LW: Everyone has gathered…. Let's FIGHT!
Rubber King and Mirror Master - New World Chaos: Soggy Pits of Wrath, Steel, and Regrets
Conch Court Plaza
"It's Straw Hat"
"He's really here"
"They all are"
"Hm, that's Straw Hat? He's a punk and a weirdo, I mean who in their right mind hides inside a shark?" Daruma, one of Hody's officers asks with a laugh.
"I'm more concerned about the fact he managed to spring his prisoners and get here all before Hody could execute the royal family" Zeo, another officer, this one a wobblegong fishman hums with an auditory frown on his nearly non-existent face "It's amusing how they cling to you like a lifeline Straw Hat, but you only delay the King's demise, and the birth of a new Era!" he declares.
"I still think that mirror gate power of yours is bullshit" Sanji huffs "But it saved Carue and Kaya, so I guess it's fine" the cook adds, as it seemed the Straw Hats were ignoring the New Fishman Pirates.
"Shame we still had to wait for Papagu to show up with our gear, otherwise we could have just walked through the portal" Ussop sighs, getting nods of agreement from Zoro and Brook.
"Hey guys, I have a question. Why are none of these guys at all worried that Luffy just took out their captain in one blow?" Carue asks as the Officers are still smirking while the regular riff-raff are only mildly afraid due to the Straw Hat's notoriety, more so than Luffy's immediate actions.
"Because we're missing something, and hopefully whatever that is, shows itself soon" Valentina answers, spinning a kunai as she scans the plaza.
"I think I should hold onto this letter, at least until the princess is less…. I'm going to say feral" Nami chuckles nervously as steam continues to leak from the fuming mermaid princess, as well as the color-shifting scales, hair, and what seem to be elongating fangs.
"Yeah, also the great white dumbass is getting up again, time to see what's coming next" Kaos nods, talons clicking as Hody pulls himself out of the crater Luffy's punch caused him to make
"I should have known Vander Decken was going to fail, the dumbass couldn't even kill one damn princess. Well, I won't make the same mistakes. Ikaros get the juice, Dosum, the pills, these humans are going to be the prelude to Neptune's execution when I tear them limb from limb!" Hody bellows, before sending his men away.
"Here you go boss hei!" the squid fishman nods before unveiling a kind of harness-looking device with a larger tank of murky green liquid strapped to the back. With a little fiddling, it was attached to Hody, upon which the multitude of injectors did their job, feeding Genesis into the Sharks' body, his muscles bulged and pulsated, as well as gaining a stony/metallic look to them. Meanwhile, the hammerhead Fishman sets down a large bowl of red and black pills to his immediate right, which Hody begins stuffing his face with as the combination of substances amps up his power.
"It did seem too easy when they captured you Jinbe, I should have realized you had some kind of plan, yet you were always too much of a gutless coward to go through with it until now. Despite everything, serving under Tiger, Arlong being your brother in all but blood, both killed by humans, but you still get in bed with them, you still bend the knee" Hody snarls as the steroids bulk him up significantly "Your soft-hearted ways, they end today, all who think like you and Neptune will die when I become king. Then, I'll make sure everyone knows we will never be submissive again, starting with the Reverie, where I'll kill every ruler at the summit, ensuring we will never be looked down on ever again!"
"Well, shit I was wrong" Vivi facepalms "He does think he can just walk into Mariejois and kill everyone. If it didn't mean we'd all be dead, I'd almost want him to try, to see how many seconds he would last against the Admirals"
"1 if it's Kizaru, 5 if it's Akainu" Alvida bets/guesses.
"Jahahaha, you pirates will bow, the same as everyone else" Hody continues, either not hearing or tuning out the Straw Hat's commentary.
"So, he's never heard of the Yonko then? Fair enough" Victor sighs "This moron needs a reality check, guess it'll have to be us" he hums, pulling out his bow, ready for the fight ahead.
"These humans know their place, they kneel before me. Today I become King of the Fishmen, then King of the Humans, and finally, KING OF THE PIRATES!" Hody boasts, cackling madly as his form shimmers in the light roots gleam.
"Is that so?" Luffy asks flatly, surprisingly the assembled Fishmen, Jinbe included as he'd been bouncy and energetic every other time they'd seen him, while the rest of the crew knew this was a 'shit's got real' moment and the fighting was about to start.
