Luffy allowed himself a moment's breath as he focused his Observation Haki on the rest of the crew.
"Whoa," he said, amazed at the fact that Lucci's aura had dimmed. He had taken note of CP9's presence during his fight with Kizaru and had planned on intervening as soon as he got some room to breathe, but it seemed Sanji had actually managed to beat their strongest member. Adding to that, some of the Supernovas that weren't in the alliance actually seemed to be helping his crewmates. With that front more or less covered, he focused his attention on the adversary before him.
Luffy stared at the woman who fell in love with him in a previous life. Even now, her unparalleled beauty failed to register any sort of arousal in the rubber man. That wasn't to say he felt nothing, however; Hancock had been a friend of his, after all, and even if she hadn't ended up dead in the last timeline, he wasn't meeting her under the best of circumstances.
That is to say, she was still a misandrist to anyone but Rayleigh, hence the cold stare she was giving him, and he didn't remotely have the opportunity to change that. Still, he'd have to try; he really didn't want to fight her because emotions aside, she was as dangerous as Doflamingo when she went all-out.
"Boa Hancock. Could you let me by?" Luffy asked innocently.
"I don't think so," she responded coolly. "I have orders to subdue you."
"Orders? You don't seem like the type who cares what the World Government tells you to do."
"My reasons are none of your business," Hancock snapped.
Luffy stared at her for a minute and then shrugged. "OK. I'll just leave you alone, then."
Observation Haki was a very useful tool, and Hancock was quite proficient in its usage. But unfortunately, it was rather useless against someone who wasn't attacking her. As such, she was caught off-guard when the skin of the pirate before her suddenly took on the appearance of a steamed lobster, following which he vanished from before her.
Her surprise lasted long enough for her to blink in bemusement. Then she turned in the direction he'd fled and rushed after him, aiming a flying kick at his head.
Luffy ducked, and the impact struck one of the mangroves, turning a large section to stone and shattering it.
"No man can resist my charm," Hancock said with a slight smirk, tossing her hair. "I'll make it so that you can't run away any more."
Luffy didn't answer; he merely stood and gave her a look that screamed, "Come at me, then." The Warlord was only too happy to oblige, spinning up on one leg and lashing out a barrage of side kicks. Luffy swayed around most; the remainder, he caught on arms black with Armament, each blow harmlessly skittering off.
Frowning, Hancock switched tactics. She planted her kicking leg, and snapped her other leg up in a mighty sweep kick that Luffy caught on his arms like all the others. Unlike all the others, this one was made for force over speed and sent him clean off his feet.
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling!" Luffy barked, arms blurring from sight.
But not from Hancock's Observation, and not beyond her reflexes. The Warlord ducked, weaved, and hopped like a champion boxer, twisting between the rain of punches, a counter already prepared: a knife-hand strike, for a kick required windup space she did not presently have. She just needed to wait for the rain of blows to end…
The last punch roared in, and Hancock took her attention off of it to find Luffy. In the event, she found him right in front of her, one hand pulled back.
Gasping, Hancock pumped Armament into her body, but the blow that came lacked a name. In fact, it was just a simple palm strike that had about the same effect as her earlier kick had: it just shoved her back and off her feet.
Catching her feet, Hancock eyed the pirate in front of her, finally taking in just how loose his entire demeanor was. One could barely even call it 'guarded.'
"You're holding back your strength. You're not making any attempt to win against me. Why?"
"Because I really don't want to fight you," Luffy responded seriously. His eyes narrowed. "But I will if I have to."
Hancock sniffed. "You don't honestly think that you can end this any other way, do you? If you don't fight me, your crew will fall to ruin."
"I won't let that happen."
The words were spoken so simply, but with resolution firmer than anything Hancock had ever experienced…except perhaps her and her sisters' that they would never again be slaves.
Wordlessly, the two combatants charged at each other, one Armament-blackened leg slamming against another… and one Conqueror's Will wrestling against another. The air itself came close to shattering, cracks visibly spider webbing out from the clash of the two monsters; if anyone else had been in the area, they'd have been left unconscious for a week.
Finally, they split apart, leaping back from each other. Hancock came away only marginally worse off than Luffy, in that his willpower had left her shaken slightly while he stood unperturbed.
"I underestimated your resolve…" she admitted. Thoughts of stopping the man before her were now far from her mind. "Can you really accomplish what you set out to do?"
Luffy tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I could feel your intent, Straw Hat Luffy. Do you truly have what it takes to bring down the World Government?"
Luffy's confusion evaporated and he folded his arms. "My goal is keeping my friends safe and helping them reach their dreams. And if I have to tear down the World Government to make that happen, then that's what I'll do."
Hancock stared intently at Luffy, searching for any hint of deceit. But she didn't get far before her Observation veritably screamed at her to move, backing up the scream with a mental flash of light. She didn't question it; she hurled herself forward in what an uncharitable observer might have dubbed a sprawl. Out the corner of her eye, she could see Luffy flailing out of the way, too.
And that brief moment of observation was all it took. Hancock was just a little too slow in dodging, and the beam of light, split in two by Rayleigh, grazed the back of her top instead of missing her entirely.
The fabric crumbled away into ash, and the mark on her flesh that embodied every ounce of her fear, distrustfulness, and misandry was exposed to the world. She moved immediately, darting to the nearest mangrove and pressing her back against it. For the briefest of moments, she allowed herself to relax. Then Luffy reappeared a short distance before her, and closed the distance between them with three long strides.
"STAY BACK!" Hancock shrieked, terror at the thought that she could be exposed—worse, that she could be exposed to someone that she couldn't silence, nearly sending her into a panic attack. Then her fear slowly gave way to confusion as the man removed his cardigan and held it out to her.
"Use this to cover yourself up."
Her heart still thundered, dreadful half-formed possibilities flitting in and out of her mind's eye. Seemingly seeing this, Luffy shook his head slightly.
"I've seen that mark before. The only ones who should be ashamed of it are the ones who gave it to you," he said darkly.
As his words slowly penetrated her panic, her trauma gave way to reasoning. Once again, Boa Hancock searched Luffy's face for any hint of deceit. She found none, instead seeing the same will that she felt earlier reflected in his eyes.
Almost unwillingly, she allowed herself to relax; for the first time in thirteen years and the second time in her life, a man had earned her trust. She accepted the fabric and wrapped it around herself before locking eyes with Luffy.
"I will return to Amazon Lily. Should the Marines ask, I will tell them that you defeated me."
Luffy nodded. "Thanks, Hancock. I hope we can meet again under better conditions someday."
And with that, the two parted ways.
"Am I late?"
In spite of the ongoing fights, the combatants glanced at the newcomer…and then double-took. For the pirates, it was because Sanji was obviously—and perhaps literally—running on fumes based on his appearance. For the assassins, meanwhile, it was because they knew that his presence and his current state only meant one thing.
"It can't be… Lucci lost?" Kalifa gasped.
"What does it matter?" Jabra snapped. "Even if he did lose, he got one of their main fighters into this sorry state first, so he's no threat to us while we take out the rest of them!"
"Shitty wolf," Sanji snarled. "Just for that, I'm gonna—urrrgh…"
Unfortunately for the Straw Hats, Jabra was proven absolutely correct; the last of Sanji's adrenaline faded as he confirmed that everyone else was still safe, and he lost his slackened grip on consciousness.
…But unfortunately for CP9, certain Straw Hats seized on the distraction that Sanji's appearance presented for them. Nami vanished behind a mirage, Usopp sprinted to a safer distance, Chopper took a Rumble Ball, and Franky and Brook both took swigs of drinks that they had stashed… somewhere, restoring their stamina.
Needless to say, that was the end of any hope the assassins had of winning their rematch against the Straw Hats.
"I thought I told you to butt out, you long-arm bastard!" Kid shouted as he used his magnetic powers to thrash his cybernetic opponent. Apoo ignored him entirely, sending another destructive soundwave at the Pacifista in his grasp, causing it to spark dangerously from the damage both had inflicted upon it.
