The sound of Rocks sword cracking against Kyo's axe resonated through Water 7, the pressure of their Haki clashing causing the wood of the buildings themselves to start splintering. The yard outside of Tom's workshop had plenty of space for combat, though the levels of haki that were booming like thunder were certainly testing the integrity of its framework.
"How kind of one of the Government's dogs to come greet me!" Rocks shouted spitefully as he swung Eclipse across his body, his eyebrows raising in surprise as Kyo raised his axe and seemed to easily block his blow.
"Sorry captain, but ultimately you have to go where the money is," Kyo said in a monotone voice before shoving Xebec's sword off of his own weapon.
The strength of his shove forced Rocks sliding back toward the workshop, and he looked up in surprise at his old crew mate. While Rocks allowed Kyo to join his crew in the first place because of his immense strength, shoving him like he was a child should have been out of the mobster's pay grade.
"What did they give you, Kyo? Suspending your bounty couldn't have been enough, you could have easily outrun or killed whatever random vice admiral they sent your way," Rocks said, attempting to focus his observation Haki to try to uncover the hidden source of Silveraxe's immense strength, but his lack of discoveries confirmed what he had been afraid of.
"The World Government does have an impressive swath of resources, Rocks," Kyo said as he twirled his massive axe between his fingers as if it were a toothpick. "They gave me a few choices, but ultimately, it was hard to turn down the simplicity of the Strong Strong Fruit," he said with a smile as the wooden boards beneath his feet splintered with every step.
Rocks laughed confidently on the outside, but internally, he realized the severity of the situation. Kureha estimated that he was at about 85% of his former strength, and if he was being honest, that would make him and Kyo roughly equal in power at the moment. Unfortunately, that was not factoring in the immense power boost that his opponent's devil fruit was now giving him, and Rocks' inability to reliably access his Conqueror's Haki made the task before him seem quite tall.
Despite the circumstances, Rocks walked forward confidently, intentionally slowing his pace as he heard Tom take Mayando to safety. Before he could fully prepare himself though, Silveraxe dashed forward, swinging his massive weapon towards Rocks' head as if he was attempting to chop a tree. A quick sidestep got Xebec out of the way just before the blow could land, and he infused a sizable coating of Armament Haki onto Eclipse's surface before swing the flat side of the blade upwards into Kyo's rib cage.
The blow connected with a forceful boom, and the mobster was blasted forcefully through the bridge above their heads, his body breaking through the concrete like it was paper as he emerged atop it. Rocks infused a small amount of Haki into his legs before leaping up after his opponent, a small amount of weight off of his shoulders as he seemed to have been able to successfully get Kyo away from both Sakazuki and Mayando. How the two of them had gotten into so much trouble in the span of a couple of hours was beyond him, but the opportunity to bash his traitorous old crew mates' head in was not exactly unwelcomed.
Xebec landed on the concrete sidewalk off the bridge just as Kyo stood to his feet, dusting himself off as the citizens behind him ran away from the pair spouting fearful screams. The pair stared at each other for a moment as they held their weapons at their sides, and despite the opposing sides that they now stood on, the pair couldn't help but smile at the prospect of a good battle, and dashed toward each other with both of their blood boiling hot.
***
"God, is anything ever painless?! Can it ever just be a pill or a cherry flavored medicine?!" Mayando shouted as Kureha continued to bandage him.
"Shut up kid! Tom, hand over the ointment on the counter, it should be labeled extra sting," Kureha said, ignoring Mayando's screams of protest as she reached her hand out.
"You really are such a peach, Kureha. I can't believe that I get to see so many old friends in one day, tah!" Tom exclaimed as he handed the bottle over. The other members of his company were currently cleaning the mess that Rock and Kyo had left behind, and Sakazuki was shakily attempting to stand to his feet before the ship's doctor barked at him.
"Give it a few minutes Sakazuki! If you try to go up there earlier, you're not going to be of any help, Rocks will just have to pick up your slack!" She shouted, and the young pirate grumbled in annoyance but eventually complied and sat back down. The makeshift infirmary that Kureha had made was crude and likely unsanitary, but her skills had managed to both stabilize Mayando and get Sakazuki close to fighting shape.
"We need to get out of here, Kureha! I don't know what issue Rocks has with that warlord, but we can't afford to be fighting someone that strong when the Navy knows that we're here. I think that Silveraxe guy was already in town for something else, but now that they know Rocks is here, they're probably going to send an entire buster call!" Sakazuki shouted, though his energetic response caused him to yelp in pain as he gripped his shoulder.
"I know kid, you're right," Kureha said with an intense frown on her face as she continued to bandage the yelping fishman. "But getting yourself killed won't help anything, and you're probably the one that's going to be the most important factor in getting us out alive, so I can't have you passing out on me. Get Zeff on the Den Den Mushi so he can back up Rocks, then we can all get back to the ship and be prepared to get out of here," she told Sakazuki, her compliment seemingly encouraging and calming him as he followed her instructions.
"Ok, up you go," Kureha said as he lifted Mayando onto her shoulder, the yelp as he thudded against her one of pure defeat. "Are you coming with Tom? I figured Rocks has already given you his offer, but your decision is kind of in now or never territory," she said as what sounded like ships exchanging cannon fire were booming overhead.
Tom furrowed his brow, turning back toward his men and toward Kureha as he thought on his decision. Abandoning his work and the city that he was actively trying to save was not something that Tom would have considered even for a second, but at the end of the day, the sea train was his ultimate goal. The purpose of grinding away in Water 7 in spite of its horrid circumstances was to gather the resources necessary for the project, but that wouldn't be necessary if Rocks gave his promised payout along with paying his staff. Turning his head back and forth between his two decisions, Tom could feel sweat start to drip down his face, his only current thought being that the most difficult choice he thought he would have to make today was going to be what to have for dinner.