Chapter 30

Sabo looked at the corpses at his feet.

The battle had begun hours ago. A grenade inside a corpse exploded without warning. He covered his face in reflex, even knowing that they couldn't hurt him because he was made of fire.

He started running to help his companions.

As he reached his destination, he looked at the faces of his fallen companions, or what was left of them.

He saved Koala from a fatal blow.

-Sabo-kun! - she exclaimed happily.

-Are you okey? - he asked nervously - Have they hurt you?

She shook her head.

-Don't worry about me - she nodded at the place where a huge explosion had just sounded - Help the others.

-Koala...

-Sabo-kun! Now isn't the time for this!

The blonde came to his senses and nodded. Sabo continued his way until he reached the huge gap that the explosion had formed.

Smelling the blood and the burned flesh, made him felt the vomit rise in his throat.

Dozens of dismembered or completely disintegrated corpses. Blood and human remains scattered all over the place ...

From afar, he could see Kaito, who was fighting dozens of government agents. He helped with his flames.

They both heard a roar that chilled their blood.

They turned with their hearts almost in their mouths.

-Uranus...?

The Government had finally released the Ancestral Weapon.

A huge beast began to roar. Sabo had never seen anything like it. Fear paralyzed both revolutionaries, who looked at the huge teeth covered in human remains.

With no time to react, Sabo had no time to dodge the deadly claw coming at him.

However, Kaito stood in front of him, receiving the claws on his face.

Sabo watched a huge river of blood flow from his partner's face. Kaito screamed in pain and quickly covered his face with his hands.

While shaking, Sabo tried to help him sit up again. He saw that his nakama had lost his eyes and his whole face had been torn. If he didn't bleed to death, he wouldn't only be deformed, but blind for life.

-No... - his voice trembled.

-It must be a joke... - Mina said as she looked at that huge beast.

She had never seen such thing like that.

Mina came to her senses and saw that the beast was a few meters away from Sabo and Kaito. They were both frozen.

She reacted quickly. If she didn't, they would both die.

She knew her role perfectly. They were all expendable pieces, except Sabo. The chief of staff could not die for any reason.

Mina gripped her sword so tightly that could feel her own blood running down her hands.

Suddenly, she heard Law's voice, yelling at her from a distance.

-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!? IT'S A SUICIDE! COME BACK!

She ignored those words and ran with all her might.

That huge beast was about to devour them.

She arrived just in time to punch it with all her might and take its mouth away from her companions.

Law watched from a distance.

He knew that woman had strength, and he verified it in Wano, but that was on another level.

Everyone praised the revolutionary, excited to see their general in action.

But what they didn't know was that it was too much even for her. That punch had managed to move the beast, but she felt the bones in her right arm completely turn into dust.

Her jaw clenched in pain. She couldn't use it, it was completely broken, even with haki.

-Mina... - she heard Sabo say lightly, who was in shock.

-What the...

A bad feeling made her turn her head, just to see how that beast, which had diminished in size until it was like a bear, was heading towards her.

Mina's quick reflexes caused her to throw her entire body back quickly.

Everything but the broken arm.

Law watched in horror as the monster Mina had managed to throw away with a blow changed size.

-You can do that ...

And if it was smaller, it was more agile and faster.

A bad feeling came over him.

-Room!

For a few centimeters, he didn't manage to surround her with his powers.

He heard a scream that chilled his entire body.

It hurt.

It hurt too much.

Feeling those jaws catch on her forearm caused her pain so sharp that she began to scream.

Sabo reacted quickly and started setting it on fire from the side.

None of his attacks managed to detach it from the arm of the revolutionary.

The monster began to grow again, slowly.

"He's going to tear me apart," she thought quickly. "If he keeps growing like this, he will tear me apart!"

She felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Fear.

She was afraid.

That monster kept growing, while continued chewing her right arm.

No blow from any of her companions loosened its jaws. Nothing could distract the monster.

With horror, she could see, and notice, that it had already reached the bone.

Mina understood that, even if he released her, she was going to lose that arm. She didn't even feel the pain of his fangs chewing on her anymore. It had destroyed all the nerves. Her own blood fell on her face like rain. It was hot.

