| Date Started: December 12th, 2023 Date Completed: December 16h, 2023 |
Rematch
Benjamin had been getting more bold as of late. He wasn't just being sent on particular missions anymore, but requesting them, making sure to take on the most dangerous and powerful crews. Not because of some bid to gain prestige, but because he truly believed he could handle it. And for the most part, that was proving true. He was even willing to take on officers of Yonko crews now. And that's what brought him here.
On an island in the New World, not highly populated by sapient beings, but covered in a dense forest. While there wasn't anything too interesting there, the island was still a popular rest spot. It was in the path of many destinations in the New World, but the time it took for the Log Pose to change its reading was too long for most people's journeys to be impacted by stopping there. It was a great place to head to an outpost, restock on supplies, or even just stretch your legs. And that's how the Iron Curtain knew that the Templar Pirates would be coming there.
They had been tracking their movements for some time, but as a subordinate crew of a Yonko, getting the go-ahead for an assault was a bit more tricky. Fortunately, headquarters had eventually caved, okayed an ambush. Benjamin didn't normally let his emotions get the better of him when it came to his job, but he'd be lying if this wasn't personal for him. The marines laid in wait for the pirates to arrive, for the opportune moment for them to spring their trap.
"And of course," Godfrey Alexander pushed through the plant life of the island. "I'm well aware of the perfect lounging spot. I'd reckon my hammock is still there!"
He was talking to no one. He spoke to pass the time. Out of boredom. Sword resting across his back, armour glowing against the sun. No longer was Alexander plagued by his limp. Trixie had seen to that. "Praise the Alpha and that girl... miracle workers."
"Now," Alexander stopped moving, resting his hands on his waist. Gold flared in his eyes. "I see someone familiar. Is it you, Marine? The Fortress Man who had our Alpha stolen from him?"
Benjamin walked out from behind a tree. There wasn't much of a point in hiding if his Haki had already notified Alexander of his position.
"I suppose I did a poor job of hiding my power," said Benjamin, "my former master would be disappointed that you were able to find me so easily." He rested his hand on the trunk of the tree, not quite leaning against it. It looked more like he was just feeling the bark. "So, is it just you today? No crew? I was hoping to capture you all."
"Less the power, more that intent in your heart, knave!" Alexander turned to face the Marine. "Just me. I was running an errand for our First Head. Can't bother the whole crew for that, hm?"
Benjamin grimaced. The First Head referred to Charlotte Kiwi, another Hound Pirate that he had the misfortune of encountering before. They hadn't fought, but he led the charge to free Harlan, what had led him to his previous scuffle with Alexander. And he had proven to be able to fight against Vice Admiral Enkiru Julius. Thinking back on that day used to always fill him with rage, rage about how ineffective he had been. But now...
"Well, I suppose that makes sense," said Benjamin. He made a fist with his hand on the tree and knocked on it twice. A shuffling was heard within the forest, like animals quickly moving away from the area. "I find capturing you to be more than satisfactory anyway."
"Upset about our last encounter, Vice Admiral?"
"I used to be," said Benjamin, still tapping the tree. "It tore me up inside. I wanted to be the wall that protected the people, but against the Hound Pirates, there was nothing I could do. But now, I have to thank you. If it wasn't for that encounter, I don't think I would have pushed myself, not to the level I needed to at least. I saw just how high I needed to go to reach my goal, and I'm almost at the summit." Benjamin's hand changed, into a grip on the tree. "So, out of courtesy, I'd like to ask for your unconditional surrender."
Alexander rolled his shoulders, sighing as his body shifted. "There is a chance that at the end of this, you capture me. Take me to be executed. Locked in Seastone so that my body cannot recover. There is also the chance that I slay you here and now, removing you. But that is less likely than the first. The Alpha would be upset if I were to remove someone he deemed all those years ago an asset to their group. A potential challenge to him."
"There is a chance you kill me during this bout. You've been on this island longer than I. Perhaps you've set-up traps. Perhaps you have allies in waiting. There is a chance you decide to join under my flag. Or even the Alpha's. There is a chance that one of the Yonko show up and eliminate us both." Alexander's grip around the hilt of his blade tightened.
