"Let's go up and help the Snake Princess! Even if it means our lives, we will not hesitate!" one of the Kuja warriors cried out, drawing her sword.
"That's right! The warriors of Amazon Lily have never been greedy for life, and we have never feared death!"
"Master Sandersonia, Lady Marigold, give the order! Let us attack and defend her to the last breath!"
"When I decided to set sail with her, I left my life behind. No matter what, we must protect the Empress!"
Marigold remained silent, her expression torn between her duty as a sister and her responsibility as a leader. Beside her, Sandersonia didn't bother with pleasantries. She turned on the warriors, her face flushed with fury.
"Stop saying such reckless things! Do you hear me?" she snapped. "We are all citizens of Amazon Lily. Do you think the Snake Princess wants you to just throw your lives away? If we go out to sea together, we return together! We do not make sacrifices lightly!"
Guarana frowned, her eyes darting toward the distant dust clouds of the battle. "But we can't just stand here. We don't even know when Master Drake will arrive. The Empress is running out of time, and that bastard won't wait forever."
Indeed, Chameleone had finished his "appreciation" of Hancock. He had analyzed her movements, her fruit, and her spirit. His playful gaze had sharpened into something much more dangerous.
"Well? Have you reached a decision yet?" Chameleone shrugged, a wide, arrogant grin splitting his face. "Boa Hancock, in this world, strength is the only currency that matters. I am strong, and you are weak. What is there left to consider? Be my woman and obey!"
He stepped forward, his eyes gleaming like a hungry wolf's. "I adore you, truly, but even my patience has its limits. If you won't accept my hand, I'll simply have to take it by force." He chuckled darkly. "It might hurt a little, but there's no stopping it now. Don't make me do something we'll both regret."
Hancock's mind raced through a thousand different scenarios, searching for a single opening, a single weakness. But one by one, she discarded them. This man was a mirror; everything she threw at him came back twice as hard. He was invulnerable to her current state.
"Marigold, Sandersonia!" Hancock called out, her voice suddenly calm and deathly serious. She didn't look back. "Take the girls and get out of here. Immediately. That is an order!"
The Kujas froze. They knew that tone. It wasn't the tone of a commander; it was the tone of someone preparing for a suicide mission.
"No, Sister!" Marigold shouted, her voice thick with emotion. "We won't leave you! We'll fight together and die together!"
Sandersonia hissed at Chameleone, her eyes slitted with venomous hate. "We aren't going anywhere. If we die, we die on our feet!"
"Yes! Let us fight by your side!" the warriors cheered, their bows raised.
Hancock opened her mouth to argue, but Chameleone beat her to it. He looked at the gathered women with pure disdain. "Just you? I could wipe all of you out in minutes. What a pathetic joke."
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed his face. His grin turned cruel as he realized he had been going about this all wrong. "Boa Hancock... I've found a much faster way to make you succumb. You just exposed your greatest weakness. Hahaha!"
He pointed a long, trembling finger at the Kuja warriors. "If I take your precious citizens hostage, you'll sing a different tune, won't you? I'll ask you one last time: will you be my wife? If I'm not satisfied with your answer, I'll start killing them. One by one. Starting with the little one over there."
Rage, pure and blinding, surged through Hancock. She didn't wait for another word. She lunged, her speed shattering the ground beneath her. "Damned coward! You dare threaten my people? Go to hell!"
"Perfume Femur!"
Her right leg, tipped with a razor-sharp high heel, whistled through the air toward Chameleone's temple. The force of the kick caused the very air to vibrate, but Chameleone simply tilted his head.
"Too slow. Against me, that kind of speed is child's play."
He didn't counter-attack; he leapt backward, easily evading her strike. He landed gracefully and looked at her with a fierce, cold smile. "Fine. You've made me angry, and you've decided the fate of these girls."
"Let me give you a small taste of the consequences."
He clenched his right fist, his muscles bulging beneath his flamboyant jacket. He pulled his arm back, and a pale, translucent sphere of light began to shimmer around his knuckles. It pulsed with a rhythmic, terrifying power.
"Run!" Hancock's pupils shrank to pinpricks. She screamed at her citizens, her haughty mask completely shattered. "Get away! Hide, now!"
To the world, she was the cold, arrogant Empress who looked down on everyone. But in this moment, her face was a mask of pure, unadulterated terror for her people.
The Kuja soldiers scrambled to turn, sensing the shift in the atmosphere.
"It's too late! Gijijiji!" Chameleone roared. "Behold my greatest stolen gift! Shatter!"
He punched the air with violent force.
CRACK!
The air itself fractured like a sheet of glass. White, jagged fissures spread across the sky. The ground groaned and split open, trees were uprooted in an instant, and a massive shockwave of pure vibration tore through the jungle toward the fleeing women.
"Arghhh!"
A chorus of screams erupted as the warriors were blasted off their feet, sent tumbling through the dirt. They weren't dead—Chameleone had pulled the punch just enough—but they were battered and pinned down by the sheer pressure.
"Look at my power, Hancock!" Chameleone sneered, stepping through the dust. "That was just a warning. If you still refuse, I won't be so generous next time. I'll start snapping necks until you say 'I do'."