Author's Note - You can thank Jewels401 and ButterPie for the posting of this chapter! Many thanks to these two as well as megaME for their reviews! Chapter 25 is written and waiting, and it is the first chapter in a while i have been very happy with. For it's release, i am asking for three reviews besides megaME! Let's see if you all earn the last two chapters before the weekend is over! Now, i have to go and write the final chapter.
Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or any of the other fandoms from which names, places, abilities, or references are taken! Imaginary points to anyone who catches said references throughout the story and PM's them to me. Dunno if you'll get anything real, but i give sneak peaks and deleted scenes to my repeated reviewers, so it isn't unthinkable.
Chapter 24 - The Day Three Gods Fell
Ace stepped forward slowly, reaching for the statue. The moment he stepped across the first ring of stone, he stumbled back. In the air before him, a man stood. The man was nearly as tall as the statue, and would have stood even with Whitebeard. He had wings like Callan in his angel form, tucked neatly behind him. In his hand, he carried a staff with a thin blade running down both sides, almost to his hand.
"Monkey D. Ace. You have come here to bring chaos to this world were only I have maintained order!" The giant man swung the bladed staff at the young pirate, only for Ace to stop it with a haki coated arm. The force of the impact slid him across the ground several feet before he came to a stop. He ducked and twisted his arm and body, sending the blade over his head as he ran forward, driving one haki armored fist into the man's knee.
"What is your name? You are the first brother, aren't you? You're the one working the government like puppets! Having them slaughter innocent people because of their birth!" Ace growled and crossed his arms as he was hit with another vicious swing from the staff. The downward strike was enough to crack the stones beneath the pirate's feet.
"I am Aegiel! I brought the deaths of those who needed to die for the peace of the world! Those who defy my absolute justice must be eliminated!" He roared, blocking another attempted attack with the blunt end of his staff. "Even now, my five servants are below, bringing justice to your allies!"
Ace rolled with the next blow, driving the blade of the staff into the stone, then sprinting up the shaft to bring both fists down on his enemy's head, followed by a powerful kick under the chin. The two blows dazed the first brother as Ace leaped back to the ground with the grace of a cat.
"You wouldn't know justice if it bit you." The pirate captain straightened and stepped forward, only for the giant man to laugh.
"You believe any pirate is truly good? Then fight the darkness that was within this one!" Aegiel slammed the butt of his staff into the ground, and a figure rose up before the pirates. It had a black bandana wrapped around it's head, and three swords. One clenched in it's teeth. The eyes that should have been green were only a dull red.
"Zoro?" Ace stepped back, watching the mindless grin of the swordsman.
"A phantom of a demon I had the pleasure of removing from this world. His spirit and body are beyond my grasp, but his blood lust was mine to claim. This is what lived within him, and he was your father's best friend! Now do you see that I am justice?!" The giant man slammed his staff again, and the phantom of Zoro ran at Ace, blades raised.
Musei slid in front of his captain in time to block the first strike and push the stunned man back to the others. He stepped back and then went on the offensive. Within moments, he knew he would never overcome this man. Even in death, Roronoa Zoro remained the greatest swordsman in the world.
"Reidai! Shodai! I need you!" Rachel shouted at the two men beside her. The brothers looked at each other, and then turned to the crowd around them. In a flash, they had grabbed a man and dragged him into the outer circle, throwing him on the ground in front of their partner.
"It was an honor meeting you in this form, Rachel. Even if we can not speak, we'll always be able to hear you. Never forget, we're your nakama too." Shodai raised his boot and crushed the skull of the man who had transformed the weapons. As his blood washed the ground, the two men and the single woman vanished, replaced by two swords and a scythe.
Rachel grabbed her blades, and with Roger at her side, ran to Musei's aid. The silent swordsman stumbled back with a deep cut across his dominant arm just in time for the pair to take his place. Rachel and Roger, three blades between them, could stand against the phantom. Slowly, they began pushing him back.
"His soul and body are gone... This is only an imitation, and that means his swords are imitations too. Reidai, don't you lose to a ghost of your brother!" Rachel grinned as she let one of the swordsman's strikes get past her guard, stepping into the blow instead of away. The blade pierced her right arm, but with her left and the opening it bought her, she brought Reidai Kitetsu down, breaking the phantom of Sandai and cleaving through the man's neck.
