Sloppy Seconds (2)

"Just help her!" Igaram shouted as they traveled through the alleys and streets of Whiskey Peak.

"Just help me!" Even Miss. Wednesday shouted in equal parts fear and exasperation as, despite the speed with which she was forced away by an unknown individual, Brody just jogged right beside her with a grin, "No! I want to see who's doing this and how."

"There's a—" Wednesday began only for Brody to shout, "Alalalalala! I don't want to hear it and spoil the fun!"

Wednesday's lips quivered in anger now as she glared at the man while Igaram shouted once again, "Just save the Princess! We'll pay you anything you want!"

Unaware of the actual beast following them even if somewhat behind the chase, the trio continued. Meanwhile, Nami looked at Nojiko and smiled, "You hear that? A princess in distress... hehe! It was a good thing we decided to follow Brody!"

"Well," Nojiko looked at Nami weirdly, "You were a little concerned that Captain would let his excitement play things out for him..."

"I still am," Nami huffed and pouted, "Truly... he worries me too much!"

---

"Huh? We really did reach the edge of the island... Now I want to go check out those hills," Alvida let go of the collar of an unfortunate opponent without as much as a single mark on herself while looking off to curved and large hills that boasted 'tiny' protrusions in a consistent pattern that cause the hills to look similar to giant cactus instead!

The name of the Island is Cactus Island due to this feature itself.

Unlike Alvida's curiosity, Reiju seemed more interested in something else, "How long are you going to remain hidden?"

Alvida scowled and grew alert, looking around with doubt in her eyes as she sensed nobody else except for them but Reiju, even without having her raid suit equipped moved at a speed Alvida could only envy at this point and found the pink-haired personal extractor of their captain picking an unconscious body and practically slamming it on a puddle.

Just when Alvida thought that Reiju had lost it, a loud snicker made her skin crawl as the splashing puddle suddenly flew midair and took a somewhat human shape despite still keeping a liquid-like appearance. The womanly shape of the liquid forced Alvida to recall Smoker... A logia devil fruit.

"How did you find me~?" A flirtatious voice emerged from the figure as she still chose to remain in a liquid form rather than reveal herself fully while Reiju remained rather unresponsive and looked around. It wasn't for more than a few seconds that Reiju suddenly turned to Alvida, "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah."

Leaving the unknown woman stunned, the duo sped away without looking back. For all their strengths, they knew that Logia users were just too hard to deal with, and even if they could assume that the woman wasn't as strong as Smoker... she would certainly still be as troublesome as him.

Seeing the duo run, the woman laughed with arrogance saturating her tone, "The two of them are strong but nothing compared to a Logia User like me!"

Her body turned and twisted into a stream of liquid that simply shot towards them through the air itself.

---

"So? Marry me!" Bear King proclaimed with a lewd grin that Tashigi now realized she would much rather see on her captain than this monstrosity. Setting the meito she picked up from one of the bounty hunters away, she pointed her sword at him, "No one will marry you!"

"I didn't ask you!" Bear King glowered as Tashigi pursed her lips while Carmen held her pan and whispered, "I have a plan."

Valentine and Tashigi eased for a second. The former may not have trusted Carmen but she did respect the cook's abilities in the kitchen. So, Carmen walked out a little and let her red lips stretch into a seductive smirk, "Marry me, you say? I'll do it on one condition alone!"

"Name it," Bear King proclaimed.

With her smile slowly receding, Carmen adopted an absolutely disgusted expression while raising her middle finger to salute the Bear King as she scoffed, "Drop dead."

Tashigi's and Valentine's expressions froze while Bear King's eyes widened for a second and then his nostrils flared in fury!

"Forget it! I don't need a wife with a mouth as twisted as yours!" He clenched his fist while Tashigi hissed nervously, "Carmen-san, you said you had a plan!"

"That's the plan!" Carmen declared, "How dare did that Boor think you're not beautiful? You've got an ass that doesn't quit!"

Blushing fiercely and almost floored by such blunt words, Tashigi felt her cheeks and neck heat up while Valentine grumbled, "It looks like... for the moment, sticking together is better."

Bear King charged at them with large strides. His body was unusually large, larger than Brody even, and his legs equally small. His palm was so large it could hold the top of a barrel of wine without any issues and a fist clenched out of such a palm now made its way towards Carmen intending to put her down!

Not the least bit scared, Carmen threw the pan that struck Bear King's face before his punch reached her as it only made him pause for a second. With the man struck by the side of the pan itself right across his nose, Carmen and others saw a layer of somewhat darker and hardened skin cover Bear King's face.

"It won't work!" The man grinned, "The Hard-Hard Fruit allows me to harden my skin! And..."

