Nick watched his two companions run up the stairs from the corner of his eye, unwilling to take his attention away from the portly man standing in front of him. Boo Jack was giving him a sadistic grin that made his skin crawl.

  Not because he was afraid of him, but because when he was smiling, Boo Jack revealed his rotten, yellow teeth. Nick could practically smell the rancid breath from here. It was all he could do to not gag.

  "Well, now that we're alone, why don't we get star-" Boo Jack started to say but was interrupted by Nick, who held out his hand with his index finger raised. His other hand was on his mouth, trying to hold back the vomit.

  "Stop, please. I can't take it. I think I'm going to be sick," Nick said, face even looking a little green. Boo Jack was understandably confused.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "It's your breath. When's the last time you brushed your teeth? Or showered? Or changed your underwear? I just, you stink. So I'm going to have to ask you to keep your distance from me, if that's alright?" Nick asked, giving the man a hopeful look.

  But his hopes were dashed by the infuriated look of Boo Jack.

  "Hell no! I'm going to flatten you into a pancake!" he yelled. Nick only gave him a blank look in return.

  "...Are you coming onto me?"

  "ARGH!"

  With a mighty yell, Boo Jack once more morphed into a ball and charged towards Nick. The brown haired man smirked. It was so easy to rile people up. And angry people made mistakes. In this case, Boo Jack was so angered, he forgot completely about the spikes he could project.

  Seeing this, Nick didn't feel pressured to dodge out of the way. Had the man been trying to impale him, it would have been a different story. As it was, he had an idea. He wasn't going to try and physically stop him, as that wouldn't likely work. So instead, he would use the man's momentum against him.

  When the giant ball of Boo Jack neared him, he readied his trusty shovel. Then, the moment Boo Jack reached him, he used all his strength to scoop up and hurl the big ball of blubber towards the wall behind him, like a giant turd into the neighbor's yard. It worked, and the pig-like man slammed into the wall hard.

  Nick watched with a self satisfied grin. It probably didn't do a whole lot of damage, but it sure felt good either way. Boo Jack fell to the ground, still in ball form, unmoving. Nick raised a brow at this, figuring that hit would have smacked him out of sphere mode. Guess he'd have to try a little bit harder.

  A bullet ought to do the trick.

  Pulling out his piece, Nick aimed it right at the furry lump before firing. Of course, Boo Jack took this moment to start moving again, his bullet hitting nothing but the floor. Cursing, Nick tried firing again and again at the man, but he was irritatingly elusive.

  Boo Jack then did a u-turn, heading straight for Nick. Thinking this was his big chance, he took a few more shots as the speeding man. He let out a whoop of joy when one of them landed, but that joy turned to ashes in his mouth when it bounce off and did fuck all nothing.

  "What!?" he yelled, before being forced to dodge to the left. Boo Jack went spinning past him. Nick got back to his feet and glared at his opponent.

  "Shit there went plan A. The fuck is that coat made out of?" he questioned, dodging out of the way once more. This continued for far too long in Nick's opinion. He was either forced to get the hell out of the way or smack the bitch with his shovel. Either way, it wasn't exactly going the way he wanted it to.

  Just as Boo Jack was spreading towards him again, Nick was about to whack him with the shovel once more when he suddenly leapt into the sky. Nick's eyes widened at the change of tacit, watching as Boo Jack soared over him, bouncing off the wall. Once he was heading towards Nick again, he finally came out of his ball.

  "Hyahahahaha! Surprise!" he snorted, whipping out a pair of pistols. Nick's eyes widened in panic, not wanting to get shot again. That shirt hurt! But unfortunately for him, he didn't have any cover, except for the large cylinder in the middle.

  "Damn it!" he shouted, running towards it and ignoring the pain in his leg. Thankfully, adrenaline was a powerful pain reliever.

  Boo Jack gleefully opened fire at the retreating figure of Nick. He growled and held up his shovel, using it to block the shots that would have hit. Thankfully, Boo Jack was a shit shot or Nick might have actually been in danger.

  He made it to the center of the room, panting lightly. Man they make fighting these guys look easy in anime. He watched through the translucent glass that housed the enormous screw as Boo Jack landed.

  "What's wrong? Weren't you going to kick my ass or something? How are you going to do that running away?" Boo Jack called out, laughing his snorting, pig laugh.

  "Bastard…" Nick growled. But he wouldn't let the other man get to him. He pissed people off, not the other way around. If he started falling for every taunt some two bit, B-rank, villain of the week started spewing, he'd never see the end of it.

  "Nothing to say? You know, that woman you're here for, Noomi, was it?" Boo Jack said, making Nick's eye twitch.

  "It's NAMI you braindead oaf! I know spelling is hard for you but it's not that many letters!" Nick responded, getting a chuckle from the chuckle fuck. Because that's what chuckle fucks do.

  "Of course, my mistake. Well, Nami has escaped, along with the other two, and I'll bet she was the one behind the whole thing. Once the Bear King finds out, he'll probably have her killed. But maybe he'll let me have her for a while first. No use in letting a body like that go to waste," Boo Jack said, licking his lips with a perverse sneer.

  …Well shit. Anger it is.

  "You'll be dead before that happens!" Nick yelled, leaving his cover to fire a few rounds at the chubby asshole. But Boo Jack let out a laugh, jumping out of the way and rolling into a ball again as he did so, speeding away. Nick cursed as he once more hit empty air.

  "You know, for a fat guy, he sure does move fast," Nick grumbled. This was starting to get ridiculous. He needed to find some way to get past that stupid defense of his. But how?

  That's when he got an idea. Like most of his hair brained schemes, it wasn't what one would call… smart. Hell, he was pretty sure he would end up regretting it afterward, but he needed to find some way to get him to stop spinning around like that and get close enough to punch him in his face.

  His ugly, ugly face.

  And what better way than to use his sadism against him? Nick doubted the twisted version of Porky Pig would be able to resist torturing him after landing a blow or two, and that would be his chance to strike.

  "Ugh, I'm regretting this already. I need to get stronger asap. I'm tired of getting hurt by weirdos all the time," he complained. But that was for later. Right now he needs to win this fight.

  Dodging out of the way once more, he pretended to slow down. He had to make it believable, so Chubs McKenzie didn't get suspicious. This happened a couple more times, with Nick pretending it got harder and harder to dodge each time, until he eventually couldn't.

  Watching the spinning ball of death approach, Nick hoped he didn't activate the spikes. This was his chance to pull a fast one on him, and getting impaled was not part of the plan.

  "Ah, my leg," Nick groaned as he tried to take another step. He held the appendage in supposed anguish. Seeing this, Boo Jack let out a happy, mocking laugh.

  "I got you now!" he shouted, voice distorted by his rolling. Nick smirked, seeing Boo Jack fall for the ploy. Now if he could just time this right, he shouldn't take much damage from the attack.

  Watching his overweight opponent pick up speed and charge directly for him, Nick bent his knees slightly in preparation. The key was to only get hit enough to make it believable. The last thing he needed was to fuck this up and get hurt for real.

  Just as Boo Jack was about to slam into him, Nick jumped with the momentum of the attack, his side only slightly getting struck by the top of his opponent. He let out a grunt of pain as he was hit, soaring through the air before hitting the ground, his shovel and gun sliding away from him.

  "Not my best plan," he thought, feeling his ribs and leg protest the action. But it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and Nick felt he was able to function relatively the same. He probably couldn't have timed that much better if he had practiced beforehand.

  Naturally, he didn't mention this to Boo Jack. Rather, he hammed it up to lure the fat lummox into a false sense of security.

  "Agh, damn it! I think you need to go on a diet!" Nick complained, holding his side in "agony" as he attempted to get back onto his feet. He made a big deal about coughing, and making sure his arms appeared to be shaking from the effort.

  Boo Jack spun around, heading straight for Nick. It didn't look like he was slowing down, and Nick cursed under his breath. This is what he was afraid of. He had hoped the large man would have come out of the ball and started mocking him or something so he could get a shot in, but nooooo, Boo Jack just couldn't play along.

  So, as he neared once again, Nick flattened himself against the floor at the last second, once more preventing the vast majority of the damage. Sure, being run over by a four hundred pound man going 50 miles an hour didn't exactly feel good, but he would escape with only minor bruising.

  This time, Nick tried to act even more helpless, trying to get onto his hands and knees only to flop back onto the floor.

  "Come on you stupid fat fuck, take the bait!"

  Seeing his opponent struggling on the ground brought a sick sort of pleasure to Boo Jack. Looks like it only took two of his attacks to render him helpless. How pathetic. He didn't even have to resort to using his spikes.

  Which was good, because if he damaged the room too much, he could get in trouble.

  Making his way back towards the man, he slowed down before popping up beside him, a big wide grin on his face.

  "Aw, what's wrong? Can't get up? How sad. Told you I'd flatten you, hyahahahaha!" Boo Jack laughed, holding his stomach and throwing his head back. Nick glared at him for all he was worth, still fighting to get back up.

  "Laugh while you can porkchop. Because when I get up, you're dead meat," Nick threatened, only to fall back onto his gut, panting from the exertion.

  "How frightening," Boo Jack stated blandly, cleaning out his ear while Nick gave his little speech. "But the only one who's going to die is you. And I'm going to make sure it's nice and slow."

  That was music to Nick's ears. Now, he just needed to wait for the right moment to make his move. It all depended on what Boo Jack did next.

  "I'd like to see you try," Nick said, turning his head to glare at him. Boo Jack didn't appreciate the look of defiance the defeated man was giving him, letting out a snarl of rage.

  "If that's what you want, then have it your way!" Boo Jack yelled, aiming a kick towards Nick's broken ribs. He would flip him onto his back and make sure he witnessed every act of brutality Boo Jack would unleash.

  Seeing this gave Nick an idea. While his ribs had healed somewhat, thanks to the power of anime, they were far from being whole again, and he didn't fancy setting back his recovery. So right before the kick was about to land, Nick shifted his body so the kick hit his stomach instead.

  "Ha! How did you like that you cocky little-hey! What do you think you're doing!? Let go!" Boo Jack shouted. As his kick hit Nick in the stomach, the downed man grabbed hold of his leg, preventing him from escaping.

  "I don't think so! Wrestling's not really my forte, but I know a thing or two! Here, let me show you!" Nick called out, twisting his body. Boo Jack, in an attempt to prevent his leg from breaking, traveled with his momentum, landing on his back. Unfortunately for the rotund man, this was exactly what Nick wanted.

  Still holding onto the leg, Nick positioned his opponent so he had his leg in the perfect Kneebar. Now all he needed to do was apply some pressure, and…

  "No! Stop! You're going to break my leg!" Boo Jack shouted, trying to escape the situation he found himself in. But no matter how much he struggled, Nick wouldn't let go.

  "That's the whole point!" Nick yelled back, grinning as he continued to extend the other man's knee, until…

  Crack

  "Ah!" Boo Jack squealed in sheer agony. Nick smirked as he finally let go of the appendage, now that it was facing the wrong way. He rolled off of Boo Jack, watching as he continued to roll around in pain.

  "You bastard! I'll kill you! Do you hear me!" Boo Jack screamed, glaring hatefully at Nick. But Nick, being the troll that he is, copied Boo Jack's response from earlier.

  "How frightening," he said blandly, cleaning out his ear. This, of course, only infuriated the pig-like man even more. But that fury soon turned to concern as Nick began to approach him, cracking his knuckles.

  "Wait, time out!" Boo Jack cried, doing his best to distance himself from Nick.

  "Yeah… no."

  Seeing the man had no intention of leaving without doing him grievous bodily injury, Boo Jack whipped out one of his pistols and tried to give Nick a lobotomy. But do you think Nick just stood around and let someone like Boo Jack perform brain surgery on him?

  Heck no!

  Using his good leg to stabilize himself, he kicked out with his bad one, knocking the gun away from his downed opponent. Nick didn't practice a lot of kicks, given his training as a boxer, but there were a few he did make sure to get really good at.

  As Bruce Lee once said, "I fear not the man who has practiced a thousand kicks a single time, but the man who has practiced one kick a thousand times."

  A low kick, aimed at the delicate joints of someone's knees or their ankles, perfect for sending someone to the ground and/or the hospital. A front kick, aimed at someone's stomach or thigh to push them away or hinder their movement. And of course, a roundhouse kick, because it was cool.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  And that training is paying off right now.

  Not willing to give his opponent another chance to try something sneaky, Nick placed his whole body behind the next blow.

  "This is it, tubby!"

  "No! Wait!"

  But Nick did the exact opposite of wait, his fist slamming right into Boo Jack's face. The impact cratering his ugly mug. The back of his head slammed into the floor, causing cracks to form. Boo Jack's body twitched before going completely limp.

  "That takes care of that. Ew…" Nick complained, removing his fist from the man's face. It was covered in blood. Taking a moment to wipe it off using the unconscious man's clothes, Nick took a moment to rummage through his clothes, remembering the man had a second pistol on him earlier. He managed to find it, but only after encountering a half eaten hot dog.

  "Whew, this is nice. I think I'll keep it. You don't mind, do you?" Nick asked the unconscious man. The gun in his hand was a basic flintlock like any other, only of a higher quality. The wood was smooth and polished, with small depictions of curvy, busty women carved into the handle.

  After that, Nick stood up, casting a glance down to admire his handy work. Boo Jack's face was crumpled inward, his nose was bent at an awkwards angle or two and most of his rotten teeth were missing. Nick felt he should actually be thanked for that. Lastly, his eyes were rolled into the back of his head, showing that he had been knocked the hell out.

  "Now, where was that other one?" Nick questioned, turning to try and find the gun he had knocked away. Why should he settle for only one busty babe when he can have two? One in each hand.

  …Better not tell Nami that.

  Spotting it some distance away, Nick started slowly limping his way towards it. He may not have taken a lot of damage in that fight, but it was still enough to make his battered body bitch and moan about it.

  Well, at least everything worked out in the end.

  That's when a massive explosion rocked the whole tower.

  "What the hell was that?" Nick asked, halting his movement. It sounded like it came from outside. If that's the case, then Usopp might be in trouble. Guess it's time for the cavalry to appear.

  But before he could go and make his heroic entrance and save the long nosed man, a noise from behind him caught his attention. Turning around, he was met with the irritating sight of a massive round shape barreling towards him.

  "Are you kidding me!?" Nick shouted as the large pig-like man was doing his best to imitate Choji.

  "How is he still able to move? He was absolutely unconscious when I left him. Did the explosion wake him up?" Nick thought to himself. Guess he can still roll around even with a shattered leg and a fucked up face. But to be fair, he's always had a fucked up face, it's just now his leg was broken too.

  But as the boot leg Akamichi neared his target, he suddenly gave a bounce, making Nick swear. He tried to dodge, but unfortunately, his bum leg prevented him from getting away unscathed.

  Especially when Boo Jack finally deployed the spikes. Nick twisted his head to avoid the worst of it, but a long, thin cut appeared on his cheek. Holding onto it in pain, he cursed when he saw the blood coating his hand.

  "No! You bastard! My precious modeling career!"

  He may not have been an actual model but he did have his picture taken for the tabloids a few times. Mostly involving his dad and him winning or defending his championship belt, but he did have a few articles solely about him after winning a few fights nobody thought he would.

  Boo Jack, however, didn't seem to care much, as he actually started to pick up speed.

  "Damn, looks like those spikes give him traction. Back to square one," Nick grumbled, rolling out of the way of another pass. Hell, it was worse than square one. At least then there weren't any spikes. He needed to think of a new strategy, and fast. He couldn't risk getting hit by him with the spikes out, that would be basically game over.

  But what was he supposed to do? Wait until the other man tired himself out? Maybe, but Nick had a feeling he would be the one to gas out first. He could try and get away, find a cannon of something and try to blow him up, but he was way too slow for that. He doubted he would get very far.

  He should have put a few bullets in him when he was unconscious. Don't people usually stay down after they've been beaten in a fight? Wasn't that just simple etiquette? Guess he shouldn't expect someone like Boo Jack to have an ounce of manners.

  Come to think of it, Buchi was the same. Was it just him then?

  Leaping out of the way again, this time avoiding the attack by mere inches, he continued to try and think of something he could do. He needed to slow the man down somehow. Halt his momentum. Maybe he could get him stuck in the wall?

  Knowing his luck, the man would simply start to go up the damn thing. But he didn't have many options.

  Looking around, he did notice something that gave him some hope. The shovel! That thing was strong enough to stand up to Luffy and deflect the rolling jackass earlier, so doing the same against spikes should be no problem.

  Probably…

  Diving out of the way once more, he grabbed his shovel on the roll. Now armed with more than a simple gun or sword, he was ready to face his opponent. If he could just hit him hard enough, maybe he could send him flying and do some real damage.

  But that was a pretty big if. It took a great deal of strength just to knock him out of the way before. But then again, he hadn't been trying to send him flying, only prevent himself from getting hit. Had this been his old world, he wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of pulling this off. Well, unless hell was cold that is, but seeing that he was in a different world governed by anime physics, he just might be able to pull this off.

  Winding up, Nick prepared to deliver the grandest of all slams.

  "Batter up, asshole!" Nick shouted, swinging his shovel right into the rolling Boo Jack. He grunted as the shovel blade made contact, struggling to keep himself from being swept up in the attack.

  Sparks flew in every direction as the iron spikes met with the steel of the shovel. Nick's arms shook from the effort of keeping the large man at bay, the vibrations traveling from his hands to the rest of his body quickly wearing down his endurance. It took every ounce of concentration he had to simply hold onto the shovel.

  "Come… on… you… bastard!" Nick ground out, clenching his teeth. This was way harder than simply knocking him away! Boo Jack didn't seem to be slowing down at all. The ground beneath them started to split apart as Boo Jack continued his rotation, sending chunks of debris flying in every direction.

  This continued for several seconds before a new sound sent a shiver of fear down Nick's spine. It was the sound of wood cracking. Looking down at his trusty shovel, he could see cracks starting to form all along the shaft.

  "Oh, crapbaskets…" he muttered. At this rate, the shovel wouldn't last much longer, so putting in a little extra oomph spurred on by desperation, he managed to send Boo Jack off course right before the wood shattered, sending splinters everywhere. But that was the least of his concerns. Far more pressing was the fact that he was now practically helpless.

  Boo Jack went soaring past him with Nick barely able to twist out of the way in time. But the large man sensed his foe's weakness, quickly turning around for another attack. Nick was too slow to dodge, so he did the only thing he could think of. He discarded the worthless shaft and whipped out the cutlass he stole from Kuro's ship, holding it out in front of him with his left hand on the back of the blade.

  The sword shook in his trembling hand. After the last round, Nick was barely able to even hold the weapon. But that didn't mean he intended to simply lay there and die. He would fight until the bitter end.

  Hopefully the other guy's.

  "Bring it on, fatty!" Nick shouted, right as Boo Jack slammed into him. He once more struggled to hold the man back. It was really too bad he didn't have some kind of sound weapon like the guy from Naruto. That would be really handy right about now.

  Boo Jack continued his relentless assault and Nick found himself losing ground. His feet began to skid backwards. It started off slow, but one inch soon turned to two, then four, then eight, and before you know it he was sliding right along. Looks like Boo Jack had the same idea and was going to slam him into the wall.

  He would have loved to get out of the way, but he had approximately zero leverage. His injured leg screamed at him in protest, and Nick could feel the blood oozing out of the reopened bullet wound, which didn't help him keep his ground in the slightest.

  Before long, his back was literally against the wall. No metaphors here. Now all he could rely on was the strength of his battered and bruised body to keep the other man at bay. His arms were shouting almost as loud as his leg. It felt like when he first started training and his dad made him punch the bag until he literally couldn't lift his arms anymore. That was how tired he felt.

  So it should come as no surprise to anyone when his grip slackened, just a bit, sending the blade flying from his hand. His eyes widened as he watched, seemingly in slow motion, as Boo Jack continued towards him. What was a fraction of a second felt like an eternity, but even forever has to end sometime.

  Boo Jack slammed into the defenseless man, creating an indent in the wall. Blood shot into the sky as he was pierced by numerous spikes. Thankfully, Boo Jack stopped spinning as he collided with the wall, so Nick wasn't turned into ground beef. But that didn't mean it hurt any less.

  After impaling his enemy, Boo Jack slowly rolled away, the spikes exiting Nick's body, leaving gaping wounds that gushed blood. Nick stood there for a moment, his body stuck in the wall, mouth open in a silent scream. Eventually however, gravity caught up to him, and he collapsed in a pool of his own blood, barely clinging onto consciousness.

  Boo Jack unrolled himself, standing on his one good leg, grinning down at his opponent. Given what Nick did to him earlier, his smirk was even more ugly than before.

  "Not so tough now, are you? Nothing left to say with that smart mouth of yours? Guess you really were nothing more than tough talk in the end," Boo Jack taunted, laughing as Nick's mind drifted away.

  "-et up."

  "Huh? What was that?" Nick thought, the feeling of drowsiness clouding his mind, making it hard to think.

  "-aid, get up!"

  "There it is again. Will you shut up already? Can't a man die in peace?" Nick thought as his eyelids fluttered closed.

  "I said, get up!"

  Nick's eyes shot open as he found himself on the ground in immense pain. But that makes sense, as he was just impaled by that rotary asshole. But what didn't make sense was the complete lack of blood coating his entire body. Not to mention the cold hard ground was a little less cold and hard than it used to be.

