"Death Wink!" Ivankov exclaims before a burst of air pushes Luffy and I out of the way just as Kizaru sends the beam of light right at us that explodes like a bomb off in the water.
Luffy's arms instantly wrap around me as we go rolling off to the side. The scrapes and bruises instantly form, but that is nothing compared to the fate we just narrowly escaped.
"That was a close call," I groan.
"Not too hurt, are you dumpling?" Luffy asks.
"Too much going on to worry about small injuries."
He quickly pops back up to his feet, taking me with him. "That was close! Thanks Iva!"
"Truly a life saver!"
"It's my duty to make sure you survive!" Ivankov snaps as he raises both fists. "And you're included in that, Straw Boy's girlfriend!"
"She's more than my girlfriend!" Luffy shouts.
I chuckle, "I'll let that kind of thing slide today."
Another flash of light gets us all to look back over to where we're headed, preparing ourselves for another light beam attack.
"Another one, Kizaru!?" Ivankov growls. "No, wait! Kuma!"
As the beam focuses on a target, it reveals the one controlling it, which is none other than Kuma with his mouth wide open.
"Hey! That's the guy who separated me and my crew!" Luffy shouts. "The guy who looks like Kuma!"
"Kuma is the original while the PX's are the copies, Luffy!" I shout.
Kuma sends a beam at Ivankov that makes multiple explosions occur. An attack that would kill any normal person if it made contact.
Thankfully Ivankov is quick to spin out of the way to avoid getting seriously hurt. "Rolling Spa!" Ivankov pops back up to his feet as he glares at the faux Kuam. "Bartholomew Kuma! You creep! Just because they made you a Warlord doesn't mean you can fire your laser at an old friend!"
At this point Luffy and I have made a little progress forward before having to take out some Marines. It's the first time I've used my new daggers in battle, aiming for people's sides to immobilize them long enough to knock them out with a punch. Luffy is sending punches and kicks as quickly as he can, but we seem to be trapped fighting worthless opponents.
"You're not getting away!" a deep woman's voice speaks up, and the iron bars that surround us a second later shock me. "Kimono Sleeve Cage!"
I look over to see a young woman with pale pink hair, sunglasses pushed up to her forehead, a cigarette between her lips, and the typical white Marine coat overtop a dark red suit.
"I remember you from Alabasta!" Luffy huffs as he glares at the woman.
"Everything that passes through my body becomes imprisoned!" she declares.
"I'm sick of being locked up!" Luffy places his hands on his knees as he powers up for Second Gear. "Keep up with me, Akari!"
"Will do, Captain!" I shout.
As the bars are brought together by the Marine woman, Luffy and I quickly jump out of the way to avoid being trapped. The Marines that we were fighting seconds ago aren't as lucky as they become trapped.
"Hey, Hina!" the Marines cry out.
"They're too fast!" Hina's voice barely reaches my ears. "I couldn't even see them! Hina failed!"
"Lead the way Luffy!" I call out.
We don't make it much farther before another obstacle appears in our way.
"Stop!" a Marine officer shouts as he slams a spiked club down on Luffy's head.
"Take this you bastard!" I scream as I stab the man in the side before kicking the man straight across the face to knock him out.
"Thanks Akari," Luffy breathes out as he stands up. Blood dripping from the wound on his forehead down the side of his face. "They're all really strong," he chokes out through strangle breaths.
"As long as we work together, nothing can stop us!"
The two of us dive back into another battle with a couple Marines that quickly swarm us. I'm sure they're keeping track of us to keep sending men our way to halt our progress as much and as often as possible. For the moment it's working, but it's only a matter of time before those on our side can help us break through.
"You're as wild as ever, Straw Hat!" Moria's annoying voice that I hoped never to hear again fills my ears. "I wouldn't expect anything less from that girlfriend of yours either."
"The name's Akari, you jackass!" I snap.
"Whatever you say, sweetheart. I know! I'll take Straw Hat's shadow again and use it to control Oars's body! Then I'll take you shadow for the first time, Akari, and I'll use it in some pretty little thing. Come forth, my zombie soldiers!"
