Bastille's "Shark-Cutter Cleaver" swept out in a clean horizontal arc.
A strike that should've split even rock in two was stopped—dead—by the Japanese umbrella Sue had raised, the clash ringing out with a hard, metallic GAKIN!
—Creeeak.
"…That was a nasty sound," Sue muttered under her breath. "So it does creak. Figures… If you're a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, you can obviously use Haki."
"That's my line, Pirate Literary Master," Bastille snarled. "We've had intel on you for a while… and yeah. You're using it too."
Relying on brute strength, he rolled the huge blade over and slashed again from the opposite side.
Sue avoided it by turning her body into paper—her form scattering into the air, dispersing like torn scraps caught in a gust. Several of those sheets shot straight for Bastille, sharp enough to cut like steel.
But Bastille tracked them precisely and sliced every last one apart with his greatsword.
"Too bad," Sue's voice said lightly. "That was paper I made. Not a piece of my body."
Then the scattered paper converged—
And Sue appeared behind him, swinging her umbrella in a fierce cut toward his flank.
"Yeah, I figured you'd pull that!" Bastille barked.
He caught the umbrella with a Haki-coated forearm, then retaliated—whipping the Shark-Cutter Cleaver around like it weighed nothing.
Sue didn't scatter this time. She flipped forward in a tight aerial somersault, slipping under the swing and diving into his range—raising the umbrella as if to strike—
Only for it to be a feint.
Her real attack came from below: a Haki-charged kick, launched with ruthless timing.
"—Iron Body!"
A chill crawled up Bastille's spine. He felt it—an instant before impact—and poured strength into every muscle, reinforcing with Armament.
The kick slammed into his abdomen with a sound like metal smashing metal.
GAKIN!
But what made Bastille's eyes widen wasn't just the force—
It was the shape.
Sue's right leg—normal just a heartbeat ago—had turned into paper and reshaped itself into a narrow, razor-edged blade.
If he hadn't braced… Haki or not, that would've driven straight through him. Her "paper" wasn't fragile. That had been proven again and again.
Sue snapped her leg back into its original form immediately and stepped in even deeper—paper bursting from her arm in a torrent.
The sheets folded and formed into lion faces—small compared to a full beast, but still far bigger than a human head—then fired at point-blank range.
"Zero range—Lion-Paper War Roar!"
"Ghh—?!"
Bastille took it with Iron Body again. The paper lions' fangs scraped shallow cuts into his skin—thin, stinging lines of blood—but they couldn't bite deeper.
Still, the impact shoved him back, forcing distance between them.
By the time he shook it off, Sue had already raised hundreds of tiny paper fragments into the air around her.
And then they all surged at once.
"Paper Razor Blizzard… Thousand Cherry Blossoms!"
"Tch—! Like hell that'll—!"
Bastille met them head-on with his cleaver. He blasted the swarm apart with a heavy swing—
Only for the paper to whirl back immediately, reforming and cutting in again.
"Grr… Iron Body!"
From the front alone, he could handle it.
From every direction at once, he had no choice.
He hardened his entire body—locking every muscle into defense.
And because Iron Body worked by freezing the body into a reinforced state…
He couldn't move.
Which meant Sue got the next beat again—exactly as she wanted.
But Bastille had already read it. This blizzard wasn't like the lions.
It didn't carry Haki.
So instead of wasting time trying to "defeat" it, he covered himself in Armament and forced his way through, accepting the shallow cuts—armor, clothes, skin—minor damage only.
Then he drove straight for Sue herself, swinging for her neck.
Sue realized she couldn't evade in time.
She brought her umbrella up—Armament packed into it—trying to block.
—Creeeak… creak-creak… KRAK-KRAK-KRAK!!
"…Yeah. Not happening."
Even with Haki, there was a fundamental difference in raw sturdiness between Bastille's heavy metal blade and Sue's paper-and-wood umbrella. For an instant they held—
Then the umbrella's surface groaned, the ribs splintered, and the paper tore apart.
Bastille poured on more power, convinced he could push through and finish it—
Until halfway in, a hard GAKIN! rang out.
Metal? In the core? he thought—
And then Sue grabbed the handle and pulled.
A blade slid out of the umbrella like it had been waiting there all along.
"…A concealed sword."
"Been a while since I used this," Sue said, almost amused. "Hope I'm not rusty."
The moment Armament shifted into the drawn blade, the umbrella itself lost structural reinforcement—
And Bastille's Shark-Cutter cleaved the remaining umbrella apart completely, smashing it into scraps.
Sue sprang forward through the debris, the newly bared blade gleaming as she swung for Bastille.
He snapped his cleaver up in time—
GIIIIIN!
The impact screamed.
And the damage was immediate.
Bastille's blade chipped—chipped—while Sue's sword bit into the steel like it wanted to stay there.
"…So that's your real strength," Bastille growled.
Sue's eyes flashed. "Who knows? Maybe."
She twisted her wrist and came again—fast, clean, relentless.
