Night fell.
High in the sky, a massive crimson dragon soared with powerful, rhythmic wingbeats that stirred roaring gusts of wind. Each beat of its wings sent shockwaves through the air, and its deafening roars echoed across the heavens, shaking the hearts of all who heard it.
[Note: If you're curios what his dragon looks like, there's an image in here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IJ3j_W339aXGyMedmpCyGLebzsw0fHpAc4PTyaKsRIw/edit?tab=t.0]
Its terrifying form—a creature of legend brought to life—instilled fear so deep it reached the soul.
"God above…"
"Is this the end of Loguetown?!"
"Pirates have taken the port, and now an evil dragon rules the skies!"
Panic swept through the streets. Civilians collapsed to their knees, paralyzed by fear, their minds barely registering the blades poised above them.
Even the pirates paused.
As the dragon's cry pierced the heavens, a primal instinct took over. They scattered in all directions, fleeing madly like startled beasts, desperate to hide from the gaze of the monstrous creature circling above.
In a nearby alley, Zala, Daz Bonez, and their unit had been trailing Gawain—until now.
He had vanished.
Only the sounds of the wind and the dragon's roars filled the silence. Everyone looked up at the sky, stunned.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"A dragon? In the East Blue?! That's supposed to be a fairy tale!"
"Is that a Devil Fruit ability?"
Zala's face went pale, her voice trembling. "What do we do now?"
Daz Bonez stared into the night sky, his jaw clenched. Then he turned his gaze to where Gawain had vanished.
"Devil fruit user or real dragon, it doesn't matter. At that size and speed, we're not equipped to fight it."
He glanced at Zala.
"You take your squad and get out of here. I'll go after him alone."
Zala hesitated. "Are you serious about this?"
"I don't have a choice." Daz Bonez's voice was firm, his eyes unwavering. "The boss gave an order. Even if I die, I have to carry it out. That devil fruit must be recovered."
Zala bit her lip, then nodded. "Don't die."
With a sharp turn, she led her team away, vanishing into the chaos.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of footsteps faded into the distance.
Daz Bonez sprinted toward the port.
Meanwhile, at the harbor, Hanafuda stood amid the wreckage, his rage boiling over. Beneath his mask, his face flushed red.
"A dragon?!" he growled. "Don't be ridiculous—there's no such thing!"
His eyes locked onto the massive red beast in the sky. His voice cracked with fury.
"That fruit... someone ate the Red Dragon Fruit!"
"Damn it! DAMN IT!"
"I spent everything—fought Zephyr to the brink—for that fruit... and now some bastard dares to steal it?!"
"I'll rip you apart!"
A surge of power coursed through him as his body expanded violently. In mere moments, he had transformed into a towering beast over eight meters tall—part man, part monster. His muscles bulged beneath his skin, a long steel-like tail snapping behind him.
This was the hybrid form of a Zoan-type user—combining brute strength, agility, and refined combat technique.
BOOM!
With a deafening stomp, the ground beneath Hanafuda cracked. He launched himself into the air like a cannonball, aiming straight for the dragon.
Coated in armament Haki, his tail lashed upward toward the colossal beast.
"I'll kill you and take that fruit back!"
His scarred chest ached with the strain, but his rage drowned out the pain. All that mattered was dragging the dragon down.
And then—
He saw it.
In the dragon's massive eyes gleamed unmistakable mockery.
Hanafuda's heart skipped a beat.
Before he could react, a claw, colossal and crimson-scaled, descended from the heavens like a judgment from the gods. It grew larger in his vision, blotting out the sky.
Even before it struck, the sheer pressure sent tremors down his spine. His body froze, reminded of the helplessness he once felt fighting Quinn and Gin of the Beasts Pirates.
"You've got to be kidding me—!"
With a defiant roar, Hanafuda whipped his tail upward, striking the descending claw. But it didn't budge.
Because that claw wasn't just covered in scales—it, too, was reinforced with blackened Haki.
"You—!"
His voice was cut off as the claw slammed around him, locking tight like a vice.
He felt his bones creak under the overwhelming force.
And then—
"Back to the ground where you belong."
Gawain's voice was like thunder.
The dragon's wings folded. With Hanafuda in his grasp, Gawain plummeted like a meteor from the heavens.
When nearing the ground—
Gawain drove Hanafuda down with overwhelming force.
Boom!
The port ground caved in instantly. Cracks exploded outward from the impact point, tearing across the stone pavement for hundreds of meters.
