[80] One Punch
[2250 words]
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[An Island in the New World]
"It's bad, the Marines have us surrounded!"
"Bad? Sounds good to me, I'll kill 'em all!"
"A Rear Admiral's liver and kidney go for sky-high prices nowadays, keep them coming!"
…
A vast group of impatient pirates stood on a small, arid island in the New World.
The air was dry and rusty, smelling of metal. Perhaps the metallic particles deposited into the soil that made it perpetually red were responsible for the smell. The sky was the same; dull and robbed of any brilliance.
Such an atmosphere seemed to have forced life away, leaving it as a den for pirates. Only now, it was surrounded by marine ships!
.
"WORORO! Finally some fun!"
The wild voice naturally belonged to a beast. He came in the form of a massive and burly pirate, brimming with power.
"Kaido-san, it's not just any marines it's Vi-"
"Get out of the way!" The Hundred-Beast pushed past the annoying rats, rushing toward the shore, each step covering dozens of meters and ringing the rusty earth like a drum.
Kaido's mission was to take the final Tribute that had escaped his grasp but ended up falling seemingly into a trap, much to his delight.
If he accomplished his mission then he would become the official Commander of the Seventh Division!
...
Boom!
Kaido's ginormous size, around twenty-three and a quarter feet (7.1 m), left a striking image for all to see.
"WORORO! Who wants some!?"
He bashed his spiked club onto the earth, leaving a crater that continuously spanned with cracks in all directions.
His unruly appearance lit a fire in the eyes of the pirates at his command, all 3,000 of them!
"Kill 'em all!"
"For the gold!"
"Take their women!"
…
Thousands of scum roared out in greed, rushing ahead to the shores, waving their weapons.
Boom!
Bang!
Thousands of gunshots went off as they unloaded a volley of attacks in the direction of the marine fleet.
Unfortunately, they brought a gun to a cannon fight.
Dozens of cannons flew across the sky, exploding onto the masses of pirates. Blood rained as bits and pieces of flesh dyed the ground a fresh red; a grimy scene.
"Augh!"
"My leg!"
"Euugh!"
"Aahhhh!!"
…
Kaido paid no mind to the dead fodders, instead, he pointed his darkened club at the person before him.
The marine had short hair and a marine coat draped over his shoulders. He wore a matching beige suit and hat, with the hat covering his eyes in a shadow.
An empty scabbard was at his hip, the blade in his hand.
"Surrender yourself, Hundred-Beast Kaido."
The menacing pirate laughed it off, replying with his weapon instead.
Boom!
The ground quaked as the giant club bashed the ground, leaving behind a crater with no victim. "Hmm?" Kaido looked up at the brown shadow which had flickered above.
.
"Tempest Kick."
.
A bright arc of energy slashed toward the beast, slicing and dicing past the air and eliciting a sharp hiss.
Kaido looked unamused and made no effort to defend himself.
*Krrrr* The attack grazed the skin, creating sparks as if metal was cutting into metal. "Hehe," Kaido grinned and leaped from the earth, his weapon held behind him.
.
"Ramei Hakke!"
.
The explosion of purple lightning added to Kaido's brute strength and created quite the spectacle as the club inched near the Marine.
*Wzzz* Kaido appeared twenty feet in the air, his weapon crackled with lightning but unsure of his target.
"Tch! Damn Six Powers!"
A calm voice echoed in the giant pirate's ear, "Shave." The marine reappeared in the sky, his body floating above.
.
"One-Sword Style: Justice Embryo!"
.
Kaido simply saw a bright flash by the time he turned around, right before being nailed in the chest by the needle-like attack.
"Augh!"
The infamous pirate leaked some blood from his lips as his massive body slammed to the earth below, resulting in a thunderous explosion.
...
Meanwhile, the salvo continued as the pirates of the Seventh Division were killed in cold blood. The Marines made it obvious that taking prisoners was not a priority!
Savage cries erupted as the thousands were massacred, leaving few dazed men for the time being.
"WORORO! That stung!"
Kaido shot out from the pit his body had created, clawing his way out. He saw the gash on his chest, then looked to see the marine in front of him.
"You're the Marine Supernova that he hand-picked, you're strong!"
