LW: More fighting! This may take a few chapters, just a heads up. Luckily other stuff is also happening this week, hope you all enjoy.
Rubber King and Mirror Master: New World Chaos - The Homing Promise Ship! A Wailing Countdown!
"Well, if that idiot is going to chew through my Black Pearl Rumble Balls, there's nothing I can do" Chopper sighs as he watches Kaos and Robin go hunting for their kid "It's probably better if I stay as Usopp's lookout, less chance of death on my end too" he hums, just as Daruma pops out in front of the Brachio-tank from a hole he'd just dug "Found a target, that little red officer guy, 12 o'clock!"
"You got it, aiming" Usopp calls back from inside the tank, just as Daruma chomps a new burrow, away from the line of fire "Damn it, he's a speedy little bugger ain't he?" the sniper groans, as he and Chopper begin the tank equivalent of a game of whack a mole, in this case, the Fishman making a new hole every time the straw hats managed to aim their cannon on him. The true purpose of the little headache wasn't made apparent until the ground below the Brachio-tank began to rumble, crack, and break under its weight, it seemed Daruma had chewed tunnels directly under the tank, as well as a good portion of the plaza, the weight of the machinery was too much as they collapsed, taking the tank and 2 Straw hats down with it.
"Usopp! Chopper!" Hang on buddies I'll be right over!" Franky shouts as he guns the engine of the Black Rhino, heading straight for the commotion of taunting fishmen, all surrounding the hole Brachio tank fell down. He accidentally did more than that, in that he drove right into the sinkhole, and landed on top of the tank, to his embarrassment, and the shock of the assembled New Fishman Pirates.
"Ok, now I'm SUPER mad. Guys, get out of the tank, Franky's got another trick to show off to you" the cyborg grins as he throws his crewmates to safety, outside of the sinkhole "It's time you fishgoons learned the true meaning of SUPER FREAK, yeah! FRU4, Brachio-tank 5. Transform! Combination…" Franky announces as the 2 vehicles morph and twist before pulling off a Megazord-style transformation, into a Giant Franky Robot!
"Presenting, the one and only: Iron Pirate - General Franky!" Franky announces from the mech's speaker system, as well as performing his usual eccentric poses, to the loud and public amusement of both Usopp, Chopper, and even Luffy, along with the more private amusement of Alvida, Artemis, and Victor.
'I may not have met the mad genius known as Vegapunk, but I did manage to make one of his dreams come true, even if it took me 2 years of trial and error' Franky thinks as he runs through final checks, then leaps into battle "By manipulating the shape memory alloy known as Wapo-metal….. I built this HUGE ASS ROBOT! Ain't it Super?" he asks as he casually bats aside the Fishmen who tried to jump him, thinking General Franky was just a massive tin can as far as defense went "He even comes with his own sword, time to give her a test run!"
Said test was more a deadly game of jump rope, with General Franky spinning around with his sword about a foot from the ground and the Fishmen all having to jump to avoid getting sliced. More impressive was the cannon fire, which came not from the General but from Franky himself, opening the central chest plate of the mech to fire on his enemies with his shoulder cannons.
"That wasn't what I was expecting, but it does the job and it's still kind of cool" Victor chuckles "Guess I should start pulling my weight" he hums before exuding an ash-cloud from his outstretched hands, aiming for a group huddled around a particular Genesis using Fishman: a bulky Stonefish Fishman with burned or smoldering looking fingers, his right hand looked to almost be fused into the 'finger-snap' position "Infernal Style: Burning Ash Cloud!"
"Ok, now you're just stealing my gimmick" Valentina huffs jokingly as she floats down on her umbrella "Given the name, I'm guessing there's more to it than a choking ash cloud, because otherwise that move already has a name"
"It does, I'm more just curious as to whether or not they take the bait. If they don't then, I can at least set it off prematurely with my bow" he says before pulling out the stark white bow he'd arrived with, before flaring his power and watching the weapon morph and transform "Ignite the Starry Skies - Empress Arrow: Styx" he intones as ornate crystalline structures manifest, most notably wing-like protrusions on the upper half. Without even a flinch he draws the bow, nicking his finger and drawing energy from his core via the blood to form the arrow, a shimmering, red/blue almost glassy-looking projectile "Goodbye assholes" he smirks as he lets loose the arrow into the cloud
"Boss, what do we do?" One of the fishmen wheezes in the cloud, his commander grimaces but doesn't answer.
