Hunting Dragons

Noble Paradise
“Oh,” Dragon D. Dexter began, looking at his notebook with a rather surprised expression on his face. “Ooooh!” He called out once again, jumping to his feet rocking his small boat side to side. “Savin’ lives and breakin’ rules, being a pirate is hella cool!” Hand extended over his head, Dexter rapped those words out loud so that the entire ocean could hear him as though he’d been performing at a sold out arena. He smiled wide following the bar and he felt as though it had been one of his greatest in quite some time.

“Purururu..” A Den Den Mushi rang within his pants pocket. He looked at it with anger for just a short moment, then picked it up because it’s constant ringing began to irritate him.

“What?” He answered.

“You damned brat, what do you mean ‘What’?!” The voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi shouted, evident by the snail imitating her shouts. What a way to answer someone who’s basically your legal guardian and manager. "I could have destroyed you long ago but I didn’t and what do I get as a reward? Never ending disrespect! I can’t wait for you to get back here, I’m gonna reach down your throat and rip you left lung out of your stomach!”

While he held the speaker up, Dexter virtually ignored all of the angry woman’s yelling. “Dear Shiguma, Lucina. You sound like a nagging wife. Shut up, you.”

“NAGGING WIFE? AS IF I’D EVER MARRY A PAIN IN THE ASS LIKE YOU!” The waters that Dexter sailed over began to move violently. It seemed as though Lucina had been so angry that her thunderous nagging had reached the sea floor and woken it from its slumber. The water gathered densely in the area around Dexter’s boat before compressing and shooting upwards behind him like a waterfall. Once the stream of water cleared, a upper portion of a snake-like revealed itself.

The beast roared, spitting droplets of water all over the swordsman. Without warning and almost instantly, the Sea King lifted its tail from the water in attempts to strike Dexter from above. Holding his hand to his side, fingers spread apart he uttered “ZONE”, just before swinging his body to the left to push his entire boat out of the Sea King’s range and dodge its strike. Placing his notebook into his pocket, he swiftly brought that same hand to his back and drew his trusty sword, Tenrairyū from its sheathe slowly. Dragging his eyeballs to the corner of his eye sockets he noticed a change in his blade. It’s usual silver metal blade had been dominantly black.

“CUT.” He mumbled, swinging his blade with little effort and dropping it back into its sheathe. A crescent of wind slashed at the Sea King beheading it like the beast was nothing more than a sheet of paper.

“Hey, Lucina.” He started, looking at his hand from front to back. “I just unsheathed Tenrairyū and her blade was black.”

“I don’t care! Where are you?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m headed to Noblan Island.”

“Noblan Island? Dexter, are you stupid?! There’s no reason for you to be going there! Especially not at the time of the year! Do you know how many World Nobles and Marines are on that island. It’s literally the Nobles’ personal resort island! You have to have a death wish to go there.”

Dexter smiled, “Good you just confirmed what I needed to know. There’s someone I’m looking for there. I’ll see you all in a few months. After this, I’ll be headed to Wano to meet with Gerhard. You three are not authorized to leave the base at any moment until I’ve returned. That goes for signing other artist as well.”

“Good god, Dexter. Understood boss.” She responded, ending the call between the two.

If she was honest, she was still not sure why she was even here. Noblan, a place not any bit clean, there was even a bubble around her head, damn Nobles wanted anyone else to wear those. Hmmm, maybe it was because some superior simply had her operating there, such a dirty trick. Okay, not that she was actually tricked... However, as a Marine Commodore, she had to put in work.

Naosaki Jun's eyes widened once her nose flinched and smelled something, her feline pupils expanded within her irises and she glanced around rapidly. She sniffed the air again, but it seemed to quickly vanish the more she did so, "Is this bubble dirtying my sensors...?" Her mind went into many places, not just in regards to her thoughts, after all, her Kenbunshoku allowed her to localize anything.

A darkened visage of the sea entered her thoughts, eyes closed so that it only heightened such a vision. Jun breathed in and out, slowly, seeing the many small movements that the ocean made-

"EEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!" Loud laughter ringed into her feline ears, prompting Jun to grit her teeth and open her eyes, completely losing the visage of the sea. "Maaaaaaaarineh!" An overweight man, bearing blonde hair and using intricate swim clothing, beamed at Jun, laughing while he floated over the nearby pool's water.

It was no one other than Saint Roosevelt, one of the touristing World Nobles. "Here we go..." Jun rolled her eyes, steadily approaching the Noble with firm steps.

Outside the island, quite a fair distance, stood a small boat. Yet, even as many waves struck against it, the boat didn't seem to move in accordance. Two figures sat atop it, one much large than the other, they both eyed the island carefully, wondering if the bubble surrounding it was unstable.

"Everything clear, Your Highness?" Jun bowed with closed eyes at Saint Roosevelt, standing at the borders of the pool.

Roosevelt smiled with his yellow teeth, "I demand someh information!" He clapped his large hands, something that wiggled his belly. Roosevelt pointed at a woman in the distance, who was leaving one of the pools, "Tell meh who she is now!"

Jun tried to contain a dirty sigh. "If my memory is not too messy, I recognize that to be Lady Bamiesk Anna," Anna's very long blonde hair and well built figure stood out amongst some royals, she was someone that took charge and action.

"Lady... she's a royal thehn!" Roosevelt beamed yet again, Jun went on to explain more about Anna, talking about some of her deeds and contributions. However, unbeknownst to her, Roosevelt's attention was dead set upon Anna. Only after a few seconds was it that Jun noticed the widen in his eyes, the drool leaving his mouth, how he started to caress his belly.

It made her bring a hand to her mouth.

"I want her as my spouseh... aaaah," Roosevelt blinked quickly, "She's already got theh kids right? They'll be good slaves... serving their sib-" The rest couldn't be heard, for Jun swiftly stepped away from his presence, face full of sweat and cheeks inflated. She didn't even see the Cipher Pol members that moved towards Roosevelt, who called them with a single snap of his fingers.

At the coast of the island, the sound of a blade dragging for could be heard along the pavement. The Marines guarding it turned, each widening their eyes once they figured out just who and what had been making the noise. They were frozen in place, not even their stomachs moved from inhaling and exhaling.

“Dragon D. Dexter..” The first one said slowly regaining his composure while sweat dripped down the side of his face. “Well damn,” the Marine went on, bringing his left hand to his forehead and forming a large grin. “I ain’t think you’d be making an appearance again so early. Especially considering the big jump in bounty you just received.” Shaking his head, he smacked his lips. “Kid, ya’ got some big balls. Especially showing up here on Noblan. This is one of the most heavily guarded places around this time of the year, but maybe it was god helping us do what we need to do before you get any worse.”

The other Marine remained hesitant. He looked to his comrade before taking a huge gulp of his own spit. “H-Herbert! I think we should call Vice-Admiral Grave!”

“Why? There’s no need to bother the boss! Not with a puny pipsqueak such as this chump.” He punched his fist into his palm. “Besides the Nobles want him dead anyway! Why’d you even come here knowing that fact, Dexter? Have you followed your brother’s footsteps and become a “Fallen Dragon”?”

Lifting his blade, Dexter pointed it towards Herbert. For a moment all he could do was think about the events that transpired against the Numerals. World Noble, brothers, and everything else he found out about while on his mission flew over his head while initially mentioned. “Let’s not do that,” Dexter started, hair flowing over his face. “Or it’ll end like that.” He claimed, pointing over his shoulder to a group of Marines lying on their stomachs and blood leaking from their bodies. “You seem to know more than they do, so I’ll ask you what I asked them.” Slightly yanking Tenrairyū, blood slid down its black blade and splattered between the two opposing parties.

“Fuck you!” Herbert responded, eyes widened and brows furrowed in anger. One of the biggest mistakes he could have made, which had he not gotten a grip of quickly, result in his downfall. Without thinking, Herbert charged at Dexter full speed. As he ran Herbert tucked his head and a large horn formed in the middle of his face. It was an ability of his the Ushi Ushi no Mi, Model: Rhino. Despite his large and muscular build, Herbert closed the gap between the two swiftly.

But even then, Dexter remained on his toes and refused to lower his guard. Especially because he knew he’d been on enemy territory. After all, this seemed to be in accordance to some plan he had in mind. For a moment he blanked out. For a split second a voice rang in his head, “THEY TOOK MY BABY!” It screamed. It held concern. Anger. Fear. And most importantly, sadness.

By the time he returned to his train of though, Herbert had entered Dexter’s personal space. With a single hand, Dexter swiped his blade out in front of himself. Even though it was a single motion, Dexter commanded the 2 mile per hour winds to gather around his blade and compress itself. Turning his blade just slightly, the compressed wind turned into a raging tornado around his blade. ”Moon Style: Fūgetsu,” The world knew Dexter’s power was not that of wind control, however had they seen what he’d been preparing they’d easily have believed this to be a fact.

“No matter what attack, my horn and Haki will go right through it!” Herbert boasted, coating his horn in a black sheet of Busoshoku Haki.

“—Tornado!” Dexter’s ending chant was followed by the technique flowing off of his blade in a crescent shape and down the path towards Herbert. As it travelled, the tornado sucked everything in its path into its core. Even the solid earth that it travelled across was split down the middle, a clear understanding of the power behind the technique. Despite being performed so quickly, it was not to be taken lightly and Dexter ensured that.

Before Herbert could make another gesture of any sort, he found himself sucked into the tornado. Sheathing Tenrairyū to his back, he continued along the path he’d been intending to head down. Dexter, for the first time in a long time, had a serious look on his face. No one knew what had been going on, but for him to have that killer look on his face, you could only assume the situation was serious. Before he disappeared from the two Marine’s view he snapped his fingers and the raging tornado flung Herbert off the coast and into the sea like a cannon ball leaving a cannon.

“Roosevelt, I will find you and kill you here.”

It was no surprise that a good portion of the island caught glimpse of the effects caused by the clash. Jun's eyes widened the most at the sights, though, her body had been even faster, as if on pure instinct, it had placed her the closest while she did her usual patrol walk through the place.

"WHAT IS THIIIIIIS?!" Roosevelt bellowed, teeth and eyes falling out of his face. The water of many pools rumbled, going back and forth, many of the nobles had nowhere to hold to, leading them to fall into the water or just get thrown around.

Clutching a Den Den Mushi in her hand, Jun yelled at it. "COVER ALL THE DIRTY SPOTS!" A response was instantly given, but given how fast she was moving, it fell on deaf ears, even ones as good as hers. While she was a fighter on her own, no way she could defend all of these Nobles at once, especially given their unpredictability.

Body stopping by the entrance, Jun tried to look through the smoke and debris created by the last attack. Myriads of concrete began to surface from her form, her yellow eyes turned red with pure Kenbunshoku Haki. Seeing whom stood there, Jun cried out, "POPSTAR, you dare lay your dirty foot in a marine protected island!"

Sniff, even though he didn't do it intentionally, Dexter could smell Jun's scent closing in on him from a mile away. I mean, how could his nose miss it? She was a bit from you average human and had a stench that only presided within the blood of her other kin. The smell moved with great speed, something that caught him off guard at the beginning but did not startle him one bit.

