Sorry for the delay! I've had a busy few weeks between my grandmother going to the hospital and the "American Freedom Fight" but here we are. Thank you for your patience!

This war is heating up and the pawns start to fall! Who will survive to see the next day? Thank you for your patience and support: Alison Carrillo, Andrew Bohl, Animephilosopher1, Ankhseram123, Anna Khuu, anony, Ant Franklin, Cam Bliss, Claude Walker, Cordell Sanders, Cory Johnston, Darko129, David, Daemon Targaryen, David Bowling, David Reynolds, Emi Stafford, Eugene Malone Jr., EvilJelly, Fenrir ragnarok, Garvin Lee Nelson-Mathlin, GODA98, Immagenius, Inucbus, Javier Andres Estrada, JEP1010, Jkat, John Mekjian, Jonathan Moh, Joseph Baty, Joseph Morrison, Joseph Vargas, Joshua Groves, Karen Carrillo, Kcx1, kevin Calderon, Korakas, Lamont Hale, MAEGHT Maxime, Majin buu, Marielle Orff, Matt Walther, Matthew Burley, McBanjo, Mcgin28, Michael Enqvist, Milagros Peres Davila, Milla, Pez, Rafael Cardenas, ReactedLyric, Richard Barkley, Riley Bolerjack, Ryuu, Sasha, Shaun Guard, Siddiq Morris, TheWolfThatExist, Thomas Sanders, Tom Peissig, and ViewtifulSoul!

Chapter 72:

Troublesome Old Men

"I'm gonna kick that flamingo's ass so hard!" Luffy swore, steam practically coming out of his nose. He wasn't so much running along with the rest of the group as being dragged along by Nami and Coby, the captain waving his arms back the way they'd come as his sandals dragged over the cobblestone streets. Robin had separated from them, intent on tracking down Zoro and Brook for worry, or more likely curiosity, of where the latter's lack of direction had taken them.

"Is he always like this?" Viola questioned with a blink as the pirate captain literally growled in the general direction of the castle. Mansherry knelt on her fellow princess' shoulder, using Viola's dark hair as a sort of screen as she partially hid from the scary human.

"He's not usually this angry, but yes," Grace answered. "He kind of does this" —she gestured at Luffy— "when someone specifically threatens Nami or Ace. Between that and the War of the Best two years ago, Doflamingo's hit a few buttons."

"Clearly…" Viola shook her head. Whatever the source of Straw Hat's anger toward the tyrant king, it worked in her favor so she shouldn't complain. "Where are we headed now?"

"The docks," Coby said. "Someone's attacking Sunny, as if the stone giant wasn't obvious."

"That's Pica," the princess explained. "He possesses the power of the Stone-Stone Fruit, allowing him to absorb and control an insane amount of rock, stone, and minerals at any moment. He's one of Doflamingo's top executives."

"That explains why Doflamingo assigned taking down Sunny to him," Nami nodded. "How much of the situation can you sense, Coby?"

"Sunny, Billy, Gin, and another person are defending her against Pica and that horned kid Dellinger. Law's in one of the rooms, probably patching himself up, and Momo's on the deck."

"Gin's there? I thought he was in the Colosseum?"

"Don't look at me. I don't get it either. I'm gonna guess some shit happened."

"What about the others?"

"Amy's fighting some guy that direction." He pointed toward their left. "Merry and Kaku are being chased by someone toward the… docks, I think? I don't know about the rest. They're too far out in too dense fighting, so I think they're in the Colosseum. I doubt that competition's still on."

"You think?" Luffy blinked, glancing back with one eye, his other still trained on the castle in the distance. "I mean, I left my disguise with my brother right before I left Merry to run around causing chaos."

"Your brother‽" the assorted pirates of his crew yelled, Coby and Nami throwing him to the ground with their sudden stop. "Explain!"

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy realized. "I forgot to say anything since I was too busy fighting Mingo! Yeah, my brother Sabo's alive. Ace and I thought he died when we were little, but he's alive and with the Revolution, so he's too busy to be a pirate with us which sucks but I get it. He said he'd take my place so I could come save you all."

"And we're very glad you did," Grace offered, making sure it was said rather than implied. "I do hope someone on our side nabbed those Devil Fruits. Things will get harder if one of their guys had either of those powers."

"Hold on, back up," Coby ordered. "You said something about Merry causing chaos. As in, Going Merry? Our Going Merry? The Klabautermann we sent there to watch after Ace specifically so there would be no chaos around Ace?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure they're fine," the captain waved off. "She and Ace were getting chased by these pirate girls and that bird lady tried to grab him, but we took care of it and Merry promised to be ok."