He bent down to pick the pan as his arm turned a shade darker before letting out a sizzling noise. The skin over his arm turned deep, metallic red as the iron pan in his hands began to melt and lose its shape!

"I'm the Strongest!" Bear King proclaimed proudly.

The trio finally looked intimidated to some extent as melted iron slipped down from the gaps of Bear King's finger and fell onto the ground with a steaming hiss.

They couldn't fight him, but more nimble than ever after trying to train for Kami-e and Tekkai since both the skills developed one's coordination and physique, Tashigi practically burst into speed for the short distance between herself and the Bear King. Her sword slashed against his other arm only to find it long hardened, too.

Scoffing, Bear King held the top of Tashigi's head as her glasses shattered and threw her away into one of the houses. While the air was knocked out of Tashigi's lungs as a faint imprint alongside thin cracks appeared on the wall appeared around the point of contact, Carmen retreated and whistled, "Pinky! A little help here!"

On the other hand, Valentine chose to jump and float over Bear King with her legs curled up.

"Huh?" He looked up with a frown, "What the hell?"

'10000 kilo Cannon Ball!' A sadistic glee touched her grin as she zoomed in on Bear King with her knees crushing into his arms as he hurriedly tried to defend himself before his entire body was slammed into the ground with his arm bent sideways and Valentine sitting knee-first over his chest.

Aside from his broken arm, Bear King looked fine. Valentine's weight did keep him pinned down but she was forced to move aside quickly as his uninjured hand glowed red and swatted against her. Again, reducing her weight to almost become like a feather, Valentine was pushed away by the force of the attack itself before she readjusted her weight and stood on the ground with a somber expression.

"You bitch!" Bear King roared! But it was still hard for him to move after experiencing 10000 kilos slamming him into the ground.

"Hey, Tashigi, can you move?" Carmen hurried towards Tashigi with a worried expression as the swordswoman managed to groan barely and sit up with Carmen's help. She wasn't incapacitated and could move if she really pushed herself but her vision now remained blurry without her glasses.

Meanwhile, on Valentine's side, fully intending on finishing her opponent, she jumped up once again and opened her umbrella to adjust her position. Seeing her float over his head, Bear King's expression still remained furious and his entire body was hardened alongside glowing red. His clothes burned off and he roared, "Go on! I'll melt your skin off!"

Valentine pursed her lips and even Carmen and Tashigi looked a bit helpless.

At this point, Carmen's and Valentine's attention was captivated by something else and even Bear King felt the ground tremble ever so slightly. Slowly prying himself out of the ground, he found a gigantic dragon-headed tortoise with a deep brown shell and a forest on its back moving towards him with measured step. The brown-skinned beast with pure red eyes would at times swipe away several unconscious bodies with fifth and sixth turtle-like limbs that caused Bear King's lips to part in amazement.

He did come to be when the Sea King was too close even for his own comfort as Carmen shouted gleefully at her crewmate coming in for the clutch. Devil Back pirates knew that Pinky was capable of moving on land and water with both sets of her limbs but it just happened to be that tortoise-like legs were suitable on land and this was their first time seeing her walk as such.

"That's the bastard, Pinky! Get him!"

Pinky turned her head and looked at Bear King who looked a little nervous at this point. But clearly not enough as his entire body still remained glowing red. The man didn't intend to back down from any fight but Pinky merely opened its mouth wide. When Bear King thought that the beast wanted to eat him and it would allow him to hurt the enemy from the inside... he saw the Dragon's throat bulge for a second before a massive blast of air pinned him to the ground once again!

"Again!" Carmen cheered for her partner. The stubborn cook may feel the need for strength now more than ever but seeing Pinky in action brought a different level of excitement to her!

To her words, Pinky launched another volley of air blasts once again. It may not hurt Bear King in the beginning but unable to move and constantly under attack did begin to add up. It wasn't long until Valentine returned to the ground after maneuvering around from the aftereffects of Pinky's attack in an experienced manner and looked at Carmen and Tashigi with a conflicted gaze.

Sighing, she muttered with her face adopting a practiced smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Devil fruit users expend stamina in return for their abilities in most cases. If that man has to activate his abilities then it must be true for him... so, your 'ship' should keep attacking and let him run out of Stamina..."

Carmen blinked in surprise before chuckling, "Pinky, you heard her! Keep on going!"

*Roar!*

Pinky howled into the sky before launching air blasts again as Bear King's vision blurred as much as his sense of hearing and other senses were starting to go off the rails!

***

Alternate Title: Pinky— The Best Pirate

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Shoutout to Ulesys, j n, No Title, and Judd!!

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