Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

100. Nexus HWR 14-4 Kong

Nexus HWR 14.4 Kong:

In a city in the former Fire Lord's territory, a tall man walked up a flight of stairs with his arms crossed in front of his body each held inside the opposite arm's sleeve of his cream-colored robe. He had long gray hair that was tied up in a bun and hidden under a tall pointy red hat he was wearing. The hat had a yellow sun in the center of it with a white seagull going across it, and over his cream robe he had a purple sash around his waist, as well as a long fan that was attached to the sash and doubled as the man's weapon.

The "Genius Tactician" of the Sun Marines, Admiral Komei, marched to the top of the stairs and then continued down a hallway that had bulky Marines on either side who saluted him as he walked by. The Admiral did not salute them back, he just continued to walk with a straight expression on his face, ignoring the pain in his left arm and especially his left leg as he marched forward. Komei hid the pain well, but after he walked by his soldiers, they turned their heads and watched his back with beads of sweat rolling down their faces. They pretended like they did not notice how the three scars that used to be so prominent on the left side of Komei's face were gone. They tried not to stare at the horrible burn scars covering the left side of his head, disfiguring him to a point that he looked quite terrifying. His left eye had survived the incident that caused the loss of half of his face, but with most of the skin around it dark red or black with fleshy parts, and his teeth showing through skin on his cheek that had been worn too thin by the flames, his eye just looked creepier being in the middle of all that mess. Komei had shaved the right half of his mustache to match how his left had been burned away, and he no longer had a beard either. He had managed to salvage his hair, though he had shaved the right side of his head to make himself as symmetrical, and presentable, as he could.

Komei pretended not to notice the gazes of his men who he could tell were trying hard not to stare. Skin grafts and surgeries will never make it look the same, but I need something, anything at this point. Komei sighed internally as he kept walking towards the big brown doors at the end of the hall that had seagulls and suns carved into each of them. As he neared the doors, his gaze shifted to one of the Marines who was not as muscular and bulky yet had a greater aura of power around him than the others. He wore a Marine officer's coat draped over his shoulders with more prominent pads on them than Komei normally saw on the man, or maybe he thought the young man was just standing a little straighter up than usual. It was underneath the man's coat that had Komei's eyes widening, though they quickly returned to normal size. He did not bring them back to normal quickly because he got over his surprise, but because the left side of his face hurt opening his left eye wider like that. A suit and tie. On Grount? Komei's eyes lifted to the man's spiky dyed-red hair in the middle of his black hair that was styled the same way as usual. So it's not a style change, he's wearing that for a reason. The only reason I can think of…

Komei stopped outside of the doors and he turned face to Grount who turned back while lowering the salute he gave the Admiral as he approached. "Captain Grount," Komei began.

As if sensing the question that was coming, Grount responded by correcting his superior officer, "Actually, Admiral." Grount could not help but crack a grin and Komei felt dread at the cocky look on the young Marine's face. "That's Vice Admiral Grount, now." Grount only grinned wider, because Komei dropped his bottom lip in surprise. Grount stopped grinning as much as Komei winced and re-closed his mouth and returned his eyes to normal size. Even when Komei started speaking a few seconds ago, he had barely opened his lips and had moved them farthest apart on the right side of his face. He had denied painkillers from the Marine doctors, telling them that they would dull his mind and senses, even though they had told him he would have to deal with this pain on a daily basis.

I thought he may have been promoted, but all the way to Vice Admiral? Komei started opening his mouth to make a comment on it, then he stopped himself. In his head he recalled a memory. His eyes were opening up while the floor below him on his left side melted. The entire hallway around him was in flames and collapsing, and he could not see anything or anyone around him. The pain hit him and he realized that his body was lying on its left side right on the melting floor. He tried pushing himself up but his left arm was not responding to him, and he had screamed out in pain as part of the ceiling collapsed down on him. He was pinned in a weird position and could not move. "Komei! Komei Taishou! Hang in there!" Komei remembered how Grount had dug him out of there and gotten them both away from the flaming Royal Palace of the Fire Lord, despite the injuries and exhaustion the younger man had sustained himself earlier that day.

"Hmph," Komei turned to the doors in front of him. "I must be going," Komei said. He stepped to the doors and brushed his robe down once to make sure he was as presentable as could be while in this condition, then he said while lifting his hands to the door, "Good work."

Grount turned back to Komei after facing straight ahead down the hall when Komei seemingly dismissed him without comment. He grinned at the side of the Admiral's head who almost regretted saying anything after receiving that look, then Komei knocked on the door on the right in front of him. Grount looked back forward down the hall in preparation for the door to open, but he thought while suppressing that grin. Guess that's the closest to a thanks the Admiral's got in him. Grount sported a burn mark on his right cheek and had bandages wrapping both of his hands, but he barely thought at all on his own injuries when Komei was a constant reminder of how much worse the burns could have been.

"Come in," a deep voice boomed from the other side of the doors. Komei grabbed the handle of the door on the right and he pushed it forward. The Sun Marine Admiral walked through the doorway and closed it behind him, then he marched forward into the center of the room where he stopped in the middle of the circular seal painted on the floor of the office. There was a wall of glass on Komei's right, a single window pane that showed out over the giant city of Neo Marineford outside, down below the top floor of the Sun Marine's Headquarters they were currently in. On Komei's left side was another wall of glass, but behind that one was a tank full of water that stretched farther out until the real outer wall. The tank was full of aquatic creatures, as well as a few fake sunken pirate ships, with a bunch of fake pirate skeletons scattered at the bottom of the tank with them for the fish to chew on if they so pleased. Behind the desk in front of where Komei had stopped, there was a wall with two more square windows on it and a giant rectangular portrait of the man sitting behind the desk hung in between them. "Komei, your wounds have healed, nicely," the man behind the desk said, hesitating for a brief moment as what he planned to say was harder to get out when he was faced with the disfigured man directly.

"They have," Komei agreed, ignoring the hesitation in Kong's voice like he did not hear it. "I am ready to get back to work," he said, and he slammed his left fist up against his chest to show he meant it. He did this without flinching, even though Kong could see when his arm came out of his sleeve that it was wrapped completely in bandages.

"Good," Kong said. The man at the chair stood up from his seat and uncrossed his very large tan arms that were rippling with veins from how muscular they were. He wore a red shirt that was cut off at the shoulders as sleeves could not fit over his arms, and he had a large Sun Marine officer's coat draped over his back. He stood before Komei who was confused at why the Fleet Admiral would get up for him, then Komei could not help but widen his eyes in shock as Kong said, "Because I am promoting you to Fleet Admiral of the Sun Marines."

Despite the pain, Komei barely noticed it because of the shock he was feeling at the moment. "I have declared myself as a Lord of the Cooperative as of this morning," Kong continued. "My responsibilities now cover much more than just the Sun Marines, and I need someone capable to head the military as I take my leave. You've proven yourself as a capable commander and tactician. Now, onto business. I have declared Lordship over a great deal of land, and though we are here in Neo Marineford at what was the northern limits of the Fire Nation's reaches, I have sent our forces as far as the cities south of the Cataclysm to the east of Sin City-"

"Sir," Komei said, bowing his head as he regretted to interrupt but could not let this continue any longer. "I am not fit for this position," Komei said, biting down hard after the words came out. It was everything he ever wanted, to take control of the Marines and lead it the way he wanted to, but he could not accept it like this. "I- I was tasked with the protection of Pyraxas. I failed to protect the Fire Lord who the Sun Marines had served as our High Lord. I, I cannot accept a reward for such a humiliating defeat!"

"I'm not rewarding you for that," Kong said in a deep voice. Komei lifted his head and saw Kong staring down at him harshly, making Komei snap his posture straight up again. "It's as you say. You had some failures. It must feel dishonorable for me to reward you after that." Komei winced but nodded as that was exactly how he felt. "However!" Kong called out in a more booming voice. "In spite of the wounds you received inside the Royal Palace, I know of your actions following the Fire Lord's defeat."

Komei stared straight into his leader's eyes and stayed silent as Kong continued. "While mortally wounded, you took command of the city-"

"I lost the city," Komei said just as quickly.

