As the freezing rain and hail picked up in intensity, Mandy jumped high in the air, carrying the greenhouse ship with her. And as she came crashing down, the members of Worldwide Smoke who could fight simply stood there. Puerco, on the other hand, panicked.

"Guys, there's a FLAMING SHIP coming right at us!"

He hid behind Shaska for protection… and got a nice view up her skirt on top of that.

"Wanna do the honors, pretty boy?" Shaska asked.

"Sure, I can take a crack at it," Schwarz said.

The greenhouse ship crashed through the mast of the merchant ship. Right before the ships collided, Schwarz threw up a massive hole above the crew. Mandy and the greenhouse ship fell through and wound up colliding with the Señora Pomodoro.

…

Or, it would have, had Eclair not caught it.

"Beep boop, nice try," she said.

Mandy stood up on top of the flaming ship (the fires in the greenhouse had spread to the rest of the ship).

"Perfect job, Comrade Eclair!" she shouted.

Ren marveled at this, thinking "robot fish girl is like something from comic book!"

"Heads up, meatbags!" Eclair shouted as she threw the ship back at Worldwide Smoke.

"Having flaming ships full of drugs thrown at me by ogres and robot fish girls in the middle of a blizzard… man, this adventure's getting weird," Shaska thought, blowing smoke. "Second weirdest adventure I've been on."

Schwarz threw up another massive hole. This time, the ship fell back to its original position.

"Well, that was a waste of time!" Schwarz said. It was hard to argue with him. In truth, the only things that had changed were that Mandy was now on the flaming ship, the masts on the merchant ship and the Pomodoro were now broken, and the Mercury Collective had that much more time to separate and escape.

Mandy looked around, arms crossed as she observed the collective she had worked so hard to perfectly maintain slowly breaking apart. The freezing wind blowing against her skimpy outfit wasn't helping either. She hopped across the gap between the ships and stood right in front of Shaska, staring her down. It wasn't often Shaska met someone bigger than her in this capacity. The two glared at each other for what felt like hours, but it was actually closer to half a minute.

"You gonna throw a punch? Or are you just gonna stand there and stare?" Shaska asked derisively.

"I'm giving you one last chance to bow before my perfec-" Mandy tried to say, but she was interrupted by a punch to the gut, followed by a mighty uppercut from Shaska.

"I bow to no one," she said as Mandy tried to steady herself. It was then that the ship they were on started to rock violently, and not due to the storm. The ship began to rise due to Phil lifting it out of the water.

"Phil, you idiot! Me and my perfection are on this ship now! Use your Haki for me's sake!" Mandy shouted.

Shaska took this opportunity to kick Mandy over the edge of the ship. Before she hit the water, though, Mandy managed to shove her fist through the hull of the ship to catch herself. She began climbing up by punching holes in the walls of the ship, all while being buffeted by the hail and freezing rain.

"Hm. Thought that would've worked…" Shaska said, looking over the edge.

Mandy pulled herself up over the edge of the deck. Shaska just flicked ash off her cigar.

"Y'know, 'Dear Leader,'" Shaska said. "You don't seem to realize just how much on the back foot you are. You're weak to the ocean. I can control water. We are on the open ocean. I don't know how much clearer I can explain it…"

"Nyehehehe… And I don't think you realize just how perfect I am!" Mandy retorted.

Shaska paused, and then said "pummeling you is going to be one of the most satisfying things I ever do."

She held up her hand, and a current of sea water shot up behind Mandy. It proceeded to wrap itself around her like a snake.

"Wanna start talking, leader?" Shaska asked.

"Nyehehehe… bring it," was all Mandy could say.

"CYAN CRACK!" Shaska shouted as she clenched her fist. And, true to the attack's name, there was a loud CRACK! from Mandy's spine as she was snapped in half.

Shaska released her watery grip, and Mandy fell to the deck, motionless.

"Pathetic," Shaska said.

There was a moment of silence as the wind howled and the freezing rain and hail poured.

"Is… Is that it…?" Johnson asked.

"Should we head back t'th'Robinson?" Ren asked.

There was a soft "nyehehehehe…"

Then, quicker than a bullet, Mandy shot up and forward, then delivered a Haki-powered lariat to Shaska's neck, causing her to spit out her cigar and go flying backward off the deck and into the freezing water below.

"Miss Shaska!" Zinnia shouted.

"NYEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" Mandy let out her signature high-pitched, nasally laugh as she crossed her arms.

—-

As the storm became more and more intense and the Collective ships drifted further and further apart, the Humo Robinson remained anchored in its original location. Lulupo and Roxanne sat at one of the tables in the galley and ate a post-workout snack with the cat they just found.

"I always loved cats," said Roxanne. "Andy was allergic, though, so we never had one."

"Cats are really cute. But they can be quite nasty," said Lulupo.

"Oh, I assure you, I don't bite," said Setzer.

Roxanne and Lulupo ate their food, chewing gradually slower as they realized someone else was with them. They looked up together and saw Setzer casually squatting on the table.

"And who, exactly, are you, darling?" Lulupo asked, growing his hair out.

"Name's Setzer. I'm one of the officers around here. My boss ordered me to take out anyone working for Shaska the Greedy, and so I sniffed you out."

Lulupo's hair formed into a sharp point and thrust at Setzer, but he dodged with a Shave.

"Well, Roxanne, darling, looks like you'll have some practical experience under your belt before we meet the Balthasars again," Lulupo said.

The ordinary house cat from before appeared right behind Roxanne and meowed. She stood up and tried to stomp on it, but it teleported away and Setzer appeared again, squatting on top of Lulupo's head.

"I'm a former government agent who ate the Cat Cat Fruit, model: House Cat," said Setzer. "But now I've seen the light of equality and-"

"Yeah, yeah," Roxanne interrupted. "You're part of that Minus World cult now. We don't need your life story."

She put up her dukes for her first real fight.

—

"How are you standing again?!" Puerco shouted. "An attack like that should have paralyzed you for life!"

"Nyehehehe…" was all Mandy said before grabbing her head and twisting it around a perfect 360 degrees, making sickening cracking sounds while she laughed.

"I'm an ogre! I have perfect healing capabilities! You can't kill me and my perfection!" she declared.

"Wanna bet?" Schwarz asked, before spawning a hole under her feet and above the water.

As Mandy dropped through, she cried "Phil!" Her shrill voice pierced through the noisy storm, so Phil immediately swam out from under the ship and jumped to catch her.

"Hm," was all Schwarz could say as he looked over the edge of the boat at Phil climbing up while holding his mistress. At the same time, Shaska climbed up the opposite side of the boat with her tentacles. Shaska and Phil reached the deck at the same time, and Phil calmly set Mandy down.

Shaska cracked her neck. "Not gonna lie, that actually kinda hurt," she said, followed by a crack of her knuckles. "I might actually have a good time!" she said, smiling.

"We'll have a ball!" Mandy exclaimed, stretching.

"Pretty boy, bird, take care of the big… handsome… stunning…" Shaska attempted to order, transfixed by Phil. Phil, for some reason, was irresistible to fish people, despite being plain, or even ugly to everyone else.

Mandy wasted no time. She lunged forward and grabbed Shaska, forced her face down, then flipped her upside down. Mandy then jumped and slammed Shaska back-first into the ship for a power bomb, cracking the wood of the deck. She then followed up by jumping and planting her feet right in Shaska's face, shoving them both through the deck entirely and into an empty cargo hold.

"Great job, Dear Perfect Leader!" Phil exclaimed, throwing his arms up with his index fingers extended.

"Hey, big guy!" Schwarz called. Phil looked down and saw Schwarz and Johnson at his waist, the former making a "bring it" gesture, the latter in his half-ostrich form crossing his wing-arms.

Phil squatted down to their level and asked "can I help you?"

"Wanna tell me where my sword is? I'll have a much easier time kicking your ass with it," Schwarz said.

"Why would I do that?" Phil asked.

"Because it'll be a lot less painful for you," Schwarz growled.

"Furufurufuru!" Phil laughed. "Humor me, comrade! Where did you see it last?"

"It got taken by…" Schwarz began. He then looked back at Musetta, who was still barely holding onto consciousness. "Hey, you! Where's my sword?"

"I… gave… it… to… Dear… Leader…" she choked out.

"Great. And she's busy down below…" Schwarz said. "Hm. I suppose I should go interrup-"

Just as Schwarz said the word "interrupt", he was interrupted by a loud BANG! He looked around, and saw Eclair over the haze holding out her finger with smoke billowing out the end. Fortunately, Zinnia was able to react quick enough and deflected the bullet with a swing of Ruth.