Zoro's body crumbled before them, dissolving into ash as the red glow of his eyes faded away. Roger caught the wounded woman as she stumbled, lowering her to the ground gently before taking up her swords. He clenched his own blade in his teeth, and then turned to face the first brother.
"You think you can simply take up the blades of your friend, and fight like a demon? I will bring justice to you as well!" Aegiel lifted the staff and spun it, bringing it down on the red haired man, only to have it cut in two by the sword in his teeth.
"They may not fight for me, but they fight for her, and so do I!" Roger turned Shodai in his hand, allowing all three blades to point in one direction, then charged the giant, spinning and forcing his haki into all three blades. He felt all three make contact, and then he felt flesh and bone give way under his attack.
Aegiel cried out in pain, his leg severed below the knee. He stumbled forward, falling to his remaining knee. Roger looked to Ace, who nodded his permission. The cook had earned his victory, and his captain would not take it from him.
"Many great and innocent men, women, and children have lost their lives because of you. You will join them." Roger raised Reidai Kitetsu, and then brought it down. For a moment, the blade stopped, the force of the giant's will too much to overcome. Then the blade's curse proved itself stronger than Aegiel's will.
Roger stumbled back, letting his own sword drop to his hand as he turned back to Rachel. She was smiling proudly at him as he returned her problem children.
"They didn't cut you this time... I guess you grew on them." She accepted them both, and then leaned on him as he helped her and Musei to the edge of the ring. "Why didn't you use your wind ability?" She asked the silent swordsman. He only shrugged. Even at the cost of his life, he would never fight dishonorably against a fellow swordsman.
Ace had stepped forward, cautiously stepping across the first ring of stones and reaching for the second. This time he was ready when the enormous fishman appeared.
The wheel of flames came from above, catching the eyes of Marco and Shanks. They looked at each other and nodded. It was time.
Marco hesitated only another instant before he took a bite of the fruit he held. His face twisted in disgust as he swallowed.
"You just never get used to that taste..." He grimaced at his fellow emperor, then took to the sky. Shanks directed the small armada to move in, hearing the first rumbles of thunder.
The shore was lined with Pacifistas, each one firing explosive blasts of energy from their mouths and hands. Behind them, dozens of strange, deformed zoan users stood in various stages of shape shift, waiting for the pirates.
Yasopp grinned as he fired, a haki coated bullet piercing a weaponized warlord with ease. Then, to his surprise, the robot detonated. Not the explosions that always accompanied their destruction, but an earth shaking blast that rocked the ships near the city and instantly killed several of the nearest zoan users. He looked at the way they were spread out. They don't want them setting each other off! He shouted the news down to Benn, who nodded and went to deliver the information to the captain.
Shanks listens to his first mate, then signals for Marco to come down.
"The Pacifista are spaced out so much because they are unstable. When they are destroyed, they explode like a bomb, and they could set each other off. Drive them together, and we may be able to end this with one bullet." The red haired pirate explains the the man ringed in flames. Marco nods and launches himself for the edge of the battlefield, drawing up the power of the tremor fruit and slamming his fist into the air. He feels the air shift around him, gravity shaking as if it no longer knows which way to pull him, then he sees the men and machines stumbling on the land.
He turns in the air and sends a blast of fire to the ground, causing the marines gathered there to move away from the edge of the field, driving the robotic soldiers with them.
On the other side of Mariejois, The storm is reaching its peak, blasts of lightning tearing open the sky every few seconds as the rain pours down around them. Sabo stands at the head of his ship, a black coat over his shoulders, his hat on his head, and his steel pipe staff in the crook of his arm as he watches the shore. Zoan users of many varieties are gathering, careful to keep out of the reach of the surging sea water.
Inside the city, in the deepest and most well protected room in the World Government's domain, five men fell to the ground, dead. Their old bodies unable to survive the vacuum of their will leaving them. Their last orders had already been issued over the Den Den Mushi in the middle of the group. The Pacifistas and marines would fight to their last breaths to destroy the pirates and revolutionaries.
The World Nobles had already given up trying to escape. They had armed their slaves with whatever they could find in their kitchens and cowered together behind their possessions. Their slaves only waited. They had heard the stories. Sabo the Revolutionary was infamous for how he dealt with slavers. Until his men arrived, they would play human shield.
