"Ryuuto! And that rookie from Sin!" Blackbeard's voice turned grave as he spoke. "Even Empress Hancock is with them!"
"You're Teach, right? How about joining me?" Hearing Blackbeard mention his name, Ryuuto casually propped Yukibashiri on his shoulder with one hand and spoke nonchalantly.
"Zehahahaha! That's the best joke I've heard all day!" Blackbeard tossed aside the roasted meat in his hand and erupted in laughter.
"Well, I gave you a chance." Ryuuto spread his left hand, glancing at the restless Burgess beside them.
"What a filthy bunch you are! Just looking at you makes me feel unclean!" Hancock's beautiful eyes scanned them, delivering a verbal coup de grâce.
Hearing Hancock's words, a look of fury instantly crossed Teach's face.
"Captain, why are we wasting words on them?!" Burgess shouted, crossing his arms into an attack stance.
"Surge Elbow!"
With a roar, Burgess took a short running start and leaped into the air. He channeled all his strength into his elbow, instantly coating it in Armament Haki as he lunged toward Ryuuto's group.
"Ace, leave him to me! You go deal with Blackbeard!" Ryuuto yelled.
The force of Burgess's attack scattered the four of them. Hancock leaped away with Nami, landing on the roof of a nearby building. Ace instantly transformed into his element, passing through Burgess to appear before Blackbeard.
Boom!
As Burgess descended, his powerful elbow smashed into the ground with immense force. The street instantly fractured, cracks spiderwebbing outward from the point of impact. The shockwave slammed into the buildings on either side, setting off a series of explosive cracks as the structures began to crumble and collapse.
"Aah! Run!"
"We'll be killed if we don't get out of here!"
The few people who had been inside the buildings were terrified by the attack and fled in a panic. In an instant, only the opposing groups were left on the ruined street.
On the rooftop, Hancock and Nami faced off against Doc Q, who was flying through the air on his horse, Stronger. Doc Q, looking sickly as always, was slumped over Stronger's back, barely able to sit up. Stronger was a user of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, the Pegasus model.
"Cough... cough... Do you believe in fate?" Doc Q asked, holding a large basket of explosive apples as he lay on Stronger's back.
Hancock felt an instinctive unease as she sensed the viruses spreading through the air around her.
"I have had enough of you, you filthy man!" Hancock shouted. With a flick of her long hair, she touched her fingers to her lips, creating a giant, pink heart that floated before her. She then drew it back like a bowstring, preparing to fire at Doc Q.
A strange mist drifted toward them...
Normally, Hancock could have blocked the mist with her Haki. But unexpectedly, she felt a sudden urge to cough.
Cough, cough.
The involuntary gasp for air drew the mist deep into her lungs.
Instantly, a wave of discomfort washed over Hancock. Her head grew heavy, and all the strength seemed to drain from her body.
Seeing Hancock's state, Doc Q let out another cough, followed by a lecherous grin. "It seems fate is on my side!" he said.
"Damn it, I'm hit!"
Fighting through the discomfort, Hancock shielded Nami behind her and pulled back the string of her pink heart-bow.
"Slave Arrow!"
A barrage of pink, arrow-shaped projectiles shot toward Doc Q.
Hancock was beyond frustrated. Her luck had been terrible for hours, from one small crisis to another, and now she had inhaled an enemy's poison during a fight.
Unfortunately for her, she had no idea this was all Nami's doing.
Nami was, in a way, Hancock's ultimate counter.
At that moment, Nami also realized something was wrong—it seemed like she was the cause of all this. A wave of guilt washed over her, and her grip on her Sorcery Clima-Tact tightened.
As Hancock's Slave Arrows flew, Doc Q was already prepared. He hurled the explosive apples from his basket to intercept them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A dozen Slave Arrows collided with the apples, detonating in a series of mid-air explosions.
Stronger took advantage of the smoke from the blasts, soaring higher to carry Doc Q out of the path of the remaining arrows.
Cough! Hancock coughed once more as her Haki flared...
Vmmm!
As her Conqueror's Haki flowed through her, the feeling of sickness began to subside.
"Huuu..." Hancock exhaled sharply, then formed her hands into a heart shape and aimed at the flying Doc Q and Stronger.
"Mero Mero Mellow!!"
A beam of pink energy shot from her hands, speeding directly toward them.
Vzzz! Vzz!
Hearts appeared in Stronger's eyes, and in the next instant, the pegasus was turned completely to stone.
"Not good!" Seeing this, Doc Q's expression changed dramatically; the lecherous grin vanished from his face. With a look of grim determination, he slammed his right hand into his own chest!
"So painful!!"
With Doc Q's cry of pain, the pink beam passed straight through him.
He had used pain to make himself immune to Hancock's Mero Mero Mellow.
But Stronger was already petrified.
"Aaaah!"
The stone pegasus lost its ability to fly and began to plummet toward the ground. Doc Q let out another cry, this time because he was falling with it.
"My chance!"
Nami was no slouch either. She swung her Sorcery Clima-Tact, creating gusts of wind to clear the mist in front of her. Then, she began leaping across the rooftops, rapidly closing the distance to the falling Doc Q.
A flash of gold appeared, and a glittering gold coin materialized in Nami's hand.
"Now!" Nami shouted. She rolled forward and flicked the coin with practiced ease. It flew through the air and struck the falling Doc Q.
Thwack!
The instant Nami's Lucky Coin made contact with Doc Q's head, Hancock, still standing on the rooftop, felt her body instantly lighten. The effects of the poison were gone.
"That disgusting feeling is finally gone," Hancock murmured. Tapping her high heel lightly, she pushed off with her right foot and vanished from her spot.
Crash! Stronger smashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"What happened?!" Doc Q ignored his pain and touched his chest. That last blow... it felt like he had lost something. Nami's Lucky Coin had hit him and temporarily nullified his Sick-Sick Fruit powers. The excruciating pain in his chest was completely gone.
He looked up...