"I'm not going to die" she thought furiously "Not like that"

She gathered all the forces she could with her left arm, which was holding her sword.

She armed herself with all the courage she had, and screamed with all her might as slashed away what little was left of her own arm.

Law managed to get there just as she fell to the ground.

A huge jet of blood flooded around her. Mina's screams pierced his eardrums.

She kept writhing from the enormous pain.

Law knew that feeling, from when Doflamingo cut off his own arm in Dressrosa. He knew she couldn't react no matter what words he tried to say to her.

So he didn't say anything.

-Room

He abstracted himself from the world around him, from the screams, from the explosions, from the blood that continued to stain his face.

He had to do it in order to stop the bleeding, or else she would bleed to death in a few minutes.

Red.

Her sight no longer saw any color other than red.

It hurt, more than anything she had ever experienced in her entire life. Not those stabbings in the chest, nor the flames surrounding her body, nor the torture.

Nothing equaled that.

Her voice no longer came from screaming so much. She felt that, if she tried one more time, she would vomit blood. Her lungs were burning.

She began to feel like she was losing consciousness.

-Don't even think about falling asleep, fuck! - she heard a voice too familiar - If you pass out, you will die!

Her eyes focused as much as she could.

-Law ...

-Don't talk - he interrupted as continued sewing - Thank goodness the cut was clean, so you have made my job a lot easier.

Sabo's whole body trembled as he continued to squeeze his partner's trembling body. Hearing Mina's screams of agony penetrated his ears. He would never forget them.

-Leave it to me! - he heard the little reindeer who was part of Luffy's crew say - We must immediately treat your friend's injuries or he will die too!

Sabo nodded and let that talking reindeer begin to heal his friend.

From afar, he could see his nakama Kota in front of a CP0 agent with a pigeon on his shoulder.

Sabo got up.

-I leave it in your hands - he said to the little reindeer - You're Luffy's nakama, so he's in good hands.

-You don't make me happy or anything like that! - Chopper said blushing - Fool!

He ran to help his friend, but Kota stopped him immediately.

-What the hell are you doing!? - Sabo yelled annoyed.

-Please - the male said in a calm voice - This is something personal, I don't want you to get involved.

Sabo looked at his friend without understanding what was happening.

-I thought you were dead - Rob Lucci said without emotion.

Both brothers stared at each other.

Kota thought that, once he saw his brother in the eyes again, fury would take hold of him. But none of that happened.

He went blank. Fear? No, it wasn't fear.

He touched the bandage that covered his empty eye socket. The eye that lost because of the man who was right in front of him

-To think that a worthless brat like you would waste the opportunity to live that I allowed him, to enter the Revolutionary Army - Lucci said coldly - You're an idiot, Kota.

-Shut up! - Sabo shouted furiously as he clenched his fists furiously - Don't even think about insulting my nakama!

Kota looked at Sabo and smiled.

His older brother. The person he had loved the most in his life and the first person he had admired. For him, Lucci had been a hero. But a hero doesn't sell his own brother, nor does he send him to prison... or execute him.

Kota smiled.

-You should have targeted the brain.

Lucci said nothing.

They both started hitting each other hard and using their Devil Fruits.

"I'm not as strong as him," Kota thought coldly. "I won't be able to keep up."

Lucci was physically stronger than him. The battle was going to have an obvious result.

STOP! - he heard a female voice suddenly scream.

Kota recognized that voice.

-Kalifa ... What the hell are you doing here?

The blonde looked at the revolutionary angrily, with tears in her eyes.

-You're idiots - she also looked at Lucci - You're brothers!

-So you're a traitor too - Lucci said coldly - I guess I'll have to get rid of you too.

Kalifa calmly looked at Lucci.

-You don't scare me Lucci, you never have.

Kalifa had worked for the World Government from literally the day she was born, being the daughter of a government agent (although she never really met him). However, she wasn't entirely devoted, she simply saw it as her only means of survival.

She did everything in her power not to be treated as a waste and served faithfully. However, the fiasco of the Water 7 mission made her rethink whether she really wanted to continue living like this.

She remembered that, years ago, Kota proposed her to go with him. Not accepting was the biggest mistake of her life. Perhaps she too would have been branded as a traitor, but at least, she wouldn't have spent nearly 10 years of her life as a puppet.

