CH - 37 [The Danger In Pissing Off A God]

Halcen and Grey hurried down the hill from the burning lab towards the town. It was a long way to the docks, but they had to get there as fast as possible, especially with the threat that Kumajin was going to kill their crew. They had six lives hanging in the balance and they had to do everything in their power to make sure nothing happened to any of them.

As they descended through the twisting town, they realized they could feel no presences in the immediate area. There seemed to be no living souls around. Halcen knew this was because he and his crew had killed just about everyone that lived on the island. Grey, Jory, and the snipers had taken on the civilians who were cast under an enraged spell and slaughtered them all in self defense. Then Halcen, Grey, and the snipers had taken down all of the cultists that served Kumajin. And there was, of course, the late Domian. There had been few spared on the island from the war waged. Now… it felt like they were all alone in the world… just the pirates and the god. That was unsettling.

Grey could feel Kumajin's power overflowing through the area. He was pissed off and going to cause chaos. All they had ready was a crew unaware of the drastic changes the beast had undergone. They were not prepared for what was to come and that made the two of them all the more nervous.

As they drew nearer to the bottom of the town, they stopped to look out across the area. From there, they could see the docks. And then Halcen spotted Kumajin, in all his gruesome glory. His gigantic form was slowly stalking towards the boats, where they saw the Black Tail anchored. This meant the crew had readied the plan.

Kumajin had gotten such a huge head start… so why was he only this far ahead of them? And where was Valentina? They did not see her with him.

Don't tell me he already got her…

Halcen charged harder, needing to at least warn the crew.

But it was too late. They festival of blood began… and nothing went their way.

Kazuki saw Kumajin coming and panicked. This was not the simple Zoan form he had seen in their fight in the forest. This was… something new… something horrific. How could he have transformed even further beyond? That doesn't make sense… So what do we do? What happened to Halcen and Grey? They were supposed to be leading him this way? Don't tell me they… No. Nothing like that could happen. Not Halcen… he's invincible… and Grey's just… way too strong. There's no way. But here he is… alone. We still have to fight this thing. There's no way around it. We gotta stick to the plan. Kazuki signaled to the others, who were all in their own positions. This was not going to go as planned… but they had no choice.

Bo signaled back, as did Jory and Loyola. Here they would make a stand.

The beastly hulking monstrosity Kumajin roared in anticipation as he drew ever closer. He could smell the pirates hiding away in their dens. He was ready to rumble. He wanted to rampage. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he taunted them. He knew they were near, but could not tell their exact positions. "Hurry up and come out so I can kill you. Then I can get back and tell your leader how much I enjoyed it."

And that was all the confirmation Kazuki needed. Halcen and Grey are alive, but something must have happened. Were they captured by Domian? If he pulled out a wildcard like this… I could see how…

Kazuki didn't have time to sit and contemplate. If Halcen wasn't coming, Kazuki himself had to lead the assault. This was what Marines were for. "Let's give him hell," he said lowly to himself.

Kazuki had to lure the monster through the plan.

Halcen saw watched what happened from afar in horror. Don't do it, Kazuki. He's too powerful now. We can't take him the same way we planned. But of course, Kazuki wouldn't have been able to hear him. He was much too far away. So they had to close the gap as quickly as possible in order to save the crew. He and Grey ran their hardest to make it to the scene before anything happened. But with as far behind as they were, it was going to take them too long, and they knew that. Please, don't get hurt. Wait for me.

Kazuki stood up from his hiding place and looked out the window of the building he was in. He was going to have to abandon his post in order to make this work, but he really didn't have any other choice in the matter. He was tucked inside the fourth story window of the building he had been in during his fight against the townspeople, the one that acted as a gate to the docks… and the Black Tail.

Here, he had a cannon they had taken from the camp on the other side of the island. The place had been rife with all kinds of equipment the cultists had surely stripped from other ships that had come to this island. It was a scavenger's treasure trove. It was decided to make use of it in their fight against the beast king of Bear Island. They would use the weapons of the dead against their murderers.

Kazuki readied himself and the cannon. He stared down at the monster. So much bigger than we're prepared for. It was intimidating. Kumajin's back was almost to the third story window while he was down on all fours. If he were to stand up, he would pose an even more massive threat. Had he known this was going to happen, Kazuki would have had the cannon higher in the building. Maybe we shouldn't go through with this. We have no idea what kind of power enhancements he's going to have now. No… If Halcen and Grey really are captured, we're the ones that have to save them. We just have to roll with the punches.

