Chapter 16: Twilight Isles, Part Seven

Brittia, the capital of the Britt Kingdom.

It is the largest castle town on all the island that has a population of about a hundred thousand people. The town itself is situated at the base of the island's lone mountain with a deep moat dug around its perimeters as well as tall defensive walls surrounding the town with a bridge for both travellers and traders to cross, remnants of the late bloody civil war.

Its buildings consist of wooden and brick houses with clay tile roofs, all separated into several districts. Each district is designated a coloured banner of its governing body, more than often being the ones that holds an official position in the main government office

In the centre of it all, stood the symbol of the Britt Kingdom itself and the home of the royalty that rules over this land, Brittia Castle.

A large castle made of white bricks with light blue roofs and two towers that acts as lookout points on its side with the kingdom's flag fluttering proudly on top of its cone-shaped roofs, it is a monumental fortress that serves as both the royal court and the kingdom's main government office for all its ministries.

And right now, it is the place of havoc and chaos.

Gunfire echoes within the walls, blood splattered all over the grass and brick-layered pavement, bloodied and sometimes horribly mutilated bodies of loyal soldiers scattered all over as the armed men continued their rampage.

It all began with a large explosion somewhere at the back of the castle that was built into the mountain along with screams of soldiers and guardsmen who are unlucky enough to be caught in the blast. After that, groups of armed men rush out shouting, shooting and killing all the soldiers in the area.

At the same time, many places around the castle has experience mutiny of their one, with random soldiers turning on their fellow men, to some of the guards attacking and sometimes killing the government officials that were assigned to. It is pure chaos, with no signs of it slowing down.

Naturally, all soldiers posted in the capital, with exceptions to the ones guarding the city gates, are called to the castle as reinforcements to help quell the mayhem. But they aren't able to, due to the fact that some time before this all started, the castle's gates are closed and locked down, preventing anyone from entering or exiting.

Despite this, the ones that are posted inside the castle are able to react with much urgency and as swiftly as they could, managing to keep the rampage locked in a single location. The few trained elite units are more than capable of stopping the terrorists from spreading their violence any further.

Even so, they are kept in a deadlock against the terrorists. They are lacking in the required manpower to deal with them, holding them back is all they can do.

One of the soldiers posted here hid under the window overlooking the courtyard, his musket smoking from a freshly fired shot. His white uniform shirt soaked with sweat and soot, his dark blue pants covered in dirt and gravel, while his cap has a few gashes from a few close-calls from enemy fire.

He let out a tired sigh as he reloads his musket, turning to his partner who just finished reloading, "This situation looks bad, doesn't it?"

"Understatement of the decade." He stated as he took aim from the window ledge, "We are outmanned and outgunned. There are no reinforcements coming, so we're on our own. And to top it all off…" He fired a shot into enemy lines, "I'm down to my last round."

"I'm the same." The soldier sighs, cocking back his musket's trigger, "We are so screwed…"

"Man, this is not how I expect today to go at all…" His partner groans, "And just when I've decided to propose to Elise too…"

"Oh, that was today? Do you had it all planned out?"

"With the dinner and the music and everything. Now… I'm not sure if I'm even going to survive long enough to do it."

"She's going to be bawling her eyes out at our funeral."

"Oh, definitely."

"…Brother." He looks at his partner with a resigned smile, "It's an honour fighting alongside you."

"…Same to you, brother." He nodded; a sob croaked out of his throat.

"So…" The soldier stood up, gripping his musket tightly, "One last shot to end this?"

"Yeah." His partner followed suit, "Let's greet death with a bang-"

*BOOM!*

They blinked at the sudden explosion, before peeking out of the window; just as a large column of flames bursts out of the hole the terrorists came out of. A large fireball flew into the air, before descending and crashing into the courtyard in an explosion of flames.

And from that fireball, comes out a single man with embers emitting off his body, his mouth curled up in a smirk as he holds his orange hat in place. "Payback time, bitches!"

"…What the fuck just happened…?"

