Commander Frowe

"You changed the material, I see." Old man Martin observed.

"Yeah, you don't mind, do you?" Cherry asked.

"I made it for you, you can do what you want with it. Besides, if you were to ask me whether I'd want the sole credit for making a fine grade Meito or be the co-creator of the world's strongest sword, then my answer would naturally be the latter." Martin smiled, not taking his eyes off of his transformed masterpiece.

"I have to say, the change I'm most proud of is the lightning logia devil fruit I added to it." Cherry bragged.

Thin arcs of electricity raced up the length of the blade as if on queue.

Martin was literally shaking with excitement, and why wouldn't he? The addition of one of the most powerful devil fruit abilities in the world made the sword a contender for the world's strongest sword all on its own.

They had a long chat about blacksmithing and swords, as well as catching up with each other's lives, though that was mostly Cherry as Martin didn't have his own adventures to talk about. Although, he did apparently start wooing the older lady who runs one of the local bakeries.

After a while, the bell on the counter in the showroom rang. It rang again after a few moments.

"Where's that blasted boy? He's supposed to be minding the shop. I'll be right back, Cherry." Martin said.

"No, I'll come with you." Cherry said, then turned her gaze towards her companions. "You three stay in here for now, I can deal with low level marines myself. That, and we don't need to cause more of a ruckus than necessary."

"You can't do that, Cherry. You're a wanted woman, remember?" Martin said, raising an eyebrow as if to ask 'How could you forget something like that?'

"It's Commander Frowe who rang the bell. You're apprentice peeked in on us and ran off to tattle to the marines after he saw me." Cherry spoke, clearly amused.

"That ungrateful little brat. Wait until I get my hands on him…" Martin said, making no further protests to her coming along.

They walked into the showroom to find Commander Frowe and a couple of marines standing back by the door that they had kept open. Past the door was a whole platoon of marines and, if you looked closely, Martin's apprentice was standing on his toes trying to peer inside over their shoulders.

"Haaah…" Commander Frowe ran his hand over his balding head and sighed in exasperation.

"Hey there, Commander. Been a while hasn't it?" Cherry casually greeted him.

The other marines had tensed up and started to sweat. Their only thoughts were that Cherry is way above their pay grade.

"I don't suppose you're going to give yourself up, are you?" Commander Frowe asked, doing the bare minimum that his position demands of him.

"Nope." Cherry gave him a toothy smirk.

"Didn't think so…" Commander Frowe said.

"By the way, do you remember that time about fifteen years ago when that warship was looking for Nico Robin?" Cherry asked.

"Yes?" Commander Frowe answered. Of course he remembered. It wasn't every day that a child was given a bounty, let alone a bounty of 79 million Beri.

"She was actually here on our little island at the time. I helped to smuggle her out to sea after you came by the dojo to ask about her." Cherry said, her smile widening.

Commander Frowe planted his face firmly into his palms.

"Well, it's been pleasant seeing your ugly mug again, Commander, but I think it's time I head on out. Would you prefer to be punished for not even trying to stop me, or should I rough you up a bit to make it look like you actually do something around here?" Cherry offered.

"Hey, we dealt with some pirates just a few months ago!" Commander Frowe defended himself, then realized that that also insinuated they hadn't done anything since then.

"Ugh, fine. Men! Those of you who want to be on latrine cleaning duty indefinitely can return to base. The rest of you, grit your teeth and fight to the last man!" Commander Frowe commanded.

"Don't worry boys. It'll hurt a whole lot, but I won't break any bones!" Cherry smiled evilly at them.

These lazy marines were pretty spooked by that, but in the end their lazy natures wouldn't accept permanent latrine duty so every last one of them prepared for battle.

"Treat this as a real battle, men! No holding back!" Commander Frowe ordered, drawing his sword intending to suffer the same fate as his good for nothing subordinates.

Cherry cracked her knuckles like a gangster and stepped out into the encirclement of marines.

*Thump* *BOOM*

A marine with a bazooka fired at her the moment she stepped outside. Before he could cheer that he "got her", he slumped forward. His face hit the cobblestone road with a sickening crack of his nose breaking.

"That's not very nice. The marines should fight fair, only I'm allowed to do cheap shots~" Cherry said, not having moved a muscle.

The marines had known from the start that they couldn't win, but they only truly understood how monstrous she was just now. Cherry hadn't even bothered to block the bazooka and had taken the blast head on, but not even her clothes were damaged. Moreover, she hadn't even touched the marine who fired the bazooka to make him pass out.

Cherry suddenly vanished and appeared in front of a random marine, holding a strange pistol before his face.

*Psssh*

A weak, but firm stream of sticky cola sprayed up his nose creating that horrible stinging sensation in his nasal cavity, before a foot slammed into his gut. The cola sprayed back out of his nostrils as the air left his lungs, then he fainted.

The marines came to another realization. They weren't just going to receive a beating, they were going to be humiliated in the process as well.

Commander Frowe decisively charged her and swung his blade at her neck.

Cherry casually caught his sword between her index and middle finger, then effortlessly disarmed him. She tossed the sword towards a marine with a strangely flat head, cleanly shaving the hair from the top of his head.

Cherry instantly appeared behind Commander Frowe. Then with his underwear firmly grasped in one hand, she gave him a wedgie the likes of which the world has never seen.

Cherry vanished again, but strangely she didn't reappear.

"Eeek!" They heard a voice squeal from a little further down the street.

Martin's apprentice had tried to run away when he realized he'd made a mess for himself, and unfortunately for him Cherry wasn't going to let him get away without punishment.

After a firm kick between the legs, Cherry got to work on his face. When she stepped back, the marines could see that the young man now had what looked like whiskers, his top front teeth were noticeably larger and longer, and the word "RAT" written across his forehead. Of course, it was written just beneath the skin, just like a tattoo.

The marines shuddered, but they had no time to pity the young man as their turns would come in short order.

Cherry made short work of the rest of the marines. By the time she was finished, all the marines were either unconscious or groaning in pain.

Cherry was moving their beaten bodies into compromising positions when her companions decided they were sick of waiting and came outside.

"Really, Cherry? Isn't it enough that you beat them up?" Robin asked, looking at a daisy chain of spooning marines.

"It builds character!" Cherry insisted.