He relaxed his whole self. "All that to say, there is a chance for anything. Anything but my unconditional surrender."
"I thought so."
Benjamin didn't wield weapons in combat, is body was his weapon, but that didn't mean he didn't use any. And he had certainly been trained in their usage while a cadet. In this instance, Benjamin's weapon of choice had been in plain sight. With a single hand, he ripped the tree out by its roots, and like a giant baseball bat, aimed to smack it into Alexander like he was a ball. The ground underneath his feet was the T.
Alexander's grip relaxed as he ran towards the incoming weapon. His core tensed, his whole body did. Becoming rigid as he let it ram into him. The tree did more than it would've hoped to. It sent Alexander's midsection flying away, leaving only his head in the air, and his waist and legs on the ground. But those two thirds regenerated. The power of his Devil Fruit.
By the time the tree had regenerated, Alexander was rushing towards Benjamin. Another Alexander began to burrow into the ground, biting at himself and gnawing off their fingers.
His sword pulled itself out, powerful will colouring the tip of his blade black as he thrust it forwards at Benjamin's neck.
Benjamin dropped the tree, tossing it to the side as its job was done. Alexander continued his charge, but Benjamin didn't move. His body tensed as well, his hand turning black as his own will manifested. He held it out in front of him, stopping the blade, his grip on it tightening so that Alexander couldn't retrieve it so easily. Benjamin had made it clear to Alexander in their last altercation that his speciality was defense, the power of Tekkai, and the level he had improved was beginning to become more clear.
"I thought you could at least withstand a tree without coming apart, Alexander. Perhaps I underestimated you. But let's try to keep things between you and me."
Alexander had displayed the first two variations of Haki so far, but he lacked the third, something only one in a million people were capable of using. And it was that power that made Harlan interested in the marine in the first place. It was quick, a black miasma spreading across the island. It hit with a self-loathing so intense it had made many pirates give up on their dreams, before they lost consciousness that is. His Haoshoku Haki had improved dramatically, and Harlan wasn't here to overpower his aura this time. Benjamin knew that the duplicates that Alexander created were far weaker than the original, or else Benjamin and Logan wouldn't have had a chance against them when they fought, so he was willing to bet that their wills were weaker too.
Following this, Benjamin wouldn't hesitate. Should the one that charged him still remain upright, he'd pull him in closer to grab the pirate by the face, his Haki once again blooming as he would grip him hard before slamming him headfirst into the ground. He had cut off limbs from the pirate before, or at least saw others do it and the byproduct, but he had never seen what happened when you attacked the head directly before.
"There is an art in letting your body be torn apart, knave!"
Several clones that had begun to grow off to the side fell to their knees, eyes rolling in the back of their head. Alexander grit his teeth in the face of Benjamin's will. Potent. Crushing. It was mighty. But Alexander remained standing. His loyalty to the Hounds, to his own crew were mighty as well.
Benjamin grabbed onto Alexander's head, a powerful motion as he went to slam him down to the ground. A powerful impact echoed through the island, smoke rising. But Alexander was nowhere to be seen. A mucus instead dripped off the hands of Benjamin.
"Well done!" Alexander clapped his hands. He was standing further away from Benjamin. "The might of a king, hm? You've made it your own. Made me use another aspect of my current biology. Production and movement off of generated mucus. I'm quite slippery. Of course. Should you turn up that strength of yours, you might be able to keep me in your hands. But I wonder...are you that strong? And do you understand what it means to defeat me?"
Benjamin turned towards the Alexander that was speaking to him. His eyes briefly glowed red, taking in his surroundings to find out just how many of them he was dealing with already. "I haven't even begun to show my true strength," said Benjamin. Both of his arms suddenly became coated in his Haki once again.
"Soru!"
He was fast. Much faster than when they had previously fought one another. Imperceptibly quick. Benjamin's bread and butter was still his incredible defense, but he had learned from their previous encounter that defense alone wasn't enough to win fights. His His incredible muscle mass now no longer just made him able to take hits and deliver them just as strongly, but the augmentation to his leg muscles allowed for an equal increase to his movement speed. He was still slower than someone on his level that specialized in speed, but keeping up wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Sensing their presence had allowed him to get a better gauge of their strength. For each clone he passed by on his way to the main one, or at least the last one who had spoken, Benjamin aimed a quick jab to a vital location on their body, strength enough to knock them unconscious, but not break them apart into smaller pieces. It was when he arrived at the main body that he would strike with greater force.
