The Last Step to Freedom! The Fall of Darkness

Open Up The Sky
Stephen: Swords...that have their own will?

Marimo: Yeah. Unfortunately, you won't get a longer explanation regarding this.

Marimo points all his swords towards Stephen, ready to finish him off.

Marimo:*piercing look*It ends here for you, Stephen D. Oscura.

Marimo swings all his swords down at Stephen.

Stephen:*shadowed eyes and smiling*Heh...

''9 jets of black smoke are seen coming out of Stephen's back. 8 eight of them take the shape of hands and Stephen uses them to block each of Marimo's swords. The last one takes the shape of a blade and stabs Marimo staright to his stomach.''

Marimo:*coughing blood*Shit...

Stephen: I thought you would realize...that these cards had nothing to do with my actual power. That is just my way of figuring out the power of my opponent.

''Marimo quickly releases a strong wave of energy that destroys all the hands made of black smoke and the sword. Quickly after, Marimo jumps away from Stephen.''

Stephen: Seems that right now, the amount of damage we took is around the same.

Marimo:*panting*What are you...talking about? Your whole back is...

Stephen gets back on his feet without any problem.

Marimo:*shocked*W...what?

Stephen: A scratch on my back is not gonna be anywhere near enough to take me down.

Marimo:*frustrated look*Tch...

The flames around Marimo's swords disappears.

Marimo:*serious look*I didn't even notice I overused them...damn it.

Stephen: So you can only maintain them for a certain amount of time? I guess it's the same for the electricity that remained around your swords.

Marimo:*smirking*Nah...the electricity is gonna last even less.

Stephen: You don't seem to be too worried about that.

Stephen's entire body gets covered in black smoke.

Stephen:*sharp look*Just letting you know...

Stephen releases a jet of black smoke from the lower part of his body, launching himself flying towards Marimo.

Stephen: MY DEVIL FRUIT IS THE ONI ONI NO MI, MODEL: ENENRA!!

''Stephen turns his right arm into a sword then makes it solid using Haki. As soon as he gets close enough to Marimo, he swings his sword towards Marimo's head. With a quick reflex, Marimo blocks the attack.''

Marimo:*maniac grin*Did I just hear you say Oni?

''Stephen turns his other arm in a sword as well, but before he could attack, Marimo releases a concentrated wave of energy forward, pushing Stephen back. Instantly, Marimo dashes after Stephen. While slowly turning his entire body into black smoke, Stephen punches forward, releasing a wave of black smoke. The wave hits Marimo directly, but it doesn't seem to have any effect at first. Before Marimo could land a hit on Stephen, he starts feeling his body really weak. Stephen takes advantage of the situation quickly and powerfully punches Marimo in the stomach wound he gave him earlier, sending him flying back.''

Stephen': The smoke produced by my Devil Fruit has a poisonous affect as well.

''Marimo crashes brutally into a building that falls on him after. Stephen waits for around a minute, but nothing happens.''

Stephen: Don't tell me that was actually enough to kill you.

''Suddenly, a big piece of the building is seen flying towards Stephen. With a confident look on his face, Stephen simply lets the piece go through his body. Shortly after, Marimo is seen walking towards him.''

Marimo: No, I was just thinking of a way of defeating you without destroying the entire island. Since I don't have much time left with the electricity...I guess I just gotta act quickly.

''Stephen quickly notices something weird in the air around him. He looks around for a few seconds and understands that the area where he is standing is surrounded by a field of energy.''

Stephen:*serious look*What exactly is this for?

Stephen starts feeling his body weak as the energy field is filled with Haki as well.

Stephen:*nervous look*[I can't take another slash like earlier...so I better be careful this time.]

Marimo: For now, you're not gonna be able to touch me since you can't get out of there. If you choose to actually come out...you gotta stop using your Devil Fruit powers, which will make you an easy target for me.

Stephen: I can easily beat you from inside this as well.

Stephen raises his right arm up.

Stephen: Please take a look at the sky.

''Before he could even do what Stephen asked him to, Marimo gets hit by a huge slash made of darkness, one similar to his Kokuryuha. From a cloud of dust, Marimo is seen jumping out quickly, with a large and deep cut on his right shoulder.''

