"Is this what the captain had been facing all this time?" thought Alarin as he supported his broken arm.
It was maddening to think that Alexander had been tanking all of its strikes while he crumbled under one hand slam.
Sabine in her logia form was the only one faring better as she picked up injured Axe and Andretta.
Hancock managed to resist longer as she turned part of the monster's hand into stone, but even then, it quickly got rid of the petrification somehow.
"Hancock, retreat. We must find Alexander and leave," Alarin shouted, fearing that the captain's wife might lose her life when nothing worked against the abomination.
A large hand sweep knocked back Hancock; she heard Alarin's words, but the pain inside her heart almost drove her insane.
She looked at the crater that was between her and the Malformed Star. Alexander was down there; emotions choked her breath as she looked at it.
She closed her eyes for a second and then rushed fast toward where the body of Alexander was.
The Malformed beast appeared relaxed as it felt the death of the one carrying the scent of the Usurper.
And the puny creatures were the last few to struggle before it.
The monster opened its mandibles, gathering a cosmic light for one last attack.
Hancock felt the hair on her body rise as the monster prepared to fire at her, but she bit her lips and continued forward.
The image of Alexander being blasted by meteorites flashed past her mind; she didn't mind if she departed now too.
BOOM!
Hancock looked at the beam coming for her life.
*I guess it wasn't destined for us to grow old together after all.*
She closed her eyes; nothing was of importance to her anymore. She felt the heat brush past her skin, and yet, nothing happened.
She opened her eyes to see a giant golden pillar cutting the beam's path from reaching her.
"I'm not dead yet," a calm voice rang out.
From the golden pillar emerged Alexander, his body restored to its original form, save for two large scars on his waist.
He looked at Hancock, his eyes completely golden, and sighed.
"You should have left, dear."
"ALEXANDER!" She shouted with tears falling in disbelief.
"Get back for now…" He said and turned to the beast.
"Victory is impossible no more," he murmured.
SWOSH!
A barbed tail swung for his head; Alexander smiled and lifted his hands.
BOOM!
The already destroyed island shook even more, but Alexander didn't move an inch as his coated arm firmly grabbed the end of the spiked tail.
"YOU TOO SHALL KNOW PAIN!" he shouted; the darkness he felt for the second time after being beaten to smithereens was still fresh in his mind.
He turned around and pulled the huge body of the beast; the Malformed star couldn't react as it felt its body rise up and then fly up the sky.
It turned its head in midair and felt time slow down, as a figure silently appeared above, its eyes looking at it in apathy, and it heard a few words.
"You shouldn't have come," a left arm reared back, and then a burst of gold overwhelmed the world.
BOOM!
The Malformed Star screeched in pain, far greater than before. A scent wafted out, the one the beast had been sent to destroy. The Malformed Star hit the ground so hard that the ground was lifted for hundreds of meters in a ripple effect.
While the beast wailed in pain, Alexander kicked the air, immediately breaking the sound barrier and descending with a stomp to the beast's back.
BOOM!
He heard the sound of stones breaking as cracks spread on the beast's spine. An instant later he jumped back as the beast gathered cosmic light and disappeared in a flash.
Determined not to be fooled anymore, Alexander spread his observational haki and kept his gaze on the sky. An instant later the beast appeared far above his head, diving for him.
But this time it did something different as purple orbs gathered on each of its six limbs; powered by its Gravity control, it quickly reached Alexander.
BOOM!
A large purple wave exploded as the six orbs held in the beast's hand clashed against Alexander's imbued fist. The ground was crushed as the gravity field further compacted the rubble.
Alexander felt the weight of the beast increase several times. He redirected the beast's strike to the ground and jumped high, evading the explosion that followed.
In mid-air, smoke gathered in his palm forming a chain. He sent it speeding fast, wrapped it around the mandibles, then pulled hard.
The Malformed Star sensed danger and swept a long bony arm toward Alexander, who in turn saw what happened and tapped with his leg, evading the strike. He drew an arc in the air as he tightly held the chain and smashed with both legs against the beast's rear arm.
CRACK!
He grinned at the sound of something breaking. But soon had to dodge under the beast's body as a tail smash whistled past him.
