Chapter 70: Cascade
Cross-Brain AN: You were cursing us for the last chapter? You've seen nothing yet. The time has finally come for Cross to find out the awful truth. Enjoy…
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…also, disclaimer for the end of this chapter: We of the Cross-Brain do not by any means or under any circumstances support, advocate, or otherwise condone beating children as they grow up. Or under any other circumstances, for that matter.
The airship-headquarters of the World Economic Newspaper was raucous and hectic on a normal day, and that was putting it mildly. Only to be expected, really, for the nerve center of a global newspaper. Dozens of potential headlines flew in from every corner of the globe before lunch, and the work environment… well, not for nothing was the leading cause of death on the job assassination, with suicide a close second and the usual hazards of journalism a very, very distant third.
So one can only imagine the sheer chaos that a busy day invited. Sorry, did we say busy? Try the feeding frenzy of a video game company rushing the latest hot product out on Christmas. Which, frankly, accurately described the current mindset of the birdbrain in charge.
"KUWAHAHAHAHA!" 'Big News' Morgans cackled uproariously in his lavish office, practically splitting his desk in half with how hard he was slapping it. "Ohhh, this is too good, too good! Too big even, even for me! Why, I daresay that this is the biggest story I've had since Roger's execution! KUWAHAHA—!"
"Mister Morgans, sir!"
"—kweh?" Morgans grunted in irritation, turning his attention to the voice pipe that had interrupted him.
"Sir, we have an emergency on the printing deck! We need to shut down press number three immediately, the steam engine's starting to buckle! If we push it any more, it'll blow, and—!"
"THEN LET IT BLOW!" Morgans bellowed, lunging at the pipe and wringing it as though it were the speaker's neck. "I don't care if that shoddy stamping machine blasts you all to kingdom come, you squeeze as many more papers from it as you can, and then you run the rest of the presses at triple speed to make up for it! And if any of you even think of running, then know that if we don't meet our quota and have enough papers to blanket the world in less than an hour, then I'll stamp the rest in your blood, ON YOUR DRIED SKIN! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"
A terrified silence wafted out the pipe, followed shortly by a knock at his office door.
"Um, President Morgans? Sir? Could I have a word?"
The avian editor grit his beak at the door before sparing a quick glance at the tube. "Tell the workers that anyone still here by the end of the day gets double their usual pay. I don't care how you get this done, just get it done!" Not bothering to wait for a response, Morgans slammed the pipe's cover shut and addressed the door. "Yes, yes, what is it?"
Yukiko Ohya, a native of Alabasta and one of his most valued employees—at least over the last several months—stepped inside. He saw in her eyes the same fire that had always been there, the passion of a real journalist that would never yield to pressure, and who wouldn't hesitate to dive into the deadliest of hellholes to yank out a scoop.
Hence, Morgans was understandably miffed to see trepidation coloring her face.
"President Morgans…" the blonde, opened, striding up to his desk in a brisk but unhurried fashion. "While I'm not protesting this special edition, I want to make sure you realize the implications of what we're doing. I mean, we've always skirted the rules before, but…" She grimaced and yanked at her collar. "Sir, I'll be blunt: there is a very real chance that the Government may actually try to kill us for this. You… You do realize that, right?"
Morgans' reply was swift, decisive, and above all else, derisive. "PAH! Fat chance of that!" he squawked, waving her off. "I'm afraid you're missing the headline for this particular press-stopper, m'dear: the World Government wouldn't touch us for doing exactly what they want."
That hit the reporter like a sledgehammer. She staggered, gaping at her superior in naked and thoroughly unprofessional shock. "W-What?!"
"You heard me, Ohya: they gave me this scoop!" Morgans chortled. "Said they wanted it all over the world before the day was out! Heck, I barely even needed the slush they gave to our funds, it's so juicy I almost would have done it for free! KUWAHAHAHAHA!"
Ohya gaped at him for a second longer, before her brain rebooted and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "But sir, if they're paying us to… to propagate this… then doesn't that mean—?"
"That they've got something else up their sleeves?" Morgans finished, abruptly switching from chortling to leering. "Obviously, Ohya, do try and keep up. And frankly? That's what makes this all the more appealing! Because where there's a conspiracy surrounding a piece of Big News, then that means only one thing!"
Morgans threw out his wings with an absolutely mad cackle. "EVEN BIGGER NEWS WAITING JUST AROUND THE CORNER, ALL FOR US! FAME, FORTUNE, AND FORTUITY, ALL AT OUR FINGERTIPS! ISN'T IT GLORIOUS?! KUWAHAHA!"
Ohya reeled back at the sudden outburst, her eyes momentarily flashing with fear for one moment. And after, she steeled herself and tipped the brim of her hat to cover her eyes. "Ah… is that so? Alright, just wanted to confirm things with you. Glad to hear we're handling matters properly, I'll get back to work. Good day, sir." And with that, she left.
The moment the door clicked shut, Morgans froze mid-cackle, staring straight at the door. After a minute, he snapped his beak shut into a snarl and started rummaging through his desk.
"Oh, Ohya Ohya Ohya," he muttered to himself. "I always knew you'd be trouble since you started up those documentary columns of yours, but the Big News you dug up was always worth it. Too bad you're about to become Old News…" He yanked out a Transponder Snail from one of his shelves, his leer returning with a cruel twist. "All too soon."
Morgans dialed a number he'd dialed so often in the past. And as had happened every time, barely a ring had passed before the other end connected.
"Hello, Linlin? Yes, it's me, Morgans, do you have a moment to chat?" the bird-man warmly greeted. As the other caller replied, he carelessly swung his talons up onto his desk, reclining back in his exquisitely comfortable chair. "No no, there's no trouble at all, don't worry. I'll still be there for that public execution soirée you have scheduled in a month, this isn't about that, wouldn't miss it for the world! Actually…I'm calling because I need a favor. You see…"
The bird-man's beak twisted up into a vicious sneer.
"I'm in desperate need of some help to secure the accuracy of next week's obituaries."
-o-
The news came first to certain critical individuals.
On a Gothic island in the Grand Line, a hawk-eyed man tsked quietly; he wouldn't even be able to rely on a drinking friend for this.
On two other islands, the messenger bats scrambled away from hellish receptions, one a hailstorm of arrows from an army of angry women and snakes and the other a pillar of darkness that threatened to drag it back into reach of the cackling monster at its core.
And elsewhere, on an island of mixed locales and mutated beasts, a Gothic lolita gaped in shocked confusion and horrified outrage at the summons in her hands.
"What… What the hell is this?" she breathed, trying in vain to make sense of the madness she had just read. "Th-This doesn't make any sense, the mere idea—! A-and Cross didn't say anything about this, and there's no way he would have… oh, Phobos, something's gone wrong!" In her panic, Perona ghosted out of her body and let it flop bonelessly to the floor. "What do I do, what do I do?!"
Her ranting and pacing only lasted briefly, ended by one last, horrible detail that had come to her. With a renewed sense of dread, Perona turned her attention to the sleeping snail on the table.
