Buggy and Strawberry faced off, the Vice Admiral taking to the sky immediately.
"What, no quips or interesting things to say?" Buggy asked as he turned his head and tracked the Vice Admiral's movements with his eyes.
Before Strawberry could answer, he vanished into a blur with Soru, reappearing mid-swing. The blades were aimed directly at Buggy, coated in Haki, sharp as steel, precise as judgment itself.
Buggy's knives were useless, they broke apart when trying to block the haki-clad blade. Still, the clown smirked, ducking a swipe as a blade passed through his neck. No harm done.
"Oh… that's inconvenient." Buggy eyed the hilts of his broken knives with a crooked smile.
"Indeed it is," Strawberry replied evenly. "You cannot harm me. My sheer willpower negates your puny attacks. My blades, my martial arts… they are perfect."
Buggy spun in the air, flipping, twisting, and kicking a grenade toward the vice admiral's side. Strawberry deflected it with an impassive parry. "Predictabl-"
Yet, before he even finished speaking, he couldn't help but widen his eyes before quickly rushing to catch the grenade, not wanting it to land on his men.
The grenade in question exploded in his hand, blowing him up in a cloud of smoke.
"Finally noticed your surroundings, huh?"
With a single swipe, all of the smoke cleared, and Strawberry dashed out, unharmed but for a few burns on his coat. "Useless tricks!"
"Oh, you'll see…" Buggy grinned, twirling in the clouds, his knives slicing at angles that were almost comical yet precise.
He couldn't cut through Strawberry's Haki-clad suit and skin, but he could slice air, create distractions, and make the Vice Admiral swing unnecessarily.
The two danced across the sky, one clown and one vice admiral, a storm of metal, devilish powers, and materialized willpower spinning around the clouds.
Buggy's Devil Fruit allowed him to move like a living marionette, stretching, detaching limbs, twisting impossibly midair.
Strawberry countered with Geppo, his movements precise, his feet kicking off the air with ghostly speed. The sky was their playground, and neither showed signs of slowing down.
Buggy's knives drew sparks as they scratched against the Vice Admiral's Armament Haki, sending sparks into the air. "This is getting more and more annoying…" he muttered.
-
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Meanwhile, down on the ground, chaos still reigned.
Urouge, the Mad Monk, had been challenged by one of the Rear Admirals stationed at the base.
The man was muscular, disciplined, and had mastered Tekkai, Shigan, and Soru. He moved like a viper, darting around Urouge, fists striking with deadly precision.
Bullets and punches met Urouge's massive frame, bouncing off his pillar or his broad shoulders. "Is that all you've got, Rear Admiral?" He boomed, swinging the pillar with holy enthusiasm.
CRUNCH!
Half a squad flew into the walls of the base. The few who dared to take aim at him were crushed under the metal shaft's spin.
"You're… monstrous!" the Rear Admiral hissed, attempting another Shigan strike. His finger pierces the monk's thick abdomen, but it is far too short to go deeper than a few muscle fibers deep.
"How puny!" The Mad Mink's pillar came crashing down next.
The poor Rear Admiral raised both arms upward, using Tekkai and smiling. 'I'll block this madman's strike and take him down! A Shigan to the head should still kill him!'
But his arms, though reinforced by Tekkai, were broken in an instant as Urouge's pillar came down on his guard.
SNAP!
Both of his hands shattered, and before he could even react, Urouge kicked him in the chest, the gigantic sandal caving his chest in and sending him flying.
"Guess we know who wins 'most likely to break bones'!" Urouge bellowed, spinning again, clearing a path for his men to loot without interference.
Cabaji and Mohji, on the other side, were locked in battle with the second Rear Admiral. Cabaji's acrobatics made him almost untouchable, blades flashing, slicing through uniforms, ropes, and rifles, but Tekkai made the enemy far more resilient.
Mohji, ever creative, linked the Rear Admiral to a regular Marine with his Devil Fruit power, sending punches cascading between them.
The Rear Admiral was thrown off balance repeatedly, allowing Cabaji to slice him to ribbons before turning back to the other marines and opening a path for the pirates.
