Chapter 30

One Last Adventure

"[R-REPORTING TO ALL WARSHIPS! MR. ROB LUCCI OF CP9 HAS JUST BEEN DEFFEATED BY THE PIRATE, STRAW-HAT LUFFY!]"

The marines were in shock at their spotter's announcement. This was Rob Lucci, the prodigy at 13. The man who killed in the name Dark Justice! He was quite possibly the most powerful and cold-blooded weapon ever trained by the CP9. How did some pirate, barely worth a hundred million, defeat such a legendary individual!?

"LUFFY WON!" Maxwell heard Usopp yell at the top of his voice.

"Thank the Maker…!" The mage sighed in relief.

"You finally did it, Straw-Hat!" Franky yelled.

"Guys! Get to the ship, now! We'll set out!" Nami yelled at them.

Robin, Nami, and Maxwell had already taken the staircase. They were now fighting at the end of the bridge where they saw Usopp, Zoro, and Franky fighting back to back. Usopp really was without his mask, Franky didn't look any worse for wear, but Zoro wasn't fighting with his usual katanas. They were sheathed, and Zoro was using some marine cutlasses. There was no signs of Sanji though.

"[GOOD JOB STRAW-HAT! WUOOOOO~!]" All of a sudden, the marine speakers started chatting. It wasn't a marine officer either.

"[Idiot! They'll hear us!]" Maxwell blinked realizing who was scolding the other voice.

"[It's okay, we're letting them know! BRO! BRO~!]" Zambai yelled at the top of his lungs.

"[Shut up! If we ran away quietly, they'd just think we're dead!]" Paulie scolded the Franky Family commander.

"[We're all safe here!]" "[GERO!]" "[The giants took all the cannonballs for us!]" "[The warships are gonna come again! Let's run, quick!]" "[Hurry up and climb, guys!]" "[The blood's rushing to my head…!]" "[We have a way to escape, so don't worry about us! We'll see you guys later, alive!]"

Gally-La and the Franky Family were alive! Two of the voices Maxwell didn't recognize, but that was inconsequential. Now they could get out of here!

"Maxwell…!" A familiar voice rang in the back of his head.

"What…!? It can't be—!?" Maxwell started looking around the ocean. He could see Usopp also looking around in confusion.

"GUYZ~!" Franky started balling his eyes out, "VI VOOD—I WOULD DEVER VORRY ABOUT YOU—YU GUYZ!" He yelled so his subordinates would hear him. Though he quickly started trying to rub his eyes, "Yee! Zous hidiot'zar abrive~! ABRIVE! Ahrm zo glad! Ahrm zo happey~!"

"Yeah. That's good news," Zoro agreed with him, despite his blubbering, "But it'll be meaningless if we al die now, won't it!?" They still had to escape after all.

"MARINES!" One of the vice admirals from the warships called out, "WAHT ARE YOU DOING! COMPLETE THE OBJECTIVE!"

Maxwell took that as the fight was back on. He immediately gave himself so room with a Fortifying Blast, then looked up in the air.

"Mordred!" He yelled at the fear demon, "Is Salem where I think he is!?"

"Hahahaha!" Mordred laughed as he threw down another fireball, "She's as stubborn as a goat, that one! Salem just went to lend a helping hand!"

"That's…!" Maxwell was about to say impossible, but he'd accept it! A part of him even started to feel giddy, and it showed in his fighting. Casting his arcane bolts felt more like a dance than a practiced motion.

"Don't take your eyes off Straw-Hat!" The same vice admiral yelled in his ship.

"[Y-Yes sir, but…!]" The marine who had been using the speak seemed to have lost his voice. That confident zeel one had, knowing the advantage, was now gone, "[The Pirate Straw-Hat Luffy appears mortally wounded, and doesn't seem to be moving from his spot at all!]"

"Wait—What!?" Maxwell balked at what the marine had said. What do you mean he wasn't moving!?

Usopp ran over to where he last yelled at Luffy, "HEY LUFFY! Hurry up and get over here! If we don't get away, we won't survive!" The sniper could still see Luffy laying on the ground, he was still breathing. Luffy was even looking at him, but he wasn't moving, "What's wrong!? We're almost out of here! Use your powers and sling over here! I'll even carry you from here!"

Try as he might though, Luffy couldn't move, and this worried Usopp, "We're surrounded by the ocean and marine warships! You'll be killed if you stay there!"

"…Hah… can't…! My body… won't move… at all…!" Luffy knew they had to get out of here, but his battle with Luffy had taken to much out of his muscles. He want to get up. He needed to get up! But his body wouldn't listen!

