Hey there everyone. Once again a late update...yeah I know but since there are so many other awesome fanfics I hope it wasn't a problem to wait for this one...right? Never mind...! Once again, I'm really sorry for the late update but it was mostly because I suck at grammar and that's why I have to use a beta's help. And believe me, edited version is much much better than the original one.
So...hopefully you'll forgive me and now let's get started already.
Chapter 15: Monsters?
"DIRACULE MIHAWK." He yelled in a demonic voice, lifting his leg to place on the stone railing. "YOU DON'T FUCK WITH THE GOD." He smiled, revealing his beastly canines. He released a satanic roar similar to Zoro's. The rebounding waves, however, were even more powerful than the swordsman's. The few buildings which had withstood Zoro's bellows finally crumbled, glass raining as windows shattered, trees uprooted and the very oxygen ripped from the air.
Just like that, his roar turned into a screech and a moment later, he unleashed an enormously powerful supersonic blast from his throat, aimed directly toward the master swordsman. The blast destroyed everything that had somehow resisted the previous roars. The concrete streets cracked, diverging so it appeared a dragon had dragged its claw through the ground and left a deep gauge in its wake. The rubble of collapsed buildings and other debris was lifted behind the blast, creating an avalanche of carnage that followed the approaching shockwave.
Robin didn't get any time to even think of any countermeasure. Mihawk's eyes widened as a gigantic shockwave rivaling that of Whitebeard's ancient power reflected on his irises. As the World's unrivaled swordsman's monstrous reflexes kicked in, he turned to the other two and leapt with as much force as he could muster in his legs. Robin registered Mihawk landing beside her, wrapping his strong grip around her wrist. She found herself suddenly elevating from the ground. Not wanting to let go of Zoro, Robin sprouted dozens of more arms from her left arm and wrapped them around his body, promising herself to hold on tight.
"Get out of here already." Without caring for their landing, Mihawk flung both of them high above in air, catapulting them out of range of the avalanche. Mihawk confirmed the woman's safety before turning to face the approaching force. Bending and stretching his right leg forward, he firmly gripped Yoru's hilt from his back. Just as the shockwave reached him, he slashed down the black blade, unleashing a powerful slash that split apart the approaching shockwave and avalanche. The two separated pieces flared out to either side of the swordsman, the overall destructive power halved but still wreaking havoc as it continued on, clearing even the clouds as it crashed through the wall that protected the town from the ocean, smashing into the water and sending good ten-foot waves out toward the horizon.
Robin was sent spinning out of control after Mihawk flung her into the air. Zoro's motionless body followed her, firmly enveloped in the firm grip of her extra appendages. As soon as she got some control over herself, more than a hundred arms sprouted out of her back, taking on the form of two wings. She flapped her wings as fast as she could to regain control over her flight while still maintaining her hold on the swordsman's massive and immobile form. As soon as she gained some control, she pulled Zoro's battered body into her embrace, wrapping her real arms around his wide chest as firmly as she could. Her eyes widened a fraction when she noticed a huge piece of concrete escaping the stream of avalanche and heading towards them at full speed.
Her weakened condition, Zoro's additional weight and the stone's speed made her realize that she would be too late to sprout a hand big enough to shield both of them. She quickly came to a decision and turned her back to the projectile, bracing herself to take the full force of impact and protect Zoro with her own body. The wind whistled in her ears as the stone drew closer, and she closed her eyes tight, waiting for pain to jar her entire body. It never came however, only a sound like a gunshot as rock was shattered into a thousand pieces, peppering her skin as they fell around her, mixing once again with the hellish avalanche below.
A wave of happiness swept through her lost and darkened heart as soon as she smelled the pungent odor of tobacco for just a tenth part of a second before it swept away along with heavy wind. Tears congregated in her dried eyes as she caught sight of a blonde man with his leg stretched out as if it had just shattered the rock that would no doubt have killed her. A cigarette dangled from his mouth set in a firm grimace, as if he personally blamed the rock for flying toward her.
"Sanji," She softly whispered as a few drops of salty liquid trickled down her cheeks.
Spinning once more in air to face Robin in Sky Walk mode, his visible eye turned into a beating heart as he spun in midair toward her, grinning idiotically. "Robin-chwan~! Your knight in shining armor has –" The words suddenly died in his throat, his features transforming into one of absolute horror, cigarette falling from his gaping jaw as her wings beat again and Zoro's body came into view. Robin could understand his surprise; Zoro looked too similar to his dance with death at Thriller Bark. "W-What the hell happened to him?"