"Do not interrupt me," Kong said, and Komei shut his mouth quickly. Kong continued once Komei was quiet and he knew there would be no further interruptions. "Your actions that day consisted of failures, yes, but your successes outweigh your defeats. Humility is a good trait, but if you do not take credit where it is due, you will never rise in the world. Remember that Komei." Kong snapped, and Komei nodded his head once in understanding. "The majority of the Fire Nation army is under my control thanks to your quick decisions after Sozin's death. You successfully took command of the majority of the Fire Nation's armies which returned to Pyraxas, despite two claims on the throne. You prevented those soldiers from turning brigands and sacking the cities they were meant to protect, a very plausible possibility that could have came to pass had you not acted as you did."

Kong sat back down in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He continued in a stern tone, "Your friendship with General Bujing was vital in keeping the Fire Nation's army together. The 'claimed Prince' Lu Ten had a strong following after Sozin's death and Princess Azula's flight from the city. He most likely accepted your challenge because of the state you were in, but you knew you could defeat him even in that condition. Lu Ten had his soldiers turning on each other, telling his followers to kill any who did not accept him as the new Fire Lord immediately. This alienated even more of his men than the few who would not follow right away, who likely only denied him in fear that the Princess was still around and would punish them for betraying her."

That is why I had to defeat him, Komei thought. Having a new sovereign right away would have been the best option, but the boy was no ruler. He was a powerful fighter though, and he worsened my burns. Komei's expression hardened as he thought on his duel with the young Prince.

"With your victory, you took command of all Fire Nation soldiers without claiming to be their new leader, just a commander for the time being. Then with Bujing's arrival with the army that was intended for an invasion south, you successfully evacuated a large portion of the population while the other Lords and their armies were mostly fighting outside of the city." Kong grinned big and added, "Because of this, 80% of the Fire Nation army is now a part of my army. They are not Sun Marines, as they have not all undergone the same training that our men have. However, they are an organized, and large, military force that has brought half of the Fire Nation's former territory under control, following my orders."

Half? Komei wondered.

As if he heard what Komei just thought, Kong continued, "There are rivals in the Fire Nation's old territory. Just two days ago, Judge Vinsmoke and the Germa 66 took down another rival Lord. After Judge's son Niji killed the Warlord Katarou, his army was stopped outside of Pyraxas during your evacuation. We do not know who stopped him, but his army was decimated and he was forced to retreat. Lord Judge returned to his kingdom and rallied his forces while you were in recovery. He now holds almost thirty percent of Sozin's former lands, that is, he would if he is still aligned with his son Yonji."

Komei gained a confused expression, and then he realized it and said, "The Princess?"

"Exactly," Kong replied. "Princess Azula, as well as the 20% of the Fire Nation army that you were not able to rally, have taken up in the Dread Fort. Yonji killed the Lord who had taken control after Saix's defeat, and now the two of them rule the Dread Fort together."

"Together?" Komei repeated.

Kong nodded his head, "So I've heard. That makes it difficult to discern whether or not they are on Judge's side. If Azula was clearly in charge, we could assume that she would make an attempt to regain control over the Fire Nation. The Princess was always a deranged one though, she was weak, and Sozin knew it. He never named her his successor, instead siring more children who the Princess has reportedly taken with her."

Komei's expression grew darker, but he said anyway, "Would it not have been in her best interest to have them killed instead?"

"In a political standpoint, perhaps," Kong admitted. "However if she kills her own kin, she may lose the twenty percent of her forces who rallied to her side under Commander Zhao, or General Zhao as he is being called now."

"Zhao," Komei muttered in anger. He had wondered where the man was when the Fire Nation armies had mostly returned to Pyraxas. Azula probably contacted him before he could arrive and had him divert his forces to her with promises of rewards.

"Azula also has a great deal of wealth with her," Kong said, and although Komei was just thinking about how she must have rewarded Zhao, this confused him as he had heard that the Princess had fled the city in the midst of the battle. "We believe she emptied the Royal Palace's treasury before her departure," Kong explained, and Komei grimaced as he knew exactly how much wealth was in there. "With money like that, the two of them might not be thinking about pledging allegiance to the Germa. They have land, an army, and they have enough money to hire some powerful special forces."

Komei nodded in agreement. Special forces, another term for hired guns. Mercenaries on Aebrith can make the difference between absolute victory and utter defeat in a war however. If she really does have all that gold, all those jewels, she could even request a job from the Rogue Ravagers. The thought of the most powerful mercenary force on the continent coming for them made Komei nervous, but he kept control of himself and remained composed in front of his new Lord. As he thought about keeping composure in front of the Lord, he realized something. I've accepted it. I, am the new Fleet Admiral. I don't deserve- Kong, Lord Kong believes that I deserve the position. I should trust his judgement.

"I believe," Komei began, "Azula and Yonji will ally with the other Vinsmokes. They have too many rivals in the region to fight among family. There will be a strange power dynamic between them, especially because Judge will want Azula's army, but her army will not follow anyone but her, and maybe her husband. We can possibly use this to our advantage if they come to be our enemies."

"They are our enemies," Kong said, and Komei lifted his right eyebrow, (he did not have a left one to lift as it was burned completely off). "An army led by Ichiji Vinsmoke assaulted our farthest west city close to the border with the Organization. I sent the Elite who rushed over and repelled their army, but the Germa 66 had always kept their scientific mastery under close watch. Even under the same High Lord, we were unable to acquire any of their Raid Suits, and we were unable to find flaws in the designs during our time as allies. Even the Elite had trouble against them, though Kaku succeeded at pushing him back after a long fought battle."

"Hmm, as expected of him," Komei said, though he sounded distracted.

"It would have been an easier fight, had the King not summoned Rob Lucci to the Capital to be one of his Capital 50," Kong said. Komei looked at Kong oddly, wondering why the Lord was bringing that up now. Kong looked like he had something more to say on the issue, but he shook his head after a moment. The War between the Saiyans and the Capital 50 can wait until later. That is not what I need Komei focusing on. "We had to keep that city, as it is our only holding on the border with the Organization."

"Have we allied with the Organization?" Komei asked.

His voice was dark implying that he would not approve if they had, but Kong responded, "Yes. Talks with the Organization as well as Phoenix have gone over well, though our new alliance with the mutants is shaky as I am concerned about that woman. She was a powerful asset before, but with Magneto's foolish demise at the Battle Royale, she seems…" Kong faded off, and he lifted a hand and scratched his white beard as he thought about how to describe the mutant woman. Kong's white beard pointed down in three small spikes, and above his head he had a single white spike of hair almost as tall as his head itself was. "Anyway, it is a good thing we have her as our ally, as there is one other Lord in the Fire Nation who has become increasingly aggressive since Sozin's demise."

Komei frowned deeply as Kong moved on to the next subject without letting him voice his qualms with their alliance with the Organization. While we were trying to evacuate Pyraxas, most of the battles were kept outside of the city. The only thing the Marines and Fire Nation soldiers had to fight to protect the citizens from, was the army of Nobodies that flooded the city. If not for those strong people who kept showing up all over the place… including Jewelry Bonney. What was that pirate woman doing with those people?

"Komei, are you listening?" Kong asked in an annoyed and louder tone than he had been using.

"Of course sir," Komei said, making sure he looked as focused as he was before, instead of just half-listening while thinking on his own. "You said that Father is expanding farther than we had expected."

"He's not just attacking the Resistance anymore," Kong said. "The Resistance is in the middle of a war with him, but the Elite tracked one of his Homunculi to an attack in the Alvarez Empire. I am considering passing this information on to High Lord Spriggan in order to get his help when the time comes to get Father in line, or take him down."

Komei hummed, then he shook his head in disagreement. "If we ally ourselves with High Lord Spriggan, we lose any chance of regaining control over Pyraxas. I would suggest taking back control of all cities around Pyraxas and then requesting that Spriggan recall his Shield of Spriggans and their army. We must have things that he would be willing to trade with us in exchange for a city he does not need in the middle of our territory."

Kong nodded at Komei as he spoke, then he hummed and thought on the new Fleet Admiral's words. "I'll give it more thought," Kong said after a few moments, as it was a big decision to make in a moment. He had already been thinking hard on it which was why he was only "considering" giving Spriggan the info that they had acquired. "Right there though," Kong said, and the right corner of his lips lifted up a small amount. "That is why I chose you over the other Admirals. Prodi has the experience but none of the drive or intuition. Vergo has the power, but he's easily set off, doesn't have the cool head one needs to run the Marines."