Stephen:*arrogant smile*See?

''Without saying anything else, Marimo jumps really high in the air again. Once he gets there, Marimo starts spinning, creating an orb of electricity around his body.''

Stephen:*serious look*What are you trying to...

Marimo stops and his swords quickly absorb all the electricity around them.

Marimo: It's kinda annoying for me that I have to perform all these techniques in the air, to not destroy everything...but I guess it can't be helped.

''Marimo closes his eyes for a second, remebering the reason why he's actually fighting Stephen. As soon as he opens his eyes, he swings 4 of his swords towards Stephen and 4 towards the sky.''

Marimo: Lightning Demon:Demon's Heaven Piercing Spear!!

Marimo releases two huge lightning slashes, one towards Stephen and the other towards the sky.

Stephen:*arrogant smile*I can feel the strength of that slash...and it's not even close to me yet. Something like that is gonna blow up most of the island!

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*The energy field around you has two roles. One, to make you unable to dodge my attack and two...to protect this island.

''As soon as he finishes his sentence, the first slash hits the ground with an amazing force, making the entire area disappear in a split second. Shortly after, the second slash strikes the dark sky.''

Marimo: [Come on...go through!]

Marimo's slash keeps pushing against the darkness, but slowly, the slash starts getting consumed by the darkness until it finally disappears.

Marimo: Damn it...there must be something else I can do!

''Without thinking too much, Marimo sheathes most of his swords, leaving out only two. Immediately after, he throws the two remaining swords towards the sky. Marimo releases a jet of energy from each one of his legs, sending himself flying towards the swords he threw.''

Marimo: Nittoryu, Ougi: Demon's Sky Slash!!

Marimo appears very high in the sky with all his swords sheathed.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*[Come on...Come on!]

A huge cut appears in the darkness that was covering the sky, but before a single ray of sun could get through, the darkness closes in again.

Marimo: Tch...that didn't work either.

''Suddenly, the darkness starts forming a huge fist. Marimo quickly takes a look at the ground, but Stephen is nowhere to be seen. The fist starts flying down, and since Marimo couldn't move at an amazing speed in the air, he gets hit directly and sent flying into the ground. Around the place he crashed remains a rather big crater. Marimo struggles to get back on his feet and as soon as he does so, he notices Stephen standing up near him.''

Stephen: You can't change anything on this island. I hope you understood that now.

Stephen has a cut on his chest from Marimo's technique, but nothing too serious.

Marimo: How did you manage to...

Stephen: Block your technique? That was pretty easy actually. The darkness around this entire island is produced by my Devil Fruit. However, to make it that strong takes time. My black smoke can basically do the same thing, but on a smaller scaler. Still, that was more than enough.

''Stephen powerfully kicks Marimo in the stomach, sending him flying some distance across the ground. Quickly after, Stephen starts releasing countless jets of black smoke from his body that the shape of snakes or fists. Marimo quickly gets back on his feet, only to get bitten or punched many times. At the end of Stephen's wave of attacks, Marimo is covered in blood from head to toe.''

Stephen:*angered look*You did a very big mistake, Sasagawa Kenshin. You destroyed all my work...and for that, you're gonna have the most painful death you can imagine!

Marimo slowly unsheathes all his swords.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*I guess I have no choice right now...but to use that technique. I only have one more minute left of my electricity anyway.

Stephen: Hmm?

''After taking his usual Hachitoryu stance, Marimo dashes towards Stephen. With an annoyed look on his face, Stephen points his right hand towards the sky and starts releasing countless darkness slashes. To Stephen's surprise, Marimo moves at an incredible speed, dodging all the attacks.''

Stephen:*shocked*[With all his injuries...how is he able to move like that?]

''The electricity from Marimo's swords start forming what looks like a giant body around Marimo. After putting a lot of energy in his right leg, Marimo simply passes Stephen, and in that instant, the giant body made of electricity disappears.''

Stephen: What was...

''Stephen expects to get some damage since he wasn't able to even see Marimo, but nothing happens. Marimo quickly turns around, forming another giant body. Once again, Marimo simply passes Stephen at an amazing speed and the body disappears.''

Stephen: WHAT ARE YOU DOING??