Kazuki waited breathlessly. Ready… steady… He held until the moment Kumajin walked right in front of the building. Kazuki was sure he could sense them there, hiding. But as long as he didn't interrupt their attack, that was all that mattered.

FIRE!

Kazuki yanked the cord and the cannon exploded with gunpowder and sound. The massive boom reverberated through Kazuki's body and echoed through the building. But the power of the cannon blew a heavy lead ball straight into Kumajin's dark brown side.

The beast roared in fury. His body was blasted into the sidewall of the building opposite Kazuki, cracking the wall and nearly going through it. His side was heavily wounded, but he stood back up all the same, blood dripping from the place he'd been hit. With a ferocious cry, he shouted "I will tear your bodies apart for this blasphemy!" And then he looked up into the place the cannonball had come from. He could smell the gunpowder, and then the human. His eyesight was blurred now but he could still make out basic shapes. He stood up on his hind legs, rising to his full height and swung his right arm across the fourth floor of the building, breaking through the stone wall and tearing the cannon out from its perch. It landed on the ground below with a heavy crash.

Kazuki managed to dodge the blow, just barely throwing himself back in time to avoid being hit by the god's hand. He was hit with debris still and he fell back hard enough to hit his back on the opposite wall. The debris hurt him more than anything, cutting across his left shoulder. That was way too close.

But he had hurt Kumajin all the same. And that was enough to give him a little hope, until Kumajin swiped through the building again for good measure.

Kazuki rushed to window, desperate to stay alive. He dove out headfirst and curled up into a ball in midair, rolled himself forward until his feet were below him, and landed harshly, twisting his left knee. He dropped to the ground in a heavy heave.

Kumajin dropped back down on all fours, glaring at Kazuki. "Look at you," he gloated as he strutted towards Kazuki, who was holding his knee is pain. "Trying so hard to take down a God. You think these mortal instruments will work on me? How pathetic."

Kazuki gulped. "Yeah… I guess to you it would seem pointless. But we have to try anyway. I'm a soldier, that's what I do." Then he pushed off the ground by thrusting all his power into his right leg, and then he began sprinting towards the cannon, praying it would still work.

But he didn't make it. Kumajin turned and swiped the little man, throwing his body against the wall of the building he had just come out of. He hit with a loud smack, a small crack in the wall appearing. Surely that had fractured some of his bones. Kumajin was on top of him immediately, using the full force of his front left paw to smash Kazuki even harder into the wall, this time actually breaking through the stone wall.

Kazuki flew back and landed harshly on a pile of rock. He let out an agonized cry. He tried to get up, but his body was resistant. Each attempt only made it more painful.

Of course, Kumajin wasn't quite done. He reared up once more, and began tearing apart the building Kazuki was trapped at the bottom of.

Kazuki looked up to see the ceiling above him cracking. He closed his eyes as the debris began to rain down on him and the whole building collapsed.

"KAZUKI!" Halcen shouted, sprinting toward the scene. He was too late. The beast had downed one of his allies. He pushed himself harder, starting to hurt his own legs.

In response, Bo let loose his own cannon. This one was firmly placed too high on the opposite building for Kumajin to have sensed. The cannon boomed and sent a heavy black ball hurtling into Kumajin's back as he was stood up, attacking Bo's friend.

"You bastard!" Bo shouted.

Kumajin's body jerked forward and he fell face-first into the building as it was coming down. Debris rained down on his head as his body fell in a slump on the street. The haze of the destroyed concrete sprayed everywhere, coating the scene in a mist of grey powder.

Bo readied another cannonball, just in case the first one hadn't killed the demon beast. I swear to God… if you killed Kazuki… Bo shook with rage as he stared into the mist. The scene was nothing but a slowly fading grey, as the breeze was very low, even so close to the sea.

And then a dark silhouette shot toward Bo and his building, smashing clawing into it, and beginning to climb the tower he was on, eight stories up.

Oh fuck.

Bo waited in trembling anger and terror. This monster was likely to kill him next.

Finally, its great maw came over the level and snapped at him, faster than Bo had thought it would. But it was too far from him and he yanked the cord one more time, sending a cannonball into the beast's face. But the explosion, being so near, backfired, and threw Bo off the back of the building as well. He went flying into the next building over, a few stories down. His body broke through the wood and he finally landed with a loud crack. Bo couldn't tell what was broken, but it felt like his whole body.

