Hey guys! It's May, so Imma post another one I've written.
Now, this is how it's going to go. I'm assuming 3 to 4 chaps a week, with each chap being at least 2k long in terms of word count. If I think I can handle more, it will go up, so it's never certain.
As for the title, I will keep it as "One Piece: Struggle of the Weak." Your votes have been lotta help. Merci beaucoup, tout le monde.
You may see other stories of mine being posted, but fear not, cuz they are not a story. Just random blabbering of sudden ideas I got; not starting anything real until I get this one done.
If you remember all the events that occurred in this fic until now, you may think that the progress is kind of fast. The primarily reason for this is because I want to focus and expand the New World, instead of lingering on the Paradise for like 200 chaps. Risky Red, Raijin, Mystoria, bruh, there's so much to do in the New World than to just chase after Yonkos.
One thing you should be expecting from me: I am going to minimize the involvement of Japanese tropes like Samurai, Ninja, etc. Basically, Wano is going to be about Kaidou, not about Kozuki. One Piece is about a pirate and adventure, so that's how I will condition this fanfic.
Finally, Rowan won't get any other special power whatsoever. Fruit ability, Haki, special eyes, and his own unique Haki, all his further developments will be based on what he has right now. Screw crossovers… I rarely liked them.
In the end, my goal is to finish this fanfic between 250 to 300 chaps. Let's hope this works out.
With that said, have a great day!
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"Meteor Volcano!!!"
Upon hearing Sakazuki's declaration, Rowan immediately propelled himself upward to prevent Sakazuki's attacks from reaching Prominence, however, was prevented by Garp, who appeared in front of Rowan and slammed a fist into his abdomen.
"Kurgh...!"
Rowan was sent blasting back down to the plaza.
*BOOOOOM*
With vivid exhaustion, Carina readied her stance to teleport to Prominence to evade Sakazuki's attacks from reaching the ship, however, halted upon sighting Ace.
"TEKKEN!!!!!"
Ace's voice boomed across as the numerous clusters of magma were effectively destroyed by Ace's furious punches.
*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*
"""Ace!!!""" The Whitebeard fleet all cried out in joy simultaneously.
"Gurarara, seems like your plan has failed, Sengoku." Newgate grinned as he and Sengoku clashed once again.
Sengoku frowned, "It isn't over yet, Whitebeard. If Ace was to be freed... I'll have your head at the very least!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
As the collision between two leaders caused the surrounding area to crack and tremble furiously, Farul, with Jinbe riding on top of him, quickly flew and caught Ace in midst of his free fall.
"*Phew*... Good job, you guys." Rowan muttered in relief. It seemed that while Ace smashed most of the magma clusters, Nami steered the ship to evade a few that managed to bypass.
______________
"Phoenix Brand!" Marco's feet, which were transformed to phoenix talons, attempted to slam onto Boraslino, but the latter transformed his body into light and created a gap in the middle, effectively evading Marco's technique.
Subsequently, Dan zapped behind Borsalino with his fist crackling in electricity, "30 Million Volt: Numb."
"Oh~ how scary~" Borsalino stated in a unique tone as he casually dodged Dan's punch with ease, before pointing his index and middle finger, which were glowing brilliantly, towards Dan's exposed head,
"Amaterasu."
"Undying Thistle!!!"
Dan's eyes widened as Marco quickly intercepted Borsalino's beam of light with his blue-coloured flame wings.
"Yo newbie, wake up!" As Borsalino's attack ceased, Marco spoke to Dan, who nodded with a cold sweat.
Then before they could register, Borsalino suddenly flashed to Dan's back, much to Dan and Marco's dismay.
"Ama no Murakumo Sword." From Borsalino's right hand, a long sword of light appeared, and without any hesitation, Borsalino swung the sword toward Dan with the intention to end the latter's life.
"100 Million Volt: Zap Cannon!" Dan urgently condensed lightning between his palms and blasted it forth, preventing Borsalino's attack once more, just in time.
Then,
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
Borsalino, Dan, and Marco flashed from place to place at an incredible pace, deflecting each others' attacks for a countless number of times.
