Saphir tightened her grip on her spear. She looked at T-Bone. Maya and Honey had managed to push their own opponents away. She was alone with T-Bone like they planned.
"All criminals must be punished," T-Bone said.
Saphir met his gaze, her eyes sharp. "And what was Robin's crime?" she asked.
"She is an enemy of the World Government, marked as a criminal from a young age. Her very existence is a threat," T-Bone replied.
Saphir frowned, not satisfied with his answer. "But what did she actually do? What crime justifies all of this?" she asked again.
"You should already know the answer to that," T-Bone retorted. "You, too, are a criminal, a pirate who dares to defy the World Government. That alone is enough," he added.
Saphir took a step forward, her spear pointed at T-Bone. "So just being here, standing up for a friend, makes me a criminal in your eyes? You condemn Robin for her past, for things she had no control over. And you condemn us just for coming to her aid?" she asked.
"Your crimes are clear," T-Bone said, raising his sword. "You align yourself with pirates, with outlaws who disrupt the order of the world. You stand against justice," he commented.
"Justice?" Saphir scoffed, her voice laced with defiance. "Is that what you call this? Persecuting someone for simply existing?" she asked.
T-Bone's eyes narrowed, his grip on his sword tightening. He thought justice. "The World Government protects the innocent. I will lay down my life to protect the innocent. I will never let a criminal go," he said.
"Robin is not a criminal," Saphir replied. They both looked at each other.
"Right Angle Flash," "T- Bone said as he made a right angle cut in the air with his sword. He then swung it towards Saphir. He sent a rectangular cut forward.
Saphir saw this coming. She jumped out of the way and dashed forward. "Bleu Tempest Thrust," Saphir said as she thrusted her spear with full force at T-Bone.
"Thrust Guillotine," T-Bone said as he pointed his sword straight ahead and thrusted it forward. Saphir and T-Bone clashed. There were sparks coming from their blades.
Saphir pushed T-Bone back a bit. "Bleu Avalanche Assault!" she roared, launching into a furious flurry of spear thrusts. The spear became a blur, moving so quickly that it seemed to multiply, attacking from every angle. T-Bone's watched closely.
Saphir aimed a powerful thrust to T-Bone's left, but he twisted his body, dodging just in time. She immediately followed up with a rapid strike to the right, yet T-Bone sidestepped.
"Vertical Guillotine: Bone Judgment," T-Bone said as he raised his sword vertically above his head, gathering all his strength. He brought his sword down. Saphir jumped back. T-Bone hit the ground with his sword, cracking the floor.
"That was a strong attack," Saphir muttered.
She took her Axe Dial out and pressed a button. A X-shaped compressed air blast went towards T-Bone.
"Right Angle Flash: Bone Shard Barrage," T-Bone said as he used his sword to slash rapidly in a series of right-angle motions. He did this multiple times and sent out multiple right angles cuts forwards. Each wave`s right angle was razor-thin and travels at high speed, slicing through the air.
The compress air blast hit and was cancelled out by the first right angle cut. The second one went towards Saphir. Saphit jumped out of the way narrowly avoiding the attack, however it was on the path of the third right angle cut and got hit in her arm. She screamed in pain as she hit the ground. Her arm had been cut in multiple places. Blood was leaking from the cuts.
"Stay down," T-Bone said. However, Saphir got up. Her arm hurt but this was nothing to what Robin was feeling. She held the spear as trails of blood left her arm.
"Never," Saphir said. She dashed forward towards T-Bone. "Bleu Crescent Slash," Saphir said as she spun her spear in a wide arc. T-Bone saw this and blocked her spear with his sword.
Saphir then reached into her pocket and touched her water bottle. She got some drops of water on her finger. "Shoryo no Mizu," Saphir said as she threw a handful of water drops at T-Bone in his chest. T-Bone was not expecting this. He got hit with what felt like bullets to his chest. He staggered back in pain.
"Bleu Vortex Drill," Saphir quickly followed up. She gripped her spear tightly and twisted her body, driving the spear forward in a spiralling motion at T-Bone`s abdomen. She stabbed his stomach and pierced it.
T-Bone groaned in pain. He could feel he had been stabbed. He touched his stomach and looked at his hand and saw there was blood. He coughed blood. He looked at Saphir and quickly punched her in the face. Saphir went flying back. He thought he cannot lose to a pirate. She will go and hurt people in the future.
With the spear still in his stomach. He put his foot forward. "Right Angle Flying Bird: Bone Large Bird," T Bone said as he slashed the air and propelled a beam-shaped cut at the enemy. The cut was able to bounce off the air on sharp angular turns, and appeared with a bird shaped head at the front of the cut.
Saphir saw the bird coming towards her. She was about to move out of the way when it hit her. The attack hit her and cut her. She was flung to the ground. She spat blood out. She was panting. She thought it hurt. Her arm was bleeding, her body was now as well.
She thought she was stronger. She thought she could do more, was Simon and Gad right, was she useless. She then thought of Ben. Something woken inside her. She thought of the moments they had together. They ate together, made love, he cared for her unlike them. She thought back to her sisters, her mum. She thought of her mum.
She remembered her punching someone when they ran away from pirates. The punch killed him instantly but it tired her out. She said later, "Fish-man Karate." Saphir stood up. She closed her eyes and thought of those words. She thought of the punch. She opened her eyes and ran towards T-Bone.
T-Bone had pulled the spear out of his stomach. He felt blood leaving his wounds. His vision was becoming blurry. He thought she was a good fighter but a criminal who was down. He looked up to see Saphir running towards him. He thought she was still up. He gripped his sword. He swung it at Saphir who dodged it.
She got close. "Thousand Brick Fist," Saphir said as she gathered her strength and launched a hard punch at T-Bone. The fist connected in his chest. He felt his rib-cage break as he was sent flying back. He dropped his sword as he went flying back and landing on the ground. T-Bone moved his neck up and saw Saphir. There was blood on her clothes. Her hand was bleeding but her eyes had no signs of weakness. He lost consciousness.
Saphir let out a breath. Her arm was in pain. She was bleeding from her chest. The cut was deep, she thought. However Robin and Ben needed her. She picked up her spear and headed towards the Tower of Justice.