He stopped once the individual showed themselves and spoke. He stood by idly and allowed the sun's illuminating rays to heat his body. "Yes, I dare." Dexter responded, twisting Tenrairyu by the hilt so that her tip dug into the ground. His anger blinded him from the evolution his blade had undergone and quite frankly he could give two fucks about it.

"Marine," he began, a cold mist drifting from his mouth as he began to speak. "Gather all of the nobles here, or I'll trample over this land with my two feet and kill every single one of them that I walk past."

Mistake or not, Dexter had opted to dirtily snark at Jun, whose concrete was already surrounding her even before that. As if this pirate could even try and do that, even if he had a bounty of 600,000,000, Jun couldn't back down here. By the time he started to demand things out of her, Jun responded him with a frown as her expression, her eyebrows pushing inwards, and her fangs showing.

An immense outburst of concrete flew into Dexter's direction, shards became giant rocks in the span of a single second, filling the whole entrance to the Paradise Island. The place creaked under such action, ripped apart. Grey overtook the whiteness of the place, the sea behind them shook due to the sudden insurgence, like a garden.

Eyes locked, Dexter spread his fingers apart. In the same second it took for Jun's shards of earth to become giant clunks of earth, it took for Dexter's ZONE to cover about a thirty-second radius. As it did, the wind was knocked off its course and gave a slight breeze pushing in an outward direction. The earth beneath his hand cracked and then shifted.

Onc the chunks of earth entered his area of combat, Dexter simply lifted his blade in a precise manner, slashing diagonally at the air and cleaving a large group of the earth globs in half allowing them to fly past him and crash into the ground. "You bear your fangs at me, JUN?! How about you do so at that sick, fat fuck, Roosevelt that you crack down to protect with your life. I'm not here to battle anyone who stands in my way, Tenrairyu does not seek the blood of the blind or the ignorant. She wants that of a Dragon, the false ones that sit among their high horses. WHERE IS HE?!"

"My eyes have been cleaned long ago!" Jun flinched not one bit at his move of destroying her concrete, still, had it not been hard enough? Gritting her teeth, she pushed her arms forward yet again, pushing herself backwards into the entrance. "Whoever even told you that he is here?!" No matter that Dexter could cut off part of her concrete, she would send even more, thicken it even more, it stood all over the place.

Like a virus that spread into a body, her concrete exploded outwards, even the chunks cut by Dexter got caught in it and, thus, expanded as well. From all sides, given her previous attack positioned most of them around Dexter, the concrete homed towards him and soared through the air like a dozen spears, evident by a thick veil of breached air around its forms. This concrete acted much like chipped stone, a type of rock that would initially look fragile, yet, possessed many edges. However, the spears' aims sat not just at Dexter, but towards the ground he was over, smashing and piercing it with such force that most of the platform would give way to the ocean below in a shrieking impact.

Even if Dexter cut off one of them, Jun surveylled him with her trained eyes, keen on changing the trajectories of the many spears should the situation require it. Given the floor would be destroyed, this assault sought more to keep Dexter busy rather than do any meaningful damage, so that he would fall into the seas.

Flipping his blade along the backside of his hand, Dexter professional stabbed Tenrairyū into the insert of his sheath. Reaching to the two pouches on his right and legs, Dexter drew both shuriken and kunai. Arms swinging wildly, Dexter flung both of his ninja tools in rapid successions at the many concrete chunks that were thrown his way.

Normally, launching normal metal at earth would not result in its shattering, but because Dexter had almost been a master in the art of Busoshoku Haki. He knew that despite his one-track mind, he needed to reinforce his tools with it if he had any hope or chance of coming from this untouched. To his dismay though, each time he shattered them, the just continued to grow and multiply.

Opening his left palm, a miniature ZONE spun which he flung towards Jun's area. In a second's passing the ZONE increased in comparable size to the one surrounding himself."MOVE," he commanded, forcing the concrete and it's many shards to disappear from around him and to reappear all around Jun. What the Marine had intended to do with the concrete to Dexter, would now be turned on herself.

Jun gritted her teeth for a few moments once the projectiles Dexter threw hit her concrete dead-on, after all, her consciousness was tied to them still. A single bead of sweat went down her forehead and face, she would have remained there, simply fueling that onslaught with more and more concrete, but Dexter decided he thought he could use that against her.

With Dexter's interference, the weight over the ground he stood on completely shifted to the nigh entrance to Paradise. Smoke erupted from the ground, which budged downwards at the same second, roaring and creaking for the whole area to hear, the sides of the entrance were even flung away upon mere contact. Jun, rather than retreat through the entrance, stood just there and allowed for it all to press over her body.

Her limbs weren't just smashed flat, half of them were severed by the many spear profusions, it seemed as if her blood painted the surrounding concrete, but Jun's expression didn't even change, the sound of flesh seemed more to be of buildings hitting one another. What flooded her surroundings, once her body was torn apart, was grey in color.

Indeed, that much concrete she had used could still harm her, but not her true body, it lacked in Haki. It was a meeting of rocks, Jun was devoured by the onslaught and submerged within the concrete mass by herself. One could locate people via Haki by feeling their very presence, even against a Logia user that was swarmed in their element, there surely would be a specific spot where the presence was stronger. However, Jun's presence was scattered all together, the mass of concrete burst off towards Dexter once again, sinking even more of its surrounds, this time in the form of many spear tentacles, trying to hit him from many sides. One aimed for his torso, another for his legs, one for his right arm, others breezed by him.

"I absolutely despise," Dexter began, flipping his blade along the backside of his hand and then launching it above his head, releasing the hilt. With both hands, he reached into the inside of his jacket and drew his ninja tools once again; both shuriken and kunai. Eyes closed, he merged his subconscious with nature to get a better feel of where to strike and of where he'd be struck.