I let out a groan at the entrance that Ace has just did. Does he really have to do that? I get that the plan involved him dealing with the rampaging pirates but he doesn't need to make a show out of it.

Then again, this is the Gol D Roger's son we're talking about here; and if what Rayleigh says is true, then he is equally as boisterous as his father. Guess there are some things that are linked together by genetics….

"Rein, we need to go, now." Deuce tells me, knocking me out of my thoughts as he and Vi ran towards the castle, with me quickly catching up to them.

On our way through the tunnel, Vi has outlined the plan Reginold has concocted for today's events to us, as well as his decision to use Luna as a bargaining chip/hostage against her father. After that, Deuce has come up with a plan to deal with it and save the princess.

First, Ace has to draw the pirates' attention away from the soldiers, allowing them a chance to counterattack. When the pirates are distracted by him, we head into the castle and find the throne room. With luck, we'll make it there before Desiree and call out Reginold for what he did. After that, we'll deal with Desiree and rescue Luna.

But, in the likely scenario she made it there before we did, we have to stop the deal from happening and rescue Luna. If needed, we have to save the king too.

"You do know where you are going, right?" I asked Vi, just as Ace fires off another Fire Fist into the crowd of pirates, no doubt barbequing them to a crisp.

"Don't worry." He nodded. "Reginold got us the schematics of the castle and outlined the shortest path towards the throne room."

"Wouldn't we run into Desiree on the way there?" Deuce pointed out, "We could rescue her then."

"If we're lucky." Vi stated, "But Desiree has quite a head start from us. I doubt we'll be to catch up to her before she reaches it."

"Then we need to hurry." I noted as I pick up the pace, "Could you tell us more about Reginold? Any gimmicks we need to be aware of?"

"Nothing in particular, to be honest." The former rebel shakes his head, "I hardly communicated with him myself; only Desiree has any real contact with him over the years. I do know that he is a decent swordsman, but that's about it."

"Then he might have other things we do not know about…" Deuce noted.

Just as we are about to enter the castle, a loud laughter can be heard from the pirates that drew our attention.

From the group of pirates, Tok shows himself with a flintlock pistol in his hand while his hand is raised towards a blast of flames that is coming towards him. But on further examination, something is off.

The fire blast that Ace has fired seems to be frozen in place, not in ice but stopped moving completely. The fire, that would normally be flickering about like all fires should, looks stiff like it's a prop and not an element of heat and destruction that it is.

"Hahaha! Man, what a shocking turn of events!" The pirate captain laughed, "I thought my men had butchered you back in the camp, but I guessed I've thought wrong!"

"What did you do!?" Ace shouted at him, "Why is my fire all weird?"

"Geez, I wonder…?" Tok smirked with a shrug of his shoulder, "Maybe your Devil Fruit is acting up?"

"Tch, but this is great." The freckled pirate captain snickers as he ignites his fist, "I was hoping to run into you! I'm going to pay you back for that kicking you did just now!"

"Be careful, Ace!" Vi shouted out, "Tok has a Devil Fruit power too! He can stop anything in its tracks, no matter what it is!"

"Huh? Stop things? What do you mean?"

"Oi, oi, what's the deal, Vi? Why are you selling me out like that!?" Tok shouted at him, "You betraying us, betraying your sister?"

"No, I'm saving my sister." He stated firmly before turning back towards the castle, "Come on! This way!"

"Damn you… Stop them!"

With the command from their captain, the pirates all ignore the flames and rushes towards us. I prepare to transform into my half-dragon form to fight, only for Deuce to run past me before slamming his fist into the first one he runs into. "Deuce!"

"You're dealing with me!" He shouted at the pirates, his fists up in a semi-boxing stance, "Come on!"

"You're dead meat, asshole!" One of the pirates shouted as he swings his sword–Hey, wait a minute there! That's Nanashi he's holding!

"Hands off my sword!" I shouted as I rushed forward and lands my scaly fist into his cheek, knocking him out instantly as I grab my weapon out of his grasps and grimaced at the sticky handle, "Urgh, now it's all sticky…!"

