"ROBIN! WE'RE ON OUR WAY!" Morgan yelled out as he felt his motivation renewed when Robin yelled at him that she wanted to live. "Hey! Galley Guys! Get the bridge down!"
"We can't! Those bastards shot a cannon at the opening hallway and now they damaged the mechanism…We can fix it but it'd take too much time!"
"Hey, Straw Hat! If you wanna save your friends then you may wanna jump over into the falls!" Kokoro yelled over the Transponder snail and let loose a bellow on the train whistle. Giving Morgan an idea that would most like get him yelled at later so while they had the chance; He used all 6 of his arms to grab the others and then jumped over the side and into the waterfall's basin below, his gut told him that they would be okay but the screams of his friends demanding that he pull up fast but before he could adjust course. The Rocketman Sea Train burst out from under them and managed to catch all on it's roof before crashing straight into the walls of the Tower of Justice. "Last stop, Tower of Justice so make sure you get what you want!" Kokoro laughed as they all staggered off of the train.
"Well, that went better than I thought." Morgan remarked with a smirk before getting slapped on the arm by Nami and punched in the other arm by Sanji.
"WARN US BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU IDIOT!" They both yelled with the combination of anger and the primal fear that they saw falling into the blackness of that deep basin.
"Sorry but if we didn't move than we would've missed our chance to get in…Now we can get Robin and I can kick that pigeon guy's ass." Morgan grinned as he marched off but he was grabbed by Nami on the shoulder.
"And where do you plan on finding them? This place was enough of a maze to get here in the first place so how do we even know where to head for?"
"You can head for the Bridge of Hesitation by those stairs, Chapapapapapapa!" Fukurou mentioned from the corner of the room that he hid from. "Though you may find it hard to get her back without the keys to the Seastone cuffs on her hands." He added and held up a key.
"That's pretty honest of you…But we don't have time to sit here and humour you…I'm gonna go get Robin with or without cuffs on!" Morgan yelled as he struggled to go after Robin but Nami held on.
"Then I could just throw away this key and remove your chances of getting her free for good….You think you can really take that risk when the other CP9 officers like Lucci or Jabra hold one too?" Fukurou remarked with a sneer before vanishing upwards with a smirk and laughing his laugh.
"Damn it! Let go!" Morgan yelled as he was finally stopped by Nami. "We don't have time to plan this out, it's only a matter of time before Robin gets taken through those gates and that's it!"
Nami raised an eyebrow; "Why exactly? If there's gates there then we can get through and get her back no problem…."
Morgan's face lessened as he looked to the others; "If she goes through those gates…She's not coming back at all…One path leads her to the Marine Government's main headquarters and the other leads to one of the worst prisons kept for Pirates on the sea…Once you go in either of those then you don't come out."
"How do you know all that…And how exactly did you know about this Buster Call thing?" Zoro asked him with confusion; "Because even in Alabasta, you've been in deep with the Marines when we got there."
Nami was curious about it too but she knew what was more important; "We don't have time for questions right now! If we want to get Robin back then we need that key…But if we don't know who has it…"
"Then we split up to get what keys we can…Find those guys who were with that Spandam jerk and they'd be the likely ones to get it." Franky mentioned while he straightened up.
"In that case….I'm off to find Mr. Leopard…." Morgan stated as he rushed off into the tower to go find wherever Lucci was.
"It's a little off the cuff but Morgan's right!" Sanji pointed out as he readied his smoke. "We go find the officers and get those keys…Dear Robin's life is at stake because of it…" He then rushed off to head further in as well.
While the others went to go get the right key for Robin and her cuffs. Morgan was currently running up and down every set of stairs he could find. "How big is this place?!" He yelled out loud, attracting the attention of nearby officers who tried to rush him.
"THERE HE IS!"
"Execute him!"
"Whoever gets him can get promoted!"