Coby stepped away, throwing his arms in the air as if to silently ask the heavens, 'This is the man I swore to follow?' Nami continued to gape at him, but Coby knew from experience that there was only a short delay before her anger would kick in.

"Why would you leave them like that‽" she yelled, punching her rubbery husband over the head. Viola stepped back, Mansherry cowering on her shoulder. "You moron! What if they got hurt because you weren't there‽"

"I'm sure they aren't!" Luffy defended. "A lot of the others were there or on their way, so I know they're fine!" His stretchy arms flew forward, wrapping his wife in a hug that pinned her own arms to her sides so she couldn't hit him anymore. "Besides," he whispered, "I knew Ace was in good hands and that you weren't. I would never have forgiven myself if something happened to you."

"Luffy…" Nami sounded like she wanted to stay mad but was losing the battle with herself. She blinked. "Wait, Merry was supposed to be babysitting."

"Yeah?"

"But Coby just said she and Kaku were being chased toward the docks."

"Ok?"

"And Gin's at the docks."

"Uh-huh."

"And Amy's somewhere in the city fighting someone."

"That's what Coby said."

"Then if Merry, Gin, and Amy aren't watching Ace, who is?" Luffy opened his mouth only to close it again. Nami pushed out of his arms but his hands stayed on her shoulders. "Who has our baby‽"

"Well, it has to be someone on our side," Grace commented, turning the parents' attention on her. She shrugged. "If the other side got him, we'd have gotten a call about it, either from our crewmates or from Doflamingo bragging about it like he did with us."

"There, see?" Luffy nodded. "It's all good."

"Finally, I've found you, grandson of Garp!"

Luffy jumped away with Nami still in his arms, the bulk of the man who headbutted the cobblestone where the captain had been standing forcing Grace and Coby to do the same. The man was almost slow to get up, his large hands brushing dirt and dust off his green vest and out of his white beard.

"Do I know you?" Luffy questioned, slowly unwrapping his arms from around Nami, though he kept her close just in case they needed to jump away again.

"Perhaps not," the man replied, "but I know you. Your grandfather took something very precious from me a long time ago."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"You're the Drill!" Coby realized. "You're Don Chinjao of the Happo Navy!"

"Navy?" Luffy blinked. "Why's he called the Drill?"

"That's what Garp took from me!" Don Chinjao roared, his bald, Armament-covered head again cratering the ground where Luffy had been standing. "He flattened my drill-shaped head, locking away my frozen fortune! I've sworn revenge on your family to the fifth generation! I didn't manage to get your kid because of that girly boy, so the lives of you and your wife will have to do!"

"…What?" Viola questioned. Those four sentences made little sense individually, much less when compounded together. Clearly, there was a lot of context they were missing.

Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Nami, Coby, Grace, go on ahead. I'll stay here and deal with this Stupid Beard Guy."

"Be careful, Captain," Coby warned, Grace grabbing Viola and directing her to follow. "Don Chinjao is the leader of an entire naval force for a reason. Don't underestimate him."

"I'll deal with this guy quick," the young father promised. "Get going and protect Sunny."

"But—" Coby began.

"It's fine," Nami said, grabbing his shoulder. "With a pile of rocks like that to follow, he'll be fine. He's not Zoro, after all."

Coby nodded, the three pirates and two princesses hurrying away from what would become the next battlefield.

"Kiiiiing Puuuuuuunch!"

The blast of force ripped through the arena, disrupting fights indiscriminately as it rocketed through one wall and into the center, forcing marines, pirates, gladiators, and revolutionaries to dodge lest they be subject to the devastating attack. And then it reached Sabo, the man's Zoan opponent using Mookwalk to rise over the attack. The blond reacted without thinking, grabbing his preferred weapon and swinging.

"Quaking Dragon Grand Slam!"

The end of the Haki-covered pipe did not touch the attack, the air between cracking just a moment before. The psudo-impact —for no real impact could be claimed from the use of the Quake-Quake Fruit— caused this cracked air to nearly shatter before the whole thing turned 90 degrees. The laws of physics cried at the impossibility, but Devil Fruits did not care as the devastating punch was redirected toward the head of the Colosseum.

Diamante, eyes wide, threw himself to the left. His foes, two royals too old and young respectively to do anything to him and three nontraditional samurai, dodged to the right, the King Punch destroying all the evidence their battle had left on the scarred remains of the arena.

"Barrier Part!"

At last, the King Punch met something it could not break, the V-shaped barrier splitting the punch in half. The two halves, now considerably weaker but no less of a threat, crashed into the stands, throwing marines and Doflamingo grunts hither and yon as those that were not killed or knocked unconscious screamed for mercy.

"Well, you don't see that every day," Bartolomeo commented to himself, his green barrier fading. "Eh, I'm sure Mr. Luffy-sama-senpai coulda done better."