Kumajin too fell back to the ground, his massive body cracking the street and shaking the entire area. He had been hit by a total of three cannonballs now, but he would not stop. Not yet. His body was nearly indestructible, and he would overcome these tiny wounds. No human could stop him. "Two down. I still smell three," he laughed with a great rumble in his chest.

As he stepped forward, a switch flicked and a massive metal chain net pulled from underneath him, and trapped him in itself. He roared in annoyance again. "What is this pitiful contraption?"

Jory and Loyola came out from hiding, each holding a spear with a small black device attached at the ends. "It's a dragnet," Jory stated with fire in his eyes. And then he raised his spear into the air and stabbed through the net and into Kumajin's shoulder. A sudden burst of electricity sparked, shocking Kumajin. The net acted as an amplifier, sending the shock all over his body.

The beast heaved with a great painful roar. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Killing you!" Loyola shouted as she herself thrust her own spear into Kumajin's other side. The electrical burst exploded around them with blue light. She struggled to yank it back out.

The beast was tired and in pain. And then the net began to move. It lurched forward, the chains rattling as he was dragged over the ground. Kumajin stared straight ahead as he realized the net was being pulled toward the ocean. Far ahead, he could see the device they had put together to crank the net forward. He gulped in fear. This meant they knew his weakness: seawater. At least enough of it to dunk him in. He began to get riled up and claw at the net.

The two crewmates began to take turns stabbing him as he got closer and closer to the water.

"Calm down!" Jory shouted at the monster in their trap, like he was a fish on a hook.

"Jory, it's not holding!" Loyola yelled.

Kumajin rampaged inside the moving cage, franticly trying to break free. His claws and teeth swung furiously at the metal. Finally raged inside, Kumajin snapped through it like a twig, and suddenly he was free. He was hurt and pissed off, but he was free of the net. And that meant he could kill. He swung at Jory first.

Jory wasn't ready, but had to push himself into action anyway. He swung the spear up in defense, blocking the incoming attack. "Loyola, get out of here!" the kid yelled to his companion.

The lady looked at the scene in fear. She tried to get around them but Kumajin was far too big and he tried to dig at her at the same time.

Jory swiped the spear across Kumajin's massive paw, scratching the underneath and pushing it away, and ran to Loyola's aid. He took the hit that she had tried to dodge. He was swiped across his shoulder with Kumajin's massive right arm.

He let out a painful shout as he was thrown off his feet. His spear was lost in the debacle. He sat upright, trying to get back up to his feet. He grabbed at his own sword as fast as he could, but it wasn't enough.

The deadly monster swung across.

But Jory was saved by the swift feet of an old man. Grey tackled Jory to the ground just as Jory was almost cut to ribbons.

So Kumajin swung to his left to take Loyola out instead.

She screamed. No one tackled her to the ground to get out of the way. She was stuck in place.

Instead, a black visage appeared in front of her and took the blow instead.

Halcen was flung hard off his feet and yards away to the ground in the broken street. His body slid over the ground, sparks spraying everywhere. He finally settled into the one spot, then tried miserably to get back up, straining his body.

Thank God my Haki worked. He was actually quite surprised his body hadn't given out on him already. The effects of Domian's various toxins had ceased when they had taken the plunge together, so that was no longer holding Halcen back, but he was still extremely tired and sore. He had put almost all of his leftover energy into running to the rescue. He had saved Loyola, but now he was the one in danger.

Halcen looked up to see Grey, standing in front of the evil Kumajin, making sure to keep the beast's focus on himself. If he wanted, Kumajin easily could have gone after Jory or Loyola again. And they did not want that to happen. The two of them took off towards the docks as Grey and Halcen took over the fight.

"Dammit," Halcen spat as he stood up. This is gonna hurt. His broadened his shoulders and readied himself for the match. He was going up against a new power like none he had ever faced before. Sure, he'd fought Zoans, plenty of times. He'd fought many Devil Fruit users. But this was something… incredulous. This was a whole new level of power. An ascension beyond Zoan. It was godly, and he was scared.

Kumajin looked down at Halcen, the little man struggling to stand. His body was coated in that ghastly coal-like armor. Kumajin roared. "Domian was supposed to be holding you two. What did you do to him?"

Halcen looked dead into Kumajin's one eye, panting. "We killed him," he said abruptly.

Kumajin began to shake in rage. "You killed the last member of my congregation? You killed Domian?!"