A shockwave rippled out, nearly tangible, shattering windows across the harbor district. The earth itself howled, and half of the port was ripped from the island's body, letting seawater surge in through the fracture.
At the center of the newly-formed crater—
Hanafuda coughed out a mouthful of blood. His skin turned visibly pale.
Already gravely wounded, he now suffered Gawain's earth-shattering blow. Most of his life force was gone, yet defiance still burned in his eyes.
"I am... the Lizard King of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!" he snarled through clenched teeth.
Gawain held him down with one hand, pinning him like a nail to wood. The corner of his mouth lifted into a scornful sneer.
"Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
His voice dripped with contempt.
"You seriously think you're Hawkeye?"
He had already recognized the man he'd crushed—
Hanafuda, one of the Seven Warlords, once killed by Ace in the original storyline.
And if he was defeated by Ace—who had barely set foot in the Grand Line and possessed strength no greater than mid-tier silver—then even Hanafuda at his peak was hardly formidable.
In terms of power hierarchy among the Warlords, Hanafuda easily scraped the bottom.
A rival only to the fallen likes of Crocodile or Gekko Moriah—both of whom had long lost their fighting spirit.
If Hawkeye ever faced this man seriously, one sword swing would be more than enough.
Now injured, Hanafuda was nothing more than a bully of the weak—completely unfit to stand before true power.
"You—!"
Rage flickered in Hanafuda's eyes, but it quickly turned to fear.
He saw the murderous gleam in Gawain's gaze.
"I'm one of the Seven Warlords!" he protested, panic creeping in. "The World Government is behind me! The Beasts Pirates—Kaido—they won't—!"
But before he could finish, Gawain's cold stare pierced through his soul.
And at that moment—
That chill...
It was the same crushing despair he once felt upon entering the New World with dreams of conquest, only to be greeted by the iron mace of Kaido himself.
Despair.
Powerlessness.
Shattered illusions.
It all returned in a tidal wave of fear.
"P-please…"
"Spare me… I—I surrender…"
The words trembled out of him, barely coherent, rising from a whisper to a desperate wail.
Tears streamed down his face. The world blurred. Yet in that distortion, one sound remained clear—
Gawain's mocking voice.
"Only the strong have the right to survive in this world, right?"
The exact words Hanafuda had once used.
Now turned against him.
They shattered his final hope.
Before he could speak again, the world before him ignited in a storm of crimson flame.
Boom!
A pillar of fire erupted across the port.
Moments later—
At the center of the smoldering crater, only a charred skeleton remained, half-buried in bubbling lava.
The massive red dragon—over a hundred meters long—stood tall at the bottom, magma glowing beneath its claws. The heat twisted the air like a living mirage.
Everyone who witnessed the scene froze in terror.
"M-Monster... a monster!"
Among the crowd, East Blue's so-called nobles who hadn't managed to escape were paralyzed with fear.
One man, the same who had purchased twin girls at the auction, collapsed, the warmth between his legs betraying his fear.
His guard—who was supposed to die protecting him—abandoned all loyalty and threw down their weapon without hesitation.
They wanted to flee. Every fiber of their being screamed at them to run.
But facing the dragon, their limbs no longer obeyed.
One by one, they fell to their knees.
The air filled with the wails of desperation.
"I don't want to die! I... I have a family—I need to live for them! I-I hurt my daughter—I need to atone!"
"I can't die! My country needs me! Without me... who'll collect the taxes from those peas—no, from the people?!"
In the shadow of death, these self-proclaimed elites revealed their true selves.
The same men who had once swaggered through slave auctions with gold and arrogance were now reduced to pathetic, pleading figures.
"So… even nobles can show expressions like that."
Gawain licked his lips. The sight was so utterly absurd, he couldn't hold back his laughter.
And then—
Roar!!
The dragon's bellow shook the heavens. The sonic wave blew smoke and dust skyward, and the sheer volume nearly tore the ears from those nearby.
In a distant alley—
Daz Bonez had just arrived.
He stood frozen, the devastation before him reflected in his wide eyes.
For the first time in his life, he felt his spine run cold.
"What... what kind of monster is this? In the East Blue?!"
He tried to move, to step back.
But his legs wouldn't obey. They were leaden, trembling.
Looking down, he realized his knees had already buckled.
He was barely able to remain standing.
And for the first time—
Daz Bonez regretted everything.
Regretted not following Zala.
Regretted staying behind.
Regretted being here.
Because now, he was standing before something he could never hope to face—
A true monster!