Chapter 27
Iron Collision
BGM: Fallen Wings Boss (Azur Lane)
The battle between the giant robotic monstrosity piloted by Enterprise and Bismarck and the seven lawbreakers continued.
When the robot rained down projectiles at them, they scattered all over the place at fast speeds before some of them ran towards the robot.
Jinbe jumped onto the left foot before leaping towards the knee cap and punched it hard. Katakuri did the same thing on the right side, jumping off the foot and punching the knee cap hard with a giant mochi fist.
Hancock ran straight up the side of its left leg at a fast speed and made it to the waist, and she attacked that part with a powerful roundhouse kick.
Sabo propelled himself high into the air by releasing fire from underneath his feet, and he traveled all the way to the same level as the head before creating a pair of fire spears to throw at the robot's face.
Crocodile created a small sand whirlwind in his hand and threw it at the robot. As the whirlwind flew through the air, it grew to a large size in a matter of seconds. The enlarged sand whirlwind encircled the right arm and spun nonstop, pelleting it with sand grains that were both hard and sharp enough to pierce flesh.
After generating a large dome in the battlefield, Law swung his sword at the ground around himself and carved out large chunks of rock. As if using telekinesis, he made those rocks fly towards the robot, striking it in the leg.
Luffy jumped high into the air and enlarged his arms before pulling them far back. "Gum Gum Grizzly Magnum!" He then thrust forth his massive hands, hitting the robot hard in the chest, so hard that the whole thing took quite a few steps back.
Enterprise and Bismarck were rocked around inside. "Such power…!" said Enteprise in awe.
"That won't be enough to take us down!" said Bismarck angrily.
The arm cannon in the form of a shark's head pointed at Luffy while he was still in midair, pulling back and shrinking the size of his arms to normal. A blast of energy shot out of the arm cannon, hitting Luffy, who hardened himself with haki for defense. The powerful blast sent him flying away quite a distance.
Hancock was shocked by what she saw and called out his name in shock. "Don't worry; he'll be fine," Sabo told her. "He's tougher than that!"
"The enemy is a tough one as well!" said Jinbe. "Even though we are attacking the parts without Seastone, we're still having a hard time breaking it!"
"I have an idea that involves the usage of my Devil Fruit, which may be the key to taking this thing down," said Law. "Listen up, because I'm not repeating myself!"
BGM Ends
Luffy crashed onto the ground hard, landing close to a cliff. He got up and said, "Ow… That burns… That thing sure is tough!"
"Luffy!" called out a familiar voice. Usopp then came running up to Luffy. "Luffy! You're here!"
"Usopp! You're all right!" Luffy happily said to him. "I thought you were badly injured!"
"I've been through worse…" said Usopp. He then turned to the robot in the distance. "That giant robot… You can take it down, right?"
"Of course," said Luffy with a nod. "I'm going to take down that thing no matter what!"
"I know you can do it! If there's anyone who can take down an opponent as big as that, it's you!" Usopp told him with confidence. "Everyone else is waiting for you to win and then come back to the ship so that we can get out of here!"
"Don't worry; I'll be done with it soon enough!" Luffy assured him. "Where are the rest of the crew anyway?"
Luffy suddenly heard some people calling out to him, so he turned around and saw the Thousand Sunny sailing close to the cliff he is on. "Luffy! There you are!" Nami called out to him.
"Hey guys! Nice to see you safe and sound!" Luffy called out to them while waving.
"Are you hurt?" Chopper asked him.
"I'm fine! You should tend to Usopp instead. He's more hurt than me!" Luffy told the doctor.
"We're sailing over to the shore just a bit ahead and wait there, so hurry up over once you're done!" Nami told the captain.
"All right! I'll be there as soon as I win!" Luffy told her.
"You can do it, Luffy! We're counting on you!" Usopp told him before running towards the shore Nami mentioned.
Luffy turned back to the robot and cracked his fist. "All right! Time to give it my all and take down that thing!" Then he ran back to the battlefield.
BGM: Iris of Light and Dark Boss (Azur Lane)
The giant robot swung its tail to strike down its opponents. Some of them jumped over it, while Jinbe held up his hands to stop the tail by the anchor attached to its tip.
