Mike's P.O.V.
It was the third day of the festival and I was starting to get slightly tired. Sure, it was still an incredible place and all, but there is only so much of a party one can do before it begins to get troublesome.
I just want to relax and perhaps sleep a bit, shame no one informed Uta about this as the girl seemed to grow MORE energetic as days passed by.
How can she have more energy than me when I am the one who trains on a crazy amount since age four? It truly makes no sense.
"Mike, let's go! I heard they will be doing a concert on the west plaza with the most famous singer from Fishman Island!" Uta said, pulling me along even as I noticed Shanks, with a tired face, just waves me off with a condescending smile.
The prick most definitely found out that having someone he could dump his hyperactive daughter who is going through a sugar rush is not such a bad thing.
As we run there, I notice some sellers on the side streets selling some interesting trinkets and whatnot. My eyes were glued to one vendor in particular and I planted my feet firmly to stop Uta's movements.
"Heh? Is something wrong, Mike? We need to hurry up or we won't get the best seats." Uta says and I look at her directly and say.
"I want to buy some things."
"But, but the show and-"
"Uta, I already accompanied you nonstop for two days on a roll. I want to buy some things for myself and this place is very good for me to buy things I could not during Sabaody since, if you remember, I spent the whole day following you for cloth shopping." I argued.
Uta, as I kind of expected, did not seem to comprehend the problem all that much, but ultimately nodded her head as she understood that maybe I was not that happy about what happened.
And yet-
"But, but the concert and-"
"Uta, when will the concert start?" I asked and she looked slightly sheepish as she admitted the truth.
"... In seven hours?" She says and I feel a migraine.
She wants to go to a show so many hours before just so she can get better seats, is she the equivalent of this world's Star Wars fan?
Shaking my head I say.
"I want to enjoy my time here doing something I want for a while. Wouldn't a friend accompany another and reciprocate at times like these?" I coax her.
Not much of a choice, if she goes alone and sings Tot Musica then there was no point on this trip for me besides all the training with the Red Hair Pirates.
The girl looks disgruntled, but ultimately acquiesce under the condition that we still need to arrive at least two hours before the show starts so she can find good places. It still gives me several hours, so I am cool with that.
We travel for about three hours through the different stalls, the money I had obtained after ransacking that slave trade shop was spent all in one go but I was not sad about it since I got something good in exchange.
Herbs and minerals. Yep, I spent about two hundred million bellies on herbs in one sitting, and I do not regret it at all. With these, and some work, I can finally start practicing alchemy!
One of my perks gave me the equivalent of a year's worth of experience on this art at the best possible conditions, but there was precious little materials I could actually use back in the village. Now though? Now I had enough to at least manage to make a few interesting pills that should help me in getting stronger.
Smiling to myself, I moved with Uta towards the plaza where the show she wants to see will happen.
DODGE.
All my instincts screamed at me at once, my beginnings of observation Haki kicking in as I felt someone or something aiming to strike me. I did not hesitate, kicking Uta to the side to make her gain some distance while I jumped down and to the other side. It was just in time too since the place I stood before now had a sharp sword in it.
"Oho, nice dodge there, kid." A smug voice said as I turned to stare at the one who just attacked me.
Easily three or four meters tall with ridiculous makeup and being far too thin while also looking particularly stupid… this does not really narrow down much who it could be. Good thing his face was easy enough to identify.
One of Dolflamingo's 4 highest officers, Diamante.
I feel cold sweat rolling down my back as I stare at the man in front of me. Sure, he is by far and away the weakest of the four highest officers, but he is still way stronger than me by all viable metrics.
Staring at him, I assess my situation. There is little I can do against someone at his level, especially since Uta is around right now. Best I can do is hope to delay Diamante until Shanks shows up… not.
Fuck that noise, I may not be anywhere close to as strong as him, but his fruit ability is pathetic and I still can fight. Sure, most of the things I bought just now were herbs and whatnot that would be sent straight to the ship, but I still bought one thing I saw that I could really use.
Putting the weapon on one of my hands, I get into a proper stance as Diamante looks at me with mockery on his gaze.
"You know, for someone who provoked my boss like that, burning his business and making us lose stock, you really are not the brightest. Do you think using a knuckle duster will let you beat me?" Diamante says as he stares at my stance. The ridiculing tone of voice continued as he proceeded on. "Don't worry though, kid, I will not hurt you too much. Consider this as giving you a proper lesson."
