Here is the thirtieth chapter released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. The War of the Best rages on and the forces combined to save Ace, follow Luffy, or aid in that so as to further their own goal press on and towards the plaza and the scaffold within. There really isn't more to say so let's see how the war is going on for the various players and if there are any new developments in it. That is all the administrative stuff that I have but while there are no questions to answer, there is a guest review that need a response so I will do that now. Do keep the reviews coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To KGBeastboy (guest), thank you for your reviews and suggestions as always. You are right that Sato will be the one with the Sugar-Sugar Fruit, it's kinda a no brainer for him and helps me increase my Logia types and is a slight nod to Oda considering giving Katakuri a flour Logia instead of the special Paramecia that he has, so that's why Confetti-Confetti works better for Kamika. The description of the fruit for Sato does work so I'll keep it in mind when the time comes to update the Devil Fruit accompanying guide to this, after Sato's first usage of the fruit and the end of the arc that it's in that is. As for Tokoyami being the swordsman of the Might Pirates, I hadn't thought of that but he does have at least two swords as the one that Eri got was a gift and he has a second in his room so I'll certainly consider it though Aoyama also had a sword in his room so he may have one as well. The idea of it being a large Final Fantasy style blade is funny and worth considering though Zoro might make a joke like he did with Pica if he sees it. I'll definitely take this under advisement and see when we look at the Might Pirates again and I do recall the end credits with them as fantasy characters, there's also a chapter in one of the school brief books that is a fantasy story of the class as well, so if you want to suggest some I'll listen but I can't promise anything. I will say that I'll probably give Jiro a machete as she was seen wielding one in the USJ and Momo is known to use a metal staff as a weapon so those will likely show up. They are the one crew without a dedicated swordsman though they have other skills. Finally, your story suggestion, alas I can't help there and not because of all my stories, though as I just started a Demon Slayer x Akame ga Kill story it would be hard to add another anyway, but I can't help at all because I've never watched Dragon Ball so I know nothing about it beyond being able to recognize the major characters. I hope I've addressed everything and do keep reading and enjoying my work.

That is it for this longish pre-chapter note so sit back and enjoy the thirtieth chapter in The Ultimate Worst Generation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these great franchises.

Chapter 30: Pressing Forward

"Are you ok? Do you need a hand?

The questions came naturally to Bulat as he slowed to a halt and crouched down before a figure with chin length choppy blue hair who was lying on his or her chest on the ice and was clearly not a marine. That much was obvious given that the person was wearing thigh high black boots that had clearly once been high heeled boots but had been somewhat altered to fit a more combat roll, and a simple brown jacket that came to the mid-thigh. Next to the person and just out of reach of a feminine looking hand covered in a fingerless black glove was a long spear that the person had clearly been holding.

Bulat wasn't exactly sure which of the attacking factions that the person belonged to but he had a good suspicion as not too far ahead of him was a crater in the ice that Bartholemew Kuma had made when he'd just attacked several of the alternative people that were following Emporio Ivankov. This included the Queen of the Queers himself as Bulat had seen Iva amongst those who were blown away by Kuma's attack.

Naturally, Bulat knew a fair bit about Iva from his marine days, the man was a high ranking member of the Revolutionary Army after all, so he'd recognized the flamboyant man as soon as he'd arrived with Straw Hat Luffy, Crocodile, Jimbei, the strange clown, and a mix of Impel Down prisoners and these alternative people who Bulat could tell lived outside the bounds of what society deemed normal. The last batch, likely also former prisoners if Bulat had to guess, were clearly with Iva given their attire.

However, after that Bulat had lost track of Iva mainly because he was still pressing towards the plaza himself so he couldn't focus on things other than getting there and trying to find the rest of his crewmates in the chaos of this battle. So far he hadn't though he suspected that that was in part because he was probably the furthest from the plaza of any of them what with his fight with Re-Destro and all but even with his injuries Bulat had made decent time catching up, with a break for a world shattering revelation along the way of course, and now he felt that he was getting closer to his friends.

That was until he had to come up short when Kuma attacked Iva and a group of his followers and decided to find an alternative way around the Warlord as Bulat's mission was to reach the plaza and take out corrupt marine officers that only he as a former marine was aware of, so engaging in a second Warlord would get in the way of that. However, the result of Kuma's attack had brought him up short and he'd come across this lone person who'd been blasted further away than the rest of the group.

"Back off, I don't need your help." The person spat in a clearly feminine voice though one that was really pissed off and Bulat did as he was told and took a pace back as he stood. "That bastard scattered us; I need to get back to Iva and back him up against that Warlord. I can't let his big head get away, not when I need to do enough to balance the scales in my favor though having to abandon my friends for this personal task of his does at least wipe out my main debt to him."

Bulat blinked at that but the person didn't see as she, Bulat was presuming that it was a woman based on the voice, groaned, and pushed herself up to her knees and turned her head to side to side to get a sense of her location. To Bulat that gender presumption was confirmed when he saw that the woman was wearing a black thong-like pair of panties and matching corset under a gray waistcoat that did nothing to hide an impress set of breasts. Naturally Bulat wasn't into that but he could recognize size when he saw it and the woman clearly had it. Also with the style of panties he'd know if she was male and she wasn't.

That said, a small part of Bulat told him that there might be more to the woman than met the eye. Certainly, she was part of Iva's force with a getup like that, though she had a pistol and what looked like a one handed crossbow-like weapon dangling from straps at the base of her waistcoat that didn't go with her attire, and, well, Iva wasn't one to be confined to the bounds of gender. This was especially true with the Horm-Horm Fruit powers that he had, and a nagging feeling in Bulat's brain told him that this may be one of Iva's 'miracles.' Why he thought that Bulat couldn't say but it was certainly something to note.

"I think Iva's still dealing with Kuma." Bulat said looking around over the woman's head though he actually couldn't see Iva's massive head himself as unbeknownst to him it was buried in the ice as a result of being blasted away by Kuma's attack. "Though I don't know where as I can't see him."

"Good." The woman said as she finally looked at him and clearly noted that he wasn't a marine what with his armor but that was it. "Where are they?"

"They should be over there." Bulat said pointing behind her though he noted that her eyes were amber when she looked at him. "At least I can see Kuma, he's hard to miss even in all this chaos. There's so much going on though that not even Iva's big head can be seen right now."