He was broken out of his musings by a tight grip on his ankle, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second before Señor Pink dragged him down, the solid stone on which he stood splashing as it was forced to take on the properties of a liquid. He flailed, one hand clamping its fingers over his nose —he did not want to accidentally breath in stone— while the other grabbed Pink's shirt. Thankfully, the rotund land-swimmer breached, dragging Bartolomeo along before anything terrible and irreversible could happen to his corporeal form.

"The hell?" Diamante muttered to himself, turning his eyes on the one responsible for the attack. The king of the Prondence Kingdom Elizabello II stood with his arm still outstretched, panting, clearly satisfied with himself. Perhaps he had sided against Doflamingo, perhaps he was just caught up in the emotions of the full-scale revolution, Diamante did not care. He left the samurai and royals to his back as he darted toward the latest offender.

Every step he took caused the battlefield to ripple, the arena itself beginning to wave like a flag in the wind. Fighters across the board lost their footing, few having the skill required to adapt in the time needed to even attempt to intercept the Donquixote officer. One such individual was Jean Ango.

"You're going nowhere," the Shishanoan said, swinging down a massive great sword. Diamante spun around his, his one sword swinging up without a second glance, nearly bisecting the bounty hunter. The man didn't have more than a moment to realize what had happened before he lost control of his body and fell, dying nearly instantly.

Diamante didn't think twice about the man, his eyes locked on the Fighting King now in battle with Doflamingo grunts. If he warmed up again, such an attack could turn the tide of any battle should it be well-placed. The flamboyantly-dressed man's rapier took on a whip-like countenance, its blade swaying almost like a noodle, as the officer swung it forward.

"Die!"

"Your Majesty!"

Diamante's eyes widened as a squat figure leapt before the attack, the waving sword impaling him through the stomach. His mustachioed lip curled back in a snarling smirk, the man dropping his two swords to grab the blade in his gut.

"Dagama!" Elizabello II gasped, his Chief Strategist glancing back at his king.

"It's been an honor to protect you," the man coughed, blood trailing down his chin. "Remember to ask… for reparations… from Dressrosa…" He curled in on the sword and fell forward, trapping the blade in place.

"Fucking loyalty," Diamante growled, abandoning his sword and grabbing another from the plethora laying around from the fallen. This new one was of far lesser quality —his was a Wazimono as opposed to this unnamed blade— but it would have to do for now.

"I'll kill you!" Elizabello II yelled, his rage causing his blood pressure to spike, his skin taking on a red tinge. An aura pulsed around him. "If any shall face this murderous tyranny, join me now! We shall purge this sickness from the country before it spreads further!"

Several of the foreign fighters answered the call, some running to the man while others seemed surprised at the power in his voice. Ideo and Blue Gilly were the first two to the king's side, the latter lashing forward with an improvised Tempest Kick, trying to copy what he'd seen that Straw Hat pirate Black Leg do. Diamante parried the flying kick, the attack leaving a chip in his new sword.

"Now is the time for us to retreat," Kin'emon recommended to the royal grandfather and granddaughter, the samurai eyeing how their opponent had been distracted. "At best, the strange assassin will perish in this new battle, but we shan't bank on chance. You honorable royals are more valuable than any warrior, us samurai included."

"I don't understand," Riku admitted as a small army of powerful fighters engaged Diamante on the other side of the Colosseum. "You are not even of this country. Why fight so hard for us?"

"Because we know what you can do," Izou answered, firing into the mass of marines blocking their path. Kanjuro all but picked up Rebecca and Riku, carrying them away while flanked by his fellow Wano natives. "We once served a man named Oden, the strongest leader one could ask for. I joined Whitebeard and was not there to see his end, but I know that, had he been given a chance, he could have led Wano into an age of prosperity and joy."

"But he was not given that chance," Kin'emon continued. "He was gunned down protecting us, saving lives far lesser than his own. We will honor his sacrifice by not letting you do the same, even if we must turn our backs on battle and pride to do it."

"Hm?" an old man questioned as the group ran by. "Where do you think you're going? GoinG! That's two Gs!"

"Oh no you don't! Card Cut!" the man's opponent growled, dropping down from above with an overhead slash while leaving a trail of playing cards in the wake of the slash, forcing Lao G to dodge backward. William D. Chapston placed himself firmly between the geezer and the retreating group. "You're not getting away from me that easily, Old Man."

"You're no spring chicken yourself, whippersnapper," Lao G replied. "SprinG! There's the G!"

"Quit yelling about Gs!" William charged, slashing his sword through the air. Lao G ducked, the blade singing through the air so close that it would have ruffled his hair if he still had any. He straightened his legs, launching forward with his arms outstretched.

