Chapter 43 (1/2)
Grandline, Paradise, Jaya
The strawhats had been sailing for a few days now and finally arrived in Jaya, just as the sun began to rise. Not wanting to let such an opportunity slip through their hands the whole crew decided to leave the empty docks behind and explore the island. Though to a few of them it seemed strange that an island that was said to be a safe haven for pirates was so deserted but soon after entering the core of the city they saw why.
They arrived on a scene of two people standing opposite each other while bodies littered the floor around them. One of the two people was a big man with black hair while the other one seemed strangely familiar to the crew until they finally registered the man. Azul.
At first they wanted to rush forward to help him but a look from Zoro silenced them into not interrupting what seemed like single combat to him. And so they stayed and watched, over time understanding just how far away they were from being able to compete in the big leagues, or at least what they thought the big leagues to be.
Azul meanwhile assessed his opponent, just as he did Azul. Until, not wanting to wait any longer Azul rushed forward, kicking of the ground in a mighty jump, throwing a thrustkick right at Blackbeards c.h.e.s.t. Blackbeard however turned slightly to the side and tried to backhand the swiftly arriving Azul right into the face with his fist. In response Azul turned on his own axis, putting one hand on the ground and while dodging under the backhand whirled on the ground in a circular motion, kicking Blackbeards feet out from under said man who promptly crashed into the ground, groaning slightly from the impact but otherwise seemed completely fine. Azul though pressed on, not giving his opponent any chance to recover, raising his leg into the air and bringing it down upon Blackbeard whos eyes widened slightly before swiftly rolling out of the way, and not a second to soon. Azuls kick meanwhile arrived on the ground and with a resounding boom shattered the earth beneath his feet, sending cracks through the ground in a spiderwebs fashion. Blackbeard though had used his momentum from the roll he used to dodge the kick to come back on his feet and jumped a little backwards to gain some distance, assessing his opponent once more.
”I guess it's time to bring out the big guns ehh, boy? Zehahaha” Blackbeard said while laughing in excitement to finally be able to test his devilfruit against a strong opponent.
”Behold!” He spoke and began to get covered in darkness, which soon turned into a turning and twisting cloud right behind him, stretching and consuming a meter around the large fellow everything that wasn't strongly fixed onto something else.
Marveling at his own power Blackbeard began to laugh even louder and soon smashed his hand that was completely covered in darkness onto the ground, and the result made Azuls eyes sharpen in thought.
”Black hole!” Blackbeard roared, covering nearby houses, people and trees in darkness, which caused those to slowly descend into the all covering black mass, making many a victim scream out in fright or for help towards their comrades who in turn shrank back in fear. Azul meanwhile was also standing inside the fog and felt his control over fire slowly get siphoned away which made his eyes widen in realisation.
'No way. He can even absorb a devilfruits powers? F.u.c.k! I gotta take this a whole lot more serious than I thought!' Azul thought to himself, jumping out of the darkness, swiftly gaining back his control, before igniting his feet in midair into roaring red flames, now standing midair, and kept on observing the mad-laughing Blackbeard as he enjoyed the distruction he was causing towards his surroundings. Not long after his initial move everything he had wanted to sink had disappeared from view in the darkness below that began to receed towards Blackbeard. The moment it had reached him, Blackbeard thrust his hand back on to the ground and roared: ”Expulsion!” which caused everything and everyone he had swallowed before to be spit out again, completely crushed from the gravity of his darkness.
Azul meanwhile had decided he had seen enough to formulate a rough idea about what Blackbeard seemed to be capable of and crouched down as if to jump towards his enemy, though what he did differed a little. Not wanting to play around any longer Azuls eyes turned yellow with a flash and dark grey thick hair started to sprout all over his body, his muscles bulging, growing in height, while his face was elongating and sharp canines grew from his mouth. Finishing of his transformation flames exploded from his arms and the rest of his legs, accompanied by an earthshattering roar that made everyone present flinch at the volume, even Blackbeard recoiled.
”So you ate a devilfruit as well? A mystical Zoan by the looks of it Zehahahaha” Blackbeard spoke while a few drops of sweat developped on his forehead. His control over his devilfruit was not as good as he wished it were, and fighting someone with a mystical Zoan would be a real challenge for his abilities!
Azul meanwhile had stood up to his full height of now 4 meters until he muttered, nearly unaudible: