Watching Roger's Execution at the Start

Quicksand had already swallowed Antolich, but he never got an answer from Crocodile. Only a pair of cold eyes watched him sink.

"All right, fall back to the warship."

"Yes, sir!"

Atlas had come out when her adjutant Lulans called her, and she had seen everything. But she made no move to stop it. He was a pirate. If he died, he died.

Atlas walked slowly toward Crocodile. Her face betrayed nothing as she studied this Shichibukai appointed by the World Government.

Crocodile looked every bit the villain. He wore a fur coat despite the heat, with his thick hair slicked back and a scar cutting across his face. A gold earring hung from his right ear, and his dead eyes held no trace of emotion. A thick cigar jutted from his mouth, while a golden hook replaced his left hand. He looked exactly like the pirates Atlas had imagined in her previous life.

"You've taken your little joke too far, Navy brat!" When Atlas said nothing, Crocodile lifted his chin slightly and fixed his usual dead-eyed stare on her. The cigar between his teeth bobbed as he spoke.

"Have I? Shouldn't you give me an explanation, Lord Crocodile of the Shichibukai?" Atlas smiled, hardly intimidated by him. The Shichibukai might be tacitly allowed to plunder, but that did not extend to Alabasta, one of the World Government Member States!

Of course, Atlas had no hard proof that Crocodile had ordered those pirates to act. But did that matter to her? Hah!

"An explanation?" Crocodile's mouth curved in mockery. "How naive, Navy brat!"

"If you won't admit it, that's fine. My fists will make you explain soon enough."

Atlas rolled her wrists, her smile undiminished. Crocodile might not yet be weak enough to lose to Luffy, as he would more than a decade later. He had not completely lost faith in himself and might even manage a little Haki. But Atlas had no fear of him. She could still teach him a lesson.

"Heh heh heh... Hahahaha..."

As if he had heard something absurd, Crocodile began with a low chuckle that swelled into wild, unrestrained laughter.

"What a ridiculous brat!"

"Heh. A piece of trash like you thinks I'm ridiculous?" Atlas shot back, her face full of contempt.

Crunch!

Crocodile's expression darkened. He had bitten clean through his cigar, and the severed end fell to the ground.

"You have three minutes. After that, I'm leaving." He tossed an hourglass into the air. Judging by the flow of sand, it held exactly three minutes.

Crocodile treated Atlas like a child throwing a tantrum. On paper, she was only a lowly Navy captain. Rank did not perfectly reflect strength, but the gap was rarely enormous, so he gave her little thought.

"Three minutes? Plenty!"

A Beating

"One Sword Style: Lightning Cutter!"

Atlas paid no mind to Crocodile's contempt. She drew Sandai Kitetsu from her waist, its bright edge flashing as a razor-sharp presence filled the air. Even the howling sand seemed to freeze as a huge, blood-red slash hurtled toward Crocodile!

Crocodile looked utterly unguarded. The slash passed straight through him, neatly splitting him from head to toe.

But no blood sprayed out. The smooth cut surfaces crumbled into grains of yellow sand, and his divided body miraculously reformed. Atlas had not expected a casual slash to hurt him anyway.

"A Swordsman?" Crocodile's face darkened further. The brat he had thought he could handle so easily was actually a Steel-Cutting Swordsman.

"But you still can't touch me. I ate the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit." Though Atlas's swordsmanship surprised him, his opinion of her remained unchanged.

"Heh. That smug look of yours is really getting on my nerves..."

Atlas sheathed Sandai Kitetsu. Her fists were starting to itch.

Lightning Speed: Razor!

Her ghostlike figure darted through the air so quickly Crocodile could barely follow it. His wariness of Atlas rose another notch.

"Iron Body Fist: Shatter!"

A storm of punches nearly swallowed Crocodile, but he made no move to dodge. To him, any unnecessary movement would have been an insult to his Sand-Sand Fruit.

"I told you, your attacks are useless against me..." Crocodile said smugly as he kept his body turned to sand. "Unless... Gah!"