Atop the Red Line, Ace faced a creature that appeared part man and part Sea King. It's scaled body was a deep red, with spiked ridges down it's back. Each hand was clawed, and in one he carried a trident.
"You are the second brother, then. You gave the world Haki, and drove men to be loyal to none but themselves." Ace caught the middle prong of the trident and pushed back the fishman with all the strength in his arms, leaping to the side to avoid the second strike.
"I am Basilias. I gave balance to a world that would have been ruled over by Aegiel's iron fist!" The second brother swept the back of his weapon across the ground, tripping the pirate. He spun the staff around his hand and brought the points down. A crack rang out, and two of the prongs dug into the ground on each side of the pirate. The third had been broken by a well timed bullet from the sniper, the shattered shaft of the middle prong touching Ace's chest.
"Nice save, Steel." Ace swung a kick at the staff of the weapon, knocking it loose and allowing him to roll to his feet.
"You! Your father was one of mine until he met the man with the Straw Hat! You know what greatness he achieved with my will driving him! Without it, he would have died, and you would never have lived! You owe me your life, son of Mihawk!" Basilias threw the trident at the sniper like a spear.
Steel fired two shots to try and stop or deflect the throw, but it was no use. It was too heavy and too fast. Cora dragged him out of the way in time for the trident's two remaining prongs to bury in the chests of two men around the outer ring.
"Steel, do you have a knife?" The musician asked him quietly. He nodded and pulled two short blades from his rifle's stock, handing them to her. "Wait till I get close." With that, she ran toward the giant fishman, weaving erratically as she circled him. When she had drawn close enough, she lunged at him.
The second brother spun, lashing out at the small girl with a haki coated kick. Just before impact, a bullet tore through his scales and haki. He fell as he turned, and Cora dodged the kick to drive both knives deep into his neck. His eyes bulged out as he struggled to his feet, flinging her away. She rolled to the edge of the ring, but Soul stopped her at the last moment from rolling into the waiting clutches of the men outside.
"If you kill me, then you will condemn your own friends to death! There are consequences to taking my will from this world! Haki goes with me!" Basilias roared at the pirates. Ace nodded to Steel, and the man with the eyes of a hawk fired his last round into the forehead of their enemy.
Below, Shanks growled in pain as a blast of boiling oil from a logia user among the marines cut through his haki. He felt the change around him. Men on both sides had suddenly lost a powerful advantage, but with the marines ranks filled with artificial devil's fruit users, it was the pirates who suffered most.
The pirate emperor drew his sword and shrugged off his coat, leaping to the shore and joining the battle, moving to stand back to back with his first mate, who was swinging his rifle like a club.
"The battle's changed, Captain." Benn grinned as he laid another marine onto the ground with a well placed blow.
"I felt it. My haki's gone. A lot of the men are having a hard time with the ability users among the marines now. We'll need to pull back and let Yasopp detonate the Pacifistas soon, or we may lose more men." Shanks lashed out quickly, not bothering to kill, as long as he could render them unable to fight.
"Marco is still trying to drive them together. This batch don't seem as smart as the originals, but they are packing more fire power." Benn noticed.
"Give the signal." Shanks said, severing the arms of a marine who had come within inches of stabbing his friend. Benn nodded and slid a special round into his rifle before firing it into the sky. It exploded in a small shower of blue sparks. The two pirate crews began drawing back toward their ships, drawing the marines and robots with them.
Marco was getting used to the new power, each of his blows having a more precise effect than the last. He beat his wings hard to stop himself colliding with the cliff face bordering the battle only to have a Pacifista's energy beam catch his arm. The blast spun him out over the water, and without time to heal and rise, the phoenix fell into the churning water of the Grand Line.
As the marines began to cheer, and the rage of the Whitebeard Pirates surged, a spiral of purple flames burst from the water's surface.
"He fell... How can he be alive?!" One of the marines pointed at the rising man, engulfed in flames. Those near the water began wading in hesitantly, only to find they were not rendered powerless. With the death of the second brother, so died his curse upon those who use the powers of the third.
