The little wooden cabin on the cliff was right out of a novel. A small residence perfect for a pair to take in the beauty of the glittering forest to the South of the cliff and the great big sea to the North. Considering the hassle it was to get here, he was somewhat disappointed. The people in the last town had gotten riled up over nothing and chased him off, and after two nights travel to get here, he was rather beat. The last thing he needed was the ringing of the transponder snail.
He groaned as he closed the door and plopped himself down onto the large cushion chair in the immediate corner.
"Yo," He greeted.
Matching his weary expectation, his employer was hot over something, "Where the hell have you been!?"
"Oh, sorry boss, been chased around a lot lately."
"Don't make excuses...Kuzan!"
"Right, right."
"How long until you get on that project I assigned you? Just because you're not part of my crew doesn't mean my words hold no power over you. We struck a deal, if you don't honor it...we'll hunt you down."
"No need for that. I'm working on something big, I'll report in from time to time and keep you up to date," He assured.
"The world is going crazy right now, I need all hands working hard. Even yours."
"Never been one for hard work, but I'll play my part. Rest easy."
"I'm sure you will at least. Whatever...stay on task, get back to me before the year is up. I've got a feeling.....the One Piece won't remain hidden for long."
"Sure thing," Kuzan returned and hung up, sighing for a whole new reason now.
If the words weren't enough, the way he said them sure was. The One Piece close to being found. Could be all talk, might be true. Things had been getting closer to a boiling point the past couple years. It was enough to make a man drink away his sorrows and sleep for a year. Until Red Hair and his pupils showed up, he had nothing better to do.
The bar was on the opposite side of the cabin, and the bedrooms were the entirety of the second floor. He gazed around for a moment, then gave up and kicked off his shoes right on the cushioned chair. It was well and good by itself.
Benn Beckman clutched at his gut and stood up again, breathing in and out until he coated his chest in armament haki, eyeing Crocodile dangerously. Twilight wasn't sure if that would help stop the bloodflow, but it was good to know Shanks' right hand man was not so easily incapacitated. For her part, Twilight formed circular shields to envelop herself and Beckman, Crocodile's trick would not work twice. But then there was the matter of the other one...
"Do I have to pull this off alone?" Crocodile asked.
"I don't see you dying...yet," The other man replied, turning around and drawing something from the inside of his shirt, "Besides, I have to contact my partners."
Sand swirled into a small vortex in Crocodile's hand, his hook glimmering menacingly in a ray of moonlight.
"I underestimated him....not very much like me," Beckman admitted, "but it won't happen again. No mercy."
Twilight nodded, running through viable options for the fight. Crocodile was a logia user, just like Smoker, though she'd heard that Smoker was the one to defeat and imprison Crocodile a couple of years before hand. It wasn't much of a comforting thought, given that she hadn't actually beaten Smoker herself, but it was something.
"Watch Basil Hawkins, I'll take Crocodile," Beckman told her.
The slender man called Hawkins wasn't minding them in the slightest, speaking to someone else over a transponder snail, but it would be foolish to leave him unobserved. Still, she shifted uncomfortably at the thought of simply standing by and watching an injured friend fight in her stead.
"Ku ha ha ha, then let's get back to it. I'll finish the job this time. Sables!"
The sand tornado that fit into the palm of his hand seconds ago grew exponentially, raging into a force that blew the unconscious and downed pirates nearby into the air. Her shields suffered a strain, even cracking in a few places, but they held. In retaliation, Benn Beckman jumped at the ex-Warlord, rifle meeting hook, both coated in armament haki, the resulting crash popping like lightning. As they withdrew, the sand that had blown behind them formed into spears that jabbed at them both from behind.
Twilight flew up and away, Benckman's shield took the attack, but was close to shattering as they locked weapons once more. Twilight went to work repairing both shields, but the sand behind the dueling pirates kept after her, swirling up like blades and chasing her father away. A third quick clash of weapons between Crocodile and Beckman elongated the draw, but Beckman put speed into an immediate follow up, catching Crocodile in the gut, drawing more specs of blood from his mouth and shoving him backwards.
Meanwhile, Twilight was up quite high, but the sand was still in hot pursuit, so she teleported back to the ground, noticing that the man called Basil Hawkins was patiently watching it all unfold; if he wanted to, he could easily turn the tide of this fight. The sand continued to dog her, until at last she tried to contain it all in a stretchable magic shield. For the time being, it held, but the sand swarmed like an angry colony of bees, thrashing against it without losing vigor.
Crocodile was on one knee, but Benn Beckman was clutching his bloodied stomach, and was huffing louder. Where was Shanks when you-
Hmph.
