Croquant
Three days after the Enies Lobby incident and the following party, the strawhats were lounging around or training while waiting for their ship to be built.
Knowing, that Garp and Kuzan were on their way to meet Luffy and Robin respectively, he decided to stay around.
Not to mention, that he wanted to spend as much time as he could with Robin and his cute little daughter.
His gaze turned gentle as he looked upon the little wonder, that elicited feelings of protective love just as much as his sib- and niblings, if not more so.
At the moment, she was watching Chopper work with an interested look.
She explained to Croquant, that her past as a ship was all there in her memories, but her senses were starkly different to the ones she had now.
This made everything a new and exciting experience.
What he didn't expect was her gaining all the skills his mom wanted the homie to have.
She was a decent navigator now, not nearly as good as Nami, but she had all the skills she needed to navigate the grandline.
She was also proficient in fighting with the cutlass and the spear, though he didn't have time to test her on that.
He knew that the homies, that fought with those weapons were usually somewhat decent at handling them, but nowhere near what was needed to fight at a high level.
It did give her a base to develop her own style, so he couldn't complain.
She also had a passive form of Kenbonshoku, similar to Nami's weather prediction.
Hers was specialised in detecting crewmates and loved ones as far as he could tell.
She always knew, where the strawhats were.
Same with him, even if he tried to hide his presence.
He found out about the ability after she came to him with a funny face and asked why Zoro was running in circles when he told them, that he'd just go to get some sake.
The directionally challenged man returned two hours later and loudly complained, that the bar was way too far away.
It took a lot out of him to not simply burst out laughing at the utterly confused looks he got from the locals.
The bar was only two buildings away, after all.
Of course, he did not forget to report to Brûlée-chan, that he was safe and had something private to do, which was why he wouldn't be home for a while.
He also sent some sweets, that he collaborated with Sanji on, through the mirror she gave him to stay in contact.
"The lion's share is for mom, but I packed some extra for you to show off at your private teaparties." He winked.
That earned him a gentle smile and a genuine thank-you from his older sister.
'Back to the present.' he stopped his ruminations, since he felt an overwhelmingly strong presence enter his Kenbonshoku range.
'So he does have Haoshoku.
As far as I know, it wasn't ever confirmed in the series, at least not before my death.'
His own will clashed playfully against Garp's as he turned to Luffy, who actually seemed to notice something, but couldn't place it.
"Your grandpa." He told him, which cleared up Luffy's confusion and made dread settle in.
"Grandpa is here?!" He asked frantically while clutching the front of Croquant's leather jacket.
"Not yet, but soon." He answered as he grabbed the young captain's wrists to pry his hands off the jacket, which was harder than it should be since they stretched a fair bit before snapping back.
"I know you are anxious, so I'll let it slide this time, but if you grab my jacket like that again, I'll use you as a slingshot to bombard Garp with stinkbombs."
What he didn't expect was the bright grin on Luffy's face.
"Sounds fun!"
'That threat didn't quite work the way I thought it would.' He mused to himself as he watched the strawhat curiously.
Meanwhile, Nami actually came to a conclusion, that she did not like at all.
"I heard grandpa and Garp in that conversation.
Please, don't let me be right.
Are you saying, that the marine's hero Garp is on his way here?
Additionally, he's the grandfather of our idiotic captain?!"
She was working herself into a right frenzy before Robin lightly cuffed her.
"We can't really change anything right now, so let's take what's coming head on.
What's the worst that could happen?
He goes on a rampage and kills us all in a gruesome way?" She actually lightly laughed, with Croquant joining in.
He really enjoyed her macabre sense of humour.
They were alone in their amusement, though, as what she said freaked out about three fourths of the crew.
"Nah, the most he'll do is distributing some fists of love."
Luffy answered Robin's half-joking comment.
Nami rubbed her temples as if to nurse a headache and asked.
"Do I even want to know?..."
Suddenly, they heard a loud laugh from outside.
