460 | Tough Crew

The large sandworms were mere distractions, their blood having acidic properties and having an intoxicating effect if ingested by predators. They were mainly hunters who lived near shores, hunting sea kings and large fishes to survive. And thus had extraordinary adaptability skills.

Dr Hogback found this breed of sandworms in one of the unlogged islands in the grandline and had done some genetic modification to fit his needs. Mainly for their blood to evaporate and have the same effects when inhaled.

But the large sandworms weren't the main tools, the smaller ones were. Each one being the size of a finger, small enough to not get noticed by most pirates.

A breed of host worms that had a unique ability. The smaller white-worms had eggs in their mouth and when biting into a host, the eggs instantly hatch and get control over the host's brain, making them soldiers under Hogback's control.

The smaller worms would either latch on to bigger worms or travel through the ground finding hosts to do his bidding.

His powers were related to worms after all. When Hogback was young he had detested the power to control worms, ugly things they were. But over time he started appreciating his powers. Mainly after discovering the various breeds of worm species the world had to offer.

Worms came in all sizes be they parasitic or be ginormous, and Hogback could control them with his powers. Of course, there were limitations, but most worms weren't much intelligent to refuse his orders.

Moria had always viewed his powers as insignificant, unworthy of being anything useful. And yet Moria feared him enough to keep Hogback under him to do his bidding. For years Hogback underestimated his own capabilities, but no more. He would make sure to show the world about his powers.

The doctor gleefully looked at the monitors as the straw hats fought amongst themselves.

The two zoan users running wild with their powers, and the same was for the polar bear mink. For now, Hoback had gained control over only five of them, but they weren't fully under his control like Moria.

No, the ones fighting against their fellow comrades were seeing illusions and their senses weren't able to differentiate between friend from foe. These types of parasitic worms didn't let Hogback fully control their movements and make them his puppets. So they weren't still his loyal soldiers.

For now, this will do as Hogback had other things to worry about.

.

Back with the straw hats,

"Oi, Gin! Snap out of it!" Coby said ducking a wild swing from his friend who was now looking at him with blood-red eyes and growling.

"You'll die marine scum!" Gin said while he attacked.

"Hey! Even for me, that's an all-time low," Coby said half-heartedly avoiding Gin's deadly tail attack. "Come on, take a joke or something…"

"We'll kill you for harming our crew!" Said both Yosaku and Cricket at the same time as they franticly fought against Franky and Anchor.

"We are your crewmates, dumbass!" Anchor growled finding it annoying while he tried not to harm their crewmates too much. And at the same time, they also had to look out for those whiteworms.

Johnny was in his half-zoan form and was also trying to attack the crew, but fortunately Bartolomeo was keeping him occupied.

"Any ideas on how to fix him?" Bartolomeo asked. Him, and the most of the crew were inside a green box barrier while Johnny attacked from outside clawing the green cage with his talons, trying to break the unbreakable barrier.

"This isn't good… is there any way to fix them?" Hatchan asked with a tinge of worry in his voice.

"For one, we should be careful to not get bitten by one of these whiteworms," Robin said as one of her sprouted hand held one of the dead creatures. The small bug was crushed under the squeeze, but there were still many more, she quickly had to de-sprout her hand before she could get bitten. "Most likely these are the reasons why our crewmates are this way…"

Other than Coby, Anchor, and Franky, almost all of them were inside the green square barrier that Bartolomeo had created. So they could see small whiteworms trying to —and failing— get in and bite them.

Law was also outside trying to get Bepo under control. After getting bit, Bepo had the wild idea of eating a certain pill that let him go into his sulong form, so he was much of a challenge than before.

Law also had figured out what was happening and had taken himself and Bepo out a bit far to subdue his friend. As a sulong there were many areas of effect attacks that could harm the rest of the crew, so that's why he separated from them.

"It's no use," Franky said outside avoiding one of the attacks from Yosaku and also jumping just in time to avoid getting bit by one of the whiteworms. "I have to unleash my ultimate power… or else…" he said with mock desperation.

Anchor rolled his eyes, "You just wanna show off…"

"Can I?" Franky said wiggling his eyebrows.

Anchor's brow twitched, "Why do I even bother… sure, go ahead." He said with a tired sigh as he ducked under Cricket's blade before punching him on the chin giving him some breathing room.

"You super know it…" Franky said holding up his fist and firing off a capture net that caught Yosaku, momentarily freeing the cyborg to do his thing.

Franky jumped back and quickly took out something from his back pocket, before throwing it forward. The small object returned to it's original size, revealing to be a briefcase of sort, he set it on the ground and opened it, as the mechnism inside started expanding and Franky quickly stepped foot in it.

And in mere moments machine parts started assembling around his body taking the shape of a robotic armor with a glowing chest piece in the middle. "I call it, the SUPER Franky Suit ONE!" The cyborg said with a pose.

"That's so COOL!" Said Chopper, Bartolomeo, and Perona from inside the barrier box.

"Huh, now… SUPER Franky Chest Lasor!" A beam of glowing blue beam shot out of his chest and slammed right into Yosaku who just got out of the net. The beam pushed him onto Cricket throwing them off a good distance, before it exploded into a large explosion. Blowing off wind and shaking the ground due to the power of the attack.

"That's… are those guys even alive?" Brook asked with some mild concern in his voice.

Robin chuckled, "It will take a lot more to kill one of them…" she said, and right after that two figures clashed with Franky, who just had enough time to cross his arms, and still get pushed back.

They were Cricket and Yosaku. Other than having a few scratches to show for Franky's destructive attack, they were more than alright. They were used to far more brutal beating especially after spending a while in Skypiea's training rooms.

Shameless Pa-atreon plug. I've got one, goes by the username (FallenCrown) on there.
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