Happy new year everybody!
I hope you had a great start into 2020 and I wish that this year brings you all the joy you deserve.
The next chapter will be out upcomming weekend, friday or saturday (depending where you live and how fast I'm done with my other work ;-P)
See you soon
Sharry
Chapter 6
"Damn it!"
Zoro jumped up next to Sanji and stared up to the sky.
There, several hundred feet above them, an entire island floated in the air.
On the edge of the abyss, hard to recognize but still clearly visible, stood Korekuta Muchinushi and held the struggling Chopper above the nothingness.
Several people appeared next to the rarity hunter and looked down at them.
"This Joudama has improved quite a bit," Rayleigh remarked, getting back on his feet as well. He sounded almost like he was enjoying himself as he praised the rarity hunter.
"What the hell is he doing?" Sanji growled.
"Chopper!"
The crew members stared up helplessly.
The sea around them was restless, the Sunny and the remaining ships of the rarity hunters dancing back and forth in the enraged waves, but the huge crater below the flying island didn't fill with water, it was almost as if an invisible wall was keeping the water masses away.
The foreign ships tumbled, apparently abandoned, across the sea near the pirates, but none of them noticed as they stared upwards.
"Where are my swords?" Zoro asked angrily.
"In the cabin," Usopp replied, panicked.
The swordsman stared back and forth between the door to the men's bedroom and the island in the sky, but at the end he stayed, clenching his fists.
"Luffy, you need to get up there, now!" Nami ordered.
"Luffy's not getting anywhere anytime soon," Franky replied drily, "got hit straight on his head."
"What about you, Robin?"
"No, I can't keep up my wings long enough for that distance."
"Brook?"
"I'm sorry, but even though I'm very light, I can't fly."
Desperate, Nami looked back and forth.
"Sanji, what..."
She interrupted herself when a ringringring came from the depths of the Sunny.
"The Den Den Mushi," she muttered softly, caught in thoughts.
"The Den Den Mushi!" She then yelled, jumping up the stairs before running into the galley. Seconds later, she came outside with the Den Den Mushi.
"It's Korekuta," she said composed. "He wants to talk to you, Zoro."
"No!" Rayleigh grabbed the swordsman by the upper arm, who was already on his way to the navigator. "You know that he just wants to blackmail you. You must not listen to him."
For a second Zoro looked at the former pirate, and at that moment Sanji wondered if what those two had just told him was actually true. Silent doubts that it had been more than a stupid joke slowly grew within him.
"He has Chopper," was all Zoro answered, breaking free from the other's grip and walking upstairs.
Almost hesitantly, he took the mouthpiece from the navigator.
"Yes?" he growled, but as hard as his voice sounded, as insecure he looked at the Den Den Mushi.
The Den Den Mushi began to smile almost gently as Korekuta's voice floated across the deck: "Ah, my number..."
"Zoro! No matter what he... Uuuh."
Chopper interrupted the world aristocrats only to howl out painfully.
Sanji stared up at to the figure that had to be Chopper, but it was impossible to say what exactly the stranger had done to their young doctor.
"Muchinushi!" Zoro growled, grabbing the mouthpiece so tight it was close to bursting.
"Now, now, my number one, you know you can call me Nushi."
"Don't you dare hurting Chopper!"
The Dark King next to Sanji whistled slightly surprised.
"Are you threatening me?" The voice of the rarity hunter barely changed and yet the swordsman took a step back. This simple question already seemed to be enough to shake up the swordsman's resistance.
"We can end all of this right here and now, my number one." Korekuta sounded a little more affectionate than just a few words before. "Come back home with me and I'll let number 4,052 go unharmed."
In the background, the young doctor whimpered.
For a second, Zoro took a deep breath, Rayleigh was already rushing towards Zoro and Nami, but Nami was faster, with ease she stole the mouthpiece out of Zoro's hand and gnarled into it: "I thought we already had that discussion? We don't negotiate about lives!"
For a second, no one dared to breathe. But then they all looked at each other frantically. Nami, in particular, had panic written all over her face. It was obvious that she had not planned to say this.
Then Rayleigh quietly coughed and suddenly Zoro stared directly at Sanji and the cook recognized the look immediately. Questioning, he raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
The swordsman also nodded, albeit without the usual evil grin, and then looked down to the Dark King. Nami seemed to notice this, as she watched them with pinched eyes.
"How rude to just interrupt a conversation." Korekuta laughed softly. "I'm not sure how long I can keep tolerating this behavior."
Zoro and Rayleigh were still looking at each other.
"Usopp," the former pirate mumbled, without interrupting his and Zoro's eye contact, "can you spot Joudama?"
Surprised, the sniper looked to the former pirate before staring up at the island again, but this time with his googles on.
"Yes, I can see her," he muttered, slightly confused.
"Take her as the target," Rayleigh calmly commanded, "and on three you shoot her."
"What?" Usopp yelped slightly too loud.
"I want to talk to my number one again, now." Korekuta was unaware of their silent conversation.
"Just do it," Franky growled, kneeling behind Usopp and holding onto Luffy, who was swaying back and forth beside him, babbling something incomprehensible.
Zoro tonelessly whispered the words on three, before finally nodding to Nami, who swallowed briefly.
Rayleigh grabbed his sword.
"I don't think that's possible," the navigator replied coolly to the Den Den Mushi.
"Now listen, you naughty..."
