The crowd roared with applause, as a man wearing a stylish, black coat walked into the large arena. Taking a drag out of a cigar with the logo of his former company on it, he looked at the crowd cheering not only his name, but also his codename from that same company. "…hm. Annoying pests…" he muttered, as he placed a hand on his golden hook. This was Sir Crocodile, former Shichibukai and former boss of Baroque Works.

Standing in front of him was an enormous man, with an equally massive bisento held in his hands, and a confident smirk present across his lips, just underneath the white, crescent-shaped moustache this individual possessed. "Gurarararara…" he chuckled, as he looked down at Crocodile. "We meet again, Crocodile." This was Edward Newgate, more commonly known as Whitebeard, hailed as the Strongest Man in the World before his untimely demise.

"…it certainly is an honor to see you among the living again." Crocodile chuckled, as he breathed out a cloud of smoke from his cigar, a laidback smile going across his scarred face. "And it's going to be a pleasure to send you straight down to hell again, Whitebeard."

"Gurarararara…" Whitebeard laughed, as he slowly cracked his neck, without looking away from Crocodile. "Do you really think that I'd let an amateur like you kill me?"

"I don't think you've realized how long it has been, since we last fought." Crocodile chuckled, as his right hand slowly began turning into sand. "And this time, there aren't any Straw Hats around to save you. Desert la Spada!" Without hesitation, Crocodile swung his right arm at Whitebeard, sending four streams of sand that turned into fan-shaped blades hurling right at the gigantic pirate.

However, Whitebeard only had to knock his hand against the air, just as it cracked where he hit it, to unleash a shockwave that not only tore the blades apart, but also Crocodile, turning them into small particles of sand. "Gurararararararara! Don't tell me that you can't do better, Crocodile!" he laughed.

Soon, the sand eventually reformed into Crocodile, who was still smirking, although his cigar had been torn asunder thanks to Whitebeard's attack. "The Gura Gura no Mi truly is a powerful force…" he mused, just as he held his right arm out. "Though how you came to reclaim it, after Teach stole it from your corpse, is a mystery to me."

"I suppose you can thank the one who brought me here to fight you." Whitebeard chuckled, as he looked up at the sky. "…but I don't think I'll have time to reunite with my crew after this…" Then, he looked down at Crocodile again. "…so I'll just make sure to show you who the strongest really is. Gurarararara!"

"Don't act so confident, Whitebeard." Crocodile chuckled. "As powerful as you are, you won't be able to land a sufficient blow on me and my Suna Suna no Mi powers." Then, sand began whirling around his hand. "Now, let the downfall of Whitebeard begin! Sables!"

Just as he called that name, the sand around Crocodile's hand turned into a massive twister, ripping sand out from the ground around him and Whitebeard, letting it grow immensely in size. In spite of the twister eventually dominating Whitebeard in terms of size, however, he remained undaunted.

Or, to be more accurate, he smiled. "Is that supposed to intimidate me, boy?"

"It's not for intimidation purposes, Whitebeard." Crocodile chuckled, as he swung his arm up in the air, letting the massive twister approach Whitebeard at a terrific pace.

However, before the sandstorm could reach Whitebeard, just like before, he slammed his hand into the air before him, cracking it and sending a massive shockwave hurtling through the sandstorm, causing it to split apart, missing him completely. "Gurarararara… it didn't impress me in any other fields, Crocodile."

"Hmph…" Crocodile scoffed, as his legs began turning into sand. "I'll make sure to wipe that grin off your face." he said, just as he flew up into the air, being propelled by the sand around his feet. Up in the air, his left arm, aside from his hook, turned into sand as well, allowing him to shoot his hook at Whitebeard like a harpoon.

However, the hook only clashed against the blade of Whitebeard's bisento, which he had raised to block the attack. "Then you should try harder, Crocodile!" he laughed, as he threw a punch straight up into the air, shattering the area he punched, which sent a powerful shockwave right through the air, pulverizing Crocodile into small particles of sand instantly.

However, that sand quickly flew towards Whitebeard's back, before it reformed into Crocodile's hook, just as the rest of him was reformed. "The same goes to you!" he said, as he aimed a slash from his hook at Whitebeard's back.

Before it could connect with Whitebeard's back, however, the large man spun around and swung his left arm at the hook, knocking it away, though it resulted in him taking a small cut against his knuckles. "Gurarararara!" he laughed, as he swung his other arm at Crocodile himself, punching right through him.

However, almost immediately, Crocodile reformed himself a distance away from Whitebeard, landing on the ground behind him. "Desert Spada!" he called, as he slashed his right hand down against the ground, creating a sharp wave of sand that rocketed right at Whitebeard.

Whitebeard only had time to turn to see this attack, before it struck him directly across his stomach, creating a sizeable cut across his torso. But even an attack like that, which had cleaved the ground it traveled across cleanly in two, failed to properly phase the former Yonkou, as some form of aura covered the blade of his bisento.

Raising his weapon, Whitebeard then slammed it right into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that not only caused Crocodile to explode into sand again, but the very ground the blade struck to disintegrate. In spite of the arena they were fighting in being threatened by the destructive force that was Whitebeard's powers, the crowd went wild at this display of force.

Crocodile, however, wasn't as enthusiastic as the crowd was, as he reformed himself in the air, high above Whitebeard, as he raised his right hand up into the air. "Even you can't last forever! Sables Pesado!" he yelled, as sand swirled in his palm in the shape of a sphere, before he hurled that small sphere down at Whitebeard.

While Whitebeard swung his bisento at the sphere, it didn't stop it from suddenly expanding into a fierce shockwave that pretty much blew the arena to pieces, including the very ground Whitebeard stood on. But even though he was in the center of this shockwave, and his entire body was ravaged by cuts from this attack, Whitebeard didn't even flinch for a moment.

