Revival

by Primeloony

Seven Years. Seven Years since the war that changed the world. Seven Years since he was declared dead. Then, a man is recovered from the sea in a fishing net with his memories gone. Just who could this man be? Future fic [Eventual Lunami]

11. The Assassination

Chapter 11: The Assassination

"Hm? I wonder what's going on?" Sanji asked as they arrived at the docks and noticed a bit of commotion happening by the inhabitants. Robin joined next to him and noticed it as well.

"Well, we know how excited Luffy can get." She smiled and then approached a green fishmen. "Excuse me, do you know what's going on?"

The green fishmen turned to her and smiled. "Oh, another suitor for the princess arrived. Everyone is excited about seeing the next possible King after King Neptune allowed interracial marriage. Having another race be the new King can help do wonders for us in creating good relationships with other races around the world."

"I see. Thank you." He gave her a nod and she walked back to Sanji. "It seems Shirahoshi-chan hasn't chosen someone yet." Robin said as Sanji took a drag.

"Must be tough for her." He responded.

"Well, maybe we can help her take her mind off of it. Plus, she'll be very happy to see him again, hehehehe~" Robin chuckled.

"yeah...tho...I'm surprised we haven't heard any commotion yet that involve our Captain." Robin agreed that it was strange. Normally, Luffy would already do something loud and boisterous, allowing them to locate him quickly, but they haven't heard anything.

"That means Luffy-san is probably taking what I asked of him seriously." Koby spoke as he joined them with Hibari.

"I'm honestly shocked, especially with the way he is." Hibari commented. She may not have known him long, but she can tell he was someone who would cause trouble if no one was there to hold him back.

"Hmm, doesn't really sound like Luffy...then again...he does feel somewhat different..." Sanji commented.

"You noticed too? Sure is strange for Luffy, that's for sure. Yet, it's not so bad. Maybe he did mature a bit." Robin added fondly.

"I don't know how to feel about that, but then again, who am I to complain when he's back, right?" Sanji added his own smile and Robin nodded in agreement.

"Well, we can probably guess where Luffy headed to. If there is a large crowd, that would probably get his attention." Robin concluded and Sanji nodded in agreement.

"Either that or he found Hachi and Caimie-chan's Takodachi restaurant." He suggested as well.

"Possibly, we should definitely stop by to their restaurant before we leave. I'm sure they'll be happy to see Luffy as well." Robin fondly recalled the octopus fishmen and the green haired mermaid.

"If I remember, I think their restaurant is in the under city." Sanji recalled. "Whenever we stop by to restock here, I remember that's where they had their restaurant."

"I see, well since both of our destinations are in the under city, we might as well start heading there. Hopefully we run into Luffy before we get to the elevator." Robin chuckled.

"I have business to do with the Marine base here in the upper city so me and Hibari would-"

"Admiral!" All four of them turned to see a marine soldier running toward them frantically. This made them raise their eyebrows curiously. "Thank goodness you are here!"

"Hm? Calm down, Marine. What's the matter?" He asked as the marine grunt took deep breaths to calm down his racing heart.

"Sorry, sir!" He saluted him. "But we need your immediate help! We have gotten reports from our intelligent teams and confidants about a threat being planned by members of Crux." Koby narrowed his eyes as he went to alert mode.

"Crux? Isn't that the organization that has been causing issues all over the place?" Sanji asked Robin.

"Ee.". She furrowed her eyebrows as she remembered her own encounter with a member of Crux. "I had an encounter with one just recently until Luffy saved me from one of them."

Sanji's felt anger boil up at the thought of someone trying to hurt Robin. "I see...I never met someone from Crux, but I heard stories from customers..."

"They're remnants of the old regime who despise the good changes in the world done after the war. They want to return to the old world where they ruled above others. They seem mostly target those who were heavily involved in changing the world, like myself." Robin informed her fellow crew mate

"Tch, shitty bastards." Sanji felt annoyed. "They don't know when to give up, do they."

"I see." Koby said as he finished hearing what the Marine had to say. "I'll start heading to the Palace. We have to be careful with how we handle this. We can't ignore this threat with an organization like Crux. We will start heading to the palace. Head back to the base and inform HQ of the situation. Let them know I'm here and I'll take charge in preventing this."

"Yes, sir!" The Grunt saluted and stormed off to do what he was ordered to do.

"Hibari. Can you inform Tashigi-san to begin blocking off all the exits from the island. Have her inform all the ships nearby to start heading here. We can not let any of them leave this island. We will stop what they're planning and make sure none of them get off this island!"

"Yes, sir!" She saluted as well and headed back to their ship to contact Tashigi through the Den Den Mushi.

