The air around the island base reeked of gunpowder and salt. Marine banners fluttered in the wind, their white cloth stained with soot and smoke. The once-proud outpost stood at the edge of the New World — a watchtower meant to guard against pirates foolish enough to enter the Government's territory.
Today, it would be torn apart.
Roger's ship floated just beyond cannon range, anchored in a shroud of mist. The crew watched as a single figure stood at the bow — crimson dress brushing against her legs, short dark hair, eyes fixed on the Marine fortress ahead.
"Roger," Rayleigh said, folding his arms. "You're really letting her go alone?"
Roger's grin was sharp and knowing. "She asked for it."
Below, Nyx D. Ada stepped off the deck — and vanished.
The ocean rippled as she landed lightly on the shore. Her heels sank into the sand. In the distance, sirens began to wail.
"Pirates! Pirates on the coast!"
She drew the sword she'd taken from Rocks long ago, its blade gleaming faintly in the morning sun. "Let's see what this fruit can do," she murmured.
Within moments, Marines poured from the fortress — rifles raised, blades drawn.
A Vice Admiral strode forward at their head, his white coat flaring behind him. He was broad-shouldered, his chin scarred from an old fight, a cigar clenched between his teeth.
"Nyx D. Ada… the Crimson Shadow," he said, his voice rough as gravel. "You think you can take this Marine base alone? How foolish of you."
Ada's eyes narrowed. "You talk too much."
The Vice Admiral smirked. "Good. That makes one of us."
He drew his saber. "Fire!"
Gunfire erupted — a storm of lead and smoke.
Ada didn't flinch. Her eyes glowed faintly red, her pupils narrowing like a hawk's. The bullets streaked toward her — but each one split cleanly in half before reaching her skin, fragments scattering harmlessly to the ground.
Her right hand shimmered faintly. The Pierce-Pierce Fruit was awake.
Then she moved.
A blur of red streaked across the sand — a flash of steel, a gust of wind. One moment she stood still; the next, a dozen rifles clattered to the ground, their barrels cleanly punctured as if melted through.
The moment her finger brushed the trigger of her custom pistol, a faint hum vibrated through the air — like pressure gathering around the bullet itself.
She fired once.
A single round cut through five rifles, shattered a cannon, and punched a perfect hole through the fortress wall beyond — clean, silent, merciless.
"What the hell—!?" a Marine shouted. "It— it went straight through solid steel!"
The Marines froze, eyes wide.
Ada twisted, drove her palm forward — and a shockwave burst from her fingertips, piercing clean through the fortress wall behind him.
The Vice Admiral snarled. "She's using a Devil Fruit! Spread out! Flank her!"
Ada spun her blade once, then pointed it toward the Vice Admiral. "Your turn."
"Damn it!" he roared, lunging forward. His sword met hers in a clash that split the air — but Ada's weapon glowed faintly with that strange, rippling light.
Ada holstered her pistol and drew Rocks' old blade — its edge flickering faintly with the same invisible energy.
Every slash she made left glowing after-images in the air, trails that carved through weapons and armor without resistance.
"The Pierce-Pierce Fruit," she murmured under her breath. "Whatever I strike… pierces through everything else."
The Vice Admiral leapt in with his Haki-covered sword, roaring, "Let's see if that can pierce willpower!"
The clash rang like thunder — and for a heartbeat, the air between their blades rippled, then folded.
His Haki blade trembled.
Ada stepped forward, twisting her wrist, driving Rocks' sword past his guard. The blade didn't merely strike — it phased through his weapon with the full force of her Devil Fruit, cutting cleanly as if the steel weren't even there. The air itself seemed to bend around her strike.
Her voice was calm, almost detached. "Haki can stop force, but it can't stop precision. And you can't block what pierces everything."
Then came the sound — a soft crack.
Then the Vice Admiral's blade shattered.
He barely managed to dodge, eyes wide with disbelief. "What… kind of fruit is that!?"