Even from here, I can see the corpses breaking through the ground and rising up around the undead rising creep. It's not surprising that there would be a lot of dead bodies in this area considering this probably isn't the first time it's been used as a battlefield, and there are more being added with each minute this war continues.
"Shit!" I scream as a sword slices my knees as I try to jump out of the way.
Luffy lets out a scream as he holds up an arm to take the blow of a sword.
"LUFFY!" Ace's voice pierces through the cacophony. "AKARI!"
"Zombie Soldiers! Capture Straw Hat and his girlfriend! This is a battlefield! The more corpses there are, the more zombies I can make!" He annoyingly laughs.
"Moria, he's gonna be a problem!" Luffy huffs.
"He's not getting my shadow!" I growl.
"Don't come up here, Luffy!" Ace's strained voice makes me pause for a second before I go back to defending myself against Marines that want my head. "You either, Akari!"
"Outta my way!" Luffy grunts as he knocks out another guy with a punch.
"You should know better! The three of us are pirates! We went to sea separately! I have my own adventures! I have my own friends! There's no place for you two in my life!"
"What the hell is he talking about?" I huff.
"You think I'd let myself be rescued by weaklings like you!? That would be an unbearable insult! Beat it, Luffy! Get the hell out of this danger, Akari! Why did you come here!?"
"I'm your little brother!" Luffy screams at the same time as me.
"I'm your little sister!" I wipe the sweat from my face.
"I don't care about your stupid pirate rules!"
"We're not going anywhere without you! It's time we repay some favors!"
The group of Marines we run into next are a buzz with the declarations that Luffy and I just made. The confusion of the blood that runs through our veins and if it is the same as Ace's. The realization that it can't possibly be for various reasons, which would only be correct in the case of Luffy. Regardless, we take out the group without much trouble before we come face-to-face with a horde of zombies courtesy of Moria.
"Go, my zombie!" Moria orders.
The zombie charge doesn't last long before a wave takes them all out in one fell swoop. Their shadows quickly leave their body as the saltwater rushes into their mouths. All Moria's work to create an army as his command is gone in a second.
"Saltwater!?" Moria screams. "What!?"
"As I recall, your zombies are vulnerable to salt, eh, Moria?" Jinbei speaks up, having stepped up to us.
"Jinbei!" Luffy and I happily exclaim.
"Both of you, keep heading for Ace! I'll handle Moria!"
"Thanks!" Luffy smiles as he grabs my hand and leads us towards our next opponent.
I'm unsure if there's a broadcast system or if there's a ton of Mini Transponder Snails lying around on unconscious Marine bodies, but I can pick up on the message that is being relayed to those we're fighting against.
"What are you doing!? Don't let two lone rookies take control of this battlefield!"
With that order, a giant wielding a club rushes towards Luffy and I, quickly followed by a small group of more Marine officers. Without a word, a plan is passed between Luffy and I. He's going to take on the giant while I'm tasked with the normal humans.
"That man is a menace to the future of humanity! He grew up with Ace! They're like brothers! The same goes for the woman! She grew up with both of them and is clearly extremely close with Straw Hat! And as for their bloodlines, he's the son of Dragon the Revolutionary! And all we know is that she shares maternal blood with Ace!"
"It's more than that," I snarl as I slam my foot into a Marine's face while I send shurikens flying to hinder others for a moment.
"Third Gear!" Luffy screams as his fist starts to expand to ten times the normal size.
All around us people are shocked at the news of Luffy's father. I don't even care that they don't give any attention that I am actually related to Ace because that is old news to anyone who has ever read my wanted poster. I have more things to worry about at the moment anyways.
The giant raises his club above his head as he lets out a war cry in preparation for crushing Luffy.
"Gum-Gum Giant Rifle!" Luffy sends his fists into the giant to send him flying back, taking out not only the giant but a slew of Marines. "Say whatever you want! I'm gonna save you even if it kills me!"