Koby then turned to the straw hats. "I'm sorry about this."

"Don't be." Robin told him with a smile as Sanji nodded.

"Thank you. Let's start heading to the elevator as quickly as possible." He told them.

"I'll go on ahead, I'm faster so I should be able to reach there quickly and try to stop anything from happening if it does." Koby nodded in agreement as that was their best option at the moment. With a nod from Sanji, he stormed as quickly as he could towards the elevator.

"Shall we?" Koby asked Robin and she nodded. The two ran after him, hoping to get there as soon as they could.

~OP~

"I hear this Princess of the Mermaids is breathtaking. However, not as breathtaking as me I Know. I will win her over with my beauty and we will unite our two races." The Prince praised himself as he, his guards, Jinbe and The Royal Guards of Fishmen Island were together inside the large elevator.

"R-Right..." Jinbe muttered. He didn't like him. He could tell how snobby he was, but he also knew how important he was right now. Jinbe stood tall with his large figure, but age was slowly catching up to him as part of his black hair was now fading into white. More wrinkles appeared on his face, but not enough to make him appear like an old man. He wore his traditional robe and sandals as he looked over to one of the Royal Guards and nodded his head.

The fishmen guard nodded back and slammed his spear onto a spot on the floor that activated as a switch. The floor lit up to the ceiling and the elevator activated as it began to head down. The prince stumbled a bit at the sudden movement but regained his composure in time for him to see the underwater city of New Fishmen Island.

"Ooooooohhhhhhh..." He mouthed as he saw a magnificent site of the city. Many fishmen and mermaids swam around the city and some even waved at them from behind the window. The city was marvelous, glowing with the lights coming from under water plants. The largest building was the palace. It resembled the same design as the former palace, but much grander scale and glowing with a gold light. "WHAT A MAGNIFICIENT CITY!"

Jinbe chuckled. "Thank you."

The elevator ride came to a stop on the bottom floor. The doors opened and revealed a long tube like pathway that showcased the wonders of the seas. The Prince gaped in awe at the sight. It was an incredible sight to see. Jinbe walked forward and turned to the Prince and the others in the elevator. He raised his hand to motion them forward. "This way, please. It's a bit of a walk, but the castle is this way."

The Prince made a annoying groan, but started to move and walked past Jinbe, who stared at him in slight annoyance. He really didn't like him. However, he had his duties, but he also knew the Princess. She definitely was not going to pick him, so hopefully it doesn't take too long. He then followed right behind them as they made their way down the tube path.

At one point, they reach a hub where many stalls and people were gathered. It was a large market like area that had different paths to several different areas of the underwater city of Fishmen Island. The Guards cleared a path for the group to go towards the direction of the castle.

"Human and fishmen, huh...sounds gross..." The last part was said under the Prince's breath, which went unnoticed by everyone, except for Jinbe. He did not say anything back, but the uneasy feeling and dislike for the man grew. He would have to speak with the King about this, after Shirahoshi refuses to marry him.

They eventually got to the entrance to the castle and were greeted by the eldest son of King Neptune. The Prince looked up in complete shock at the height of Fukaboshi.

The eldest child of Neptune, the King of the Fishmen, towered over the young prince. He wore his old garb, but different colors that he wore seven years ago. His garment that he wore around his waist and fin was a dark red color that was held up by a light red sash. His long wavy blue hair flowed down his muscular and wide back as his face donned a blue beard that was almost similar to his fathers, but not quite as large. In his hand, a golden trident, similar to the one he had seven years ago.

Beside him was a mermaid who was a lot smaller than he was, but she had flowing green hair and a green fin. She wore a dress that ended by her belly button, giving her a mid drift. She even also had a pearl necklace around her neck and some small make up that made her blue eyes look even more gorgeous.

Jinbe approached the eldest Prince and bowed his head. "Fukaboshi-sama, I have returned. I have brought a new candidate for Shirahoshi-sama to wed, in hopes to unite humans and our people even more."

Fukaboshi smiled at his friend. "Jinbe, there's no need to be so formal, we've know each other for so long." He chuckled. "Thank you for your service." he then looked down at the Prince of Jokela Kingdom. He observed him and the shocked state he was in and figured it had to do with how big he was compared to him. However, he also felt something off about him, but disregarded it.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Jokic of the Jokela Kingdom. Allow me to be the first to introduce you to our wonderful palace. I am Prince Fukaboshi, the next heir to the throne of Fishmen Island." He bowed his head. "This here..." He pointed his hand to the mermaid beside him. "...is my fiancee, Lady Andrina."

Andrina bowed her head in respect. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Jokic. Welcome to our wonderful home." She replied with gentleness and grace.