Morgan narrowed his eyes as he then widened his stance with a simmering red glow in his eyes and he vanished in a stream of dark red and zipped between the charging enemies before reappearing behind the crowd in a march; "Way of the Human: Flashing Air!" He remarked under his breath as a few seconds past and each officer that got caught in that streak of red was subsequently knocked to the ground. "So much for trained officers…Gotta run!" He yelled back at them as he headed back down the stairs but then saw a familiar looking set of pigtails.
"Heeeey! Pirate Guy! Over here!"
"Nya! Nya!"
A little girl who resembled the large woman who ran the train into the tower was waving him over and looking excited over something; "Come on! We found something!"
"You're that train lady's kid…What're you doing here? This place is dangerous!" Morgan warned as he headed over towards the stairway that they were lingering by.
"Yeah, we got caught in a hole and managed to get out of it, we heard some loud guy laughing and yelling at someone after tapping on this wall we found and came up here from there! Follow us, we can show you where he went." Chimney said excitedly as her and Gonbe vanished down the stairs.
"She came out here through a wall? Sounds like a secret passageway…I honestly should have thought of that running around here…." Morgan then nodded and followed after them as they headed down, down and further downward into the depths of the tower before finding themselves in front of a giant metal door. "So they came through here?"
"Mhm! But they tapped something and the door opened…I didn't get to see though…" Chimney explained since she had seen Spandam get through the door with Robin and Lucci but not the combination.
Morgan eyed the door and rested his hand on the centre; "Solid steel…I don't think my regular skills can cut it….Looks like I'm gonna have to try using the big guns…." He said to himself as he widened his stance; "Step back, kid…This isn't going to be safe with you close…"
Chimney took several steps back but then shielded her eyes a bright flash of light filled the room followed by the loud groaning and creaking of metal drowned out the room they were in. "That sound…It almost sounds like…A roaring animal…"
When the noise stopped and the light dimmed back down to normal; The giant metal door that stood in their was was now bent, warped and caved inward to open the way into the tunnel ahead, giving way to the visage of Morgan who was slumped against the wall with steam emanating from his body and he looked like whatever it was that he did tired him out. "Alright…Let's go…" Morgan huffed as he staggered onward as he tried to push onward.
"Hey, Hey! What was that? You went all "Flash!" and then "Boom!", then you opened up that door like "RA-RA-RAOR!" Chimney hopped back and forth like she had just watched something that blew her mind and she had to know how it worked.
"It's…I'll tell you later, right now I go-"
"GET MOVING, YOU! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU AND YOUR STUBBORN ATTITUDE!" Spandam screeched in the distance followed by the sound of a vicious slap echoing in the hall.
Morgan felt his blood boil as he sprinted off towards them; "Take the tunnel back and let the others know where this place is!" He yelled back to Chimney and Gonbe as he tried to pick up his speed; "Hold on, Robin! I'll come and get you back!"
A few metres later, Morgan found himself in an open space surrounded by crates and a familiar face waiting for him. "I'm glad you finally decided to catch up, Straw Hat…Now I can finally pick up where we left off." Lucci remarked as he hopped off of the crate to get on Morgan's level; "Though I am surprised you managed to knock out Blueno…Suffice to say, you won't find me as easy to surprise."
Morgan smirked as he cracked his knuckles; "Good, I was hoping to really stretch myself out for this one…" He snarked as the two vanished in a blink before reappearing in different parts of the room, clashing with colliding fists and kicks at an even pace. "Not so fun when your opponent fights back, huh?!" Morgan taunted Lucci as they backed off, neither of them letting the other out of sight.
"You've improved…I'd be a fool to underestimate you but I can assure you that improvements or not, this is as far as you go." Lucci sneered as he began to transform himself into his Human-Beast Form; "I should warn you, what I have in store for you is hardly the same as what I showed you back a-"
"Way of the Human: Tenzeigeki!" Morgan yelled out as he ducks low before striking Lucci in the torso with a forceful uppercut, launching him into the air with help from his surprise, delivering a fierce flurry of punches to his midsection to keep him in the air. "What I have is different too!" Morgan yelled out before ending it with a right straight as Lucci fell back down, finally knocking them away with the last punch.
