[VS] Overcooked

[Sam]

Jaya! A beautiful spring island paradise in the Grand Line. Its weather was fairly tame and pleasant compared to most of the other islands Gen had visited while traversing paradise.

It was truly the perfect place to find some new herbs and go on a minor botanic quest in its thick lively forests. However, the only unfortunate part of this island was its inhabitants... more specifically those from Mock Town. They were pirates, a whole lot of good for nothing lousy pirates.

Normally this wouldn't be annoying for Gen since he could just keep his head low and avoid the filthy criminals. But, his travels in the Grand Line had begun to garner the Tengu a bit of recognition as a fairly capable Bounty Hunter. While he likely wouldn't immediately be recognized by most pirates especially those with exceptional bounties it wouldn't be a surprise if one or two did lowly pirates did.

But that's all that he needed to get in a whole lot of trouble. To be spotted by one of those few to spark a flame that would likely be too difficult for Gen to manage. He was confident he could face one pirate... perhaps two or three. But a whole band of them without time to prepare would prove extremely difficult.

For that reason, Gen had originally decided it was probably best if he avoided going to Mock Town all together. Instead opting to go straight to the forest. That was of course until he heard that the bounty he was chasing after was likely present in Mock Town. So it would seem he would have to abandon this little vacation of his and go straight to finding "Roaring Lion" Jaq Bokier in the cesspool that was Mock Town.

Word has it he is an avid boxer from the West Blue who is said to be roaming the Grand Line... apparently, he had a special Devil Fruit too. At least according to the rumors Gen had heard. But the Tengu was convinced rumors were just that... rumors.

He wouldn't know what this man was capable of until he confronted him face to face. That didn't mean Gen could take it easy... after all a bounty over twenty million beri was still respectable even in Paradise and bounties didn't always reflect a person's true power. So he would have to be careful before jumping into the fray blindly. All these thoughts went through his head as he walked through the infamous pirate settlement and stopped in front of a typical in. It was two stories tall and made out of wood... the door was painted red and full of bullet holes a product of the skirmishes that were all too common in this place.

SLAM

Gen kicks up the door to an Inn causing everyone to look over at him instantly. The pirates in the place for the most part remained silent looking at him as he came in slowly pacing to the bar. Gen didn't recognize anyone present at least not right off the bat. But it seemed like no one immediately recognized him either. Which was good because he didn't care about covering up his appearance.

It was no use... hiding his crimson skin was practically impossible and that was probably one of his most defining traits. Enough to garner him the nickname Ketchup Bottle given to him by his siblings while growing up on the farm. Damn, he hated that nickname.

"Alright everyone, now that I got all you guy's attention I'm looking for this d*ck head here. Any of you seen him? I have a score to settle with em."

The Tengu finally made it to the front and stood upon a stool showing off the bounty poster to everyone in the room. This was probably the dumbest thing he'd done in a while... but at the same time, this was the only lead he'd gotten in a good time so it was worth the risk in his opinion. Gen looked through the crowd, all their eyes glued on him still remaining silent. Part of him was hoping Jaq was hidden among them and would jump up like a total hot-head. But that was hoping for stupid luck, it was honestly more likely the pirates in the inn would fill him up with more holes than cheese before he found Jaq somewhere.

[Flame]

Behind that very same inn a man groaned. His mouth dribbled as he laid upon the ground barely concious. "That'll teach you to knock over my drink." Came a voice from above him. Yes, above that man stood another, shirtless with some shorts on and showing basically no bruises. His foot pressed upon the man's side as the pompous victor smiled. Finally taking his foot off he pulled his hands up passing them through pointy hair as he took a calming breath. "A good lesson for ya. No one troubles Jaq Bokier." He said with a smile wiping his hands of the one-sided dealing.

Turning about the former-boxer and shipwright stepped towards the back-entrance of the inn-pub. Stepping through the kitchen he gave a quick nod to the cooks working in the back. The pair of them looked at him but didn't seem very interested in stopping him. Not that they had before when he'd taken that fool into the back to give out his just retribution. Pushing through yet another door he stepped into the pub-area of the inn on the first floor.

Taking a smile to his face he returned victorious to the room. A few eyes turned but most kept to their own business. Jaq took a wide scan of the room and then headed to the bar. Taking a seat at the nearest stool he sat back down. Glancing down the bar to its keeper he raised a hand. "Same thing as before." He said and was quickly rewarded with a large mug sloshing about golden liquid within. Tilting it forward he drunk down some spilling a bit down his chin and sliding across his chest.

"You could wear a shirt ya know." The barkeep said.

"What's the point." He said with a grunt taking in another gulp of beer.

[Sam]

Before any of the pirates could react to Gen's aggressive inquiries the most unexpected thing happened that caused everyone in the already quiet room to go even quieter and almost enter a state of paralysis. Jaq himself came into the bar area of the Inn and took a seat right next to the Tengu who was trash-talking him. Gen's mouth went agape almost hitting the ground in complete and utter disbelief. He had to be the luckiest man in the world to simply run into this idiot.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! You!"

Gen put the bounty poster in front of Jaq's face in an intent to aggravate him and make Jaq aware of his presence.

"I'm looking for you Jaq! I'm here to capture you and turn your sorry excuse for an ass to the marines."

The Tengu hopped off his stool and onto the ground. He stood waiting for a response from the blonde-haired pirate. Gen reached out for his sword and dropped it on the ground in an almost dramatic fashion. Then crossed his arms... this man was a criminal. But he was also a boxer... a martial artist and for that reason, Gen would respect his art by fighting him on the ground with his own to hands and two legs.

"I will be courteous and not use my sword. Unlike most filthy pirates I have honor."

[Flame]

His furthered drinking was interrupted by an annoyance to his left. "Bug off you f***" Jaq said without even turning. But his annoyed lash was ignored as the man beside him continued to speak over him. And the boxer was finally forced to turn toward whoever this was. As he turned he came eye to eye to a piece of paper. The boxer groaned recognizing the poster before him as his own, well his own in a sense. He'd seen it once before when the crew had seen all of the recognition the marines had given them for the craziness at Coast Nostra. So he was familiar with it.

The boxer tilted his head sideways to see the man behind it. A weird looking man with overly red-skin and a strangely large nose. Some stupid bounty hunter here to catch him it seemed, a man who knew nothing of what he was facing it. The hunter got off the stool beside Jaq and dropped his sword to the side. Turning about on the stool he looked at the hunter with bored eyes. "If you're looking for a fight. You'd better be ready for it." Jaq said.

He grasped his mug of beer in hand and brought it about as he leaned against the bar and took another gulp of it. "Also, you'd best keep that sword. It'll be quite boring otherwi~glug glug glug~" Jaq's voice was drowned out as more beer sloshed into his mouth until the whole mug was emptied. With a smile he crashed it upon the bartop before stepping off of the stool and glancing forward. Jaq yawned looking over the man again.

The boxer in the end was a little happy about this. The previous fight had hardly been interesting and he had some more steam to blow off.

"Well come on then."

[Sam]

"Heh, trust me I won't need the sword."

The Tengu narrowed his eyes at the pirate. Frankly, it through him off that Jaq perhaps he was confident. Or perhaps the pirate was curious as to what the Tengu would do next... no matter Gen would not waste time. The other man had been very clear, he was welcoming an attack.

Gen grabbed a flask-gourd of alcohol he carried on himself and splashed it all over his body then tossed the flask aside. He stood in front of Jaq swaying his body as if he was a tad bit tipsy. But the Tengu hadn't consumed any alcohol... his side to side sway was nothing but his general battle stance. The truth was that while Gen was a capable swordsman he was a far more capable fighter and in fact a practitioner of drunk fighting. A tavern brawl at an Inn was exactly his kind of fight.

"Tekirashoto!"

He yelled shooting a compact projectile of liquor from his drenched hands straight at Jaq's chest. If the pirate didn't move out of the way the shot of alcohol would likely pierce his flesh like a bullet. The technique in question was similar to a Fishman's Uchimizu expect instead of using water it used alcohol... the reason for Gen covering his entire body in liquor in such an odd fashion now became clear.

[Flame]

The fool before him had narrowed eyes as he claimed that he wouldn't need a sword. He earned a raised eyebrow from the boxer who watched him lazily. Vaguely Jaq wondered whether he should worry about this. If she was here, she'd probably be aqble to tell him, but he didn't like to rely on that. It hurt his pride a little. Surprisingly before him the hunter splashed some alcohol upon himself. Jaq blinked, what sort of ritual was that. The boxer shook his head back and forth.

With a yell the weirdly red man flicked the alcohol from his hand at Jaq. The ball of alcohol drove forward and slammed into the boxer's chest. It barely moved Jaq, the force of the impact had caused him to rock backwards. But otherwise the boxer stood unfazed save for a bit of the drink that splashed up toward his face. The dough man had subconsciously turned the outer layer of skin into dough. It was an annoying habit he'd learned from his recent fights. So the shot of alcohol had slammed into the doughy front of his chest and been absorbed into a layer of dough on the front. Amusingly it was similar colored to his own skin so it was mostly unnoticeable. The boxer glanced down at his chest before bringing a hand to it and rubbing where he'd been hit slightly.

"That it?"

Jaq asked mostly bored. He walked forward towards whoever this hunter was before him. His two arms raised themselves up forming a usual guard his fists near his own face. Almost nonchalantly Jaq closed the distance between the two. As he stepped almost close enough his right arm bunched and then shot forward in a rapid jab straight toward the man's cheek. Around his upper arm parts turned to dough to lengthen the punch slightly.

[Sam]

"So the rumors are true? You're a Devil Fruit user? Don't get too cocky I was just testing the waters."

Gen says, now smiling. Finally, a real fight! He'd been craving a powerful opponent for a while. Most of his previous ones lately had proven less than capable so to see a powerful fruit user was the next one on his list was a godsend. The Tengu chuckled a bit seeing the man getting ready to approach him and throwing out a simple straight punch at him. To Gen, the best thing about fighting Devil Fruit users was how cocky they got in combat thinking a non-fruit user couldn't stop them. But boy, were they far from the truth.

"Deisui!"

The Tengu exclaimed. Using his special technique he dodged the attack completely. An ability that took advantage of his swaying motions and pushed them beyond the norm. Truly, it was a sight to see as Gen's body contorted like a sheet of paper would if you tried striking it as it flailed through the air. Taking advantage of the situation the Tengu used the sudden swerve he'd been forced to make and with the built-up momentum unleashed another one of his techniques.

"Shuran!"

Having put all the power of his body weight plus the momentum built up from swaying away from the attack Gen rebounded the attack back at Jaq. He tried aiming straight for the side of the man's jaw in an attempt to at the very least daze him. Sure he was a Devil Fruit user but it was still worth the try.

[Flame]

His punch was avoided, but what surprised him was the way that it was dodged. Red eyes narrowed as he followed his opponent's movement. Is it? The punch aimed at him. Poorly placed ... The boxer thought to himself. Common boxing form in jabs were meant to protect against strikes at the jaw. So as his arms pulled back into their usual comfortable position they barely had to move to block the return strike. His thick forearm took the blow head on.

It struck harder than he expected but was nonetheless absorbed by his shift into a doughier form on his arm. Not. Jaq thought to himself a grin growing upon his face. His meeting and thereafter practice with that woman had taught him many things. He was not the fighter he once was, all confident in his defensive capability. No, he knew more of the world now, and of that power she called Haki. But this was not that, if that blow proved anything to Jaq, it was that. Which meant ... Jaq's body softened slightly.

In a barely noticeable way, it began to change, his constitution became a bit more doughy though it masked the change well. The boxer took a single heavy breath. His weight shifted forward onto the balls of his feet and he pressed forward moving with his full body in extremely close to his opponent. But he didn't drop his form, his arms formed close guards about his face and upper torso. And he struck back.

A single arm turned slightly, the small tell, dough pooled in both of his thick forearms as his weight shifted back for a second. A quick jab shot forward with his left, aimed generally towards the center of his opponent. But that wasn't the point, this was just the natural strokes of combat for Jaq. The boxer's smile didn't move as his weight shifted forward as his jabbing arm returned. His right came in, his body turning as a fulcrum to throw his strength behind the heavy cross aimed straight into the abnormal nose of his enemy.

With it came the pooling dough. Momentum carried it foreward turning his fist into a dough-filled maul striking at the man's face. Under his breath Jaq spoke a single word. "Kneading."

[Sam]

Blocked, unsurprising... Gen should have known better. This man's bounty was decently high he wasn't a joke so it wasn't surprising his strike had been blocked with ease. The Tengu grit his teeth, he needed a way to break through the man's iron tight focus. Not just that... but break through the defense his Devil Fruit offered him. To Gen who had only seen Zoans, Normal Paramecia, and Logia in his lifetime of bounty hunting he figured the man was some type of strange Logia by the way he dodges his attack. That's when he saw the man set forth his fist like a maul to strike him down.

"Gah!"

Gen was struck by kneading, the glob of dough, and set rolling back. He felt a bit dazed from the sudden strike that ended up hitting his gut... no, he felt sick in fact. But he quickly got up adrenaline pumping through his blood as the battle had officially begun! Quickly Gen grabbed the nearest empty chair and tossed it Jaq's way it was part of Damashi Uchi. Gen's foul play technique of using the nearest object as a weapon. Suddenly, steam began to come off his skin followed by the Tengu's fist igniting in red hot flames. With a quick flick of his hand, he shot a fireball over at the crashing chair. Keihi Genshu, the flaming firebolt!

"Damashi Uchi... Keihi Genshu."

He whispered under his breath as he used his two techniques.

[Flame]

It was strange his quick jab was the one that made contact, already knocking the shorter man, the bounty hunter back such that he rolled away from Jaq. On the other hand the man recovered fairly quickly. A sign perhaps of at least a tough fighter. Jaq smiled, though based on what he'd seen he doubted the man had much of a chance. He at least liked the tenacious ones. They were like him, endurers.

He blinked, and in that moment a wooden chair was slung at him. Tossed through the air bludgeoned into him ineffectively. Two of the legs stuck into his chest annoyingly clinging to his body as gravity tried to pull them out. They held up the chair obscuring what came after as the small bullet of alcohol set alight burst through the center of the wooden chair leaving a crisp hole and slamming into Jaq's chest spreading flames across it.

The boxer staggered back slightly the chair falling off of him and clattering onto the floor of the bar. His body had been moved back by the impact but he hadn't felt it. He could feel the heat upon his chest and the light scent of baking dough. Jaq turned the inside of his arm to dough and ran it across his chest to put out the flames where the alcohol was not just being absorbed by the dough. His hand ran across it feeling the dried, the somewhat crispy parts of his chest where the bread turning process had begun. He'd expected the parts to feel raw, but they didn't.

Jaq's eyes narrowed as he stared back forward at the man before him. He twisted his head back and forth ever so annoyed. The boxer swiveled his right arm slightly grasping his bicep wwith his left for a moment. It was turned mostly to dough now, kneaded this time. As he turned it he could feel the elasticity. The boxer lunged forward at the same time throwing his right arm backwards. The two sides pulled on each other and the elasticity he'd grown caused the arm to rebound. It doubled back, the fist shooting forward towards his opponent.

"Kneading Strike."

---

Tech Used:

Kneading Strike
Rank 2 Variation
Aspect - Kneaded Gluten

Jaq throws his arm back, the elasticity provided him rebounds his arm back empowering the punch.