Jokic straightened himself up and cleared his throat, acknowledging the both of them. 'Just act cool, they are not suspicious of what you're planning, so just act natural. Once everything goes according to plan, these disgusting urchins will be killed by those assassins.' He then gave them a smile, one that Jinbe, Fukaboshi and Andrina found to be...odd. "I-It is a pleasure to meet both of you. I can't wait to meet the Princess and get to know her."

"R-Right." Fukaboshi suddenly felt something off about this man, but he also knew he had to maintain his decorum. He turned his body to the side and motioned for the group to follow him. "This way, please. My father and sister are waiting."

Jinbe nodded and the group began following Fukaboshi down to the entrance of the palace and entered. When they got inside, guards were set up by every door in the palace. As this was an important occasion, security was beefed up. They made their way through the palace. They arrived soon in front of a large door that was even large than Fukoboshi himself.

The Guards in front of the door looked up the prince and once he gave then the nod, they began opening the door. As it slowly opened, the group was slowly given a look inside. It was a large hall with a long red and yellow rug that led to the other end of it. Surrounding the large room, was coral structured pillars that had shell like seats at the top. There were 6 in total. In the very center was the largest seat of them all. Sitting on it was none other than the King of the Fishmen himself. King Neptune.

Neptune was older as his beard and hair was slowly fading from orange to white. His body was still fairly large, but not as muscular as it once was. It was clear as day that he was now older. He had more wrinkles around his face and parts of his skin was slightly drooping as well. He looked up to see the group at the door and smiled at his son. "Ahhh...Fukoboshi..." He said softly.

"We have arrived, Father." Fukoboshi smiled at his father. While King Neptune was getting older, Fukoboshi was learning the reigns of being a King from his father and doing some of the active duties he was not able to. It was the slow transition that Fukaboshi was going through as his father was nearing the end of his reign.

Jokic was in awe at the sight of the King of the Fishmen. He was huge, much bigger than the prince. The group made their way down the light blue coral floor towards the King. They stopped in front of the King as they stepped on the round area of the floor that was in the center surrounded by the six seats. Fukaboshi and Andrina took their seats to the left of the King as Jinbe took a couple steps forward to speak first to the King.

"Neptune-sama, I have returned." He declared with a small bow.

"It is good to see you have returned safely, Jinbe-san. Thank you for your service." Neptune did a small bow to show the Knight of the Sea the respect he felt he deserved.

"Thank you for your kind words, Neptune-sama." He replied with a smile. He then turned to his side and pointed a hand to the Prince of Jokela Kingdom. "Allow me the honor to introduce to you the Prince of Jokela Kingdom, as well as a candidate for Shirahoshi-sama's hand in marriage, Prince Jokic-sama."

Jokic straightened up a bit from the nervousness and took a few steps forward. "It is an honor to meet someone as esteemed as you, King Neptune." He told the older fishman.

"Please, the honor is all mine. My daughter has been through many candidates for her hand in marriage, but I do hope both of you can get along." He told the young prince. "Especially with the important significance this marriage can present to both of our races."

"O-Of course. I-I couldn't agree more..." Jokic smiled with the end of his lip twitching slightly. 'Like hell I would want to marry disgusting species like yours...'

Jinbe and Fukoboshi eyed the Prince with caution. There definitely was something up with him that they did not like, so they were prepared for the worst case scenario.

"I am glad to hear that." Neptune chuckled with a smile. "Then, let us now wait any longer." He turned to one of the guards. "Please tell my son that it is time for Shirahoshi to meet Prince Jokic-sama." The Guard saluted and went to relay the message to the missing members of the Royal Family. Neptune turned back to the Prince. "I can not wait for you to meet her, she is my pride and joy."

"Y-Yeah...can't wait to meet her too." Jokic nodded his head to appear normal. 'It's almost time...'

~OP~

Luffy opened a door and found nothing he cared about inside so he closed it. He continued to do so with each passing door he went by, in hopes Shirahoshi was in one of them. However, he didn't realize how much smaller the rooms were which would not have fit the large Princess in, however, he did put the two together.

Nope, not here too." Luffy knew he had to hurry and find Shirahoshi. If what he heard was correct, some people were going to kill her and he had to stop it. He just was really lost.

He stopped to try and think of a way to get to where he needed to go, but felt his head hurt when he tried thinking too much and scratched his head in annoyance. "Damn it...I should have followed Jinbe..." He didn't know what his next move was, but he knew continuing to do this was going to get him nowhere.

Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something delicious. He drooled at the smell and felt his stomach grumble. He was really hungry. He shook his head, knowing he couldn't think of food at the moment. He needed to get to wherever Shirahoshi was.

