CH - 49

Not enough," Mihawk said, then pushed even harder, cutting through Grey's Haki and sliced down the left side of his body.

Grey fell to his knees with a howl. Blood splashed on the wood under him. The wound was quite deep. He was sure this is where Mihawk would end him.

"It's a pity," Mihawk said. "I only just found you, but I have to kill you. I have so much I would like to thank you for. Thank you for teaching Shanks how to be a great fighter. Thank you for giving me many years of rivalry. Even more, thank you for this fight. I have been itching for a new fight since Shanks became a Yonko. He's gotten soft and boring. This reminded me why I fight. So thank you. I shall kill you first so you don't have to watch your crewmates die."

Grey refused to let that happen.

As the blade came down once, more, so did Grey go up. His arms crossed in a black "x" that blocked the steel. "I WILL NOT LET YOU!" He shouted. Then he kicked Mihawk in the stomach, throwing the man back.

Grey followed up by tackling on top of Mihawk. Grey straddled him, holding him down with one arm and then began to pummel his face with the other. "NOW! YOU! DIE!"

But Mihawk was able to get out of it. He reached his left arm up and began pushing with all his might against Grey's neck to the left side, eventually forcing Grey to give way and he flipped to the side. As Grey struggled to get his standing, Mihawk swung the giant blade with his right arm across, and flung a massive wave through the air, that caught Grey.

Grey was able to protect his torso for the most part with his Haki, but he was still thrown back. He hadn't expected that, especially this deep into the fight. Mihawk was pulling out all the stops now. But when Grey looked at him…

Mihawk seemed to be barely able to stand straight, or even still for that matter. His head had taken the majority of the beating. His face was bloody and cracked. He spit blood. He was clearly tired. He was woozy. There was a good chance he had a concussion. "Well… I never expected this," he said.

Grey didn't really say anything. He was pretty tired himself. It had been a long time since he went all out like this… his body wasn't used to it. He was getting old. He didn't know how much more he could take before he collapsed. He readied his fists and stood as stiff as he could.

"I think…" Mihawk began… "… That we're at a stalemate. Neither one of us can win… neither one of us can kill the other. Our only option would to be to continue to fight until we both die… OR… I could let you go, and we both live to fight another day."

"Are you… surrendering?" Grey asked, confused.

"Not at all. This is a… postponing. We'll fight again… another day. After we've both healed. Think of this as a professional courtesy. I, at least, owe you this much… for Shanks."

Grey nodded.

"But…" He looked to Halcen, who starred up at him with blistering green eyes. "Next time I meet your crew, Captain Avarik Halcen, I will kill them. This is your one out. So steer clear of my waters."

"What about the World Government?" Grey asked.

Mihawk looked at Grey again. "I will simply tell them… that I didn't find you. The ocean is a big place. We could have easily missed each other. And you left, merely thinking that you had just missed the ship."

Grey nodded.

Mihawk turned, and almost fell, but regained his footing. He returned his sword to his back, then walked off the ship and boarded his raft. They watched as he pulled away, never turning back to look at them.

Grey went to work immediately. He rushed to Halcen, who was bleeding profusely, but going to live.

Loyola had already taken care of Jory, who was going to be fine. She was tending to the snipers' legs at the moment, since she hadn't the ability to get to Halcen with Hawkeye in the way.

Bailu began yammering. "And I had just fixed this damn ship, and now this happens. It's always fucking something with you bloody pirates."

"Shut the fuck up, Bailu!" Grey shouted. His face twitched. "Now is not the time for your petty whining!" He stared down the man, with fire in his eyes.

Bailu backed down.

Grey went to Loyola. "Status report?"

"Jory's wound is bad, but he'll be okay. It's gonna take him a long time to heal. But he should regain all functionality."

"Bo and Kazuki?" He looked at the snipers, who sat against the wall, eyeing him.

"Their wounds are minor," Loyola said. "But they need to stay off their feet until it heals."

"Good. What about Halcen?"

"He's the worst case. But we've seen what he's gone up against before. He's got will, that one. He'll be okay. I'm gonna have to take a look at your wounds too."

"Take care of Halcen first."

"Alright."

"Thank you," Grey said. He went to Halcen and said, "Don't worry. I'm gonna take care of this."

Halcen could barely move, but he definitely couldn't talk. He just eyed Grey and nodded.

Grey turned to Valentina. He was enraged. "Get us back to Corteano, now," he growled. "I have an old friend to talk to."