Second Wind

54

That was a mistake. The next attack hit him like a spear of lightning piercing through him, because that was exactly what it was. The Lightning Lance Tempo, augmented by the water covering him, easily bypassed his Tekkai. As he convulsed, the chef took the opportunity to land a Flambage Shot to his cranium, and he was sent hurtling backwards over the ocean. He righted himself in time to use Geppo, only to see that the chef had jumped above him, in perfect position to kick him into the water.

Sanji was forced to abandon that pursuit, however, as his Observation Haki alerted him to an incoming attack. He hastily twisted himself to the right in order to dodge a Shigan from the charred form of the now conscious Kaku. His momentum diverted, he fell and landed in the ocean himself, buying the two agents some time to converse.

"Lucci, time for a tactical retreat," Kaku reasoned.

"Fuck off," Lucci growled.

"Not to question your judgment, boss, but we can't win this fight while I'm carrying around dead weight," Kaku said, referring to the two unconscious agents he was carrying with one arm.

"I wasn't disagreeing with you," Lucci replied.

"Then that was some thank you," Kaku replied with an impudent smirk. Ignoring the belligerent but somewhat justified comment, Lucci roughly grabbed Blueno from his second in command, and the two agents retreated from the island through the sky.

"...We lost today. But I swear, one day we will bring that infernal crew to ruin," Lucci snarled.

"No complaints here," Kaku agreed. No more words were said as the two departed to give their first report of failure in years to their chief in Enies Lobby.

Sanji took his time emerging from the water, sensing that Lucci and Kaku had retreated. Making his way back onto land, he grunted in pain. As the adrenaline slowly left him, the extent of his injuries became all too obvious. He may have given more hits than he'd taken thanks to his Observation Haki, but Lucci had sure as hell made the hits he'd landed count.

Quickly surveying the area, he saw that Nami and Usopp were now visible, meaning that Mirage Tempo had expired. He let out a heavy sigh and collapsed onto the ground, the rest of the crew soon following suit along with Franky.

"Those agents couldn't have picked a better time to retreat," Franky commented. "Physical attacks weren't very effective against that guy, and if you guys were forced to fight head-on, we wouldn't be as lucky," he said, gesturing to Nami and Usopp.

Sanji simply nodded. Although he technically hadn't even met the cyborg yet, he hadn't been picky about allies while fighting CP9, and Franky's help had been appreciated. He was confident that the assassins couldn't have won, but that didn't mean they couldn't have taken down the weaker members of the crew before being taken out themselves.

"Somehow, we made it through this shitfest relatively unscathed," Sanji said finally. "That's what matters."

"CP9 retreated? That's...that's good," Luffy's voice came from nearby. The rest of the crew turned, and recoiled at the sight of their Captain's condition.

Luffy and Zoro were walking side-by-side, arms locked at their shoulders, literally holding each other up as they trudged towards them. It was glaringly obvious that they were even more exhausted than the rest of the crew, and would have barely had enough energy to help in in the fight against Lucci and Kaku had they not retreated.

"What the hell happened to you two?!" Usopp and Chopper demanded in unison, the latter charging forward and opening his medical bag.

"You...You won?" Robin breathed in awe, drawing everyone else's attention.