In the next moment, Luffy shrinks down to his mini self as the aftereffect of using Third Gear. Since he didn't use it for long, he's popping back into his normal size before we charge forward once again. This time we aren't alone as Ivankov joins us with some of his followers, and as Moria retreats to regroup that leaves Jinbei to fight alongside us once again. At least for a few minutes as we plow through a big group of Marines that have targeted us, but then Luffy and I split away from the group to try and make another charge for Ace.
"WHOA!" Luffy exclaims as a sword slashes at his face that he's barely able to dodge.
"Watch out!" I scream as a spiked ball on a chain is slammed down in front of us, making us jump out of the way to avoid injury.
"Straw Hat!" a woman's voice I barely remember fills the air. "Portgas!"
"I'll handle her and catch up!" I order as I skid to a stop and turn towards Tashigi, pulling out half-a-dozen shurikens. "Long time, Tashigi!"
"I won't let you get any farther!"
"That's too bad, because I thought we were friends after Alabasta, but it looks like I'll have to kick your ass!" I send my shurikens flying as she tries to deflect with her sword, but I use her franticness to punch her across the face to send her to the ground. "It's a shame, Tashigi, because I do like you, but nothing is standing in my way of making sure Luffy and I get to Ace before an execution can take place."
She groans but doesn't make an attempt to get up and fight with me anymore.
I turn on my heel just in time to see Smoker fly in on a cloud of smoke and slam his jitte across Luffy's face with enough force to cause the boy to spit up blood and skid backwards across the ground. "Damn it," I growl.
Luffy pops back to his feet a second later as he wipes the blood off his face with the back of his hand. "It's you, the smoky guy! That's right! That club," he struggles for breath, "has the sea prism stone inside it!"
"I'll be the one to dispose of you!" Smoker growls.
"Gum-Gum Gatling Gun!" Luffy doesn't waste any time as his fists go flying at Smoker but not a single one of them land as his entire body is made of smoke.
"White Launcher!" Smoker turns into a cloud of white smoke that swarms towards Luffy. "You're a lot stronger than the last time we met!" His body reappears inches from Luffy as he shoves the tip of his jitte into Luffy's throat to shove him into the ground. "But you can't beat me with your abilities!"
"Luffy!" I scream, knowing that none of my attacks will have any effect on him either.
"Now I now why," he pants, "Dragon saved you back in Loguetown, Straw Hat."
"I feel weak," Luffy chokes out as a weapon is crushing his windpipe, but his tongue hanging out of his mouth isn't helping. "Get that club off me."
"Let him go!" a woman's voice demands before she flies in to kick Smoker off of Luffy. Her giant white with red spots snake loosely wrapped around her is even more telling of how serious she is.
"How'd you hit me!?" Smoker grunts as he pushes himself to a kneeling position. "I'm made of smoke!" He fully stands up, looking at his assailant. "Hancock!" He points his jitte at the woman. "Do you want to be stripped of the title of Warlord too!?"
My entire body tenses as I look at the woman that Luffy told me about mere hours ago on the journey over here. The one that he says is in love with him. She's come to his aid when all I could do is stand helplessly by.
She's a tall and slender woman with long straight black hair that reaches down to her waist and her bangs to her chin cut to perfectly to frame her face and show off her high forehead, piercing dark brown eyes with long full eyelashes, and pale skin. Her serpent earrings give another reason to believe in her love of snakes. She's wearing a purple sleeveless dress with light pink designs that remind me of spider octopi with a slit down one side to show off her leg that she has raised for another attack and hugs her figure in all the right places to show off her womanhood, and a pair of purple heels to match. I can understand why people view her as the most beautiful woman in the world, but right now she's just making me feel sick.
"Silence!" Hancock snaps. The venom dripping off her words stings the air. "I'm too furious to hear your words! How dare you strike and try to capture the man I love!"
All emotion falls from my face at her final declaration. I know it's stupid to feel any level of jealous towards this woman with how Luffy has made sure to let me know time and time again that I am the only one he will ever love, but I can't seem to help the feeling bubbling in my stomach.
