Chapter 26
Into Battle!: Hawke v.s. Miss Hallows Eve
Hawke and Usopp stood facing their enemies.
"Well isn't this annoying," spat Miss Hallows Eve, tossing her head.
Her purple hair was pulled back in two pony tails and she was wearing a skin tight pink unitard.
Mr. 2 was glaring at them, his two swan-shaped epaulettes quivering.
"I'll show you what happens to those who make a fool out of Baroque Works," he snarled.
"I'll take the pathetic dancer," laughed Miss Hallows Eve, pointing at Hawke.
The scout swallowed.
"Fine by me," said Mr. 2, "I'll show you my kenpo!"
He lunged at Usopp.
"Watch out!" Hawke shouted.
But the sniper couldn't dodge in time. Mr. 2's kick landed square in his chest and he crumbled immediately.
"Usopp!" Hawke cried as she watched her friend hit the ground.
"Ha! This is laughable," cackled Miss Hallows Eve, "But you shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent."
Hawke whirled around and was met with the agent's foot shooting towards her. She bent back as far in her saddle as she could, and Miss Hallows Eve shot over her, barley brushing Hawke's nose with her legs.
The agent landed and spun around.
"Oh, so you're not as weak as that poor excuse for a man," she laughed, "Well then, come and play with me, little dancer. I'm going to wipe you all over this pathetic city."
She spun around again and ran off down the street.
"Wh-wait!" shouted Hawke.
She jumped off her duck.
Usopp was struggling to get up and Mr. 2 had backed off.
"Go get Sanji, Usopp needs help!" she told the duck, remembering that Sanji and Chopper were the closest.
Hawke ran over and helped her friend to his feet.
"Come on, Usopp," she said, "You can take this guy. Hit him with your firebird stars or something!"
"Right," gasped Usopp, fumbling with his slingshot.
He shakily loaded it and aimed at Mr. 2.
"Are you ready to be taken down?" Usopp threatened.
"Oh, I'm so scared," the okama feigned a swoon.
"Go to hell!" shouted Usopp.
Hawke jumped back as the sniper let loose his shot.
The bead exploded in flames as soon as it was released and hit the agent square in the face.
"Nice come back, Usopp!" shouted Hawke, "I'm going after Miss Hallows Eve. Hang in there!"
She spun around and ran back down the street.
As she tore through Alubarna, Hawke kept scanning the alleyways as she passed them. But there was no sign of the Baroque Works agent.
"Where did you go?" she muttered, running past an abandoned café.
Hawke rounded a corner and stopped short. She heard a noise coming from an alley way off to her right.
"Stop moving you little birdie," taunted a woman's voice.
That must be her, thought Hawke.
Hawke skidded to a stop and peered into the alley.
Miss Hallows Eve was facing away from her, towards the wall of a building.
The wall had large chunks of rock embedded in it and there was a small black bird standing on one of them. One of its wings was sticking out at an odd angle and it was hopping nervously from foot to foot.
Miss Hallows Eve held up her hand and aimed it at the bird.
"Now don't you move this time," she muttered.
As Hawke watched, a large boulder seemed to come out of Miss Hallows Eve's hand and flew at the bird.
With a frantic chirp, the little creature tried to fly away. But it only managed to fall off the rock it was standing on and hit the ground.
The boulder slammed into the wall and stuck there.
Hawke's eyes flashed and she snuck into the alley.
"Stupid animal!" retorted Miss Hallows Eve, "If you'd just done what I told you, you wouldn't be hopping around like a pitiful little bug. You'd be dead! And why is that girl taking so long?!"
"Leave him alone!" shouted Hawke as she dove in front of the agent, shielding the little bird.
Miss Hallows Eve was taken by surprise and took a step back, hesitating.
Hawke used this time to scoop up the bird and hide him in her robes.
"How dare you torture an innocent animal for your own amusement?" Hawke seethed.
Miss Hallows Eve laughed.
"Well, well, well," she cackled, "I've been waiting for you. If you'd have been faster, I wouldn't have had to kill my boredom by testing my aim on that bird."
She held up her hand and produced another rock out of her palm.
"So you can make rocks?" asked Hawke, taking two knives out of her robes, "That's not very impressive."