Capitalizing on his position, he ran fast toward the beast's head and jumped while twirling in the air, delivering an uppercut that lifted the Malformed beast off the ground and shook the sky in the aftermath, then fell to the ground with the grace of a cat.
The Malformed star fell hard, stirring dust, but soon it got up, then let out a loud screech.
SNAP! SNAP!
Alexander seemed to notice that the beast had gotten mad as it snapped its mandibles repeatedly, then rushed fast toward him and swung an arm producing a nebula-like dust.
It didn't seem to be calming at all as it kept swinging its arms; Alexander dodged and struck the incoming attacks, forcing the beast to rebound.
Their flurry of clashes was fast and devastating as explosions followed their movement around the battlefield.
"He's Alive!" Far to a safe distance from the fight, Alexander's crew, suffering various wounds, heaved a collective sigh of relief. Especially Hancock, who looked both happy and psychologically devastated.
"It almost took you away from me…" she murmured, her reddened eyes from tears fixed on the battle, while on the inside she felt the helplessness that fueled her anger at her weakness.
"He'll win… He has the upper hand now…" Alarin tried to comfort her from the side; so far, since he had risen once more, he hadn't sustained a single wound.
"I hope so," she replied.
Alexander advanced while the beast jumped up and swooped down with its arm, leaving a nebula-dust in its trail.
Blinding explosions filled his eyes as he burst through the dust and dipped under two mandible clamps, then quickly closed the distance and delivered a flurry of heavy punches to the beast's head.
The Malformed Star screeched, then gathered cosmic light upon its body and disappeared in a flash that pushed Alexander back.
A moment later it materialized far ahead; it lifted its head and gathered a giant purple orb aiming toward Alexander, who in turn shook his head.
"This won't work a second time." He lifted his arm and infused it with Armament and Haoshoku Haki, then took a step forward and made a chopping motion as soon as the Malformed Star fired the beam.
An arc of gold whistled through the air as it sliced through the ground and collided with the beam, splitting it in half and continuing forward until the beast stopped its attack.
A moment of silence descended on the battlefield as both opponents stared at each other in silence, and then the Malformed Star disappeared in a flash.
Alexander's expression didn't change; his observation haki had already given him a premonition about what was going to happen.
He jumped high as soon as the copies of the beast materialized; he didn't look at them. Instead, he kicked the air toward a direction in which a portal soon opened and the malformed star materialized, only to be met with a flying kick to the face.
BOOM!
The beast dug trenches on the ground with its six hands as it retreated. A second later portals opened above its head and meteorites tore through the air toward Alexander.
Whose eyes suddenly turned cold at the attack that destroyed him.
"It's time to end this," he declared and punched the first meteorite that was about to hit him.
BOOM!
He burst through the explosion and dodged the second meteorite, then blew the third into smithereens followed by the fourth until he couldn't remember how many of them were.
He was moving so fast that the only thing visible was the meteorites exploding while others hit the ground until the portals closed and Alexander burst through the fire and smoke, arms crossed making claws with his hands and slashed, sending ten flying arcs speeding toward the Malformed beast who barely dodged them by teleporting.
Alexander closed his eyes for a second then jumped; beneath him, the Malformed Star swept with its arm wide open where he was, intending to crush him with its mandibles once again.
Mid-air, he caught the chain wrapped around his fist and sent it down; in no time it was upon the beast, wrapping around its neck then tightening into a knot.
The Malformed Star screeched as it tried to take it off with its hands but to no avail and could only watch helplessly as Alexander lightly landed with a long chain in his hands.
"In the end, you're just a beast," He said, and pulled the chain, further tightening the knot. However, in the next second, light started gathering around the beast.
"No you won't," Alexander's eyes narrowed and moved fast, blasting air in the spot where he was standing.
In a moment he was upon the beast; he reared his fist as it turned golden and struck its head.
BOOM!
The teleportation was halted as the beast burst out through the light flying with immense speed through the air.
Alexander, on the other hand, felt the chain around his hand extending; he grinned and yanked hard.
CRACK! He heard the sound of something breaking; he turned around and pulled the chain hard. The Malformed beast drew an arc through the air with the chain and slammed the ground hard.
BOOM!
Taking the opportunity of the beast's rebound, he pulled once more and slammed in another direction.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The island couldn't withstand their clash anymore as dangerous-looking cracks spread from each impact.