"Yeah that's annoying but I'll find it because I need get to him and back him up." The woman said as she grabbed her spear. "I'll help him no matter what."

"Here, let me help you up then." Bulat said as he offered his hand to the woman again and this time she reluctantly took it. "You're pretty loyal to Iva I take it, charging back in to help him against a Warlord is not something most would do."

"I don't care for Iva personally; I just owe him big time and can't get him in my debt if I don't aid him now, that's all." The woman said as Bulat helped her to her feet. "His people found me in Impel Down because of the special cell that I was being held in and from that they understood me in a way no one else did, so they rescued me and took me to him."

"Sounds pretty nice at least." Bulat said as the woman let go of his hand. "That is a debt worth repaying."

"It's more than that." The woman said not looking at Bulat as she turned around but didn't stop speaking. "When Iva saw me he instantly saw my suffering and he cured my condition with his powers, I owe him more than I can repay for the happiness he brought me. That's why I'm here fighting with him on his stupid mission to back up Straw Hat Luffy while my friends rot in Impel Down. With their location in the prison we didn't have time to save them but I want to so later so I'll continue to help him. That way he can help me get them back."

"Er ok." Bulat said unsure what to say to the woman and her crazy plan to attack the prison which would no doubt be refortified after the escape, especially as there had already been a second mass breakout with third underway that no one was aware of at the moment. "And you are?"

"It's not important, we'll never meet again." The woman said and with that she turned and ran off without another word.

"Well that was…something." Bulat muttered as he watched the woman charge into, and then through, a few marines with some impressive spear work though it wasn't at his level. "I wonder who she was?"

"She's not a wanted pirate or criminal in general from what I can tell." A voice that Bulat recognized said from his right and he turned to see Su casually walking up to him as part of his head reformed from a mortar ball that had been fired through it with the remains of the mortar gunner and his mortar lying on the ice behind him. "My databanks didn't match the face to anything that I have there. The style though is that of a Newkama, the people that are known to inhabit the Peachy Kingdom and follow Queen Iva."

"I'm surprised that you know that." Bulat said as Su reached him his wolf fang mace casually held to his side with blood dripping from the spinning blades in it and no injuries that Bulat could note which he expected. "Did the doc program that into you or something."

"Yes, I was programmed with information on all races, cultures, and societies that Dr. Vegapunk was aware of at the time so I am aware of the unique nature of the Peachy Kingdom as well as who their ruler is and their fashion styles." Su said. "But that is it as I have never been there in person."

"Sounds about right, Vegapunk really is thorough and still he deemed you a failure, his standards are way too high." Bulat said shaking his head. "Oh well, looks like they'll have their Queen back after this, so long as Iva survives that is but from what I know of the man he's not going to be easy to kill."

"That I cannot say." Su said. "And not my concern. I saw you and headed over to regroup as my Master's orders are to regroup if we are separated for too long and haven't reached the plaza yet. Primarily it is to find Tatsumi and follow his orders as the Master has designated him my battlefield commander but I do not know where he is since he transformed back to his human form."

"Yeah, that little cutie can get lost when he's not the center attention though when he does want to be the center of attention he is." Bulat said recalling seeing Tatsumi's fight with the giants though as he'd missed the fight with Esdeath as he'd been engaged with Re-Destro at the time he wasn't aware of just how much attention Tatsumi had now secured himself. "Well I'm sure he is fine. As are you which is good to see."

"Yes but I will regenerate so long as my core is not hit which Zogratis Dante did not manage to do." Su said. "The same cannot be said for you, Bulat. Your face is covered in blood and my eyes can tell that your armor, which is not the normal set you create with your Devil Fruit, is in part designed to keep you going."

"Yeah, Re-Destro did a number on me." Bulat said with a chuckle that hurt his ribs. "New World bastard really showed me what the standard will be out there, though I was already aware of that, and the power of the Stress-Stress Fruit which thrives in an environment like this."

"So that is Yotsubashi Rikiya's Devil Fruit, the one that allows the user to enhance his physical capabilities when under stress." Su said. "It has been noted and added to my mental data file on him."

"We knew he had one, his crew has to eat one to be a member, just not which one it was." Bulat said. "But I'm surprised that you got the attention of the Devil's Body. Dante had the highest bounty of any Warlord before he accepted the position, that we know of at least as we can't seem to find what Mihawk's was before he became a Warlord."

"Yes I too was surprised that he targeted me but it would appear that my abilities are a result of Dr. Vegapunk's experiments with Dante's Body-Body Fruit." Su said in his usual tone. "Which would explain it as I am considered to be the closest that the doctor ever came to replicating the powers of a Logia but as my duel with Dante showed me, I am not complete for all I can do is regenerate my flesh, not manipulate or create it beyond restoring myself to my baseline. It is because of that that the doctor considered me a failure and on that front at least I concur with him."

"That is the core of a Logia but you also don't have the water or sea prism stone weakness that us Devil Fruit users have." Bulat noted. "So a fair trade in my book and thus not a failure."

"I agree that this is better for me and as the Master has shown, I am no failure just not up to the doctor's standards." Su said with a nod. "But that is enough chatter, we are in a battle and we have our orders. We must find Tatsumi and see what he wants from us, well I must."

"Nah I'm with you there, I always knew that Tatsumi had the potential to surpass me and become a true force for change in this world." Bulat said agreeing with Su's plan. "There's just something about him you know, something intangible that makes you want to follow him and be better because of his lead and example."

"I do not know but then again I do not truly understand humans." Su said. "I do know that Tatsumi considers me one and a friend despite the fact that I am just a creation of Dr. Vegapunk's which I like and my Master trusts him implicitly so I do as well."

"Well yeah that's basically it right there, the boy's got something special and I'm pretty sure I know what it is even if he's not unlocked it yet." Bulat said unaware of the fact that Tatsumi had in fact unlocked what Bulat suspected he had while Bulat and Re-Destro were pummeling the shit out of each other. "So I agree, let's find Tatsumi and see what he's decided for this battle because something tells me that it's crazy and just what we need to reach the plaza."