Right arm. Flexing his bicep with a shuriken ready, he dropped and flicked his entire arm dodging the first tentacle with minimal effort. Passively spreading his fingers apart, he released a star from his grasp at the attacking tentacle in efforts to collide and make contact with whatever portion of Jun's body it would have been--if any at all.

Torso. Heels separating from one another, Dexter's entire upper body dropped once he performed a full-fledge split allowing the tentacle to pass right over his head. Extending his kunai holding hand upward, he simultaneously coated the tool in haki and stabbed into the tentacle, dragging it along its side to hopefully destroy and crack it.

As his blade fell from above due to the laws of gravity, Dexter released the shuriken and flung them each at the remaining tentacles that were intended to breeze past him. Grabbing the blade by its hilt, Dexter slashed at the tentacle instructed to attack his leg and because his blade had become a black one, he did not need to enhance it with haki in order to crush it. It would do that on its own.

Stabbing at the ground he stood himself back up. "Logia users..." he ended.

The one that was struck first, the one that Dexter dodged and then attacked, was actually the one with most of Jun's body inside. Rather than gather the bits of her consciousness and body parts from the other concrete that swarmed over Dexter, Jun left them there, gritting her teeth. They were pieces still tied to her, hence, when he struck his many blows against them, her nerves surely felt it, Jun grinded her rows of teeth even more.

The shard that was cut apart by the kunai contained part ofher leg, a large gash appeared over it. Hit by the shuriken with Haki, the other shards contained pieces of her left arm and shoulders, which also bled under his attack.

Forming herself from the pillar spear of concrete, Jun was positioned behind Dexter's frame, her body was incomplete, but its missing parts were supplied with concrete constructs. After all, if her original parts were still in the concrete, she could still distract him. She coated her right hand with Busoshoku. Instantly, Jun dashed and lunged her right hand at Dexter's backside, breaching through the air, birthing concrete shards from said hand and ever expanding them to hit as much flesh as possible. Given how Dexter was focused on the concrete attacks and how they had part of her aura in them, Jun was much confident at her success.

And confidence was all that she needed. "Ugh," Dexter slightly grunted, as each of the concrete shards effectively made contact with his back. Both combatants were still for a moment as a red substance leaked from each one of Dexter's punctured wounds--blood. Leaping backward, Dexter slid across the destroyed ground with her sword's blade stabbed into the pavement to keep him up. He puffed nor huffed, but instead straighten his posture as though he'd never been attacked to begin with.

The swordsman didn't brush her attack off, no. In fact, his body felt the full brute of it. However, he himself had been high off adrenaline and anger, two things that would stall his sense of feel for just a moment. "Jun," he began, clenching the hilt of Tenrairyu to the point of his veins revealed themselves. He bore his fangs at Jun and slanted his eyebrows in.

"I'll ask once more. Where. The. Fuck. Is. That. Fat. Son. Of. A. Bitch."

This much adrenaline and animosity didn't pass by Jun's mind freely, she continued to grit her teeth even as a smile graced her features. Blood had been drawn from him and soaked the concretes on her fist, slowly but surely, Jun strengthened her combat prowess. When Dexter took his time to distance from her, she summoned much of the concrete back to her person, absorbing it to become whole again.

Rocks broke off where her normal limbs should be, where they appeared once again. Jun stretched her fingers, though blood remained from the wounds he dealt to them at their concrete form. With Dexter's bloodlust directed at her, Jun shivered for but a second, pushing herself forward, "As clearly as I disagree with the Nobles, I can't let you do as you please!"

For another second, Jun let more heavy breaths come in and out of her lungs, eyes heavy upon Dexter's figure. He wanted a single one, but, what if attacked the other ones too? Not all nobles were inherently the same. Even then, Jun held her palms open and roared, "Defeat me!! If you do so clean and sharp, I will concede his exact location!!" Those same palms greyed out and exploded into a wave of concrete, waves each that formed a clawed hand that connected to Jun's real ones.

Sparks flew off Jun's arms, sipping into the concrete constructs and blackening the face of their palms, at that point, the floor couldn't sustain either. Yet, Jun roared again and pressed both her arms inwards, causing a gigantic gust of wind to go everywhere even before the two claws would wrap against Dexter's form. Their actual impact would make the little ground there was to completely shatter and crumble, sending random shards everywhere.

Initially, Dexter prepared himself for a technique that would deal with Jun's initial actions. But, in a moments notice, they changed. Her two constructed reaching hands smashed together into another barrage and wave of shards. The first few times, Jun's concrete attacks caught him off-guard and because of his rage, he hadn't been truly taking what he'd been evaluating and using it against his opponent. But that was no more. She gave him information that bought relief and relaxation to not him, but his body.

He chose not to Jun for the time being and instead dedicated all of his efforts to defeat her in battle, but he kept the notion that he could not kill her. Not that he could, she was a rather attractive woman after all. "Everything she seems to generate is apart of her body," Dexter's thought process began for the first time this entire battle as he pulled his new black blade to his chest.

Muscles relaxing the young swordsman took a deep breath and proceeded to perform a series of slashes at the incoming shards. Though there were many, each one of Dexter's slashes was accurate in that they were capable of cutting at least more than one shard at a time. This was done through keen body control and focuses his mind to the point he didn't even need to forcefully activate his sixth sense. It was as if the color was apart of him. Sparks flew as the concrete and his blade made contact each time he cut, until finally, his blade set itself on fire.

