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"Gah…!" Teach's body materialized and my blade skewered him to the ground, he screamed, but his scream was dwarfed by the leaking red energy that exploded out of his body.
KABOOM
I lost the grip on my blade, and my nameless naginata was thrown back. I gritted my teeth as I was shocked by hundreds of volts of red energy.
I could see my whole hand getting burned even with Haki protecting it, the rest of my body that weren' covered with Haki was also affected. Pain. The amount of pain that I felt was quite literally unbearable.
Thankfully, it only lasted for a few seconds, as I was thrown back from the shockwave. If I knew that this would have happened, I would have protected my whole body with Haki, but it was too late.
My body skipped across the ground a few times, before I was able to steady myself.
The explosion was quite powerful as it shook the whole island, consuming a good chunk of the ground with destroying anything nearby with wind pressure alone.
"Shit…" I hissed in pain, looking at my crisply burnt right arm, it was still elongated. To put it short, it looked like dead burnt noodles. For a few seconds, I couldn't even feel my right arm.
Several uneasy thoughts flashed in my mind, thinking the worst.
I quickly concentrate all my attention to my burned arm with Life Return. And I was finally able to get some sense back in my arm. My Haki had protected me from the worst damages but still, I would need quite a long time before I could properly use my arm again.
Now that I was paying attention again, I noted that I wasn't in my Gear Fourth anymore. Also, my body wasn't fully responding to my commands. It seemed that the red electricity messed up my bodily systems. I could try to use my Haki to empower my body with Will but I would rather use my Haki sparingly right now.
I also didn't know where my weapon was. I couldn't sense it with my Observation Haki. Nor could I feel the mental link that we had… That never happened before.
Did that blast knock my weapon's consciousness out? Was that even possible?
I didn't have the time to worry about that as we heard Teach screaming while holding his stomach, "Aghhhhh… Shit! Bitch! My heart! You destroyed one of my hearts!" the giant man was rolling on the floor, bleeding himself out and flopping on the floor like the world's biggest disappointment of an antagonist.
He seemed be in a lot of pain.
I smirked, finding sick satisfaction in that… It might have been my imagination, but I think my pain lessened a bit seeing him gravel in pain. Huh, aren't I just petty?
I also looked around, and saw Ace and Sabo had also been thrown back. They were much closer to the explosion, and Sabo looked a bit more injured than Ace. My older brother most probably turned himself into fire when the explosion occurred, while Sabo had to tank it.
Ace panted, supporting himself with Enma, before moving in. He wanted to finish this quick. But I wanted to test something out.
"Kill the roach with fire!" I called out.
Ace glanced at me and gave me a confused look.
"Just use fire."
He blinked but nodded, as he jumped above Teach.
The Blackbeard Pirate had sensed Ace coming and quickly turned, spreading out his darkness everywhere, while his body turned more octopus-y in nature.
"I will fucking rip you all apart!" He roared, as from the spread-out shadows, large tentacles came out, launching toward Ace.
Ace, up in air, held Enma with both of his hands, lacing it with Haki and flames. His blade turned hot red, before turning blue as the fire intensified. Even from the ground, I could feel the heat from the attack.
And it wasn't just my imagination, raindrops dried up into steam even before they could hit the ground, some broken trees that were around the battle field caught fire, just because of the heat. Heck, the shine from Ace's fire was so strong that it looked like a second sun. A blue sun.
A small grin appeared on my face. My brother rocks!
"Nova Flames: Raging Sun!"
Blue flames laced out of Ace's blade, as he started spinning like a wheel of flaming death as he cut through the shadowy appendages. It looked majestic, as the destructo disk of blue flames cut through the shadowy limbs, finally dropping to the floor, slashing at Teach perpendicularly.
"Aaagh! My arm!" Teach gasped as a large wound appeared from his right shoulder towards his left torso, his right arm also getting separated from elbow down. He was thrown away, his body dragged through the ground, and skipped a few times as he flew like a rock skipping on water.
I was awed, almost forgetting the fact that Ace's flames were actually began to be affective against Teach. It seemed Teach's red energy-like powers weren't working.
Ace followed through after Teach, his once orange and red flames fully turning blue as he went after him.
Teach, who had finally managed to stop himself, was wide-eyed in shock and wanted to plead for his life, but Ace didn't give him any time. His form blurring right in front of Teach as he stabbed the bastard right in his brown heart.
"Wh… you…" Teach looked on in wide-eyed astonishment as he bled from his mouth, seeing the sword impale him through the heart. "Bas-tard!"
Ace snorted, "Funny last words." He said, twisting his blade, "Nova Pillar!"
A jet pillar of blue flames came out of his sword, burning a giant hole through Teach, almost separating his body. Burning through skin, flesh, and bones.
Ace took back his sword as Teach started falling toward the ground, life starting to leave his eyes. That last attack destroyed any and all internal organs inside Teach's body, including his two remaining hearts.
But even then, Teach might live for a minute or two. His regenerative abilities might even let him live a little bit longer, but I doubted he could come back from that. Even without his hearts, he had a lot of willpower that would make him suffer his last minutes of agony.
That's why, before his body could hit the ground, as last show of mercy, Ace slashed at him, separating his head from his body, fully taking his life.
Ace might have hated Teach for what he did. But he once called him a friend, and so, he didn't want the man to suffer. If it was me, I might have drawn it out, make his last moments crawl in despair, but Ace… he was better than me.
Ace looked down at Teach with a mix of disappointment and sadness. With that, the blue flames on Ace's body started petering out, and as he slowly sheathed Enma, so did the blue flames that were laced on the blade.
I grinned as I saw Sabo dragging himself towards Ace and putting his hand on his shoulder.
I didn't move, as I was still in no shape to move. My muscles were all locked up, and not working fully and not to mention my right arm. I would need a bit of time before I would be able to fully use that.
I also needed to look for my blade. I also needed to eat, and take a long nap. The fight for the day was over. It could have gone better, but I was grateful for what happened.
I looked to the sky, the rain had stopped and it was starting to get dark. I felt so tired right now.
A blowjob from Nami would be nice. I mean there were a few problems in life that blowjobs couldn't fix.
At least I had my priorities straight. With that, I laughed, "Shishishi… it's good to be alive!"
Ace and Sabo didn't know why I was laughing, but it seemed contagious, as after a while all three of us were laughing.
— — — —
A/N: Finally the fight is over.
So basically how I went with is, Teach had a mythical zoan fruit. The Kraken.
From the day he joined the Whitebeard Pirate, he had it but never showed it to his crewmates.
And as he had three hearts, after fully awakening his fruit, he was able to eat two more fruits.
I mean, he was able to scar Shanks. So maybe he did it 'cause he had a mythical zoan fruit backing him up.
Eh, who knows. I personally subscribe to that theory.
Anyway, have a good day.
302
A bit earlier, in the open sea,
"Ugh, the sea is in chaos!" Mont Blanc Cricket said, holding onto the railing of the ship. "Masira, haul the sails in… the wind isn't going to stop anytime soon. Shoujou, steer toward the northeast, we might need to put more distance between us and the island."
"Aye aye, captain!" Both the large pirates jumped to do their tasks. While the other men on the ship, grabbing on to whatever they could, tried not to fall off from the sailing ship.
Cricket looked at the island of Jaya and saw it was in a total mess. Even from this far, he could see the destruction the fight was causing.
The rough winds that came out affected the sea around them, causing waves and tides that made it impossible to be anywhere near the island. Most of the pirate ships in Jaya had already packed up and left the island when the fight started.
