A Display of Power on the High Seas! Memories from a Distant Past Emerge!
On board Lunya's ship, Zoro continues to look out over the aft section of the ship in confusion. "How did I end up here?" He scratches his head.
"Hey, moss-head." Sanji's voice calls to him.
Zoro looks to the side and becomes frustrated when he notices Sanji standing a few feet away from him smoking. "Wha--what are you doing here?!"
Sanji puffs and gazes out over the ocean. "It's hot in that kitchen. Came up for some fresh air."
"How long have you been standing there?!"
Sanji turns to him. "What's your problem?"
"I came to get you!"
"Why? What's up?"
Zoro runs back toward the front of the ship. "Navy is here, come on! They're probably already fighting by now!"
"Oh, crap!" Sanji quickly follows, immediately pulling ahead of him. "Let me lead the way this time!"
"I know the damn way!"
"Can't trust you right now."
"How about I toss you off the side!"
As the battle continues on the ocean, the first Navy ship is still recovering from Luffy's devastating attack. Crewmen cling to whatever wreckage they can find, while other yell for help, carried away by the strong currents.
Luffy flies through the air, returns to Gilly's ship and lands with a toothy grin, holding his hat in place. "Well, my work's done!"
Nami steps forward confidently. "Right! Ready, everyone?"
"You bet!" Sky affirms, as the others nod and shoot their thumbs up. "Let's go!" He calls to his fellow captains.
Tydal, Tiff, Bara and Chong all leap into the air and glide toward the gathering ships below. Each plans their separate special attack.
Nami then notices that Sky has stayed behind, and is standing at the edge with his arms crossed, staring down at the fleet peacefully. "Aren't you going to to join them?"
Sky smiles at her. "No need! Hey Nami--remember when you made that joke about rainbows?"
"Yeah..."
"Check this out." Sky raises one hand in front of him and spreads his fingers apart. A brilliant beam of rainbow shoots from his palm, arches through the air, and cascades over a Navy ship with vibrant color. "Alright! RAINBOW BRIDGE!" In an instant, the ship is pulled into the air and begins to cross the sky, riding the rainbow upward. When it reaches the apex, the ship stops and falls back down through the sky, landing directly on top of another ship, completely destroying both. Nami gasps.
Luffy jumps forward with starry eyes. "So cool!"
As Tydal nears his ship, he raises his broad blue sword in the air. What appears to be flowing water inside the transparent blade suddenly bursts from the edges, glowing blue and white with tremendous power. "Water haki--STRIKE!" With a burst of energy, he swings his sword downward, sending a wave of water energy straight down the center of the ship, slicing the vessel cleanly in half. The two halves split and fall into the ocean.
When Tiff arrives at her ship, she fiercely flies toward the bow, positioning her body in a strong fighting pose. Suddenly, her hands burst into bright flames, as the air around her glows with yellow light. "Fire haki--MILLION FIST!" With a great surge of force, her hands pummel the bow of the ship with fiery rage, sending incredible shock waves through the frame, splintering the keel and shattering the mast. The sailors jump ship just before she lands one final blow, which explodes the remaining pieces.
As Bara comes to his ship, he stops himself and hovers in the air for a moment. He removes his double bladed staff and begins to spin it over his head, smiling sadistically. After a few seconds, his staff rotates so fast that it cannot be seen. Only the violent crackling sound of displaced air can be heard, as a ferocious wind blows over the ship. "And now, wind haki--MICRO BUSRT!" Bara pulls his spinning staff down through the air, sending a giant deadly hammer of wind straight through the center of the deck. The force is so strong, instead of bursting pieces outward, the entire ship is forced under the waves and swallowed by the ocean.
"Whoa--so strong!" Luffy exclaims, delightfully watching the madness unfold. Nami and Robin look on, wide eyed.
The three captains return to the ship and land gracefully next to Luffy.
"How'd you like that?" Bara asks proudly.
Luffy smiles. "That was awesome! What kind of power was that?"
"We've all mastered elemental haki." Tiff responds, clenching her burning fist.