"Chopper, where's Chopper?" Robin asked quickly, flapping her wings to keep herself from falling. Their combined weight was becoming too much to keep aloft.
"H-He's down there with Nami-san and others." Sanji answered, jumping lightly in mid-air to maintain his own altitude, still greatly confused by Robin and Zoro's condition. "Robin-chan, what in the world is going on here?" The cook directed his gaze down at the unnatural avalanche, which was finally calming down after the shockwaves had died down. "How was I not able to sense something of this level?" He didn't get any answer and noticed that Robin had already flown towards other Straw Hats, who were running in their direction from far away. He proceeded to follow her using his Sky Walk.
In empty dark streets of the town, Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky and Brook were running towards the place that had been engulfed by a massive blast a few moments ago.
"What was that? Even Sunny's Goan Cannon felt small in comparison." Franky asked, utterly surprised by the ridiculous power of that blast.
"It came from that way." Luffy answered, looking to the supposed origin of that shockwave and the direction where Sanji had gone ahead to scout. His tone clearly expressed his seriousness about the matter. "There is someone very strong over there. And he gives off the same feeling as I felt earlier. But…"
"But?" Nami repeated his last word in a way that ordered him to continue his explanation.
"This one is much stronger than before." He obliged, his brows stretched to make a frown.
"Of course it is. Didn't you see that blast just now?" Usopp panicked, stating the obvious. The sharpshooter's statement was ignored, however, and Luffy continued.
"Not just that, there is also someone else very powerful here. I think I remember this aura." His eyebrows tensed even more as he remembered a familiar aura that he had already faced two times in past. But a heavy fist from Nami that successfully gave him a bump on his head broke his train of thought.
"I told you not to trust those people so easily." Nami yelled at her childish captain as she delivered another punch on his head, which Luffy protested by whining while covering the new lumps formed on his head by his both hands.
"But the food was so good!"
Chopper was running in his Walk Point along with others. Luffy and Nami's activities were a normal thing, so ignoring the Captain who was still getting punched by the navigator, the skilled doctor turned his attention to a more important matter in his mind and said in a loud enough voice that everyone could hear, "I wonder if Robin and Zoro are alright."
Chopper's words were enough to make everyone go silent in concern, except their Captain of course, who always said that it was Zoro so he'll be fine. Noticing the growing tension in the atmosphere, Usopp tried to relieve it by saying "Robin Expression" and comically proceeded to mimic the resident archaeologist. "Maybe they were crushed by the avalanche and got their bodies ripped to shreds."
"Yohohoho! Just like her. That's exactly like her. Yohohoho!" Brook and Luffy burst into laughter over Usopp's almost perfect mimicry of Robin's dark personality, but went silent in an instant when all three received some more punches from Nami as she yelled angrily, "BE MORE SERIOUS!" They apologized quickly.
Chopper looked up in the sky as his nose picked up familiar scents of flowers, steel and smoke. Nami noticed Chopper's actions and looked at the sky as well and saw a human sized bird with particularly large wings descending towards them from high above.
"That's…Robin." Nami said as she realized upon closer inspection that it was none other than her beloved elder sister-like archeologist.
"And Sanji." Chopper noticed Sanji Sky Walking behind her. The group on the ground ceased their hurried advancement and waiting for Robin and Sanji to approach.
"ROBIN, WHERE WERE YOU? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Nami inquired in a loud voice filled with concern.
"DO YOU KNOW WHERE…Zoro…?" Luffy wanted to ask about the whereabouts of first mate, but his voice went silent and a gawk filled with surprise and pain escaped his throat as soon as Robin landed beside them, firmly holding Zoro's battered body in her arms. There wasn't much difference in the reactions of remaining crewmembers. Sanji softly landed behind her and tightly clenched his teeth, slumping down his head.
"Chopper!" Without any formal greetings that Robin normally used, she impatiently called out for the young doctor.
"ZOOORRROOO!" Chopper transformed into Heavy Point and ran toward Robin, gathering the swordsman in his arms and trying to find a relatively flat rock to lay him on. Seeing none, he placed Zoro on the ground and quickly began his examination as the others gathered around.
"Oi Robin, what the hell just happened?" Franky asked anxiously, but didn't receive any answer.