"Did you really have to do that?" Deuce asked me as I plucked the sheathe from the pirate's waistband.

"This sword is a rental." I tells him as I sheathes Nanashi, "And I'm afraid what Sen would do to me if I lost it to some random pirate." Shivers went down my spine at the thought of the possible torturous training regiments he could force me to do if he finds out. "I can feel the aching muscles already…"

"Sheesh… That's one hell of a mentor you have there…"

"…Why are you idiots just standing there!?" Tok shouted angrily, "Get them already!"

"A…Aye-aye, captain!"

"Don't you look away now!" Ace shouted as I saw him fires a fire blast at the pirate captain, who raises his hand again and stopped the blast in its tracks, "Damn it, again!?"

"Rein! Deuce! We don't have time to mess around!" Vi calls out to us, "We have to go now!"

"He's right." Deuce nodded as he turns to me, "You go on ahead! Just leave these guys to me!"

"You sure?" I asked.

"Better you than me. Besides…" He gestured to Ace fighting Tok, "If that Tok guy is as dangerous as that rebel guy says he is, Ace going to need some backup."

"…Alright. I'm leaving them to you!"

He nodded before rushing to meet the pirates coming towards us. I quickly run back to Vi, and we both run into the castle with him taking the lead.

Ace fires another blast of fire at Tok, who once again stopped the attack by raising his hand up to it much to his irritation. He then walks around it and fires his firearm at the freckled pirate, who simply took the attack at face value as the bullet just goes through him with no effect as his 'wound' seals itself up with a slight flicker of flames.

"Your attack won't work on me." Ace stated as he readies another fire blast, "But damn it, how you are stopping my flames!? What kind of Devil Fruit does that!?"

"You really want to know?" Tok chuckles as he reloads his pistol, "Sure, I'll tell you. I've eaten the Stop-Stop Fruit and became Stop-Human."

"Stop-Stop Fruit?"

"I'm capable of stopping anything." He explains, "No matter how big or how impossible it is, it would be stopped. Stones, water, even fire. No attack could touch me."

"Oh yeah? Let's test that theory!"

Ace fires another fire blast right at the gear-themed pirate, who simply raise his hand to stop it. The blast, however, isn't aimed at him and blast into the ground in front of him, blocking his view with flickers of fire and ember. Tok blinked at the sudden change in tactics, before Ace leap through the fire and ready his fist to punch him.

"Eat my fist, you gear-head asshole!"

Tok's eyes widen at that, before he smirked and raises his hand up to his attacker. Ace's eyes widen as he suddenly stopped in mid-air, his body stiff as stone. 'W-What the hell!?'

"Wow, I've never seen a bigger idiot in my life!" Tok laughed as the freckled pirate's eyes darted about in a panic, "Hahaha, you moron! I've said it before, didn't I? I can stop anything! That includes human being too!"

'Crap! I can't believe I pulled a Luffy!'

"Oh, but that's not all." He added as he raises his pistol and aimed at Ace's shoulder. He then proceeds to cock back the hammer and pulls the trigger, firing a round into the freckled pirate. Normally, the lead bullet would just go right through due to his body being made of fire, but this time something unpreceded happened.

The bullet instead pierces into his shoulder with a splutter of blood.

'O-OW! What the fuck!? I shouldn't be able to get hurt like that!'

"I can tell you are surprised." Tok chuckles as he reloads his pistol, "When I said I can stop anything, I meant stop them in all sense of the word. Their velocity, their movements, all of them stopped! From what I can tell, your body turns itself into fire whenever you got shot. But now that your body has stopped, it can't turn into fire!"

'T-This is bad!'

"Which means!" He cocks and aims his firearm at the freckled pirate's forehead, "I'm now able to kill you."

'S-Shit!'

Tok's grin widens at the prospect of ending his life as he slowly closes his finger around the trigger. He then took his sweet time to pull the trigger, slowly moving the trigger back as to savour the moment of finally killing the man that caused him so much trouble.

