Lara's POV;
I deflected Momonga's downward slash. I then had to take a step to the side to evade his knee, aimed at my head and followed with an elbow of my own. Yet, I had to stop my attack or else I would have cut my arm off on the sword he has had placed in my way.
He anticipated this and pushed his sword forward and I had to use Armament Haki and a hurried jump backwards to not lose my arm. I nonetheless got my sleeve cut off and even a small cut on my arm.
This guy is better with the sword than me, at least in extremely close combat. Maybe I should dismiss my sword and switch over to Kunai. I'm better at speed fighting with those and I don't need force blades in this fight.
“You are good, that is for a Revolutionary. Still, I can't seem to remember your fighting style and the Revolution has no one as skilled as you and is unknown.” Remarked Momonga in a tone that almost showed respect. Must be a part of this swordsman honour stuff.
I shrugged, sheathed my blade and threw it upwards to Lia. She caught it skilfully and continued with her attack on the higher ranked Marines on board, there weren't many remaining. I then pulled two Kunai out of my inventory, making it look like I drew them from my back, and rushed with a Soru at Momonga.
He was ready for me, only giving my throw a glance before looking back at me. He parried the short blade masterfully and aligned his sword to also catch the piercing stab of my second weapon.
“Then again, what if you aren't from the Revolutionaries?”, he then noted and eyed my new weapons with interest. I mentally patted my own shoulder for switching weapons. Lunare, my sword, is way too recognisable.
The explosion of a Marine ship lights our right but neither of us looks away. “I might or might not. Not that it matters, you are in the way and have to go.” I put more strength into the deadlock and saw his surprise when I pushed him away.
We were back in our starting position and I had to take him out fast or else Kizaru will come and do his job. I was almost ready to say fuck it and make a run when a light flew off into the distance.
“Kizaru is gone”, explained Lia in a tone that was as surprised as Momonga's expression.
“Sensei? What, how?” He couldn't find a reason for Kizaru's leave and neither could I. But I wasn't one to argue and took the chance. I rushed at Momonga in a very low position. Only a stab or his legs could now become dangerous and then also only in an awkward position for him.
He began a kick, while I started to hum. The sound was amplified by my Devil Fruit and the sound waves hit him faster than me. They were in a frequency designed to scramble with his inner ear and his balance will be hindered for some time. Enough for me to get close enough and stab upwards. Still, he managed to move his head back, right in time, and my dagger missed him. I was now at eye height with him. He tried to hit me, but missed, thanks to my sound attack.
Left wide open it was now easy for me to push both daggers forward. He reacted in time and activated Armament Haki and possibly also Tekkai. My blades didn't pierce his body deeper than the skin. He still skidded backwards and stopped a few metres away from his initial position. My attack would have been stronger if I had any footing other than air.
“Remarkable strong for someone so tiny. And this strange noise I keep hearing, a sound Devil Fruit against my inner ear? I really wish to rip that mask off of your face now”, he said while patting down his uniform.
He then threw his overcoat off and his whole posture became more serious. His eyes now held a deadly glint and I knew that he would fight for real from now on. I couldn't stop myself and started to laugh.
“Oh yes, this new feeling. It is...exhilarating!” This is the first dangerous fight I have had since...ever. This Marine officer is strong enough to kill me. He can be a danger to my current life and will do anything to end it.
I took a deep breath and got ready as well. I infused my blades and body with Armament Haki and felt the strain that comes with coating the entirety of one's body. I grabbed one of my blades reverse style and flung myself at Momonga, the Vice Admiral of the Marines.
This time my Armament Haki enhanced Soru made me faster than sound and the sonic boom followed after me. I reached him and jumped in a spin, my right Kunai aimed at his chest in a slash.
He met it with his sword and a shout “[Righteous Slash]!”. My blade was stopped momentarily, sparks were flying left and right, and then my Kunai was cut in two.
His sword wasn't stopped and it cut into my shoulder. The Haki enhanced sword met my Haki infused flesh and cut into it. However, the blade stopped after a few centimetres and got stuck between the still enhance muscle.