"Don't tell me you two were really caught up in that blast." Usopp started panicking, placing both his hands over his head in which Chopper joined in with him. "DOCTOR, DOCTOR!" they screamed.
"THAT'S YOU." Nami tried unsuccessfully to calm the little reindeer and Brook assisted her in a rather calm manner. "Chopper-san, this is no time to panic. You should at least apply first aid quickly."
"Luffy?" Nami noticed that Luffy wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on beside him. Instead he was facing the direction from where that particularly humongous shockwave went past. After taking a moment to calm down, everyone turned their attention to that direction as well except Robin and Chopper, their eyes fixated on Zoro. Finally, the atmosphere seemed to calm down after the passage of a massive storm. A few rocks were still rolling here and there as an after effect of the shockwave. The dust began to settle, and a dark figure could be see standing in the midst of the rubble. The figure's face came into view, and the Straw Hats were met with the piercing glare of the World's Strongest Swordsman, 'Hawkeye' Dracule Mihawk. He stood virtually unscathed, his black blade Yoru firmly gripped in his hand. He had lost his trademark hat in the confusion, and his black hair whipped around with the wild gusts.
Reactions of the remaining Straw Hats was that of immense surprise, as this was the first time they had seen the Warlord in person, except Luffy, Usopp and Sanji of course, who had seen Zoro and Mihawk battle on the Baratie. Now, two years later, Luffy and Sanji had been able to sense Hawk-Eye's presence.
"Robin. Was it him who did this to Zoro?" Luffy asked in a rather strict tone as he took a step towards the master swordsman's direction.
"Luffy," Robin softly called out his name, trying to get his attention, but Luffy ignored it as he tightly clenched his fist and placed his right hand on his hat.
"Forget it. Whether it was him or that other one, I'm gonna kick both of their asses." An intense frown creased his lips, the overwhelming power of his Houshoku Haki leaking out of his body as the ground under his feet rumbled.
"Stop it," Robin tried to stop Luffy, almost pleading for his attention but he ignored her yet again.
"Sanji! Get ready, everyone else will stay here." Luffy smacked his right fist with his left palm, the compression of his forearms immediately activating his Second Gear, steam rising from his body. Obliging to Captain's orders, Sanji dug a fresh cigarette from his pocket and tapped the toe of his boot against the ground, stretching his tense muscles. Before they could go any further, however, dozens of hands bloomed from the ground and locked them in place, bringing everyone's surprised attention to Robin, who looked like she might cry any second.
"I SAID STOP IT. NO ONE WILL GO THERE." Robin agitatedly yelled at the two boys like a mother trying to prevent her children from performing a dangerous activity. Her sudden outrage was another surprise for everyone; so much that even Luffy canceled his Gear Second and decided to listen to her.
After dealing with that troublesome shockwave, Mihawk stood holding his sword, panting lightly due to the little exhaustion that the last struggle caused him. After taking a deep breath, he glanced at the newly arrived spectators. This isn't any better. If I fight him here, they'll get involved as well. Unsheathing the sword in the scabbard on his back, he wasted no time and took a long leap before he ran off in Straw hats' opposite direction. Now come after me, Odin!
"Heh! Trying to run away now? You little maggot." The creator of the recent shockwave, whose name was Odin, watched Mihawk running off at full speed. Knitting his eyebrows together, he jumped onto the only part of stone railing that was still intact and sat in a frog-like position as he condensed his power beneath his feet. A moment later he released all the built up pressure and launched himself in Mihawk's direction like a bullet traversing the atmosphere. The Mayor's office where he stood recently was demolished by the force. Within a second, he already reached his target, but Mihawk sensed him approaching and gave a hard push to the ground under his foot to take another long leap and avoid the attacker's lethal tackle just in time. He crashed into the house behind him.
"W-What the hell?" Franky muttered to himself, looking at the dust explosions occurring far away.
"Robin, what happened? You have to tell us." Nami asked softly, moving closer to her traumatized crewmate. From how it looked, it was clearly a battle between monsters, which made everyone even more concerned. They had faced many monsters in the past, but these seemed to have been even more powerful than all of them put together.
"His condition is critical. I need to perform a proper surgery. We need to get him to Sunny as quickly as possible!" Chopper shouted anxiously to get everyone's attention. Zoro's condition was clearly in a critical condition and the most important thing was his treatment.