Halcen stood up straight, still trying to regain his breath. "That's right. He's dead. Just like the rest of this god-forsaken island. You forced our hand… and you paid the price. That's what happens when you fuck with pirates."

"Filthy mortals," Kumajin growled deeply in rage.

"What would it matter to you, huh? You're a 'God' after all. What does one more human matter to you? Not like you cared about the rest of them."

"I spent years combing them, training them. I picked each of them carefully and took them in as a member of my congregation, Domian especially. He was a truly devoted believer. I can't just replace them all overnight. It will take decades to rebuild."

Halcen gave Kumajin a fake sad face. "Aww… I'm sorry," he said sarcastically. "I didn't know they meant so much to you."

"You do not get to joke about the death of my comrades," the hulking beast grunted at Halcen.

"You made your joke about killing my crew."

"That was not a joke. That was a promise."

"But it doesn't seem like you're gonna be able follow through. You seem to be pretty worn down already."

And then Kumajin began to laugh. "Do you really think it's going to be that easy to kill me?"

"I took you down once, in your previous form, all by myself. Now? I have my whole crew to back me up. And we've killed everything else you've thrown our way. So yeah…"

"My power now is so much greater than it was when we fought. At least ten times the amount. Surely, you can feel it!"

He was right. Halcen gulped hard. He was staring down a beast whose power he could feel just standing in front of him. He didn't need Haki to sense it; it was overwhelming. Kumajin literally oozed with power. And this was after they had shot him with cannonballs, stabbed him, and electrocuted him. Now, he was still more powerful than them. His wounds could barely be seen. He was a tank, a mad unstoppable beast.

"You're right…" Halcen admitted. "But that doesn't mean we're going to stop; that we're gonna give up. We're still going to fight you, no matter how powerful you are, because our lives depend on it. And that's one thing you can count on humans to do, in case you forgot what it was like. We can go to extreme lengths to achieve what seems impossible!" Halcen spat. "So shut the fuck up and let me kill you!" Halcen pushed off again, still sore and tired, but his spirit renewed. This battle was not going to be his last; that he promised himself.

Kumajin swiped at Halcen with his massive right paw. Halcen tried to block it with his own two arms, but he was overwhelmed by the shear raw might Kumajin had behind the blow and was still thrown off his footing and across the ground again.

Halcen's body landed in a harsh twisting pain. He took a moment to gather his breath and then stood up once more, refusing to accept defeat. His arms throbbed from the hit. Even through the Haki, he was taking damage. That wasn't a good sign. Halcen's body felt so heavy. He looked down and saw that his shirt was completely tattered. There was no point in keeping it. He tore it off completely to reveal his pitch black torso. He inhaled deeply once again. I can't stop now.

Kumajin hurled his massive body at Halcen, running at the speeds of a train, ready to run over the puny human that stood before him. The faster he killed this man, the faster he could go back to rebuilding his island. There were still a few humans left alive, he could smell them. It would take some time, but being a God… he had plenty of time. He reared up and tackled Halcen to the ground.

Halcen's body collapsed beneath the incredible weight of the beast. He let out a loud groan as the pain jolted through his body. He could feel the damage as it happened. His Haki wasn't holding up against this monster. He was shocked. He had sailed the world over time and again under Whitebeard, and never had he fought someone who could penetrate his armor. Oh shit, this is bad.

Kumajin lurched again to stomp on Halcen's chest.

Halcen coughed harshly, blood spitting out. The beast's power was too much for him. He ground his teeth in pain, and then let out another loud cry. "You… monster."

"Monster?" Kumajin laughed with a heavy throat.

Halcen felt the beast digging his claws through his Haki and into his skin in retaliation for his vocal defiance.

"You still don't understand. I am God."

"God?" Halcen smiled with evil eyes. "No… not God. I've never seen God, but I'm sure he's not limited to your mongrel form. I'm sure God has a power unlike any. But you… are nothing but an abomination. And I will wipe you out!"

"Tough talk from someone who can't even move."

And then the miracles began. A sudden shout from high above distracted Kumajin. He saw from the sky coming down was Bo. His body seemed pretty messed up, but he was still very much alive and kicking. He dropped down onto Kumajin's back, carrying an electric spear of his own. He jammed it into the beast and began to wriggle it as the electricity spewed around them.

The beast jumped up in surprise and pain and tried to snap its neck back to tear Bo off of him.

"No way, you bastard! This is for Kazuki!" and then he dug the weapon deeper into the beast and refused to let go, no matter how hard the monster bucked.