"Jehahaha, and to think there are only 18 of you, against my army 100,000 men strong!" the shark Fishman cackles, his army cheering all around the Straw Hats and Jinbe "Kill them now. New Fishman Pirates!" he orders, the mob beginning to charge at the much smaller crew of pirates.
"I'm not the best at math, but that means we each need to take out over 5 and a half thousand of these bastards to win this fight" Sanji hums as he lights up a new cigarette.
"They have numbers, but that doesn't mean anything if they're weak. Hody very clearly went for quantity over quality when it came to minions" Zoro argues, but also basically says 5500 would be easy, for at least some of them.
"Give it a minute, things are about to drop off real quickly, zesesese" Kaos chuckles darkly as Luffy steps forward, looking like he was going to take them all on by himself…. And in a way he was.
As a wave of Conqueror's haki floods the plaza, thousands of Fishmen and pirate slaves pass out and drop to the ground like dead weight, those still conscious watch on in shock and horror, even Hody and his officers, this shouldn't be possible, not some tiny human,
"A Conqueror huh? No wonder he's such a big deal on the surface" Gengetsu laughs, while Shyarly drops her pipe in shock.
"Damn Luffy, you really tore through them, that new power of yours is amazing" Ussop cheers as he surveys the damage, guessing about half to ⅗'s of Hody's men had been taken out in that one attack (Basically 50-60% or somewhere between 50 and 60 THOUSAND were just one shot by Luffy).
Hearing a tongue click she knew was curiosity Robin turns to Kaos "Something the matter?"
"No, just interesting that most of the remaining Fishmen seem to either be hyped up on Energy Steroids, or Genesis users. Should make the rest of the fight interesting if nothing else" he smirks as he answers.
"Hody, Hordy…. Fuck it I don't care. You wanna be king of a country, have fun I don't give a shit. But King of the Pirates, we're gonna have a problem there, because, is my job!" Luffy declares, staring him down without a hint of fear.
"Screw it, leave Straw Hat for Captain Hody, kill the rest of them!" one of the remaining fishmen shout as he charged forward….
Bzzz
…until he's lifted into the air, his head in a bone-creaking grip, staring into metallic purple eyes that blazed with malice. Because this Fishman, was a Sea Urchin, with several of his spines replaced with a dark blue crystalline structure, and bulging, electric blue veins in his hands and forearms.
"So, you hurt Artemis, and kidnapped my youngest" Kaos hisses, his free hand drawing glyphs in the air, because he knew the Fishman wasn't going to talk with Hody over there, and he didn't have the time or patience "Don't speak, there's no point. I'm not taking prisoners today"
Demon Art: Consumption
Vines erupt from the researcher's flesh, ensnaring and entangling the Fishman before like many other Devil fruit users a thick fluid pours from his hand, completely enveloping the Sea Urchin, though unlike most, once he had completely covered the Fishman, it receded into his body, leaving no trace of the enemy combatant. Kaos smirks, before wheezing, feeling something foreign flooding his system, his hands grip his knees as the side effects kick in, his veins glow for a moment before the feeling subsides, and the power is added to his growing repertoire
"Not only do you kill Fishmen like it's nothing, you steal their power that was rightfully earned! This is why I hate your kind, boy!" Hody bellows, only to be interrupted by an unlikely source
OM NOM NOM NOM
"Really?" Kaos sighed as he looks to his left to see Lily flowering and making exaggerated chewing noises and expressions on her little face "Learn anything from your newest meal?"
"Just that Fishman is salty. Also the location, but you got that too" Lily responds, shrugging her leaves "Can I come out and play please? I'll spare your friends"
"I'll think about it" he hums
"Hey Kaos! I give you and Robin free reign to get back Medusa. Show them why you don't mess with our family!" Luffy shouts, getting a sadistic grin from the duo in response.
"Hey, is it just the Demon twins, or are the rest of us allowed to go full no-prisoners mode? Because I can think of like 3 people who will regardless, but the rest of us, not so much" Sanji asks, Zoro, Valentina, and Alvida smirking as they know he meant them.
"Kill, maim, or just beat the shit out of them, I don't care. You do you, I'm going to go kick Hody's ass" Luffy replies, before rushing forward towards the Great White Fishman "You can send 100,000 or 10 million guys after us, this all ends the same, with me taking you down!"
