Schwarz landed on the deck of the Señora Pomodoro and found Ren and Zinnia being tortured by Eclair. Ren and Zinnia were both breathing and bleeding heavily, while Eclair laughed in a robotic monotone.

"A-ha! A-ha! A-ha!"

"Mister Schwarz…!" Zinnia exclaimed, clutching her bleeding shoulder.

"Am I… interrupting something here?" Schwarz asked, clutching his arms in the freezing weather.

"Beep boop. I'm just having fun with your meatbag friends," Eclair said, head rotating around 180 degrees. If she could smile, her face would be contorted into the most sinister, crooked grin one could imagine.

"Schwarz…!" Ren choked out, clutching her bleeding gut.

"Crap… This is bad…" Schwarz thought. "I gotta find my sword… it's a family heirloom worth billions, and I can't beat that big fish guy without it…"

He locked eyes with Eclair, who then rotated her torso around and pointed her finger guns right at him.

"But if I leave Ren and Zinnia… dammit… CURSE MY CONSCIENCE!"

BANG! BANG!

Eclair shot at Schwarz, but he threw up a hole in the nick of time, making the bullets go right past him.

"Beep boop. I'll get you yet, meatbag."

Then, Schwarz got an idea, a creative new application of his power. He spawned a hole under Eclair's feet and its companion hole over her head, and once again, as she began to fall through, she stopped herself with her rocket feet.

"Beep boop. You tried this before, meatbag."

BANG! BANG!

Eclair fired two more shots at Schwarz, but he dove under them and grabbed the hole. Schwarz forcefully pulled the hole up to Eclair's waist and shrunk the hole until it dissipated. Eclair was cleanly bisected, and her torso and legs fell to the deck with a loud clang, followed by another loud clang.

"Beep boop. What did you just do, meatbag?!"

"Just made this a more even fight. I think I'll call that move 'Hole Hole Cutter.'"

Ren and Zinnia both displayed looks of disgust and confusion.

"…we'll workshop the name," Schwarz said, realizing the oddness of the attack's name as soon as he said it.

The two women stood up straight over Eclair's broken body. Eclair, for her part, propped herself on her hands and glared at Schwarz.

"You two think you can handle it from here?" Schwarz asked, shivering in the cold. "I got a sword to look for and a big fish to fry."

Then, the thought crossed his mind.

"Actually, I'm gonna go back to help the bird guy. My Hole Hole Cutter atta-"

"Please don't call it that," Ren interrupted.

"My new technique should be able to mess up that freaky fish guy," Schwarz said. "You guys know what my sword looks like, right? I'll let you do me a solid and find it for me. Thanks!"

Schwarz teleported back to the merchant ship, to which Ren said "he's lucky he's so pretty."

Ren and Zinnia turned their attention back to Eclair, who turned to face them in kind.

"We should finish this quickly. Ruth cannot survive much longer in this cold," Zinnia said.

"Beep boop. And neither will you, meatbag," said Eclair. She balanced herself on one hand and took aim, but Zinnia stomped on Eclair's gun hand with her good leg, crushing it.

"BZZZZZZTTT! BEEP BOOP OW!"

"Oh, so you do feel pain," Zinnia said. "Not that it matters, after what you have done to us."

"May ah?" Ren asked, pulling out her last grenade.

"May you what?" Zinnia asked in kind.

Ren rolled her eyes and said "never mahnd."

"Beep boop. What do you think you're doing meatb-" Eclair tried to say, but Ren pulled the pin on the grenade and shoved it in Eclair's mouth flap. She then picked up Eclair's top half and threw it away from the Pomodoro as hard as she could, and Eclair's top half exploded.

"Ah'm a little unhappy we needed help from Schwarz, but ah should be grateful he came when he did," Ren said, once again doubling over from the pain she was in.

"Let us head inside quickly before we freeze… friend," said Zinnia, smiling through the pain as she said the last word.

"Hm? Ah think we should get Puerco t'get these bullets out first," Ren replied.

"If nothing else, I must keep Ruth warm!"

Zinnia looked over at the burning ship next to her.

"I wonder…" she said as she desperately tried to keep Ruth warm, coiling her into a ball and shielding her from the freezing wind with her body.

"Miss Ren, my friend, could you please search for Mister Schwarz's sword while I warm Ruth by the fire there?"

"Wah d'you keep stressin' 'friend'? Ah said we're friends, that means we-"

"I did not have any friends besides Ruth on Amazon Lily," Zinnia said, smiling. "Please, friend, help Mister Schwarz. I will join you when Ruth is warmed up."

She bowed and hurried as fast as she could to the greenhouse ship. Ren stood there, shivering, and said "she's lucky she's so pretty."

Ren eyed the door that led below deck and clutched her bleeding gut. "Maht as well fahnd shelter from this storm wahle Ah'm here. Ah doubt Puerco brought his medical tools anyway."

—-

"Damn, I wish I'd brought my medical tools," Puerco said, shivering over Johnson's broken body that lay on the deck.

Johnson began struggling to his feet, but was quickly brought back down by Phil's gear shield crashing down on top of his head.

