Noah was floating above the sand, his eyes glowing faintly. The air around him was heavy, pressing down on everything.
Captain Bounce tried to laugh, but it came out shaky. "You think you can scare me, kid?" he shouted, bouncing back a few steps.
Noah didn't answer. He raised his hand slowly. The ground began to shake. Sand lifted into the air, rocks started to float.
Emma took a step back, shielding her eyes from the flying sand. "Noah…" she whispered.
Noah clap his hands together and everything crashed down.
A wave of force hit the desert, flattening everything in a wide circle. The sand exploded outward like a storm, throwing Bounce to the ground. The shock was so strong Emma almost fell too. When the dust cleared, Captain Bounce was lying flat, half-buried, not moving.
Noah stayed in the air for a moment longer, then his body started to drop. Emma ran forward and caught him before he hit the ground.
"You idiot," she said softly. "You did it."
Noah's eyes were half-open, his voice weak. "Guess… I win."
He passed out.
Emma sighed, brushing sand off his hair. "Yeah, Captain. You win."
Before she could move, she heard shouting in the distance. Marines—dozens of them—rushing toward the scene. Their boots pounded the sand, rifles in hand, led by a tall officer in a white coat.
"There they are! Arrest everyone!" the officer shouted.
Emma cursed under her breath. "Of course. Because we can't have one quiet day."
She drew her twin blades, standing in front of Noah's unconscious body as the Marines surrounded them. The hot wind blows through her hair.
"Alright," she muttered, tightening her grip. "Round two."
The Marines came fast. I swung my blades, hitting one after another. Sand flew everywhere. I kicked one man back, ducked under a sword, and punched another in the face.
There were too many. For every one I knocked down, more showed up. I looked around and saw lines of Marines running toward us, their guns and swords ready.
"Damn it," I said.
Then I heard a weak groan behind me. I turned and saw Noah, slowly opening his eyes.
"Great timing," I said, cutting down another Marine. "You picked a nice time to wake up."
He sat up, blinking. "What's going on?"
"Marines," I said quickly. "A lot of them."
He looked around, and his eyes went wide. We were surrounded. Hundreds of Marines were closing in, their white coats bright under the hot sun.
A Marine officer pointed his sword at us. "Surrender now!" he yelled. "You can't win!"
I stepped closer to Noah and raised my blades. "Two against three hundred… doesn't sound fair."
Noah stood beside me, brushing off the sand. He gave a small grin. "Yeah… not for them."
The Marines shouted and rushed forward.
The battle turned brutal.
The sound of gunfire, steel, and screams filled the desert. Emma moved like a storm, cutting through the Marines with fast, sharp strikes. Every swing of her blades left another body on the sand.
Noah stood beside her, his eyes cold and steady. The air around him grew heavy. Marines tried to rush him, but they never made it close—something unseen crushed them to the ground. Bones snapped. The sand cracked beneath their weight.
Those who tried to run couldn't escape. Noah raised his hand, and the ground itself pulled them back, dragging them screaming into the storm of dust and blood.
When it was over, the desert was silent again. The wind blew softly, carrying the smell of gunpowder and iron. Bodies lay scattered everywhere.
Emma dropped to one knee, breathing hard, her blades stained red. Noah stood in the middle of the field, staring down at his hands, blood dripping from his fingers.
Far away, one Marine officer—barely standing—spoke into his den-den mushi. His voice trembled.
"This is Lieutenant Haru… reporting from Alabasta's west desert," he said weakly. "A pirate named Noah and his crewmate, Emma… just defeated three hundred Marines. Before that, I saw Noah take down Captain Bounce—the pirate with a fifty-million berry bounty."
Static filled the line. Then silence.
I stepped over the last of the fallen Marines.
"Are you okay?" I asked Emma.
She wiped her swords on a rag. "I'm fine. Let's keep moving.
I looked at the horizon. "Alubarna… not too far now, right?"
"Just one more day if we keep going.
I nodded. "Alright."
She smirked. "Just keep up, Captain."
"Got it," I said.
We continued walking through the desert toward the capital of Alabasta.