"Aaah. Look, fellas," Run drawls, slowly pacing in a circle to confront the pirates surrounding him with a grin. "I'm just here for Kaido. So, how about you pretend you didn't see me and we go on about our business?" A wave of snickering and laughter echos through the packed hallway, and the red head sighs heavily. "I thought so..." He reaches a hand up to scratch the stubble on his jaw. "...look, I don't wanna kill any of ya." The red head pauses for a moment, his iris' beginning to burn a brilliant crimson even in the light of the hall. "But I absolutely will if I must." The temperature in the hall drops immediately, the breath of all present becoming visible as a frost creeps across the floors. "So, please...step aside."
His words falling on deaf ears, those braver members of Kaido's crew charge forward, weapons at the ready. The red head's figure flickers as the fastest of them approaches, and a wet 'crunch!' fills the hall as the man suddenly staggers, dropping face down into a pool of his own blood. Four deep gouges nearly cleave the man into pieces at the torso. Run reappears in front of the next, a spattering of blood covering his face. His heel drives into the man's gut, the contents of his stomach spew through his nose and mouth as he's lifted from his feet and thrown backwards. The red head snatches the man's saber from the air, and with a flick of his wrist sends it sailing in the same direction. Several sharp screams echo and are immediately silenced as several unfortunate men are skewered, falling to the ground in a tangle of motionless limbs.
"I-I got him!" screams a voice from behind. A harsh snarl chases the man's words, and the blood drains from his face as a dark wolf seems to leap from the shadows. It strikes the man broad side, the two shattering an unfortunate shoji screen in the process. Lying half in the hall, the wolf is quick to its feet, fangs sinking into his ankle and pulling him further into the darkened room. A trio of crimson eyes burn in the shadows beyond the reach of the light, accompanied by deep growling. "Aaagh! G-Get off me! Get off me! GET! OFF! ME! N-NO, HE-!" The words are silenced with a wet 'crunch!' and harsh 'snap!' and the red head shudders slightly in response.
"Ugh...a helluva way ta go..." The soft spattering of liquid across the wooden floor fills the air over the hammering of hearts as four large wolves prowl out of the shadows, faces painted crimson. Bared fangs tinted pink force a step back from nearly everyone present. The red head reaches out and places a hand on the head of the nearest wolf calmly. "Still time fellas...ya can still-"
"J-Just die, you bastard...!" With those words, the rest of the pirates swarm in his direction. It's a quick and violent fight leaving only the red head standing in the now frozen and silent hall. Run scrubs a palm through his hair with a heavy sigh.
"You just had to step aside." Run glances at the wolves and then flicks his head towards the shadows of the room. The wolves respond immediately, prowling back into the shadows and leaving him standing alone among the fallen members of Kaido's crew. Hearing sprinting footsteps Run glances over his shoulder quickly and a grin splits his face when his eyes fall on none other than Zoro. "Dahaha~! Well, well, look what the cat-"
"Hold it right there!" screams a voice from behind the man, and Run's eyes widen when he spots the hoard of Gifters sprinting after him. Run covers the distance in the blink of an eye, and numerous cries of pain echo as he cuts down several leading the pack before sliding to a stop. "There he is! Stop him!" Several Gifters charge forward with weapons raised only for Zoro to appear before them, cutting down several more as they quickly surround the duo in the hall.
"I was wondering where you wandered off to," Zoro says, staring at the men before them. "Just like you to get lost."
"Whoa-ho! Hold on now!" calls Run quickly. "My sense of direction is perfectly fine. I've seen you get turned around walkin' a straight path." The pirates surrounding them inch closer and both men ready their weapons with a grin on their face. "First to one-hundred?"
"Loser buys the first round." Before either of them can move, however, they're surprised when one of those surrounding them turns and suddenly cuts down a member of their own crew. In a flash, dozens of the pirates surrounding them discard their disguise to reveal themselves as samurai.
"Well...guess we should leave this to them, then! C'mon! We need to find the others!" With that the two men charge down the hall, leaving Kaido's crew to face the samurai. It seems that the raid is now in full swing if everyone is discarding their disguises. Zoro spares a glance at the fallen pirates as they pass them and turns his attention to the red head.