Diamante says and my vision and focus concentrate entirely on him. I barely hear what sounds like Uta getting into some fight in the background, but right now I can only focus on the enemy in front of me.
Dashing towards him, I slid through the floor as he kicked at my chest. My move allows me to avoid him as I stand beneath his outstretched leg and deliver an uppercut right at the back on his knee.
"Lock." He says and the clothes he was wearing regain their proper texture and firmness of steel, blocking my strike. The man then used the chance to ax-kick me down, I feel my arm bending in the wrong position as I get some distance from the man.
He just stares, the mockery on his gaze still present as I look at him. I feel a burning pain on my arm, but I just push my twisted arm back into position and I feel almost instantly the pain subsiding.
The regeneration perk is quite something, the more I use the more I improve my body regeneration to the point I have to wonder if, by the time I reach its apex, I would be able to do like those Wuxia protagonists who can revive even from a single drop of blood.
Not that I can do anything close to it right now, of course.
I dash once more at Diamante, he swinging his sword that acted more like a whip than a blade as I did my best to avoid the slashes as I continued to get close. Still, I got slashed many times.
That did not stop me though. Even if I was cut many times, the injuries would heal soon enough as long as no major organ or something was damaged. Instead, I got to the man and tried to punch him with my right hand, only for him to turn into a flag at the last moment and make my strike basically useless.
He laughed obnoxiously, maybe said something, I did not care. Instead, I used my outstretched hand to pull him down and swung my left hand at his face. The knuckleduster hitting his face square on and, probably to his shock, the punch connected properly and I felt a satisfying 'crunch' at impact.
Truly, a satisfying sensation. This knuckleduster may have not seemed all that great, an old and rusty thing, but I could smell it. There was kairoseki inside it, not much but there was some. It was the same smell as some of the bullets and weapons that the Red Hair Pirates use, after all.
As long as there were even just some trace amounts of the metal in this knuckleduster, it would be enough to negate the devil fruit powers of others.
I pant heavily, even if I can heal ridiculously fast and I avoided most of the attacks, the ones that managed to hit and pierce my body were nothing to sneeze at and I was losing quite a bit of blood. Still, a smile appeared on my face as I took back my stance and smirked down at the much stronger man.
I felt it again, the same sensation as before, but this time I didn't even bother holding it in as I shouted.
"COME ON, AGAIN!"
My Conquerors Haki spreads at full force in all directions as I try to focus it towards Diamante. No clue if it worked or not, but I just focus on it and stare as the man stands up and-
"Uta! Don't!"
"Gonna Take! Gonna Bre-Bre-Break!"
Shit!
I jump, trying to get to her in time. I can't let her sing the whole thing or-
Pain. My field of vision changes as I am now looking directly towards the ground.
"You think you can escape after punching my face, brat?" Diamante says, pressing my face hard on the floor. Then, I feel a sharp pain on my back as a sword pierces me through there.
I crossed eyes with Uta, whose face was turning emotionless, but I saw a trace of anger on her face as she stared at my back.
Then, darkness…
Shanks's P.O.V.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit!
I knew this could be bad. I remember in the past seeing some records about this thing in front of me. Tot Musica, a demon that could destroy the world.
It was sealed here in Elegia by using four music sheets. If the user of the Music fruit were to sing it, the demon would be unleashed and start to spread chaos in all directions. I could not allow Uta to get involved with such a thing, but as long as those sheets existed there would always be the chance she would find them.
I could not risk such a thing, so whenever the kids were not around me and the boys would scour the place in search of those sheets. We had to find and destroy them, make sure there would be no chance for that thing to always use my baby girl, and yet-
Staring up, I see as a giant fist from Tot Musica impacted the man holding down Mike. No clue just who the hell he is, but that hardly matters now as I go ahead to slash at the demon in front. I need to push it away from here before it rampages too much, killing the civilians all over.
I swing with a lot of my power at the demon, my aim in cutting it open but my slash was aimed right. Even if I cut the demon, Uta would not get even a single scratch and instead I would open a clear path towards inside it so I could get to Uta and save her.
This, however, was not enough. Tot Musica was stronger than I expected, the sword not managing to break it open as it near-instantly regenerated and what damage I did manage was restored anyway.
"Captain, what's going on?" My crew arrived one after another, I just stared at them briefly before explaining.