"Bwahahaha! Be careful, lads, there is a strong one in there!"
Garp's voice clearly came from right behind the door, but for some reason, he entered through the wall besides it.
"Damn, I nearly entered through the door like a normal person. Bwahahaha!"
'The amount of exasperation he collected with that stunt is staggering.
It also confirms, that he is absolutely selfaware and just doesn't care in the least what others think about him.'
A haki-coated fist heading towards his face Interrupted his thoughts.
He could feel battle intent and honest to Goda joy from Garp as his own fist intercepted the powerful strike.
"I know it's been a while for you, old man, but I'm not really interested."
He told him with a bit of amusement in his voice.
He heard someone choke behind Garp.
The man himself just let loose a bellowing laugh and answered.
"Good for you! You wouldn't be able to keep up with me anyways!"
A bit of seriousness entered the diplomat's eyes as he neutralised the force of their punches.
"Look, if you want to spar, I'm all for it.
But if I'm not wrong, you actually want to catch up with your grandson, right?
There are also two fellows with battle intent, directed at Luffy and Zoro out there, we wouldn't want to let them wait, right?
So let's have our match a bit later?"
Garp had pulled back a bit and was picking his nose.
Just as Croquant was starting to relax his stance, Garp answered.
"Hell nah."
In a burst of speed, he appeared behind the dumbfounded Charlotte, smeared his finger across his hair and threw him out of the resort.
'Did he just put a booger in my hair?! Who does that?! How old is that guy and why is he still this childish?!'
A host of questions appeared in the head of the incredulous powerhouse as he righted himself in the air and prepared for battle.
The vice admiral's throw landed him on an empty field near the outskirts of the island.
'Just how far did the old bastard plan to throw me?! I actively worked against the momentum with geppo!'
Seconds after him, Garp landed with enough force to cause a slight tremor and an enormous dust cloud in his surroundings.
"Could have sworn I've thrown you further than that... I must be getting old, bwahahaha!"
'Old my ass.' he grumbled inwardly with a tick mark on his temple.
He composed himself as he readied himself for a battle against one of the old legends.
'To be honest, I'm actually quite pumped for this fight too. It's been a while since someone actually pushed me.'
Garp
'What a monster. At that age, I was barely above a rear admiral's level of strength, and this guy can already throw hands with the big ones.'
Originally, he just wanted to test the kid, but after he casually blocked his 'Fist of bloody Justice', he decided to really put him through the wringer.
Truthfully, he actually liked Croccy.
The kid was competent, a good orator and a monster on the battlefield.
He also had morals but was ruthless when the situation required it.
In the marines, he would have been a vice admiral from the headquarters at the very least.
Feeling his blood boil for the first time in ages, he cracked his knuckles and smirked.
"Get ready for the beating of a life time, kid."
This time, he was the one who was surprised with the speed of his foe.
'His proficiency with soru is close to mine.'
He thought while blocking a haki coated leg, only to jump back to avoid a rankyaku.
"Heh..."
It was just the first exchange, and Garp already was having fun.
'Just what I need to shake off the rust.'
He thought as he started to actually fight back instead of avoiding the shots.
General
Tyrannical currents of air whipped around the two of them as they exchanged blow after blow.
By now, the others had caught up, but all they could do was watching with open mouths and fear in their eyes.
(Nami, Usopp, Chopper, most of the marines)
Stars in their eyes at how awesome the fight was.
(... Luffy, who else could it be? Oh, and Merry too.) Or seriously planning to train even more and silently promising themselves to one day stand at the same stage as those giants.
(Some marines, most notably Coby, who's fire got ignited by watching his mentor duke it out with a friend of Luffy's.
Zoro, Sanji and Robin also fell into this category.)
"Let's kick it up a notch, old man!"
They heard Croquant's shout, before everything went crazy.
They both started using Emission and Haoshoku Infusion.
Fist strikes, sounding like thunder, were clashing against each other and their bodies were blurrs, that most of those present couldn't even follow with their eyes anymore.