"Phoenix! Shake things up!" Shanks laughed as he jumped to the ladder of the Red Force and began climbing, followed closely by his first mate. Marco allowed his blue flames to finish healing the wound given by the Pacifista, then flew straight to the stone arch that held the Grand Line over the city of Mariejois. He struck the stone with the power of the tremor fruit, and the marines screamed in terror as tons of stone came crashing down on them.
"All yours, Akagami!" Marco shouted as he turned back toward his crew. Shanks signalled the crow's nest, and Yasopp fired into the crowd of robots. Without haki, his bullets did not penetrate the thick armor, but he was one of the greatest snipers on the ocean, and his son had designed his rifle and bullets. Three consecutive shots in the same location punched through, and the explosions began.
Sabo and his men felt the rapid series of detonations that signaled the victory of the Paradise forces. His own men waited only long enough to ensure the entire Red Line would not cave in on them before rushing into the city.
The entire force of Pacifistas had been destroyed, but thousands of marines remained, hundreds with the powers of Vegapunk's experiments. And now the revolutionaries were without Haki.
"I held up my end of the bargain. I've destroyed your brothers. Now, it's your turn to die." Ace faced the third brother now. Upon his contact with the final ring. The statue had come to life. It was the very image of the creature that had shaken his hand in the dark dream when he had bartered for Soul's life, only four times as tall.
"Why? With my eldest brother dead, you will not face execution! With my second brother dead, you will not even face opposition for your title as Pirate King! Why not walk away with your victory? I will have my men here allow you to leave unharmed, if you will only turn away." Golasi spread his arms in a gesture of peace, but his words betrayed his true intentions. He knew he could not stand against the pirates now.
"I got dragged into this to fight for the world, not just myself." Ace stepped forward, but Soul put a hand on his shoulder.
"Allow me, captain." The Reaper stepped forward, spinning his scythe slowly. "Are you ready for that dance, Shinigami?" He whispered to the sleek bladed poll.
"Was dying once not enough for you, foolish human!" Golasi snapped his fingers, and the black creature stalked out of his shadow, quiet as a shadow itself. "My pet will drag you back to the deapths of the earth, and you will never see the next life. I would not have made any bargain for your life had I known your name then. Hunter D. Soul."
Soul watched the creature carefully. The last time, it had attacked him from behind, in a moment of victory when he was armed poorly and had lowered his guard. This time, he would not lose. Without haki, the beasts hide would be vulnerable.
As the panther-like monster pounced at him, he began his dance, the deadly weapon spinning around him with a mind of its own. At times, it would leap from his hands, only to drop precisely back into his waiting grip. The Reaper relaxed as he felt the air hum around him with the perfect grace and speed of his partner.
"As elegant as ever, Shinigami." He smirked and drew a deep breath when he heard the creature's claws push off the ground to launch itself at his back. Without turning to look, he flipped the scythe over his head, allowing the spinning blade to fall on the monster he could not see. He heard it howl in pain as he neatly side stepped it's writhing body and snatched the shaft of his weapon from the air only a heartbeat before it brushed the ground.
With the black monster occupied, Ace launched his attack on the third brother. Without haki, his blows only carried his own strength, but as the Pirate King, that strength was significant. The skeletal man shifted his form only a few times before he gave up on that strategy. He had scattered his abilities through the world, and few remained for him to use.
Soul watched the injured monster coldly as it tried to crawl back to the shadows. This was the monster than had killed his family. This was the reason his life had been torn apart, and although Ace and his crew had put him back together, he would not lose his opportunity to fulfill the mission he had set out for all those years ago.
The Reaper of Souls struck the creature as the Pirate King struck it's master. With the center prong of the second brother's trident clenched in his fingers, Ace drove his fist into Golasi's chest. The last thing the third brother saw was the head of his pet and fondest creation rolling toward his feet.
Around them, the crowds began to draw back. They all held expressions of fear and confusion, as if they had suddenly woke from a nightmare that had lasted their entire lives, and were not sure how to deal with reality. There was a clatter as tools and supplies fell to the ground around the shipwright.
"That's the end... The Devil's Fruit are gone." Soul sighed. As much as he had once complained, he had grown to enjoy his ability, and he had never mastered his second fruit. Down below, Marco saw the red flames surrounding him flicker out. He raised his arms, but could not summon blue flames. Across the sea, Chopper attempted to shift into his most human form, only to find himself frozen in the small hybrid form he favored. In East Blue, Robin was startled when the hand that had been idly holding her coffee cup suddenly vanished in a cloud of flower petals.