Su merely nodded at that and turned to head towards the plaza with Bulat a step behind him. There were no marines for a bit but they'd soon run into them and have to reengage in the fighting. Until then, though, they kept their eyes open for Tatsumi, and likely Akame as she'd stick to him no matter what was going on around them, so that they could regroup. As they did, the sounds of battle raged around them and the forces under or allied to Whitebeard pressed on in their mission to save Ace.

-break-

Sheele panted as she cut a large marine that was threatening to do stuff to her in half as he ran at her so that his upper body flew past her while his legs collapsed next to her. He had been the last of a group that had intercepted her and which she'd cut down with ease.

Now that they were done with, Sheele moved several yards and past the gore slick ice that she'd created before she grimaced and shoved Extase point first into the ice before her left hand on the handle while her right went to her left side. Sheele felt the wetness there and pulled her hand away to see that it was red with blood and unlike parts of her, this was her own blood that was dampening her side.

The wound that that paper guy who she was sure was a Warlord had inflicted on her was still fresh and while Sheele could tell that it wasn't life threatening, the constant movement wasn't helping things and she was certain that if she survived this conflict that she'd have a scar there. She had several other cuts from that man's attacks when he'd surrounded her in that paper dome but they were minor, the only one that was major was the one on her side and it was slowing her down.

Sheele could see that plain as day because she was nowhere near the front of the battle. That had moved on from her as the attackers pressed the marines back and that had increased in pace following the unexpected arrival from the sky of that strange rubber man and his allies, something which the man had bolstered by taking down the final giant. Thankfully, with her skills, and mainly the nature of the Devil Fruit sharpening Extase to a point that only Armament Haki or a Supreme Grade blade could stop it, many marines were giving her a wide berth so her path to the front wasn't too bad.

That was smart, they were just grunts who Sheele didn't want to kill unless they attacked her under orders of their bad masters and this way she didn't have to kill most of them. Things beyond that were past Sheele's brain, she was an airhead so for the most part global politics were over her head but she knew right from wrong and knew that she could do good by eliminating bad.

Sheele knew that the World Government, at least as it was now, because she'd seen the results of their 'governance' first hand back where she grew up and began to go after the worst officials where she lived after an incident unrelated to the World Government showed her that she had a talent for killing and that killing bad people helped make her home a better place. That was what had led the Night Pirates to recruit her and she'd flourished with them as they trained her up, found a Devil Fruit that worked for her, and identified her Observation Haki.

As such, Sheele knew what she had to do on this mission and was pushing on but her wound was slowing her down. Thankfully, while the wound was slowing down her movements and swings enough that a skilled swordsman would be a problem for her, or warrior in general for that matter, Sheele was still in the zone which meant that her Observation Haki was still at it's peak. That was why she was able to sense the attack coming from right behind a few seconds before it did and with a grunt she grabbed Extase's handle and swung it around to intercept the marine that was about to attack her.

However, rather than cut the marine down, her scissors instead swung through empty air as the marine suddenly, and too rapidly to be normal, slid to the side and away from them in a flash of white and purple. Sheele didn't relent though and kept it up for three full rotations but the figure always kept just ahead of her until she was back to facing the plaza and panting, Extase up and in front of her while the figure came to a stop several yards out of Extase's range having used her spin to get that far out. Only then did she had a chance to notice him as he smiled at her, a smile that she noted didn't reach his eyes.

The man was, as expected, a marine and an officer at that as he wore a marine coat as if it was a cloak over his large, broad, muscular body which was clad in a purple suit with a black shirt that was fully done up and a matching purple tie that looked like an arrow pointing down. To add to it he wore knee high black boots that his pants were tucked into for some reason and green gloves.

Sheele also noted that he was either bald or had little hair as she couldn't see any under his marine cap which had the advantage of shading his small black eyes though admittedly his massive lower jaw that seemed to push his face up was the main distraction on his face. Seriously, the man's chin was something else it was that prominent.

With a shake of her head to get rid of the distraction, Sheele refocused on the man in general. She knew that she didn't recognize him, which meant that he wasn't on the 'Do Not Kill' list of high ranking marines to spare and thus he was fair game to kill should he attack.

With her power restraint wasn't Sheele's forte, it was just too hard for her to get the sharpness just right, so Sheele had tried hard to learn who was on the 'Do Not Kill' as they were the marines that the boss trusted to be good marines and true to justice. That also meant that they would be needed to shepherd in the next generation of marines and train them to be true marines and not tools for the corrupt World Government. This man, though, wasn't one and Sheele got a feeling in her gut that he was different to other marines as well but in a way that she couldn't place.

"Stop right there you heinous pirate." The man said still smiling as he raised his hand his voice oddly chipper which didn't put Sheele at ease in the slightest. "You have killed many of my comrades, surrender now and your life will be spared. I am Captain Tatsuyuki, the consumer of the Slide-Slide Fruit and now that my goo is around you there is no hope for you against me."

"I have a mission here and I will undertake it until the end be it the mission or my life." Sheele said as she set herself for a charge her brain processing what he'd said but not fully realizing the threat of it as the Devil Fruit he'd mentioned wasn't one she'd heard of before. "You are not a face I recognize from the list the boss had me memorize so you are not a true marine, I do not need to hold back with you."

Sheele noticed but in the moment didn't fully understand the flicker of surprise and fear in Tatsuyuki's eyes when she called him not a true marine. She was in the zone so she saw it but it wasn't something of concern to her so she didn't realize just how deep her comment had hit and how it had, to Tatsuyuki, ensured her death.

That was because he wasn't a true marine but not because he was corrupt like many of his superiors or blindly following the orders of the Celestial Dragons and carried out the suppression and murder innocents without question. No, he wasn't a true marine because he was actually a spy within the marines for Re-Destro and the Destro Pirates and fully committed to their ideals.

Tatsuyuki had been committed to Re-Destro his whole life and so after he ate his Devil Fruit this was the service that was asked of him and he was executing it faithfully so he had to kill this pirate to make sure that she didn't talk which she might if she was arrested. Thankfully, her death was at hand as he'd ensured she'd not reach him and could be explained away as part of the battle.

Naturally Sheele was unaware of this, she was in the zone and so she just pushed off the ice to rush the man while moving Extase to her right hand side for the final blow. The man could move fast over the ice so Sheele would have to end this right away.

