Judge responded to my declaration with a contemptuous laugh. Apparently, neither my transformation nor the fact that some of his soldiers had just collapsed under Luffy's Conqueror's Haki was enough to shake his confidence. He abruptly raised one arm, and his voice thundered through the Den Den Mushi spread across the enormous floating kingdom.
"Germa! Attack!"
The order immediately sent the entire fleet into motion. Judge and his four children each pulled out a strange device that vaguely resembled a metal canister. The moment they activated them, an intense light enveloped their bodies, accompanied by movements so fast that I could barely make out what was happening beneath the colorful flashes.
A few seconds later, they reappeared fully equipped. Their clothes had been replaced by strange, perfectly fitted combat suits, each one different depending on its wearer. Reinforced boots, capes, protective gear, and unfamiliar equipment now made the five Vinsmokes look more like a squadron of living weapons than a family.
I didn't have the luxury of studying them any longer, however. All around us, the decks were filling with soldiers while more clones continuously poured out of the ships. From my position in the air, I could now appreciate the true scale of Germa's forces.
There were easily several thousand of them.
"I'll leave the direct fights to you!" I roared as I climbed higher. "I'll deal with the crowd!"
I immediately flew toward the rear of the enemy formation, far enough away from the Merry and the Vinsmokes that I wouldn't interfere with my crewmates' battles. Then I simply stopped flying and allowed all thirty meters of my crocodilian mass to plunge toward the ocean.
The impact sent up an enormous wall of water.
I sank deep beneath the surface before using my tail and all four limbs to accelerate. Water certainly wasn't the ideal environment for an ordinary Devil Fruit user, but my nature and abilities allowed me to fight differently enough to take full advantage of my gigantic form.
I began to circle.
Once.
Twice.
Then faster and faster.
The mass of water around me quickly began following my movements. The first currents turned into a spiral, and then the spiral became a gigantic whirlpool. On the surface, several ships began drifting sideways before their crews even realized what was happening.
A few seconds later, chaos erupted.
Dozens of vessels were caught simultaneously. The ropes connecting certain sections of the armada stretched until they snapped, while hulls violently crashed into one another. Hundreds of clones were thrown into the sea, and the ships closest to the center began spinning before being dragged inward.
Nearly a hundred vessels quickly found themselves trapped in the phenomenon.
And the whirlpool was still growing.
Fortunately, the enormous area occupied by Germa worked in our favor. I had created the vortex far enough away from the Vogue Merry and the main battlefield that my companions felt little more than an increase in the swell.
I might not defeat Judge this way, but his repair bill after today was going to be particularly painful.
Meanwhile, the real battle began.
Kazuki was the first to move. A powerful current of air formed around her and Sanji before lifting them off the deck. Sanji didn't even need to ask where she intended to take him: the two of them shot straight toward Judge, carried by Kazuki's winds.
The message was clear enough.
Judge wanted his son back?
Then he would have to face him alongside the woman who had chosen to remain by his side.
Luffy leaped toward one of Sanji's brothers almost simultaneously. Zoro and Kuina chose the other two without even needing to discuss it, all three fighters leaving the Merry at nearly the same moment to intercept the Vinsmokes before they could reach Sanji.
That left Nami facing their sister.
She didn't even try to fight her alone.
"Everyone out!"
Her fifty-two card soldiers deployed around her in a perfectly organized flurry of movement. The Hearts lowered their tridents, the Spades raised their heavy axes, the Diamonds immediately formed a first line with their shields, while the Clubs readied their staffs.
"You know what to do!"
An entire little army surged into action.
Charles, meanwhile, had a slightly different priority before joining the battle. He quickly held out the recording Den Den Mushi he had been using to film the beginning of the fight and handed it to Merry.
"Film everything."
Merry grabbed the device with both hands.
"Everything?"
"Everything."
"Okay!"
She immediately climbed to a protected spot on the deck, dutifully holding the Den Den Mushi in front of her as though filming a war against an army of clones were the most natural thing in the world.
Charles then leaped toward the nearest enemy vessel.
Koby followed right behind him.
The two landed in the middle of a group of clones still disorganized by Luffy's attack. Charles brought his weapon crashing down among them while Koby immediately engaged the nearest soldiers, his fists intermittently turning black with the Armament Haki he had only recently awakened.