Sun Marines, Komei corrected in his head subconsciously. "Aokiji is leading the Marines back on Awul, a smaller continent across the Great Ocean. We allied with him!" Cat Burglar Nami, if what you say is true, then I cannot ally with Kuzan. A Marine who would ally himself with you pirates… Not that the Germa are any better. And I know Meruem has pirates in his Capital 50. How does Lucci work with them?

"Komei," Kong said, and Komei fully refocused as Kong stared at him with a serious gaze. The tone shifted to a more formal setting than the conversation the two were just having, and Komei stood more at attention as Kong put his hands together over his desk. "I will make an announcement later today to be broadcasted to all of the cities, towns, and lands which we have brought control to thus far. I will declare that the Sun Marines will make the citizens of the region feel safe again in this tumultuous time. To ensure that what I tell these people is the truth, I have something for the new Fleet Admiral."

Komei got a confused look on his face, and then Kong called out, "Bring it in."

The door that Komei entered earlier opened back up. Komei looked back and saw a lower Marine officer entering the room with a thick metal case in her hands. Komei reasoned that Kong had told this woman to arrive a few minutes after he had told Komei to show up and that the woman had been waiting outside during their conversation. His eyes focused on the steel case though, and the officer who entered walked right up to Kong's desk and placed the box down before typing in an eight-digit combination in between the latches. The Marine wearing a red and white hat with the words 'Sun Marines' written above the red rim lifted up the top of the case and then stepped aside and saluted Komei. "For you, Komei Gensei."

The new Fleet Admiral of the Marines stepped forward and looked down into the metal box. Sitting in the center of the box was a round fruit of a light blue color covered in darker blue lines that squiggled across the fruit. "Eat it," Kong ordered.

Komei stared down at the fruit for a few seconds, then he brought up his gaze to the man in front of him. "Sir." He hardened his expression and said firmly, "One of the reasons I became a Marine was to prove that even people who lacked the powers of a Devil Fruit could rise through the Marines and make a difference in the world, using intellect and tactical superiority alone."

"No one doubts your intellect or tactical genius," Kong said. "It's why they call you the 'Genius Tactician,' and it's why I named you the Fleet Admiral. Now eat the damn fruit Komei," Kong finished. He narrowed his eyes and added, "You would not have lost your war in Pyraxas if you had been stronger." Komei's face scrunched up, painfully. "As noble as you feel your ideal is, don't let it be the reason that you fail to uphold justice. That fruit will increase your power, and you need it to become the indisputably strongest in the Sun Marines. You need it in order to lead the Sun Marines from the front of the battlefield, and not from behind the back lines where you make your strategies. Make those strategies back there, and then use that power to lead your men."

Komei gulped and lowered his gaze back down to the fruit. He had spent his life chastising comrades who complained about the unfairness of competing against comrades or fighting enemies who had the advantages of Devil Fruits. He told them that they did not need them in order to complete their goals and move up in the world. If I eat this, I lose part of what makes me, me. Komei reached forward and he grabbed the fruit out of the case, lifting it up in front of him over Kong's desk. The other two watched as Komei eyed the fruit carefully, wondering what he was going to do.

Kong watched as the determined look that had faltered from Komei's face came back stronger than ever. It did not come back for him to deny Kong again though, it came back as Komei reminded himself his most important reason for joining the Marines. It was not to prove that those without Devil Fruits could succeed, but to protect the innocent and weak who could not protect themselves. "There you go," Kong said as he saw that determination to do it in Komei's eyes.

"What power does this Devil Fruit I am being graciously presented hold?" Komei questioned.

Kong shook his head and replied, "I do not know." The other Marine watched with interest as Komei turned the fruit in his hands as if trying to get a hint from the design on it. Kong continued while looking closer at the fruit himself, leaning forward in his chair, "It could be a Paramecia, a Logia, it could even be a Mythical Zoan like the Buddha."

Komei froze as he had just started opening his mouth, getting ready to eat solid food which he knew would be painful. Moving his mouth hurt, but unlike speaking which he could do pretty well with only the use of the right half of his face, he could not chew without moving his entire jaw. He pulled the fruit away and looked at Kong while saying, "Doesn't Sengoku have that fruit?"

Kong lifted his gaze with a semi-surprised look on it. He stared into Komei's eyes, and the female Marine still standing on Kong's left and Komei's right also looked at the new Fleet Admiral as if surprised by that question. "Hmm, so you never knew," Kong said after examining the expression on Komei's face. He leaned back in his seat and said, "Then while you eat that fruit, I will tell you a story."

"Were you there sir?" The woman with short black hair questioned.

"I was not," Kong said. Although he was initially annoyed at the woman speaking up, he thought on the tone she used and turned his gaze to her after having kept looking at Komei when he responded. "You were?" He asked. Komei turned to the woman as well, and he watched as the woman nodded. "I am surprised to hear that, Commodore Tashigi. So then, you've seen him?" Tashigi hesitated, but she knew who Kong was talking about and nodded her head. Kong turned to Komei who looked confused by the interaction, and Kong said, "Little over a month after we arrived on this world, I was shocked to discover that the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had been resurrected…"

---

FD + 35

"Rogerrr!" Monkey D. Garp roared down a several-mile-wide sandy coastline. He marched forward closer to the large group just ahead of them, and he yelled out, "I knew you'd be here!"

"GARP!" Roger called back, a huge smile on his face as he looked towards the source of the voice he recognized. The crew around Gol D. Roger moved with the Captain as he started marching the other way down the beach towards where men and women were running towards them in white and blue uniforms. Their clothes were dirty and many of them no longer had their uniforms that they mostly arrived in, like Garp who stood tall with a tight green tank top over his muscular body. Roger started stepping faster in Garp's direction and he reached down to his waist, drawing the sword he had there and lifting it above him. He slashed the sword down forward and as the men and women and different creatures behind Roger ran past him on his sides, Roger yelled, "You've gotten old on me! HAHAHAHA!"

Garp started sprinting forward down the beach, each step lifting up huge chunks of sand that flew in the air behind him and made the other Marines have to lean out of the way or cross their arms in front of their faces for protection. Garp reached the front of Roger's pirate crew, but they kept running forward on the sides of Garp as he sprinted past, charging straight at Roger who kept laughing before his mouth lowered into a grin and he sprinted back at Garp. As Garp clenched his right hand into a fist, his mouth widened into a giant smile and he leapt off the ground. "Your second execution comes today!" Garp yelled.

Garp slammed his fist down and Roger blocked with his sword. An aura expelled out of their bodies and widened to cover half a square mile of beach around them, lifting up sand and creating a tornado of it around their bodies which separated them from everyone else. Lightning sparked out of the sides of the spinning funnel and the sky around the tornado trembled as the clash intensified. Roger leaned his head up over the top of his sword and the punch while Garp pressed harder into it, and the Pirate King said with his large grin on his face, "We'll see." He cut outwards and Garp's arm got pushed to the side, but Garp's left fist was already coming down. Roger's sword was still swiping to the side where it pushed Garp's right hand, but Roger lifted up his hilt and Garp's fist slammed right into the butt of the weapon.

A shockwave rippled off of the second punch and caused the still-swirling tornado of sand around them to explode outwards. Garp bounced backwards as Roger pushed forward on the hilt of his sword, then Garp bent his knees and both of his fists covered in a powerful black aura of Armament Haki. The old man covered in gray hair and facial hair clenched his blackened fists harder and the muscles all over his torso flexed and tightened so hard that he ripped right through his green tank top. "For an old man, you've still got some fight in you," Roger chided, then he raced forward with his sword slashing across the front of his body. Garp lifted his left arm and blocked Roger's sword with his fist, then he pushed to the side and opened up Roger's body completely for a punch with his right hand that flew forward and jammed straight in the center of Roger's gut.

The Pirate King lifted off his feet with a fist pushing against his back, but after he coughed up spit, his mouth curled up and he said, "That's the strength of Garp the Fist's fist now?" Garp's eyes widened, but Roger never flew off of his punch, instead slashing his sword back down at the man who lifted him with that punch. Garp leaned his head hard to one side and the sword just slashed through his hair, then he brought his left fist over fast and punched through the flintlock pistol that Roger rose from his side with his free hand. The gun exploded on impact, but Roger was falling from his right arm already and brought his sword back around at Garp's side. Garp could not just lean away from this one so he leapt back, but Roger's sword was too fast and too long to avoid after just going on the attack to smash the man's pistol. The end of Roger's sword sliced a shallow wound on Garp's left side as he jumped backwards, but as soon as Garp landed, he charged back forward and yelled out with a flurry of punches that Roger met blow for blow with his sword, swiping back whenever he saw the opportunity.