"Nngh… I hope Nami's OK."
-o-
Things could scarcely be further from OK for the Straw Hats. All of the crew and all of the Supernovas had all of their ire directed at a singular enemy. And said enemy was singular, as Sentomaru and his troops were nowhere to be seen. Normally, this would be a sure sign of victory.
Yet one slight detail crushed every iota of hope: Kizaru was halfway serious. One hand was occupied holding his arrested captive aloft, a constant taunt to everyone watching as well as putting rubbing in exactly how doomed they were.
Still, none of the assembled pirates were the type to just give up. The tensed, fell into stances prepared weapons—
ZZTT!
SHA-BOOM!
"Yaugh!"
And before anybody could react, Kizaru took out two Straw Hats at once. One finger shot a beam that glanced off of Soundbite's shell, sending the snail careening toward one of the mangroves. A hastily bloomed cluster of arms saved his life but did nothing to soothe the laser burn that left him and practically every non-human silent.
And at the same time, Nami fell to the ground, one hand clutching the livid burn on her side and the other clutching half of her melted Clima-Tact. Behind the group, a little over half of the Auction House crumbled into rubble, the offhand fingertip laser having blown it to pieces.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Sanji bellowed, rocketing forward on a pillar of flames. Swearing, Zoro charged after him, Brook, Luffy, Boss, and Vivi following in his wake.
"Dammit, love cook, don't rush ahead!"
Kizaru's face conveyed how unimpressed he was as Sanji dashed towards him. As the chef properly began the kick, however, the admiral's eyes widened fractionally, with the result that he swayed to the side at the last moment, leaving the sea prism stone-enhanced soles to impact only the ground. Snarling, Sanji turned around—
BLAM!
—and took a lightspeed kick to the face that sent him ragdolling through the air and into one of the mighty mangroves, embedding him in the bark.
He did not move.
The other Straw Hats' only reaction was to become even grimmer. Zoro arrived first, swiping the pommels of Kitetsu and Shusui at Kizaru, who swayed out of the way and rammed his knee into Zoro's gut, dropping the swordsman like a sack of flour. Boss' rope dart followed on his heels and hit nothing but air. The laser that lanced out didn't miss, and Boss came tumbling back in a smoking heap to the canine wails of his students. Vivi, billowing in on a burst of air, attempted to swipe her Lion Cutters at the Admiral, but he swayed back under the blow and then swung his foot into her gut. To the astonishment of some and the grim resignation of others, the foot connected cleanly. Vivi soared up, her eyes bulging and spittle flying out of her mouth.
Luffy and Brook, sadly, were a full step behind Vivi when they arrived. Luffy still swing his arm, and the pipe it was holding, at Kizaru.
SHA-BOOM!
"Aghk!"
The laser arrived first. Luffy collapsed onto his back, a scorched mess; a second later, Brook, caught on the edge of the blast, bounced hard on the ground several feet away.
"My, my. You've appropriated quite a lot of sea prism stone, haven't you?" Kizaru mused, eyeing Cross' gauntlets. He grabbed the gauntlets and stripped them off—blasting off the seals on the hinges first—and tossed them away, before idly flicking his hat off. "There. No more of that. Now…"
Turning, Kizaru raised his foot over Luffy, a cross-shaped light blooming on the digit. Luffy, hacking and coughing, could only stare in fear.
"Room, Shambles!"
In a flash of hazy blue, Luffy vanished and a pair of bullets appeared in his place, zooming straight towards Kizaru. Smartly pivoting, the Admiral evaded the bullets and looked downrange at Conis, two of her guns smoking, and Law next to her, two fingers raised. The Surgeon's room still encompassed him…as well as Zoro and Luffy, still at Kizaru's feet.
"Black Bart, now!" Law barked.
A massive, gleaming cylinder sprang up around Kizaru, and Bonney and Hawkins appeared in the two Straw Hats' place, the latter mid-shift into a massive straw doll.
But Kizaru wasn't there. Light drew their eyes up, just as a laser the width of the cylindrical barrier crashed down on them.
-o-
Three miles away, there was a man who went through life demanding to get murdered. Y'know, the kind of person who starts bar fights, quarrels in gambling halls, and otherwise bullies or antagonizes people whose capabilities he did not know. That he had only two front teeth left was probably a coincidence.
That he very abruptly turned into a pillar of flame for no apparent reason was not, though none of the onlookers knew this. Instead, the legend of the Burning Man simply became an addition to the local mythology ledger, and the world became a slightly less shitty place.
-o-
Bonney's world was a mess of straw and tumbling. After what was either a few seconds or a few hours, the spinning stopped and she dry-heaved, before crawling out from under Hawkins' retreating scarecrow form.
"Thanks, Hawkins," Bonney muttered.
"You're welcome," Hawkins said, eyeing a smoking straw doll that crumbled to ash on his arm. "I suggest we retreat while Kizaru is focusing on the other Supernovas. We have an 87% of vanishing entirely if we do so immediately."
Bonney glanced over at the ruins of the Auction house, and winced as Kizaru bore down on a panicking Barto, only to see a very indignant Urouge appear in the latter's place at the last moment.
"Yeah, any other time I'd agree with ya, but two problems I see, both about the fact that that asshat is toting Cross like a ragdoll," Bonney replied, popping up two fingers. "First, I owe the Straw Hats. We all do."
Hawkins, impassive, did not respond.
"And second," she pressed. "How long d'ya think we'll last if the World Government takes Cross and gets its fucking shit together? What do your fancy mathematics say about the odds of the Government, or even more likely, the rest of the Straw Hats, hunting us down and killing us, oh, a month after we blow this taco stand?"
Frowning, Hawkins's hand went to his cards, and his frown grew tighter as he took it away again. "Even I don't need to check to foresee the obvious," he admitted.
Grinning, Bonney slapped him on the back, nearly sending him flipping ass over teakettle. "Then let's get back in there! It's gonna suck, but at least…" She trailed off, grin slowly morphing into a grimace.
"I also do not need to check to determine that there is only a very small chance that we do not all die horribly," Hawkins pointed out.
"We're fighting alongside the Straw Hats, so I'll take that 'small chance' and amp it to a fifty-fifty and take it!"
"It is not. We may very well perish."
"I know we might, now shut up and fight!"
-o-
Law grimaced as Urouge crumpled to the ground, smoking from the laser blast Kizaru had meant for Bartolomeo. One plan in and everything was already off the rails; the Admiral had immediately twigged onto the fact that Bonney was the only one present who could actually do anything to him. Now he would be expecting a swap again, and—
He glanced at Bonney running back towards the fray. Brave, but foolish, on her part.
"Okay, deal with this!" Bartolomeo snapped, crossing his arms as Kid tried and failed to do something to the Light-Man. "Barrier-Barrier Maze!"
Shimmering barriers sprang up all around the Admiral, including up top, catching a laser from Kizaru and bouncing it right back and through him. For a moment, he stood in place, eyeing the barriers around him. And Law took the moment to identify some choice pieces of rubble behind him.
"Kid, plan 2!" he shouted. "Barto, an opening!"