The sharded wave seemed never ended and as such, Dexter went to his next course of action. One hand using his blade to cut at the concrete, he used his other hand to perform a series of fast-paced single-handed seals. It had been quite some time since he'd resorted to his ninja-teachings, but he'd never forgotten them and would employ them now. "Amaterasu Style Style", he began to utter, bringing his fiery black blade to over his head. Placing his left foot forward, Dexter vanished without a trace of his presence.

Within less than a full second, Dexter revealed himself within the boundaries of Jun's personal space, preforming an overhead slash leaving a crescent of flames as his blade traveled from top to bottom. "— Engetsu!" By combining Shadow Step and his MOVE technique from his devil fruit, Dexter reached a peak of speed he never thought he could, whilst also getting within close striking range of his opponent. His goal was to slash Jun from head to toe with his scorching blade. His strike was so focused, that it didn't even disrupt the air. There was no slight wind gust like his precious strikes. It was as though he commanded the wind to halt with his strike, forcing it to gravel at the beckoning of his blade.

Though it was true it was produced from her, the shards Jun fired were no longer under her control, allowing for her senses to remain intact while Dexter spliced those open. His blade went ablaze, brightening her vision almost completely, she closed her sensitive eyes, focusing solely on her ears for what he intended to do. Aura flared from within her being, a line of grey went from the top of her hair and down in-between her legs. Dexter was way faster than her, therefore requiring usage of that Haki was nothing forced, she had to try and put herself in the same pedestal as him.

Much like many warriors before him, Dexter made himself more open to being read due to the many feelings he expressed.

Once the grey stripe crossed over Jun, that was when Dexter's flame slash came over her, just like she had predicted it. By then, her vision halved, Jun's body went separate and opposite ways, jumping off to each side as she split herself by partially becoming concrete. Still, she grinded the rows of her teeth, the heat of Dexter's slash reaching both of her halves and glistening her with sweat. Though, that temperature was far from being able to melt her concrete.

Noble Purgatory
However, by jumping off to her sides and dividing herself, Jun basically gave way for Dexter to rush through the opening to the Noble Paradise.

When she would think of that, it would likely be very late, given how faster Dexter was and how far away from him she got when she jumped. Noticing that, Jun instantly melded with the rest of the concrete around the whole area, expanding it through her own will and prompting many shards to sprout once again. Akin to stalagmites, they traveled in a straight and bulky form towards Dexter.

Dexter's brow lifted for a moment. Eyes scanning the battlefield, he'd been watching each point on the front looking for openings and not one was a big as the one he'd just gain. But it was a little too good to be true. Dexter above being a swordsman and pirate, was a ninja. He had a type of instinct that only a few possessed. One that he gained over the course of many battles and much bloodshed.

"What the hell?" He asked himself over and over again, looking at the gap directly, but kept his other senses keen to his surroundings in case Jun had anything sinister up her hairy sleeve. "It were as though she just ran from my flam-", a light bulb flicked on in Dexter's head. Bringing the black painted blade to the palm of his hand, he spun it like a spinner and struck it with yet another kunai.

He seemed to have caught on to this flaw rather swiftly and to his satisfaction. She'd promised she'd shown him the way to the vile beasts that had been mistreating children and what he had in store for the two was nothing compared to what they'd done in their entire lifetime. But not worried about this, for now, he placed his full focus back on the battlefield. "Fuck, my mind was all over the place. I lead in with roundabout techniques, forgetting I have shit catered to most situations. She may think I didn't notice it, but I did."

Blading igniting in flames once again, he gripped the hilt and held it down at his side, allowing the flames to combust. Bringing the blade above his head both the wind and flames moved along with it, sending a hot front across the place they deemed their battleground. Swinging his blade over his head with both hands with great speed and force he created a whirlwind of scorching winds. Fire spat like ashes flying all across the battlefield. "Nagare Kawa — Ententaifū!" He shouted, swinging his blade forward in a downward slash allowing the scorching tornado to scattered and rage in the form of a heatwave--no a hurricane.

The range of this attack was massive and to perform it in such a short amount of time was nothing short of exemplary. But that was just how much control he had over Tenrairyu. A bond with his blade built over years, he knew just how much force was needed in a swing to gather the wind around her fine blade. "I will win."

Jun's expression had surely went wild when she felt the heat of Dexter's blade, she didn't know nor even thought if it was possible, but her expression widened even more once she noticed that she had just left the entrance under Dexter's prey. Paying up for the amount of scumish nobles that stood behind that entrance was an equal amount of nice people that just happened to have money.

In that instant of most surprise, Jun didn't notice her Haki slightly going off, something that blocked off her full understanding of the next actions Dexter would take. She rocketed her separate body parts towards one another, clapping them together in a small burst of concrete. Her senses flaring and eyes sharpening, Jun propelled herself in Dexter's direction, almost as if she had... double jumped.

However, Dexter combusted the entire place with clean movements from his sword, Jun found herself cornered from every possible angle by his hurricane of heat. She opened her mouth very wide, trying to gasp for air, sweat littered her whole face, she looked around in thought of just escaping the heat wave, but the hurricane was pushing her. Furthermore, if she got away, there were chances of Dexter attacking.

Arms, legs, head, concrete sprouted from everywhere over Jun's body, prompting her to acquire some sort of star-like form. Stalagmites pointed everywhere, piercing the very ground, Jun was completely unseen and just covered in her concrete. "The people..." Everything around her was more dark, way more. "...Please... not the good people..." Said form still rotated in the air due to the fierce motions caused by the wind, yet, gradually stopped dead into its tracks, part of it was melted over itself, overwhelming Jun even more. "I'm... so... wea-" Jun's consciousness fluctuated within there, barely hanging on to being awake, her arms wrapped around her bent knees, bringing them closer to her face.