"Okay! Luffy, Sanji-kun, you two take Chopper and Zoro to the Sunny as fast as you can. We'll be coming behind you." Sanji immediately complied to Nami's demands, lifting Chopper in Brain Point onto his shoulder and leaping into the sky. Luffy followed on his heels in Gear Second, holding Zoro on his back.
"Wait. Zoro's swords, they are buried in that debris! We have to find them!" Robin said before others could start to head back as well.
"I-I understand. Franky, Usopp and Brook, you guys find Zoro's swords. We need to get back to Sunny as well." Nami ordered the three remaining male members to look for the swords. Without caring about their approval about the assigned jobs, Robin grew two wings on her back and flew off to Sunny with Nami.
Meanwhile, Hawk-Eye Mihawk was running in the dark streets of the town to lure his attacker, who stayed on his heels like a mad bull, away from his pupil's nakama. As he drew closer to the Tree, he noticed all the people near it. I need to get off this island, he thought, and took a swift right turn and began running in the direction of the ocean. His attacker skidded a few meters to a halt before cracking the ground as he leapt into the sky in pursuit. As Mihawk got closer to the wall that separated the Island from the ocean, the demon slightly arched his back and puffed his cheeks before unleashing another supersonic blast in Mihawk's direction. Just before it hit the target, Mihawk jumped over the wall, barely dodging the attack. Though not as powerful as before, the blast was strong enough to completely annihilate two of the buildings along with the wall, creating a huge splash into the ocean as the misty clouds around the island cleared off.
Almost a second later, Mihawk appeared from the rising water of recent splash and started running on top of the sea water with inhuman speed, a feat only those of Hawk Eye Mihawk's level could perform. Odin didn't had even the slightest of intention to quit the chase as he bent his legs and, performing a move similar to CP9's Geppo, rocketed himself towards Mihawk in pursuit. After using a few more mid-air steps, when he was in clear range, he stretched his hand out towards Mihawk. Four black colored spike-like objects sprouted out of his palm and shot toward the target. Mihawk dodged left and right, zigzagging his course to avoid them. Water rose in short bursts as the spikes crashed into the ocean.
"Is running all you good for? You pathetic weakling." Getting frustrated by this endless chase, Odin curled his body like a ball before suddenly uncurling it, releasing four long spears from his chest, once again sent toward Mihawk. The master swordsman jumped, levitating in the air long enough to draw Yoru. Rotating in midair, he slashed a wide curve into the air, slicing the projectiles in half before quickly sheathing his sword as he landed and continued his sprint. Infuriated by Mihawk's resistance, Odin gathered some more force and released the long deadly spears consecutively. Using his reflexes Mihawk managed to dodge every one of them, but he couldn't keep it up for much longer.
I'm at a disadvantage as long as I'm in the ocean. He sidestepped to left to dodge another one before mumbling, "Can I get some help here?"
I wasn't in favor of fighting him to begin with. He was answered shortly by the same voice that he had conversed secretly with before.
"But we can't outrun him now, can we? If I were on dry land, I could defeat him."
Defeat him? Have you forgotten who he is?
"I haven't. But he's weakened."
Even weakened, don't underestimate him.
"Would you stop it and help me out?"
Hmm…to your left, there is a small, uninhabited piece of land a couple of miles away.
Mihawk immediately turned left, keeping an eye on Odin following in hot pursuit. "Stop running you worthless insect!" The demon yelled, his bloodthirsty eyes blazing with anger and frustration.
Their game of cat and mouse kept on for about half an hour until Mihwak's hawk-like eyes finally caught the sight of land along the horizon. It was one of those typical uninhabited islands with a lush green forest and a few volcanic mountains rising from behind the foliage. There was also a rocky coast with large boulders poking out of the water around the circumference of the island.
Increasing his pace, Mihawk hurried towards the land. As he drew closer, he adjusted his course toward one of the larger boulders. Unsheathing Yoru once again, he jumped again and his momentum allowed him to glide in the air until he managed to land in a crouching position on the rock. The stone caved in from the force of his landing. Mimicking his pursuer's previous movement, he bent his legs for just a moment and then sprang himself back like a missile towards Odin. Noticing his target approaching him, Odin shot another black spear at Mihawk from his palm. Even with lightning fast speed of the spear added with his own acceleration, Mihawk deflected the spear to his left at the last moment, grazing Yoru's black blade. Maintaining speed, Mihawk continued to rocket towards Odin, and once he was in range, he executed a downward slash similar to the one he had previously used against Robin but this time with full force. Odin gripped his own katana with his left hand in a reverse grip and quickly unsheathed it to block Mihawk's attack. Their swords clashed, sparks generated by the friction between two sharp blades. Their struggle continued for a brief moment before the master swordsman's swing proved to be too strong for the opponent and he was shot down towards the sea. While falling, he directed his right hand towards the master swordsman above him, launching yet another spear, yet Mihawk easily deflected it. Swiftly placing his foot on the side of the black pointy thing, Mihawk sprang himself forward, continuing his run towards the island like before as Odin fell into the ocean with a huge splash.
