"Grab on if you don't want to die, you little idiot!" Kureha shouted at the child crying stranded on a burning roof that was crying at her floating hand.
While she had hoped that the rainfall would have been able to help put out the fires that had been spreading around the town, the inferno only increased in volume as the sound of yet another echoing boom caused her to grunt in frustration. Seeing the desperate situation around her, the young girl finally relented and grabbed Kureha's hand. Just before the beams above her head collapsed, the disembodied limb she had grabbed onto zoomed out into the open air, her high pitched screams appropriate for a young girl grabbing onto a floating limb as her home burned down around her. Mentally drawing the arm back to her, Kureha caught the young girl as her limb reattached at the shoulder blade, rolling out of the way of another one of Ganzui's cannon blasts just before it exploded behind her.
Using her body to shield the child from the explosion, she braced herself for the pain of the shrapnel blasts, though she did eventually open her eyes in surprise as the pain failed to come. Standing in front of her was Tom's massive frame, a plume of smoke appearing to rise from her chest.
Kureha's eyes widened in panic as she took in the sight before her, and she immediately kicked the child behind the cover of a pile of rubble before dashing in front of the Fishman to assess the damage. However, her anxiety quickly turned to relief as she saw the massive plank of wood in Tom's hand that had seemingly taken the majority of the damage. His hearty laugh made her crinkle her brow in frustration, and he tossed aside the makeshift shield as the pounding rain killed the flames licking off of it.
"You that worried about me, Kureha? I'm flattered, tah!" He bellowed as their opponent approached with a smile that was significantly more menacing.
"Keep your eyes forward, Tom!" Kureha snapped as she playfully slapped him on the back before stepping beside him as the pair of new crew mates stared down one of the remnants of their captain's past crew. "If this guy worked with Rocks, then he's dangerous. This town's already done for, and we need to focus on getting back to The Fancy."
"Sorry Kureha, but I'm not leaving my home in this state right before I leave," Tom said as he cracked his knuckles, the sheen of Haki on his fists clearly visible even in the heavy rainfall. "You, me, and the rest of the crew are gonna beat on these guys so badly that they never want to come back," Tom said confidently as he began to step forward.
"Tom, what are you doing," Kureha whispered as she reached out her hand in vain.
"You wanted this finished quickly, right?" he asked, continuing to approach the warlord who raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Just back me up, tah!" He exclaimed with a jolly chuckle before narrowing his eyes toward Ganzui.
"You seem like a fun guy, but the Government check is way more fun, so no hard feelings," the gangster said with a shrug, raising both of his arms as he prepared to fire another shot.
"None taken," Tom said with a confident smile before winding his fist back with impressive speed.
His blow could not conclude before a pair of shots were fired directly into his face, and Kureha covered her mouth in horror as she couldn't have imagined that even a thick skull like Tom's could have survived that shot at close range. However, as the smoke parted, Tom's fist continued toward Ganzui unimpeded. The warlord's surprise only lasted for a moment before the blow connected with his jaw, and Tom shouted with a combination of exertion and joy as the metallic sheen of Haki that coated his face barely had a mark from the cannonballs that were just fired at it.
"500 kilo Mallet!" He shouted as a pair of teeth flew from the warlord's mouth. His stagger gave Tom the opportunity for a follow up, though Kureha dashed past him before he even had an opportunity to react.
Dashing toward the stunned warlord with impressive speed for someone over the age of 100, she reached into her pockets and pulled out a pair of surgical knives. Though not as practiced as most of her crew mates, the armament Haki that she imbued into her leg was not too shabby, and Ganzui was barely able to raise his arm in time to block it in his dazed state. The force of the impact caused him to begin to fall backwards, and he yelped in pain as he looked down to see a pair of razor sharp knives embedded into his abdomen by a pair of wrinkled hands. The massive gangster toppled backwards, quickly attempting to scramble to his feet as he continued to groan in pain. Despite the damage he had caused to the surroundings, Ganzui found himself slowly backing away from his pair opponents.
Landing in a crouched position as the Haki faded from her leg, Kureha smiled wildly in a way that scared Tom a little bit, though he was quite thankful to be on her side as the pair walked toward the gangster turned Warlord. As his eyes widened while he shakily raised his pair of arm cannons, Kureha and Tom both glanced at each other before each bellowing out an equally hearty laugh.
"You seem to be having fun," Tom said as he cracked his knuckles.
"What can I say? Your obnoxious personality is a little infectious," she responded sarcastically as she also cracked her knuckles, though the hands were floating a few feet in front of her.