But unlike them, Cricket couldn't just leave the island. He had to be there, he was close to finding answers… he couldn't just leave now! But just a look back at the island made his hopes go down.
Giant explosions that shook the sea, the shifting and destruction of landmass… this… all of this was happening because some rough pirates wanted to rip each other apart. Would there be anything left after they are done with fighting? He was sure almost half of the island's Map would need to be changed after the fight was over.
Jaya wasn't a big island by any means, but still… this level of destruction wasn't seen here on the first half of the Grand Line.
"Those bastards are going to sink the island at this rate…" Cricket grumbled. "Boys put more distance between us and the island… the rain is getting stronger, so be careful."
"Aye aye, Captain!"
Suddenly all of them heard a huge rumbling from the sea below. The water started to bubble up before a huge serpentine sea king rose up from the sea. A sea king that was five times bigger than their ship, came out roaring.
"Shit! It's a sea king!" Cricket said, unsheathing both of his cutlass swords, and already running on the deck towards the huge beast, "Pull the ship back, pull it back! The ship might flip! When I give the signal, fire the cannons!"
With that, he jumped off the ship towards the monster with his blades drawn. "Die, you scaly bastard!" He attacked the giant creature with both of his blades, drawing an 'x' shape wound on its face. The sea king roared with its body getting pushed back and Cricket landed on the creature's nose and dug its blade in one of its eyes. Before jumping back toward the ship.
The creature roared in pain, but Cricket didn't pay much attention to it. Up in the air, he gave the signal, "Fire, now!"
His crewmates, who had readied the cannons, fired off shots onto the giant monster, as chunks of its flesh went flying.
Shoujou and Masira both came, grabbing onto a large cannon as they lit it up with a huge man-sized cannon ball coming out, shaking the ship from the resulting impact in the sea king's stomach, making him throw up something in the air. Before it fell back to the sea, dead and lifeless.
Cricket landed on the sea and the crew cheered as they successfully fought off a sea king. "We did it, boys!"
Both Shoujou and Masira locked arms with each other, and danced with happiness. While the other members cheered and laughed.
That was when something fell on their deck, shaking the ship, and cutting off their enjoyment. It was a man. But not just any man, it was Gin.
"Eh, where did he come from?" Masira asked, kneeling down and picking up Gin by the back of his shirt who was half his size. None of them recognized Gin, not even Cricket. "Oh, he's alive. What should we do Captain?"
"He looks like he's in bad shape." Shoujou said, scratching his head. "Was he inside the sea king…? He's either super lucky to survive or super strong…"
"He needs medical help immediately…" Cricket said, as he came towards the half-dead man.
"But we don't have any doctors?" Masira said.
"Yeah, old doc John passed away a year ago." Shoujou nodded.
Cricket didn't say anything, "Just get him some food or something… we can't just throw him back to sea…"
Right then Gin coughed out water, gasping for air greedily, "Water… I need water…" he said, as he coughed.
All three of them blinked surprised and Cricket was the first one to respond, "Someone bring the man some water and food!"
————
A/N: I changed a bit of Cricket's character. Basically made him a bit young and ambitious.
303
After a while, Gin looked far better after getting some food and water in his belly. His wounds had stopped bleeding and as an ancient zoan user, his passive recovery was already bringing him back up to optimal health.
Cricket and others were curious about what happened, so they asked Gin.
The so-called man-demon explained his story without getting into too much detail or revealing his identity. It wasn't that he was afraid or anything, no, he would be able to take on the full ship if needed but he didn't want any unnecessary trouble.
"So you are telling me that for the past six hours or so you were inside a sea king?" Mashira asked, his jaw on the floor. "And you are a devil fruit user?"
"Dude, how did you even survive?" Shoujou asked. Even Cricket didn't know what to say… he was equally shocked.
Gin, after getting dropped into the sea, was eaten by a sea king. And because of that, he was able to get some of his powers back, but as he was still inside water, he wasn't able to fully turn into his zoan form, or he risked sinking down again.
The main issue was drowning, but Luffy had trained every devil fruit member of his crew to at least hold their breath under the sea for a few hours. In case something like that happened.
Though that wasn't needed as the sea king was quite large, the air pocket inside the stomach might stink. But he could use that to survive a bit longer.
With that in mind wait patiently inside a sea king. Which was quite a disgusting experience, he was soaked with the stomach acid, guts, and feces of the sea king. Gin was somehow able to survive, but the stink was quite unbearable.
Even now he needed a bath. And after hearing what had happened, Mashira suggested spraying him with water for a quick cleanup. Gin was more than happy to get the stink off of him. And after everything was said and done, Gin finally looked a bit more humane.
"Thanks for freeing me… Who knows how long I would have been trapped if you guys didn't help." Gin said, honestly, "My crewmates must be worrying about me…" A large explosion rang out from the island of Jaya, cutting him off. He gaped, seeing the destruction, "They are still fighting?!"
"Of course they are…" Cricket said loudly, "Everyone, grab onto the ship, this one is a big one!"
Gin and everyone grabbed on the ship's structure, as the shockwave from the previous explosion came in, messing up the sea and violently throwing the ship back. This went on for a few minutes before the sea calmed again.
"Those guys are beasts," Gin mumbled.
Cricket snorted, "That they are, mate." Taking a drag from his cigarette, "From what I heard, the newest Warlord is fighting some New World Pirate there… Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the island's destroyed by the time the day is over…"
Shoujou and Masira both gasped, "You can't be serious, Captain? What about your mission to find the City of Gold?" But both of them shut up when they remembered that someone else was still in their ship.
Gin blinked, "City of Gold?" he asked, "Oh, you mean the legend of Noland… huh, so you are a man of dreams?" He asked looking at Cricket.
Cricket's brow twitched as he tensed up a bit, feeling a bit insecure. "Yeah, so what?"
Gin shook his head, and crossed his arms before nodding, "That's good… my Captain's a man of dreams as well…"
"Well… uh, your Captain's must be a great man I guess…"
Gin nodded again, his back straightening up a bit, "Yup, and he's going to be the World's Strongest Man and the King of Pirates…" he said with a solemn expression.
The others in the crew looked at him with a stupefied expression. Wondering who was the man that would not only go for Roger's title, but Newgate's as well.
Cricket looked at Gin and held eye contact, before nodding. "He's definitely a great man."
Gin smirked, already liking the blond chestnut-haired man.
"Gin!" Right then, all of the people on the ship saw a man flying… no, running in the sky towards them. The man was completely soaked due to the rain and had a worried look on his face, but seeing Gin, he sighed.
"Sanji?" Gin asked, giving his crewmate a smile, as the blond cook landed on the ship. "Oh, man, I'm glad you are here."
The blond cook sighed, "I'm sorry it took so long… but it seems you are safe." He said, "But even with your Vivre Card, you are changing locations… so finding you was quite tough. Not to mention you were in the sea… and you know I can't swim and all. Hatchan and Momoo were also looking for you, but you know how the Grand Line sea is…"
Gin blinked, "Wait, what's a Vivre Card?"
Sanji frowned, showing him a small paper. "This… didn't Chopper take all of your blood samples one time in Alabasta? Well, he was trying to make this… The people in Alabasta knew how to make them, and well, everyone in the crew has this in case something like this happens…"
"Oh…" Gin said, before his eyes widened. "Wait, were you guys all looking for me for the past six hours?"
Sanji smacked him on the head, "Of course we were…" he grumbled, "Do you know how worried we were that you were under the sea? Everyone in the Going Merry was going wild before Masked Deuce told us that since your Vivre Card was only slightly burned, it means you were still alive."
Gin rubbed the back of his head, "Oh," he rubbed the back of his head, feeling kind of embarrassed, "I… Thank you."
Sanji snorted, "You don't say thank you for that shit. You would have done the same for us."
Gin opened and closed his mouth before just nodding.
While this was happening the others in Cricket's crew were awed and scared. Even if they didn't recognize Gin, they recognized Sanji. The pirate with no bounty was one of the Fallen Hero's men.
One that played a key role in taking down Slender Swift in the G-3 incident. Because of Luffy's Warlord status, all of their bounties were paused. But almost everyone in the first half of the Grand Line knew about most of the Straw Hat crewmembers. And they were also able to recognize Gin because of it.
"'Black Leg' Sanji!"
"'Man-Demon' Gin!"
Everyone in the ship gulped and whispered quietly amongst each other. Even though their bounties were paused the fact that they were associated with a warlord spoke much. Because of that, everyone in the ship were now wary of them. Well most of them at least, not Cricket.
"So you are from the new Warlord's crew?" He asked taking a step forward, his hands on his sheeted blades.
Both Gin and Sanji noticed that action, but ignored it.
"Yes?" Gin said. "Will there be any problem?"
"Ugh… Captain…" Masira said, looking a bit sweaty, "We shouldn't…"
Cricket held his hand up, shutting the man, before narrowing his eyes on Gin, "You wanna know my problem, eh? Well, your captain is the reason why my home's destroyed… I left two of my good ships back there, that was filled with diving tech. For all I knew it could destroyed… destroyed, all my years of work…" he narrowed his eyes, "Who's gonna pay for that…?"
Sanji and Gin looked at each other, not sure what to say. Right then a the sea around them shook and another giant sea king rose up to the sea, this was much smaller then the previous one. But this one also looked scary, looking like a sea king that was made out of iron.
"What the… what kind of Sea King is that?" Mashira asked taking a few steps back.
"The scary kind." Shoujou responded.
Cricket prepared to unsheathe his blade, but Gin appeared in front of him, holding his hand. The blond man was wide-eyed at the sudden speed, "Don't worry, that's Momoo. He's part of our crew…"
As if answering him, the sea king gave a thumbs up with his fins, "Mooooo!"
Hatchan climbed off from the sea king's back and looked at Sanji and Gin. "Guys, Sanji found Gin!"
Right behind the sea king was another ship. This one being smaller than them. But most of its parts were covered in steel and metal. It was the new and improved Going Merry.
"Gin." Gin!" "Big Bro!" "Gin?"
Several of the Straw Hat pirates called out to Gin. Some visibly sighing in relief, while others looked happy to have finally found Gin. A few even jump onto the new ship to greet him. And one of them was Anchor who had Sparky on his shoulder.
While Anchor wasn't part of the crew very long, he had bonded very well with Gin 'cause of his straightforward attitude. Gin also appreciated the blacksmith for upgrading his tonfas, so both of them hit it off.
And so when Gin got lost in the sea, Anchor had volunteered to search for Gin. And did so, but with the sea being so messed up due to the ongoing fight, he couldn't do much. He was an exceptional swimmer, but the water of the Grand Line was too chaotic for him.
"Wait… you are Anchor, aren't ya?" Cricket said bringing all of their attention to him. "What's a marine…"
Anchor cut him off, "Ex-marine." He gruffed, "I'm a pirate now. But damn, Noland, hadn't thought I would see you still alive and kicking…" he said with a challenging smirk.
Cricket growled, "Watch it, Popeye…"
Anchor just grinned.
Sparky, who was on Anchor's shoulder, spoke up, "So you guys knew each other?" the monkey asked.
Cricket was surprised about the speaking monkey, but didn't say anything. He just glared at Anchor. "Oh, we know each other all right… this scumbag's the reason for a lot of my early troubles when I went out to the sea."
Anchor just rolled his shoulder, "What, I was a marine back then. Had to catch the bad ol' pirates before they let loose."
Cricket felt his brow twitch before growling, "I find myself hating your crew more and more the time passes. Gin, get off my ship with your crew and be ready to pay me back for the damage your captain cost."
Before anyone could say anything, all of them noticed a blue light. Everyone snapped back their heads towards Jaya. Where a shining blue light was radiating heat and power.
Everyone felt their skin crawl from the power, even non-combat fighters felt their instincts warn them. And just right after that, the heat wave hit them, completly drying of the rain, and calming down the sea.
"Wh-What was that…?" Usopp asked, gulping. Like others he was sweating prefously, not from fear. But from the heat.
"I-I don't know…" Coby said, fanning himself with his arm, "But, that power… that's…"
Masked Deuce grinned, "That's Ace. The bastard just got stronger…"
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"Wh-What was that…?" Usopp asked, gulping. Like others, he was sweating profusely, not from fear. But from the heat.
"I-I don't know…" Coby said, fanning himself with his arm, "But, that power… that's…"
Masked Deuce grinned, "That's Ace. The bastard just got stronger…"
No one spoke for a while as from the distance, the blue light fired off attacks against a shadowy monstrosity, before finally ending it. Finally, the blue light died down and everyone on the two ships became quiet. Even Cricket didn't know what to say.
The diving pirate just sighed, "I'll just have to cut my losses. At least the fight's over now."
Gin just nodded, not saying anything. The sky started to clear out. And both the Going Merry and Cricket's ship started heading towards Jaya.
Cricket mainly wanted to take another route, and not journey along the same lane as a Warlord. But Sparky insisted on taking the same route, saying that Luffy wouldn't mind paying him back for his ship. Especially since he had a part in saving Gin. Even Nami didn't argue. They were all worried about Gin.
And the tonfa user shed some manly tears when he heard and saw how worried his crewmates were. Though he tried to play it off, before Johnny, Yosaku, and Barto started making fun of him.
And so he had to shut them up using his fists.
Seeing their antics, the others laughed in the Going Merry. But only one remained silent. That was Law. The pirate was still wary of the rest of the Straw Hat crew and after losing most of his crew, the man was paranoid of his own shadow.
Law's three remaining crewmates were inside the medical room and Law sat outside it. The others were a bit cautious but with Masked Deuce, Sparky, and Sanji still being mostly fresh, they weren't worried. Especially after Law lent a hand when some of the Straw Hats returned from the fight injured.
In the medical bay, there were also Zoro and Kuina. Law had helped Chopper in treating them as thanks for doing the same for his crewmates. With Law's help their recovery was sped up by quite a lot.
Zoro was even able to regain consciousness for a while, checking up the situation on the ship before going to sleep again. He needed a lot of rest. But Kuina was still in a coma.
While this was happening, Cricket was only then starting to realize what he did. In the heat of the moment, he had said some very bold stuff. But he was dealing with a Warlord's crew here.
As they got near the island, they were beginning to see the devastation that the fight brought upon the island. Trees, rocks, and anything that were near the fight was demolished. Large chunks of some places were missing with the ground littered with deep pits, burned marks and pure devastation.
Cricket's crew gulped, seeing the utter horrifying sight of what had occurred. They couldn't even recognize the place.
Suddenly, they could see someone in the air. Sabo came running toward through the air, holding Luffy over his shoulder. Luffy looked battered and broken. Sabo landed on the Going Merry, and as the ship was smaller than Cricket's ship, they could see what was happening from there.
"Heh, heh, hey guys, what's up?" Luffy said smiling warily, his right hand was all shriveled up and black, while his body was littered with wounds. Sabo was in better condition than Luffy, but even he had multiple wounds on his body, some of them being serious.
"Luffy?!" Nami was the first one to run up to him, as Sabo put Luffy on a chair. She looked horrified seeing him in such a bad state. She didn't know what to do "How…?"
But she was cut off when Luffy grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a kiss on the lips. It was quick kiss, but it was enough. "Ugh… I almost feel better." Luffy said flexing his left bicep, looking at his stunned wife, "See Cat, a good kiss and I'm already fine."
Nami blinked before her face turned red, smacking Luffy on the head, "Stop it. You perv!" she said holding her hands over her red embarrassed face.
Luffy groaned, while Nami panicked when she remembered that Luffy was actually injured.
Seeing their antics several of his crewmates sweat dropped while Robin just giggled under her mask. She was still wearing her traditional clothes and mask to hide her identity, and most likely she would have to wear those kinds of clothes for the foreseeable future if she wanted to hide her identity. She didn't mind though, heck, she enjoyed it.
Starting to draw up her own oni-mask collection. All of them were mean and scary looking, and Robin used them with grace even getting a kick out of scaring the crewmembers from time to time.
An odd hobby, but not the oddest one in the crew.
Chopper came in not long after, with his equipment treating Luffy first then going towards Sabo next. Ace was still injured, but he wanted to bury Teach's body first, and so Masked Deuce had left to help him.
While this was happening, the Going Merry and Cricket's ship had docked. And Luffy was starting to prepare for the next things. Mainly collecting the devil fruits that should be scattered around the island.
As most of his crewmates didn't join the battle they were eager to put themselves to use and look up any and all odd-shaped fruits.
While that was happening, Luffy looked at Law, who was still sitting outside the medical room and not making eye contact.
He sighed, giving the boy one last sympathetic look before looking towards Cricket who was having his banter with Anchor. 'Let's start with him first.'
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"I have to thank you for helping Gin and as a token of appreciation, I'm willing to pay you for the damages that happened to your ships, and others, due to the fight."
Luffy said while Cricket looked flabbergasted. He didn't expect Luffy to be this direct and polite with him. You wouldn't expect politeness from pirates, there were some doubts in Cricket's mind if the young Warlord was just messing with him or not.
But honestly, he couldn't feel any kind of lie from him. "So you are willing to pay… that's… well, that's unexpected." He said, while crossing his arms, "Though, I'm still not sure on how much the ships were damaged. If we are lucky, and the ships are undamaged I won't take any of your money."
The first thing Luffy was able to learn about Cricket was that he was far more successful as a pirate than his canon counterpart. He was also a bit young, being around his early thirties. And, unlike his canon counterpart, he still had his crew, but had an active bounty of over eighty mil. Though, nowadays he mostly stayed around Jaya.
Anchor knew him because when he was in the Marines he had faced him multiple times. Even now, they might be somewhat equal in strength. Though Anchor would come out as victor. As he did get strong after fighting Crocodile.
Luffy waved him off, "Don't worry, money isn't an issue… even if our fight didn't damage your ship. The fact that you saved one of my crewmates is enough to pay you a hundred mil or so." He added, being oh so generous.
He thanked himself in his head that he had sent out Nami with the others, if not, she might've jumped him for saying such abhorrent things.
Masira and Shoujou had their jaws dropped while their eyes turned to Belis. That kind of money would be enough to build more than two ships! Even Gin, who was by Luffy's side, was amazed. His respect for his captain growing a bit more.
The others have already left the Going Merry to search for any fruits and explore the wrecked island. With only a few remaining on the ship. They already had two fruits, so they just had to look for the others.
Luffy, Cricket, and the others were having their conversation on the Going Merry. Law, who was sitting outside with an unreadable expression, was also able to hear them. But he remained silent.
For a while even Cricket didn't know what to say about the offer that Luffy made, his pride telling him to reject the offer. And he would have done so if Luffy didn't cut him off.
"Though, I'm more interested in the service your crew offers…" Luffy said, bringing his attention to him. "I did some research on you… and you are quite famous for exploring the ocean grounds… so I was thinking of buying your service."
Even though Cricket was a pirate, there were times when even pirate crew were recruited to do work for honest money. Not all pirates wanted to kill people, some were just labeled as such because of getting into unfortunate circumstances.
Before Cricket could speak, Gin spoke, "That would be good, captain." He said, "Cricket here is a dreamer like yourself captain."
"Really now?" Luffy said with interest, while rubbing his chin.
That made Cricket a bit tense, but Gin didn't notice. He continued.
"Yes, he wants to find the City of Gold. So he might be the best diver out in these parts of the Grand Line." Gin said while Cricket looked at Luffy, still a bit tense. Eyeing Luffy's expression for any signs of greed or amusement.
Cricket wouldn't admit it, but getting mocked for your dreams wasn't the worst, getting robbed kind of was. If a powerful pirate like Luffy decided to take everything, then he or anyone of his men wouldn't be able to stop him.
But Luffy didn't show any of that, no, he just tilted his head to the side. "But how does that have anything to do with finding the City of Gold?"
Gin blinked, "Ugh… Captain, don't you know about the legend of Noland? And how he claimed that the City of Gold had sunk down…?"
"I mean I know the legend of it," Luffy said, "But it's just a legend. It's not true…"
"It is!" Cricket said, talking over the younger pirate. "The City of Gold, it exists!" Cricket's men panicking because of their captain's outburst and Warlord's reaction. They didn't want to offend such a high figure.
Luffy looked at him for a moment, "And so does the One Piece." He answered, baffling him. "I didn't say it doesn't exist. It probably does. But I'm curious…" Luffy hummed looking at Cricket carefully, "You are related to Noland, aren't you?"
Cricket didn't say anything for a while as he looked down, a bit ashamed about his origins. But he nodded. "Yes, yes I am. And that's why I'm trying to prove that… Noland. That he wasn't a liar! And I will prove that, it's at the bottom of the sea!"
Luffy shrugged, "That's good… But I'm not sure if it's at the bottom of the ocean. If it was, some Fishmen would have found it a long time ago."
"Well… well, Fishmen aren't common around these parts." Cricket protested, not willing to accept Luffy's words. "And I'm sure…"
Luffy held up his hand, stopping him. "Let me stop you right there… the legend of Noland is at least four hundred years old. And I'm sure some Fishmen or humans have tried looking for it…"
Cricket stepped forward and slammed his fist down on the table. "What are you trying to say here!?"
Luffy just looked at him, before shrugging, pointing upwards, "What I'm saying is, maybe you are looking in the wrong place."
All of them that were present blinked.
Luffy grinned inwardly, 'Gotcha bitch!' he thought to himself. To his Observation Haki, Cricket had potential, lots of potential. Even without his future potential, he was strong enough to give Johnny or Yosaku a challenge.
That kind of man could be great for a crewmate. But seeing how Cricket acted with his own crew, Luffy knew that wouldn't be possible. So, instead, Luffy wanted Cricket in his Grand Fleet.
Even though he was weak now, if he could get towards the level of Noland, who was able to cut a large sea king in one swing of his sword, then recruiting him would be a good way to expand his Grand Fleet's influence.
Luffy wanted not only himself to be strong. No, he wanted his allies to be strong as well. There is a reason why Whitebeard, even in his old age, is considered the strongest Yonko.
In terms of strength, Shanks or Kaido might have been able to surpass him. But both of them didn't have strong allies like Newgate did.
"What?" Cricket asked. Even Law, who wasn't paying much attention to them, was intrigued. Even Luffy noticed it, but didn't say anything.
Luffy couldn't help himself and smirked, looking straight into Cricket's eyes. "Tell me Cricket, what do you know about the Sky Islands?"
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"Any ideas where the fruits might be?" Hatchan asked. "We've been looking for quite a while now."
"Mooo!" the small sea king that sat on Hatchan's shoulder nodded. Momoo in his shrunken form, courtesy of Usopp. Momoo also wore his armor, making him look more like a cool action figure rather than a fierce sea king.
Coby sniffed the air, looking around for any weird smell. "Well, it might take hours before we find a devil fruit." He said, "Even with my ability, the island of Jaya is really big and there's always a chance that the fruit might not reappear here. Still, we should look."
After a user of the devil fruit was killed, it would reappear in the nearest fruit that matched it, normally.
Though that shouldn't be an issue. They had checked with the Devil Fruit encyclopedia beforehand. And the Yami Yami no Mi, looked like a rotten mango, while the Chemical Chemical fruit looked like a glowing watermelon.
The Sick-Sick Fruit was a yellow rotten apple. And the Mythical Zoan fruit that gave Blackbeard the ability to transform into the giant octopus, looked like a gray avocado.
Actually, Blackbeard had three fruits, or at least that's what Luffy suspected, but they didn't know what his last fruit was. As they couldn't figure out what it was.
Still, they are ahead in collecting fruits. As when killing Van Augur, Usopp had kept a fruit that matched it, so they had that fruit.
And Sparky had dragged Laffitte's dismembered body to the ship, and finished him off there. His fruit getting reincarnated to the nearest orange. That's why they were a bit lax.
As they already had two powerful fruits in their hands.
"Still, we need to find two logia fruits, a powerful Paramecia and a Mythical Zoan. Just getting one of them should be easy for our group." Coby added as they walked.
Most of the Straw Hats had separated into teams of two or more to find the fruits. And in Coby's case, he was with Hatchan and Momoo.
Both Coby and Hatchan walked through the destroyed area, picking up trees and rocks, trying to find anything that resembled a Devil Fruit. With Coby's enhanced sense of smell, their team was in a bit of a lead.
The Devil Fruits had a particular stink to them that reminded Coby of when he first ate the fruit. So they were basically looking for any stinky stuff in the destroyed forest.
And after hours of searching and venturing out very deep into the Jaya forest did Coby finally find something.
"Is that… no way!" Coby said, as he picked up a giant log from the ground clearing ground, a green watermelon was there, it was covered in mud but with it's swirly patterns, it was easy to figure out what it was.
"Woohoo! We found a logia!" Hatchan cheered, pumping his three fists up in the air. The smaller sea king copying that rested on his shoulder copied the gesture.
Suddenly Coby's ears perked up, as he looked around. He had heard something… but…
The pink-haired pirate couldn't even finish his thoughts as he was punched in the face, and the fruit got snatched from his hands. He was sent ragdolling through the ground and going through multiple trees.
Hatchan, who was nearby, also got attacked by the invisible force, making a crater in the ground before he could do anything.
The invisible force revealed itself to be a large man. A man of almost 23 feet (6.89 Meters) in height. He had a white hat and the dark blue fabric of his pants were covered in brown spots. His jacket contained a large white design reminiscent of a target crosshair with several white paw prints lining the bottom hem of his coat.
Coby, who had gotten up, recognized the figure. "What is Warlord Kuma doing here?" he asked, mostly to himself. "And where's the fruit?"
But he had no time to think as the giant man, removed his gloves, and from a hole in his palm, yellow energy charged. He aimed it downwards, as Hatchan was still pinned down beneath his feet.
Coby moved without thinking. Using Soru and Geppo in a way that would make his captain proud, bouncing through the air with a blitz of speed while tackling the giant man's leg.
Making the enemy fall and its yellow energy to fire off into the distance, creating a massive explosion that shook the area.
While the enemy was down, it threw Coby away as the smaller pirate spun in the air before landing. Pulling out his claws from his knuckles, he charged toward the presumed Warlord with his strongest attack.
His claws shone brightly for a moment as he appeared right in front of the enemy's face. Taking his captain's advice to always aim for the head, "Six Clawed Devastation!" With that, he slashed both of his arms across each other.
A large wound with three on three diagonally perpendicular gashes in the formation of an 'X' smashed into the enemy's face as his body lifted a bit up in the air before it fell to the ground. Though at the same time, the pink-haired pirate hissed as his bone claws broke down, crumbling to the ground.
He was astonished, this only happened the one time he fought with everything against Sanji. And when he tried to cut him, it was as if the enemy had a skin made of unbreakable metal.
And sure enough, rather than seeing blood, Coby saw metal parts and oil coming out of the face wound. Coby also spotted what looked like a prototype of an Invisibility Watch on the Pacifista's wrist, and while it was down, quickly fired off a small claw, destroying the invisibility device.
Robotic body, Laser Beams, and now an Invisibility Watch?
"Just… What are you?" Coby mumbled, as he cautiously approached the fallen enemy. The enemy was a Warlord, or that's what he thought, so it wouldn't be that easy right?
But he wanted to check if he had hid the fruit on his body or not. As the enemy was unconscious, he could grab it and leave.
Suddenly the enemy grabbed him by the legs, making him shocked before Coby saw his enemy open its mouth, and fire off a yellow energetic mouth beam towards him.
Coby, who was trapped, could only cross his arms while using Iron Body, thinking he could tank the attack. But he was very wrong, as he was sent back screaming due to the attack.
He yelled in pain, as his arms were burned off of his body along with a good portion of his face and chest, as he was thrown back, going through multiple trees.
"Coby!" Hatchan, who had recovered from the surprise attack, quickly took in a concentrated Water Pill, to buff himself up, before charging at the giant Warlord. "I will kill you!" the Fishman roared.
What they didn't know was that this was a Pacifista, not the Warlord himself. Human weapons were developed by the Marine's head scientist, Dr. Vegapunk. And cybernetic clones of the Warlord, Bartholomew Kuma, himself.
"Six Swords Style: Six Bladed Lotus!" He charged at the man, before jumping while his body started spinning at a rapid pace, creating a giant tornado of sharp water to smash into the Enemy's body.
The giant man was thrown to the side, with his shirt being ripped off, and his cybernetics showing due to the large wound on it's side. Hatchan didn't stop the attack as he had limited time using his boosted strength to blur in front of the Pacifista, and attacking with his swords.
The Pacifista was a bit overwhelmed, at first, but once the fight began to stretch out, it was able to study Hatchan's skills and come up with counters that pushed the Fishman back.
With a punch to the gut, Hatchan's body was sent up to the sky, while the Pacifista fired off a mouth beam toward the Fishman. Or at least tried to…
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The Pacifista was a bit overwhelmed, at first, but once the fight began to stretch out, it was able to study Hatchan's skills and come up with counters that pushed the Fishman back.
With a punch to the gut, Hatchan's body was sent up to the sky, while the Pacifista fired off a mouth beam toward the Fishman. Or at least tried to…
"Mooo!" Suddenly a smaller creature striked the Pacifista on its back. If the Pacifista had any pain receptors, it would feel the power of a sea king's strike as its body gained a dent and he was sent flying a few feet, dragging through the ground.
Before it could get up though, the smaller creature, that was the shrunken down version of Momoo, jumped into the air and stomped on the Pacifista face down on the ground. Creating a massive crater in the ground.
Still, on its head, Momoo started to grow big as it returned to it's original size. It seemed using too much power, had canceled off Usopp's power on the sea king.
Usopp's powers worked differently from Sparky's. Where Sparky had a time limit, Usopp's didn't. But it had a drawback that, when used against living beings, if they struggled even a little bit they could break off from the size change.
But before Momoo could fully reach its full size, its body was yanked up and thrown towards the forest, as the Pacifista stood up, with some damage. The backside of its head having a small dent due to the concentrated bodyslam from Momoo.
But as the Pacifista stood up, suddenly someone blurred in from the side, "I'm not done yet. Two Claw Style: Tatsu Maki!" Coby called out a technique that he learned from Zoro.
A giant wind attack, that looked like a dragon-like tornado, roared out and smashed into the Pacifista's side, flinging him to the side. With more of its robotic parts showing from the wounds gained from Coby.
Though Coby panted heavily, and winced when his two long arm bone blades broke off and shattered, not being able to handle going against steel. He hissed, but didn't say anything. They would grow back, and he wanted to ignore the pain and focus. "Why is a Warlord even attacking us…?" he said, panting. Weren't they supposed to be allies?
But if it really was a Warlord, then things wouldn't add up. A Warlord should be much stronger than this… maybe it was a fake? But even then it was leagues above Coby.
That last attack, he had poured everything to it. And it did manage to harm and wound the enemy, but it wasn't much. Coby could see the presumed Warlord standing up, not knowing it was just a robotic clone.
He looked at Hatchan, who was at the opposite side, unconscious. He would have come sooner, but the last attack from the enemy blew up his arms from the elbow below, along with his face and chest. And regrowing new limbs from that much damage took time, and a lot of energy.
The attack also meant that the enemy wasn't playing around. It wanted to kill them, so he had to be careful.
And Hatchan wasn't the only one, even Momoo was there, knocked out a bit far from there. He could go and grab Hatchan, and run for it, but he couldn't just leave Momoo behind.
He wouldn't leave a friend behind. No, he refused to do it. If… if only his claws were stronger. Not made of bones. His will and determination for strength, triggered a response from his fruit's power that the boy wasn't aware of.
He was also in a tough spot, as they were very far from the Going Merry, and it would take a lot of time to get to the Going Merry and bring help. So he needed to stay here and hold his opponent back, all the while creating as much commotion as possible to bring their attention to him.
The Pacifista stood up, locking eyes with Coby, now that it sported multiple wounds. Still, it was more than enough of a challenge against Coby. "Target detected, following orders to eliminate!"
Coby gave out a feral growl as he dashed forward, the Pacifista doing the same. Coby struck with three claws coming out his hands while another came out from his foot. He attacked with unpredictability, making the robot try hard and fail to read his moves.
But even though the Pacifista started taking significant damage, Coby's claws were breaking each time he did a powerful move. As the battle raged on, it became a struggle for power.
A test of who would give out first. Man or Machine! While one felt tired, pain and exhaustion, the other felt none. While one was fueled by the Will to protect his friends, the other was fueled by oil and energy. It was a struggle that dragged on, with both fighters giving it their all.
The ground beneath them trembled due to their fight. The clash of claw against steel sent shockwaves through the already destroyed forest, creating deep fissures in the ground.
The fight went on and with Coby taking gruesome damage to his body, he still pushed through, not intending to lose. The ground was littered with blood, Coby's blood.
Bones broke, muscles ruptured and yet the pirate didn't back off. But it was clear that Coby was on the losing end, now that he was alone he couldn't win. Or that's how it seemed…
'Stronger… Faster… I want to cut everything!' Coby repeated these words in his mind even as he fought a losing battle. He wanted to tap into a power that he was trying to master, a power that he seldom was able to bring forth that even Zoro found challenging. A power that made him rival Gin with his ancient zoan fruit.
It was his state of flow, a state that he had tapped into long ago, back first against the Black Cat pirates. A state that increased his reflexes to the extreme.
But after gaining his fruit powers, he fully started depending on it. Neglecting that ability, but now he wanted to combine both of his powers. The power and ferocity of his Claw Claw Fruit and the state of flow that increased his reflexes to another level.
Like everyone, even Coby had trained back in Alabasta. But after Gin got his Zoan Devil Fruit he had gained a massive increase in strength. And a gap of strength was created between them. A gap that Coby wasn't able to cross.
While Coby respected Gin, and would give his life for him as a crewmate. He also had jealousy, for he was a human. An ambitious one, a man that wanted power. Coby had goals, he wanted to bring down the World Government.
But he needed to be strong for that.
He had long accepted that figures like Luffy, Sparky, Zoro, Sanji and Kuina would be impossible to win against, and very hard to reach. With how much they trained, they wouldn't let him catch up to them.
Gin on the other hand was reachable. Heck, before the fruit, in most fights Coby would win. But now he understood that he overly relied on his fruit's regeneration ability, while Gin sharpened his skills.
And now that Gin got his Devil Fruit, he had overtook him. And even though it was hard to admit, Coby started doubting his own strength.
That was until he asked Luffy directly about it.
'You will reach above the level of Admirals one day,' Luffy had said with surety and a wide smile on face as he looked him in the eyes. 'I trust you, Coby. You have the will, just don't give up. Shishishi…'
He was also the one who suggested looking into the state of flow, and he was trying to do it. His captain trusted him. He had to do it.
Luffy's words rang into his mind, as he strengthened his resolve, continuing his fight against the robotic enemy, 'I will do it! I will cut everything!'
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Luffy's words rang into his mind, as he strengthened his resolve, continuing his fight against the robotic enemy, 'I will do it! I will cut everything!'
Suddenly a deep surge of power roared out from Coby, and the boy felt himself grow exponentially strong. His muscles bulked up in size as he grew a foot taller, his once loose clothes struggled to keep his frame because of the extra size. He still had his athletic build, but now his body muscles were much more pronounced.
His pink hair, drenched by his own blood, shone red, flowing back, straightening up, defying gravity, as it flowed wildly in the air. Giving an ominous feel to it. All the while his pupils vanished in the white of his eyes. As he fully entered the state of flow.
[Insert Pic]
The Pacifista seeing the rapid change quickly fired off two yellow beams of energy at the target.
But Coby's form blurred away in the nick of time. The beams of light hitting nothing as they exploded into flames.
Coby appeared right in front of the robot, as his small yet dangerous claws came out of his nails instead of his knuckles, ripping off a large chunk of the Pacifista's face as the robot was flung back, destroying one of it's eyes.
Coby, still in the air, used Geppo and Soru to bounce in air, before again using Geppo and Soru in combination to deliver a drop kick that sent the already flying Robot down to the ground, making its body roll to the ground, digging multiple craters in its way.
The wild pirate landed on the ground on all fours, and with a roar he lunged towards the Pacifista with his claws and enhanced strength. Coby used so much energy to launch that, even his own muscles bulged and ruptured due to strain, before regenerating immediately.
The Pacifista tried to defend itself but it's once, almost unbreakable body was easily getting cut through by Coby now.
"Raaagghh!" The pirate roared as it attacked with ferocity, sanity lost in his own ability. He clawed, and punched, ripping through mechanical parts while evading close light beam shots.
Seeing the losing battle, the Pacifista tried to back off but Coby didn't let him. But the robotic monstrosity was far from useless, as it calculated a chance and dashed back.
Seeing this Coby moved in, jumping too far to catch the Pacifista, not wanting to let go of it's prey.
But the Pacifista anticipated it and blasted one of its yellow beams at Coby's leg. Trying to cut off his mobility.
But rather than dodging, Coby gave a frail smile, before twisting its body. Letting the light beam rip through his leg, from his thigh. Not even winching from the pain. Mid-air Coby even grabbed onto his separated limb before using his other leg to come right in front of the Pacifista. And smashing his severed leg onto the robot's face.
Due to the force, Coby's leg exploded apart in blood and gore, covering the robot's face with blood and taking out his vision.
And without it, the Pacifista didn't even stand a chance, as Coby attacked.
Even with a missing leg, he attacked like a frail animal, with each strike, a huge portion of its body got sliced and diced. Coby brought his claws upwards, and when the Pacifista tried to block it, its left arm got severed, while Coby kicked it in its gut.
Small and yet white claws also appeared out from his toes, easily stabbing into the Pacifista, ripping out mechanical parts as it was sent back with one of its limbs missing.
"RAAHHH!"
The giant robot fell on its back as it tripped. And with a beastly roar, Coby changed forward, its leg already half regenerated, muscles and bones, without any skin.
Coby opened his mouth and, with sharp canine teeth that would make any Shark-lady blush, bit through the Pacifista's neck and ripped it's head clean off as the giant robot exploded.
Hatchan who had woken up, saw Coby getting engulfed in the explosion, roared, "Coby!"
Just as the explosion engulfed Coby. A loud roar erupted from the fire, before it got cut. By instinct, Hatchan ducked low as the wind cut off nearby trees and boulders. Hatchan, who just saved his neck in time, gulped.
He looked at Coby. And the wild young man wasn't done, still ripping through the Pacifista.
"Coby!"
Hatchan said. But the boy didn't listen, as it still attacked the dead robot.
"Coby! It's over! The fight's over!" And finally, the boy heard him, snapping its head back at the Fishman.
With pupilless eyes, it looked at Hatchan, making the Fishman feel fear like no other. It was as if looking at a wild animal. But Coby didn't do anything, he just stared at Hatchan. For a while nothing happened, before Coby finally to the ground, on top of the wrecked Pacifista.
Was it over…? He had to check.
Hatchan moved his body with a struggle, still, his stomach burned with pain from the enemy's last attack. And his body was still a bit uneasy due to consuming the water pill.
Though the side effect wasn't as bad as it previously was. Chopper had upgraded it, and now he had minimal side effects. And with time, Chopper theorized he might be able to get the strength boost even without the pill. As his body was rapidly changing due to his octopus biology.
But it didn't matter, he dragged his body towards Coby and after finding him merely unconscious. And that wasn't all, almost all of Coby's injuries were healed. That was fast… even for Coby.
Hatchan sighed in relief, and laid down beside him, on the wreckage.
"Hatchan! Coby! Momoo!" Sparky came along with Sanji. With Johnny and Yosaku on the cook's back. Heavily injured.
"Huh, so this bastard wasn't alone?" Hatchan said, "How many were there?"
"There were two others…" Sparky said, before he looked at the wrecked Pacifista.
"All of them looked alike. Looked like the Warlord Kuma for some reason. And the bastards could also turn invisible." Sanji said, knowing that they used the same Germa tech to do so. "Usopp and Barto was also attacked. But, well, Usopp shrunk down and shut down his one from the inside out, while Barto distracted him."
Hatchan nodded looking at the two unconscious pirates on Sanji's shoulder.
"Well, let's just say they had it rough." Sanji said, "Unlike Usopp or Barto, they opted to go the brute force route, and had to push their bodies to the extreme, before they were able to beat them."
Sanji then looked at Coby, finally noticing his changes. He raised an eyebrow before looking at Hatchan, who just shrugged.
Sparky was checking up on Coby, and the monkey sighed when he found the boy was fine. Though he was surprised by Coby's changes. Is that what humans called a growth spurt? Strange… he thought before shrugging.
"What about the others… were they attacked?"
"No," Sparky shook his head, "It seemed these things… only went for weaker members of the crew. And those that were far from the ship. Nami and Robin were exploring closer to the ship, so they weren't attacked. Though… we are lucky we didn't have any casualties."
The others nodded. And Hatchan spoke up, "Well, we also had found the Chemical Chemical fruit, but the dead-machine-man got it… he might have thrown the fruit somewhere…"
Hearing this Sparky and Sanji looked at each other, a bitter expression.
"Something similar happened with Usopp and Barto… when they got a fruit. They were also attacked, and the machine-bastard got the fruit." Sanji said. "But rather than eating, it threw the fruit high up in the air, where a door was… and right after the fruit passed the door. It closed. So I think something similar might have happened, but you guys didn't notice."
"Wait, there are others helping them?"
"Most probably… And they were also after the fruits." Sparky grumbled. Sparky then kicked a nearby metal piece, "What are these things…?" That was the main question. Luffy was also informed and him and his brothers were doing a thorough search around the island, in case there were more threats. Only Luffy had an idea of what it was.
"I really could use some takoyaki right now," Hatchan said, while his stomach grumbled. Prompting snickers and smiles from Sparky and Sanji.
— — — — —
A/N: I didn't want to do another fight. But well, Coby did kind of get behind Gin, because of his Ancient Zoan fruit. So yeah, I added the fight scene. Though, I kept it short.
Anyways, A Pacifista in the early parts (before the War) was no joke. It took Kid, Killer, and Law to fight off one in Sabaody. And even though they weren't going all out.
I would say that Sabaody Zoro should be able to take on a Pacifista. I always thought of Kuma being around ten times or more stronger than the clones that were made.
And with the Pacifista playing no major role. Just glorified canon fodder cleaner in the later chapters. I would say that as much.
Anyway, even though the bounties of the Straw Hats are paused right now. With Coby's strength and contributions. He could easily be placed as a supernova.
Coby knows how to cut steel, Soru, Geppo, Tempest Kick, Imperfect Life-return and Iron Body. Not to mention his devil fruit. If against the CP-9 agents, other than maybe Rob Lucci he would win.
If Coby can make the beastly power his own and master it, maybe he can beat him as well.
Gin is still stronger than Coby though. But the gap isn't as large. Gin was already keeping up with Coby without the fruit. And with a fruit that is an Ancient Zoan, well, he got quite ahead.
Anyway, I will explain why the Pacifistas waited much later to attack, in the future Chapters.
When Saint Camael sent the Pacifistas he never said they would fight in the open. Cause that would bring a lot of attention. Because then it would look like Warlord Kuma is fighting Warlord Luffy.
The world doesn't know about the Pacifistas yet, and marines and World Government are trying to keep it a secret. So Saint Camael couldn't just bring them out in the open.
Anyway, I won't explain much. It would be explained later in the story.
Have a good day and bye!
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"Report!" Saint Camael said.
"Sir, we were able to gather four fruits in total." the agent said, kneeling from the other side, not looking at the video directly. They were on the transponder call, and while Saint Camael was in his mansion, the agent he tasked for the job was in a strange green dimension.
"Did you get the two logias?"
"Yes, sir."
"Perfect!" Saint Camael grinned, "Two logias… the Blackbeard pirates and Aramaki might have lost, but I can put their powers to good use. Those weaklings didn't deserve their powers anyways," He laughed, he had a few people in mind that would stay loyal to him and use those fruits. "And what about the Energy Energy Fruit… did you retrieve that?"
"Unfortunately, no sir."
Saint Camael sighed, "That was one of my favorite collections…" he grumbled, before shrugging. "Still, it was just a Paramecia. Keep looking, it might still be on the island." The fruit wasn't that powerful. Teach had only been able to make himself use of that because of his unworldly ability.
Energy was a basic ability, Teach was able to use that because of his unique mind. He had given the fruit to a few of his slaves before and other than increasing their powers a bit, they were killed the moment they were put against a better fighter.
Camael had offered the fruit as a pre-payment of sorts for killing Luffy. But he didn't expect him to eat the fruit himself! A man that could consume multiple fruits… Teach really was an interesting man.
But a dead man, nonetheless.
"And what about the other targets…? Did you kill any one of the weaker Straw Hats?"
Hearing that, the agent's expression turned grim. He still had his head down, not making eye contact with his superior, "We have to apologize sir, but they were too strong…"
"What?" The Celestial Dragon said, "Not even one…? Are those tin cans useless or something?!" he slammed his hand on the table in frustration as he cursed, "Still, just bring back those useless junks. I shouldn't have bothered using them in the first place."
While those Pacifistas might be useless, he couldn't have something that looked like a Warlord out in the open sea. That was the reason why, even though he had sent three Pacifistas with Aramaki and Shiryu, he ordered them to remain hidden in Jaya.
And with the Germa's Invisibility Watches, they were able to keep hiding. The good thing about having robotic war machines was that Saint Camael could control them. It brought some excitement to him.
When the Pacifistas will be announced he would be sure that the other World Nobles would like them as controllable toys. Toys with the ability to kill most people in the world.
Saint Camael shook those thoughts away. Pondering over his decision, if he was wrong.
When the battle started, it was all of a sudden.
The Straw Hat Pirates attacked the Blackbeard Pirates, almost as if they knew the enemy was there. And not only that, that damn son of Dragon, he wasn't alone.
There was also the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace, helping him. Along with Sabo from the Revolutionary Army.
Saint Camael, unlike others, made a note to know about people that were powerful. And when he saw them joining the fight against the Blackbeard Pirates, he knew it was losing battle. That's why he told the Pacifistas to retreat and wait until the main players were exhausted.
But with how long the fights were going, Saint Camael soon got bored and gave the controls over to the agent that was there.
And with the Germa Invisibility tech that Saint Camael gave them, it was quite easy. He was satisfied with how the new tech worked, and made a note to visit the Germa Kingdom when he had time.
Judge treated him very well, and had the finest collection of slaves of mixed races. A small smile tugged on his lips. He hadn't fucked some mermaids in a while… he shook those thoughts off.
He had other things on hand. The Pacifistas, he needed to make sure that those were salvaged correctly.
Saint Camael wasn't usually cautious with things. No, he had to do it for a reason.
The Pacifistas were stolen by his personal agent by his own orders. If the Five Elders knew about it, they wouldn't do much. But if they knew what they were used for, then…
He gulped, a silhouette of a tall man with odd-looking silver hair and a sword strapped on his belt came to his mind.
While the Five Elders were really lax in most cases with what the World Nobles did. They also had to follow their orders when they were given, or else they would face the consequences.
And the Five Elders, they had ordered him to stop attacking the Straw Hat Pirates now that he was a warlord. And he had directly gone against those orders.
It was then he frowned when he heard no response from the other side, "Agent Bluno… why aren't you answering?"
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"Agent Bluno… why aren't you answering?"
"Ugh… sir the Straw Hats had destroyed the Pacifistas when they tried to kill the targets." The agents said before hurriedly adding, "It seems the Pacifistas had underestimated their abilities. Though, they were able to snatch two fruits out of the Straw Hat's hands…"
Saint Camael rubbed his forehead. He was mad, but at the same time he was a bit satisfied that they were able to collect most of the fruits.
So rather than throwing an anger tantrum and killing some slaves like he usually did, he opted to calm down his nerves.
"Useless… all of them." He snarled. "I should have been here the whole time." At the same time, Saint Camael was a bit anxious. He took the Pacifistas from the stock that would be used in the upcoming war. And while that wasn't his own problem.
If the Straw Hats reported back to the Marines that robots that looked like the Warlord Kuma attacked them, then he would be in trouble. They would then be able to track back the origins and he would be in trouble. Especially if the Five Elders knew what he used it for.
No, this info couldn't get out.
He glared at the agent, "Blueno, when stealing the Pacifistas, did you leave any trail?"
Hearing that the agent quickly shook his head, "No sir. I made sure to leave a false trail. The Marines are currently thinking that one of their ships just got destroyed in the sea, or were destroyed by a sea king."
Saint Camael nodded. Stealing the Pacifistas were easy. As they were made in Egghead, an island located in the New World, they usually took the long route of crossing out to the Calm Belt and moving from there. As the New World's weather was very chaotic, this was usually how things were transported from there.
Still, it wasn't odd to have ships lost in the Calm Belt as that was the Breeding ground for large sea kings.
The World Noble then glared at the agent. "Then Blueno, make another false trail that the Joker was the one who got the Pacifistas and sold it to Teach. I can't let those things be connected to me."
"Yes, sir." Bluno nodded.
Joker was notorious for stealing from the World Government and selling it to the pirates. So leaving a few false transponder snail signals, and messing up information would be easy. Especially since Jaya Island was under Doflamingo.
Saint Camael had his suspicions, but Joker and Dolflamingo were very connected from all the deals he had previously done with him. That was why he was very much willing to push Joker under the bus, that way he wouldn't be suspected.
Speaking of clearing trails…
"Did you get the bodies of Aramaki and Shiryu…? You didn't leave them did you?"
"No, sir, I disposed of them like you asked," Blueno said, hurriedly. The Straw Hats had other things to do after beating them, so they didn't notice when he cleared things up and took care of the bodies.
Saint Camael nodded. "Good, make it look like just another fight between pirate crews. It would have been better if we were able to take back the Pacifistas, but…" he then sighed, "Also, be careful, they might be on alert now. Don't even try to engage them."
"Yes sir."
Saint Camael still had a frown on his face. He realized something, something didn't make sense.
He found things confusing. He couldn't understand why Ace, one of the Whitebeard pirates, would join Luffy. There were some rumors that both of them fought in Alabasta. But he could understand Ace in attacking Teach as the man did betray his old crew.
And with how crafty Luffy was, being able to climb his way to a Warlord position as a young pirate, he could see him bringing Ace there.
Still, that didn't explain his second question. Why would a Revolutionary like Sabo help Luffy? Was Luffy somehow working with the Revolutionaries? Or was it the Whitebeard's?
Hmm… they were up to something.
If it was any other time, he would report it to the Five Elders, and even if it was false, he would make it look like Luffy was working with the Revolutionary Army.
Luffy working with the Revolutionary Army would make sense. His father was the one that did create the abhorrent organization. And with some misplaced evidence, it would have been easy to strip Luffy out his Warlord title.
But now he couldn't.
If he did, that would bring into question of just how he acquired the information. Saying so would expose his involvement. So, for now, he would need to keep the information to himself.
Not to mention, with how stingy the Five Elders were, if they found out that he had gained two new logia fruits. They would try to take them away from him. And he didn't want that.
Camael then looked at the agent that was on the other side, "Forget the Energy Energy fruit… there's a high chance now that they are alerted that you might get caught. Rather, bring back the other fruits."
"Yes sir," Bluno said and the World Noble nodded.
— — — —
A/N: I hope this cleared out why the Pacifistas weren't used in the first place. And I also wanted to bring that Saint Cameal might be a World Noble, but even he couldn't get away with doing all these things.
Anyway, enjoy the story. And bye.