That was her intention at least but it only lasted one step because the moment that her right foot landed on the ice before her it was suddenly swept from under her and her legs were taken from under and flew into the air as she slipped on the ice while giving Tatsuyuki a spectacular view of her purple panties with a black lacy frill to them. Sheele was too preoccupied with what happened to realize, though Tatsuyuki got a nosebleed from it, as she went ass over kettle and landed on the back of her head on the ice hard enough to jar her before she was suddenly sliding over the ice on her back and towards the marine Captain.

That shouldn't have happened, the ice wasn't that slippery as far as Sheele knew, she had been running on it for a while now after all, but she'd not realized that it was glistening around her in an unnatural way. Had she done so she may not have stepped on it, though she didn't have the strength to leap over it, but she did and now she was sliding over it to towards the marine.

The only saving grace was that her training had meant that she was able to keep ahold of Extase. Well that and the fact that due to her extreme clumsiness she knew how to fall without getting hurt too badly though landing on her head had stunned her.

Still, it was a sudden change and Sheele didn't have time to process more than the fact that this was really bad for her as she slid over the ice and at the marine. He didn't move and so Sheele was going to use this to her advantage as she tried to get Extase up and around but before she could, and thanks to the relatively short distance between her and Tatsuyuki, she reached him and the man raise his right foot and brought it down hard on her stomach as she reached him thus ending her slide and pinning her to the ice beneath his boot.

Sheele let out a gasping exhale as the air was forced from her lungs and her eyes went wide from the impact that suddenly stopped her slide. Oddly, she felt a wetness on her abdomen that she knew wasn't blood as it didn't have the same consistency as the stuff but she didn't know what it was.

"Can't have you using those ugly scissors of you now can we, I've seen how deadly you are with them so either their special or you have a Devil Fruit that would be great for us to find." Tatsuyuki said as he stepped up on his right foot and put his full weight on Sheele before moving his left foot around and down to slam it into her right forearm and pin it there to the ice thus preventing her from bringing Extase around and causing her to feel the same odd, slightly viscus, wetness on her arm now. "You lost the moment you let me slide around you because I ate the Slide-Slide Fruit and became a Slidin' Man. I can now secret a liquid from me feet that almost completely negates friction below me so only I can stand on it."

Sheele just gasped like a fish out of water as she looked up and for the second time that battle she'd been out matched. The paper man she could understand, he was a Logia type and she'd not yet mastered Armament Haki, but this marine she didn't. He wasn't particularly strong, he was just cunning it seemed and had an annoying Devil Fruit that was a game changer if used right, which just like her he did know how to use to its fullest. Now he had the upper hand and he reached into his suit as he looked down at her.

"I was going to bring you in alive and look good for capturing a heinous rookie who's killed countless marines, might even get a promotion for it which would be nice, but you can see through me so you can't live." Tatsuyuki said as he pulled out a pistol that was clearly in a shoulder holster there. "So now you…"

Tatsuyuki didn't even get to put his finger on the trigger before there was a roar from next to him and he turned in time to see a large, sleek, and powerful looking lioness with blood matting the fur on her back bounding over the ice at him at full speed. He tried to get the pistol up to shoot the creature that he was sure shouldn't be here in the head but before he could the lion leapt off the ice and into him causing his shot to go wild from the impact.

The lioness, meanwhile, who Sheele instantly recognized, slammed into Tatsuyuki, her unsheathed front claws sinking into his chest but not hitting his lungs in part thanks to the thick muscles he had there and bowled him off Sheele and to the side. He hit the ice hard on his back with the lioness on top of him and his ribs breaking from the weight of the landing that did puncture at least one his lungs. That caused Tatsuyuki to cough up blood but that was it because the impact with the ice sending them tumbling over it thus preventing the lioness getting her jaws around his throat was.

Unfortunately for Tatsuyuki, his pistol was jarred from his hand and went skittering over the ice as they rolled so he couldn't shoot the lioness. Still, and coughing blood, he was able to push past the pain that he was in and get his hands under him and grab the lioness's underbelly. Then, with an almighty heave as they rolled he pushed her off him, her claws coming out of his chest with a wet plopping sound.

That was all that Tatsuyuki needed, however, because he wasn't going to stand around and risk his life against two Devil Fruit users, especially one with claws which with ice as their footing might be able to use to walk on his goo. As such he did the only sensible thing and as he got the lioness clear of him he used his training to flip in the air so that his feet was pointing towards the ice below him and blast goo from them to slicken the area around him as he landed.

Then, without a glance back, he sped away over the ice blood staining his shirt from his wounds and towards the plaza all while continuing to cough up blood. He was injured and badly enough that he could retire but he'd done enough, Tatsuyuki was sure of it, so his cover was preserved and he could continue to faithfully serve his true Captain who he was also here today and so he'd been able to fight alongside for the first time in his life. That alone was enough for Tatsuyuki as he left the battle to live to see another day and continue his mission for the Destro Pirates.

For her part Leone just growled at the man as she hit the ice again after being tossed off and flipped to land on all fours and slide over it as she saw the man expel something from his feet and then slide away over the ice at a speed that even she could match in her beast form. Whoever that marine was, he either had a Devil Fruit or some kind of item that helped him increase his speed over whatever he was standing on and that had to be how he'd bested Sheele and almost killed her because without that he'd have been mincemeat for someone like Sheele, literally.

Thankfully, Leone had been nearby fighting in her hybrid form and smelt Sheele's familiar scent along with a lot of blood on her though that wasn't a surprise given that they were in the middle of a battle. That had gotten Leone's attention and she'd turned, saw the marine pull a gun on a pinned Sheele, and instantly turned into her full beast form and rushed for her friend to come to her friend's aid as she was at the mercy of that marine. Now that Leone knew that the marine could create some kind of liquid that made sense and she was glad that she'd come to Sheele's aid or else they'd have lost her.

Of course that wasn't going to happen on Leone's watch and she bounded towards Sheele who was still on her back and clearly out of breath, the ice around her slick with the goo that the marine had created as well as containing streaks of red from the blood on Sheele. This wasn't a good position and only Sheele's battlefield reputation kept marines away from her, well that and a flash of yellow that took a marine through the forehead as he raised a gun to shoot her showing as Leone rushed back which showed that Mine had noticed and was providing covering fire.

