Author's Note: Continuing strait from the last chapter in the series of fights, we come to the conclusion of the arc. Luffy and Double D. vs. Bremen, Keaton, and King, with a surprise twist at the end!
Chapter 39: Setting the Events into Motion
"Gomu Gomu no-"
"Flame-"
"Gattling GUN!"
"RAIN!"
Double D and Luffy attacked at the same time. A barrage of quick-fists struck Keaton, while on the other side, a series of fireballs rained down on Bremen. Both defended themselves, but were blown backwards. King watched from above, standing on top of the cage which imprisoned Nami and Eddy.
"That's the way to do it!" Eddy shouted. "Give that sucker what for!"
Double D and Luffy both finished their attacks, standing side by side with determined expressions. Bremen and Keaton recovered from the attack, and stared down the two heroes.
"Our turn!" Bremen shouted.
Double D watched, amazed. "They appear... completely unfazed!"
Bremen seemed to be preparing for his attack. He reached into his jacket, and pulled out what appeared to be a little toy bear. Double D and Luffy glanced at one another, confused.
"I am Bremen." Stated the villain. "I control an army of my own. A super army of animals which I can summon at any given time."
"Huh?" Double D asked, eyebrow risen.
"Allow me to demonstrate, sir." stated Bremen. He opened his mouth wide, and bit the toy in half, creating a loud crunch sound.
As if on cue, a distant "Caw!" ran through the large, empty room.
Both Luffy and Double D looked up. A flock of crows were flying in through a hole within the ceiling, flying in circles above.
"What in the world?!" Luffy asked.
Abruptly, the crows dove down, fast as arrows, beak-first.
"Look out!" Nami exclaimed, with an sound of urgency in her voice.
With the force of arrows, the crows mercilessly stabbed at Double D and Luffy, who shouted in terrible pain. On by one they struck, causing quick, weak, but highly repetitive blows, tearing at Double D's shirt and Luffy's vest, reaching all the way down to their skin, cutting at them, causing both to shout in pain. About 20 crows struck in total, 10 for each of the two men, and by the attack's end both were on their knees, panting. Bremen laughed goofishly as the crows circled around and orbited around him. The each landed on the ground behind the tall animal caster, forming an organized line, standing by in wait of their next order.
"Ugh..." Double D said, trying to re-orient himself. "What a strange attack... there's something awfully nostalgic about this."
"Stop blabbering, will ya?!" Eddy called from within the cell. "Stand firm and beat these idiots!"
"What he said!" Nami chimed in, holding up her fists.
King smirked, and peered over the top of the cage to look down at them. "You would do best to keep your yap shut, lady."
"Now then..." stated Keaton, emotionlessly. "I guess it's my turn."
Double D focused his attention to the mysterious one named Keaton. He adjusted his mask meticulously, so that it was perfectly fixed to his face. Then, he rose both arms: one arm made of flesh, the other a robotic arm, and aimed towards Double D.
Without the slightest ounce of warning, a red laser shot forth from his robotic arm, traveling fast as lighting, which connected right against Double D's chest. He shouted in pain, until the laser switched off. Double D was forced on one knee, the spot where he was hit still smoking.
"Are you ok?!" asked Luffy, an expression of concern crossing his face.
"I'm... fine..." said Double D, wincing. "Don't worry about me. We have work to do."
Luffy smirked. "Yes we do!"
"Luffy, if it's alright to ask of this..." Double D began. "Allow me to face Keaton. Will you take on Bremen?"
Luffy nodded. "Gotcha!"
The two men split up, walking in two different directions, prepared to attack.
"And what exactly do you plan to accomplish by doing this?" King asked from above, with a risen eyebrow behind his mask.
Luffy went first. He lept into the air with magnificent speed, and readied an attack, foot first. Bremen looked upwards, standing still and gawking, without the slightest sign of defending himself.
"Gomu Gomu no STAMP!!" Luffy kicked downwards, his foot stretching along the way as it prepared to collide with Bremen's face.
