Breathing in sharply, Ace cast a dome of flames around himself, forcing his opponents to distance themselves somewhat. He had managed to take out the remaining battleships, but had taken more damage than we would have liked in the process. Worse yet, all four of his opponents were still in the fight. The four Vice Admirals wouldn't be much of a threat individually, but they worked fluidly as a team, and coupled with his injuries that still hadn't healed from his fight with Blackbeard, that was making things difficult for him.
That wasn't to say he hadn't dealt any damage of his own, but he just couldn't seem to pin them down long enough to land a good enough hit. He'd been using area of effect attacks, but he couldn't use moves like Entei without killing innocent civilians on Sabaody in the process.
He quickly spread his arms out, causing the dome of fire surrounding him to spread out in all directions. His four opponents got caught in the blast, but their Haki defended them from the worst of it.
As the four readied their next assault, a human bullet blurred through the sky towards them. An iron grip founds its way around Bastille's skull, and he plummeted downward, until the newcomer crushed his head against the ground. A crater formed at the point of impact.
The other three were so caught off guard that they fell back to reassess the new threat.
"You're late," Ace said. "Let's finish this quickly so we can go help Luffy."
When the dust cleared, Bastille was prone on the ground, out cold.
"So dramatic," Mavric sighed, catching up. "You just had to make an entrance didn't you, Chief of Staff?"
"I don't need to hear that from you, rooftop stalker," Sabo replied, and Mavric shrugged in surrender. "Sit this one out. You're injured from your fight with Sentomaru."
"What? Sentomaru's been defeated as well!?" Dalmatian shouted.
"Don't lose conviction!" Stainless said. "The Revolutionary got the drop on us, but we still outnumber them!"
Ace smirked. "Let's see how long that lasts."
Hachi, Pappug, and a disguided Camie were all on their way back to Shakky's bar. It was the only safe place they could be during all this madness. Both Hachi and Pappag were worried about their new friends, while Camie showed a confidence in them that befitted her innocence.
"Nyu, do you think they'll be ok?" Hachi asked, as they made their way through the crowds fleeing from the direction of the fight.
"Don't worry!" Camie said. "It's Luffy-chin and his crew! I'm sure they'll pull through!"
"If you say so," Pappug said. "The World Government seems to really want them out of the picture, though."
None of them noticed a large, curly haired man eying Camie's disguise with narrowed eyes as they walked by.
Luffy and Zoro had many questions right now.
Still, Luffy had never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and while Zoro was at times, he knew there were moments when it simply wasn't wise to do so. So it wasn't that surprising that they both decided to address Sanji's situation after the fight. Thus, the three now stood against an increasingly curious Kizaru.
The three were faring somewhat better against the Admiral now, but their injuries were taking their toll on their strength and stamina, and Sanji had it the worst of them. Kizaru had realized this and focused on attacking the chef relentlessly, trying to put him out of the fight; only his Observation Haki coupled with Luffy's was keeping him from taking a debilitating hit. And on the offensive side of things, Kizaru continued to demonstrate that he did not hold his position for nothing.
He dodged Zoro's Sanzen Sekai and struck him with a lightspeed kick; he repelled Sanji's Hell Memories with superior Haki, blowing him away; and he weaved in-between the assault of Luffy's Red Hawk Storm, and then forced him back with a light sword that nearly decapitated the rubber man.
"We aren't making any headway!" Sanji shouted.
"We just...need to buy time...until we can use Gear Fourth and Asura again!" Luffy said, panting heavily.
"That's time we don't have," Zoro said grimly, as Kizaru charged up a ball of light.
"Fire Fist!" A familiar and very welcome voice rang through their ears. Kizaru cancelled his own attack and warped into the air, out of the way of the massive fire blast.
Only for Sabo to blindside him with a follow-up attack; he reacted quickly enough to block the revolutionary's kick with his forearm, but it sent him flying back towards the ground.
Kizaru's face remained impassive, but inwardly he cursed. If they're here, it means the Vice Admirals and Sentomaru have been defeated. Which means I'm on my own unless Issho manages to defeat Dark King.
Suddenly he wasn't liking his chances as much as before.
As he landed, Zoro and Sanji lashed out respectively with a 1080 Caliber Phoenix and Hell Memories. He warped away again, only to appear in the path of an Elephant Gun. Straw Hat had predicted his movements again.
He was hit dead-on and crashed head-first into a nearby mangrove.
The pain coursing through his normally invulnerable body was frustrating, and Kizaru showed as much as he made his next move. He warped into the sky above Sabaody and began to charge up a massive beam of light, keeping each of his five opponents in sight. This was more power than he had had to expend in years, but there would be no way to dodge this blow. They'd have to take it head-on.
"He's trying to blow up the entire lawless zone!" Zoro shouted.