Usopp, meanwhile, had already disappeared into the rigging.
He quickly reached the crow's nest, took up position, and immediately turned the high ground into a genuine firing post. His first arrows flew almost at once, followed by such a rapid barrage that it looked more like machine-gun fire than the work of an archer.
Below, Kaya was taking advantage of the exact opposite approach.
In her hybrid rabbit form, she moved among the clones at terrifying speed. While Usopp controlled the battlefield from above, Kaya plunged directly into the enemy formations. She appeared between two soldiers, struck before they could react, and was already gone toward another target.
And unlike the gentle young woman she usually was, she wasn't holding back in the slightest.
Germa had just declared war.
So she was treating it like one.
Kratos was one of the only ones who deliberately remained aboard the Vogue Merry. He positioned himself in the center of the deck and unleashed his chains, the daggers attached to their ends whirling around him. Every enemy projectile that came too close was intercepted, deflected, or destroyed before it could reach the ship.
And he wasn't the only one defending it.
Merry's little black turtle had positioned itself near the railing, using chunks of rock to block any attacks that slipped past Kratos's chains, while the water dragon coiled around the Merry. Whenever a volley threatened the sails or the deck, a wall of water rose to intercept it.
A few ships away, Luffy had already chosen his opponent. Judge's red-haired son stepped forward to meet him with almost insulting confidence, his combat suit only reinforcing the impression that he considered this duel a mere formality.
Ichiji stopped a short distance in front of him. His gaze traveled over Luffy from head to toe before a contemptuous smile appeared on his face. Apparently, what he saw didn't impress him in the slightest, despite the wave of Conqueror's Haki our captain had unleashed only a few minutes earlier.
"So you're my brother's captain?" he asked disdainfully. "Just some commoner..."
Luffy tilted his head slightly.
"I'm Luffy."
"I don't care what your name is."
Aspida, who was floating calmly beside his wielder, turned slightly toward Luffy.
"I already don't like him."
"Me neither."
Ichiji gritted his teeth at an exchange that was far too casual for his liking. A red glow began coursing across his combat suit as he took an offensive stance, his body almost seeming to vibrate with the energy building within it.
"I'll show you why I, Ichiji Vinsmoke, am infinitely superior to trash like you!"
He suddenly vanished.
His speed was nothing to scoff at. In an instant, Ichiji crossed the distance separating him from Luffy and drew back his fist. An intense red light gathered around it before exploding as he struck.
"Sparking Figure!"
A veritable storm of red beams erupted from his attack.
They shot toward Luffy from multiple angles, numerous enough to make dodging difficult.
And yet, Luffy didn't even move.
Aspida stepped in.
The living shield simply positioned himself in front of his wielder and took the entire attack head-on. The red beams exploded one after another against his surface, creating a succession of brilliant flashes that momentarily obscured Luffy from view.
Ichiji smiled.
Then the smoke cleared.
Aspida was still there.
Completely intact.
"That was it?" the shield asked.
Ichiji's smile vanished.
Aspida rotated slightly in midair, as though checking whether he had actually taken any damage.
"That was weak."
"What?!"
"I've taken lightning bolts from Nami that hurt a lot more than that."
Ichiji barely had time to process the insult.
An arm stretched through the smoke.
"Huh?"
Luffy's hand suddenly closed around Aspida.
Ichiji's eyes widened as he watched his opponent pull his arm back, using his own shield as an improvised weapon.
"Wait—"
"Gomu Gomu no..."
Aspida immediately realized what was about to happen.
"Oh! This one!"
Luffy grinned.
"SHIELD BASH!"
BAM!
Aspida smashed directly into Ichiji's face.
The impact was so brutal that his head snapped backward as his entire body was instantly launched off the ground. A shockwave tore across the deck beneath his feet, and several nearby clones were thrown off balance by the force of the blow.
Ichiji flew several meters before crashing heavily onto his back.
He didn't get back up.
Luffy remained still for a few seconds, Aspida still in his hand.
"..."
The living shield looked at Ichiji.
Then at Luffy.
Then back at Ichiji.
"Is he sleeping?"
Luffy walked over and leaned slightly toward the unconscious Vinsmoke.
"Hey!"
No response.
He gave him a small nudge with the tip of his foot.