Tydal steps forward. "We all trained ourselves to master an element. Water for me, fire for Tiff, and wind for Bara. Now you can see how our training paid off!"
Nami agrees. "I'll say! That was some serious power!" Then she realizes something. "But wait--what happened to Chong?"
Tydal looks over the side. "Oh, he's still down there. So lazy!" He calls to him.
"What do you mean?" Nami gazes down, where she sees Chong calmly standing on the front deck of one of the ships, puffing his cigar. "What the hell is he doing?!"
Robin comes beside her. "He's going to get himself killed!"
Luffy swings his arms in circles, warming up again. "Don't worry, I'll get him!"
Tiff holds her arm out to stop him and smiles. "Just wait."
"Huh?" Luffy wonders.
As the group watches Chong, they can see the sailors gathering around him, with guns drawn. But Chong remains still. The crewman waste no time and call out orders to open fire. Nami gasps, unable to turn her frightened eyes away from the certain carnage. But to the Straw Hat's surprise, each of the bullets passes directly through Chong.
"What the..." Luffy breaths. The captains grin confidently.
Chong then proceeds to walk down the deck of the boat as more bullets fly through him. The shocked sailors fumble their guns, trying to reload as quickly as they can. But as Chong passes them, the smoke from his cigar fills the air like a noxious gas. At first, it chokes the sailors, but after a quick coughing fit, each one begins to behave erratically, calling out with random expressions. "A giant seagull is chasing me! Yahhhh!" "Look at all the pretty colors!" "I am the lizard king!"
The Straw Hats looks on in utter bewilderment, watching as the entire crew of the ship is overtaken by Chong's thick smoke, behaving as though they are hallucinating. "What in the world is going on?" Nami wonders.
Tydal laughs. "That's Chong's power! He ate the trip-trip fruit."
"The what now?"
"It's another version of the smoke fruit. This one causes enemies to hallucinate."
Luffy falls backward, laughing. "That's crazy!"
Tiff joins his laughter. "Not as crazy as you'll be if you ever cross him!"
Robin looks on in amazement. "How fascinating!"
When all the sailors have finally succumbed to Chong's bizarre ability--some even willfully throwing themselves overboard--Chong emerges onto the deck from the kitchen area, finishing a large piece of meat and licking his fingers. He jumps on top of a smoke cloud and rises into the air. When his is floating well above the ship once more, he looks down and takes a long drag from is cigar. "...Smoke Ring." He murmurs.
As he blows out gently, a massive smoke ring forms in front of his mouth. It sits still for a spilt second, before rushing downward toward the ship. Just like all the other attacks, the force of the ring's impact blows the vessel apart. The Straw Hats watch in surprise.
"...And he can also do that." Sky comments with a smirk.
"I can't believe it!" Nami exclaims. The captains chuckle.
After Chong returns to their ship, he lands and sits calmly on the railing. "Um...hey...there's still two other ships. I think...they're preparing to fire." As he looks over the side, the two remaining ships aim their cannons and begin to shoot. "Yep...they are."
"Oh no!" Nami yells in a panic.
But just before the cannon balls hit the deck, they are slashed to pieces, exploding in mid air. The crew cover their faces from the blast, then look around for the source of the attack. Before they can locate them, Zoro and Sanji fly by the group in a rush of wind.
"Anything left for us?" Zoro inquires.
"Sorry we're late! Zoro got lost again."
"I'm going to kill you next!"
As Zoro and Sanji dart down toward the last two ships, the Straw Hats and the captains cheer them on. "Zoro! Sanji!" Nami calls to them.
Sanji spins around to her with heart eyes. "Don't worry, Nami, my swan! Your prince is here to protect you!"
"Pay attention, dumbass!" Zoro scolds.
Sanji turns toward the ships again. "Right!" He begins to twirl, as his legs catch fire and burst into a small inferno. "Time for a little--PARTY TABLE KICK COURSE!" Moving at lightning speed, his flaming leg rapidly falls onto the Navy ship repeatedly, breaking it apart in several places, until nothing but wooden dust remains.