Mihawk swiftly ran atop the seawater towards the piece of land before him. He might have managed to throw his opponent into the ocean, but he knew that it wasn't enough to stop him. He could sense the pressure building up beneath his feet, and he barely managed to dodge when a huge mountain of huge black spikes suddenly emerged from the depths below. Despite this, he was thrown airborne from the force, twisting his body until his feet were positioned under him.
Descending after his flight, Mihawk skipped on the water surface like a skipping stone and finally hit the shore rolling. As soon as he felt earth, he flipped back to get on his feet and quickly swung his sword left to right, unleashing a horizontal aerial slash to cut two black spears down the middle that had approached him from behind.
The master swordsman directed a glare from his hawk-like eyes at the person floating in the sky a few scores of meters out from shore. A provocative smirk twisted his lips as Mihawk lifted his sword and positioned it on his shoulder, sending out signals that he was finally ready to fight seriously. Gritting his teeth in anger, Odin lifted his right hand above his head as black spikes started sprouting from his hand and fused together. After a couple of seconds, he held an enormous black spear of the size of a caravel ship above his head with seemingly no effort. Stretching back like a baseball pitcher, he hurled the spear at Mihawk. Traveling at such a blinding speed, that spear was even more powerful than dozens of cannons. Odin was positive Mihawk couldn't dodge this one, and he let out a deep-throated chuckle. The Warlord swordsman tightened his grip and rotating it from downside, swung it upward, thus producing a vertical aerial slash from his sword as it cut the humongous spear into two and continuing its course toward his opponent, who sidestepped it with a growl of anger.
An intense staring contest commenced between the rivals. Finally growing impatient, Odin arched his back, filling his lungs and diaphragm with as much air as he could hold. A pause, and he suddenly let all the air out in one might scream of rage, swarms of black spears erupting from every pore of his body like the threads of a spider, aimed at the world's strongest swordsman. Mihawk somehow managed to dodge them by jumping back as spears were cut and buried into the hard ground of the rocky shore. Odin pulled back his hand and all of the spears dispersed into a substance similar to black ash and were sucked back into his body.
No sooner had Mihawk once again made contact with the earth, his opponent crouched and used kicked at the air, launching himself across the water toward Mihawk, who avoided the lethal tackle by moving further away from the sea on the rocky earth. Odin crashed in the ground, Mihawk landing a few feet away. Odin wasted no time in once again taking the offensive, striking his open palm against the ground so hard jagged cracks appeared in the crust. Ebony thorns sprouted from his wrist and buried themselves in the ground. A moment later, enormous black spikes erupted from the ground. Acting on his inhuman reflexes, Mihawk backflipped again as he unleashed more slashes to cut down several of the erupting thorns.
Mihawk unleashed another barrage of slashes that completely wiped out all of the remaining onslaught of spikes, watching with a slight twitch of his lips as they disintegrated into black dust, which was then summoned back inside the demon's body. Taking advantage of the dust cloud, the swordsman ran forward until he could see Odin's hazy form still flat against the ground. Mihawk slashed his sword down toward his back. Odin managed to block the swing with his katana, standing to face his opponent, but was pushed back. Mihawk continued his movements and while his opponent's guard was broken, he rotated along his sword's movement path in a form of circle and delivered a back kick to Odin's jaw, propelling the demon high in to the air. Mihawk immediately followed with a left-to-right horizontal swing, loosing a huge aerial slash toward Odin's body ascending toward the sky. Odin managed to block with more spikes, but from the force was shot even higher.
Directly under him, Mihawk waited for his opponent to appear again. His eyes widened slightly as another swarm of black spears appeared from nowhere and rained down on him. Mihawk quickly swung the black blade and cut all of the falling projectiles to dust. From within the dust Odin emerged and crashed into the swordsman below, creating a big crater in the ground. Mihawk lay on the ground blocking a spear that had sprouted from Odin's foot as well as his katana with Yoru. Mihawk was rendered motionless as Odin pushed him further into the cracked ground with his foot and the katana in his left hand.