"The Pirate Empress saved Straw Hat!?" men all around blurt out.
Luffy is on his hands and knees as he hacks and coughs.
"You'll be punished severely for that!" Hancock continues berating Smoker. The glare on her face could get anyone to stand down. "I've never been so angry before in my life! I'll tear you to pieces and feed you to the beasts!"
"The Kuja Haki!" Smoker grunts.
Luffy lifts his head up, and a wide smile takes over his face as his eyes settle on the woman who saved him. "Hancock!"
Hancock turns to look back at Luffy as all the anger floods out of her body. The blush on her cheeks stands out against her skin as she holds a hand up to her face. "Yes!" she coos.
I feel my face scrunch up in disgust as I watch the woman step up to Luffy and hold up a key that has to be connected to Ace's for when we finally reach him. Even if that is a helpful item, my stomach is still rolling as I watch her with Luffy.
"I knew you'd come back to me alive," she barely speaks above a whisper. "Take this! It's the key to your brother's shackles!"
"Huh?" Luffy grabs the key as it settles in his head. "Hancock, you're the best!" he throws himself on her in a bear hug. "Thanks! I owe you big time!"
I tear my gaze away, feeling my heart clench at the scene in front of me.
"It's alright," Hancock whispers. "Hurry, Luffy!"
"Thanks!" Luffy lets go of her, and the second that he does she falls to her knees while heavily panting. "Come on Akari!" He reaches over to grab my hand, quickly pulling me over to him. He spares the time to press a hasty kiss to my lips before taking off into a sprint once more that I have no choice but to follow after him.
All the men in the vicinity are in complete shock not of Hancock helping Luffy, but of how easily Luffy defeated the woman. Except it wasn't a defeat in the way they think it was. I've never seen anyone in my life go lovesick limp from a hug in my life besides Sanji, but even then she did it with beauty and grace.
"You won't get away, Straw Hat!" Smoker shouts as Luffy and I avoid various Marine's attacks. "And that goes for your little devil of a girlfriend too!"
However, his claim falls flat when Hancock bursts out of her stupor and stops the man before he can make any attempt at stopping us again. As much as I don't like being in her presence, I'm thankful that she's on our side.
"So, that was Hancock," I scoff, knowing that I'm being ridiculous in my reaction and petty in my jealousy.
"You have no reason to be jealous of her, dumpling," Luffy says. "Because to me, the most beautiful girl in the world, is you."
There's no time to respond as Marines rush at us, but I doubt I could have come up with anything to express my love for this boy's single comment if I was given all the time in the world. Its honestly impressive that he spotted my jealousy so easily, but I should never be surprised when it comes to Luffy's emotional astuteness.
"I'll have to thank her," Luffy says once we're past the Marines and back to running. His hand open to show off the small key. "I owe her another one!"
"Another what?" I ask, but I feel tense about the answer.
"Another debt for helping me out in such a big way. I promise you, dumpling, I don't feel anything for her, so you have nothing to worry about."
"Kuma's dead!?" Ivankov's shout ends our conversation before I can let my stupid jealousy make me think of impossible scenarios. "Don't talk crazy! He's standing right in front of me!"
"Iva!" Luffy calls out to the man as the two of us slow down to stop at Ivankov's side.
"Luffy look!" I point to Kuma standing in front of us. "That's not Kuma because I don't see his Bible."
"You're the guy that looks like Kuma!" He looks over at Ivankov, "You know him, Iva?"
"Yes!" Ivankov exclaims. "But there's something wrong!"
A deep chuckle pulls my attention over to the other man standing nearby that must be one of the Warlords of the Sea. He's probably half as tall as Whitebeard, very lean and muscular with tan skin. He has short blond hair, eyes hidden behind thin white sunglasses that curve up at the ends, and a shit-eating grin I want to slap off him. He's wearing a light pink feather coat over a long-sleeved white shirt left open, purple with pink stripe pants, an orange belt, and black dress shoes that come to a point at the toes. His hands are shoved into his pant pockets as he walks over to us with slightly bent legs.
