The War on Taif Island! All Out Showdown

Rise of a Black Dragon
''Marimo and Revy were forced to hide from Stephen's troups that kept looking after them during the entire day. When the night came, as always, the electricity on Taif Island was taken, thus leaving Marimo and Revy in complete darkness. The two, that were hiding at the base of a mountain made a fire and started treating theri wounds.''

Revy: Say...do you really think we can do this?

Marimo: So far, I'm sure. However, I didn't have the chance to see Stephen's power yet.

Revy: I see...

Marimo:*smiles*Don't lose hope though.

Revy: Can you even defeat that armored guy?

Marimo:*large smile*Of course I can! Tomorrow, the first thing I'm gonna do is go after him.

''Marimo and Revy spent the night talking about each other. Marimo found out about Revy's past and Revy found out a little about Marimo's past.''

Revy: Seems both of us were abandoned by our fathers...at least yours returned at some point. Also, your mother is fine now...while mine disappeared years ago...

Marimo:*serious look*[She's probably forced to work in one of those mines as well...]

Revy: Oh well, I think we talked enough. We should sleep a little now, tomorrow we're supposed to have a big battle.

''The two only get a few hours of sleep since the electricity comes back, lighting up the entire island and revealing the dark sky once again. Marimo and Revy start moving as soon as they wake up.''

Revy: Hey, you said something yesterday.

Marimo: About?

Revy: Well, you said that just the two of us can't take over the island. What are we gonna do then?

Marimo:*smiles*Well, I have a big mission for you.

Revy:*surprised*A mission?

Marimo: Yeah. You gotta sneak in the city and steal as many weapons as you can, then bring them to the place where we fought.

Revy: Why?

Marimo: You'll see when the time comes! For now, just do that.

''Confused by Marimo's request, Revy starts walking towards the city, while Marimo returns to the place where he fought with Revy, more exactly, at the hole he created into the ground. He jumps in it and falls into the mine where he sees the exact same people as before.''

Old man: Why did you return, Sasagawa Kenshin?

Marimo: You all want to be free, don't you?

Before the old man could answer, a younger man steps in front of him.

Man: Of course we do!

Marimo:*serious look*Then you gotta fight for that freedom.

Man:*surprised*Fi...fight? Can't you see the way we look?? We can't even work very well, and you want us to fight?

Marimo: With a little help from you guys, we can take over this island!

Man: No...no way I'm going out there and get killed!

Marimo:*annoyed look*Do you prefer to keep going on like this?

Man: At least I'm gonna live...

Marimo:*angry look*HOW CAN YOU CALL THIS LIVING??

The man, scared, doesn't reply in any way.

Marimo: It's not only about your lives! But everyone on this island! WE CAN CHANGE SOMETHING!!

Marimo looks at all the other men that were in the mine, but neither of them looks determined to fight.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*So you prefer to waste a few more years before dying?

The old man takes a seat, close to the group of men.

Old man: We were all hoping that one day someone will come and give us hope. Maybe you're not that person.

Marimo unsheathes one of his swords and everyone is able to feel a killing intent in the air.

Marimo:*demonic look*Then I might as well take your lives right now, to stop you from helping Stephen reach his goal.

All the men get up and pick up something to defend themselves from Marimo.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*So now you actually want to fight for your lives?

Marimo sheathes his sword, then turns with his back at them and gathers energy in his legs, to jump out of the mine.

Marimo:*determined look*Either way...make sure to look outside later. You will be able to see natural light after 10 years.

''The men from the mine are left speechless by Marimo's words. Marimo crouches and jumps, leaving the mine. Not far from the hole in the ground, Revy is seen carrying many weapons.''

Revy: Done! And it wasn't that easy...I got caught up and I had to fight some guards.

Marimo: Seems you did all that for nothing.

Revy:*surprised*What? Why?

Marimo: I failed creating a small army...

Revy: An army? What are you talking about??

Marimo: Hey...it seems you were being followed.

Revy:*surprised*What?

A large number of soldiers are seen surrounding Marimo and Revy.

Marimo:*wide grin*This is not bad though, the fight begins earlier than expected. Guess I don't have to bother destroying something else to make them come out.

''From the group of soldiers, a person steps in front of everyone. That person is no one else than the armored guardian of Stephen, Chishin.''

Chishin: How fortunate for me. An open place, in other words, no way for you to escape this time.

Marimo: I don't plan on escaping either way. I'm gonna go through all of you and straight to Stephen.

Marimo quickly unsheathes all his swords and takes his usual Hachitoryu stance.

Marimo: Revy, please don't let any simple soldier stay in my way. I'm not going all out.

Revy:*nervous look*Alright.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*Also...

Revy: Yes?

Marimo:*demonic look*Make sure you stay way from me as well.

''Chishin opens his arms wide and many holes appear in his armor. All the soldiers that were around Chishin start running away. Revy also starts walking away from Marimo.''

Chishin: In our previous fight, you were able to dodge this attack and run away because of the distance that was between us. Now, the situation is completely different.