"You don't give me orders, jagoff!" Kid snapped as he charged in to fulfill those orders anyway. A hole opened up in the barrier maze just in time for a flash of light to zip past Kid and materialize into Kizaru.
"Oh, come on!" Bartolomeo snapped, dismissing the construct.
Kid turned to face the threat, raising up a tide of polished-to-a-mirror metal, but Kizaru was already charging up a fresh laser.
Then, he exploded.
Law shot Apoo a thumbs-up as Kizaru reformed again. A shell of metal formed around the Admiral, obscuring him, and hopefully trapping him.
"Okay, anyone got any bright ideas for actually hurting this douchecanoe?" Kid demanded.
"Yeah," Drake said, Luffy's pipe tapping in his palm instead of his usual mace. "We beat his face in with sea prism stone weapons."
"I like that," Kid grinned. "Let's—!"
All the Supernovas started at the metal sphere, now glowing cherry red. Abruptly, the metal melted into slag, and pencil-thin lasers lanced through it, catching Drake in the shoulder and Kid on the hip. Both went down, howling in pain, and Kizaru contemptuously kicked the pipe away.
"Room."
And right back onto his foot. Kizaru blinked, and was suddenly in two pieces: legs anchored to the same spot, and a torso in slicing range of Law. He drew his sword to strike Kizaru.
It went right through him, the legs reassembling over the body. Law, eyes widening, looked behind the Admiral, and saw the pipe move. He must have just kicked it off.
"Well, shit," Law said, right as Kizaru's foot met his skull.
-o-
Admirals. Are fucking cheat codes.
The entire crew with the backup of the Supernovas—who counted among them some of the most versatile, jailbroken abilities in the series—and equipped with Seastone weapons, and he'd still beaten us all in less than five minutes. Five. Minutes. His tie hadn't even shifted. He hadn't even let go of me.
Now, everyone but Sanji and Chopper—who'd run for the cook almost as soon as Kizaru gave him a disproportionate taste of his own medicine—were lying in groaning, burned or bleeding heaps around us. Honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't broken down gibbering at this point, and I'm pretty sure that was only because I'd already suffered a breakdown barely more than ten minutes ago!
It also helped that, when my eyes fell on Barto, he'd winked at me. Now, since I don't think he was trying to flirt with me or something, that probably meant he was playing possum and was trying to think of a surprise. I'll take it.
"You've caused us a great deal of trouble, Jeremiah Cross." And that would be the Yellow Monkey gloating. Lovely. I focused my attention on him and his stupid smug… okay, check that, his still aggravatingly bland expression. "But now, Justice will finally be served. This will be one of the finest moments for the Navy, publicly executing you along with Fire Fist Ace."
…
What.
Nonono, seriously, what?!
In the deathly silence that fell on getting thrown for that particular loop, I was able to hastily rally myself with the knowledge and confidence, and I do mean complete confidence, that the utter bullshit the monkey had just tried to fling at us all was undoubtedly a—! "Bad bluff," I grit out, trying to smile viciously but only managing a snarl. "Nice try Kizaru, but no. The World Government has Ace like we have the One Piece: in our dreams!"
Kizaru's placid mask shifted, ever so slightly, one of his eyebrows cocked just so. "Oh? You sure about that?"
Well, quite frankly yes, I was, but still, just in case… "Luffy—!" I hissed out of the corner of my mouth, forgetting that Soundbite wasn't in any state to carry my voice. But that turned out to be unnecessary. My captain, oblivious to his injuries, was already desperately rifling through his hat. He managed to get his fingers into the band, and pulled out…
I actually felt like laughing, outright, from-the-belly laughing as Luffy pulled out Ace's Vivre Card. His intact Vivre Card, full and healthy and proof that everything was alright, that I hadn't—
-o-
Shivering.
That was the first thing that he became aware of: shaking from pain and some lingering sense of cold. Something nagged at his mind at that, but the next thing he realized was how stiff he was. How long had he been asleep?
A tinge of exasperation worked through his fatigue, his narcolepsy always came up at the worst times.
"…it now. Wake him up."
He scrunched his nose as he heard some idiot talking just out of earshot, flexed his hand to roast the idiot—not too much, just enough to make sure they know never to do it again—and… nothing? What the—?
SPLASH!
PAIN! PURE FUCKING PAIN!
"AAAARGH!" Ace tried to jerk upright, writhing as his skin felt like it was on fire, which should have been fucking impossible—!
CLINK!
The metallic sound and the pressure around his wrists made him understand. Sea prism stone restraints… he had been captured.
"…died…"
A memory stirred as he forced his eyes open. His vision was a blur; he blinked several times to force the image before him into focus, a task not helped by how dark everything was.
And as soon as he realized what he was seeing, he wished that he had gone blind. He was in a cage, that much was no surprise. Outside stood two figures. One looked like a devil that was wearing too many layers of clothing, a purple sheen fading from his body. The other was nondescript… save for a white mask.
Cross had told enough of Warden Magellan for Ace to recognize him, and there was no way he wouldn't recognize a mask of Cipher Pol Aegis Zero.
"…died…Luffy…"
"Welcome to Impel Down, 'Fire Fist' Ace," Magellan intoned. "Don't expect to grow used to your current accommodations. You will be executed at Marineford in ten days' time…"
Ace didn't hear the rest of what either of them said. He didn't acknowledge the presence of his allies beside him, Squardo already cursing and roaring and Whitey yanking at her bindings with furious desperation, nor wonder how things had happened so fast. As the situation fully sunk in, all he could perceive was a single memory.
One loud-mouthed blond from another world and the anger that he showed. The warning that he gave. The future that he knew.
"You died. In Luffy's. Arms. YOU DIED IN LUFFY'S FUCKING ARMS!"
What strength the sea prism stone hadn't stripped away failed him; he felt his heart threaten to burst as he slumped down and began to cry.
-o-
Many miles away, on a whale of a ship where a father and his many sons dwelled, three pristine cards burst into flames, followed immediately by a cry of panic and rage.
"POPS! POOOOOOOPS!"
-o-
FWOOSH!
In a fraction of a second, all life seemed to leave Cross as, before the crew's eyes, Ace's Vivre card spontaneously combusted. More than half of its mass vanished in the span of a heartbeat, right out from Luffy's fingers, and the edge of what remained was actively smoldering.
"My, sooo punctual…" Kizaru chuckled to himself. "I'm assuming that was Fire Fist's Vivre card just now? Yeah, that's that secret out: he's in Impel Down, and set to die in ten days. And before the day is out—" He waved Cross' limp body, in a way that would have been mocking if it actually had any real energy to it. "This one will be joining him. Huh, now that I think about it, maybe I should just go drop him off now, then come back for you all. Shouldn't take that lo—"
His Haki did not alert him to the attack from behind, as its master's intent was to stop it precisely one inch behind him. And it stopped there… directly on top of a bubble that had just begun to form, forcing it to pop at ground level.
