Chapter 53: Fury: Surprise

After maintaining his energy blast for several seconds, Thomas retracted his hand to find Mikita within a crater, glaring at him with a vengeful look on her face. The durability granted by her Devil Fruit extended to objects in her hands and clothing covering her body, but she was still a bit worse for wear, her hair frazzled and dress visibly worn.

"You bastard..." growled Mikita. However, before she could even think to launch an attack, a series of explosions compelled her to shield her face as Thomas was forced backward by Gem's invisible 'bullets.'

Like Mikita, Gem had eaten a Devil Fruit, specifically the Bomu-Bomu-no-Mi(Bomb Bomb Fruit). It allowed him to generate strong explosions from any body part, including his breath and blood. It also made him immune to shockwaves, especially those produced by explosions, so he was a fairly troublesome opponent unless you had a cutting or piercing weapon.

Following his sneak attack, Gem brought his revolver to his mouth and breathed into the chambers. Once he was finished, he aimed at Thomas, suggesting, "You should just give up and allow yourself to be captured..." before firing six more invisible rounds in rapid succession.

After blocking the attack with crossed arms, Thomas emerged from the explosions with a fierce expression as he growled, "You're getting on my nerves..."

Hmphing in response, Gem prepared to reload his revolver but was forced to dodge when Thomas abruptly fired a penetrating laser at him. The fact that he could dodge caught Thomas by surprise, but it turned out the man was simply reacting to the movement of his hand, not the laser itself. By sweeping his finger in the direction Gem had evaded, Thomas cut several centimeters into the man's legs, drastically reducing his mobility.

Though he was surprised by the efficacy of his attack, Thomas didn't let it distract him. Immediately after disabling Gem, he formed several barriers with his left hand, blocking a literal wave of wax before leaping into the air with his hands over his head like the Hulk about to smash something.

Preempting Thomas's attack, Galdino constructed a thick wall of wax, hardening just in time to block a destructive blast of fiery magical energy. The outer layers of the wax melted rapidly, but he was able to increase the wall's thickness even faster.

Landing on the ground, Thomas brought his right hand near his waist, his expression cold as he punched forward, creating a drill-like construct that rapidly burrowed through Galdino's barrier. Had the waxy man not dodged at the last moment, it likely would her pierced through him as well.

Pushing up his glasses to prevent them from falling, Galdino exclaimed, "Just what is your power...!?"

Ignoring Galdino's outburst, Thomas turned around, surprising the 'little girl' that had attempted to sneak up on him as he said, "Even if you're not a little kid, I'd rather not hit you. Mind sitting this one out...?"

Before Marianne could answer, Gem fired off another round of explosive bullets, impacting Thomas from behind. The consequent explosion was 'much' stronger than any of his previous attacks, so it knocked Thomas into Marianne, allowing him to act as a kind of shield against the resultant inferno.

Seeing his partner enveloped by Gem's sneak attack, Galdino shouted, "What do you think you're doing, Mr. 5!? We're supposed to be capturing him alive!"

Unable to stand due to the massive gashes running across his thighs, Gem glared at Galdino as he groaned, "He's too dangerous to be left alive. Just look at my legs. If we don't finish him off, he'll kill each of us..."

Dissipating the explosion with a burst of wind, Thomas rose to his feet, staring at the injured but still alive Marianne before shifting his fury-filled gaze to Gem. Before he could 'execute' the man for sneak attacking him at the expense of one of his allies, however, Mikita abruptly drop-kicked him from behind, shouting, "Don't forget about me, asshole...!"

Though his barrier was strong enough to endure high-caliber cannon fire, Thomas felt a sharp pain spread through his back and body as Mikita sent him crashing through several trees with her heels. All of her 10,000kgs had been focused on two points, so Thomas's barrier shattered like glass, resulting in him gaining two deep puncture marks around the small of his back, mere centimeters from his spine.

Despite feeling as though his back was on fire, Thomas sprang back to his feet the moment he gained control of his momentum, his expression akin to a wild beast as he glared at Mikita and growled, "Now you've pissed me off..."

As the coating of magical energy around his body became 'much' thicker, Thomas squared his feet and adopted an iconic pose. Fortunately, there was no one around to sue him for copyright infringement, so he brought his hands together and began condensing a terrifying amount of magical energy.

Realizing she may have poked a sleeping dragon, Mikita promptly leaped into the air, screaming, "Stop him, you nitwits...!" toward Galdino and Gem. The latter reacted by scooping up his blood with his revolver, but Galdino seemed to realize they had lost the fight, turning around and retreating as fast as his feet could carry him.

Seeing Galdino run off, Mikita's expression became even more panicked as she shouted, "You sniveling coward! And you call yourself an Officer of Baro-"

Before Mikita could complete her outburst, a column of energy more than 3m in diameter enveloped her body. Fortunately, she had kept her weight low, so she was propelled backward at extreme speeds rather than simply getting caught up in the energy blast. Unfortunately, she ended up being launched several thousand meters into the air, hovering over the sea and being propelled 'away' from the island due to a strong wind...

Though he didn't know the fate of Mikita, Thomas didn't care, launching himself toward Gem the moment he sent her flying. The latter attempted to stop him with explosive bullets formed of blood, but while Thomas was knocked around a bit, he was ultimately uninjured, releasing a loud battle cry once Gem ran out of ammunition.