"Damn it Garp," Sengoku said as he looked down the beach towards where Garp sprinted haphazardly and with no backup. "Men!" Sengoku shouted, and the six hundred Marines behind and around him all focused in on the man at the front of their pack, and the oldest man in the battle. He had a white afro and a long braided white beard falling below his chin, a thin white mustache on his upper lip, and wrinkles all over his face. Sengoku looked forward at the pirates coming towards them who they stopped charging back at when Garp sprinted forward and knocked all that sand into their faces. Sengoku's gaze shifted around all of them, Roger. It seems we were not the only ones regrouping our old strength. "Attack," Sengoku shouted, then his body started to glow gold as he focused on one man who cut off the sides to fill in the gap that they had left for Garp to run through.

"Dark King, Rayleigh," Sengoku said while his body started to grow. His soldiers ran on the sides of him and Rayleigh's past him as well, meeting each other in the middle and clashing swords and other weapons. Gunshots went off around them and explosions blasted craters in the beach. "It seems this world did not see it fit to bring all of us to our primes," Sengoku said, as he faced another man with white hair who had on eyeglasses like his. Sengoku's body grew and grew, getting rounder as he expanded several dozen times his original size. A look of pain flashed over Sengoku's face as he continued to rise. I cannot stop early. This is Roger's crew. The Dark King will be one of the strongest adversaries I have faced on this world, though one that perhaps I can actually defeat. Madara, the Arcosian, too many battles I have come out the loser. Who would have thought two years of retirement would have made my body so weak?

"Some more than others it seems," Silvers Rayleigh responded as Sengoku stopped growing. "Weren't you a little bigger the last time we met?" Rayleigh lifted up his sword and shrugged off the white coat he had draped over his shoulders. Rayleigh had a white beard like Sengoku's only scruffier and just sticking down below his chin, and on top of his head his white hair fell longer and straighter down his back and over his orange t-shirt. He looked leaner than Sengoku did even before the Marine transformed into a giant golden Buddha statue using his Devil Fruit power, but even leaner than Sengoku he was still a broad-shouldered and muscular man whose arms tightened as he rose his sword. Rayleigh's silver blade was long and thin but double-sided unlike Roger's weapon that curved at the end and was black on the back where it was not sharp. Rayleigh lifted it and said, "Though since I am up against a former Fleet Admiral, I think I'll have to use my sword."

Rayleigh shot forward towards Sengoku like a missile shooting through the air. He extended his leg beneath the arm that Sengoku started swinging down at him, and he slammed Sengoku straight in his giant round stomach with a kick that caused shockwaves to destroy the sand beneath them and created a ravine in the beach that spread out into the water. The cut in the water caused water on both sides to start falling in like waterfalls for a few seconds before the ocean finally collapsed back into itself, though by that point Sengoku was already skidding far back along the beach the direction they came from.

"Sengoku-san!" John Giant called behind him, the giant looking over his shoulder as he saw Sengoku start skidding back. He looked ahead towards where Garp and Roger were fighting, then back down at the enemies in front of him who were much smaller.

The giant almost decided to break from the main portion of the Marines and pirates to go help out the former Fleet Admiral, but a woman on the pirates' side who had long curly orange hair called up to him before he could. "You're a big man," she bellowed, and John Giant looked down to see the woman wearing cheetah-fur around her waist and breasts. As he looked down at her, the giant's eyes opened wide and all the nearby Marines aiming or charging at her took steps back as she started growing in size. She grew, and grew, and she reached halfway up John's waist, then as tall as some smaller giants of his race, before reaching his height. Then, the woman grew more, until she was standing more than half of John Giant's height taller than him, one and a half times the size of the tallest Marine giant and first to ever enlist in the Marines. The giant in a red Marine's hat and long white coat lifted his gaze to the woman but his expression stayed firm and discerning. She looked down into his eyes and grinned as he rose up a sword while facing her, "Now how about you deal with a big woman!" Giganta shouted, before jumping towards her fellow giant and slamming a fist down towards his face.

"Halt! Roger Pirates!" Tashigi shouted. She lifted up her sword, Shigure, by its green handle, and she turned it sideways in front of her body as she bent down. Tashigi shot off her feet and slashed towards the large cat creature that just swung a paw and knocked five Marines up in the air.

Nekomamushi turned its head left and looked at the woman while grinning wide. He had sharp teeth and long flowing blond hair in a mane around his lion-like face that fell back behind his large body close to ten times as large as Tashigi was herself. Although the Mink grinned at her, Tashigi did not see him making a move to stop her. Ching! Tashigi's sword clashed against another that appeared in front of her slash before she even noticed. Her eyes started to lower from the tall cat Mink's face to the man standing in front and below her since she had jumped. She could not see his face thanks to the straw kasa hat he had on, a hat pointed up in the center that declined on all sides at a gradual slope around his head. The samurai had a sword lifted up with one hand and was not struggling to hold back Tashigi's blade even as she pushed forward full force with both hands.

Kozuki Oden lifted his head and the front part of his kasa's rim rose enough for him to see whose blade he just stopped. Tashigi stared down with sweat all over her face at the stern serious expression of the samurai. He stared up into her eyes for a few moments, then the light-skinned man's face reddened at the cheeks as his eyes dropped from her eyes to her large bosom. Tashigi followed the direction of his gaze and her face brightened red as well. "You fiend!" She yelled at the pirate, pulling her sword back and then swiping it down again as she dropped to her feet.

Oden stepped to the left and dodged the swipe down at him, and he took a step towards the beautiful young woman and said, "My humblest apologies." He leaned backwards and the edge of her blade just passed in front of his chest, barely missing the man's striped hakama. "If I had known you were a woman, I never would have crossed blades with you. I am ashamed, yet let me apologize to you. Perhaps you would like to punish-"

"Do not hold back because I am a woman!" Tashigi yelled, charging forward to close the distance before she slashed again. It was a foolish move to get so close when he was ready for a swing, but she did not think he would slash at this point and needed to be close enough that he would not be able to dodge even with his superior speed. Oden hesitated too long because he would not slash at the woman, and he stepped backwards nervously as Tashigi started slashing.

Nekomamushi turned and said, "Kozuki-dono, you-"

"My Lord," Inuarashi called out from a different part of the beach.

"Father!" a young boy shouted behind the man Tashigi was slashing at. Now it was her turn to hesitate, as she spotted a small boy with a shaved head except for the black bun sticking up from the middle running their way. Her hesitation gave the man in front of her enough time to leap straight up, and by the time Tashigi realized he was bending his knees to get the hop, she was too late to keep her swipe going fast enough to hit him beforehand. Her sword passed beneath his rising sandals that he flicked down and knocked her Meitou, or named sword, straight into the sand.

"Ah, damn," Tashigi tugged at her weapon that slashed deep into the ground from the man's redirection. They called him Lord Kozuki, Tashigi thought as she yanked out her sword and refaced the man who landed in front of the boy heading their way. He said something in a harsh, concise voice to the boy behind him, and the kid frowned in a frustrated way before turning and running towards the shoreline. Tashigi's eyes followed the boy for a second, wondering what his purpose of heading that way was, but then her attention snapped back to the samurai in front of her who she began talking to. "Lord Kozuki, as in Kozuki from the samurai kingdom of Wano?" Tashigi questioned.

"Oh you know of my clan," Oden said, a big smile forming on his face.

"Your clan," Tashigi repeated. "Then you are Kozuki Oden. Why have you joined Gold Roger's crew?"

The battle raged on around them, and Tashigi was ready to charge back into the fight despite knowing how much stronger this opponent was than her. "Roger's an old friend. On a world like this it is better to travel with friends, wouldn't you agree, Marine woman?"