Against two Supernovas, one of which was its perfect counter, the human weapon wasn't fairing well. It looked like it was about to fall apart as Kid continued to ruthlessly lift it up and smash it against the ground. Nevertheless, it had refused to stay down, and they were essentially competing to see who could destroy it first at this point.
Kalifa stood ready to evade her opponent at any moment, realizing how quickly the fight had fallen out of her favor.
Her keen eyes focused on the grass, on the air, trying to seek out distortions that she could use to pinpoint the pirate's location. Unfortunately, that process was hampered by the fact that any distortion was an unreliable sign of her presence and, of course, the fact that she wasn't quite fast enough to dodge every sneak attack shock.
She suddenly caught sight of her opponent appearing out of thin air, with a clear expression of dismay on her face.
"GAH! My time's up already? I should have had at least a few more—"
"Minutes, seconds, whatever it is doesn't matter," Kalifa said coolly as she fired a Rankyaku straight towards Nami. The latter was left with no time to dodge, and the attack split her in half… only for said halves to fade away.
Kalifa had all of one second to realize that she had just made a fatal mistake before a bolt of lightning shot straight through her torso. She was out cold long before her body fell to the earth.
The real Nami appeared and stuck her tongue out. "Gotchya."
"Thunderbird Star!" Usopp shot a bird-shaped lightning projectile at Fukurou, only for him to weave around it with Kami-e.
"Arrow Notch Strike!" Brook blitzed behind the CP9 agent, having just taken a slash at him, but the CP9 agent withstood the strike with Tekkai.
"Usopp-san, I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me in on that plan of yours now?" the skeleton asked as they both dodged a Rankyaku from the Rokushiki practitioner.
"Ugh, fine!" Usopp relented. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch, dammit! Brook, use me as a sword, quick!"
Brook's jawbone unhinged itself. That was the plan? "Usopp-san, with all due respect, that is the most idiotic plan I've ever heard! I pray for the wellbeing of anyone who would come up with something like that!"
Zoro suddenly sneezed as he was making his way back towards old man Rayleigh's aura.
"Am I getting sick?" the swordsman wondered. "That's just embarrassing. I need more training after all…"
"Just do it anyway!" Usopp insisted. Reluctantly, Brook sheathed his own sword and grabbed Usopp by the legs, before rushing at Fukurou again.
Thanks to Usopp's visual Observation Haki, he was able to see everything with relative clarity despite the impressive speed they were traveling at. As he caught sight of Fukurou's smug expression, he smirked. He was clearly secure in his belief that they couldn't harm him. He'd have to change that.
"Reject!" At the moment of impact, Usopp pressed his most powerful Dial against Fukurou, and as the two Straw Hats passed him by, Fukurou felt his insides turn to shreds.
The CP9 agent let out a silent scream of agony before falling flat on his face, unmoving.
"So that was the plan!" Brook said. "Brilliant maneuver, Usopp—"
"SON OF A BITCH, OOOOOOWWWWW!" the sniper cried out, cradling his now broken arm.
"Ah, that must hurt."
Chopper was on his second Rumble Ball already. He had been landing decent hits against an opponent that used biofeedback to move his hair around freely, but his attacks didn't seem to be effecting him that much even in Arm Point. Robin had already prevented him from getting skewered, restraining their foe with her powers, but his body hardening technique protected her from doing much else against him, and his strength was such that he would soon break free of her grip.
Chopper locked eyes with Robin and she nodded, agreeing to try their tactic again. Chopper shifted into Arm Point...or at least he tried to. He ended up in Brain Point instead, thanks to the side effect of taking the Rumble Ball twice in short succession. This left him vulnerable, which Kumadori capitalized on. But even as he prepared to punch a hole through Chopper with his staff, Robin was already sprouting dozens of arms to hold him down.
This is my chance! In the brief moment that he was restrained, Chopper used Brain Point to scan Kumadori for weaknesses. The answer soon came to him.
