Pain shot through Jinshi's body, his eyes fluttered open and he slowly tried making his way back to his feet. " Ugh!" Jinshi groaned. He felt his weight giving out once again, but before he hit the ground, a strong and supporting hand came down and caught him.
" Easy, captain. I've got you." Himejima told the man.
" Himejima? Where have you been?" Jinshi asked the man.
" I've been busy dealing with an unwanted pest." Himejima was quite considerably injured from his fight.
" What about, Terris?" Jinshi asked the man.
" That Marine and his friend brought him down." Himejima told the man.
" The Marine?"
" Yes, he and another marine fought Terris for quite some time before they beat him."
" How... How long was I out?" Jinshi asked the man.
" You've been out for hours. Sir... We're far away from the island." Himejima told the man.
Jinshi looked around and saw that he was sitting in his own cabin on his ship. He was covered in bandages. " I see. And what about Goenma?" Jinshi asked.
" Goenma woke up an hour after Terris managed to defeat all of you. He stayed and watched the end of the fight and then he managed to escape before the Marines caught him, by flying away. He's gone." Himejima told the man.
" I see."
" Captain."
" Quiet Himejima... I need some time to think. Leave me be for a while." Jinshi told the man.
Himejima nodded silently and helped Jinshi lay back down on his bed. Then with a bow of his head, Himejima departed his captain's room, giving him time to think.
' Marine.....'
........
Back on Cream Island. Five hours after the aftermath of Kuzan and Markus' battle with Terris.
* Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
"Hey, Sengoku-San."
" Kuzan."
Kuzan personally greeted Sengoku, welcoming him to his small encampment he made at the front of the island. The island itself was in complete ruins, but with the help of the Marines, the people of the kingdom were at least able to keep their casualties to the absolute minimum.
" What happened here? Give me the full report." Sengoku said to the man.
" Well, the kingdom is in complete ruins. Everything is destroyed. Thankfully, however, we managed to rescue the king and get the civilians out before anything bad happened. Though with that said, there were a few civilian casualties." Kuzan told the man.
" Hmph. As to be expected with such a troublesome foe. What else?"
" As far as i am aware, all enemy threats have been neutralized with the exception of Flying Thunder God- Goenma, and the Black Lion pirates. I'd say that's fortunate considering the conditions. Unfortunately, however, we suffered heavy military losses in this campaign. Vice Admirals Dalmatian and Momonga have suffered light injuries, but Lieutenant Markus was heavily injured and near death when our medics got a hold of him." Kuzan explained to the man.
" I see."
" I should mention it was the Lieutenant who brought down, The Island Smasher."
" It wasn't you?"
" I fought with the island smasher for quite some time, a little over an hour or more. But it was ultimately the lieutenant who delivered the crushing blow. We now have Island Smasher Terris, Atlas the crusher, Moon Light Zohakuten, Thunder Dragon Bankotsu, Long Horn, and Black Venom Vyper."
Sengoku listened to Kuzan's report with pride.
" Good job. Well done all of you!" Sengoku exclaimed. " It is because of your sacrifice and bravery that you won out today and saved the world from another catastrophe." Sengoku stated.
A sense of pride and dignity filled the hearts and souls of every single marine still standing.
" Where are the prisoners, now?" Sengoku asked.
" In chains and ready to be transported to Impel down." Kuzan told the man.
" Very well. Have the prisoners placed on my ship immediately. All of you prepare to leave this island. We'll be heading to impel down and then to Marineford." Sengoku exclaimed. " You've all earned a moments rest." Sengoku turned on his heels, to head back to the ship, but before he could leave Kuzan stopped the man.
" Eh, Sengoku-san... There's one more thing to discuss." Kuzan told the man.
" Hm? What is it, Kuzan?" Sengoku asked.
" Well... Here, I'll just let her speak to you." Kuzan muttered. He rubbed his head tiredly and stepped to the side, allowing Norin room to step forward and speak to the tall man.
" What is it, young lady?" Sengoku asked.
" My name is Norin Bjornsdottir."
" Bjornsdottir? I see, daughter of the frost Kingdoms patriarch, Bjorn Frostborn. Am I correct?"
" Yes sir."
" I am sorry for what happened to you r kingdom. But thank you for your help here, in ensuring that no other kingdom falls under the same darkness. Your help was greatly appreciated and will not go unrewarded by the world government." Sengoku told the girl.
" Thank you sir. But there's actually something I was hoping to ask of you."
" And what is that?"
" I would like permission to join under, Marine Lieutenant Markus' unit as an official member of the Marines." Norin told the man.
" I see. And why is that?" Sengoku asked.
" He saved my life. And his passion to fight for the sake of others is respectable. I want to be able to aid in him in his mission. I want to be able to keep others from suffering the way I have, sir." Norin explained to the admiral.
Sengoku listened to Norin's pleas and stood there quietly for a moment.
" Hmmm. I see. I cannot grant that request." Sengoku muttered.
" BUT!"
" But!" Sengoku exclaimed. He held up his finger to the girl and told her to be quiet while he finished explaining his idea to her. " I can't have you just join in the marines. If you really are passionate about this, then once we arrive back at Marineford, I will allow you to enlist properly, and if you can survive the enlistment process and become a proper Marine, then I will put in personally to have you transferred to Marine Lieutenant' Monkey D. Markus' unit. Though, I do not know if you are going to like it." Sengoku told the girl. " So, what do you think?"
" Thank you sir. I look forward to enlisting." Norin told the man.