"Don't have to tell me twice" Zoro grins as he unsheaths his swords "108 Calibre Phoenix!" he cries as the pressure wave decimates another group of Fishmen "Try to at least put up some kind of fight, ok?"
"My turn" Alvida shouts, rushing forward while spinning Brunhilde "Chasm Crater!" she announces as she slams down her hammer, the ground spider webbing before exploding, taking out everyone directly surrounding her "Beat that!"
CRASH BANG RUMBLE
"Huh, guess there was only so much standing around a feral princess could handle" Nami muses, before noticing Valentina wince and curse out the corner of her eye "Problem?"
"Just concerned about Shirahoshi. The girl managed to unlock Steam Release in her anger, and while it's clearly a boon to this fight, as anyone who tries to attack her is potentially boiled alive, it's one of the more dangerous elemental affinities because there's no way she can control it for long. There's also the fact her rage will just make her burn hotter, cutting down on the safe time even more" the ninja explains.
"I was wondering about that, how'd she even manage to do that, besides anger I mean?" Franky asks curiously.
"Most Merfolk have water affinity, with spatterings of the other 4 mixed in. Some are pure, like Kisame and I would bet Jinbe, but in this case Shirahoshi not only has Fire Affinity alongside her Water, but she managed to get them to harmonize completely unconsciously. The anger is just amping her Fire, giving it more fuel to burn so to speak"
"So we need to calm her down before she burns out? Then the sooner Luffy deals with Hody the better" Jinbe mutters with a grimace.
"Basically. On the bright side, she's really tearing into them, so that should mean fewer goons for Hody to throw between himself and the captain" Victor chuckles as the giantess lays into Hody's army, swiping them away and smashing them under her fists.
"Get the girl!" One of the Fishmen cry out as a mob of them attempt to kill Vivi, and the princess isn't impressed.
"Usually I'd prefer to not solve all my problems with violence, but it seems to be the only language your group speaks. Time to see if I learned the signs correctly" Vivi hums, hands smoothly shifting between about 10 hand seals before slamming her prosthetic into the ground "Wood Style: Bamboo forest spires" she shouts as, much as the title implies a mini forest of Bamboo shoot out of the ground, impaling the majority of the group, some were near misses and only speared a limb, but the majority hit centre mass and grew until they exited the mouth, back of the neck, or crown of the skull, depending on where the head was at the time, in relation to their centre of gravity.
SPLAT
"These humans are all glass cannons, if you can dodge their attacks they die in one hi….." one Fishman boasts, having managed to smash Kaya into the ground with a hammer slam, only to get hardened syrup spikes through his throat and lungs, the logia frowns as she reforms.
"Guess I need more than guns to deal with Fishmen it seems" she hums before swinging her arm back like Luffy's Gum Gum attacks, her forearm slowly expanding like a balloon at the same time as her fist turns jet black "Ame Ame Missile!" she shouts as her forearm explodes, shooting the haki hardened fist clean through about a half dozen fishmen before collapsing into yellow gloop, meanwhile Kaya reforms her arm and continues shooting at the now terrified Fishmen.
"Idiots, cya cya cya. Attack from the air!" Daruma orders, the mermen in their forces inflating their bubbles and taking to the sky, only for them to realize their error as many were sniped out of the air by Ussop, Kaya, and Victor, meanwhile any stragglers were literally kicked back to earth by Sanji, who'd developed his own version of Gepo while on Kamabaka, naming it SkyWalk.
"Yeah, a fight like this, with so many mooks, perfect time to test out Sunny's new weapon system, YEAH!" Franky cheers, getting the attention of a few of the Straw Hats still near the Sunny.
"New upgrades?" Ussop and Chopper cheer, eager to see them.
"Is there a safe zone Franky, I want to prepare something and want to ensure the ritual circle isn't in the splash zone?" Artemis calls up.
"Honestly, directly in front of the Sunny might be the best place, given the new weapons will be coming out of the docking system, so the sides are a big no-no for you" the cyborg shouts down, getting a nod from the artist/sorceress, and she moves to the front and makes a circle in the ground with a spin and her glaive/brush, before beginning her spell.
