Reunited, and it doesn't feel so Good.

Vizmir woke by first light of the sunrise. All was quiet save for the birds who chirped away to wake the island. He looked about the scene Gideon had chosen for them to dock his ship. It was a small bay hidden behind the thickest of trees.

The archeologist had dressed himself after washing his face in the river. With a yawn to fully wake himself, he made his way deeper into the wood to collect fruits and berries. Upon his return, he heard the caw come from Beaks, the giant southbird. The caw was so deep and loud, it made Vizmir jump and also send a lot of the surrounding birds flying from the treetops.

Beaks yawn was fearful and even loud enough to wake the stirring giant and the skypiean mercenaries that followed the group to locate Yuurei. "Morning" he yawn as he sat up on the deck of his ship.

"So what's the plan for today? Continue to sit here and call through the radio again?" Vizmir sarcastically said as he split up the fruits he collected amongst the group who gathered about. Beaks flew down and swallowed his share of the fruits in one scoop.

"Yuurei is somewhere out there, and we owe it to him to stay determined" Gideon said as he stepped off the ship and scooped up his share with a pinch between two fingers and swallowed it whole. The skypiean mercenaries grunted in aggreament, they as well just as determined to find their senpai.

Gideon looked up at the top of the main mast of his ship to see Kasui, a sniper he and Yuurei had met on Jaya, keeping a look out as usual, and quiet as usual. Gideon didn't need to tell him to come down and get his share of the food, he'll do so when he's ready.

As as the three days prior, Gideon began called into the baby den den mushi, calling out to Yuurei, giving coordinates to where their location is... hoping the swordsman will pick up, will find them.

Today was finally the day, the day that they were going to look for Yuurei. Gideon had brought him onto this island along with everyone that had followed Yuurei from the beginning. There was the only person who was missing from this group and it was Koneko. Kasui could only assume that faith had cut her life short, and she was no longer apart of this world. His assumption came from the execution that included Yuurei to die, but that couldn’t happen, right? He wasn’t sure what to believe in anymore. Still, they had gone to this island just to look and hopefully rescue him from his troubles. He was quietly sitting down in the crow’s nest on top of the main mast and looked at his sniper, the log pose, and swords Yuurei had left behind. He felt like he couldn’t wait any longer and got up from where he stood.

He looked down to see what Gideon was going to do today and when he did he could see that Vizmir was next to the giant and it seemed like they were talking to each other about something. The grunts were eating fruits that Vizmir had given them and enjoyed it. It wouldn’t take long for him to see Gideon look at him and he would nod in his general direction. He knew what the giant was going to tell him, so he climbed down the mast to get his share of the food that Vizmir picked up for them. When he did he looked at the baby den den as there was noise coming from it, someone had spoken and it was Yuurei.

The swordsman had been traveling the island for a bit and it was due to the fact that he had to do a few things on his own. The execution had finished and he was now a free man, or as free he could be at the moment. He heard his baby den den mushi ringing and the message that was being sent by Gideon in those last two days. He was upset with him and the crew because they never showed up to help him, so he would always have that resentment towards them. Koneko had died in the process of their appearance never occurring, which bothered him deeply. He did accept the fact that Koneko died, but the reasons to why were things he felt like he had to get passed it through revenge.

When he felt that it was time to pick up the den den mushi, he would press a simple button and decided it was time for them to meet.

”Your coordinates aren’t far from where I am located, Gideon. I plan to see you really soon. I’m actually walking towards you right now.” He said this to him.

Yuurei wasn’t sure what happened with the crew, but he knew that Mashyuu had reached the ranking of a Supernova, which meant he had a target to go after. It was someone he knew and who he felt was the most responsible for the crew never showing up. He was hoping that Mashyuu would be there, but that man always ran off on his own even with a crew.

”Are you the only one there, or did you bring the whole crew with you because it seems like you the only one who’s interested in contacting and looking for me.” He said this as he continued his walk.

Yuurei was in the area of the Greenie Pass of Lulusia Kingdom. He had been traveling around there for several days as he was looking for a certain someone to teach him stuff. The thief took a detour though as he was heading to reunite with an old friend. Gideon was a person he considered a best friend, so when he didn’t show up it broke his heart. It wouldn’t take long for him to reach the location and between his walk, he was sure Gideon would speak to him, but he wouldn’t answer him just yet.

Yuurei could see the ship in the distance as he noticed that it was one ship, and it was the ship that Koneko helped modified for Gideon. It made his heart skip a beat from that feeling as it brought back memories, but he slammed his chest to get over it. He placed the baby den den close to his mouth before speaking.

”I’m here Gideon, but I only want you to come to me. The others can stay where they are.” He said.

