Calling for some Marines to pull Bonham off the platform – who he then had to threaten to do so quickly – Grount looked at Yoko with a sour face as he stepped up.

He remembered Yoko from years ago at Marineford, and if he had seen her in the group with the Rabit Mink, he would have not antagonized them.

It wasn’t that he was afraid to do so, but in Grount’s mind, the Marines had to be strong. Justice itself had to be strong.

It simply wouldn’t do for Marines anywhere, but especially in the New World, to be weak. And so, when he heard Rapanui claim that Carrot would get lost, he belittled her as an afront to Justice. Strong Justice.

If he had seen Yoko though he would have held his mouth because no matter what, he remembered, back then she was his match.

As for now… he didn’t believe she could match him.

Even with her attack defeating Bonham in one move, from Grount’s perspective, Bonham was already weakened.

At the end of the day, even if she was strong, he was a boy, and his Devil Fruit was so strong that he still couldn’t properly control it.

So, stepping up, he looked at Yoko and said: “You’ve proved your point! Forfeit now and it doesn’t need to go farther!”

For Yoko, who stood there with her Compliance Tree in hand, she almost couldn’t belief the fool would tell her to surrender: “Forfeit, hah? Were you kicked in the head by a donkey? Were you bitten by a wild dog?! Do you have a brain worm?!! Take one more step forward and I’ll beat you like the red-headed runt you are!!!”

With that, it was on.

Quickly drawing two long knives from his hip, Grount rushed forward with Soru and the idea of cutting Yoko’s arms to disarm her, only to be immediately blocked by the Compliance Tree.

This was a weapon he had never seen before; the wooden staff easily blocked the knives without chipping whatsoever, then, with a sidestep and a swirl of the weapon Yoko hit him so hard on the back of the head it caused an air wave to rush from the ruined platform – throwing Grount several dozen yards forward.

Turning towards where he fell, she didn’t pursue but took a Mink shaolin staff stance with one knee in the air and the [Compliance Tree] behind her back.

Fully angered and slightly dizzy, Grount got up still gripping his long knives and used Shave again to attack.

Slashing at her chest with his arms covered Armament Haki, Yoko dodged just out of arms reach and extending the [Compliance Tree] she whacked him with relatively soft hits as she retreated backwards.

Aiming for his forearms, the [Compliance Tree] bounced off his metal armored arm but succeeded in forcing him to drop one of the long knives; only for him to then try and catch the staff with his bare hands, which failed when she shrank it down, rolled to the side, and then extended it back out in order to sweep his legs from under him.

From then on, the fight between Yoko and Grount took a rhythm not too dissimilar from the fight between Rapanui and Bonham.

Hit dozens of times for his efforts, Grount couldn’t get Yoko quite where he wanted her. Even with his Armament and Observation Haki, he found her to be as slippery as an eel, and with a weapon as powerful as the [Compliance Tree], she could attack from almost any position he forced her into.

Of course, the same thing could be said for Yoko.

Her strength was monstrous and her agility was top notch, but, without having either Armament or Observation Haki, she found herself not to be able to react fast enough to really put her strength in each hit.

Grount didn’t have true [Future Sight], but he could predict her next moves to an extent, making him furious when she would slip away by either rolling or even crawling just in time for his counterattack.

Watching the fight from the window overlooking the training platform, Bill could tell exactly why Yoko was having a hard time but was helpless to do anything about it.

For as long as he suppressed her Devil Fruit, she would never be able to outwardly use Haki…

In a real sense, she was like a Devil Fruit user who had grown up being shackled by seastone.

This handicap was massive on the girl who knew no better, but for Bill, he knew it, but was stuck. Originally, he had suppressed the mythical Monkey King Fruit to save her from being influenced by it, but in doing so, over time he had inadvertently thrown his own spirit out of balance.

Until he could fix himself, it was impossible for him to stop suppressing her.