However, Luffy being Luffy, couldn't hold back and followed the scent, in hopes to find whatever food smelled so good. He opened the door the scent was coming from and found a room filled with boxes of food. He grinned widely as drool flowed down the side of his mouth. He saw a stick of meat sticking out from one of the boxes and quickly stretched his arm out get closer and went inside the large box to start devouring the food inside.

"Swo...gwoood..." He commented as he munched. As he focused on his food, two guards appeared at the door and looked at each other.

"Did you leave the door open?" One of them asked the other.

"No..." They stayed before shrugging their shoulders.

"Well, whatever, we need to hurry and bring some of this food down to the Grand Hall. The Princess should be meeting that weird prince soon so they should be getting closer to having dinner." The other guard nodded and went inside the room to grab the large cart that had boxes on it. It was the same box Luffy was currently devouring the food as neither him or the guards noticed the other.

The guards pulled the cart put of the room and made their way down the hall. One of the guards turned to the other. "We taking this down the main elevator?"

"Nah, that'll take too long. Let's take the freight elevator. It'll take us closer to the hall and then well just send each of the boxes down the dumbwaiter to the kitchen." He responded as the other nodded. Luffy continued to happily eat oblivious to where he was going.

~OP~

Sanji arrived at the Grand Elevator and saw the large group of people gather around it. He continuously kicked his feet in the air as he looked from a high vantage point.

"Tch...so many lovely ladies, but no suspicious looking people." Sanji commented while using his observation haki to scan the surrounding area. He saw no one who would rouse his suspicion. There were a lot of people gathered at the entrance to the elevator.

When he saw Koby and Robin pushing through the crowd to get to the elevator, he landed down into the crowd, causing some of them to jumped away from his arrival.

"What the...?"

"Who is that?"

"Did he come from the sky?"

Sanji didn't respond to any of their questions as he had created a small space for Koby and Robin to get to.

"Thank you, Sanji-san." Koby thanked the cook. "There really is a lot of people here now."

"Yeah, though no one seemed suspicious to me. Probably means they already headed down." Koby nodded in agreement.

"How do they plan on doing the assassination?" Robin asked, wondering.

"It's uncertain and we don't have much more intel, so the only thing we can do is head down ourselves." Koby replied.

"If we can get to it..." Sanji muttered looking at the crowd forming again around them.

"Well, I didn't want to do this, but we may not have enough time." Koby reached inside his pocket and pulled out a Den Den Mushi. Sanji and Robin watched as he contacted someone and after a brief conversation with the person on the other end, a loud siren erupted around the city.

"What the?"

"What's going on?"

"Is this some kind of emergency?"

"Mommy?"

Koby cleared his throat. "Everyone! I am Admiral Koby. I want everyone to stay calm! Please evacuate the area in a calm manner. Everything will be fine, but you must evacuate the area!"

The crowd began murmuring, but followed the Admirals order and slowly began to leave and evacuate the area.

"Wouldn't the alarm alert the assassins?" Sanji asked.

"I only asked for the alarm to go off in this area and close by. I can only hope it doesn't ruin our chances to stop the attempt." Koby admitted.

"Regardless, we now have a path. Let us head down." Robin told the two.

"I'll stay here for now. I want to make sure everyone here is safe. Once I have this area secure, I'll meet you guys down there." Koby told them as the two nodded.

Sanji and Robin entered the elevator and with the help from one of the Fishman Guards, descended down to Under City.

"How do you think they plan on doing it?" Robin asked Sanji.

"I don't know. Security should be tight around the palace, but it's still concerning." Sanji answered. "Regardless of how, we won't let them hurt Shirahoshi-chan." Sanji added.

"~Hehehehe, yes." As the elevator descended down, they caught a view of the Under City and all its glory. It was a majestic sight, but the two couldn't take in the sight at the moment. There were more pressing matters to deal with. When they arrived at the bottom floor, they rushed as quick as they could towards the Palace.

~OP~

"It is my pleasure to welcome to the Throne Room, Princess Shirahoshi!" An attendant declared as all the individuals in the throne room became silent as a large door opened just behind the Throne to Neptune's Right. Everyone looked and were stunned at the sight of the Princess of the Fishmen.

Shirahoshi was led into the room by a well fashioned cart. Her long flowing pink haired flowed down her back and her short dress, with frills around the V-Neck adorned her body. Her reddish and pink mermaid tail was sparkling from being washed and cleaned with special moisturizer. Her makeup emphasized her beauty as her face matured. She had a ribbon tied in her hair and more accessories on her wrists and fingers.