Luffy actually used Gear 2, just for the increased perception to keep 'watching'.
He could read the flow of the battle taking place, just slightly, while concentrating beyond his usual limit.
He couldn't actually see them, as they moved too fast for even his enhanced state to visually percept.
Every single sense was working in overdrive, though, which allowed his battle genius to perceive what was happening, if only a bit.
The others, who wondered, where the heat and steam were coming from couldn't help but gawk at the Strawhat, who was seemingly boiling alife.
This new curiosity only kept their attention for seconds, though, as the fight reached it's climax.
Croquant
'That's not an old man, that's a monster.' he thought as another bone cracked under the pressure of receiving a well aimed fist.
'Fighting Garp is the most agonising experience I've had in years! But why is it, that I can't keep the smile off my face?'
And true to his thoughts, a battle-crazy smile, slightly bloody because of a small wound above his left eye, could be seen on his visage.
"Bwahahaha, what is it, boy, can't keep up?!"
Garp shouted as he shot at him again at speeds, that a man of his age shouldn't be able to achieve. And he was getting faster.
"In your dreams, you geriatric fossil."
He retorted and forced himself to dodge to the side as receiving any more of those abnormally strong fists would spell his defeat.
'I need something to give me an edge.
Something, that'll push me up a nodge if I want to have a chance.
I'll have to use that, eh?
I think I'll be down only a day or two now, since my body is far stronger than it was back then.'
He concentrated on dodging instead of counterattacking while he prepared a massive infusion of Bosushoku into his body.
He exerted his will on specific parts of his muscles, joints, ligaments and bones to reinforce them in a unique way.
Flame patterns started to appear on his skin as the technique took form and Garp had stopped attacking to watch him curiously.
Croquant only kept enough focus outwards to react to Garp's attacks as he focused on reinforcing even his circulatory system, finishing the technique with a flame pattern appearing on his heart, not that anyone could see that.
The pressure originating from him spiked, as soon as he finished reinforcing his heart.
"I call this form 'Flame Touched'.
Can't keep this up for long, so let's finish this."
His voice sounded strained as he used his modest mastery over Seimei Kikan to increase his bloodflow.
General
All those who blinked missed his movement completely as he appeared in front of the vice admiral within a fraction of a second.
The Behemoth called Garp managed to react to his new speed and threw another bone-cracking punch, only to feel his own bones straining against the force, that had invaded his fist.
"Oh, that's an interesting thing you've done there."
He commented somewhat seriously as he dodged the follow up with a well placed short range soru.
He blinked in surprise, as his opponent looked about to fall, only to transfer the momentum of the attack into a front flip while positioning himself perfectly for an impressive heel kick, that rattled Garp's body.
He reacted quickly, though, as he used his arms, crossed above his head, to trap the offending appendage.
He then threw a front kick, using Internal Destruction for the first time in this battle.
Just enough to end the fight.
He was in for a surprise, though, as he dealt a relatively low amount of damage.
"So you are protecting your insides too?
Impressive focus!
Still, this isn't enough."
The serial decliner of the admiral's position infused an ungodly amount of haki into his strong arm and simply stated.
"Fist of the End."
A suppression effect completely locked down Croquant, as he desperately tried to back away from the frankly scary attack, that was approaching him with speeds not seen on this day yet.
Defiance appeared in his eyes as he used everything he had left, including Haoshoku, to somehow counter the attack.
Their fists crashed against each other, struggling for dominance for a moment, before Garp overwhelmed his hastily mounted defence.
The surroundings shattered as the force of the attacks lashed outwards and Croquant smashed into the ground.
The fight was over.
Garp's serious countenance melted away as if it hadn't been there at all while he started picking his nose again.
"Hey, you still alive?!" He called out into the crater as he flicked the booger, that he picked from his nose, into the man shaped hole, only to receive a groan as answer.
"Next time, I'll pay you back for those boogers, old man..."