And for as long as he continued to suppress her spirit, Yoko would never be able to reach her potential – forever relegated to being ‘merely’ strong.

Making up for what she lacked in Haki with hard work and technique, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Yoko was a better technical fighter than anyone else in Neo Marines… including Bill himself.

Whether it was Sasha’s swordsmanship, Instructor Masterson’s marksmanship, Ain or even Zephyr abilities, they naturally relied on the power that their souls could exert on reality which covered up any defaults they may have.

Bill himself was a prime example of this. His souls’ were so powerful that he could slow time itself down or hide in broad daylight. His body was stronger than a mountain and he could manipulate his body in any direction he needed to.

He could grow out his knuckle bones to give himself a ‘natural’ pair of brass knuckles, he would not bleed if he didn’t want to.

And all of that was because of his Life Return, which itself was due to his Haki.

But for Yoko when she dodged a fist from Grount, swung the Compliance Tree to whack his arms, and recovered in a defensive stance in less than a breath of time, it was simply natural prediction and skill based on how she saw Grount fight.

The fight between the two 17-year-old Marine Captains had gone for nearly thirty minutes at a pace that stunned the onlookers – which by now was most of Base G-F and the entire crew of the Frontier Run.

Having been hit and kicked several times Yoko was scuffed up and her Coat of Justice was dirty, but she stood in a better condition than Grount who had been dealing with the unorthodox attack patterns of the [Compliance Tree].

The platform which had already been heavily damaged was now destroyed beyond recognition, and when Yoko finally connected with one good double-handed swing to Grount’s midsection, the boy was flung back and buried in the rubble.

Bill, Zephyr, Ain, and Prodi all watched on with intense focus, for whatever their different intentions were, none of the four higher ranked Marines wanted to see any serious harm fall to these teenagers.

Watching as the rubble began to rumble, Bill didn’t turn to her, but said: “Ain, let’s go.”

Heading towards the platform in a flash, just as the two touched down the rubble blasted upwards, and Grout stood in the air with a huge red arm.

The power of the transformation was considerable enough to cause most spectators – Marines stationed in the New World and no strangers to violence – to wince and retreat back.

Bill himself didn’t know what Devil Fruit the boy had, but he assumed it was also a Mythical Zoan… come kind of ape.

Standing in the air, Grount’s face was red with rage, and shouting down he said: “Forfeit or Die!”

Looking up at him, Yoko had the Compliance Tree across her shoulders.

In a blink of an eye, the Compliance Tree that had been the size of a baseball bat turned into the size of telephone pole, and with a look of hate on her own face, Yoko responded with a scowl and a single word:

“Try!”

‘AHHHH!!’

Shouting in response and using Shave while still in the air, Grount’s huge red arm led the way on one end and Yoko swung hard on the other.

Both swinging so fast that the air twisted and burned, when the giant fist seemed to collide with pole there was an explosion and shockwave that knocked even spectators who were far away over.

For a long couple of seconds, as the smoke cleared, the Marines who were jumping back to their feet saw a figure between the two teenagers.

With his left hand on Yoko’s staff and his right hand on Grount’s arm, Bill was firm as the two still were pushing hard, and in a split Ain appeared:

“Modo-Modo!”

In a flash Ain tapped both teenagers, reverting their ages by twelve years and turning them into five-year-old children.

Catching Grount so he wouldn’t fall, Bill landed beside a small Yoko and sat Grount down beside her.

Both teenagers looked shocked at each other – all traces of hate and anger gone – and then up at Bill who had his arms crossed dramatically.

Looking at the ‘kids’ and then looking at the destroyed platform, Bill didn’t wait for them to speak, but instead said matter-of-factly to Yoko: “You don’t need to fight over words, especially so since we weren’t going to be here for long. You also don’t need to fight to prove you’re strong, everyone you know knows how strong you are.

I understand that you were standing up for your friend, and I do think you did good by doing so but think of Rapanui and look around us. Think to yourself, was it worth it?”