The young marine saw the little damage, narrowing his eyes. He was about to ready another attack before a shadow landed in front of him.
Boom!
Kaido grinned like a mental patient, his skin tingling with excitement.
What followed was a boisterous laugh that even put the constant salvo of cannonfire to shame!
"Bwahahaha! You crazy brat made quite a mess!"
The dust cleared as the two marines now stood next to one another.
"Step aside, Bogard! Let me humble this brat!"
The marine named Bogard was Garp's right-hand man. A quiet and reserved person, but considering his position, he was naturally quite skilled.
[Bogard Image (in Discord)]
.
Bogard did not reply, instead, he simply utilized Moonwalk to land on the lead ship with the dog figurehead.
"Hold your fire, the Vice Admiral has it under control."
At his command, the half-dozen marine ships immediately halted their bombardment, leaving only some residual smoke to puff out from their numerous cannons.
"WORORO! Take this!"
Kaido's kanabo club once again was bathed in the purple lightning, crackling in its volatile nature.
.
"Raimei Hakke!"
.
The advent of the beast was enough to bring about a purple dawn in the region. The sheer strength of the attack left the ground to crack and crumble in its wake.
BOOM!
A dull explosion echoed out, reaching the ships at sea while uplifting the water into tidal waves.
Kaido, who had halted in mid-air, frowned.
"Huh!?" Kaido frowned at the result.
The mace spanned nearly 20 feet in length and thick in its breadth, had been put on hold by Garp!
To add salt to the wound, a single finger actually stopped it!
.
Kaido growled as he saw the sole finger coated in the red bubble, refusing to accept it.
Garp raised an eyebrow, commenting at the flickering shadow, "He's quick for a hulking fellow…"
The Vice Admiral gave out a light chuckle as a giant shadow dawned over him.
.
"Divine Thunder!"
.
A thunderbolt fell in tandem with the spiked Kanabo, slamming onto Garp.
"Your Haki can materialize lightning, not bad!"
The Hundred-Beast weighed at least 10 tonnes (~11 US tons). The crashing attack exponentially increased the sheer momentum of Kaido, yet it was all stopped mid-air by Garp's casual hand.
Woosh!
Suddenly, the marine flickered out of vision, forcing Kaido to fall to the ground with a bang.
"Grrr!" Kaido growled in anger, looking around yet to no avail.
However, his Observation spiked as he felt a presence above, far, far above!
.
"What the hell is he doing?" the pirate gazed upward and into the sky, seeing a cloudy silhouette.
The Vice Admiral's voice followed, echoing in Kaido's ears, "Kong-san was very adamant about teaching you a lesson, so here it is!"
Kaido's eyes widened as he felt the power of the marine explode.
*Crackle* He saw black lightning fall from the skies as pulses of Haki spread in all directions. The calm weather turned turbulent as ominous howling winds descended.
Distant marines had begun to withdraw from the shores, fearing getting caught in the coming mess.
"..."
A foreboding feeling surged in the Hundred-Beast's mind.
All of a sudden he visualized the faces of Whitebeard, Shiki, Linlin, Roger, and Rocks. The sheer bubbling strength in the air left his skin tingling.
"I won't go down that easily!"
Kaido raised his club but it was simply too late. It was like raising a rock against an incoming mountain.
All the pirate saw was a purple burst of light before darkness took over—two words echoing in his ears as the giant pirate was completely overwhelmed:
.
"Galaxy Impact!"
.
It was sudden and immediate.
The rusty ground that was once solid and dense was obliterated.
The few buildings nearby collapsed as earthquakes spawned in.
Huge waves of water were born at the shore, resulting in tsunamis.
The single punch from Garp spanned over a half-dozen kilometers in radius, turning everything within into dust and debris.
The island went from an ominous silence to a thunderous explosion hidden under the veil of mystical colours borne from the Vice Admiral's Haki.
It resembled the final moments before the death of a star.
[Galaxy Impact Image (in Discord)]
…
[Five Minutes Later]
"Puru," "Puru," "Puru."
"Katcha~!"
"Ahem… You have reached Garp, I can't answer the snail right now, but if you leave me a message, I will return your call in a few decad-"
"Garp you bastard! I know you're on the line!" the snail roared out in fury.
