Underground Battle! Vs Boss B!

Hancock landed gracefully on her feet after falling hundreds of feet underground.

"Hancock!"

Luffy landed nearby.

"Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah. Where are we, Luffy?"

The two were in an open space illuminated by giant glowing crystals.

"Boss B's World."

Luffy's eyes were scanning the area. Hancock spotted heaps of bones around her.

"One of the bosses of the island lives here? So we're in its hunting grounds?"

"Yes. It loves to drag its prey underground and kill it before it knows what hit them. It nearly killed me three times in the first week I was here."

"What?"

Veins started bulging in Hancock's head.

'Calm down, Hancock. You can't lose your cool here and become a burden for Luffy.'

Hancock took a deep breath. She spread her senses around her.

"Luffy, it isn't here."

"I know. Rayleigh kicked it ass so much it avoids me now. However, once it realizes Rayleigh isn't here it will come for the kill."

"How does it fight?"

"With its claws and giant mouth. Its claws are sharp enough to penetrate normal haki and it's super fast underground, so be careful."

'Fast underground?'

Hancock opened her mouth to speak, but she sensed something quickly approaching.

"Get ready!"

As Luffy shouted, the monster emerged from underneath them with a roar.

"Wha?! It moves through the earth like it's water?!"

Hancock witnessed the monster emerged out of the earth without damaging it.

"Yeah, it can do that. Even Rayleigh doesn't really get why!"

Luffy immediately entered Gear Second.

"Hancock, its shell is super hard so attack the part sticking out!"

"I got it!"

Hancock readied for battle.

"Let's go!!!"

The monster roared as the two charged at it. Luffy was the first to reach it.

"Jet Pistol!"

The monster's body flickered. It appeared in front of Hancock.

'It is fast as Luffy?!'

Hancock screamed in her head as she evaded the monster's claw.

"Perfume Femur!"

She swung at the monster but it dove into the earth and disappeared.

"Tsk, it's slippery."

Hancock leaped into the air to avoid being swallowed by a giant mouth.

"Elephant Gun!"

Luffy's giant haki-coated fist slammed into its snout.

"Rahhhh!"

It wailed and submerged into the earth again.

"Dammit, it wasn't enough!"

Luffy landed near Hancock.

"The Boss Monsters are on the move, so we might have to beat them all. I don't want to waste too much energy on them before fighting King."

The monster emerged swinging its claws at Luffy. He ducked under it while Hancock leaped above it. She aimed at a stomp at its head. It retreated into its shell. The moment her attack missed, the monster emerged from its shell and attacked with lightning speed.

"Red Hawk!"

Luffy hit its shell and forced it to the side. The monster slammed into the wall and disappeared into the earth.

'It's fast, but its way of fighting is cowardly. It just attacks and then hide. Is it trying to wear us out?'

"Luffy, do you think your attack did any real damage?"

"Not much. This thing is incredibly tough. It probably walked off the damage from my Elephant Gun already."

'So it is trying to wear us down.'

Hancock nodded.

"Luffy, I have a suggestion. Let me fight this thing and you preserve your energy and take it out when you see an opening."

"Why?"

"You want to fight King right? Then you'll need to be in top shape."

Hancock smiled.

"Just leave it to me."

The monster emerged behind her trying to swallow her whole. She spun around and leaped into its mouth.

"Hancock?!"

This shocked Luffy.

"I'm fine!"

Hancock grinned.

"Perfume Femur!"

She spun with a kick and shattered several fangs as big as her. The monster wailed but she didn't care. She stood on her hands and pushed herself off its tongue. Her heels slammed into the roof of the monster's mouth. The mouth was forced open. Hancock leaped out of its mouth and pointed at it.

"Filthy beast, for the sin of attacking us I sentence you to death!"

"RAAAH!!"

The monster replied with a deafening roar. It retreated into its shell.

"This is! Hancock watch out! It can attack with its shell!"

"What?"

Hancock saw a blur at the corner of her eye. She spun around and was blasted away into a wall.

"Hancock?!"

"I-I'm fine!"

Hancock was lodged in the wall with her arms crossed in front of her.

'I blocked it in time.'

She searched for the monster.

"?!"

She leaped to her side. The wall she was lodged into was hit by a giant shell.

"What kind of attack is that?"

The shell flickered. Hancock jumped back. The shell crashed into the spot she was. Hancock kicked off a wall. The shell moved again.

"Perfume Femur!"

Her leg clashed with the giant shell.

"Ugh!"

The two of them were blown back. Hancock's feet skid on the ground. She lifted one leg before coming to a stop and kicked out. Her foot clashed with the shell again. She was blown back. She landed on a wall and kicked off it. The shell rushed at her. She kicked the shell again. The two came to halt in the air.

"Rah!"

The monster's claw flew out of the shell and slash at her. Hancock twisted her body to evade it. She grabbed the arm.

"You damn monster!"

She flung it into a wall. The monster disappeared into the earth. Hancock who was free-falling sensed an attack from below. She bent her knees and stomped down. Her heels clashed with the shell. She was forced towards the roof. The shell chased after her.

"You think you have me trapped?"

She lifted her arms overhead. The roof cracked as she stopped herself with her arms.

"Keep dreaming, fool!"

Her arms tensed up as the shell came after her. She pushed herself off the roof so hard the entire cave shook.

"Perfume Femur Magna!"

With a force rivaling a rocket, Hancock's kick slammed into the shell. A shattering noise resounded as the shell burst open. The monster wailed as Hancock sunk her heel into its exposed body. It was blasted toward the ground. Its body bounced off the floor before being forced into the earth by a falling Hancock.

"Now that I think about it, you must've been the monster Luffy was talking about. The one who forced us to move from our first lovenest."

Hancock grinds her heel into the monster.

"A cowardly bastard like you would surely do that."

She started stomping on it with a demonic expression. She then caught Luffy staring at her in the corner of her eye.

"Luffy~! You can finish it off now~!"

Hancock stood on the monster while waving at Luffy.

"....No, I think you already killed it."

"Hm? Ah, I let my anger get the better of me."

She skipped over to Luffy.

"I'm so sorry, Luffy! I didn't mean to! I just got carried away! Please don't be angry!"

"No, it's fine. I didn't want to waste energy anyway."

Luffy wrapped his arm around her.

"Eh? Eh?"

"Anyway, let's get out of here."

Ignoring the flustered Hancock, Luffy leaped into the air.

"Pistol!"

He punched the cracked roof and caused it to cave in. He and Hancock emerged from underground and returned to the surface. Once on the surface, Luffy released the flustered Hancock.

"Looks like the fighting is still going."

He said while looking around.

"Let's go, Hancock. It's gonna be a long day."

"Y-Yes."

The two ran deeper into the island and the war zone.