Miss Hallows Eve glared at her.
"I ate the Mountain-Mountain Fruit," she declared, throwing the rock up and catching it in her hand, "And you will feel my power very soon."
Hawke brandished her knives.
"A person who harms innocent creatures is no more worthy of power than the dirt under my feet," Hawke said in a low voice.
"Big talk from a common whore!" shouted Miss Hallows Eve.
She drew back her hands and threw the rock at Hawke.
Hawke dodged and sliced through it with one of her knives as it flew by.
"What did you call me?" shouted the scout.
Miss Hallows Eve was still glaring at her.
"You are nothing but a lowly dancer," she said, her voice was scathing, "You charmed him with your stupid show and now he doesn't even notice me!"
"Who?" retorted Hawke, "Crocodile?!"
"How dare you speak his name!" cried Miss Hallows Eve and she launched her attack.
She raised her right hand and shot many small rock darts at Hawke. And with her left, she created a boulder larger than Hawke's head and threw it.
Hawke tried to dodge the darts. She turned and bent herself down, hoping they would fly over her.
But two of the darts hit her back, skimming along it and tearing holes in her robes.
The boulder hit her shoulder and knocked her down.
Miss Hallows Eve sprang on her and tore at her hood, picking Hawke up by her hair.
"I never want to hear his name from your filthy lips again!" she whispered threateningly into Hawke's ear.
Hawke gasped for air. Her head was spinning. She jabbed out with her knife and felt it make contact.
Miss Hallows Eve let her go and started shrieking.
Hawke jumped up and steadied herself. She looked over at the agent.
The woman was bent double, clutching her face.
"What have you done!" she screeched and launched herself at Hawke, clawing at the air.
Hawke gasped when she saw the agent's face.
Her knife had indeed struck its target.
There was a large oozing gash down the left side of her enemies face. Starting from above her eyebrow and ending at the bottom of her cheek.
"Now you can match your pretend lover," Hawke sneered, backing away.
Hawke threw a knife at Miss Hallows Eve, hitting her in her side.
The woman let out another screech as she yanked at the blade that was embedded between her ribs.
"No!" she shouted, "You can't hurt me! I am a mountain!"
"Ever heard of sea prism stone," mumbled Hawke.
She retreated and used the boulders stuck in the wall to climb up to the roof.
I need to get to the clock tower, she thought.
"Come back here!" Miss Hallows Eve shouted after her.
Hawke looked over her shoulder and saw that the agent was eye level with her.
"What?" she gasped.
Her enemy had made rock columns grow out of her feet. She was standing in front of Hawke on huge rock stilts.
"You're not getting away from me!" shouted Miss Hallows Eve, "I will make you pay!"
She raised both her hands and made it rain rock darts on Hawke.
But the scout was better prepared this time. She spun herself, holding her knives out. The darts were either deflected or cut and she wasn't scratched.
When the barrage stopped, Hawke stopped her spin and immediately ran towards Miss Hallows Eve.
She jumped off the building and slashed at the agent's legs. This made the woman tilt back. Hawke landed on one of the stilts and jumped off again, using her legs to push as hard as she could.
Miss Hallows Eve toppled backwards with a shriek.
She sure is loud, thought Hawke as she landed back on the roof.
But Miss Hallows Eve wasn't going to go down that easy.
She jumped off her stilts, letting them fall to the ground, and sprouted new ones to keep her balance.
As she did this, she created boulders in both of her hands.
Hawke was running back across the roof. She saw the shadows of the rocks as they fell towards her.
Turning around quickly, she drew her sword and sliced through both of them before sheathing it, turning around continuing to run.
Miss Hallows Eve used her stilts to run up right behind Hawke. She created two large boulders with spikes of rock protruding from them and dropped them down on the fleeing scout.
"Take this, little girl," she snarled and created two more boulders in the same way.
Hawke looked up and gasped.
She lurched out of the way of the falling rocks. The first two missed her by a hair. But she wasn't so lucky the second time.
The spikes on the falling boulder snagged Hawke's cloak and yanked her to the ground.
She tried to get up, but she was pinned down.
Miss Hallows Eve cackled as she jumped off her stilts and onto the roof.