Lucci grit his teeth as he was sent backwards into the boxes; "Strong…Stronger…I'm not sure how but I can't let him beat me…Not while I still breathe…" He thought as he then aimed his hand at Morgan; "That form you take…It looks like the form you had back at the mansion, though your skin colour remains the same…Shigan: Plectrum!"
Morgan had a brief moment to blink when he saw that his right shoulder was spilling blood and the pain emanating from it felt like he got shot. "Gh!" He then grew his extra arms. "I'm not taking chances with you, Pigeon….So forgive me if I go a little overboard."
"By all means, try…But Dark Justice will see you dead….Just like it will see your friend Nico Robin broken into a mess and begging for it." Lucci then remarked as he rushed forward and swung his forearm into Morgan's head to knock him to the ground. "You think a few measly hours of practicing could prepare you for what happens on this island? Against someone like me who has spent over 24 years to master the Six Powers." "I already told your guy earlier, what my training consisted of has a different span of time than it does to train out here…How did you think I could keep up with you?" Morgan asked coyly as he swung his leg over with a powerful kick and sent a shockwave out towards Lucci, cleaving several boxes in two.
"He knows Rankyaku as well? The audacity of this brat to think he can stand up to me with mimicked techniques…" Lucci growled to himself as he then got into his Human-Beast form; "Then humour me, Straw Hat…What is this training method that allows you to go from barely being able to keep up with even Blueno to standing your ground here." Lucci asked as he could feel curious about what the secret was.
"When you used that finger gun move on me, I really did die...But my Fruit powers allow me to resurrect shortly after…But time slows down for me to the point where five minutes for you becomes a full year for me in the Naraka Realm."
"Five minutes to a year…So that makes it infinitely more strenuous for you, so what?" Lucci crossed his arms; "Are you planning on getting to the point soon?"
"Exactly that…But I chose to stay dead and trained myself to fight against the Demons that try to kill me for a full five hours straight, slowly honing my abilities; Practicing with what I posses and ultimately…strengthening my body before I came back up here again." Morgan explained with a small smirk.
"Five hours…So you mean to tell me that in the time you died by CP9's hand and arriving at Enies Lobby that you've put in over…"
"Over 60 years to practice my new Martial Art, channelling energy and mastering the techniques in my arsenal…So sorry about this Lucci but I'm not going to give you a chance to kill me again." Morgan remarked as he got into a stance with all six arms; "There is very little that you can do to scare me now."
"Well…Since you've been so open with me…Allow me to show you exactly what you're dealing with since I'm now going to take you seriously." He snarled and then reared his leg back; "RANKYAKU: VICTORY BIRD!" He yelled out and swung a wide kick outward, creating an arc of pressurised air that took on the form of a bird and threw itself towards Morgan.
With that moment to react; Morgan quickly sidestepped it and thrust all six of his arms outward towards Lucci and managed to hit his now larger body with the shockwaves from his punches; "Asura no Ken; Dangan no Ken….Revolver!" He yelled out as Lucci got pushed back. "You're going to have to try harder than that." He snarked as Lucci growled in frustration at his opponent not going down.
"You…That does it! I'm going to make sure you don't get back up!" Lucci roared as he vanished with his fastest Soru and started to bounce off the walls with a faster and faster movement while clawing at his body any time he got close. "SORU: THOUSAND CLAW FLAYING!"
Morgan tried to fight back with reflexive punches and on the rare occasions that he landed a hit, Lucci made his movements faster while he got clawed open and started to slowly heal but he ended up not healing fast enough as he stumbled on his feet.