"I do not think so, Mr. Fantastic." Bremen stated. A crow flew in front of his face and intercepted the attack. Upon contact, the crow gave a loud terrible shout, and exploded into a cloud of dust and feathers.
Luffy grunted in frustration, jumping backwards and landing on the ground a few feet away from Breman.
"What was THAT?" Luffy asked. "You used... one of your own minions to avoid getting hit?"
King, ever present, grunted and places his hands upon his hips. "Oh, give it a rest. It is the way we do things. Sacrifices have to be made for the better good. And in our case, we'll sacrifice what we have to in order to defeat you two." He paused briefly, looking coldly upon the two heroes. "I don't know much about you, Monkey D. Luffy, but I deduce that if I can take down Edward here, this won't last much longer."
"And by you, you mean your cronies." Double D stated, hands posed towards Keaton in a defense position.
"That I do." King replied.
"Alright!" Luffy said, looking upon Bremen. "If beating up your minions is what I need to do in order to defeat you, then I'll just have to do it!"
Bremen watched curiously. "Well, I got many more. Millions more! Infinitely more!! ...is 19 infinity?"
"How should I know?" Luffy replied, the same idiotic response that Bremen provided.
"...I'm surrounded by idiots." Double D and Nami noted, while watching.
Luffy charged forth, both fists in the air. Again, he cried out a familiar attack:
"Gomu Gomu no Gattling gun!"
A series of fists flew from the pirate captain, fast and furiously, directly towards Bremen. Bremen snapped his finger, and at once his remaining crow army flew in front of him. One by one, each was punched, and burst into a series of feathers and black dust. With 19 hits, Bremen's avian army was wiped out.
"!!.." Bremen took a step back, surprised how quickly Luffy was able to take them out.
But the captain wasn't done yet. With another strong and powerful finishing punch, Bremen was struck directly in the face. This blow seemed to phase him, even cracking his mask. He grunted as he lost his balance, and fell backwards: to his fortune he was able to regain his balance, taking a few steps backwards.
Double D, who had been watching, was interrupted by the sound of machinery. He looked up to see Keaton, who was hovering in the air thanks to a jetpack machine on his back. His robotic arm was poised towards the sock-hat, not to mention glowing, a signal that another attack would be soon.
"Tsk... don't waste your time watching something else, bucko." said King, amused, watching from above.
Double D jumped, as the laser that Keaton shot forth flew underneath him. Double D smiled in relief as the laser missed.
"Ha! Timing trium-!" Double D was cut short as he felt a searing pain from behind hit him hard. He fell again to his knees. It was a familiar pain, no doubt the pain of the laser attack. But from behind? Double D pondered for an instant.
"Great." he thought sarcastically. "His laser attack can ricochet. I have underestimated this fellow."
"Ha ha!" Sarah shouted with glee, as the roped that bound her were released. She flexed her muscles, and gave out a laugh. "Free at last!"
"You're welcome." Bloo sighed, having untied the rope.
Goombella and Goombirro joined in.
"We've met before, haven't we?" Goombella asked Midna, who was hovering in the air.
"Indeed we have." Midna said. "Probably not under the best circumstances either."
"You did?" Bloo asked, confused.
"Back at the hotel where Beldam switched forms between Nazz and that swordsman." Goombirro replied.
"I see... so... that means..." Bloo began. He stood silent for a moment. "So... that means... what?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Anyway... Hello Goombella! You have no idea how happy I am to see a familiar face again!"
Goombella nodded, smiling. "I hope you're alright. Say, how did you get to this world anyway?"
"Some scientist dude built a teleporter machine back in your world." Sarah explained. "But it broke on the way here, so I'm the only one who made it back."
Goombella frowned. "Hm... I see this will have to do for now then. Welcome home, Sarah. Now that you're back, we better stick together!"
Sarah nodded in agreement. "So, do tell, where is everyone. Jimmy and... well the rest. Are they ok?"
The group went silent. A couple of members exchanged looks at one another.
"Sarah, Beldam kidnapped a majority of our team. Jimmy included. She has them now, somewhere in here." Goombella noted.
