Luffy was breathing heavily as he stared down Hawk-eye. Twice he had tried to get past the swordsman, and twice he had had to retreat or risk losing one or more limbs. The second time had been due to that weird vision he had of his arms being cut off even though he was using gear second. He was feeling extremely frustrated over that. There was no doubt in his mind that if he had continued his attack the vision would have become reality. If his greatest speed couldn't get him past then what would?
"Your getting further from your brother," Mihawk spoke up suddenly. "If this is all your capable of then Portgase D Ace is doomed to die today."
Luffy growled before spotting Buggy spinning in the air. Suddenly he got an idea.
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In the sky lightning struck down only to suddenly veer off into the distant sea. Clouds formed into storms before a seemingly soft wind sent them towards the horizon. If one looked closely one could see two figures floating near the center of where the strange weather seemed to originate from.
"Please don't get involved in this fight," Current pleaded softly.
"I can't believe you'd side with the marines," Tempest growled. "Even without your promise on Quil's island, I thought you were close to Pop's family. What about Thatch's last wishes? Are you going to just let Ace die too?"
Current bit her lower lip for a moment if doubting her position, there was also a hurt look in her eyes, but then she seemed to steal her resolve.
"I do this to save Ace," There was a coldness to her voice Tempest had never heard before. "If you get involved you could ruin everything."
"If I don't save Ace now he'll die for sure," Tempest growled. "The marines are planning to execute him ahead of schedule!"
"That can't be!" Current cried out in shock. "Fate has deemed him to live today."
Tempest seemed to realize what Current meant. "Men have a saying about Fate and Destiny. They don't believe in leaving their lives up to Fate and I don't believe it either. Our kind only has the power that men give to us."
Current suddenly smiled with a sad look in her eyes. "For others that may be true, but not us sisters." Powerful energy began to gather and swirl around her. "I finally learned my place. Why I was born the way I am. You and Tranquility are opposites, two balances on a scale. But me? I am that Scale!"
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Mihawk frowned as Vista of the Flower Blades, Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Fifth Division, blocked another strike from him. From the corner of his eye he could see Luffy making his way closer to the execution platform. Already several others had tried to get in his way but each time someone came to his rescue. This knack of drawing in allies the boy had was quite fearsome. Truth be told, he believed the Government made a mistake placing Portages D Ace on the platform instead of this boy.
"Your not giving me your full attention," Vista growled smilingly as their blades crossed once more. "That's very rude."
Mihawk ignored him as he suddenly felt no desire to participate in this battle anymore. If only that familiar cloaked figure standing beside Ace did not make him feel so uncomfortable.
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D was surprised to see how well Current was able to utilize her powers. In fact he was quite surprised to see a lot of what was going on today.
Fate had been there today. And he could also feel the eyes of a few other old friends of his glancing over on occasion. Then there was the approaching feeling of those who had been tasked with his Hunt getting closer. And to top all of it off, CC was watching things through her hosts eyes.
He couldn't help but sigh. If his silly little girls would stop their rough housing and paid attention they would realize the mother they so dearly wanted to see after all these years was within reach.
"Hmm?" He noticed a commotion start up behind the ships of those who had come alongside Whitebeard. He glanced over at Sengoku. "What exactly have you set in motion?"
"The future," Sengoku responded without looking at him. "One where the likes of you will not be tolerated."
"I'm sure that kind of world will be as grand as you hope," D chuckled. "And as bland as vanilla icecream."
"Hey!" Garp cried out in affront. "Vanilla is my favorite flavor!"
"Oh who am I kidding? Vanilla is just as flavorful as any other ice cream out there." D relented. "Comparing your fantasy world with anything is an insult to all things."
"Enough of this nonsense," Sengoku spoke gruffly before giving instructions into his snail phone. "Turn of the broadcasting snails. It would be a problem if the world lost faith in us for what we're about to do. The common people cannot handle what is about to happen. There is no need for them to learn of it. In a few hours when the world learns the results, the single world "Victory" will be enough."
At the end of his words the cause of the commotion beyond the ships appeared shocking the pirates present. It was an army of Bartholomew Kuma clones led by that honest kid with the axe.
"Proceed forward as planned," Whitebeard ordered. "Take the platform and rescue Ace."
"All marines retreat and protect the platform!" Sengoku ordered as well. "As soon as the broadcast is ended execute Ace and the lot of them simultaneously."
D suddenly grinned. "I just spotted something that looks like fun." Then he vanished from the platform.
Swngoku looked around worriedly. If that Demon got involved things would not end well. Already his plan felt like it was hanging by a thread. "Are all the broadcasts ended?"
"No sir!" A marine reported. "There is one more that went missing when the Impel Down prisoners escaped. Were currently trying to locate them."
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Another short chapter but at least it's another chapter. Not sure if I having quite got my rhythm back or what but next few chapters will probably end up about same length. Also you can thank the app Streaks for this chapter. It's a great habit forming app and part of what I've been using to push myself to write daily like I used to. So hopefully you can all look forward to a more consistent upload rate from now on.