"Aching Joints Wizened Python!"

"Guh!" William spat, his gasp nearly covering the sharp crack that came from Lao G. The strike knocked William off his feet, the revolutionary rolling onto his side and holding his stomach. "Fuck, that hurt."

"My back…" Lao G complained, trying to take a step toward his younger —though starting to grey— foe. He didn't even make it a full step, the man bent over so his body somewhat resembled a chair without the back legs. Acting quickly, his cupped his fingers to look like capital Gs and called, "Lower Back Pain Stance!"

"That's not a fighting stance, you old man!" William roared, recovering enough to roll back onto his feet. "Alright, no more screwing around." He reached up to one arm, a band of black and red reminiscent of a roulette spinner appearing around the skin there. He grabbed it, spinning the wheel. It stopped, sinking into his body. He blinked. "Awe come on. Really?"

"Old Piercing Sunlit Swan!"

"That doesn't even make sense, you old coot!" William leapt backward but was not quick enough to avoid the finger jab in his shoulder. He grunted as the strike hit a nerve, his sword arm going numb, but he held onto the True Eight of Spades through force of will. His other hand pulled his hat off and stuffed it into his coat. His eyes narrowed, his greying-brown hair quickly growing out past his shoulders and down his back, mimicking the abilities of the Hair-Hair Devil Fruit. Said hair split into eight 'tails' of sorts, each waving like the arms of an octopus.

"Are you mocking me?" Lao G demanded, the sunlight glinting off his bald head. "I'll—!" He stopped, freezing.

"Uh…" William blinked. "Are you dead?"

Lao G stared at him for a full 30 seconds before he seemed to come back to his senses, leaning back into a fighting stance. "What are you waiting for? WaitinG! There's the G!"

"Enough with the G!" William launched forward with Shuffle —his version of Shave, ironically— and lashed forward with his new hair, proclaiming the attack "Crazy Eights!". Lao G bobbed and wove like no man of his age had any right to, almost literally weaving the retired pirate's hairy appendages together. Unfortunately for him, he didn't count the number for himself, thus missing the eighth until it wrapped around his ankle.

Lao G's eyes widened as his leg was pulled out from under him, an arm of hair dragging him down so his back hit the floor hard. He gasped, but the sound did nothing as the hair lifted him up and swung him around, planting his face into the hard stone on William's other side. He didn't have time to breathe before the process repeated, his back and front being slammed into the ground twice more each before a final throw sent him rolling.

"Yeah!" William cheered. "How'd you like that, you oatmeal-smelling bitch‽"

"I'll need some extra cream for my joints tonight," Lao G muttered. "ToniGht! There's a silent G!"

"Dammit, Old Man!"

Lao G shot forward, planting his fist in William's stomach. The force of the hit blew the revolutionary backward, his hair trying to close quick enough to trap the man but failing to do so. Still, William redirected quickly, said hair digging trenches in the ground to slow his momentum. They stayed buried as he coated them in Armament Haki, using them to dig through the arena flooring toward the approaching pirate.

"Killing you is gonna be so satisfying," William promised.

"Hmph, you can try," Lao G replied. He jumped, spinning into a front flip as his extended leg came for the younger man. "Frozen Lakes Upset Stomachs!"

"Name your attacks normal shit!" William demanded, raising his not-numb arm and coating it in Armament Haki to catch the blow. He swung his entire body, bringing his sword around, but Lao G backflipped away. "Gotcha. All In!"

Hair broke through the ground, wrapping and tangling the oldest member of the Donquixote Familia. William stalked forward, his hair growing as he did to maintain its position underground without adjustment. He switched sword hands, bringing the True Eight of Spades forward.

"Now die, you shitty old man!"

"Baby 5!" he yelled. Something pinged in William's Observation, the man throwing himself backward as a massive sword with a face, mouth, and the legs of a woman smashed its blade into the floor where he'd been standing.

"The hell is that?"

"I won't let you hurt the people who need me!" she swore, the blade turning into a rather pretty maid. Sai landed beside William from where he'd followed the woman who had abandoned their fight in an instant, the man panting.

"What we need is for you guys to die already," the former pirate captain muttered.

"You…" Baby 5 muttered. "You need that?"

"Yeah, totally."

"Well, if you do…" Baby 5 turned her forearm into a gun, aiming the barrel at her temple.

"Ba—!" Lao G began only for a lock of hair to gag him, shutting him up.

"I love helping people more than anything," the maid sighed. "I-If it will be useful to someone, I guess dying isn't all that bad." She smiled.

"Stop!" Sai shot forward, his polearm catching the gun barrel of her arm and pushing it upward. It fired over her head, all four individuals freezing. Baby 5 stared into Sai's eyes, shocked that he would stop her. "Don't just throw your life away like that!"