" Very well. If there's nothing else to handle, let's get moving!" Sengoku shouted.
" HA!"
The Marines let out a loud shout and saluted Sengoku.
...............
It took quite some time, but the marines loaded up the pirates onto Admiral Sengoku's ship. He would personally see over their transfer to Impel down for judgement.
Normally, Pirates would be transferred to enies lobby for judgement. But in the case of these pirates, they had special permission to bring them directly to impel down.
" Sengoku, it's good to see you've arrived." Dalmatian said to the man.
" Dalmatian, I never expected things to turn out like this. I'm glad Kuzan arrived when he did." Sengoku responded.
" Yeah. The kid really has a knack for timing. Doesn't he?" Dalmatian muttered.
Hearing the older man teasing him Kuzan interjected himself into the conversation.
" Hey! What are you trying to say?" Kuzan shouted.
" I'm saying, you're a bit lazy Kuzan." Dalmatian said to the man.
Kuzan grunted and sat back down in his chair.
It was dark out and raining and Kuzan didn't feel like arguing with Dalmatian at this point in time.
" How is the young man doing?" Sengoku ask Dalmatian.
" Last time, I saw him, they had him hooked up to a ventilator, helping him breathe. But I was assured he was going to live. Which is a good thing. But the chances of health complications are extremely high. Doctors don't know when he'll be fit to return for duty." Dalmatian explained.
" I see. Well, It's no problem. A six-month deployment is nothing to make light of. And I think it would be proper for all of you to have some time off, before going back to work. I'll have Borsalino and Komil cover your places in the North until then." Sengoku told the man.
" Thank you, Sengoku-San." Momonga spoke up and thanked Sengoku for the time off.
" Yes, thank you."
*Krak Boom!
The sound of thunder hammered loudly in the sky above. Rain poured down on the Marine ships, and lightning danced around them.
" The storms picking up... It's a real smasher this one." Dalmatian spoke. He looked up at the dark clouds in the sky. " They look like they're about to fall at any moment."
" I feel something bad." Sengoku muttered. " Let's hurry up and get out of this storm."
............
" Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Kuzan, and two other vice admirals. That's a lot of fire power all on one ship."
" Yeah. Doesn't look like we'll be doing anything here. And i don't see that guy either."
" Better go let the captain know."
" Yeah, I'll do it right now." The man put his telescope away and quickly ran to his captain's chambers.
" Captain! I have news sir. The enemy forces are quite heavy, and it doesn't look like that Marine is there either. It's a bust. Should we head back?"
" Head back?! Who do you think I am?! I don't care who's on that ship. We're doing!"
" Yes sir!" The man felt his captain's aura bearing down on him.
" Ready the crew for battle!"
" Yes sir!"
.................
Back on the Marine's ship, things were beginning to grow worse as the storm began picking up in intensity. The winds howled like beasts, the thunder roared, and lightning flashed all around the sky.
And then it happened.
" Admiral Sengoku! Pirates incoming!" One of the Marine scouts yelled to the man.
" Who is it?" Sengoku asked the man.
* Doom! Doom! Doom!
The Marine ships all suddenly came under the fire of the pirates, being bombarded by cannonballs.
Sengoku pulled out his telescope and looked through the stormy fog.
The enemies ship came sailing into the view. A giant ship with a blue dragon's head as it's mast, and more noticeably the black flag, a single skull with crossbones running through it vertically and diagonally, with horns.
" That's....." Dalmatian muttered.
" The Beast Pirates." Sengoku muttered.
* Doom!
[Kaido's dragon theme.]
Thunder and Lightning flashed high in the sky, and deep above them Sengoku noticed that the clouds were starting to move. And a moment later. A giant blue claw started to descend from the clouds. The creature had red tattoos on his arms, and a blaze of fire.
The giant beast slowly descended until finally a giant dragon's head emerged from the clouds, like a demon.
" Sengoku-san is that?" Momonga asked the man.
" Yes." Sengoku muttered. He grabbed his coat and threw it to the side.
Kuzan got up and joined Sengoku at his side. " Look there. On the ship." Kuzan spoke. He pointed his finger to a giant man dressed from head to toe in all black, with large black wings, and fire coming from his back.
" King the Wildfire, and King of the beasts Kaido." Sengoku muttered. " What are you here for?!" Sengoku asked the man.
" WororororororororO! Sengoku the Buddha!" Kaido shouted. " Were is that brat?! The one who messed with my plans?!" Kaido bellowed. He looked down at Sengoku and demanded to know where Markus was.
' Markus....' Sengoku instantly knew who it was that Kaido was looking for. 'Thankfully, he doesn't know that Markus is here. This is going to be a tough one indeed.' " You should know already; we don't sell out our own. Now begone from here... YOU LITTLE PUNK!" Sengoku exclaimed.
" I will sink every single one of your ships into the ocean, if I have to!" Kaido exclaimed.
Sengoku's entire body turned gold and his stature increased dramatically. " Why don't you try it? You Little Punk!" Sengoku defiantly challenged Kaido. Directly stating his intent to fight the man if he did not leave.
" FIRE!" King Shouted for his troops to open fire on the Marines, he then ran to the front of his ship and jumped off of it and started racing towards the Marine's ship. His entire body was consumed in a giant inferno of flame, and when he reemerged, he had transformed into a Pteranodon.
*BOOSH!
Kuzan jumped high into the air and pointed his hand at King. " ICE TIME CAPSULE!"
*DOOM!
To Be Continued!!!
.....................
ARRRGHHHHHHH! CliffHangerS!
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