"There is no need to specify that I am a woman," Tashigi said, lifting back up Shigure and gripping its green hilt tightly with both hands. She put the hilt in front of her waist and had the blade extending out and up towards Oden's face. "You treating me like a less worthy fighter because of my gender is a far worse insult than crossing swords in a serious fight." Oden's mouth started to flatten out at what Tashigi said, and she rose her sword before charging forward fast. "Fighting a swordsman of your caliber would not be meaningful if you treat me-"

"I understand your resolve, Marine," Oden said. His voice was lower, but the fact that he did not say 'woman' after 'Marine' did not make Tashigi feel relieved or respected. Instead, all she felt was fear as that voice had come from behind her, and the samurai she thought she was still charging at started disappearing from in front of her eyes. Her head started to turn, and she saw Oden bent down behind her with his sword pulled out to one side, crouched and ready to pounce towards her while slashing his weapon. Tashigi saw it in her mind with Observational Haki, she watched as Oden appeared on her other side and blood splashed from a large gash on her chest and stomach as soon as she finished twisting her body to face him. He's waiting for me to turn around! Tashigi thought, yet she could not stop herself from turning just from that knowledge. She ground her teeth in frustration and anger that she could not allow herself to stop, could not risk him slashing across her back even though it seemed he was waiting for a moment not to have to do that.

Tashigi turned and the man leapt at her, and then two men dropped down in front of her at the same time. CLINK-shhHHH! Momonga slammed his sword against Oden's and the two slid their blades against each other until they were pressed together at the steel just off of their hilts, their faces pushed in close to each other. Oden focused more on the swordsman than the other man who dropped down with him, making the initial assumption that the man who had a white veil over the bottom half of his face and a large round white Marine's hat on over his head was only there to get the female Marine back. After Shu pushed Tashigi backwards though, the Rear Admiral spun his attention back to Kozuki Oden who did not like the look in his eyes.

Momonga reached out with his free hand and grabbed Oden's blade around the steel part, covering his hand in Haki to protect it from the pirate's blade. Oden tugged away, but Momonga held on just long enough for Shu to put his hands on both the weapon and the arm of the man grabbing it. Oden's eyes opened wide as he tried tugging his weapon back faster, lifting his free hand up and smacking Momonga's hand away. By the time he had hit Momonga's hand away though, what he saw coming came to pass, and Shu's Rust-Rust Devil Fruit powers deteriorated Oden's sword to a point that it crumbled into brown ash. Momonga sliced forward as Oden darted Shu a furious look, and then he leapt backwards right before Momonga's blade could hit him.

Momonga prepared to give chase, but a giant dog creature from the Mink tribe landed in front of him in a suit of armor and big blue jacket. Inuarashi slammed a fist down at Momonga who tried blocking with his sword, only for his feet to skid back over the floor several meters from the force behind the creature's blow. Then, Momonga saw something falling down at him in his mind and he shot to the right, saying, "Soru."

Nekomamushi landed down where Momonga was just standing and made a new crater in the beach, before snapping his head with a furious look towards where the Vice Admiral just dodged to. "Lord Kozuki's katana," Nekomamushi growled, and he and Inuarashi both looked pissed at Momonga who refocused on these new enemies. Unfortunately, Momonga realized he was not the only one who refocused on them and he darted his gaze to Shu before yelling at him to look out.

Shu turned while Momonga had to look back at his new enemies and get on the defensive, and Tashigi was already running towards him which he saw as he glanced over her while turning to the enemy whose shadow had just cast over him. Kozuki Oden put his hands together in front of his chest as he got up close to Shu, and then he slashed both hands down and smashed them into the top of Shu's head, pushing down on his round hat and making the Rear Admiral's eyes bulge in pain. Shu's knees collapsed and he smashed straight into the ground with Oden landing on top of him. "Rear Admiral!" Tashigi shouted and kept charging at the pirate now standing on a fellow officer. Other soldiers around them pointed their rifles inwards furiously at the man who just crushed their superior officer, but other gunshots went off when their old enemies saw that they had taken their eyes off of them.

Those men who fired at the Marines when they aimed at Kozuki Oden started yelling in panic and many of them leapt off the ground. Many others though, were caught by the wave of ice that shot across the beach and froze half of the battlefield. "Admiral Aokiji," Tashigi said in surprise as the man came out of a misty fog on her left. She looked towards the ten foot tall figure in a long dark green cloak wearing a pair of sunglasses who had ice sticking to a lot of his body.

"Oi oi, how many times do I have to say it? It's Kuzan now," the former Admiral Aokiji said towards the woman who leaned back as he suddenly focused on her in the middle of the battle just because she called him by his old name. Aokiji lifted his right arm and a long blade of ice formed on it that he spun to the left and slashed as he felt someone coming through the fog he had created with that sudden wave of ice. The man he slashed at swung an axe at him though, and the force of that axe swing knocked Kuzan stumbling a few feet backwards where he had to more properly plant his feet and block again, this time putting his other hand up against the back of the ice blade to hold the man off.

The figure came into better view as Kuzan started focusing on him, smoke and mist around them clearing up a bit. "Arara, looks like I might be in some trouble," Kuzan said. Although it was a light phrase to say in the middle of the fight, he did have a bead of sweat rolling down the left side of his face. "Scopper Gaban, eh?" Kuzan asked.

"Kuzan," the muscular man pushing his axe down on Aokiji's blade said. He had slicked back black hair tied into a ponytail with a hint of gray in it, though he still looked very youthful. He had a muscular chest sticking out of his blue button down that had the top four buttons undone, and his sleeves were rolled up for the fight. The man pulled his axe up then flipped forward as Aokiji tried slashing under him. He slashed his axe down at the Ice Man's head, and Aokiji had to pull his body to the side fast as even just dodging his head he saw his shoulder get cut through in a brief moment of Observational Haki. The axe still cut through Kuzan's green cloak as he pulled to the side, and the former Marine had to spin back fast as this was not an opponent he could take it easy on. The Pirate King's crew is as strong as one would expect, Kuzan thought, catching through his peripheral vision some of the men he froze before getting out of their confines, while others on the crew helped their frozen members get unstuck from the ground and started dragging them away towards the water.

Kuzan started turning his head that way, only for the speed of the man in front of him to surprise him even more as he appeared right in front of Kuzan with his axe slashing up. "You Marines must be very confident in yourselves to come charging at us, without even keeping focus. What are we going to do?" Blood splashed from Kuzan's chest and left shoulder as he did not pull back fast enough, then Scopper Gaban leapt high up into the air as Aokiji's left foot stomped down behind him and made a giant spike of ice shoot out of the ground where they had just been standing. That spike of ice rose after the man rising into the air, and then another giant spike shot off of that one towards the guy who started arcing back down.

As the point of the ice reached Scopper, the man started slashing back and forth with his axe that covered in a pitch black coating with a dark purple aura around it. Ice shards flew out in every direction, but the ice was too fast and slammed past his axe, hitting him and then slamming him down into the ground. After the end of the spike hit him into the floor, an explosion of ice crystals blasted up from the collision point leaving a few dozen giant spikes of ice sticking out of the beach. "Ice Flower," Kuzan said, as he leaned back forward and put his right hand up to his shoulder where the slash was deepest and his ice powers did the littlest to protect him. His Haki is strong, Kuzan thought as he stared towards his giant explosion of ice. The question is if it's strong enough for him to get out of… Ch-CRASH! Cracks formed all around the ice shard closest to Kuzan, then it shattered with Scopper flying out of it with a grin on his face, and frostbite on his hands. Even with frostbite though, Scopper's right hand had pretty much frozen around his axe handle so he was not letting go of it yet, and the heat of the battlefield as well as his pumping adrenaline was already warming him back up.

Scopper and Kuzan clashed, then Tashigi spun back to Kozuki Oden who she saw pick up a discarded katana from next to a Marine unmoving on the ground. "Put that man's weapon back you scoundrel," she called out and started charging the man. Oden turned towards her with a dark look though, the same look he had had on his face since Shu destroyed his katana with his Rust-Rust powers.

Vice Admiral Doberman sprinted forward as Nekomamushi came down for Momonga's back while the latter was mid-clash with Inuarashi. Doberman put his sword in the way of the giant cat's claws, and he and Momonga went back to back before slashing out at the same times and knocking their enemies back. Cat Viper and Dogstorm narrowed their eyes at the Vice Admirals after landing though, and then the two leaders of the Mink Tribe from their own world charged back at the Marines.