As Zoro hovers over his ship, he smirks confidently, removing only one sword from it's sheath. He closes his eye for a moment to concentrate. "One sword style..." He swings his sword outward, the blade gleaming brightly, sending a wave of energy reverberating through the air. He then gently resheaths the sword. "LION STRIKE!" As his sword connects with the sheath again, the entire ship is sliced cleanly from port to starboard, sending each half in an opposite direction, tumbling through the sea.
The Straw Hats smile and laugh, as the captains look on in wonder this time, gracious to experience the spectacular events first hand.
When Zoro ad Sanji return to the deck, Sanji relights his smoke, while Zoro overlooks the wreckage with pride. "No sweat." Zoro remarks.
But the battle has not ended yet. Just as the group is starting to settle themselves, another vessel bursts forth from the waves. A Navy submarine, lying in wait beneath the sea.
"Whoa! Look sharp, guys! We're not out of this yet!" Bara exclaims.
Luffy runs forward. "A submarine?!"
Tiff comes beside him. "Looks like they had an ace up their sleeves!"
"Ready yourselves!" Tydal calls out, grabbing his sword again.
Nami steps in front of them. "Hey, are you forgetting about us?" She spins her clima-tact and looks to Robin. "I think we can handle this, right?"
Robin smiles happily. "Of course! Ready when you are."
Nami adopts an aggressive expression. "Right! You grab him, I'll do the rest!" Robin nods.
As the submarine draws closer, Robin comes to the edge of the ship and crosses her arms tightly. "Now--FLEURS GEANTES!" Like the heads of huge sea kings, two of Robin's giant hands spring from the ocean. They grab the submarine from both sides and hold it high in the air.
Nami steps beside her and holds the clima-tact over her head. "Perfect! Time for some--THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!" She swings the staff downward as thick bolt of lightning erupts from the sky, sizzling the submarine instantly, and burning the vessel to a crisp. Robin then crushes the submarine and drops it into the sea with a puff of steam.
Nami surveys the horizon. "Was that all of them?"
"Seems like it." Tydal confirms.
Luffy huffs and lays back on the deck, looking into the sky. "We're good." He laughs. But then, he notices something drifting through the air above, which appears to be some kind of balloon. "Hey--what's that?" He points to the sky.
The group turns toward him, then looks into the air. "What the..." Sanji breaths.
Suddenly, gun shots ring out over head. Several bullets fly through Sky's upper body. As the group watches in horror, he falls onto the deck with a spray of blood.
"Sky!!" The captains scream in unison.
Tiff kneels beside him, cradling his head. "Get the medic! Quickly!" She calls to the crewmen. They nod quickly and run below deck.
As the group gathers around him, Tydal kneels beside Tiff and grabs his arm. "Hang in there, man! You're alright!" Sky grimaces, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Luffy looks to the sky angrily, then shoots a gum-gum bullet toward the balloon. He pops the fabric, which immediately deflates the object, sending it's crew down into the sea. He kneels beside Sky. "Sorry, Sky dude! I wasn't fast enough! This is my fault!"
Sky looks to him with a weak smile. "No. No, Luffy. You did nothing wrong."
When the medics arrive, they quickly place him on a stretcher and whisk him away toward a stairwell.
Zoro steps forward. "Damn! How could we have not noticed that."
Sanji faces him. "Where are all your fancy swordsman senses now, huh?!"
"What did you say?!"
"You're always talking about sensing where stones are going to fall, or the rhythm of steel--but you can't notice a damn balloon?!"
"Keep it up, cook!" He grabs his sword hilt.
Nami grabs both of them. "Stop it, you two!" She begins to tear. "Not the time for this!" Zoro and Sanji relent. Nami's concerned expression silences the group. "I'm going to look after him."
Tydal leads her below deck. "Come on, Nami, this way."
Just then, a loud series of explosions rattles the ship. The crewmen dash to the side of the deck, searching frantically for the source, as the Straw Hats watch in disbelief.