Kasui heard these words and didn’t know what was going on. He looked at the giant and then the mast as he started climbing up again and onto the crow’s nest. He placed the sniper into position as he looked into the scope to see where Yuurei was.

”I can see him. He’s actually there Gideon. Still, it’s been a while since we saw each other, so trail carefully. I will keep watch as always.” He said to Gideon wishing him the best of luck.

30/30 Haki Stamina Remaining

Gideon used a boulder as a chair, keeping the den den mushi's linek open, hoping he'll get a response. During the wait, like the previous three days, he would just sit, wait, and watch the others move about, collecting food for the day, washing clothing in the river, any kind of chores to keep the day productive.

Normally Gideon was the first to be up, taking charge of the chores, it was who he always been, but his focuses was too much on locating his friend, keeping himself vigilante, but Vizmir saw this more of an unhealthy obssession, regardless if Yuurei was still alive or not. To the old man, it seems the giant was the one who was more concerned than anyone, even more so than the loyal followers of the swordsman.

Then, suddenly, a voice came from the baby den den mushi on Gideon's shoulder, causing everyone in the camp to fall silent. It was Yuurei's voice; the giant had to look at everyone and see their expressions to know that he wasn't just imagining it.

Gideon was in glee and the smile on his face showed that, he was so excited he didn't notice Yuurei's ending sentence seemed... a little off, but Vizmir caught it, "The skypiean followers are here, along with Kazui and Vizmir is still traveling with us, however..." His tone changed a bit, "I've been separated from the rest of the crew, but we can discuss that later when you get here".

Though the skypiean goons cheered in celebration, Vizmir lit his cigarette and fell into contemplation about what this could mean, "How's Koneko?" He asked the giant.

Gideon took a quick look at Vizmir but brushed off the question and simply said "She should be fine, she's always by Yuurei's side" At this point, nothing could be wrong to Gideon, he wasn't listening to reason, and that worried Vizmir.

After some time, Yuurei's voice came through the den den once more. Indicating his 'arrival'. Though Gideon was oblivious, Vizmir caught sight of Kasui's worried expression and his words and shared his suspicion. But all Gideon knew was that Kasui just confirmed Yuurei's direction and that he wasn't a fake.

"On my way" the giant said happily and began taking long strides in the direction Kasui's gun was pointing, "Keep watch of the camp, notify me if there's any trouble" he called back to the group.

Beaks flew down and landed on the back mast, eyeing Gideon moving away, he took notice of Kasui and wondered what was going on.

Once Gideon arrived in the clearing, first seeing Yuurei, he came to a stop, his smiled wide, "My friend, it is good to see you again" he was over joyed as he began to walk closer, "We have so much to discuss"

Yuurei heard Gideon’s explanation about the crew, which made things harder for him. They were separated and now he was going to go after these people one by one instead of all together. That would be troublesome, but at least he would be able to have somewhat of a fair fight. He stood quietly though as he could see Gideon making his way towards him. It wouldn’t take long for him to be a few meters away from him, and the thief had a blank face. He could see Gideon’s smile on his face and acted like he didn’t end up in prison and that he wasn’t placed for execution for the whole world to see. He heard his words, and he nodded and then nodded again on the second thing he had to say.

”I assume you don’t know what has happened. That is a shame because I would have to probably explain things.” He said to Gideon.

At this time the swordsman started stretching his legs from side to side, and soon he would do the same for his long arms. He was doing this easily as he cracked his neck after he was done with stretching, and then his knuckles. He looked over to Gideon with a serious look on his face. The crew left him to be taken away, not just that, but he had lost a friend because they didn’t show up. He was surprised about this and he needed a reason to take his anger out on someone who he had blamed. Gideon was one of five people he blamed for Koneko’s death. He accepted her death, and that one of those people to blame was himself, but it didn’t stop there. There were three more people he had to pay a visit to, but Gideon was the only one who had come to him.

”I guess I will start by saying that the crew never showed up when I called you all. It hurt me that nobody came to rescue me and Koneko. Things got difficult, and I almost died.” He paused when he said that last word.

He allowed it to sink in for a second as he took out Benihime from her sheath, and then Kusanagi. These two blades were strong enough to take on Gideon, and that much he knew even if he had gotten stronger from their last encounter. He got into a stance as he was probably confusing Gideon on what was happening right now. Yuurei took into a deep breath and exhaled it almost immediately as his eyes were locked on Gideon.

”As for Koneko, if you guys didn’t find her, then it means what I assumed to happen. She died and I blame myself, and you too Gideon.” He said this as he lunged himself towards his best friend.