Everyone was completely stunned by her appearance. Her lips shined with the pink lipstick she had on and her cheeks had a rosy tint. This was not her first go round with meeting a potential marriage candidate, but she was still nervous. She had no idea what to expect, but she knew her family, her father counted on her. She was very picky about who her type of person was, but she was aware that there were not many options left for her. She knew the importance of creating a union between her people and humans. She did not want to marry anyone without getting to know them first, but it became difficult, especially with her social awkwardness.

She may have been an Ancient Weapon, she might have used her powers to help people during the Great War, but it didn't really help in her social awkwardness. Making it harder to meet someone special. She hoped these meetings would help with that, but it wasn't working as she hoped.

She eventually arrived at her Throne. However, before she took her seat, she bowed her head in front of her father. "Good afternoon, Otou-sama. Onii-sama. Adrina-Oneesan! Are you doing well?"

Neptune smiled warmly at his daughter. "I'm doing well. Thank you. You look beautiful as always." Shirahoshi smiled at her father's compliment. "Now then, have a seat and we can begin." The Mermaid Princess frowned softly, but nodded and took her seat next to her father. "Now then, let us begin. Allow me to introduce to you my daughter, Princess Shirahoshi." Neptune introduced her to the Prince of Jokela Kingdom.

Shirahoshi looked down and forced her best smile at him. "It is an honor to meet you." She politely bowed her head.

Prince Jokic stared up at the young princess in awe. She was as beautiful as he was told, but what worried him more was what in the world was he getting himself into. He knew all he needed to do was keep them distracted for the Assassins to begin their plan. If he did that, they would accomplish their goal and they no one would be none the wiser that he had any involvement in it.

He disliked Fishman, maybe not to the extent of some of his cohorts, but he hated them for his own personal reason. He thought of them as lower than him. So when he was presented with the opportunity to take down the top of the Fishman food chain, he decided to do so.

He overhead Jinbe clear his throat to grab his attention and Jokic snapped out of his thoughts and cleared his voice. "My, what a beautiful specimen you are. It is an honor to finally meet the Mermaid Princess. I am Prince Jokic of the Jokela Kingdom." Mostly everyone in the room, aside from Shirahoshi cringed at the way he spoke and moved his body around theatrically.

"Oh...ummm...thank you." Shirahoshi responded. "You look...handsome as well."

Jokic gleamed with pride. "Why thank you, I know I do." He chuckled to himself.

'Oh no...another type like his...' Neptune sighed. He knew this was not going to end well and will end with Shirahoshi rejecting him. If there was one thing he knew his daughter disliked in how a person acted, it was exactly that.

Shirahoshi's smiled faltered a bit at the response. She wasn't a fan of that personality type and has rejected so many suitors already who acted in the same way. However, she also knew that they were running out of options. She knew her mother's dream was so close to become more than just that. So, she shook off her discomfort in regards to the Prince and giggled softly. "Y-Yes...umm...it is nice to meet you, Prince Jokic-sama."

"Likewise." He then straightened out and cleared his throat. "My dear Princess Shirahoshi. I know you must have been through many different suitors, hoping to join both our races together and create an everlasting union between us, as well as all other races in the world. It would be my honor to be part of that." The sudden change in tone surprised everyone. It gave Neptune some hope that this might finally be the one they were hoping for. He peeked over at his daughter, but he saw that his sudden change didn't really affect her much. This of course worried him.

"I see. That makes me...happy to hear. I too wish for nothing but peace between our people. I'm glad you see it that way as well." Jokic faked his smile, while internally praised himself for his acting.

"Of course! I wish for nothing but that." He proclaimed proudly.

The duo continued to exchange conversation with one another, Jokic distracting the Princess and the rest of the throne room as planned. Outside of the throne room, several guards were guarding the entrance. Suddenly, one of the guards collapsed, causing the others to look over.

"W-What the? Oi, what's wrong?" The guard closest to the one that collapsed called out to him. However, he too collapsed as well. One by one, the guards collapsed.

"W-What's going on? Why is e-every..." A guard questioned before he too collapsed.

"What the? Oi!" The remaining guards looked around to find some sort of enemy, but there was no one in the hall aside from them. "What's going on?"

One of the guards sniffed the air and noticed there was some strange scent around them. "Hey...do you smell tha-" Before he could finish, he too collapsed.

"Hey!" The guard next to him called out. "Smell? What smell?" He took a sniff and noticed the smell as well. He quickly covered his nose. "There's something in the air, cover your noses!" He told the remaining 5 guards.

They did as he asked and used their forearms to cover their noses. "W-What is this? What's going on?" Another asked.