"Element Resonance: Storm Surge!" she cries after drawing the glyphs for Water [水], Wind [風], and Lightning [雷]in the air at equidistant points on the circle, their energy flowing in a glittery smoke/mist into a larger symbol high above her head. Specifically: Weather [候]
"NOSTROMO!" the sorceress cries, magic pulses across the entire plaza, before a cloud vortex begins to form, with the Sunny right in the centre of the formation. "Nami, there's an S class Magical Storm outside, you better actually do something with this or I'm kicking your ass later" Artemis calls over to Sunny, panting heavily, though she still had enough energy to stand.
"Holy crap, this is incredible! Why did you never come over to Wetheria, we could have used something like this for a lot of experiments" Nami gasps as she comes back on deck, having followed Ussop and Chopper to see what Franky was yelling about.
"It's a power sponge, you're lucky this was my only fight today. I'm going to be pure melee after this, even Pops can't throw around more than a handful of these level spells" Artemis explains, moving over to Kaya who was shooting anyone who got too close to the ship, spinning her glaive threateningly.
"Right, I won't let this go to waste. Lightning Storm Tempo: Raijin!" Nami swings her Climatact, unleashing a stream of little thunder balls, which as they struck the magical cloud, were absorbed momentarily before it began to literally rain lightning upon the New Fishman Pirates.
"Hey! Save some Fishmen for my Super self!" Franky shouts from within the ship "Unveiling numero uno of the Sunny's newest weapon mods. The FR-U4: Black Rhino, YEAH!" he declares as the side opens up at panel 4, revealing a massive and given it was Franky, obviously tricked out motorbike, the cyborg riding it with a massive grin and devil may care aura to him, mowing down fishmen a little too close for comfort to his ship "You can try all you like, but this is a beast made of cold, hard, steel. Come and get me punks!" Franky cheers as he drives straight at the nearest group of Fishmen, taking them down with ease.
KABOOM
But of course that wasn't the only one of Franky's toys on display today, as Ussop had been given the honor of piloting the other creation, the Brachio Tank 5 "Direct hit!" Chopper cheers as he pops out of the top of the tank "This is so awesome!. Ussop we have enemy forces on our left, FIRE!"
KABOOM
"This is taking too long. How hard is it to kill a handful of filthy humans" Hody snarls from his 'throne', before bellowing to the forces behind him "Rise, My Kraken!" An order like that, got everyone's attention, as did the long, orange-yellow tentacles that appeared from behind the plaza as it began to shift its bulk over the walls "You have 18 targets, kill the humans immediately!" Hody orders, the Kraken growls as it skulks its way down into the plaza.
"They have a Kraken!"
"So much for the Straw hat's victory"
"That's right, the Kraken always does what Captain Hody tells it to do!"
"Those humans don't stand a chance!"
Meanwhile, with said humans, the reaction was, less than expected
"Hey, isn't that the kraken from earlier?" Sanji muses, not even stoping his barrage of kicks as he mows down several Fishmen alongside Zoro.
"You see any more of those things swimming around here?" Zoro argues back, cutting down a guy who could shoot foot-long icicles out of his knuckles "Plus you know Luffy's luck, there's like a 0.1% chance it's not Sugule or whatever he named it"
"Oh, hey Surume!" Luffy cheers, not giving a hint of fear, in fact he was actually much happier than he was 5 minutes ago "Come on now, don't tell me you don't remember me. You were my pet for a while before those assholes with the Seabeasts attacks us and we got separated. We're buddies, that doesn't just end because we went separate paths"
The Kraken pauses for a moment, seeming either to think, or just hesitate in attacking the rubber boy…. Before slamming down its tentacles, to pick him up, Surume grinning as he lifted the giggling teen to eye level, happy to have found his friend, as well as a much kinder master than Hody.
"Stop it that tickles" Luffy laughs before being placed on the Kraken's head, just behind his eye ridges "Ok, now let's get this party started!"
"Only you Luffy" Vivi chuckles, seeing Hody's secret weapon defused in less than a minute, only for it to happily turn around and attack it's former (unwilling) allies.
"Ok, that's enough messing around for the moment Surume, any chance you can guard the Sunny for me? Just until we're done with Hody and his goons" Luffy asks, the Kraken giving a grumbling roar that he assumes to be agreement, mostly because it crawled its way over to and sat down with its tentacles coiled around, but not touching the Straw Hat ship, the one it remembered carrying on its head earlier.