And at the Twin Capes of Reverse Mountain, a grinning pile of bones and the lamenting cries of a whale were all that remained of the Soul King, Brook.
With the marine's rendered powerless, Sabo and his forces took the city in hours. Hundreds of freed slaves were brought to the shore and their shackles struck off. They stood in the sand as the thick clouds began to clear and the first rays of sunlight shown down on free men.
Marco and Shanks were traveling through to the New World to meet with the revolutionaries, their battle done.
The bodies of the World Nobles and Five Elders were hung above the city for all to see. The war was over.
Without the powers of Haki or Devil's Fruit, the battle was decided by Sabo's storm, which tore apart the marine fleet easily. Those on land faced armed pirate and revolutionary ship cannons and men with swords, knives, and guns. With the hanging of their leaders, they surrendered to the revolutionaries.
"Is the ship back yet?" Shanks asked the revolutionary leader. Sabo shook his head and looked toward the horizon.
"It will be a while yet. We'll have to keep them on our ships until it arrives. They'll be coming down soon, we should be waiting for them. And we can actually pass through the city now!" Sabo directed their small fleet of ships to pass through the gateway city into Paradise.
High above them, the Straw Hat Pirates had regathered near the edge of the Red Line. The twins and Callan had found them easily, with the navigator on their side. Soul had passed each of them one of his latest devices from the pile of junk surrounding his feet. Callan had his wings extended when the third brother had fallen, and now his wings would no longer shrink. The twins were grumpy that they had to walk now.
Soul's device consisted of a large, durable sheet, and a set of jet dials. With it's help, they could fall safely to the ocean below, where their allies would be waiting to fish them out. Despite his wings, Callan decided to take one as well. No need to tire himself out for no reason. They picked through Soul's possessions, taking what they considered necessary, and leaving the rest for the city dwellers.
Cora had fetched her knives, now laying about the cell with the three bodies. With all six of them in their proper place, she joined her nakama for the trip down.
Their fall took a little over half an hour before they splashed into the water inside a ring of familiar ships. Within fifteen minutes, all ten pirates were safely on board the Oncoming Storm of the revolutionaries.
"Your ship is on it's way. We only sent out the message when you sent confirmation you had reached the edge of the North Pole." Sabo explained. "You did it, then?"
"Yes. Mostly. There is still one last matter to be taken care of... But the three brothers are dead. The government and marines?" Ace asked.
"Fallen. I've sent word to every country we had a foot hold in that each nation should elect a representative to send to this place. Instead of five men who have never known the people they rule, the people will be able to rule themselves by choosing their leaders." Sabo heared a cannon and turned his head, seeing the Legacy Storm approaching, Koala grinning at him on deck where she had fired the cannon into the ocean. "Looks like your ride is here. They made excellent time."
"Then we'll be making our way to East Blue now. One Coup de Burst will take us across the Calm Belt, and from their it is an easy trip. Sabo, I can never repay you for the help you have given me. Thank you." Ace shook the man's hand. "I'll see you in Loguetown..."
"We'll all be there for you, Ace. But... The government won't be there to execute you. What are you going to do? None of us will do it, no matter the reason." Sabo asked. Ace gave him a half smile that quickly turned into a grin that reminded him of his brothers.
"Let me worry about that." The pirate went to say goodbye to Shanks and Marco and their crews, then boarded his own ship. Rachel's crew would meet them at Loguetown, where they had agreed to part ways.
With their mission completed, they set sail for home, where Nami, Robin, Dragon, and Garp waited to see them.
Despite the tension at the back of the minds of those who knew the final piece of the plan, the reunion was a happy one.
Olivia and Kuina met their grandfather for the first time. Although both their mother and Dragon had mentioned the man before, they had never met the marine turned revolutionary known as Kuzan before. Robin explained the contents of the book they had found, since they had never been able to retrieve her message in Loguetown.