"Kokai Kenpo! Jun Hagane!"
At least, the punch appeared to be strong. Its incredibly fast and precise manner made it seem more like a love tap as he aimed it towards Alexander's chest. The contact wouldn't look that damaging, but the force would be more on the inside than the outside. It wasn't just Benjamin's usage of Haoshoku Haki that improved, but his Busoshoku Haki as well. His advanced Haki would go into Alexander's body and damage him from the inside. Alexander would still be able to recover, as per the nature of his Devil Fruit, but he recovered slower from attacks laced with Haki. And for creatures that regenerated, doing so took energy. Alexander would probably be able to heal for a while, but every time would take something out of him.
The clones fell to the ground, no longer standing. Benjamin had controlled his strength. Alexander was surprised. But it made sense. It'd been years since their last fight. He had grown. And he'd grown well. He understood his shortcomings and had improved because of it. In comparison, Alexander hadn't had to fight. Most people ran. They understood the might of the Templars. Of the Yonko crew they were attached to.
Alexander was aware of how Haki functioned. He knew it was harder for him to regenerate from Haki-based attacks. The fist struck true, but Alexander bit his tongue at the same time. Clean off as it emerged from his mouth. It regenerated rapidly, but differently. Not an entire body, but just a head. A smaller shape meant it regenerated faster. As quickly as Benjamin had moved, if not quicker. And that head bit its own tongue off. Another head. Another tongue severance. Again. And again.
Like the emergence of a monster from the earth, a stream of heads that were coated in Haki, the main's Haki, rushed out to create bludgeoning force onto Benjamin. To push him away.
Alexander himself reeled from the attack performed by Benjamin. He coughed spittle and blood from his mouth, his insides ruptured. But his fruit had him recovering. His cheeks puffed outwards comically as he kept his mouth closed. Alexander dug his feet deep into the ground.
Benjamin hadn't been quite prepared for something so foul. If he hadn't seen the atrocities of other pirates, he likely would have vomited. He moved up his arm to his side, still clad in Haki, to block the attack, although it still sent Benjamin skidding across the ground with the force, away from his _target. Alexander hadn't done anything like this in their previous battle, which meant two things: 1) Alexander had more skill in the usage of his Devil Fruit than he had expected, and 2) Benjamin wasn't nearly strong enough for him to even need to attempt something like this last time.
Benjamin wasn't about to allow Alexander the opportunity to get ahead, or continue to regrow new clones. Before he had even stopped moving, Benjamin launched another punch. This one was too far for Alexander to feel it directly, but he'd feel it nonetheless. Busoshoku Haki flew the short distance from Benjamin's fist towards the same spot that Benjamin had hit before, once again creeping into his body to ravage his insides. It was another advanced application of Haki, the ability to attack without directly touching one's opponent.
"At what point did you become desensitized to self-mutilation?" said Benjamin as his movement stopped. "Were you once tortured and found yourself hating the world? Or did you simply realize it made your ability work better and got used to the pain?" The Haki on his arms had not dissipated, but he began to march towards the original again. "Do you worry about the pain your clones feel? Are they as used to it as you are? Do they even have the same memories as you, or are they just man-sized babies operating off of instinct?"
Benjamin's eyes glowed red again, but he was doing more than just reading his opponent's actions. It was another advanced Haki technique, the ability to see into the future. He could only see a few seconds, but a few seconds was plenty. He was looking for an opening, a moment that Alexander would use to dismember himself further, before Benjamin would strike again. He hadn't been quite fast enough to prevent him from biting off his tongue before, which was why he was closing the gap before he made another move as he marched. And as he had already demonstrated, he didn't need to be right in front of Alexander to launch a strong punch.
Where Benjamin sought to emit his Haki to strike Alexander, he would meet it with his own. His own Busoshoku collected around his torso. Clashing steel echoed out through the air. Mighty wills met. The red flaring in his eyes caught his attention. Was he using Kenbunshoku? To read his intent?