  Not to mention the total change in location.

  "What the hell?" he questioned, slowly getting up. Checking himself over, he was surprised to find himself without injury. That was weird, but hey, why look a gift horse in the mouth? Good way to get bit if you ask him.

  Looking around, he found himself somewhere completely different and yet, it was somewhere immeasurably familiar to him. It was his dad's boxing gym. He was currently in the ring they used for training. He'd recognize it anywhere. He'd certainly spent enough time in it.

  "How did I get here? Am I dead? Is this heaven? No, if it was I'm pretty sure there would be some sexy ladies waiting for me. That must mean I'm in hell," he muttered to himself. Figures his personal hell would be fighting in this ring for all eternity. Now who was his opponent?

  "Hey, are you listening down there?" asked a voice, one as familiar as the ring he was in.

  "Of course it would be you," Nick muttered as he turned to face the voice. Who else could he be fighting if not for his old man? Satan outdid himself this time, he was basically the next Sisyphus.

  Turning to look at his dad, fully expecting to see that familiar, stern scowl, he found himself immeasurably surprised to find not only his father, but a smaller version of himself as well.

  "Ok, I did not see that coming. Good on you Satan," Nick said, his eyes taking in the scene in front of him. His younger self looked up at his dad full of petulance.

  Yeah, that checks out.

  "Why should I? You're just going to hit me again," young Nick complained. God, was his voice always this whiny? No wonder it annoyed his opponent's so much.

  "And? Why should that stop you from getting back up and fighting?" his father asked, crossing his arms over her chest, a clear sign of his disapproval.

  "What's the point? I can't beat you, so why should I get up only to get knocked back down again?" asked his younger self. Older Nick was starting to remember this incident, but it was extremely hazy.

  "Listen son, you can't be afraid to get sent to the ground. Physical pain is only temporary, but the amount of suffering you'll experience by giving up will haunt you as long as you live. So even if you can't win, even if you get sent to the ground over and over again, you get back up and fight. Because the day may come when people are counting on you, and you can't let the fear of getting hurt hold you back. Understand?"

  Older Nick stared in awe at his old man. Since when was he that cool? He was pretty sure that speech put a couple of hairs on his chest. But more than that, it made him realize something.

  While fighting Boo Jack, he had been constantly trying to think of a way to beat him while not taking any damage. Or at least, not any more damage. Sure, he let the big oaf hit him a couple of times, but even then, he wasn't planning on getting hurt.

  But that was no way to fight. Fighting with the fear of getting hurt would only hold you back, and Nick couldn't afford to hold himself back. Like his dad said, he had people counting on him. Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Nami, Kaya, Akisu; all of them counting on him to win. It was time to stop being afraid.

  Hell, fighting like that was the whole reason he was having this near death experience in the first place.

  As older Nick took his father's words to heart, imprinting them on his very soul, younger him held no such admiration.

  "In other words, you want to hit me and you want me to be happy about it? Are you trying to turn me into a masochist?" little Nicky asked. His father's eye twitched, and it seems like he had a knack for getting under someone's skin even back then.

  "I truly am talented," Nick thought with some mirth.

  "Damn it Nicholas, just stand the hell up already! Phil, hit the bell!"

  The last thing he heard was his father's trainer hit the bell. But he didn't remember the bell sounding like an explosion.

  Opening his eyes once more, Nick found himself back on Clockwork Island, laying in his own blood. His body was still in unimaginable pain but that feeling no longer held the same meaning to him. Pain was just another part of life. It's what you do with it that matters.

  And he was going to use it to beat the shit out of somebody.

  "What the hell is Skunk One doing? If he damages the building too much, big brother is going to be mad," Boo Jack mumbled, staring over at the entrance to the tower. But the sound of a wet, squelchy footstep made him turn around.

  "What the hell!? How are you still alive!? This has to be a trick!" Boo Jack shouted, eyes bugging out at the sight of Nick standing there, cocky smirk once more in place. But what really freaked him out was the aura the half dead man was exuding.

  It was like waves of heat radiating from his body, the feeling sending a primal chill down the portly man's spine. Every instinct was screaming danger, run away. But that only made him angrier.

  There was no way he was afraid of him.

  "No trick. I've simply come back from the dead to drag you into hell," Nick said, the aura surrounding him gaining strength. Boo Jack felt himself take an involuntary hop back, sweat dripping down his pudgy face.