"This is more like a dust cloud or a sandstorm than burning ash, you think the human was bluffing?" a cookie-cutter fishman hums as he flails blindly around
'Unless that's not what he meant by burning ash?' the Stonefish thinks, looking down at his hands. He'd been one of the lucky ones to survive a combat plasmid from Hody's stockpile of Genesis, even if due to the basic and crude refinement process he was unable to move most of his right hand, Incinerate still allowed him to almost spontaneously combust anything within 50ft and line of sight, with a snap of his fingers. Now though, whether through dumb luck or the human bastard targeting him in particular, he was basically powerless if he was right and the burning ash, meant it was highly flammable, or explosive. A suspicion that was basically confirmed when a whistling arrow shot into the ash cloud and struck his armoured skin, and sparked.
KABOOOM!
"Ok, now I'm impressed" Val whistles, grinning widely at her partner's destructive upgrade "You said the ash was Teostra or something?"
"Due to how I gained this power, it seems to be more or less a hybrid of Teostra and Lunastra scale ash. Very volatile under the right circumstances, but stable if left alone" Victor explains "Which is where Styx comes in, as it has a tendency to make things explode when her arrows hit them, a perfect combo move" he chuckles.
"Everyone's having fun kicking these guys' asses, but we really should stop screwing around" Luffy muses, regaining his senses after the awesomeness of Franky's giant robot, and once more returned to approaching Hody so he could beat the ever-loving crap out of him.
"Don't think you can get to the Boss that easily!" Dosen bellows, raising his massive hammer.
"Not without getting past us hei!" Ikaros Much cries, rasiing his 8 spears to peirce the cocky little brat.
Neither Fishman actually managed to hit their target though, Ikaros getting a kick to the chin, while Dosen was struck in the gut by a warhammer.
"Thanks for covering for Mosshead, fucker probably got lost again" Sanji scoffs around his cigarette.
"I think he's busy dealing with that octopus guy actually, but I'll take the compliment" Alvida shrugs, before a series of glyphs running up and down her right forearm glow and her weapon returns to her hand "Oh, tingly. Really need to get used to that feeling" the smooth woman mutters to herself as the hammer once more finds it's place on her shoulder.
"I don't have time for you weaklings. 2nd Gear" Luffy sighs, pumping with just his right arm, before he seems to disappear, only to show up right in front of Hody, having bypassed his men just from the speed boost, and kick him in the face, sending the Shark into the wall once more.
"Damn, Straw Hat's gonna win for sure!"
"Doesn't matter how buff Hody gets, you can't beat what you can't even see"
"We're gonna live!"
The cheers and joy were understandably cut off, when a large shadow appeared on the horizon, that of a ship never seen moving in living memory.
"The Ship of Promise: Noah. But how?" Neptune gasps, as the ship rose and was now pressed against the bubble containing Fishman Island "I don't understand, how is it moving, who's doing this and how? Oh, today really is the end times for our people"he frets and squirms.
"This your cataclysm my dear?" Gengetsu asks "Because I'd say it would definitely do the job of destroying Fishman Island" Shyarly doesn't respond, her pipe dropping from her slack jaw, bouncing of her ample bosom and hitting the floor with a loud clatter.
"Captain, are you ok?!"
"I don't get it, he's juiced up on Energy Steroids and raw Genesis, how was Straw Hat even able to make him flinch, never mind shoot him through the wall?"
The answer was that while Luffy was able to send Hody flying, in terms of actual damage, it was minimal to the roided out Sharkman, as he pulls himself free of the rocks, his expression best described as 'pissed!'
"Oh, he got back up, guess he's tougher than I thought" Luffy hums, checking on everyone else as he scans the battlefield.