When the swordsman got close to Gideon he would swing his Kusanagi on Gideon’s right shin at his full speed, which wasn’t relatively fast, but to the both of them, they had moved about the same. He held onto an attack with Benihime and decided to use her as a form of defense if Gideon would attack him after his attack.

30/30 Haki Remaining

Gideon had not picked up on Yuurei's intent until the swordsman began to stretch. The giant eyed him curiously as he slowed down to a halt. The way Yuurei seemed by his body posture the moment he arrived, the way he spoke through the den den mushi, it all seemed off and it had taken Gideon up until now to realize what the smaller man was getting at.

"What do you mean!?" Gideon gritted his teeth, now angered by his friend's accusation, "I darted to the shore when I could, but you and Koneko were already gone!" He countered just as Yuurei drew his swords to which Gideon subconsciously grabbed at Jormungandr which nearly allows hung from the strap on his back.

Yuurei rushed forward and attempted to attack Gideon's shin, but the giant had enough time to move his leg back to avoid the slash; back when he had first met Yuurei, Gideon would avoid battles and would have used his words to try and dodge a fight if possible, but time passed and knowing Yuurei, fighting would probably be the only way to stop him when he's set on a course. Gideon drew his thirty foot blade from his back and swung it down to have it fall upon the swordsman, "You cannot blame us because you had your first loss!" he yelled in anger.

Yuurei noticed swung his blade and missed the attack on Gideon’s shin. He figured that would happen, and when he saw a shadow lingering over him, which brought him to smile. He knew exactly what it was; he looked up to see the huge sword moving down on him, and he had a smirk on his face as he swung his Benihime upward to counter the oversized sword. The clash was immense, but for his friend’s sword, it wouldn’t be so lucky. The swordsman was strong and scary, and everything he had been going through just brought in more experience. Benihime and Yuurei’s strength would snap the thirty-foot blade in half. What he had said to Yuurei bothered him because this wasn’t his first loss. It was, however, his first loss that had to deal with his life being on the line.

The angry look on his face could show that he was not happy with Gideon’s choice of words. It bothered him to the core and he was going to show his friend the growth of his imprisonment. He wasn’t far from the giant as he had just stepped back and he could see the anger in his friend’s face. In all honesty, Yuurei could only turn his anger to what was said to him into a smile on his face. This is what he wanted to see from Gideon. He did hear him say that he did go to the location, but they were already gone by the time he got there.

”You better use those hands of yours Gideon.” He said this as he lunged towards Gideon.

He noticed that he was fast for a giant, but it could also mean that he was just slow. The swordsman figured he would use his gravity fruit’s ability right about now just to speed himself up. He wanted to offer the same effect to this foe, but that wasn’t how life worked. Yuurei wanted to take out his frustration on him and now was the chance. A blue aura surrounded Yuurei at this point and his speed had increase without a second of hesitation. He didn’t use his armament because he didn’t want to take Gideon out right away. When he got close enough he jumped into the air and swung rapidly at Gideon’s abdomen with both blades.

”I don’t care that I lose Gideon. I have suffered defeat before, and I have loss again. The fact is you guys came too late, or at least you made it too late Gideon. I had called you guys to be on standby and where you guys should be, if you didn’t make it on time it was because you guys were too lax. And you right I do blame myself for her death as well.” He said to Gideon rapidly striking at his friend and getting ready for the counter-attack that knew was coming from the giant.

30/30 Haki stamina Remaining

The giant sword dropped down, but was met by one of the smaller swords, stopping it, though the force of the clash kicked up a cloud of debris around them. The force pressed the surrounding trees, causing the crew to catch wind.

* * *

"Kasui?" Vizmir called to the gunman on the crow's nest. He didn't have a bird's eye point of view like he did or Beaks, who was squaking and flying about the ship. Whatever just happened, it doesn't seem good.

"Trouble! We have to help!" one of the skypieans called but before they could get a foot forward, Vizmir halted them.

"Don't, Yuurei and Gideon would call for us if they need us, otherwise we'll just be in the way" Vizmir said, taking a puff of his cigarette. The skypieans looked to one another, questioning, still contemplating whether they should even listen to the old man.

* * *

Jormungandr snapped back, half of it flew to the side, broken. Gideon has always been sort of sentamental, but with his blade had been with him since he had started the most difficult of his journey, now Yuurei destroyed it without a second thought, like it was simply a twig.

Gideon took a giant's step back to gain distance. As Yuurei had suggested, he tossed the bottom half of Jormungandr and had to resort to his own hands. Seeing the aura surround Yuurei gave Gideon the hint that the swordsman had indeed gotten stronger... more dangerous, but mentaly reminded himself that no matter how strong Yuurei was, it didn't mean he was right in what he accused.