  "Y-yeah right! You're just trying to scare me. Well it won't work! I'm not afraid of you!" Boo Jack yelled.

  "Really? You sound pretty scared to me," Nick responded. That caused Boo Jack to snap. Screaming in rage, he once more rolled into a ball, spikes covered in Nick's blood shooting out of the cape.

  "I'll show you who's afraid! Time to put you back in the grave!" Boo Jack shouted. He started spinning once more, but rather than go directly for Nick, he wanted to gain speed first, going around and around the room.

  "We'll see who gets put in the grave," Nick said, feeling the energy bubbling around him concentrate into his fist. Strangely enough, everything seemed to go silent as he did so. He couldn't hear Boo Jack rampaging around or the sounds of battle going on across the tower. All he could hear was his breath and the beating of his heart.

  Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the feeling. It was strange. Even with his eyes closed and no sound, he knew exactly where Boo Jack was. It kind of reminded him of Zoro's fight with the sword guy from Alabasta. Guess this was pretty common when one is close to death.

  As he stood there, waiting for Boo Jack to make his move, he remembered more of his father's words.

  "Remember, never hesitate. Never retreat. In order to win, you have to keep moving forward, no matter what. If something is blocking your way, move it. Let nothing stand between you and victory!"

  Snapping his eyes open, the aura around his fist condensed. But he didn't notice that. All he saw was the person he had to defeat, racing towards him faster than ever. This was it, one final attack, winner takes all.

  So he took a position, ready to punch the other man's lights out. He idly remembered Luffy doing something similar to someone. Who was it again? Don Julio? Don Konoji? Ah, it didn't matter. All that mattered was Nick punching this guy, spikes or no spikes.

  Seeing Nick about to try and punch him, Boo Jack couldn't help but laugh. "You think your fist can stop me? I'll rip it right off!" he shouted, his voice distorted by his technique as he neared Nick.

  Taking a deep breath, the man in question used all his remaining strength and let loose one, final punch. The attacks connected, and Boo Jack was halted in place by Nick's fist.

  For the third and last time they struggled for dominance. But unlike the previous two times, Nick wasn't struggling nearly as much, even if he was in far more pain. Boo Jack, for all his ability to strike like a wrecking ball, was unable to make the other man budge.

  "What!? How are you doing this!" Boo Jack shouted. It was inconceivable! His spike armor should be tearing his arm to shreds!

  "Hey Boo Jack, you said you would rip my arm off, didn't you? Well that's fine, but in return…" Nick said, as he started to push Boo Jack back, making the fat man panic even more.

  "...I'll take your life!" he shouted, taking a single step forward. But that was all it took. With that one step, he broke through the spiralling ball of death. His fist connected with Boo Jack's stomach with the sound of cracking thunder, a small bolt of red lightning shooting away from the point of contact.

  The pig-like man's eye bulged out of his head, his body bending at an awkward angle, like he was trying to touch his toes. But that didn't last long before he was sent flying, just as Nick wished earlier. He soared across the entire room before impacting the wall, the tower shuddering in response.

  "And that's that," Nick said, the aura leaving his body and making him feel incredibly drained. He almost fell down but he knew his job wasn't done. Looking over at his opponent, he saw him stuck to the wall, his spiked armor holding him in place.

  Looking down at his hand, he marveled at how little it was actually mangled. Sure he lost most of the skin on his knuckles and the base of his fingers, but that was a small price to pay for victory.

  He idly wondered how he accomplished such a feat, but he was finding it difficult to concentrate. He could think about it later, right now, he needed to make sure the fight was finished.

  No explosion would wake his opponent up this time.

  Boo Jack was in more pain than he'd ever been in. Even more than the time Honey Queen caught him in a panty raid. His stomach felt like someone was pouring molten lead on top of it.

  He threw up, uncaring of the putrid substance intermixed with his own blood now coating him. He had far worse things to worry about. Like the man walking towards him holding a gun.

  Panic and fear coursed through his veins as he struggled to free himself but couldn't muster the strength to do so. His body simply refused to listen. He then tried to retract the spikes on his armor, but they didn't seem to be working either. He was well and truly trapped.

  Looking at the man below him, who stopped to stare up at him, he had one last trick up his sleeve.

  "Please… Mercy… Spare me…" he begged, tears falling down his face. But Nick gave him a cold look as he pointed the firearm at him.

  "Sorry, already tried that. Now say goodnight you filthy animal." And with that said, Nick pulled the trigger.