Alexander opened his mouth, and out emerged a massive whip like structure, coated in Busoshoku. His intestines.
He could regenerate, of course. But through Life Return, Alexander could control the finer details of it. He could select what regenerated where.
The whip-like structure slammed around. Cracking earth, pushing trees from the ground. There was no intent. Just chaos. And unbeknownst to Alexander, since Benjamin sought a future where Alex would dismember himself further, this was an ideal move. For Alexander was not planning to dismember himself right now.
The intestines sought to wrap around Benjamin in a single moment, before lifting him into the air and slamming him to the ground repeatedly.
Benjamin would've been disappointed that Alexander hadn't given him a verbal answer to his question, at least a little bit, but that disappointment was immediately overwritten by disgust. But Alexander not answering at least made sense. His guts were coming out of his mouth. They wrapped around Benjamin, staining his uniform in blood. He tried to resist Alexander's tendrils of gore. He selectively hardened parts of his body to resist the blunt force from the whips, but it would come down to pure strength if he wanted to stop himself from being whipped around himself. Fortunately for him, Alexander wasn't the only person in this fight that could use Life Return.
"Seimei Kikan: Kaijo!"
His muscles suddenly expanded in size, swelling so much and so quickly that they would push the intestines off of his body. Not only had Benjamin's muscles swelled in size, but his height as well. When Benjamin said he hadn't begun to use his full strength, he wasn't lying. Courtesy of the extreme foods of the Sadala Kingdom, Benjamin's physique had been increased tremendously. He grabbed onto the intestines and yanked on them in return, aiming to use Alexander's own organs to slam him into the ground in return.
Alexander yanked his head back as Benjamin gripped the gore tendril, tearing it from his mouth and severing the connection. A head forged itself at one end, Alexander shut his mouth, and an arm reached out to grab the head. The head itself was strange. It lacked skin or hair, simply made of pure muscle fibres. How fine was Alexander’s control of his Life Return? The muscles of the head flexed, tightening to empower itself.
His cheeks puffed out again, but in a different shape than the last time. A long bone emerged from the base of the neck, digging into the earth.
He spat out a storm of teeth, each coated with Busoshoku. But they regenerated, growing into full bodies all coated in the Haki of the main. An incoming storm of gore.
Benjamin tossed aside the removed intestines. He hardened his stance, tensed his muscles, them starting to bulge even further, as his own Haki continued to surge forth. And with that surge, his arms went forward as well, palms open like he was pushing against a wall. He was emitting his Haki again, but in a different way from before. The teeth, moving like bullets, were the first thing to hit his Haki, bouncing off it like an invisible wall. But it didn't stop there. The wall continued to expand in a rapid burst, a powerful shockwave. It pushed away the oncoming stream of gore, right back towards where the main Alexander had been standing, intent on pushing him back as well. And with his application of Haki, even so much as touching it would ravage one's internal structure, breaking them apart from the inside-out.
"Hm. Fine. I'll use my body then." Alexander shook out his wrist. He stepped forwards as his left hand simply fell off. Femur bones grew outwards from the wrist, stacking and interlocked so that it made a blade. It was coated in his willpower. Alexander watched as his teeth rolled to the ground, growing into able-bodied figures covered in Haki that were yet to move.
Gold flared within Alexander's eyes and he moved...away from Benjamin. He broke off at speeds only amplified by the mucus coating on his feet, gliding, avoiding the need for lift-off. He carved through the air away from the wall and continued moving.
Benjamin watched as the teeth began to grow into new bodies, like a myth he had heard about a long time ago. Things were starting to get out of hand. Of course Alexander didn't find a need to bring his crew with him. He was essentially a one-man army. That's why they called him "Legion" after all. But even so, Benjamin did not intend on giving up. He stiffened his legs, bent his back, and prepared to run.
"I don't think so."
Another quick burst of his Haoshoku Haki came from his body, once again bathing the island in his wrath. However, this pulse proved to be much shorter than his previous one, more like a beacon than anything. Its effect on the growing duplicates would be lesser, from those too exceedingly weak, they would likely still fall.