Halcen was able to stand up as he watched Grey charge at the monstrous bear. He had taken Loyola and Jory safely from the scene, and came back to help. He leaped up at the monster with his right fist out front and smashed it into the side of the demon bear, where he had been hit by the first cannonball.

The force of the hit was not strong enough to seriously injure the beast itself, but it was enough to weaken it; legs collapsed under it, making the monster fall to the ground.

Kumajin quickly got back up, this time, truly enraged. Halcen looked into his eye and there was no consciousness, no sentience. It was pure anger. This was only going to get worse.

"LOOK OUT!" Halcen shouted. But it was too late.

Kumajin flicked his right arm over his shoulder and clawed into Bo, tearing him off his back. The spear, still tight in Bo's hands, was yanked out from the beast's flesh, a howl with it. Kumajin grabbed tightly onto Bo, squeezed his body as hard as he could, Bo letting out a loud cry with it, and then threw him with all his might into the side of one of the buildings.

Bo's body flung against the wall, hitting with a clear cracking sound. Debris flew out around him with the breakage, clouding the area. He was out.

Halcen watched in horror. "Bo," he said lowly to himself. Not him too.

Then Kumajin turned to Grey, "Alright, now. Your turn old man."

Halcen clung tightly to his bleeding chest, trying to staunch the wound while he watched Grey battle it out with Kumajin. The old man was a lot stronger than Halcen and he was a lot more experienced, so Halcen held a small amount of hope that Grey was going to be able to finish this fight.

Grey put up his arms in ready for the coming attack. He took a deep breath and let the battle flow.

Kumajin swung down one of his giant paws from the sky down at Grey, but Grey was fast enough to dodge it. He pushed himself to the side and watched in slow motion as the massive thing smashed the ground next to him, Grey himself having no problems. The ground shook, but he was unaffected.

"You little mouse. That should have crushed you."

"If you were fast enough to hit me, maybe," Grey goaded him.

Kumajin was too slow to make the next move before Grey got in his shot. He unleashed a quick, heavy punch to Kumajin's leg that he had tried to hit Grey with. It made a heavy impact and the bear roared and then picked his arm back up quickly, backing away from Grey.

"That's right. Let's go!" Grey leaped into the air again, throwing his left leg full swing into Kumajin's right shoulder.

The beast groaned in annoyance. The hits were hurting, but not enough to take him down. "You little wretch." He roared ferociously into Grey's face and then tried to snap him with his great jowls.

Grey moved fast enough to keep out of the way.

Kumajin was furious. He swung his arm heavily across the ground, smacking Grey's legs and knocking him to the ground. "Not so quick now, are you!?"

"Grey!" Halcen shouted in anticipation, trying to charge the scene himself. Grey was gonna need his backup, no matter how injured Halcen already was.

Halcen jumped in just in time to keep Grey from getting crushed by another swooping paw. Kumajin threw down his giant claw once again and Halcen managed to throw up both arms in protection of his crewmate. But the blow was so heavy that Halcen was immediately forced to his knees. He groaned in pain trying to stave off the crushing paw. "Grey… are you okay?"

Grey nodded in appreciation, then dove out from the strike zone and landed into a roll to make sure he was out of the way. Now he had to protect Halcen. Grey jumped into the air toward Kumajin, right arm cocked back, and launched another huge punch to his face.

The contact was so strong, wind whipped around them. Kumajin's body lost all balance and he went spinning like a top into the wall nearest them, crashing into it and ended up tearing it down and going through completely.

Halcen stood up to watch the spectacle that had just transpired. "Nice hit."

Grey nodded. "I do what I can."

"Do you think it took him out?"

Grey waited a second before answering. "No… he's still kicking."

And then Kumajin exploded out of the debris, raising hell upon them one more time. This time, amped up on blood rage. He tackled Grey across the alley and into the opposite building's side, smashing the man into the wall. He held Grey up by his throat and began smashing the old man into the wall again and again until that wall too crumbled on top of him.

"GREY!" Halcen shouted in fear. He took off running after them. "You bastard!"

Kumajin turned to Halcen and swept him off his feet with one arm and tossed him aside like a ragdoll. "Stay back while I kill this one first!"

Halcen tried to stand up to get back to them but it was too late.