"Well, no use wasting time here!" Sarah said. "Let's go find that witch and deliver some well deserved payback!"
Sarah joined the group as they began to run forth. Goombirro looked backwards, and stopped.
"Wait, guys!"
They all stopped, one by one. Bloo tripped as he turned around, landing solidly on his face.
"What about you there?" Goombirro asked Midna, who was not following.
Midna paused for a moment, looking on at the group. Then, looking back at the others, smiled and shrugged. "I guess I have no choice in the matter, do I?"
Nami watched the fight from within the cage. Eddy, still a bit angry, was frantically shaking the bars of the cage, trying to free himself.
"Ugh, what's with this thing?!" he cried out.
"Knock it off, you." Nami said. "It's not going to get us out of here any faster."
"Well it makes me feel better at least!" Eddy shouted.
Nami looked at Eddy. As she did, she went silent for a moment. "...actually, kid... you've given me an idea."
Eddy looked at her, an eyebrow risen.
Outside the prison, the battle raged on. Double D jumped into the air.
"Levi-Flare!"
The soles of Double D's shoes started to glow red, giving him thermal propulsion, which caused him to shoot in the air towards Keaton.
"...Hm?" Keaton was a bit surprised by Double D's action.
Double D approached Keaton, attempting to stabilize himself by weakening the power of his levitation, and quickly pointed at the cyborg.
"Flame Rain!"
Keaton instinctively looked up as a series fireballs formed above him, and proceeded to rain down towards him.
"Initiating computer-brain..." Keaton said aloud. His eyes turned red, and a series of beeps sounded from himself. "Calculations complete."
The cyborg flew left-right-up-down-center-side-right, dodging the fireballs with perfect precision. Each one missed, and crashed into the floor below, each with it's own small explosion, which rattled the room a bit, the crackling embers echoing.
"What?!" Double D asked, surprised.
Keaton looked back down upon the boy, and aimed once more, faster then Double D would be able to react, and shot forth the laser beam. He shouted in agony, the force wrecking his concentration, causing the sock-hat's levitation to fail. He plummeted back to the ground with a loud smashing sound, so strongly that the stone floor cracked and formed a small crater.
"Ugh!" Eddy shouted. "Nami, hurry up with that plan of yours!!"
Nami, standing still and calmly, watched on carefully. "I need to wait until the time is right. Any other time and this won't work."
Just beyond Double D's impact spot, Bremen laughed at the stretching captain.
"You got a lucky shot. I guess I'll just have to summon my next animal friend." Breman stated, frustration. "Come now, sheldon!!"
Luffy rose an eyebrow. "Sheldon?"
There was a sudden rumbling sound. It sounded like loud, booming footsteps, in distant, but constant rhythm. Luffy looked around for the source of the light, upwards, around-
A crack then appeared in the marble floor. It was small at first, then grew larger and more detailed. The floor started to bend and protrude upwards at the center of the crack, more and more intensely, until-
"KRAAAAAAAAWCK!!" call a voice as the floor burst. From out of a large hole arose a large beast, with white feathers, large, sharp talons, a pointed beak sharp as a sword. Bremen jumped upwards and landed on top of the creature, posed in a sitting position, and looked down upon upon the Luffy.
"COOOOOOL!" Luffy shouted, stars beaming in his eyes. Indeed the site may have been cool... had the creature that Bremen referred to as "Sheldon" not merely been a giant chicken.
"BK-KAW!" the massive fowl flapped it's wings awkwardly, and then charged towards Luffy, screeching along the way. Luffy was taken aback by it's quick speed, and backflipped to avoid being jousted upon by it's razor sharp beak.
"No no, silly! He's THERE!" shouted Bremen, redirecting the chicken. It turned around sharply, and lunged at Luffy. This time, Luffy was unable to turn around, failing to expect it's ability to turn. He was struck by the strong beak, it jabbing right into his chest. He coughed loudly, only to be thrown back by the force, slamming into the wall behind him. As he fell he took some debris with him, which caused a cloud of dust that concealed the aftermath.
Bremen sat atop his fowl steed, watching the aftermath. Sheldon also watched with piecing hawk eyes.