"What the hell did you do to-"
"A lesson was learned. My Devil Fruit...maybe it's better not to use it against people." The two men sprint down the hall as the sound of fighting begins to grow in intensity all around them. They follow a winding path of halls, cutting down those unfortunate Gifters who stand in their way until they find themselves confronted by a large door. The two men react immediately, cutting it to pieces and storming through to find themselves on a large stage confronted by a man Run recognizes from Udon, and beyond him Luffy. "Aah? Luffy!"
"Hahah~! Oi! Zoro! Run!" Luffy laughs.
"Luffy! What are you going?" Zoro questions him.
"Up to where Kaido is!"
"We'll come along, then!" Run says, sprinting in his captain's direction. Luffy stretches an arm skyward, grasping tight to a hand hold before swinging out away from the railing.
"I won't let you three go!" Queen screams at them as Zoro and Run leap the railing. They both grasp one of Luffy's ankles, holding tight while Luffy grins from ear to ear.
"Alright!" chirps Luffy. "Gum-Gum...Rocket!" The three go sailing skywards towards an opening in the dome of Onigashima. "Yes! We can make it there!"
"Kaido is up there?" Run asks.
"Yeah! Kin'emon and all up there fighting, too! We're almost there!" Before they can near their exit, however, the three suddenly find themselves in the jaws of the transformed Queen. The three strain against the man's fangs, though it seems he has no intent on chewing them up.
"Phew! Yer breath stinks like cigars, pal!" complains Run.
"I told you, I won't let you go, you fools!" growls Queen. Numerous winged Gifters swoop down from the hole in the doom, flying this way and that around Queen and the three men. A much larger dinosaur of some kind swoops down as well, hovering several meters from Queen's face.
"I won't let you in that area," says the dinosaur.
"We'll never be able to get up there!" Zoro grunts.
"Security is so tight around here!" adds Luffy. Queen suddenly whips his head around and tosses the three straight towards the ground. The twist in air, as they find themselves hurtling directly towards some massive Gifter, and immediately plant their feet into it's face before leaping off and landing several meters away with a grunt. For the Gifter's part, it doesn't seem to even register that they'd used its head to slow their descend, as it spins around to face them.
"Straw Hat Man!" shouts the familiar voice of Hyogoro, sprinting in their direction.
"Wow," Run chirps, staring at the pink skinned giant. "He's pretty tough."
"Then, let's fight for real!" Luffy tells them simply. Before the three of them can move, however, the roar of an engine fills their ears. The noise rapidly approaches until at last Franky comes squealing around the massive Gifter on the 'Black Rhino', sliding to a stop in front of them with a grin.
"Yow~! Just leave it to me!" Franky shouts. "Come on, Brachio Tank!" The rumble of a second engine begins to hum in tune with the Black Rhino, and moments later Brachio Tank rumbles to a stop on a large pile of rubble several meters away. They watch as Franky's creations suddenly begin to transform, leaping skyward and combining with one another. The other members of the crew begin to move as well, lashing out at those members of Kaido's crew that rapidly close in on their position, and it isn't long before the entire floor of the skull dome has turned into a massive brawl. Even the largest of Kaido's crew can't stand against them, scattered with ease by Luffy's Gear Four and the timely arrival of a man who appears to be making a quick escape from someone chasing. As the bodies of the massive Beast members strike the ground, he lands several meters away from them.
"Let me fight alongside you guys!" cries the man, who Run searches his memory for. His face seems familiar and after several moments he snaps his fingers with a grin on his face.
"Aah! I knew I remembered that guy!" Run says quickly. "That's, uh...Drake."
"A member of the Worst Generation," Robin adds.
"Did he change sides, then?" questions Usopp.
"That bastard," Sanji grunts. "He's that perv who saw Nami and Robin taking a bath the other day in the Flower Capital. He's so despiciable!"
"So are you!" screams Nami.
"I'm glad you didn't drown in the pool of blood you shot from your nose," adds Robin. A muffled snort of laughter escapes the red head who immediately clears his throat to cover it as Nami immediately glares in his direction. He reaches up to scratch the stubble on his jaw while very carefully shifting so that Robin is between the two of them. While Sanji begins ranting to the skies about his devotion to Nami and Robin, the rest of the crew turns their attention to Drake.
