As he was using the power of his Dark-Dark Fruit to pull a struggling Seraphim into his grasp, Rocks suddenly felt an ice-cold chill on the back of his neck.
Instinct took over, and he threw himself back half a step.
An azure blue laser beam seared through the air where his face had been a millisecond before, incinerating a few strands of his wild black hair.
For the first time since the battle began, Rocks felt a genuine surge of adrenaline.
"Who's there?!" he roared.
He didn't get an answer.
Before he could even regain his footing, a red and gold blur flashed before him.
The blur resolved into a sleek, armored suit, a marvelous creation unlike anything he had ever seen.
He tried to dodge, but reality told him it was impossible. The suit was simply too fast.
In the blink of an eye, a palm glowing with blue energy was pressed against his head.
THUMP.
The sound was deceptively soft, but the force sent Rocks flying backward, tumbling end over end through the air.
As he flew, he saw the suit's helmet retract, revealing the face of the pilot inside.
Rocks's eyes went wide.
"How... How can it be you?! Kizaru?!" he stammered in disbelief.
"Hehe~" Kizaru offered a lazy sneer before blasting off in pursuit.
But before he could reach Rocks, a colossal dragon loomed behind him.
Kaido's blood-soaked maw opened wide, and a torrent of superheated flame erupted, completely engulfing the armored suit.
The pirates turned their attention to the fireball, but just as the smoke began to clear, a brilliant blue light lanced out from within.
The intense laser beam struck Kaido square in the chest.
The great dragon screamed in agony as he was blasted from the sky, crashing heavily into the ruins of Mariejois.
The armored suit shot out of the dissipating smoke, doing a quick roll in the air to stabilize itself.
"KIZARU!" Rocks bellowed, his face contorted with rage.
"I don't know where you got that toy, but do you really think you can take on all of us by yourself?!"
Kizaru hovered there, impossibly calm.
"Yooooo, I'm so scared, Rocks~"
His taunt was the final spark.
The pirate legends unleashed hell.
Big Mom's thundercloud Zeus.
Whitebeard's space-shattering tremors.
Shanks's flaming, Haki-infused slashes.
Bullet's continent-sized fist.
Redfield bloody cuts.
Dragon's hurricane-force winds.
And Rocks's own all-consuming darkness.
A tidal wave of world-ending attacks converged on Kizaru from every direction.
With a cold snort, he simply stood his ground.
The cataclysmic explosion that followed shook the heavens.
But when the smoke cleared, the pirates stared in utter disbelief.
The red and gold suit was completely unscratched.
Kizaru hovered there, looking almost bored.
"This is impossible!" Rocks screamed.
Their combined assault, an attack that could have shattered a continent, had done absolutely nothing to the armor.
It was a concept of technology so far beyond their understanding that it might as well have been magic.
Kizaru's lazy expression suddenly sharpened, his eyes becoming serious.
He knew his next move was crucial.
A small compartment on his gauntlet opened, and a tiny, almost invisible needle extended from his fingertip, coated in a dark green liquid.
Then, he vanished.
He reappeared instantly in front of Kaido, who was just struggling to his feet.
Before the mighty dragon could even react, Kizaru's hand shot out.
The needle pricked Kaido's neck.
In the next second, Kaido's body went rigid.
The light faded from his eyes, and the colossal beast slumped to the ground, unconscious.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Kizaru did a sideways roll, narrowly dodging a retaliatory strike from a furious Rocks.
"That damn Marine!" Rocks roared, realizing what had just happened.
"He has the reagent! That armor... it's not for fighting, it's for delivery! He just made Kaido powerless!"
He turned to his allies. "Everyone, be careful! Don't let him touch you! If he hits you with that stuff, you're finished!"
But Kizaru was already moving again, appearing directly in front of Rocks.
"Don't get cocky, brat!!!" Rocks screamed.
A powerful laser beam condensed in Kizaru's palm.
Rocks quickly threw up a swirling barrier of darkness, its intense gravity warping the space in front of him.
The laser slammed into the barrier, and a violent explosion ripped through the air, but Rocks's shield shattered under the force.
"Your strength is impressive, Kizaru," Rocks snarled, the dark vortex in his hands growing deeper as he prepared to unleash his awakened power.
"But it's not enough to stop me! You will pay for your arrogance today!"
But Kizaru remained unfazed.
His purpose was never to defeat Rocks in a head-on battle.
His purpose was to stick and move.
To be an untouchable yellow comet, delivering a payload of powerlessness to every single pirate on this battlefield.
And he was just getting started.
With a flick of his hands, Kizaru unleashed a blinding storm of indigo lasers from his palms, his armored form streaking through the barrage at a speed that defied physics.
Even with his Dark-Dark Fruit, Rocks couldn't track the movement.
He threw out a hand, trying to catch the yellow comet in a vortex of gravity, to swallow him into the endless abyss.
But the idea was instantly shattered.
A fist encased in red and gold armor slammed into his own, the indomitable momentum of the blow traveling up his arm.
BOOM!
Rocks caught the punch, his hand straining against the incredible force.
"Kizaru, you bastard!" Rocks snarled, his face inches from the Admiral's impassive helmet.
"You've truly pushed your luck! Surrender now, or I'll tear you apart!"
Kizaru didn't answer.
He simply aimed the palm of his other hand at Rocks's chest.
A point-blank laser blast erupted, sending the King of the Old World flying backward.
"You..." Rocks gasped, staring in horror as the armored figure continued its relentless approach.
"What other tricks do you have?!"
Before he could finish the sentence, Kizaru was upon him.
Under Rocks's astonished gaze, a dark green needle shot from the gauntlet and pierced the arm he had raised to block.
A wave of profound exhaustion, a deep, cellular weakness, washed over Rocks.
His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground.
A cruel, mocking smile spread across Kizaru's face, his voice echoing from the suit's external speakers.
"Well, well, Rocks. How does it feel to lose your power? It's your turn to pay the price."
He planted a heavy, armored boot on Rocks's chest.
The pirate overlord's pupils contracted, his chest heaving as he fought against the tide of weakness.
But it was useless.
He could feel the connection to his Devil Fruits severing, the familiar black mist of his power receding like an ebbing tide.
"Lose... my power?" he choked out, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"How can you Marines..."
Kizaru pressed down harder, the armor groaning as it prepared to crush Rocks's ribcage.
At that critical moment, a flash of steel intervened.
The Golden Lion's twin swords blocked the fatal blow.
A violent gust of wind swept across the battlefield, forcing Kizaru to squint as he faced the new challenger.
He raised his palm, another laser condensing with destructive heat.
Rocks knew he was finished.
Without his powers, his combat strength was less than a third of its peak.
Against this armored Kizaru, he stood no chance.
And they weren't just facing Kizaru; five wounded but still dangerous Seraphim were holding the line.
He had to survive.
He was the only one who could communicate with his powerful benefactors.
If he fell here, the pirates' dream would die with him.
The Golden Lion parried another blast of light before touching Rocks's shoulder.
The power of the Float-Float Fruit activated, and Rocks was sent flying away from the battlefield at incredible speed.
Kizaru moved to give chase, but Shiki intercepted him, his two swords move in a blur.
"You're not getting past me," the old pirate snarled.
He slammed his palms on the ground, and a swirling barrier of seawater and battlefield wreckage rose around him, a makeshift armor to protect him from Kizaru's dreaded needle.
"Can you break through this, Admiral?!"
Kizaru looked at the swirling shield without a flicker of surprise.
"PX-000 through PX-004," he said calmly into his comms.
"Target the great pirate, Golden Lion Shiki."
The moment the words left his lips, the five remaining Adamantium Seraphims abandoned their posts and streaked toward the center of the battlefield, their eyes glowing with killing intent.