Bastille decided taking those hits head-on was too dangerous. He started deflecting, trying to slip her strikes aside and break her balance—
But Sue didn't give him the opening he wanted.
"One-Sword Style—"
Even as her blade was redirected, she rotated her whole body into it—stepping forward in a full, hard spin, throwing her charge and centrifugal force into the cut—
"—Ten-Sei-Sha!! (Heavenly Conquest Wheel)"
GAGIIIIIN!!
The sound slammed into the air like thunder.
Bastille was pushed back with his blade—forced to give ground—then felt something worse:
A heavy crack spiderwebbed across the broad face of his cleaver, even though he'd fed it more Haki than before.
And Sue didn't stop.
She flooded him with a vicious, close-range barrage—strike after strike, pressure with no mercy.
(Damn it… If I keep eating this, my blade won't last.)
He tried to break the flow—forcing his way forward to sweep her away—
But Sue didn't retreat.
She stepped in.
No guard. No flinch.
Bastille's eyes widened—Is she insane?—and he swung anyway.
"One more—Shu-Jin (Assault Blade)—!"
At the last instant, Sue turned only the portion of her body that would be hit into paper.
The blade passed through the "paper" segment as if it had cut air—
And Sue didn't slow down at all.
She did three things at once:
She avoided. She closed. She swung.
And before Bastille's attack had even fully completed, she was already in his face.
"—Kou-Sai-Kyou!! (Crimson Mirror)"
"Ghh—?!!"
Bastille jerked back hard enough to strain his spine, barely avoiding a fatal line—
But one horn on his helmet snapped off and went spinning away, and a deep fracture split through the helmet's surface.
He lunged forward to create distance—
And then heard it.
That thin, whistling sound.
The paper blizzard he'd already pushed through… moved again.
It surged toward him in a straight line—
Even though Sue stood between them.
And that was the nightmare:
Sue, a paper human, took the swarm head-on and wasn't affected at all—the blades seemed to slip through her as if she were intangible.
But the paper didn't stop.
It only went for Bastille.
He had no time to reset his stance. He coated his whole body in Armament and endured—
And in that moment, Sue was already cutting back in again, forcing close-range exchanges all over.
Around them, the paper blizzard continued to swirl like a vortex.
Sue took no damage.
Bastille collected cut after cut—small, but multiplying.
Haki wasn't infinite.
If this continued, eventually he'd fail to block a real sword strike—
Or he'd be shredded by the countless paper blades.
One of the two.
And the worst part was the realization that crawled into his gut like poison:
(She's this strong… and she still isn't even serious.)
"Your bounty was… 76 million, right?" Bastille snarled between clashes. "With this strength and Haki… that's a sick joke!"
"Tell that to your own department," Sue shot back. "I didn't request my bounty amount. You guys set it. If you've got complaints, file them properly."
"And that sword," Bastille growled, forcing her blade away. "I don't know where you got it, but it's a named blade. I've barely heard any reports of you using a sword… What, did you kill a pirate or a bounty hunter and take it?"
"Stop trying to make me sound evil," Sue snapped. "Yes, it's a named blade. No grade rank—but it has a name: Ukigumo—'Floating Cloud.' And I didn't steal it. I got it from someone I know."
"Hmph. Whoever that 'someone' is… they caused a hell of a problem."
Bastille shoved Sue's Ukigumo away with sheer force and burst out of the paper vortex. With a massive swing, he unleashed a pressure wave that blew the paper away and scattered everything in the area.
The blizzard crashed to the ground—
But Bastille knew it would return. Maybe in seconds.
He tightened his stance, breathing hard.
"I've still gotta chase down the escapees and haul them in… Damn it, everything's a mess and nothing's easy! Pirates really are a plague!"
"You're the one who decided to call us pirates!" Sue snapped. "If anyone's being inconvenienced here, it's me!"
"Either way, you're getting arrested," Bastille said, voice dropping. "After fighting you, I'm sure of one thing: you're too dangerous to leave roaming free. I'm taking you and the Baroque Works remnants right here. Prepare yourself!"
"Don't make me laugh," Sue shot back. "I still have a lot I want to do—things I want to write. I'm not letting you catch me."
They kicked off the ground at the same time.
Greatsword and longsword collided again with a roar—sparks exploding through the air—
And the battle reignited.
☆
After fighting Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Bastille for a while… I pulled away at the right moment and escaped.
I honestly think I could've won if I'd kept going.
But my goal today wasn't victory.
It was time.
Time for Marianne and the others to get away.
As for the Marines' other main force—Captain T-Bone—I'd figured that with that group's lineup, they could manage a single Headquarters Captain. And if it got ugly…
Honey was there.
She's a Logia user, and she can hit wide areas at once. If she needed to, she could neutralize not only T-Bone but his men, too.
So I believed everyone could reach the hijacked Marine ship and flee easily.
Once they were out at sea, pursuit should've been difficult. Crocodile and Mr. 1—some of Baroque Works' most dangerous monsters—were still likely on that island. The Marines couldn't just abandon them and chase a ship into open water.
