It seemed everyone had been broken up to fight. Bazel had been knocked outside to deal with his friend while Gideon and Trisha had been set up to fight Kash and.. Melissa? Today was certainly the day that one crew proved superior than the other.


Kash and Gideon stood three meters apart from one another as they stared each other down. "Doing something would be nice too" said Kash as she casually held her blade in her right hand. Gideon had heard of this woman as the fearsome Asher Kringles sister. He didn't care for Asher so he had no fear in taking out his sister. "I agree" said Gideon who coated his right foot in a yellow energy before taking off zooming towards Kash who wouldn't move until Gideon was three feet away at which point she placed her sword up to block his attack. "Cute" she would say as she used her blade along with Gideons momentum to knock him away. The first mate of Bazel spun mid-air before landing in roughly the same spot he was in before. "This woman is fast, and very dangerous with a sword in her hand" those words came as he watched her so confident and relaxed. She was definitely someone to be feared in combat and made Gideon question if he could even match up against her.

Meanwhile Trisha was staring at a ghost. It was her sister Melissa "Hello little sister" said Melissa who was circling the devastated Trisha who was breaking down at the sight of her dead sister now circling her. You're not real, you're not real" Trisha kept repeating in her head. She was trying to grasp the fact that her sister was now her opponent in her effort to escape. "No I'm real.. And you're about to find out" with that Melissa formed a large fist formed of snow and proceeded to speed towards Trisha who stood there in aw as she was knocked across the cave landing against the wall. "Does it feel real now? Do you believe in me little sister?" Trisha began to break down even further as she was hyperventilating trying to understand how this could be.. As for Bazel he was knocked clean through the cave back to the rocky surface of Vulcan where he was on the ground in the process of standing up in front of his rival Leparo who was stalking his prey.

Bazel would smirk as he pushed the rocks off of his downed body. "It's like that, eh Leparo?" joked Bazel who began to stand up in front of the hungry Leparo. The distance that separated them was just a few meters as Bazel continued to dust himself off. "What are you doing here Baz, can't you ever mind your business?" asked the giant of a man. The look on his face showed his true feelings about Bazel and their friendship. The duo had gone a long ways back, probably because they were both pirates on the same crew. "I know you don't really want to talk Paro, should we just skip this shit and get to the fun" Bazel was taking off his coat off and chucked it to the side. The sandals of Leparo scraped against the ground with each passing step towards Bazel. "Lets go" said the blonde as he launched himself at Bazel with the smaller redhead doing the same thing. As their right hands clashed a wave of energy sent shockwaves across the immediate area. A blank face from Bazel towards the twisted grin of Leparo, the two parallels between the two has always been different.

Meanwhile, Gideon was trading blows with Kash coming to a draw each and every time. It was clear to Gideon that the woman was holding back and he began to feel disrespected. "Are you actually going to fight me first mate? Or are you just going to keep taking it easy on me" asked Gideon who grew angry the woman wouldn't unleash her full power. She would smirk "If this is the full extent of your capabilities, I have no reason to use more effort than you've already seen from me today." those words caused Gideon to launch a 10 hit strike combo on Kash which was all weaved and dodged with the use of her sword. "I'm bored, So I'll make things interesting" said Kash as she unbuttoned her leather trench coat. On the bottom of the rock formation there was Trisha who was getting tossed around by Melissa. "Wow sister, you were a lot more willing to fight before you saw it was me? What changed?" said the smirking Melissa as she punched Trisha repeatedly into the wall. A mixture of blood and tears ran down Trisha's face. This battle was going to come to an end soon at this rate.

Trisha began to think back to her youth with her twin sister Melissa and remembered all the fun they hand and stupid things they had done to get in trouble. She remembered Melissa setting sail and going on an adventure with Leparo, she remembered when they first got featured in the news paper and how happy she was for the duo, now she was here getting her face punched in by the sister she had loved for all those years. The stream of tears ran down her face and the emotion began to set in. It was clear as day she was going to die if she didn't defend herself and that's when she heard it "Oi Trisha, your sister is dead. She died we all know she died, that isn't your sister you're fighting" yelled Gideon who had fought to no avail against Kash. Those words sunk in on Trisha who simply couldn't hear anymore of Gideon's words. She closed her eyes opening them grabbing the punch from the fake Melissa. Her eyes in disbelief when her punch was grabbed followed by a headbutt by Trisha. The headbutt sent the fake Melissa 6 meters away revealing a different form. Now she had a new body. "I see that stopped working on you" said the fake. Trisha came from the hole she was in with her body gleaming of energy. The fake Melissa had long auburn hair but her face was ruined from the headbutt "This.. what I'm going to do to you.. Is for Melissa" yelled Trisha before she went off in attack mode.