"As I said, the Pierce-Pierce Fruit," Ada replied coolly, lowering her sword. "Anything I strike—"
She stepped forward, her outline blurring again, "—can't be stopped."
She vanished.
In the next instant, she was behind him. Her sword sliced past his coat — a warning. The ground between them exploded, leaving a clean, circular hole where her blade had cut the air itself.
The Marines screamed and scattered as the ground caved in, the fortress trembling from the sheer pressure of her strikes.
The Vice Admiral fell to one knee, trembling as his saber shattered. "Impossible…"
Ada exhaled slowly, lowering her weapon. "Nothing is impossible. Some things can't be blocked. This… is one of them."
Then she holstered her gun, turned toward the burning fortress, and pulled the trigger once more.
A single shot tore straight through the base's emblem, through its watchtower, and vanished into the horizon — a beam of compressed air following behind it like a whispering death.
Roger and his crew watched from afar — awestruck.
"She's using it like she was born with it," Rayleigh muttered, shaking his head.
"Not just that," Roger said quietly. "She's enjoying it."
Indeed, Ada's expression had shifted. Cold precision gave way to something sharper — almost a thrill.
The Vice Admiral gritted his teeth. "Enough of this!"
He leapt into the air, his arm hardening with Haki, blade gleaming black. "Iron Fist!"
He came crashing down — a strike that could have split a ship in two.
Ada raised her sword, letting the blade hum with the Pierce-Pierce Fruit's energy. The impact shook the island — dust and sand exploding outward.
Then she moved, each step precise and calculated. With a swift, practiced motion, she swung her sword in a wide arc, the blade humming faintly with Haki and Devil Fruit energy.
The Vice Admiral barely raised his arm to block — and the air itself seemed to split. Her strike didn't just hit him; it tore through the stone walls behind him, the force invisible but undeniable.
A split second later, the fortress shuddered.
The fortress behind him erupted — pierced through by invisible energy, collapsing in on itself. Cannons, walls, and watchtowers fell like sandcastles before the tide.
The Marines fled to their ships, shouting orders, fear in their eyes.
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Ada stood unmoving, eyes calm. The wind tugged at her coat as the broken weapon fell between them.
"You're out of your league," she said quietly.
He fell to his knees, panting, staring up at her like he'd seen a ghost. "You're… a monster."
Ada's lips curved faintly — unreadable, unshakable. "No. Just someone who finishes what others cannot."
From the sea, Roger's laughter echoed. "She's something else!"
Rayleigh sighed, shaking his head. "A 'something else' that might destroy the whole island if we don't call her back."
Ada flicked her wrist, dispersing the energy, the hum of her fruit fading. She sheathed her sword and turned toward the ship, her expression calm again.
When she reached the dock, the crew was waiting.
Roger grinned from ear to ear. "Well, I think that's proof enough your new power works."
Ada raised an eyebrow. "You were watching the whole time, weren't you?"
"Of course," Rayleigh said dryly. "Hard not to, when half the island just got carved in two."
The crew laughed — but there was a quiet awe beneath it. Even among Roger's pirates, Ada's strength was something else.
As the ship set sail again, the fortress burning behind them, a Marine officer stumbled into the base ruins, grabbing the den-den mushi.
"Headquarters! This is G-14! Vice Admiral down — repeat, Vice Admiral down! The Crimson Shadow… she attacked the base alone!"
The report traveled fast — across bases, through command channels, until it reached the grand halls of Marineford.
Fleet officers gathered around a map.
"Nyx D. Ada," one said quietly, looking at her wanted poster — the crimson silhouette of a girl once feared under Rocks' flag.
"She's part of Roger's crew," one said, voice tight. "But… alone? She did all this by herself?"
Another shook his head. "What could she possibly want…? She's unstoppable."
The wind carried the news far beyond Marineford — across seas, into taverns, to pirates who once sailed under Rocks.
They looked to the horizon, some in shock, some in grudging admiration.
The Crimson Shadow had struck — leaving a path of destruction and disbelief, proving that even alone, she could topple a Marine fortresses and challenge the might of the Marines.