"One," the Dark King whispered.
"... worthless girl! I was patient with you long enough. Give me my number one or I'll let your crewmember fall to his death."
"Two."
"Have a nice day."
Shortly Nami bit her lip, then she just hung up.
"Three."
Suddenly, everything became very slow, as if this short second was expanding over time. Next to him, Sanji could see Rayleigh striking his sword and sending a huge compressed air slash at the island. At the same time, Usopp yelled something and fired his bullet at the rarity hunter. Somewhere up there, Chopper screamed incomprehensible curses as Korekuta let go of him.
Sanji, however, focused on what was happening in front him, raising his left leg slightly while the swordsman ran towards him.
He knew this course of movement, they had already executed this tactic countless times and no matter what happened, Sanji knew exactly what Zoro wanted from him. After all, they were a well-rehearsed team.
Almost light-footed, Zoro landed on his leg.
"Enjoy your flight!" With these words, Sanji sent the other up into the air, shooting him at the island like a bullet.
For a moment, Sanji thought Zoro would pull an arm out of his coat, but there was no reason for Zoro to do something that useless.
The shock wave reached the island, but nothing happened.
"Shouldn't something happen?" Brook asked into the deafening silence.
"Wait for it," Usopp murmured, still staring into the sky in a highly concentrated manner. "And... Hit!"
Out of the blue, the island combusted into thousands of pieces and began to fall. Loud screams and the bursting of stone echoed down to them. Almost immediately the sea around them started to rumble. Giant waves chased down the crater, pulling the Thousand Sunny along despite being anchored.
"We are drawn in." Brook sounded almost amused, but his skull rattled with panic.
"Don't worry," Franky replied, "such tiny waves don't impress our lovely Sunny!"
"The island is falling too fast!" Nami yelled. "It will bury Chopper and Zoro beneath itself!"
"Usopp!" Sanji, who could not identify the swordsman or the doctor, turned to the sniper.
"I can't see them anymore!" He replied equally loud. "They have to be somewhere between the rubble."
The first rocks crashed to the ground and into the sea. Dust and water scattered around.
Huge waves chased back towards the small ship and pushed it away again, leaving the pirates desperately trying to grasp something to hold onto, only the Dark King stood on the lawn, as if the restless sea didn't bother him at all.
The disastrous site came into view and was hidden by the wild waves over and over again.
Robin rushed to the railing and crossed her arms.
"Cien..."
"Everything is fine, my dear." Rayleigh put a hand on her shoulder, showing a broad grin. "You don't need to worry."
Sanji looked at the other in doubt, then turned to his left in surprise, where suddenly Luffy stood, still slightly shaking.
"Zoro is great." Luffy's voice was as cheerful as ever.
"You're all right?" Sanji asked as they watched the spectacle in front of them.
"Sure, just a bit of a headache." The captain seemed as carefree as ever.
In front of them, a huge cloud of dust, dirt and water covered the island's remains.
For an eternity, nothing happened.
They all watched the disturbed sea, looking out for Zoro and Chopper. But between the huge rubbles and the spreading dust cloud, no one could see anything.
The sea grew calmer, but the Sunny still rocked threateningly.
Suddenly Rayleigh laughed softly and Usopp shouted: "There! I can see something! There's something coming closer!"
To Sanji's confusion, however, the sniper didn't point into the water, but directly at the sun, which was little more than a shimmering ball behind the dust cloud and the gentle fog.
But then he saw it, a shadow partially concealing the sun, but the blinding light made it impossible to see more than a rough figure.
With each second, the shadow came closer and its outlines became clearer.
The first thing Sanji could make out were the wings, being brightly white they seemed to almost glow in the fog as the shadow came closer.
Was that an angel?
The air around the figure seemed more alive, the cloud swirled wildly up and down, blurring and sharpening the contours over and over.
In disbelief, Sanji recognized a green shimmer that turned out to be a familiar moss green.
He kept shaking his head. That couldn't be possible.
"Is that Zoro?" Usopp whispered in denial.
For a moment, Sanji was certain that the wings had to be Robin's special ability, but the five seconds were long over and when the figure finally left the cloud behind, Sanji could see the bright white feathers without any doubt.
Just like the man they belonged to.
The green hair was indicative enough, still Sanji doubted everything he knew up until now.
It had to be Zoro, the way he held little Chopper in his arms, the broad shoulders, like a soldier, never loosing tension, the dark green coat waving carelessly around his hip.
Of course it had to be Zoro, yet it was impossible.
Even if ignoring the angelic wings – which already made it impossible for that person to be Zoro – there were still these strange ornaments covering the left half of his body.
Like an aesthetic tattoo, countless black lines entwined over the left half of the face, down the neck, over shoulder, arm and chest, before being swallowed by the Haramaki.
And something about his eyes were off, something Sanji couldn't see from the distance.
Headshaking, Sanji watched as the man, who was so clearly their swordsman and yet had to be a stranger, came closer.
Light-footed, his boots touched the railing, and now Sanji could see that his eyes had nothing humanlike left.
The unnaturally bright green of the iris filled the entire eye, shimmering in different shades. The pupils were oval like a cat's and glided hurriedly from left to right. Sanji had difficulty to determine who or what he was looking at until the moment those strange eyes stared at him and Sanji froze up.
"May I introduce." Rayleigh beamed with pride and joy. "The Last Dragon: Angel of Death Bronze."