"I don't know. Could be a sleeping gas...or something..." The guard to his right answered.

"Indeed it is." A voice behind the last remaining guards spoke. They all turned around to face the intruder, but saw nothing but 3 brown cloaks speed past them. The guards suddenly felt excruciating pain and collapsed all at once as the three robed individuals knocked them out physically.

The three robed individuals turned to each other and nodded. "The gas worked as advertised...as expected from Caesar's lab." The middle guard spoke, revealing an empty vial.

"That clown's experiments have been important for our cause. We will make sure the World returns to its former glory." The one on the right added.

"Yes, and in just a matter of moments...we will accomplish the greatest feat our organization has done to date. The death of the Ancient Weapon." The middle agreed as the one on the left stayed silent, but nodded along with the other.

"Let's begin." The leader of the group, the middle one, nodded to the other two and the three individuals began planting devices on the walls and on the door that led straight to the throne room. Once they planted all their devices, they met up at the door. "Now then...we wait for the signal."

On the other side of the throne room, two more individuals enacted the same attack as the other three. The hall where Shirahoshi came from was now cleared out of the guards stationed there. The two met at the entrance to the throne room from their side and planted two more devices on the doors. The devices were square shaped with paper wrapped around it. A couple of wires were sticking out from two holes on one side of the device and into two others on the top of the device.

"Bombs are set." One of the two cloaked in a brown hooded cloak confirmed as he spoke to a den den mushi.

"Good...send the signal..." The Den Den Mushi spoke with the voice coming out of it the same one as the leader of the other group.

"Understood." The robed individual turned to the other and nodded. "Do it."

"Right." The other robed individual took out a radio device. They pressed the button on the side and a sound wave of sorts emitted from the radio device.

Inside the throne room, Jinbe perked up when he heard a small sound. "What is that?" He asked out loud as everyone paused their own conversation to look over at him.

Prince Jokic turned his head slightly and smirked. 'It's time...stay cool, stay cool...'

Suddenly, one of the Guards of the Jokela Kingdom groaned in pain. Everyone looked over as the guard place his hands on his head. He looked in pain as the radio waves emitting from the radio device increased in speed. "Arggghhhhh!" He suddenly screamed in pain. "Stop it! The noise! Stop it!" He shouted.

"Huh? W-What's going on?" Neptune asked. Shirahoshi looked on with worry over the guard. Jinbe quickly knew something was wrong and went over to the Royal Family to protect them in case of anything.

"Oi, what's wrong? Do you need any help?" Fukoboshi asked, approaching the guard.

"What can we do to help?" Andrina asked, right behind her fiancee.

"The noise...the noise...make it stop...arrghhhh!" The guard thrashed around now. "Make it stop!" He screamed loudly.

"Noise? What noise?" Fukoboshi asked. Jinbe perked up at the mention of a noise and realized what he was talking about. That noise he's been hearing, he guessed that was what he was referring to. He then spotted something within the guards armor and his eyes widened when there was some sort of soft light was emitting from it.

"Prince Fukoboshi, Lady Adrina! Get away!" Both turned to Jinbe and when the light began to shine brighter, they turned to see the guard covered in it. Fukoboshi instinctively turned around and grabbed his fiancee jumping away from the guard as he exploded. Everyone screamed as the explosion caused the room to shake.

"Kyaaahhh!" Shirahoshi screamed as she covered her eyes. Neptune did so as well as the gust of wind that came from the explosion irritated his eyes. Then more explosions occurred. One went off behind the King and Shirahoshi, while the other at the entrance to the throne room. Jokic was not expecting the blasts to be so large and was launched to the side of the room, bouncing and landing on his face away. All the devices were set off as the whole room was smoke filled from the aftermath from the explosions. Shirahoshi coughed and placed a hand to her mouth to prevent any of the smoke from entering her lungs. She looked over to her father and her eyes widened as he was on the ground.

"Otou-sama!" She tried to get to him, but all of a sudden, a gun was fired and the next thing she knew, chains began wrapping around her and tightening to keep her in place.

Jinbe, who was also trying to prevent smoke from entering his lungs, had a hard time seeing what was happening. However, he did hear Shirahoshi screaming and turned himself in the direction of her voice. "Shirahoshi!" He called out to her.

"Fukuboshi!? Fukoboshi!" He turned in the other direction and saw Lady Adrina calling out her fiancee's name as he laid next to her, a large burn mark on his back from the first explosion.

"Prince Fukoboshi!" Jinbe gritted his teeth as the entire room was in chaos. The smoke was slowly dispersing through the holes they created, making the room a little bit clearer. When his view of the room was getting clearer, his eyes widened in horror at what he was witnessing. Fukoboshi and Neptune were both on the ground. Concern over their well being flooded through his body. When he turned to look back at Shirahoshi, his eyes widened farther when he saw two large chains wrapped around her.