Fearing for his life, Gem activated his ultimate technique, generating an explosion from his entire body just as Thomas reached him. The resultant explosion was so powerful that it enveloped more than a hundred meters of the surrounding forest with just the fireball. The shockwave it produced was much stronger, rippling out for several hundreds of meters, uprooting multiple trees, and severely burning Thomas's face, chest, and arms.

Despite burns covering his body and blood pouring from his nose and ears, Thomas wasn't pushed back by Gem's explosion. He had expected the man to do something desperate, so he had created a wedge-shaped barrier in front of his body at the last moment. It had shattered like glass but succeeded in redirecting much of the force of the explosion, leaving him with more burns than anything else.

Staring down at the severely injured, clearly exhausted Gem, Thomas's expression and voice were cold as he declared, "If you live a life killing and hunting others...you have no right to complain...about being hunted..."

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Before Gem could respond, Thomas raised his foot and stomped on the man's face. To his surprise, Gem's head didn't immediately explode under the force of his stomp. Rather, since impact force was effectively a wave of energy passing through an object, much like a shockwave, Gem's Devil Fruit allowed him to endure what should have been a lethal blow. He was severely injured, having his nose crushed and several teeth knocked out, but he was still alive.

Not wanting to ruin the impression of Vivi, Astolfo, and, to a lesser extent, Nami, Thomas didn't continue stomping Gem's face after he failed to end the man's life. Instead, he closed his eyes and used Reinforcement on his body, accelerating his natural recovery to the point the burns on his body appeared to 'evaporate.' The holes on his back also healed, but the thing Vivi, Astolfo, and Nami noticed when they approached him was his hair. It was around shoulder length before, but it now extended halfway down his back after growing at an accelerated rate.

Suppressing her other questions, Vivi approached Thomas, caressing his bloody, soot-covered face as she asked, "Are you okay...?" in a concerned tone.

Returning a smile, Thomas replied, "Don't worry. I just need a bath, and I'll be good as new. Before that..."

Looking in the direction Galdino had fled, Thomas paused to consider letting the man escape. If Lucy somehow ended up in Impel Down in the future, she would need Galdino's help breaking free. Turning him over to the Marines directly was an option, but the Going Merry didn't really have a place to store captured prisoners...

Shifting his gaze to where he had left Marianne, Thomas found the girl had fled when he wasn't looking. With that being the case, he shook his head and muttered, "Forget it..." before returning his attention to Vivi and adding, "Let's head back to the Merry. I'm not so vindictive that I would pursue someone that has already given up..."

Adopting a smile, Vivi was about to respond that magnanimity was an important trait for a ruler but tensed when a feminine voice remarked, "My, how considerate of you..."

Following the sound of the voice, Thomas, Vivi, Nami, and Astolfo found a raven-haired woman seated atop a tree branch, her body veiled in a dark purple, incredibly revealing cowgirl outfit. Her top was similar to a corset that showed off her ample cleavage, while her skirt was incredibly short, adorned with white tassels. Over that, she wore a rather stylish fur coat, its color predominately white but accented with solid gold buttons.

Staring at Thomas with her piercing blue eyes, the woman cupped her cheek as she remarked, "You're a bold one, aren't you? You must have a fairly compelling wish to challenge a Warlord willfully."

Blinking in surprise, Thomas parrotted, "Wish...?" before directly asking, "What do you mean...?"

Exhibiting surprise of her own, the cowgirl-hat-wearing woman raised her brows as she questioned, "Are you trying to take me for a fool? The power you possess is clearly the result of an Install Card. Aren't you challenging Crocodile to claim the cards in his possession...?"

As he genuinely had no idea what the woman was talking about, Thomas replied, "We're taking on Crocodile to help Vivi and restore the Kingdom of Alabasta. I've never even heard of an Install Card."

Reaching into the breast pocket of her fur coat, the raven-haired woman pulled out a very familiar-looking card. In fact, besides the silver coloring and the image drawn on the front, the card was virtually indistinguishable from those given to Thomas at the start of his journey. As for the image, it depicted what appeared to be an Assassin and the roman numeral for the number three(III)...

Seeing the recognition and shock on Thomas's face, the woman adopted a teasing smile as she playfully mused, "So you 'are' familiar with Install Cards. Now, if you don't mind my asking, which cards do you possess? No need to be coy. Who knows, we may even be able to work together if you possess a powerful enough card..."

Recovering from his stupor, Thomas shook his head and asserted, "First off, I don't possess any Install Cards. Secondly, I know your identity and have been waiting for you to appear so we can converse. Mind joining me in Mr. 3's wax house...?"

Raising her brows, the raven-haired woman asked, "You know who I am?" before adopting a smile and adding, "Humor me..."

Nodding his head, Thomas replied, "You're Nico Robin, the sole survivor of Ohara's Archeologists, the woman seeking to expose the truth of the Void Century..."

Though she was surprised by Thomas's response, Robin didn't show it in her expression. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and adopted a smile as she replied, "It seems we've much to discuss. However, I won't enter any place I can't escape. If you really want to have a discussion, you'll let me bind your arms and accompany me into the jungle..."

Without considering his response, Thomas replied, "Sure," before turning to Vivi, Nami, and Astolfo, advising them to return to the Going Merry and promising he would meet them in a few hours. Vivi was reluctant to leave him alone with Baroque Works' top-ranking female agent, but, trusting he knew what he was doing, she wished him luck before accompanying Nami and Astolfo without a fuss...

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(A/N: The plot thickens (O w O)...)

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