The book had explained the ritual of the island, feeding the Zoan Fruits to sacrifices, then feeding the sacrifices to their land dwelling Sea King creatures in order to create dragons. In most cases, it failed, but occasionally they would have success, and one of them would be chosen to tame it. That is how the small kingdom had been destroyed. A man had tried to tame a dragon, and the dragon had won. The book also detailed the brother who had given them the Devil's Fruit a millennium ago, and the three brothers he was rumored to have. From there, Robin and Dragon had pieced together the story of the four brothers and the void century.
Ace was walking through his home, lost in thought. He had spent seventeen years of his life here, and less than two away, but still it felt like a lifetime. He found his room just how he had left it, sitting on his bed and looking around. There was his training sword and staff from when his grandfather had taught him to use them. He found drawing he had made of his town back when he was plotting pranks upon the village. He found a drawing of Kuina wearing his hat, that he had drawn the night before he left home. On the table by his bed, a book about the Grand Line that he had borrowed from Robin.
"Ace... Is it true?" His mother stood in the door way, looking sadly at the man who so resembled his father. He looked up at her and nodded slowly, standing and hugging her tightly before holding her away and smiling. He had outgrown her while he was gone, now standing a few inches past her orange hair.
"I have to. But don't worry, Mom. I'm not scared. I'm going to see Dad." Ace lifted the hat off his head and looked at it for a few minutes before replacing it on his black hair. "Let's go downstairs. I want to see our last bounty posters!"
The Straw Hat Pirates gathered in the living room of Nami's home with ten posters spread out on the table. They had been issued not long after they had entered the New World, but they had never had the chance to find them and look at them.
Straw Hat Ace had a bounty of 988,000,000 beli. His picture showed him standing on the figurehead of the Legacy Storm, with one hand on his hat, and one hand pointing forward, a determined grin on his face.
Soul the Reaper was wanted for 910,000,000 beli. He was depicted with his eyes closed, surrounded by marines, his scythe dancing around him, barely touching his hands as he guided it from target to target.
Akagami Roger held a price of 793,000,000 beli. The picture was of him leaning on his sword as he stirred something in a skillet. He was smiling happily and he had enough rough hair on his face to be nearly identical to his father at that moment.
Musei the Silent Swordsman, although he had only technically joined their crew at Raftel, held an impressive bounty from his time before becoming a Warlord. 780,000,000 beli. He was shown with one eyebrow raised, looking at the camera. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his hair was just barely long enough to pull back into his ponytail.
Eagle Eye Steel had been given a bounty of 715,000,000 beli for the combination of serving the Pirate King, being the son of a former Warlord, for killing the first mate of an emperor, and for being a remarkably deadly sniper. His picture was of him glaring at the camera as he reached for his rifle.
Callan the Angel held the second smallest bounty of the crew at 455,000,000 beli. His picture showed him as he had just touched down, wings still outstretched and legs bent, his hair a mess from the wind.
The Demon Twins were sitting side by side in their deck chairs, Kuina looking at a map, while Olivia was asleep. The picture had been taken by an independent reporter they had allowed to come on board after their victory at Mariejois. Their bounty read 520,000,000 each. The same as their father.
Trafalgar Cora, with the lowest bounty of 390,000,000 beli, was shown in battle, throwing three knives from on hand, while neatly flipping over the other. Her hair was still short, and her dark eyes were focused on whatever target she had been aiming at.
Lastly, although she was not a member of their crew, Rachel's poster had been brought out with a bounty of 793,000,000 to match Roger. It showed her with the two Kitetsu blades and a green bandana over her ashy blonde hair.
The total bounty of the nine crew members stood at 6,071,000,000 beli. Nearly three times what the original Straw Hat Pirates had been worth. All thoroughly proud and satisfied with their achievement, they hung their final bounties in the circular meeting room of the Legacy Storm in the next open panel.
It came time to depart, and the crew said farewell to the men and women standing on the dock. In a week's time, they would meet again in the town of beginnings.
Those of you who read Straw Hat Legacy may be surprised that Brook died here, but the final chapter of that story was never meant to be the real ending of this story, just a possible ending, showing the reunion of the Straw Hat Crew. So fair warning, the order and cause of deaths in that chapter do not acurately predict who, when, or how people will die in this story. Sorry for the confusion.
Read and Review if you want the next chapter! I'm expecting three this time, cause it is one of my favorites!