Chapter 132 – Fight
We moved carefully toward Crocodile. Now we're in front of his crew as the final confrontation begins.
Normally, I didn't think Crocodile could whip up a sand tornado that massive on his own. The desert environment of Sandy Island amplified his powers, making attacks like that far bigger and stronger.
"I was expecting you to repel my attack," Crocodile said in his deep, gravelly voice as his eyes were fixed on me, "but I didn't expect you to come out completely unscathed."
"Crocodile..." I replied with a grin. "I figured you'd hide in Rainbase and try to ambush us. But here you are, coming straight to get your ass kicked. Guess it saves everyone a lot of time."
He let out a sarcastic laugh, taking a slow drag from his cigar. "It's always better to handle small problems quickly. Saves time in the long run."
At that moment, Mr. 1, Mr. 2, and Mr. 3 stepped forward together.
"Boss, you don't need to dirty your hands personally," Mr. 1 said gruffly. "Let us minions take care of them."
The girls eyed the Baroque Works officers without a trace of fear. They stood ready, calm and composed in the face of the danger.
Nami was the only one who looked scared. She quickly ducked behind me for cover.
Kuina locked eyes with Mr. 1, watching as he transformed his hands into gleaming steel blades with his Devil Fruit power. A fierce smile spread across her face. "I'll take that one as my opponent."
Kaya turned her gaze to Mr. 2. "Then I will fight with him," she said firmly.
I glanced at her, then at Mr. 2. I'd had the girls mark small X's on their upper arms earlier to prevent him from impersonating any of us if he got a touch in. I had been worried about sneaky ambushes. But now Crocodile had brought his entire top team right here for an open fight. Face-to-face like this, there was no real chance for Mr. 2 to use his Clone-Clone Fruit effectively.
'Looks like the X marks turned out to be a useless precaution after all.
"Nami," I said, "you handle the smaller fry. I'll deal with Mr. 3."
"So Crocodile's all mine, shishishi," Lily said while stepping forward. There was a smile on her face as if she was excited to fight.
And just like that, everyone charged into battle.
"The first rule of assassination: eliminate the weakest targets first," Mr. 1 declared in his low, gruff voice.
He rushed straight toward Nami, extending his right hand. His fingers sharpened into deadly blades as he swung at her.
But Kuina moved instantly. She used her sword to block the strike with perfect timing.
"I'm your opponent," she said while smiling coolly as she held her blade steady.
Mr. 1 stood there for a second, staring at her with that same apathetic expression, as if her presence didn't concern him at all.
At the same time, Miss Doublefinger swayed her hips as she approached Nami, clearly sharing Mr. 1's mindset—take out the weak link first. All five fingers on her right hand sprouted long, vicious spikes and shot forward.
"Why does everyone keep calling me the weak one and targeting me?" Nami shouted. "Bitch, I'll show you! Take this!"
She swung her Clima-Tact hard. The strike connected, sending Miss Doublefinger staggering back several feet while clutching her stomach in pain.
In the original, Nami was weak. But I have given many portions to Nami and other girls, so their strength was clearly more than in the Alabasta arc.
The agent glared coldly at Nami and advanced again. "Double Stinger!" she yelled, turning both hands into spikes and thrusting them forward in a rapid barrage.
Nami dodged and weaved through the onslaught, then leaped into the air. When she landed, a big smile spread across her face. "I didn't expect to be this strong already."
"Stinger Hedgehog!" Miss Doublefinger shouted. She curled her body into a tight ball, spikes erupting from every inch of her skin until she resembled a giant sea urchin. The spiked sphere hit the ground, spun furiously, and began rolling straight toward Nami, tearing up the sand in its path.
Nami stood her ground calmly. Just as the spike ball was about to slam into her, she swung her Clima-Tact and created an illusion that made her appear to dodge at the last second.
Miss Doublefinger halted, uncurled, and reverted to normal form. Then she started looking around in confusion. She was searching for Nami.
Nami backed up quickly and summoned a thundercloud with a mix of cold and hot bubbles. Lightning cracked down, striking the agent dead-on. Black smoke poured from her body and mouth as she collapsed, knocked out cold.
Nami had defeated her opponent.
…
…
[Scene Change]
I was busy with Mr. 3 and a handful of lesser minions. Honestly, it felt more like I was toying with them than fighting seriously. My main goal was keeping them from interfering with the girls' battles.
I hadn't expected Nami to take down her opponent that quickly. I was really impressed with her.
Then I focus on Kaya and Mr. 2's battle.
"You are very beautiful," Mr. 2 said emotionally to Kaya. "But I have to defeat you so Croco-chan can build the ideal nation for us Okama."
"You can't create an ideal nation on the suffering of innocent people," Kaya replied. She dropped into a solid battle stance and channeled Tsunade-level monstrous strength for her attack.
Mr. 2 launched a powerful roundhouse kick.
Boom!!
Boom!!
Their strikes collided in the center, both pushing for dominance. But Kaya's raw power clearly outmatched his. In the end, she unleashed a flurry of rapid boxing punches, finishing with a brutal hit straight to his face.
Mr. 2 flew backward into the sand. When he pushed himself up, there was blood trickling from his nose.
"You're stronger than me," he admitted, eyes wide with shock. "But you're still no match for my Okama Kenpo!"
He arched both arms overhead and began to twirl and dance like a ballerina. He was forcing Kaya to step back with a weird dance.
Spinning wildly, he closed the distance and threw a punch-kick combination with his right hand extended. Kaya kicked off the ground to dodge, then leaped high into the air. She raised one leg.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!!"
Boom!!
Her kick slammed into the top of his head with devastating force. Mr. 2's eyes bulged from the impact. He crashed deep into the sand and didn't get up again. Whether he was alive or dead wasn't clear.
Kaya have also defeated her opponent.
….
….
[Scene Change]
Kuina was standing with the sword in hand in a fighting position. She was facing Mr. 1—the user of the Dice-Dice Fruit. In her opinion, he was the perfect opponent to truly test her sword skills.
"Let's finish this," Mr. 1 said in a bored tone. He began to advance with his right hand, which was already turned into a razor-sharp blade.
Kuina didn't move. She simply held her sword out in front of her, watching him with an amused smile.
Mr. 1 frowned at her confidence but pressed the attack anyway.
Clang!!
Clang!!
She parried every strike effortlessly, staying purely on the defensive while he hammered at her.
After a few minutes, she spoke calmly. "I think my reaction speed is pretty good. Time to test my attack speed."
Clang!!
Clang!!
With a single, controlled push—not even using her full strength—she sent Mr. 1 staggering back. Blood seeped from his steel hands despite their supposed invulnerability.
He pulled his hand back, stared at the blood, and looked genuinely shocked.
"You seem surprised," Kuina said. "But I wasn't even using my full power. Now I'm going to try a sword draw. If you don't give everything you've got, you might not live another second."
Mr. 1 ignored the warning. Both of his arms transformed into full blades as he lunged. He was aiming to sever her neck in one clean cut.
"Sword Draw: Dick Coming Out of Wet Pussy!!"
Clang!!
Their blades met with a sharp, ringing sound. For a split second, everything seemed frozen.
Then Mr. 1 saw his own body from an impossible angle.
'So... I was beheaded...'
That was his final thought as his head tumbled free on the ground.
Kuina had also defeated her opponent.