But just as he is about finally fully squeeze the trigger, a handcuff is slapped onto his wrist.

And not just any handcuff, it's the very same sea-stone handcuff that was around the freckled pirate's wrists just a few moments prior.

"W-What the hell!?" Tok cried out, before dropping to his knees as he felt his strength left him. That immediately freed Ace from his power's grasp, the freckled pirate dropping onto the ground with a loud thud.

"Kept that just in case." The gear-themed pirate turned to see Deuce walking up to him. The masked pirate has a few bruises here and there, but otherwise is pretty much unscathed and spotting one of the smuggest faces that ever graced the East Blue.

"Y-You!? How!? What about my men!?"

"Oh, took care of them." He points at the unconscious pirates lying all over the ground, "I may have dropped out of medical school, but I've learned enough of the human body to know where to aim to deal the most pain."

"T-This can't be…!"

"Oi."

Tok flinched at the voice, turning to see Ace has walked up to him and is slowly cracking his knuckles with wide grin on his face, "Payback time."

"W-Whoa there! Let's not get too hasty now–"

What follows is the most satisfying beatdown Ace ever given since the start of his pirate career. The amount of violence against this one pirate is too much for words to describe. But the results are till the same.

Tok is left groaning in pain and agony with multiple bumps and bruises, while the freckled pirate has the most satisfied smile on his face.

"Whew! That's refreshing!"

"Only you would think of beating someone up as refreshing…" His first mate muttered.

"Hey, he has put me through shit since yesterday! I deserved this much!" He stated.

"Damn it…" They heard Tok manages to grunt out, "This is not worth that hidden treasure he promised…"

That caught their attention, as they turn their attention back to the groaning pirate who had realised what he just said, "What hidden treasure?"

"Um…"

Painful gurgle escapes the mouth of one of the elite guardsmen who collapsed onto the carpet along with his brethren-in-arms, cut down by one of their own.

The current ruler of the Britt Kingdom, a man with dark brown hair in noble clothes of blue and white with an eye patch that goes by the name of Solaria Peragon, could only witness in shock of the betrayal by his most trusted advisor.

The main throne room of Brittia Castle is the sole largest room in the entire building, designed to host at least several hundred men in one sitting. Its interior reflects on the kingdom's national colours of white and red with a dash of yellow in some of the finer details, a large carpet is rolled out from the entrance to the thrones of the royal family, each designated to the current ruler's family members.

"R-Reginold…? What are you doing…!?"

The carpet, once a beautiful shade of red with yellow lining, is stained with patches of wet blood dripped from the traitor's broadsword. The former advisor snickers at the king's surprised face, "Isn't it obvious? I'm staging a coup."

"A coup!? Why!?"

"Why else?" He flicks the blood off his weapon's blade, just as the doors to the throne room is opened, "To usurp you from the throne, and to return the Twilight Isles to its TRUE ruler." Desiree then proceeds to walk in, dragging his daughter with her as several men in similar attire to hers followed suit.

"F-Father!" Luna cried out.

"Luna!" Solaria turns to Reginold with a glare, "Unhand my daughter at once!"

"I'm sorry that's not possible." The traitor tells him as he walks up to her, holding her head up by the chin, "For you see, I needed a little insurance against you."

"Let her go, Reginold!" The king shouted as he stood up from his throne, his prostatic peg of a leg visible from his pants' legs.

"Ah, ah! Not so fast!" The noble man raises his blade up to the princess's neck, its tip dangerously close to her windpipe, "Unless you do as we say, she'll be bleeding quite intensively."

"Y-You…!" Solaria gritted his teeth while a growl vibrated from his throat. And with great reluctance, he sat back down, "Fine…what do you want?"

"Oh, I'm not that one with the demands." He gestured to Desiree who shoved their hostage into his arms.

The rebel leader stomps up to him, drawing her sword out as she glares dagger at the ruling king, "Ten years ago. Do you remember ordering an attack on a small port town?"

"W-What?"