"Diracule Mihawk," Odin spat scornfully, exerting more pressure on the master swordsman. "Do you have any idea for how many years I've been waiting for this day? How dare you drag your worthless existence across my path?"
The earth under Mihawk cracked even more as Odin gave it even more pressure. The sight of world's unrivaled swordsman being overpowered like this was unheard and unbelievable. However, by Mihawk's expression didn't look as helpless as Odin hoped. He could be hiding his complete strength but if that were the case, now was the time to use that strength because Odin was getting ready to crush MIhawk with the gigantic spear he had summoned and now held above his head.
"Now then, Hawk-Eye Mihawk, die as the annoying pest you are." Odin pulled back his hand that held the huge spear as Mihawk contracted his brows a bit more as he finally prepared for a comeback, but before Odin or Mihawk could make a move, the sound of a sharp blade slicing the air echoed in the atmosphere. Odin was forced to jump back, releasing his weapon and prisoner. The spear was swiftly cut into five refined pieces as it fell where Mihawk lay. He rolled away to avoid the pieces and stood quickly, breathing heavily and watching as the black dust was once again sucked back into Odin's body.
From the corner of his eye, Odin caught a glimpse of red, and when he turned to confront the interference, he was met with a tall red-haired man standing a few meters away, a katana tightly gripped in his right hand. His left side was covered by a long black cape which fluttered in the slight breeze after his attack. The newcomer smirked confidently, the three scars on his right eye flashing. As Odin stabilized his footing on the ground, he sensed something approaching from behind. He tilted his head a bit to dodge what appeared as a bullet, but it managed to slice open his cheek before embedding itself in the sand at his feet. He whipped around and stared down the shaft of a pistol. The owner of said pistol grinned, and Odin barely managed to avoid a second bullet between the eyes. Jumping back, he got a better view of the gray-haired gunman, and instantly recognized the X-shaped scar on his temple and the two identical pistols in each hand.
"Ben Beckman," Odin growled, naming the East Blue's most intelligent man. He gritted his teeth in frustration.
Odin leapt at his new target, drawing his katana and gripping it with both hands. Ben jumped back and aimed both pistols at the approaching demon, firing four consecutive shots. With each step, Odin deflected a bullet with his katana and then slashed from left to right. Just as the sword was about to slice its target, Ben's feet touched the ground and without hesitation dove forward into a barrel roll, and the swing felled the trees behind him. Coming out of the barrel roll, Ben got his feet under him and jumped into a flip. Upside down in midair, the gunman aimed both pistols at Odin's head and fired. The demon jumped back, the escaped bullets buried in the ground. The earth cracked, and Odin couldn't help but be slightly impressed at the extent of Ben's Haki.
Odin had no time to counterattack as he was overshadowed by the shadow of a large human with his leg stretched out. He barely dodged as the huge person stomped on the ground where he had been standing a millisecond before, creating an enormous crater under his feet as he took a bite off the rack of meat he held. Odin's enemies were swarming him, and yet again he felt another entity approaching him from his left side. It was another bullet that he quickly dodged, but this time he was unable to find the owner of this bullet. Another shot was fired, this time from his right. Odin once again dodged, his red eyes frantically searching for the gunman. Where? Where is it coming from? He was continuously peppered with bullets from all sides, and it was all Odin could do to keep the shots from hitting any vital points. As the sixth one brushed passed his right ear he finally pinpointed the location of the skilled gunman. There. The demon glared out toward the sea, where about two miles away, the Red Force pirate ship was moored, the ship of the Red-Haired Pirates. Standing on the main mast with his customized sniper rifle was the infamous marksman.
"Man this is some great target practice." Yassop took a big gulp from a bottle of sake and adjusted his rifle. "Witness the awesomeness of the great me, bastard." Five consecutive shots were fired and the bullets seemed to travel the exact same path directed right at the forehead of their target. Unfortunately, the target wasn't an easy one. Odin lifted his hand and stretched out the index finger. A black thorn was shot and one after the other, all five bullets were pierced and dropped uselessly into the ocean. As soon as the advance of the bullets stopped, the spike turned into dust and returned to its master.