Still, Leone knew that she needed to get to her friend and quickly as Mine couldn't cover them if more marines realized Sheele's predicament and acted in concert with each other to kill her. Unfortunately, that took an extra moment or two because Leone had to navigate around the goo, something in her gut told her that she didn't want to step on it, and made her way to Sheele. Only when she reached her friend did she change back into her hybrid form, it was better for the wounds on her back, and stand above Sheele right where the marine had originally been standing.

Sheele, meanwhile, had just been lying on her back trying to catch her breath. She'd seen Leone arrive, no one else could be that lioness, and was grateful to her friend for saving her but she couldn't get up and she wasn't sure how long the goo would be on her before it either disappeared or hardened and right now it was on her right shoe, stomach, right forearm, back, and one of Extase's blades though mercifully not its handle.

Thankfully, Leone was there and after a moment, and a flash of yellow light that Sheele thought might have been a shot from Mine likely targeting a specific marine on the 'Kill' list, her blonde friend was standing over her in her hybrid from. Sheele was really grateful to see her friend because if not for Leone she'd have been dead.

"Need a hand Sheele?" Leone said smiling at Sheele from above her. "It looks like you need it."

"Yeah but, um, could you drag me out of this stuff first?" Sheele asked up at Leone. "I'm still in whatever that marine made with his Devil Fruit so I'd like to be clear of it."

"So it's a Devil Fruit, if you caught the name of it we should ask Su later what it was later." Leone noted before she bent down and grabbed Sheele's ankles and dragged her on her back and out of the goo which was easy thanks to said goo. "I'm sure it will go away soon, or at least harden."

"I hope so." Sheele said as she held out her left arm and Leone pulled her to her feet with though she sheathed her claws before doing so. "Thanks, I couldn't have gotten up on my own."

"Anytime, I know you'd do the same for me." Leone said smiling at Sheele as she held her arm and the front of her dress in the cut that showed Sheele's cleavage to keep her upright. "Can you stand?"

"I think so but I'm going to have to take my shoes off." Sheele said as she thrust the tip of Extase into the ice so that she could lean on, which allowed Leone to let go of her dress but she kept a hold of Sheele's arm while Sheele tested things with her right foot and found that she had no grip so she bent down with a wince and removed it and then her left shoe as it would be easier to remove both. "This stuff is annoying. It's an example of how any Devil Fruit is useful so long as it's used correctly and that marine knew how to use it."

As Sheele spoke and sorted herself out, Leone saw the wound in her friend's side and grimaced at it. She had her own wounds in her back from that bitch Sienna but her fur helped clot them thus preventing them from being too much of a hassle to deal with. However Sheele didn't have such a protection that had to be slowing her down.

"Are you ok?" Leone asked as Sheele put her bare feet on the ice feeling the cold but enduring it without too much of an issue. "That wound in your ide looks pretty bad."

"It's not great but I can press on just at a slower pace than I'd like." Sheele said placing her left hand on her side and then pulling it away to glance at the fresh blood on her hand. "It's manageable. Some guy who could turn into paper cut me when he targeted me early in the battle, I think he may have been a Warlord or something as he wasn't dressed like a marine but was on their side. I'd have died had it not been for that magma attack that came out of nowhere."

"Damn, so there's a Warlord with a paper Logia?" Leone asked and Sheele nodded. "Which one?"

"Er…I don't know." Sheele admitted, she barely knew the established Warlords, the new ones were beyond her as she'd not had time to memorize their faces from their last wanted posters before they became Warlords. "He was tanned with a creepy look in his face and some kind of goatee thing though."

"Dreyar Ivan, the Captain of the Raven Tail Pirates." Leone said identifying him from Sheele's description but her news also added something knew to what they knew about the man. "However, he's not believed to have a Devil Fruit which means that that's new and something we need to be worried about, especially against you seeing as you're bad against Logias. We need to get you to master Armament Haki."

"Yeah I know, this has made me realize that and that we should leave him to Akame, Tatsumi, Bulat, or you." Sheele admitted as she looked over Leone. "At least you look ok, Leone."

"Oh I almost died as well, Mine saved me when I was hogtied with my throat about to be ripped out." Leone said and she turned to show Sheele the half dozen or so lash marks on her back that had stained her fur red but weren't actively bleeding. "I had my own Warlord problem, the White Fang Pirate Captain, Sienna. She's got the Bengal Tiger Zoan and is a right zealot when it comes to non-faunus eating Zoan type Devil Fruits so we had a clash but she got the better of me which goes to show how tough the New World will be. The bitch managed to lash my back with her metal whip several times and I expect at least one, probably more, will scar but what's a war without a few souvenirs am I right?"

"Er…" Sheele said as Leone turned back to her unsure what to say to that.

"Never mind." Leone said realizing she'd have to explain things to Sheele later, which given that they were on a battlefield was probably for the best. "So long as you can still fight let's press on. I'll keep with you and we'll regroup with the others."

"Right we should find them." Sheele said with a nod. "I know I can still fight so don't worry."

"I'm not." Leone said with a grin as she turned and Sheele stepped up next to her. "Onwards then!"

Sheele didn't say anything to that, she just nodded again before she set out running as fast as she could for the plaza and the marines between her and it with Leone easily matching her pace next to her. She'd had two brushes with death but was still here and that was all that mattered. Sheele had a mission and Leone was with her now, it was time to find the others and keep pressing towards the plaza and Leone was in full agreement with that as the girls plunged back into the battle.

-break-

"Where did that rubbery bastard get to this time!" Tatsumi exclaimed his tone exacerbated as he looked around while he cut a marine across the chest causing the man to fall back down and out of the battle at least. "You take your eyes off his dumb ass for just a second and the next thing you know he's nowhere to be seen, how is that even possible on an open battlefield like this? Plus, there's too much destruction to figure out which of it is his doing! How does his crew put up with him?"

The pair had been distracted dealing with Commodore Smoker and his protégé after Straw Hat had been briefly attacked and pinned by the marine only to then saved by Boa Hancock which had been the opening that the pair needed to get a major obstacle out of Straw Hat's way. They'd succeeded and Smoker would almost certainly not return to the battle with his protégé so badly wounded but in the wake of it they'd been distracted enough to lose track of Straw Hat in the chaos around them.