Time kindly froze for a moment and allowed her to briefly mull over her thought. Was she still so dependent on the red haired captain? Did she not have any faith in Benn Beckman, or her friends with her, who were cleaning up Crocodile's mess? She could never discard him, he was their only friend when they arrived in this strange place, though he showed it funnily enough; but she understood his reasons, and the things he knew could not be discarded. Shanks had an important role to play in the future of his world, and hers.
But he could not carry them into the fight. They had to learn to walk, and then run, did they not? She botched things when Buggy came looking for them. This was an even more dire strait, and the best chance she had to show the world that had labeled her a dangerous pirate that she was indeed to be feared.
"Fight."
She looked over to Benn Beckman, who knowingly looked back at her, and repeated his agreement: "Fight."
She swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked back at the unchanged Basil Hawkins. His eyes moved, but nothing else. Crocodile was the one who made a show, laughing again and standing with a grunt. They were alone now, surrounded by the dark forestry and desolate buildings, and faint signs of life from the struggling pirates and ponies, who were too engrossed in their battle to give much mind to theirs.
Wordlessly, she flew up with all the speed Rainbow Dash had ever drilled into her, while the former Warlord shifted into stirring sands, except for the golden hook, that shot up like a bullet, crashing into the jitte she summoned from her magic pocket. Crocodile's head, arms, and torso formed to meet her, but plenty of sand was dancing around and below her, and she increased the magic energy in her shield as well as that in Benn Beckman's.
He began to press harder and harder against her stolen weapon, and her answering strength was not enough. She flipped back as the hook overpowered the jitte, and amid twirling to regain balance, his hand reached to strangle her. It met the shield as she straightened out, and it immediately began to suffer.
She was familiar with his devil fruit, after finding its entry in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, but this power may not have been listed. It was as though he was simply absorbing the energy she put into the shield, which was already badly cracking after a few seconds of contact. She rocketed to the ground and backwards, landing beside Benn Beckman.
"Wasn't sure that would work," Crocodile chuckled as his form turned fully to sand again, reappearing on the ground before them, "But it seems that interesting power of yours is based somewhat in your own life force."
"And what of it?" She asked, mending her shield while she had the chance.
"It only makes this easier for me. Let's get on with it...."
As he spoke, the sand which so relentlessly chased her before broke free of its prison, and rejoined Crocodile as he slowly walked towards her. Her eyes narrowed down on his form, and her horn grew warm as she collected magic there. The standard three shots proved ineffective, but she did not move, and he kept on towards them.
Four more aimed at his lungs and heart slipped right through the sand, and his pace remained the same, like her composure. Not much longer now...
Five shots this time, and she only cared about the last one. The first struck through his shoulder, the second and third passed through his face, the fourth went back to his heart, but the fifth was close behind it, but his reflexes were beyond ordinary.
"Close," He commended, still walking towards her menacingly, "But I know my weaknesses. Without haki, there is one way to neutralize my powers. Only two people have ever successfully exploited it."
His dripping wet hook flew from his hand like a bird of prey gone to scout, traveling above her and hanging there, poised to strike at any moment. The name Fisher never suited him more.
"What if I have haki?" She asked herself as much as him, and with impressive false confidence.
"It won't be as good as his," Crocodile replied, "And it won't be enough. I suppose killing you would be a waste, but if the government wants you...I don't think I'll give you to them."
"Don't get carried away, our part of the deal has not yet come to fruition," Basil Hawkins reminded Crocodile from the distance.
"You'll get Red Hair in time," Crocodile brushed off.
Without anything else to come to her, she went with her gut: "What makes you think you're strong enough to defeat Shanks?"
Basil Hawkins was clearly not the type to easily fall into a distraction, and though Crocodile might be, in this case he did not. She teleported away and put up several dome barriers just before his hand blurred into a storm of sand and reappeared around her throat.
"When Shanks does arrive, we'll walk right over you all!" She continued to bluff.
Crocodile smiled in response, and the hook came racing down - right into Ben Beckmann's face.
Injured but not oblivious, Beckman had his armament haki ready, but was struggling with one arm against Crocodile's hand, which pressed down on the first mate and slowly took the fight away from him, despite his defense of continued armament haki.
"Stop!" She cried, sending two more bolts of water at him, which the hook ran into to block like a perfect puppet.
"Stop!!" She screamed, running at Crocodile with jitte at the ready and water blasts shooting. It did her no good, as the hook and jitte locked up like last time, with her once more coming out the loser, while a wall of sand took the many water blasts, most of it simply returning to Crocodile, the rest staying a mush on the floor.
"I'll make a mummy of you yet," Crocodile told Beckman, breathing cigar smoke in the slightly pale face of his foe.
Twilight saw now, it would take a flood to stop him like that, so a flood it would have to be. She funneled massive amounts of water to her horn, enough to flood a home, a tidal storm to drown out her foe and take away his strength.