"…Don't be silly!" Usopp yelled back, "You won the battle! We got Robin back, too! All that's left is to get out of here! Please! You can do it!"

Fearing the worse, Maxwell looked back up again at his familiar, "Mordred! Fly over and pick up Luffy!" He then looked at Franky and the rest of the Straw-Hats, "Usopp! Mordred will handle Luffy! Everyone else, back to the ship!"

"[FIRE!]"

*BOOM!*

Both Maxwell and Mordred turned where they were and looked back down the staircase. The marines had just destroyed their escape vessel… It might have been fine, if Chopper wasn't also down there!

"CHOPPER!" Maxwell called out. Mordred immediately started to fly down towards the wreckage. However, the fear demon also saw something else.

"Gwah! Cough, cough! —They're somewhat safe!" And no, it wasn't Sanji running out of the smoke with Kokoro, Chimney, Gonbe, and Chopper in his arms.

"Oh thank—" Nami started to sigh but then realized something, "Sanji! Where the hell have you been!?" No had seen him fighting on the bridge since the marines jumped down on them.

"Yeah, sorry," Sanji dropped their allies reaching the top of the step, "I had some errands to run! But man! What a mess!"

One of the marines then pointed a sword at Nami, "That's it pirates! Let go of the hostages and just—"

"IT'S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT!" Kokoro suddenly leapt from the ground and kicked a finned foot at the marine's face.

"GUYS! RUN!" Mordred yelled at the crew and drew his own staff with a Mortalitasi skull.

The mage noticed what Mordred was looking at. It was the warships. They were aiming at the staircase next! "THEY'RE AIMING FOR THE BRIDGE!"

Maxwell then suddenly felt a charge of mana. It was Mordred, surrounded by an wisps of gold and a bubble of light expanding around him. He was using a spell, one Maxwell didn't recognize.

"HASTE!" Mordred then shattered the bubble and their was a sharp sound of a high pitched bell and broken glass.

Reality seemed to shatter around them. Floating panes and golden embers seemed to hover in the air. Everything around them, except Sanji, Nami, Chopper and Kokoro's family, seemed to blur. The shot of cannons was heard, but it was long, drawn out, Maxwell could even see the sparks and the cannonball leave an artillery battery.

Mordred had slowed down time, all around them.

"THIS IS A SPELL!?" Maxwell couldn't help but yell in shock! His crewmates weren't much better, looking at the spell in awe. Maxwell didn't know temporal manipulation was possible outside the Fade!

"Yes! But it won't last long!" Mordred was losing opacity and flying straight towards him, "You need to run, now!" The spirit vanished into a stream of smoke and embers as it entered it's medium, the crystal skull around Maxwell's waist.

Now he really needed to study with Mordred!

Cannonballs were still moving towards the staircase. Maxwell even saw a few heading towards the drawbridge's arms. The marines were going to destroy the bridge, completely!

Maxwell grabbed both Sanji and Nami's shoulders, snapping them out of their amazement, "RUN!" Maxwell then picked up Chimney and Gombe and started running. Nami picked up Chopper, realizing what was happening. Sanji, not leaving a woman behind, picked up Kokoro. Though he was still heart broken over his dream of meeting a real-life mermaid.

The three Straw-Hats started running towards the second column. That was the only spot not being targeted by cannonballs. They ran through the crowd of marines, their movements slow like poured molasses. Robin, Usopp, Zoro, and Franky were unaffected by the time dilation too. They were confused as to what the hell was going on, but when they saw their friends and allies running through the crowd and immediately followed suit.

The cannonballs still hit their targets though. A shockwave seemed cut through the temporal space, but the physical results were still slowed down. Their bridge was now beginning to fall mid air. They could feel the shift of weightlessness as it slogged through the magic. Marines in detailed horror were seeing the results of the explosions, on their own time. Meanwhile, the Straw-Hats rushed past them like an obstacle course, trying to reach safer ground.

Then the spell ended and everything suddenly sped up. The breaking bridge, screaming marines, gravity, all of it had returned to real time. They jumped onto the remaining piece of the bridge before the rest of it fell into the ocean. The Straw-Hats were safe, but they now they were stranded on the second column and still surrounded by marine warships.

"Shit! The bridge is gone! We're trapped!" Sanji cursed.

"There's nothing else we can do!" Zoro eyed all the marines that were still around them. Some of the marine helped their fellows up.

