章 117: Hero of the Marines
Cherry burrowed out of the ground where there weren't any nearby marines and made her way towards the battle from behind their lines.
She looked over the scene to see what changes had taken place.\
A horned giant with yellow skin that was big enough to make other giants looks small was collapsed on the wall that was between the bay and the marine forces.
Pacifistas had shown up behind Whitebeard's allies and started to lay waste to them.
One of Whitebeard's allies had stabbed him through the chest in a sudden betrayal, though with the energy Cherry had loaned him that injury wasn't all that serious.
The surprising thing was that Whitebeard forgave the traitor. Whitebeard was a great model for healthy masculinity she supposed.
Ace and Luffy, who had been freed from their restraints, were having a lot of trouble fighting their way out as they were surrounded by enemies. In particular it seemed that Garp had decided to stop them.
"Since this is the path you've chosen, you'll have to walk it over my dead body!" Garp said to them. Though his words were harsh and unyielding, the tears streaking down his face betrayed his conflicted emotions.
Cherry rushed through the crowds of marines with her traceless steps. By the time the marines she passed by realized what happened she was already beyond their reach.
Garp swung a fist towards Luffy who was charging him. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Luffy that he clashed with, but the spear of a young woman with sharp eyes.
"Hey, you old coot! How about I do you a huge favor and keep you company for a while, hm?" Cherry spoke with a smile.
Garp showed no annoyance or anger at her intervention. Instead there was an immeasurable relief and gratitude.
Garp pushed her back with his haki coated fist. "I won't go easy on you, girl!"
"That's good old man. How would I be able to face Luffy after killing you, huh?" Cherry teased.
Ace and Luffy took a hint and used the opportunity to push through the throngs of marines away from Garp and Cherry.
Before they started in earnest, the world seemed to tilt.
"Whitebeard..." Garp muttered, suggesting that it was the legendary pirate's doing.
"That there is a real man, Garp. You need to pull your head out of your ass and see what's really important." Cherry lectured.
"This is no time for talking, fight me!" Garp launched himself at her, his indomitable fist bearing down on her.
Cherry held nothing back, she couldn't afford to against this man. As she poured her haki into her spear, thrusting it towards the old man with all the vibrational energy she could muster, she felt a familiar tickle of something far beneath the surface of herself. That last time she had felt it was her fight again Wilson Alexander at Water 7.
*Boom*
The clash between fist and spear sent both of them taking several steps backwards. Nearby marines who had been hoping to interfere were sent flying away, clearing a circle for their fight to take place in.
A few more exchanges occurred, with Cherry always losing out, but not by too much. These were just probing attacks however, to gauge each other's strength.
Soon Garp got serious and Cherry was in a real tough spot. She was always on the back foot, but hadn't taken any direct attacks yet.
All the while, Cherry was trying to draw upon whatever power it was that was lurking beneath. She had an idea of what it was, but didn't know what she needed to do to bring it out.
"You aren't going to get anywhere with an attitude like that, girl. You won't even be able to beat an old man like me." Garp commented during one of their rare, very short respites.
"What do you mean, old man. I'm doing the best I can here." Cherry said, fending off another punch.
"You're fighting to stall, not to win. That's fine for anyone else, but if you want to get somewhere in the world you'll need to be more like Luffy." Garp said nothing more and sped up his onslaught.
'Why would I fight to win? I know I can't win against him, so what's the point in deluding myself?' Cherry thought. Then an idea started to form in her mind. She looked over at Luffy who, despite obviously being out of his league here, seemed to have every confidence in his ability to succeed in his goal.
'Let's try it then...' Cherry though, then entered a half meditative state. She tried to convince herself that she could beat Garp, despite his overwhelming strength.
Cherry's eyes widened and she went on a desperate offensive. She started to take his attacks now, but she also started to break through his defenses as well.
Garp sensed the change that came over her and could only grin widely. 'Me and my big mouth...'
A marine captain tried to take advantage of Cherry's lower defenses and aimed his bazooka at her.
Cherry sensed his intent and glanced at him.
*Voom*
The marine captain suddenly collapse to the ground unconscious, baffling his comrades around him as to what happened.
Garp and a few powerhouses that were paying attention knew better though.
'Conqueror's Haki.' They thought simultaneously.
"So that's what it was after all. Interesting." Cherry spoke to herself. It didn't really help in this fight against Garp right now, but she had high expectations for the future.
The marines raised some sort of steel wall around the bay, but Whitebeard shattered them left and right with his devil fruit power.
"Things aren't looking up for your side Garp. Sure you don't want to switch?" Cherry mocked.
Garp only shook his head.
Cherry brandished her spear. She intended to win this fight despite the poor odds.
Once poor the old man and young woman clashed. Like before Cherry was fighting in a seemingly crazed manner, allowed strikes to get passed her guard. However, Garp started to take more damage now, not to mention that his arms felt like they were on fire from all the Hasshoken blows they'd taken.
'What kind of technique is this? It even penetrates my armament haki somewhat.' Garp thought. If Chinjao had heard this, he would be crying tears of hatred.
Whilst Garp had countless tiny fractures in his arms and many cuts and shallow stab wounds, Cherry was starting to look like a mess. Even with her body that ordinary people couldn't hope to damage, she looked like she was at death's door.
The marines around her had gone pale from fear at how this woman who ought to be dead a few times over was still fighting as hard as she was in the beginning of the fight, and against the hero Garp too!
Cherry's tactics started to get wilder and wilder. At one point she even bit down on Garp's right ear and took a chunk out of it.
"You damned brat!" Garp forgot about his original gratitude towards Cherry for giving him a way to avoid choosing between family and duty. Now he was just angry.
Whitebeard was cleaving his way through the marines like a hot knife through butter. The three admirals and Sengoku had to personally face him to to keep him from advancing, but of course Whitebeard wasn't alone so they were on the losing side.
Garp was running out of stamina, the years have not been kind to him. Cherry on the other hand wasn't even out of breath, which he found to be absurd considering her injuries.
"Time to end this old man. It's my win." Cherry taunted.
"Not if I can help it!" Garp charged her.
Cherry thrust her spear to meet his fist, but the impact didn't come this time. The spear simply vanished from her hand, and in its place there appeared a revolver.
*BANG!*
Garp didn't manage to coat his torso with haki in time and he felt a bullet ripped though his abdomen.
That wasn't the end either as Cherry took advantage of his surprise and exhaustion to land a drop kick into his face.
Garp fell backward and skid along the ground for a few dozen meters before coming to a stop. His strength was failing him and he barely managed to prop himself up enough to see Cherry run away.
Garp plopped himself back down and waited for the medic marines to start fussing over him. He was out of the fight now, so he could rest easy knowing Sengoku couldn't complain too much.
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