Crocodile scowled shoved the weaker than ever Beckman aside. Taking his sand into the ground, he crushed the dirt and stone to gravel, taking control of it and increasing his ability of manipulation tenfold. Like a paint brush on a canvas, Twilight directed the water, chasing Crocodile as fast as she could, clumping up his new defenses quicker than she expected.
For the first time, she was truly in control, as Crocodile made a beeline to escape the rush of water, and the younger pirate Basil Hawkins looked on intently. He almost looked concerned about his prospects. She was inching closer by second, until he could delay no longer, and dispersed completely, letting the golden hook drop to the ground while his form was split into billions of grains of sand and shot around all around her.
She stopped the water stream and focused it into a large orb, careful to keep one eye on Hawkins as she prepared to sweep the area and gather up as much of him as she could.
"Your efforts are in vain, you are destined to lose to him," Hawkins told her as she swirled the orb around, yo-yo-ing wildly to take in as much as she could.
"I've never let a silly thing like destiny stop me from saving my friends or myself before," She replied, then slapped herself mentally for opening her mouth and allowing any number of the grains of sand to enter her. She slowed the water orb and ran a cleansing spell through herself, eliminating anything that did not belong. It took focus and more time than she liked, but Basil Hawkins was not intent to do much more than talk for the moment.
Still Crocodile had not yet reappeared, and her eyes scanned the entire area, looking for any larger gathering of sand, but none were revealed.
"Do you really think destiny is pushed away, or only steps back with your push?" Hawkins went on, much to Twilight's chagrin. She refused to open her mouth again, and shot him a brief, nasty look instead. He hardly seemed to take it in.
She continued to spin around, shifting position in the vertical and horizontal planes every few seconds, eagerly awaiting Crocodile's reappearance, but at this point, it may simply never have returned. She was beginning to wonder if the ex-Warlord had run off, when his voice returned to laugh at her, but his form remained absent.
"Kuha ha ha ha ha..."
The water in her control expanded as she willed more of it into being, assuring herself that she was ready for anything.
"Sables!"
As if from under her, a vortex of wind and sand exploded and trapped her, thrashing her about the tempest and making her drop the water all over the ground. She attempted to bolster her body and shielded it as best she could, but the winds were picking up and searing and tearing at a faster pace now.
Trying to fly out would be pointless, she knew, as the world turned into a giant blur and her eyes focused on the winds themselves. A counter spell to this would require her to put less focus on the shield, but could be done. The question was if she was willing to risk it. Indecisiveness was worse than choosing poorly, so she put herself on the line and concentrated on slowing and then reversing the wind flow, and the shield around her body began cracking and crumbling almost at once.
It seemed Crocodile was watching closely with hidden eyes, for the vortex ceased as soon as she began to work on it, and the next thing she knew sand sharp as blades assaulted her from all sides, breaking the shield to bits and drawing blood from multiple cuts. As she fell back to the ground, wincing with the pain, Crocodile's hand appeared over her face, grasping to drain all the life force out of her.
She forced her wings into motion and kept herself from hitting the ground, but put most of her efforts into keeping that hand at bay. For the moment it was solid, and so long as it was solid, she could repel it with her magic. Still, they were in a tug of war battle for control, and he was slowly winning.
She resorted to one of her usual fall-backs and teleported herself out of there, breathing heavily as she saw the golden hook spring to life and swipe right where her neck had been.
She was so caught up in the battle, she didn't notice the arrival of newcoming pirates until they were talking.
"Crocodile...what is this!?" A man with fiery red hair, lighter than that of Shanks, but much wilder, and spiked upwards. Most noticeably, one of his arms was very large, and very much made of metal. Joining him was man who seemed to have two elbows in each arm, and whose various body parts resembled...instruments.
And of course, as was usually the case, they were joined by prongs of low-level pirate thugs, eager to gang up on foes and take whatever they wanted.
"Quiet down brat," Crocodile returned, finally showing his full form as sand raced from all around to give him composition, "I'm dealing with it."
"And so my cohorts arrive," Hawkins announced, "I believe you have an end to hold up, Crocodile."|
Twilight had only glanced over the names, but upon Hawkins' words she was able to recall them from the middle of a study session after allying with Shanks, these newcomers could only be Eustass "Captain" Kidd, and "Roar of the Sea" Scratchman Apoo.
Benn Beckman had noted their arrival, but was unable to do anything about it, other than weakly advise Twilight to leave him behind and run, which she was sure he knew was not an option for her.
"Then finish up quick, I'm eager to get down to business," Kidd replied.
"As you can see, I've got other matters to attend to; do us all a favor and bite the bullet," Crocodile advised Twilight.
"No!" She refused, rushing forward with another wave of water ready, but a cloud of sand ceased her from behind, again forcing the water from her magical grip and digging into her from all sides, not so much cutting and simply bearing down into her body, making light, red puddles appear all over her.