Just in time as well, as at that moment, Kumadori ruthlessly broke Robin's hold, causing her to gasp in pain as the shock was transferred back to her arms. Seeing that her arms were bleeding and that Kumadori was aiming for her now, Chopper tried shifting into Walk Point. He ended up in Jumping Point instead, but that worked just as well, and he leapt towards Robin, pulling her out of the way as Kumadori's staff impacted the ground where she'd been standing.
"Thank you, Chopper," Robin said, wincing.
"Robin, clutch him when I tell you to," Chopper whispered. Robin merely nodded, trusting that he had a plan.
Chopper leapt towards Kumadori in Jumping Point, avoiding the tendrils of hair that reached out to grab him, and shifted one more time. This time, Arm Point came as intended, and he launched his most powerful attack at Kumadori.
"Roseo: Sakura Blizzard!"
The series of blows broke through the CP9 agent's Tekkai, staggering him and causing him to stumble as blood dripped down his chin. Chopper knew it wouldn't be enough to finish him, but it was enough to make him drop his Tekkai for just a moment…
"Ochenta Fleur!" Robin didn't even need to be told, easily recognizing the opening. Eighty arms sprouted around Kumadori and wrapped around his arms, legs, shoulders, and neck. "Clutch!"
A sickening crack rang out into the air, and as the arms dissipated, Kumadori let out a weak moan, before falling to the ground, unmoving.
Having refueled on cola, Franky began to overpower Blueno, who was still injured from his earlier Coup de Burst. Landing a Strong Right to the agent's face, he watched in satisfaction as his opponent crashed into the ground with a grunt of pain.
"You're getting slow, Blueno. Maybe you should go back to serving drinks!"
To his credit, Blueno didn't rise to the taunt, instead hanging back to catch his breath. Franky didn't let him though, charging forward with another haymaker at the ready.
Blueno suddenly opened up a door into the air and disappeared into it, causing Franky to skid to a halt in surprise. He quickly spun around and threw another Strong Right into Blueno's face as he reappeared.
'Impossible, how could he have known?' Blueno wondered in alarm. Calm reasserted itself on his mind as his reasoning arrived at the answer: 'He didn't know; he knows that his back is his weak spot, so he defends it reflexively.'
Blueno jumped through his Air Door again, and Franky once again spun around to protect his back, only for Blueno to jump out from the same spot he'd been in. He appeared behind Franky's back and landed multiple shigan and a Rankyaku before the cyborg could react.
Franky let out a cry of pain as he was sent on a collision course with the ground. He struggled to get up, his human side having been hit. Blueno tried to capitalize, using the Doa Doa no Mi to get behind him again, but received a nasty surprise for his efforts.
"Max Cola Power: Coup de Boo!"
Blueno didn't even want to think about what happened to him at that moment. When he made his report to the World Government later, he would tell them he was defeated in hand to hand combat against the cyborg. Anything was better than letting his superiors know he lost because he got farted on.
His body finally came to a stop when it impacted with one of the many mangroves around the archipelago, and he welcomed unconsciousness as a sweet relief. Not from the pain, but from the sheer humiliation...and the smell.
Drake blocked a strike from Kaku and Jabra simultaneously, holding them each back with one weapon. He then twisted around and shoved them both backwards, much to their amazement.
"This guy's physical strength is insane," Jabra commented. "Fine! I'll just have to overwhelm him with speed!"
Kaku came to the same conclusion, and the two both vanished using Soru. To their shock, he dodged using the same technique, and their blows impacted the ground.
"Surprised? As a former Rear Admiral, the simpler Rokushiki techniques are well within my grasp. Though since you've both transformed already, I suppose it's time to even the playing field."
Drake shifted into his hybrid zoan form, his body changing size and shape to emulate a cross between a t-rex and a human.
"An ancient zoan…" Kaku muttered. This fight was getting more and more interesting.
Drake used Soru to rush at Kabra, who blocked his kick using Tekkai Kenpo. He was still pushed back by the force, but Kaku attacked Drake before he could follow up.
"Going for the weaker opponent first? Smart move!" Kaku complimented, using his neck as a flail to try to him his opponent. Drake was surprised by the unorthodox move, being put momentarily on the defensive.
