"Demon Subduing Form!"
Hawkins ignored Simon Sandy's words. His entire body began to change, growing nearly a meter taller, while his face transformed into an eerie Scarecrow Face!
Most notably, the fingers of both his hands had turned into long, sharp iron nails.
Hawkins wasted no words. Once his transformation was complete, he raised his hands and launched all ten iron nails at Simon Sandy!
Simon Sandy's fat body flashed aside, easily evading the attack. Looking at the scarecrow now a head taller than himself, he frowned. "A Devil Fruit user?"
Hawkins remained focused as he looked at Simon Sandy and said, "The outcome has already been decided. The probability of your failure is ninety-nine percent!"
"What a load of nonsense!"
Simon Sandy snorted coldly as his body began changing as well. His already fat body became even more muscular, his skin darkened, and steel-needle-like bristles stood out distinctly. Behind him, reddish-brown mane extended all the way to his tail, every strand standing erect, while two fangs jutted out savagely!
He was a Devil Fruit user too!
A trace of surprise flashed through Hawkins's calm gaze. "In that form... are you Simon Sandy, captain of the Grand Line's 'Porcupine' Pirates?"
For some reason, Simon Sandy's expression completely darkened upon hearing Hawkins's words. He roared furiously, "I merely have the Zoan-type porcupine form—I'm not a porcupine! Remember this: my title is Vicious Beast, Vicious Beast!!"
Hawkins seemed to have struck Simon Sandy's sore spot, sending him into a complete rage. He had not even been this furious when he learned that his belongings had been stolen!
It was a lifelong sore spot for him. He had no idea which Marine had decided to use his Devil Fruit ability as his epithet when setting his bounty, spreading it throughout the world!
From that day on, he had never been able to shake off the title of Porcupine...
He loathed that title deeply and had sworn to torture to death the Marine who gave it to him.
However, he later discovered that the one who had given him that title was Marine Admiral Kizaru Borsalino...
No matter how much he hated Kizaru, he did not dare go after him. But he never easily spared anyone who called him "Porcupine"!
He would even torture them mercilessly!
Simon Sandy roared angrily and stomped the ground. The immense force cracked the earth beneath his feet as he charged at Hawkins like a locomotive!
Bang, bang, bang...
With every stomp, his huge body made the ground tremble!
Watching Simon Sandy charge at him with his aura erupting, Hawkins did not dare lower his guard. His straw hands shot out and firmly seized the two thrusting fangs!
Boom!
The two wrestled against each other, the force they unleashed causing the ground beneath them to cave in!
Though Hawkins had yet to reach his strength from the original story, he was already highly skilled in using the Scarecrow-Scarecrow Fruit.
"Imprint: Hoof Fist!"
Simon Sandy reached out and grabbed the scarecrow's right hand, then clenched his other hand into a fist and smashed it into the chest of the scarecrow Hawkins had transformed into!
Boom!
The punch landed squarely. A burst of force visibly pierced through the scarecrow's back, destroying a building behind him, yet Hawkins seemed to feel nothing at all.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, a small-time thug walking along suddenly had a massive hole explode through his chest, spraying blood all over his companions...
A straw doll fell from Hawkins's body. His eyes flashed as he released the fang he had been gripping with his other hand, thrusting his steel-nailed fingers toward Simon Sandy!
With a slash, the steel nails scraped across Simon Sandy's skin, actually throwing off sparks.
"Hmm?"
Hawkins frowned. His skin was incredibly tough!
"It's useless. After transforming, I possess steel-like skin. Without Armament Haki, it's impossible to break through my defenses!"
Simon Sandy sneered and swung both fists at once, throwing more than a dozen punches in an instant and blasting Hawkins away!
Elsewhere on the island and aboard ships at sea, people's chests inexplicably exploded at that very moment, leaving them in gruesome states of death!
"Armament Haki? What is that?"
Hawkins climbed back up. Aside from looking somewhat disheveled, he had not sustained any wounds. Only two more straw dolls fell from his body.
"Hm? He's still fine? A little rookie who doesn't even know Haki shouldn't be able to withstand my attacks. So is this some kind of miraculous ability?"
Simon Sandy was astonished. His attacks could not harm the guy before him at all. Was it the power of a Devil Fruit? How strange!
However, his Observation Haki had already noticed the miniature straw dolls falling from Hawkins's body, and he guessed that they were likely the reason.
"Haki?"
Hawkins muttered to himself. This was the first time he had heard that term!
"Heh heh, Haki is an ability innate to the human body. It's just that many people don't know how to use it!"
"Forget it, there's no point telling a rookie like you. Just obediently die!"
Simon Sandy had originally intended to explain more, but then remembered that he only knew Observation Haki himself. He stopped before embarrassing himself.
"Your ability should be connected to the straw dolls falling from your body, right? The reason you can endure my attacks again and again should be because of them. But how long can you keep enduring?"
"Earth Split!"
A cold smile hung on Simon Sandy's lips as his huge foot stomped the ground. Force surged into the earth, and the ground began splitting open in a straight line!
Seeing this, Hawkins leaped into the air.
"Haha, you fell for it! Porcupine Javelin!"
Simon Sandy dropped to all fours and transformed into his full beast form. The sharp spines along his back stood erect, and with a shake, they shot out like javelins!
They pierced the scarecrow in midair until it resembled a hedgehog, then slammed it viciously down from the sky!
Hawkins rose to his feet. His scarecrow face revealed no change in expression, but three more straw dolls fell from his body.
Hawkins fell silent for a moment. His attacks could not harm his enemy, while every attack from his enemy forced him to expend substitute dolls just to barely stay alive.
The gap in strength was far too great!
Not only had he fallen into a disadvantage, but his subordinates had as well. They were being driven back step by step by Simon Sandy's men, and the victor would soon be decided.
"Out of tricks? If so, then die!"
Seeing that Hawkins was not attacking, Simon Sandy sneered and charged at him once more!
Hawkins did not dodge. This time, he charged forward instead.
The two faced each other. Simon Sandy sneered, clenched his right hand into a fist, and bulging muscles rose over his arm. A punch powerful enough to smash a building came crashing down!
Hawkins neither dodged nor evaded, taking the punch head-on!
With a boom, another two straw dolls fell away. However, Hawkins also spat out a mouthful of blood.
"That may not be the case!"
Hawkins's gaze was incomparably cold. One hand grabbed Simon Sandy's fang, while his other hand split apart into straw, revealing a rapier within.
"Straw Handle Sword!"
With a single thrust, he stabbed forward!
Before you continue