Chapter 35: Intervention

Immediately following Benienma's warning, Thomas's eyes widened as a tall and curvaceous woman approached the execution platform wearing a white cowboy hat and a pale pink cloak covered in hearts. As she moved through the crowd, men and women alike parted like Moses splitting the Red Sea, not because of the massive spiked club resting on her shoulder but because her beauty had compelled them to make way.

"Holy shit..."

Though the woman had yet to identify herself, Thomas recognized her as Alvida, one of the first Pirates Luffy faced during the version of One Piece he was familiar with. She started as a nearly ball-shaped woman with a horrendously ugly face, large feet, massive lips, and freckles, but after eating a Devil Fruit that turned her into a 'Smooth Woman,' she shed all of her weight and became one of the most beautiful women in the world...

While Thomas was momentarily awed by her beauty, much like the rest of the crowd, Alivda approached the base of the execution platform before calling out to Lucy, declaring, "I finally found you, Monkey D. Lucy. You're going to pay for what you did to me...!"

Unlike her original counterpart, who had become infatuated with Luffy for being the first man to strike her, the current Alvida hated Lucy to the core. She had nearly succumbed to dehydration after being stranded on a deserted island, and one of the only fruits she discovered ended up being a Devil Fruit that tasted like dog shit.

Not recognizing Alivda, Lucy tilted her head to the side and asked, "Do I know you...?" with a confused look on her face.

As she was incapable of telling how much her beauty had improved after eating the Sube-Sube-no-Mi, Alvida's expression darkened as she asked, "You forgot about me, Iron Mace Alvida, the most beautiful woman in East Blue...?"

Blinking in surprise, Lucy replied, "Huh? Alvida was a fat old hag covered in freckles. You look nothing like her."

"..."

Hanging her head in a way that allowed her cowgirl hat to conceal her face, Alvida smashed her gigantic mace into the ground, her voice a low growl as she asserted, "I will never forgive you..."

Interrupting Lucy's and Alvida's reunion, a bunch of men dressed in grey outfits, Loguetown's local militia, approached the execution platform, led by a mustached man with a bullhorn. His eyes widened when he noticed Alvida, but he eventually managed to return his gaze to Lucy, raising his bullhorn to shout, "Get down from there! This is a special execution site under the jurisdiction of the World Government! If you refuse to remove yourself, you will be apprehended and placed under-"

Before the man could finish issuing his warning, Alvida attempted to bat him aside with her spiked mace, aiming for his head. Even without her superhuman strength, such an attack would be fatal against an ordinary human. Thus, the moment the group appeared, Thomas moved forward, intending to intervene. The moment Alvida swung her mace, he emerged from the gathering crowd, intercepting her mace with his bare hand as he said, "Not today..."

Though she was 6'6''(198cm), Alvida had to look up at Thomas, her green eyes widening slightly as she asked, "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

As he didn't want to ruin the rapport he had painstakingly established with Nami, Thomas's expression remained serious as he replied, "In this instance, your enemy..."

Without elaborating or providing his actual identity, Thomas destroyed Alvida's mace with a burst of Magical Energy. Then, even though her Devil Fruit provided her immunity to most physical attacks, causing them to slide off her body as if she was a frictionless surface, he grabbed her left wrist without issue, pulling her off balance before planting his knee in her lower abdomen.

Despite possessing superhuman strength, Alvida was ultimately a Pirate whose Bounty had stagnated at a mere 5,000,000 Berries. Thomas held back considerably, but she ended up stumbling forward like Cell after getting his guts punched in by Gohan, eyes bulging out as she held her stomach.

Though Thomas's actions earned him the ire of nearly everyone in the crowd, including the man he had just saved, their protests were promptly silenced by the sound of an explosion. At the same time, the large group wearing beige cloaks charged forward, led by a man with a shiny red nose that was visually indistinguishable from a clown's prop nose.

While the crowd rapidly dispersed, the red-nosed man, Buggy the Clown, shouted, "Get them! Don't let them escape, even if it kills you...!"

Removing their cloaks, Buggy's crew charged at Thomas like a rogue circus troupe. The former had originally intended to capture Lucy and execute her in public, but his plans changed when Thomas incapacitated Alvida. Not because he had any particular fondness for the remarkably smooth and beautiful woman, but because the man he sent to capture Lucy was effortlessly avoided due to the latter's burgeoning mastery of Observation Haki.

Grinning like a demon, Thomas's excitement compounded as he smacked his chest and shouted, "Bring it on, bitches...!"

Though Thomas didn't possess Conqueror's Haki, those closest to him immediately backed down when they saw the excitement on his face. His muscular frame and height of 220cm were also fairly intimidating, so none of them wanted to be the first to approach.

"You damn cowards...!" exclaimed Buggy before kicking out and pointing the tip of his shoe at Thomas, completely ignoring the presence of Alvida as he shouted, "Eat this! Secret Muggy Shot...!"

Having imagined how he would deal with Buggy, Thomas responded to the man's 'secret attack' by erecting a trio of convex barriers layered on top of each other. When the tiny red ball came into contact with the first shield, it immediately exploded into an enormous plume of fire. However, while the explosion was able to shatter the first barrier with ease, it barely affected the other two.