Coby slammed a fist into a powerful pirate's chest and knocked the man flying backwards into two others who did not see him coming and were both sent tumbling away by the collision. Coby then spun and jumped up, before coming down with a kick in the face of a pirate who just tried slashing on his best friend's back. Helmeppo saw his chance when the pirate he was currently pushing both of his fat curved blades into looked up with wide eyes at his powerful comrade being kicked away by a pink-haired teenager. Helmeppo slashed his blades and then extended his own leg into the pirate's chest and made him skid back a few meters before he dragged his feet in the sand and came to a stop. The pirate pulled out a pistol and fired twice at the young man with a blond ponytail, but Helmeppo leaned his head left and then right, dodging the bullets with his Haki instead of his eyes that were hidden under the black visor over his face.

"Kids these days," the pirate said while lowering his gun, lifting back up his sword as Coby stepped to Helmeppo's side.

The boys faced the older man together, but Coby's eyes darted to the right and he said, "The Vice Admirals need our assistance. Those two creatures are relentless. They have amazing stamina," Coby explained, having noticed how they had not slowed down at all since the start of the fight and were as powerful with every blow as they were the one before it. Neither were panting, unlike the Vice Admirals who were trying to block dozens of heavy blows from these Minks.

"Then let's finish this guy off fast…" Helmeppo faded off as the man in front of them started growing fur. His body started to cover in dark red fur and his muscles bulged, his body growing in size at the same time. The Zoan Devil Fruit user charged at them while in mid-transformation, and the young Marines lost any hopes of rushing off to join a different fight with the sight of their enemy's true power rising to the surface.

Sengoku darted his eyes around from behind the giant glasses that had grown when his body turned into a massive Buddha statue. With just one more Admiral, this would be a drastically different fight. We look even so far, but if Kizaru were here, I would feel much more confident. Sengoku brought his gaze back to the old man ahead of him standing with his long double-sided silver sword in hand. The Dark King feels as powerful as he was in his prime, unlike myself. Kizaru had fought him before… But he disappeared after that first week of helping me gather up Marines. I have to make do with what we have now! Sengoku lifted his right hand and a giant sphere of golden light surrounded the glowing fist. The sphere of light pulsed over and over again, flashing the entire battlefield in its light as he charged it. An even bigger translucent white aura surrounded the sphere of golden light, and Rayleigh let out a whistle as he looked up at it.

Silvers Rayleigh shot forward and zipped between the legs of the giant Buddha statue right as Sengoku brought his fist down. The beach below the fist exploded, cracks shooting out of it all the way up the coast to the small rocky cliffs and out the other direction into the water. The rocky cliffs crumbled and ravines split through the grassy plains and hills beyond them for a few hundred meters, though the destruction on the beach was much more disastrous. Cracks split the sand and Marines leapt away to the sides, while pirates stumbled backwards with nervous or amazed expressions at Sengoku's power. Rayleigh rose up Sengoku's back though after the man punched a massive hole in the ground, and the Dark King spun in a three-sixty while facing Sengoku's back. When he came back around in that full spin, he slammed a full-powered kick into Sengoku's round golden back, knocking forward the man pulling his fist out of the ground and turning his head. Sengoku stepped forward from the kick in his back, only he stepped right into the huge hole he just blasted, making him trip towards his soldiers who just cheered out his name for the powerful display of power.

"Ahh!"

"Sengoku-san!"

Sengoku's giant body hitting the beach was another earthquake in itself, sending more waves of sand blasting in every direction and getting in the way of fighters all around. Pirates and Marines leapt through the blasting sand though, slashing and shooting at each other with blood flying up in the air as fast as sand and smoke.

Sengoku lifted his head after hitting the ground, and he watched as two men on broomsticks rose up over the battlefield and magical grimoires floated next to their heads. They summoned magic that they called down on the Marines, and then Sengoku spotted a woman running forward from higher up the beach. She had a metal headband on like many Sengoku had seen since coming to this world, only hers had a horizontal line slashed through the middle of its symbol indicating her ninja village. The rogue ninja was making hand signs, and then she finished and called something else before swinging her arms forward and cracking whips of flames at some Marines running her way. Roger's adapted to this new world, Sengoku thought as he put his hands down at his sides. He's embraced it, and he's recruited more than just his old crewmates. As expected of the Pirate King, Sengoku lifted his gaze over the battlefield as he pushed himself high enough to see over everyone towards the fight he knew was farthest away. Sengoku knew he had to spin around and face Rayleigh who he sensed was still behind him, but the sight across the battlefield made Sengoku freeze halfway up, his eyes opening huge behind his glasses.

Farther north on the beach than any of the other fights, Gol D. Roger stood facing his greatest enemy. He was grinning at the man in front of him who was covered in over a dozen different slashes. All of those slashes had been meant to be deeper, but Garp was not going down easily. Then again, Roger himself only had a bruise on his right cheek, a small trail of blood coming out the left corner of his mouth, and he felt some sore spots emerging on his body from where Garp's punches had hit. To the side of them closer to the water, Momonosuke piled the last of the crates on the beach into a rowboat and then started trying his hardest to shove the boat down the sand and into the ocean.

"You running away, again?" Garp asked, narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him who had evaded him for so long back on their own world. "I've got to pay you back, for leaving that brat with me."

Roger grinned at Garp and narrowed his eyes at the older man in front of him. Garp did not smile back though, and he said in an angry tone, "Ace suffered because of you."

"And you let him die," Roger said. Garp's eyes opened wide at Roger's statement, but the Pirate King just continued with that grin on his face, "I will meet him here though, one day." Roger grinned wider and threw his right arm out to the sides. He pointed his sword forward at Garp as the older man panted and glared at him for that comment, though something Roger said had the gears in his mind turning. "That's right Garp, if I can come back to life on this world, then he will have as well."

Roger shot forward and he slammed his sword forward in his left hand. Garp punched towards it, but Roger's blade covered in Haki that cut through Garp's fist. Garp swung his arm out to the side, and Roger slammed his right fist forward and punched Garp in the face. The older man leaned back from the blow, then Garp coughed and winced in pain. He stopped falling backwards and lowered his head, looking in front of him where Roger had his left arm extended forward again. Roger's expression was straighter though still with the corners of his lips curled up a small amount. The pirate in a red coat and red pirate hat left his sword imbedded in Garp's chest while the old man looked down at it. "You really did get old," Roger said. "If only you had died on our world, then you could have started here fresh and hunted me to the corners of this giant world."

"Ha, ha-ack," Garp coughed up some blood, but even though trails of red came out the corners of his lips, those corners rose up anyway. "That would, have been an adventure," Garp said, and he chuckled again to which Roger joined in. "Ace is alive, huh?" Garp wondered, his eyes losing focus on the man in front of him who started pulling his sword back. "10,000 Beri, says he punches you," Garp said, then he fell to his back as Roger's sword pulled out of him completely. He looked straight up into the blue sky above that was clearest above them in the area a little separated from the main battle. The old man kept grinning, until the moment his heart pumped its last beat.

"GAAARP!" Sengoku shouted across all of the men and women on the battlefield towards his oldest friend. Rayleigh looked that way as he realized what it was that had Sengoku so distracted from their fight. He lowered his grin a bit hearing that pained scream from his opponent. Garp, Rayleigh thought. Wonder what being a part of Roger's crew will feel like, without your relentless pursuit.

Vice Admiral Prodi snapped his head the direction he saw Sengoku shouting towards, and his eyes opened wide in horror at what he spotted between several of his enemies. "Damn you! ROGER!" Prodi yelled. He lifted up his bazooka and fired a cannonball, but one of the pirates between him and Roger got in the way and sliced the attack in half before it was even halfway. Prodi roared and a dozen Marines around him yelled out as well while charging the enemies together.

Half of the battlefield froze. A wall of ice shot out of the ground at the end of where it would no longer freeze the ground because of the five men who stabbed swords down full of Haki and blocked the wave of ice from getting any farther. Kuzan smashed out of the wall of ice and yelled, "Partisan!" Five tridents of ice formed in the air behind him and shot down at the pirates who pulled out their swords and were about to leap up to block him. The tridents cut through their weapons and slashed them up, while Kuzan dropped towards Roger and Garp with a look of rage on his face.

"Roger!" Kuzan yelled furiously. Three figures leapt up in the air in Kuzan's way. Nekomamushi, Inuarashi, and Oden Kozuki all got strong hits in on Kuzan sending him flying back into his ice wall that completely shattered this time.

Never thought he'd be caught off guard like that, Inuarashi thought as he landed and looked over towards the pile of collapsed ice.