By now along with other three, Mihawk was back on his feet and ready to attack. He, Ben, Lucky Roo and Shanks leapt towards Odin with the intent to kill. Odin's frustration finally crossed its limit as he bent his legs, arched his back and crossed his arms, folding into a tight ball. The next moment, he uncurled his body and let out the loudest of roars so far along, unleashing a 360 degree shockwave, expanding like a chain explosion. It ripped across the island, wiping out everything in its path, including the four pirates. Waves crashed against the hull of the Red Force, small-scale tsunamis travelling toward the horizon.
When the shockwave finally died down, the scenery cleared to show to huge crater left in the earth's crust. Odin fell on his knees as he stood in the middle of the crater and coughed a few times, panting heavily. Whenever he unleashed a blast on this scale, it always left him winded. But there was no way the pirates could have survived. He was shocked, therefore, to see the men emerging from the rubble, sporting bruises and scrapes but smiling all the same. Throwing a boulder aside, Shanks stood and calmly strode closer to Odin, who was kneeling down on one knee gasping heavily for air.
"What's this? You're out of breath already?" Stopping a several meters away from him, Shanks placed his saber on his shoulder. A smirk crept on his face. "Fighting all of us alone isn't a very good idea."
Odin's lips stretched to show his sharp canines, an intense frown forming on his face as the ground started rumbling again, a sign he was trying to prepare for another attack. A malicious aura seeped from his body. "Do you even realize who you're opposing? Know your place, you worthless creatures." His demonic voice's weight and hatred should've been unbearable for most humans. Just standing near him was extremely overwhelming. But Shanks was one of the very few humans who could stand against such monsters without even flinching. He was one of the biggest monsters of the New World himself. An intense frown formed in Shanks' eyes as he released the power of his Houshoku Haki. Odin was strong, but not strong enough to withstand the power. The demon was forced to his hands and knees.
"Just because you can't be killed, don't get cocky, you puny God." Shanks released another powerful burst of Haki that neutralized the aura seeping through Odin's body and once again everything placated.
After a brief moment of silence, Odin chuckled breathlessly and stood up, unsheathing his katana. "Indeed, in this weakened state, I cannot do much about you insects." He arched his back and took a deep breath before directing his glare towards Shanks. "But you people made a very bad choice. You should've gotten rid of those two when you had time. But you and those idiots in the World Government took it too lightly. This world and you as well will pay for your foolishness." He lifted his arm punched in air, the atmosphere itself cracking under the power. The pirates were reminded of Whitebeard's Gura Gura no mi, currently in the hands of Blackbeard. Shanks himself was particularly bothered by this; even as his enemy, Whitebeard had been a great and respectable man. However, Odin's ability was different than the Gura Gura no mi. The demon dug his fingers into the cracked place and pulled it, tearing the atmosphere until a dark hole in space appeared.
Odin turned and placed a leg inside the menacing aperture into an alternate dimension. Stopping for a moment, he looked over his shoulder and said with a menacing glare, "It's already too late. It's just a matter of time now. Enjoy it while you still can." Odin vanished through the opening, and the cracked air shattered and fell into nothing, and the normal – albeit the carnage – scenery reappeared.
"Oi, boss, was it okay to let him go just like that?" Lucky Roo asked, stepping closer to Shanks.
"Leave it," Shanks calmly answered. "Not like we could've done anything. There's a reason why even the World Government has done nothing about him."
"But that was his weakened state? I can't even imagine what he would be like at full power." Ben wondered, rubbing his chin.
"It is just as he said." Their attention turned to Mihawk, who approached the Red-Haired pirates, Yoru in its rightful place on his back. "Even the World Government is taking it lightly. I can just hope that we wouldn't regret our choice once the time comes." His part said, the Shichibukai departed, leaving others in a rather awkward state.
"And we even saved his ass," Shanks grumbled disappointedly to himself. "He should've at least stopped by for a party or two, that Mihawk." Shanks sheathed his sword as he and his crewmembers began the journey back to the Red Force.
I know, I know. It's a big amount of hectic (maybe annoying as well) action scenes but with this, our current situation is solved and from next chapter we'll get to see more Zoro/Robin relationship development...along with the story development as well. Hopefully I'm not starting to get on your nerves now. Anyway, please don't leave here. Please stick with me and this story a bit longer...PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEE. I'LL DO MY BEST TO UPDATE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.
P.S: Feel free to pm me if anything related to the story bothers you :)
And of course...PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEE REVIEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW...PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEE EE :)
See ya next time