"Then we'll just have to fight all of them here…!" Nami got back into a fighting pose. The warships had taken out their own elites with that attack.

"Don't be stupid!" Franky barked back, "Even if we take out this bunch, there's still the cannon fodder and the Vice Admirals to deal with!"

"[Aim all cannons for the first column! Obliterate Straw-Hat Luffy immediately!]"

"LUFFY!" yelled Maxwell. This was really starting to become dangerous. The artillery batteries were turning where Luffy was.

"Luffy's in danger!" Zoro looked ahead in shock, "We should at least get him to this side—!"

"It's no good! None of us can jump that far and probably get caught in the blast as well!" Maxwell grabbed Zoro's shoulder before he could jump over there, "…Damn it Salem! Where are you!?"

Then as if on cue, there was an audible crack and hiss in the sky. Everyone looked up to see blood red drawings forming the sky, emitting a viridian light. A glyph within a circle. One Maxwell had never seen before.

"ABOUT TIME!" Maxwell yelled up into the sky. He saw Salem standing on top of the first column, one his monstrous hands raised.

Salem's cotton and furred jacket, covering his waist and legs, might have suggested being human. But that was all quickly dismissed by those who didn't know Salem's visage. His upper half was a mutated mantle of purple sinuous flesh and bone. Spikes arms and wicked claws held a rather single staff with a mace head. Salem's face held no human features, just six red eyes over a mask of flesh and four gazelle like horns.

The pride abomination's spell had gathered all the smoke and fire coming from Enies Lobby. It honestly reminded Maxwell of Little Garden's manifestation. The smoke had also disappeared into the spell array. Then Salem lowered his hand, pointing at the ships.

"Firestorm."

There was a sharp whistle in the sky and meteors began to rain down onto the marine warships.

*BOOM—BOOMBOOM, BOOM—* "GYAAAH~!"

Molten fireballs bombarded the marines surrounding the columns. Most marines could only scream in terror as fire and brimstone fell from the sky. Sails caught fire, marines fell overboard, holes were punched into the hauls. It was a cacophony of explosions and fire.

Salem then suddenly appeared before Maxwell, "You might want to look down…" Then the demon touched his book and disappeared into a stream of eldritch light.

Though interested in how Salem had accomplished this spell, he heeded the demons advice, and looked down, "…Merry!"

"What!?" "When!?" "How is this possible!?"

Down in between the columns, rocking on the waves, was the Going Merry. Their tiny little ship that could. She had flown in and out of the sky. Faced rain, and snow, and hail throughout their journey. And this ship had taken them into the Grand Line.

She was there waiting for them.

"INTO THE SEA!" Usopp suddenly cried out. Joy and vindication were exuberant, despite his tears, "INTO THE SEA!"

Usopp then turned towards Robin, "Robin! Can you drop Luffy into the ocean!?"

Robin nodded, smiling, "Leave it to me! Cien Fleur, Delphinium!"

Luffy was suddenly lifted up and was rolled down a trail of arms, "Oh!? I'm moving! Robin?" He was somewhat curious at what his crew was doing, but he heard her voice as well.

Sanji, Nami, and Chopper then yelled together! "INTO THE SEA~!"

Luffy was then thrown out of the column. The marines could barely recognize what they were doing. They were to disorganized trying to recover from the meteors.

"FOLLOW LUFFY!" Usopp then jumped off the bridge. He was then followed by Maxwell, Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Zoro, and Robin. Franky and Kokoro had thought they'd lost their minds. But seeing a ship, even one rough as the Going Merry was a welcome sight.

"…Let's go back, everyone!" her klabauterman, her spirit, spoke directly to them. Her voice clear in their mind. "Back to the sea of adventure!" Every Straw-Hat Pirate, and Usopp, had heard the voice of the Going Merry. "I've come to get you!"

"MERRY!" Luffy couldn't help but smile seeing their old ship below them. She had come for them! How she followed them, he had no idea, but she was here!

…Of course, they didn't land directly on her. They had all jumped into the sea first. Those who could swim, immediately went to the boat. Maxwell was the fist aboard, directing his fall with magic to be as close he could to the Merry. Just a touch of her haul lowered the rope ladders in the ship. Maxwell helped everyone up aboard, Zoro joining in as well. The swordsman even swung Chimney and Gonbe in as soon as he grabbed hold of them.

"Max! Prep the sails!" Nami commanded as soon as she got aboard. Maxwell didn't question their navigator. He just energized the ship and taut all the rigging.