"This world!" Roger called out, his voice echoing over the entire beach. "Is an amazing place," Roger slashed his sword to the side to get the blood off of it. "There are endless possibilities of what we can encounter, and I want to face it all! Come and chase me if you want, I'll be waiting ready to fight when you find me again. Remember this, Marines," Gol D. Roger grinned and slashed his sword forward to point at all the people looking his way. "I am the Pirate King! You gave me the name, now try and take it from me! You can hunt us all you want. Hunt me around the world! I welcome all challengers!"

Sengoku spotted a ship out in the water sailing close to the shore. There was a rowboat being pulled up on it by a man with a headdress of purple petals over the top of his balding head, and long white hair sticking out the back of his skull and off the bottom of his chin. "I will not let you get away," Sengoku said, standing back up fully and glaring down the beach towards Roger. The battle continued through and intensified after Roger's speech, all of the Marines and pirates charging at each other with renewed vigor.

"Sengoku," Rayleigh said, and the former Fleet Admiral spun around at the sound of the Dark King's voice right behind him. He turned and looked down at the man standing at his giant golden feet. Rayleigh lifted his sword and the silver turned black, a dark purple aura surrounding it as well as Rayleigh's entire body. "How many times have we had this fight?" Rayleigh asked. "I can see you're not up to keep it going though, while I, I feel like a young man again." Rayleigh grinned and he put his sword to the side while narrowing his eyebrows in, his eyes getting sharper at the same time. "Goodbye, my old enemy," Rayleigh said, then he shot at Sengoku's body with such force that the entire beach below where he was just standing crumpled down into a crater, then shattered in a hundred different places with water flooding in from the cracks that spread all the way into the sea.

Sengoku punched towards Rayleigh as the man shot at him. His fist did not cover in the same golden glow that he created before, as that one attack took much more out of him than he had expected. Rayleigh's head came within inches of the front of Sengoku's fist, then the Dark King spun around it and kept shooting straight up Sengoku's arm, bringing his sword up diagonally from where he stuck it out at his right side. Rayleigh crossed over the front of Sengoku's body and passed over his right shoulder, never even turning his head in to look at Sengoku's face while the former Fleet Admiral started leaning backwards.

The Marines in front of Sengoku spun around as the giant golden man's right knee hit the ground. His body was leaning back farther, blood splashing up from the front of his huge round body while the Dark King Rayleigh landed behind him. Sengoku's body started to shrink, while the panicked Marines shouted out in fear looking back at their leader. It's past, my time, Sengoku thought, his head bowing as his body kept shrinking rapidly. I retired, because I was done with all this. His other knee hit the ground, but it did not make as big a quake as last time. I'm tired. He lost his golden hue and his skin turned back to its white tone, as did his afro and beard.

"Yosh!" Gol D. Roger shouted. He pointed his sword out towards the ship out on the ocean just off shore. "Everyone back to the Oro Jackson! It's time to set sail!"

Rayleigh turned his head to look out on the water. We have a crew, we're stocked on supplies, our maiden voyage on this new world starts now. Rayleigh turned some more and looked behind him at the man on his knees with his head bowed. A brand new world, Rayleigh thought, and his gaze shifted to the water once again.

"Sengoku-san!"

"Fleet Admiral!"

"What do we do?!"

"Keep fighting men!" Doberman shouted, right before a fist slammed into the back of his head and sent him tumbling across the sand. The Vice Admiral flipped up right as he felt the man who punched him diving for the spot he was in mid-roll, then he slashed down at the guy who missed his punch. Doberman sliced across his back, then he spun and slashed again, this time making a far-ranged slash that hit another pirate who was still twenty yards away.

Kuzan rose up out of his ice and glanced over his shoulder at the sound of all the calls of the former Fleet Admiral's name. "Damn it," Kuzan muttered, then he turned back and glared towards where Roger had been earlier. As he looked over though, Roger and a half dozen of his crewmates were paddling out from shore on a small rowboat. "Whoa whoa, where do you think you're going?" Kuzan asked darkly. His eyes glared over his cracked sunglasses and his green coat was ripped up around him. Kuzan let out a visible breath of air and then put his hand on the floor in front of him, "Ice, Time-"

"I don't think so," a voice said behind Kuzan, appearing there in a second as the man who said it had just arrived across the beach. Kuzan recognized the voice as the man he was fighting earlier, and he quickly turned his body into ice, right before Scopper's axe smashed into his side. Scopper thought he had the Ice Man, but Kuzan exploded into chunks of ice instead of getting cut like he did last time. "Hmm, nice save," Scopper said, then he ran towards the water and leapt up in the air.

Kuzan reformed and stomped towards where Scopper just leapt, Bang! Kuzan leaned his body sideways and his head snapped the direction of the main battle where he saw a sniper from Roger's crew looking between a dozen other fights. He spotted the man through the small hole the man used to fire on him, and the sniper scooted back in fear. Unfortunately for Kuzan, the bullet he thought he dodged had other plans. The bullet curved after Kuzan had leaned awat, and the Ice Man's eyes darted from the enemy who scooted back in the distance to the bullet about to hit him in the chest. He was fast enough to move again though, and he pulled to the side so the bullet only hit him in the left arm. As soon as it hit though, Kuzan knew he had made a terrible mistake. Kairoseki, he thought, infuriated. Even if the bullet was Haki-infused, from a man who would fall on his butt just from a look across the battlefield like that, Kuzan doubted the Haki would be strong enough to damage him. So it is on this world, Kuzan thought while stumbling backwards. He grabbed at his arm but winced and looked towards it when he felt how wet it was. Shit, artery…

John Giant looked around, seeing panic spreading over the battlefield. Although Roger had called his men away, the fight was continuing, and they were losing. Garp and Sengoku were down, and he had lost sight of Kuzan somewhere in the midst of the fight. A furious look spread on his face as he gripped his sword by the hilt much tighter. In front of him lay the massive body of Giganta, a shallow gash on the left side of her stomach and a much deeper one cutting her from the right side of her waist all the way up to her left shoulder. John Giant felt like he could continue fighting, but he could also see that the Marines still around him were being devastated by Roger's crew.

"Marines!" John Giant called out. "Pull back!" The giant who called it out ran forward despite his own yell. He slashed his sword down into the beach below him, cutting a new ravine through it and then standing on the side farther from the water while he slashed around at the pirates still fighting there.

Rayleigh looked over at the giant, and he grinned at the sight of that line in the beachhead. "So that's how you want to do this, John Giant?" Rayleigh asked, though not in a voice that the giant would be able to hear. He turned towards the Oro Jackson out on the water and leapt that direction. Other pirates started walking backwards towards the water with their rifles and pistols still in hand, firing back farther up the beach at their enemies who kept firing their way too. Although the shots continued, the fighters started moving farther and farther away from each other. Pirates who got on the side of the line closer to the water started running to the north towards the rowboats waiting for them, and John Giant resisted the urge to grab one of the larger boulders that had broken off the cliff behind him to throw over at those rowboats.

The Dark King left, but he would come back if I stranded his men here. John Giant stopped slashing down as any pirate close enough to him to be hit had run off or been struck down trying to face him. He glared up and out towards the Oro Jackson where a man who had leapt into the water dove out of it as if diving into the air was that simple. Silvers Rayleigh landed on the ship at his much younger Captain's side, as Roger had returned to Nexus as a man in his prime. Standing at the helm before them was Scopper, and Nekomamushi and Inuarashi stood on either side of Kozuki Oden behind them. A few magicians flew over on broomsticks and dropped to the bow, while rowboats paddled fast after their ship where other crewmates tossed off lines to their returning nakama.

Not far from the last rowboat that started pushing out in the water, while many of Roger's other crewmates just swam out through the water around it, Prodi stood a few meters away from where Garp lay flat on his back. He glanced to his left as he saw Kuzan stumbling their way only to wall on his knees. Kuzan had his right hand covered in burn scars digging into his left arm for some reason, but there was blood getting everywhere. Kuzan stared at Garp as he dug inside his arm trying to rip out the piece of Sea Stone jammed inside him. Prodi turned back to Garp and his fists clenched as he heard John Giant shout at the other Marines on the beach to head inland as the ones who tried to keep fighting starting getting fired on by the Oro Jackson's cannons. Damn that giant, telling everyone to let Garp's killer go. Prodi's hands clenched hard around the grip of his bazooka and he glared out over the water towards the Pirate King's ship.

