Chapter 16: Infinite Dawn

Egghead

Kizaru let out some subtle tears at the loss of his friends as he watched on. The normally stoic admiral felt a profound sense of isolation wash over him as he realized he had chosen his duty over his colleagues. He thought of their first meeting and their time together on Egghead with Bonney and Kuma. And how that was all gone. And a ton of information crammed into his head by his friend's dying message that would cause people to question their reality, especially the appearance of the alien sight-

A sea made entirely of gold in the distance.

Emeth the Iron Giant then powered down as Vegapunk 39 turned to face Saturn...or rather Ezekiel.

Warcury...or rather Darwin noticed that his colleague was trembling with rage.

Ezekiel's Recollection

He thought back to how he managed to corner and force the 39th to do his dirty work.

Vegapunk the 39th was forced to do surgery on a man screaming in despair as another watched one as Ezekiel's Haki had entered him and forced him to do it against his will.

Test was being chained in the far corner of the room.

"Your family is a band of sinners. Only through doing work like this can you contribute to the brilliance of the World Government."

"What have I done...I see it...this is the work of the Devil...No benevolent God will solve things this way...," the man spoke with tears in his eyes.

He also thought back to when he forced the other Vegapunk- his son to solve a problem his way.

The long-skulled man collapsed in horror as he saw the massive explosion as people turned into bulbous, purple aberrations. They were a country that had disposed of their corrupt king and finally achieved freedom.

"It could use some adjustments. The Grape Bomb.," spoke Ezekiel via the Transponder Snail.

Clown was laughing at the sight with Vegapunk gritting his teeth in shame.

"You wanted to work to fund your research. Not everything can solved through nonviolence.," the Elder spoke.

Vegapunk was about to speak to another Transponder Snail to reveal their secrets to spite them when Ezekiel spoke-

"You have children even if you're estranged from them. We located them and you should know what that entails. I've been in the science field more than you. I know how to outwit a fellow scientist."

The long-skull man then relinquished and stood still.

Present

Ezekiel then pressed the apple on his head as Kuma lunged at Bonney as his stoic eyes turned red, crushing her in his grasp.

The floors opened as several Kuma Pacifsta appeared from the ground to dogpile on the Giants and corner the Straw Hats.

Vegapunk 39 then turned to Vega 40.

Vegapunk 39th's Recollection

Vegapunk 39 was sitting on the side of the island in a rare moment when it wasn't constantly monitored alongside his daughter.

Suddenly, out of the water emerged a muscular merman with long, curly fair hair reaching down below his shoulders. His long and hooked nose points downward. He has a mustache and a dark, long, pointed goatee. He is almost always seen smiling.

He has tattoos resembling four-leafed clovers on each of his arms; this symbol is also present on the dark, short-sleeved shirt he wears. He also wears a wide-brimmed hat on his head and what it appears to be glasses or safety goggles on his face. He has an earring on each of his ears and a beaded necklace around his neck. Much like his later brother, Tom, he carries around a bag full of tools attached to a belt around his waist; just below it is tied a light cloth, somewhat similar to an apron.

Den- Shipwright/Researcher of the Sea Forest.

"Den. What're you doing here? I'm risking myself being out in the open.," he asked.

"So you're the guy who left Franky with Tom- don. I've heard so many great things from him- don.," said the man.

It was a few nights after Luffy defeated Hody Jones.

"I was looking into the Sea Forest and saw someone working on the Noah. Apparently, he was a student of Tom before they split off due to differences. But he wants to talk to you, Vegapunk- don.," said Den.

"Me? Don't you want the other Vegapunk?," asked the 39th.

"He's got so many issues. He can't even trust himself with his Greed around.," replied the merman.

"Yeah, York is definitely the traitor.," Vega 40 blurted out.

"Don-don-don. Your girls' are sharp-tongued and sharp-minded. She'll be able to help out.," said the Fishman as a dolphin appeared.

"Wha?," asked Vega 40.

Vega 40 left with the strange Merman, which left Vegapunk 39 concerned about what would happen to her. She returned with the dolphin as she said-

"It's an amazing ship. I don't believe in this Joyboy terminology till I get more data, but this ship...is going to be amazing in the right hands."

Vegapunk 39 looked confused at first, but quickly put it together. He then flashed a light on Vega 40 as her eyes glowed before they dimmed as she looked confused.

You're someone who'd boast about it accidentally. It's not the time to call it out. It has to be the right moment., thought the scientist.

Present

"What's gonna happen now? Those Pacifistas, they're overriding the ships. And...Sunny...Sunny! That bastard killed him! He had two years after he died once! Why is fate so cruel?!," asked Usopp as he slammed the ground.

He cried as he fired at the Elders, but somehow they never reached them.

He noticed the other figure accompanying Cortez-

A very tall, lean, and muscular man dressed in a modified white suit with a high collar, wearing a white blindfold covering his eyes and pink hair standing upwards. For some reason, he gave the impression he wasn't human.

"So, what's the gameplay now? Vegapunk told everyone a lot of things that were really dangerous to hear.," said the pink-haired man.

Nirvana Mugen- CP0

Let's kill everyone and the remainders know how to keep quiet., Cortez communicated psychically.

That's going overboard. We already teetering on rebellion BEFORE this came out to the public, replied Mugen in his thoughts to Cortez.