He bolted after Alexander, his unrestrained musculature allowing him to move even faster than before, above and around the many duplicates the pirate was creating, and, with his advanced Kenbunshoku Haki, moving to cut off the main Alexander before he could get too far away, no matter what direction he headed towards. His speed only seemed to increase further. Every time he kicked off the ground or air, using a combination of Soru and Geppo, his speed only seemed to increase further. And with speed came power. Alexander had been on the receiving end of this particular technique before, but it had proven ineffective at the time. But perhaps, with Benjamin's new might, the strike would prove far more powerful.
"Kokai Kenpo! Kaigenrei!"
He aimed his punch towards Alexander's head, again, imbued with his Advanced Busoshoku Haki. A quick and powerful blow, intended to not damage his muscles, intestines, or bones, but to destroy his brain. He expected there was still a chance it would grow back, but he wondered how long that would take.
"Really!" Alexander spun like a wild beast, joints and muscles cracking from the sheer speed. His body began to regenerate, but he grit his teeth during it. "All this because I freed a man I respect?!"
Alexander had raised his arm to catch the incoming fist. The advanced Busoshoku traveled through his arm in a straight line, avoiding his muscles and bones as it emerged from his shoulder, breaking the ground. The impact behind Benjamin's strike had met an immoveable wall. Stalwart.
"You do understand, should I somehow die, you'll be made a _target by the Hounds? It'll be your certain death."
Benjamin's eyes were glowing red, his arms dyed black. Yet, he didn't retract his arm. He continued to push forward. His will crystallizing. That's what Haki truly was, will made manifest. And in this instance, he was certain of it. He believed in it, as it was fighting against strong opponents that truly made Haki blossom. He was stronger.
"Let them come."
Black lightning exploded from the point of contact, not electricity, but striking like it all the same. An immobilizing force, where he used his own willpower to overwhelm the senses of another, stopping them from moving and causing a great discomfort that soon would transition to pain. Any of the admirals would have been able to take Alexander without too much trouble. Fuyuki could have frozen them, Kanto could have used his Seastone weapons to immobilize them, and to Kokuyo Alexander would have been an all-you-could-eat buffet. But for Benjamin, this was what he had. Overwhelming force.
"Kongotai Kenpo...!" Benjamin pulled back his other fist, the same black lightning emanating from it. He had been ramping up, using his different techniques to see how Alexander would handle them, to see how much strength he needed to use to defeat him, and to see how much stronger he had become. But now he saw how careless that was.
"Ogun no Ikari!"
The punch created a massive shockwave, black lightning exploding in all directions alongside a sphere of pure power. All three forms of Haki, at an advanced level, were on display at the same time. The trees, even those behind Benjamin, were uprooted and flew away, leaving behind a great crater where they once were. But as for the primary _target, Benjamin's Haki didn't quite act as it had before. It would still seep inside Alexander's body and destroy him from the inside, but this time Benjamin didn't restrain the kinetic force of his attack. He had taken and thrown marine cadets into the ocean before, telling them to swim back as part of their training. He wondered how far he could get Alexander to fly while he was blocking the way he was. The sea was his weakness after all. But Alexander wouldn't need to worry that much. Benjamin would still fish him out of the ocean before he drowned.
“Do you think!!!” Alexander’s eyes widened as Benjamin cocked his fist back. That was power given form. That attack could kill. It struck him, and his body caved. A master of taking blows. Alexander wasn’t immune to the pain. It wrought havoc through his body, blood gushing out at the point of impact and all across his body.
The ground became a crater, the winds wailed in pain. Alex’s insides were ruined. He was at a disadvantage. He didn’t possess advanced Haki. He wasn’t able to replicate the same level of skill required to mitigate that force. Alexander’s arm fell to the ground. A new one sprout in its place, helixing over itself as regenerated faster than anything before.
“Do you think...that you stand a chance against the revenge of the Hounds? Do you think you could beat the Bravewolf? Or is your idiocy grand enough that you believe that if the Sea Wolf comes, you will live?” Alexander smiled. "You couldn't get past Sal!
His arm moved. Regenerated so that everything about it had been enhanced. Arms within an arm. A mighty strike of Alexander’s own. An uppercut that sought to cut with force, to sever the front half of his head.