She briefly gave in and stopped resisting, at which point Crocodile slammed her down onto the ground - hard.
"Persistent thing, huh? Pathetic," Kidd denounced.
"She is doomed to fail, without doubt," Hawkins added.
"I give you credit for holding on, but you're a small fish in this sea yet. You were bound to get swallowed sooner or later," Crocodile told the bleeding Twilight as she struggled to get off her back.
"Don't touch her," Beckman called out hoarsely, still on one knee, his rifle aimed to shoot the hooked man down.
"Don't interfere. Your time is over, just wait till we meet your captain," Kidd interrupted, pulling the gun straight out of Beckman's hand, and dragging the Yonko's second right hand to his chest.
"Quit dragging it out," Appo complained, "Kill her, Benn Beckman should be enough to lure Red Hair here."
"Yeah," Crocodile agreed, raising the golden hook for the final strike, hesitating only long enough for Twilight's shaking gaze to turn into a defeated grimace, and then it fell as an executioner's weapon...and flew into the night's sky as a sword intercepted.
"You guys really messed up my friends," Shanks said, "That's not good news for you."
Relief fought with shame, briefly, to take control of Twilight. She had failed to prove herself yet again, but she was saved. Their journey was not over yet.
The expressions on their enemies went from bored and slightly amused to outright shock and awe. Hawkins dropped the cards in his hand, Apoo fell onto his butt, and Kidd froze completely. Crocodile dashed away, sand swirling where his now broken hook once lay. Their followers, still vastly outnumbering Shanks and his allies, shook and held their stances uneasily.
Now the rest of his crew joined Beckman and Twilight and the up-till-now quiet Three Idiot Pirates. Suddenly, the tides reversed, and a glowing red aura surrounded Shanks and lit up the night. Kidd was struggling to raise his voice, but his anger was easy enough to comprehend. Hawkins and Apoo were more hesitant, while Crocodile looked very cross at being interrupted. Killer shot from his place in Kidd's ranks and flew at Benn Beckman for an opening strike.
Shanks didn't flinch a muscle, though Killer ran dangerously close to him. Instead, the brash Supernova was thrown back by a single punch from Lucky Roo just feet in front of his Vice-Captain. Kidd was practically drooling, his mouth was so agape for so long.
"You lot have been playing pirate until now. If you challenge a Yonko, you better be prepared for the fight of your life. So come at me then, all four of you cowards, and see if you're worth my time."
"GET THEM!!" Kidd managed at last, charging against Shanks in a straight line. Appo hopped up above, Hawkins moved to the side. Crocodile turned his form to sand, but remained in place. Shanks had yet to move since putting his blade down after he'd broken Crocodile's weapon.
The clash between Kidd's metal arm and Shanks' blade rang like lightning, and sparks flew. The power emanating from the Yonko was making it hard to see and hear clearly, even to think well, but Kidd pushed through on anger and willpower. He began to contort Shanks' blade, while reaching for a pistol with his hand of flesh.
Shanks in turn kneed him twice in the blink of an eye, and Kidd dropped the gun with a bloody cough. One swat was all it took to throw him back, but Appo and Hawkins were in the position by then. As Apoo dove from the building, contorting his arm into some impossible shape, Rockstar intercepted and overpowered him, leaving him in a small crater on the ground.
Hawkins evaded the shot fired from Yasopp's gun, but did not see or expect Shanks to dive after him, and was put to his knees after a swift hit on the head from the hilt of Shanks' blade.
Kidd was on his feet again, and having collected a large sum of metal wreckage and parts, flung them desperately at Shanks as his men, none of which connected, and instead Shanks halfed the distance between them.
"Damn you!" Kidd cursed, dragging Mr. 1 from the ground and using the metal in his arms like a puppet, but the steel in Crocodile's man was shattered by the fine skill and quick blade work from Shanks. Wiping his mouth, Kidd screamed out and drew a second pistol, firing many times with the same success as the large metal glob he threw seconds before.
"Help us, damn you!" He shouted to Crocodile, who was hovering behind the battle, watching quietly.
By the time he turned back around, Shanks was in his face; a swing from the giant metal arm did him no avail, and Shanks cut it at the wrist with one swipe. A kick to the gut and then to the chin after Kidd had dropped to one knee rendered the blade on his neck. Staring down at the ground, Kidd's eyes were wide, his mouth open wide, and his breathing hard. Twilight knew, as she picked herself up in the midst of the chaos, that this young pirate's life was flashing before his eyes, and his mind was fighting off the chaos of losing everything he'd ever been and achieved.
She had felt much of the same against Crocodile, and even Buggy and Smoker before him.
"Twilight!" Applejack called as she ran to her captain and Princess's side with Pinkie Pie and Rarity close behind.
"Am I ever glad to see you....how are you holding up? That Ukuma guy and his weird power of fear did a number on all of us."
