The gas masked marines marched through the Fungwood. They kept their eyes sharp as they scanned their surroundings for threats, gripping their guns and swords in nervous anticipation.
Occasionally a figure would flit past in the periphery of their vision or hear a strange noise and they would spin to face the cause, only to find strange animals covered in moss and mushrooms.
Gion and Tokikake were thankful that their men this time weren't so jumpy as to fire a shot without confirming a target first. They didn't didn't always have a crew so unanimously disciplined, but those were the perks of going up against a formidable foe. No trainees.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Gion? What if she holds the village hostage?" Tokikake asked, still feeling all this was unnecessary and rightly so as it wasn't their mission to capture the target this time.
"That's why you didn't become an admiral, Tokikake. You only ever do what you have to and never anything more." Gion chided.
"And you didn't make the cut because you talk back to superiors too much." Tokikake said.
They both smiled. They knew perfectly well what their flaws were and that they likely played a role in the decision to choose others for the admiral positions. They had no intentions of changing regardless.
Suddenly they both stopped in their tracks, the smiles slipping away from their faces. The marines stopped in short order as well, raising their guards even further.
Constable Ricky was the last to notice as he had been leading the way.
"What's wrong-" Constable Ricky started to speak before he found himself dragged down to the ground.
A high pressure stream of liquid pierced through the air where he had been standing a moment before. When that stream pierced through dozens of giant mushrooms before cutting deep into a boulder, he went pale in the face.
"That was dangerous, marine. If you had moved him the wrong way he might have died you know?" A voice sounded from the left.
The marines opened fire into the mushrooms in the general direction of the voice.
"What naughty little marines you are. If I were a lesser pirate, I may have taken hostages. In that case you would have gunned them down without mercy." The voice spoke from the right this time.
The marine spun around in terror, but they did not fire this time. They even felt guilty for acting rashly.
"I had thought better of you, Harpin D. Cherry. I figured you for the sort that didn't harm the innocent, but I have misjudged it seems." Gion spoke, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. She was just guessing as to the identity of the woman.
"I haven't tried to harm any innocents, though? That man is a killer, a murderer. Then again, why would you trust a pirate over a constable?" The voice changed positions quickly between each sentence.
Gion glanced at Constable Ricky on the ground, but all she could read from him was that he was frightened.
"You can't beat us both, Harpin D. Cherry. Why don't you just surrender yourself quietly?" Tokikake said. He didn't expect anything, but it was always best to ask just in case.
Constable Ricky couldn't take it anymore and made a run for it.
"Don't-!" Tokikake tried to go after him, but the moment Ricky was out of sight the sound of his footsteps vanished.
"I have what I came for, so why don't you go back to your ship?" The voice suggested. "Or I could start taking those gas masks off of you, then it's only a matter of time before you have to choose between the lives of your crew and catching me.
"We won't give into your threats!" A marine shouted.
*Swoosh*
Only Gion and Tokikake got a good look at the figure that flashed through their ranks. Cherry wore a playful smile as she winked at them, before snatching the gas mask off the marine's face.
The marine gasped in surprise before dropping his weapon to cover his face in panic.
Gion and Tokikake understood how Cherry could get away from Sengoku now. She was clearly using their own technique, Soru, and to an absurd degree. Few ever reached the level of speed that Cherry just demonstrated.
Cherry's presence vanished in the mushrooms once more so they couldn't even give chase.
"Screw this, all of you on the ground!" Gion drew her sword.
Immediately the marines threw themselves to the ground as flat as they could manage, including Tokikake.
With a shout, Gion swung her sword in a full circle around her several times. The blade light expanded out from her and leveled the forest in a radius of a few hundred meters, cutting them into smaller pieces with each pass.
Although there was still cover, at least nothing and no one could hide above eye level now.
In the distance they saw a winged woman flying away with Constable Ricky. Cherry was also in the air nearby as it was the only place to dodge Gion's sword light, bouncing on thin air with one foot.
*PSSSH*
The countless fungal growths that Gino had cut started to spew spores into the air, creating a thick cloud of them like fog.
"Well that's interesting. I wonder if it's a survival mechanism?" Cherry wondered aloud. "That's a lot of poisonous spores, though. Is that guy going to be okay?"
The marine who was holding his breath was now jerking around a bit as he struggled not to breathe in the thick cloud of spores.
"Take him back to the ship already!" Tokikake ordered, and a couple of marines grabbed the man and dragged him away.
"Aren't you going to send the rest away too? I thought I was hinting at that pretty hard. They'll just be collateral damage if you really want to fight me." Cherry said graciously. "Honestly, why do you marines always insist on bringing these poor sods into high level fights?"
This was just Cherry's narrow perception, though. Against most opponents, even the stronger ones, a barrage of bullets was an effective tactic. Even the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger was executed with ordinary blades without any haki coating whatsoever, as his body was barely tougher than the average man.
In this particular case, however, Cherry was correct. Gion and Tokikake knew that as well, the marines were mainly brought to help with whoever else Cherry would have with her.
"Retreat! We'll handle this ourselves." Gion commanded. The marines were hesitant, but obeyed.
"I've been dying for a fair fight for a while now. It's exciting!" Cherry spoke. "All I've run into recently are weaklings and the occasional monster like Sengoku."
Tokikake took a stance with his fists raised before him. "I'd like to test myself against you as well. Even if you cheated, you did take a win from my teacher."
Gion took a step into the cloud whilst hiding her own presence. She would let Tokikake take the forefront as he was better at frontal confrontation.
Tokikake waited for several seconds, listening closely and trying to sense anything with his haki. His eyes sharpened and he moved to retaliate against the oncoming blow.
*BAM*
Cherry drove her fist into the top of his head, sending him face first into the dirt. A strange ghostly apparition floated in the place his torso had been before he was struck.
Gion slashed at Cherry and clashed with her blade. She didn't keep the contact going because she knew from the reports that Cherry was stronger than her, as well as the lightning properties of her sword.
Gion slashed through the ghostly thing with her haki coated blade and it faded away with a frown on its face.
"What a cheap tactic." Gion complained.
Tokikake recovered quickly from his crippling depression and launched his fists at Cherry to pressure her alongside Gion. Both of them were trying to find where Perona was hiding
"Cheap is my middle name. Cheap starts with a D right?" Cherry said with a smile.
This was only the testing phase of the fight, so Cherry still had the leeway to joke. Even so, she could tell this wouldn't be easy. Unlike Sengoku, though, she thought he had okay odds, so she'd give it a proper go.