Onigashima
Neo sat off in the corner of the room. Reaching her toes she took a few minutes to stretch out her body. Everyone else was expressing their own concerns, Kiku was worried about Luffy, some of the crew were talking about how hard it was going to be to defeat two emperors, and Inuarashi was on a call with Nekomamushi. For some reason the large cat mink was running late. But he and the others had finally arrived and were up the waterfall. It would be only a matter of time before they connected.
Her mind then drifted to three days ago when she and Law visited the Straw Hat crew.
Neo called in some cloud cover as she lifted herself and Law into the air. A heavy sigh passed over her lips. "I absolutely hate this."
"I know. But you're doing very well." Law squeezed her shoulder.
Neo nodded. Yesterday they had spent an hour and a half at Mao's. So far it was the longest she had spent away from Cora. She hated every second of it. Today she wanted to go check on the Straw Hats and heal them before the war. Law thought it would be best for them to leave Cora in the sub while they were gone. She reluctantly agreed. Once she had pealed away from their sleeping baby, it took her a while to locate where Luffy was. But once she located his rubber body she headed in that direction.
A few minutes later they landed in the woods where the Straw Hat crew were. Her concerns over Cora remained, but upon the sight of Luffy she smiled and ran to him. "Luffy!"
"Neo!" Luffy held out hims arms.
Neo jumped into his embrace without a second thought. She breathed in his scent, noting the freshness about him. He probably had a bath recently. She pulled back enough to glance over him. A few new scars peppered his skin but other than that he looked in good shape, maybe a few more muscles. Before she even spoke she called for her solar crystal and started healing them all. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt in the prison?"
Luffy laughed. "I'm fine, Neo. That prison was nothing I couldn't handle. I even made some new friends to fight in the war."
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Neo hugged him again. "I was so worried about you!"
"Ah, Neo, my sweet fairy!" Sanji spun in placed. "I'm so happy to see you!" He's flirtations vanished upon noticing a certain missing baby. "Hold on. Where's Cora?"
Neo whimpered. A gloomy cloud covered her as she slumped against Luffy.
Luffy blinked in confusion but held her up right.
"Way to go, idiot!" Nami slapped Sanji on the back of his head.
"Neo's been working on getting use to being away from Cora," Law explained.
Robin nodded. "That is a good idea."
"Why is that?" Chopper asked.
"Because if she doesn't get use to being away from her baby before the war then she'll be distracted while fighting." Usopp crossed his arms with a nod. "A very wise choice indeed."
"I see." Chopper looked at Neo. "Still, is she going to be okay?"
"She'll be fine. Yesterday we went to see Mao for an hour and a half," Law said.
They had spent a little over two hours with the Straw Hats before Neo rushed them back to Cora. Now Neo wondered if it would be enough. Would she be able to focus on fighting? She closed her eyes. It had to be. She would make it enough. She wasn't going to lose any of her family and friends.
Just then the island they were headed for, and all the man made devil fruit users, tapped her senses.
"We've arrived!" Jean Bark then announced.
Neo exhaled and stood. She traced along the side of the island as they moved towards the back of it. She wanted to feel out where all of their friends and allies were, but was only about to find Luffy, the minks, and the elementals. None of them had made it to Kaido yet. While that was a good sign, she wondered how much trouble they had ran into along the way. All she knew for sure was Luffy wouldn't let anyone stand in his way in getting to the emperor.
"Ready?" Law's voice broke through her thoughts. She watched him step closer to the samurai.
"We are." They all nodded.
"Be careful out there," Neo said looking over them.
"We will, Lady Neo." Kiku smiled with a nod. "Thank you for all your help."
"Jean Bart, make sure you get as close to the island as you can," Neo said into the voice pipe.
"Anything you say, Captain. This is easy with your help." Jean Bart's voice was filled with pride as she helped guide the sub past all the massive whirlpools.
"Once we breach the surface, we're only going to have one chance. Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, you guys ready?" Law turned to the trio and the elementals Neo picked out to guard them.
"Aye Aye, Captain!" The trio nodded, ever ready to make up for getting caught before.
Neo narrowed her brow at them. "Don't you three go overboard. You getting caught wasn't your fault. It was all Kanjuro's."
"We'll be fine." Shachi cracked his knuckles then patted the sword that hung at his side.