"B-But…" she stuttered, tears in her eyes. "But I've only ever been a burden to everyone. If I can be useful before I die… No, if my death can be useful—"

"Shut up, you foolish woman," Sai interrupted. "If you need to live for someone, then come live for me, with me. If you become my wife, then I can give you a better life than these pirates ever would."

"Mmph‽" Lao G questioned.

"...What‽" William voiced. "The hell kind of foreplay did we miss?"

"Do you really mean that?" Baby 5's voice was barely a whisper. "Just like you meant all that other stuff?"

"…Yes," Sai decided, completely unsure what 'other stuff' he might have said while they were yelling at each other in the heat of battle. "I mean it all."

Crying, Baby 5 undid her transformation, the defecting maid throwing her arms around the 13th chieftain of the Happo Navy. Sai let her, only then seeming to remember they were not only in the middle of an active battle, but also between two foes fighting to the death.

"Sorry about that," he muttered to William and Lao G. "We'll get out of your way." He picked Baby 5 up in a bridal carry and walked away, trying to ignore the hearts in the young woman's eyes for the time being. What would his grandfather say about this considering he was already betrothed? Well, it meant one less enemy and one more ally, so he guessed it was fine. He didn't care who he would marry, anyway.

"Ok, that was weird," William commented. "Anyway, back to killing you—"

"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Lao G screamed, something like lightning starting to crackle around him. William felt the change through the hair bindings, but he didn't know what to make of it. "Haaaaaaaaa! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

"What are you doing‽"

"Battle Insurance Fist!" Lao G declared. In less than a moment, Willian felt the hair around the old man shredded. Frankly, it wasn't the only thing shredded, Lao G bulking up to become a large, muscular version of himself. His body started to flare with a green aura. "Once I'm done with you, there will be nothing left! NothinG! There's the G!"

"Ohshitno!" William squeaked, diving away from the fist that planted itself into the ground. He focused, ripping his prehensile hair out of the earth before whipping it around like a massive whip. Lao G raised his hand, the hair pushing him about a foot sideways but not taking him off his feet.

"Haha!" he laughed. "Sorry to disappoint, boy, but I won't be losing this fight! LosinG! FiGht! That's two Gs!"

"Alright, he's overcome the hair," the revolutionary muttered, the band reforming on his arm for him to spin again. "Give me something better…" He cut his extra hair off as the band stopped, flashing once before fading. He blinked. "Ok, I think I can work with this."

"Seal of G!"

William barely dodged, the old man's attack leaving a G-shaped burn in the floor. How he'd managed such a thing, William didn't care to know. He jumped, launching himself at his opponent as his leg started to spin from the knee down. "Giga Drill Stomp!"

Lao G caught the attack, William only having enough time for his eyes to widen before the man returned a favor from earlier, swinging the swordsman around the plant his face into the ground. He slammed the man back and forth, making two divots, one on either side.

"Ow…" the younger wheezed.

"Battle Insurance Fist…" Lao G began, forcing William to push through the pain and get up. He panted, spitting up a wad of bloody foam, and faced the old man. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 20-sided die, tossing it into the air. "Expiration Devil Withdrawal Immolation!"

"Giga Drill Breaker!"

The two passed each other, William with his sword extended. A clink almost echoed between them as the die landed, clattering over the stone until it landed with the 20 side up. Lao G coughed, a gash in his side opening deep enough to have nicked his stomach. He fell to his knees.

"Giga…" he echoed. "That's two… Gs…" He collapsed, blood pooling around his body.

"Looks like the house lost this bet," William said. He sheathed his sword, not looking back. "Too bad, Old Man. Your luck ran out."

Diamante spun, his borrowed sword flashing through the air as another trio of warriors tried to blindside him. He hissed, as their combined assault caught his slash, forcing the man to jump away before Elizabello cratered the ground where he'd been.

"For my king!" Tank Lepando yelled, swinging his spiked ball-and-chain down. Diamante swung his coat up before temporarily releasing his powers over it, the 'cape' turning into a rippled sheet of steel. Tank's weapon bounced off the metal, his eyes going wide as it began to flutter again under the direction of the executive's Flag-Flag Fruit. Diamante finished his turn, stabbing his sword into Tank's chest.

"What a moron," he scowled as he studied the battlefield, the now-late head of the Dressrosian army slid off the blade. Of their strongest warriors, Lao G was dead, Baby 5 in the arms of a monkey, and Machvise missing. Señor Pink was still fighting, but he'd apparently caught the ire of Black Leg, the man now working in tandem with 'The Cannibal' Bartolomeo to try to flush him out of the ground.