Kizaru snapped a glance behind him in time to see a translucent capsule as tall as he was vanish, unleashing the energy within as fast as light. It bathed over Kizaru, whose naturally lethargic movements slowed to an outright crawl.
"BARRIER-BARRIER BUSTER!" Bartolomeo screamed as a gargantuan sword materialized out of nowhere and cleaved against Kizaru's arm. The transparent blade severed his hand in a flurry of motes of light, allowing Cross to drop to the ground. Metamorphosing as quick as blinking, the blade became a crude glove, snatched away Cross and tossed him a distance away where a flurry of hands caught him and rolled him out of sight.
Meanwhile, Bartolomeo himself emerged from behind a mangrove and charged the Admiral. The sword formed anew before shifting shape into a blunter weapon.
Kizaru moved far faster than he should have been able to under the Slow-Slow Fruit's effects, but it was still only at the speed of a normal person. Light flared as he began the transition to eye-searing silhouette, form accelerating agonizingly slowly—
And then, he stopped.
Barto didn't question this, taking the barrier construct into his hands and swinging at the wide-open Admiral. "BARRIER-BARRIER BUSTER BAT!" said Supernova roared, pouring every ounce of his strength into the swing aimed against the yellow blur's mid-section.
Instead, it slammed into his upraised shin. And stopped. Cold.
"Well…" Kizaru said. "Half a second faster, and I might have been sent to the Red Line again." Raising his fist, Kizaru did the unthinkable and clocked Bartolomeo square on the face, the Supernova's face snapping back in a spray of blood. "I don't appreciate that."
"Yeah? Well, here's what I think about your lack of appreciation!" Bartolomeo snarled, responding with a barrier-coated fist that Kizaru lazily swayed back away from. For his troubles, the Supernova ate another Haki-clad punch to the face, square on the nose this time.
Bartolomeo promptly collapsed into an insensate heap, but he had earned Kizaru's undivided attention for the moment it took for him to succumb to gravity. And when that became clear, a blue haze overtook the area once more. The next second, Cross's discarded gauntlets and hat became three livid pirates while in Bartolomeo's place was a cactus. Kizaru stared dryly at the plant as it slipped through his glowing fingers and fell to the ground before turning his attention to the ones before him.
"GUM-GUM HOME RUN!"
"FUCK OFF!"
"Gamma Knife."
Once again, the Admiral was aware of the blows just before they happened, and as they closed in, he casually began to lean out of the way—
—and halted against an immovable object at his back that grappled his shoulders and thighs. Kizaru's brows scrunched together in frustration at the sight of Black Bart's barriers circumvented his Haki again. And then the attacks landed.
A sea prism stone-laced pipe slammed into his temple. A collection of swords slammed into the back of his neck. And a glowing blade of lethal energy no bigger than a finger stabbed at his chest, aiming for his heart.
Kizaru's head whipped around, and he slumped slightly in Bart's grip. When blood started to trickle down the Admiral's striped collar, only then did the pirates and Bart's barriers collapse, half in relief and half in pained exhaustion, panting and clutching their wounds. Law, in particular, was utterly spent, on his knees with his whole body quivering with exertion. Kid was the first to react, opening his mouth to curse a blue streak.
And then Kizaru caught himself and straightened up.
"You have got to be kidding…" Law spat.
Despite the attacks, Kizaru looked little worse for the wear. There was a hole in his suit right over his breast, the beginnings of a knot above his temple, and the aforementioned blood flow around his neck.
But as chilling as the lack of damage was, it was Kizaru's face that really jammed an icicle down the pirates' spines. A face that was no longer lazy and ambivalent. A face tight with seething anger, and that seemed two seconds from breaking out into an outright snarl.
"That. Hurt," the previously bland voice intoned. "And more than that, it had half a chance of actually killing me. So congratulations: you Supernovas have achieved the unenviable feat of acquiring my full, undivided, and pissed off attention."
Not a single one of the exhausted pirates could even breathe as the Admiral took a slow, deep breath, and loosed it as a thoroughly aggravated growl. Reaching up, he pushed his glasses ever so slightly up his nose, turning the lenses into discs that showed nothing but hellish light.
"You know what?" he grumbled, seemingly to himself. "To hell with it. I can take the Elder Stars yelling at me for a few years—"
Due to the state of sheer paralyzed terror everyone was in, only Robin was cognizant of Cross abruptly twitching in her arms.
"—you're all dying. Right here…"
Admiral "Kizaru" Borsalino reared back one of his legs, his sole shining with an infernal radiance…
"Right now."
His leg lashed out in a blur—!
Only to abruptly come to a short stop in midair, the sudden extinguishing of the golden blaze buffeting the assembled pirates with a small squall. They were shocked and shaken, yes… but otherwise unharmed.
"What the—!?"
The Admiral didn't have much time to process his surprise at who had that grip on his leg. He was too busy realizing that the grip was only possible because, in his anger, he had allowed his Haki to slip. Ever so slowly, Kizaru's expression reverted to normal, though his demeanor did not, his body language swinging from apoplectic to petrified with neck-breaking speed.
"…Please let go. I need that leg to run away from you," Kizaru politely requested, his casual smile contrasting with the cold sweat on his face, his body language positively screaming that he had no interest in fighting the man before him. Body language at odds with the fact that, to a casual observer, it seemed like Kizaru was only slightly trying to tug his leg free. In truth, though, he was yanking with all the strength he, an Admiral of the Navy, one of the strongest people in the world, could muster.
And in response to this strength, the visibly livid Dark King Silvers Rayleigh wasn't so much as twitching.
"When you were just playing with the kids," Rayleigh informed him, his voice and words painfully calm and measured. "I was going to go easy on you; give you a stern talking to, make you hand over Cross, and then send you on your way. Quick, clean, simple." He cracked his neck to the side, then back. "When you threatened my captain's kid, I was going to smack you around a little; a few cracked bones here and there, but nothing too bad. Just… a warning, see. But, well… that was then."
Rayleigh's words were casual, but an aura of malice suffocated Kizaru's senses as the ex-Roger Pirate slowly narrowed his eyes, glasses turning opaque with cold rage.
"This is now. Because now, that you've tried to kill them?" He shrugged, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Now, I break you. And unlike Cross, I'm not so good with my words, so that only leaves me the one option."
Rayleigh's face slowly split with a mad grin. A grin that promised pain and agony. The grin of a monster.
The grin of a mad tyrant.
"So!" he barked out, the grim levity in his voice sending chills down Kizaru's spine. "In pursuit of that goal… well, in case you've missed it." Rayleigh flexed his hand slightly. "I have a hold on your leg."
Kizaru's eyes widened. "Oh… oh, no…"
"Oh, you know this hold?" The Dark King merely grinned wider as he ever so slightly applied more pressure.
The Admiral shook his head, the motion stiff. "Please don't, I just got the cast off—!"
CRACK!
In the space of an instant and without even a move from Rayleigh, the Admiral's lower leg crunched inwards like a crushed breadstick.
"That was your tibia."
