Lucy and Crocodile were locked in a staring match with a serious look on both of their faces.
Crocodile raised her right in into the air and sand began to swirl around it, covering her entire wrist with sand.
"I thought you were strong, when I heard you were a Shichibukai, but it seems you are not that strong." Lucy said in a slightly disappointed tone.
"You bastard!" Crocodile growled out in frustration.
"Take this!" she raised her right hand and turned it into a spearhead made of sand before stabbing it into the ground while yelling out.
"Desert Girasole!" she yelled.
Lucy was expecting something to happen right away but nothing happened. She waited for a few seconds to see if anything was going to happen, and then the sand beneath her feet collapsed a giant pit of quicksand about 30 ft wide formed causing Lucy to begin to sink into the ground while Crocodile stood on top of the giant pit staring at Lucy smugly.
"Ever heard of quicksand?" Crocodile asked arrogantly.
"It makes for an easy desert burial when you need to get rid of someone in a hurry," she said with a smirk.
"With my Sand-Sand fruit, I am unbeatable when fighting in the desert!" she added with a smug smile on her face.
*Gear Second*
steam is rising from Lucy's body and her skin had turned red.
Then she slipped easily out of the quicksand and sped toward Crocodile at great speed.
she appeared on the right side of Crocodile and then sent a quick punch to her face.
*Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol*
Lucy was so fast Crocodile couldn't dodge the attack and was hit in the face sending her tumbling back about 15 ft.
"why you!" Crocodile growl as she started shivering trying to stand up.
When she stood up, Lucy saw the Shichibukai staring at her with an angry look on her face as blood leaked out of her nose and the side of her mouth.
Crocodile noticed the sweat falling profusely from Lucy, and then she frowned, 'Damn, does she know my weakness?'
Crocodile is more afraid of water than Armament Haki.
If it was just Armament Haki she wouldn't be worried but water is a different matter.
Although Armament Haki will allow her enemy to hit her, the effect will not be too great and you will only receive minor injuries.
For example, if someone punches her while using Armament Haki, her head will turn into sand to reduce damage, and when sand collects to form her head, a small bruise can be observed on the face.
But if water is used, she will lose her advantage completely, and her body will never turn into sand when receiving blows.
That's why Crocodile lost against Luffy in the original story, while showing a great strength in the Summit War.
in the original story, Crocodile defeated Luffy no less than twice before his eventual defeat. In fact, if not for his good luck and the help he received from several people, Luffy would have been killed in all three battles: he was impaled (and then rescued by Nico Robin), dehydrated (and then revived by his own Water Water Pistol), and poisoned (and then received the antidote from Robin). Moreover, if Luffy's blood had not served as a way to nullify Crocodile's Logia-Type defense, and if Robin had not supplied Luffy with the antidote to his hook's poison, the third battle would have effectively favored Crocodile as well.
Later on, during the Summit War of Marineford, Crocodile was uninjured after confronting fellow Warlords Donquixote Doflamingo and Dracule Mihawk in quick succession, despite the fact that both opponents possess and have complete mastery of their Haki. Crocodile was even able to battle Admiral Akainu and appear completely unharmed afterward.
This explains that Armament Haki does not deal much damage to Crocodile while water is his biggest enemy.
(Author: That's what I think whether that's true or not I don't care. I just find that thinking like that makes more sense for Crocodile losing against Luffy in the original work but he showed great strength in the Summit War.)
"It's time to die." Crocodile said as she held her right hand in front of her.
"Sables!" she yelled out causing a mini sand tornado to form in the palm of her hand before it began to grow until it was a giant sandstorm.
There was a big smile on Lucy's face as she saw the tornado heading towards her, "Shishishi, this tornado is of no use if it doesn't touch me."
Having said that, she moved so quickly from her spot that it seemed as if she had disappeared, then appeared somewhere far from the path of the tornado, and then disappeared again and appeared behind Crocodile.
*Gomu Gomu no Jet Bullet*
Being so close to Crocodile, Lucy fired an extremely fast, close-range punch with very great force.
Crocodile was expecting Lucy to attack her so she used her hook to block Lucy's punch, but the punch was too strong and pushed her dozens of feet.
"Desert Spada!" Crocodile forms her right hand into a loose blade of fast-moving sand, and then stabs it into the ground, extending it along the ground like a torpedo, splitting anything in its path, including the very ground itself, through extreme and focused erosion created by the sand blade.
Lucy jumped aside to dodge the attack and then quickly moved toward Crocodile.
*Gomu Gomu no Twin Jet Pistol*
Lucy punches with both her arms simultaneously. As since the move hit so fast, the air from it really looks like Lucy is literally firing two pistols.
Crocodile spat blood from her mouth.
'This little girl is so strong and every one of her blows makes me feel like my bones are about to break.' The strength Lucy displayed was completely beyond Crocodile's expectations and what made matters worse was that Lucy's sweat negated her ability to turn into sand.
Lucy's speed was so great that none of Crocodile's attacks had ever fallen on her and at the same time all of Lucy's attacks hit Crocodile with great accuracy.
Crocodile got down on one knee while she was breathing hard, blood dripping from her mouth, and the pain she was getting from her injuries was evident from her features.
"It's really disappointing, you can't even use Haki." Lucy put her hand to the back of her head in disappointment.
"I thought you were too strong when I heard that you were Shichibukai, so I chose your fight. I thought the strongest person was here. But it seems that the strongest person here is the woman Ethan is fighting against." Lucy looked at Ethan's fight and the white-haired woman with envy.
"Don't underestimate me!" She was really angry because of what Lucy said.
She bore the pain of her body and leaped into the air.
"Desert la Spada!" she forms her right hand into a loose blade of fast-moving sand. She now forms several solid blades with fan-shaped edges, and then she swung it towards Lucy.
Unlike previous times, Lucy did not dodge the attack but stood in place and used Armament Haki on her hands.
*Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling*
Lucy stands still, bends forward and moves her arms upwards at speeds which they can no longer be seen, leaving only jet streams in their place, very much like how the Jet Pistol looks.
The hits land so fast that, after a volley, they seemingly connect simultaneously. The circles of air bursts from the punches surrounding Lucy, resemble the many barrels of an actual Gatling gun.
Lucy's fists collided with the sand blades very quickly, and after receiving a few punches, the sand blade shattered and Lucy's attack continued towards Crocodile and she was punched by dozens of powerful punches in a short period of time.
When Lucy's attack ended, Crocodile fell to the ground, unable to continue the fight.