"Gomu Gomu no..."
Bremen smirked. "Give it up already, silly."
"PISTOL!"
A punch flew from the smoke, fast as a bullet, stretching: therefore unbound by the restrictions of Luffy's distance. It struck Sheldon square in the chest, causing it to shout and take a couple of steps backwards, nearly knocking it off balance.
Bremen grunted and grabbed the chicken's neck, giving it a push. The chicken waddled back into balance, then looked at Luffy, who emerged, clearly injured, from the cloud of dust.
"You will not be allowed to walk from here." Bremen stated, for once a in tone of seriousness. "Not after hurting Sheldon like that."
Luffy grinned widely. "Heh... bring it on."
Double D didn't even have enough time to get back up from his crater. As he lay there, the sounds of mechanical whirring indicated the preparations of the laser. As the beam shot forth from above, Double D rolled to his side, as the laser struck the floor, then bounced off at an angle, striking the wall behind him, then upwards to the dome ceiling, to an opposite wall, and then-
"Now!" Double D thought. He rolled once more, dodging the same laser beam a second time. It bounced off, hit another wall, and then, to his amazement, struck Bremen's arm.
He screamed loudly as he grasped his shoulder. This quick and sudden movement terrified the chicken, which fell backwards and landed upside down, sending Bremen toppling backwards. He cartwheel-crashed upon his back. In the process, his mask nearly fell clean off, revealing his mouth, which was by now bleeding due to the repeated impacts.
"Ugh..." Bremen moaned, grasping his shoulder in pain.
"Now I have you!" Luffy's call sounded. Bremen looked up to see the pirate captain approaching.
"YHEARGH, don't!" Bremen shouted. "Sheldon, help me!!"
His large chicken steed did not respond however, as it lay on the ground, twitching, apparently having been defeated by the fall.
Double D watched as he got back up. "Good. I think I am starting to get how the laser attack works now. If I can just figure out the proper geometry-"
Keaton quickly approached the sock-hatted man. He once again poised his laser arm at the ready, and began to charge it up. In that instant, a plan formed in Double D's mind. He readied himself as the laser cannon fired.
"Punio!" cried Petuni. "We're free! We're ok!"
The two punies exchanged hugs with one another.
"Easy, easy there sis." chuckled Punio, equally overjoyed.
These two, along with Beldam's victims, stood about on the dark platform, now freed. The large group cheered at first, Marie even dancing with Jimmy, ever surprised.
"Hm..." TEC said, his own human body now freed as well. "What is this place now?"
The cheering slowly began to subside as the group looked around.
"I don't know." The long nosed Usopp stated. "Last I remember, we were in an ancient building under Peru."
"Peru?" asked Koops.
"Say..." Eduardo Jr. began, looking at the present members of the Straw Hat Pirates. "Who are you guys?"
This inquiry was suddenly stopped, by the sound of a gasp. Everyone present turned their attention towards Koopie Koo. She stood by Vivian's motionless body, looking down on it in shock.
"VIVIAN!" Jimmy shouted!
"Oh dear..." Ms. Mowz reacted, visibly disturbed.
The small, reindeer pirate races through the crowd, and right to Vivian's side.
"Uh, hey there!" Doopliss shouted. "That's-"
"Don't worry." interrupted Zoro, as he stood alongside a newly liberated Link. "That man is Tony Tony Chopper. He is a doctor."
The group watched as the small reindeer man crouched down by Vivian's side. They slowly began to form a circle around the two, curious and worried. Chopper reached into his backpack and pulled out a stethoscope, nimbly putting it on his head, and placing the device over multiple points of Vivian's body. He repeated the process over and over, beginning to sweat from the tension. Then, dropping the scope, he placed his hoof gently on her hand, and stopped. There he waited.. silently... for a very important answer.
"Is... is she..." Koops was unable to finish his unspeakable sentence. Koopie Koo hugged him, in an attempt to seek comfort in a very bleak place.
"Hm?!" Chopper shouted suddenly. Everyone present jumped.