"Aah, you're askin' for a lot, Drake," Run tells him. "Throwing our lot in with someone who just attacked a member of his own crew is..."
"I know you!" Luffy calls. "You wanna take down Kaido, too?!"
"I can't tell you why," Drake admits. "But we share the same goal!"
"Fine! I'm gonna take down Kaido so just do as you please! Run! Let's go! We need to get to the top of the dome!" At the order of his Captain, the red head turns and takes off with him. Through the chaos of the skull dome the two men sprint as fast as they can ignoring clashing of weapons and the report of gunfire surrounding them. Though, it's much more difficult for them to stay together with the chaos on the floor, and in short order Run once again loses Luffy as he barrels through the halls of Onigashima.
"Aah, how many times, Luffy!" complains Run, picking a random hall and sprinting quickly. Numerous footsteps fill the hall in tandem with his and he glances over his shoulder to find a small hoard of large, blue skinned...Oni? "Whoa! What in the hell are those things?!" Doubling his pace, the red head cuts a winding twisting path through the halls steadily putting distance between himself and the strange Oni chasing after him as he climbs flight after flight of stairs. "Why are these so many stairs?" As he dashes through the halls, he begins to cross areas of obvious fighting and as they become more frequent, he is very suddenly caught from behind. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out! I-" He's rocketed backwards, bouncing off the floor and then the ceiling before crashing down flat on his back in a small room. "...Ow."
"Hahahaha~! Run! I knew you'd catch up!" chirps Luffy, leaning into his field of view with a grin.
"Dahaha~! Well, fancy bumpin' into you here." With a grunt he sits up, scanning his surroundings to find Jinbe standing several feet away with a group of men he recognizes from the prison. A large hole has been opened in the ceiling, and a rickety ladder dangles through the opening. The red head stands, brushing himself off as he stares pointedly at the ladder. "Aah, is that our way up?"
"That's right!" announces one of the men. "It'll take you all directly to the fourth floor. There are a bunch of enemies waiting at the stairs." Nodding in understanding, the three quickly scale the ladder and at Jinbe's insistence, allow him to take the lead through the halls.
"Sanji! Oi! Sanji!" cries Luffy. "Aw, where did he go?!"
"Sanji was with you?" Run questions.
"That's right," agrees Jinbe. "We separated on the third floor. Perhaps he's encountered a powerful enemy and is holding them at bay."
"I can't sense him at all with Kenbunshoku," Luffy complains. "Ah! Run! Can you find him?" Run closes his eyes for a brief moment before firmly nodding his head.
"He's still on the third floor," Run tells them. "Along with a bunch of other people. I'm not sure if he's in a pinch but...one of them is powerful. There's also a lot of enemies ahead." A large hall opens up in front of them, and the trio slides to a stop. Silence follows for several long moments before numerous members of Kaido's crew leap down from their perches to surround them. "Whew~! Looks like they're intent on holding us up here."
"I suppose one of us should remain behind to fight them," Jinbe mutters. "Luffy! Red hair! You two go ahead!"
"You're sure?"
"Yes! I'll fight them as much as they want!" Luffy stretches one arm out, grasping tight to the top of one of their perches while the other stretches out to wrap around the red head's waist. The two go sailing skywards seconds later, flying across the room and landing at another hall.
"Jinbe! Be careful!" cries Luffy. "We still have to have our toast!" Charging down the hallway, they quickly find themselves confronted by several dozen of Kaido's crew, all intent on taking them down by any means necessary. Unfortunately, they fail to do little more than slow them as they push forward, quickly scattering the resistance. With determination they charge onwards, finding the stairs, taking them three at a time as the air grows cold enough for them to see their panting breath. A large set of doors loom ahead, moonlight streaming through the cracks and Run pushes forwards with a growl.
"I'll knock, Luffy!" Run growls, driving a foot into the doors. With a loud 'boom!' they sail from their hinges, bouncing off the ground before finally exploding into a shower of splinters. Through a cloud of dust the two stagger out onto the skull dome with Kaido and Big Mom looming in the distance. Several meters from them, the familiar figures of Zoro, Law, Eustass and Killer stand across from them. They calmly approach the group, striding up between them and coming to a stop as Luffy releases a burst of Haoshoku.