"Beep boop, damn," Eclair muttered.

"Please be mindful of your surroundings, Mister Schwarz," Zinnia said.

"Hey, robot! Party's over here!" Schwarz called as he spawned a hole under Eclair's feet and one on the merchant ship. Eclair began to fall through, but then caught herself by propelling herself upward with her rocket feet.

"What the…?" Schwarz asked, confused.

"Do you like her? She's my prized invention that I cobbled together in my wayward youth," Phil explained.

"Beep boop! I am perfection, meatbags!" Eclair exclaimed, flashing lights from her eyes while holding up her arms.

"Pretty impressive piece of tech you have there," said Johnson.

"Isn't she? Dear Perfect Leader Mandy has given the green light for her to be mass produced here," Phil said, stars in his eyes. "We haven't gotten the funds for the project yet, though."

"There's surprise…" Ren thought with an eye roll.

"I'mma break it!" Johnson exclaimed. "I'm gonna break it apart and see how it works!"

"You will do no such thing!" Phil shouted, brandishing his massive gear shield.

"And what are you gonna do about it, fishface?" Schwarz asked derisively, crossing his arms.

"I heard that!" Shaska called from down below.

"I'm gonna crush you, is what I'm gonna do!" Phil exclaimed, swinging his shield at Schwarz and Johnson. Schwarz, who was first up, dodged by falling through a hole and appearing right behind Phil. Johnson, on the other hand, tried to catch the shield with his robot hands to shock Phil… and promptly got smacked off the edge of the boat before his hands could connect.

Schwarz spawned a hole under Johnson, dropping him back on the ship. Phil turned around to face Schwarz.

"That's a pretty annoying Devil Fruit," Phil said.

Eclair then proceeded to spray more gunfire. Zinnia blocked it with Ruth's helmet.

"Beep boop! Hey, meatbag! Stop blocking my bullets!" Eclair shouted.

"I will stop blocking when you stop firing," Zinnia casually responded. She then turned to Schwarz and Johnson. "Mister Schwarz, Mister Bird, I will defeat the metal girl, if it is alright with you."

"Knock yourself out," Schwarz said.

"I have had enough head trauma for one day, Mister Schwarz," Zinnia replied before hopping off to the greenhouse ship.

"I can never read that girl," Schwarz said as Phil swung his shield at Schwarz and Johnson. This time, he connected with both of them, as they were distracted by Zinnia's inability to understand common turns of phrase. Both went flying into the stump that used to be the merchant ship's mast.

The storm continued to rage, and the only fighter left without an opponent was Ren. She was dressed only in a tank top and short shorts, and was holding her arms and her grenades while shivering.

"Aren't you cold dressed like that?" Puerco asked, also shivering as he cowered behind the mast stump Schwarz and Johnson just flew into.

"Extremely," she replied. She looked at Schwarz and Johnson standing back up to take on Phil, and across the flaming ship to see Zinnia fighting Eclair. Down below, she heard the sounds of Shaska and Mandy wrestling.

The ships of the Collective drifted further and further apart, and eventually began sailing in the direction of the Sabaody Archipelago. In the distance, Ren could see the Humo Robinson still anchored in its original place.

"I hope Roxanne and Lulupo are okay…" she thought.

—-

Roxanne and Lulupo were not okay, as they were mid-battle with a government-trained assassin, a government-trained assassin who was extremely difficult to pin down due to his mastery of the Shave technique.

"Over here!" Setzer called. Lulupo kicked at him, but Setzer teleported behind Roxanne.

"So close!" Setzer called again. Roxanne tried to hit him with the back of her fist, but he teleported again.

He landed on Lulupo's head again as a cat, and started casually washing himself.

"What's your name, darling?" Lulupo asked.

"Does it really matter? You're going to be dead in a few minutes, anyway," Setzer said.

"Oh, I don't think so," Lulupo replied. He grew his hair out and wrapped it around Setzer's paws. Setzer found himself unable to Shave away this time, and Lulupo sat back down.

"Are you ready to start talking?" he asked. "Tell us more about Minus World."

"Pfft, never," Setzer meowed. He extended his claws into Lulupo's scalp, but the latter didn't budge despite the blood dripping down his face.

"Roxanne, darling, feel free to experiment with your new Bend Bend powers on our friend here," Lulupo said.

Roxanne's face became a sinister smile as she reached her hands out toward the cat.

TO BE CONTINUED