"I've had enough! My Fishman Karate will end you!" Hody declares blitzing Luffy and unleashing a palm strike to Luffy's face, appearing to take his head clean off…. Only what it actually did was launch it backwards, at which point his devil fruit kicked in, allowing him to counter with a Gum Gum Bell.
"I'm made of rubber, blunt force doesn't do shit, not that it'd with a weak punch like that. Jinbe hit harder and he didn't need all those drugs" Luffy taunts just before his head snaps back, taking out the Shell Squad Hody ordered to block the attack with minimal effort thanks to the simple application of haki to his headbutt.
That was just the start, as haking up his limbs made blocking Hody's side kick a breeze, as well as allowing Luffy's own spin kick to slam the shark facefirst into the stone floor of the plaza, sending waves of terror through the assembled Fishmen, mostly because it seemed like he wasn't even trying and was still kicking their Boss's ass.
"You little punk. Taste the sting of my Shark Arrows!" Hody bellows as he begins frantically swinging his arms, unleashing a barrage of water bullets, but Luffy just stands there, or at least appears to, with none of the 'arrows' even cutting him, avoiding everything with smooth, almost lazy bobbing and weaving.
"Playtime's over Hordy. Gum-Gum Bullet" Luffy declares before slamming an armament haki-coated fist into centre mass, winding Hody and sending him flying for the 3rd time today.
The joyful atmosphere was interrupted as a shadow covers the plaza, looking up everyone saw the Noah was now directly above them, and beginning to dip. Panic quickly spread through the crowd as they realised that if the Noah was to actually pierce the bubble and collide with Fishman Island, every one of them would be killed.
"What the Hell is that?" Nami gasps, fear welling up inside her.
"The Noah. It shouldn't be here, it's meant to still be in the Fishman District" Jinbe notes with a shiver.
"Well, I guess now is a bad time to point out Shirahoshi won't last long enough to be crushed by the Noah, before she burns out?" Valentina asks, having lept over and stabbed a merman in the neck with her vibrating kunai.
"There's never a good time to tell us that, but no it's no worse than any other time" Jinbe admits with a sigh, he just can't catch a break today.
"Ah shit" Robin looks up as the shadow fell over the area in front of them, but also curious as to her partner's swear.
"Oh my, it would appear the island doesn't have long left. Do you think there's enough of us here to stain the sea's red, even for a little while?" she asks idly
"Unlikely, the Ocean's just too big" Kaos argues, rolling his central eyes, before grimacing "Vander's behind this, I can feel it. I don't know if Shirahoshi felt it when he threw things at her, but I can sense his mark on me, pulsing as it draws things in….such as that ship"
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" THUMP!
"I have a bad feeling that's my problem to deal with today….again" Kaos sighs, recognising the giant fish weirdo from before, one of Vander's lackeys "Besides, this form wouldn't be able to get into the bunker, so I'd have had to do this eventually anyway" he sets Robin down beside the hatch he'd just ripped out of the side of the wall with his talons, then lets Reflect goop pool and then flow off his palm directly in front of her, the mass forming into a mirror of Kaos in his normal form, with a few small differences.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you're one of the other personalities. If so, to whom am I speaking?" Robin asks
"One who's been eager to cut loose for almost 2 years now, Zehahahaha" Kaos cackles, brushing his matted black hair off his face, the feathered collar of his suit ruffling like a bird's "We're going to have a lot of fun together Robin, because these Fishmen have allowed your lover to unleash Mayhem upon them" he grins, pointed teeth almost distracting her from the jet black rings in his pale, almost cataract white eyes.
"So long as we rescue Medusa, you can unleash all you want Mayhem" Robin stresses to him, though she probably didn't need to as his smile softens for a moment when she mentions their daughter.
"There's enough of the core personality in each of us for things like that, she's all our kid, just like Artemis, I wouldn't plan on ever hurting them. Now….. let's kill some fish people!"
Robin smirks and crosses her arms over her ample bust "You read my mind. Hold on tight baby, Momma's coming!"
"Ow my aching head, I'm such a clutz" the giant fishman groans, rubbing the bump on his noggin.
