Approaching the New Era
"Cut the newsfeed this instant!" stormed one of the many workers at the Sabaody Archipelago as he rushed into the conference room. He soon found that the room was just in a big of a mess over this simple broadcast as he was. It was obvious that no one in here had any idea of how to stop this. The world was soon going to be shaken by some of the worst news it had ever received. The worker pounded his fist against the table, knowing that despite his complete innocence in this matter the weight of the blame would be against him…and his neck. He couldn't stand it. The fact was just something that couldn't be true, no matter how much he shook his head and blinked his eyes the face on the screen was not going to change.
The man on the screen was called many things. Prodigy, king, leader, and now here he was before the entire world accepting a new title, 'Leader of the Revolutionaries'. It was a disgusting thought, the man felt like vomiting. Ordinarily he would ignore it, no man was worth this much ruckus, except this man was special. He was so special that if a human being ever even touched him the Marine Headquarters would send an Admiral out to hunt whoever did so…indeed, the man before him becoming the leader of the most hated, best organized group of rebels was a Celestial Dragon! He pounded his fists on the table, he was true-blue believer in Justice, but this right here shook him down to his very core. Was it a trick? Was the descendant of one of the heroes who founded the World Government and brought peace across the four Blues really abandoning all of that on national television? He felt scared for a second. If this was indeed true the world was heading into deep turmoil…a new Era of sorts.
His eyes went wide as he dropped his pen to the floor. 'New Era'? Where had he heard that before? It was in one of the Marine's reports about a new prisoner they had just obtained at the URA assault. He shuffled through the reports until he found it. A man by the name of Armani Dove, he was being transported to Impel Down as he read through this here report. Was Armani Dove some sort of prophet? Was a new Era really upon them? Would this Era mean the end of life as they knew it? He needed more answers, this certainly was going to be the scoop of the century! He rushed to the Den-Den Mushi. Armani Dove was still on the ship being transported, but he had its number a simple call would be all that was necessary. He rang him up, a face-to-face interview was what was needed, he'd arrange a meeting and grill this man for everything that he knew. He waited for the click of someone picking up. Finally it came and like an eager schoolgirl talking to her crush, he gushed out, "may I speak to Vice Admiral Sazkach?"
"I'm sorry," said an insidious voice as it crossed over the phone lines, "but the good Vice Admiral is currently tied up at the moment…and our prisoner, ku hu hu hu, but I'd be more than happy to pass on a message." The worker of the Sabaody Archipelago's mouth dropped open, he was absolutely speechless, he mumbled something incoherent, but he was soon interrupted before they became real words, "fine, since you don't want to talk let me." The man on the other end was sitting in complete darkness, but some parts of his body still shown like the two over-sized guns resting at his waist labeled 'Cerberus' and 'Anubis'. "The name is Dominic Renvont, remember it, punk." The reporter's face turned pale, that name was almost as feared as any Shichibukai's. He had earned his first bounty of just 22 million within months, that bounty soon shot up to 40 million before he had even set foot in the Grand Line, but now with his supposed 'alliance' with the Revolutionaries…his bounty was no less than 180 million.
"As I'm sure you've heard I'm on the side of the Revolutionaries for now…I'm not interested in this new world order crap they spout, but, hey, anybody whose willing to let me shed a lot of blood is okay by me," Renvont continued, his voice haunting the Den-Den Mushi. "Tell your bosses, the Marines, the Gorosei, the Fleet Admiral, anyone of any 'supposed' power, of any 'supposed' rank, that we're coming for them and when we do…it ain't going to pretty." *click* the Den-Den Mushi was turned off and the frightening voice disappeared just like that. The man's eyes were wide with terror as he fell backwards and into his seat. If the Revolutionaries did attack that ship…that meant that Vice Admiral Sazkach…a man whose sheer physical prowess rivaled that of the Admirals was defeated…it meant that the Revolutionaries were truly a force not to be messed with…it meant the New Era might be coming faster than he had thought.
He paused for a second as he tried to remember everything he heard about the ship. Wasn't the 'Siren' Melanie D. Stars on it? Was she defeated, too? Or did she leave before the attack started? Was she a part of the attack? Wait…wasn't…no…the worker's entire body shivered as he fell to the floor, a new sense of dread welling up in him…wasn't Trevor on that ship? Did two Shichibukais just defect over to the Revolutionaries?
(-At Zenith Gaol-)
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, but a third catastrophic event was occurring at that exact moment. A raid on the unbreakable, flying prison, Zenith Gaol. Taisho grunted, he had already called the Marines and told them the attack was over, calling them again and telling them that it wasn't would make him look like a fool and incompetent! He roared with anger as he quickly decided the stairs again, a new force propelling him forward. He would just handle this himself and leave the rest to the guards' own imagination when they were asked what had happened.