"Sacred Yata Mirror." In midst of their insanely rapid clash, Borsalino shot a wide beam of light that reflected all around the Marineford, before heading towards Dan and Marco's exposed backs.
Dan gritted his teeth as he quickly turned around and saw Borsalino's sword about to slash through him.
"Too slow~" Borsalino's sword slashed through Dan's midriff, causing the latter to puke out blood while falling down from the air.
"Tch, newbie!" Transforming into his Zoan form, Marco quickly flapped his wings and caught Dan before the latter crashed onto the ground.
"...I'm fine." Momentarily touching the warm blood that spilled out from his wound, Dan wiped the blood from his mouth and stated with a determined voice.
Dan's whole body began to crackle in intense electricity, as he clenched his fists fight and crouched his body with his feet on Marco's back,
"Max 120 Million Volt: Boost."
The countless number of nerves within Dan's body began to glow in blue before he flashed toward Borsalino at an incredible speed.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
Borsalino parried Dan's furious punches with his light sword, before his body glowed in bright yellow,
"Yasakani Sacred Jewel."
"Undying Thistle!!!"
Expanding his wings, Marco blocked Borsalino's attacks once more. Zapping upwards from Marco's behind, Dan locked his eyes onto Borsalino as he quickly flipped out a bullet from his pocket,
"100 Million Volt: Railgun!!"
*BOOOOM*
The bullet, now imbued in Armament Haki, blasted forth toward Borsalino, who managed to tilt his head at the last moment and dodge just in time.
*BOOOOOOOM*
The building behind Borsalino exploded from the potency of Dan's attack, causing Borsalino to raise his eyebrow in interest.
"Ho~ how powerful." Borsalino scratched his head casually, "But you seem a little exhausted already."
Indeed, unlike Borsalino and Marco, Dan was already sweating and huffing, with the evident wound in the middle.
'Damn it... there's so much gap between them and me.' Dan took a deep breath and readied himself for Borsalino's next move, only to find—
"Full Metal Mass Impact!!!"
—Ace crashing down from the sky onto Borsalino, who, for the first time, expressed a surprise on his face.
*BOOOOOOOOM*
"Ace!" Dan couldn't help but exclaim in a mix of joy and relief as he gazed at Ace.
"Really, I've got no idea how I should pay back to Rowan and y'all." Ace grinned as he bumped his fists together, "But first, let's deal with that yellow monkey."
"Oh..." Borsalino stood back up within the cloud of dust and wiped the trail of blood on his chin, "Portagus D. Ace... I suppose I shall be the one to execute your execution then~"
Meanwhile,
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak."
Carmen's eyes narrowed as she saw a large ice pheasant travelling toward her, 'It's the very same attack that defended against the combined force of Dan and me last time.'
"Heat Ball." From the tip of Carmen's finger, an immensely hot ball of flame around the size of a baseball condensed, before it crashed against the ice pheasant.
*TSSSSS*
The loud noise of ice melting was heard as the ice pheasant helplessly sublimated into steam before it could reach Carmen.
"Brilliant..." Immediately after, Jozu rushed toward Kuzan with his diamond-transformed part of body facing the latter,
"—Punk!!"
Kuzan transformed his body into ice and dodged Jozu's attack in the same way as the last time, but the latter didn't seem to be done yet.
Jumping upward with his eyes locked onto Kuzan, whose body turned back to normal form, Jozu joined his Haki-imbued arms together as they transformed into diamond, before slamming them down,
"Octagon Hammer!!!"
"Ice Block: Shield!!" Kuzan formed an ice shield in front of him and quickly hardened it with his Armament Haki as well.
*BOOOOOM*
The diamond and ice collided against one another, but if seen closely, the cracks were being formed on the ice shield. Additionally,
"Ignis: Heat Bullet."
The small and dense ball of flame impacted the ice shield, causing it to lose all strength and crack into pieces by Jozu's attack.
Kuzan found his eyes bloodshot as Jozu's fists impacted his abdomen, and turned his body into ice once more to prevent further injury.
"Ignis," Carmen's predatory gaze locked onto Kuzan as she held her arms wide open, "Hell's Kitchen!"