"We'll make it," Pinkie Pie promised.
"Yes, and reinforcements from the ship are on the way, and Shanks returned from the hunting trip. We'll make it, without a doubt!"
The encouragement made her smile, but the facts were clear, "Well, try as we might, we're not ready for this yet. Let's head back the ship," Twilight told them, holding her head to stop the slow shaking.
"Agreed," Applejack replied as they set off on a mad dash towards Fluttershy, Rainbow, and everyone and everypony else on the outskirts of the battle. Needless to say, Shanks and those with him were pulling the weight of his encounter, and more.
Lucky Roo halted them halfway to the respite of quiet and calm, Benn Beckman on his shoulder.
"Take him," Lucky Roo said, allowing Twilight and Rarity to levitate the Vice Captain and flee with him in tow.
"...Thanks..." He muttered, still clutching his stomach, which was now hastily wrapped to stop the bleeding. If it had been delayed much longer, he might not have lived; he was already looking very pale. At the very least, Twilight could ensure he was alright once back on the ship, but they first had to escape without any further complications.
"WHAT!?"
"THE NAVY!! LOOK OUT!!!"
Complications like that.
Kidd was on the verge of being beheaded, but a flurry of golden blasts sent him flying away from Shanks and through a crumbling wall. Shanks paid it no mind, focusing only on the massive, yellow star above their heads.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
"Hit the dirt!" Mu shouted, barreling into the group of ponies amidst a mad dash for cover.
"Argh!" Kari followed, shortly thereafter came Rari with his wordless screech.
Golden projectiles fell like rain drops, small and thin, but above all else deadly in destructive force, blowing up the landscape of the battle, searing and tearing apart pirates under Shanks and Kidd and Crocodile alike. In all her life in Equestria and in this New World, Twilight had never seen so much blood spilled so quickly and with such little regard. Bodies fell and broke apart, toys to the power of this grave new force.
It could not have lasted longer than few seconds, but the destruction was undeniable as a small horde of marines rushed them all, rifles, swords, and chains in hand. Only Shanks and his elite officers still stood, largely unharmed. Then, with another golden flash, the tallest Marine Twilight had ever seen appeared. His status was the only thing not in question here. This was what a real Admiral looked like.
"Kizaru..." Shanks addressed.
"Oh ho....Red Haired Shanks. That didn't take long."
"You've come all the way here for me? Bold."
"Actually, my men came for a man called Fisher, then they heard you were here...with those out-of-this-world ponies. Hmm, so weird. I can't possibly return to HQ without all of you in my brig, Sakazuki will be furious."
"Then I'm gonna leave you disappointed. My friends aren't going anywhere with you."
The Admiral gave a low sound, something between a sigh and an intrigued 'Hmmm', and in the speed it took for her heart to be beat, his foot was off the ground and pointed at them like a rifle, and a golden beam was already racing towards them. Shanks darted at it and deflected with a swipe of his blade, the only thing within the blast radius to not be scorched and burned.
The next instant, the Admiral called Kizaru put his hands together and then stretched them out, a yellow blade of pure light appearing between them, until he had a sword that dwarfed Shanks' in comparison.
"Run..." Twilight breathed, "just run!"
Shanks stood his ground, and Kizaru's form evaporated in golden light, then rushed forward particle by particle in a great flash, reappearing half a second later to clash blades with the Yonko; the force of impact sent a gust of wind that could have belonged to a hurricane rushing at everyone behind Shanks.
Without argument, everypony with her ran for the ship, but the sounds of fierce battle did not get quieter as they made their break. In fact, more than once, yellow beams flew over their heads and tore through brush and trees beside them. One of Kidd's allies, Scratchman Apoo, fled with them for a time, though neither party was concerned by the company.
"And I thought he was strong last time!" He panicked.
A short time later, Apoo jumped aside from another of the yellow beams, and disappeared thereafter.
The forestry broke at last and the ship came into view, Spike noticeable on the railing, trying to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic scene. Benn Beckman was taken below deck quickly, and Twilight got the ship moving. If they could make it down shore a ways, it would be a faster getaway for Shanks and those with him. The execution of that would be tricky, however, as two marine ships sailed towards the island in the distance. On top of that, the stragglers were followed out of the forest by none other than Crocodile himself.
"Is he back to finish us off?" Applejack questioned alarmingly, steering the ship into a more viable position if the marines were going to fight.
"If he is, you guys go on without me. Maybe...maybe I can't beat him, but I can hold him off for a while."
"No way-"
"That's an order, Rainbow."
How long had she been a captain, she wondered as her eyes met Crocodile's, and how many orders like that had she given? She flew up into the air, and mustered magic to her horn as the former Warlord slowed his pace. There was silence for a few seconds, then with a huff of cigar smoke, he spoke up.