''Chishin shoots a wave of small rockets towards Marimo. Instantly, Marimo dashes straight towards the rockets. He starts swinging his swords at the first rockets that were about to hit him. Instead of slashing them, Marimo makes creates a friction between the rockets and his swords, then suddenly, his swords burst into flames. Because of the flames, all the rockets explode around Marimo.''

Chishin: What a stupid move.

''Marimo is seen walking out of the smoke left by the explosions with his swords burning even stronger. On Chishin's right arm, many small holes appear, making his right arm look like a minigun. In a split second, Chishin shots endless waves of bullets towards Marimo. Seemingly ignoring Chishin's attack, Marimo dashes forward, getting hit by all the bullets, but without taking any damange.''

Chishin: I understand that your strength increased, however, getting full of yourself might cost you your life.

''From the middle of Chishin's right arm that now looked like a minigun comes out a blade that extends towards Marimo. In the last moment, Marimo slightly moves his entire body, but he still gets impaled on the left side of his body. Chishin moves his blade, making it come out on the left side of Marimo's torso. Despite the fact he's heavily bleeding, Marimo continues running until he finally reaches Chishin.''

Marimo: Fire Demon's Blazing Rage!!

''Marimo swings all his 8 burning swords towards Chishin. To Marimo's surprise, Chishin just takes the attack directly, without even trying to block or dodge it. Chishin's armor only gets slightly damaged.''

Marimo:*nervous look*Damn it...

Chishin grabs his lance, but before he could do his move, Marimo tries to stab him with all of his swords, but fails to actually damage his body.

Chishin: There is only one way for you to actually get through this armor, and you know which one it is.

Marimo:*sharp look*Fire Demon Dragon's Fire Breath!!

''Marimo releases a huge wave of flames from the tip of his swords. Chishin's entire body gets engulfed in the huge flames that start destroying everything that was behind him.''

Revy: [So this is...what he meant...by the power that could destroy the island?]

After the flames disappear, Chishin is seen standing on his feet without much damage taken.

Chishin: Keep acting arrogant, make this fight easier for me.

''Chishin thrusts forward with his lance, towards Marimo's head. In the last second, Marimo slightly moves his head, enough to dodge Chishin's attack. The power of Chishin's attack can be seen on the stone formation that was behind Marimo, which gets completely destroyed.''

Marimo: Ittoryu: Fire Demon's Claw!!

''Marimo quickly swings one of his burning swords towards Chishin's neck. Chishin intentionally loses his balance to dodge the attack, then releases a jet of flames from his right foot to increase the force of his kicks. Chishin releases a little jet of flames from his left foot as well, enough to send him one meter in the air. There, he powerfully downkicks Marimo's right shoulder. Marimo empowers his shoulder with both Haki and energy produced by his Devil Fruit to prevent it from being dislocated.''

Chishin: What's wrong? I thought you were about to go all out. If this is what you call all out, then you're much weaker than I expected.

Marimo: You're talking a bit too much during a battle.

''Marimo releases a wave of energy that pushes Chishin back. Chishin lands on his feet and holes are seen appearing on his lance.''

Marimo:*nervous look*[What is happening to me...why am I holding back even when I don't want to? This armored guy...I should be able to destroy him easily, yet...]

Marimo looks behind him, at the place where Revy was hiding.

Marimo:*annoyed look*[I should've thought that she's gonna be in the way in a way or another...]

The flames around Marimo's swords start getting bigger, covering his entire body.

Marimo:*serious look*[Time to think less about what might happen.]

Marimo dashes towards Chishin then jumps in the air and starts spinning.

Marimo: Fire Demon's Wheel!!

''Chishin thrusts his lance forward, clashing directly with Marimo. One second after the clash, the top of Chishin's lance explodes.''

Chishin: How foo...

Suddenly, Chishin notices Marimo high in the air and understands that what he destroyed was actually just an orb of flames.

Marimo: Fire Demon Phoenix's Wings!!

''The flames around Marimo's sword take the shape of huge wings as Marimo starts falling towards Chishin. Marimo flaps the fire wings once, and in an instant, he is seen on the ground, behind Chishin, in a crouching position. Many cuts appear on Chishin's armor and only a few blood is seen leaking out of Chishin's armor, which shows that Marimo failed once again to inflict serious damage to Chishin.''

Marimo:*panting*That...stupid...armor...

Chishin: Tired, already?

''Two small cannons are seen coming out each one of Chishin's shoulders. The sound of something charging can be heard for a few seconds, before a bright light is seen around the cannons. In a split second, the entire is blown up. Even Revy is able to feel the force of the explosion, since she gets pushed back some distance. Chishin is seeen walking out of the smoke and dust without any new injury. Shortly after, Marimo comes out as well, panting even harder and with even more injuries.''

Chishin: At this point, the winner of this fight is certain, isn't it?

Marimo uses his Devil Fruit in order to empower his entire body.

Marimo:*demonic look*Yeah.