From the blue flame that enveloped her body, the countless figures of knives made by the blue flame, shot out toward Kuzan.
"…I want to go sleep already." Kuzan sighed with tired eyes as he wiped the trail of blood from his mouth.
"Ice Block: Partisan."
Similarly, the countless ice tridents formed around Kuzan, before flying and clashing against Carmen's flames.
*TSSS* *TSSS* *TSSS*
One by one, as they clashed against one another, the ice trident melted, as Carmen's flames continued to bulldoze their way toward Kuzan.
*TSSS* *TSSS*
However, the production of ice tridents around Kuzan didn't know when to stop, and the new ones replaced the ones that already melted, effectively blocking Carmen's attacks.
Now, as Carmen's flames finally died down, the whole area was covered with the vast amount of steam.
"...He's up to something. His ice before that woman's arrival wasn't as fragile as now." Jozu swiftly jumped back, having felt that Kuzan was about to unleash something that was different than his previous attacks,
"Your flame has gotten much scarier, Flame Empress." Kuzan stated with his hands in his pocket, "But just like the last time, you don't bother to think for once."
The temperature began to drop drastically.
"Huge volume of steam, and sudden decrease in temperature. What would happen? Condensation."
*Plop*
One drop of water plopped down from the steam right above them, before the heavy amount of rain poured over the three and the other individuals in proximity.
"And now," Kuzan lowered his hand onto the ground. Carmen, having realized what Kuzan was about to do, was about to shoot forth another ball of flame toward him with the intention to interrupt, but it was too late,
"Ice Age!"
The whole line of water, which extended all the way from the surface that Kuzan's hand was touching, all the way to the water that soaked Carmen and Jozu, instantly froze.
"Finally," From Kuzan's hand, a sharp ice saber has condensed from a thin air, "it's time to end-"
"Arabesque Brick Fist!!"
*BOOM*
A force wave which is transmitted through the water vapour in the air, by Jinbe who was seen to be right above Kuzan, blasted toward the latter.
"Jinbe... are you sure about this?" Kuzan stated in a cold tone as he quickly retreated from the site to avoid the impact.
*Crack* *Crack*
The force wave spread out and weakened the ice that enveloped the surrounding.
*Tap*
As Jinbe landed in the middle of the ice-coated area, he glared at Kuzan without any hint of fear, "I am indebted to Whitebeard-san, and now, Rowan-san as well! I won't allow you to touch them or their crew members!!"
At the same time,
*Tsss*
The ice that froze Carmen began to sublimate back into steam at a rapid pace, causing Kuzan to sigh.
"Don't you think you are underestimating me too much, Aokiji?"
Carmen scowled as the air around her began to vibrate from immense heat, and the surrounding ice melted into boiling water, which effectively freed Jozu as well.
"Guh... what a shame." Jozu frowned upon realizing that he has been frozen twice, as half of his body became transformed into a diamond once more.
"You guys are annoying, you know that?" Kuzan's eyes sharpened as he prepared for the neck attack.
At some distance away, Cavendish and Doflamingo were having a furious clash against each other.
"Fullbright." From Doflamingo's hands, five sharp strings shot forth toward Cavendish, who parried them with rapid slashes with his sword before rushing towards the former.
*CLANG*
Doflamingo's Haki-imbued strings and Cavendish's similarly Haki-imbued sword clashed, before Cavendish broke the struggle with incredibly fast strikes.
*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*
At the next moment, Cavendish jumped upward and spun in midair as he swung his sword in exquisite fashion,
"Beautiful Sword: Swan Lake!"
"Five Colour Strings."
*CLANG*
Once again, the iron-hard strings met Cavendish's sword.
"Heheheh, not bad." Doflamingo grinned as he dashed toward Cavendish all of a sudden, before placing his palm forward, "Overheat."
*SWOOSH*
The thick whip, which was bright orange in colour due to the heat generated from its friction, lashed out from Doflamingo's palm toward Cavendish at a rapid pace.
