[Navy HQ]
"The Ashen Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates are on Egg Head?! What the hell?!" Fleet Admiral Sakazuki questioned the officers brought the report, he was sitting in his desk while smoking a large cigar "Things keep getting messier! Is Vegapunk onto CP0?"
"I'm afraid so, they had to force their way in!!" An officer stated.
"You'd think those brats would consult me before declaring war…!! If Vegapunk has cut a deal with Straw Hat or Demon of the Sea, that's a major blow to our military superiority!" Skazuki said before added "Where's Momousagi(Gion) and Ryokugyu?"
"They already left for Egg Head as planned" An officer responded.
"Tell Lucci and the CP0 to wait for the marines to arrive"
"Yes sir!!"
"They are not to engage Straw Hat and Demon of the Sea under any circumstances!"
…
[Egg Head, New World]
"A-hahahahaha!!" Luffy was laughing hysterically as he jumped in front of Ashen.
[Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika – Awakened Form]
Seeing Luffy in his awakened state, Ashen was also getting serious. Purple flames engulfed his entire body, transforming his hair into a flickering mass of wild flames that danced around his head like a fiery crown. His eyebrows were also transformed, now flickering with wild purple flames above his piercing gaze.
"Don't think I will play around with you like Kaido did, if you get knocked out, I'll make sure you're dead. So, you better give it your all, Nika" Ashen said to Luffy, a sinister smile stretching his face.
"Stop giving me weird nicknames Flamey Guy!" Luffy snaped at Ashen, before he proceeded to punch him with his Haki coated fist.
*Lightning*-*Lightning* Ashen punch him back, their fists barely touching each other as black lightning surged from between them.
"You're really strong Flamey!" Luffy exclaimed, his grin stretching wider before he jumped back and punched his fist into the floor, and a nearby section of the floor stretched into a tendril and struck Ashen from the side.
"Gomu Gomu no…Mole Pistol!"
Ashen used his future sight and easily dematerialized the area where he was going to get hit, letting the tendril past right through him.
"You're not the only one who achieved awakening…" Ashen declared with a cocky smile before he punched the floor as well, and several purple flame fists were shot from the nearby sections of the floor.
"Celestial Flames…Flame Fists!"
The flame fists sent Luffy flying back even though he used his Haki coated arms to block them, avoiding any damage or burn before he retaliated by twisting his body, stretching his leg, hardening it, and swinging it into Ashen's face. He then let his body rapidly untwist, adding more energy into his kick.
"Gomu Gomu no…White Whip!"
Seeing that Ashen used his sword to block Luffy's leg.
"WHOAAAA!! I Can't slow down!!" Luffy exclaimed as he kept spinning rapidly in a comical way "I spun too hard!! I can't stop!!"
"Lol, you've got to be kidding me…" Ashen was amused at Luffy's power before he proceeded to grab his leg while he was still spinning and started smacking him to the floor. Luffy quickly retaliated by stretching his arms and grabbing Ashen's shoulder and kicking him with his free leg.
"--Shishishi!" Ashen was pushed away and Luffy quickly threw himself into the environment and used his awakened power to bend the structure further. After shaping his hair into a pair of goggles, Luffy launched himself at Ashen again and slammed his fist into his abdomen before it came from his back in a comical way.
"Gomu Gomu no…White Rocket!"
The attack managed to hurt Ashen a little since Luffy used Ryou and Conqueror's Haki but Ashen shrugged it off and quickly retaliated by igniting the tip of his sword's blade and from its tip, produced a large, whirling, purple serpentine dragon made of fire, dense enough that it could be mistaken with magma and attacked Luffy with it, burning his body until it was charred in a comedic way before he immediately returned to the fight and into his normal form a little hurt by Ashen's scorching flames.
Luffy proceeded to attack Ashen again, but the latter dodged and then imbued his sword with flames and Haki and then slashed Luffy vertically in the head.
"Heaven's splitter!!"
"WHOAAAA!! GYAAH!!" Ashen's sword hit Luffy's head only for his head to warp and wrap around Shusui and its blade in a comical way before he was sent crashing into a wall.
"That's really a ridiculous power right there, but like Kaido said don't think you can conqueror the Grand Line with abilities only…only Haki transcends all…" Ashen said while majestically walking towards Luffy, his body wrapped with flames and with each step he left a trail of fire behind.
"Luffy!"
"Luffy-kun!" Chopper and Jinbe who was carrying Booney were near them looked at the fight in shock before Urouge and Yamamoto showed up, stopping their way.
"Jinbe the previous Warlord, you better stay out of the emperors fight. You'll only get hurt, and I also want you to give me Booney…nice and easy…" Urouge said while carrying a massive pillar on his shoulder, Yamamoto was standing beside and carrying a few rocks in his hands as well as keeping some on his pockets in case he needs them.
"Cute pet" Yamamoto remarked while glancing at Chopper.