"Gnyaaaa…"
Like Kizaru, the watching pirates' attitudes had shifted in response to the new development, every one of them in gaping awe whether they recognized the older man or not. Though the latter basically consisted of Bartolomeo and the Straw Hats. Half of the rest were even bracing themselves for battle.
Luffy, for his part, was staring at the grip he held on Kizaru's leg as if bidden to memorize it.
For all the pain that he was obviously in, Kizaru did muster just enough will and strength to level a glare at the Dark King, which in any other circumstances would have been quite frightening. "I… am a Logia, remember?" he bit out. "Your Armament… can't stop me from shifting… and getting out of this—!"
"I can't stop you, you're right about that," Rayleigh calmly agreed, despite the sheer sense of murder his entire body still exuded. "But with the way I'm holding your leg right now? If you try and leave…" He tilted his head just so and his glasses glinted malevolently. "You'll be leaving a good chunk of it behind if you try. We both know that, so why are you even trying to bluff?"
What little remained of the Admiral's composure shattered in favor of naked terror. "Because unlike you nutjob pirates and most of my co-workers, I'm sane and not particularly fond of either death or injury. Which, uh, I have to ask: why haven't you killed me yet, and how can I help you keep that going?"
Rayleigh shrugged almost nonchalantly. "A few reasons. First is that if I kill you, I give your superiors a reason to end my happy little retirement, and I don't feel like spanking you rookies twenty-four seven. Second is that if one of you three suddenly bit it, the fatass and the rabid beast would start making a horrible mess on the other side of the Line, and I don't need that on my conscience—"
The thought 'WHAT conscience!?' echoed through all the onlookers' heads, practically audible.
"—and last but most importantly of all…" Rayleigh's expression finally lost its calm amiability and became implacable steel. "I need you alive so that you can deliver a message to your superiors."
For the first time since he'd gotten himself into his current situation, a glimmer of hope entered Kizaru's eyes. "What's the message?"
That hope was slaughtered when Rayleigh let out a chuckle. "Oh, no, you misunderstand."
With the sort of exertion one would usually put into lifting a moderately heavy box, Rayleigh swung his arm—the arm that had been holding onto and still had a hold on Kizaru's leg—back behind his back, sweeping Kizaru off his remaining leg and holding him aloft in the air. He took a moment to hold his thumb up before his eyes as he stared at the horizon… and a little up.
"You are the message."
Kizaru paled, the moment of dawning realization hitting like a ton of bricks. "No, nonono, wait, don't—!"
Rayleigh did not wait. With a flex of every muscle in his body, he threw the Admiral of the Navy with all the strength he could muster.
Everything from Rayleigh's shoulder on down blurred for a moment and then… Admiral 'Kizaru' Borsalino, one of the strongest soldiers of the Marines, was gone. The only traces of his presence were the slightest wisps of smoke wafting up from Rayleigh's palm.
Smoke that Rayleigh promptly dusted away. "And that's how you deal with annoying jackasses!" he announced with all the cheer of someone who'd just squashed an annoying bug.
The sheer blasé attitude of the older pirate served as a suitable brain reboot to the downed pirates, and unsurprisingly it was Kid who got his mouth working first. "H-Hey!" the metal-manipulating Captain barked out, his mouth a full three car lengths ahead of his brain. "What the hell did you do just now?!"
"Hm?" Rayleigh grunted, blandly glancing back at Kid. "What, isn't it obvious? I just threw an uninvited guest off my home. That's not going to be a problem, is it?"
Bonney paled as the likely consequences of what Rayleigh had just done hit her. "Wait, you mean you threw him, like, into the ocean?! I thought you didn't want to kill him?! A Buster Call will level all of us, you know!"
Rayleigh waved her worries off with a chuckle. "I'm aware, it'd be inconvenient for me too, you know. Don't worry, Borsalino won't hit the ocean." He glanced up thoughtfully. "Not as long as he has the sense to use his abilities, at least. From there, provided my aim is still good…" The icicle down the rookies' spines returned as the veteran smiled. "Well, let's just say he'll be right where I need him to be."
-o-
One of the very few parts of their plan the Elder Stars were certain would work without a hitch was Kizaru's little part on Saobody. A motivated Admiral, backed by ample justification, would certainly remove the irksome Straw Hat Pirates, save the few they intended to execute. And they would even get the so-called "Supernovas" in the bargain, nipping what could have been an entire new era of piracy in the bud.
As such, when the battered form of one of the Marines' trump cards came crashing through the wall and clean through their antique coffee table, sporting a leg that more resembled a sack of flour and several other smaller wounds besides… well, the result was a toxic brew of disbelief, disappointment, and rage that only a lifetime of control managed to mask. Mostly.
"…here to deliver a status update, Admiral?" the bald and mustachioed member of their cadre seethed, his facial follicles twitching in vivid irritation.
Kizaru remained prone for a little bit before jerking his head (which was currently stuck at a very uncomfortable-looking angle) in a way that could pass as a nod. "…indeed, sir. I just wanted to let you know that I have them on the ropes."
The kimono-wearer scowled and jabbed the tip of his katana's sheath against the Admiral's head. "Try again."
The admiral winced, both at the physical impact and at the memory of the past several minutes. "The rookies proved to be no trouble at all, as predicted, but I… ran into unforeseen complications as I was finishing up."
"Clarify what you mean by 'complications', Admiral."
"…I can officially corroborate all reports putting 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh's current residence in Sabaody Archipelago. And I'm officially backing the conclusions of every analyst that said that acting on that information would be a very bad idea."
All five of the Elder Stars momentarily stiffened at the information. Only momentarily, though. They had a debriefing to finish.
"…Very well, we'll mark your defeat under 'unforeseeable complications'," the cane-wielder declared, his calm demeanor somewhat undercut by the white-knuckled grip he had on his cane.
"More importantly," the youngest declared. "You said he attacked you as you were finishing up. What of the mission? The objectives we gave you when you arrived at the Archipelago, did you complete them?"
Kizaru laid on the floor of the chamber in silence for what felt like an eternity, staring blankly at the ceiling. And then… he answered.
"Yes, sirs. I completed the primary objective without issue. They know."
With that revelation, the Elder Stars visibly relaxed, exuding airs of complete relief. "Then all is well, and everything is proceeding according to plan," the tallest of them concluded, stroking his beard. "The Straw Hats shall play their role, and we shall set the world back on the correct course with minimal sacrifice. Well done, Admiral—we shall see you properly rewarded for this."
"You're too kind, sirs."
The room fell into silence.
"…you are dismissed, Admiral."
"Much appreciated, sirs… but I can't quite seem to move at the moment."
A round of heavy sighs ran around the room, and one of the Elders raised their voice with a hint of impatience.
"Medic!"
-o-
On a remote island just on the outskirts of the Tub Current, a man in a formidable-looking robotic suit stepped onto a waiting barge, arms waving and flashing in a directional pattern. A dozen nameless workers in identical suits shuffled after him, supporting a metal crate size for caravel.
Painstakingly, the leader directed the dozen workers to a designated place on the carrier ship. A couple of minor tweaks to perfect the placement and then the signal came to lower it. Inch by inch, the crate descended until, with the slightest possible impact, it came to a rest on the deck.
The leading man emerged from his robot and moved briskly over to a control panel on the side of the crate, reading the output on the display screen. After a moment, he sighed in relief and nodded to the workers. On cue, they emerged from their own suits and filed into the ship.
Ratchet watched them go—
"There you are."
"GYAH!" And leapt nearly a full foot off the ground with a terrified, piercing scream at the sudden sound of a woman who had not been behind him ten seconds ago.
"Honestly, I actually thought I'd need to come looking for you," the woman sniffed, ignoring the man's shock as she looked over the grease-stained engineer with no small amount of disgust. "And you do know how much I dislike going through those filth-lined holes you call 'labs', the atmosphere alone is enough to ruin the sheen on my switchblades."
The engineer hastily composed himself, readjusting his glasses back into place with a scowl. "Maybe if you were a little less ridiculous and kept your knives sheathed…"
"Now who sounds ridiculous?" the woman casually retorted, before shooting him a sharp look out of the corner of her eye. "And by the way, you didn't answer me, which I suggest you do if you want to not start spontaneously bleeding: what took you so long?"
"Mrgh…" the engineer grumbled, tugging at his collar. "I was ensuring that the final preparations on the project were complete and airtight. These things are insanely volatile, you know, so unless you want the ship to sink with us on it, I'd appreciate some basic gratitude for making sure we don't all take an express voyage to the bottom of the sea!"
"Appreciate it all you want, that doesn't mean you'll be getting it anytime soon. Now move and let me see." So saying and without waiting, the woman clamped her hand on the engineer's face and shoved him away from the crate. The offended squawk that produced was ignored, and the woman slid open a peephole in the metal wall.
Stussy, Queen of the Pleasure District and ace operative of Cipher Pol Aegis-Zero, took one look inside the crate, and was immediately overcome by two emotions.
Surprise… and awe.
"My oh my…" she breathed, almost reverentially, as she raised her hand to, for lack of a better word, caress the side of the box. "So they've really developed it then… a weapon to surpass Pacifistas…! A weapon that will change the course of history!"
"Hey!"
The sudden exclamation jarred Stussie out of her reverie, and snapped her head around to glower over her shoulder at the bastard who had so rudely interrupted her.
Ratchet, the once-and-ex Lord of the so-called Mecha-Island, was wholly unaware of the peril he was placing himself in by continuing his offended protests. "What the hell do you mean 'they'!? I designed the—!"
"Allow me to liberate you from the delusion you seem to be laboring under," Stussy interrupted, her iron-cold tone choking his voice off as effectively as any fist around his throat. "You and your fellow lab rats made the concept. But it was Vegapunk who brought about this work of beauty. Who truly made it… perfect. And that is all the world will ever know."
Ratchet blinked owlishly, then flushed in both fear and anger. "Wait… wait wait wait, are you saying—!? You mean that that hack is going to be taking credit for our genius?! But-But that's not fair!" Ratchet's voice broke into a whine and he jabbed a finger at the crate. "I! I designed the mechanisms, I put it together, that was me, all me! I worked for it, slaved over a hot forge for it! This is my creation! My brilliance! My masterpiece!"
"And your sacrifices for the sake of science and justice are duly noted and appreciated," Stussy sneered haughtily, looking down at the frenzied engineer like an insect.
"T-This wasn't the deal, damn it!" Ratchet spat, desperation and professional indignation coloring his voice. "Hogback and Indigo, those two are criminal pirate scum, take their works all you want, but I'm nothing of the sort! I'm nobility, I'm important, I matter! Hell, I'm here voluntarily—!"
"You were volunteered," Stussy corrected him, blunt as a hammer. "By your mother, as part of a plea deal so that you would escape the good graces of Impel Down. Or worse. Because we all know that once you had that little island-turtle of yours under control, you would have been casting your gaze onto much farther, much more illegal horizons, correct?"
Ratchet's twitching intensified almost twice over, and he was forced to snap his gaze away, unable to look her in the eye.
Almost immediately, fingers clamped onto his head like a vice and jerked his head around right into what Ratchet could swear were burning coals. "Let's take this opportunity to clear up any further misconceptions, shall we?" she chirped through her brittle smile. "You have no rights, you have no liberties, and you only barely have more privileges than your fellow inmates because we felt like it. You work for us because we desire it, and you are still breathing because we allow it, and the only reason you're setting foot off this island is because I need someone to operate the world-changer you and your fellow wastes of flesh created. Without that, I have no use for you and your life is forfeit. Are. We. Clear."
The best response that Ratchet could eke out was a panicked whimper, but it would suffice. For now.
"Perfect!" Stussy released him and spun around, clapping her hands with an air of glee. "Now, kindly quit your bitching and get belowdecks before I break your legs, m'kay?"
Teeth grinding viciously, Ratchet racked his brains for a counter, of any kind. Nothing came, and he had to turn his head away and dutifully shuffle along. "Where are we going, anyways?" he managed to mumble out.
"Mmm, well, I should think it rather obvious, no?" Stussy hummed, spinning an umbrella out of her belt and balancing it on her shoulder. "What better way to test a weapon designed to rewrite the world…"
The shadows of the umbrella made her sharp, toothy smile shine all the more viciously.
"Than use it in the plan to rewrite history?"
-o-
With the Admiral's departure, the Supernova crews, who had wisely held back, flooded into the grove to aid their captains. Some were… more grateful than others.
"Why the hell didn't you chucklefucks help!?" Barto snarled furiously, even as he held out his arm for Apis to start bandaging.
Ever, meanwhile, met his raging bile with casual indifference. "Okay, Captain?" she stated, looking him right in the eye with a blank look. "That was an Admiral you were fighting. So if we'd been here with you, what would that have accomplished? You know, apart from us sucking and dying terribly, I mean."
"…damn you and your logic. AND GET ME SOME DAMN BOOZE, WOULD YOU, THIS SHIT STINGS!"
"Sorry, you blew your booze budget earlier at 77, you'll need to take it like a man."
"OH COME THE HELL ON, WHAT PART OF 'FUCKED UP BY AN ADMIRAL' DID YOU MISS?!"
Others were still in awe from what had just departed.
"…y'know something? I knew the old crowd was scary. It's common sense, really. But I wasn't expecting an Admiral to get tossed aside like that," Apoo muttered, nervously eyeing Rayleigh as he idly plinked out an eerie tune on his teeth. That plinking intensified when the Dark King noticed the attention on him, and gave him a smile that was just on the wrong side of 'casual'.
"If it helps, I believe that much of the credit to what just transpired must go to simple good fortune," Hawkins responded, laying out his cards on his straw. "That conflict should have gone much worse."
"Oh, yeah?" Apoo asked, against his better judgement. "So what were the odds, then?"
Hawkins completed his spread, gave it a onceover - and his eyebrows jerked up half an inch each before he swept up the cards and reshuffled them. "For the sake of your remaining mental health, it would be better that you did not know."
"Yeah, because that's fucking reassuring!"