Yuurei moved forward, more quickly and leaped into the air towards him, Gideon didn't have time to dodge, he didn't understand the speed he was dealing with, but he's dealt with such a tactic once before, a fight he and Yuurei was involved in, so no doubt Yuurei had learned it from the enemy. Gideon was prepared this time though, he brought his arms to cross across his chest, then they blackened, hardening with armament to block the attack, but as Yuurei slammed into his arms, Gideon could stil feel the scrapes of the blades across his skin.

Immediately as a counter, Gideon clicked his teeth, igniting his flammable breath and exhaling a stream of fire through his blacken arms which felt no pain from the fire... but the sting from the swords still remain. At the same time, he jumped back to gain more distance, trying to gain his footing and his wits about him "You can't blame us for getting there late! We cannot be at your call 24/7 like you're a king! I feel bad for you and Koneko-!" He paused for a split moment, hearing her name and thinking she was possibly dead did indeed hurt badly, "-and I live with that dayly that I couldn't get there in time-!" Then he thought about how he couldn't save his mother or father, "-But you don't take it out on your crew! don't take it out on your friends!"

Bad things have been happening to them and Gideon had to accept that he has failed in saving people here and there, but he had never placed blame on his friends, those who had always had his back, his anger fueled himself, his arms still black

Skill Used:

Armament Hardening: 1/15

Kasui was baffled about what had happened from what he could see. He had a feeling something like this would happen, but he didn’t want to believe it. The sheer force of Yuurei collision with Gideon’s sword shown how strong this man had gotten. What kind of crap have you been going through in prison and that execution? He thought to himself as he was lost for words.

”Yuurei and Gideon are currently fighting right now. And it’s not that they are fighting an enemy, but they are fighting each other. Yuurei just broke Gideon’s sword in half, but I can’t really keep up with their movements even with the sniper. We shouldn’t get involve, but if I can get a clear shot I will take it.” He said.

He didn’t know why they were fighting, but the man he trusted was the enemy right now. He had attacked the giant and that much was for certain. Kasui could only think that it had something to do with Koneko or his capture, but he didn’t have all the details.

***
Yuurei was glad that in a way that Gideon was able to defend himself, and use armament. He had to see if the giant was strong enough to handle his blows, and with this clash, it proved just that. His friend, who he was angry with right now had defended against his attack without him holding back. It brought a smirk on his face because there was another person he met who could take a hit from him. He did see that he was able to breach Gideon’s skin, but it wasn’t deep at all. He was waiting for it because he knew that the cook had used a favorable attack. It was the fire attack of his and when he heard the sound of Gideon clicking his teeth he knew what was going to happen.

The swordsman used his gravity pull to give the blade that was on the ground a gravitational pull of its own. He had his sword affected by it and he moved towards his left quickly. He offered no resistance to this and it was his way of dodging the fire breath attack. It nipped him on his right arm giving him a tiny little burn on his shoulder. When he got out of range he landed on the ground as he looked over to Gideon who had to move away from. He was standing still as he was looking at the giant as he was speaking again. When he heard those words he could only shake his head as he understood what he was saying.

”Don’t say her name! You got there late I don’t care if you guys can’t be at my call at whim, but I needed to make sure that day was different! You were late that day, and you guys were also late on my execution as well! None of the people that I consider friends appear to try to save my life. I had to defend myself on my own, and kill to survive! I will give you two choices Gideon, but first you prove to me if you are worthy of the second choice being mention!”  He shouted this at Gideon angrily.

At this point Kasui had shot a bullet straight at Yuurei. The bullet had made its way straight to him and it was aiming to hit him on his knee. Yuurei’s observation was active already and the attack on his person was known by this ability. He pushed out a Gravity Push in just that direction. A blue aura would go towards the direction of the ship and push back the bullet that was shot away from him as well. Yuurei stopped the push right as it got to the ship, and then looked over to the ship.

”Kasui seems to understand the situation really well. Smart man, but since you told me he was there I figured he would do something like that.” He said as he cracked his shoulder.

”If he interferes again I will destroy the ship that Koneko helped you with. Now let’s get back to it.” He said this to his friend.

At this moment he noticed that Gideon was missing a certain color of Haki, still, he was planning on seeing if he could release it from his friend. If he wanted to hear his second option, then he would have to prove that he was strong enough. Yuurei had decided it was time to see what Gideon could do since they had been separated. He was tempted to pull Gideon towards him, but right now he didn’t want to do that. Instead, the ground started rumbling around them and soon the ground and trees around them started moving up to the sky. He had done this without a problem as he looked at Gideon.