"What-what's happened?!" Jimmy asked impatiently.
"Just now, I felt it. Her pulse. She is still alive!"
The group let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness for that." Marie said. "But, will someone here PLEASE explain what in the world is going on here?"
Mac stepped forth. He appeared somewhat beaten, but strong and still.
Ms Mowz noticed him, and chuckled. "Well if that's not the most implausibly strong boy I have seen in a while..."
"There was a fight here. Beldam and Vivian fought one another. I saw it. Beldam switched different forms too. She was that lady there!" Mac pointed to Koopie Koo.
"Me?" she replied, dumbfounded.
"And then she was a tall dark woman with long hair, with hand-sprouting flowers." Mac continued.
"Robin?" Zoro asked. He looked around the room, attempting to see her.
"Oy." he stated. "Where is Robin?"
"?!" Sanji frantically looked around. He became increasingly worried, not being able to spot her within the crowd of nearly 20. "ROBIN-CWAN?!"
"Mac, was this woman named Robin the last form Beldam used?" asked a newly freed Princess Peach.
"Yes." Mac said,
Princess Peach looked around, then sighed. "...is it possible Beldam, still possessing Robin, managed to escape?"
"What?! ROBIN-CWAN, where are you?!" Sanji cried out frantically.
"Calm down." Zoro said flatly. "What she said is probably correct. That witch managed to keep one of her victims and escape."
"Make that two." Jimmy said, looking around. "Eddy's Brother is also missing."
"No, three!" Punio added in. "Rolf is also gone!"
"No, not him." Mac said suddenly. "Beldam confirmed that Rolf not kidnapped, just missing."
"Well how am I supposed to know that?" Punio asked, rubbing his forehead with his antenna. "It's pretty hard to keep track of where everyone is."
"So, Mac, did you and Vivian come here on your own?" asked Usopp.
"No." replied Mac. "We came in a team... consisting of... Double D, Eddy, Goombella, Goombirro, Bloo, Vivian, Luffy, Nami, and myself."
"WHAAAAT?!" Sanji cried. "Nami is here too? Where is she now?!"
"I don't know!" Mac shouted. "I got separated from the others early on."
Sanji muttered quietly what sounded like a curse. "I'm going to find Nami and make sure she is is safe. Then I will hunt down that evil group and save Robin!"
He suddenly began to race away, towards the doors, startling everyone present.
"NAMI-SWAN, ROBIN-CWAN, I'm coming to save YOOOOOOU!"
"We'd do well to catch up with that idiot." Zoro sighed, looking on.
Chopper looked up. He got to his feet, and quickly transformed into his human point. "Someone help me carry this woman." he stated, gesturing to Vivian.
"On it!" Doopliss said. He glanced at Chopper, and studied him for a brief moment, before transforming his figure to mirror that of the human-reindeer.
"Whoaaaaaaaa... coooooool." Chopper said, stars twinkling in his eyes.
At that exact moment, Double D flung himself backwards. The laser from Keaton fired towards him. Double D leaned back, allowing the laser to miss him by an inch. It shot back behind him, towards the wall. It then ricocheted off of it, and bounced upwards onto the ceiling, then the opposite wall.
It was within this moment that he stood boldy in his preparation. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him, in an X shape. With the palms of his hands facing him, Double D spread out his 10 fingers to form a fan shape. By this point, the laser was on it's way back to him in a downward angle, approaching fast.
"What are you planning now?" King asked.
Double D opened his eyes, took a step towards the laser, held his hands forth, and shouted.
"BURNING WALL!"
A small barrier formed in front of Double D, made of fire. The laser struck this wall, making a loud screeching sound.
"WHAT?!" asked King, surprised.
Double D's wall deflected the beam, which was redirected strait upwards. Keaton, not having expected the attack, was unable to react. The beam hit his mechanical arm, causing it to explode on impact, sending bits and fragments of metal all over the room. A surge of electricity surrounded him as his machinery went haywire, causing the biological half of his body to shout in pain and shock.