"I can see him slowing down…It's time I make sure he stays down…" Lucci thought as suddenly the sound of cannonfire started to rumble the tower around them and explode. "Cannons…Don't tell me that he triggered it…"
——On the Bridge of Hesitation——
"SHIIIIIIIIIIIT! CANCEL IT! CANCEL IT! I DEMAND WHOEVER ON THIS LINE TO CANCEL!" Spandam frantically screamed into the receiver of the Golden Tranceiver that was the key for the Buster Call.
"You fool! Do you have any idea what you have brought to this island and every person living on it?!" Robin berated him as she watched him carelessly activate what would be the doom of the entire Island of Justice. "That Buster Call will reduce everything and everyone to ash!"
"Not with me on this island, it won't! Once I finish crossing this Bridge and dragging you with me, you can enter hell before you are given mercy…Who knows? Maybe the inmates at Impel down will break you into a mindless husk before your execution date~" Spandam sneered before laughing maniacally as he kept dragging Robin by the hair.
——Back in the Tower——
Morgan was staring out into the open expanse of the sea, one of the cannonballs had blown the side out and he could see the horrific sight that triggered something in him; A memory that he didn't realise was there or remembered, A hazy sight of a burning mountain and the sensation of being shaken around before that mountain vanished in a ball of fire. That memory quickly faded as he felt a clawed hand shred up his chest and knock him back into the wall; "Feeling distracted?" Lucci smirked as he kept kicking Morgan deeper and deeper into the wall. "Because that little look of fear in your eyes drew the edge out of you!"
Morgan croaked as he felt his crumpled ribs start to reform and he tried to pull himself out, though with Lucci's tail now squeezing him tightly around the waist and pulling him out meant he wasn't playing around as he placed both fists in front of Morgan's chest.
"It's time I put you down….Rokuogan!" Lucci yelled out and thrust them both forward to send a powerful shockwave through Morgan's body with an agonising yell of pain.
"Rokuogan!"
"Rokuogan!"
"Sai Dai Rin: Rokuogan!" Lucci finished with his most powerful technique in his disposal, letting the empowered strike send Morgan shooting backwards and skidding into the ground while coughing up his own blood. Lucci then staggered a little from the sudden drain on stamina before walking over and grabbed Morgan by the back of his neck; Noticing that the straw hat wearing man was barely hanging on to his waking moment. "Barely conscious…I must admit, to take such a punishment and not cave in makes you even more of a dangerous man…And I can't have you coming back to haunt me or Justice…So here's what I'm going to do since you bragged about 5 minutes being how fast you can come back." Lucci than extended the claw on his pinky finger and pointed it under Morgan's chin.
"You…I won't…."
"Listen closely…If you let yourself go now…I'll go find each of those friends of your's and then end them in the most slow and gruesome way I can possibly think of since you've really pissed me off…And that will only take me five minutes…" Lucci had a predatory grin on his face and inched the claw closer; "And unlike you…They won't come back…."
Morgan's mind wiped as Lucci decided to not only threaten to kill him but to go after his crew and Franky too….Something in him snapped and with a slowly escalating growl of anger, the pirate then thrust his arms outward and with it; Released a sudden shockwave of orange energy that sent Lucci skidding backwards but stayed on his feet. "Don't. You dare….Threaten them!" Morgan growled warningly as his skin slowly turned red and a bright light started glowing on his shoulders; Expanding outward until they resembled two large orange arms tipped with claws.
"Oh? This is new…Whatever, I'll dismantle them since bigger doesn't always equal better…" Lucci taunted more as he got ready to attack.
"Way of the Demon…" Morgan snarled as he reared both giant arms back; "I can't hold any big attacks for long after that fight….Every moment counts!"
"Show me what you have, Straw Hat…I'll break it and you in one stroke! TEKKAI: GO!" Lucci yelled at him as he braced with the highest possible Tekkai that he could muster. When he expected to feel attacks get nullified, he felt a stinging as he noticed multiple fists punching into him.