"That's one of Vander's men, Wadetsumi if I'm not mistaken" Zeo identifies "Clearly this is proof that whatever is happening, is Vander's doing!"
"Captain Decken, I fell off Noah and can't get back up. Please, you gotta stop the ship, I don't wanna die down here!" Wadetsumi pleads/ cries.
"Hody! Are you ok? We have a major situation over here!" One of the regular Fishmen shouted in the direction of the newest crater Hody had been kicked into by Luffy.
"Be quiet, I'm busy!" Hody cries as he once more pulls himself out of the rubble "I'm going to kill you Straw Hat, mark my words you won't see another sunrise!"
"Well damn, you're still awake, guess you are tough after all" Luffy hums, a little amused, but not all that much as this guy was just an annoying asshole, that's about it.
It was then Hody decided to look up an notice what everyone else already had "What? That fool, he's going to ruin all my hard work the bastard" Hody growls, just before the aforementioned bastard's voice echoes through the plaza via Den Den Mushi.
"Bahohoho, Bahohoho. Hello, my sweet Shirahoshi, and the bastard who broke my hand and continues to keep my from my beloved. But luckily I predicted you wouldn't stray far from your new guard dog, I suspect, and so using him as a beacon I send my love, one last time, Bahohoho! What do you say Babycakes, do you want me?"
"Should someone tell him his beauty is a beast right now?" Sanji asks, a little concerned Vander might get even more pissed off if Shirahoshi doesn't answer him, but then again what can he do that's worse than trying to kill everyone with the biggest ship the blond had ever seen?
"I've tried to win your heart for 12 years princess, and now, on the day of reckoning for your kingdom, you will finally see the culmination of my LOVE for you! By now you know about my Mark Mark fruit and it's capabilities, how anything I throw won't stop until it hits its target or crashes into something sturdy enough to stop them. Unfortunately, my love rival destroyed by Shirahoshi LOVING hand, but like the idiot he truly is, allowed himself to be marked by me. Meaning Noah will kill everyone on Fishman Island and you have him to blame Shirahoshi, because even when it crushes you it won't stop until it finds him too. Really drives home the point that you chose wrong princess Bahohoho!"
"So…. he's finally fucked us in an unspeakable way" Zoro sighs, getting a surprised snort cough from Alvida who was the only crewmate close enough to hear him
"This really isn't my day" the straw hats all turn as Kaos slithers back into the plaza "But, if Vander is hunting me with that ship, I might as well be here to deal with the fallout" he hisses lowly.
"Do you actually have a plan Pops?" Artemis asks, nervous but also curious.
"One, I just don't know if it'll be enough for a target as large as Noah, especially as the one time I've used it on something besides myself, I was unable to even wrench control of the Sunny from that wheel-headed bastard"
Nami and Valentina's eyes widen "Shiki!" the navigator gasps.
"You want to use the Float fruit on the Noah!" Val shouts, then clicks her tongue "That, might work, it should in theory given the size of Shiki's floating island"
"The problem is, I get the feeling it took a lot of practice and training for Shiki to reach the level, something I had neither the time or motivation to perform, especially given Mervielle was probably the end result of about 2 decades at least"
"Also true. BUT, it is the starting point, and you're not going to have to do this alone. We'll need to grab a few of the others, just don't go anywhere ok?" Nami asks, before linking arms with Valentina and dragging her across the plaza, to the amusement of Kaos and Artemis, and a tired sigh from Jinbe.
Bunker
"I can't believe we're missing the execution and Captain Hody's ascension to royalty, all to mind some kid" a hammerhead shark Fishman grumbles, glaring at the toddler who doesn't even have the brainpower (in his opinion) to fear him like she should.
"Relax, not like there's anyone who can stand in the Boss's way, why else would he keep a good hundred of us stationed here to keep an eye on the younger slaves?" A lionfish merman argues with a shrug.
"We could make the brat useful, and dose her with Genesis" a conger eel fishman hums, more curious than annoyed by the fact this small child was actually maintaining eye contact with him rather than shying away from him.
"Might as well give it a try, we've got a metric fuckload of Shock Jockey, given very few of us can handle the junk" Hammerhead nods with a grunt, poking Medusa who frowns then stares off into space.