Cavendish narrowed his eyes as he lowered his stance midair, before propelling himself toward Doflamingo's attack by using Geppo,
"Noble Phantasm,"
Cavendish's eyes began to glow in hollow blue, and his sword was imbued in a similar aura,
"Hakuba."
*Swoosh*
At the next moment, Doflamingo found his eyes widened as the thick whip was cut in half in an instant, with Cavendish now standing behind Doflamingo. Then, a light gash appeared on top of Doflamingo's exposed top, and a slight amount of blood dripped down.
"...Interesting." Doflamingo's grin died down as he turned back to face Cavendish, with the veins popping out of his forehead.
Cavendish quickly readied his stance once more as Doflamingo raised his hands up.
"Seems like you are finally getting serious." Cavendish's grin began to widen into a creepy fashion, akin to Hakuba's smile.
"Serious? Heheheh, you speak a lot for a weakling, Pirate Prince." From Doflamingo's sides, an incredible number of strings began to rise from the ground and combine together to form two large threads. Simultaneously, the tips of those threads became imbued in Armament Haki.
"Weakling? It seems that your sunglasses are preventing you from the proper assessment of your situation." Cavendish's grip on his sword tightened,
"Behold, the defeat of Doflamingo the Heavenly Demon by the hands of Cavendish the White Knight! Guahaha, I will be bombarded with the countless number of journalists everyday! What a pity, for it seems that I will cause many hearts of women to skip a beat once again!"
Doflamingo wasn't planning to participate in this war seriously, however, Cavendish's taunt seemed to be doing its job quite well.
"Heheheh, it seems that someone is in need of being woken up from his delusions." Doflamingo, with the veins popping out of his forehead, growled as his hands twitched.
_______________
*SPLASH*
A giant ship that has the same appearance as the wreaked Moby Dick, revealed itself from the depths of water, in the middle of the bay.
"Hm?!!" Sengoku's eyes widened as he clashed his palm against Newgate's naginata.
"Gurara, *Cough*... here it is." Newgate grinned before speaking out loud, "All of you, get onto the ship!! Let's get out of here!!"
"""YEAH!!!!"""
Listening to Newgate's command, all the pirates cheered as they began to cluster toward the huge ship.
"Fools!" Sakazuki snarled as the magma bubbled around him with the intention to demolish the pirates at once, however, was quickly intercepted by Rowan.
"Your guard is down, Akainu.
Bounce Art: Ninth Stance Hwechook."
*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*
Sakazuki's head rang as it was abruptly shaken by powerful blasts of Rowan's kick, in a span of a second. Sakazuki vomited blood as he fell on his knee.
*BOOOOM*
Subsequently, Rowan quickly leaned back to barely dodge Garp's ferocious punch, and spoke in a low tone,
"Is it alright to treat Luffy's friend like this?"
Mind break!
Garp's fist momentarily stopped, "Luffy? How do you know him?"
'Just as I figured. There is no way that the name "Monkey D." is a mere coincidence; they are related for sure. And judging by Garp's hesitation before, he must be acquainted with Ace as well.' Rowan was struggling for the survival of him, his crew, Ace—basically all the pirates. He had to use all he got.
"What a wonderful world. I not only saved Ace, but also Luffy, and yet, this is the treatment I get from their family member, eh?" Rowan stated with feigned annoyance, causing Garp, who was about to resume his punch, to stop once more.
"It doesn't matter. You are a pirate, and I am a marine. Do you think I am a fool, you brat?" Garp said seriously.
Rowan shrugged, "Worth trying."
Currently, Rowan could see Garp's right arm, which previously blasted the domineering punch named 'Xebec Fist' just before, shaking slightly. It seemed that the punch of such strength did have some recoil on Garp, although it may simply be because of his age.
As for Sakazuki, Rowan's previous blows on him seemed to have quite an impact, as he frowned while bringing up his hand onto his wounded chest; his eyes seemed unfocused as well, due to Rowan's kick just now.
'Haa, who am I to judge when I'm in worse condition than them.'
Rowan felt the huge amount of fatigue building up within him, especially with his Haki draining at a rapid rate. Maintaining the Flow of Armament Haki in both the external and internal aspects of the body, along with the use of 'Grimheart,' required an insane amount of Haki. He would still be able to go toe to toe against Sakazuki without the full-body Armament and 'Grimheart,' but will severely fall behind Garp's prowess.