"You damn ponies...you screwed everything up here. I'm calling it a night, but don't ever think you can rest easy. I'll hunt you down and finish what we started. Guaranteed."
A collective breath was held and let go, as Crocodile dispersed into millions of grains of sand and disappeared. One less enemy to deal with, but the danger was far from gone. On the contrary, the arrival of Admiral Kizaru put them all closer to defeat - and death - than they'd ever been.
The marine ships in the distance were coming into an attacking formation, and the Red Force put all haste into making it up shore quickly, but also drew her cannons. Thinking it better to avoid a long confrontation if possible, Twilight flew up and let several volleys of spells fly, some regular magic, others to set fire to the ships or create a magnetic force to miss-align all the cannons.
Despite her efforts, she could not have anticipated the arrival of a third ship, which was coming at them from their destination, and cannon balls flew at Shanks' vessel and hit their mark, to Twilight's shame. They returned fire and did about as much as was done to them, and Twilight flew overhead to stop the battle short. Time was everything now.
"Should be smooth enough sailing from here...why don't you get them to head over," Applejack announced.
"Good idea - make sure Rarity and Fluttershy have what they need to help treat Benn Beckman!" She added as she soared high, back to where a fire had started and many yellow beams were flying around.
"Be careful yourself!" Rainbow called out, but it was muffled in the wind as Twilight sped forward.
As she drew close, Twilight shot off several flares to raise the attention of the Yonko and his men, but wondered if it was a mistake when she got closer, realizing that the Admiral and his subordinates were putting up a close fight; Kidd was in shackles and under Smoker's foot, Hawkins was unbound, but also seemed to be incapacitated. It seemed only Crocodile and Apoo had successfully made it away as of yet.
Shanks was dirty, scuffed up like he'd been pushed around and thrown back many times, but Kizaru looked no better; everything around them was in tatters. The other officers in his crew looked about as fair, but most of them were huffing to catch their breaths.
"Time to go!" She announced with a magically enhanced voice.
Lucky Roo punched Vice Admiral Momonga through a tree and fell to one knee. Rockstar joined him and picked him back up, "You heard her, we're in trouble if reinforcements show up!"
"As if we'd allow you to escape!" Smoker returned, flying in half a whisp of his namesake, and striking Rockstar onto the ground with his jitte.
Twilight surveyed the scene, herself in the air, Shanks, Lucky Roo, Rockstar, Yasopp, and a couple others on the ground. Standing against them were Admiral Kizaru, and Vice Admirals Smoker, Strawberry, Momonga, Dalmatian, and at least three squads of men, some of them bearing the cape-like jackets and suits that denoted officers. Mu, Rari, and Kari were nowhere to be found at the moment, and Twilight wasn't sure if they had made it back to theRed Force or not.
Nobody said anything for a moment, but Twilight was more anxious about the oddly content smirk on Kizaru's face than the collective quiet. At last, it was Shanks who spoke.
"Been a while since I had a good fight. Get all the wounded aboard my ship and prepare to take our leave. I'll hold them all off."
"All of them!?" Twilight repeated.
"You just see that nobody is left behind," Shanks added.
"Ooh boy...brace yourselves," Kizaru warned in a very mocking tone.
A red flash shot out around them, and Shanks screamed a battle cry that flew through the island, and all Marines aside from the Admiral and most of the Vice Admirals fell to the ground at once, and the trees, stone debris, ground, and even the clothes on their backs were split and cracked.
Faster than she'd ever seen anything go, Shanks was suddenly gone, but Vice Admiral Dalmation went flying into the air, his scream getting softer by the second. Smoker was thrown onto his back as Shanks suddenly appeared before him, his sword only barely being held at bay by Admiral Kizaru, who seemed to be putting in more effort than before.
"Wow...that was fast," Kizaru remarked.
Shanks cursed him with a smile, and disappeared again. The area was bathed in golden light and Kizaru disappeared too; a half an instant later they both reappeared in a different spot, then again they were gone and back before she could blink, in yet another position, their blades of steel and light meeting each other in a firm deadlock every time.
A fourth time it happened, and then a fifth, this time in the air, and they broke off amid falling back down to the ground. Shanks was now visibly annoyed. Kizaru looked amused.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get lost!" Shanks cried out, racing forward faster than eyes could perceive a sixth time.
This time, however, Kizaru met him with more force than expected, and they broke off almost at once, with Shanks losing his footing and stepping backwards several feet before regaining his stance. Kizaru kept his feet firmly on the ground, but slid back about as far all the same.
It was only now that Vice Admiral Dalmation fell back to the ground, landing in a crater the size of a small hill when he hit a few hundred feet away. Upon that, the pirates began to obey, carrying their wounded comrades out the way Twilight began to lead them. But Kizaru was resolute.