"It seems you three know Kuma well," Flamingo taunts. "But he's not the Kuma you know."
"What are you talking about!?" Ivankov snaps as he looks at the man. "That's impossible! He definitely has the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit! I'm sure this is Kuma!" He looks back at the man who looks like Kuma, but after all we've seen, I can't be too sure it is him. "Speak to me, Kuma!"
"The other day the Government scientist, Dr. Vegapunk, made the final modification that turned him into a weaponized human. To be exact, he's not Bartholomew Kuma anymore!"
"Modification!? Weaponized!? What are you talking about!?"
"He volunteered to be a guinea pig for the Government's Human Weapons Research Project. First his arms were weaponized, then his legs. He was still conscious up to that point. Every part of his body was modified, piece by piece, over time!"
"Stop lying! Kuma hates the Government! He'd never sacrifice himself for its benefit!"
"Unless they gave him a really good reason to," I whisper, staring at the man who just a little over a week ago saved us Straw Hats even though it went against the Government's orders. Obviously, he's modifications started long before that, but a Government pawn like what stands before us now wouldn't have done that back then. I'm sure the Government manipulated him into accepting a deal for the modifications that he couldn't pass up.
"There's no point yelling at me," Flamingo says as Kuma opens his mouth to charge up a beam. "I don't know what kind of deal he struck with the Government, but he was still self-aware a few days ago! But now he doesn't even remember being human! He's a living corpse! He's just a human-weapon monster that takes orders from the Government! He's Pacifista PX-0! Forget about what happened in the past between you two!"
I give Luffy's hand a squeeze as we grit our teeth while staring directly into the face of danger. In the next second, Kuma lets his beam fire as Luffy, Ivankov, and I jump out of the way in the nick of time but still get knocked off our feet by the force of the blast.
"Kuma!" Ivankov shouts. "What happened to you these last few years!?"
I cough as dust is kicked up all around us.
"He said we'd never see each other again," Luffy huffs. "Now it makes sense why he'd say that to me."
"Huh?" Ivankov grunts as his followers rush by us to get to Kuma, letting out battle cries the entire time.
"Hey," Luffy says as the three of us quickly get to our feet. "HEY!! Look out!"
"He's too quick!" I scream.
Kuma, even though he has his back to all his assailants, turns around in the blink of an eye and positions himself perfectly to have them all lined up in a row for him. "Pad Cannon!" He sends all his attacks flying back with a single attack with his pawed hand.
Ivankov growls as he watches his people fly back and land in a pile. Then he's glaring at Kuma. "Face Spectrum!" In the next second, there are a dozen of Ivankov's faces blocking Kuma from view. "Galaxy Wink!" Every single one of the faces wink at the same time to send Kuma flying back. "Wahoo!" All the faces disappear to have a single Ivankov staring back at Kuma. "How dare you hurt my darling little candy boys! Don't expect me to go easy on you anymore!" He jumps up and slams his pointed feet into Kuma's chest to send him flying back once more.
"Go Iva!" I cheer.
"Whoa! He's strong!" the Candy Boys exclaim.
Kuma stays down for a second, but even being a small distance away from him, I can hear all the mechanical parts within him whirring back to place.
"This is the first time in my life anyone ever forgot my face!" Ivankov shouts.
"I believe that," I mumble.
"I don't care if you lost your memory! How could you have forgotten how scary I can be!? I'll just have to beat those memories back into you! Prepare yourself!" He points over to where Luffy and I have been heading since making it to land. "I got this! The rest of you help Straw Hat Boy and Akari Girl! Back them up!"
"Yes sir!" the Candy Boys shout as we all break into a run.
"Head for the platform!"
"Yeah!"
"I'm glad he didn't call me your girlfriend again," I chuckle. "It might not have been much of a nickname like you, but I'll take it!"
"You're adorable, dumpling," Luffy grins. "What would you want for a nickname if you could pick something?"