Morgan was unleashing both the rapid moving force of his regular punches and the overwhelming strength of the larger arms into Lucci's larger body and began pushing himself forward as he grit his teeth. "SENJUKAIKEN!"
Lucci struggled to hold the technique since his opponent was moving too fast for him to engage in a block but his defense could be sacrificed for a brief moment to fight back; "Shigan: Plectrum!" He then flicked his finger at Morgan between the eyes and hit him with a ranged attack, knocking him off balance and turning the red skinned man into a steaming one as the technique was undone. With no moment to shrug off the pain or the time to waste, Lucci rushed forward with a blindingly fast volley of Shigan into Morgan's body again and again until he felt the last drop of blood spurt out of the Straw hat's body. "Now to leave and fulfill my promise to you, Straw Hat…I think I'll start with that redhead you came into Galley-La with…You two seemed close…I'll make sure to draw out her pain."
"No…" "Morgan" stated bluntly as he slowly rose to his feet with that same red energy coming off of him; Though as he got up, that pale red aura changed and grew darker in colour until "Morgan" was finally surrounded by a deep crimson aura that bordered on black. "Before you can even leave here, I will stop you from hurting anyone else…Die One Thousand Deaths!" "Morgan" Called out as suddenly he split into hundreds or even thousands of copies of himself that rotated around Lucci like they were on a carousel.
"Wh-What is this? An illusion? No…This is bluster from a dying man…He can't hurt me anymore so he's bluffing!" Lucci glanced around as he saw each one with a dark look in their eyes and were transfixed on him.
"I have heard your intentions and I have felt your murderous fist…There is no way to stop you peacefully so your Dark Justice has forced my hand!" "Morgan" stated like he was a headman at an execution.
"You think that I am scared of you? I have faced enemies that were more bloodthirsty than you, you don't have the fortitude to kill your own enemy…Much less someone you hate!" Lucci yelled at him, he wasn't sure why his body was seizing up like it was and just seeing "Morgan" like this made his fur stand on end; Like he was staring at another member of Cipher Pol.
No…
Like he was staring down his own death…
"One instant, a thousand strikes! The strength to move mountains! The demons cry out for blood! To quell their voices, you must become a true demon!" "Morgan" stated like he was rehearsing a prayer and his eyes opened up to show that his eyes glimmered red like the aura that surrounded him.
"Gh…This is a trick! You think that you can frighten me?! I won't fall for it…SHIGAN!" Lucci finally broke his composure and thrust his finger to aim at the seemingly lifeless body but noticed that he all but phased through his body, with that final moment of defiance; the copies of "Morgan" began to move downwards and hit him from all directions like a swarm of hornets angered by an intruder, chanting their own sonnet of the damned in voice that made them sound like a Legion instead of a single fighter.
"Usurp the heavens!"
"Embrace the sorrow!"
"BECOME THE DEMON!"
With that final verse roaring in his ear, Lucci was knocked to the ground and the last remaining Morgan was above him and ready to strike him at his heart, this was it. Lucci had realised that the person above him was death incarnate and he knew that the only way for him to find solace…Was to accept his end.
Like he had been under a trance, Morgan woke up partway down and was poised to punch him in the heart but his fist stopped inches away from his suit's breast pocket. "You might be a killer…But I'm not going to sink to your level." Morgan said plainly as he got up and climbed off of Lucci.
"You…You're leaving me? You think you can force me into this state and then just leave without finishing it?! COME BACK! COME BACK AND END IT, YOU COWARD!" Lucci yelled as he struggled to his unsteady feet.
"I told you, this fight is over…I've beaten you in the only way that counted…And that was to make sure you aren't as capable to kill as you are now." Morgan staggered towards the exit past Lucci.