"Answer me!" She raises her longsword to his neck, "Do you remember ordering an attack on a small, innocent, insignificant port town, all because some of us has the blood from the Latian Kingdom!? Did you have that town razed to the ground, just because I have the blood of Latian Royalty!?"

"Latian… Royalty…?"

"Yes!" Reginold cheered, "This girl right here is the granddaughter of the late Latian King, King Charles Constantine the II! By birth right, she is the rightly heir to the throne–"

"Shut up, Reginold!" Desiree turns to him with a cold glare, "I'm the one making the demands here, not you."

"…Very well. Please proceed."

She turns back to the king, her eyes burning with anger and vengeance, "Answer me, oh great ruler of this land. Did you have my town razed to the ground or not!?"

"…I do not know what you are talking about." He stated in confusion, "There was no such order given–"

"LIES!" She shouted, slamming her sword into the gold-plated wooden throne to his shock as she got right up to his face, "Your kingdom flags were on those ships! Your soldiers are spotted manning them! It can only be your men who destroyed my town! Tell me the truth!"

"Like I said, I have no idea what you are implying!" Solaria stated, "I have issued no such order! Are you sure you are not mistaken?"

"…Fine. Keep lying." Desiree growled, "It doesn't matter if you admit to it or not. All that matters…" She pulls her weapon free before pulling back, aiming the blade's tip at his throat, "…is that you pay for what you've done."

"FATHER!" Luna screams in horror as the rebel leader prepares to stab the king's throat.

"A right turn here and down this corridor!" Vi instructed as we race through the castle with much haste, "The door to the throne room should be on our left."

"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. The door is pretty big. We can't miss it."

As he said that, I notice in the distance a pair of large red doors that are at least several times larger than a normal door. That must be the throne room. But the door's opened. This can't be good…

"FATHER!"

Luna's screams caught my attention, the horror in her voice can't mean anything good. I quickly pick up the pace and dashes through the opened door, just as I witness Desiree ready to stab her blade into the man that can only be the current king and Luna's father.

"DESIREE, STOP!"

Vi's shouts from behind me had me springing into action, my feet quickly turn dragon as well as my tail grew to provide balance as I dash towards her at top speeds. For this distance, I have to strike fast. With that thought in mind, I have my hand on my sheathed sword while my other hand is gripping on the handle tightly. I have to use that form; the fastest form Sen has taught me so far.

"Dragon Sword Style, Fourth Form: Lunging Fang!"

The moment I reached her, I took to a stereotypical Iai stance, twisted my sheathe and performs a quick draw at her. Desiree was able to react and has turned her blade around to block my slash, my blade hitting her weapon with a loud ring. Seeing how her blade vibrated, my attack has hit strong and on point.

"You…!?" She cried out.

"Sorry, no kings are dying today…" I grunted out as I struggle to push my sword forward. The rebel leader let out a murmured curse and undid our little sword lock with a flick of her wrist, I barely managed to stop myself from falling by using my tail to steady myself.

Once I got my bearings, I took to a fighting stance to prepare for any additional attacks.

"R-Rein!? You're alive!" Luna cried out in sheer relief.

"Vi!? What is the meaning of this!?" The man holding Luna hostage shouted. From what he just said, he must be Reginold.

"I'm putting a stop to your plans, Reginold." Vi stated firmly as he unsheathes his sword, "You're not going to use me, Desiree, or anyone of us anymore."

"Vi…?" Desiree looked at her brother completely dumbfounded.

"Using you?" Reginold chuckles, "What are you saying? I'm doing this for your sake–"

"Quit it with your lies! I know what you did!" The former rebel accused as he pointed his sword at him, "Ten years ago, it wasn't the Britt Kingdom that destroyed our town. No, it was you, wasn't it? You destroyed our town!"

"Huh?"

"Wait, seriously!?"

"He's the one that…!?"

"Come to think of it… he was very suspicious from the start…"

"That son of a bitch, he has set us up from the beginning!"

"I can't believe I've trusted him!"