"Ace!" Luffy called.
"I'm on it," his brother grunted, already forming a mass of fire to match Kizaru's attack.
Kizaru saw the growing flames but continued undeterred, confident that his technique would win out. But with all of his concentration focused on his foes, the Haki-imbued kick that struck his head from behind caught him by surprise. And while it didn't hurt him, it did faze him and make him look briefly away from his targets.
For a single second, he saw Mavric's exhausted but triumphantly smug face. Then Ace's shout drew his attention back.
"Genesis Edict!"
The Haki-imbued miniature sun that had allowed the Fire-Man to overcome Blackbeard's darkness was upon Kizaru before he could respond and, left with no other defense, he transformed into light. But the blast radius was so wide that it lit up the sky, and with no room to dodge or warp away, all he could do was coat his intangible body with Armament Haki and attempt to wait it out.
He vaguely noticed an impossibly long black arm seizing the screaming Revolutionary nearby and dragging him out of the flames to safety.
All of Sabaody looked towards the sky, shielding their eyes from the light, and as they felt the scorching heat from the distance, each and every one of them shared a sentiment that they would never utter aloud: the Celestial Dragons may call themselves gods, but never could they breathe a flame so godly themselves.
Inside the city-wide raging inferno, Kizaru's defenses began to slip. Soon his Haki would give out, and he'd be forcefully solidified. Taking a chance, he focused every bit of his concentration to warp out of the blast while maintaining his intangibility. To his relief, it worked.
As his body reformed from light into flesh a distance away from the fire, Kizaru allowed himself a moment to relax.
Until he saw Sabo hovering in front of him using Geppo. Kizaru barely had time to feel panic before a Haki-imbued punch sent him flying back into the fire, and this time, he was in his human form as it consumed him.
It took all of his willpower not to scream.
By the time the technique faded out, he was panting heavily and covered in severe burns.
As soon as he could bring himself to concentrate again, he comprehended the sight before him: Monkey D. Luffy, tattooed with Armament Haki once more, bouncing in front of him.
"…darn it," the Admiral sighed. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"
"I might," Luffy snarled. "And if I don't, I will if you ever come after my crew again. King Kong Gun!"
The coup de grâce struck Borsalino head-on; the Admiral didn't have the energy to block the attack. He barely managed to stay awake as Luffy's attack sent him flying off of the Archipelago, and finally he lost his grasp as he struck the ocean. The last sensation he remembered was the water's cool embrace as it mercilessly dragged him down into its murky depths.
"I fear we will have to put this fight on hold, Dark King," Issho said. The gravity in the vicinity suddenly reverted back to its usual intensity as the abnormally strong Vice Admiral sheathed his sword. Rayleigh, panting slightly, followed suit.
"The lives of your comrades over the mission, huh? If only more Marines thought like you do." Rayleigh said.
"I won't deny the validity of your claim," Issho said. "Though to begin with, my mission was to act as backup for Borsalino-san, and letting him drown doesn't achieve much to that end."
"Fair enough. I suppose I'll trust you not to go after those young ones then," Rayleigh replied, before turning away.
Issho rose into the air, and with merely a thought, flew off of Sabaody and over the waters of the Grand Line. With his Observation Haki, he could sense Kizaru's form resting against the ocean floor. Reaching out one arm, he increased the pull of gravity on his comrade's form with himself as the epicenter, and after several long seconds, the unconscious Admiral rose out from the surface and into his waiting hand. Locating Sentomaru and the five Vice Admirals that had participated in the Siege, he quickly repeated the action, and soon, all six figures hovered around him like satellites.
Finally, he turned his attention toward the cluster of destroyed battleships and scowled. He couldn't sense a single survivor amongst the fleet. Fire Fist had chosen between the lives of the Marines bombarding the island and the lives of his comrades and countless innocents on the Archipelago. The choice must have been obvious.
And yet, despite Issho's grief, he knew it was supposed to be their job to protect the masses. It was the duty of the Marines to defend those who couldn't defend themselves, and hear they were, willing to sacrifice all but the Celestial Dragons in order to wipe out a single pirate crew.
And one of the most wanted criminals in the world had done their job for them. At the cost of men who'd been following orders.
Sometimes, he couldn't help but think that this world was beyond saving.
Such a tragic waste of life, and it's all on us. I'm glad you sent me here, Fleet Admiral. But if you yourself knew how poorly this was going to end…
He clenched his fist and flew, letting the wind carry away his doubts as his fellow Marines floated behind him.
The remaining six members of the Straw Hat crew were shaking with adrenaline. It was already disheartening that they were unable to even touch Kizaru despite their best efforts, but when the sky had been consumed with a giant fiery representation of how outclassed they were, it only drove home their powerlessness. They could hardly believe that they'd won.
