"Huff— huff—"
Cross gasped for air, his chest heaving like a bellows. His bare torso was battered and bruised, covered in sweat and blood that streamed down to the shattered ground below.
Opposite him, Donquixote Doflamingo was in nearly the same state, utterly exhausted. Though he bore fewer visible wounds thanks to his Armament Haki defenses, his body was mottled with purple bruises from being knocked around like a ragdoll more than a few times.
The brutal battle had raged for nearly an hour. Under the dim, cloud-laden sky, the battlefield had been reduced to ruins.
The once-sprawling grove of palm trees, covering more than a hundred acres, was now mostly leveled, with trees felled in every direction. A red-brick warehouse had partially collapsed, burying a cache of weapons and ammunition beneath the rubble.
Cross and Doflamingo stood several paces apart, chests rising and falling rapidly as they stared each other down, both too fatigued to move easily.
In hindsight, Cross had overestimated himself, and underestimated Doflamingo.
But the reverse was also true. Doflamingo had underestimated Cross, and overestimated his own stamina.
Now, the situation was tilting against Cross. He was bleeding heavily, with no time to tend to his wounds.
If the bleeding continued and he collapsed from blood loss, Doflamingo would claim victory, and his life.
"Fufufufufu~"
Suddenly, Doflamingo chuckled darkly. His lips curled into a vicious sneer as he mocked, "Looks like I win, brat."
"Peh!"
Cross spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm onto the ground and scoffed, "Don't get ahead of yourself. You're like a toad croaking at the moon, full of hot air."
"You little—!"
Doflamingo's expression darkened as he raised a hand to strike again. But just then, a familiar "Pere-pere" echoed from his coat pocket, the shrill ring of a Den Den Mushi.
Doflamingo halted, giving Cross a long, hard look before pulling out a snot-nosed, bluish Den Den Mushi.
Click.
"It's me. What is it?"
"Doffy, bad news, get out of there, now!"
"Trebol? What's going on?" Doflamingo's brow furrowed at the voice, his tone growing tense.
"It's the Marines! The Marines, Doffy!" Trebol shouted from the other end. "Vice Admiral Tsuru just landed at the port with a full force of troops. She's teamed up with the army of the Lvneel Kingdom and they're heading straight for your position!"
"Nani?!"
Doflamingo's face twisted in disbelief as he instinctively turned toward the port.
Sure enough, his Observation Haki detected a swarm of presences entering its range, far more than before.
On the horizon, the brown standard of the Lvneel Kingdom flapped in the wind, followed by a long black line: an army. Footsteps thundered, and heads bobbed in a dense formation. Even in the dimming twilight, their numbers were unmistakable, several thousand strong, if not more.
Cavalry, musketeers, spearmen, swordsmen with shields... every unit imaginable. The forces had already taken formation and were advancing in overwhelming numbers.
And within the Lvneel Kingdom's army, Doflamingo spotted a contingent of Navy soldiers in white shirts, blue pants, and blue scarves, marching in step. Leading them was a silver-haired woman, unmistakably older and formidable.
Tsuru.
"Hahahahahaha—!"
Suddenly, Cross burst out laughing and pointed a trembling, bloodied finger at Doflamingo. "Today's not the day I die, it's the day you get dragged to prison! Hahahaha!"
"Tsuru...!"
Doflamingo grit his teeth, looking from the approaching Marine-Lvneel alliance back to Cross. His chest heaved in rage.
He had been this close to finishing off the damn brat, only for the Marines to show up now. And not just any Marines, it was Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer of Marine Headquarters. A woman he absolutely did not want to cross paths with.
"Hey! Doffy, the Marines are coming! Fall back now!" Trebol shouted again, clearly sensing something was wrong.
Cross, emboldened by the reinforcements, suddenly felt his strength return. Straightening up, he shouted, "You're not getting away, Doflamingo!"
With that, he charged, his blade Kagehide aimed like a spear for Doflamingo's heart.
But then, in a move both surprising and expected, Doflamingo abruptly disengaged. Invisible threads yanked his body upward as he flew skyward.
"You're not escaping, One-Sword Style: Flying Edge!"
"You're not going anywhere, One-Sword Style: Dance of Flames!"
Two voices rang out simultaneously, one male and one female, as a crescent-shaped slash of blue and white energy shot skyward, followed by a blazing arc of fire.
"Sora no Michi!"
Doflamingo's face twitched. He accelerated, narrowly dodging both strikes.
"Hey, Doffy! Head for the sea! We've brought the ship around under cover of night!" Trebol's voice came through the Den Den Mushi again.
Doflamingo glanced seaward, and sure enough, a flamingo-shaped ship had appeared in the distance.
Without a second thought, he flew toward the ocean. As he passed over a cluster of seaside rocks, he extended his long arms and shot out threads that neatly snagged the unconscious Diamante hidden among them.
"Son of a—!!!"
Watching Doflamingo escape over the waves, Cross cursed violently, nearly flinging Kagehide to the ground in frustration.
Unfortunately, Doflamingo had the ability to fly. And once he committed to escaping, there were few in the entire sea who could hope to stop him.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!"
Suddenly, a young female Marine broke rank from the allied forces. Sword in hand, she stormed toward Cross, glaring at him with a face full of suspicion and fury.
Cross glanced at her. She looked vaguely familiar, but instead of answering immediately, he exhaled deeply in relief, then plopped down on the ground and stuck Kagehide into the dirt.
Only then did he reply, bluntly: "Before asking someone their name, it's polite to give yours first."
"You—!"
The young Marine's pretty face turned icy. "I'm Marine Headquarters Major Gion. Brat, identify yourself, now. I suspect you of colluding with pirates."
Cross raised an eyebrow, surprised. This young Marine was none other than the future Vice Admiral Gion, also known by her epithet Momousagi—"Pink Rabbit," a candidate for Admiral!
Then again, it made sense. This was still the dawn of the Great Pirate Era. The future three Admirals hadn't risen yet, and the next generation of Marine leaders were still Captains, Commodores, or even fresh graduates from the Marine Academy.
Gion clearly wasn't very old yet, just in her early twenties by the look of her. Holding the rank of Major at this stage was neither too low nor too high. It was... just right.
----
AN: I estimate Gion is slightly older than Hina and Smoker, but not by much. So she'd be in her early twenties here, and Major would be a fitting rank. Just my personal guess, don't flame me if you disagree!
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