-A year ago-

Water 7 had been the big stain on her record. The World Government would never forgive such a blunder, not even to CP9.

She had suffered when saw that Lucci was seriously injured, so among all her colleagues at CP9 they had to urgently take him to a hospital and pay for his treatments (which were not cheap). They also were no longer welcomed by the World Government, so they had to hide in order to survive.

She thought that Lucci would change. They even helped people from the town where they were recovering, but as soon as the Government contacted Lucci to offer him a position as part of CP0, Kalifa understood that there was nothing she could do.

She wasn't contacted.

-I guess now I'm just a useless woman - she smiled sadly.

She had to sell herself to get money to eat, after all, she was still attractive and, being on the blacklist, no local would hire her for a worthy trade.

But when she saw that black-haired man in the red light district, she recognized him at once.

How many years had passed? She had already lost count.

-I thought you were dead - she said as tried to stay calm.

-What are you doing here!? I thought you would continue working for them ...

-I failed on a very important mission - Kalifa answered with a sigh - And I'm no longer useful.

Kota felt his blood boil. They had also thrown her away like a dirty rag despite having worked for them all their lives.

-We were never anything to them, we were always expendable.

Kalifa smiled.

-I just wanted to be useful, but I suppose it wasn't enough - she looked at Kota- I missed you. Everyday.

Kota smiled.

-Me too.

-What have you been doing?

Kota swallowed hard.

-Use the only good thing I have - pointed his head - And that has kept me alive until today.

Kalifa smiled.

They spent a few days together, until Spandam recruited her again. Kalifa was fed up with that life, but she knew that refusing was not an option, so she agreed to return.

-Are you really going to continue with that shit, Kalifa?

-You know I have no choice - she kissed him - It's my punishment for not going with you that day.

-You would have died.

-But at least I wouldn't have abandoned you.

Kota never told her that he was a revolutionary, so when he met her in the war, he never thought that she would go with him. They spent a few nights together, remembering the old days even though they knew it was a terrible idea. Being on opposite sides was stupid. However, she had gotten her job back.

Was she really willing to end everything that had cost her entire life... for someone like him?

She approached Kota and took him in the face.

The revolutionary looked her in the eyes. Kalifa took an artifact from her pocket. They both smiled because they knew what was comming.

-You don't have to do it - Kota said while resting his forehead against hers - Run away and be happy.

She shook her head.

-I already had my chance when I did nothing for you when they set that trap for you. I will never leave you again.

-Despite what it means?

-Yes, despite what it means.

Kota looked at his brother with a smile.

-I forgive you for everything.

-Huh?

-I have realized ... that I am unable to hold a grudge against you - he smiled sadly as tears streamed down his face - You're my brother after all.

-You are so stupid ... - Lucci said, although his voice was shaky.

He looked at his little brother and remembered how he was chasing him when they were both children who didn't know the sad future that would lie ahead. When he hadn't been completely broken by the World Government.

Kota was surprised to see Lucci's expression.

"There was still left some of the old you after all..."

He felt Kalifa's hand squeeze his.

-What I'm going to do isn't because I hate you, Lucci - he said as tears continued to fall down his face - I do it because you're a danger to revolution. As long as men like you are alive, the world can never change.

-Do you think you have the strength to kill me?

Kota and Kalifa smiled.

-No, we know we don't.

Kota looked at Sabo and Mina, then at Kaito, who was a little further from the two of them. They were far enough away not to be hurt.

-Hey, guys - he yelled loudly enough so that the three of them could hear him - From now on, I'll have to leave you the rest.

He looked at the confused face of his nakamas.

He looked at Kalifa and they both smiled as they held their hands together.

He knew they would never forgive him for what he was going to do, but realistically, there was no other way out. And he always knew from the day that Dragon and the rest picked him up on his boat after falling off that cliff.

He knew that this was the moment when he would really be useful to the world that Dragon and Sabo were trying to create. And he was dying from cancer anyways.

-Thanks for giving meaning to my life.

He hurled the artifact Kalifa had given him, a Dyna stone, capable of matching the strength of the Ancient Weapons.

The last thing he saw was his wounded nakamas running towards him with an expression of utter panic.

"Finish what we have started."