Before the fire and smoke cleared completely, Thomas charged forward with his barriers intact, emerging from the other side like a paladin about to execute a shield bash. Buggy, not anticipating this, went wide-eyed as Thomas barreled toward him like a runaway train. He crossed his arms in a defensive posture but was sent flying by the force of the blow, crashing through several of his men.

While his attack was successful, Thomas blinked in surprise as he didn't push Buggy back nearly as far as he expected. The moment he impacted the much smaller clown, it was like he had struck an exceptionally sturdy tree. Buggy was sent flying, but the man showed no visible signs of injury as he pushed himself to his feet and threatened, "You're going to pay for that..." with an expression that could humble Pennywise.

Following his words, Buggy reached into his cloak and pulled out eight custom-made knives, wielding them between his fingers. However, before he could launch himself at Thomas, a fist moving fast enough to generate shockwaves slammed into his face, propelled by a thick trail of smoke. At the same time, a small army of Marines wielding flintlock rifles surged into the square, surrounding Buggy, his crew, Thomas, the downed Alvida, and the execution platform.

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Though he hadn't done anything wrong, a group of Marines aimed their rifles at Thomas, some shouting, "Hands in the air!" while others shouted, "No sudden movements...!"

"..."

Before Thomas could point out the contradiction, a pair of diminutive yet powerful hands gripped his shoulders like a vice, causing his eyes to widen as he was abruptly lifted off the ground and flung high into the air. He instinctually bolstered the veil of Magical Energy protecting his body, but it was ultimately unnecessary as Lucy leaped up to catch him, smiling broadly as she remarked, "You did well by saving that old man. I panicked a bit when Alvida swung her club at his head."

Despite the rather large disparity in their sizes, Lucy touched down on top of a building while casually supporting Thomas in a princess carry. She immediately set him down, but that didn't stop him from furrowing his brows and appearing embarrassed as he replied, "It was no big deal..."

Amused by Thomas's reaction, Lucy was about to tease him a bit but was preempted by him stating, "We need to regroup with Nami and the others. We didn't do anything wrong, but that won't deter the Marines from trying to arrest and interrogate us."

Nodding her head, Lucy attempted to pick Thomas back up, but he raised his hand while moving away from her, smiling wryly as he asserted, "I can run on my own..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Lucy replied, "Suit yourself," before leaping from the building they were standing on, easily clearing several others. Thomas followed suit, but he had to leap from building to building, not because he wasn't capable of jumping much further, but because he couldn't properly control his strength. If he made a mistake and overshot the roof he was aiming for, he would end up crashing through the building on the opposite side or landing heavily on the pavement. The latter wouldn't harm him, but the thought of destroying someone's house or business deterred Thomas from being too reckless...

Spitting in the face of Thomas's good intentions, a fast-moving stream of smoke attempted to overtake him by passing around his body. Instead, it crashed into him with the force of a small car, surprising the ashen-haired Marine that tried to obstruct his path. Shortly after that, the two of them crashed through the exterior wall of a bakery, destroying several displays containing fresh bread and pastries.

Bounding to his feet, Thomas's expression morphed into a scowl as he exclaimed, "Are you serious!? Couldn't you have flown around instead of attempting to pass around me for dramatic flair!?"

Rising to his feet alongside Thomas, the Marine that had crashed into him had a comparably ugly expression on his face as he pulled out several cigars from his jacket, lighting them up before asking, "Was that Haki? I didn't expect an upstart Pirate from the East Blue would have access to something like that..."

As he had yet to do any actual pirating, Thomas snorted through his nose and asked, "What upstart Pirate? I stepped in to save that Police Captain from having his head splattered and then repelled Buggy the Clown. Your men surrounded and aimed their rifles at me for no reason, and now we've ruined someone's business because you wanted to show off...!"

"..."

Though his expression became even uglier, the bare-chested man, better known as Captain Smoker, didn't lash out or attempt to refute Thomas's words. Instead, he looked around at the destroyed bakery, narrowing his eyes at a middle-aged man standing behind the register with a mortified look on his face.

Despite wearing an expression that made it appear as though he was about to skin the man alive, Smoker's gravely voice was calm as he said, "Send an invoice to my office before the end of the week. I'll see that you are properly remunerated for the trouble we've caused you."

Without waiting for the man's response, Smoker turned his attention back to Thomas, revealing, "I am Captain Smoker of the Marines. If you're truly not a Pirate, you'll follow me outside. I have some questions for you."

Shrugging his shoulders, Thomas replied, "So long as you don't ask me to accompany you down to your headquarters, I don't mind answering a few questions. I'm having trust issues after having a dozen men point rifles at me for no fucking reason..."

Exhaling an enormous plume of smoke, Smoker remained silent for a few seconds before replying, "Fair enough. Once I ascertain your identity and confirm you're not a Pirate, I'll lower my head and publically apologize on my men's behalf."

"..."

Though he vaguely recalled a scene of Smoker apologizing after a little kid bumped into him with her ice cream, Thomas didn't expect him to be so...agreeable. He was originally thinking about how he could escape the man's pursuit, but, as there wasn't a thunderstorm raging outside, he doubted that Dragon, Lucy's father, was present. Even if he was, there was no guarantee the man would step in to save him. Thus, after several seconds of deliberation, he replied, "Fine, let's talk..."

...

..

.

(A/N: Thomas is a feminist, confirmed...)

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