The giant godly bear beast took Grey down in one last heavy enraged attack. He speared his talons into Grey's chest as the old man screamed in pain, and then twisted his body around, throwing him far away, towards the docks. As far away as they were, Grey collided with one of the smaller boats in the dock and splintering the little wooden thing to pieces, and then began sinking in the water.

"GREY!" Halcen shouted in horror, watching his first mate's attempted murder.

Kumajin turned his attention back toward Halcen. "So it's just you and me now," he chuckled.

Halcen's greedy eyes glared in hate. His body and mind burned in rage. But he was injured and he was going to have a hard time getting any real damage done. If Grey, the stronger and more experienced of them couldn't handle it, then how was Halcen supposed to? He was counting on Grey having his back.

"Now, let's get this over with so I can get back to my wife and start rebuilding this island with our children." He stalked slowly towards Halcen.

And Halcen remembered why they were all there… why they were risking their life to fight this beast. It wasn't for glory or riches. There would be no one here to tell their tale. There was little here to steal. This was about Valentina, a member of Halcen's crew. She was a key component to the Chaos Pirates. She was taken from us, and I will fight to the death to get her back if I need to. She was under my protection. I am her Captain. I cannot let any of my crew die. I will kill this monster and save them!

Halcen lunged at the badly beaten bear. He was injured, but nowhere near dead. Halcen was relatively hurt himself, but not enough to stop him from fighting. There was a giant gash in his chest through his Haki, bleeding red over his black.

The god acted faster than Halcen. He dove in and bit down on Halcen's left forearm.

Halcen's mind raced to fear. The squeezing pressure was the only thing that hurt since his Haki was holding up. But he locked eyes with the beast who grinned cunningly through the bite. Kumajin started to pull back, dragging Halcen with him. Halcen dug his feet into the ground, making sure he kept his balance and wasn't drug off his feet. The tug-of-war on his arm was painful. But he would not give Kumajin the satisfaction of getting over him in this battle.

Halcen pulled back with as much strength as he could muster as Kumajin dug his own massive claws into the ground, gaining more stability than Halcen could. But Halcen seemed to be pulling the monster closer anyway. Kumajin realized this and twisted his neck hard and bit down even harder onto Halcen's arm, breaking through the Haki this time.

Halcen shouted in bloody agony. His arm began to bleed profusely. He could feel his arm getting weaker. He knew if Kumajin pulled that move one more time, he was likely to fracture bone. Halcen couldn't let that happen. He needed all his limbs fully functional for this fight.

"You really think this is gonna be enough?" Halcen goaded. He reached for his knife with his right hand. He knew the simple blade wasn't enough to really hurt Kumajin, and clearly so did Kumajin, because he began to laugh between his blood-soaked teeth.

Halcen looked at him in dead seriousness. He needed to hurt this monster. So he forced his Haki to extend to the knife from his arm. It was difficult to maintain, but he knew it was worth the risk. It just meant the rest of his body would be slightly less hardened. He had to divert it more from his legs and strengthen the toughness of the Haki around his arms and now the knife as well. If Kumajin had an opening to strike Halcen's legs, they would have been sliced to ribbons, but Halcen knew that Kumajin would have no such opening.

The knife blackened deeply into a sheen. Kumajin's eyes caught the gloss and he began to question the effectiveness of his plan.

Halcen attempted to stab at Kumajin's face, but he pulled his head to the side real quick, throwing Halcen off foot and missing the bear completely. Dammit!

The angry pirate Captain stared down Kumajin. Their eyes met; Kumajin's great grizzled eyes and Halcen's angry emerald eyes. He spat on Kumajin's face, a huge wet wad splashed on the bear's snout. Kumajin growled in annoyance and lunged at Halcen in agitation, trying to swing a massive right claw at Halcen's head, slightly loosening his grip the arm and giving the man an opening.

Halcen swept his body down to the side to avoid the claw and it sailed overhead. At the same time, swinging the knife to the side and sinking it into Kumajin's snout. He howled in pain.

Halcen mentally celebrated having landed the blow, but he knew there was no way one stab was going to be enough to loosen the grip on his arm. He grabbed tightly onto the knife and twisted deeper into Kumajin's flesh. The blade had hurt bad enough to force Kumajin's mouth open in an unintentional whine.

Halcen yanked his arm out quickly and retreated from his enemy, pulling back just a bit. He readied his knife, maintaining its extra Haki strength. I need to keep him wary. He's been putting up a good fight, but it looks like he's winding down. This transformation is straight out of Hell though, I swear. Kazuki, Bo, Grey; none of them could last against him. I need to kill him quick though, cause I'm losing stamina too. I can't keep this up for long.

