With my patience having reached its limit, I kicked the air and lunged towards the closest child, who happened to be a knock-off pacifista with black wings and a small flame similar to King. Speedily flying through the air, I slammed Naga-sa at the child with enough force to destroy half of the island, and that was merely with my raw power, as I'd yet to utilize my haki.
However, with a swipe of his hand, he created a large bubble in the shape of a paw, and when my bo-staff slammed against it, instead of smashing it to bits, it completely absorbed my attack while growing to nearly twenty times its original size.
"Pom-Pom!" Said S-Bear as he clapped his hands together while staring at Diddy, causing the massive paw to suddenly move towards him.
Slapping the air in front of me, I flew backward away from the incoming palm, though I was required to dodge several nearly invisible strings that would've otherwise sliced me into multiple different pieces. Spinning in the air, I brought Naga-sa before me, blocking a powerful sword slash that cut through the air, forcing me backward toward a wave of surging sand.
Twisting my body, I launched a bolt of lightning at the wave of sand, rapidly transforming it into glass before slamming my bo-staff onto it, causing the massive glass to shatter into millions of tiny glass crystals as they fell throughout Marineford, though they were mostly ignored.
"C'mon, this is hardly a warm-up." Said Diddy calmly as he glanced at the seven children, his words causing them to frown while S-Snake stepped forward.
"Hmph, one gaze at my beauty, and you'll turn to stone!" Stated S-Snake firmly as she made a heart with her hands while pointing it at Diddy, causing an ethereal beam to envelop him.
Shifting my gaze to the girl who oddly resembled Hancock, I tilted my head in confusion since, while she clearly held the same powers as Hancock, it barely worked; though I hardly found her beautiful, to begin with, she looked like a child, and children didn't interest me.
"Stone? Hmph, I find you cute at best; if you grow into a woman, we can talk then. Though, you probably won't live long enough for that to happen." Remarked Diddy with a faint smirk as he glanced at S-Snake, who gnashed her teeth in frustration, only for the eyes to widen in disbelief.
Just as I was about to grab the child's face, I saw a dark shadow suddenly appear between her and I that surprisingly blocked my attack, though I had still forced the two of them back. Glancing at the one responsible, I noticed that just like his siblings, he also resembled another one of the warlords of the sea, causing me to snap my fingers as I gazed at each of the seven children.
"Huh, are you seven meant to replace the Seven Warlords of the Sea? Actually, here's a better question: are you seven children between King and the Seven Warlords of the Sea? Wait, no, that's stupid; some of them are dudes… Unless King can give birth? I mean, he's not human, so maybe." Remarked Diddy with a feral grin as he pointed at the seven, only to furrow his brows while rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression, causing their expressions to twitch.
While pondering how these seven came into existence, I was forced to dodge a sneak attack from behind by a child that looked like Jinbe, and though he used Fish-man Karate, it was subpar compared to the First Son of the Sea. Easily evading the several attacks, I snaked between the child's fists before wrapping my tail around his arm, only to yank him backward while kicking him towards the ground.
Just as I did that, the wannabe strongest swordsman of the sea lunged at me with his sword, and while I may have never faced Mihawk in battle, I've heard rumors he used to fight Shanks, and if my fight with Shanks told me anything, it was that he wasn't as strong as them.
Outstretching my hand, I coated it in haki and caught the kid's sword, though a massive gash was left in the ground behind me.
"Hmm, what's that smell?" Asked Diddy curiously as he glanced at S-Hawk, who furrowed his brows while releasing the sword, only for his arms to turn into blades.
Grabbing the hilt of the sword, I coated in haki and violently slashed at the child, slamming against his bladed arms, forcefully pushing him back while creating a bigger gash across Marineford.
'Technique and skill are nice and all, but anything can be achievable with enough brute force.' Mused Diddy with a smirk as he tossed the sword into the distance while taking a deep breath and focusing his mind.
It was a little ironic when I, arguably the greatest martial artist to exist, said such words, but I also didn't lie, though I digress.
From the brief clash I had with these seven, I've concluded that while they're decently strong, they didn't seem to have much chemistry when it came to fighting as a team; they mostly attacked whenever they saw an opening rather than working together in tandem.
Since that was the case, I no longer saw a point in continuing this little farce and figured it was time to test my new technique.
Dodging the attacks from the various children, I fused my observation and armament haki into one, and while viewing the future, I used my armament haki to crush the head of the knock-off version of Moria.
Snapping my eyes open, I clenched my fist and punched the air, creating a vertical dome of lightning that arced through the sky, forcing the seven children onto the defensive; however, while patiently waiting, Moria's child suddenly appeared before me while his shadow attacked me from behind. Yet, just as his attack was about to land, his head was suddenly crushed into a pancake, causing his shadow to dissipate while the flame atop his back extinguished, only for his body to fall to the ground.
"Huh, I see… Next time, I'll be quicker." Muttered Diddy softly as he rubbed his chin while glancing at the falling child before shifting his focus to the six.
As I gazed at the six, I saw the disbelief in their eyes while fear slowly crept onto their faces, causing me to sniff the air.
"Ahh, it was fear… That's what what I was smelling." Said Diddy with a ferocious grin as he licked his fangs while lunging towards the remaining six.
They may have been powerful, but at the end of the day, they were still children and highly susceptible to fear; well, except for Mihawk's child, he was pretty calm, though he was still clearly shaken from the death of his supposed sibling. However, with them no longer focused, it was pretty easy to practice my technique on them, and although this battle didn't go as I had envisioned, I was still making massive improvements.
Dodging an attack from Crocodile's child, I transformed his sand into a glass before suddenly smirking and turning around, completely ignoring him as he was merely a dead man walking.
"Oi! Get back here!" Yelled S-Croc in slight anger as he raised his hands, causing a wave of sand to cast a shadow over nearly half of Marineford, only for his eyes to suddenly widen.
"B-But h-how?" Asked S-Croc in fear and confusion as he gazed at the gaping hole in his chest where his heart used to be, only to fall to the ground while his flame slowly dissipated.
With two down, I shifted my focus to the string user in the distance, though to get to him, I was required to go through both Jinbe and Kuma's children, not like they proved to be much of a challenge. Once I passed them, I sliced through several strings using my nails, causing Doflamingo's child to shoot a volley of strings my way; clutching Naga-sa, I swung it at the incoming strings, knocking them off course only for them to surround me as they attempted to ensnare me.
"Hehehe." Muttered Diddy with a chuckle as he expanded his armament haki, creating spherical armor around himself, protecting him from the numerous strings.
Raising my bo-staff, I coated it in lightning before launching a bolt of lightning his way, prompting him to protect himself by forming a cocoon with his strings.
Taking advantage of his lack of movement, I stabbed my arm into the cocoon of his strings and clutched his neck; however, I didn't immediately kill him; instead, I used my technique, which took a few seconds to perform, but when I did, I simply tossed him into the distance.
"Heh, three down." Said Diddy with a grin as he licked his fangs while dodging a sword wave from behind, only for the cocoon of strings to suddenly explode into a cloud of bloody mist.
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"P-Please." Muttered S-Snake fearfully between her sobbing as she cowered in a corner while Diddy towered over her with a decapitated S-hawk in his hands.
"Boo, it's no fun killing someone when they plea for their life." Said Diddy lightly as he tossed S-Hawk's body into the distance while glancing at S-Snake, who refused to glance at him.
Turning around, I walked away, exiting the Marines HQ, though just as I leaped out of the building, a loud crunch resounded from behind me while Hancock's child went silent.
'Welp, that was fruitful.' Mused Diddy lightly with a yawn as he stretched his arms.