"NOW!" Nami sudden shouted from within the cage. She stood forth, holding her Clima-Tact weapon at the ready. Electric sparks formed from it's end, as she held the long blue rod at the ready. She held it towards the injured Keaton, who this point was struggling to stay in the air.
"THUNDERBOLT LANCE TEMPO!" shouted Nami, initiating her attack. A single, linear, direct bolt of lighting shot forth from her weapon, and struck Keaton. The attack pierced right through his body, as if a lance, and proceeded through him until it crashed at the opposite end of the room.
Keaton grunted in pain softly, before his eyes shut, and the sound of the machines in his body powered down. He fell from the air, crashing onto the ground with a metallic thud, amidst a collection of debris and shrapnel that broke from his body. Here he lay, knocked out: soundly defeated.
King growled. "Why you..."
He looked over to his left, witnessing the result of a final punch having been delivered to Bremen. Luffy stood above him, boldy and confidently, and nearby, the large chicken lay on the ground, still twitching from the fall.
"You really ought to pay more attention." Double D remarked. King looked down, just in time to see Double D: the sock-hat's fingers pointed at him.
"FLAME-THROWER!"
A burst of fire shot towards King. The man gasped at first, before jumping backwards, off the roof of the cage, and snapping his fingers.
Upon this command, Bremen's steed, Sheldon, got up from where it lay on the ground. It jumped forth, flapping it wings as it flew. To Bremen's horror, the bird threw itself right in the path of the fire attack, protecting King. Sheldon shouted a terrible, painful cry as it was burnt, startling Double D to the point where he ceased his attack. Highly burnt, Sheldon fell from the air, landing on it's back, black feathers and soot flying around the room. The bird landed right next to the cage, startling Nami and Eddy, particularly the latter who nearly jumped out of his shirt.
"SHEEEEELDON!!!" Bremen shouted in terror, unable to get up due to his beating.
Luffy growled, an expression of rage. He clenched his fists and looked at the burnt bird, which was breathing heavily, unable to move and barely alive.
"How could you do this... to your... team mates...?" he asked.
King ignored this question, as he backflipped in the air and landed on the ground.
"How cowardly..." Double D remarked, looking at King quite angrily.
Nami watched, both of her hands on her mouth, dropping the Clima-Tact. She had nearly dropped to her knees.
Eddy also watched, chuckling very nervously, and glanced to the burnt giant bird. "Heh... heh heh... fried chicken?"
Double D held up his arm, an expression of undeterred seriousness on his face. "Not now, Eddy."
Eddy looked down. "I'm just... trying to lighten the mood a little."
Double D returned his focus to King. King took a step backwards, appearing terrified. He appeared to be looking around, possible for more options by this point.
"Give up." Double D said. "With that beast falling, you've run out of minions to shield yourself with. Nobody else here is able to protect you anymore."
King appeared even more distressed, grabbing his head and shaking a little.
"Take it off." Double D added. "That mask. I want to know what the face of the puppeteer behind the strings of this looks like."
King calmed down a bit, and stopping shaking. He looked back up to the sock-hatted man. Still holding onto his head, King approached.
"Who am I?" he asked. "...maybe you should know what you're up against. I have nothing to lose by showing you."
King grasped the edges of his mask carefully. With slow precision, he began to undo the threats that held it together, in the end taking off a string. He let it drop to the floor. With the mask loosened up, King pulled it upwards, revealing his chin, then his mouth, small nose... and then, the revelation of his eyes and forehead, as the mask came off.
All who watched went dead silent. For a brief moment, nobody was able to say anything, out of sheer disbelief at the situation at hand. King awaited their response as he carelessly let the mask drop to the floor quietly. A strong, but familiar grin formed on his face. It was a conniving grin, and evil grin, a greedy grin that lust for power... it was Eddy's grin.
"...Eddy?" Double D asked quietly.
"ME?!" asked Eddy from within the cage. "But that can't be me! I'M me!"
"...no." Double D said. "King's face... it appears more mature. It looks like Eddy, as he would appear as an adult. But..."
'BINGO!" King shouted. "It's me! The one you remember as Eddy! Of course, I abandoned that name years ago! Now I am King! I AM KING!!"