"You…I won't let you…DON'T YOU DARE PITY ME, YOU FILTHY, ARROGANT PIRATE! I WILL…" Lucci raised his fists to fight but then stopped as he looked over his body, something felt wrong. He was back in his Human form even though Morgan attacked him in his Hybrid state; He tried to muster up the energy to convert into his Human-Beast Form…Or even his Beast Form, but nothing happened. "You…What did you do?" Lucci pat his body and winced in pain but then screamed at him through it. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BODY?!"
"I told you…I made sure that you can't kill as effectively anymore…That technique I used is the Asura's only means of assassination and has the neat ability to target someone's soul instead of stopping at just destroying the body." Morgan explained; "I couldn't finish it because I don't have it in me to rely on this technique…But judging from that look, I've been able to do something much worse for someone like you…"
"You…Targeted my soul…Then that means you…"
Morgan smirked a little in triumph. "Yeah, Because your powers are tied to your soul…I've been able to seal away your Devil Fruit Powers."
Lucci looked like he got punched in the stomach; "But that's…That's impossible, the only way to take away Devil Fruit powers is to kill the user…Wait…You said you attacked my soul…"
"If landing 1,000 attacks meant to kill destroys your soul..Then landing 999 attacks would seal off your soul…I have to admit that this is new for me too…But I can leave here knowing that the predator you are, has just lost it's claws….But keep your chin up, Lucci…You are powerful enough to be a threat on your own without them so take that under consideration." Morgan stated before vanishing up the stairs to get to the bridge.
Lucci was devastated; This upstart pirate not only beat him in a fight but he also took away the one thing that he truly cherished and not only that but he deliberately kept him alive in the process. For a member of Cipher Pol; You either kill your target or you die trying, Morgan's lack of action not only spat on his face but it made him feel…Pitied. "You…END THIS FIGHT, STRAW HAT! FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED! DON'T FUCKING PITY ME AND KILL ME, YOU COWARD!"
Morgan could hear Lucci's manic yelling from the stairway but his mind was on other things; The rest of the crew have made it up there and were already on their way to get Robin back. "Grab a Battleship from the Marines, we need to make a break for it!" Morgan yelled to them as he sprinted forward with the ever vile Spandam pointing his sword's tip at Robin's throat in his sight. "Way of the Human!"
"Treinta Fleurs! Clutch!" Robin called out as she made her multiple hands grab and pull Spandam into a stranglehold for Morgan. "Morgan…Finish it…"
"DANGAN NO KEN!" Morgan yelled as he shot a fist shaped air bullet at Spandam's head, knocking the Chief over himself and collapsing with the help of Robin's Clutch breaking the remainder of his bones. "Robin…Shall w-" He started to talk but the full scope of seeing the Buster Call in action made his face falter and his body prickle with goosebumps.
Robin was the happiest that she had been but the fact that she saw this normally fearless man looking utterly shaken and with that same look that she used to see in the mirror when she was a child witnessing the Ohara Buster Call, she knew that something was wrong. "Morgan! Let's go back, NOW!" She yelled out and used his preferred name as she was equally afraid for what would come.
"Everyone…To the seas of adventure…Please, I can help to take you home…"
Nearly everyone of the Straw Hat Crew including Robin and Franky froze when they heard the voice but it was Sogeking who quickly understood who it was.
"EVERYONE, TO THE SEA! JUMP OFF THE BRIDGE AND DOWN BELOW!" Sogeking yelled out as he along with Chopper, Nami and Sanji leaped off along with Zoro.
Morgan was shaken and hardly noticing ofeither the voice or anything else as the cannonfire and the ships in the distance kept him rooted in place out of what appeared to be trauma induced fear, It was only thanks to Robin gently grabbing his hand that took him out of his state.
"Morgan…Let's go back together…" Robin assured him as both he and the Archaeologist both jumped off the sides and towards the crashing waves, only be caught and brought on board the ship that they had remembered for all this time: The Going Merry.
Once again, the oldest and dearest friend of the Straw Hats saved them in their time of need.