Chapter Eleven

Marco didn't notice something was wrong right away. The brawl had taken most of his attention and Shanks seemed determined to be as irritating as humanly possible. He'd been going out of his way to use any type of bird joke or reference imaginable, much to Thatch's glee.

"…. Birds of a feather do flock together, eh?" Shanks chortled, winking at Thatch conspiratorially.

"Careful, Shanks," Thatch warned, struggling to get his laughter under control long enough to get his next joke out. "He's starting to get madder than a wet hen!"

They dissolved into drunken laughter and stumbled away from Marco. He watched as they zigzagged away, one of Thatch's arms slung over Shanks' shoulder.

Sighing heavily, Marco pinched the bridge of his nose and walked over to where Whitebeard was sitting. He flopped down besides the old pirate and ran a hand tiredly through his hair, barely suppressing a groan.

Whitebeard glanced down at Marco and chuckled. "Finally wore you out, did they?" he murmured, watching the crews' shenanigans with fond amusement.

"Someone had to make sure they didn't kill each other, yoi." Marco muttered, glaring murderously at Thatch and Shanks as they tripped and fell to the ground because they were laughing so hard.

Chuckling again, Whitebeard gently patted Marco's head. "They're grown men. They can settle their own squabbles."

"I know that! I also know we're going to have the whole navy on our back, not to mention having to deal with whatever nonsense Kaido and Big Mom are up to, yoi. The last thing we need is more trouble right now. If an actual fight were to break out…" Marco trailed off and huffed exasperatedly, slumping down on the sand so he could stare up at the night sky.

Kaido and Big Mom had been more aggressive than normal lately; already, one of their allied crews had been attacked and they'd taken heavy casualties before they'd managed to drive the enemy crew off. The attacking pirates weren't directly linked to Kaido, but the crew had been almost entirely comprised of Zoan fruit users. It was almost certainly the Yonko behind the attack, but they hadn't found enough evidence to prove it. Not that they truly needed evidence, in the end. They were pirates, after all.

Still, Whitebeard wouldn't start a war against Kaido on mere suspicion. Not when it would be so costly.

"Just a normal day for us then, eh?" Whitebeard said, earning a rueful chuckle from Marco.

Marco glanced around the beach at the various crewmembers swaying drunkenly to the off key music, arm in arm with members of the Red Hair pirates. He smiled slightly. "I suppose so, yoi."

They lapsed into comfortable silence, watching the chaotic reveling in amusement and the occasional eye roll from Marco. It only lasted for a few minutes though, as Marco realized something was missing from all of the commotion.

"Have you seen where Ace, Luffy, and Sabo went?" Marco asked with a frown, sitting up straighter.

Whitebeard glanced down at Marco and scratched his head. "Well…"

"What happened?" Marco's eyes narrowed at the grim expression on the old man's face.


"You know," Sabo choked out as he struggled frantically to free himself from the arms wrapped around his neck. "This is why we make exit strategies. You're great on dramatic entrances, but your dramatic exits are definitely lacking, Ace."

"I have an exit plan. It's simple; kick their asses!" Ace huffed, slamming himself into Zere's side hard enough to cause the agent to lose his hold on Sabo.

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted in gleeful agreement, stretching his arm out half a dozen feet to trip Zere as the man wheeled backwards from Ace's attack.

"Timber!" Wendy shouted as Sabo scurried out of Zere's way as the agent hurtled to the ground like a falling tree.
"Great. A Luffy plan," Haru grumbled, pulling out a long scarf from one of his sleeves. With a single deft movement, it wrapped around Zere's body like a multicolored snake as he fell to the ground

"Hey! I resent that." Ace grunted, barely ducking in time to avoid being hit by the seastone chains Tam used as weapons. "Besides, there's no such thing as a dramatic exit, Sabo."

"Screaming and running away can be dramatic." Haru snapped irately, reaching into one of his pockets and producing a small vial. Pulling out the stopper with his teeth, he hurriedly poured the contents over Zere before the man could untangle himself from the scarf. The effect was instant; the scarf hardened and completely immobilized the man's legs. "I wouldn't struggle too hard if I were you. That's industrial strength glue."

"Glue?!" Zere shouted in disbelief, desperately struggling to free himself.

Haru pulled out a short string of ribbon and with a smug flourish tied it into a bow. He applied a little dab of glue to it and stuck it over the agent's lips, effectively gagging him. "My work here is done."

"N-Not yet," The smallest of the five lead agents, Morrow, said as he timidly stepped towards Haru. His body was trembling as he struggled to unscrew the lid to a bottle of pills, unsteady hands rattling the multicolored contents up and down. He tossed the lid aside once he opened the bottle and quickly dry swallowed three of the blue and red pills. "Y-you said d-dibs on the little g-guy, right?"

"Look, let's just save ourselves some trouble and call it a day," Haru eyed Morrow critically, a feeling of unease growing rapidly as he watched the agent double over in pain. "You aren't looking to good. We can just—whoa…."