Without waiting for her to respond, Bill turned to Grount and continued: “Your attitude towards your pals will leave you isolated and alone. The day you run into a situation that you can’t handle, that will be the day you die because you will have no one to rely on.

Humans are not islands to themselves, no matter how strong a person is, we humans are not tigers. We need friends, because without having friends, we will never reach our potential.

Not even those Pirate Emperors… not even those individuals capable of destroying whole Kingdoms by themselves go it alone, have you ever asked yourself why that is?

We Marines only survive because we understand comradery. We understand that you should lift your pals up, not knock them down. We understand that helping each other makes us all stronger.”

Whether nor not most Marines believed like Bill said they did, was arguable to say the least.

But, at least for his own corner of the global organization he wasn’t uttering a single falsehood.

Then, looking back at the ruined training ground, Bill nodded to Ain and with a snap of her finger the two teenagers reverted back to their normal age.

“I want this area cleaned in two days. You will both pay for the damages.”

Getting to his feet, Grount rubbed off his knees and asked tersely: “Or what, you’ll throw us in the air again?” Referring to what Bill had done to them last time they fought... ‘training’ them to use Moon Step.

Shaking his head ‘no’ Bill didn’t smile but turned to Grount and looking down said: “Nah, this time, I’ll take you swimming and show you what the bottom of the New World looks like.” Which caused the Marine Captain to ‘humph’ and start looking to the side.

Finally turning back to Yoko, Bill told her that if she needed anything she could ask, but if the platform wasn’t cleaned up in two days he would ‘leave her’ and only come back after their business in Dressrosa Kingdom was done.

Wide eyed from his proclamation, Yoko grabbed Grount by the back of his tattered Coat of Justice and said: “Quick! Pick this stuff up!” while running to the middle of the wreckage.

****************************************************************

“Whaddaya think you’re doing??!:

“Why would a [Warlord of the Sea] lash out at the Navy?!”

“… no ships, no ones here… but there MUST have been pirates here just a moment ago…

Now… where did they go?”

To answer the question, a row of Marines dressed in winter cloths aimed their rifles, and one shouted: “How dare you attack our boys!!!”

“No! Stop!!”

But it was too late…

Before a single shot could be fire, strings flew through the air and sliced a half dozen men into pieces.

“Law I can understand, but Straw Hat’s just a regular old pirate!

YOU LET THEM GO!!! WHERE ARE THEY?!!”

Dodging under a series of gun shots, more strings cut to ribbons another dozen people, all while the leader of them stood still.

“WHICH DIRECTION DID THOSE DAMN KIDS GO?!!”

Standing in front of the Marine leader, towering over him, the man demanded answers, but all he got was: “I wouldn’t know… Joker.

I carelessly let them slip away, I’ll have a lot to answer for after this one.”

Talking as if he hadn’t just watched almost twenty of his men be killed, the Marine leader stood there in almost holding his breath, and didn’t even have time to react when Joker shouted: “I’m getting the sense that you KNOW TO MUCH!!!” and attacked with blackened strings.

Cutting several cigars in two, the remaining Marines all raised their weapons and screamed: “Vice Admiral Smoker!!!”

UberNuber

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I read before that Grount could have eaten an early version of SMILE, which is why only his arm morphs, but I like the explanation better that he just can't control the fruit and Zoan Fruits do carry some 'personality'.

My reason to think this is Lassoo - Mr. 4's gun that 'ate' the Dog Zoan, model, Dachshund - acts like a dog when it shouldn't 'act' like anything unless it was influenced by the Devil Fruit.

Also, despite Smoker jobbing big time here, he is stronger than in canon (he's been in Command of G-5 for a lot longer since Vergo was 'taken out') - it's just Doflamingo is stronger also... Doflamingo is Admiral-ish level. He would lose to an Admiral but not be embarrassed by them.

Doflamingo

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Smoker

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