The man's left arm was sore, bleeding, and not at 100% strength. There wasn't going to be permanent damage, but it was still going to be a serious hindrance in this fight. So Halcen tucked his left arm across his bleeding chest and held out the knife with his right. He took a deep breath and renewed the Haki strength over his body, trying to make sure none of him was left weak, but it was still weaker than it was earlier. He was slowly losing it. I'm gonna lose it altogether pretty soon. I need to finish this fast.

"Alright, let's end this!" Halcen shouted.

Kumajin stared down Halcen from his own mangled body. The gaping wounds on his sides and back from the cannonballs, the burning stab wounds from the electric spears, his left eye missing entirely, and a flap of flesh hanging off the side of his muzzle from Halcen's knife. He was in bad shape and getting worse with each bout. He was breathing heavily, blood dripping, body was moving slowly, but not past the point of no return. If he killed Halcen here and now, he would be able to rest it off and recover with some time and proper tending. He could have Valentina aid him once she was exposed to the God Fruit. "Yes, lets," he growled in a low grumble.

The two charged at each other, Kumajin jumped over Halcen, still easily able to clear the distance regardless of his body's damage, and turned into a roll when he landed, and lunged an arm out to swipe Halcen.

Halcen wasn't ready for that. He had prepared for a frontal defense, but this monster was much more agile than Halcen thought he would be. He tried to twist around to block with his right arm, but he lost his footing and slipped, barely maintaining his balance enough to stay upright.

Kumajin took advantage and was on him the instant he tripped. His giant arm swept Halcen's legs.

Halcen's could feel the pain as he twisted in the air and landed on his bad with a thud. He coughed and tried to catch his breath but Kumajin got right on top of him. He smashed down on Halcen's chest once more with his left paw. But Halcen wasn't going to let Kumajin cause anymore damage. He took his knife and stabbed it swiftly into Kumajin's paw, making him shriek and retract his paw. But Kumajin didn't move from his position above Halcen.

Halcen began to rapidly stab at Kumajin's underside. This was one area that seemed relatively unharmed: his stomach. Halcen quickly shoved the dagger into the beast over and over, spraying blood all over himself and the ground.

The monster roared. He quickly moved over from on top of Halcen and swung his uninjured paw as hard as he could across the ground, slashing through Halcen's Haki on his left shoulder and throwing Halcen across the open area.

The black body rolled over the ground again and again until he finally settled on his back. He grunted in pain. This was already his bad arm, now it was worse. Not to mention his legs and back had taken some damage in the throw. This bastard is too strong. I can't… keep this up. He stood up, barely able to keep his legs from shaking.

Kumajin stood up, staring evilly at Halcen. He was ready for more, but Halcen was so tired… so sore. He needed this to end. But Kumajin was still standing strong. This transformation really had changed everything.

Halcen forced himself to stand up one more time. His legs wobbled, but he finally gained the balance. He stood with his knees slightly bent and knife-arm out, ready for fight. He breathed out and stared back at Kumajin, daring him to make another move.

"WHY?!" Kumajin roared. "Why do you continue to stand, continue to fight? Your allies are as good as dead, you're the last one standing, and only barely! Why do you fight so hard? Do you really want to keep fighting, and die, for this woman? What kind of sickness is that? What is it that drives you to suicide? Is this love? It's nothing but a weak, human emotion."

Halcen laughed. "No… You don't understand camaraderie at all. This isn't about love. I barely know her."

"Then why?! Why are you so willing to die for her?"

"It's simple. I'm her Captain. I would die for any of the people aboard my ship. Their protection is my responsibility and I will not let anything happen to them. It's not love. It's pride. It's a pirate's greed! I will not let anyone take anything else from me! This is my world! You fucked with the wrong pirate. So I'm gonna kill you, save Valentina, and get my crew off this island in one piece."

Kumajin growled a low heavy laugh. "You can try."

The beast charged at Halcen, bulldozing him with his body's massive blunt force. Halcen was thrown off his feet far across the area. He landed hard on the ground. His eyes went fuzzy. All this being thrown around was not good for him. He was sure he was going to have a concussion now.

What the fuck was that?

Halcen looked back up to see Kumajin charging at him again. His eyes darted in alarm and he barely managed to roll out of the way as the rampaging beast rushed through. Halcen panted painfully. He couldn't do that again.