As Diamante watched, Buffalo fell out of the air, a man beaten and bruised beyond recognizability sitting on his back. Buffalo's hair had been cut short and one of his buck teeth was broken off, ruining the Doflamingo Pirates jolly roger that had been there. The man on Buffalo's back stood, throwing his arms in the air and screaming.

"Did you see that, Goda‽" he yelled. "Your world is my plaything! RAAAHHHHH!"

A pellet hit him in the forehead, knocking him unconscious instantly.

"Shit," Diamante hissed as he finished observing the battle. Both the royals and the samurai were gone, meaning his primary targets were no longer here. "Fine. Rolling Hills!"

He bent at the knees forcefully, the ground under him distending. He then straightened, the ground rising. He repeated this motion, the waves created growing larger and larger with each repetition, preventing his foes from getting close. Rather, the waves picked up every fighter of both sides and flung them away into the walls by the time the peak put Diamante at the same height as the top of the Corrida Colosseum. He jumped from the apex, landing on the rim, and overlooked the city.

"Where did you go?" he asked himself, ignoring the groans from the arena behind. There were still plenty of strong fighters and he'd love to kill them for Doflamingo's amusement, but he had more important targets to deal with. "Aha, there you are."

"You sure are tough for an old man," Dellinger laughed, Jinbie easily catching his rapid-fire high heel kicks with a blue webbed hand. "I guess this is the power of a Warlord on the Young Master's level! Kyahaha!"

"I'm not that old, you brat," the former Warlord replied, punching forward with enough force to leave a trench in the earth. Dellinger only laughed at the display despite how quickly the fight had drained his stamina. He was starting to lose steam and, based on the force behind every strike, it would only take one good hit to put him down if not outright kill him.

"Why won't you just die‽" Pica demanded, Gin barely avoiding the colossal, Haki-covered palm that tried to smack him out of the air.

"Dyin' comes after th' journey," Gin replied, flapping his wings before flashing downward, slamming his tonfa into the stone giant's knee. "My journey ain't over yet."

BOOM! Pica staggered, cannonballs exploding on his face, obscuring his eyesight.

"Yeah, take that!" Sunny yelled from her rigging. "Get him, Gin! Topple that giant!"

Gin flashed upward, his Tonfa raised as gravity started to exert its pressure on him. He yelled, smashing his weapons into one of the shoulders of the executive.

"Olympus' Judgement!"

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, a serious crack fracturing most of the limb from the body. Unfortunately, most was not enough, the fissure filling itself in quickly until it appeared to have never happened.

"Kyahaha!" Dellinger laughed. "You all can keep hitting him all day, you'll never take down Pica!"

Said executive scowled, extending his newly-healed limb out toward the Thousand Sunny in the dock's waters. The palm of the hand started to bulge, matter relocating to that point.

"I won't miss this time," he swore. "Boulder—"

"Tempest Kick!" a pair of voices interrupted, their figures appearing in front of Pica's face. Two Tempest Kicks lashed out, each one carving up an eye. Pica screamed, reeling, his projectile firing off wilding in the air as the other hand went to his face.

"My eyes!" he cried.

"I don't think he saw that coming, Merry," one of the figures laughed.

"Sure didn't!" the other agreed. "He got blindsided! Baaahahaha!"

"Merry!" Sunny cheered. "Kaku!"

The pair landed on the ground as Pica finished falling over, his back hitting the earth causing a localized quake. Dellinger gaped at them.

"Oh, look," Kaku commented. "'First Son of the Sea' Jinbei, the former Warlord who fought alongside Straw Hat."

"I am," Jinbei replied. "I recognize Going Merry from the posters, but who are you?"

"'Spring Wind' Kaku, government deserter and pirate tagalong. I'm traveling with the Straw Hats for a bit."

"Speaking of tagalongs, we've got one of our own," Merry spoke up. He gestured at Dellinger. "We'll take this guy and trade if that's ok with you!"

"Excuse—?"

"Cocytus!"

Jinbei raised his arms and covered his hands and arms to his elbows in Armament, catching the sword that tried to cleave his head in twain. His hands twisted, grabbing the blade and swinging forward, Momonga barely managing to get his feet under him before landing. Former Warlord and Vice-Admiral stared at each other.

"I must say," Momonga began. "I didn't expect to see you here, First Son of the Sea. I haven't heard anything of you for the last year."

"That tends to happen when one is turned into an immobile toy and unilaterally forgotten," Jinbei replied. "I'm afraid I'm not up-to-date on the current state of the world."

"Well, I'm afraid the battlefield is no place for a news briefing." Momonga shot forward, Jinbei matching his charge. Hand and sword met in a shockwave of epic proportions.