That's what I thought.
But—
After shaking off Bastille, I recovered Honey—who had stayed behind to stall them (apparently she'd moved to meet the others after all). I took her and flew toward the ship.
While we were closing in over the ocean, I found myself thinking something stupid and completely tensionless like—
Ugh, my bounty's probably going up again…
And then we caught up to the hijacked Marine ship.
Everyone was collapsed on the deck, sitting or slumped in exhaustion.
And immediately, something felt wrong.
Every single one of them was crying—
Or looked like they'd just finished crying.
Their heads were lowered.
Their faces were hollow.
And the group on deck was missing someone.
Someone who was supposed to be there—
Wasn't.
"Hey… Marianne."
"..."
My voice came out quieter than I meant it to.
"Where's… Bon-chan?"
☆
A little over ten minutes earlier—
Just as I'd predicted, Marianne's group managed to shake off the pursuit and reach the Marine ship.
They recovered Bon-chan along the way, too.
T-Bone's flying slashes harassed them hard, but Honey arrived to cover—temporarily leaving ship-guard duty to Bon-chan's subordinates.
She used the Logia advantage—complete immunity to physical attacks without Haki—and pinned down not only T-Bone but his men with her Devil Fruit.
Pale lavender fluid poured out in volume, swallowing the deck. The soldiers were swept off their footing, pushed back, locked down.
That was the plan: stall them, get the ship moving, then rendezvous again after.
Everything was proceeding… until right after launch.
That's when they saw it:
A Marine ship approaching head-on.
And aboard it—
The one who had just been humiliated on Kyuka Island.
Black Cage Hina.
A battle erupted at sea.
Dozens of Marines under Hina's command boarded the hijacked ship one after another.
And among them were people whose strength didn't match their rank—former pirate Jango, and former Headquarters Captain Fullbody, among others.
Even with Baroque Works' Officer Agents, the fight turned brutal.
If they didn't break through now, reinforcements from the detention facility could arrive at any moment.
In that desperate moment—
Someone moved.
No…
An Okama moved.
Bon-chan leaned close to Marianne and Mikita, whispered something fast—
And before they could even respond, he acted.
"ON—DORYAAAAAA!!"
DO-GO-GO-GO-OOM!!
"W-WHAAA—?!"
"Good! Next—sorry about this, darlings!"
He smashed a path through the Marines who'd boarded, clearing space—
Then, with no hesitation at all, he began kicking and throwing anyone on their side who couldn't move—subordinates, comrades, people unconscious, people restrained by Hina's iron shackles—
He forced them, roughly, onto the other ship.
"Move! All of you—get onto that ship!"
"Mr. 2—what are you doing?!"
"There are too many of them, and they've got heavy hitters aboard!" Bon-chan snapped. "Getting everyone off this ship—including our main fighters—is impossible now! So we abandon this one and take their ship instead!"
"We've seized it!"
"Oh, Goldenweek-chan, you're fast!" Bon-chan laughed, bright and fierce.
The second the opening appeared, Mikita grabbed Marianne and leapt over—then immediately used Colors Trap: Betrayal Black to flip the enemy ship's crew.
Most of the sailors became "enemies of our enemies"—meaning allies.
And the Baroque Works escapees began transferring one after another.
"You think I'll allow that?" Hina's voice cut through the chaos, cold as iron. "How insulting… Hina is displeased."
Hina and her Marines surged to board the seized ship—
But Bon-chan moved first.
"Sorry, sweeties. Not happening. Like this!"
At some point, he'd scattered oil and alcohol along the ship's edges.
The fumes rose—turning the perimeter into a death zone.
Bon-chan struck a match—
And dropped it.
Flames roared up, forming a burning barrier around the edge.
A ring of fire that made crossing between ships impossible.
Yes, someone could've forced their way through and jumped, even if it meant burns.
But Bon-chan wouldn't let them.
He stood with the wall of fire behind him and faced Hina's forces alone.
Just like Alabasta.
Just like the day he became the decoy so his friends could live.
On the other side of the flames, Marianne and the others fought tears they couldn't stop.
On the other side of the flames, his subordinates shouted his name.
Bon-chan turned his back on them all—
And stood alone in front of the enemy.
To let his friends escape.
A withered garden where evil blooms—
And in the wrong place, a flower of friendship.
Tears become a clear river—
Colors of flowers long forgotten.
Waves come and go—
Leaving only a petal behind.
Someday, I'll make them bloom again.
That's the Okama way.
"Come on…"
Bon-chan spread his arms, stance firm, voice shaking with stubborn courage.
"Bring it."
"…Again," Hina hissed, fury and humiliation boiling together. "Hina… humiliation…!"
"BOOON-CHAAAAAAN!!"
The cries from the far ship tore through the fire like knives.
And Bon-chan smiled—
Like he always did.
Okama fields—
We'll meet again!!
To be continued...