Morrow's body contorted as he suddenly started growing. He howled in agony as his body was literally torn apart and stitched back together, joints popping out of place and bones breaking. His skin transformed from deathly pale to having mottled greens scales and a tail. His eyes became narrow slits as his head reared back and he roared deafeningly. Morrow's body grew from a sickly man who stood just at five feet to a massive fifteen foot alligator on steroids. "Wh-who's the little guy now?!" He growled, voice guttural and venomous.

Ace stared up at the hulking creature and shook his head. "He's all yours, buddy." He said helpfully, before switching his focus back to Tam as she slung the chains toward him, trying to wrap them around his neck.

"Help." Haru croaked, before turning tail and running away as fast as he could.

Morrow's footsteps shook the entire sanctuary as he chased after Haru, one disproportionate, deformed shoulder slamming into one of the pillars with enough force to crack it in half.

The pillar shuddered and fell, crashing into one of the stain glass windows. Dust, glass, and large chunks of the pillar flew in all directions and sprayed the combatants.

"Haru, don't just run. Do something!" Wendy shouted as she parried Nobu's katana with an iron skillet. She had filched it from the makeshift kitchen the pirates had erected on the beach, since she had lost her own frying pan and wok that she used in combat when the Dawn had sunk.

"You should be paying better attention to your own fight!" Nobu snarled, nicking Wendy's shoulder with his blade. "If you don't know how to fight you should just stay in the kitchen like the useless little chef you are!"

"You-" Wendy gasped, incoherent with rage as she glowered at the agent. She shifted her grip on the skillet and easily blocked Nobu's next attack, kicking him hard in the stomach. "What are you even supposed to be? A ninja or a samurai? You can't be both!"

She twisted out of the way as Nobu thrust his katana forward, almost skewering her to a wall. The blade sunk deep into the wall and before Nobu could pull his katana free, Wendy slammed the back of her skillet down on his head as hard she could repeatedly, until Nobu collapsed to the floor, unconscious and bleeding.

"Don't tell me to go back to the kitchen!" she hollered angrily, staggering backwards a step and stomping her foot.

"A little help here! Bam Bam, ACE!" Haru shouted as he reached the end of the sanctuary and twisted around to face Morrow, who was still charging at him. He grimaced and slid in-between Morrow's legs as the massive Cipher agent skidded to a halt and sluggishly turned himself around.

"Ace, look out!" Sabo shouted, barely managing to duck in time to avoid Mia's haki covered fist. They had been battling ever since Zere had been knocked unconscious, both equally strong in hand to hand combat. They'd been trading blows steadily, matching each other hit for hit. Sabo was at a definite disadvantage however, since he was favoring his left shoulder and doing his best to protect it from getting hit.

Ace groaned as he was smashed into one of the pillars by Tam, jarring his broken ribs and driving the air out of his lungs. His eyes widened as the sea stone chains careered towards him, barely twisting away in time to avoid them. He dropped low to the ground and thrust out his hands, sending a burst of fire hurtling toward her.

She staggered backwards and yelped in alarm when arms suddenly wrapped around her feet and torso. Hands grabbed her wrists and wrenched them sideways at a painful angle, forcing her to drop the chains.

"Now, Ace!" Luffy shouted, forehead creased as he struggled to keep the woman from moving. His neck was stretched a good arm's length above Tam's head and his torso half wrapped around her middle.

"That is so creepy." Ace muttered under his breath as he surged forward and knocked Tam out with a swift strike to the back of her neck.

Tam fell to the ground as Luffy untangled himself from her, sharing a triumphant high five with his brother before his arms retracted back fully.

Only Mia and Morrow were left standing.

"Oi, don't bring him back towards us!" Ace shouted, springing out of the way as Haru frantically ran past, Morrow right at his heels. "Luffy!"

Ace made a quick gesture with his hands and starting running, Luffy dashing after him on the opposite side of the room. He rushed past Morrow and Haru as they hurtled towards the stairs where the Cipher agents had been standing earlier. Ace got a good distance between himself and Morrow before skidding to a halt, watching Luffy expectantly.

Running past him, Luffy took a deep breath and abruptly came to a stop. "Gomu gomu… Balloon!" he exclaimed, inhaling sharply.

As his body expanded, Ace started running toward him. He sprang on top of Luffy's stomach and rocketed off it like he'd been on a trampoline. "Haru, down!" he shouted, body ablaze as he hurtled toward Morrow.

Haru rolled sideways and dropped to the ground, covering his head with his arms and panting heavily.

Flying towards Morrow, Ace inhaled sharply and drew his arms back, fire bursting from his hands and arms to form a massive fireball. He launched it point blank at Morrow's chest a moment before his fist connected, causing the massive agent to reel backward and howl in agony.

