Hachirou landed with an audible [i]thud,[/i] then stood up from a crouched position to take a standard boxing stance. His opponent, Irons Greave, grinned and put up his own defense. The two were ready to begin duking it out, when the two pirate referees from before reappeared. Both had multiple amusing injuries, including black eyes, bloody noses, and bandaids slapped haphazardly all over their faces.

“The second contest is about to begin! In the red corner we have the Buccaneer Pirate’s top fighter! Hailing from Clock Town in the South Blue, the shirtless wonder, Irooooooons ‘Knockout’ Greeeeeeave!” The announcement was met with much applause, whistling, and cheering.

“In the blue corner,” began the second ref, “Some muscular guy nobody really cares about-” A loud, sassy [color=olive]“Blow it out your asshole!”[/color] could be heard coming from Trickshot Jo’. “-Navigator of the Krunch Pirates, it’s Hachirou H. Hachirou!” Just as Greave’s announcement was met with praise and adulation, Hachirou’s was met with boos and hisses.

“Last call for betting! Place your bets now, window is closing!”

“Peanuts! Popcorn! Don’t miss out on the fight because you had to get a snack in the middle of it!”

“Llllllllllet’s get ready to rumbllllllle!” Three clacks on the bell sounded off the first round. 

Neither opponent wasted any time in jumping straight in for a brawl. The two fighters met at the center of the ring and let loose their fists of fury. The strength and speed of both men quickly proved intense. Their arms appeared to completely vanish into a blur, while the force of the blows blew Hachirou’s hair back by the sheer air force. Yet neither showed any signs of taking any hits yet. A keen eye could make out the individual movements, and would notice that not a single blow had been landed in several seconds of the fight so far. Every punch, every strike was countered, parried, dodged, or otherwise negated.

“Oh wow,” commented one of the Buccaneers. “I can’t even follow this! Did their arms just turn invisible?”

“No, Greave is just that fast,” said another. “But to see another boxer be able to match him blow for blow? It’s unreal.”

[color=brown]”Hachish ish-hic!-holding back,”[/color] slurred the drunken voice of Wutong Ken, eyes completely closed. He appeared to not be paying any sort of attention to the match at all.

[color=turquoise]”Omnomnom! He does like gauging his opponents! But really, to limit himself this much?”[/color] Runch stood up and cupped his hands over his mouth to cry out, [color=turquoise]”Mr. Hachirou! It’s time to stop behaving like a kid playing with his spoon! We can’t waste any extra energy on this!”[/color]

“What? Pfft, quit kidding around,” waved off one of the pirates sitting nearby. “There’s no way he could be holding back. I mean look, he’s barely keeping up with our prize fighter! Yeah! Heheheh.”

Runch only gave the man a knowing smirk, taking his seat back. In the ring, the fight kept going with tremendous intensity. Each fighter glared knives at the other, looking for that one opening to take advantage. Without hesitation, Hachirou broke off from his opponent. [color=orange]”Understood, cap’n.”[/color] He then addressed his opponent. [color=orange]”I apologize if I have offended you by holding back. That won’t be a problem anymore.”[/color]

Greave kept his guard up. [sub][color=coral]”No worries. I’ve been holding back too. Let’s see what you’ve got!”[/color][/sub]

Hachirou grinned, a rare showing of emotion for the normally stoic man. [color=orange]”Don’t feel too bad when you wind up on the floor… For that is where all go when they kneel before the king!”[/color] His final words were not so much shouted as [i]roared[/i], echoing with a beastly guttural tone. Hachirou’s muscles rippled, growing intensely in size, bulging! Golden fur grew from his skin, as his black hair changed color, looking more like a mane than before. His irises compressed vertically, like a cat’s, and claws grew from his hands. The man had completely transformed before everyone’s eyes, becoming a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/deathbattlefanon/images/1/16/Leomon.png/revision/latest?cb=20160722221233]lion man.[/url]

Hachirou let loose another roar which shook the boxing area, and even the stands everyone sat upon. The pirates looked on in fear and awe. Many blinked and missed what came next, as the lion man shot forward like a bullet, his bulking clawed feet tearing up the mat behind him. His fist planted hard in Greave’s gut. [sub][color=coral]”UGH!”[/color][/sub] Greave shot back to the ropes, doubled over from the sudden blow. His saliva covered a good portion of Hachirou’s arm, and the floor as well, launched right from his mouth. But the other boxer didn’t throw in the towel yet. No, he was far from done.