Alexander let go of the chain and calmly walked through the dust where nothing was visible; the crunch of rubble beneath his feet sounded as he burst through the dust into a sprawled Malformed beast, struggling to lift its head.
Alexander walked step by step until he was inside the space of the mandible with a few feet between him and the head.
"You shouldn't have come, you should have stayed in the void, and now I'll have to decorate my ship with your head." He looked at the trembling blue eye inside the skull and jumped high; golden light gathered on his fist and then swung at the eye.
BOOM!
A sticky fluid burst out of the gap in the skull, and then the Malformed Star ceased all movements.
Alexander let out a sigh of relief; he looked at his hands and clenched them until his veins popped out.
"Thank you, Rake." If it wasn't for the blessing he bestowed upon him, he'd be dead by now, and not be reborn stronger than ever.
"How can I repay you?" he murmured, then turned around, but just as he took a few steps, he stopped, for he heard a crackling sound behind him.
Alexander turned around, and then his eyes widened in surprise and recognition.
"So this is the gift that you sent with the Malformed Star."
He took a few steps forward and grabbed the spear that was lying on the ground; its length was about two and a half meters long. It was made with gold spiral metal that ended in a sharp tip on one end and forked on the other end.
"Bolt of Gransax…" He murmured. He recognized one of the legendary armaments. A sudden rush of red lightning rushed into his arm and disappeared; immediately after, Alexander felt a strong connection to the weapon and instinctively knew how to use it.
"This is a precious gift, Rake." He laughed and turned around, walking through the smoke that covered the area.
_______________________________
Hancock stood at the edge of the smoke; the tremors had ceased, and all sounds returned to silence, but all of this didn't help her rapidly beating heart and the sinking feeling torturing her, even though she still felt Alexander's presence behind the smoke.
"He'll come victorious, Hancock," Alarin said, trying his best to believe in his captain's strength. He pulled him from the pit of despair; he hoped that he'd live so that he would be able to repay his favor.
Hancock merely nodded in response; behind her, Andretta, Axe, and Sabine had somber looks on their faces.
It was the first time they had witnessed a battle of this magnitude. They realized they were just boy scouts playing the roles of pirates when a single blast from their captain and the beast made the island shake under their feet.
"Weak… we are weak, nothing but a burden at this point," Axe muttered.
Andretta gritted her teeth. "What's the point of having tens of men under our command when we couldn't even help?"
Sabine didn't speak; the image of Alexander hammered by dozens of meteors was still stuck in her mind. Even Alexander, the one who had promised to protect her, couldn't do anything at that moment.
"I'm back," a calm voice suddenly sounded behind the smoke as Alexander came out of the smoke; he wore nothing but ripped pants that by now had become boxers, in his hand the Bolt of Gransax rested.
He stopped after a few steps and looked at Hancock as he gently smiled at her.
"Victory was not impossible after all…"
"CAPTAIN!!" everyone shouted in joy as they sprang to their feet.
Hancock, on the other hand, didn't speak as she jumped at Alexander, wrapping both legs and arms around him. She spoke, her voice trembling from all the stress.
"I thought you were gone, Alexander…"
"Sorry… that I worried you…" he said and wrapped an arm around her.
"Everything is fine now, we're done… the beast is dead at last…"
Hancock tightened her grasp around him, while everyone in the back smiled at the warm scene, but they felt exhausted both emotionally and physically.
"Oh, what an emotional scene we have here!" Suddenly a lazy voice rang out from afar.
Alexander immediately put down Hancock and looked to his right, where the Marine soldiers had been hiding behind giant boulders and battlements made of wood.
A second later, a golden light flashed from afar and gathered a hundred meters from Alexander, revealing the figure of a tall slim middle-aged man; he had short curly hair and a yellow striped suit under a Marine coat.
"Kizaru.. a Marine admiral," Hancock said from his side.
"What do you want?" Alexander spoke in exasperation; he didn't want to deal with the Marine nonsense right now.
"Ah, you're quite grumpy, aren't you?" Kizaru lazily spoke, then adjusted the position of his shades and continued.
"What happened to the beast?"
Alexander looked thoughtfully at how this Admiral acted; to him, he didn't befit the title of Admiral.