"Furufurufuru! You honestly thought you could defeat me?!" Phil laughed.

Johnson stood back up. "To be fair, I never said that…" he said, holding up his index feather while checking his head for blood.

Johnson was then greeted by a shield bash sending him through the wall that led into the main cabin of the merchant ship.

Phil laughed, then turned to Puerco. "You're next, runt."

"Can I get a rain check on my beating…?" Puerco peeped.

As Phil drew closer to Puerco, Schwarz teleported back to the deck of the merchant ship and delivered a drop kick to Phil's back, swinging from a hole to do so.

"I'm back!" Schwarz called as he landed.

Phil stumbled a bit, then turned to face Schwarz.

"Schwarz! Thank God you're back! I mean, you kinda abandoned us in the first place, but now you're b-where's your sword?" Puerco said.

"Ren and Zinnia are taking care of it," Schwarz explained. "But more importantly, I thought of a new technique that should get rid of our fish problems! I just used it to help them beat that creepy robot."

Phil's eyes shot open at this, and he looked across to the Señora Pomodoro, where he saw the lower half of Eclair's body and nothing else on the deck, save blood from the people she shot.

"Wha-?! What did you do?!"

"This," Schwarz said as he opened a portal under Phil's feet. As Phil fell through, Schwarz closed it, cleanly bisecting him, including his shield. Phil's top half landed with a plop, while his bottom half (including the bottom half of the shield) landed with more of a thud and a clang. Surprisingly, there was no blood or anything.

"Tell you the truth, I never really thought about what would happen if I closed one of my holes while something was in them, but this is an interesting twist!"

"Please don't call them your holes," said Puerco, face in his hand.

"You bastard! Put me back together!" Phil shouted, banging his fists on the deck.

"Why would I do that?" Schwarz asked, not knowing how.

Phil balanced himself on his hands and tried to move toward Schwarz to grab him, but Schwarz just casually walked around him to go check on Johnson.

"Stand still and let me throttle you!"

"Hey, birdson, you okay?" Schwarz asked, not paying any attention to Phil.

Johnson slowly sat up and said "I'm in a lot of pain, but I guess I'm still alive."

"That's the spirit, birdson!" Schwarz said, holding his hand out to help Johnson up.

"Stop calling me that," Johnson said, taking Schwarz's hand.

Johnson dusted himself off, and the two looked at Phil, who was positively fuming.

"So, what should we do with fishface here?" Schwarz asked.

Johnson activated the JHH-42. The robot hands shot out and somehow cracked their knuckles.

"I got this," he said, reverting back to his human form.

Phil began to sweat as Johnson walked toward him, robot hands crackling with electricity.

His screams were quite loud as he was being electrocuted.

—

"Nyehehehehe! An 'ace in the hole'?" Mandy jeered. "You don't have shit!"

"Try me," said Shaska, glaring while she assumed a fighting stance.

Mandy said nothing and lunged at Shaska for another Haki-powered lariat, but Shaska's eyes flashed red, and she managed to grab Mandy's arm and flip her onto her back.

Mandy immediately sprung to her feet and went for a low kick, but Shaska jumped and followed with a spin kick to Mandy's perfect face. As Mandy was reeling from this, Shaska grabbed Mandy's face and drove it down into her knee. Mandy screamed in pain as one of her tusks shattered, and she backed up in response.

"Heh, so you feel pain at least?" Shaska asked, cracking her knuckles.

Mandy glared at Shaska as her tusk grew back almost immediately.

"I'm gonna kill you," Mandy growled.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't try," Shaska replied with a wink.

Mandy lunged at her again several times, but Shaska managed to dodge each time, eyes flashing red.

"You may be stronger than me, but it looks like your Haki reserves are much more limited!" Shaska shouted as she weaved past Mandy's grappling attempts with some difficulty.

"SHUT UP!" Mandy roared as she smashed the ground with both fists. Shaska managed to dodge, but Mandy followed up with another lunge and managed to grab Shaska's legs.

"Show me your ace in the hole, Shaska the Greedy!" Mandy ordered as she swung Shaska around violently.

It was then that Zinnia entered the burning ship to get Ruth some warmth. She witnessed Shaska being swung around and immediately jumped into action through the massive pain she was in. Ruth managed to come back to life quickly, as well, and she became as straight as a bo staff as Zinnia jumped into the fray.

Mandy took note of this, and threw Shaska at Zinnia. They collided in the air and went flying through the wall of the burning ship, eventually crashing through the hull of the Señora Pomodoro.

Shaska pulled herself up and shouted "snake girl! The hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Trying… to help,… Miss Shaska…" Zinnia choked out through immense pain.

"Nyehehehehe!" Mandy laughed, poking her head out from the hole she made. "Is that your ace in the hole?! Worthless, imperfect garbage!"

She jumped through the hole in the hull of the burning ship and landed on the deck of the Pomodoro, then stomped with both feet until she broke through the deck into the room with Shaska and Zinnia. She landed right on Shaska's legs, crushing them.