Several pairs of eyes fell on the Allosaurus Zoan, who at this point had lost whatever composure he had left and stormed over to where the Straw Hats were clustered, still in the aftershock of the Admiral's departure.
"And YOU! I don't know what I was thinking, going along with your plan! I've put up with the nonsense that follows your crew like a fucking cloud, I've put up with you all trying to-to befriend me, I've even kept quiet about—!" Abruptly, the former Marine closed his mouth so fast his teeth clicked. It was a long moment before he continued. "And now we just barely survived the Admiral you lot brought down on us, and that Admiral has backup on his way? I'm done. I'm fucking done. But I'm not so done that I won't RIP YOUR FUCKING—!"
Drake's voice died in his throat.
One thing must be made clear: "Red Flag" X. Drake was firmly among the Supernovas who did not fear the Straw Hats. He was wary of them, he respected their strength, and he even grudgingly respected them as people, but they were still a group of quirky rookies whose every opponent worth mentioning had lived to talk about it afterward. He had no reason to be afraid of such people.
Until that moment. That moment, when he found two dozen pairs of eyes promising murder boring into his skull. The glares they delivered rivaled the ones they'd given Shiki the Golden Lion. Who, now that he thought about it, had only survived his clash with the Straw Hats by sheer dumb luck. Even they had a breaking point, and apparently, Kizaru had pushed them to it.
Wordlessly, he straightened and turned his back, distancing himself from the monsters other pirates with all the dignity he could muster, his crew trailing nervously behind him.
With only a quick glance between the departing Drake and the angry Straw Hats, the Firetank, Bonney, and Fallen Monk pirates quietly departed as well. Those who remained were ignored as the crew fell into a huddle, quiet mutters filling the air between them.
"—just burst into flame, wasn't a trick, was—?"
"—last four months? Or did it happen—?"
"How did this even happen? We—"
"—supposed to do to stop it?"
"Puru puru puru puru!"
The muttering stopped as Soundbite, newly returned to Cross's shoulder, began ringing. It continued for several seconds before Cross forced himself to his feet.
"…I need to take this. You guys go on without me," he mumbled, walking off. Though… 'walk' may have been a bit of an exaggeration. With how he was slumped and lurching forwards, it would be more accurate to say that Cross… shambled away, his replaced gauntlets and hat barely staying on. Lassoo and Funkfreed exchanged looks before hurrying after him, moving to his flanks to keep him moving in as straight a line as they could manage.
Much of the remaining crew looked like they wanted to do the same, but the choice was taken out of their hands as Luffy, shaking with what was probably 'all the emotions' marched off in the direction of the Rip-Off Bar. Grimacing, Zoro fell into step behind him, and the rest of the crew followed, none of them so much as acknowledging the pirates left behind them. Pirates who all warily watched them leave, wariness both for the sake of the Straw Hats and whatever they were going to do next.
For though the Supernovas, much like the Straw Hats themselves, didn't know exactly what would be coming next, they all knew who would be starting it all off. One way… or another.
-o-
"Beware the Blackbeard Pirates, Cross. Beware Blackbeard."
"Puru puru puru puru."
He knew… he knew…
"Puru puru puru puru."
All this time… all this time, and all along, he knew—!
"Puru puru puru puru—Cross, we're alone, NOW'S AS GOOD A TIME AS—KA-CLACK!" I ripped the transceiver's mic off its cradle, ignoring the wince that drew from Soundbite.
"Ophiuchus," I ground out, prompting my partners to join the cringe party.
"…Aquarius," came an elderly voice after a short pause. "I apologize if this is a bad time, but I feel you'll want to know of this as soon as possible."
My eyes narrowed as a sneaking suspicion popped into my mind, and I felt the haze lurking in my skull start to thicken. "Would it happen to involve a top-secret prisoner, a top-secret plan, and the bigwigs running the Government confirming their candidacy for the Darwin Award?"
Dead silence for the next several seconds.
"…You failed to stop it," Tsuru said at last.
"Thank you for stating the obvious. Now, would you mind telling me how I failed to stop it?" I snarled as somewhere in my head, I heard a sharp SNAP! "BECAUSE THE VIVRE CARD WE HAVE HAS HAD ME BELIEVING OTHERWISE FOR THE LAST FOUR MONTHS! THE DAMN THING JUST BURST INTO FLAMES BEFORE OUR VERY EYES!"
Another pause, much briefer, before "Tsuru" averted her eyes. "Admiral Aokiji inadvertently saved the life of Marshall D. Teach by freezing the battleground where he was fighting Fire Fist Ace and two of Whitebeard's subordinate crews. Teach coerced the Elder Stars into making him a Warlord in exchange for relinquishing the pirates to them as prisoners. They were kept in chemical-induced comas until now to ensure that no Vivre Cards would betray their status too soon. To my knowledge, though Marines all over the Grand Line are being summoned to Marineford, nobody else is yet aware of the true purpose except for Sengoku and the three Admirals."
I felt the urge to burn something intensify. "Let me guess: you just learned all of that from Kuzan, didn't you?"
"…Yes."
I grit my teeth so hard I expected to hear one of them crack. "The next time you see that lazy son of a bitch, Aquarius, pass on a message from me: too little, too late." I was sorely tempted to slam the connection shut on that line, but I punched a momentary hole through the fog of fury; I could worry about that icehole once I'd run damage control. For now… "Alright… there's a lot to do and not a lot of time. Aquarius, contact the rest of the Divine. Tell them to clear their schedules and be ready for a conference call… as soon as I'm somewhere close to sane enough to join on. Priority zero."
"Very well. KA-LICK. I'll send the same orders to the Damned, SONIA AND KOALA should still be at the bar."
I nodded in acknowledgement, still walking. Some part of my mind was trying to reason through the haze that threatened to consume it. There was still a chance to save Ace. There was even still a chance to stop the war before it began. I had made connections from the day I joined the Straw Hats, and now was the time that I'd put them all to use.
But the sight of the burning Vivre Card wouldn't leave my mind's eye except to circle through a slideshow of the war playing back through my refreshed memories. Over and over, everything that I had failed to stop damn it all to—
It took… I don't know how long to unstick my mind from the dark hole that it had swan-dived into, but eventually I managed to get myself back to a semblance of functional, which was enough for me. I gestured to Soundbite, to get his attention, and was confused when nothing happened, the gastropod frozen on my shoulder. And even weirder, when I looked at Lassoo and Funkfreed, they were in much the same state, staring dead ahead and neither moving a muscle.
And before I could ask what was wrong with them, I got my answer by way of a shadow falling over me.
A very big, very familiar shadow.
I froze as well, slowly turning my head back. At the sight of Kuma's curly locks and lantern jaw, the strangest mixture of dread and relief coursed through me, my mind scrambling for the slightest chance to do… to do something, damn it.
The cyborg's face remained as impassive as ever as he stared down at me, and his stance did not change. But just as I unstuck the mental horsepower I needed to speak, he had to open his mouth first.
"Do not attempt to dissuade me, Jeremiah Cross."
Less than ten words, and they caused my everything to lock up.