"Hnnnggg...Otou-sama..." Shirahoshi cried out, her concern for father her utmost concern.

"Shirahoshi!" Jinbe called out to her. "What's going on? Who's behind this!?" He asked as he looked around.

"Knight of the Sea...Jinbe...shame you didn't get caught in the explosion." Jinbe's eyes widened when he saw three robed individuals approach the room.

"Who are you!?" The large shark fishman demanded.

"Hmph..." The middle and leader of the group lowered his hoodie to reveal who he was. Jinbe furrowed his eyebrows at the intruder. The man was around his mid-30's. Short black hair and a scar over his right eye down to his left cheek. His red eyes narrowed at the former helmsman of the Pirate King.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The black haired assassin turned his head to Shirahoshi.

"What we want...is the old world...the one you destroyed...the one she destroyed..." He calmly said. "In order to do that, we must get rid of those who caused this despicable new world. Starting off...with the Ancient Weapon." Shirahoshi let out a whimper of pain as the chains tightened around her.

"I see...you...I'm gonna assume you are part of that organization I've been hearing about lately.

"Crux...that's correct. Honestly, I didn't expect anyone to be conscious with all the blasts going off, but...not surprising you were able to." He then looked over at lady Adrina who was by her fiancee's side and was glaring down at the man. "Oh...we have someone else as well..." he looked down to the body of Fukoboshi and simply said. "...how romantic..."

"You..." Lady Adrina glared at him in disgust.

"Take care of her." He told one of the other robed individuals. The one to his left nodded and sky walked into the air before pulling out a sword from within their robe. Lady Adrina gasped as she saw the robed individual descend down to attack her.

"Lady Adrina!" Jinbe yelled, trying to get to her, but was stopped when the leader of the group stepped in front of him to block him. 'Fast...' Jinbe thought before he sensed a strong kick heading his way. He quickly raised his hand to block it, but the force pushed him away. He felt his hand shake from the pain of his kick. 'Strong...' He looked up and gasped when he saw Lady Adrina about to get struck by the robed figure. "Stop!"

"I won't let you touch a lady...not while I'm here!" Jinbe's eyes widened at the familiar voice and saw a streak of blond hair appear to counter the figure's sword with their leg.

The man was none other than his former crew mate, Sanji. Sanji, using his hardened exoskeleton blocked the blade from touching Lady Adrina and then kicked the sword to push the figure away from her. They both landed on the ground and Sanji eyed the hooded individual.

"S-Sanji...you...why are you...?" Jinbe was shocked by his sudden appearance. Not that he wasn't happy, but he was not expecting for his friend to show up. Sanji turned to the older fishman and gave him a small smile.

"Yo, Jinbe...I'd like to catch up, but..." He looked over to the hooded figures and the black haired leader. "...seems we have to hold off on it until we get rid of these weirdos."

"Right...thank you..." Jinbe smiled back. The leader of the group became annoyed at the sudden appearance of Sanji. This was not expected at all. However, he composed himself. They were still in control.

"My, what an honor to have two former members of the Straw Hats here. Not only can we get rid of the Ancient Weapon, but two members of the crew that destroyed our old world." The man spoke as Sanji eyed him, not really impressed. "Hockney, Naria, plans have changed. You deal with the two of them. I'll go kill the Princess." he told his allies. The two other hooded figures lowered their hoods to reveal themselves to Jinbe and Sanji.

Sanji eyed the one he blocked and saw that the person was a woman with dark auburn hair. Green eyes and a scar that covered the bottom half of her right cheek. "Oh...what a beautiful mademoiselle." Sanji complimented her. However, she did not care for it and pointed her sword at him.

"I heard about you...the ero-cook..." Sanji felt a twinge at that name.

"...oi...and exactly where did you hear that name from, my dear." She just continued to stare.

"I heard it from that swordsman...I will get my revenge on him no matter what..." She replied, stoic. Sanji's eyes twitched.

"That damn moss-head..." He figured that was the case, but calmed himself down. He sighed. "Sorry, but I don't want to hurt you and your pretty face." Sanji told her. She got annoyed by that.

"You...you think you can do that chivalry with me? I know you can't fight woman, so I'll be the one to kill you." She screamed and charged at Sanji. Sanji just took a puff of his cigarette.

"You're right...I don't fight woman...but..." Naria jumped up to slash down at the cook, but Sanji stayed still as he sword stopped just in front of his cigarette. Her eyes widened. She tried moving, but her body was stuck. In fact, she felt something grab her body and looked down to see a giant hand underneath her. Her eyes widened.