As such they'd just plunged back into it the chaos hoping to find Straw Hat in it as he did leave a trail of destruction in his wake but still hadn't seen him anywhere hence Tatsumi's annoyance. Yes, they were on an active and chaotic battlefield but it shouldn't be that easy for a single pirate who had been relatively nearby to disappear so quickly while Tatsumi and Akame dealt with a few marines even if they were some of the more skilled marines out there.

"He seems to move to the beat of his own drum." Akame said as she too cut down a marine similarly to Tatsumi and then looked at him as several marines began backing away from them not really interested in dealing with a pair of Super Rookies who had no compunction killing in battle. "But we saw their crew, they're loyal to him. If I had to guess, he's got a similar quality to you, something innate that can't be measured."

"Clearly it's something seeing as they were willing back up his shenanigans no matter how asininely stupid, though admittedly satisfyingly well intentioned, they are." Tatsumi said. "That or they're just used to it at this point."

"Admittedly that could also be it." Akame said. "We have heard several stories and reports from him that few know thanks to our resources, attacking Ennis Lobby like that was something else but it saved us doing it."

"That it did and they did a better job than we could have what with that Buster Call getting called on them." Tatsumi said before he sighed. "Well whatever the case is, we'll probably notice him soon. Even with all this chaos, that kid's got a way of sticking out from the crowd."

"Coming from you that's saying something." Akame said. "You're not the most subtle of people at times Tatsumi."

"Yeah but I can turn into a monster that's bigger than most giants, well in my current beast form that is." Tatsumi said as he and Akame pressed on and into the ranks of the marines that were nearby and had decided to fight them rather than avoid them. "He's just some guy who's made of rubber that can occasionally make his body bigger somehow. Still, I like his style."

"It's certainly something else." Akame agreed. "And it keeps eyes off us while allowing us to help out in the way we help best."

"That it does." Tatsumi said with a nod as he cut down a marine while talking. "So let's carry on and hope…"

Before Tatsumi could finish a sound cracked through the air over the din and the pair turned to it, Akame sending some blades from her body to keep some marine gunners at bay as they might try to use their distraction to their advantage and wounding them enough to take them out of the fight in the process, and blinked at what they saw. A fair distance away and ahead of them to their right as they looked at the plaza a familiar, jagged, green streak tore across the ice but not at Whitebeard like the last time. Rather it was targeting someone else, someone that Tatsumi was just about able to make out as a dot of yellow.

"Tatsumi, you don't think…" Akame began as the green light struck its target and sent the target flying into the harbor wall with enough force to shatter it and send dust billowing into the air. "That that could …"

"Yeah that's where Straw Hat is, I can't make out details but the colors match." Tatsumi said cutting down another marine who rushed him. "And that light, we saw that earlier, we know who made that as well seeing as there is only one person who can produce it."

"Dracule 'Hawkeye' Mihawk." Akame said her hands tightening on Murasame's handle as she looked towards the source of the light and sent a few blades flying from her body at some of the marines that were trying to sneak up on the pair while their comrade had engaged Tatsumi. "The world's greatest swordsman."

"Yup, looks like he's taken an interest in Straw Hat it seems." Tatsumi said as he noticed a large blue and orange figure that was clearly Jimbei approaching. "That's some serious attention that Straw Hat's drawn to himself."

"That's rich coming from the man who's got a Navy Admiral in love with him." Akame said trying to contain her jealousy and not doing a great job though Tatsumi was completely oblivious to it. "And who entered the fray just to find him."

"Fair but Esdeath is, well, Esdeath, she did that for her own selfish reasons, which is kinda par for the course with her." Tatsumi said as the cannons that Mine hadn't been able to take out targeted Jimbei and fired but he used his Fish-man Karate to stop the balls in midair. "What Mihawk did was a sign of pure respect, well that or he's trying to end that quickly as part of his Warlord deal, I don't know enough about the man to know either way."

"Hard to say with Mihawk." Akame said as Mihawk cut the balls and they exploded but neither he nor Jimbei were affected and Jimbei rushed the Warlord with Mihawk moving a second later to meet him. "I know little about him beyond his reputation as a swordsman and that he was once known as the Marine Hunter."

"It's a fair bit away but if he's taken an interest in Straw Hat then that's not good." Tatsumi said as Mihawk and Jimbei clashed in an explosion that sent Jimbei flying into the air only to crash head first into the ice and punch through it to the water below, which to a fish-man was nothing. "I hate to ask this, but can you handle him? If he's distracted you might had the time to close in and help out Straw Hat, so long as Straw Hat can hold out long enough that is."

"Honestly." Akame said and Tatsumi looked at her while the marines around them gave them a wide berth at this point. "No, I can't."

"I figured as much, sorry for suggesting it." Tatsumi said trying to hide the not of relief in his voice that Akame wouldn't go and engage the Warlord just as Mihawk leapt at Luffy but from what Tatsumi had seen, that wouldn't be enough to stop him and he was right as Luffy managed to free himself from the rubble and get clear though it was close. "This isn't good then."

"It's not like I don't want to, I just can't." Akame clarified her grip again tightening on Murasame as they watched Luffy land on the ice, the attention of Mihawk allowing them to pay attention their fellow Super Rookie. "Everyone who follows the way of the sword, who knows what it's like to train to master the blade, dreams of one day facing the best of the best in single combat to see how we stack up against him and if we can claim the title from him. When the World Government trained me, facing and beating him were drilled into my head and I too yearned for it though not to kill him as they hoped but as a way to test my skills."

"But you're not there yet, are you." Tatsumi said and it wasn't a question just a statement as he noticed Luffy prepare an attack by extending his arms behind him, that was hard to miss with his rubber powers, but as he brought them forward he seemed to have a change of heart and suddenly, and to Tatsumi unexpectedly, buried them in the ice all while Mihawk was getting ready to intercept the attack. "I can't say that I share that though. I never knew of Mihawk growing up when I was being trained in the way of the sword."

