As Freyja, Sebas, Mael, and I waited for our deaths at the top of the base, the hours slowly ticked by, and as they did so, the atmosphere around us got more solemn to the point where it had surpassed that of when we raided the Celestial Dragons Ship. With the passing of time, Grand, Scar, and Trenza also joined us, and while they didn't know what was happening, they were able to discern it was something serious from the expression on our faces; even Pandemonium began to feel unnerved, the way Mony kept stretching his body and scanning our surrounding was a dead giveaway, they too, could sense death's arrival.
While the eight or nine of us, considering Pandemonium are technically two different beings, continued to wait silently, the sun above us had just hit high noon, and not even a moment later, I felt the sensation of death suddenly envelope me, causing me to snap my eyes open as I intently eyed the horizon in the distance, watching as a large red arrow floating in the sky came into vision.
'What the? I'm going to fight a red arrow?' Thought Diddy with a confused expression as he tilted his head and eyed the red arrow from behind the horizon.
I suppose patience wasn't one of my strongest traits for a reason since a few seconds later; a singular marine battleship began to sail into view, which slightly cleared up my confusion about the red arrow, though its existence was still a bit of a mystery.
"Pandy, head towards the left." Ordered Diddy with a faint frown as he intently eyed the large red arrow floating above the front of the battleship while Pandy nodded before swimming towards the left.
"I see; that must be how they tracked us, Captain." Said Sebas lightly with a faint frown as the Frenzy pirates watched as the large red arrow continued to point directly at them despite changing directions.
"Must be a devil fruit user; Mael, Sebas, do either know anything about this?" Commented Freyja with a deep frown before she glanced at Mael and Sebas, who both promptly shook their heads.
"I was a slave back in Mariejois; I didn't get much access to information. Unfortunately, I do not." Replied Mael and Sebas, respectively, their words causing Freyja to click her tongue, only for Trenza to suddenly stand up in shock and slight fear.
"C-Captain, t-that man, i-isn't he-" Asked Trenza in shock as she stared at the tall man wearing a red suit with a white marine cloak, yet Diddy interrupted her before she could finish.
"Admiral Akainu. Yes. So, he's the reason why I feel such a strong sense of death. An Admiral." Remarked Diddy with a hardened gaze as he squinted his eyes at Akainu, who was eyeing Pandemonium from a distance
"Admiral Akainu? Oh dear, from my knowledge, he is the most brutal and cruel among the three Admirals, known to rarely take prisoners." Stated Sebas softly with a deep gaze as he rubbed his bearded chin while eyeing the battleship.
"Well, this is wonderful." Muttered Scar sarcastically as he stood behind Freyja, folding his arms and eyeing the ship.
"It could be worse; we could have all three Admirals hunting us like last time." Said Grand with a forced smile, his words causing everyone to roll their eyes, though he wasn't wrong.
"That's fine, so what if it's an Admiral? It doesn't change anything; I'm still going to survive." Declared Diddy solemnly as he grabbed Naga-sa off his lap and stood up before resting it on his shoulder.
"Haa, true." Muttered Freyja lightly with a sigh as she nodded in agreement while standing up and tying her hair in a ponytail before transforming into her Satan's Soul, casing her to acquire an angelic yet devilish beauty that was borderline divine.
"We can't take this lightly; it's best we hit him with everything we have from the beginning." Said Sebas as he floated a few inches of the air with his hands behind his back, creating hundreds of psionic needles around him.
"Don't have to tell me twice; the thought of holding back never crossed my mind." Remarked Mael as he tightly clenched his golden axe and rested it on his shoulder while they both constantly emitted wisps of plasma.
"I suppose it's good I've been training seriously lately; not like it's going to help much, but every little bit will help me survive." Muttered Scar as he removed his hat and tossed his coat in the distance, eyeing the approaching battleship.
"This is going to be hectic." Commented Grand as he wore his gauntlets while flexing his muscles, forcefully ripping his shirt with his bulging muscles that twitched with might.
"Haa, please, let me live." Said Trenza silently as she prayed to whatever god was listening before unholstering her two pistols and cocking their hammers back.