It seemed as if, by overwhelming her with so much heat, Jun was surrounded with too much molten concrete. It seemed as if the gates to Heaven had no more guards blocking Dexter from entering and searching for his prey.

Dexter took a few deep breaths as he watched the turn of events unfold. He knew his move would be effective, but to such a degree managed to catch him off guard. He sought a victory and he achieved just that. Slowly he headed towards the path Jun blocked, though with her defeat, opened up clear as day. As he passed Jun, he smashed the tip of his blade through the concrete to shatter it with a single blow.

Bending his knees, he flung Jun's partially molten body over his shoulder. "Even if I have a bigger goal, I can't leave a good looking lady on the side of the road." Passing through the opening he continued along the path, maintaining Jun's body over his shoulder. Even then, he couldn't help but think about getting to the World Noble responsible.

"I'll kill them," Dexter thought to himself, trying to keep his shadowy demeanor from Jun's seeing. Perhaps these emotions would be the worst thing for him now. He'd just defeated a high-ranking Marine official, so there was no telling who he'd meet on the other side of this land. Yet, all he could think about was the smiling and motivated face of Corbin. He was innocent and taken away from his family cause some rich fat snob felt entitled and the authority to do so?

No. Dexter wouldn't stand for it. He wouldn't let the tears of Baboa fall any further. She'd put her full trust in him and for that, he owned her his blade. "COME OUT YOU PIECES OF SHIT!!!!!!"

Indeed, just like Dexter's roar had demanded, the cries of many nobles reverbered through the area. His frame filled their eyes, since some of them dropped to the ground, bodies trembling and mouths wide open. Who stood before them was no Pirate, no Cipher Pol agent, but a damned Pirate, the one known by his ruthless voice no less, Popstar Dexter.

"A P-Pirate?!"

"Oh my lord!!"

"Whom is he after?!"

"Run, get ou of my way!!"

Their many screams followed suit, swallowing even the sound of their bare or shoed footsteps. Some Cipher Pol agents tried to organize them, almost getting swarmed by the wave of nobles, however, their resilient bodies had them stationary. They glared at Dexter, rushing at him in blurring motions, yet, ones that could likely be seen by the Pirate himself. They each moved in a different angle, but, they were only members of lesser Cipher Pols, seemingly no threats.

Unlike another other time, Dexter chose not to react in his usual manner. In fact, this situation was much different than any other before. This battle hit on an emotional level. A level that neither of the people on this island would hope to understand. But it wasn't like he'd expect them to, because if they did, they wouldn't be recklessly charging at him. The teen's eyes were closed and from a distance he looked much like his elder brother, Ferrothorn Braxton, adopting his signature form. Only he did it while continuing to walk forward.

Even then, he kept himself intact with the rest of the world. Two attacked from his front, while ten attacked from his remaining angles. Gripping onto Jun's body by flexing his muscle, his simply swung his sword out in front himself releasing a compressed crescent of wind which cut the two in front of him down.

His slash had been fueled by the cries and wails of the Nobles attempting a flee and use these Cipher Pol agents as their wall. Dexter's body began to shake, but not because he had been filled with fear. Because he truly didn't understand how people who committed grand sins could run away as though they are in the right. "Entitled fucks..." The ebony teen thought to himself, continuing to walk without reacting to the remaining Cipher Pol agents. They weren't his targets, neither was Jun. In all honesty, in this current situation, he didn't want to hurt anyone other than those he'd filthy celestials.

Emotion completely taking control, it took the form of anger and rage. His body shook so violently that the ground itself vibrated. A silver aura leaked through his skin and shrouded his body in the form of a thin cloak. Dexter flashed his eyes opened and what followed was something he'd never or been aware of before. A type of spiritual pressure released from his body at the moment of his eyes opening. The ground cracked not only beneath him but all around him as though he'd clashed with a powerful opponent. Those around him were also cracked. Mentally, in the form of their wills to move, speak, or even think shattered at the instant of that sudden shockwave. Birds fell from the sky and bystanders groveled the dirt.

Many of the Cipher Pol agents suddenly felt their visions fading, sound fell deaf upon their ears, hair rose wherever it was located over their body. The impact of their body on the ground was light, too light, even if the pressure that washed over them was enough to demolish the very scenario. Their eyes rolled back into their skulls, unconscious forms covering much of the broken floor before Dexter. Many nobles suffered of the same fate, in fact they had fallen even lighter and quicker than the agents did, fainting with but a simple contact against Dexter's aura, an aura that painted everything silver.

A King's, rather, the will of a True King faced with those that overestimated themselves. Clearly, Dexter was one that some deemed as chosen by the heavens, an user of Haoshoku Haki.

Once the black sparks and colors breezed away in under a second, Dexter found himself surrounded by many bodies, of alive people of course. Rather than lay down, some were actually crawling, still affected by Dexter's presence. The pirate had been after Saint Roosevelt, however, with much confusion it was easy to say that by then Roosevelt was hidden amongst the fallen crowd.

Searching was not as easy as saying that, although.

An array of bullets coursed through the air without any sound coming through, their only indication being the brief glimmer of a star in the distance of the island. Trails of pierced air filled the atmosphere, taking the form of long tubes that were to stay visible for a moment. These bullets had come over as soon as the Haoshoku wave worn out, maybe if they were immobile, one could notice their intricate design and their texture. Aimed over Dexter, they were to hit anywhere on his body, trajectory not too clear, even in harmless spots of his body.

At their initial state of firing, Dexter had been completely unaware. Even with his recent feats of displaying the form of haki present in only a few people across the seas, his senses had not prepared him for that. His Kenbunshoku had not been refined to sense out to such a radius. Especially not in his current state. A state where murder was the only thing on his mind.