Kokoro had dived underwater to throw Luffy, Robin and Chopper onto the deck, "There! Get aboard Devil Fruit users! Nagagagaga!"

"MERRY!" Now Usopp balled his eyes out. "MERRY IS TRULY ALIVE!"

Chopper joined in as soon as he hit the deck, "IT'S THE MERRY! IT'S THE MERRY! I LOVE YOU MERRY! I DO!"

Franky of course looked around, "I can't believe it… This ship was tossed into the ocean…!"

"How'd she even get here!?" Nami asked.

Something heavy then dropped onto Maxwell's shoulder, "I had some help of course!"

"MERRY!?" "ANOTHER ONE!?"

Every mortal on this ship looked at the klabauterman sitting on Maxwell's shoulders. Yellow rain jacket, red rubber boots, curly bangs covering her eyes, and little rams horns. This was the Going Merry in the spirit.

The little tyke jumped off Maxwell's shoulders and skipped over to Luffy, "You okay, Captain?"

Luffy blinked, but then started to laugh, "Shishishi! I thought I was gonna die!" He was still lying dead on the deck, unable to move. But everybody was together now! Luffy looked back at Robin who had sat up, "Hey! Robin! Thanks for the save back—"

Suddenly a hand gently covered his mouth. Robin smiled as she stood up. "Everyone!" The whole crew and guests looked at the archeologist.

"Thank you."

There were smiles all around. The Straw-Hats had just rescued their crewmate from the clutches of the World Government. And they would do it again. They were friends after all.

"Shishishi! Don't worry about it!" Luffy smiled.

"Now, what do you say to us getting out of here!?" Merry smiled having climbed onto the rails.

"…You heard the fairy!" Maxwell took command of the ship. "Sanji, Zoro, man the cabin! Usopp, Franky, keep an eye on that rigging! Nami, plot our course!" With Luffy out of commission, he had to take up the reins until Luffy could move again. The Going Merry then began to glow blue as Maxwell took control of the ship. This was his job after all.

…Meanwhile, on one of the warships.

"Hey, hey, hey… You're kidding me…! Are you seriously just going to let them go…!?" Spandam then reached for one of the snail transceivers and yelled into it.

"RATHER THAN LET THEM ESCAPE, BLOW THEM ALL UP WITH NICO ROBIN!" The marines still had orders to take Robin alive. However, with her on that little caravel, they couldn't risk shooting at it without killing her. So, Spandam decided to lie, "ADMIRAL AOKIJI SAID SO!" He was humiliated enough having his face swollen like an overgrown ape. If he couldn't get all the glory, then he might as well kill them all and be down with it! "ALL SHIPS PREPARE TO FIRE!"

"Spanda! That bastard! He's still alive!?" Franky yelled walking to the stern deck. Robin was surprised too, hearing him over the speakerphones.

"Hey! They're aiming at us!" Usopp pointed out. The marine vessels were all heavily damaged from the last demon's spell. Most of their cannons weren't operational. That didn't stop them from trying to aim the working ones though.

"Receive wind from starboard, steer towards the east!" Nami commanded.

"Yes Ma'am!" Maxwell willed the ropes at port to tighten and catch the wind. The weather might be crazy on the Grandline, but when you were near an island, you always know where to go!

"No! Wait! We're surrounded!" Usopp panicked, "It'll be impossible not to get hit!

"[FIRE!]"

"Here they come! AGH!" Usopp hit the deck and covered his noggin. However, the Going Merry didn't get hit. Cannonballs hit the water around them, and some even hit neighbouring ships, "…F-Freindly fire!?"

"[WHERE ARE YOU ALL AIMING AT!? ALL OF YOU!]" Spandam's voice yelled over the speakers.

Maxwell then looked up in the sky. The Gates of Justice were closing! Whirlpools were starting to form again with the change in currents. That's why their aim was off! Some of the ships even started to sink, far to damaged to take on those waters. Two even collided with one another.

"[Idiots! Why did you close the gates!? What are you doing!?]" "[The lever to control the Gates of Justice is located at the last column of the Bridge of Hesitation! We didn't do anything!]"

Sanji let out a whistle watching the destruction, "Whew, that was a lot more damage than I expected." He was amused at how much chaos was being dealt to the marines.

Usopp looked at the cook in shock, "Sanji! Could it be, you…!?"

Sanji grinned and tapped his head, "They're not the kind of enemy we can get away from with just our guts, right?"

"AMAZING, SANJI!" Usopp hopped looking at the chef in amazement. He had snuck around to find the controls for the Gates of Justice. If they could get behind those doors, the marines would be able to follow!

