CH - 72 [ trouble ] 2

You don't want to fight me, Grey. I'm a lot stronger than last time." His body began to steam as he activated his logia powers.

"But you're still just a bully. This is still how you get what you want? By forcing others to do your bidding through fear?"

"I am his father; he will do as I command!"

"You're not a father. You're an asshole."

"Grrrrrreeeyyyyy," he growled. And then he lifted his right arm and his fist turned to lava. He began to throw his first punch.

But Grey caught it with his left hand. His hand coated with Armament Haki, but he could still feel the heat of Akainu's lava logia. It burned through his Haki and he could feel his skin begin to sizzle. You could see the steam rising from their clash.

"GREY!" Halcen shouted and tried to jump in to aid his first mate.

That's when Zephyr acted. He had been so still and silent during this whole ordeal that Halcen had begun to ignore him. But he was so quick, Halcen didn't even see him move. Suddenly Halcen was being held up in the air with Zephyr's right hand clenched firmly around Halcen's neck. "I think you should let the grownups handle this."

"Agh," Halcen couldn't speak. He forced his body to unleash his Armament Haki, so as to counter Zephyr's hold. For a second, he felt relief.

"Oh, nice trick. But if that's all you've got, it isn't enough." And then Zephyr unleashed Haki into his own arm, turning his massive claw black.

Halcen was massively overwhelmed. His body was limp and his vision was blurred. This was the unparalleled power of a high rank Marine. He focused on the arm that had him in this paralytic state. This damn arm. If I could just… and then he lost the ability to even focus his thoughts.

"Halcen," Grey struggled to focus. He had to stay focused on Akainu or risk being incinerated.

"Halcen!" the other crew members shouted in despair.

Bo pulled a pistol on Zephyr and said "Let him go!"

Zephyr swept another black arm across and tossed Bo aside.

"Is this what you want?" Akainu said to Kazuki. "Your whole crew wiped out?"

"Don't let him manipulate you!" Grey shouted.

Kazuki shook with rage. "Don't hurt my friends!"

Akainu brought out his left fist and turned it into another volcanic fist. He thrust it toward Grey's stomach.

But Grey caught it with his own right arm, with black as stone Haki. "Do not underestimate me, Sakazuki! Just because you have Devil Fruit abilities does not mean you will conquer me! Not here! Not now!"

Kazuki watched Grey, a pirate and practically a stranger, holding off his father, an Admiral, to protect him. Who the hell is this guy?

Akainu struggled to hold his ground. "He's coming with me!"

"That would be his decision," Grey stated.

"I am his father! He will listen to me!"

"You're not a father! A father is supportive of their child's desires and does everything to protect them, even if it means granting them freedom from their own company!"

"And why should I take fathering advice from a worthless pirate? Stop preaching and let me through!"

"And how is this going to solve anything? Each insult you fling only further drives a wedge between you and your son!"

"LET ME THROUGH!" Akainu shouted, throwing even more heat toward Grey. A giant wave of heat wafted across the Black Tail.

"STOP THIS!" Kazuki shouted.

Akainu was taken aback. He lowered his hands and his fiery fists returned to normal skin, leaving Grey's skin alone. He lowered his voice. "Son, I'm just trying to keep you from throwing your life away."

Kazuki walked toward his father, but kept Grey between the two of them just in case. "That's my decision! Not yours! You're always pushing me to live the life you want and never let me make my own choices. I never wanted to go into the Marines in the first place!"

"But you had so much talent. You have so much potential! You could even become an Admiral one day."

"Despite what your inflated ego thinks, I don't want to follow in your footsteps," Kazuki spat.

That was the severing blow. "Is that really how you feel?"

"Yes."

"I'm your father. You should treat me with respect."

"Like Grey said: You're not really my father. You're just an asshole."

"And here I came to offer you a way out of this mess. I came here to make peace with you."

"Peace? With me? I don't want peace. I want to be left alone. I want to live my own life, free of your tyranny."

