Chapter 26: Sheep in Wolves Clothing
Smoker covered the deck in smoke and restrained the foot soldiers. Wylder ripped through the smoke chain and lunged towards Smoker who elegantly flew between his legs. .
-Smoker, help! Wylder had grabbed Helmeppo with his tail and hung him upside down.
-You are looking for these keys? Wylder pulled out a large keychain from his fur.
-Your friend or the key chain? Which one, smoke boy? Get rid of this fog and we can talk! Wylder screamed. Slowly, Smoker's silhouette began to silently approach. Wylder continued to scream, to no response. Finally, "Smoker" appeared out of the fog, revealing himself to be an misty apparition.
-I choose both, idiot! The real Smoker appeared from above and violently smacked Wylder across the wrists, freeing both the keys and Helmeppo. He then dived towards the floor and dragged both of them away, dodging Wylder's tail whippings.
-Tail Crush!
Fur burst out of the tail like a blooming flower, growing just it's width to double Smoker's height. As the giant weapon of destruction descended upon him, the ship rocked, making Wylder lose his footing. Smoker pulled back his curtain of fog to reveal his master plan.
Cooper's students had ripped through the lower deck like paper tissue, their power finally unleashed from chains. Like clockwork they constructed bridges of fur to the other ships, spreading rebellions through the fleet like wildfire.
Smoker carried Helmeppo into the air, narrowly avoiding getting dogpiled by the wolf army. Riding on pillars of fur they chased him through the air. The sky turned into a storm of electricity as they sliced towards Smoker. Helmeppo's extra weight made it impossible to dodge, making him take the brunt of the attacks.
-Smoker, drop me! Not acknowledging the stupidity, Smoker continued flying, taking even more brutal attacks. Left with no choice, Helmeppo bit down on Smoker's arm, making him reactively pull back his arms. As he fell he pulled out his knives.
-Winds of Steel!
As deadly effective as homing missiles, they sliced through the pillars of fur. Retaining their momentum but losing all control, the wolves flew off the ship and sunk into the sea. Smoker then shot out his hands to pull Helmeppo back before Wylder could get to him.
-I'm tired of fighting you! You keep scampering away like rats! If you want this ship, fine, have its pieces! Wylder leaped into the air; in a frightening showcase of Haki he grew eight more tails, all the size of a ship.
-Smoker, get us out of here! Helmeppo pulled at Smoker's collar, desperately trying to get him to dodge.
-Don't worry. We won the second I created that massive smoke cloud, he calmly explained.
-What the hell do you mean!?
-Nine Tails Decimation!
Wylder rotated his entire body, letting the tails descend upon the ship like the fingers of god. Before the tails could reach the ship they disappeared. Wylder fell to the ground, five holes perfectly lined up around his heart. Next to him, not making a noise as he landed, was Rob Lucci.
-. Where you find one deserter, you often find many, Lucci swiftly walked towards Smoker. Helmeppo smoothly slid between them.
-Sir! The slaves on the other galleys have been freed! The boats are sitting ducks! If you destroy them, the Buster Call has accomplished its objective! Helmeppo flailed his arms around, obscuring Smoker.
-There are still wolves on the island, so no, the Buster Call has yet to reach its true objective, but more importantly…
Lucci grabbed Helmeppo's throat.
-You knew to address me as sir despite us not having met, you're protecting Smoker, and you're interfering with the Buster Call. You're one of those strange rebels, Lucci's dead eyes burrowed into Helmeppo's soul as he laid out the evidence like a countdown to death.
Right as Lucci was about to plunge his finger into Helmeppo's heart he was pulled away by Franziska
-We did it! The freed dogs howled with joy as they threw Helmeppo and Smoker into the air.
Lucci's calculating eyes flew over the entire scene. In a moment of complete bearucratic professionality, he decided that slaughtering innocent civilians weren't worth it. Arms behind his back he jumped into the air and gave a quick hand signal to the ships on the horizon.
Busy screaming treats at the escapees, the wolves did not notice what was descending on their ships. With a harrowing bombast, they were engulfed in massive whirls of flame. The joyous celebration of victory was quieted as the dogs looked at what could've happened to them.
-So that you know, my men will be on the island in thirty minutes. Have Jingo and Alfred on the shore by then, or face the consequences, Lucci shouted before jumping off ship and disappearing away.
The Immortal Tree
Tashigi groggily stood up, reeling from the pain. All Jingo had done was step on her, but it felt like being hit by a steamroller. She had lost her glasses, so she could barely make out him and Drake fighting.
Well, it could barely be called a fight. Drake pushed with everything he had to keep Jingo from getting up to Alfred, digging his claws deep into Jingo but barely making it past the fur. Meanwhile Jingo was repeatedly stabbing him in the stomach with a massive knife
Drake was loosing blood fast, and he felt his body get slower and heavier. Thinking fast, he observed Jingo's aura flow; in order to create impenetrable armor on his upper body, he had left his legs wide open.
As Jingo stabbed forward, Drake bit down on his arm. Jingo jumped backwards to pull out the arm. In a fountain of blood and gore it was ripped to pieces, revealing crimson muscles beneath. Not hesitating for a second, Drake turned around and whipped his enemy in the face with his tail.
While Jingo was howling in pain, Drake shrunk down into hybrid form and brandished his ax and sword.
-X Calibur!
With the axe on the right and the sword on the left he swung both into Jingo's leg, his bone crunching under the joint pressure. Pushing his rapidly dying body to the max he pushed both through the leg, severing it.
Just as he was about to let out a relieved victory cry, Jingo's fur grew out, creating an even stronger prosthetic limb. With a satisfied sigh he recreated his arm as well.
-In all my years, you're the first one to get rid of two limbs! I'll have to give you special treatment! Jingo trapped Drake in a massive black cube of fur.
-Electric Furnace!
It erupted in stark, white lightning, frying Drake from the combined heat. When the cube was pulled back he was irreparably scared over his entire body, his wounds having opened up even more. Tashigi put on her glasses just in time to see what had happened to her friend.
-That's one down! Just the girl to go, Jingo leasurely approached Tashigi.
She stood completely still, just waiting for the wolf to attack. He lazily slammed down his arm on her. A blazing pain ripped through it forcing him to step off.
-I've been looking for a chance to use Shigure to its full potential! Tashigi defiantly pointed her sword at Jingo.
-Bestial Butchering!
Jingo stretched out his claws and started slashing at Tashigi. Instead of blocking the attacks head-on she hit back at the precise moment of impact, pushing the giant paw away.
-You're using all of your Haki on the prosthetics! Your attacks don't pack any punch! Tashigi shouted over the sound of blade and claw clashing.
Jingo let up his attacks and stepped back.
-Hmm, interesting… Well, here's a tip for you; don't give tips to your enemy, Jingo rushed at Tashigi, jumped into the air like a cannonball and shed his prosthetics.
-Filet Guillotine!
He lifted his remaining arm into the air and charged with Electro before slamming down towards Tashigi. Gentle like a butterfly she leaped into the air, dodging Jingo's attack. As his hand got immovably stuck in the ground, she plunged Shigure down into his unprotected neck.
-That one's for Drake, in a shower of blood she pulled out her sword. After cleaning off the blade she helped the now awake Drake stand up.
-W-we did it, now we need to go and help Kob… A coughing fit interrupted him.
-Let's go get you help. Koby will do it on his own, Tashigi responded. Leaning on each other, they walked away.
Action! Explosions! Blood! Next week, Doggy Valley's long awaited finale!