"One Hundred Arm Impact!!"
"Of course," said Benjamin as Alexander made his assertions. "I won't be alone."
Benjamin's last attack had hid the tremors. They erupted from the ground, several over at where Alexander's first clones had appeared. Others around Alexander, moving to bite down onto his massive arm and slow his attack. Massive worms, Ground Kings, that had been lying under the surface since before the battle had even started. They began to eat any trace of the pirate that had been left behind. They normally ate rock, so dissolving human flesh into nothing wouldn't be a difficult task for them. And because he was the one that had raised them, they were loyal to Benjamin. His last Haoshoku burst from earlier wasn't intended to remove any clones from the field, it was calling them.
Even so, the sheer power of Alexander's strike was nothing to ignore. They could slow, but not stop his attack. They were still juveniles after all. But that made it far more easy for Benjamin to withstand the impact. He'd taken blades, bullets, and all sorts of injuries before, even when he still hadn't learned Haki. He remembered what his master had told him, about playing to his strengths. "And if you're hit by something stronger than what you can take, send it back."
He used his Advanced Busoshoku Haki to cushion the blow, but the One Hundred Arm Impact still managed to strike Benjamin's body. It felt like striking tempered steel, but there wouldn't be any recoil on Alexander's part. Benjamin had studied Tekkai techniques like Utsugi and the Earth Melody fighting style. He had even been on the receiving end of it when he had been defeated by Harlan. And implementing that knowledge into his fighting style only made him that much more powerful. He aimed another strike towards Alexander, combining the force of his own attack with the power Benjamin had gathered himself. More power, more Haki, more lightning, but not as flashy as before. A more simple burst, not even a punch, but kinetic energy being projected directly from his chest, aiming to cause the same amount of pain and damage as Benjamin had done before.
"Kara Hodan Ryu..." said Benjamin, his Kenpo style that relied on taking in kinetic energy and redirecting it back out. "...Kei."
"RRRRGH!!" Alexander yelled in anger. Benjamin had gotten stronger. His free arm swung and decapitated his head, letting it grow a new body as it kicked off and made distance, Benjamin completely annihilating the body that had remained in his place. He had done something similar to the Alpha, albeit it much more reliant on Haki. Alexander clicked his tongue.
"I'll surrender," he began. "You're strong. By the end of this, one of us will remain standing, but the odds are currently in your favour. You have traps. I do not. But before I surrender. Just hear my tale out first."
Benjamin made a motion with his hand. The Ground Kings began to surround the area, ensuring that escape for Alexander wouldn't be so easy. As much as Benjamin believed that that the pirate captain was surrendering, pirates were liars by nature and didn't adhere to the laws of warfare. He didn't want to risk Alexander attempting to escape.
"I did ask you your story before," he said, "although I imagine it might not be quite what I asked."
Recess
Alexander sighed. "No chance we can do this on my ship? I am nude, and would like clothes. Bring your worms, beach my ship if you must. All I've got is a standard, no cannons. I've got a few swords, but they won't pierce your skin."
Benjamin cocked his head to the side. "I'd feel more comfortable if you were in some Seastone cuffs first."
"I wouldn't. Nothing stopping you from killing me there and then."
That was interesting to Benjamin. He thought about it. He had certainly killed before, even with his bare hands. It was important as a marine that he be accustomed to such a thing. But when it came to bountied pirates, ones that he fought, for any period of time, he hadn't actually killed any of them. Benjamin didn't find Alexander very trustworthy, but why should Alexander trust Benjamin either.
Benjamin snapped his fingers. The circle that the Ground Kings had made shrinking. Benjamin took off his marine coat, then his shirt, which lacked any of the iconography of his institution, before being the coat back on. Then he tossed the shirt towards the captain of the Templars before putting coat back on. "So that you won't have to walk naked back to your vessel. I will run it aground before I let you board, however."
Benjamin took out a miniaturized Den Den Mushi. It didn't take long for someone on the other to pick up. "Have all civilian vessels moved away from the island. Fifteen kilometers should suffice, so make it thirty. I should be back soon."
Benjamin gestured with his hand again, the Ground Kings moving as they went to Alexander's ship.