But that was fine. With the remaining activeness of his devil fruit's ZONE once these bullets entered its boundaries, Dexter had become aware of their presence even at their great speeds of travel. Entering his area of relief, Dexter placed his foot outwards and drew his sword for his method of combat. Even with his superhuman reaction time, had it not been for the Zon Zon no Mi, he would have found himself wounded beyond treatment. But because of it with combination with his kenbunshoku haki, he was able to in the very least defend himself.

In a single breath, he swung his blade six times deflecting bullets off of his black blade with relative ease. His movements were elegant, but with Jun resting over his shoulder, she slowed him down a bit. The final two bullets that managed to sweep past his views pierced him in different ways. One scraped his leg while the other went through the right side of his chest and remained within. Blood leaked from the wound and caused him to stop in the middle of his travels.

"Who the hell," he asked, looking around to find the culprit. With his sword gripping hand, he squeezed his chest to squeeze more of the blood out. Using his other hand, he pulled the bullet from his chest and threw it to the ground beside himself.

During those brief moments that those bullets wounded Dexter, he was surely going to find himself worn out, as if the energy of his body had been pulled out and then in. After all, "Gotcha'," Those were made of seastone, the very embodiment of the sea and enemy to Devil Fruit users, evident by their different designs. Still, they didn't remain in Dexter's body, but the time they did was to be accounted, no matter how brief.

From afar, a man laid down from the rooftop of a building, both his hands wrapped around a customized rifle of sorts. His body was quite muscular, muscles hidden under his marine clothes and cloak, one of his eyes focused upon the visor of the rifle. No wind came by his blond wild hair, given they were all inside the bubble of Noblan.

Once Dexter rid himself of the last bullet, a presence made itself known, having previously hid amidst the assault of the bullets. Blond hair and white skin surged, covered in marine clothes, this form spun in a small dark hurricane, causing a friction noise. Without waiting anymore, the Marine stretched out of one their legs while sustaining themselves with the other, breaching the very atmosphere in front of him. In a swift kick, the newly arrived Marine sought to press Dexter in his stomach and send him flying, so that his clutches left Jun.

Again, once something entered his ZONE, Dexter became immediately aware of their presence. While the bullets may have caught him due to their bombardment and the weight of Jun, he could still react. Bringing his sword in front of him once again, this time it sparked with electricity and he allowed its black metal to aid in blocking the newly appeared Marine. While he may have failed in forcing Dexter to release Jun, he did succeed in sending him flying back.

His appearance was like a blond flash. In all honesty, Dexter knew he hadn't been done with Marine interference but he had not expected them to come so quickly. He at least hoped to have at least come up with Roosevelt's head before that and flee with his life. Stabbing lightning clad blade into the ground he used it as a crutch to stand back to his feet.

"That blonde hair," Dexter commended, analysis his figure and frame in its entirety. "There's that Marine that sings and hates me. You work with her, correct?" Pulling Jun's body from off of his shoulder, he tossed her across the gap between himself and the blonde Marine. "Deadeye Necho..."

"Echochocho," Indeed, Dexter had been absolutely right, whom stood before him was none other than Necho, a Commodore within the Marine ranks. He seemed to hold his fists almost too tightly. "Mine-san has gotten into your nerves? You may as well listen to her again, you didn't do it right y'know?! You seem to know me though," He stood tall, even though he was smaller than Dexter by an inch or two. Eyeing the way Jun was treated, it seemed as if Necho didn't flinch, "You've defeated Junie, the news about Popstar standing up to those Numerals weren't fake then."

Of course, it had to take the Elite of the very world to take out someone like her. Necho knew Jun was very strong, but there simply were a tad too many people way more stronger than her, she had room to evolve, maybe she wasn't taking advantage of it as he thought she would. After Dexter's Haoshoku, the island had been very quiet, as if the wave took out almost every single marine and agent there. Almost.

Another small twinkle in the distance, another array of bullets. However, they seemed quite simpler than the bullets that came before them, the same air trails from beforehand were visible, yet they were thinner. The sniper atop the rooftop stood as silent as ever, blending himself over the white background.

Necho's form erupted into a blurr, much like Dexter who stood against him, he had been a man trained in some Ninja arts, particularly the Art of Stealth. Once the bullet shower was within Dexter's range, myriads of after-images entered that same zone, almost as if Necho had been in many places at once. Dexter had deflected the first assault with extreme accuracy, which meant he was either too good with Kenbunshoku or his Devil Fruit allowed just for that, was it not the Ope Ope?

Regardless of it, each of Necho's flickering images seemed to touch one of the bullets, redirecting them with their legs or feet by hitting them in certain angles. If Dexter could pint-point their location, he could find himself cornered when those locations were suddenly changed. With Necho's assistance, the bullets were all redirected into hitting Dexter's body and rocketed even more faster towards him, given the booms in the air provoked by each time his legs collided with them. Necho would then prepare himself to jump backwards, or else he would remain within Dexter's range.

Once again, Dexter had still been within the boundaries of his ZONE. Even if Necho had been aware of his Ope Ope no Mi's power, his information would have been completely wrong. He'd still been slightly off balance after being shot by Necho's seastone bullets. Still on a knee, Dexter looked to the many after images. "I can't fuckin' fight right now," He thought, referring to his energy being drained and only regenerating slowly. "I can still use my Zon Zon powers though,"

Reaching into his pocket, Dexter held a kunai in his free hand. "SWAP," He uttered gazing upon Jun's fallen body before his visage became a blur much like Necho's own ultimately disappeared from his position. In his place, laid the body of Jun and in her place stood Dexter. "QUAKE," He uttered yet another command, ground shaking beneath their feet within the area, revealing just big his ZONE has been to his opponent. Much like when he released his haoshoku haki, the ground cracked and slowly began to meld and mold.