"Another one came," complains Eustass. "Why don't you guys watch how it's done?!"
"I refuse!"
"Me, too!"
"I wanna take all their heads!" Big Mom says, glaring down at the group.
"Straw Hat," begins Kaido. Luffy's eyes seem to spot something and without warning he begins walking towards the two. Zoro and Run grasp the hilt of their swords immediately both men leaning forwards slightly in preparation to make a move. Their eyes follow the direction Luffy is heading in and widen immediately as they spot the fallen figures of the samurai behind Kaido and Big Mom. "Linlin! What do you think this brat said he was gonna be right in front of me?!"
"He's an impertinent one...he gave me some lip, too! And he even destroyed my castle, too! You should be apologizing to me, Straw Hat!" Rather than acknowledge either one of them, Luffy continues between them in the direction of the samurai.
"Oi, brat! Say again what you're gonna be right to our faces!" Luffy stops at a fallen Kin'emon's side, kneeling down to gently lift him from the ground.
"Kin'emon," mutters Luffy. "Are you ok? I'm sorry for being late."
"I...I feel chagrined," mutters Kin'emon, hacking up a mouthful of blood. "H-How...am I to...f-face Oden in the a-afterlife? C-Can you...carry Wano on your back?! Ple-"
"You idiot! Of course I will! It's my friends country!" Kaido crosses the distance to the two of them.
"Oi! I'm talking to you!" shouts Kaido, raising his kanabo.
"Tra-guy! Move all of them downstairs!" Haki arcs off of Kaido's weapon as he brings it down far too late to strike either the samurai or Luffy. Their Captain appears in the air above Kaido, his arm inflated to a massive degree and infused with his Busoshoku. Flames gather as he launches it at the Yonko's jaw. "Gum-Gum...Red Roc!" With a near ear shattering 'boom!' it strikes Kaido square in the face, driving him head first into the dome below their feet.
"Kaido! What are you doing?!" complains Big Mom. "You let yourself be knocked down by that brat?!" Luffy lands in front of the small group.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! I'm the man who will best you guys...and become King of the Pirates!"
"You're still saying that, you shitty brat?!" Kaido slowly pushes himself up, spitting out a bit of blood onto the dome from a split lip. "Kaido! Quit resting, would you?! It was just some weak squirts punch!"
"So that's the Haki the old man taught him," mutters Zoro.
"Internal Destruction," confirms Run. "At least that's what dad told me it was called. It does exactly what it sounds like; attacks the internals of an opponent. It requires manipulating the flow of your own Haki to slip past your opponent's rather than batter against it."
"So punches like that work on Kaido, red hair?" Eustass asks. "Good to know."
"After the beating you took from me in Kuri...you weren't even on my radar!" growls Kaido. "That red haired brat back there managed to do more than all of you. At least he managed to cut me! But now...are you suggesting that you're capable of fighting a deadly battle against me, Straw Hat?! You're still just a fledgling punk! You think you're that great?!" Their Haoshoku clashes begins to clash against one another. Arcs of energy spring to life in the air in front of Run, who scratches the stubble on his jaw with a grin. It fades when Kaido moves, however, swinging his kanabo in a wide arc at Luffy. "Raimei Hakke!" Luffy leaps over the attack, striking the ground several dozen meters away as he tumbles and eventually rights himself.
"Damn! I even predicted the attack!" complains Luffy. "He's really fast!"
"Well done! You didn't take the attack directly this time!"
"You suck, Kaido!" chides Big Mom, riding on the back of an angry storm cloud in Luffy's direction. "Don't you know trash should be burned? Prometheus!" A large orange sun sails in her direction and Run blinks. He'd consumed her last one on Whole Cake Island...but apparently, she'd not taken the loss too hard. "Get burned to ash! Heavenly Fire!" A gout of flame sails in their Captain's direction and Zoro moves immediately.
"Foxfire Style Flame-Rend!" Zoro growls. Moments later, he cleaves the sun Homie in half. It halts immediately, as Zoro appears at Luffy's side.
"Hoh~! Kin'emon's technique!"
