Hawkins VS Simon Sandy

"Demon Subduing Form!"

Hawkins ignored Simon Sandy's words, his entire body began to change. His height increased by nearly a meter, and his face transformed into a grotesque Scarecrow Face!

His hands, in particular, had their fingers elongated into long, sharp iron nails.

Without further ado, Hawkins completed his transformation and raised his hand, his ten nail-fingers attacking Simon Sandy!

Simon Sandy's bulky body flashed, easily evading the attack. He looked at the Scarecrow, who was now a head taller than him, and frowned, "Devil Fruit user?"

Hawkins remained focused, looking at Simon Sandy and saying, "The outcome is already decided. Your probability of failure is ninety-nine percent!"

"Always spouting nonsense!"

Simon Sandy snorted, and his body also began to change. His once obese form became more robust, his skin turned dark, and his needle-like hairs became clearly visible. Behind him, reddish-brown mane extended to his tail, each strand standing on end. His fangs jutted out menacingly!

He was also a Devil Fruit user!

A hint of surprise flashed in Hawkins's calm gaze. He said faintly, "This form... you are a pirate from the Grand Line, the captain of the 'Porcupine' Pirates, Porcupine Simon Sandy?"

Upon hearing Hawkins's words, Simon Sandy's expression inexplicably turned completely grim. He roared furiously, "I'm just a Zoan-type Porcupine form, not a porcupine! Remember this, my title is Vicious Beast, VICIOUS BEAST!!"

Hawkins seemed to have touched a nerve with Simon Sandy, causing him to fly into a complete rage. He hadn't been this angry even when he found out his possessions were stolen!

This was a lifelong sore spot for him. He didn't know which Navy officer had set his bounty and used his Devil Fruit ability as his title, spreading it across the world!

From then on, his "Porcupine" title stuck to him...

He detested this title and vowed to torture to death the Navy officer who had given him the title.

However, he later discovered that the one who set this title was the Navy Admiral, Kizaru Borsalino...

No matter how much he hated Kizaru, he didn't dare to confront him. But for those who called him "Porcupine," he never let them off easily!

He would even torture them severely!

Simon Sandy roared furiously, stomping his foot on the ground. The immense force cracked the ground, and he charged at Hawkins like a locomotive!

Bang bang bang...

With every stomp, his massive body shook the ground!

Seeing Simon Sandy charging with explosive momentum, Hawkins didn't dare to be careless. He grabbed the attacking fangs with his straw hands, holding them firmly!

Boom!

The two struggled against each other, the force of their exertion causing the ground to sink!

Although Hawkins's current strength wasn't as great as in the original story, his mastery of the Scarecrow-Scarecrow Fruit was already quite proficient.

"Imprint: Hoof Fist!"

Simon Sandy reached out and grabbed the Scarecrow's right hand. He clenched his other fist and smashed it towards the Scarecrow's chest!

Rumble!

The punch landed squarely. A blast of energy penetrated Hawkins's Scarecrow form from behind, destroying a building. However, Hawkins seemed unfazed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, a small-time thug walking along suddenly had a massive hole blown through his chest, blood splattering onto his companions...

A straw figure fell from Hawkins's body. His eyes flickered as he released his other hand, which was gripping the fangs, and thrust his steel-nailed fingers towards Simon Sandy!

Ching! The steel nails grazed Simon Sandy's skin, creating sparks.

"Hmm?"

Hawkins frowned. Such tough skin!

"It's useless. After I transform, I gain the 'Steel Skin' characteristic. Without Armament Haki, you can't break my defenses!"

Simon Sandy sneered and swung both fists, unleashing over a dozen punches in rapid succession, sending Hawkins flying backward!

Somewhere on the island, aboard a ship at sea, at that very moment, several people inexplicably had their chests explode, dying gruesome deaths!

"Armament Haki? What is that?"

Hawkins crawled out. Apart from being a bit disheveled, he had no visible injuries. Two more straw figures simply fell from his body.

"Huh? He's fine? A rookie who doesn't even know about Haki shouldn't be able to withstand my attack. So, what kind of amazing ability is this?"

Simon Sandy was astonished that his attacks couldn't harm the person in front of him. Was it a Devil Fruit ability? How bizarre!

However, his Observation Haki had already detected the smaller straw figures falling from Hawkins, and he guessed that was the reason.

"Haki?"

Hawkins muttered a few times. This was the first time he had heard the name!

"Heh heh, Haki is an innate ability of the human body, but many people don't know how to use it!"

"Forget it, it's useless to explain to a rookie like you. Just accept your death!"

Simon Sandy initially wanted to say more, but then he remembered that he only knew Observation Haki, so he stopped, not wanting to embarrass himself:

"Your ability should be related to the straw figures falling from you. Being able to withstand my attacks repeatedly is probably due to this reason, but how long can you endure?"

"Earth Split!"

Simon Sandy smirked as his massive foot stomped the ground, channeling force into the earth. Along a straight line, the ground began to crack!

Hawkins leaped into the air upon seeing this.

"Haha, you fell for it! Porcupine Javelin!"

Simon Sandy lowered his body, transforming into his full beast form. The sharp quills on his back stood on end, and with a shake, they shot out like javelins!

He pierced the Scarecrow in mid-air, turning it into a hedgehog, and then smashed it down hard from the sky!

Hawkins got up. The Scarecrow's face couldn't show any change in his expression, but three more scarecrows fell from his body.

Hawkins fell silent for a moment. His attacks couldn't harm the enemy, and for every attack the enemy launched, he had to consume a decoy puppet just to barely survive.

The gap in strength was too great!

Not only was he at a disadvantage, but his subordinates were also losing ground, being beaten back by Simon Sandy's men. The outcome would soon be decided.

"Are you out of tricks? If not, then die!"

Seeing that Hawkins wasn't attacking, Simon Sandy sneered and charged at Hawkins again!

Hawkins didn't dodge. This time, he rushed forward directly.

The two faced each other. Simon Sandy sneered, clenching his right hand into a fist. His muscles bulged, and he brought down a punch powerful enough to shatter a building!

Hawkins didn't dodge or evade, taking the punch head-on!

With a "boom," two more scarecrows fell. However, Hawkins also spat out a large mouthful of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"That's not necessarily true!"

At this moment, Hawkins' eyes were incredibly cold. He grabbed Simon Sandy's fang with one hand, while his other hand separated into straw, revealing a rapier within.

"Straw Handle Sword!"

With one sword, he thrust forward!