Still nothing.
"Yeah."
Luffy calmly positioned Aspida in front of himself again.
"He's sleeping."
Aspida almost seemed offended.
"I told you his attack was weak."
Luffy burst out laughing before looking around for a new opponent, leaving behind one of Germa 66's most powerful fighters, knocked unconscious by a single shield bash.
A few dozen meters away from Luffy's lightning-fast fight, Zoro stood face-to-face with Judge's second son. Niji Vinsmoke seemed every bit as confident as his brother, perhaps even more so. His blue hair contrasted with the bolts of electricity already beginning to race across his combat suit as he stared at the swordsman with an arrogant smile.
"I hate working for free," Niji declared, slowly cracking his neck. "But if it means destroying the companions of that useless Sanji, then I, Niji Vinsmoke, am going to enjoy making an exception."
Zoro didn't answer immediately. He simply rested one hand on his swords as his gaze gradually turned colder. He could insult Sanji himself all day long and probably come up with a dozen new nicknames before lunch, but hearing someone else talk about his crewmate that way was clearly an entirely different matter.
"You done?"
Niji's smile twitched.
He drew his sword with a sharp motion.
Almost immediately, a powerful electrical discharge surged along the blade. Bluish arcs jumped from the steel to his arm before spreading around his body, making the air crackle. The equipment beneath his feet activated with a brief roar, and a sudden burst of propulsion launched Niji forward.
"Kōsoku no Ken: Henry Blazer!"
He became almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.
The distance between the two men vanished in an instant, Niji turning his speed into an electrified charge meant to tear straight through his opponent before he even had time to react.
But Zoro had already drawn all three of his swords.
One blade in each hand.
The third clenched between his teeth.
His Armament Haki spread across all three weapons simultaneously, gradually coating their blades in a deep black. Unlike Kuina, who had begun projecting her Armament slightly beyond Masamune, Zoro had not yet reached that stage. However, he had compensated for it with far greater mastery of conventional coating.
He lowered his center of gravity slightly.
His three swords settled into a familiar stance.
It was clearly based on his Oni Giri, but modified to take full advantage of Armament Haki. Rather than simply reinforcing his blades at the moment of impact, Zoro had trained himself to maintain a uniform coating over all three swords throughout the entire trajectory of his attack.
Niji's lightning drew closer.
Zoro grinned around the hilt clenched between his teeth.
"Santōryū..."
Niji entered his range.
"Akuma o Kiri Tsukeru Buki!"
Both fighters disappeared almost simultaneously.
A flash of blue lightning tore across the deck.
Three black trails crossed through it.
SCHLAK!
Then nothing.
Zoro and Niji reappeared several meters behind each other, both frozen in the finishing stance of their respective attacks. A few arcs of electricity still crackled along Niji's blade before gradually fading away.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Niji smiled.
"You see, commo—"
A thin red line appeared across his torso.
Then two more crossed it.
His eyes widened.
A spray of blood suddenly burst from his chest as three deep gashes appeared across his combat suit. Even Germa's advanced equipment hadn't been enough to stop Zoro's three Haki-coated blades.
Niji dropped his sword.
His legs gave out beneath him.
He fell to his knees first before collapsing heavily onto the deck, remaining conscious for a few more seconds but completely incapable of continuing the fight.
Zoro calmly straightened.
He spun the two swords in his hands before flicking the blood from their blades. His gaze briefly settled on Niji.
"Even if that cook is a pain in the ass..."
He slowly sheathed his first sword.
"...and makes me want to strangle him at least three times a day..."
The second slid back into its sheath.
Finally, Zoro removed the third blade from his mouth.
"Sanji is a hundred times better than a piece of trash like you."
Niji didn't answer.
Zoro hadn't expected one anyway.
Around him, several dozen Germa clones were already converging on his position. Some carried firearms, others wielded spears or stranger equipment, but all of them seemed to have decided that the swordsman was now a priority target.
Zoro slowly looked around.
Then he sighed.
"You should've waited your turn."
His three swords left their sheaths once again.
This time, his grin became downright predatory.
"Well then..."
The first clones charged.
"Who's next?"