Marimo: Raijin!!(The Japanese God of Thunder and Lightning)

''Suddenly, the two giant bodies appear around Stephen and punch him at once. In an instant, a huge orb made completely of electricity is formed around Stephen's body. Countless small slashes can be seen striking Stephen while he's inside the orb as the eletricity around Marimo's wears off.''

Marimo:*smirking*Raijin requires pretty much all the electricity I can produce, so it's better to keep it for the end.

''Only after one minute, the sphere starts disappearing. Stephen can be seen standing his feet with countless scratches and his entire body and clothes black. Marimo, knowing that the fight isn't over yet, takes off all the clothes that were ripped after Stephen's attacks or that were simply full of blood.''

Marimo:*arrogant smile*Are you fine after that attack as well?

Stephen starts taking a few steps forward slowly, losing his balance slightly after each step.

Stephen: Damn...you...

Marimo: Hmm? I can't really understand what you're saying.

Stephen: DAMN YOU!!

''Stephen launches himself flying towards Marimo at an incredible speed. With a very confident look on his face, Marimo summons the black flames around his body. Without hesitation, Stephen punches through them.''

Stephen: SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS NOT GONNA HURT ME!!

''Stephen punches Marimo straight in his chest, not pushing him back any distance, but releasing a very powerful shockwave inside Marimo's body. Marimo coughs some blood then looks at Stephen's right hand that seemingly didn't get any damage from his black flames.''

Stephen: My Devil Fruit...MY DEVIL FRUIT MAKES ME THE KING OF DEMONS!!

''Stephen turns his right arm into black smoke that takes the shape of a giant wolf's mouth. With it, he bites Marimo's sides and shoulders. While the fangs made of black smoke were stuck inside his body, Marimo creates a pressure in the air with his Devil Fruit that paralyzes Stephen's body.''

Stephen:*annoyed look*What do you think you're doing?

Despite the fact he's bleeding heavily, Marimo prepares a special stance, the one for his strongest slash, Jao Ensatsu Kokuryuha.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*King of Demons you say? Tch...low class demons like you shouldn't have the right to even say such things.

Marimo starts concentrating all the black flames around his swords.

Stephen: [These black flames are the same as the ones that destroyed my palace. He used that technique in his fight with Chishin and I guess he defeated him with it, which means I can't allow him to use it.]

''Stephen forces his body to move a little, and after all, he points his right hand towards the sky. Shortly after, a huge slash made of darkness is seen falling towards Marimo's position.''

Marimo: Quick Kokuryuha!!

Stephen:*surprised*What?

''Even though he didn't finish the preparations for his technique, Marimo swings all his swords towards Stephen, releasing a big, pitch black slash that has the shape of a dragon. In an instant, Stephen gets a huge cut on the left side of his body, his left arm getting almost cut off, which also stops the slash that was falling from the sky.''

Stephen:*shadowed eyes*I'm totally sick of you...SASAGAWA KENSHIN!!

''Stephen changes the shape of his right arm into a big cloud of black smoke. In an instant, Marimo starts feeling really weak and barely stays on his feet. Taking advantage of this, Stephen turns his left arm into a spear and stabs Marimo through his chest with it.''

Stephen:*satisfied smile*Finally.

''Stephen continues pushing his spear forward through Marimo's chest, but it stops before passing through all of it. Marimo gently grabs Stephen's spear with his right hand.''

Marimo: No...this isn't over yet. This won't be over until you are the one on the ground, unable to fight.

Stephen:*body trembling from anger*How...HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?

Marimo: The answer to your question as well as to why I can still be fighting is my Devil Fruit. Earlier, I continued channeling energy through my entire body, to keep it functioning perfectly despite all my injuries. Right now, I concentrated on a single spot...my heart.

Stephen:*speechless*...

Marimo: You might have pierced my chest...but my heart is perfectly fine.

''Marimo crashes the spear with his bare hand. Stephen takes a few steps back from Marimo, being barely to walk himself. Marimo creates an extension of his swords' blades using his black flames. Stephen does a superhuman effort to jump away from Marimo, who quickly dashes after him at his normal speed.''

Not so far away from them, Revy is talking to the old man.

Revy: These guys...are just crazy powerful. I never seen a battle like this before.