At the moment, though, they were all more concerned with Sanji's circumstances. Since the moment the chef had woken up and blocked Kizaru's attack, he had been like a completely different person. Usopp had been shocked the most, having seen his aura pulse and expand before his eyes.
"Black Leg...what happened to him?" Bonney asked. "He wasn't nearly that strong before, but suddenly he can tangle with a Marine Admiral?"
Law's eyes were narrowed. "Straw Hat and Demon Wind seem to know something about it," he replied, as they listened to the three speaking.
"How did you come back, Sanji? We thought you were dead!" Luffy said, not caring who heard at the moment.
"No idea," the chef answered. "One moment I was in Impel Down, the next I heard a voice I didn't recognize and I was here."
"Roger must have sent him back too," Zoro speculated.
"Roger? He's the one who sent you guys back?" Sabo asked, as Ace's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah. Well, his ghost anyway. I guess he couldn't send the chef back as far, though. Wonder why."
"It could have been the distance, or maybe the condition he was in," Sabo reasoned.
Luffy's eyes widened. "So that's what he meant. He said the third one would be difficult."
Zoro, annoyed, shot him a look. "You didn't think to mention that when we first came back? Kind of important."
"It's best not to question it," Ace said. "We're just lucky that it happened when it did."
"What the hell are you lot on about?" Bonney asked, walking up to them. "It sounds like you just said the Pirate King sent you back in time or some shit."
The Straw Hats all exchanged uneasy looks, while Law looked on in interest. Sanji, seeing what was coming, scanned the area with Observation Haki to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Luckily, everyone had evacuated the area awhile ago.
"He did," Luffy said, breaking the silence. "Zoro and I, and now Sanji, were sent back to this time from over two years into the future. That's why we're so strong."
"Damn...Roger could actually do something like that? When he's dead, no less?" Bonney asked.
"He actually said it was because he was dead," Luffy remembered.
"Some kind of Devil Fruit? There are a select few that stay with the user after death," Law informed.
"We didn't ask," Zoro admitted. "At the time, we didn't exactly believe it ourselves."
Ace hummed. "Pops knew the bastard pretty well. Maybe I can ask him.
Bonney's brow furrowed. Did Ace have something against the Pirate King? He'd never mentioned it.
"So you three are basically New World level pirates in the bodies of your younger selves," Law concluded. "Thanks to the late Pirate King who you somehow met, and who for some reason decided to do you a favor."
Luffy deflated. "Don't make it sound like a fluke, Trafalguy!"
"Stop calling me that…"
"We're not just New World level pirates!" he continued, ignoring the command entirely. "We were easily as strong as the Yonko before we came back! But these weaker bodies take a lot getting used to. And I'll have you know he didn't send us back on a whim. He did it because we made it to Raftel!"
Law's eyes widened, along with Bonney's.
"Made it to…" Bonney trailed off, dumbfounded.
Law sighed. "So you're…"
"The Pirate King, yeah," Luffy said. "That's only in the other timeline though, so you've got nothing to worry about. The race is still on."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"With that said," Zoro said, fixing them both with a dry look. "I shouldn't have to tell you that this stays between us."
Bonney scoffed. "Like we'd go and broadcast intel like that."
"If anything, I'm looking forward to seeing you tear through the World Government some more," Law agreed.
"About that," Sabo spoke up. "Don't you guys find this strange? The Marines have gotten aggressive lately, to the point of recklessness. They normally wouldn't try to risk so much on a gamble like this."
"You're right," Ace mused. "Pops isn't just going to let this go when he hears about it. They're down one Admiral right now, they have a Yonko's retribution to worry about, and they didn't really accomplish anything. They should have known this would be a possible outcome."
"I believe they did," came a new voice. They all turned to see Rayleigh walking towards them. "Or at least, Fleet Admiral Sengoku did. It seems he sent a high ranking Marine with extraction in mind."
Luffy nodded, remembering how the Admiral—or Vice Admiral at this point in time—had shown up to the fight.
"So it sounds like Sengoku didn't exactly approve of this mission," Sabo said. "Did the order come from the Five Elder Stars, then? What could they be thinking?"
"I think it came from even higher than that," Luffy muttered.
Sabo's gaze immediately snapped to him. "You mean you guys know about that? No, don't answer that. Of course you do."
"OK, you lost me again," Bonney said. "Aren't the Five Elder Stars as high up as it gets?"
"Don't worry about it for now," Sabo said. "We have bigger problems at the moment." He turned to Ace. "I'm going to get in touch with Dragon. I suggest you and Luffy get in touch with Whitebeard as soon as possible."
"Straw Hat!" The group's attention was brought to another newcomer. Hachi ran up to Luffy and then collapsed to his knees. There was blood running down most of his arms. "I know you have your own battles to fight, but please, we need your help! Camie's been kidnapped by slave traders!"