"Could give her some strength boosters too, at her age she'll be easy to train and with just a few doses we could have a kid as strong as a Buccaneer. Another weapon in Hody's pack against the surface world" Lionfish hums and chuckles, then frowns as rumbles and thumps are heard somewhere in the distance "The fuck?"
The doors fly open, a salmon Fishman running through yelling, before a black tentacle spears through his shoulder and slams him to the ground.
"Deux Fleur. Clutch"
Crack
Robin snaps his neck as she steps into the room, Mayhem on her heels with a merman speared through with his tail "Give. Me. My. Daughter!" She states flatly, and coldly.
"You think we're just going to let you come in here and steal our slaves, you're just a worthless human" the merman snarls, clenching his fist as a whirlwind forms around it.
"No, but that's why nothing with gills is leaving this room" Kaos laughs as Robin crosses her arms and the researcher's shadow begins to split and writhe on the floor.
Un Fleur. Sheer Heart Attack
Hunter shadow spears
Robin focuses on the merman, as he seems most likely to be able to dodge the shadow attack, and given he's the one they already knew was on Genesis, it was better to take him out quickly, in this case by squeezing his heart until it stopped beating.
Kaos on the other hand, went for the joints, before stalking over and tearing into the Fishmen with taloned hands and a bladed tail, all with a grin that splits his skull.
"Papa!" Medusa cheers, causing him to pause and turn to her, head tilting curiously before he slinks over to her, and picking her up, the child giggling as she reaches out for the midnight black hair dangling in front of her.
"It seems she's already grown attached to you, no matter which version" Robin giggles, making her own grabby motions to get Medusa back into her arms, which Kaos happily complies with, though also brushes her hair from her eyes before Medusa is pulled into a tight embrace, Robin peppering her head with kisses as relief floods her core.
"We should get out of here, even this bunker probably wouldn't protect us if the Noah crash lands on our heads"
"Yeah, we might as well all die as a family" Robin hums, her morbid humour returning almost in time with the return of her child, the cackle from Mayhem causing her grin to widen, as she follows him out of the bunker.
The Plaza
"We're back!" Val shouts, her and Nami dragging a mildly confused Victor, Vivi, Kaya, and Usopp over to the naga and sorceress "So, let's keep this shit off the ground and keep everyone alive in the process"
"Um, do we have a plan?" Usopp asks nervously.
"Val and I are going to try keep the Noah floating via various means, Kaya and Vivi will use their Devil fruits to support the ship and keep it in place…. As for you and Victor…. I don't know" Kaos answers with a shrug.
"I think I have something, it won't be a long-term option, but I can help keep it afloat so to speak" Victor hums and nods.
"I may have something in my pop green stockpile" Usopp mutters as he checks in his bag "Found it! Ok, I think I can help here. We can do this!" he shouts, his confidence at an all-time high despite her nerves.
"Probably in the nick of time, it looks like the Noah has broken through the bubble" Nami shouts as she looks up, the Noah's bow making entered Fishman Island properly, and it's true descent was beginning.
"Well, best get moving then" Val hums, using a mix of her Devil fruit and ninjustu to shoot up into the air, aiming for the Noah.
Kaos hums before he began scanning the area, finding one of the hanging chains had entered the plaza as the ship had gotten closer to the assembly. Given how Shiki's fruit worked, he began slithering over to the chains, to see just how much of Noah he could make float, even if he could only gain enough control to counteract Vander's mark.
Victor clicks his tongue, before pulling out his bow and pouring both his haki and gifted power into the weapon, the mixing energies forming a crimson/azure bubble around the Quincy pirate "Ignite Heaven and Hell. Teostra!"
"Oh for fuck sake!" Usopp whines as as a mildly leonine-looking dragon beast bursts from the energy bubble, then with a flap of feathery wings, takes to the sky, following Valentina to the centre of Noah "They really did get big upgrades didn't they?"
"We all did, some just got more dramatic ones than others" Kaya assures him, large amounts of syrup pouring off her arms in preparation for 'catching' the ship.