Old man: They are indeed. I guess now you can see why we shouldn't get in Kenshin's way.

Revy:*serious look*Hey...shouldn't we actually help him right now? They're both in a very bad condition, so the first that will land a hit is gonna win probably

Old man: Even in his current condition, Stephen is able to defeat us for sure.

Revy tightly grabs her swords and starts walking forward.

Revy: I want to take part into this! I'm not just gonna give the final blow or anything, but I'm gonna help Kenshin!

The old man grabs Revy by her shoulder, stopping her.

Old man: WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WE SHOULDN'T GET IN HIS WAY, REVY?!

Revy:*shocked*How do you know...my name?

Old man:*surprised*...

Revy: No...the similarities between you and my father...are so many. But you can't be him! Right?

Old man:*shadowed eyes*Sorry for leaving you guys like that.

Revy:*shocked as tears appear in her eyes*...

Old man: Your mother is still in the mine. She feels too weak to even walk, despite the fact that I tried to gather as much food as I could for her to keep her alive.

Back on the fighting place, Marimo finally reached Stephen, who didn't have enough strength left to run.

Marimo: God Demon's Roar!!

Marimo starts swinging his swords like crazy towards Stephen, slashing him many times, but without actually damaging him.

Stephen:*surprised*[What is this now?]

Marimo takes a step back, then jumps forward, spinning in the air.

Marimo: God Demon's Wheel!!

''Stephen prepares to block Marimo's attack, but as soon as he gets close to Stephen, Marimo stops spinning and places one foot on the ground. In an instant, he appears behind Stephen and the extension of his blades made of black flames disappear. Marimo jumps away from Stephen.''

Stephen:*serious look*What was all this for?

Marimo: The black flames have two powers. One is the extreme burning power, which will basically turning it touches into ashes, and the second...

Stephen suddenly starts feeling his body really weak and falls on his knees.

Marimo:*serious look*...is to consume the target's energy.

Stephen:*entire body trembling*I...W...C...

''Stephen realizes he doesn't even have enough energy left to talk. His eyes start closing as his entire body becomes weaker and weaker. Marimo starts gathering black flames around his swords as he prepares himself for another Jao Ensatsu Kokuryuha.''

Marimo: This is as far as this fight goes, Stephen.

With the last drop of energy, Stephen points one of his fingers at the sky, then at Marimo.

Stephen: [The last thing I can do...is use my most powerful technique.]

''Right as Marimo was about to fire his slash, a huge beam of darkness from the sky strikes him directly. The entire area where he was gets literally erased. The darkness on the sky starts getting weaker seemingly from Stephen's technique. Soon after, Stephen starts moving his body again.''

Stephen: Hmph...seems the effect of your technique is not long.

''With a bit of effort, Stephen gets back on his feet and starts walking towards the place where Marimo was. He finds Marimo on the ground, probably unconscious.''

Stephen:*satisfied smile*In the end, the victory is mine, Sasagawa Kenshin.

''Stephen turns his right arm into a blade and he swings it down, aiming for Marimo's head. However, Revy appears in front of him and blocks the attack using both her swords. The old man is seen running towards them.''

Old man: STOP IT REVY!!

Revy:*determined look*No! Kenshin is down, so I'm taking his place!

Suddenly, Marimo grabs Revy by her shoulder as he gets up.

Marimo: You idiot...I could get him right now since he thought I was unconscious. Why didn't you stay away from the fight as I told you?

Stephen returns his arm to it's normal shape, then grabs Revy by her neck and throws her away.

Stephen: Annoying weaklings.

Revy:*angered look*Damn you...

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*Yeah...

Revy:*surprised*What...?

''Stephen points his right hand towards the old man and suddenly, a cloud of black smoke appears around his body. The old man starts coughing blood and falls on his knees. Shortly after, he starts screaming in pain.''

Stephen: This is much more effective against him, since his body is weak. It's probably gonna kill him very soon.

Revy: STOP IT!

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*Can't you shut up?

Revy: STOP HIM!! HE'S MY FATHER!! YOU CAN'T LET HIM DIE!!

Marimo:*demonic look*Your voice is so annoying.