"You befriended the Kraken, you really do have a talent for befriending high-caliber allies don't you Straw Hat?" Jinbe muses aloud, getting a shrug best described as 'I dunno' from Luffy as he drops down to the battlefield within earshot.
"Still a lot of goons left, and the higher ups haven't even moved besides yelling orders and doping up their boss" Luffy notes, cracking his knuckles as he does "Lot more battle left to go"
"So, how do you want to handle this?" Robin asks as Kaos looks off into the distance.
"With extreme prejudice" Kaos growls, before fishing a black pearl looking object from his waistcoat pocket.
"No. No no no no no! This is not the time for an unsanctioned test of experimental materials!" Chopper argues as he tries to get over to the duo, but he and the Brachio Tank were too far away. Robin suspects that was why Kaos revealed what she assumed to be a modified Rumble Ball, rather than just bite it like Chopper does, silently.
"That's why it's called a field test, to see how it works in the real world" Kaos purrs, throwing up the rumble ball, and catching it in his snapping jaws.
CRUNCH
With the drug consumed its effect kicked in rapidly, Kaos forcefully shifting into his Zoan form, but then it goes further. The naga towered over everything in the plaza, even Neptune and Shirahoshi were beneath its 50ft frame (though even he was still dwarfed by Surume's massive bulk), scales black as pitch with hook-like talons, but it was the head where things got… interesting. From a certain angle, it looked like a snake's head with an at least slightly more human head coming out of it's mouth, but the more accurate description would be that the creature in front of them had 4 eyes, 2 set just above and behind where the ears would sit on a human skull, unblinking, emerald green orbs with slitted pupils.
ZA WARUDO ENDA: YIG
"Oh, this is going to be fun Zesesese!" Kaos cackles, smashing through a Fishman battalion with a wave of his incredibly long arms "Do you want to follow or get a ride Robin?"
"If you can keep yourself steady I don't mind riding on your shoulder, probably safer up there anyway" Robin teases, before stepping onto the offered hand and settling down on his left shoulder, marveling at the smooth, shiny scales in this form, as well as noting a lack of hair anywhere on the entity "Those eyes are fully functional correct, not just decorative or defensive I presume?"
"Correct, a bit of a headache gaining 2 new viewpoints and a much wider range of sight, but I'm making do, and it may be one of the few times having multiple beings in my head is useful as Mayhem is currently processing the back pair as they don't blink, much like a normal serpent's. Anyway, the kid is outside the plaza in a little hidey hole of there's which I think we'll both enjoy cracking like an egg. But before I go, even if it's just for a little while, maybe I should leave Hody a parting gift, to show why it's a bad idea…. To FUCK WITH US!" the Monster Point-esque naga snarls before black lightning gathers in his hands, arcing between his talons as he draws a series of glyphs in the air before they're drawn into his body.
Demon Art: Re-Carnation
Opening his hand palm down, a mass of vines about the size of Franky dropped and hit the ground with a wet plop, the tendrils ironically writhing like snakes before almost collapsing in on themselves and finding a more stable form. As something like skin formed around the vine golem, a familiar grin and even more familiar laugh sent shivers down the spines of several Fishmen, and 1 Straw Hat in particular.
"Shahahaha, look who's back from the East Blue, who missed me?" Arlong laughs as with a flick of his wrist a Hebi version of his original Kiribachi erupts from his right arm "I don't usually like harming my brothers, but those who betray the Fishmen people first, are without honor and therefore deserve no mercy from me!" he cries as he lunges forward, his teeth and blade cutting through Hody's men as if they were 'mere humans'.
"Was that really necessary, it seemed the rest of them were going to mop up Hody's men in the time it took us to rescue Medusa?" Robin asks, curious more so than judgemental.
"Not entirely, but it ensures Hody's men are unlikely to get lucky shots, and keeps Lily happy, so she won't try anything stupid for at least a few months" Kaos responds, resisting the urge to shrug in his current form, slithering over to the gates of the plaza and ripping it off its hinges before tossing it aside to venture out into the open.
TBC
LW: I think I'll end it here, everyone's fighting, Robin and Kaos have their side mission, and that's about it for the moment.