"What's going on now?!" Sanji barks.
Robin looks over the side of the ship. "It sounded like several explosions!"
The crewmen who are carrying Sky instinctively stop themselves. Tydal notices and runs to them. "Don't stop, go! Get him to safety now!" He orders.
"Yes, sir!" They shout, scampering down the stairwell and disappearing inside.
"Captain Tydal!" One of the crewman calls to him.
Tydal turns to see a panicked young crewman. "What's going on?"
"Our paddle wheel has been severely damaged!"
"What--how?!"
"It appears to be a bomb, sir! Looks like the other ships were hit too!" The crewman points in the direction of the adjacent ships. Tydal notices thick plumes of black smoke rising from the rear sections.
Tydal's anger grows. "Damn! How could this happen!?"
"Must have been a submarine, sir."
Tydal thinks for a moment, then turns to the Straw Hats. "Get yourselves inside now! We need you safe in case anything else happens." The crew nods and swiftly runs below deck. Tydal turns back to the crewman. "Order an all-stop for every ship--now!"
"Right away, sir!" The crewman activates his transponder snail and begins to issue the order as he runs into the lighthouse.
Tydal turns and stares out over the waves. "What the hell is happening..."
Aboard the enemy's main ship, Fukitsu stands over the wake and gazes at Sky's fleet, slowly vanishing into the horizon line.
One of his haggard crewman approaches from behind. "Sir, we just received word that your procedure has been a success. The flank was destroyed, but the bombs were successfully detonated."
Fukitsu grins. "Good. Now it is assured we will have all the time we need to stage our trap." He turns to the crewman. "Order the fleet full speed ahead until we reach the fortress."
"Yes, sir!" The crewman quickly departs.
Fukitsu returns his gaze to the horizon. "Everything is proceeding as planned." A toothy grin spreads across his face, as smoke pours from his blackened lips.
Hours later, Sky's fleet has come to a full stop as the sun begins to set. The fleet sits anchored and motionless, surrendered to the motion of the sea. Far below deck in the infirmary, Sky lays still in a special bed, with and IV protruding from one arm, and surrounded by bubbling machines filled with medicine. Tydal, Tiff and the Straw Hats sit around him in a circle, while Zoro props himself against the wall.
A crewman quietly steps into the room and places a hand on Tydal's shoulder. "Captain, we are still assessing the damage, but as of right now we estimate it will take some time to repair."
Tydal nods. "I understand. Just make it as quick as you possibly can without sacrificing your safety."
"Yes, sir."
"And the scout ship?"
"Bara departed hours ago. He should be right on their heels."
"Good. Keep me updated." The crewman nods and departs.
Nami sighs sadly. "How could this happen? We're always so careful and observant. And right when he needs us, we fail him."
Sanji blows out a stream of smoke. "Don't beat yourself up, Nami. This isn't anyone's fault but those damned Navy bastards."
Tiff agrees. "He's right, Nami. Sky wouldn't blame you, and neither do we. This is a constant battle we've been fighting for ages."
"Is he in stable condition?" Robin wonders.
"Yes. The doctors said the bullets missed his major organs. But it will take some time to heal."
Nami sighs again. "Where's Chopper when you need him..."
Tydal comes beside her. "Don't worry, Nami. Our doctors may not share Chopper's elite skill, but they're far from basic, trust me."
Luffy scratches his head in confusion. "Hey, but what about his power? Can't he turn his body into the sky?"
"He can, but only at will. The sky-sky fruit is a Paramecia, not a Logia as some would assume. And one of the fruit's specific weaknesses is that the user can only become or control things if he commands it. Although we were in the midst of battle, he wasn't controlling his body."
"I see...So it's not like my power."
Sanji rests his head on his hand. "Overconfidence is a weakness, as they say."
Tiff studies Sky with narrowing eyes. "I'm not sure it was overconfidence, though. I'd like to think it was faith." She looks to the Straw Hats with a thin smile. "Faith in his friends."