Chishin: Hmph, from your attitude, I guess you think that the certain winner is you.

Suddenly, the flames around Marimo's swords start moving in a circular manner.

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*REVY!!

Revy:*surprised*Y...yes?

Marimo:*serious look*Please try to not die.

Revy:*shocked*...

The flames around Marimo's swords start destroying everything around, without damaging Marimo though.

Chishin: No matter how strong your techniques are, there's nothing that can destroy this armor except for a certain thing that you used in our previous fight...

Chishin's attitude seems to change for the first time since he started fighting Marimo.

Chishin:*eyes glowing inside his helmet*I want to see that power and surpass it!

Marimo: Fire Demon, Ougi:...

In the blink of an eye, Marimo disappears.

Chishin: Hmm?

''Chishin notices Marimo high in the air, with a furious look on his face. Marimo's flames are now covering the entire black sky of Taif Island.''

Marimo:*angered look*DEMON'S TREASURED BLADES!!

''Marimo furiously swings all his swords towards the ground, releasing 8 burning slashes. The size of each slash can rival the size of a giant's body. Marimo starts screaming as loud as he can while the slashes are coming closer to the ground. The sound of Marimo's voice can be heard on the entire island as people start coming out of their houses to see what's happening. In his palace, even Stephen hears this weird noise that draws his attention.''

Marimo: I WILL...I WILL SET THEM ALL FREE!!

''The slashes finally crash into the ground. The entire island starts shaking as the place where Chishin was becomes a huge hole in the island. Huge pillars of flames that reach the black sky are created from Marimo's technique. After a few seconds, Marimo lands on the ground and the effect of his technique stops as the flames start disappearing. The entire area looks different than before since now all the vegetation has been burned and there are countless, huge cuts into the ground.''

Marimo:*calm voice*Hey, are you still there?

Revy, who was hiding during all the time, comes out with a very surprised look on her face.

Revy: Y...

Chishin: Yes.

Marimo quickly turns around and remains with his eyes and mouth wide open after seeing Chishin with many parts of his armor destroy, but still fine.

Chishin: I thought your question was towards me. I'm sorry.

Revy:*shocked*No way...that guy is...still alive?

Marimo:*shadowed eyes*...

Chishin: What's the problem? Were you really sure that you're gonna defeat me with that technique?

Marimo:*nervous smile*I did my best my avoid using that technique. I guess it can't be helped.

Suddenly, Chishin appears in front of Marimo, ready to strike with his lance.

Chishin: Bring it!

''Chishin thrusts forward with his lance, aiming for Marimo's head. Marimo doesn't move, however, flames are seen bursting everywhere around him.''

Chishin: Stop trying to use these flames!

Marimo:*smiles*Be patient.

''Suddenly, the flames around Marimo's body become black. As soon as Chishin's lance touches the black flames, it gets turned into ashes. Chishin jumps in the opposite direction from where he previously was and looks at what remained of his lance.''

Chishin: Yeah...this is it!

Marimo turns towards Chishin as all his swords get covered in black flames.

Marimo:*calm look*Hey...I have a message for Stephen, but since you're not gonna live enough to deliver it...I guess I'll do it myself.

''Many holes appear in Chishin's armor. From all the holes, light is seen coming out. Marimo tightly grabs his sword and takes one step forward with his left foot. Then, he closes his eyes, preparing for his next technique.''

Marimo: Jao...

''Marimo thinks of the darkness around the island and how that's Stephen's fault. The black flames around his body start burning stronger.''

Marimo: Ensatsu...

''Marimo starts remembering the discussion he had with Revy about her past, especially about her mother, who disappeared after Stephen took over the island. The flames around Marimo's body start moving in an insane way around.''

Marimo:*calm voice*Kokuryuha.

''Finally, Marimo remembers about the people he seen in the mine and Stephen's real objective. In that instant, Marimo's black flames cover the entire area and he opens his eyes.''

Marimo:*determined look*JAO ENSATSU KOKURYUHA!!

''Marimo swings all his swords at once towards Chishin, releasing 8 slashes made of black flames. Instantly, Chishin shoots hundreds of rockets, cannonballs and bullets out of his armor. The 8 slashes combine, creating a single, pitch black one. The huge slash clashes with Chishin's wave and simply consumes them.''

Chishin:*empty look*What...?

''The slash starts taking the shape of a huge black dragon that starts flying forward at an incredible speed. The black dragon crashes into Chishin's body, then it simply continues flying.''

Chishin:*trembling*Did it have...no effect?

All of a sudden, Chishin gets a huge and deep cut on his chest and the part of his armor that was covering his chest gets turned into ashes.

Marimo:*sharp look*Let's see if Stephen is gonna get my message.

''Inside his palace, Stephen is looking for a Den Den Mushi to call Chishin in order to find out what's happening. Suddenly, he hears a load roar. Before he could say or do anything, the room he was in gets cut in half. One inch away from his face can be seen a huge, pitch black slash. Shortly after, the entire palace starts crumbling down.''