Concentrating, Ace sprang forward and coated his fist with haki before he slammed it into Morrow's face. Morrow fell backwards and slammed down on the floor with enough force to shatter the stone underneath him.

Landing in a crouch, Ace eyed the fallen agent for a minute before whirling on Sabo. He crossed his arms and shook his head critically, completely unimpressed. "What's taking you so long? I've already taken down fifty-three."

"Um, excuse you, only fifty two," Wendy retorted, shooting Ace a glare. "Don't count the ones we were fighting in that."

"Shouldn't you two be doing something productive? Like going to see where Bam Bam disappeared to?" Sabo chided, panting heavily. He and Mia were trading blows at a lightning fast rate, their haki covered limbs creating impact waves powerful enough to shatter a nearby pillar.

"Where is Bam Bam?" Wendy asked, glancing around the room as Sabo punched Mia in the face and Mia kicked Sabo in the stomach at the same moment, sending them both flying apart from each other.

"She ran after someone at the start of the fight," Luffy answered, leaping up to perch on one of the fallen pillars. He sat cross legged and started tapping his feet together absently. "Weird guy with a mask."

Ace and Sabo's heads both jerked toward Luffy at the offhand comment, faces blanching.

"Pay attention to the fight!" Mia shouted, kicking Sabo in the face hard enough to knock him over.

Sabo recovered quickly and used his backward momentum to backflip away from Mia. He skidded back a few feet, wheezing becoming more pronounced. His body was still healing from the burn wounds and he was fairly certain he'd ripped the stiches on his shoulder and leg open.

He grit his teeth and shut his eyes. He needed to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Mia charged towards him, fist drawn back to punch him into oblivion. Sabo merely remained crouching with both hands lightly touching the ground.

His opponent came closer and closer, but Sabo didn't open his eyes or so much as twitch as she hurtled toward him. Instead, he waited.

The second she came within arms' reach, Sabo tilted his head just slightly to the right, avoiding Mia's fist. As she started to fly past him, he grabbed her arm, kicked her legs out from under her, and swiftly slammed her onto the ground.

It was only her quick reflexes that saved her from being knocked unconscious. Mia kicked Sabo in the stomach and quickly twisted out of his grip. She edged backwards, attention caught between Sabo and the other ASL pirates hovering nearby.

The ground shook suddenly, throwing Sabo off balance as he started to charge at Mia again. He blinked in confusion, wondering if an earthquake was starting, when his eyes darted past Mia to where Morrow had collapsed.

"Wendy! Luffy!" Sabo shouted, surging forward only to have Mia block his path. "Get away, he's getting back up!"

Heads swiveling, they both stumbled as the giant Cipher Pol agent slowly shoved himself onto his feet. The ground shook again as he slammed his arms down in frustration, the stone floor cracking from the force of the blow.

"Ace, don't let him get back up!" Haru screeched frantically, darting behind one of the pillars in a desperate attempt to hide.

"I know!" Ace hissed, springing forward to knock out Morrow before he had the chance to stand back up.

"I don't have time for this." Sabo muttered, sliding back a few steps and clenching his hands into fists. In a swift, fluid motion, he blocked Mia's next strike, and knocked her out with a carefully controlled strike to her temple.

Ace took a single step forward, rapidly calculating how to take down Morrow, when he heard a sudden click. A split second later, he tripped and fell flat on his face, all of his energy suddenly sapped from his body. He groaned and lifted his head with difficulty, eyes widening in shock at the sea stone handcuff that was innocuously hanging from his wrist.

"Ha! Got you." Tam crowed triumphantly, dangling the key back and forth in front of Ace's face smugly.

"You-" Ace tried to scramble forward, but almost fell flat again when the ground shook. Morrow was already clambering onto his feet, eyes fixed on Ace. "Give me that key!"

Tam didn't answer. Instead, she opened her mouth wide, dropped the key in, and swallowed.

Ace felt his mouth drop in disbelief, staring at the white haired woman as she choked and coughed. She pounded on her chest, hacking hoarsely as she swallowed the key with a grimace.

Behind him, the rest of the ASL crew were shouting and mildly panicking as Morrow's shadow loomed over Ace. The massive Cipher agent completely ignored the crew's frantic attempts to distract him and instead prepared to strike.

All Ace could sputter out as the world dissolved into chaos around him was: "Really?!"


I'm going to be posting two chapters instead of one today, because I'm sure you'll all tired of cliffhangers and I'm tired of being scared for my life every time I post one lol.

Chapter 12: Marco to the rescue!

Writing a fight scene with more than one character is really, really hard. Especially since I wasn't focusing on one specific character in this chapter.

Hopefully everything flows together well and makes sense. If you have any critique on this chapter let me know!

Morrow ate the Alligator Zoan fruit. The pills he took are steroids similar to Chopper's rumble balls, but with a much more harmful affect to his body.

Thank you for all of the awesome comments! You guys are all absolutely amazing!

Feedback/Reviews are loved and appreciated!