Kuina encountered the last of the three brothers a little farther away, on one of the wide bridges connecting several of Germa's vessels. The green-haired young man stopped the moment he saw her, and his expression immediately changed. His gaze traveled up and down Kuina's body with such an unsettling intensity that a shiver of disgust ran down her spine.
Even Sanji had never looked at a woman that way. Ever since he had gotten together with Kazuki, his behavior had calmed down considerably, but even before that, his excessive admiration had been more like that of a hopeless romantic than anything else. There was nothing remotely similar about the man standing in front of Kuina. His smile and the way he looked her over simply made her want to take a shower.
"I, Yonji Vinsmoke, am going to show you what a real man is, beautiful."
Kuina remained silent for a few seconds.
"...Gross."
She drew Masamune.
Armament Haki immediately spread along the blade, coating the steel in a glossy black layer. Almost simultaneously, Kuina activated Tongue of Flame. Fire appeared along the katana and coiled around the Armament without disrupting it, transforming Masamune into a black blade surrounded by a rippling blaze.
Yonji's smile widened.
"Oh? A girl who knows how to fight. I like that even more."
"Keep talking," Kuina replied coldly. "It'll make what comes next a lot more satisfying."
Yonji burst out laughing before suddenly thrusting out his arm.
It stretched unnaturally, crossing several meters in a fraction of a second. His enormous hand closed not around Kuina, but around the torso of a Germa clone passing nearby.
The soldier didn't even have time to react.
Yonji pulled his arm back and began swinging the clone around himself like a living mace.
"Winch Danton!"
"Wait, is he seriously using his own soldiers as projectiles?"
Yonji released his grip.
The poor clone was launched toward Kuina at terrifying speed.
She simply took one step to the side.
The soldier flew past her face before continuing onward and smashing through several crates with a tremendous crash. Kuina briefly followed his trajectory with her eyes, then slowly turned her attention back to Yonji.
"You really are a family of lunatics."
She raised Masamune in front of her.
The flames surrounding the blade suddenly intensified. Her Armament remained perfectly visible beneath the blaze as Kuina focused her energy, then performed a powerful slash through the empty air.
"Honō no Fenikkusu no Ichigeki!"
The Flaming Phoenix Strike took shape in front of Masamune.
The flames released by her slash condensed into a gigantic winged creature. A bird's head emerged from the heart of the inferno, followed by two enormous wings that spread wide before the phoenix charged straight toward Yonji with a cry resembling the roar of a raging fire.
For the first time, his smile vanished.
"What the—"
BOOOOM!
The phoenix slammed directly into him.
Yonji disappeared completely within the flames. The explosion illuminated several nearby ships and forced the surrounding clones to shield their faces from the wave of heat. Even his combat suit couldn't prevent the fire from completely engulfing him.
A few seconds later, the blaze faded.
Yonji was still standing.
For about two seconds.
His entire body was blackened, smoke rising from his combat suit while a few small flames still clung to his cape. His green hair had taken on a particularly ridiculous shape after the explosion.
"I..."
He toppled backward.
BAM.
Kuina remained still, Masamune still surrounded by a few lingering flames.
She stared at the unconscious Yonji.
Then her face twisted in disgust again.
"I really hate guys like that."
She partially sheathed her katana before shuddering from head to toe, shaking her shoulders as though she could physically rid herself of the unpleasant sensation his stare had left behind.
"Gross, gross, gross..."
"You done?"
Kuina turned her head.
A few dozen meters away, Zoro had also just finished his fight. Niji lay on the ground behind him while another wave of clones was already beginning to surround the swordsman.
Kuina looked at Yonji.
Then at Niji.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I finished before you."
Zoro froze.
"What?"
An especially satisfied smile appeared on Kuina's face.
"I said I finished before you."
"By two seconds!"
"So I finished before you."
Zoro gritted his teeth.
"That doesn't count!"
"Of course it does."
The Germa clones charged before their argument could go any further.
Zoro drew all three of his swords while Kuina once again summoned flames around Masamune. They naturally ended up back-to-back, surrounded by several dozen soldiers.
Kuina smiled.
"Whoever takes down the most?"
Zoro's grin immediately turned predatory.
"You've already lost."
They leaped into the crowd simultaneously.
(Author's Note: I'm going to leave the rest for next week. I think I've been nice enough this weekend. Also, here's an image to illustrate the scene ^^)