As for Gideon who was on higher ground than Trisha smiled as his companion was finally fighting back and taking things to the imposter. "That's cute" said Kash as she looked down also towards the women fighting "I knew her sister. She drove Leparo insane.. The way he is now. She messed him up this way" said Kash who genuinely seemed hurt by the actions of Melissa. Gideon took this chance to take off on Kash as he reached to no avail, she would go off on the offensive end with slashes Gideon couldn't even keep up with. She would land 8 of her 10 slashes on Gideon who was catching his breathe after trying his hardest to avoid the woman's skills. "She's a beast.. No wonder her and her brother are so feared.." said Gideon to himself as he looked on at the woman who seemed to care not a bit about him.

This took things to Bazel and Leparo who were having a furious fight. Leparo was cut up and bruised along with Bazel who's clothing had been shredded for the most part. It was obvious the two were equals on the battlefield. "Leparo." said Bazel who was 4 meters from the leopard. The leopard smiled before responding "Baz" it was clear the two had needed to take things to the next level. "Since you won't go there.. I will. I'm taking things to the next level" said Bazel who began to watch his arms start to burn releasing a smoke, the smoke would burst into flames before his arms had turned into wings. Bazel had started to use his devil fruit abilities to use his namesake, the fruit that spawned his nickname.. "The Firebird.. Bazel D. Wiggins" said Leparo in a low voice as he prepared to engage his old friend in battle.

They were roughly 15 at the time the two sailed the seas under the banner of Brodus Maxilord, who was their captain of the Brute Pirates and currently he had his rookies Bazel and Leparo scrubbing the deck as the two couldn't stop fighting and coexist on the ship. The duo had knots on their head the size of baseballs courtesy of their captain who got sick of their messing around. "Oi, Spiky" said Leparo to Bazel, Leparo was currently mopping the deck while Bazel was scrubbing the side of the boat right next to him. "What blondy" said Baz who had nothing to say to the fool who started the fight with him "What do you want to be a pirate for?" asked Leparo to his fellow crew mate. It made Bazel stop cleaning as he looked over to the ocean sea and noticed how gorgeous it was "This" said Bazel who smiled at Leparo who looked confused "This? What is this?" he would say. "The open sea, the journey is traveling doing whatever we want, spreading our legacy.. The ride" said Bazel. He really preached his motto being the ride.

It was just the journey a pirate took in their life and Bazel was indeed a true embodiment of that. "What about you Blondie?" joked Bazel. "To save my homeland.. Dressrosa." Bazel listened to Leparo's words and stood up interested in his thoughts "When I was a child it was taken from me and my people, became something it wasn't. I was lucky to get out but my homeland.. They need me" said Leparo who seemed sincere in his words. "Well, when we get stronger.. We can achieve our dreams!" said Bazel to his crew mate extending his closed right fist out to Leparo. "Until then, we're brothers on a mission" both men stopped cleaning and embraced in the fist bump which in their eyes made them brothers. Their moment would be interrupted by the first mate of the crew coming over. "OI, GET BACK TO WORK ROOKIES!" he yelled which made the duo laugh.

That was in their youth, now the duo was locked in a heated combat situation that saw no resolve fold. Bazel was flying through the sky coming back and forth with wing slashes and various methods of kicks as him and Leparo still clashed but this time Bazel was getting the better of Leparo. He was growing angry and simply couldn't take what his former friend was doing on the battlefield. It was then that Leparo let out a roar like no other which knocked Bazel back into a rock formation due to its strong winds. "Baz, one of us is going to die here today, and I assure you old friend.. It won't be me" with that Leparo began to grow both in height and weight, his body shifted and he began to transform into a leopard-human hybrid. He would release another roar after he transformed and stared down Bazel. The duo was about to destroy this island in the process of seeing who the better man was in their bout. Bazel would ditch the wings and get back to his hands. "I guess we're taking the gloves off" said Bazel who smirked and dashed forward at a great speed, he'd cock his right arm back bringing it forward for a punch but was met by Leparo's fist which outmatched him in strength to the point it was rather sad. Bazel was surprised more than shocked because he didn't expect the strength to grow that much.

The punch from Leparo sent Bazel stumbling backwards before the great speed of the leopard was shown too running forward at a blinding speed which made Bazel's eyes pop "He's fast too.." thought Bazel who was swept off his feet with a trip from Leparo, the speed Leparo was moving left Bazel wide open for an attack as he fell down. An elbow from Leparo to the falling Bazel caused the firebird to bounce off the ground back to the height he was before allowing Leparo to grab him by the leg throwing him through another rock formation. Bazel would start to cough up a bit of blood as he crawled out of the pile of debris. "Damn Blondie. If I knew you were going to be this strong" Baz stood up and took his stance "I would have made sure you didn't go crazy" the smile from the firebird struck a nerve in Leparo who dashed forward once more and began to let loose on his former friend. Their battle was intense as they were destroying parts of Vulcan with each and every strike. Bazel began to get in the mix of things as he started to gather the speed of Leparo and key his timing. The two were tangled right now which caused Bazel to throw an uppercut with his right before spinning backwards throwing a double kick to the midsection. Neither man was near folding but Bazel knew if he was going to win he had to stop playing with Leparo.