And if it was even possible, the crowd, in spite of the mortal danger they could be in, grew even more ecstatic, cheering both Crocodile and Whitebeard on.

"Gurarararara… you're tenacious, Crocodile." Whitebeard chuckled, as he dropped his bisento, before suddenly grabbing the air with both of his hands, as if the very air around him was nothing but a sheet of cloth. "But tenacity isn't going to help you!" Then, he suddenly pulled the air downwards.

In that very instant, a massive tremor began affecting not only the air around Crocodile, but the very arena around them. By some unseen force, Crocodile was knocked out of the air, and the arena around them, as well as the island the coliseum stood on, and the waters around the island, began tilting ferociously. What resulted was many pieces of the arena crumbling and breaking apart, but the crowd was oblivious to this, as they only watched the increasingly brutal fight between the two pirates.

As he slammed against the ground, Crocodile glared up at Whitebeard, who raised one of his arms, ready to slam it down on the former Shichibukai. "Kkh… not yet! Desert Girasole!" Before Whitebeard could punch him, Crocodile dug his hand into the ground around them, causing the already-wrecked ground around Whitebeard to cave out, creating a crater of sinking sand which the large man was standing directly in.

"…quicksand, eh?" Whitebeard noted, as he was slowly sinking. "Gurarararara! Do you think you can kill me with this little trick, Crocodile?" he laughed, as he clenched his left hand into a fist, which was covered by an aura.

"I'm only building up for the finishing move, Whitebeard!" Crocodile said, as he quickly turned his entire lower body into sand, before flying up above Whitebeard, aiming his right hand at the large man. "Desert la Spada!" Then, his right hand shot at Whitebeard in four streams of sand, all of them turning into solid fan-blades.

This time around, all four of them dug into Whitebeard's body, but even with the heavy blows his body took, the massive pirate remained undaunted. "I'd like to see you try that on solid ground, Crocodile!" he laughed, as he punched the air with his right hand, creating another shockwave that pulverized Crocodile.

This time, however, Crocodile returned to ground-level once his body reformed, as he placed his right hand on the ground. "You can't exactly move in that quicksand, Whitebeard." he chuckled, as he closed his eyes. "Now, it's time to finish you off! Ground Seco!"

In that instant, the ground around Crocodile began drying up, cracking even more than it already was, as he was sucking the moisture out of the ground. It got to a point where sand was erupting from every conceivable crack around the two fighters. Whitebeard, however, remained unimpressed. "And how is this going to finish me?" he chuckled, though that question actually made Crocodile start laughing.

"Don't you get it?" Crocodile laughed. "You've lost. Stuck in my Desert Girasole, you have no way to escape my deadliest attack… now turn into sand, Newgate! GROUND DEATH!" In that instant, the ground around Crocodile erupted into sand, something which was starting to spread across the entire arena, heading for the very pit Whitebeard was stuck in.

However, this still failed to impress the Yonkou, as he raised his left hand, the aura around it still visible. "…I don't think so." Whitebeard chuckled, just as he punched the ground below him before the eroding sand could reach him, creating an earthquake which shook the entire coliseum. The ensuing shockwave was enough to tear a mighty fissure in the decaying earth, which managed to knock Crocodile away from the ground he was decaying, straight into a wall stopping his assault. The fissure also allowed the quicksand around Whitebeard to pour out of the crater, which freed the Yonkou.

"Kkh…" Grunting, Crocodile tried standing up, holding his head, as a few strands of his slicked-back hair had come loose. "Damn you…" he uttered, just as he noticed that Whitebeard was approaching him. "I'm not going to lose again…" he growled, though the massive attack from Whitebeard had made him a bit dizzy, causing him to stumble forward.

"…seems to me like you already did." Whitebeard chuckled, as he looked down at Crocodile; the sight of the massive, bloodied man would have sent chills down any rookie pirate's spine, and even though Crocodile wasn't intimidated, even he could feel the almighty presence from Whitebeard. "Now, say goodbye." With no more words, Whitebeard viciously slammed his left hand down on Crocodile, and with the blood from several of his cuts running down his hand, especially the one from Crocodile's hook earlier, Crocodile was unable to turn his body into sand to escape this attack, causing him to be crushed underneath Whitebeard's fist. The attack knocked him out instantly.

With that final attack, the crowd, which had surprisingly not fled in terror of either of the men's destructive abilities, erupted into wild cheers upon this massive victory the Strongest Man in the World achieved. Not that they didn't praise Crocodile's efforts, as for a moment, it honestly looked like Crocodile would achieve victory against the Yonkou, but the results were clear; Whitebeard was victorious.

However, the crowd weren't the only ones who were satisfied with this match, as in a secluded chamber, a lone man coincidentally covered in shadows sat, having watched the fight on a video screen broadcasted by a Visual Den Den Mushi. "Mhm… a truly marvelous display." the man chuckled in a low and calm tone, as the Den Den Mushi closed its eyes, cutting out the video feed. "What a way to start off a promising season…"

As he looked away from the screen, he raised a small clipboard up, drawing a line over the lone sentence written on top of the paper that the clipboard contained; "Whitebeard vs. Crocodile", this sentence read out. "One down, several to go…" Chuckling, the man raised his hand, looking down at his palm. "Who shall I pit against each other now…?" he mused, before chuckling. "Ah, yes… those will suffice. Now… let the fun begin!"

A/N: Yeah, for something like this, we should start off with a bang. This battle was requested by Aldo Marino, so I hope you enjoyed it! Now, who shall fight against each other next? And who is this mysterious benefactor? You're guaranteed to find out who fights each other next time, at least! Until then, people!

YolkaEd