"Stop swimming, Pandy; there is no longer any point." Stated Diddy lightly, his words causing Pandy to nod before turning around and facing the incoming battleship, forcing the crew to turn around also.
"Roar! Hiss!" Stated Pandemonium as Pandy lightly roared while Mony hissed at the incoming enemies.
With all of us now ready, we simply waited for the battleship to get close, and when it got within range, Pandemonium was the first to attack as Pandy blasted the battleship with a powerful water cannon, which was now stronger than when we first met, while Mony spit hundreds of gallons of venom towards them, which was a lot, but considering his vast frame, it really wasn't much.
As I watched their attacks, hoping to get a slight preview of Akainu's power, all he did was wave his hand forward, causing his hand to erupt with a massive wave of molten lava that formed a wall between him and Pandemonium's attacks; the instant their attacks collided, there was an eruption of steam, but other than cooling down the molten lava for a little bit, the water canon was useless while the venom evaporated before it could even touch the molten lava.
"I expected as much, but I'd prefer if he had showed us something." Said Diddy lightly with a frown before shaking his head and leaping into the air, landing atop Nimbus while Mael, Freyja, and Sebas took to the skies, following him and leaving the three siblings behind as they waited to get closer.
Flying closer to the battleship since there was no point in waiting after Pandemomiun attacked, any chance to surrender was most likely thrown out the window given the way Sebas described him; it was not like surrendering was ever an option.
"You all attack first; I need to do something real quick." Remarked Diddy with a faint smirk as he suddenly dived into the ocean, confusing the three, though they didn't stop and continued to head straight for Akainu, who merely squinted and eyed Diddy.
Submerging myself within the ocean, I quickly infused Nimbus into Naga-sa and started absorbing a tremendous amount of ocean water; while doing so, I felt the clash between Akainu and my crew, prompting me to look up, and what I saw was somewhat surprising. Akainu was holding his hand in pain, which wasn't something I was expecting to see, if I'm being honest.
'Well, I suppose that makes sense; Mael can touch him since he's far hotter than mere lava, and the same goes for my lightning. Though, now it's pointless since he's using haki.' Mused Diddy as he looked at Akainu suddenly reach forward and catch Mael's golden axe, only to punch him in the face with an enlarged lava fist, flinging far into the distance while leaving behind a trail of blood.
Seeing as my crew wasn't going to last long at all, I stopped Naga-sa from absorbing water, and although it wasn't as heavy as can be, it easily weighed more than a battleship that I was certain of. Kicking the water, I shot myself out of the ocean as I swiftly enlarged Naga-sa to several times its original size and enveloped it in lightning before violently swinging it at Akainu, forcing him to block my bo-staff, though it allowed Freyja to safely back away after failing to burn him with her Amaterasu.
"Chaos Kong." Muttered Akainu as he tightly held Diddy's bo-staff with a haki-clad arm while intently gazing at him.
"Hehe, my heart is pounding in joy!" Remarked Diddy with a large grin as he suddenly shrunk Naga-sa, allowing it to escape from Akainu's grip before enlarging it once more and violently swinging it at him.
Just as I attacked, so did Freyja as she covered her elongated nails in haki while Sebas fired off tens of psionic needles at Akainu, who simply raised his hand and punched at us, smashing right through all of our attacks with ease.
Seeing the incoming fist, I quickly used soru and geppo to flash through the air as I covered my foot in haki and lightning while using one of my seventy-two bian, Lightning Kicks, to kick the fist numerous times in a short frame, yet no matter how many times I kicked his fist, I wasn't even slowing it down, his haki was far too strong for mine to compete against.
Using Naga-sa, I quickly blocked the attack while using tekkai and haki for extra protection, though even so, I felt my ribs crack as I was flung through the air; however, even so…
"Hehehe, this is what I've been wanting! A strong opponent!" Declared Diddy loudly with a feral grin as he regained his bearings with a spin before kicking the air and lunging back towards Akainu alongside Mael and Freyja while Sebas stayed off in the distance; meanwhile, Trenza, Grand, and Scar had just arrived.