While he was enjoying Atlas's supposed frustration, she had quietly coated her fist in Armament Haki. The blow caught him completely off guard and struck solidly before he could turn that part of his body to sand.

"Armament Haki!?"

Crocodile instantly dissolved into yellow sand, scattered across the desert, then reappeared twenty meters from Atlas. He spoke through clenched teeth.

"Heh. Surprised?" Atlas had tracked him with Observation Haki, but she did not press her advantage. That one blow would not decide the fight.

"Why is a woman like you only a Navy captain?" Crocodile forced out each word, staring hard at Atlas. The arrogance had finally left his face. Their exchange had made one thing clear: if he kept underestimating her, he might die here today.

"Who knows?" Atlas shrugged, with no intention of discussing it.

Desert Sunflower!

Crocodile used the same trick again, manipulating the underground water beneath the desert to create man-swallowing quicksand.

Geppo!

"That move won't work on me, Mr. Crocodile!" Atlas called down to him, mocking him in his own earlier tone.

Desert Grande Spada!

Crocodile's expression grew uglier, but he ignored her barbs. His arms became four enormous blades of sand, their sharpness almost visible.

Observation Haki! Lightning Speed: Razor!

A red glint flashed in Atlas's eyes. She darted through the air, evading the sand blades while closing the distance to Crocodile!

Iron Body Fist: Martial God Arm: Armament Warhammer!

Atlas's arm suddenly swelled and was swiftly coated in Armament Haki. Her massive fist drove straight toward Crocodile's head!

I'll smash that damn skull of yours!

Bang!

Tremendous force crashed into his head. Crocodile's body burst into a cloud of yellow sand, vanished, then reappeared nearby.

Crocodile stared at Atlas, shaken. For an instant, he had thought that punch would kill him. He had turned to sand just in time to survive. He had meant to change only his head, but Atlas's strength had forced him to turn his entire body to sand.

"You won't be so lucky next time, Crocodile!"

Atlas kept taunting him, trying to get under his skin.

Suddenly, Atlas leaned right. A huge sand blade burst from the ground where she had just stood. A moment's delay, and it might have cut her.

"How underhanded." Atlas licked her dry lips, untroubled by the ambush. An attack like that was no great threat to her.

"Heh heh... You're still so naive, Navy brat!"

"Heh. Am I?"

Atlas sneered. Dense Armament Haki swept over her entire body, making her look as though she wore black-and-red armor. Then she charged straight at Crocodile!

Full-body Armament!

"What a foolish move!" Crocodile was delighted rather than alarmed. He activated his fruit power, turning his arms into four enormous sand blades.

Desert Grande Spada!

Atlas did not slow. She slammed head-on into the blades!

Clang! Bang!

For a second, Atlas and the sand blades held firm. Then her sheer momentum smashed them into loose sand!

In the blink of an eye, she was upon Crocodile. Before he could react, her Armament-coated hand clamped around his neck!

"Got you, little croc!" Atlas grinned. To Crocodile, frozen in shock, her stern face had never looked more terrifying.

Atlas cared nothing for his fear. Gripping his neck, she planted her feet firmly in the sand, lowered her center of gravity, and took the stance for a textbook shoulder throw. Her waist and abdomen drove the motion!

Bang!

"That's for showing off!"

Bang!

"That's for denying it!"

Bang!

"That's for mocking me!"

Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!

Atlas swung Crocodile like a ragged sack. Again and again, her strength slammed him into the desert sand!

He could turn his body to sand each time and avoid serious injury, but Atlas's Armament-coated hand held his neck fast. He could not break free!

Quite a Beating

Damn it!

After being slammed into the ground over and over, Crocodile could no longer keep his composure. His Logia power kept him from suffering serious wounds, but the humiliation was unbearable!

Being tossed around like a rag left Crocodile feeling helpless. How was this Navy brat's Armament Haki so strong? She had taken my Desert Grande Spada head-on!