"I need only one look at you to see that you know what I'm here to do and why," the cyborg said. Unflinchingly. Mercilessly. "You also know that your entire crew together would be unable to stop me by force. You are left with your words, and I'm sure you can make a compelling argument. But you won't, no matter how much you may want to, because you're smart enough and knowledgeable enough to know that if you do, it will lead to your crew's deaths."
Even through my bandages, my fingertips drew blood from my palms.
"I am perfectly aware of the solidarity of the Straw Hat Pirates. That is the precise reason why I have come here. You conquered Enies Lobby because you had reinforcements and because CP9 was the only true challenge you had to face. But the Government's two remaining bases have not decayed from the expected standard. And now, with the war against Whitebeard on the horizon, there is even more security than usual. One such as your captain has a chance to succeed if he were to infiltrate either or both of the remaining bases. But I guarantee that at least one of your crew would not survive if all of you attempted the mission."
He leaned down, and his blank gaze looked pierced straight to my soul. "I will not give you the choice to say no, Jeremiah Cross. If I leave you as you are, your crew will use whatever resources they have to try to rescue Fire Fist Ace, and then proceed to the New World, and anyone lost along the way will be on your head. Do you believe, fully and completely, that all of you as you are can survive a war between the most powerful forces in the world, and then proceed to the Emperors' domain and successfully claim Roger's throne?"
I let my head fall, silent as my mind ran over the madness of the War of the Best. It was no use. As he said, I already knew the answer.
And I tried to say something, I did. Just… anything to defend myself, even the most irrational and fallacious... but ultimately, my mouth just hung open. I could think of… nothing.
Kuma just stared at me before straightening again, the finality of a true Tyrant crashing down on me. "You already know this. The Straw Hat Pirates are not ready for the strongest that this world has to offer," he spoke his verdict, with all the finality of a death knell.
I remained silent for a couple of minutes, trying to sort through my thoughts in the face of the inevitability of letting canon unfold. Once again, I tried to get something in order, to get something out… but…
"I will meet your crew at Grove 13, outside of the Rip-Off Bar, at sunset," Kuma declared. He didn't tell me, he declared it. Stated a fact. "Ensure that they are prepared to depart by then. They will leave this place when I arrive… whether they wish it or not."
I stared up at him, into his blank eyes, desperate to get one word out, even a single, small, worthless word—!
And then he looked up and away. Dismissed me, like an insect… like worthless trash.
"This decision is final. That is all."
And with that… he was gone.
I stared down at the ground for the longest minute of my life. My anger built with every second, and I felt my body moving over to the nearest mangrove. Looking up at the bark, the memory of Ace's final smile flashed into my mind's eye, and I saw red.
…Again, I don't know how long I blacked out. But when I came to, I saw the crater that I'd caused. It went almost half my arm in and was taller and wider than I was. My fist ached even through my armor; I had put all of the strength and anger that I had into that punch… and this was the best that I could do.
A year ago, I would have been blown away at the thought that I could do this.
Now all I could think was that it was nothing that would help me against the world.
That this feat of herculean, superhuman strength… was all that I was capable of.
"…Funkfreed."
The elephant shuddered as the words dragged their way out of my mouth.
"Get us back to the Bar, and make it fast. Our time is almost up."
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While Cross's top-of-the-world euphoria had subsided, unlikely to return anytime soon, the saying goes that misery loves company. A certain, select group of individuals was nursing the injuries to their bodies and, far more importantly, their pride as they departed from what used to be the thriving capital of the Grand Line's slave trade.
They had never known anything except the top of the world, and to be laid low even the slightest amount, as they had been, had them ready to murder anyone who so much as breathed wrong near their berths in their ship's infirmary. There was no alternative but to lie still to recover from their beatings, the better to not aggravate their injuries before a doctor that they deemed worthy looked over their bodies.
They were prepared, somewhat grudgingly, to enjoy the stillness and silence until they reached their heavenly home. And when they recovered, they would see to it that the Straw Hats suffered. That was their plan.
…and much like with Cross, a certain boogeyman lurking nearby had other plans.
"Ooooh, man it is good to be the King. I mean, I already know that I'm blessed by the world, that's a… a fact, yeah. But it's just so nice to have it confirmed beyond all doubt, you know? So nice."
Slowly, the Celestial Dragons sat up, eyes darting about for the source of the very, very close monologue. A monologue that would have any sane man running for the hills.
"Man, you know, I hate to give anyone credit outside of me and mine. I truly hate it, it feels like I'm breaking out in hives. But sweet Angra Mainyu did you guys do that just right. I mean, I wanted to bring Cross low, sure, but you all? Oh, you crushed his spirit, completely! I honestly can't even tell if he'll ever be coming back, it's just so delicious! Fortune always lined up for me before, that's natural, it's who I am, but this? Oh, it's glorious. Beyond anything I could have ever dreamed, even I didn't think it was possible to break a person like him so thoroughly! And you know the best part of it all? If he does manage to claw his way out of the pit we've dug for him he is going to be an unholy terror. I CAN'T WAIT!"
The keeper of the voice strode into plain view, heads turning to regard the demon in pink feathers sauntering up to their sickbeds.
"Ahhh… so, to summarize: I am, currently, on the hot streak to end all hot streaks. I am on fire. This is shaping up to be the single best day of my life thus far. And it's wonderful, just wonderful. Why, I'm even planning on swinging by Gran Tesoro later so that I can break the bank a little, see? Because I feel lucky, thanks to it being that kind of day. But before… all… that… I just want to make this day as absolutely, positively perfect as I possibly can."
Doflamingo's smile widened as the Celestial Dragons' eyes, the one part of their bodies he was letting them keep control over, widened in unmistakeable terror.
"Oh, nonono, you mistake me. I'm not going to touch you, that would be beneath me. Nooooo…" he chuckled. "I have something much more… elegant in mind."
And with that, he drew out a metal pipe from the depths of his jacket, and placed it in Roswald's waiting, twitching hand. A hand that wrapped around the metal, and clutched it in a white-knuckled grip.
"Now, if I remember correctly from you and your daughter's ranting in my fine establishment," Doflamingo mused, tapping a finger to his chin. "You've never struck your kids before, correct?"
The Heavenly Yaksha shook his head and tutted disapprovingly, as Roswald's body forced itself upright and dragged itself out of its bed, before turning to the side.
Turning to approach the other beds in the room.
"Well, now, that won't do, that just won't do at all! I am of the opinion that all children should be beaten as they grow up. Repeatedly, and violently. It's only part of a healthy upbringing! I mean, after all…"
The pipe went up, and the demon started to absolutely, well and truly laugh.
"IT DID WONDERS FOR ME! FUFFUFFUFU, FUFFUFFUFFUFFUFU!"
Cross-Brain AN: And so Doflamingo's torment of the Straw Hats comes to a true conclusion; this is the last we'll see of him… for the immediate future. Our next chapter marks the end of the Sabaody Revolution. And with it, the end of the Straw Hat Pirates' time together until the time skip concludes.
Buckle up… it's just getting good.