"I'm not quite at your level when it comes to generation, though I think I can at least control sand well enough to do this. So one moment please" Vivi calls before running a safe distance from them, then slamming her palm into the ground with a cry of "Ground Secco" the surrounding area crumbles and breaks apart into sand "Ok, now I'm ready"
"Logias really are something else aren't they?" Artemis hums as Jinbe watches in shock "And Papa's found a way to get to Noah" she says, pointing over to the side of the plaza.
"§Floating Capture§" Kaos hisses, feeling the purple and gold energy flowing up the chains to the Noah itself, and as he suspected, the ship was just too big, at least to control it the way Shiki had the Sunny or even his own ship. He could at least push against both Vander's fruit pushing Noah towards him, as well as the force of gravity bringing it down anyway, but the problem, is just how long can they hold it for?
"This, is going to fucking suck" Valentina sighs, pressing both palms against the very tip of Noah's bow "Earth Style: Ultralight Boulder Jutsu" she cries, a deep brown aura flows off of her and into the Noah, before she adjusts her position and pushes up with all her might, keeping the energy flow as close to constant as she could 'Yeah, really going to feel this in the morning, unless we all die' she winces, as she's joined by an Elder Dragon who also pushes against the Noah with as much force as it's wings can muster.
"Ok, we might be getting somewhere, Usopp you're next" Nami declares, slapping him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah I'm getting to it" the sniper grumbles.
"If it helps, the sand and syrup will as much secure your plants as the ship, stopping them from moving away from Noah, or even into sub-optimal places" Kaya promises "So fire at will!" she orders with a soft smile.
"Alright then. Time to show off the power of plants. Special Attack: Green Star: Gas Bag!" Ussop shouts as he fires off a couple handfuls of pellets, which as they reach the apex of their arc, open up and expand into odd little bubble things, reminding the Straw hats of Sabaody for just a moment, before pillars of syrup and sand shoot up and push the gas bags against the Noah, as well as do their part to keep the ship aloft.
"Ok, so the Noah won't be killing us for the moment, but it's just a stop-gap solution, we need an actual plan to stop it crashing down and decimating Fishman Island" Jinbe sighs deeply, worried about how long the Straw Hats can keep the Noah in place.
"So it seems we missed a lot, didn't we Medusa, oh so much" Everyone turns, seeing Robin and Mayhem, cooing at a giggling Medusa Jr. who was being bounced in her arms.
"Papa big, papa very big" Medusa laughs, waving her arms in the direction of "Za Wardo Enda" as he began to make his way back to the ground, as unlike Val he didn't need to keep hold of something to use the Fuwa Fuwa no mi, just concentration after the initial contact.
"So we have the Noah aloft for now, what else needs worrying about?" Robin asks, Artemis volunteering to hold Medusa in case she needs her arms free.
"Shirahoshi. According to Valentina, she's not got long before that feral steamcloud she's unleashing starts to do irreparable damage, somewhere between 5 to 10 minutes if we're being generous" Jinbe explains, Robin turning her attention to the princess, who was looking a rather close to Gear 2nd Luffy pink, at least her human half was.
"By the way, where did Luffy go?" Kaya asks the group.
"He was fighting Hody a few minutes ago… crap where'd he gone too?" Nami pales as the great white dumbass had also vanished, or more likely he ran off somewhere and Luffy followed.
"He's on the Noah, or at least climbing the chains up to it" Kaos informs them, having overheard the question and sensed Luffy with his Observation haki.
"Really?" Usopp hums before adjusting his goggles and looking straight up "Well damn, they're right over there. Wonder why they're doing that?"
"Knowing Hody, he took personal offence to Vander trying to kill everyone on the island so is seeking revenge, meanwhile Luffy most likely is chasing Hody because they were in the middle of a fight and he doesn't want to risk Hody recovering from whatever damage he'd inflicted upon him" Jinbe guesses/theorises, and he must be close given the nods he was receiving from the other Straw Hats.
TBC
LW: So, times be a changing, and events have to be adjusted to accommodate them. Hope nobody minds, and continues to watch as the battle unfolds.