”Let’s see what you can do about this.” He said as he launched a bunch of objects that he had picked up from the ground and from the forest behind him.

The trees that had fallen from prior were the ones that were brought into the air. Yuurei had made it so that he was clearing out the forest behind him and tossing it all at Gideon with tremendous force.

***
Kasui noticed that his bullet had been repelled, but what happened next scared the crap out of him. He saw a huge blue aura heading into his direction and the direction of everyone else but stopped right before it could hit them. His eyes widen as he could feel the force behind that. It was then he knew it was a warning shot from Yuurei not to attack. The Skypieans, on the other hand, was surprised that Yuurei was doing such a thing.

29/30 Haki Remaining

Skill used:

As Kasui was explaining what he was seeing out loud, Vizmir took a long pull in annoyance that he was more or less right about his initial guess, to his guess, Yuurei was pissed off about being captured and probably felt abandoned. The skypieans were confused, they didn't know what to do, whether it was a spar or an actual fight, "Should we help?" one of them asked, though the others gave him a look and another said "Which one?" they weren't aware who the bad guy was or whether or not it was the real Yuurei.

* * *

Something flew out of the fire at the last second. After the fire vanished just as fast as it was released, Gideon realized Yuurei had appeared near one of the halfs of Jormungandr. Dodging in midair at such speed, he was impressed but more angered than fearful, Yuurei had always been a scary person to the giant and should be avoided, but the more the two exchanged words with one another, the more Gideon wanted to pummel the smaller man for placing unjustly blame upon him even though he did all he could.

"You needed that day to be different, but what you need or want cannot change reality unless YOU do so!" he yelled at Yuurei, clenching his fists.

The sound of a gunshot rang in the rang and just in that instant, Yuurei's blue aura flared, Gideon didn't understand until he saw something flew from Yuurei and shot towards the direction of the ship and then figured out Kasui had sent a shot but Yuurei had forced it to stop and then repelled it, he was insanely intimidating, and Gideon couldn't blame Kasui for making an attempt, Yuurei was dangerously unstable.

"Destroy my ship?" Gideon gritted his teeth when hearing the threat, "That was practically a gift from Koneko and now you want to threaten to destroy it because you're mad!?" at this point Yuurei then stated something considering a choice, then items in the surrounding terrain began to rise to the air, trees, rocks, mounds of dirt, it was an intimidating sight, but Gideon was too pissed off to humble himself before the extent of Yuurei's power, because he felt if he did, he would allow Yuurei to be right.

"Hold your fire" Gideon said in a calm, but stern tone to the den den mushi on his shoulder. The terrain continued to levitate as Gideon held his ground, staring at the swordsman and every so often looking up at the wonderland-like battlefield, "We tried to rush to your rescue as soon as we could, but the Phantom Raiders had their own troubles, we were attacked by the Marines too, then we got separated" Gideon ran forward as the debris flew towards him, he maneuvered himself to avoid large objects like fully grown trees and boulers, as for the smaller objects he deflcted with his hardened arms, "And even after we were seperated, I still rushed here at first word of your situation! But that isn't good enough, is it!?" he yelled, more debris came down, but it was coming down too fast and too cluttered, a few heavy objects broke through his defense and slammed against his body, jerking him back a bit, but the giant pressed forward, not allowing himself to lose ground.

Once Gideon was close enough, he reached out and grabbed a large treet that flew by and tossed it at Yuurei direction right before clicking his teeth again and releasing a breath of fire chasing after the tree, trying to engulf the swordsman, "You act like a king, fight like a monster, but whine like a child! I'm not your servant, I'm not a monster-fearing child, and I'm not your babysitter" he yelled after he released his lips from the flames, the bruises from the debris and the hot flames fueling his anger.

Yuurei was enjoying this more than he let out. He had heard Gideon’s words but chose not to care or reply to them. It wouldn’t matter what he said and he threatened to destroy the ship only if the people on the ship interfered with their fight. He watched his attack go forth, and soon enough a bunch of stuff had been avoided and deflected by the giant, but he wondered how long he would be able to do that. How strong have you gotten Gideon? He thought to himself. He was impressed by his movements, but still, they were not the movements of observation. He wasn’t calm nor collective with trying to avoid the attacks but was filled with anger. He wasn’t going to learn how to activate it like that in the beginning. Still, the words he was spilling out while he was avoided and deflecting made their way to his ear.