Now that it was clear Bazel had started to close in on the skill level Leparo had achieved the Gold Leopard was also going to take things to a new level. He started to emit a gold energy from his body as he stared down Bazel approaching him with each step. "You see Baz, you got lazy, old, and too comfortable with everything you thought you achieved. Me? I lost things, I lost the love of my life.. I lost everything! Crewmates, family!" the gold energy around Leparo began to expand as it was crushing rocks around them. Bazel was getting himself set and prepared as the winds would push past him "What the hell is he doing" thought Bazel as Leparo's eyes also began to turn gold. The giant stopped moving as he grew a foot taller and his muscles grew with his height. He was a giant compared to Bazel who was still in the six foot range. On his arm slid down his infamous black chain. Bazel was about to do all he could to stop the rage Leparo was displaying. This was going to be his final chance. The Firebird vs The Gold Leopard.

Trisha and the fake Melissa were going at it in an intense battle. "What is your real name copycat!" yelled Trish as her and the fake Melissa slid back from one another. "It's Drizzle. What an honor to meet you" said the woman with an accent and a smirk on her face. She was enjoying this more than anyone knew. "I was recently freed from Impel Down due to all the confusion there. I use the copy fruit which allows me to copy anything I see and do it even better" said the woman as she squared up with Trisha. "I don't care what you use because you won't be using it for long." said Trisha who started to experience a surge of electrical energy around her closed fist. She struck her stance as she prepared to go to war with Drizzle. Trisha would take off as fast as she could which made Drizzle pay extra attention to the girls high speed level. Throwing a punch Drizzle would dodge it as she started going backwards and to the side as a means of dodging the hits. It was then she would transform again into the form of Melissa "What's wrong sister, can't get a good hit on me?" Drizzle taunted Trisha endlessly with each missed strike before Trisha began to cry and thought back to all of her memories with her sister when finally she landed an uppercut with her right fist against the chin of Drizzle which shocked her body knocking her high into the sky before knocking her back down to the ground. The hit had knocked Drizzle out cold.

As for Gideon.. The battle hadn't changed for him as he was drenched in his own blood from the wounds he had sustained for his battle with Kash. She looked the same as she did when she first came here. This woman was a freak of nature to take all of Gideons effort and strength and neutralize it against him in a way that just made him look weak. The man would try to stand but to no avail as he just couldn't. Yelling at the top of her lungs "GIDEON, STAND UP" Trisha began to cry because things didn't look too good for her teammate in his situation. "This boy.. He has heart, I could see why Baz would take him into the crew.. Something about him is different" thought Kash as she wielded her blade.

The black chain of Bazel wrapped around the dominant hand of Leparo in an attempt to pull the giant but to no avail as it ended up having the opposite effect. Yanking the chain Leparo brought Bazel around for a whirlwind as he spun his arm in the air with Bazel attached to it but that didn't stop the firebird as he let go of the chain simply coming down crashing into Leparo like a battery ram. This caused the giant to stumble while Bazel got his footing back after hitting the ground. The firebird would then run forward leading kneeing Leparo in the chin upwards which would rock Leparo's world even more. He began to really stumble back before Leparo used his knee that made contact with Leparo to push off of him and clear him room to run forward delivering a giant punch to Leparo's midsection which would send the gold leopard downwards with smoke from Bazel's heat coming from his chest. Bazel was breathing heavier than normal as he was exerting himself in this bout with Leparo. Hopefully this calmed the leopard down and made him realize how he had lost his way. A sinister laugh from Leparo as he began to stand proved just the opposite as the gold energy around him just grew stronger.

"Bazel.. I'm going to assume you're holding back because you don't want to hurt me old friend.. but I think if you want to make it out of here.. you need to be the spiky haired bastard you were when we first met" those words by Leparo caused Bazel to think back to the countless battles the duo had in their youth and how much Leparo was a fan of Bazel's style. It was amazing how much the two had grown now becoming famous rookies in the field of piracy. If it weren't for the circumstances Bazel would have probably smiled right now as he thought about this. "Heh.." said Bazel as he lifted his head and looked at Leparo "I'm not holding back, you're just not trying hard enough" and with that Leparo took off with his right hand and punched Bazel with it in the gut which knocked the wind out of his body. The punch was so strong it caused a crater in the ground. After the crater came a wave of energy behind the hand of Leparo which sent Bazel flying into the wall near where they battled.