As Shaska screamed in pain, Mandy leaned down and picked her up by the throat as the cold air poured in from multiple directions.

"You're… insane…" Shaska choked, trying to break free. "You Minus World people… have no idea how the world works."

"This imperfect world was made for one reason… to serve perfection. And perfection is Mandy!" she said, squeezing Shaska's throat tighter. "I don't serve Minus World! That's just a means to an end! That crap von Esens keeps spouting off about how everyone is equal is just that, crap."

She brushed her hair out of her face and continued. Ruth began slithering over with the last of her strength.

"All are imperfect before Mandy's glory! You got that?! And no two berry bounty hunter is going to cha-OW!"

Ruth sank her fangs into Mandy's leg with all her might. Mandy started flailing her leg to shake Ruth off, and eventually resorted to stomping on her.

Ruth eventually let go and passed out due to the pain she was in as well as the bitter cold. Zinnia slowly began to rise to her feet.

"Hm? You want some more, girl?"

"That snake is… my best friend… and if you hurt her… I will destroy you," Zinnia said through gritted teeth.

"Nyehe, oops," was all Mandy said before kicking Ruth's unconscious body out the hole in the hull and into the freezing water below.

Zinnia's eyes shot open.

"Nyehehehe! Choose! Save the snake or 'destroy' me! NYEHEHEHE!"

Zinnia froze (though ironically her blood was boiling), unsure of what to do.

"How about both…?" Shaska asked, legs turning back into tentacles, which wrapped around Mandy.

"Oh, you're still alive?" Mandy asked.

Shaska grabbed Mandy's arm with both hands and squeezed with all her might.

"SHARK GRIP!"

The force shattered Mandy's bones, and while they were quickly fixed due to her healing factor, the shock and pain made her scream and release her grip on Shaska's neck.

"SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED BRICK FIST!" Shaska called as she punched Mandy square in her perfect face.

The punch that could break seventy five hundred bricks shattered Mandy's skull, but due to having Shaska wrapped around her, she didn't go flying. Instead, she collapsed into the freezing water below as her bones pieced themselves back together.

Mandy came to her senses and struggled to break free of Shaska's tentacles, but it was too late. They hit the water together.

Zinnia looked over the edge to see what was going on.

"Miss Shaska! Ruth!"

Shaska quickly resurfaced carrying Mandy in one hand and Ruth in the other.

"Snake girl! Catch!" she called as she tossed Ruth's unconscious body up to Zinnia, who caught her and immediately cradled her to keep her warm.

"And as for you, 'Dear Leader'..." Shaska growled. Mandy stared daggers at her, unable to move in the freezing sea water. "I'm gonna show you my 'ace in the hole'. I'm gonna humiliate you before your entire collective. I'll show you just how strong I am."

"Screw you," was all Mandy said, coughing up water.

—-

As the ships of the Mercury Collective drifted further and further apart, they began sailing in the direction of the Sabaody Archipelago. Then, the surface of the water, which was intensely choppy due to the storm, became completely still.

"What's… what's going on…?" asked a citizen of the collective, looking over the edge of his ship.

The water at the center of the collective began to rise, high above the ships of the collective. Shaska held Mandy's head just above the water as she pulled the sea higher and higher. Johnson, Schwarz, and Puerco stood on the deck of the merchant ship as the water rose.

"Shaska…? Is that you…?" Puerco peeped.

"This better not capsize us…" said Johnson.

Meanwhile, the Pomodoro was rising too. Ren and Zinnia stood on the deck, the former clutching her belly after having retrieved Schwarz's sword, the latter holding onto her snake as tight as she could.

"Don't do anythin' crazy, Shaska…" Ren said.

"PEOPLE OF THE MERCURY COLLECTIVE!" Shaska called, voice piercing through the harsh winds. This caught the attention of the people on the closest ships, who immediately turned to face her.

"Is that… the big, tough lady…?" Freddie asked.

"With Dear Leader?" asked Freddie's mother.

"CONSIDER YOURSELVES FREED! DEAR LEADER WILL TORMENT YOU NO MORE!"

"This… isn't… over…" Mandy growled.

"Yes it is," said Shaska.

With all her might, Shaska threw Mandy high into the air. Mandy, for her part, shifted into her full ogre form as she flew. She grew to over eighteen feet tall, and grew bulging muscles that ripped her skin open. Shaska, on the other hand, cupped her hands behind her, and the waves began swirling around her hands.

"Ultra…"

She then threw her hands outward, and the water shot out with more force than the strongest fire hose.

"MARIIIIIIIINE!" Shaska shouted.

The torrent shot Mandy into the night sky, and soon she was out of sight, never to be seen again.

The water Shaska had pulled up came crashing down, along with the ships she had pulled up with her. As the waves returned to their original, choppy state, Shaska lay down among them, lazily drifting as the ships of the collective returned on their quest to the Sabaody Archipelago.

Shaska wished she had a cigar right about now, but as she lay there, she made one last statement.

"I'm stronger than you, 'Dear Leader'... and hotter."

TO BE CONTINUED