Murmurs spread among the armed Latian soldiers, some of them even agreeing with Vi's accusation. If this keeps up, we could turn the tables on him! This could be our chance–

"…What nonsense are you saying?" Reginold huffed, "Me? Destroy your town? For what purpose would I do that?"

"Isn't it obvious!?" Vi shouted, "You wanted to use us to start this coup, to take the crown for yourself!"

"I could've easily done that without your help." He pointed out, "Sure, it'll take longer, but the crown would've been mine anyway. There's no need for me to fake the attack on your town just to get you guys on my side! In fact, it would be an even bigger hassle to do that! Why should waste my time doing such things?"

"Grk!" I flinched at how good he is at defending himself. With a silver tongue like that, no wonder he has everyone fooled…

"That is true…"

"Why would he need to go so far just to start a coup?"

"Maybe Vi is thinking a little too much into this…"

Oh boy, this just backfired on us… If this situation was any less grave, I would have chuckled at how I'm witnessing what essentially is Ace Attorney: One Piece Edition.

"B-But!" The former rebel stayed firmed, "Isn't it too much of a coincidence that the Britt Kingdom just so happens to find out about us, bombarded us, and then just leave? And then YOU showed up out of nowhere and just so happened to know all this history and the identity of the ships that attacked us?"

"That's all it has been. A simple coincidence." The former advisor chuckles, "Or fate, maybe? It did help us lead to this point. Regardless, what you are suggesting is nothing more than over imaginative daydreams. Why would I have to gain in this whole debacle? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing."

"Grk!"

"Unless, you have proof of such?"

"I-I…!"

Oh crap, this doesn't look good! If we can't prove this to everyone, especially Desiree, then Reginold would have gotten what he wanted from this!

Although, he did have a point.

What did he have to gain from this? The crown is good and all, but that's not worth the effort to trick an army into doing his bidding… Is there something else in it for him? Some kind of secondary objective to achieve by doing it this way?

"If not, then it's settled." Reginold stated, "Vi. I don't know what that girl has told you for you to have such an imaginative idea, but I'm willing to overlook it. On the condition that you kill this girl right here, right now."

"Huh!?"

"No! You can't!" Luna screamed, only to grunt in pain as her captor put some strength into his grip.

"Luna!" The king cried out.

"It's now or never, Vi." He stated firmly, "Kill her. Now."

"I… I…" Vi stuttered as he turns to look at me, his eyes betraying his feelings as he reluctantly raises his sword towards me. Damn it, is this it!?

"NOT SO FAST!"

With that loud entrance, Ace leaps into the throne from adorn in flames. His fist ignites as he cocks his arm back, "Newly named special move! FIRE FIST!" He then punches forward, blasting a fist-shaped fire towards Reginold who could only stare in shock at the sudden attack.

Luna took his misdirected attention as her chance to escape, and stomps on his foot as hard as she can, which causes him to scream in pain and letting her go as she got out of the way of the attack.

Unfortunately, the attack missed him and hits semi-harmlessly on the carpet. That, to our dismay, started a small fire that is slowly growing.

"Ah! Fire!" One of the soldiers cried out in a panic as they all rushed to stomp it out.

"Ace, what the hell!?" I screamed at the freckled pirate, who has the gall to look sheepishly at his handiwork.

"…Whoops?"

"Ace! Rein!" Luna cried out as she ran towards us. Huh, she saved herself in the end. Not that I mind. Less work for me to do, and now Reginold has no insurance over what the king could do.

"Hey, princess." The freckled pirate greeted with a wave, "I've saw what you did back there. That was badass, especially for a princess!"

"Hehe, thanks!"

A realization then hits me. "Wait, why are you here?" I asked him, "What about Tok and the pirates?"

"All taken care of." He laughed, "Also, we may have found out something that might be important."

"Huh?"

As if on cue, Deuce walked into the throne room dragging with him a heavily bruised Tok. His face is swollen akin to a grape with some of the bruises already turning purple, and he seems to be missing a few teeth as well. Damn, what did Ace put him through? Did he go full JoJo on him? Did I missed him going full JoJo on him!?

