The Two Fighters Leapt back, Noir's hand grinding against the floor, only for Yuwaku to jump back a second later! Attempting to kick back at the Chef! But the Chef countered with a kick, swiping and redirecting the Kick away "So you're willing to make contact, counter, and even redirect? But not attack? It seems more that you are a coward than a man that was sturdy in his ideals!"
Noir forced himself back as she landed an axe kick on the floor! Cratering the ground causing the floor to give way to the next floor below!
Noir was no coward. That much was clear. But- there was the tinge of fear in his mind. He'd changed since first joining the Red Sashes, from being a man obsessed with Women and femininity, falling head over heel even for his own crew mates like a dog begging for attention! But then that was gone, changing after he had finally been out on the sea, experiencing the world far better than the small glimpses at a time with people on the Rose Arbor.
Now, he felt that if he got rid of this next part of himself, that he'd no longer be the gentleman he was. It was an absurd fear. He knew it, but he couldn't help it. He devoted his life to service, helping others, feeding them, being a confidant and treating them with respect!
But was he truly a gentleman if he let an idea of ethics get in the way of helping his crew when facing an enemy? Was he tossing aside himself in service of himself? Or others? If he was, then what truly defined him as a man?
Swack Swack Swack! More legs clashed with one another, Yuwaku was a proficient user in Jambe de Couleur, just as Noir and his own Teacher was. Her own very own variation, Subakiiro Ashi, her technique was focused on speed and precision. Noir didn't have his own variation. He just did what Ducasse taught, he applied it how he best saw fit. Even after almost a year on the Sea, and within the Grand Line, he was yet to truly define it.
"Cmon! Can't you be a gentleman hit back! You're doing me a disservice here!" She yelled as she smacked her foot into his bicep, cracking his ribs and sending him flinging away and smashing into the elevated stage, his body absorbed most of the blow, damaging him, but preventing him from being sent through the walls.
"Hngh…Ah- Haha…" His cigarette was extinguished. He spat it out a he stood to his feet. She was totally unscathed, but he was becoming more and more battered every time he was sent flying. 'I need to change it up, I can't just let her keep beating me.'
He stood to his feet, running his hand through his hair, slicking it back into position.
"And you get back up again. C'mon sweetie, give me something to work with. I haven't even given this all I've got!" She gestured with her hand.
Noir shifted his feet, grinding them into the floor like a runner, before leaping forward! Kicking behind himself to accelerate him more and more! Each kick was didn't send him a far distance, but it did move him fast, and faster still with each kick off the air! Thum thum thum thum thum thum! The sound of the sound barrier cracking harshly, sure he could've probably done one hard kick, but it was better to keep it gradual!
He zipped around the room, the Seductresses watched him fly around, taking sharp turns by moving and reorienting himself in mid air. He was like a fly or gnat that buzzed incessantly around.
He suddenly came to a stop, sliding behind her!
The woman spun around on her shoe and shot a leg out across her body! "Tempest Kick!" She yelled, air compressing, but by the time the abrasive and deadly wind blade was launched Noir was on the move again! This time after getting used to flying around so quickly, he took one hard leap to propel him back to top speed!
Now he was behind her again! And another failed attempt as he disappeared! From the side, Disappear. From the other side, disappear, then from the same side as she falsely predicted that he was going to be somewhere else!
"Grah!" She yelled in frustration, her hair becoming a mess, Noir appeared behind her, where she whipped around and slammed a foot up into the air, heel colliding with the chefs chin, staggering him back as she then took a small leap and delivered a round house into the back of his head, slamming him down into the ground causing the room to quake again!
"Gah!" Noir screamed in pain, blood coming from his scalp. Then another pain shot into his back, her foot slamming into the middle of his back, he could've swore he heard a crack. "Rah! Agh-ah." He let out another pained yell.
"What a waste. What made you think that any of you could possibly be able to succeed here? Save that girl, you could've just left, and you'd all still be alive. And you wouldn't have to live with the fact that I not only beat you." She leaned down, malice oozing from her mouth
"But I also left you alive and conscious so that you could hear the screams as I and the others tear that crew you say you care so much about, apart. So what will it be, pretty boy. You gonna actually fight back?"
"Or are you gonna keep running away from me until you're back under my foot…"
Noir's mind raced as his fist were clenched. It was only a moment, but in the moment his mind raced quickly and longly, could he? Would it not be a betrayal? Who was he if he did. Was he susceptible to failing in his goal? Failing in his dream? It might have sounded absurd, but if he was unable to stick by such a simple Ideal, would that not mean he could allow himself to fail? See the World, experience it? That was his goal right? That Mythical Sea of the 'All Blue'. Whatever that meant.
'No!' he screamed internally. 'I'm still the chef of the Red Sash Pirates, even if I hit a lady, or whatever. If it means protecting my Crew, I will give up on the All Blue! Give up on my dreams! My purpose is the protect them! Failure is inevitable. Some dream may not come true…But my Dream is still to make sure that the Red Sash Pirates, and Leroy all Survive! To keep them fed! Keeps them out of Harms way, and make sure that they achieve their dreams by achieving my own!'
With grit teeth and a new found fire and determination in his eyes, he pushed his hands onto the ground, and then in a single movement-
He pushed himself up from the ground! "Bistecca Piedi!" He shot his foot out behind him, watching from behind as his shoe slammed into the face of Yuwaku! Causing her to be sent flying backward and crashing into the far wall!