Revy runs to Marimo and grabs him by his shirt.

'Revy:*bursting into tears*What are you talking about?? You were supposed to save all of us, weren't you??

Without saying anything, Marimo releases a wave of energy that sends Revy flying back some distance.

Revy: [This can't be real...he was supposed to...]

The old man keeps screaming in pain for a few more seconds, then he stops and falls on the ground.

Revy:*shocked*[No...no...]

Marimo: Finally, some silence.

''Marimo closes his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opens them, everything around is just darkness. The only thing he can see in front of him is his target, Stephen.''

Marimo:*demonic look*Let's see how the King of Demons is gonna handle...the real Hell.

Stephen: What are you talking about?

Suddenly, flames erupt everywhere from the ground around Stephen.

Stephen:*surprised*How did you...

''Stephen takes a look at Marimo and his body starts trembling in fear as Marimo's eyes are red and the flames are moving around Marimo's body. His fear is greatly increased as huge figures appear everywhere around him. The looks on the faces of these figures show only one thing, bloodthirst. Soon, Stephen realizes that he's surrounded by actual demons.''

Stephen:*trembling in fear*How...how did you do this? You couldn't actually...summon...the...the real Hell!

''Marimo keeps walking towards Stephen, without saying anything. The flames start getting closer to Stephen, who is able to feel their heat. One of the demons grabs Stephen's right arm, and Stephen can feel the grip. With a desperate reaction, Stephen frees his arm.''

Stephen:*going crazy from the fear*THIS CAN'T BE REAL!!

''Stephen turns his entire body into black smoke, in an attempt to attack Marimo. However, all of a sudden, his body returns to normal.''

Stephen: My...powers...why wouldn't...they work?

''Stephen notices that the sky has also changed. Instead of being covered darkness, it's crimson red. All the artificial lights from the island disappeared, the only thing lighting up the island being the flames that cover all of it.''

Stephen:*grabbing his head*STOP THIS!!

Marimo is seen behind Stephen, slowly sheathing his swords.

Marimo: Hachitoryu, Ougi:Hell's Distraction!!

''Marimo completely sheathes his swords and in that exact moment, Stephen gets 8 huge cuts on his body. Also, everything around returns to normal. Stephen falls on his knees as Marimo starts walking to him.''

Marimo:*whispering to Stephen's ear*We know for sure who's the King of Demons now, right?

Stephen:*still trembling*...

Marimo starts walking away from Stephen, towards Revy.

Marimo: You're free to talk now.

Revy:*shocked*[I can't believe it...what just happened? He used all the fear we felt...Was that really Haki?]

Marimo: Also, your father is just unconscious, not dead.

Revy: Thanks...you know, you really scared me there.

Marimo:*scratching the back of his head*Sorry, I tend to be like that when I'm fighting.

Revy:*warm smile*I'm really glad it's all over now.

Marimo: Not yet.

Revy:*surprised*Why not?

Marimo:*looking at the sky*There is still something I have to do.

All the people that were knocked out by the Haoshoku Haki wave earlier start regaining their consciousness.

Marimo: This technique should settle everything.

Marimo points both his fists towards the sky and starts gathering energy around his arms.

Stephen:*angered look*I'm not...I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU!!

Stephen, using all his remaining energy, jumps above Marimo, aiming to stop him from performing his technique.

http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w363/Zoro-san/cooltext786692476_zps02525c96.png (Hell's Rainbow)

''Marimo gathers all the energy on top of his fists, then releases a powerful jet of energy that crashes directly into Stephen's body. The ground around Marimo disappears completely, making it look like there's a void below his feet. The amazing force of the jet sends Stephen flying towards the sky. The jet, together with Stephen's body, crashes straight into the dark sky, making a hole in it. The jet continues flying higher, until Marimo finally stops it.''

Marimo:*shadowed eyes and large smile*Hmph...

''A ray of sun is seen lighting up Marimo's face. All the people look shocked, as they see sun light for the first time in 10 years. Slowly, the hole in the sky becomes bigger, until the people can feel the warmt of the sun as well. As a ray of sun falls on his face, the old man opens his eyes and smiles. After around a minute, all the darkness that was around the island disappears, revealing a sky that has a red rainbow on it.''