Nami smiles and agrees. "I think you're right." Then another thought crosses her mind. "But who are these guys anyway? Do you know who's doing this?"
"...Fukitsu." Sky's strained voice cuts through the air.
The crew perks up and sees Sky opening his eyes and struggling to sit himself up.
Tydal runs to his side and grabs his hand. "Sky! You're awake! Hold on, I'll get the doctor--"
"No, don't bother the doctor. I'm fine." With a few painful grunts, Sky sits up as Tydal repositions his pillows behind his back.
Sanji leans forward. "You sure you're alright? You took three bullets."
Sky stifles a laugh. "Is that all? Well, nothing a good rest and some good food can't handle."
Luffy grins. "Now that's the spirit!" He turns to Sanji. "Would some meat help? How about some meat, Sanji?"
"Not now, Luffy!" Nami yells to him.
"Actually, that does sound good." Sky confirms.
Sanji smiles. "Oh, does it? Well I'll be back down in the kitchen soon enough. I'll whip something up for you."
"What about me?!" Luffy protests.
Sanji and Nami slap him down. "Can it!" They shout together.
Sky chuckles, holding his ribs as the laughter pains him. "Glad to see you all here. It warms my heart to know how much you care."
"Of course! That's what friends do!" Luffy assures. The rest of the Straw Hats agree.
"We're all wishing you a speedy recovery!" Robin remarks warmly.
Sky coughs and smiles. "Thank you all. Truly." Sky then turns to Tydal. "So, what's the situation?"
Tydal crosses his thick arms. "After the flank attack, we had a series of bombs detonate at the aft section of all five ships. They severely damaged the paddlewheels. As of right now, we're anchored and immobilized. Crews are working around the clock to fix it. I'm waiting for updates as we speak."
Sky nods. "Good. That's all I can ask for. I'm glad to see all of you are safe. Do we have a scout ship in pursuit?"
"Yes. Bara departed hours ago."
"Well then, seems as though everything we can do at the moment is being done. Good work, everyone." Sky shares a respectful expression with the room.
Robin leans toward Sky. "Could you tell us more about this Fukitsu person? Was that the name you mentioned? I feel as though I've heard it somewhere before."
Sky takes a deep breath. "I'm sure you have. His name is Warrant Officer Fukitsu, and his is the commander of the Black Sail Brigade."
"Bounty hunters that work exclusively for the Navy, correct?"
"That's right. He leads a small, but deadly fleet of 23 ships, each with a crew of former bounty hunters as vicious as he is. The largest ship is his, and the other 22 are split between his two Drakens."
"Drakens?" Nami wonders aloud.
"Drakens are children taken by the government at a very young age. They are fed powerful devil fruits, and then groomed and trained as superweapons."
"That's disturbing." Sanji remarks, disgusted.
"The Brigade takes the notion of justice to another level, believing that only mass death is the proper answer to the world's pirate problem. With each bounty they claim, they come closer to their goal of becoming the strongest arm the Navy has. And the higher the bounty, the more Fukitsu's rank grows. Currently, his is the only person in the Navy who holds the title of Warrant Officer. And they'll probably make him a Vice Admiral if he catches us. Over the years his intelligence in battle planning has become incredible. That's why these attacks were so precise and detailed. The Navy values him highly."
"Wow, they Navy is serious about these guys, huh?" Nami comments.
"Indeed. And they were given very special abilities to dominate their foes. He and his two Drakens--Io and Ga--all possess extreme devil fruit powers. Io ate the blood-blood fruit. And Ga the paper-paper fruit. As for Fukitsu, he was given one of the most powerful fruits I've ever seen, the aura-aura fruit. Combined with the immense strength of his haki, he produces a nearly unstoppable force."
The Straw Hats are captivated by the story, listening intently. Luffy's expression is cold and unwavering. "Sounds quite formidable." Robin affirms.
"Yes. I know it too well. And it all started...long ago..." His mind drifts into distant memories.
End of Act I
[Flashback Sequence Continues in Act 2]