This touched him and he felt what he said in his damaged heart. He did notice that Gideon had rushed his way towards him. He did take note to that, but he didn’t care that they had been attacked by marines. It was interesting to see that a marine attack had separated the crew, which made him wondered how Madori, Kouse, Elias, Daimaru, and Mashyuu were doing. He knew the three newbies had nothing to do with this, so he didn’t blame them, but the later to be in his list to have a ‘talk’ with. This was when he saw the debris starting to hit Gideon with a strong amount of force due to Yuurei’s gravity force. He had started this fight though and he was going to see it to the end. He watched the debris hit, but what happened next was amazing. His friend had thrown a tree at him this, and he was glad that Gideon was using his height and size to his advantage.

The tree was moving towards him and closing the distance between it and Yuurei. The thief had slowly taken out the third sword. It was the sword he had gotten from Skypiea, but it was much stronger than it was before. He had moved Kusanagi in between his finger alongside Egeking. It was then Yuurei had swiped with his left hand with the two blades like claws and swung down with his right hand as a regular swordsman would. He had cut the tree down with ease, but so what was coming towards him behind the tree. Yuurei could only chuckle when he saw this because he expected this from Gideon, a man who did the impossible. When Yuurei was ready to be engulfed by the flames, his face, his entire torso, and both his legs had been covered in Armament.

”Amazing!” He shouted out loud towards Gideon when the fire had dispersed from where Yuurei was, he had burn marks on his arms as his clothes had been burned off.

His swords were durable to withstand that without a problem. He cracked his neck as he moved his arms around felt the pain that was surging through them, but his willpower allowed him to shrug it off for the time being.

”I applaud you on what you just did to me, Gideon. I understand and in a big way, I’m happy you came to try and help me out. I wish you weren’t late on the arrival though. It seems to be a trend if I say so myself.” He said to his friend.

”I guess it was wrong of me of holding back. I guess it is time to not hold back anymore.” He said with a smirk.

Yuurei’s swords would be covered in Armament, removing the armament that was on his legs, and his face. Things were getting serious as he wasn’t going to hold back anymore. Yuurei kicked his feet off the ground and in the direction of Gideon without hesitation. When he got close to him with the immense speed. He pressed his feet on the ground before jumping towards his best friend.

”You better go all out Gideon, or you might lose your life.” He said to his best friend.

He was hoping Gideon had something, a trump card or something is hidden that he didn’t use. Yuurei had swung at Gideon with his blade from his left side, and soon after with his blade from his right side. All three blades were covered in armament and strong enough on their own.

***

Kasui wasn't going to shoot any more bullets, especially after Gideon told them to stand down. Still, he watched the fight and it was crazy. He didn't think any of this would or could be happening, but it was. He saw a bunch of stuffing being lunged towards Gideon, and it was surprising that the man he had to follow could do such a thing. It wasn't just that, but Gideon did back down, and he was kind of rooting for the giant to win.

28/30Haki Remaining

The fire finally dispersed to reveal a naked Yuurei, though he was fully coated in the armament hardening Gideon had been using for his arms. This was the extend of such an ability and Gideon didn't doubt the swordsman would have such a mastery over an ability.

Gideon anger and nervousness settled a bit when he noticed Yuurei's happy-go-lucky attitude coming back, complementing the giant. And it seems the swordsman understands where Gideon was coming from, but the giant wondered why the fight?

No time to think, Yuurei removed a bit of the armament from his head and legs so, like a shadow, crept upon his three swords. The moment the swordsman stated he will no longer hold back, Gideon knew his life was most likely in danger, regardless that Yuurei mentioned that right after. Yuurei ran forward, but Gideon wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, the armament on his arms were tough but not enough to fully protect himself from the swords in Yuurei's hands, now they're three of them and coated in armament hardening, able to deal more damage.

Yuurei jumped up and tried to land an attack. Gideon willed the fire within his belly to ignite, he felt his body quickly heat up, his skins rapidly producing sweat and oil. The three swords slammed into the black arms of the giant, now more like a dark crimson, the heat it's emitting so intense. After a half second, the swords slipped off the arms, leaving no cut but still bruised, then as a counter, Gideon brought his right arm over and intended on slamming a black dense, heated fist into Yurrei.

Armament Hardening: 3/15

Yuurei was getting ready to cut his friend down, but something happened. He had felt the heat coming from Gideon, which surprised him, and he could see that he was using some kind of ability. This was interesting to see, but he noticed that his swords did barely any damage to Gideon. This was surprising as he didn’t think that Gideon would be able to do such a thing. This is what he wanted someone who by his side who could truly fend for themselves and help him out in the long run. The heat that was coming from him was hot, and he could feel it coming from the big giant. Still, with that attack being a failure, he was now dropping to the ground.

