Later, far above the Blue Sea...
..
A small island of Imperial Cumulus drifted alone among the clouds.
It had been whole when the battle began.
Now lightning struck it from every direction.
White ground burst apart beneath repeated impacts. Chunks of solid cloud broke from the island and sank into the White Sea below. Thunder followed each flash so closely that the sound never stopped.
Another bolt descended.
This one was larger than the rest.
It struck a man standing near the centre of the island and swallowed him in blue-white light.
The surrounding cloud split open.
Smoke rose from the crater.
A small orange glow appeared inside it.
The older man stepped out, broad-shouldered and bare from the waist up. His uniform had been left somewhere beyond the ruined training ground. Strands of white ran through his hair, but his body still carried enough muscle to make the title of General seem modest.
A long pipe rested between his teeth.
Its bowl was burning.
General McKinley drew in a slow breath and released a stream of smoke through his nose.
"Thanks for lighting my pipe, broski."
High above him, Almighty stood upon a small platform of cloud. A Cloud Dial beneath one boot kept it suspended in place. Lightning crawled across his black cloak and flashed over the smooth mask concealing his face.
"DO YOU ENVY ME, LITTLE MAN?!"
McKinley puffed his pipe.
Almighty waited.
The General inspected the burning tobacco and gave the bowl a light tap with one finger.
"ARE YOU IGNORING A SUPERIOR BEING? I AM INVINCIBLE!"
The cloud beneath Almighty darkened.
Electricity gathered around both arms. It twisted together above his head, growing wider with every pulse.
"60,000,000 VOLT JAMBURE!"
The lightning came down.
McKinley's eyes sharpened.
Mantra showed him the path a moment before the attack reached the ground.
One step to the left.
Nothing more.
The bolt missed his shoulder and tore through the place where he had stood. It continued across the island, carving a glowing trench through the entire cloud before vanishing into the White Sea.
McKinley did not look back at it.
Far from the centre of the battle, another man watched from behind a raised wall of cloud. His white uniform remained properly buttoned despite the wind. A dark patch above the breast pocket displayed his name and rank.
MAJOR PRINCIPIUM
He stared at the General.
A bead of sweat slid down his cheek.
"General... Can you take this a bit more seriously...?"
Someone appeared beside him.
No lightning announced the arrival. No cloud shifted beneath a landing foot. One moment Major stood alone. The Next, a masked man was close enough to touch his shoulder.
The Major snapped upright.
"L-lord!"
The figure disappeared.
Principium remained at attention for several seconds.
???
Betelgeuse reappeared much farther along the island's edge.
He disliked greetings. He disliked explanations. He especially disliked people who tried to continue a conversation after he had already decided it was over.
That was half the truth.
The other half wore a uniform with MAJOR PRINCIPIUM written across it.
A deep, dull ache had begun behind Betelgeuse's mask the instant he saw him.
So he had left.
"That Major and that General..."
He had only been sent to oversee that lightning clown's battle. Even without using his Haki, he had known how it would end. Almighty possessed tremendous power, but he had no experience.
He sat upon a broken remnant of this sky island and placed both hands upon his knees.
Calm.
That was what he needed now.
Perfect calm.
He straightened his back and fixed his attention upon a single point ahead of him.
Thunder cracked again.
The shelf trembled beneath him.
Another bolt struck close enough to throw pieces of cloud across his cloak.
Betelgeuse's fingers tightened against his knees.
"I swear I will put those motherfuckers down..." he muttered
soon after....
A stray branch of lightning broke away from Almighty's next attack and streaked towards him.
Betelgeuse vanished from its path.
The bolt passed through empty air.
He appeared several steps to the right.
Then he looked at the lightning.
Looked at Almighty.
And changed his mind.
Betelgeuse moved back.
The edge of the bolt caught his shoulder and tore a smoking line across his cloak.
He examined the mark.
"That's it! Fuckers!"
At the centre of the island, McKinley finally removed the pipe from his mouth.
Black Armament Haki spread across its stem and bowl. The same coating climbed along the blade of the sword in his other hand.
Almighty hurled another bolt.
McKinley slipped past it, turned beneath the Lightning Logia and struck him across the backside with the hardened pipe. (His ass :D)
The impact sent Almighty spinning across his own cloud platform.
"YOU DARE?!"
The electricity around him surged.
His next attack missed McKinley by several metres.
The General placed the pipe between his teeth again.
So that was it.
Almighty's Mantra was fast enough to follow him while he remained composed. Anger left gaps.
Large ones.
McKinley's smile widened around the pipe.
"Pcheheh... Let's go! Don't cry like a child after this!"
He jumped.
The solid cloud ground broke beneath his feet and launched him into the sky. His sword rose beside him, its blackened edge aimed at Almighty's chest.
Almighty sensed it.
His head turned.
The blade was close.
Very close.
Lightning gathered around his body as he prepared to escape.
Someone appeared behind him.
Almighty's haki gave him no warning.
Betelgeuse had crossed the training island faster than any lightning strike Almighty had thrown.
"SELF-DEFENSE, MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!"
His heel slammed into Almighty's back.
The masked Lightning Logia shot past McKinley before the General's sword could reach him. He tore through the lower edge of the island, burst from beneath it and plunged into the White Sea.
The hole closed behind him in a slow churn of cloud.
McKinley passed through the space where Almighty had been.
His eyes followed Betelgeuse instead.
Betelgeuse removed a narrow black device from inside his cloak and opened it.
"Almighty. Out of bounds."
Static answered from the device.
"Wh..."
Betelgeuse closed it.
He vanished before McKinley began to fall.
A moment later, Betelgeuse was back upon his broken shelf of cloud. The burn across his shoulder still smoked.
Major Principium stared at him from the other side of the island.
General McKinley landed below, sword in one hand and pipe in the other.
Betelgeuse looked from the Major to the General.
"Those two... what the fu..."
He stopped himself and corrected his speech.
His fingers pressed against the sides of his mask.
"What are you two going to do in the future?"