"I'm not a pet!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that" Jinbe replied
"Very well then…"
Sentomaru, the commander of the Marines Science Unit who was leading the Seraphim showed up as well, he was commanding S-Hawk, S-Shark and S-Panther. Since Luffy was going to help Vegapunk escape he was also going to provide them with support.
"Let's move! S-Shark, lead the Straw Hats to the vacuum rocket and see them safely through the frontier dome!...S-Hawk! S-Panther! Suppress the CP0 and the Ashen Pirates!!" Sentomaru gave orders to the Seraphim.
S-Hawk and S-Panther immediately jumped at the Ashen Pirates cutting down a few lower ranking pirates and did the same to the CP0 members.
"Gyaahh!!"
"Hoi, hoi, Pacifista brats, the hell you think you're doing?" Enel exclaimed as he sent a strong beam of lightning towards S-Hawk, only for the attack to not leave any scratch on him before S-Panther attacked him as well. He inflated his mochi forearm until the pressure caused it to explode, propelling it at Enel.
Luckily the latter was using future vision and swiftly dodged the attack.
"The hell?!...Am I seeing wrong? why does that brat look like Big Mom's son Katakuri and has his power? And the other one looks just like Hawk-Eye" Enel questioned before Yamato came to his support.
"Raimei Hakke!" Yamato swung her Conqueror's infused Kanabō down at S-Hawk's head, but the latter didn't take any damage from it "What are they made of?"
"Remember what Ashen and Calvin said? You should observe the flames on their back, when it's ignited, forget damaging them, you won't be able to even lay a scratch" Enel said to Yamato.
At the same time Calvin was searching for the Straw Hat ship while Moria along with his Zombies engaged with the other CP0 agents.
"Cut them down, Borsalino! Kuzan!" Moria gave Borsalino and Kuzan an order before the two of them drew out their large swords. All the General Zombies were wearing strong armors made by Franky which can be pretty hard to cut, they are also equipped with weapons imbued by the dials Ashen found along Captain John's treasure. Ashen made sure that Moria used Shadows of strong pirates as well.
They are also using at least two dials in their weapons, in this case both Borsalino and Kuzan were using flame dial which was imbued by Ashen's purple flames and impact dial.
"You've got to be kidding me…!!" the CP0 agents looked at the Zombies in horror.
"Aren't those two the previous Admirals, Aokiji and Kizaru?!"
"The bastard Gecko Moria turned them into Zombies!" An agent exclaimed before the agents were attacked by them.
Borsalino proceeded to release a concentrated burst of flames, creating a powerful stream of fire from a distance and burning the agents before Kuzan jumped in the air and activated the Impact Dial upon landing. The resulting shockwave was directed downward, creating a localized impact zone that damaged the ground and nearby opponents, sending them flying or causing them to lose balance.
"Go to hell, you government dogs!" Moria took the chance to finish off the disoriented enemies after that.
…
While Ashen and Luffy were fighting, Vegapunk rushed into the Control Room where Shaka and the other were.
"Shaka!! Is he on screen?! The White Warrior?!" Vegapunk asked him.
"Whoah! It's the real Vegapunk! How'd he get up here so fast?!" Usopp said.
"You wouldn't happen to know the story behind Straw Hat's transformation? Do tell!!" Vegapunk asked the Straw Hats.
"We're not really sure, to be honest. Isn't it one of his Gum-Gum powers?" Nami responded. Vegapunk proceeded to explain that the Gum-Gum wasn't mentioned in the Old Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
"He looks just like that god described in the ancient texts!!" Vegapunk remarked while looking at Luffy's transformation in awe.
"God?!"
"Are you senile?! That's just Luffy!" Sanji said.
"I speak of the warrior of liberation, whose antics could bring a smile to anyone's lips!...The Sun God Nika!!"
"Nika? I've never heard that name before"
"Naturally, it's been wiped from history and yet as long as people's desires persist, such a thing will never cease to be!! We owe all there is to desire!!" Vegapunk stated "For instance. The Devil Fruits are a manifestation of the desire to see how different paths of evolution can play out"
"'Gee, I wish I could do X…' or 'If only we could do Y…' fruit powers actualize such wishes. Each one showcases a different possibility for the future of humanity. For example, if we take that Emperor's fruit, the Mera Mera no Mi…"
"…It could have been born out of the desire for power and dominance. The craving for dominance and the ability to incinerate everything in one's path might have fueled the birth of the Mera Mera no Mi. Just Like Straw Hat's fruit actualize the desire for Liberation…"
(Maybe that's why Luffy's fruit wasn't awakened in centuries because the user's ambition wasn't to liberate)
"These deviations are of course unnatural, so it makes sense that they attract the ire of mother nature…The sea itself!!..."
"One who has eaten a fruit lives a totally alien existence born out of the limitless permutations of imagination!!..." Vegapunk stated.
"That's my theory at least, whether you believe there's a god or not…one thing is for sure…"
"We live in a wonderous world!!"