Law hurriedly created a dome that surrounded himself and a segment of the tail. He then swung his sword at the tail, unleashing wind blades that were sharp enough to cut apart the exterior and reveal its inner workings. "Now! Attack that spot!" Law shouted to the others.
Hancock was the first to rush towards the opening on the tail, launching herself at it to attack with a flying kick. She kicked right through the whole thing, leaving behind a large hole on the tail and nearly severing it.
Katakuri turned his arms into mochi and stretched them towards the right arm of the robot, grabbing it and then pulling himself towards it. Letting go of the arm and allowing himself to go airborne, and he began punching the part of the arm he previously grabbed onto nonstop with fists full of hardened mochi spikes.
After hitting enough times, he changed his right arm into a large blade and swung it down on the spot he hit. Despite all this, he only managed to make small cracks on the surface. "Tsk! It sure is hard!" he thought as he fell back down, landing on his feet.
Planes materialized on the flight deck on the left arm and then took off into the air, flying at the pirates and firing shots and dropping missiles at them.
The pirates dodged the incoming attacks, and then Crocodile created a large sand tornado. The jets flew into it and were torn to shred by the razor sharp sand grains the tornado was consisted of, and the pieces were thrown all over the place.
Sabo propelled himself high into the air and above the flight deck. Pulling back his hand and covering it in both fire and haki, he came crashing down onto the surface of the flight deck, slamming his fingers into it hard. "Blazing Dragon King!"
Cracks with fire coming out of them spread across the flight deck, and then it blew up in a fiery explosion, pieces of it flying all over the place. "The flight deck!" gasped Enterprise.
"You think that will hinder us?!" said Bismarck angrily.
Sabo jumped through the air after destroying the flight deck, and the robot swung its claws at him. Knowing that the claws are made of Seastone and therefore would hit him, he purposely turned and split himself into multiple fireballs, and they slipped in between the claws when they came swinging towards them. He changed back to normal and then hurried back onto the ground.
"Enough of this!" shouted Bismarck as multiple openings appeared on the robot's body. A large amount of missiles was fired from them and rained down onto the pirates below. The pirates ran and jumped around to avoid the incoming projectiles, which caused explosions when they hit the ground, obviously.
One was heading for Law, so he used his ability to swap his position with a broken plane part. However, he failed to notice that the new place he got swapped to also had a missile approaching. It struck the area close to him and blew him away, and he crash landed hard with injuries on his body. "Ugh!"
"Law!" Jinbe called out to him in concern. He then noticed a missiles heading for him, so he punched it hard, only to trigger an explosion that blew him back, burning him in the process. "Gah!" However, he was able to retain his footing.
"I don't need you to worry about me! Worry about yourself instead!" Law told him while standing back up. "Just follow the plan I told you all earlier!"
He slashed the ground before himself and then moved up his finger to make a stone block that he created hover into the air. Hopping onto the block, he used his space manipulation powers to "fly" towards the robot. He went close to the right shoulder and then swung his sword against the air, firing wind blades.
The blades struck the shoulder and destroyed some of its exterior, exposing the machinery inside. This was a feat made possible due to his Op Op Fruit allowing him to cut through solid objects with ease. "Now!" he shouted.
In response, Crocodile turned into sand and flew high into the air, to the same level as the shoulder, and then created a sand drill to attack the exposed machinery. An explosion occurred, and smoke and sparks came out from the damaged location nonstop.
"Why you?!" said Bismarck angrily.
Luffy was then seen arriving at the place in his Gear 4th Boundman form. By pumping his legs and also kicking against the air, he was able to achieve flight, propelling himself through the air with each pump and kick. "I'm going to destroy you for real this time!" he shouted loudly at the robot.
"Talk big only after you have the power to do so!" Bismarck shouted at him as she pointed the robot's arm cannon at him and fired.
Luffy hurriedly "flew" upwards to avoid the shot, and then he pulled back his arms before thrusting them forward with a powerful force, striking the robot in the head hard. "Gum Gum Kong Gun!"
The impact was so hard that the robot almost fell back from the attack. Luffy did not stop there, as he proceeded to unleash a barrage of superfast punches using his enlarged and hardened fists. "Gum Gum Kong Organ!"
The robot received a seemingly endless amount of blows to the front part of its body. Cracks began to appear on its Seastone-coated chest.