"Deuce! You're okay!" Luna stated happily.

"More than okay." The masked pirate stated with a grin as he lifts up Tok in front of him, "Go on! Tell them what you've told us!"

"I…I won't sa…say another… wo…word …!" The gear-themed pirate mumbles out with an edge of a trained warrior.

All that façade is then broken when Deuce simply presses the knuckle of his index finger on Tok's temple and twists, getting a loud scream of pain from him, "Okay! Okay! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

What came out of his mouth more than seals the deal of Reginold intentions, it also revealed something we have no idea about up till now and places even more questions in our mind about the secrets of the Britt Kingdom.

"Reginold claims that there's hidden secret treasure hidden in the Brittia Castle!"

"What!?" The king shouted in shock, his face pale as a ghost. Is there something we don't know about?

"And…?" Deuce asked, knuckle already touching his temple. That got the pirate captain to start spouting out more information.

"He promised me a cut if I go along with his plan!"

"And what plan would that be?" I asked.

"…" A crack of a knuckle joint from Ace got him to continue in fear. "I'm to take my crew and bombard a port town to kingdom come wearing a flag from this place!"

That got a gasp from both Vi and Desiree, and a flinch from Reginold. "Tok, you idiot!"

"Hey! When I agreed to help you, you didn't say I'll get my ass handed to me by some wet-nosed rookie!"

"Wait, why go so far to do such a thing?" Luna asked, "There's no point in tricking them if all he wanted is some treasure."

"He mentioned that only those of Latian Royalty can enter the place!" Tok confessed, "So he needed those two to get it!"

Only Latian Royalty can enter? Then, this treasure must be left behind from the Latian reign?

"Then…" Desiree looked at Reginold with anger in her eyes, "You lied to me? About everything!?"

"…Tch." Reginold clicks his tongue, "And it's all going so well… Guess it goes to show that allying with a pirate is never a good idea."

"Reginold…!" The king got up from his throne, his eyes glaring at his former advisor, "How could you…!?"

"Then, it's true then!?" The rebel leader growled, "You're the one behind the attack!?"

"Guilty as charged." The former advisor stated with a shrug of his shoulder, "Although to be fair, I didn't think I've managed to pull this off so well. You are such a gullible fool."

"REGINOLD!"

With a roar, Desiree charges towards him with her sword ready to end him. Reginold simply smirks before opening his mouth and speak one phrase.

"May the horns blow."

Once those words left his lips, the anger in Desiree's eyes seem to fade as she slowed down her run until she stood next to him, slouched over and unmoving.

"D-Desiree…?" Vi called out, confused and scared of what just happened.

"What did you do, Reginold!?" Luna shouted.

"Hahaha, oh, the wonders of hypnotism!" Reginold laughed as he explains, "I knew that Tok could, and would, betray me, and I'm no match for someone as youthful and strong as Desiree. As such, I have a certain phrase implanted into her head with the help of sleep hypno-therapy, that went spoken, give me full control over her actions."

"T-That's…!" The king of Britt has his eyes wide in horror, "That's the method once used by the Latian Kingdom as the means to create the ultimate toy soldier! But my father should have all records of it destroyed years ago!"

"It was, but I was able to find out from the source." He chuckles, "For I, Reginold Steward Hufflepuff, is the son of the noble man who has created it in the first place!"

I have to hold back my laughter at his reveal. Seriously!? His middle and last names are Steward and Hufflepuff!? What kind of name is that!?

Unfortunately, Ace didn't hold himself back and proceeds to howl in laughter, "WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's the stupidest and dumbest name I've ever heard!"

"Grr…" The traitorous man obviously didn't take this very well with how his veins are bulging at his temple, "Let's see who's laughing after I have you all killed. Desiree! Kill them all, starting with that interfering princess!"

With that command, Desiree robotically stood straight up, readies her sword and dashes right towards Luna with every intention to stab into her.

"NO! LUNA!" The king shouted in horror.