If the fight gets dragged on for too long, Rowan would be forced to bring out his trump card: the Manifestation of Conqueror's Haki, which is likely to alarm the re-emergence of Vasilia to the World Government.
Additionally, Rowan quickly observed the struggles of his crew members with utmost focus and assessed the situation, 'Nami's been revealed, and we are not sure if the Marine has any backup. Thankfully, the Whitebeard pirates began to withdraw. Ace and Jinbe to help. Robin and Alfred doing just fine… now is the chance, if we are doing it.'
"Carina..." Rowan turned and grimaced to see Carina, who has fallen to one knee while sweating profusely, due to having teleported two incredibly large icebergs. 'But I can't rely on her teleport for some time. She's been going way over her limit since our arrival here. Guess we will have to discard this plan-'
However, in contrast to Rowan's thought, Carina stood back up with a shaky grin.
"*Huff*... It's time for the next step, *Huff*... right?"
"Great Eruption!!!" The blast of magma, shot by Sakazuki, was rapidly approaching Rowan and Carina,
*BOOOOOOOOM*
which Rowan defended by generating a potent bounce force from his left fist.
While doing so, Rowan, whose eyes were expressing a sense of amazement, was still facing Carina.
"Bohaha! Now that's my first mate."
Rowan chuckled in delight,
"I will be relying on you then."
"*Huff*... Leave it to me."
_______________
"Sir, Marineford is in sight!" One World Government agent informed in a strict manner to Spandine, who rubbed his beard with a concern.
"Hm..." Spandine watched as the Whitebeard pirates began to gather around the newly-appeared ship in the bay, "Devil Child is fighting against one of the Seven Warlords, Gecko Moria. Everyone's busy with their own battle, and the whole battlefield is quite messy as well. Perfect."
'My... promotion is near. I'm sorry my son, but it is what it is.' Taking a deep breath, Spandine opened his mouth once more, "Release Spandene... no, Baten, and the rest of you, focus on capturing Devil Child."
*Click*
Immediately after, the cell that imprisoned Baten has swiftly been unlocked. Subsequently, Baten's seastone cuff was unlocked as well, granting him the freedom.
Baten glared at Spandine coldly momentarily as the latter fearfully held up the electrocution device, before turning his head to the Marineford.
Crouching down, Baten was ready to use Geppo to reach Marineford, however, his eyes widened as he shifted his body as quickly as possible.
*Puk*
All of a sudden, a bullet bypassed the empty air where Baten's head previously lied and drilled its way into Spandine's head, ending the latter's life instantly.
"How come... I didn't hear it at all." Baten muttered in a cold sweat as he turned his head to the direction where the bullet came from, "A sniper?"
If his Observation Haki didn't sense it at the last moment, it would've been him who lost the life.
At the same time, Baten lifted up his foot and slammed it onto the electrocution device, destroying it into pieces.
Baten gazed coldly at Spandine, whose blood was oozing out from the hole on his head, "Suffer forever and repent to your victims in hell."
He didn't seem to hold any attachment to Spandine as a father.
"Wh-what's going on?!!"
"S-Sir Spandine!!!"
The World Government agents shouted in shock, as they turned their heads to their left and right, trying to identify the cause.
At far distance away, on a small boat where four people were sitting by, one man, Job or Sebastian, was seen to be holding a sniper gun with lazy expression, with a cigarette on his mouth.
"Haa... we really have done it." The old woman spoke with underlying worry in her tone, "There is no going back now. Youchiha Bob... you better be the one."
"Brother Job's Calm Calm fruit... it's scary as always." Mob muttered in monotone.
"That's Baten. What do you say, Urouge?" Although bothered by Mob calling him 'Job,' Job turned his head to Urouge and asked.
Urouge's grin widened. Although he was grinning, he seemed to be furious beyond belief. He stood up slowly as his eyes locked onto Baten, who stared back at him from a far distance away,
"Sahaha... I'll bust his head open." Urouge growled as he clenched his fists.