Everyone in the prison were unaware of the news circulating the Blue Seas, Den-Den Mushi's communication network was weak up in the level of Skypiea so-massed produced TVs and Blue Sea news rarely played up here. So, the two tragic events that were soon to be played all over the Blue Sea would be left unknown to Skypiea for possibly several more months. The prison was facing its own dilemma anyways. If this prison were to fall now all of Taisho's hard work would be for nothing. His goal would be destroyed instantly.
Mikoto had no idea he was just about to be branded as the third catastrophe to hit the world, he didn't even particularly care his entire attention was on one thing and one thing only. Saving his crewmates. He rushed through the prison at incredible speeds, paying no heed to the rest of the prisoners who shouted at the young brown blur to slow down and free them. He knew where he was headed, he was headed straight for the screams his powerful ears had picked up. Whenever a prison guard stepped forward to stop him, he didn't hesitate. A powerful left hook would send them flying to the sides. His nakama was screaming, everything else was inconsequential. Sadly, this included the rest of his nakamas who were locked behind bars, he would come back to save them later, surely he'd be able to find them when he needed to.
Finally Mikoto had arrived, the large dome of metal bars stretched out in front of him. He looked inwards at the scene. The expert torturer noticed him first and shrugged him off, pointing to the other two guards, the ones currently holding Rosa down to handle him. Rosa was still locked into her handcuffs after all, she was stuck there for the time being. The two guards quickly nodded and walked over to handle the kid coyote. As soon as they got within arm distance Mikoto reached out, grabbed a hold of both of their heads and brought them together like a pair of cymbals. He then crouched down and started to search them for the keys, albeit it was fairly hard as they were on the other side of the dome.
The torturer just simply smirked and sighed. He reached down to his waist and pulled a gun free and took aim, a sinister, yet happy smile was plastered on his face. It was obvious he was going to enjoy this. Suddenly his entire body bucked, blood exploded from his mouth and chest at the same time. The cause? A sword to the gut. Rosa was up on her feet, one hand on a rust old pipe she had found lying around, the other was a broken bloody mess. It was obvious that she had fallen on it, smashed it with her knee, numerous times in order to manage to wriggle it loose from the cuffs. She was on him and she slowly pulled the rusty pipe out as she watched him gurgle his own blood. He dropped his gun to the floor and soon he, too, was dropped.
Rosa didn't care, leaving him for dead; she immediately threw the weapon to the side. She may need it later at least until she got her own sword back, but she didn't care. She didn't even care that Mikoto was still struggling to unlock the large metal dome. There was only one thing she cared about, "Lily!" she screamed, jumping up and undoing the handcuffs that held Lily in place. She caught her younger sister as she lightly fell out of the harness and into her arms. "Lily! I'm so thankful, that you are all right!" She gushed with absolute happiness, she had found her sister. She was here, safe and in her arms. The torturer didn't do too much extensive damage, a little bit of bleeding here and there, a horrible hair-cut, and other fixable things. Luckily he was saving up the removal of limbs for last. "Lily, I'm here, I'll protect you. I'll get you home safe and sound, nobody else will hurt you."
"Who…who…who are you?" asked Lily, barely finding the strength to push herself out of Rosa's arms, she timbered backwards, obviously unsteady on her feet. She wavered there for a few seconds unsure of how to move, finally she collapsed backwards against the machine and slumped to the ground, she took ragged breaths as she stared Rosa in the face and asked, "where's my sister?" Mikoto was still fumbling with the key, but even he took pause at that question. He looked over to Rosa, who was still on the ground, her two arms were hanging lifelessly by her side as she looked up at her younger sister.
"Wha-what do you mean?" she asked as she stood up, lifting a hand up and moving it over to Lily's eyes and lifting the hair away. "I'm your sister." Lily flinched, shirking away, fear temporarily rushing into her eyes. "I'm your sister!" she shouted, apparently giving up on the kind and calm approach. "I'm Rosa! I'm your sister!" she shouted, as her hands shot forward and grabbed onto her sister's tattered clothing and pulled her closer. "I'm your sister!" Lily's eyes looked glistened over, covered in some form of impenetrable oil. She paused for a second and Rosa knew looking into those eyes, she really didn't recognize her. She really didn't believe that she was her sister. Rosa paused for a second, unsure of what to say, she stepped back and let go of her. "I'm your sister…" Rosa choked out the next few words, "I'm your sister's friend. She turned me you were taken to this prison…and I was close-by I'm here to save you." Those words were acid on her tongue. She was lying to her, she was telling her a blatant lie…about how she wasn't her sister.