"Looks like you might have me beat in terms of firepower," He admitted as his golden body flickered away, and then finished with his voice seemingly coming from everywhere at the same time, "But it seems I'm still faster."
Twilight felt the impact before she saw it, as though a camera had recorded the lightspeed kick that sent her hurdling over the forest and into the water, splashing so hard she thought she'd broken bones. With one explosive kick, Admiral Kizaru had sent most of the pirates past the ship, and in varying degrees of injury. She wanted to swim back up, but she found her body was no longer listening to her brain's commands. After everything, would this be her end?
"Well, that was unfortunate...looks like I screwed up in reverse."
Admiral Kizaru pushed off his back and stood up, grabbing his jacket from the ground with one hand, while dabbing at his forehead with the other, blood returning to his field of view of three fingers. Shanks was gone, most of the pirates were, though Eustass "Captain" Kidd and "Magician" Basil Hawkins had been captured, along with most of their crews.
Vice Admiral Dalmatian would be out of commission for the foreseeable future, but he was still alive. The rest of their island forces would be too slow in catching up, but there was still a chance to engage the Red Hair Pirates and their curious companions; they were not out of the thick of it yet.
"Take the prisoners into custody, I'm headed towards Vice Admiral Jon-Paul," Kizaru announced, forming the Yata Mirror with his hands and reflecting a golden path out to sea. In less than three seconds he was aboard a fresh Navy ship, with two more at his backside, and another two opposite him. The Red Force was in range, smoking lightly from the continued fire put upon it by this segment of the Fleet.
From the top deck, Kizaru gave his orders, "I'm going on ahead, follow up with maximum cannon fire. I should be able to break the ship in half upon landing. Ready..."
His body once more formed into a gilded statue, a great flash lighting up the ship and illuminating the sea below. He could already see his kick upon reappearance shattering the Yonko's vessel into pieces, Shanks unable to defend his crew from an attack so fast. It was evident that he was aware of Kizaru though. He had been bested before hand, but that didn't change Kizaru's speed advantage, and speed was always a sure way to break the enemy in one go.
"Aim......"
Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.......bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....
"Hmm?" Kizaru's form returned to its normal state, and he removed the transponder snail from inside his coat. It clicked on and all ears listened to the message.
"Admiral Kizaru....please disengage at once."
A puzzled look came upon him, "Disengage? Who is this?"
"Righteous Thief, working on behalf of the Gorosei."
"Righteous Thief...?"
"I have my own intelligence that informs me you've cornered the newly arrived pony creatures under the protection of the Emperor Red Haired Shanks...I also understand they have nearly escaped you."
"No matter. They're as good as sunk now."
"Precisely why I'll need you to stand down. Now."
"Hmmm?"
"I'm sure someone as capable as yourself would be able to take control of the situation without much effort, but the World Government is going to need these creatures unharmed, and you'll not be able to take them in unharmed if you act now. Rest assured, I have contingency plans."
The Admiral rubbed his chin and thought over it for a second before reply, "I don't like the idea of just letting it go..."
"Far from it. I'll have need of someone with your talents down the road, but I'm responsible for ensuring that the World Government gets these creatures in proper condition. As of now, I cannot uphold that obligation, so once more, I'm asking you to stand down."
"Hmmm...it's a bother, but, I suppose I gave it a fair enough shot already. Very well, I look forward to seeing how this plays out," Kizaru relented with a smile the 'Righteous Thief' could not see.
"Very good, Admiral."
CLICK
Kizaru watched the Red Force sail onwards towards the coming dawn and the horizon, silent as all his men as they soaked in the knowledge that they almost caught an Emperor that night. For at least a solid minute, nobody moved, and the slapping of rowdy waves against the hull was the only sound. Then, the Admiral turned his back to the Yonko and headed below deck.
Once out of the medical bay, Twilight felt about as bad as Shanks looked, that said, that was a lucky thing.
Shanks took a seat and wiped his brow with his arm, reaching for the bottle of rum on the counter immediately thereafter. Twilight had never seen him so roughed up from battle, though he wasn't injured in any significant way. Her friends joined them shortly along with Yasopp. The galley of the Red Force was more disheveled than usual, and repairs would need to be made, but this area wasn't much of a priority. Broken boards on the kitchen floor didn't mean much next to broken boards in the living quarters or right on the hull.
"Shame about those three Idiot Pirates...would've been nice to help them out. Can't do anything about it now."
"No," Twilight admitted, "and we can't go back for a new ship."
"Forget another ship, you'll all be on land for a while soon anyways," Shanks said between swigs of the alcohol.
"Are we finally ready to train?" Rainbow asked.
"Past ready," Yasopp spoke for his captain, "We made final contact with your teacher. He's waiting at an island only a couple days from here. Somewhat remote, shouldn't be a problem since the Navy isn't after us anymore, or so it seems."
