Mihawk, sitting on his coffin boat, calmly cut out a flying slash. A flicker of surprise rippled across his hawk-like eyes. He saw Crocodile charging towards him, and without a second thought, he leaped into the air and swung his sword.
WHOOSH!
The two clashed. Mihawk landed on a splintered piece of wood while Crocodile froze in mid-air. A line appeared at her waist, and she split in two. But in a flash, a whirlwind of sand healed her.
"What a fast sword!" she said, a thrilling excitement in her voice.
"Logia Sand-Sand Fruit?" Mihawk turned to face her, his voice flat. "Woman, what's your name?" He knew that two identical Devil Fruits could not exist at the same time. One would have to die for the other to reappear. Had the sand crocodile died? But if so, this inheritance was too thorough, right down to the clothes.
"My name is Crocodile!" she declared, moving to attack again. "Desert Great Sword!" She descended at breakneck speed, a deadly, spinning disk of sand aimed at Mihawk.
CLANG!
Mihawk effortlessly sliced through her attack, his mind wandering. If this woman was Crocodile, what was the man in Alabasta called?
"You're very strong," Crocodile said, a bloody smile on her face. To see a man with this level of power was rare in her world. "Take this!" A barrage of attacks rained down on Mihawk.
He met them all, unhurried, as the sea around them whipped into massive waves.
"You have too many flaws," he said, shaking his head. "Your Haki isn't very refined. But for a girl, your speed and strength are rare even in the Grand Line."
"Does this lady need your pity, you idiotic man?!" Crocodile gritted her teeth. "Desert… Vajra Sword!"
Mihawk closed his eyes. The next second, a powerful sword energy scattered in every direction. His black blade, Yoru, flashed.
SPLASH!
Blood spattered from Crocodile's abdomen. She landed on a nearby piece of deck, falling to one knee, her left hand clutching her wound. The disbelief on her face was clear—her strongest attack had been shattered.
The fight had been short but deadly. She knew that if she had been a normal person, Mihawk's attack would have sliced her in half like tofu.
"Impossible! I won't lose!" she screamed, trying to get up.
A sharp, long sword was at her throat. "I have no interest in killing a woman," Mihawk said, lowering his sword.
Crocodile's face burned with shame. She had been belittled by a man! "You…"
"Okay, Crocodile," Rodin's voice cut through the air. The warship had arrived. "This is my subordinate. Please forgive her if she's caused any trouble." He jumped down from the ship.
Crocodile pulled her coat tight and flew back to his side, elementalizing into a swirl of sand.
"Your subordinate?" Mihawk was perplexed. Rodin's presence was unremarkable, but a man with such a strong young subordinate was surely no ordinary person. "I'm not very interested in people other than swordsmen," he said. He had attacked out of curiosity, intrigued by the feeling of intent he had felt from her from afar.
The similarity to the man Crocodile was uncanny, from her clothes to her Devil Fruit powers. It was an exact replica. He thought of the Okama King, Ivankov, but dismissed the idea. This Crocodile didn't act like the one he knew.
Mihawk couldn't contain his curiosity. "What is her relationship to the other Crocodile?"
"It's my name!" Crocodile blurted out, still clutching her stomach.