"How sweet," Alexander winked as he grabbed the shirt, sliding it on. He began walking to his ship with Benjamin close behind. "Did you know this body is not my original? I looked different. I don't even remember that first name of mine. But I took this name when I became a Pirate."
This caught Benjamin somewhat off guard. He had expected that, after so many regenerations, Alexander likely had lost his original body, the Ship of Theseus thought experiment and all that, but he didn't know that his appearance had changed as well. "No," Benjamin answered flatly.
"The Void Century. That's where I'm from. My hair used to be more red." Alexander leaped onto the deck of the beached ship, still surrounded by the Ground Kings. "And I used to not use...such violent means. I was a knight. For a long time."
Benjamin had punched a hole in the hull of the ship. It was already run aground, but he wanted to make sure Alexander couldn't just push it back into the water either. But of all the things he could have heard that day, that Alexander was from the Void Century was certainly not on that list. "Was that a part of the tale you were going to tell me?"
"Part of it," Alexander slowly opened the doors to his quarters and stepped away. He gestured for Benjamin to enter first. "My tale requires some questions to be asked though."
Benjamin used his Haki before entering, sensing Alexander's emotions, any aggression he may have still had, and glimpsing into the future to see what fate may befall him before he entered. If it proved safe, he would enter. "What kind of questions?"
Alexander remained calm, the aggression in him tamed. There were no traps or harm to be held by just entering the room. "Your opinion of yourself."
"You've felt my Haki," said Benjamin, "the self-loathing that drives others to give up on their dreams. That doesn't come from nowhere. Although, my opinion of myself has become more positive since our first fight."
"You said you weren't afraid to take on someone like the Bravewolf. Or the Alpha, again." Alexander entered the room and moved towards a wardrobe, opening it. He seemed to ponder as he stared into it. "Or am I misunderstanding?"
"Self-loathing comes from more than one place," said Benjamin. "And it's much easier to perform your duties of protecting the innocent when you're the _target."
"That doesn't answer my question, young man."
Benjamin's gaze sharpened, a steely look in his eyes. "No, I'm not afraid. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be here."
Alexander reached into the wardrobe, petting something as he removed a white cloak. There was a click. Alex clicked his own tongue. "And do you think you could beat the Bravewolf? Or the Sea Wolf?"
"I believe I can," said Benjamin. His body began to tense up. He didn't like how methodical Alexander was moving. "Of course, I won't know until I try."
He tossed the cloak over his shoulder, browsing again as he removed a pair of golden pants. "Belief is good. You have to envision that world where you can win. That's why people don't come to Elbaf. The military is the greatest in the world, and the Sea Wolf stands as its ruler. They don't see a world where they can win."
Alexander turned his head to Benjamin. "But you do, don't you? That's why you chose to ambush me here. Somewhere I frequent when I run my errands for the Bravewolf."
"Are you going to tell me that tale of yours," said Benjamin, "or are you just stalling for time? Because I'm perfectly comfortable listening to your story while you're in a holding cell on my ship."
He put the pants on, putting his hand back into the wardrobe. Another click. Alexander stepped back and closed the doors and turned to Benjamin. "Little bit of both. I'd like to put off not being free as long as I can. You wouldn't like being kept in a cage, would you?"
"My freedom doesn't actively lead to the deaths of civilians," said Benjamin. "Now, we're going to my ship, before the trap you've laid on this one goes off."
"I've never killed anyone," Alexander said. "Except myself."
"And I've never killed a prisoner, yet you expect me to kill you the second I put cuffs on you," said Benjamin. "You see how I'd find that hard to believe? Especially while in enemy territory." One of the Ground Kings burped, a rolling into the room was a pair of Seastone cuffs. Benjamin picked them up, not particularly perturbed by the saliva on them. "Now let's get these on and we'll go."
"Neither of us know's each others histories. How were we to know? I don't kill. I just survive." Alexander shrugged. "At least wipe those down first. They're gross. But first, how much do you know about Pars Luna's engineering?"
