Chereads / The Greatest Journey / Chapter 7 - Chapter 7- Clash of Captains

Chapter 7 - Chapter 7- Clash of Captains

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Jonah began running down the wooden harbor and onto the stone path leading to The Salt Lamp. As Jonah came around a corner his eyes widen with shock as he saw Erick sitting on Kekela's right shoulder but he was different. His hair was seeming to flow wildly like water and steam was constantly pouring from his body. 'What the hell is going on?' Jonah thinks to himself with complete shock. Erick was chuckling wildly as he was sitting on Kekela's shoulder as he then uncrossed his arms and did a one handed hand stand on Kekela's right shoulder and then punched him in the jaw with his right fist. Kekela slides back as a shockwave comes from his face. Erick lands on the ground with one hand and then lifts himself up to stand on his two feet. "So you can use Aura? So what, I've dealt with plenty of people like you in my time." Kekela says with a smirk.

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Erick smiles at him while continuing to chuckle. "Can you not speak or something boy?" Kekela asks as he begins to crunch his fist but Erick was just grinning at him. "I'll show you why this pathetic display of Aura was destined to be your downfall." He says as he jumps into the air with his fist beside his waist. "Bash berry: busting meteor!" Kekela exclaims as he jumps into the air and then begins to slam down with both of his fist, beginning to burn from the speed that he was falling. Erick chuckles as he looks at Kekela coming down toward him and as Kekela slammed into the ground, he created a massive cloud of dust that covered Erick and Kekela's body from the view of all of the bystanders watching the fight. "ERICK!!" Jonah yells as he runs closer to the fight, now about 10 feet from the cloud of dust but as he stopped his eyes began to widen as he heard Erick beginning to chuckle maniacally.

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As the dust clears Jonah saw Erick grinning widely as he was holding both of Kekela's fist with each of his hands as shockwaves blew everywhere, as if a small tornado had came through this small part of the town. "YOU WANNA GET SERIOUS KID THEN LETS DO IT!" Captain Kekela yells as he reels back his right fist, causing Erick's eyes to widen a bit but not with fear or shock but with curiosity. "BASH BERRY: MAX OUTPUT!!!" Kekela yells as he reels back both of his fist and then punches at Erick but Erick threw a punch of his own that matched Kekela's. Kekela then began to throw hundreds of punches a second but with each punch he threw, Erick countered with a punch of his own, the entire time Erick was smiling and chuckling profusely as their blows began to cause a crater to form beneath their feet.

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Jonah stood in shock with his eyes widened. 'Wait, I've seen this before.' Jonah thinks to himself as his eyes widen even more. As he looked at both of these captains exchange blows he saw Captain Rory, on a grassy plain, fighting other pathfinders. His hair was flowing like raging water but it was red and far longer than Erick's. Captain Rory was grinning while chuckling in a deep tone as he punched each pathfinder that came his way into the grass. Jonah could see Erick again as wind began to form around both of the captains, like some sort of whirlwind. All the people around couldn't withstand the sheer pressure the wind had put on them so everyone except for Jonah went inside of a building for shelter.

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'He's really doing it. Erick is fighting a captain with a berry power and winning. Whatever that technique is he's using seems to be like Aura but it's different.' Jonah thinks to himself with curiosity. 'Well when you had told me about Aura it reminded me of something this old man told me from my village in South Estoria. He called it Enkai' Jonah remembers Erick telling him that earlier in the day. 'So that's what it is? Enkai isn't just another name for Aura… it's an entirely different technique!' Jonah thinks to himself with shock. "Oh crap!" Jonah says as he looks up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set as the moon would soon start the night. 'We can't stay here for much longer and I hate sailing at night, Choppers surfboat is extremely quiet and I don't think I can stay up another night… come on Erick, hurry and finish this guy.' Jonah thought to himself as the wind pushed against his face.

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Throughout this entire time, Erick had been continuously chuckling, causing Captain Kekela to become agitated and annoyed by this constant noise. "WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!?" He yells as he finally breaks through Erick's defenses and punches him in the gut, causing Erick to fly back into a building. Erick was sitting on the ground with his head down and his body slightly slouched. "THE CAPTAIN WON AGAIN!!" One of Kekela's team members yell from the window of The Salt Lamp, causing all of his other men to cheer along with this statement. Kekela stands up completely with a smirk on his face. His leather jacket was torn and his body was bruised badly. "Of course I won!" Kekela says with a wide grin. As he begins walking back with a proud grin on his face Jonah stood there with a straight face as he stared at Erick.