"Luna, stand back!" I managed to get in front of the princess in time and raised my transformed arm to intercept the attack, her blade scrapping against my tough scales. This isn't over, as she starts slashing against me as I struggle to block her attacks with both Nanashi and my scales.

"Desiree! Stop it!" Vi shouted as she proceeds to land slash after slash, I barely manage to block some of them with a few manages to scape against my scales, "You can't let that man control you! Fight it!"

"It's no use!" Reginold laughed, "The hypnotism is deep and unbreakable! Nothing you do will bring her out of it!"

"Damn you!" Ace shouted angrily, "Come here and fight like a man, you coward!"

"Wait, what about me!?" Tok cried, "You can't just leave me here, Reggy!"

"You've served your purpose well, Tok." Reginold stated as he walked up to the king, his sword pointing at him, "But you're a loose end I can't allow to keep existing. And also…" He turns his head back and glares at him, "Don't EVER call me Reggy."

As he got close to the king, he grabs the older man by the collar and places his blade near his neck, "Now, you're coming with me. You're going to lead me to the vault."

"T-The vault!? S-So you knew!?"

"I've only heard rumours, and I also know that only the king knows of its existence and location." The traitor pointed out with a smirk, "So, what is it going to be?"

"Father!" Luna cried out.

"Farewell, dear princess!" He stated as he drags the king to behind the throne room where there's another smaller door, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to have you and your father have a happy reunion in the afterlife!" And with that last sentence, he closes the door behind him.

"Damn you! Get back here!" Deuce shouted.

"Grgk!" I felt her weapon manages to graze my side, the part of my half-transformed state that is no protected by the scales. Damn it, her strikes aren't as precise as Vi's, but they hit way harder. Even with my sword, I'm not sure I'll be able to last long.

"Sis!" Vi screamed, "You have wake up!"

"Everyone, now!"

"We need to stop her!"

"Pin her down!"

"Sorry, Desiree!"

It is at this moment that a couple of the Latian soldiers took action and grabbed their leader by her limps as they struggle to hold her back. "Run, princess!" One of them shouted out while the remainder of them crowds in front of us with sabers drawn, "You have to get out of here!"

"Y-You guys!" Vi cried in shock, "What are you doing!?"

"We have to atone for what we did! Every one of us!" The soldier holding her by the neck shouted.

"But if we can at least keep Desiree from making the biggest mistake of all…!" Another that is holding her leg added in, "Then it's worth risking our lives!"

"No! Stop!" He cried out, "Get out of there!"

In no time at all, Desiree freed herself from their hold and proceeds to hack and slash them to the ground to our horror. Once they are bleeding out on the carpet unmoving, she robotically turns back to us, her gaze fixed on Luna, who is stunned in horror that the brutality of what just happened.

"No…! They're all…"

I quickly got back into position and prepared to block her next attack with the rest of the soldiers taking defensive positions around us as well. Desiree first took to a jog, before sprinting right toward us with sword ready to stab right through me. Crap, crap, crap, here she comes! I ready my transformed arm, ready to intercept her attack with my scales.

What I did not expect, to my upmost horror, is for someone to step right in front of us and took the attack.

"VI!"

…

To be continued…

There! Finally done this! Oh My God, this is one is one heck of a ride, from start to finish! Man, I'm having way too much fun writing this ending, so much that I've decided to split the climax into two parts. The second part would be uploaded shortly after, so stay tuned!

That being said, the latest chapter of One Piece (Chapter 951, if you are wondering) is one heck of the interlude, with all sorts of things gearing up for the finale of the Wano arc. Although, I am curious about King's race. I thought he was human, or at least sky people if the wings on his back is any indication, but I guess he is some other form of winged species?

Also, a second clash between Yonko!

Sky splitting, the sea's roaring, man I knew they are going to fight, but I didn't expect to get the same phenomenon as when Shanks clashed against Whitebeard. Guess that's the thing that happen whenever two Emperor-level pirates fought?

With that, I thank you all for reading this!