"You slide around with mucus, but this disgusts you?" Benjamin didn't want to take the time to wipe them down anyway. He used his Haki to imbue the handcuffs with Buso, before using a small amount of emission to push the saliva off. Then he marched over to Alexander to slap the cuffs on Alexander, aiming to get his wrist in one cuff before he could move away. He didn't know much about Pars Luna's specific engineering feats, other than that she was a genius and a sort of head scientist for the Hound Pirates. But the random clicking, the environment, Alexander's own Devil Fruit powers, and everything about the situation had made him on-edge. And bringing up Luna out of the blue, that was the final straw.
"You know what else makes a clicking noise?" Alexander asked. A smile on his face as he sneered at the approaching cuffs. "You used one earlier, didn't you? To move the civilian vessels?"
Alexander stepped back from the cuffs before they could be snapped on, raising an arm imbued with Haki. He brought it down. A fist carved through the air before suddenly shooting off of Alexander and towards Benjamin's crotch region like a ballistic missile.
One of the advantages of Benjamin's Tekkai Kenpo was being able to move while in a hardened state. Another advantage was that he was able to keep up that state constantly. Benjamin's eyes glowed a brief red. He was on guard, concerned about whatever Alexander might have attempted. His Kenbunshoku Haki had become advanced not because of his own speed, but to keep up with those faster than himself. So that he could defend himself whenever he needed to.
Haki coated him like a crotch guard, the fist bouncing off of him. The Ground Kings began to ensnare and break apart the ship, cutting off Alexander's potential escape routes. Benjamin wasn't just trying to quickly restrain Alexander as he had before, more nonchalantly as he hoped that Alexander would be more cooperative. With his next burst of speed, he was moving as quickly as he had been during their previous bout now, slapping the Seastone cuffs on Alexander's wrists before pinning him to the ground. No more tricks.
Something severed within Alex, his chest growing rapidly. "And with the Purgatory Pirate Alliance, they have means of getting anywhere quickly! That damned portal fruit!!"
He exhaled, his lungs taking up the majority of his body as he unleashed a maelstrom. The ship itself began to tear apart in another direction. Sound wailed in agony. Even the clouds high up began to move backwards under the might of Alexander's bellow. He wasn't a killer, but he was a survivor. And he'd do anything to survive as long as he could. As he always had.
Benjamin pushed through the maelstrom, his own Haki protecting him so as to not send him away, continuing forward to accomplish his goal. The Ground Kings were jostled, despite their immense size, and likely would have been blown out of the way, but they quickly bit onto each other's tails to link together, stopping themselves from flying away. Alexander was a survivor. He was crafty, and his will was strong. But Benjamin expected his will to win out. Regardless of the final result, the pirate had won in some way. He had won Benjamin's respect.
"GRRRAGH!!" Alexander yelled as he stepped back, continuing to blow air. His own head flew off from the winds and into the sky, the body regrowing a new one. But it cut off the wind for a moment. That was enough. The cuffs slammed onto Alexander's wrists and he was pinned.
Alexander seemed groggy. More than he should've been. "Ah...oo..." he barely mumbled.
Benjamin sighed. He knew what that meant. He took out his Den Den Mushi, still making sure that he had the body pinned to the ground, doing his best to follow where the head had gone with his eyes. "A head flew off. Track it. Capture it. And if you can't subdue it, notify me of your position." He stated the head's position on the island before he hung up, gritting his teeth. The first thing he needed to do now was make sure the one he had with him had any information first. "What's your name?" he said. It was a question, but it sounded like an order.
"A...God...free...Al..ex...an...der." it spat out. "Tie...urd."
Benjamin sighed. That wasn't a particularly reassuring response, but he at least had something to show for it. At least that's what he thought. He put the Alexander he had over his back to prepare to head back to his ship. Get one problem out of the way before he focused on something else. He hoped he wouldn't be going home completely empty-handed. The only reason the higher-ups had okayed this mission was because of the Devil Fruit in Alexander's possession.
He snapped his fingers and the Ground Kings immediately began their hunt for the head. Benjamin was about to use Geppo to fly back to his ship, but he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. It was poking out of a hiding spot that had been unveiled by damage to the ship from the Ground Kings. He reached inside and grabbed it. It was a strange-looking fruit, amongst a couple of documents. "Well that's promising at least."