I shrug, "I'd be able with people calling me Blue, but I think it would be cool to be called Portgas too. It doesn't really matter, as long as people aren't just referring to me as your girlfriend. I'd like to think I've proven that I'm more than that. Even if I love the title of your girlfriend a whole bunch."
"I think that you have, but I might be biased. Maybe one day someone will refer to me as your boyfriend," he smiles. "I think I'd really like that."
"I know of some kids that would do that."
At this point we've reached another horde of Marines set out to stop us no matter what, so our focus shifts to taking out as many of them as possible. Thankfully we now have a group to help us with these battles, and it doesn't take long for the Candy Boys to overtake the Marines and give us an opening to continue forward.
"Go Straw Hat!" the Candy Boys order. "Go Little Blue!"
"Okay!" Luffy replies.
"You guys are the best!" I widely smile as I feel my heart leap with joy at the nickname.
Through all the chaos around us, there is a cloud of smoke blowing by the opening in front of us. The shadow of someone making it clear that we aren't going to have an easy jog for much longer. And then the smoke settles to reveal the next Warlord that is standing in our way: Dracule Mihawk.
"Hawkeye!" Luffy exclaims.
Mihawk stands in front of us with his long sword drawn in front of him that he refused to use against Zoro all those moons ago.
"We don't have time to fight someone that strong, Luffy!" I shout. "He's using a sword he wouldn't even think of pulling out against Zoro!"
"You're right!" Luffy nods. "We are here to save Ace, not see if we're stronger than him now!"
"Light on our toes then!"
The moment we are within range of Mihawk's sword, we burst with speed off to the side through plenty of others fighting against each other. I'm sure that he's lost sight of us with all the commotion around, but this man isn't called Hawkeye for nothing. The slash that he sends at Luffy and I slices our arms, making us instantly release our hold on one another. We're still standing, so we continue forward even as blood drips down to fall off the tips of our fingers.
And then another slash heads right for Luffy that slices through his leg and sends him crashing into the ground.
"Ow! H-he cut me!" Luffy cries out.
"Can you stand!?" I choke out as I look down at him, the blood making my vision swirl for a second.
"Huh?" Luffy looks up past me. "Akari, watch out!" he pushes me out of the way as he rolls the other direction a second before Mihawk slams his sword down into the ground where we were.
"Holy shit," I breathe out as I look over at Luffy struggling to his feet. "Luffy!"
"Out of the way, Straw Hat!" two Candy Boys with swords charge forward. "Stand back, Little Blue! We'll stop him!"
"Hawkeye! Do you remember us!?" the Candy Boy with pigtails shouts as he raises his sword.
"We challenged you in the past and lost!" the other Candy Boy with a top hat shouts. "But now we're New Kamas and we're a lot stronger!"
Mihawk takes the two Candy Boys out with a single slash of his sword. "I never bother to remember the faces of trash."
"Why you!" Luffy jumps to his feet as smoke billows around him from the use of Second Gear. "Gum-Gum...Jet...Bazoo-"
"Don't!" I scream, using Soru to rush at him in time for him to slam his fists into the ground instead of at Mihawk who would have sliced his arms right off. "Geez, that was too close."
"Thanks...Akari," Luffy huffs. "He would've cut off my hands if I'd attacked!"
"You're much calmer than I expected," Mihawk says.
"And you're more of a dick than I expected," I snap.
While I doubt my comment makes Mihawk attack us again, I'm sure it didn't help. This time he swings his sword horizontally, so the only way to avoid being cut in half is to bend backwards, which gives Luffy and me a perfect view of Mihawk's power. With nothing standing in the way of his slash, the iceberg all the way behind us in the frozen bay is cut clean through before crashing down on all the ships stuck in the ice.
Luffy straightens back up, but since I'm not made of rubber, I fall onto my back before scrambling back to my feet.
"Now what will you do?" Mihawk taunts.
"Get the hell away from you!" I scream.
My declaration is put into action a second later when Mihawk starts swinging at us as quickly as he can. Luffy's doing handstand flips while I'm being as light on my feet as possible to avoid being cut to ribbons. Either way, we aren't making any progress towards Ace, which is a huge problem.