"Man, I wish I could watch that fight," Merry lamented as the ground rumbled, Pica getting up from where he'd fallen over, seemingly recovered.

"We have bigger concerns," Kaku warned. Merry turned her eyes on their half-fishman opponent only to realize he was no longer in front of them, the little bastard halfway to swimming toward the Sunny.

Both Klabautermann and former CP9 agent shot forward over the water with Moonwalk, having far more trouble catching up than they thought they would. Sunny fired cannonballs trying to sink the boy, but he outmaneuvered them all with a smirk on his face.

"Kaku!" Merry called. "Let's give him the Water Seven Surprise! Show him not to mess with the Straw Hats!"

"I still not a—!" Kaku tried to respond but Merry had already dove into the water. Unlike Dellinger, for whom the ocean was only half of his ancestry, Merry was a Klabautermann and was borne of the sea. She used her mini cannonballs to propel herself downward, getting below the arrogant half-fishman. She smirked.

'Water Seven Surprise!' she thought, launching seven mini cannonballs upward. Dellinger was too distracted watching Kaku and Sunny for him to notice the small attacks from below, so they caught him easily, blasting him upward out of the water.

"Water Seven Surprise!" Kaku yelled aloud for Merry's sake, kicking the boy seven times at once through an application of Shave and Moonwalk. Dellinger coughed at the force hit him all at once, rocketing him back toward the shoreline. The airborne brat nearly took out Momonga, but the Vice-Admiral didn't blink even as he stuck his hand out, practically parrying the postpubescent projectile. Across from him, Jinbei didn't blink.

"For what reason are you here, Jinbei?" the marine questioned, sporting a new black eye. It had not come cheap, however, Jinbei now with a couple lacerations on his arms.

"I had been investigating rumors of Doflamingo's corruption," the fishman answered. "I figured I could at least give Luffy some forewarning before he arrived, but I got caught and turned into a toy for the longest time. Now here we are."

"I see." Momonga narrowed his eyes. "The Marines trusted you to help maintain order and you betrayed them two years ago. For that crime and others, I am now placing you under arrest."

"You can try," Jinbei smirked. The two shot forward, Haki sparking as sword ground against palm. In the backdrop, Gin and Billy flapped around Pica's head, the man swinging at them as if they were buzzing flies. Frankly, this was an embarrassing moment for him, but they were too dangerous for him to just ignore.

"I love this crew," Merry and Sunny sighed at the same time, they and Kaku standing on the deck watching the battle.

"When will it stop?" Momonosuke questioned, barely peering over the railing and still in his dragon transformation. "Are Ki— Father and the others ok?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Merry waved.

"Yup, all healthy!" Sunny reported, her Crew Sense more finely honed and with a wider range than the older Klabautermann's due to her size and specs. "We're ripping through Mingo's crew."

"I am glad to hear that." The four on deck turned to find Law, the man stepping out of Chopper's medical office. He'd amputated his stump of a leg with his Devil Fruit powers and replaced it with what appeared to be the leg from one of the tables. Given its newness, he heavily favored his remaining flesh-and-blood leg, the man limping to the railing. "How many of the executives are down already?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sunny shrugged, Law's poleaxed expression making Merry burst into a fit of giggles. "I can only sense my own crew. I don't have that much experience with Observation."

"I should have known," the Supernova doctor muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. With a sigh, he reached into his coat and pulled out a Vivre card before ripping it in half, giving half to Sunny. "That's a Vivre Card for Bepo, my navigator. Should anything happen, you can get to him. We can all reconvene there."

"Sure," the younger ship spirit nodded, tucking away the paper. At the same time, Nami, Coby, Grace, and the two princesses arrived at the docks, the roset of the group moving to defend Jinbei against Momonga.

"Cash Up!" the marine yelled, swinging his sword upward from below.

"Tower Climb Return!" Coby's blades clashed with Momonga's, the human's eyes meeting the Zoan's as they entered a contest of strength. Momonga's was greater at base level, but Coby had the overhand advantage, his Zoan transformation, and two swords, leaving them at a standstill.

"Tri-Horn," the man greeted. "We meet again."

"Good to see you've healed up nicely," Coby replied, Momonga's Observation finding no dishonesty nor sarcasm in his words.

"You are genuine?"

"You might be our enemy, but you seem to be one of the good ones," Coby answered, causing the marine's eyebrows to rise. The pair pushed against each other, separating. Coby slid backwards from Momonga's sheer strength, ending up beside Jinbei with Grace on the fishman's other side closest to the water. He glanced to the side. "I don't think we got to meet properly last time. 'Tri-Horn' Coby at your service."

"And we've never met," the young woman added. "'Magpie of Color' Grace."