That’s his secret ability? That immense heat coming from him is annoying but cool. It seems like what he did to himself brought himself to strengthen his defense. I have to applaud him on that, he is slowly becoming the perfect defense that he wanted to be. He thought to himself as he noticed that there was a huge shadow hovering over him at this moment. He was descending at this point, and soon enough he moved his blades towards the direction of the fist connecting his blades with Gideon’s giant fist. He was quickly being sent to the ground along with the fist aiming to slam him into the ground.

While this was happening though Yuurei figured he would do the same thing his friend had just done. His arms had started changing color along with his entire body except for his face. They would have a purple coloration on them. It wasn’t just that, but the muscle all over his body had begun to become more ripped and tone. His face would change gaining purple lines on his face, forehead gaining a purple spiral, his pupil becoming spirals, and then the purple aura that surrounded the blue aura. It wasn’t just that, but he was also emitting gravity from his body, which was affecting anybody close to him. The speed of the punch was decreasing, and Yuurei had placed his feet down to be impacted with the ground.

A huge noise due to the impact would be heard in the outskirts of this island. Gideon’s fist covered the whole ground, but under it, Yuurei would be standing tall and possibly cutting him now that he was much stronger than he just was a few seconds ago. The thief would forcefully pick up Gideon’s arm and cut the fingers of his friend’s even more until he had enough space to escape. Yuurei would jump away at this point as he looked over to Gideon with a smirk on his face.

”That’s your ability? I can see your endurance increases by the looks of things. I couldn’t penetrate your skin because of that, but now it’s back on even terms, well not so much.” He said to his friend.

Gideon would feel much slower than he originally was by two speed. Yuurei cracked his neck though as he was staring at his friend.

”You are the second person I have seen who could do this Gideon. Come at me and make sure it’s amazing because what I have in store for you next will be fun to see.” He said to Gideon.

***

Kasui saw Yuurei attack Gideon, but then he saw Gideon slam his fist straight down and onto Yuurei. His eyes widen when he saw this because he figured the big guy had the advantage. It wasn’t just that, but for a second there he thought he had gotten stronger than Yuurei.

”Yuurei is losing to Gideon.” He said to the crew once he saw the big hand slam into the ground.

He figured Yuurei wouldn’t be able to get out of this situation, but he was wrong. He noticed that Gideon’s hand was being lifted up and then something quick and fast got out from under it. He was confused and scared for a second as he moved his scope to see Yuurei was the quick figured.

”Nope, never mind. Yuurei seems perfectly fine.” He said as he was rooting for Gideon.

27/30 Haki Staming Remaining

Skill Used:

Gideon felt the impact though something seemed off, there was a pull, or ... a repel, he wasn't sure, but when he adjusted himself a bit to get a better look beneath his fist, he noticed Yuurei's new look, something close to that of a demon, or at least that was what Gideon thought. The form was intimidating and the fact that the swordsman could withstand the heat of the giant's Baking Oven mode meant that he needed to back away to increase the pressure.

Yuurei sliced at Gideon's fingers and the giant felt the pain but the wounds were too superficial to worry about, at least for the moment. Gideon quickly lifted his fist away from the dangerous blades and decided if the roast wasn't cooking well enough, then he'll just increase the temperature. Another click of his teeth and Gideon released another breath of fire downward upon the swordman. Whatever this new ability of Yuurei's is, it was brought up questions to what the man has been going through while he was away and how exactly did he escape and whether or not he truly intended on killing the Phantom Raiders. Though the thoughts were swimming in Gideon's head, he focused on his first task, taking down Yuurei to make sure the threat was nuetralized before anyone gets hurt.

* * *

Hearing Kasui explain Gideon had the upperhand made Vizmir raise an eyebrow. The giant is strong indeed, but everyone in the Phantom Raiders crew had implide that Yuurei was dangerous and powerful and it was put to question whether or not anyone could take on the long-arm swordsman one-on-one, but then Kasui recanted his statement; the tone he gave worried Vizmir, wondering if Yuurei was planning on killing the giant. The sound of powerful collision rocked the area and placed fear in the crew that were present, which was furthering Vizmir's worry. If Gideon falls to Yuurei, then surely they will be next, he considered trying to make an escape plan.

Armament Hardening: 4/15

Yuurei did feel the heat coming from Gideon’s hand, but it didn’t touch himself so he didn’t get himself burn like Gideon expected him to. Still, he could the expression in Gideon’s face and it seemed like he had though his new form was scary. The reaction was good in its own way, but things could only get scarier from here. He didn’t even show his friend his second form, but that would be for later. At this movement, he wondered what Gideon would do next. It seemed like his friend had used the fire breath he had loved so much. He figured that he would return it back to him as he wanted his friend to do something else.

”I will return this fire straight towards you Gideon, so enjoyed being fried.” He said this as the fire breath was moving really slow in his direction.

