly into his men to try and kill me and would hopefully the sea of bodies would slow Crusher down.

That hope was dashed and Jack fired his laser into his men killing 3 of them to try and hit me. Good thing for me that either due to his poor footing or difficulty in finding me in the crowd he missed.

I started massacring the confused around me but now my injuries were starting to take their toll. The right side of my body was having trouble supporting me now and I was losing blood fast.

Shit, I thought that we were all going to die before I heard a massive explosion in the distance and suddenly Jack and Crusher fell to the ground.

Not missing this golden opportunity I grab my last remaining pistol and shot at Jack. He was still cognizant however to save himself by rising his left hand to block the bullet from reaching his head.

He now only had 1 functioning hand and would have much more difficulty in aiming his gun at me. But as I moved in I noticed something on the ground.

I was the anti-tank rifle that I had dropped in the middle of the fight with Uren and Martin. I immediately picked it up.

That moment's distraction was enough for the Shark Eaters to recover however as Crush and Jack were now back on their feet and the normal gangster were all aiming directly at me.

Just as they fired I jumped up into the air dodging the hail of gunfire, while in the air, I managed to air the massive rifle and hit Crusher with a crippling blow.

His right leg was just gone hit by enough force to kill an actual tank much less a mortal man. I couldn't hit him in the head as being midair while aiming makes it hard to be accurate.

But that surprised me why didn't Crusher dodge? I mean I would have thought he would have noticed me aiming at him and moved out of the way.

For that matter why hadn't Jack shot me out of the sky yet? I was a sitting duck as I couldn't maneuver in the air yet.

I took a closer look at them and realized they couldn't track me anymore. It was a small thing but now their eyes were focusing on me just a moment too late.

They must have lost their enhanced senses. That is why their reactions are so slow. The explosion must have been Roderick destroying their prison.

God damn was I now happy with myself for giving those guns to Roderick now. I knew he had a vendetta and now he had stricken a blow that allowed me to have a chance to win the battle.

As soon I landed I rushed to Jack to try and finish him off once and for all. But Crusher now in a full polar bear form, blocked my way.

Because now he had 3 legs on the ground he was capable of moving, if just not efficiently. So I hit him in the face with a Baekdu and vaulted over him to aim for Jack.

Jack was not beaten however he pulled out a flashbang and threw it blinding and deafening everyone in the vicinity. Should have expected he had some more tricks left in the book.

I felt a hand touch mine in my confusion and I realized in horror that I was Jack. I suddenly felt my sense of sight and hearing start to leave me.

I kicked him off but the damage was done. I was incredibly short-sighted now, maybe only capable of seeing 1 foot ahead of me with any clarity.

As for my hearing, everything was now muddy and I couldn't parse out what the sounds meant and where they came from.

I had enough senses however to hit Jack who was right in front of me with a Silla, that kick shattering his ribcage and launching him into the distance.

I didn't seem to kill him over as the effect of his devil fruit was in effect but before I could finish the job, I heard a loud noise but I couldn't place what it was.

My experience made me drop to the ground instantly as I felt the move whizz by. Shit, I forgot about the normal gangsters.

Now that I can't see or really hear them well they have suddenly become the most dangerous threat on the battlefield.

With their numbers and my inability to locate and see what they are doing, with their massive numbers they will eventually hit me.

While I was on the ground, Crusher to that moment to jump atop of me and try to maul me to death. I put my legs under his belly before he could attack and pushed.

I launched his massive frame to where I thought most of the gunmen were. The slight rise in ambient noise seems to confirm my theory.

I then rushed to Jack and my right leg collapsed under me, put under way too much strain over the course of the fight. I fell to the ground luckily managing to dodge the second barrage of gunfire.

So with the remaining strength of my left leg, I push off the ground and reached Jack. Being so tired and my arms barely responding I killed him with a headbutt.

My forehead crashed into his face and finally killing him. My vision immediately started to clear as I dragged my body behind some wreckage.

I really thought I was done for, I had lost too much blood, I was injured all over my body and I didn't have the strength to stand.

Good thing for me though that while I was resigned to my fate the next round of gunfire was not aimed at me but at the gangster trying to kill me.

I could see Roderick and his men killing the gangsters behind him. He even managed to find a steel net somewhere that he used to trap Crusher for a moment while his men shot at him.

Seeing that the cavalry had arrived I had no strength left in I and passed out.