"They could've well sunken the ship," Applejack thought aloud, "Why did they stop?"
"I'm sure I could've matched Kizaru, but with many of us subdued, the overall battle was in their favor...I guess I'll be adding that to the schedule while you're all learning to fight in the terms of this world. You've each displayed great potential, I'm going to look for ways to use it once you've turned it into skill," Shanks explained.
"I don't like being left alone without you," Twilight admitted, feeling much more like a student again than a Princess or a pirate Captain.
Shanks laughed and grabbed the next bottle, courtesy of Yasopp, "I think you'll find the man I've arranged to help is more than capable of keeping you safe while you earn your place on an Emperor's ship."
"But who'll be teaching us?" Rarity asked, unable to contain the curiosity.
Shanks and Yasopp shared a knowing smile, but said nothing, even with the added pressures from Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
"For now, rest up. We all put work into that place, and our investment didn't turn much of a profit. But all in all, I'm glad you all fought. To stand against those men took the bravery you'll need to make it in the world. I'm proud."
Despite the shortness of their relationship, and that uneasy as it was at times, Twilight's heart fluttered at the praise. If for but a moment, even her head had stopped aching. She was always a real sucker for a kind word, if it came from someone she recognized as smarter or stronger than herself. Her friends were proud of being held in pride as well, and one by one they shuffled out leaving the men alone at the bar.
Once sure they were gone, evident by the muffled shouting they were doing on the deck, Shanks turned to Yasopp and spoke much darker than he had in the presence of the ponies.
"We have to find this man...Righteous Thief."
"I've already got some of our allies on it."
"Keep eyes behind us tonight too. I wouldn't put it past Kizaru to feint a retreat and follow up with a surprise attack in the middle of the night."
"I'm keeping watch myself," Yasopp answered with confidence.
"Good. We just might pull them through this after all."
"Here's hoping, for all our sakes."
The small campfire cooked their fish nicely, and the smell of smoke instigated their rumbling bellies. Their alliance with the Emperor Red Haired Shanks was over, and they all knew it. Even still, despite the failure to remove "Fisher", or rather, Crocodile, from their home, the Navy had done a nice job of it. They'd move out once all the evidence of his activities were gone, and the land would go back to the families that once lived so peacefully there.
"Man, I'm hungry," Kari moaned, reaching out for a frying fish until his hand was swatted at by Mu.
"Quiet down, fish aren't done cooking yet."
Another rumble filled the air, and the distant marching of marines through the woods below their cliffside took their attention for a moment. It was a risk to run, Mu recognized, but they would put it out as soon as the fish from the river were nice and cooked.
"I hope they make it...to whatever they're aiming to do. Nice pirates, really. We couldn't have made this happen without them," Mu said aloud.
"Yeah, swell lot," Rari agreed.
"The greatest thieves and scoundrels I ever did know," Kari further agreed.
A brief silence filled the air, and then one more rumble, obviously from Kari. He eyes the fish, the other two eyed him. Despite the speed at which he went for the food, Mu's hand slapped onto his hard.
"I thought I told you they weren't done!"
A further rumbling filled the air, this time coming Mu himself. His peers looked over to him until he looked back, at which they looked away.
"Ok," the unofficial leader admitted, "Now it's time to eat!"
"Oh boy!" Rari and Kari echoed each other, all three of the men poking a frying fish with a stick.
They had only just begun to dig in when a noise came from their belongings behind the huddled fire.
Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep....
Slowly, Mu lowered his fish and looked back, one eyebrow arched as he then surveyed his cohorts, "Which one of you swiped a transponder snail from the thugs?"
"Not me," Kari defended himself at once.
"Well I didn't grab one either," Rari said.
"Well unless our clothes started talking, someone misplaced a snail. One of you go check it out."
"Okay," Kari relented, starting to rise until Mu grabbed him by the front of the shirt and tugged him back down.
"Not you," Mu declared with prejudice.
Eyes shifted to Rari, and he soon set his fish down and went to investigate.
"More fish for me anyways," A new voice said, making Mu and Kari look behind them, but all they saw was Rari. He found the snail quickly, and answered.
Bedep bedep bedep bedep - CLICK
"Go ahead," The voice answered, coming from Rari's body.
Mu and Kari rose as the other party said something.
"Oh, it went better than expected."
Mu and Kari set their own fish down and moved over to their friend, who was not only talking with a new voice, but standing in an unusual posture, as if he were someone else entirely.
"These two? Already dead," Rari answered something the other party had inquired about.
"How are you-"
Mu's voice was silenced as a red line appeared over his throat, he stumbled down and fell to the ground gurgling blood.
Kari jumped and shifted to run, but he only made it a step before a similar line appeared over his throat, and he bent down with both hands trying to stop the red life from leaving him, with no more success and as much a pained gurgling sound.
"Understood," Their friend replied, "Angler out."