"Oh," So, Dexter actually had quite more ways to interact with the environment around him, Necho smiled and let loose his own hands, which had been quite tight. He had been preparing those should Dexter try to approach him while they were within one another's range, but that was more than sufficent for him to act. Now that it was Jun the willing target of this assault, he had to do more than just stand there.

What Necho had been holding ever since the two of them talked were some of the bullets that Dexter initially deflected, it had been for that very reason that he limited himself to using his legs during the second volley. They were going to be fired should Dexter had chosen to close the distance between them, his arms hunched back and then forward, since his palms were open already. Nevertheless, they were fired indeed, Necho didn't need to build up any kind of force to do this, no, what he used were the angles he shot them at. Flying towards the normal bullets, the seastone bullets hit them in a soft clank, small sparks signalized their meeting, their trajectories were diverged so that they wouldn't land over Jun's unprotected frame. Even if they were more sturdy, the way that they left Necho's hands allowed for their weight to be used more properly.

Though, as soon as Necho had thrown them, the very ground beneath him shook, Necho gritted his teeth and frowned. Dexter had more to his powers... again?!

The trails by the bullets that were left had the sparks accompanying them, prompting their colors to go from a transparency of air to the yellow of fire. Some of them simply hit the ground around Jun and exploded due to friction, while at least three actually made their way over Dexter, aimed strictly for his torso due to the way that Necho's seastone ones deflected them. Necho had wanted for way more bullets to make their way over his target, however, Dexter's interference via the tremor was enough to make him lose his balance and misaim some of his attacks.

"I might not get this chance again," In the midst of his thought process, Dexter threw his sword up into the air, but at an angle that was slightly away from him. While he'd been paying attention to all of Necho's movements he had also begun to formulate his next course of action. Dexter was known for being a quick thinker. Being able to adjust to almost any situation that had been thrown at him during a battle and even capitalizing on his opponent's moves. As he would soon display.

Hand free, he held the kunai across both of his palms and held them both in front of himself. Much like Necho, Dexter had also been slightly off-balance. It was his first time utilizing QUAKE after all, so he had no idea just how he himself would react to it. Eyes widening from the incoming wave of flames created by Necho's doing, the young pirate mumbled, "ZONE" as two small spheres formed at his side instantly.

Mentally commanding one of the spheres to station in front of him, he remained in his stance with the kunai spread across both of his palms. As the flames would continue along their path, they'd find themselves swallowed up by Dexter's ZONE. Shrinking in size the flames and ZONE both disappeared for a brief moment. The sphere reappeared at Jun's side with the flames swimming around like violent waves compressed in a small area. "Expand." He ordered and the sphere followed, increasing in size well beyond what it originally was. "Burst!" Following his command, the sphere exploded into violent waves of flames which engulfed not only the area around Jun, but also spread to engulf the surrounding areas.

Dexter had, once again, turned his opponent's actions against himself and forced him into another situation though this time much dire. How would he react? He'd either need to sacrifice himself and jump into the explosion of flames to save Jun from being turned into ashes. Or, would he jumping out of the explosive flame's range to save himself. Whatever his decision would be, Dexter had already prepared for his next move.

Rather than diverge his attention towards where the fire was aimed for, Necho jumped towards Dexter in a sonic boom that birthed from behind him, his form tore through the air and the many flames that were to surround him, as if nothing could stand his path. The ability of a Ninja wasn't solely stealth, he could employ the necessary speed to surprise many of his opponents. Still, by mixing fineessee and strength, Necho achieved a level of movement that contained the power of his muscles, allowing him not to disperse it.

"This man be here thinking," Despite the ability that Dexter demonstrated to control not only the ground, but even the flames from the small sparks of the bullets, Necho smiled and spun in mid-air, "that I'm alone." His body didn't elevate more than a few inches, though it was enough to have the ground not bother him for that timespan. Said jump put him out of the flames' reach as well and had him meet Dexter head-on, though a bit of sweat did cover his face.

All the while, another volley of bullets flew through the air and to where Jun laid, but these were immensely bigger than the ones before and their faces were flatter, not straight, kind of like tubes. Therefore, instead of piercing the ground they were aimed for, the bullets pushed it with all their might, making use of the fact that Dexter destroyed part of it, making it easier for it to simply break off. The way it would break off and surge would have Jun be thrown slightly out of the flames' reach, her body rolling off, though she was to remain relatively close to it.

Still, some fire caught on to Jun's form, leaving quite a few scorched marks, she had been in the middle of the engulfing after all. Since Jun was unconscious, the fire wouldn't just burn her, but also difficult her breathing without her being capable of properly reacting.

Nesho cleaned some sweat from afar, having positioned another kind of rifle over the edge of the rooftop, the one responsible for the large bullets. Everything had been easy to see with his Kenbunshoku Haki, given that he himself wasn't that close and could focus properly. "I'll aid whether you want it or not, bitch of a brother," Nesho muttered, eyeing through the rifle again.

At the same moment, Necho had thrown hits by covering his right limbs in Busoshoku Haki and twisting his body slightly towards his left side, allowing for his right arm to surge and aim a punch for the wound on Dexter's chest. An exposed point had to be taken advantage of. Emerging along this punch was his right knee, which sought to reach Dexter's hand that clutched his sword, it was to get briefly staggered and smashed, making the weapon fall off his hands. Either limb lost their form due to how they moved, flickering out of existence.

With the unbalance Dexter suffered himself, this aimed to further throw him off and leave him open to many more hits. Should he counter-attack immediately, Necho already felt sort of protected due to the area his Haki covered.