"Did you actually think you could defeat me?" she sneered, "I am so much better than you!"
Hawke struggled to pull her robes free.
"What did he see in you?" scoffed her tormentor, "You're pathetic. If I bring back your body and tell him how little of a fight you gave, he'll forget about you in an instant."
"What makes you think he'll give you any more attention than he did before?" asked Hawke, trying to buy herself some time.
"Because he'll see that I'm stronger than his little pet here," she sneered, "I'll be worthy of him."
Hawke looked up at her. The scar on her face made her smile look more like a grimace.
"Are you sure he'll see you the same way?" she asked, bringing her finger up and tracing it down her cheek.
Miss Hallows Eve stared at her, then raised her own hand to her face. She touched her wound and immediately snatched her hand back.
"You worthless piece of trash!" she shrieked.
She drew back her hand and solidified it into rock. Hawke saw what was coming and tried to dodge, but her cloak stopped her.
Miss Hallows Eve slapped Hawke across the face with her rock hand.
Hawke cried out in pain. She felt her jaw crack and saw spots dancing in front of her eyes.
"You monster!" shouted Miss Hallows Eve, "You've turned my beautiful looks into the ugliest face in the world!"
She hit Hawke again.
Hawke whimpered and reached for her knives.
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Miss Hallows Eve, "You can't prick me with your little butter knives anymore!"
She kicked Hawke's hand, causing her to let go of her knives. They flew across the roof and fell off the other side.
"No!" cried Hawke, wincing at the pain that this cause her.
Miss Hallows Eve laughed.
"It's all over for you now," she sneered and raised her hand over Hawke's head.
Hawke watched as a boulder started to take shape in Miss Hallows Eve's outstretched palm. She tried to pull herself free, but it was no use.
She closed her eyes and waited helplessly for the rock to fall.
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Going back in time a bit, we return to when Hawke had picked up the bird.
The small black bird she had rescued was a Desert Whiskey Jack, a species found only in the Alabasta Kingdom.
It is an elusive creature and builds its nests in the hollowed out bricks of abandoned buildings.
This little male had been searching for twigs to bring back to his mate when Miss Hallows Eve had attacked him. She had hit his wing with a small pebble and sprained it, making it impossible for him to fly away from her.
However, it was only a pulled muscle.
When Hawke had scooped him up, he had taken refuge inside a pocket of her robes. Her cloak was bulky enough that her rapid movements were cushioned and he hadn't been jerked around. He had had enough time to rest and stretch his wing.
As Hawke had climbed up the building towards the roof, the bird had flitted out of her cloak and flown away.
But he had not abandoned the girl.
This little whiskey jack knew who he had just met. He also knew that she was in trouble.
He knew he must help his Princess in any way he could. And he had a plan.
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Hawke waited for the blow to fall.
She waited.
Then she waited some more.
Frowning, she opened her eyes.
The sight that greeted her eyes made her gasp.
Miss Hallows Eve was gone.
Her two stilts of rock were all that remained, hovering over Hawke.
Hawke looked up to the sky. She let out a second gasp.
Miss Hallows Eve was flying through the air!
"What's going on?!" gasped Hawke.
There was a layer of black outlining the agent's figure.
Hawke squinted. The outline was moving!
"Birds?!" exclaimed Hawke, "Whiskey jacks?!"
There were hundreds of whiskey jacks clutching at Miss Hallows Eve's unitard, hair and skin. They had picked her up and were flying high up into the sky with her.
"Where did they come from?" Hawke whispered.
She moved to get up and realised that her robes were free.
Turning around, Hawke saw that the spiked boulder that was pinning her down had been rolled back. There were birds on every spike, flapping as hard as they could, pulling it off her.
"Oh my," said Hawke, staring, "Thank you all so much!"
"It's our pleasure, Princess," said a small flock as they flew past, dropping her fallen knives at her feet.
Hawke picked up her weapons.
A sudden shriek drew her attention upwards again.
"Get off me you damn birds!" Miss Hallows Eve yelled, flailing her arms around, trying to brush off the birds.
She had turned her entire body to stone, making her too heavy for the birds to hold up.
The woman started falling towards the ground.
Hawke had a sudden idea.
She brought out all her knives and started throwing them at Miss Hallows Eve as she fell.
The blades bounced off the agent's solid rock body, Hawke made sure that the parts containing the sea prism stone didn't hit their mark.
"Your desperation is pitiful," taunted Miss Hallows Eve.
Hawke ignored her and kept throwing, making sure she missed.
"Really," said Miss Hallows Eve, "You aren't hitting me at all. I must have hit you quite hard."
"Shut up!" shouted Hawke, drawing out her sword and aiming.
She threw her sword like a spear. It was a direct hit at Miss Hallows Eve's chest. But her sword didn't have any sea prism stone in it, so it only scratched the rock.
The agent cackled.
"You are the worst pirate I have ever seen," she sniggered, and she saw that Hawke was out of weapons and turned her body back to normal.
"Is that so?" asked Hawke as she retreated to the edge of the roof.
"Of cour—," Miss Hallows Eve started to say.
Then her body made contact with the roof with a sickening thud. The roof shook from the impact and cracks appeared around the shattered body of the agent. Hawke balanced on the edge of the building as the roof caved in.
She crouched down and shielded her eyes from the flying shrapnel.
The dust and debris slowly settled.
Hawke looked down into the rubble. She could see Miss Hallows Eve's body among the rocks. As Hawke watched, the agent started to move her arms.
"Oh no you don't," gasped Hawke.
She jumped down and planted her feet squarely into the back of Miss Hallows Eve's head, slamming it further into the ground.
The agent's struggles stopped immediately.
Hawke sighed in relief.
"It worked," she gasped, staggering back outside and sinking to her knees.
Her head was still spinning, but at least now she could take a moment to get her bearings.
Hawke had figured that if she could distract the agent and get her to keep her whole body as rock right up until the moment before she landed, she would forget how far she was from the ground and turn back into a normal person. She had used her weapons to distract Miss Hallows Eve from landing properly.
It was a real long shot, she thought, thank goodness it worked.
Hawke looked up and watched the flocks of birds soaring overhead.
One bird detached itself from the flock and fluttered down to where Hawke was sitting.
"Are you hurt, Princess?" it asked.
"She really got me good," Hawke winced, rubbing her head and jaw.
She thought she might have fractured something, her jaw cracked every time she moved it. She could already feel a bruise forming.
"Thank you for what you did. You saved me," she mumbled.
"It is an honour to hear you say that, Princess," replied the bird, "I am forever indebted to you."
Hawke blinked.
"Oh," she realised, "You're the poor one that she was throwing rocks at, aren't you?"
The bird hopped up onto her knee.
"Yes, Princess," said the bird, "This is the least I could do to repay you."
Hawke smiled and stood up.
She started to gather up her scattered weapons.
As she collected her sword and tied it around her waist, she turned to the bird that was still perched on the edge of the roof.
"Why do you call me that?" she asked.
The bird cocked his head to the side.
"Because you are the Princess," he said, matter-of-factly.
"But I'm not," objected Hawke as she picked up some of her knives, "I'm definitely not a princess. Vivi's the princess."
"Yes you are," said the little whiskey jack, flying over and landing on her shoulder, "You are the daughter of our ruler, the Sky Spirit."
"What?" said Hawke, "The Sky Spirit?"
"Every thousand years, the Sky Spirit takes a human form and chooses a human to bear his child," explained the bird.
"Umm," Hawke protested, "I don't know who my parents are, but I'm sure they were both completely human. No spirits involved."
"Nevertheless," said the bird, "You are the Princess."
"That doesn't make any sense," Hawke sighed as she collected the last of her weapons.
Just then she heard a sudden roaring sound.
She turned her attention to the clock tower. There was a huge dust cloud hovering over it. And the sounds of a battle could be heard.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed, "Looks like Vivi couldn't stop the rebels outside the city!"
She glanced back towards the clock tower.
That's our meeting place, she thought, I'll get there faster over the rooftops.
Hawke ran to the edge, jumped over to the next building and ran across it.
The whiskey jack flew up by her ear.
"We will be close if you need more assistance, Princess," it said.
"Thank you," gasped Hawke.
She made for the tower as fast as she could. Her crew needed her, she could feel it.