"Jinbei," the former Warlord nodded. "You're looking better than the last time I saw you, Tri-Horn."

"Nami's not going to be happy with you," Grace commented. The fishman's eyebrows rose, the man chancing a glance had his new companions. Coby must have sensed his confusion despite not taking his eyes off their Marine opponent.

"She hasn't put together the dots yet," the roset said, "but weren't you the one who let Arlong out in return for taking the Warlord position? He killed her mom and made her life hell for nearly a decade. Not your best moment."

"I will have to apologize when all this is over," Jinbei grunted. "Suffice it to say, I didn't know what Arlong was up to or I would have put a stop to it immediately. This situation is too complicated for personal reconciliation at the moment."

"Tell that to Don Chinjao," Coby muttered.

B-B-B-BOOM!

Another volley of cannonfire echoed over the bay, but these did not land ashore nor on Pica. Rather, these kicked up the water on Sunny's other side. Those aboard her deck turned to the other side where a ship painted blue and white had appeared at the mouth of the bay, G-14 stamped upon its sails.

"Wha— More marines?" Merry demanded. "Shit!"

"They won't sink me," Sunny promised. "They're super annoying, though."

"G-14," Kaku mused. "That's under the command of Vice-Admiral Doll."

"Ok, a Vice-Admiral may be—" Merry's words were interrupted by a gasp from Sunny, flowers of all kinds bursting from both her cannon gally and from under her white raincoat as her manifestation mimicked her ship. She didn't know how, but the marines had just made flowers grow from her gunpowder stores, rendering all of them to the last ounce useless.

"Straw Hat vessel Thousand Sunny!" a woman called from the marine ship. "You and your crew are under arrest! Surrender now and come peacefully!"

"As if," Sunny scoffed, raising her voice with a sound system she'd asked Franky to install. "You can go suck a Sea King, marine!"

"Wrong answer, Klabautermann!"

Unfortunately, the marines' arrival was the trigger Doflamingo had been waiting for. All at once, strings fell from the sky, cutting off Dressrosa proper from the rest of the world. These strings landed between Sunny and the docks, locking her and all the pirates (and Momonosuke) aboard out of the war on the island. Even if her gunpowder stores were still functional, Sunny doubted any cannonballs would make it through the sudden barricade or else it would have been pointless.

"Shit, that's the Birdcage," Law realized, all but confirming Sunny's suspicions. "Klabautermann-ya, flee! We will follow you when this war is over."

"Law—!" Merry started. The Supernova extended his hand, creating as big a Room as he could before gesturing with his hand. All at once, he was no longer on deck, replaced with the rainbow-haired artist of the Straw Hats.

"The hell?" Grace blinked.

"That bastard took our Devil Fruit from Mrs. Nami's safe!" Sunny gasped, only for another warning volley to remind her of the marines to her stern.

"I don't think we're getting through that wall," Kaku offered, setting aside the thievery for the time being since there was nothing they could do at the moment. "Best to beat a hasty retreat and fight another day. We can rendezvous with the others later."

"But the Fruit—"

"More important matters!" Merry interrupted, her mini cannonballs intercepting what seemed to be steel rods rather than cannonballs. It seemed some marines had wised up to how to fight Klabautermanns using non-standard projectiles they could not take control of. "Sunny, get us out of here! Grace, call the others and let them know what's going on. We're gonna follow a Vivre Card to Law's navigator. Kaku, help me with these marines."

"I'm savvy to that," the square-nosed blond nodded, firing a Tempest Kick that split a steel rod down the middle, reducing its momentum to the point where it splashed into the water short of the Sunny. Said ship's Klabautermann faded, the spirit taking control of her own ship to pull around.

"Sunny, give us ramming speed! If they won't let us out, we'll make them!"

"I don't like this!" Grace yelled from the other side, "You're being Luffy levels of reckless!"

"No choice! Full speed ahead!"

"Trafalgar Law," Momonga said, his immaculate mustache twitching as he fought off a scowl. He noted that the pirate doctor had lost and replaced a leg since the Warlord meeting the month before. "That makes two backstabbing former Warlords aligned with the Straw Hats. I fear the start of a pattern."

"Captain Luffy has that effect on people," Coby muttered.

"My one and only goal for the last several years has been Doflamingo's downfall," Law admitted. "Taking the Warlord position was just another step toward that."

"Very well, but why?" Momonga pressed. "Is this a prestige thing for you pirates? Attempting to add the downfall of a Warlord to your track records? That's all you pirates care about."

"Actually—"

"WHAT‽" Nami roared from above. "LAW, YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU GIVE THAT DEVIL FRUIT BACK RIGHT NOW!"

Law practically deflated, but the battle was not over yet.

End of Chapter 72

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods