A/N:
" ": Dialogue,
' ': Thought,
[ ]: System, Akasha, Minerva,
"Italicized text": Telepathy,
| |: Artificial Intelligence,
{ }: Bounty Posters & News Headlines,
"Bold text": Deathborns.
———————————————————
Narrator POV
The morning of the next day came by quickly, but none of the people on Jaya's east coast had slept through the night. This was owed to Dante, who had given everyone some fruit wine that he had spiked with the stimulant he makes with Medicine Synthesis, giving them enough energy to work through the night on the Going Merry.
With the combined efforts of both Masira's and Shoujou's crews, the Going Merry was not just fixed, but had also received modifications that would allow it to use the force and air pressure generated by the Knock Up Stream to fly. In the middle of all that, Luffy had chosen to explore the small jungle for fun, and had managed to snag a Hercules beetle in his short 'expedition'.
Dante and Shiraori laughed endearingly, seeing Luffy's actions as those of an enthusiastic child. And they laughed even more when they saw his reaction to the finished modifications to the Going Merry, or as Usopp called it, the Going Merry's Flight Model.
"Wooooaaaaah!!! That looks like it's soooooo gonna fly!!!" Luffy shouted with stars in his eyes as he saw the Going Merry, which now looked like a rooster. "I know, right!?" Usopp said with pride, as he had helped make the plans for the modification. However, Nami wasn't confident in the ship's ability to survive the Knock Up Stream, let alone using its force to fly all the way up to the top of the Imperial Cumulus that Skypeia was on.
Luffy walked over to Cricket, who told him to quickly get on the Going Merry so that he wouldn't miss his window for the Knock Up Stream, and thanked him for helping them fix up the Going Merry. "Bah! If you wanna thank anyone, thank them, not me." Cricket said, pointing over to Masira and Shoujou. "Thanks a bunch, guys! I'll give you my Hercules beetle!" Luffy shouted towards the two other heads of the Saruyama Alliance.
""Really!? You sure!? Man, you're such a nice guy!!"" The two captains shouted back in thanks. "In any case, get on the ship! We're runnin' outta time!!" Masira shouted from the bow of the Victory Hunter. "We'll go on ahead first, so catch up!!" Shoujou shouted from the Utan Sonar. "Alright!" He shouted back, but before heading back to the Going Merry, he turned over to the Invictus family.
"What about you guys? Aren't you gonna go up?" He said, pointing upwards. "No. Skypeia isn't exactly looking appealing to us now. And besides, we've got other stuff we want to take care of." Dante responded with a smile. "But tell you what, when you guys get back down, we'll come find you and give you some proper training. Now, get moving. You've not got that much time left before the Knock Up Stream erupts." He said, flicking a finger and relocating Luffy onto the deck of the Going Merry.
As Cricket saw Luffy now onboard the Going Merry, he smiled to himself. "Saruyama Alliance!" He shouted out, and they collectively responded with a loud and enthusiastic "Aye-aye, Sir!". "Don't go slipping up now, y'hear!? No matter what! Put every last ounce of energy you've got to get them up into the sky!" He ordered them, then walked over to the Going Merry and thanked Luffy for believing in Noland's true story and his own dream.
As the three ships departed for the Knock Up Stream, Cricket turned to the Invictus family and saw the young girls floating up onto the Leviathan. "You said that you aren't following them, so where are you going?" He asked them. "Hmm… we're just going to shake things up a little. You might get news of our actions, but knowing the useless pride of the World Government, they'll do their utmost to hide it. So, just look out for anything that seems like it'll shake the world in the news." Dante said, bidding him farewell as the Leviathan began to pull away from the shore.
For what was probably the first time in years, Cricket was eager to experience the future, not for the Saruyama Alliance, but solely for himself.
…
Location: Grand Line, Red Line, Mary Geoise
In a building as large as a castle, that was situated far above most of the world's landmass, a commotion was underway. "Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" A Marine Vice Admiral shouted to another, who had his hands held tightly around his throat. "It's not me! My… my hands are moving on their own!" The other Vice Admiral said weakly. "Don't be stupid! This is no time for jokes!" The first Vice Admiral said as he tried to pull of the other Vice Admiral's hands.
"He's right. This is no time for jokes. So stop it at once!" An aged female voice said. This was one of the few legends amongst the marines, the Great Staff Officer, Tsuru. "Doflamingo, this is your doing, isn't it?" She asked, turning to face the balcony. "Be a good boy now, and stop." She said, her voice stern.
As she finished talking, an amused chuckle came from the balcony, its source being a tall man dressed in a pink feather coat, a white shirt with red stripes and his chest exposed, a pair of orange pants with white stripes, and pointed black dress shoes, with a pair of curved, orange-tinted glasses over his eyes. This was Doflamingo Donquixote, leader of the Donquixote Pirates and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Right as he was about to begin talking, he and everyone else in the room suddenly went silent. The only sound present in the room was the flipping of pages being done by Bartholomew Kuma, another of the Seven Warlords and one of the founding members of the Revolutionary Army. A few more seconds passed like this, with him flipping through the pages of the bible in his hands, as if he was oblivious to whatever had caused everyone else to go silent.
"Hoh? I'm surprised to see that there's some decorum in here. I would have thought that…" An aged male voice started to say, but soon stopped speaking, silenced by the same thing that had caused everyone else to mute themselves. Just a few seconds later, another man walked in, wearing a long ornate trench coat, white pants held up by a belt, and a large sword holstered on his back, and similarly to everyone else, he too went silent.
The reason for all of them going silent stood in front of Kuma, calmly watching him flip through his bible. Dante had issued a mental command to everyone to remain silent, or witness the total annihilation of Mary Geoise. They didn't hold any belief that such a thing could ever come to be and tried moving towards him, only to find themselves unable to do so. As a matter of fact, they felt that no part of their bodies could move, as if they were all being held back by something.
Dante waved his hand, and Kuma looked away from his bible, just now wondering why the room was silent, until he noticed the white-haired man standing in front of him. From the man's appearance, he thought that he was a Lunarian, possibly one who had gotten his wings removed by any of the World Nobles. He wouldn't put it beyond them to do something so cruel. But the man's blue eyes did seem to draw him in.
"Hello, Kuma. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Dante said to him with a smile on his face. Kuma simply looked at him in silence, all the while his smile never left. "Tell me, do you wish to see those bastards get their just desserts?" The question was asked calmly, but it landed like a bomb in the ears of everyone in the room. Even without Dante mentioning any names, they all knew exactly who he was talking about – the World Nobles.
"They were the ones that killed your family, directly caused the death of the woman you loved, framed you as a tyrant for liberating the people you call yours, and are the direct cause of your daughter's life-threatening illness. And they had the gall to make you work for them, while threatening your people." Dante said, his displeasure towards the World Nobles for their actions against Kuma being laid bare. "Does it all not sound like a cruel joke? That the people who have tormented you for practically your whole life came along and told you to serve them or the torment would resume?" He asked Kuma, who was very visibly shaking, with his free hand now being a closed fist.
"Well, I'm here to help you, Kuma. You and everyone that has faced similar fates via their hands." Dante said, putting his hand out towards Kuma, and causing an even greater sense of alarm and urgency to form in the Marines that were present. "And how would you do that?" Kuma asked calmly, closing his bible. "The World Nobles and those that head them have wiped out and enslaved countless populations, including yours, Lunarian." He said, causing Dante to suddenly burst out laughing.
"Oh, yeah. I guess my appearance would make those that don't know me think I'm a Lunarian." He said in between laughs. "Kuma, I'm no Lunarian. I'm a human, albeit one with power far beyond anything that could ever hope to be birthed in this universe." He said, then looked towards the Marines. "Haven't you wondered why they have just been standing there?" He said, and Kuma finally noticed that all the Marines, as well as Doflamingo were all standing as if they were restrained by something invisible.
"Even with that, it's not enough to take them down." Kuma said, referring to the Five Elders of the World Government, and Dante just sighed. "You see, this is the issue I have with worlds like this. Since my power is too great for them to make any sense of, their minds and souls ignore it to protect them. Then again, it's not like a singular ant can fully comprehend the entire planet around them." He said in exasperation, then flicked a finger at Kuma, causing him to flinch.
He thought that Dante had attacked him, but he suddenly felt his body reach a level of lightness he hadn't felt ever since he conceded to Saturn. It was almost as if all the changes that had been forced onto his body were simply removed. While thinking that, he also felt his body heal, and he finally understood. 'All of Vegapunk's implants… They've been removed.' He thought to himself, then looked at Dante with wide eyes.
"I will make it so that no one would ever have to fear them ever again. And I will make sure that you, Bonney, and Ginny bear witness to the beating of the Drums of Liberation. I will make it so that you all see Nika yourselves." Dante said, his hand still out. "All you need to do for that to become reality is accept my hand." Kuma's eyes shook as he heard Dante speak not only his name, but the name of the woman he loved and her daughter that he also saw as his own, despite the circumstances surrounding her birth. And his heart shook when he mentioned them witnessing Nika. But there was still one thing that he wanted to be sure of.
"Ginny is long dead. How would she even witness him if you brought us to see him?" He asked, a small tether of hope worming its way deeper into him. "I will resurrect her." Dante said casually, yet his tone dripped with finality. "Not as a zombie or spirit, but a full and total resurrection." He said, and for the first time since the day that he began undergoing the process of being turned into a robot, Kuma cried.
For the Marines that didn't truly know Kuma, seeing this almost 7-metre-tall man on his knees with tears falling from his eyes, while holding the hand of someone who wasn't even a third of his own height, was a highly unprecedented event. They all had the image of Kuma, this seemingly stoic giant of a man, being a Tyrant, as his bounty poster had painted him to be. They knew that he was a member of the Revolutionary Army and that he had a powerful Devil Fruit, but they didn't know him, and Dante just made them understand that.
"There, there, Kuma. I promise you and everyone else, you won't ever suffer by their hands, their orders… or their dogs ever again." Dante said with a smile on his face and murder in his eyes as he looked at the Marines when he said the latter. "For now, just wait for a few minutes. I'll be right back with you." Dante said, and before Kuma could make sense of his words, Dante displaced him, which to everyone else in the room, looked like he had vanished.
Dante then turned to Doflamingo, who despite physically towering over him, felt unimaginably miniscule. For the first time since he had to deal with Kaido, Doflamingo felt like he might actually perish if he so much as thought the wrong thing. Dante looked at him with an impassive expression as he lifted a finger. "Doffy. If you want to talk to me, then actually make the effort to come to me, instead of using this shabby excuse of a clone." He said, then flicked his finger, and under everyone's gaze, Doflamingo unraveled into strings that fell to the floor limply.
Dante then turned over to the Marines. "And as for you guys…" He began, then quickly swiped his hand. "The next time you think that what you're doing is justice, remember that these were removed recently from innocent people." He said, then made a throwing motion. The very next instant, a small mountain of collars landed on the table, taking up all of the tabletop's space. Even while unable to move, the eyes of the Marines in the room glinted with recognition.
Every one of them in the room had at one point or the other in their career had received the task of guarding a World Noble, and more times than not, they saw at least one person wearing one of these collars around their neck, while having an expression filled with distress and despair. These were Bomb Collars, and they were almost exclusively worn by people who had been enslaved by World Nobles. Most of these people were forced into slavery by the whims of the World Nobles, and as people who worked for the World Government, Marines were expected to defend them.
A few high-ranking Marines knew of this and hated it, while the rest either didn't care about it or actively took part in it, sometimes sending criminals to work as slaves under World Nobles. "You might go around with "Justice" plastered over your uniforms and coats, but don't let that ever confuse you into thinking that what you guys do is good. Since most of you would never go against the laid-down law or orders, actual good people are a rarity amongst you Marines." Dante said, and then they all felt their bodies be released from whatever was holding them in place.
But even as they were no longer being restrained, none of them dared to move to attack Dante. He then swiped his hand once more and clenched it into a fist. Space around his hand visibly undulated, then he opened his hand, revealing two spheres the size of marbles, with what looked like islands within them.
However, the environment on each of the islands was different to a readily visible extent. One island looked like a paradise, with lush vegetation and animals that looked like they were from a celestial garden, while the other had a slew of harsh biomes that made up its environs. There was an area that had a constant fog of miasma hanging onto it, an area that was perpetually on fire, causing even the land there to become molten, an area that was an ice-covered wasteland, and the bit of land that had vegetation was fully populated by monsters and steeped in rot.
Dante then snapped his fingers, teleporting back to the Leviathan and releasing most of the tension that was in the room. However, even though he was gone, the Marines weren't truly relieved, as they were now left wondering what impact that having such a person on the seas would have on the rest of the world. They didn't know that they were soon going to see that impact themselves.
…
Location: Grand Line, Open Seas
Back on the Leviathan, a heartfelt reunion between father and daughter was underway, with Bartholomew Kuma hugging a small young girl with hot pink hair, a golden anti-eyebrow below her right eye, and a white dress over her body. While Dante had been at Mary Geoise, Shiraori had gone out to retrieve Jewelry Bonney, the girl that Kuma was hugging and the captain of the Bonney Pirates.
Despite being only 10 years old, Bonney had successfully created a pirate crew of her own. This was owed to the powers of the Toshi Toshi no Mi, a Devil Fruit that grants the ability to manipulate the age of people or objects, which she used to age herself to her early twenties. As for her crew members, they were citizens of the Sorbet Kingdom which Kuma ruled before he was forced into becoming one of the Seven Warlords. And they were all tearing up as they watched Kuma hug his daughter.
"That's all well and good, Kuma. But I want to fulfil the promise I gave you." Dante said, causing Kuma to look over at him, his eyes still wet with tears. With a wave of his hand, Dante plucked Ginny's soul from this universe's afterlife, while also making sure that her memories were all present. And with a bright, persistent flash of light, the shape of a female body manifested in front of them. Dante quickly used his threads to form a dress and sandals over the form, which after the light died down, was revealed to be Ginny, mother of Bonney and the only woman Kuma had held any romantic feelings for.
Despite the fact that Ginny was now in front of him, alive and well, Kuma still couldn't believe his eyes. When Dante had told him that he would resurrect her, he imagined that he would do so over a long amount of time, possibly even needing to consult people like Vegapunk or the Vinsmoke family who had expertise in manipulating human biology. But seeing her face-to-face caused him to be so shocked into disbelief that he hadn't even noticed the tears pouring from his eyes, or that he had already moved towards her.
Ginny's eyes fluttered open, her sight still blurry. She noticed the two figures approaching her and almost laughed. 'I must be dreaming, as that's the only way I'll be seeing Kuma-chi and my daughter.' She thought to herself as she began closing her eyes, letting herself slip back into unconsciousness. Or in this case, letting her body slip and fall, banging her head on the metal deck. "Ouch!! What the fuck was that?!" She shouted, holding the back of her head in pain as she began letting out a slew of curses.
Kuma on the other hand was stunned. Her voice was just as he remembered, as was her notorious foul mouth. For the first time since Jaygarcia Saturn approached him in Sorbet, he genuinely smiled and laughed, causing Ginny to take a break from showing just how many swears she knew. "Eh? Kuma-chi?! It's really you?!" She said, shocked to even see him, now that her sight had cleared. Kuma bent down and hugged her gently with one arm, while the other held on to Bonney.
When she felt his large arm wrap around her, her body went still as realization flooded her mind. This was real. It was not some fabrication of her mind or some vision of the afterlife. The smell of the sea, the pain she felt when she fell, the warmth of the man she loved enveloping her, the sight of him and her daughter. These were all real. She shakily moved her arms to hug Kuma, and as her arms struggled to wrap around the large man, tears fell from her eyes.
The two didn't exchange any words as they simply soaked in each other's warmth, letting their tears flow freely. Although Bonney didn't know Ginny, what with her dying from Sapphire Scales when Bonney was only a few months old, she believed that anyone her father loved so strongly could only be a good person. As far as she was concerned, she didn't have any established relationship with Ginny, but for her father's sake, she would give her a chance.
While the three were getting reunited, Dante manipulated some of the material that made up the ship, forming two pedestals. He then took out the two spheres and enlarged each of them to the size of a snow globe, then placed them on the pedestals. "Escarcha, Felgin." He said, calling out his most powerful Deathborn Elves. The two Deathborns slinked out of his shadow, then bowed on one knee.
"You guys haven't had a good hunt in a while. So right now, I give you permission to hunt all the people in that ID. Feel free to play with your prey as you want." Dante said, pointing to the sphere with the hostile environments. This caused the two elves to look at him with surprised faces, which soon changed to sadistic grins that would put fear in practically anyone that was on the receiving end of said grins. Their forms dissolved into shadow, that moved across the ground like aberrant serpents, which quickly made contact with Dante's shadow, then headed to the ID. Less than a second later, more Deathborns flooded out of Dante's shadow and headed into the ID, every single one of them being Elves.
As all this happened, Kuma and Ginny walked up to Dante, who was looking at the hostile sphere with a deadpan expression. "Thank you…" Kuma began, then suddenly stopped as he realized something. "It seems that I've forgotten to ask your name, sir." He said, his voice clearly holding respect and gratitude towards the man who helped him reunite with his daughter and the love of his life.
"Oh, yeah. Well, allow me to introduce myself. My name's Dante Invictus. Welcome onboard my ship, the Leviathan." Dante said with a smile. "By the way, Ginny. How's being resurrected feeling for you?" He asked the pink-haired woman. "Honestly… I'm still in shock." She replied candidly. "I still remember the sensation of Sapphire Scales on my skin and the weakness of my body as life left me like it was yesterday. So to suddenly be alive and well is a bit… disconcerting." She said, rightfully shaken by her current state, but not averse to it.
"Well, you'd better get used to it. Because you won't want to miss what's coming." Dante said. "What is coming?" Kuma asked, and Dante soon had a predatory smile on his face. "The end of the World Nobles and their ilk." He said, his tone carrying a tinge of menace. "And to begin that, I've put away every World Noble ranked lower than the Five Elders in there, save for the very few who are actually trying to be good people." He said, pointing at the hostile sphere.
Kuma and Ginny looked at each other for a few seconds, wondering if Dante was telling the truth. But seeing as he had resurrected her with ease, they chose to believe him and walked closer to the spheres in order to see what was going on inside them. In the hospitable sphere, they saw people dressed in white clothes, seemingly celebrating, with some crying out tears of joy. In the hostile sphere, they saw pitch-black figures chase down figures that were dressed in attire familiar to them, almost as if hunting them for sport. They could tell that the hunted were World Nobles, and any sympathy or pity that would have cropped up in anyone else's hearts was instantly snuffed out in theirs.
"Hmph. Those sons and daughters of bitches are getting what they deserve." Ginny said with vitriol in her voice. During her life, she had spent more time suffering under the hands of the World Nobles than she had without, and Kuma had been forced into servitude, with risk of losing himself. Her daughter was made ill by their experiments through her, and had been forced to live as a prisoner, rather than enjoy her childhood. If Ginny could, she would make the World Nobles suffer beyond anything that even a Devil Fruit user was capable of doing.
"I understand that the World Nobles are fully deserving of punishment, but wouldn't this cause a lot of chaos?" Kuma asked. "I already considered that. That's why even though I don't like quite a bit of them, I let the Marines be. Without the World Nobles to give them orders and lead them around like dogs, the few good ones at the top can actually use them for some good. So, while this would send the World Government itself into chaos, regular people won't be as affected by it." Dante said, then turned to the men that had accompanied Bonney during her short time as a pirate.
"You guys no longer have to worry about Bonney or Kuma. I'm sure your loved ones back home are worried about you, so I'll send you back… with some protection, of course." Dante said, then summoned out Aefernox. "Take them back to their home, and if you encounter any Cipher Pol agents while you're there, feel free to rid the world of them." He said, consigning the members of CP8 to death.
"Yes, my Lord." Aefernox said, and before the Sorbet Kingdom men could protest, put them all into the subspace within his cloak, then dashed away from the ship at high speed towards the South Blue. In practically an instant, before Kuma, Ginny or Bonney could catch even a single one of his movements, he vanished far into the horizon.
"Now–," He began, as he looked at the chocolate and strawberry trio. "– let's get you three settled in." He said with a soft smile on his face, as he began guiding them down below the deck to the room that the three of them would stay in. As they headed down, Kuma turned to him. "About Nika, where can we meet him?" He asked, his face now clear of tears, but carrying awe in their place. "You should have heard of him by now. He's Dragon's son." Dante's casual words struck like a bomb.
"Luffy is Nika?!" "Dragon oji-san had a son?!" Kuma and Ginny shouted in surprise. "You three have a lot to catch up on, so just go on and take your time. You deserve some rest." Dante said in response, as he moved them further into the ship. Kuma, Ginny and Bonney began to talk excitedly about Nika, Luffy, and the possibility of witnessing the Drums of Liberation, all the while moving with a level of happiness and certainty of the future that they had never experienced before.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 4,580
🧷Cover Art Submissions🧷
Thanks for reading!
A/N: Please, read the Creator's thoughts. Thanks.