That was until Jabra sent a Rankyaku at Kaku, interrupting his attack. "Hey, who are you calling the weaker opponent, you bastard!?" the wolfman shouted.
It looked like the two were about to get into an argument, but Drake left them no time to do so. He approached with a quick Soru and swung both his weapons at the distracted Kaku's neck. Kaku was able to move in time to avoid a fatal hit, but Drake still cut through his Tekkai and drew blood.
Running thin on patience and livid at both his opponent and supposed ally, Kaku dropped to the ground and began rotating.
"You've both gotten me angry. I don't care who I hit with this now!"
Recognizing that the motions he was going through weren't for show, Drake and Jabra both took evasive maneuvers.
"Rankyaku: Sky Slicer!" A circular blade of wind shot out from Kaku, far more powerful than the standard Rankyaku. But although it was fast and deadly, it's charge time made it predictable and it therefore became easy to dodge.
Or at least, it would have been.
At the last second, Drake grabbed Jabra and threw him into the move's path. Jabra was hit dead on by the attack, which instantly cut through his Tekkai and put him out of commission.
"Damn, I let my anger rule me," Kaku whispered. Though he was still seething, there was a hint of regret in his voice. "I should have pulled back the technique in time."
There was no time to think about that now, though. Drake and Kaku used Soru to charge at each other once more, and although Kaku's physical prowess and versatility allowed him to keep up for a while, he was soon overwhelmed by Drake's greater strength and superior Devil Fruit.
Eventually Drake was able to sink his sword into Kaku's foot, punning him to the ground and rendering him immobile. Gritting his teeth through the pain, Kaku tried to send a Shigan at Drake, but the Supernova used Soru again to appear behind him and swung his axe at the back of his skull full force.
Kaku, dropped to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from his head.
Kid kicked the fallen Pacifista in the head to make sure it was down for good. The impact with the metal produced a dull clang, but the human weapon didn't move. It was covered in dents and scrapes all over. Blood soaked the ground where it lay, the part of its body that was still human not having been up to the abuse the two Supernovas had delivered to it.
"Tch, stubborn fucker finally kicked the bucket," Kid grumbled, still not happy about Apoo having assisted him. "Hey, Trafalgar, don't tell me you need help over there!"
"Does it look like I do?" the Surgeon of Death deadpanned. His own cyborg opponent was cut into a dozen pieces. Even then it futilely tried to make its way towards Law to either apprehend or kill the pirate.
"You're not looking too good," Pacifista-san," Law said with a chilling smile. "Don't worry, this'll end soon. I'm against unnecessary suffering."
The Pacifista tried to aim a laser from his severed hand at Law in response, but Law switched its hand with around its leg, causing it to aim at its own head, which went up in flames from the explosion.
"You could have fooled me, bastard," Kid drawled. "Just finish it already."
"Don't tell me what to do, Eustass." Law quickly shambled over to the Pacifista's head and rammed his sword through its now exposed brain. The flickering light in its eyes instantly died out.
"That pretty much finishes up all the government dogs here, as far as I can tell," Apoo said, arms crossed casually behind his head.
"It still leaves the damn Admiral," Kid said. Both of them had been briefed on the situation by Law. "You think Straw Hat and Demon Wind can take him?"
"They did it once before, didn't they?" Law reminded him. "I doubt they'll lose. I've met both of those two, and they had this look in their eyes that had me convinced they wouldn't go down very easily."
"Didn't have you pegged for the sentimental type, Trafalgar."
"Shut up or I'll kill you."
Marine Admiral Kizaru and Dark King Rayleigh blitzed across Sabaody Archipelago, exchanging a rapid flurry of swordplay. The residents and passerby of the lawless zone had long evacuated the battlefield due to the massive amounts of collateral damage that would assault their surroundings with every clash of light and steel.
Neither combatant had landed more than a glancing hit on the other yet. Although they seemed to be evenly matched, anyone with a trained eye could tell that the Dark King was worse off. His breaths came in heavy gasps as he tried to regulate his breathing.
"Starting to slow down, are you?" Kizaru mocked. "Even if you were the Right Hand of the Pirate King decades ago, retirement still hasn't done you any favors. When was the last time you picked up a sword, I wonder?"