"This has nothing to do with you or the Marines. The beast is dead… now leave!" He spoke calmly.
Kizaru widened his eyes. "How can you say it has nothing to do with the Marines? The beast destroyed an island…"
Moments later his demeanor changed; a bit of seriousness was added to his lazy demeanor.
"Now why don't you step aside, I need to retrieve its corpse… and you, Hancock, your Shichibukai title is gone. Now what stops me from arresting you, eh?"
"If you do that, your life will be forfeited!" Alexander replied, his hands tightened on the Bolt of Gransax.
"Oh! Threatening a marine admiral." He said in an amused voice, but his actions dictated otherwise as he lifted his finger and fired a beam of light toward Alexander.
Hancock instantly moved before Alexander and delivered a coated kick that redirected the beam towards the sky.
"If you wish to declare war on us, then you must be prepared for the consequences," Hancock glared at Kizaru.
Kizaru chuckled. "Boa Hancock, it seems that your strength doesn't fall short of your beauty."
Hancock was about to reply when a hand suddenly rested on her shoulder and pulled her back.
"Enough talking…" Alexander said and strode past her. His hands on the bolt tightened; he felt a connection with the weapon as a strange power within him suddenly stirred.
He lightly jumped in the air; the bolt in his hand turned black with golden veins coating the metal. He felt a power rush through his veins, into his arm, as a red lightning bolt five meters long materialized outside the bolt surface.
"This is the consequence of your actions," he said and fired the bolt.
Hancock and the group's eyes widened at the rumbling of the bolt; red color flashed through their eyes as the weapon disappeared from Alexander's hand and appeared on the left of Kizaru's face.
Kizaru felt an extreme sense of danger once that bolt launched toward him; he underestimated Alexander and didn't react properly when the lightning that rivaled his speed launched. He was already a step behind.
BOOM!
The bolt flew beside his head, dying his world red. Once the commotion behind him calmed down, he turned around.
And saw a tunnel several meters wide drilling into the ground; its depth was unknown, but the molten rocks gave him an answer about the power behind the attack.
He turned to Alexander, but suddenly he felt a pain in his left ear; he touched it and felt a small chunk of his ear missing.
"This was a warning. Go back; you have no place here until me and my crew finish our business." Alexander gave him a slight smirk and looked him in the eye.
Kizaru stood silently with blood slowly dripping from his ear as most of the wound was already cauterized.
At this moment, he knew that fighting wouldn't lead to anything but defeat when you added Boa Hancock and Alexander that killed that abomination.
He adjusted his sunglasses and spoke, his tone lazy, like it'd never change.
"We'll meet another day…" He turned around and left; the headquarters warned them against provoking strong pirates such as the Yonkos, and this man who had injured him gave him the same feeling as them, or maybe even more, for he didn't know how he killed that monster.
Alexander watched him until he disappeared from view, then turned to his crew; his smile widened as he looked at their miserable appearance.
"Let's go and bundle that Malformed Star. It's about time for a ship upgrade."
_______________________________________
Marine Headquarters, meeting room.
Unlike Kizaru, who didn't know what happened to the Malformed Star, everyone inside the meeting room had been watching the broadcast, delivered by the marine soldiers, albeit from a far distance.
But that didn't matter when every clash between Alexander and the beast shook the island and subsequently the den den mushi was used for transmission.
They were so silent that you could hear a pin drop; they couldn't put what they saw into words, from the devastation brought by the Malformed Star to Kizaru's retreat.
Sengoku and Garp each had their thoughts, but they knew that the young man was strong enough to make them realize that things were about to change.
"The power wielded by that man is scary," Tsuru broke the silence.
"Kizaru made a wise decision even though the beast capture was ordered from the higher-ups," Garp said while tightly clenching his fists; the way the young man fought resembled him a lot.
"There's nothing he could have done without provoking a war with this Young Pirate," Gino added in.
Sengoku took a deep breath; the stress was wearing him down. Now he had to explain to the higher-ups their failure and had to deal with a new unknown strong pirate.
"Let's revise his bounty…" he slowly said.
"We don't want any Marines to lose their lives due to our negligence."
Chapter end.
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Please write in the comments what you think is the appropriate bounty for Alexander.
Thanks for reading everyone.