I still had my other blade and brought it upwards in a slash. He, too skilled and experienced to freeze, tried to jump back. The blade in my shoulder, however, resisted long enough to give me time and cut into his left armpit.
Momonga was either not skilled enough or didn't know about infusing your whole body with Haki because my Kunai cut deeply into him. The Haki he had put on himself was by far not enough to withstand my attack. On top of that, I also activated my vibration power while the Kunai was still inside his arm. The retreat he made ripped the Kunai out and the vibration made it act like a chainsaw.
Blood flowed freely out of our wounds. My own right shoulder won't be of much use for the rest of this fight. Still, my aim was perfect, his left arm dangled uselessly down, bleeding heavily. I must've cut some tendons.
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He was now way less dangerous. The use of a two-handed sword will be greatly diminished if used only with one hand. Add the loss of stability by a dangling and unusable arm and I could safely say that he lost more than half of his strength. My inner ear attack will be useless in another attack or two.
“I didn't predict such a sturdy Haki and it did cost me greatly”, he said in a slightly annoyed and impressed tone. He was still serious but could see that his position wasn't good. I took the liberty and glanced around. Dead Marines were all over the deck and Lia was hovering above us with her own power, not using Geppo.
She had finished with every living Marine on deck and was now watching my fight, her expression was one of anger. Most likely because Momonga managed to hurt me. The protectiveness of her over me is only rivalled by my own over her. That's why I wasn't surprised when she flung four projectiles, not pebbles but real bullet formed steel, at him. They broke the sound barrier right after leaving her hands and were too fast for me to see.
Four wet sounds, instantly followed by a crunch and then a muffled boom from deep under us came. Her bullets pierced Momonga's hands and feet. Continued with the wooden plank and then hit the ground of the sea. The resulting explosion even rocked the massive ship slightly. Momonga was no longer able to stand and fell down. He glared at Lia and spit out in disgust. “You must be pirates, after all, no honour in a fight.”
"Shut up and die!”, growled Lia and increased the gravity on him. This wasn't training gravity, but her try at producing a blood puddle. The floor groaned and crunched, it's sound being eerily similar to the breaking of Momonga's bones.
“Thank you for your concern, but he is still important. And it's not as if I'm in danger of dying”, I said soothingly and Lia held the current strength of her gravity.
“He hurt you, he has to die.” She counter-argued. It was a valid one. But Momonga is one of the canon Vice Admirals, he will fetch Hancock and he didn't notice Luffy. What if someone else will be sent, because he is dead, and notices the idiot?
“If you stop now I'll give you a massage as long as you want”, I offered. Killing Momonga might change too much.
“I want your head between my legs until I am satisfied”, she countered. She must have calmed down somewhat if she agrees to argue. My tongue will be sore from all the licking, but it's not as if I dislike it.
“Agreed, now knock him out and let us retreat. We also need to take care of the defences in the base. If Kizaru was inside then it must have been important.” She nodded and must have decreased the air pressure because Momonga lost consciousness after a moment of struggling.
I stopped the Haki infusion and started to feel the throbbing of my wound. It wasn't hurting, thanks to [Insensitivity to Pain], but I felt it. It most likely is also bleeding strongly.
We both used Geppo to get back. The ice was long gone, broken by waves and drifted off or melted. Shortly before we reached the Shadow the second normal Marine ship exploded. That was the ship designated to Nojiko and Jo, their ship exploded as planned and not as early as Yosaku and Jonny's.
We were greeted by Noa, Jonny and Yosaku. “Glad to see that you're alive. Jo is inside and fixes Nojiko up. She got shot in the arm. Nothing serious, according to Josef.” Explained Jonny.
“Thanks, I will need him as well”, I said and began to walk to our medical bay. The three looked worried and followed me. We heard Jo's amused laughter from outside of his office. “You reacted better than Yosaku, he is always crying.”