"I still have some fight left in these old bones, Admiral. Underestimating the Old Generation will be your downfall!"
Kizaru was about to respond, but just then, his senses flared, and he was forced to disengage to dodge a deadly wind blade from Zoro. This created an opening for Rayleigh to send his own flying slash at him, but that too, was dodged.
As light particles reformed his body a distance away, Luffy appeared in his path, fist blackened with obsidian lightning running down the length of his arm from the effects of his Conqueror's Haki.
"Gomu Gomu no Night Hawk!"
The blow landed cleanly on Kizaru's face, the impact causing a massive shockwave as he was blown backwards. He finally righted himself, and though he was hardly fazed by the large bruise forming on his face, his scowl showed that he was slightly nervous about fighting these particular three pirates all at once.
Luffy and Zoro wasted no time.
"Gear Fourth: Snakeman!"
"Nine Sword Style: Asura!"
If the previous confrontation between two of these fighters was enough to clear the area, the four of them clashing was enough to make all of Sabaody give serious consideration to evacuating. The backlash from their battle was felt all over the archipelago.
It wasn't long before Kizaru began to feel the strain. Although neither of the Straw Hats were strong enough to push him to his limits on their own, together they were a dangerous and deadly challenge. Add in Rayleigh, who was practically on par with him save for stamina issues, and this opposition was overwhelming. It was only liberal use of his lightspeed that kept him from taking debilitating hits, but Straw Hat and Dark King could both use Future Sight Observation to track him, and Roronoa's own well honed instincts were nothing to scoff at.
Finally, his evasiveness failed him, and he took three hits in short succession.
"Jet Culverin!" Luffy's fist snaked its way towards him before delivering a punishing blow to the back of his skull, dazing him and eliciting a pained grunt.
"Nine Demon Flash!" Zoro's nine Armaments Hardened blades cut through his torso, blood seeping from the wounds.
"Umbra Ray!" Black lightning surrounded Rayleigh's sword as he unleashed a pitch black flying slash at Kizaru. The Admiral barely had time to use Haki to defend himself as he was envoloped by the darkened wind blade.
When the dust settled, Kizaru could be seen standing in a slouch, covered in blood from head to toe. His eyes were narrowed as Luffy and Zoro rushed forth once more, readying another assault.
"No! Draw back!" Rayleigh shouted suddenly, but the warning came too late.
A concussive force of unknown origins hit the two, blowing them both backwards. Although Luffy was barely able to right himself with Gear Fourth, Zoro was less lucky, and the blast carried him into another mangrove entirely.
Startled, Luffy looked up towards the source of the attack, ready to take out the offender…
Only to see Admiral Fujitora—no, Vice Admiral Issho—hovering in the air above Sabaody.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Luffy said, sweating dripping down his face.
Issho lowered himself down in front of an injured Kizaru.
"You look like you've seen better days, Borsalino san," the levelheaded Marine stated.
"How embarrassing," Kizaru drawled. "I would have wrapped this up by now if I knew one of my subordinates would be seeing me like this. But I wasn't expecting you, you see."
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku sent me as backup," the blind man explained. "He seemed to be under the impression that we'd need a failsafe. Seeing the situation here, I'm inclined to believe him."
"It seems this battle has just fallen out of our favor, young one," Rayleigh said. Luffy didn't reply. He just got ready for another round.
Just then, Kizaru warped away at lightspeed. Luffy swore.
"Rayleigh, will you be fine!?"
"Of course!" the elder pirate assured, despite his fatigue showing. "Go after him!"
Luffy shot off after Kizaru, hoping he wasn't too late.
The Straw Hat crew were heading towards the Sunny in a battered state, Law and Bonney walking alongside them. The other Supernovas had already departed, emphasizing the fact that it was the last time they'd be giving out free help.
"We sure laid a SUPER beating down on their asses!" Franky shouted, carrying an unconscious Sanji over his shoulder.
"It was a close thing, though," Nami said wearily.
"We were lucky. Very much so," Robin agreed. "But I can't help but worry about Luffy and Zoro—"
"Get down!"