Bazel who was basically planted into the wall at this point was coughing up blood, he had wounds all over his body and lastly he probably had a few broken ribs. He finally smiled thinking about all the fun the two did actually have. Their last meeting was an eventful one. "So Spiky, You going home to Alabasta?" asked Leparo as he watched Bazel pack as he was departing from the crew. "Not yet, It's so much of the world I've yet to see... I have to become a stronger pirate.. If I ever wanna be king right?" smiled the red haired pirate. "What of you blondy" said Bazel who watched Leparo pack as he was also leaving the crew today. "That chick we met back in the South Blue, she's pretty cute and talked about joining my crew. So you'll hear about me soon"said Leparo as he looked towards the night sky. "Oi Blondy, I have something for you.." said Bazel who was reaching in his bag. "Hmm?" wondered Leparo watching Baz reach into his satchel. Bazel would pull out a gold devil fruit "It's a Devil Fruit.. Turns its user into a leopard human, maybe one day you can eat it." said Bazel as he chucked it to Leparo. A smile on the face of the blonde "One day brother one day, but I have something for you too." Bazel raised an eyebrow watching Leparo reach in his pocket "It's a necklace.. I got it when I went on that Alabasta raid..  Thought you'd like it" said Leparo as he gave it to Bazel. These two had developed quite the bond over the years "May the best man become king" said Bazel who extended his hand forward just as he did when the duo were younger. Leparo looked stunned before he smiled and extended his hand back. "May the best man become king" said Leparo as the two broke into laughter.

Bazel looked down at the chain he was wearing and remembered what Leparo said to him the day he gave it to him "It'll keep you safe until you return home." Bazel would smile thinking of Leparo say those words, but his friend had something else in mind as he coated his right arm black in haki. "Going to end this, once and for all" said Leparo who cocked back his right arm before releasing five giant waves of energy from his claws towards the walled Bazel. As the waves of energy came to him Bazel uttered some words "Until I'm home.." and it was then his legs caught fire and he pushed himself out of the wall. Bazel would then kick against the waves of energy causing his flames to grow in size. Leparo was so shocked as to what was going on "Such speed.." thought Leparo as Bazel emerged from the flames barely breathing at this point as he had reached his limit. "If I don't end this now, I won't" thought Bazel who had to go all out or risk dying.

Leparo may have had the strength advantage, Bazel had speed and planned on using that to his advantage. He'd take off leaving Leparo in the dust who was trying to trace the movements of Bazel who would pop up at his midsection. The hands of Bazel had literally caught on fire and looked like two fireballs as he let a barrage of punches go on his opponent Leparo. The punches were in rapid succession and with each strike Leparo was left gasping for air before he brought his haki coated right arm downwards in an effort to crush Bazel, that failed because the firebird was gone, he was coming down from above Leparo where Bazel would deliver a punch "MACK PUNCH" yelled Bazel as he punched Leparo square in the face. The force was strong enough to create a 7 meter crater in the immediate area along with a downed Leparo. Bazel would proceed to walk on the downed opponent and watched him bleed from all over along with the burning that had been done to his insides. Leparo smiled as he coughed up blood "I guess you win spiky" he would say. "Yea I guess I do.. Leparo" said Bazel who severed the bond with his old friend before releasing a devastating mack punch to the chest of Leparo that created a giant line of fire that soared into the sky.

Leparo was down for the count but Bazel wasn't just yet. He'd begin to walk towards his crew mates with his jacket and chain in hand. Before he could make it there he fainted from the wounds he had suffered on the battlefield.

As for Kash she chucked Gideon downwards towards Trisha who couldn't make it to him in time and watched him hit the solid ground and skid towards her. "HOW COULD YOU, HE'S STILL ALIVE" Trisha would say towards the white haired woman. Kash simply walked towards the spiral that lead downwards to Trisha and Gideon. "He's a warrior, he'll be fine. Though one day he will seek me out for a rematch. But right now you have bigger problems. Bazel did indeed defeat Leparo but he himself will need medical attention. Leparo will be arrested. I'll come see Bazel before you all leave this island." with that Kash vanished into the air before Trisha's very eyes. The woman would grab Gideon and place him on her right shoulder. Her immense strength came in hand as she found Bazel who had blacked out but kept trying to fight it. His will and will alone was what kept him awake right now. She would wrap his arm around hers and guide them back to the docks where she assumed their ship would be. Once there a young looking male noticed the duo who looked harmed "Oh my god. Baz! Gideon! said the man. He would jump out of the ship and proceed to help Trisha board them into the medical area of the ship.

DONE