"You learned the sword as a way to survive, to get stronger, and you've become a great swordsman through that and hard work." Akame said as she too noticed what Straw Hat doing and had a sense she knew why he'd done it though now was not the time to reflect on that. "So much so that a Supreme Grade sword accepted you as his master. However, you weren't trained as I was, to you the sword is a practical tool, a way to be useful, to fight and kill and that is what Incursio is good at. To me it's more, it's a path that only a few understand and see the true beauty in it which to me Murasame is the culmination of. That is why I wish to face Mihawk but I am no fool, I know that today is not my day."

"I see, and while I worry about that day, I respect and understand that it will come and will not stop you when it does." Tatsumi said as Mihawk slashed at Luffy but the boy leaned back and the slash went over his head sending a wave of power that rippled over the battlefield and got all their attention while instilling fear in both marines and pirates and alike. "Literally, that, that wasn't normal."

"No that was the power of the world's greatest swordsman and one of only a few I'd ever grant the honor of not using my Devil Fruit on when I duel him." Akame said as she watched not fearful at all but in suppressed awe as her eyes followed the path of the attack and saw the line appear along one of the frozen waves a good way down it but above the top masts of the Navy battleships before it. "That is why I cannot face him yet; I am too weak for it and must get stronger before I can see if I can duel him. There is one on Whitebeard's crew, his 5th Division Commander, who may be able to occupy Mihawk long enough for Straw Hat to get away. We should leave Mihawk to him."

"Er sure, sounds good to me." Tatsumi said his eyes wide as a massive hunk of ice from the top of the wave flew up and off it having been severed by the slice and beginning to crack as it rose into the air. "A sword really should not be able to do that."

"I'll admit, Night may be a reason for it as it is a different kind of blade to the ones that we wield." Akame said as the ice began to fall apart and fall back to the water below right where several battleships were. "But that is a statement in and of itself. No one can doubt his title after that."

"True and it's a good distraction that we should use to our advantage." Tatsumi said snapping back to the task at hand while Flower Sword Vista made a note of the situation where he was on the battlefield. "You said to leave this to one of Whitebeard's commanders so we will. Let's use this distraction to get ahead of Straw Hat's expected path and help clear it for him so that he can focus on reaching his brother. We followed him before; we'll lead him now."

Akame just nodded in agreement and that was all Tatsumi needed as he rushed forward and an angle to get ahead of Straw Hat and try and predict his path with Akame following a pace behind him all while everyone was distracted by Mihawk's unintentionally display of power. They had their goal and while they couldn't protect Straw Hat form Mihawk, they knew that someone would and so would ease his path after Mihawk was occupied and so they pressed on as the war raged around them hoping that the others were doing ok as well.

-break-

"Well that's Dracule Mihawk for you." Najenda commented idly as she watched the last of the ice fall to the water around the battleships and the fighting resumed in the wake of yet another display of impressive power to go with all the others that had already occurred in this battle. "He's something else with a sword."

"Akame and Tatsumi wouldn't be able to match that." Lubbock agreed his eyes wide at what he'd seen. "They'll have to stay away from him."

"That's fine, they know not to take an unnecessary risk like that." Najenda said. "Besides, the Warlords may be governmental dogs but they're not really a priority for us at the moment. The exception would be if they were oppressing the people they were supposed to be helping or ruling if they're a ruler as well as a Warlord. Then we'd get involved as that is an egregious abuse of power both by them and the World Government turning a blind eye to their deeds."

"Which as seen by the rumors that Chelsea uncovered at least a few did recently." Lubbock said. "Crocodile and Patry to be precise."

"Patry was more an attempted genocide of a people who inhabited the island that he too came from and who'd tried the same on his ancestors but same thing as it was no different to what the World Government has done to places like Ohara and Tatsumi's homeland." Najenda said. "And that's not all, I've heard rumors if what Chisaki Kai was up too as well though those are unproven as the World Government was quick to cover up whatever he did to get his Warlord status revoked. Still, if true then that's abominable. Add in what Jose did trying to blow up a whole city just to eliminate a rookie crew that pissed him off, and then beat him, and you see the kinds of abuses the 11 Warlord system allows."

"Should we be wary of the New World ones then?" Lubbock asked. "We'll see a few when we get there and at least three run kingdoms while a fourth has close ties to one."

"Doflamingo, Dante, and Rikiya will be on our radar for sure though I do believe that the latter is considered a benevolent ruler in Jaku." Najenda said recalling what she'd heard regarding Jaku and what Yotsubashi Rikiya's rule had done for the island. "But we'll know more once we get to the New World and learn the current state of it, especially as last I heard Khan Sienna was all but exiled from her homeland so she may no longer have strong ties to Menagerie. That's for later though, for now we need to survive this."

Lubbock just nodded at that and looked back out over the battlefield. As he did, he noticed that a massive tornado of sand had just appeared and was tearing across it with what looked like several dots in it. That was certainly odd and he couldn't help but note it.

"I take it that that's Crocodile's power at play." Lubbock said. "What's he up to? He's really hard to gauge from what I've gathered."

"Knowing Crocodile it could be anything so it's worth checking out at least." Najenda said as she pulled out her telescope and put it to her remaining eye to study the tornado. "Hmm, it would seem like he's used it to sweep up several of the Impel Down escapees based on the black and white stripes on the people in that sand tornado."

"Huh but didn't he break out with them?" Lubbock asked as he looked at Najenda who was now studying the tornado closely. "Why would they turn on him after that?"

"Many reasons, he was a Warlord for over 20 years but I don't think that he has turned on them, or even intended to target them." Najenda said as she looked around for Crocodile and saw that he was near Do Quixote Doflamingo and used that to track back to the tornado as she spoke. "My guess is that it was incidental, Crocodile's not one to care about collateral damage so he likely used it to attack someone, Doflamingo if I had to guess based on what I'm seeing, and just left it going and those prisoners were unfortunate to get mixed up in it. They'll be stuck in it until it ends unless one has a power to get out but none that I'm seeing that I recognize, which isn't many, do so I doubt…wait what?"

"What happened?" Lubbock asked surprised at the sudden confusion in Najenda's voice.

Najenda didn't respond right away, she just focused on the sand tornado as she saw a set of hands on long, extended, oddly pink, arms reach up and grab something from the tornado and yank it out. Najenda knew that those arms had to be from Straw Hat Luffy, no one else could have pulled off something like that that she was aware of, and she saw quickly shifted her telescope to follow them and noted that he'd pulled Buggy the Clown out from within the tornado.