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"Is that it?" Jonah says bluntly and with his arms crossed. Captain Kekela turns his head and looks at Jonah with a bit of surprise. "What? Did you want me to beat him some more? Was he really that terrible of a Captain?" He says causing all of his men to laugh loudly. "We haven't even gotten to the west sea yet and you're already done?" Jonah asks bluntly, causing Kekela's eyes to widen a bit in confusion. "Hey cut it out, don't embarrass your Captain anymore. Just grab the runt and get outta here." Kekela says with a serious face. "All that big talk about becoming the greatest and surpassing Captain Rory, was any of that even true?" Jonah says causing Kekela's face to flare up in rage. "I SAID STOP IT YOU IDIOT. OR I'LL KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO THAT THICK HEAD OF YOURS!!!" He yells in frustration but Jonah's face did not change as he kept staring at Erick's seemingly unconscious body.

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"Don't you remember who you are? You are Captain Erick Drake of South Estoria… AND YOU WILL FIND THE NORTH STAR!!" Jonah yells causing Kekela and his entire team to look at him with a puzzled face and then burst out laughing at, what they thought, was a ridiculous claim. "Are you two idiots or something? That thing isn't real, Captain Rory got lucky when he found Estoria and then made some crap up about an all powerful weapon that he hid away." Kekela says while laughing maniacally but all of them stop laughing as they begin to hear a chuckle, a very familiar and haunting chuckle. Jonah's eyes light up as a smile shined from his face. Kekela and his men turned to where Erick was unconscious but saw him standing up, chuckling while looking at the ground.

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All of their eyes widen with shock, except for Captain Kekela. Kekela turns his body completely to Erick once again. "So how much more of my Bash Berry can you take… Captain Erick." Kekela says with a smile as he takes his ripped leather jacket off to reveal a fishnet shirt that he was wearing underneath. Although he didn't have abs on his rather large stomach, you can tell how strong Kekela was from seeing his body. On his arms were multiple tattoos of various monsters he had slain but what stood out the most was a large kraken on his chest but it was faded and looked very old. "Woah I think the boss is getting serious." One of his men exclaim. Erick tilts his head in confusion as he sees the tattoo on his chest. "Listen rookie. This tattoo means I was one of the twelve titans of the sea a while back, although that hasn't been the case for almost a decade, I still hold my berry power from that time." He says as he began to smile. "DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU HAVE FINALLY PEAKED MY INTEREST, SO I'LL GO ALL OUT AGAINST YOU, CAPTAIN ERICK!!!" Kekela yells as he looks at Erick with a villainous smile.

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Erick chuckles as his hair was still flowing wildly and he had an enormous smile on his face. "Come on then rookie!" Kekela says as he then blitzes Erick, causing the entire building behind Erick to collapse instantly. Kekela was grinning but his eyes soon widened with shock as he realized that Erick was gone. As he snapped his head around to find Erick, he received a punch to the left side of his face. Kekela quickly recovers and swings at Erick twice but missed both times. 'I haven't felt pushed like this for a decade and a half now, ever since that Grey Beard kid first came around.' Kekela thought to himself with a hint of worry but his face soon lit up with a smile. "GYAHHHHH!!!" Kekela yells as he stomps at Erick's feet and although Erick dodged it, it caused him to lose a little bit of balance for a split second. Kekela smiles as he reels back a punch that began to heat his fist up, just like when he used Busting meteor.

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"BASH BERRY: INSTANT METEOR!" Kekela yells, causing Erick's eyes to widen slightly. "It's over rookie." Kekela says with a smile as he punches Erick in the stomach sending him flying a few feet backwards. Kekela, whose fists were now burning hot, dashed at Erick while he was off balance and swung at him again but Erick dodged the hit barely and punched kekela in the rib cage, causing a shockwave to leave his body. Erick chuckled as he then released a flurry of punches onto Kekela, ending the brutal combo with a kick to the throat. Kekela flies backwards and lands in front of the building that his crew was hiding out in. "Come on Captain, stop playing with him!" One of his men yell from the building. "Yeah! Kick his ass captain, show him why you were the twelfth member of the Titans of the sea!" Another one of the men yell proudly.