Suddenly, black Armament Haki covered Crocodile's neck. Atlas paused in surprise as her grip met something hard.

Whoosh~

A light breeze passed. In the instant Atlas hesitated, Crocodile vanished from her hand, leaving only yellow sand trickling between her fingers.

"Hey, Navy brat! Are you declaring that the Navy is breaking with the Shichibukai?"

Crocodile reformed a short distance away. His drooping eyelids lifted slightly as he questioned Atlas in anger. As far as he was concerned, there was no evidence tying him to the trouble in Alabasta. She had no grounds to arrest him.

Crocodile had originally intended to leave Atlas and every other marine in the desert forever. She was only a Navy captain; even if the World Government found out, it probably would not trouble him. But she had proved far tougher than expected, leaving him to invoke the World Government instead. He had not yet obtained Pluton and could not afford to lose his Shichibukai status.

"You really disappoint me, Crocodile. Looks like Whitebeard crushed your spirit. Even your Haki is feeble!"

Atlas shook her head at him. Crocodile was much stronger than he would be a decade or so later, but Whitebeard had already shaken his faith in his own strength. Now he sought the legendary Ancient Weapon Pluton. Even his Armament Haki was pitiful. No wonder he would later be unable to use Haki at all; he had let his physical skills go to waste too.

"Brat! Stop looking down on me! Who do you think you are?"

Atlas's words had struck a nerve. Crocodile's face twisted with rare fury, but he did not lose his head. He secretly planned an escape route as he quietly activated his fruit power.

"How pitiful."

Atlas remained unmoved by his anger and kept pressing on the wound. Her Observation Haki had already caught his little movements.

But she did nothing to stop him. She would crush him completely with overwhelming strength!

Heavy Sables!

A small sandstorm rapidly formed in Crocodile's hand. He hurled it at Atlas, and the spinning vortex drew in yellow sand from all around.

In moments, the storm had swollen until it nearly blocked Atlas's view. Its immense twisting force gouged deep furrows through the ground!

Crocodile, meanwhile, seemed ready to seize the chance to flee. The environment of Alabasta was practically made for a Sand-Sand Fruit user. The desert itself gave him a substantial advantage.

"I'm done playing with you, Crocodile!"

Atlas had no intention of watching him escape. Her body suddenly compressed, shrinking from 2.8 meters tall to two. The black-and-red coating of Armament Haki deepened, its dense power almost spilling from her body. It fitted her like armor, accentuating her sharply tapered frame and the smooth, powerful muscles beneath. Mysterious patterns traced her skin, with two black lines running from the corners of her eyes down to her neck.

Life Return: Kami-e Martial Body: Armament Form!

Crocodile stared at Atlas in alarm. Even from a distance, he felt crushing pressure. The sheer sense of power in her new form battered his senses!

"Heh! Shave!"

Atlas's leg muscles swelled. A bottomless crater opened beneath her feet in the soft desert sand. In this form, even an ordinary Shave gave her terrifying speed.

With her immense strength and defense, Atlas tore through the growing sandstorm as though nothing could stop her.

Before Crocodile could react, a hail of punches struck him. His half-baked Observation Haki could not track Atlas's movements well enough for him to turn to sand and evade them.

He could only take every blow. As for his feeble Armament Haki, Atlas shattered it almost instantly!

Whew~

Before long, Atlas looked down at Crocodile, who lay on the ground barely recognizable. She let out a long breath, shook out her aching arms, then crouched and wiped the blood from her knuckles on his body. His eyes had rolled back, and he was unconscious.

"What a pain."

Reluctantly, Atlas grabbed one of Crocodile's legs and dragged him toward the warship. She could not be bothered to put much effort into it. She had only just finished fighting.

"Captain! Is that..."

Luslan looked hesitantly at the unconscious Crocodile. The marines had watched the fight clearly from afar, and the battle had frightened them with its natural-disaster scale. In truth, Crocodile had not used the wide-area attacks unique to Logia users. He knew they would have little effect on Atlas.

"Yep. Our esteemed Shichibukai..."