The man holding the device could only laugh.
"Don't yell so much, Kong-san, it'll gray your hai- oh wait, it's too late for that, Bwahahaha!" The burly marine slapped his thigh while devouring a packet of rice crackers in the meantime.
"..." The snail was quite visibly seething in anger, fury leaking from the twitching eyes. Considering who answered the call, it could only force itself to calm down.
"Haaaah, you are a piece of work, Garp."
Kong, who was on the other side of the call, sighed, "Did you take care of it?"
Garp returned a thumbs up to the snail, "Of course! Though I might have overdone it a tad… hehe!"
Bogard, who had appeared at the side, shook his head.
"'A tad?' You nearly sank the island…"
The marine duo stood under a huge cloud of smoke and dust, hiding the ruined island's misery.
Kong, on the other hand, seemed satisfied.
"Good, the Five Elders were quite rigid in the assignment, he is alive, isn't he? Take him to the Science Unit, they'll take it from there."
Garp swallowed a handful of crackers and gave a casual salute as the operation came to an end.
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[Unso Island]
"Is the ship ready?"
Nekrós humbly nodded at the hooded figure.
His subservience was quite loud as he led the two VIPs to a vessel on the hidden shore of Unso Island.
"The ship was made for the Celestial Dragons, we did a little makeover though. It goes by the name of 'The Kraken'!"
Nekrós introduced the ship that spanned a good thirty meters. It had three, black sails with the image of a Kraken holding two swords. A golden tentacled beast was made as the figurehead, a spear protruding from its mouth.
Dozens of cannons lined the sides, ready for warfare.
[The Kraken Image (in Discord)]
"Not bad," Damien patted the bald man's shoulder. A gesture that lit him up like a Christmas tree.
.
Fulcrum walked onboard, the pale Kaiser, the Bone-Bone Fruit user, was also present and stood on guard.
He bowed at the two and moved off, leaving the bosses at the deck.
"Nekrós, keep things at bay."
The man looked up at the masked woman and nodded a few times, "Of course, Boss!"
She then waved her hands and a burst of purple followed as newfound horizontal forces began to both steer and power the ship.
It sailed off in no time.
.
"Where to?"
Damien looked at the distant island, took out a log pose and tossed it over for the girl to examine.
The male pirate smiled at her tinkering, after all, it was a bit different from other compasses.
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
[Universal Pose]
[Can be used as a log pose, or eternal pose for an indefinite amount of uses.]
[NOTE: Eternal pose configuration requires previously being on the island in question.]
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
It was one of the seven gifts from the previous System User, something Damien had used a handful of times.
For now, the location locked in it was that of a remote snowy island in the middle of nowhere.
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[Fooljack Peaks]
[Room of Directors]
A meeting of the Four Directors was being held at the News World Agency Headquarters.
Chad Bizárré, Newman Bradley, Vase Ah Liné, and Markus Goji—the Four Heads of the Agency—were discussing something rather important.
"Gentlemen, the time has come," Goji started it off.
Liné nodded from his seat, "Indeed. I have had enough of the lies, the fabrications, the deceit! It's time we split away from the Government!"
Bizárré slammed the table in vigour.
"Finally! I could barely breathe here, this room that decided all those disgraceful news headlines to be sent out; it's time we relocate while being under a new agency as a whole!"
Bradley hummed in satisfaction.
"Very well, my fellow brothers in News, I will now propose the World News Agency Withdrawal Act to exit the World Government's grasp! It is already signed by six Reverie Attendants and dozens of other Kings. It simply needs our signatures to put it into action."
The man waved a sheet of paper and passed it along.
…
It took but a few moments before it was signed by all Four Directors!
"Very well!" Bizárré smiled. "We have reached a unanimous decision to leave the hands of the Government—no longer shall we spread lies and deceit!"
The four men nodded with enthusiasm as they felt their hearts and ambitions work in unison to their decided result.
Surely the actions of today will bring about a revolutionary change to the world!
To Be Continued…
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Author's Corner.
Kaido has been captured which may lead to some chaos in the sea. Meanwhile, the World News Agency is about to risk it all.
For WN User: I never used italics or bold much as not everyone's browser was properly displaying them when I first started posting years back. Is this still an issue for anyone?
Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q