Hachirou launched forward for another strike, aiming right for his opponent’s head. Just before making contact, the attack was caught by Greave’s left hand. [sub][color=coral]”Heh. Strong.”[/color][/sub] He squeezed, clenching down on Hachirou’s fist. The lion man grit his teeth in pain. [sub][color=coral]”But not strong enough.”[/color][/sub] Greave raised his head up, back into stance. His face was dominated by a wide grin as he lifted up his right fist. Then he slammed it hard into Hachirou’s gut.

[color=orange]”BUGH!”[/color] The air was knocked out of him, but Greave wasn’t done yet. He punched again, slamming his knuckles into the lion man’s face. Then again, in the chest, then the gut, the face, he kept slamming his fist hard into the Krunch pirate. Hachirou couldn’t back away with his hand gripped and pinned the way that it was, but retreat never crossed his mind. He had had enough. He raised his left arm through the assault, and thrust it forward with incredible force!

[sub][color=coral]”Slow!”[/color][/sub] Greave pulled back his fighting hand, and knocked aside Hachi’s attack with an open palm, never actually making contact with the lion man’s skin.

Hachirou was surprised, but only for a fraction of a second. His eyes narrowed in determination, and he opened his mouth to release a powerful roar! Greave grit his teeth to fight through it, but after five seconds he was forced to release Hachirou and cover his ears. The mighty roar had drawn blood.

[sub][color=coral]”Cheap,”[/color][/sub] he commented, reeling back and hearing only a ringing sensation.

[color=orange]”If it works, it works.”[/color]

[sub][color=coral]”What did you sa-OOMPH!”[/color][/sub] With feline reflexes and speed befitting the king of the jungle, Hachirou wasted no time in taking advantage of his opponent’s handicap. He powered through the pain of his own bruises to unleash a flurry of tremendous punches directly to Greave’s face, chest, and gut. Blows struck like machinegun fire, knocking the smaller man around like a rag doll. Up and down, left to right, back and forth. 

Greave was a bloodied mess by the time he recovered enough to roll off the side and put up his fists again. He spat a large amount of blood over the side of the ring, then glared. [sub][color=coral]”Now you’ve really pissed me off.”[/color][/sub] Despite being several feet away, Greave threw a punch. No projectile was emitted, no contact had been made, but Hachi was knocked back all the same. This time it was Hachi’s turn to glare. He took a step forward to close the distance, but was thrown back by another long distance punch. Hachi grunted, then took another step. Again he was knocked back by some invisible force from Greave’s punch.

[sub][color=coral]”Impressive, huh? My punches don’t lose any of their power over a minimum of eight meters. Those close up hits are my Second Hand punches. Now you’re experiencing my Minute Hand strike.”[/color][/sub] He threw a double punch with both arms, the force of which bowled Hachi over. The Krunch pirate nearly tumbled out of the arena, saving himself by grabbing hold of the ropes and swinging back into place.

[color=orange]”Hrm. You fight by shaping the air with the force of your fists.”[/color] He held up his right hand, and clenched it. [color=orange]”You aren’t the only one. But yours pales when compared to my mastery.”[/color]

[sub][color=coral]”Then let’s put that to the test.”[/color][/sub] The Buccaneer widened his stance, and swept his left hand forward in a circle, performing a form of kata.

[color=orange]”You are a gazelle.”[/color] Hachi widened his stance as well, planting both fists at his side. [color=orange]”I am the king of beasts!”[/color]

Both thrust their fists forward at the same time, displaying different techniques. [sub][color=coral]”Ultimate Minute Hand!”[/color] [/sub] [color=orange]”Juuōken!”[/color]

Hachi roared loud as he unleashed his attack. Greave’s strike shot forward as a shapeless ball of air. Hachi’s vocalized roar sent ripples and vibrations through the air to match with his own fist strike. The two complimented one another, forming together seamlessly, creating an entirely new shape for the entire audience to witness.

[color=coral][sub]”Is that a… Lion?! No! No![/sub] NOOOOOOOOOOOOO[h3]OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”[/h3][/color]

The lion swallowed Greave’s own attack whole, blasting forward for its master. It struck Greave head on, maw gaping wide, and sent the man rocketing back. He snapped straight through the ropes around the boxing arena, right into the solid rock wall, and even straight through that!

[h3][color=coral]”AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”[/COLOR][/H3] The Buccaneer fighter fell hundreds of feet into the ocean. The entire pirate collective sat in utter shock, jaws [i]literally[/i] on the floor. Several seconds passed by before the referees remembered to say something.

“Uh… Well, we can’t confirm that ‘Knockout’ Greave has lost consciousness, but…”

“Yeah, uh… I think that we can safely say that, uh…”

“The winner is Hachirou of the Krunch Pirates!”

Hachi grunted, spitting out a small amount of blood. [color=orange]”Looks like I used too much power. I said he’d be kneeling on the floor.”[/color]