Not-so-Idle Threats

Vinsmoke Judge's plan was simple.

His sons didn't need to beat Harpin D. Cherry, in fact he didn't expect that they could win. What he did expect was that his boys could spill some of her blood.

With her blood, he could analyze and extract her lineage factor and find out the secret to her monstrous physical capabilities; possibly even how she was able to transfer her own life force into Whitebeard at the Marineford war.

For a genius like himself, this was a trivially easy thing to accomplish.

They entered the training room and Judge grew excited. Cherry would underestimate his sons because she easily took down Niji, but she'll be taken by surprise after they put on their RAID suits. They hadn't been wearing them at the table, after all.

Even if it doesn't work, there is always plan b. Not that he'll have to use it, but it paid off to always have a backup plan.

"Which one of us goes first?" Yonji asked nonchalantly.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Ichiji suggested.

"What are you boys talking about? You're all going to face me at once. It won't even be any fun otherwise." Cherry interjected.

The three brothers smiled maliciously and Judge almost could suppress his own grin. This was just too perfect.

Individually, with their RAID suits, they were a force to be reckoned with. Being able to fight together, they were unstoppable.

Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji each struck a ridiculous pose, all three holding a numbered can in their hands. An elaborate transformation took place and ended with them wearing the costumes that Cherry had seen them in before.

"So this is what you use all this tech for? Showmanship?" Cherry asked disdainfully.

"I wouldn't expect a peasant girl to understand the value of appearances," Niji sneered. "Prepare yourself for a pummeling!"

Even though brother number two was the one mouthing off, it was brother number four who rushed forwards first.

Cherry waited for him, but was slightly surprised to find his hand shooting away from his arm attached by an extending cable towards her at great speed.

She caught the hand before the fist hit her then felt a tug as the cable rapidly retracted, pulling Yonji towards her even faster with a drop kick.

Cherry sidestepped the kick directly into the path of an elbow strike from Niji. She hopped over him only to be met once more by Ichiji's flying knee attack.

'They have remarkable teamwork for such arrogant assholes. No doubt it has been beaten into their thick skulls for years.' Cherry quietly surmised.

She flowed around Ichiji like a leaf on the wind, using the force he himself created to dodge his strike. Then Yonji came for her once again.

Cherry dodged the next dozen or so attacks in quick succession. Each failed attack was faster than the last and she could tell they were gauging her for weaknesses and openings.

She was genuinely impressed by their methodical nature and thought that it really didn't match their brutish personalities at all.

Unfortunately for the three brothers, all their efforts to pick apart her fighting style was for nought. Her raw strength and speed combined with Rokushiki were more than enough for just this much.

Regrettably, she wasn't here to play around, but to teach a valuable life lesson to some naughty brats. Their going to regret having such big heads about themselves when she shoves them up their metaphorical asses.

Cherry showed an opening, the tiniest window of opportunity that most would miss, but skilled and sadistic fighters like these three would hone in on immediately.

"""Black Bug!!!""" they shouted in unison, arranging themselves in a practise and efficient manner to strike her simultaneously.

Judge subconsciously leaned forward in his seat, filled with anticipation. Sanji and Reiju both watched nervously, though for different reasons.

The change in Cherry's demeanor was swift and violent. She went from graceful dancer to immovable mountain in a fraction of a second, allowing all three attacks to slam into her without even trying to avoid them.

Cherry neither budged nor flinched. Instead, Yonji and Ichiji's fists crumpled against either side of her head like tin foil pickaxes against a boulder. Niji's kneecap shattered like a sugar glass bottle in a bar fight scene from a Ballywood movie.

A delicate hand gripped the collar of Yonji's RAID suit an instant before Cherry's foot was driven so far into his gut that he was literally folded in half, his chest pressed against his pelvis.

Cherry's head swiveled towards Ichiji and he was quick to respond with a laser blast from his good hand, with no regard for Yonji's safety if she were to dodge.

Cherry did not dodge, however. She reached straight through the light beam and grabbed him by his red hair. A beat later, her elbow was driven through his teeth, leaving his mouth a mess of blood and gums.

Niji was saved for last so he would know what was coming, not that he had to wait very long since it all happened so fast.

Cherry half-dropped to the ground and came back up with Niji's legs held in each hand. In a strange maneuver that no one watching really understood, Cherry had Niji's open jaw nestled over his groin.

"I did warn you~" Cherry said, almost sounding sorry.

A powerful palm struck against Niji's head, using his own teeth to sever his family jewels despite the protection of the RAID suit he was wearing.

For the first time in their lives, Ichiji and Yonji felt a trickle of something that might be fear as they listened to Niji's mournful wail of agony.

Judge looked upon her with no small amount of frustration. Cherry had just taken his sons' strongest combo move head on and didn't have the smallest scratch to show for it. Not a single drop of blood was lost. He felt no sympathy for the brothers; they had failed in their mission, so it was only natural that they would experience some pain.

Reiju saw Cherry in a brand new light. Mostly a big helping of respect, a healthy dose of fear, and a tiny bit of something else that she didn't care to admit to. As for her brothers, well, she did feel a bit bad for them, but she also felt that they deserved to get kicked down a notch every now and then to keep them humble.

Sanji wanted to delight in his brothers' misery, but as a man he couldn't look at Niji with anything except pity, even though he felt that it was completely deserved.

"Don't you think that you went a bit too far?" Judge spoke up, searching for another angle with which he could get what he wanted.

"It's fine, right? They're still kicking, so you can use that fancy tech of yours to fix them right up!" Cherry said cheerfully, clearly in a better mood. She looked at Niji again and said, "I hope they don't change my nickname, eventually. I rather like the one that I have, so I don't want to be "Line-Ender" Cherry or something."

*snort* Reiju couldn't help herself and let out some stifled laughter.