An injured Zoro leapt in front of the crew, none of them having even spotted him. A beam of light came their way, but Zoro deflected it with Shusui, causing it to explode off in the distance.
Kizaru appeared in front of the group, causing everyone sans Zoro to stiffen.
"You lot sure are making my life difficult," Kizaru grumbled.
"Gomu Gomu no Black Mamba!" Luffy shot down from above, still in Gear Fourth, aiming his enhanced gatling at Kizaru. The Admiral weaved through the blows rather effortlessly, only for them to bounce off the air and follow him, forcing him to deflect Luffy's arms with two lightspeed kicks.
Luffy and Zoro began to tag team Kizaru again, but just when it looked like they were gaining ground, Kizaru aimed several lasers at the crew, forcing them both to abort their attacks and deflect them.
This left them both vulnerable, and Kizaru continued to rain down lasers on the two, who tried their best to block but received several burns for their efforts.
Then Kizaru landed a lightspeed kick to Luffy's gut, and things took a turn for the worse as he lost his grip on Gear Fourth, the technique having already run its course.
The difference after that was substantial, and the two immediately began to lose ground against a now fully serious Kizaru. The logia finally warped in between them and caught them both with a lightspeed kick, sending them flying away in opposite directions.
Kizaru then turned his attention to the crew, and they watched in terror as he raised a glowing finger towards them.
Sanji's flitted in and out of consciousness, wondering what the hell he was seeing. He was dreaming of terrible memories, memories that weren't his, and yet somehow were, memories that made him want to vomit. It was confusing and disorienting. He didn't know whether he was on Sabaody Archipelago, or somewhere deep in the ocean, shackled head to toe inside of a seastone cage with no hope of escape.
That wasn't all he remembered. It all came back to that shitty naval battle, the one he remembered but didn't. He was getting flashes of a great battle at sea against opponents he didn't recognize.
They lost. They lost the battle, and everything important to them. He knew...he knew it deep in his bones, down to every last bone that screamed out in protest against the idea, because it hadn't happened, these weren't his memories, this was a lie.
Why was he seeing this?
He remembered being subdued after it all and brought to Level 6 of Impel Down in chains. He was tortured for days there, or what he assumed was days. It was hard to keep track of time in that shitty hellhole.
He had just been laughing at the guards, taunting them, daring them to keep trying their best to finally break him, because they never would, when it happened.
The words echoed through his mind like an ethereal metronome, the disembodied voice rattling through his head, jarring him.
Your journey back won't go as smoothly, given your condition. Good luck, adventurer.
He didn't know whose words they'd been, but he didn't care, because it was then that he'd been struck by a sudden sense of weightlessness, and it had occurred to him that he wouldn't be spending much longer in Impel Down. Higher and higher he rose, until he found himself lying flat on his back, unchained, with a splitting headache, two sets of memories, and the distinct feel of soap bubbles against his skin.
His eyes opened.
The Straw Hats all aimed attacks at Kizaru, but they were completely ineffective against his logia form. Even Law and Bonney's powers had no effect.
"Such heart you pirates have," Kizaru mocked. "Sorry about this. But my mission is to wipe out the Straw Hats, not just their strongest fighters."
The laser that was aimed at Nami would have surely killed here.
Except Sanji was suddenly in front of her, deflecting the laser with a kick. It hit shot through a nearby mangrove before exploding.
The entire group stared at Sanji, shocked out of their wits, as Kizaru stared at Sanji intently.
"There's something vastly different about you," the Admiral commented. Had their intel been wrong? They hadn't accounted for another one of these freakish prodigies.
It was then that Luffy and Zoro arrived again, clearly panicking at the thought that they'd left the crew unattended, only to look confused when they realized that no one had been harmed. It wasn't long before their awakened crewmate's pulsating aura caught their attention.
"Sanji?" Luffy asked with awe.
Sanji smirked. "Yo, shitty Captain and Mosshead. This is a lot to take in, you know. I feel like my head's about to explode. All I can say is, I hope you bastards have room for one more in your shitty club."