“Am not”, grumbled Yosaku from behind me. I opened the door and saw how Jo was finishing a bandage on Nojiko's arm. Some bloody wadding was lying on a tablet.
“Jo, I kinda need your help”, I said and sat down on the bed, next to Nojiko. Both looked at me and Jo was the first to notice my wound.
“How the fuck did you got that?”, he demanded to know. His focus was no longer on Nojiko. He has already jumped up and was going through his medicine.
“A dagger of mine wasn't strong enough to parry a sword, my shoulder had to jump in”, I joked.
“Take your coat off, I will have to see it directly”, he ordered. I gave a meaningful look at Jonny, Noa and Yosaku. It took them a moment, but they realised what Jo's order means and excused themselves.
Nojiko didn't feel spoken too and stayed where she was, Lia, of course, did the same. Once the door was closed I pulled the coat over my head and also pulled my shirt off. My blood-soaked bra was left on.
"Your bra as well Lara. I'm sure it is full of blood, I don't want to get the bandages all bloody again," said Jo without turning around. I shrugged and took it off as well. Jo was the doc and would not raise an eye when seeing me topless.
Jo came back from his cabinet of supplies and sat down in front of me. He only gave my chest a glance before focusing on my wound, a pro. He started by taking some distilled water to wash the blood away. “The cut is luckily not too deep and the bone seems not to be hit as well. I will have to stitch it back together and you are banned from any activity until I say so. If you are lucky then you can use your arm next week again. But that means no moving at all, not even picking a glass up. Are we clear?” I shrugged and he bobbed my head for moving my wounded shoulder.
“I said no moving, now hold still, I need to disinfect that, before stitching and bandaging you”, he then said and put some alcoholic smelling liquid on a padding before cleaning my wound. The slight itch that came from it was easily ignored.
“It amazes me how pain tolerant you are”, noted Nojiko in slight awe. I almost shrugged again, but Jo's glare stopped me.
Jo stopped his cleaning and pulled out a needle and some yarn. “Mind telling me who managed to wound our unbeatable captain?”, he then asked while stitching the flesh together.
“A guy called Momonga, he is a Vice Admiral. Better than me with a sword and my own daggers weren't up to the task. Would have liked to use some I have made myself, but haven't had the opportunity to get even close to a forge. Anyway, his sword was stopped by my muscle and I got his armpit in return. Lia finished the fight. We will also have to act fast or else there might be real trouble coming after us.” I replied and then turned to Lia. “Sis, could you be so nice and fetch whatever they researched inside that base before Kizaru decides he wants to come back?”, I then asked. She nodded and left the room.
Jo has missed the stitch and pierced me with his needle. “Kizaru, as in the Admiral Kizaru, the guy with the Glimmer Fruit, the same Admiral that was responsible for Fisher Tiger's death?”, he asked angrily.
“The one and only. Don't know why, but he was on the island. Lia and I were just about to deport the whole thing when he left in a flash of light. Something must have happened.” I answered evenly, not minding the still stuck needle. It was dangerously close to my neck.
“Oh okay... AS IF I WOULD SAY THAT!”, roared Jo. I tried to shrug, but his hand clamped down on my shoulder and he angrily hissed at me “Don't.Move.Your.Shoulder!” I hate doctors, they always act so bossily. It was way easier when my whole body would simply regenerate
Nojiko snickered and I gave her a glare. “Noji, please fetch a shirt for Lara,” said Jo mid-stitch. She left the room and came shortly after back with a tank top.
“You also need a sling”, informed Jo me after his last stitch. I nodded and pulled the tank top over my head.
He grabbed a bundle of bandages and tape and made a sling for my arm. This thing will be annoying. Lia will also have to sit at a table tonight, I can't lie down like this. That or she has to sit on me, hmm, something to seriously consider.
“So finished, and don't move your arm”, he reminded again and started to put his stuff away. I shrugged behind his back “I said no moving!” He said again. How is every doctor I know doing that? Tsunade was the same.
Well, let's hope Lia finds something cool.