Neo's eyes fell to it. Both he and Penguin were wearing swords, swords made from the crystals they had found. She felt better when they accepted her suggestion in using them instead of their regular ones. The crystals ones wouldn't be broken. They had better defense that way. Her thoughts were once again broken as snow filtered into her mind. "Hm? It's snowing. Too bad we can play in it."
"Focus, love."
"Right!" Neo took a deep breath. She walked over to the corner where she had left her own crystal sword. Picking it up she strapped it to her body. For her own sword she made it as heavy and long as Law's was. "I'm ready for this! Let's go!"
Law opened the door. A cold wind rushed inside. Then the small group that was heading to the island stepped out onto the deck.
"Room. Shambles." In a blink of the eye, they land on the island, staring up the stairs that led to two entrances. Iron mixed in with the smell of rain and snow. "I bet my life the upper one leads to Kaido."
"I wouldn't be surprised one bit." Neo glanced up to the top of the skull shaped castle. "I could fly us up there with ease, but I'd rather do it the human way and take out as many of Kaido's men as possible."
"Agreed." Law nodded. "The less forces we have to deal with the better. Let's get going."
Neo glanced at Inuarashi.
"Go on ahead." The mink waved. "We're going to wait for that rotten cat."
Neo nodded then followed after Law. Dashing through the door they were met by several of Kaido's men. She quickly scanned them. None of them were the upper level fighters. She was thankful for that, though it did make her wonder where in this place those guys were. And who would run into them first.
The battle cries of her favorite trio brought her back to the moment. They were already clashing with the enemy. Law had several divided up. Neo summoned her earth crystals. Snapping out she grabbed multiple of Kaido's forces in vines then slammed them against the walls, floor, and ceilings. Satisfied they were unconscious she gathered up their weapons and melted them down to unusable.
"So you are the elemental royal the world's been talking about."
Neo turned to the man addressing her. He had a boyish face with broad shoulders. Dark hair ran up and down his exposed arms and chest. His hands were larger than a human's with a gray tint to them. Sensing him out, she felt a gorilla inside. "Man made devil fruit. Gorilla type."
The man chuckled. "Very good. You elementals are impressive. But only to a small degree."
Neo tensed. This guy was up to something. The confidence he was giving off was stifling.
The man's grin never left his face as he slipped his hand into his pocket.
Neo wobbled. All her magic vanished upon the pollution stone being revealed.
The man slipped the necklace around his neck then he rushed forward. His large hands clenching into fists. "I think you'll make a nice gift for Kaido."
Neo huffed. Pulling her sword from her back, she waited until he was close. At the last second, she side stepped him and swung the flat side of her sword against his back. The man crashed to the floor.
The man rolled over with a growl. "What was that?! You're suppose to be magic free now!"
Neo rolled her eyes. This guy wasn't the smarted. "Of course I'm magicless now. Magicless but not helpless." She pointed her sword at the man. "Do you really think a guy like Law would let me go into battle with only my magic? And speaking of which. He doesn't take to people attacking me like that. Well, he doesn't like it at all."
"What are you babbling about?!" he demanded.
"This." Neo pointed up as blue film formed around them.
"Never use a pollution stone on my love." Law's voice hissed with venom.
The gorilla man glanced at the Heart captain seconds before he vanished from the room.
Neo felt the man appear outside, over the ocean. She flinched. "That was really harsh. He is a devil fruit user."
Law shrugged. "It's his own fault."
"Well, maybe he'll get rescued." Neo smiled. "He has friends outside. Then so do we."
"What do you mean?" Law asked.
"Nekomamushi is on the island." Neo side stepped a charging man. She whacked him like she did the man before then allowed Law to dispatch of him. "If I'm not mistaken the hot fire bird I feel is Marco."
"Whitebeard's Marco? The Phoenix?" Law asked, warping a few more men.
"Yeah."
"Good. He'll be beneficial."
"Hey, Captain!" Shachi called. He and the others were standing beside a door. "Everyone here has been taken care of!"
"Then let's keep moving on," Neo said. "Luffy's getting closer to the top. I don't want him fighting alone."
The Heart Pirates raced through the doorway. More of Kaido's men came rushing towards them. They slashed through each enemy one by one. The elementals making sure to disable Kaido's forces by making their weapons unusable.
"Hey, Captain, why don't you and Neo move on ahead of us?" Penguin said.
"What?!" Neo's heart jumped.
"We're doing fine here with the elementals to back us up," Penguin said. "You two should get up top before Big Mom and Kaido decide to come to us."
"He's got a point." Shachi clashed swords with another man. They pressed against each other before Shachi slammed his boot into the guy's stomach. His elemental guard pinned the man in place with a large vine. "We'll be fine!"
Bepo roundhouse kicked six guys. "Yeah! We're fine here! You two go ahead."
Law looked at Neo. "It's your call."
Neo exhaled. Her babies had a fire, earth, and wind elemental to watch over them. They were as safe as they could be. If they got into life threatening trouble she would know and come back to them. "Okay. You take care of things here. We're going to- huh?" She paused when she felt the very roots of the island separating from the ocean floor.
"What is it, Neo?" Law asked.
"Is it Straw Hat?" Bepo asked. "Did he already reach the emperors?"
"No, it's not that. Luffy's still on his was up. I think this is something else. Something we had no way of knowing about."
"What are you-" Shachi was cut off when a rumble that vibrated through their shoes and up to the tips of their hair.
Neo tensed, her crystals appearing by her sides.
"What's going on?!" Bepo spread his feet to keep standing.
"The island is being ripped from its roots by clouds. Crap. It's Kaido! I didn't think he could do something like this? Should I stop it?" Neo looked at Law.
Law's eyebrows drew together.
This was definitely not part of the plan. Neo knew she could stop it. But could she keep Kaido from moving the island while fighting against him and Big Mom? With normal people she had no doubt she could. With emperors? She had no clue. And there was no way she was going to leave her loved ones alone to face two emperors.
"Why would Kaido be moving the island anyway?" Penguin asked.
"Well, he's moving closer to Wano." Neo tracked the movements of the island. "Maybe he wants to join them together?"
"Or maybe he wants to drop the whole island onto Wano," Shachi said.
"Why would he-" Neo clamped her mouth shut. A familiar feeling ran through her. Doflamingo had trapped the whole island of Dressrosa in his birdcage. Was Kaido trying the same thing? No. That couldn't be it. Onigashima was too small to kill everyone on Wano. But he could still kill several people if he dropped it in a populated area.
"No," Law then said. "It doesn't matter. We keep going." He looked at the elementals and his subordinates. "You six keep working on disarming the enemy forces. We're moving on ahead."
The six nodded.
Neo followed Law into the next room. On the opposite side of the room was a set of staircases. That's where they needed to go. About sixty men stood between them and it. Law formed his Room. Slice after slice the enemies' bodies were separated. Neo gathered their weapons while pinning the body pieces to the walls, floor, and ceiling.
"You little punks!" a man said.
"You won't get away with this!" a woman said. "Big Mom and Kaido will win this war!"
The two heart pirates continued on without replying. More people shouted at them, but they didn't listen. Neo melted the weapons as she lifted herself and Law up the stairs in her winds. "How many pollution stones do you think they have?"
"Surely not that many," Law said. "It hasn't been that long since they were revealed to the world."
"That's in our favor at least," Neo said. "Do you think Big Mom or Kaido will have one?"
"I doubt it." They burst into the next room. Men and women cried out as they charged the two invaders. Law formed his Room and started slicing. "They'd rather win a fight on their own merit. Though I can see Big Mom using one afterwards to make an elemental submit to her will."
Neo shivered. She hoped that didn't happen, to her or the others.
Foot by foot the two pirates continued to make their way upwards to their targets. Neo carefully monitored the emperors movements. So far she didn't feel anyone fighting against the two. Big Mom's element partners sat still with the large woman. Kaido moved around some but didn't appear to be heading towards anywhere important.
Then it changed. Neo could sense some of the minks upon the top of the building. "No."
"What?"
"Nekomamushi and Inuarashi have already gotten to the top. They were with the samurai. This isn't good. There's no way they can stop the two emperors on their own."
"Don't worry. We're almost there." Law held up his hand. With a flash of his devil fruit power the current room around them disappeared. When they reappeared they were at the top of the castle.
Luffy, Zoro, Kid, and Killer appeared at the same time.
Neo gave then a quick glance. Despite some minor scratches they looked to be okay. She then turned her attention to the emperors and the bodies behind them. Her heart squeezed. She was right. The samurai and minks were no match for the two emperors. They laid on the ground bloody and beaten. She clenched her fists. It was their turn now. And they would stop the two emperors.
...
Whelp, looks to be it for a while. I'm drawing a big fat blank on how to have Neo fight the emperors. Rewatching WCI arc for ideas. So we'll see if that helps.