"We'll give a press conference to rationalize everything.," Peter...or rather Germain spoke as he returned to his base form.

"In any case, you're all doomed and don't have a means of leaving.," spoke Ezekiel before suddenly a massive ark with a tortoise-head figurehead emerged from the waters, which managed to force away the skull-headed "golem" island due to the sheer mass of the ship.

The Elder looked to 39 with fury as he figured this was somehow his doing.

"Vegapunk 39, you summoned the Noah! Is this your way to allowing them to escape?," asked the Elder.

"I ate the Foresight-Foresight Fruit. It allowed me to see this far ahead to know when to do this. But I've also awakened it!," he shouted as a time rift opened as he proceeded to grab the Elder and attempt to toss him in with him.

The tortoise figurehead's mouth opened up and sucked in all of the remains of the Thousand Sunny. At the same time, the Straw Hats and the new members were all somehow warped onto the ship.

"They have a future unlike you! Let's go to Hell once we head to a future where the universe collapses in on itself! I wonder how Demons can punish an Immortal!," the scientist shouted before Mars...or rather Abraham in his bird form blasted a hole through his chest. The rift vanished, but Ezekiel was too infuriated to brush it off. He generated the spiked back of his other power to impale him and then turned into his Gyuki form to start skewering him out of spite.

The Pacifistas started charging at the ship as the Straw Hats were teleported in. The ship was sailing in the direction of Elbaf.

Vega 40 came to as she rushed to see the island, the Elders proceeding to dismantle her father graphically. The Marines were sickened at the sight but kept quiet to avoid being brutalized themselves. She forced herself to remain composed to respect her dad's dying wishes.

The Kuma Pacifista continued to climb up the ship, with the warping causing his grasp to let go. Determined to follow his programming.

Bonney turned to Luffy who was still reeling from her injuries. She had lost her crew due to them being captured by Sakazuki, them sacrificing themselves to protect her. So many had protected her by giving up everything.

She gulped as her hair turned white as well as her clothes. Now resembling the Warrior of Liberation that her father spoke of.

"I don't care if Nika is real or not. What matters to me is what he represents. And that's freedom! Freedom from the tyranny of the World Government, from the fear of dying of a disease that I didn't know I had, from the slavery that we've suffered for so long," Bonney shouted as she used her Devil Fruit power to heal herself.

She confronted her dad on the deck. The other Straw Hats had been brutalized by the Pacifsta assault so she had to protect them.

"Daddy! Wake up!," she declared as she bounced forward, dodging his Pad Cannons and Thrust Pad Cannons. The ship was completely unaffected, showing the advanced craftsmanship of whoever worked on it.

Kuma then forms an enormous paw bubble in between his outstretched arms, trapping a massive portion of air within. He then slowly compresses the air by repelling it over and over using his paws, causing the bubble to shrink rapidly. Once compact enough to fit between his hands, Kuma launches the compressed air bubble at his opponent(s), like a bomb. Once near the target, the air decompresses at once to cause a massive, paw-shaped explosion.

It was his Trump Card- Ursus Shock.

However, Bonney punches through it and reluctantly knocks Kuma down.

"Don't fight me anymore!," shouted Bonney as a ringing sound was heard by all the Pacifstas as they shut down.

Emeth proceeded to get up as Ezekiel inflamed by this defiance, proceeded to generate his Ankylosaurus tail to wrap around the ship to pull it back.

"Yes. They can't be allowed to escape after this mockery of us!," noted Nusjuro...or rather Byakuo.

Kizaru (Borsalino) gave a half-hearted smirk at the sheer progress that Bonney had made.

"Almost makes me want to surrender.," he said before he zoomed towards the ship as a flicker of light.

"Damnit! He's coming after us too!," shouted Usopp as he shook Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro to hopefully get them up.

He charged a light beam before he was suddenly hit on the right temple by a gloved fist. He stammered for a bit to see that it was Vega 40 who did it.

"You're clearly keeping it together despite everything you've lost- a father and a love of a sister. But I've lost friends too today. So I can't put on the kiddie gloves.," he said as he summoned his Ama no Murakumo Sword.

He lunged forward only to be thwacked by a beaver tail out of nowhere. He narrowed his gaze to see that it came from Vega 40.

"So you're like Teach? This is gonna be a hassle.," he said as the ship was pulled closer and closer back to the island.

Buggy had been hit earlier by a stray attack of Ouran...or rather Arcas into an underground bunker. He stammered around and then he noticed a red sphere with a skull and crossbones.

"Hmm. This looks like it'll blow up the island...Well, I'm smart enough not to do that.," he said before seeing Richie the Lion had also been blasted away with as he got up and inadvertently pressed the button. Buggy gave an exasperated expression of annoyance and fear as the room glowed.

It started a chain reaction that exploded the entire island.

Kizaru stopped what he was doing to retrieve all of the personnel as did Crocodile reluctantly. The Transponder Snail that did the broadcast managed to finally shut off.

The new ship with the name- Infinite Dawn was finally able to sail away.

While the aftermath was to be talked about for years to come, no one really won that day.

Next Chapter: Aftermath

Author Notes: This concludes the Eggheard arc of this fanfic. Let me know what you think of this iteration in general. Now to Elbaf. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the main story once the arc concludes there.

Infinite Dawn was my way of incorporating the Noah into the story as a final potential upgrade to the Thousand Sunny and by extension the Going Merry.