462 | New Tricks?!

The large sandworms burst from the ground, their fanged mouths roaring. More infected animals - bears, mountain cats, boars - emerged from the tree line, surrounding them. Above, giant hornet creatures filled the air.

"They just keep coming!" Chopper said as he looked over his shoulder, patching Yosaku up while doing so.

They had been trapped her for quite some time. At first, they planned to change the location by all of the crew using Geppo to escape by air. But they were a bit too late, especially with Gin sending out air attacks and large hornet-like creatures trying to attack them.

So that's why they had no other option but to stay and fight. Other than Gin, the rest of the crew —who got infected by the parasite— were cured. It wasn't much difficult with Law's abilities, but Johnny, Yosaku, Cricket, and Bepo were yet to wake up.

Even Bartolemo was getting tired from keeping the shield around them. Brook was in a similar position as he was getting tired of moving away the toxic mist from those who were fighting the hoards of beasts.

"We have to hold out," Anchor said through gritted teeth, blasting away another sandworm. But the horde was endless. For each one they took down, three more took its place.

Sweat beaded Coby's forehead as he covered his knuckles with bones, making a makeshift armor of bones and barely keeping a possessed Gin at bay. They were being slowly overwhelmed, pushed into a tight circle.

The problem with Gin was that the bastard was suicidal, so even with him having some serious damage and being exposed to a shit-ton of sleeping powder, he was still moving. Refusing to be put down.

"I won't let any of you bastards live for killing my crew!" Gin growled with righteous fury.

"You know if it was any other situation, I would have been moved," Anchor said, clashing his hammer right on the side of Gin's face, making him step back.

Coby joined in, using the opportunity to run underneath the half-zone and grab his tail, before throwing his massive frame toward the hoard of sandworms that were about to attack them.

"Good call," Anchor said, his breathing uneven. Coby just nodded. They really needed some much-needed backup.

Mainly he was blaming Sanji and Nami for the whole situation. Their powers would have been a very welcome edition right now. But no, they had to just go ahead and do their own thing.

Gin roared, ripping through anything that was in front of him as he charged forward.

"Get ready," Hatchan said, tightening his grip on his six swords. He also looked a bit worn out. As Law had to get inside and treat the infected pirates, Hatchan had to come out and help with the fight. And he was glad to do so. "He seems angry…"

"Yeah, he's SUPER angry…" Franky said, that even his super franky suit was looked worn out. But that didn't stop the cyborg from bringing chaos to the enemy.

Coby, Anchor, Hatchan and Franky prepared as Gin charged at them. But right before he could get too near, his whole body froze solid, and the atmosphere dropped cold. There was still science, before footsteps were heard from behind Gin, revealing an elegant figure. Kuina.

"You guys look like you need some help…" Said a rough voice from above, making all of the pirates look up.

The air wavered with heat as Zoro came down with three swords. Emerald flames ignited as the heat burned through the wings of the wasp-like creatures who tried to stop him.

"Burn them all, Nozarashi," Zoro intoned, as he slashed downward, a wake of verdant fire erupting in the sword's path. It slammed into the nearest sandworms who recoiled with screeches as the flames seared their thick hides. Zoro pressed the attack, as a giant crescent of green flames carved through the horde in a blistering dance. One strike left enemies aflame, green fire clinging stubbornly to their bodies.

"Now that's what I call, a good roasting," Bartolomeo cheered.

"Good going Zoro!" Chopper exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"Hey guys! Need some help?" Luffy said landing a kick on a sandworm that was about to attack Anchor and Coby from behind. The young captain had a smile on his face on his hand was his nameless naginata.

"Of course we do… what took you so long," Anchor said with a sigh of relief.

"Eh, sorry there…" Sparky said landing near Anchor, "We were busy with the sea kings… I tried to stop them, but all of them made a competition out of who could kill the most amount… so yeah, sorry."

"Why is everything a competition with you guys…" Perona mumbled to herself.

As the powerhouse of the crews were back it didn't take long to demolish the ranks of the parasite-controlled hoard. "Face my newest technique. Serious Serious Punch!"

The crew blinked at the odd name as they looked at Luffy who swang his fist. What was even more confusing was that the punch wasn't that fast, but what happened next, blew everyone away. Quite literally.

The air shattered and the ground cracked from the sonic impact, ripping through the ranks of the hoard. Kicking back earth and wind in the process.

"Shishishi… this is fun!" Luffy laughed, enjoying the jaw dropped expression of his crew.

"That… from when could you do that?" Coby asked. "Is that the power from your new fruit?"

"Shishishi… not quite," Luffy said lifting a finger as he scratched his chin. "It's more or less punching and using Rokuogan at the same time… takes a bit of time getting used to. But honestly… I'm embarrassed that it took so long to figure it out?"

"Eh… wait. Didn't the marine hero Garp use something similar." Coby asked.

Luffy nodded, "Yeah… It's also good for training up your advanced armament haki."

"I can't even use the normal one…" Coby mumbled to himself, feeling a bit useless. But he quickly shook his head, he wouldn't give up now. Zoro, Kuina and Sparky were already wreaking havoc, trimming down the number of monsters that tried to attack them, and Coby joined in rather then taking a break. If he wanted to be better, he would need to push himself harder.

"Luffy!" the crew said, Bartolomeo opening up the green barrier as the crew finally sighed in relief. It didn't take long for the crew to clear up the mess. The white worms weren't a problem either, especially with Kuina freezing a good portion of the ground solid and Zoro burning down anything that tried to attack the crew.

Luffy was a bit concerned about those that got infected but Law and Chopper reassured him not to worry.

"They should be fine," Chopper said.

"But why aren't they waking up…" Sparky asked pocking Gin's head who was snoring like there was no tomorrow.

"Those parasitic worms feeds off of adrenalin, so they are just exhausted," Law said, "Even for them, it will take a while to wake up… other than exhaustion, they are fine. No internal wounds or any long-lasting damage."

Worms that can make you someone's bitch, now that wasn't something Luffy expected when he got to Thriller Bark.

"There might be a way to help them…" Luffy said as he knelt near Yosaku, placing his hand on his shoulder. Exhaustion in plain terms was lack of energy, and Luffy did technically have power of 'energy' so he should be able to re-charge him, right? Eh… worst-case scenario, Yosaku would get a mild shock.

"What the…" Yosaku was jolted awake, "What happened… also, this feels great. Man, I haven't slept like this for a while…" The pirate said stretching his body as he looked around, "Eh… why are you all looking at me like this?"

"Shishishi… good to have you back," Luffy said. Who would have known that he would become a walking power bank?

— — —

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