"W-What!? What is this?" She screamed, feeling a bit disgusted by the giant hand.

"...sorry...I won't fight you...but...another lovely lady can." Sanji turned his head to see Robin enter the room, her hands crossed against her chest. She smiled at the trust Sanji gave her.

"Thank you, Sanji. Allow me to take care of this naughty one." Naria looked over at Robin and gritted her teeth.

"You...you're Nico Robin..." Robin giggled.

"Oh, you know me...how flattering..." She mocked her as Naria growled at the black haired woman.

"Robin..." Jinbe mouthed, surprised to see her as well. She looked over to him and smiled.

"My, it's good to see such a handsome man again." She playfully teased him.

Then, behind Robin, the third hooded individual appeared behind her, getting ready to strike her. However, Sanji, using his speed, blitzed the individual on his side. The individual was sent flying a bit before landing on his feet, sliding to a stop. Sanji looked over at him and glared.

"How dare you try and hurt a lady." The third individual stood up and Sanji saw his face. The man had short brown hair and an eye patch over his left eye. He had a stubble and his circular blue eye were his defining features.

"..." The man said nothing as he got into his fighting stance.

"Hmmm...not much of a talker, huh?" Sanji eyed him as he watched his movements closely.

Jinbe did not expect to see both of his former crew mates here. He was very thankful. However, this wasn't the time to catch up. He turned to the black haired individual, the leader of the three. "Looks like the odds have evened up. I won't let you kill the Princess!" Jinbe told him as he got into his fishman karate stance.

The man was annoyed by the new problems arising, but he knew he was still in control. "I wouldn't say that..."

"Hm?" Jinbe didn't know what he was referring to, until two other individuals suddenly appeared, the same ones that planted the bombs in the other entrance, and went to attack Jinbe from behind. "Shit..." Jinbe quickly turned around and crossed his arms to block their attacks. He slid a few feet from them and before he could react to their sudden appearance. Their leader rushed past him, heading straight towards Shirahoshi.

"Shirahoshi!" Jinbe yelled out as everyone turned to see the leader jump and fly towards the Mermaid Princess, a sword in his hand. The blade turned black due to his haki and Shirahoshi's eyes widened as she couldn't move at the approaching assassin.

"Shit..." Sanji tried to get to her with his speed, but the individual named Hockney was a step ahead and attacked Sanji, who had to change course and block his punch with his leg. "You..."

Robin wanted to do something as well, but Naria slashed at her hand, causing Robin to cry in pain and release her from her grasp.

None of them, were going to make it in time. Shirahoshi was going to get killed. With one last ditch effort, she screamed. "HELP ME!"

"Die!" The leader yelled as he pulled back, ready to strike.

Suddenly, above the throne room, part of the ceiling collapsed. Everyone looked up, wondering what was happening now. The ceiling's debris started falling, just slightly in front of where Shirahoshi was currently trapped. The leader of the group turned his head upward in shock.

A line of smoke suddenly shot forward through the rest of the debris and smoke, heading towards the assassin. The silhouette of a figure began appearing within the smoke and was descending down fast. Before the assassin could blink, he saw a blurry white figure appear just above him, red eyes glaring down at him like a monster. Without even getting a chance to see what it was, he was punched in the face, sending him straight down to the ground.

Shirahoshi's eyes widened as tears ran down her cheeks as she got a close up look at the figure. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Sanji smirked as he quickly realized who it was. Robin took a moment longer, but she too showed a smile. Jinbe's eyes widened when he noticed the shape and familiarity of the figure that just appeared. A ghost that he believed he would never see again.

Aceeeeeee!

I have my friends!

Jinbe...join my crew!

Don't forget...Jinbe! I am your captain now!

We'll wait for you at Wano, you must come!

Thank you...Jinbe!

JINBE!

"I-It can't be...L-Luffy-kun..."

The white figure, Luffy's Nika form, bounced around and laughed. Luffy's Nika form, was similar to his regular form, but because of his long hair, he was bouncing around using his hair as springs. He finally noticed the room and his eyes landed on Jinbe. With a wide grin, he bounced toward hims, blowing past the two hooded figures, using his hair to knock them out in the process. With a wide grin, he hugged his older and wise crew mate, wrapping his rubber around him.

"JINBE! I'M BACK! SHI SHISHISHISHI!"

Jinbe was too confused and stunned by his appearance, but once he got through the shock, he started tearing up and crying as he felt all the emotion of missing his dear friend escape. He touched Luffy, feeling him against his webbed hand and cried out.

"LUFFY-KUN!

END