"Sometimes, it's not about power," Cabaji remarked mid-flip, "it's about style."
The fight was messy, loud, and absurdly choreographed. Marines screamed, coins and treasure flew in every direction, and explosions painted the sky in surreal colors.
Robin walked in the periphery, quietly supporting the crew.
Her Cien Fleur disarmed firearms, redirected attacks, and kept her more reckless comrades from accidentally killing each other or themselves.
-
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Back in the sky, Buggy and Strawberry were still at it. Strawberry's precision was deadly, his swords whistling through the air.
Haki blocked every Devil Fruit-powered slice Buggy tried, forcing him to rely on ingenuity.
Buggy grinned, though sweat beaded on his forehead. "First time encountering Haki was bound to be frustrating... But this is something else entirely!"
Strawberry attempted to use the blunt edge of his swords to force Buggy into dodging. Buggy's limbs stretched, detached, and swung like a marionette's. He twisted in impossible arcs, narrowly avoiding each strike, laughing through the chaos.
"Oh, I love it when they force me to think!" Buggy yelled. "Come on! Show me what a Vice Admiral can really do!"
Suddenly, Buggy stuffed a hand grenade into Strawberry's pocket mid-dodge, spinning away before the Marine could react. A fraction of a second later:
BOOM!
Smoke, sparks, and charred cloth billowed from Strawberry's jacket. He emerged a moment later, composed, though a few burns marked his uniform. His face was calm, but Buggy could see a flash of irritation in his eyes.
"Impressive," Strawberry muttered. "But still insufficient."
Buggy floated back, arms crossed, laughing. "Insufficient? Darling, I'm just getting started!"
Although he said that, Buggy's frustration with Strawberry was rising. Every trick, every Devil Fruit attack, every knife slice was met with Haki resistance. He twirled, kicked, spun, and even flung grenades, but none of it inflicted real damage.
"Come on… COME ON!" he yelled, grinding his teeth.
His usual 'Chopping' was not effective against the Vice Admiral, at most, Buggy managed to cut off his hair, but the marine's body was protected.
That frustration seemed to materialize eventually. Something clicked. Deep inside, a spark of instinct flared.
Buggy clenched his fists and willed himself forward. He imagined his punch hitting Strawberry's skull, rattling his brain. He gritted his teeth and focused his will.
This was new. Unrefined. Untrained, but it worked.
His fist shot forward like a cannon, powered not by fruit but by sheer determination, sheer will. Strawberry's eyes widened. Buggy's Haki, crude, unpolished, and almost reckless, hit him squarely in the chest.
The impact blew all of the dust and ash that had clung to his coat.
Strawberry staggered. A grunt escaped his lips.
Buggy floated back, wide-eyed, and then slowly, a grin spread across his face. "Ah… so THAT'S how it works."
The clouds swirled around them, the wind roaring with approval as Buggy hovered, fists still raised, smile growing wider. Finally, he understood.
What 'Haki' truly was.
The battlefield below raged on, but Buggy, of course, remained the only one who looked like he was having a proper party.
Urouge was still smashing soldiers, Cabaji and Mohji were dancing around the recovered Rear Admiral's strikes, Robin was quietly orchestrating chaos. Smoke, rubble, and screaming filled every corner.
But all Buggy could focus on was that single, perfect punch. The realization of his own new potential. His grin was broader than the horizon.
Strawberry adjusted his stance, reading Buggy more carefully now. The fight was far from over, but Buggy was no longer just a clown in the sky. He was a clown who had discovered a new weapon, one that allowed him to rival even Haki users.
"Ahhh, finally…" Buggy purred, twirling a knife theatrically. "The world wasn't ready… but I am."
The Marines below barely had time to notice. The circus in front of them, of clowns, monks, lions, swords, and chaos, was unstoppable.
Buggy floated midair, legs crossed, spinning a hand grenade between his fingers, eyes locked on Strawberry.
"Alright, Mr. Fruit Salad," he said with a wink, "let's see who survives this dance first!"
And with that, the battle between the clown and the Vice Admiral resumed in earnest, high above the burning, looted, and utterly chaotic Marine base.