"ARE YOU A GENIUS OR SOMETHING!?" Even Luffy balked from his place on the deck. How did he know where to find that lever!?

"Don't get too happy, alright!?" Zoro interrupted the chef getting his praise, "The whirlpools are dangerous for us, too!"

"Oh yeah… WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Chopper screamed realizing that fact.

"You forget!" Maxwell smiled, "We're on the most magical ship on the Grand Line!" Merry also sat on his shoulders mimicking his own movements while they controlled the rigging.

"There's no sea that Merry can't cross while we're on it!" Nami agreed, "Just hang in there until we've managed to read the currents!"

"Woohoo~!" Franky cheered as he suddenly jumped because of one wave, "Sure thing! We're counting on you, navigator!"

"[DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY! FIRE!]"

Their escape then began to become a game of duck hunting. Marine cannons and artillery batteries tried to fire on the Going Merry, but they couldn't pursue. The currents kept them in place if they weren't already sinking in the whirlpools.

There was one volley though… A canon had fired upon them, and the crew saw this one's aim was true. However, Zoro and Sanji just grabbed Luffy and brought him to the poop deck. They held him by his arms and legs, stretched him, and caught the cannonballs. The two monster then used Luffy like a blanket sling and fired back the ammunition.

The three of them gave the peace sign to Usopp who had watched them, "WHAT ARE YOU THREE!? DEMONS!?"

"…I see a path to victory…!" Nami smirked watching the waves around some marine vessels, "Maxwell, hard to port! Toward 9 o'clock!"

"AYE AYE!" Maxwell and Merry then contorted their bodies like they were on a surfboard. The motion pulled their rudder, and now they were on the current.

"[The pirate ship is head towards the Gates!]" "[FIRE! FIRE YOU FOOLS! FIRE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? ARE YOU IDIOTS!]" "[They seem to have caught the flow of the whirlpools! They're moving at rapid speed!]"

"GOOO~!" Luffy cheered. He seemed to regain some function in his arms, "KEEP GOING!" What he didn't notice was Robin asking care of some unfinished business…

Suffice it to say, someone got their right comeuppance.

"Franky, your turn!" Nami called upon the cyborg.

Franky did some funky Egyptian pose and answered, "Alright!" Then he went to the stern. They were now starting to drift into one of the whirlpools.

"[Block there course!]" "[They can't escape the whirlpool anyway.]"

Franky brought his hands together and two little gadgets connected between his palms, "This may hurt your ship a little bit, but… Coup De… VENT!"

A massive air cannon shot out between Franky's palms. It mad the Merry lurch in the water before shooting out like an arrow. They flew between two warships, and right towards the closing gates!

Of course Maxwell didn't expect this and had fallen back into the cabin. "Ow, ow, ow…!" When he got out, he immediately went to Franky, "Okay! You and I are going to need to have a serious discussion about your abilities!"

Usopp just readied his kabuto, "Don't underestimate the Going Merry! She's even flown 10,000 metter's into the sky! Certain Kill, Super Smoke Star!" The payload exploded into a giant smokescreen, one the marines couldn't see through. They fired blindly, hoping, desperately, that they could at least land a hit, but it was all for not.

The Gates of Justice closed, and the Straw-Hat Pirates got away scot free. This battle was the marines complete defeat.

O O O

They sailed on the ocean for a bit, back into familiar waters of the Grand Line. The sky was clear, the sun had changed, and there were no other ships in sight. Everyone had gathered on the front deck.

"Hmm… Is this good enough?" Kokoro lifted Luffy against the Merry's figure head.

"Yep…!" Luffy replied, "This is my seat!" Though he wasn't actually on the ram's head. Luffy looked at the klabauterman amongst them, "Thanks Merry. We managed to get away thanks to you."

"Hehe! It was no problem!" The ship fairy made a little peace sign and grinned.

"You know, what you guys did was rather dangerous…" Franky intoned, "You know, shooting down that World Government flag and all. That's gonna bite you in the butt one day. You know that right?"

"It's fine," said Luffy. He looked at every person on this ship, "We only took back our nakama who was taken away… This… THIS IS OUR VICTORY!"

"YEAH~!" Everyone cheered.

They had stormed the Judicial Island of Enies Lobby. Defeated the CP9. Escaped the Buster Call. And they even punched an eye of the World Government. All of this, in the name of rescuing their nakama, their friends and family. And best of all, they all came out of this alive.

Today was a good day.