"Don't lower your guard, Luffy! There are two Yonko here!" Luffy glances in the direction of Kaido quickly, finding him with kanabo raised and arcing in his direction. Run appears between them seconds later, cutlass gripped tightly as he intercepts the attack.
"Kamusari!" speaks Run, deflecting Kaido's weapon skyward with his strike. The large Yonko's eyes widen in surprise as he actually staggers backwards several steps before catching himself. A small smirk appears on the face of the red head as a crinkling sound echos through the stunned silence...and a single large spike from Kaido's weapon splits from the weapon before dropping to the dome under foot. "I owe you my thanks, Kaido, for showing me it's possible to infuse my Haoshoku into my attacks. Aah..." He raises is cutlass and points it at the hand Kaido is gripping his kanabo with. "...yer bleedin', old man."
"Cocky little shit," growls Kaido, hefting his kanabo to rest on his shoulder. Run flashes a feral grin in response, four sharp canines gleaming in the moonlight as he leans forward slightly.
"Here ah come." The red head and the Yonko move in unison, closing the distance between one another in a blur. Kaido's kanabo comes straight down, pulverizing a large portion of the skull dome and sending a shower of dust and debris skyward. A rush of cloth reaches Kaido's ears, and he tracks the fast-moving red head immediately. Run flickers into existence by Kaido's right shoulder, cutlass descending in his direction. The massive Yonko tilts his head sharply, following the motion to rapidly circle around behind him. "Sundering Tide."
A wave of crackling energy cleaves through the dome below, gouging so deeply that light from below streams through in several places. His kanabo swings in a wide arc towards the red head's back, who twists in air with free hand raised. A deafening boom echos across the skull dome, and Kaido's weapon is driven downwards. A broad grin stretches across the Yonko's face in response as he launches a punch directly at the red head, who's figure disappears only to be replaced with a large stone. It's sent sailing into the distance as he connects and Run appears several feet away from Law, a grin fit to match Kaido's own stretching his face. He inhales deeply, and exhales slowly several snowflakes springing to life in the haze of his breath.
"Hah. Ah ain't been this fired up in ah while, old man..."
"Red-hair-ya!" barks Law. "We can't just rush forward without a plan! Stop acting on your own! And YOU!" Law quickly rounds on Luffy, grasping him by the front of his shirt. "We formed an alliance! Allies must stand as equals! So, there's something we need to clear up! I was already gonna move those guys downstairs! But you...you made it seem like I followed your orders!"
"H-Huh?! Why do you care about something like that?!" Luffy questions.
"Hah! I'm happy for you, Straw Hat!" grunts Eustass. "You got yourself another subordinate! Trafalgar...it's good to see you finally found yourself a captain. You'll fit right in with that idiot red hair." Naturally, this has the effect of immediately spawning an argument between Luffy, Law and Eustass. Unfortunately, their argument only serves to draw the ire of Big Mom, who launches a trio of fireballs at the three. While the first thing they should do is dodge the attack, Luffy succeeds in goading the other two into a game of chicken...which ends exactly as Run had expected with all three of them taking the attack head on. Once again, this only triggers an argument about which one flinched first.
"Why are they the way they are?" chuckles Run, scratching the stubble on his jaw.
"Could you imagine Luffy any other way?" Zoro questions him, tying his bandana over his head.
"We goin', then?"
"You had your turn, red hair. Hitokiri Kamazo and I will take this one." Killer grunts a bit in surprise while Zoro grins. "There aren't that many people who have such a weird laugh." If the man is upset by the insult he doesn't show it, instead readying the strange weapons he carries.
"If I'd had these Punishers on at the time, I wouldn't have lost," Killer says plainly. Without another word, the two launch themselves at Kaido. The massive Yonko raises his kanabo, swinging a wide arc in their direction but striking only air as they pass and strike him in the throat. Unfortunately, it's far too shallow a strike to inflict any real damage to him.
"Kaido!" shouts Luffy, attracting the man's attention. "We're gonna finish you off in one go!"
"What was that?" Kaido questions them. "Go ahead! Say it again for me!"
"Gear Fourth! Bounce Man!"
"Punk Rotten!"
"Room!"
"Worororo~! They're like monsters...!"