Enterprise and Bismarck found themselves constantly rocking back and forth inside because of the nonstop punching. "Darn it! I won't lose so easily to the likes of you!" shouted Bismarck angrily.
When Luffy finally stopped punching, the robot raised its clawed hand to ready to swat him out of the air. However, Sabo shot up from below and used his hand to block the claws when it came down onto Luffy. "Sabo!" Luffy said out his name.
"Nice moves there just now, brother!" Sabo said to him while holding back the claws. "Now continue to give it all you've got!"
"Why you?! Don't interfere!" said Bismarck angrily. The arm cannon got readied to fire at those two, only to be interrupted by an airborne Katakuri slamming down a giant spiked arm onto its arm hard.
He was not done yet. Holding his trident, known as Mogura, he pulled back his arm while twisting it. "Mochi Thrust!" He thrusted his arm at the shoulder while untwisting it, still holding Mogura in his hand, thus resulting in what was basically a drilling attack.
The drilling attack struck the shoulder, the same spot that was previously struck by Law and later Crocodile. An explosion occurred as a result of the attack, destroying the shoulder and completely severing the left arm, which fell to the ground with a crash.
"Oh no!" gasped Enterprise.
"That's my cue!" said Sabo as he flew over to where the left arm used to be. He released a large blast of fire into the hole left behind by the severed left arm. "Fire Fist!"
The fire went into the robot's body through the aforementioned hole and then traveled throughout its interior, damaging anything it came across. Inside, Enterprise and Bismarck could feel heat building up, and then flames burst out from all around them, causing them to scream in shock.
From the outside, one could see flames bursting out from certain parts of the bodies, mostly the joints and the openings from which missiles come out from.
Jinbe then ran towards the right foot, jumped onto it, and then jumped towards the damage done to the right knee earlier. He pulled back his fist on the way to that spot and then punched into the opening hard. By doing this, he sent a powerful shockwave that traveled throughout the robot's body, damaging it with its powerful vibration.
Crocodile whipped up a large sandstorm that surrounded the robot in a matter of seconds, and like before, the razor sharp sand grains made several scratch marks on its exterior, this time doing more damage than before due to the fire and the shockwave having already done damage to it.
By the time all the attacks done to it had worn out, the robot was in a bad shape, with holes and scratches all over its body. Sparks, smoke, and flames were also found all over its body. It was clear that it was going to collapse eventually.
Inside the cockpit, Enterprise and Bismarck were seen somewhat charred and also injured. Looking at the status screen, Enterprise said with a worried look, "This thing won't hold much longer!"
"I refuse to believe this!" said Bismarck angrily. "We should have the power to take them down! How are we losing?!"
"Gum Gum Leo Bazooka!" shouted Luffy as he pulled back both his hands before smashing them against the head of the robot with a powerful force that was strong enough to actually break it, just enough for Enterprise and Bismarck to be visible inside.
Because it was the side of the head where the controls are, the robot was now inoperable due to that part destroyed. Bismarck glared at Luffy angrily and shouted, "IT'S NOT OVER YET!"
The remains of the head turned into blue cubes and gathered around Bismarck to form her rigging. She took aim at Luffy and was about to fire when all of a sudden, thick vines appeared from a small opening on her rigging and, in a matter of seconds, bounded her from head to toe. "What the heck is this?!"
Luffy saw this and realized that it was Usopp's doing. When Usopp previously sniped Bismarck, one of his Pop Green seeds fell into a small opening on her rigging and had been staying there ever since, and now it had grown into vines.
"Bismarck!" Enterprise said in shock as Bismarck tried to stand properly with the vines wrapped around her.
"All right! Time to finish this!" shouted Luffy as he propelled himself into the air directly above the robot.
BGM: We Are! (One Piece: Stampede)
Enterprise looked up at him with an angry look. "You're the one who's finished!" Parts of the robot disintegrated into blue cubes and gathered around her, forming her flight deck and bow. Taking aim at Luffy, she pulled back the bowstring and formed an arrow of energy, this time larger than the ones she previously created.
Bismarck fell on her back in an attempt to get the vine off herself, but realizing that her guns were pointing upwards at Luffy and that nothing was actually stopping them from firing, she decided to fire from this position instead.
