Chapter 25 - Versus Borsalino, Part 1

-Two days later, Marine headquarters training ground.

"Is that the monster you brought after disappearing for over a month?"

Zephyr followed the voice to see a tall, tanned, broad-chested, muscular man, with black hair and black beard. He had a scar under his left eye and was wearing white pants, a dark-blue shirt, and a blue tie underneath a white suit. He wore a marine justice coat that had shoulder-pads in black and red, different from other admiral shoulder-pads.

"Garp…!" Zephyr spoke, his eyes narrowed. "What's you bastard doing here so early in the morning?"

"Bwahaha… I smelled a beast, that's all…" He replied with a wide grin before continuing. "So, tell us. Is he another Logia?"

"No!" Zephyr's answer was direct.

"Paramecia?" Another voice asked.

Turning his head, Zephyr saw a tall, fair-skinned, muscular man with afro black hair, and a black mustache, wearing black rimmed glasses. He wore black pants, a white shirt, and a blue tie underneath a dark-blue suit. He also wore a marine justice coat, but had epaulets in red and red, again, different from other admiral shoulder-pads.

"Sengoku, why are you like him … Just watch the damn battle and you'll see." Zephyr responded to the man, now named Sengoku. "And no! He's not a Paramecia either."

"No? A Zone then? Or… A mythical Zone?" This time, it was a feminine voice that prompted the question.

*Sigh* "Not you too, Tsuru."

The female in question was a tall, thin woman with gray hair tied in a bun. Her attire appeared less formal than the two before, consisting of an untucked shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, a tie around her neck, and calves-long pants, which made her somewhat resemble the animal of her name, the crane. She sports earrings made of beads and wears two bracelets on her right wrist. The epaulets on her Marine coat were golden for the outer, and purple with two white dots for the inner.

"He's not a Devil-Fruit user." Zephyr answered, clearing everyone's doubts.

The sound of a deep gasp echoed subsequently, and following it, Zephyr saw all three, Sengoku and Tsuru with an unbelieving expression, and Garp had his mouth wide open.

Neither Zephyr nor Kong had elaborated Victor's capabilities, and after knowing he had no Devil-Fruit ability, their reaction was expected. After all, a normal person against a Logia would typically generate one outcome. And not just any Logia, but light itself. Moreover, the user too was a man trained in both Marine Rokushiki and Haki.

"You're kidding right?" Sengoku asked, clearly in disbelief.

"He's not." It was Kong who answered this time. The five of them stood over the wide wall of a large circular open area, and a little far to their right, stood another tall figure, carrying a katana on his back, who was light-skinned, unusually muscular, with a square-shaped face, very pronounced facial features, and short black hair. He wore an open red shirt, khaki pants, and a pair of black sneakers.

"Let's observe first…" Kong said, effectively ending the arguments.

Meanwhile, Victor stood in the middle of the said open area in front of a tall man, a bit taller than him, with short curly black hair, and a very thin beard. He wore a light-gray open shirt, golden amber-tinted sunglasses over a light-gray striped hat, a pair of black sneakers, black pants and a very, very annoying grin. He also carried a katana on his waist.

Yesterday, Zephyr had explained Kong's arrangements, and to which, Victor had agreed decisively. After all. he hasn't had a decent fight for quite some time now.

However, then Zephyr went on to explain the opponent being a Logia, and to that, Victor once again amazed him, confirming his previous notion, that he could, in fact, use both types of Haki.

When asked who he would rather fight, Victor advised Borsalino. He really wanted to see whether the wretched man moved 300,000 kilometers per second.

"New monster eh... Very scary…"

"I also heard you're fast... As light in fact... I wonder who's the real scary one." Victor responded, while asking Jaya for a reading.

[52,031, sir. And I'm detecting unfamiliar energy fluctuations.]

"Unfamiliar? Could it be related to Devil-Fruit? Hmm... Something to research in the future." Victor thought.

"The two of you may begin." Kong's powerful voice rang throughout the training ground.

"Victor, right?" The man opposite asked.

Nodding a "Yes," Victor in turn enquired, "and you are, Borsali—"

The words weren't finished, the hairs on Victor's arm suddenly erected.

Borsalino's movement was incredibly fast, and to keep up, Victor had to immediately tap into his pure energy to reinforce his senses.

Victor focused, his perception slowed down, and the disappeared Borsalino got exposed, already very close.

"Have you ever been kick—" Borsalino spoke the signature line, or he tried to. He swallowed before completing, when he saw Victor's iris follow his movement. He had now run to Victor's left, and was already in a kicking posture, foot raised swinging toward Victor's head.

The kick was already set in motion, and he could not stop, nor pull back last minute.

Consequently, with incredible speed, Victor squatted down, then dodged by a hair's breadth.

The kick had missed; however, a laser beam was launched from the outstretched foot, towards the training ground's high walls, and then came a loud *BOOM*.

It wasn't the wall it hit, but Sengoku, who had somehow already moved there, his arms were stretched, and they were black as ink. Apparently, he had caught the dangerous laser beam with bare hands.

"How terrifying..." Borsalino said looking at Sengoku, but he didn't have time to lazy around as Victor was already on the counter.

Standing from the squat, and along with the momentum, Victor swung his right arm at bursting speed for the punch.

Borsalino immediately elementalized. He tried moving away, but Victor's punch was faster, in addition Haki imbued. The fist whammed directly, *BAMM*, then followed a yellow beam. And before anyone could blink, it had crash boomed on the wall.

"Good reaction… Fast..." Said Kong.

"Very fast, and that Haki… It's incredible… Very well trained. Zephyr, where you the one who trained him?" Asked Garp.

"No," was Zephyr's answer, before the dialogue stopped.

The fight had resumed.

Borsalino materialized three meters from Victor, his shirt had torn marks, and blood was rolling down from the corner of his mouth.

The prior carefree expression was gone, now replaced with a more dignified one.

"Why? Decided to take me on seriously now?"

"What a scary kid…" He responded, then pulled the katana from his waist.

In consequence, Victor also pulled the dagger from his waist.

"The real fight is just beginning…" Zephyr spoke quietly… while getting nods from the others in agreement.