His voice echoed throughout the room for what felt like minutes.
Eddy was unable to say anything. He was so shocked by which he saw, that he was unable to say anything.
"Then Keaton and Bremen are...?!" Double D asked, stopping himself when coming to the realization. He looked over at the two others. Their masks were only partially torn, but only now did it become obvious, judging by their head structures, that Bremen was an adult Ed, and Keaton was a cyborg of Double D. At once, he fell to his knees.
King smirked, suddenly realizing that he had an advantage once again. "Yes! YES, it's us! Don't you see it! They may not act exactly the same, but low and behold, this is US! WE are the leaders of UPCO! We are here to steal the fourth relic! And we, my friends, are here to take this world!"
His words echoed in the room in a ghastly manner, like a ghost's would.
"In fact..." King began... "I remember this day. This is the day my new life as King began... it was the day when my future self arrived and began setting the events into motion that would make me who I am today!"
Double D and Eddy still stared, speechless.
"Double D... you said earlier that I was out of minions to shield myself with. That is not true. Elsewhere in this temple, Beldam and witch and Dimentio the jester still walk."
"?!..."
Beldam walked further along, injured. She held Dimentio, still unconscious from his last battle, dragging him along as the two attempted to escape deep into the confines of the temple of time. She sighed, clearly frustrated by the situation.
"Honestly, what a loss." She stated in Robin's voice.
Beldam looked down to see Dimentio in her arms, held like a doll.
"We lost both of our Crystal Stars. And I lost all but one of my collected bodies."
The Medallion of Life rattled a bit, hanging from the neck of Nico Robin still.
"...and even so..."
Beldam looked up as she walked. A big smile appeared on her face.
"...I am overcome with joy. We have succeeded in what we truly needed to do."
"You have also made one final mistake, Double D." King said. "You assumed me to be powerless. And I assure you, I do have... one power. I just hate to get my hands dirty. That's not a good image for a king, you know."
Double D grunted, looking towards future Eddy.
King paused for a moment, then looked at his younger self. Eddy stood still in the cage, terrified beyond belief, hiding behind Nami.
"H-hey, don't do that!" Nami shouted, somewhat agitated.
"She's right, Eddy." said King, as he approached the cage. He placed his right hand through the bars, and touched Eddy's shoulder. "If you're going to act like that... I'll just have to SHOW YOU how to be brave!!"
King places the palm of his hand to Eddy's forehead, and in a quick puff of smoke, Eddy vanished from sight. Nami, who was just nearby, shrieked in terror. Double D jumped in surprise, and Luffy remained still, watching from the sidelines.
Double D became hysterical. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO-"
"For the final time, I set the events into motion, Double Dork." replied King. "And now that everything I needed to get done is done, I decree that every one of you intruders leave my temple of time at ONCE!"
Double D prepared to attack. "Why you-!"
But by then it was too late. King snapped his finger, and in an instant, everything began to glow brightly. Double D was forced to shield his eyes. Screams from Nami and Luffy sounded in the room. A deafening wind could be heard screaming, drowning out all other sound. Double D covered his ears, though it was useless-the feeling kept intensifying-further and further until...
"AAAH!!" Double D shouted. As he opened his eyes, he saw something completely different. A cityscape, of old architecture. The street he was on was familiar. It was barely night... the building behind him was familiar: it was the Palace of Westminster, home of Big Ben. Double D was back in London. It was left just as he recalled it before: even the Ed-Mobile was parked right outside where they had left it.
And he wasn't alone. Nearby him stood Luffy and Nami. Further away stood Goombella and her team, looking around in all directions, just as confused as he was. Nearby them also stood Mac and the collective group of liberated kidnapping victims, all looking around the environment.
Big Ben tolled. It was 6 in the morning.
Author's Note: And thus this London Arc comes to an end. It seems like a good victory at first: they recovered the crystal stars, and found out who Bremen, Keaton, and King are. But Eddy is missing! So is his brother, for that matter. Given the full scope of this situation, what will they do?