"The worst case scenario. We have to stop Uta right now, the priority is lessening the damage to civilians, not hurting Uta, and don't let her destroy the building on the back no matter what." I explain and everyone seems to use Observation Haki and understand what I mean.
I may not like that infuriating brat with far too grubby hands, but he is the first actual friend Uta made of her own. If she harms regular civilians and destroys the town she would feel terrible, if she actually kills her friend then she would break.
I cannot allow her to carry such a burden, as such-
"Come, Tot Musica. Right here, right now, I will show you just who I am." I said with nothing but confidence. That is the secret for Haki, strong will and absolute conviction.
I could practically feel my entire crew smirk with me on this one. We are all ready for whatever happens as we dash forward.
Uta, we will save you no matter what.
Mike's P.O.V.
"Ugh, fucking Diamante. I swear, I will kill him one of these days." I say as I start to regain consciousness. I feel my stomach grumble loudly, I have spent a lot of energy regenerating those slashes.
Note to self, do my best to figure out the Life Return technique of the Rokushiki so as to be able to eat up more food for fuel later. If just a few dozen cuts can put me down then I clearly need to improve.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
"Shit, Uta!" I realize as I turn in the direction of the sounds and see it. Tot Musica, the demon of Elegia, unleashed and it was already destroying the whole country in its rampage.
My fists clench with fury as I witness the chaos happening around me. I should have been able to stop this, but just a mere Diamante could stomp all my hard work and make things play out as they originally did. If I was strong enough, I would have been able to stop this…
Screams of terror and pain echo all around and I take a deep breath. Even if I failed to stop this, there are still those that can be saved here. Turning I begin to dash towards the exit.
"... hel- m-"
Pausing just as I was leaving, I twisted my head to see where the sound came from. There was wreckage all over, but I still recognize that someone spoke around here. Closing my eyes, I try to sense it using what little observation haki I have.
It was not instantaneous, but after a few seconds I quickly identified two people underneath the rubble. Moving towards it, I begin to remove it as fast as I can until-
… My blood runs cold as I see just who it was there. I may have not met the two, but considering the looks of the boy and the fact that Diamante was around just moments ago, I have little doubt of who these two are.
Buffalo and Baby 5.
They should be the ones fighting Uta, since I do not believe for even a second that that girl would not have jumped in to help me if no one was facing her. It is just not in her nature to do nothing in a situation like that.
I could leave the two here… oh, who am I kidding?
They are pirates right now, but they are still children. I can't just leave the two here to die, which is what would happen if I do nothing right now.
They better thank me later, damn it.
Taking both, one with each arm, I begin dashing towards the coast. I remember how yesterday I saw a navy ship in that place, so it should be safer to go there.
I have to avoid the burning buildings and destroyed architecture all over, doing my best in all directions until I reach the ship.
"Get moving! We need to get away from this hellhole." A navy captain who seems to be the one commanding the ship says. He seems to be the highest ranking person around but I can't help but watch the burning country and how this ship seems to want to just escape.
Dropping both Baby 5 and Buffalo beside a building, I approach the man. Some navy soldiers try to stop me, but I bypass them easily enough as I get to the man and catch him with his long white cloak of justice.
"You, do you intend to run away!?" I question in incredulity as the man notices me. "This country needs help and-"
"I am not strong enough to handle this situation." The captain counters me with no hesitation. "I will not sacrifice myself or my crew to save a small country being attacked by some weird demon or the freaking Red Hair Pirates!" The captain shouts back, I can see how some of his crew agree and some don't, but they simply obey this coward.
"It is your duty to save as many as you can. It is what my grandfather would have done." I tell him and the captain just snorts and ignores me, pulling the cloak I was holding from my grasp.
"Screw your grandfather, whoever the pissant is. I will not die here and-"
The man grows mute at this moment as a strange scene appears before all of us. Namely, that of a marine ship easily five times the size of his own is sent flying towards Tot Musica. From inside, several marines jump out to attack the demon.
But, what makes me most happy is not this. No, it is the tall man who is now standing right behind the captain. His face a threatening smile filled with unwavering faith as his coat proudly flapped behind him.
"No, please go on. What were you gonna tell my cute grandson? Speak loud though, brat, since this 'pissant' might not be able to hear you." Grandfather, the marine hero, Monkey D. Garp arrived just in time and I felt it then, things would not end up the same anymore.
This country, the people here, there was still hope...