"Fine. I'll let you go… for now. I'll let you go live your life, with these pirates. But don't think this is the end. I won't have my progeny flaunting around ruining my name without challenge."

"I never wanted anyone to know that you were my father. Why do you think I use my mother's name?"

"Regardless, I'll be having someone come check on you. I've got some pretty extensive connections that can make your pirate life a living hell. And then when you finally realize how easy you had it as a Marine, you'll come crawling back."

"Whatever you throw at me now will be nothing compared to the hell I had to go through growing up with you as my father."

Akainu scoffed. Then he returned his attention to Grey. His hands were no longer coated in Haki, but they were red and swelling. He definitely had some leftover burns. "Maybe next time you'll listen instead of trying to fight me, 'Saint' Grey."

"You think I was trying?" Grey laughed. "Just hope we don't meet again in a more serious situation. The only thing I was 'trying' to do was keep you where you stood, and on that I succeeded. After all these years, all your bluster, all your power, you're still just second best."

Akainu's face twitched. "We'll see about that." He turned around and looked to Instructor Zephyr who was still holding the pirate Captain captive. "Let's go, Zephyr. Leave the little man. We need to go ahead and begin the inspection." He looked up to his crew on his own ship and whistled for them to lower the rope ladder.

"Sounds good." He then let go and Halcen fell to the ground on his back, gasping for air.

"Holy shit," Halcen gasped. He sat up and began rubbing his throat. He looked to Zephyr and stared him dead in the eyes. "You're going to regret that."

"I doubt that," he chuckled. And then Zephyr turned his back to the pirate crew and climbed back up their ship.

The crew watched as the Marine ship slowly returned its approach to Loguetown and left them behind. The whole crew felt shaken. None more so than their Captain, Avarik Halcen.

I can't keep letting this happen. This is the second time I've barely made it by the skin of my teeth and Grey had to save us. He's an old man. I can't keep relying on him like this forever. I need to start getting serious. If my crew is gonna take on Whitebeard, I need to be ready. We need to be stronger. I can't be a pirate in this world and be this fucking weak. If I can't take on an Admiral, how can I beat Whitebeard? Fuck.

"Holy shit," Bo said. "That was intense."

"So you really don't want to go back to the Marines?" Kazuki asked.

"Dude… you've known me for a long time. But in all that time, all we did was the Marine's bidding. And here I find out you didn't even want to be a Marine in the first place? Being a Marine was all I ever dreamed about, but with all that's gone down, it just doesn't feel right anymore. I gotta take care of my family first. The Marines betrayed me. But you stuck with me all the way through. You're my best friend. With someone as talented as you on the outside, I feel like going back would be a waste."

"Well I'm glad you've made the decision for yourself."

"I'm sorry, is this the time to be talking about that?" Jory interrupted. "We just found out one of the Admirals in Kazuki's father!"

Kazuki's face darkened. "Something I never wanted anyone to know. That's why I transferred to the sniper unit way out here in the East Blue. I was trying to get as far from him as I could. He grew up here, sure, but he's usually so busy at Headquarters. I was hoping if I could keep a low profile, he wouldn't come for me. But Reluji ruined all that. Now we gotta deal with this." He looked to Grey. "Thank you. You risked your own life to protect my freedom."

"That's what pirates are about: freedom. But, it's not a big deal. I knew I could handle Sakazuki," Grey said. "But had the other guy jumped in, I would have been done." He looked to his Captain. "Are you okay? He had a hold on you for a while. I couldn't get free of Sakazuki to help."

Halcen rubbed his neck. "I'm fine," he said, but his voice shook.

"So he said he was gonna send someone after us?" Bo asked.

"It sounded pretty ominous, like he had someone in mind," Jin said.

"They're probably going to be pretty tough," Fein said.

Shira whined.

"Who do you think it's gonna be?" Grey asked.

"Whoever it is, we have to be ready," Halcen said.