"Ray," Tokikake taunted, his lazy smile full of sharp edges, "don't tell me you can't even withstand my first attack. If you fail, you and your friends are just going to be achievements on my promotion report."
He was absolutely trying to provoke Ray.
Tokikake was, frankly, sick of hearing Momousagi gush about "Ray this" and "Ray that" back at HQ.
It was infuriating.
Ray knew exactly what this guy was doing, so he decided to play along.
He was, as it happened, pretty ticked off anyway.
Without even drawing his sword, Ray just threw a punch.
Tokikake, despite his lazy posture, reacted instantly.
Their Haki-coated fists clashed in mid-air, not even touching, but the force of the impact sent a shockwave of yellow sand exploding outwards.
And then, unexpectedly, it just turned into an all-out brawl.
Punches and kicks flew, Haki against Haki.
The force was so tremendous that every blow, whether it landed or missed, sent shockwaves tearing through the air.
The sand stirred up around them in a blinding whirlwind, completely obstructing the spectators' view.
Sanji looked completely baffled.
"Ray's fighting style..." he muttered, "it... it feels kinda familiar."
Zoro knew exactly what this was.
He was having flashbacks.
"This is what he does when he's taking his anger out on me," he groaned, "no sword, no training, just pure, angry punching."
The memory alone made his head throb.
"Chopper," he grunted, "come massage my head."
"Okay."
While complaining, the rest of the crew (and Cobra's group) kept backing away.
Further was definitely safer.
They had learned that from experience.
…
The sand-storm brawl lasted for a full ten minutes.
By the time the dust started to settle, both men had taken a few hits.
Tokikake, in particular, now sported two very clear, very angry-looking fist marks on his handsome face.
After one last clash sent them both sliding back, they separated.
"Ray!" Tokikake whined, rubbing his jaw. "You've gone too far! Using poison?! You damaged my face!"
(The "poison" was, of course, the faint trace of corrosive demonic energy Ray's fists now carried.)
Ray's anger had mostly subsided.
'Yep,' he thought, 'fighting head on is still the best way to vent.'
"Hmph," Ray snorted, his voice cold. "If this is all you've got, you're not taking Crocodile."
Tokikake just smiled. "Oh, that? That was just the warm-up. Then let me show you why I'm confident I can kill Nico Robin, and why you can't stop me."
The moment he finished speaking, Ray sensed something was terribly wrong.
He instantly leaped into the air as the desert beneath them began to shake violently.
Massive stones, earthen spikes, and sharp sand blades shot up from the ground, all aiming for him.
Seeing this, Ray stopped holding back.
"Poison Flower Claw: Meteor Shower!"
Toxic green energy erupted from his hand.
Countless corrosive, giant claw marks rained down in a one-kilometer radius, shredding the stone pillars and sand spikes to bits.
The ground was left looking like a pockmarked wasteland, sizzling and smoking.
Cobra and his guards watched, their jaws on the floor.
They couldn't believe someone could be this powerful.
Crocodile, who was still conscious, was terrified.
'I' the sand... but this guy is the earth itself! He completely counters me!'
The Straw Hats were less impressed; they'd seen the apocalypse back at Loguetown.
But it still sent a clear message through them.
'Our enemies are getting stronger and stronger,' Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Usopp all thought.
'If we don't keep up, we're just dead weight. What happens when he faces someone he can't beat?'
(Chopper, meanwhile, was hiding behind Zoro while trembling. This was his first time seeing a real monster-level fight.)
…
On the battlefield, Ray had already figured it out.
'This guy's power is related to the earth. His whole outfit is earth-toned. He's always confessing to people... like the earth's "universal love"? And he was willing to save the rebels... This guy has definitely awakened his Devil Fruit.'
The dust settled.
Tokikake was standing there, completely unharmed, covered in a shimmering suit of black earthen armor, Haki flowing around it.
"Ray, you bastard," he said, letting the armor crumble away, "that was a killing move."
"If you died from that, that means you're just a weakling," Ray snorted.
"Hahaha! Seems I've finally fired you up! Let's continue!"
With that, Tokikake merged with the ground.
The earth itself began to rise, forming into a hundred-meter-tall earth giant, completely coated in Armament Haki.
It was absurdly powerful, and terrifyingly fast for its size.
The giant threw a punch.
"Ray! I learned this one from old man Garp! Be careful! Earth Mother Impact!"
A massive, visible shockwave of pure Haki and earthen power rushed at Ray.
'Hmph, he didn't aim at Nami and the others. This guy's pretty decent.'
"Secret Technique: Azure Dragon Break!"
Ray unleashed his own attack, pouring maximized Demonic Power and Haki into it.
The air around his sword began to steam.
The colossal azure dragon collided with the giant's fist wave.
"BOOM"
The resulting explosion was deafening.
The land for two kilometers was overturned, and the shockwave sent Sanji, Zoro, and the others tumbling three kilometers away.
When the dust settled this time, both fighters were injured.
The earth giant had a huge, deep gash across its front, parts of its body crumbling away.
Ray's arm was bleeding... though his demonic power was already knitting the wound shut.
But his opponent could heal too – as long as Tokikake was touching the earth, he was practically immortal.
Ray had a pretty good estimate of their power now.
'With all my powers stacked, I can fight an Admiral Candidate to a draw. But to beat them without my Demonic Power? I'd need to be at least 60% fused. Maybe by then, I could take on an Admiral...'
Tokikake was just as shocked. 'No wonder he beat Momousagi. That attack power is terrifying. I was actually at a disadvantage in that last clash.'
He knew he couldn't break Ray's defense, and Ray's recovery was just as monstrous as his.
'Are we really going to fight all day? That won't work.'
"Ray!" the giant Tokikake's voice boomed. "Are we still going to continue? I can't do anything to you, and you can't do anything to me! Your anger should be gone by now. There's no need to drag this on! Just hand Crocodile over to me! I can even pretend I never saw you with Nico Robin!"
Ray just snorted. "You haven't proven you can take Nico Robin from me. And besides... who said I can't do anything about you?"
The moment Ray finished speaking, Tokikake sensed something was terribly wrong.
Ray's entire body erupted with demonic energy, and his form began to change.
Fangs and sharp claws emerged.
"Demon Transformation!"
---------
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