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Kekela stands up and wipes the blood that was dripping from both corners of his mouth. 'I hate to admit it but… this kid is strong but I'm stronger, I have to be, he's just a rookie after all.' Kekela says to himself as he boasts a slight grin. Jonah looked at the sky as he saw the sun bow on the horizon of the sea. "Erick we don't have much time, we need to leave!" Jonah exclaims, causing Erick's eyes to widen a bit and then snap his glance toward Kekela. Kekela's eyes widen a bit as sweat began to pour down his face. Erick smiles at him childishly as he then begins to chuckle maniacally. "DIDN'T I SAY STOP-" Kekela began to yell at Jonah but was cut off by Erick blitzing him with his right fist reeled back.

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'I won't be able to dodge this, he's moving too fast now. after all these years… am I going to finally lose? No wait, I have already lost… to that man.' Kekela thinks to himself as he begins to have a flashback. He was on his knees and standing over him was Grey Beard but he was much younger, around the same age as Erick was now. "How… how did you beat me? I'm one of the 12 titans of the sea." Kekela asks weakly as blood was pouring from his mouth. "It's simple really…" Grey Beard says in a calm but deep voice, causing Kekela's eyes to widen along with his mouth. "… you lack true power. Sure, your berry power is good but that's it. The stronger your body and mind are, the stronger your Berry power will be… I thought after all these years you'd at least figure that part out." He says with a sly grin on his face.

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Kekela kneeled there in shock as blood was still dripping from his mouth. "I will get you back for this rookie." Kekela says while grunting in pain. "No you won't and regardless, that's a pathetic way to live your already pathetic life." Grey beard says coldly. Kekela grunts in shock as those words left Grey beards mouth. "In fact, if I ever see you sailing the seas of Estoria again, I will make it my personal mission to beat you… every. time." He continues as his face hosted a cold and dark glance. Grey beard turns around and begins walking away from Kekela.

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Kekela returns to the present as he sees Erick punch him in the stomach, causing all of the air to leave Kekela's body. As Kekela's body flew into the air he looked down and saw Erick standing on the ground looking at him with a smile but as soon as he blinked, Erick was gone. Kekela then heard a slight childish chuckle from behind him and as he turned around he saw Erick in the air smiling widely and his hair was still flowing like raging water. Kekela's eyes widen with fear as Erick chuckles and reels back his right fist. Erick punches Kekela in the stomach sending him falling back to the ground at hundreds of miles an hour and as his body slammed into the ground the collision caused a massive cloud of dust to appear. Erick landed on the roof of a building and then rolled down the roof and onto the ground with a wide smile.

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Erick was chuckling but began to slow down and eventually stop all together. His hair was beginning to fall and return to its original shape as the steam began to fade. Erick's wide smile soon fades into a stone faced stare and he stood there as the smoke settled and once it did, he saw Kekela laid out on the ground, unconscious from the impact. All of Kekela's men had long faces and eyes of disbelief as they ran over to their captain and began to try and wake him up. "C'mon captain quit joking, get up and beat this kid!" One of the men exclaim while pulling on his arm. "Don't let some rookie show you up again!" Another one of the men yelled while shaking his head back and forth.

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Erick smiles faintly as he sees a man and two boys run out of the building Kekela's crew were in and back to Kora and her daughter. Erick's vision begins to become blurry and he began to lose his balance as well but as he fell he felt someone catch him. As Erick looked up he saw Jonah holding his body up with one hand on his back. " We may need to stay tonight, so… don't let them see you fall… Captain." Jonah says with a straight face as he was looking at Kekela's team and not Erick. "So… so I won?" Erick asks in a weak but curious tone. Jonah grins and then begins chuckling boisterously as Erick asked him this question. "Yeah Captain… you won." Jonah says with a smile as he looks at the defeated Captain Kekela and his men surrounding his unconscious body.

Chapter end