But Kumajin could. He came at Halcen one more time. He pushed off as soon as he landed and came right back at Halcen. The little man didn't have time to get out of the way. Kumajin stampeded over him with ease, breaking down his body little by little.

Halcen rolled over onto his stomach, trying to get out of the way. He got up on his hands and knees and looked up to find Kumajin circling him. He was getting ready to strike again. And then he rushed in.

Halcen tried desperately to get out of the way. He dove to the side too sluggish. He was sliced across his left ribcage. He barely managed to muffle a scream; he was in so much pain. This wasn't good. He was taking too much damage. His left side was completely useless now. He needed to deal some major damage fast.

He gripped his left arm tightly to the side of his ribs and held out his knife with his right hand. This time, he forced as much Haki to the blade as possible. He could feel his body becoming weak with it, but it was necessary. He was going to need to use some skill… and a whole lotta luck.

He stood up and stared down the circling bear. "Come on then," he taunted, flicking the knife up.

The beast shook its head. "Do you really think you can do any real damage to me with that pig-sticker?" Kumajin roared, trying to still seem mighty. But it was clear he was in pain.

"We'll see," Halcen said, turning his head cockily. "Why don't you come at me and find out?"

"FINE!" Kumajin shoved off again, this time faster than before. He was wary of Halcen's new cockiness, but he couldn't very well just let himself sit and wait. That wasn't like him. He needed to attack, to tear Halcen limb from limb. He was finally going to kill this mortal.

Halcen jumped aside just in time, surprisingly. He hadn't expected for the beast to move so quickly, but he still had time to pull it off. He dove to the left as the monstrous beast came pummeling through. Halcen threw his right arm out and tightened his muscles it as it pierced into the flesh of the storming bear. He pushed into it as hard as he possibly could, channeling all his Haki into the small blade. The black armor was pulled off of Halcen's skin and was pushed into the blade.

In the moment, the two of them could feel the drastic change in dynamic with the energy transfer. A humming flare erupted with the attack. Kumajin was thrown to the ground onto his left side. His right was carved with a massive burning cut across his whole length. He heaved and sighed as blood pooled and he nearly passed out. The monster was dying.

Halcen stood in shocking disbelief as he stared down at his vanquished foe. He was tired, but he was alive. He sank to his knees, his body now back to its ugly pink. A sigh fell from his mouth as his entire body relaxed for a moment. Finally.

Much to Halcen's chagrin, apparently it wasn't quite over. Kumajin suddenly jerked back to his feet and startled Halcen, rolling over and looking deeply into the man's eye without a sound. Not a word. Only sorrowful eyes. He knew he was beaten, but he had one more thing to do.

Halcen watched Kumajin swaying back and forth on his feet, barely able to remain standing. He was in a bad way, but for some reason he began to stumble off back towards the town.

Halcen stood up to follow him. What the hell is he up to? Halcen was worried this could be a trap, but there was no way he was going to let the beast wander about the island alone without keeping an eye on him. That was how Valentina had gotten taken in the first place.

Halcen staggered along, watching him from a small distance. They wound through the streets of the town, up to the higher levels, and then headed east out of the town and into the brush of the forestry. They passed through some greenery for about fifteen minutes until they came to a clearing. It was about a hundred feet across and there was nothing noticeable about it except a single cave. The rest of the place was surrounded by bushes and trees just like the ones they had walked through to get here.

What is this place? Halcen asked himself, staying back a few extra paces. Why here? Why did he come here?

He didn't get an answer from the beast himself. Kumajin, unable to keep walking, fell to his stomach on the ground with a thud, and then became still with one last sigh.

Halcen came quietly, making sure this wasn't a trap. It wasn't. Kumajin was dead. The beast had perished. But he used his final moments to lead Halcen to a cave in the forest. But why?

Halcen got his answer when he stepped closer to the cave. He could make out the outlines of a woman lying on the cold ground of the stone, hidden in the shade of the cave.

"Valentina!" he shouted in awe as he rushed to her

There she was, lying in front of him, her long pink hair strewn about, and her perfect body motionless on the ground. He got down on his knees to inspect her. "Are you… okay?" he asked with no answer.

She was unconscious, and she was sure to be so for a while. Whatever Domian had given her hadn't worn off yet.

And there was the Devil Fruit, whole, untouched, laying across from her on a raised piece of rock. Halcen's breath let itself in relief. She hadn't eaten the Devil Fruit. She's okay.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'm going to take care of you.