Yuurei had swiped his left arm to his left and a gravity push had emitted from his body and towards slowed down fire breath. When it connected with the element it would be pushed away and towards the sender of the attack. Gideon had to understand the gravity that was felt throughout the whole entire field right now. While the fire breath was being sent back to Gideon, Yuurei decided that it was best to do the same thing Gideon did to him with the tree. He had placed Benihime into her sheath and launched himself towards Gideon without a second of hesitation. The swordsman would wait until he got close enough and would remove Benihime from her sheathe once again. He was using his Shishi Sonson technique on his best friend. Whether or not he connected he would keep Benihime in his hand and wait for another attack from Gideon as he was expecting the man to do exactly that.
***
Kasui took a closer look at the two men who were exchanging blows. It was intriguing to watch, and if this was just a sparring match, then he would find it enjoyable, but it wasn’t like that. They were both his friends, and he didn’t want anybody to die from this battle. He could see how Gideon had changed, which was awesome, but it looked like Yuurei had changed his form as well. The purple coloration on his body, the purple marking on his face showed that he had achieved a different level of power than before.

”It seems like Gideon is able to generate fire and body heat from his body, but he seems much more slowly than the giant usually moved. As for Yuurei, the man seems like his skin color is changed to a purple one. It’s not just that, the man also seems more demon than human. I guess he really changes into a devil like the fruits are named as. I hope this fighting stops soon enough and Gideon can get Yuurei to put an end to all of this.” He said out loud.

He spoke a lot and it was more than he usually did, but it was because he was nervous. These two were the guys that fought well with each other and freed him and Vizmir from being a prisoner of war. The Skypieans were done standing still and started moving around. They were honestly preparing to flee with the ship. They knew that he had threatened to take their lives if they interfere, but would they still perish if Gideon fell here? They weren’t sure at all, and they weren’t stupid to wait and see.

26/30 Haki Remaining

Spoiler:

The fire slowed and it had taken Gideon a moment to realize that the pressure he was feeling and the atmosphere that surrounded him wasn't his imagination, it was Yuurei's gravity manipulation, he has scaled to a new level of power, not only was he able to slow Gideon's own movements, but even the spitfire was slowing to a crawl.

With but a motion of his hand, Yuurei did as he promised and repelled the fire back at Gideon which then engulfed him, though it didn't fry him as Yuurei had expected, the giant's hide was too tough and within his Baking Oven mode, it barely registered as little more than a heat wave. As the fire passed, Gideon expected to counter by throwing another punch, but he wasn't prepared for what was next: Yuurei took a stance Gideon had seen before, an move that was made in a blink of a eye, a move that could take down any man the swordsman went up against, the giant's heart skipped a beat knowing he didn't have the time or the speed to move out of the way and they both were too close to one another for any type of reflexive dodge, he needed to take the hit.

Gideon focused his armorment form to solidify his chest, his most vital spot. This was probably it, seeing the look in Yuurei's eyes, the weird demonic face that bore the purple aura and sigil that seem to appear from hell, Gideon didn't know if he was fighting the real Yuurei or a demon look alike, either way, his death was probably near if not now.

In an instant, it seemed as if time slowed a bit, Gideon saw Yuurei unsheathed his blade, every detail, every inch, every color... but then... he blinked, and he something dug into him.

Gideon opened his eyes and Yuurei was gone. He figured his armament had protected him. When he turned about to see Yuurei behind him, that is when the pain of the large gash across his chest registered. The swordsman had cut through his armament, through his jacket, through the slippery oil, and sank the blade along the surface of his skin, warm giant's blood ran along the line of his chest.

The giant nearly fell over, but quickly caught his footing, pushing himself to fight against the pain and against the increased gravity. He kept staring at Yuurei, there was no escaping, if he were to die here, then he would be sure to make sure to hold the devil here, "Board the ship and run" he grunted into the den den mushi.

* * *

Hearing Gideon's tone of voice caused fear to surge into Vizmir. After a moment of looking towards the direction of where the fight was happening, the old man decided to obey the order and began boarding the ship with the skypieans. Beaks was squaking and circling overhead, not knowing what was happening.

* * *

"You win, Yuurei, or whoever you are" Gideon clenched his fists, sending his armament coating to his arms and hands once more, his eyes glaring at the swordsman, his teeth gritting and his shirt and jacket staining from his running blood, the heat from his body causing steam to emit, "I may lose here, but I can be sure to have you remember that I will die giving it all I have" Gideon took one long step and struck a powerful punch which caused wind to be whipped and shoot towards Yuurei, a blast of hot air pressing forward with every bit of Gideon's strength.

Armament: 5/15