"TAKE THIS!" they both shouted as they fired in unison. Enterprise shot a large arrow of energy, while Bismarck fired black energy balls that were actually black holes, each of them gradually growing in size at a fast rate as they went through the air.
Luffy compressed his arms as much as he could and then let go of his fist. "GUM GUM KING KONG GUN!"
His fist shot down at an incredible speed, colliding with the projectiles of light and darkness, instantly destroying them while continuing to head downwards. Enterprise and Bismarck could do nothing but watch in horror as the fist collided with them.
SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!
The powerful attack rocked the entirety of the robot, causing the damages the were already there to worsen. Flames burst out from all over the robot as the whole thing came tumbling down, kicking up a large amount of dust as it did so.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!
BGM Ends
All those from afar could see what was happening, and they were in awe. The ship girls were shocked that two of their most powerful members were defeated, even after using such a powerful-looking weapon.
"BISMARCK! ENTERPRISE!" cried Javelin.
"I can't believe it…!" said Ayanami in disbelief.
The other Straw Hats, all of whom were back on the Thousand Sunny, witnessed this as well and were happy about it. "Yes! Luffy did it!" said Chopper happily.
"I told you our captain can do it!" said Usopp.
As the dust settled, one could see the wreckage of the robot lying mostly in a pile on the ground. Enterprise and Bismarck could be seen lying among the wreckage, badly wounded and unconscious.
Luffy fell onto the wreckage while returning to his normal form. He panted heavily as he sat up, glad that he finally won the fight. He then noticed a small treasure chest lying nearby, so he picked it up just as Hancock, Law, Jinbe, and Sabo came over to him. "Luffy my love!" said Hancock happily. "I'm so glad you're all right!"
"Way to go, bro!" Sabo said to him while patting his back. "I knew you had it in you!"
"Captain! The chest!" Jinbe told him.
Luffy opened it and saw an Eternal Pose inside it, and there were the words Laugh Tale printed on it. "This is…" said Luffy with curiosity.
"It's an Eternal Pose that will take you directly to Laugh Tale!" Hancock told him.
Crocodile and Katakuri then appeared at the scene. "Give that to me at once," they both said to Luffy in an intimidating tone.
Instead of listening to them, Luffy crushed the Eternal Pose in his hand, much to the shock of everyone.
"Captain! Why did you do that?!" asked Jinbe.
Crocodile and Katakuri were filled with rage upon seeing this. "Why you?!" they said. "Don't you realize what you've done?!"
"I don't need something like this!" said Luffy loudly in response.
Law let out a sigh before using his powers to warp himself, Luffy, and Jinbe out of the place, leaving the others behind and looking around in confusion for them.
The aforementioned three appeared at the coast of the island, just in front of the Thousand Sunny. "Luffy! You made it!" Nami said to him. "Everyone except you and Jinbe are on board now, so let's get out of here fast!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Let's go now!" Luffy said to her as Jinbe picked him up to carry him onboard.
"Well, I'll be seeing you," Law said to them as he got ready to leave. "Don't celebrate to soon just yet. There are still Marines all over the place trying to keep us from escaping!"
Out at sea, the Marine ships were still dealing with the remaining Siren ships, which was now few in number. Kizaru had witnessed the destruction of the robot from his ship and said while shaking his head, "Oh well, so much for having such a large weapon…"
On the water surface around the place, the ship girls there were still trying to get over the shock of seeing Enterprise and Bismarck getting defeated. "I can't believe that Enterprise and Bismarck lost…" said Z23 in disbelief. "Just how powerful can those pirates be?!"
"No matter how powerful they are, we're going to crush them and avenge our comrades!" said Kaga with an angry look while standing on her giant fox. "They will pay for what they did!"
TO BE CONTINUED
I know some of you might not be happy with the fact that the ship girls are treated as antagonists of this story, or that despite being the protagonists, they still lost. I intended for both Azur Lane and the Straw Hats to be the protagonists of this story, just with the former having more screen time.
Because both are protagonists and are against each other, one side is bound to lose. You may ask why don't I just have them team up, but as I have said before, I want to try something new and not always go with the usual crossover formula of protagonists from both sides teaming up.
Regardless of whether or not you like how things turned out, I think it was still worth it trying out this new formula, one where both sides' protagonists go against each other from beginning to end. Storytelling like this isn't something you see everyday.