"I-I…" Lily stammered out the word a few times as she tried to decide what to do. Her brain was still fuzzy from the torture, this was her…third, fourth…maybe fifth? It was all a blur since she arrived on this floor. The memories of the first floor of this…prison, yeah, she was in a prison…the memories were still pretty vivid. The prisoners on that floor were paraded, degraded, and forced to go down and see the other prisoners. They did simple task like fix food, place mouse traps, clean up…from the torture. One day while you were sentenced to clean up you were lead to this very room. Innocent enough, you've been here before to clean up. You get a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, you get on your hands and knees and you clean. Some guards watch over you and every so often they'll prod you with their long spears as if to remind you whose boss…sometimes they'll even cut you. They'll claim it was an accident, but after more than twenty or so 'accidents' you stop believing them and fear for the next moment they bring the spear into your skin and draw blood.
However, that was just what usually happened. One day, they suddenly do things differently. They call your name and like a good prisoner, you stand straight-up, salute, and await orders. That's when you shove you forward. From there the lock you into place, you have touched the cold metal before…you've cleaned other prisoner's blood off of it before, but this…this is the first time you've experience it like this. You quiver, hoping it is just one of the prison guard's cruel practical jokes, but instantly a sharp pain is sent up your body. You gasp in pain, it is like a pain you've never felt before. You melt into a fearful puddle, still holding out hope. A practical joke that has gone too far, you beg, you whisper, you pray. And you keep it up, you keep praying that that is all it is…you do so for the whole thirty minute torture session. You feel hot metal get dragged across your back, burning its indentation into your back. Following the metal is a painful jab with a sword, you hope you pass out from the pain, but dull slaps keep you awake. Awake and in constant pain. Finally your session is over and the device you've worked so hard to clean is now dirty again, the guards chuckle and unhook you.
Rumors circulated that some people upon being freed feel so mad, so upset that they fly into a berserk rage and try to take the guards out. However, you are weak, weak from lack of sleep in this horrible place, weak from lack of blood, weak from a lack of hope, they easily knock you down to the ground. Your clothing gets covered in your own blood, they through the sponge and bucket at you, commanding you to return to your task and stop…stop…stop relaxing. Lily collapsed forward, the haunting thoughts that will never leave her were now in front of her mind. She broke down, crying into Rosa's chest, heaving out heavy sobs and blubbering, "thank you! Thank you, I thought I'd never see a friend again! THANK YOU!" Despite being apparently forgotten, Rosa couldn't help but smile. It was nice to feel completely needed by her little sister again, to be thanked so fully and to have the little girl cry and confess her feelings to her.
"I've heard it come from over here!" shouted guards, apparently they were just getting wind of what was going on in the metal chamber. Mikoto was honestly surprised. This entire floor was designed to carry the screams of the prisoners throughout the floor, so it stood to reason that Lily's blubbering and the torturer guy's agonized death would be heard as well. The prison guards looked rather capable, both of them had some armor band around their bodies as well as metal plates strapped around their hands. They stopped when they saw Mikoto standing out there, looking back at them…and admittedly even more disconcerting to the guards, he was over the bodies of two of their comrades. "Get him!" they shouted rushing towards Mikoto. Mikoto disappeared right before eyes, his speed was way out of their league. The next time they saw him, one of the guards were looking at his abdomen.
"Gigant Wolf Fang!" Mikoto shouted as he brought his elbow downwards and his knee upwards simultaneously. The two hard bones came together with the man's head right in the center, if it wasn't for the guard's armor, there was no telling what kind of damage would've came out of such a vicious pincer attack. Even with the armor, the man screamed in agony for just a second before collapsing. The other guard didn't waste a second, drawing his sword and charging in at Mikoto. A random storm of slashes pursued Mikoto. However, Mikoto didn't seem the least bit worried. He bobbed and weaved through the entire storm, the man's arm speed was in no way a match for Mikoto's leg speed. "Beast Hammer!" Mikoto unleashed a series of quick, yet powerful punches straight to the man's gut. At first the man had a confident look on his face, he trusted his heavy steel armor to survive any punch…however as Mikoto revved his speed and power up that confident look soon vanished from his face. The power of the punches began vibrating through his chest, shooting through the armor and shaking him. He could feel the armor start to break apart as the punches intensified only being fed by the agony on the guard's face. One final punch came shooting in, breaking through the guard's armor, shattering it all the way through and landing a clean hit on the bulbous belly beneath. The man was thrown back into a wall from the insane punching power that he had just witnessed.
"That was for Lily."
Mikoto's Escape Plan
And the Jail's Final Strategy!
Man...am I a jerk...I mean tormenting poor Lily like that. But thankfully Mikoto soars in and puts the villains in their places. Also, in case you guys can't tell I like Revolutionaries. They will probably be the big bad for Saga overall...after all, how could they not!? Seriously, I have eluded to Jugo's massive power over and over again without showing it! Renvont, the man who slaughtered Zesiro's entire home town, is in it! And now Trevor, the man who was on Ridley's father's crew, may have just joined along with Melanie another Shichibukai? On top of that they have just pulled the Marine's line of sight directly on them! These guys are exactly everything I like my villains being (which is kind of given as they are my villains).