"You're only getting farther and farther away from your brother!" Mihawk keeps his sword pointed at us after a powerful slash.
"Damn it," I grit my teeth.
There's no time to complain any more than that as it is clear Mihawk is readying for another attack. However, the scream coming from the sand cyclone that has arrived overhead is something hard to ignore.
"Huh?" Luffy mumbles as he looks up. "Gum-Gum!" He sends his arms up into the sand to grab hold of someone trapped in the cyclone. Someone that can't be cut. "Human Shield Jet!" He slams Buggy down in front of him to be separated at the waist as he screams out while Luffy and I crouch out of range of Mihawk's slash. After all the annoyance Buggy has caused today, he's finally made himself useful.
"What do you think you're doing, Straw Hat!?" Buggy flips around to grab Luffy by the vest, leaving a gap between his top and bottom half.
"What!?" Luffy blurts out. "He's the one who cut you!"
"Don't you want to show the world what you're capable of!?" I taunt.
"Gum-Gum Human Shield!" Luffy tosses Buggy right at Mihawk this time to let the man get sliced a couple dozen times.
"Stop that!" Buggy snaps, crying out each time he is sliced. Once he's able to reassemble himself, he's turning his anger at Mihawk. "I'll get you for this! You're Hawkeye! Take this—Special Muggy Ball!" He kicks a small ball at the swordsman. "I'll blast you off the face of the earth!"
Mihawk easily blocks the Muggy Ball to send it straight back at the clown.
The explosion is as huge as Buggy was making it out to be, giving Luffy and I the perfect cover to continue making our way towards Ace.
"Thanks Buggy!" Luffy calls out as we start to run. "I'll never forget you!"
"Your stupidity was a big help!" I add. "Thanks!"
Still, I don't feel completely safe from Mihawk's attacks considering he did slice through an iceberg from a great distance away. If someone isn't garnering his full attention, then Luffy and I are still in danger.
"I'll take care of it!" a gentlemanly voice calls out.
I glance over my shoulder to see a man with two swords as long as Mihawk's keeping the man at bay. "We're finally past him!"
"Who is that guy?" Luffy asks.
"One of Whitebeard's, I'm sure!"
"I better thank him later!"
Even though we might have made it past Mihawk, there are still plenty of Marines standing in our way that we have to fight our way through. All the punches and kicks are starting to take their toll, but there's nothing we can do but push forward. To push down the fatigue and keep fighting. If we let ourselves rest for even a second, we'll be overwhelmed and never be able to reach Ace.
"Outta my way!" Luffy bellows as he punches yet another Marine unconscious.
"I'm getting sick of all of you!" I snap, kicking a man straight across the face to send him down.
And then the air around us negatively shifts as the execution platform begins to bustle with activity which can only mean one thing: the execution is beginning.
"Look! They're going to kill Ace now!?" a nearby Whitebeard pirate exclaims. "But it's not time yet!"
"They're really going to execute Ace early!" Luffy shouts.
"ACE!!" I scream as I burst with speed. My focus is only on figuring out some way to get to that damn platform before they can do the unreversible.
"ACE!!" Luffy is right at my side a second later.
"Look at the bay!" multiple men around scream out. "Something's coming!"
Even though it is a waste of time, Luffy and I slow down enough to be able to look back and see what the hell everyone is shouting about, and I really wish we hadn't. Out there coming into the bay using the frozen ocean is a line of multiple Pacifistas being led by Sentomaru.
"What are they!?"
"Those are the Kuma guys from back at Sabaody!" Luffy exclaims. "There's so many of them!"
"They're going to trap those still in the bay," I say as my eyes widen. "They're about to make this place truly hell on earth."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hope you enjoyed reading! If it feels like everything is going by super-fast, I am right there with you! It's just one person after the other making their appearance to try and help or hinder Luffy and Akari. There is absolutely no time to relax, which makes sense with it being war. Anyways, I would love to know what you thought!