That was one of the few in the tornado that Najenda had recognized the moment that she noticed that the clown was in there, he was hard to miss with his hair and the marine coat he was wearing, but why Luffy had grabbed him was beyond her hence her confusion. That reason become clear a second later as she watched Luffy pull Buggy down and duck behind him just as he stopped charging Dracule Mihawk who was swinging his massive sword at the rookie and would have hit him had he not pulled up and used Buggy as a shield.

Najenda grimaced at that, a grimace that Lubbock noticed but didn't ask about as he trusted his Captain so waited for her to speak. However, Najenda still didn't speak as she was too busy processing the cold move of using the other pirate as a human shield, especially as that seemed out of character for Straw Hat Luffy from what she'd heard about him. She was about to tell Lubbock what had happened as Mohawk finished cutting Buggy in half but her horror suddenly changed to surprise as she saw Buggy get cut in half but without any blood or guts come out.

Rather he was severed at the waist remarkably easily, which given Mihawk's sword wasn't really a surprise, but what was a surprise was that when Buggy stopped screaming from being cut in half, he proceeded to turn around and grab Luffy by the front of his vest and yell in his face all while his legs remained standing and turned as well. Najenda just blinked at that as it was clear that the scream was not one of pain but shock and that Buggy was perfectly fine albeit now in two halves with his top part floating in the air.

"Boss?" Lubbock asked.

"Sorry, just taken aback that's all." Najenda said as she continued to watch and quickly deduced what had to be at play. "So that's where that fruit has been, I had wondered if we'd run into it one day. It's a frustrating one to deal with."

"Huh?" Lubbock asked confused.

"It would seem that that clown is more than he appears to be." Najenda said as Buggy and Luffy exchanged words while Luffy rubbed the air between Buggy's torso and legs showing that he was well aware of Buggy's power and had used it to his own advantage. "He's a Devil Fruit user, the Chop-Chop Fruit if I'm not mistaken. Nothing else could do that other than the Op-Op Fruit and I read a full briefing on that Devil Fruit so I'd be able to recognize its activation and I didn't see that at all."

"The Chop-Chop Fruit?" Lubbock asked. "Never heard of it."

"It's a Devil Fruit that allows the user to detach any part of their body and control it at will but one that hasn't been recorded as being since the days before Gold Roger." Najenda said as Luffy suddenly threw Buggy at Mihawk who proceeded to cut the clown's upper body to ribbons only for them to come back together which confirmed it to Najenda, as well as confirming that there was some prior relationship between Luffy and Buggy for him to do something like that. "Yes, he has it for sure. He can basically fly though his feet can't if I recall. It's not considered a particularly powerful Devil Fruit but it has a few advantages if you're creative enough to maximize it and a rumor that has never been confirmed."

"Come again?" Lubbock asked as Najenda watched Buggy reform and then use his detached legs to fire something at Mihawk that was too small for Najenda to see from this distance. "If he can detach parts of his body then surely he's immune to sword strikes, other than Haki infused ones that is."

"Well that is the big advantage of the Chop-Chop Fruit, it's user is supposedly immune to slashing attacks and I bet Luffy knew of Buggy's power, they are both from the East Blue so they likely met there, that's why he used him as a human shield, twice." Najenda said as Mihawk deflected whatever Buggy had fired at him back at Buggy with his sword. "It's rumored that not even Haki infused weapons work making the Chop-Chop Fruit one of only two Devil Fruits immune to Haki. That's why I'm aware of it because if it did resurface in the hands of an enemy that we should be aware of it."

"Immune to Haki?" Lubbock asked. "Damn that's something else. What's the other one?"

"The Glyph-Glyph Fruit, I'm certain I know who has that one and we'll see her later but the Chop-Chop's immunity to Haki is only for slicing attacks, if it's even true which I personally doubt." Najenda said as an explosion occurred right at the center of the conflict she was watching and noticed that Straw Hat used that to escape. "But not to blunt force attacks, bullets, or explosions though the user could just disassemble himself and let the attack pass through the gaps, providing he has the time to do so that is."

"Ah I see so he's dead then." Lubbock said noting the explosion as Najenda put away her telescope and closed her eye thinking which as a result meant that she didn't see Mihawk's follow up ranged attack at Straw Hat's back that sent him flying or Flower Sword Vista's subsequent intervention as Mihawk followed his attack up in an attempt to end Straw Hat. "Shame."

"I don't think so." Najenda said. "Something in my gut tells me that that clown is worth keeping an eye on. He won't die from that, someone resourceful enough to hid his Devil Fruit is not going to be easy to kill."

"Er ok well if you say so then I trust you boss." Lubbock said.

"Anyway, right now we need to focus on the battle at hand and our people who are in the middle of it." Najenda said opening her eye again and looking towards the scaffold where Sengoku was standing next to the chained Ace. "This is far from over and I know Sengoku well enough to know that that old bastard's still got a few more tricks up his sleeve so we need to be wary and wish our front liners luck as they press on towards the harbor."

Lubbock just nodded as a flash of yellow light shot from one of their crow's nests showing that Mine was just focused on her job as well and hadn't deemed anything that had just happened worthy of calling them about. That was probably the right call and so Lubbock didn't respond as all he and Najenda could really do was watch and support their friends and crewmates as the war carried on. Naturally, Najenda was right about Sengoku and they were both unaware that the Fleet Admiral's latest move was almost at the harbor as the Fleet Admiral prepared to send in the Navy's latest weapons.

A little ominous tease but I'm sure you know what is coming next so it's a good place to end this chapter on. There really isn't much to say about this chapter, it's just a standard part of the War of the Best with a look at all the front liners to see how they're doing as they press on along with an acknowledgement from Akame that there is someone she knows she can't win against so needs to get stronger. I also had to include the whole Buggy being used as a human shield scene, it's too funny not to, and this was the best way. The last thing to note is just for those who may be confused but Captain Tatsuyuki is Tatsuyuki Tokoname which is the civilian name for Slidin' Go from MHA so another pro hero (this one a traitor) making his appearance as a marine. Anyway, that's all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM (I will respond either via the website or app depending on where you PM me), and if there are any questions will posed in reviews and PMs I will try to answer them as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog