"Huh?"
Captain Morgan, just about to launch into his grand, villainous speech, looked up in confusion. In the next heartbeat, his pupils shrank to the size of needlepoints, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
He saw "himself"—that giant stone head—hurtling toward him with the roar of a falling mountain.
"DAMMIT!!"
In a life-or-death crisis, Morgan demonstrated the physical reflexes that had earned him the rank of Branch Captain. He lunged to the side, performing a frantic, clumsy roll through the dirt.
THOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion of sound rocked the base. The earth itself seemed to groan. The massive stone head slammed into the center of the courtyard, shattering into a thousand jagged pieces.
A wall of dust and debris billowed upward, completely swallowing a dozen meters in every direction.
"Whoa! That was huge!" Luffy landed on the ground, using his rubbery body to absorb the shock, his mouth hanging open as he surveyed the wreckage.
Zoro didn't waste a second. He caught the three swords Luffy held out, swiftly tucking two into his sash. He drew the white-hilted Wado Ichimonji, biting down on the scabbard, and gripped the other two. His gaze sharpened instantly into that of a predator.
"Thanks, Luffy." Zoro felt the familiar weight of the hilts, his aura surging. "I finally feel alive again." He glanced at the settling dust and snorted. "Hit by a rock that big, Morgan's either dead or a vegetable."
"Don't count on it," Viktor said, standing nearby as the crimson light in his eyes flickered. "In stories like this, there's a law called 'Unscathed by Smoke.'"
As if on cue, a violent gust of wind tore through the haze. The thick dust was sliced clean open by a massive axe. Morgan stepped out from the ruins.
Though covered in grime and his prized Marine coat reduced to rags, his aura of savage bloodlust had only intensified.
"You... you dare do this to my statue!!" Morgan's eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead as he stepped over the debris. "I am Axe-Hand Morgan! I am the only King here! You lowly pirates—"
Zip!
Before he could finish, a black kunai whistled through the air, expanding in his vision as it targeted his throat.
"Hmph! Just a little rat who can only sneak attack!" Morgan sneered, lazily swinging his massive metal axe-hand.
Clang!
The kunai was easily parried, bouncing off to land at his feet. "You think a child's toy can hurt me?" Morgan let out a cruel, guttural laugh.
However, Viktor didn't look disappointed. Instead, his lips curled into a cold, sharp arc. He formed a single-handed 'Tiger' seal and whispered:
"Burst."
Morgan blinked, instinctively looking down. Attached to the end of the kunai he had just parried was a slip of paper marked with strange runes, now glowing with a blinding red light.
BOOM—!!!
A violent explosion erupted right at Morgan's feet. Fire roared upward, and shrapnel flew. While the power of an Explosive Tag wasn't enough to kill a man of Morgan's constitution, a point-blank blast when he was completely unguarded was devastating.
"AAAGH!!"
Morgan screamed. His legs were mangled by the blast, and the shockwave sent his massive frame tumbling backward.
"Let's go!"
The moment the explosion cleared, Viktor blurred into motion like a hunting leopard. He snatched the kunai as it spiraled back toward him from the blast's force, gripped it in a reverse hold, and lunged at Morgan.
"Whoa! Cool explosion! My turn!" Luffy cheered, throwing his arm back. "GOMU GOMU NO—PISTOL!!"
"And me!" A cold glint flashed in Zoro's eyes as he raised his three blades. "Three-Sword Style!"
The trio attacked simultaneously.
"You damned rats! I'll kill you all!!"
Mid-air, Morgan was in a total frenzy. Despite his bleeding legs, he was a battle-hardened Marine. Facing Luffy's lightning-fast fist, he didn't dodge. He reached out with his good hand and caught Luffy's extended wrist in a death grip!
"Got you!" Morgan roared. Using the tension of Luffy's rubber arm, he yanked hard. Luffy was jerked off-balance.
Then, with a massive heave of his waist, Morgan swung Luffy like a living flail, aiming him straight at the incoming Viktor and Zoro!
"Waaaaah! Let go! I'm getting dizzy!" Luffy yelled as he spun through the air.
The move was brutal, effectively blocking Viktor and Zoro's path.
"Tch, what a brute-force monster." Viktor didn't retreat. His forward momentum stopped abruptly, his hands becoming a blur of seals.
Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey - Ram!
Viktor snapped his head up, his crimson, single-tomoe Sharingan locking onto Morgan's eyes.
"Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!"
The berserk Morgan suddenly froze. In his vision, Viktor, Zoro, and Luffy vanished. In their place appeared his deepest fear: he saw himself being court-martialed, stripped of his rank, and thrown into Impel Down—where he was stepped on and humiliated like a dog by the man with the round glasses, Captain Kuro.
"No... NO! I am the greatest! I am the Captain!!" Morgan screamed in terror, his eyes losing focus. His grip on Luffy's arm went limp as fear drained his strength.
"Huh? He let go?" Luffy didn't know what happened, but he felt a pair of hands catch him. Viktor had lunged forward, snagged Luffy's tumbling body, and landed them both steadily.
"Zoro! Now!" Viktor shouted.
Zoro was already upon him. Even though Morgan was paralyzed by the Genjutsu, his warrior's instinct remained. As Zoro's blades were about to cleave him, a sharp sense of crisis forced him to lurch sideways.
Slash!
Three deep, bone-chilling wounds opened across Morgan's chest. Blood sprayed across the dirt.
"AAAGH!!" The agony snapped Morgan out of the illusion. He looked at his wounds, and his fear turned into a psychotic murderous intent. "I'LL TEAR YOU APART!!"
Morgan roared, his giant axe descending toward Zoro, who was still recovering from his last swing. Zoro, weakened by hunger, found his body stiff—the blade was inches away.
"Zoro! Duck!" Luffy's shout came from behind.
Zoro didn't even think. His body instinctively obeyed the command, dropping low. Simultaneously, a rubber foot shot past his head.
"GOMU GOMU NO—STAMP!"
Luffy's foot slammed into the hilt of the axe, the massive force knocking the blade off course and burying it in the ground. Morgan was sent reeling backward by the impact, his chest wide open.
As Zoro prepared to move, a boot stepped heavily onto his shoulder. "Hey?!"
"Lending a blade."
Viktor's voice rang in his ear. Before Zoro could react, he felt the weight of one of his black swords leave his hand. Viktor used Zoro's shoulder as a springboard.
With a burst of Chakra, Viktor soared into the air, a black blur appearing above the off-balance Morgan. His Sharingan glowed with intense red light, locking onto the weakest point of Morgan's neck. To his eyes, it was as if a red line marked the perfect cutting path.
"Uchiha Style: Decapitation."
Viktor gripped the sword with both hands, using the momentum of his fall to slice diagonally through Morgan's throat.
SHIIIIING—!
The sound of metal meeting flesh was followed by a dull thud. Morgan's roar was cut short. Time seemed to freeze.
Then, a hideous head with a metallic jaw flew into the air, spinning several times under the sun before landing with a thump at Luffy's feet.
Morgan's massive, headless body remained in a striking pose for two seconds before collapsing to its knees, blood geysering from the neck and staining the courtyard red.
Viktor landed gracefully, flicking the sword to shed the blood from the blade. He turned and slid the sword back into the scabbard of the wide-eyed Zoro, a signature elegant smile on his face.
Zoro stared at the smiling Viktor, his temper rising. "You really are a bastard!"
"Good teamwork, everyone," Viktor said calmly.
The entire Marine base fell into a heavy, absolute silence.