Coby limped inland but he glanced back over his shoulder at the pirate ship with huge red sails and black Jolly Rogers hanging off the masts. He had his left arm around Helmeppo's back while pulling the blond teen's right arm with his other hand over his own shoulders. Helmeppo's head was bowed, he was unconscious with blood all over him, but Coby had checked and made sure that his friend was alright. Coby had a deep gash on his left leg that he knew would leave a scar, and he glared out over the water at the crew that gave him that wound. Gold Roger, the Pirate King. One day, I'm going to be the one to capture you. Then his gaze shifted over towards a part of the beach where the man who had trained him and taken him under his wing lay on his back. Garp-san, I swear it. Tears formed in Coby's arms. I swear…

---

Present

"…After the battle was over, I heard that most of the men went with Vice Admiral John Giant," Kong continued to Komei who had just listened to a very detailed story. While Komei had listened, he had chowed down on the fruit that tasted as disgusting as he had heard one would taste. Kong turned to Tashigi and asked, "Why is it that you did not choose to follow him?"

"I did, for a little," Tashigi replied. "But soon after that battle, we found Akainu. He joined the men he had gathered already with ours and started leading…" Tashigi droned off, getting quieter towards the end. After a few seconds of hesitation, she stated firmly, "I did not believe in Akainu's sense of justice. I did not believe in him," she added. I became disillusioned by Akainu's Absolute Justice. If that was what all Marines had to stand for, if following him meant killing everyone Akainu deemed as an enemy, I knew I had to leave. And now I'm here, a soldier for a Lord of the Cooperative. Tashigi bit down hard as there was so much she wanted to say to her superior at the moment, but she was not in the position to do so. She knew what his response would be anyway, so she held her tongue.

Kong nodded at the woman's response, deciding not to say anything further on it at the sight of the expression on her face. He turned back to Komei who had been shocked through the description of the battle that he was surprised Prodi never mentioned to him before. He and Garp were old friends, Komei reminded himself. It is likely not a day Admiral Prodi likes to think on.

"So, are you feeling anything?" Kong questioned.

Komei's astonishment over the story he was just told switched to a newfound anxious anticipation. If I could get a power as amazing as the Hito Hito no mi, Model: Buddha… Komei lifted his hands and tried turning into a massive golden Buddha statue. "I don't," Komei said after a few seconds. It had been a minute or two since he finished the last of the fruit, and he started wondering what it was he had to do next to activate it.

"You might not find out what it is for a while, or you could see the effects right after eating it," Kong said. "The results vary, but I discovered my power only a minute after eating mine."

Tashigi looked over at their new Lord out the corners of her eyes while still facing Komei. I have never seen Kong's Devil Fruit. I did not even know he had one! She kept staring at Komei and did not see the same reaction on his face, though some reaction formed on it while she stared at him.

"Hold on," Komei said. "There it is, a tingling sensation in my stomach. I can feel it rising, through my entire body," Komei's voice was getting more excited, though Kong stared at him oddly as he recalled nothing of the sort. Komei's eyes lit up and he started grinning madly even though it caused him pain with the burns on the left side of his face. "I can feel it!" Komei shouted, lifting up his hands as his felt it coursing through his entire body.

"Calm down Komei, it's not-"

"It's amazing!" Komei shouted, interrupting Kong who leaned back at Komei's shout. "I, I'm exhilarated. I'm," his whole body started shaking, twitching as he rose his arms up in front of his body. Komei looked down at his fingers and the other two leaned forward with widening eyes as they watched the blue sparks dance off of Komei's fingers. "I'm, electrified," Komei said with a gasp, though he felt the sparks flooding his body. His whole being was sparking electricity and he was energetic like he had never been before. For such a normally composed and calm man, Komei started pacing around fast while speaking at a hundred miles per hour. "Oh my, this fruit is, it's-"

"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit," Kong said.

"One of the 'invincibles!'" Komei shouted to finish his own sentence himself. He spun back to Kong with an excited look in his eyes, eyes that flashed bright blue for a second, right before Komei vanished and reappeared ten feet forward where he was about to pace over to. Komei stumbled forward after appearing there, then he held out his arms to the side to regain his balance. Sticking his arms out caused sparks to fly in either direction of him, and a bolt of lightning even dropped from his right finger down into the floor next to Kong's desk.

"Get a hold of yourself," Kong ordered.

"Um, yes sir," Komei said, turning to the Lord with a confused expression on his face. "As soon, as I figure out how to do that," he added, while sparks danced off of his body in all directions. "But sir, do you know what this means?" He asked, his excited tone returning.

"You could become like a God with that power," Kong replied with a nod of his head. "It could make the Sun Marines into a force matching that of the High Lords."

Komei saluted the man behind the desk and declared in a loud and determined voice, "I would be happy to make you into a High Lord if we could bring justice to all those inside our region!"

Kong chuckled at the new Fleet Admiral and leaned back in his seat while crossing his muscular arms again. "Good, now… get out of my office and calm down!" Kong shouted, as during Komei's excited declaration his body had carved lightning bolts across his floor, ceiling, and desk that Tashigi was now ducked down behind one side of. There were black lines all over the room, and Komei glanced around and realized what he had just done.

"Yes sir!" Komei shouted in a panicked, apologetic voice. He turned to the door, and he crashed into it a half second later after turning into lightning and flying over. He bounced off and muttered an apology before opening the door and vanishing down the hallway in a flash of lightning that shocked every Marine he flew by. Komei shot down the stairs and flew down hallways so fast, but he did not feel like slowing down at all. He only moved faster, urging his body to move at speeds that he had never imagined moving at. He shot out the building's exit and then cut straight up into the sky where he shot by the windows of Kong's office and made the two who just watched him leave spin that way and watch the bolt of lightning fly the wrong way into the clouds. Komei stopped and dropped back out of the sky in an instant, reappearing in human form down on the ground out on a grass field outside of Neo Marineford. He lifted his trembling hands and stared at them in awe at all the power he felt rushing through his body. It felt like it was about to explode, so that's exactly what he let happen. "HAAA!" Komei yelled, and a beam of blue light surrounded him and expanded dozens of meters in every direction while rising into the sky and carving a hole through the clouds. THIS IS MY POWER NOW! "HAAAA!"

---

A/N Hope you enjoyed! This chapter we get a first glimpse of Kong who has declared himself as a Lord and is in control of half of the old Fire Nation's holdings, as well as most of their army. Big flashback that I've been thinking about doing for years now (Really, years. Hell, Roger was mentioned all the way back in the first chapter of Nexus, and there's been mention of him scattered through the story by Kuzan, other pirates, Ace...) Anyway, we finally see some Garp after 2.4 million words, only for him to kick it in his first scene ;(. Also see the loss of Sengoku which means his Devil Fruit is out there somewhere, while Komei gets the Rumble Rumble fruit, which Enel lost back in the first chapters of Nexus. We hear a little more about Father who Gajeel's group from two parts ago were in the middle of fighting, as well as hear what Phoenix is up to. The Germa, mutants, Azula, Father, and the Sun Marines are all powerful forces in the old Fire Nation lands. We'll see how the power dynamic affects Aebrith in the coming arcs of Nexus Heroes Will Rise! Alright... time for... review responses:

Limit-Breaking chapter 99 . 12h ago

I have one request and i know you probably won't ever do it, But there's this fanfic that has luthor in it and it gave him a really funny nickname, can you PLEASE have a charcter call him this name just once as an insult since he is evil and all, again it all depends on you.
Here goes, the Name is (SEXY LEXY) Or just (Lexy) for short, You may be thinking WTF but i just find it so damn funny how they gave him that name it still cracks me up even now, It's a crossover of different characters from different worlds, joining different teams to get a wish granted and it has no limits.
It's really good, Anyway Please have somebody insult him by giving him this name when he reappears in the story.
Either way great chapter man, WAIT- Smirks evily_ Let me rephrase that Great Chapter Sexy Lexy. Yes this is the nickname i shall give you for now on anyway later Sexy

... Well ... um yeah, so I'm glad you liked, the chapter... Maybe, that name could come up, possibly? (Don't get your hopes up though XD) Anyway, thanks for the reviews, and the PM, it was a strange set to read when I first woke up. Haha, alright thanks everyone for reading, reviewing, etc. 'Till next time!