The Madman's End

The Madman's End

-o ??? o-​

Glittering like an emerald set with rubies, it buzzed through the air.

It was looking for something between all the bodies, for it knew things from its flock that its Nest did not.

There would be no victory here, not without sacrifice. There were many things its Nest could place upon that altar, but it knew there were better options, and a slim chance to avoid sacrifice.

The flock were unconscious, it was the only one left to work.

For the Nest.

-oOo-​

Okay, how the hell do we do this?

Dozens of unconscious soldiers in the street around us. Buildings are tightly packed, not much room to maneuver, the people inside are probably unconscious too. Damnit. Either got to pin him in place or move this fight somewhere else.

Bonney was bloody as hell, her black shirt torn, patches of skin exposed, and blood smeared across much of her bared skin, and a light coating of slime that had to have come from Shaka molting. She wasn't injured it didn't seem, probably her fruit, but she'd been injured multiple times through this, no question.

He's gotta fucking die. Hope he had a successor set up.

Shaka's head lowered as his mandibles twisted into a snarl-

"Strength of Steel." My muscles exploded in size, straining against my clothes.

The king surged forward on all six of his limbs, head lowered and presenting his Heracross-like horn, "Bulls Horns!"

… but… he only had one horn- Irrelevant. Fight now.

"Iron Steps."

Dirt exploded beneath my feet as I blurred forward, lunging around the horn-

His head twisted at the last moment and my arm barely came up in time-!

Pain!

I tumbled through the air, twisting like a cat to get my feet back underneath me as Bonney's leg slammed into the horn while it was out of position. He twisted his head again and tossed her aside even as I launched back at him.

Punch-punch-dodge-dodge-claw-! Spinning away, deflecting the other three claws despite the muted pain in my metal skin, Bonney lunged into the gap, "Veal Tenderizer!"

Calm. Focus. I'm angry. Listen.

Her leg lashed out in a blur into Shaka's stomach before she flipped back out of the reach of his sudden headbutt.

Shaka was immediately charging, horn first right at Bonney!

"Armament." I surged forward again, black haki coating my fist as I went low-! He couldn't swat me aside from this angle.

"SHOR-!" My metal fist shot upwards as I stood, slamming into Shaka's face with a boom, "YU-!" twisting my abs of steel and forcing myself up as the ground buckled beneath my planted foot, driving my knuckles into his face, "KEN!" With the shout, I raised my fist, and the multiple tons of beetle-man with it.

"RRRAAGH!"

I was already launching backwards, steel soles kicking off of the air but that damn horn-!

Forearms raised in a block as I became metal, but Shaka's horn slammed be into the hardpacked street, my feet burying several inches as I grit my teeth through the pain.

I still had armament up! I was metal! And this fuck had hit me before I'd even finished falling from the Shoryuken! And even hitting him with that had made my knuckles ache! Goddamn! What the actual fuck was someone like this doing in Paradise?!

And then he hit me again. And again. And again.

The Den-Den-Mushi still on my face screamed.

There was no subtlety to it. No elegance. No refinement. Just speed and power as Shaka brought his head down rapidly, his horn pounding into my forearms like a hammer driving a stubborn nail, and with my feet buried I couldn't do anything but block. I grit my teeth through the dulled pain, what's my out? Flashbang-?

"KNIIIIIIIFE!"

Out of fucking nowhere, just as the king's horn hit my forearms, there was a flash of pink and brilliant blue as Bonney's boot came down in an ax kick supplemented by a rankakyou blade right onto Shaka's armored neck!

Shaka grunted in pain and swiped at her with his claws, that half instant all I needed to launch myself away, tearing my feet from the street as I did.

Bless you Bonney. I am making you the biggest pizza.

"You bitch!" He burbled, already ripping himself out of the cracked and splitting exoskeleton.

I landed beside my captain, rubbing my forearms as my armament faded, they were aching, like I'd tried to chop solid granite before getting my fruit. Sheesh. "That didn't work."

Bonney grumbled, "Expected you to hit his stomach again."

"Didn't have the chance." I muttered, palming a flashbang pellet. When he charged, he got too low to the ground on all six limbs, just an exoskeleton, claws, and his horn, the only opening was the area around his head proper, inside of swinging range of that horn. Hitting his face wasn't doing much, I didn't even want to consider how little hitting a properly armored part of his body would do.

Lavender eyes glanced at me and the snail clinging to the side of my face, "Any ideas?"

"Better coordination?" I muttered, scowling. I had techniques like my shockwaves or chisels that should be able to pierce that exoskeleton, but none of them were fast enough to handle someone like him. He was infuriatingly tough, strong, and quick. "I don't have anything good if that didn't work."

She frowned, "We're gonna have to go simultaneously then. I'll lea–SHIT!"

We lunged aside as Shaka threw his old shell at us. The fuck?!

"Weak!" He snarled, goo and slime dripping from his freshly molted shell, "You strike at women and children! Hide behind them-AGH!"

The flashbang went off with a crackBAM only a foot from his face as he tried to deflect the pellet with his forearm, the noise and searing light making him flinch.

Armament!

"Falcon-!" With the bass rumble of my Iron Steps, I'd appeared just in front of the fifteen-foot-tall wall of muscle and death, my steel fist coated in haki as the dust swirled around me, "Punch!"

It slammed into a pair of blocking clawed forearms, which had blurred into a defensive position at my cry, damnit, this is why I didn't like calling my attacks-! Exoskeleton was softer from molting though, like expected- Dodge!

A backflip kept me from being knocked aside even as Bonney surged in beneath the attack and kicked up into his chin, nearly doing a split to allow her boot to even connect. She muttered under her breath, "Kami-E!" An instant later she was moving bonelessly over Shaka's retaliatory strike- but not the follow up-!

My leg slammed into his forearm, just barely deflecting it from tearing Bonney a new one-STEEL

Shaka's uppercut slammed into my entire upper body, claws raking uselessly against my steel form even as I went spinning away like a sideways top! I outright skipped off the top of a building like a stone across a pond before I was able to get my feet back beneath me.

"Ironhide!"

"Fine!"

"Get over here!"

… okay, maybe not the biggest pizza.

-o Wallace o-​

"Mosotho!"

"Skirt!" Told him!

"It's not a skirt! You're wearing a skirt!"

I gasped in outrage, "Kilt!"

"Skirt!"

"It's not a skirt! You're wearing a skirt!" 'Hah! Got'em.'

The asshole… uh… made a noise.

"… did… um… wait." I held up a hand, it was not shaking because I was tired or weak or anything, it was… rage! Yeah! Totally rage. Still, I had to ask, "Are… are you a weird sheep or something?"

The boy, who was stupid big for someone his age (there had to be something in the water here), lowered his spear, staring at me with his weird brown and white goat face. "… what."

"Are you a sheep boy?" I asked again, shifting my weight so I wasn't just standing atop one of Shaka's soldiers so much. They'd all fallen unconscious when Shaka had done that… really scary thing he did. "Or goat boy?"

Dumisani's muzzle worked silently before he waved his hands angrily, "What-? No! I- No! You're stupid! Stop being so stupid!"

I bristled, "Hey! It's not my fault I don't know what the weird goat-thing you're supposed to be is!"

"I'm a gazelle-man! A gazelle!" He shouted back at me.

"… still look like a weird goat-boy to me." I muttered under my breath.

"Enough of this!" He snarled, which looked super weird on his goat-face as he crouched low, one hand on the dirt, his hooves wide apart as he held that stupid spear behind him horizontally, "I'll end this! For the glory of King of Zolou Island!"

That stance, he's going to throw his spear! If I can deflect it, even he's not fast enough to pick it back up before I can hit him! I brought my sword back up, gripping it tightly as I grit my teeth. For all the cuts and scratches and gouges taken from my flesh by this foolish child, I wasn't going to let him end my quest for glory and redemption here! My shirt may have been in tatters, my skin frayed by wars, fresh and forlorn, my blood falling from me like the years once did… bu my Captain, oh my Captain, she was not here, and the years slipped away from me once more.

'I just have to deflect this spear.'

Dumisani's entire body tensed like a coiled spring.

'Just deflect it.'

"Gazelle-!"

'Deflect it!'

"Spear!"

'Defl–'

-o Jaime o-​

Everything hurt.

One mistake. That was all it took, wasn't it?

'How the hell does Wallace do it?'

I took a swig from my flask, the liquid burning on the way down, pooling in my belly. The smell of alcohol burning in my nose.

Grunting, I shoved off of the bar and to my feet, the adobe bricks of the saloon I'd hit crumbling and falling around me.

Couldn't see out of my left eye, too much blood. I was barely

Another gulp of alcohol, to dull the pain.

"You still stand. As expected of one who defeated Snugglewuss." Katlego stood calmly across the street, my blood dripping from his right leg. I'd left myself open, focused too much on his fists, and he'd kicked me into a building, almost broke my arm… "Are you prepared?"

He had a few scratches on his forearms where I'd struck at him to deflect his blows, and little else.

I think blood had gotten into my mustache, making its wonderous curl droop. A big cut on my head somewhere… another one in my side… no, that's a rib. Shit. Rib poking out of my side… shit. Another gulp of the amber liquid to chase away the fear, and a little shake of the flask only got me another drop… empty already…?

Damnit, wish I'd started drinking earlier today. Too damn sober to be fighting for my life in a city of unsconscious soldiers, bruises and small cuts were scattered across my skin from the fight, at least the army wasn't stabbing at my back anymore. I wiped my mouth against the sleeve of my jaguar sweater, meeting the boiling gaze of the ten-foot tall zebra man and dropping my frustratingly empty flask to the floor of the bar.

The tip of my rapier flashed up with a small swish, and a bottle of scotch fell into my hand, its neck already knocked off and the amber liquid sloshing around, "Como vás, amigo."

-o Lucca o-​

The note was simple.

Don't you know when to stop being an expensive date?

"I am not a date." I muttered under my breath, "At very least I'm a hit."

The tan brick near me exploded from the rifle round and I shuffled away as quickly and quietly as I could.

We'd moved away from the Cake after the soldiers had been knocked unconscious, all the other fights had scattered into the city. Bonney and Shaka's fight had blown clean through the buildings off to the east, Wallace had been chased by the gazelle man somewhere else, and Jaime's constant dodging of the zebra man had taken them deep into the red light district of the city. The only ones near the docks still were Casey and the few remaining members of Shaka's men that were standing, keeping them from getting to the Cake.

And I'd had to follow after this old asshole.

'Damnit, why couldn't I have at least gotten a cute girl and not some crotchety old guy to chase?'

Explosions, crumbling ruins, groans of pain, the clashing of blades, sounds of fear, it all rang out in the city.

But I wasn't listening for any of that.

My back pressed up against the wall of the building, leaning out ever so slightly to peek around the corner, listening and scanning the windows and rooftops.

Twelve shots. That's all I had left. After that, I would have to try and scavenge pistols from the locals and then… I'd probably die.

Without this rate of fire, I couldn't defend myself or the others against his bigger bullets. Damnit. I needed a rifle. If we made it through this, I was bugging Florida about bigger gu–

A glint.

My pistols were already coming up-

"2000 Belli."

Three shots.

First bullet strikes the rifle bullet, deflecting-

Second missed-!

The bullet clipped my shoulder-! I cried out and dove!

"Jacketed bullet, 3500 Belli."

Adobe brick exploded, and along with it came pain.

-oOo-​

'I've got a plan my ass.'

A flip sent me hurtling back, barely avoiding the swipes from Shaka's claws.

'A plan that involves ditching me!' I snarled right back at Shaka's distorted face, throwing a rankyakou into it just before disengaging. 'Ugh. The thank-you-pizza is getting smaller by the minute. Where's the damn ocean?!'

The angry semi-truck of claws and death roared, claws flying out and surging back in, "Bulls Horns!"

The tickle at the edges of my observation haki barely warned me in time, pain flashing in my sides as the rankyakou-like blasts of air and will very nearly tore into my arm. Even with my form turned to steel, the power-blow cut into the metal of my coat. "Tch!"

Shaka was bleeding now from several spots, leaking out around his exoskeleton, my Iron Shockwaves being able to damage the organs beneath his exoskeleton, especially when Bonney and I had synchronized well. The problem was that it wasn't enough.

My breath was coming in pants, my body flashing into metal every few moments as I ducked and weaved through the high impact and high speed hooks hurtling from both sides in a sharp staccato. Going on ten minutes of combat. Getting hard to keep up with someone this far beyond me physically.

10 o'clock. 5 o'clock. 3 o'clock. 4 o'clock. Noon- backstep!

The straight, then triple right, overhead combo was nasty enough! And now he's adding on kicks! Damnit!

I was tiring, had been tiring, and Bonney and I hadn't been making progress against the brick wall that was Shaka.

Both of my forearm struck out, deflecting one of Shaka's own even as I continued to back out of his reach.

My only real advantage here was my skill with Observation Haki. I wasn't even a more skilled combatant like this, without my full range of equipment to give me ways to counterbalance him. I had to use tactics-

10 o'clock. 9 o'clock. 4 o'clock. 10 o'clock- sand kick to the face-

I ducked underneath the followup claw that tried to take my head from my shoulders, thankful that sand didn't do anything to metal eyes, spinning in place and rushing around the corner.

Which Shaka clipped straight through like the fucking Kool-Aid man!

Ducking low beneath his fist, I had to flip bonelessly up and around the uppercut and launch off the air to avoid the next swipe-!

A frustrated noise escaped Shaka as I spun through the air and landed on my feet, several dozen feet down the new street. Close. "You won't escape for your crimes!"

"You say that like I haven't heard that before." I muttered, glancing about, people weren't waking up yet, that uncontrolled blast of Conquerer's Haki had kept everyone down, we were getting closer to the Cake… damn, gotta adjust.

It wasn't a growl that Shaka let out, but the intent was similar. But instead of lunging at me again, the beetleman straightened out and started… walking towards me.

Concerned, I started to back up at a decent pace to match his own longer strides.

He'd been attacking me almost constantly since Bonney had ditched, and while I was struggling, he seemed as fresh as a fucking jaybird. Why walking though? I was delaying, so time only favored us. Once Bonney got the other guys out of trouble, we could gang up on him and disengage, she had an instakill ability that he was somehow bypassing. Hell, he was the only one with the ability to do so, none of his other forces could stop her like that, if I'd disengaged then yeah, he might bank on his men holding me off while he beat up on her but…

"You're wondering why I'm not pressing the attack."

My lips pressed into a thin line. I didn't answer, mostly because I was trying to catch my breath still. Psychosomatic or not, it was affecting me.

"Your plan, for her to strike down my generals while you stalled me?" Each unrelenting step towards me thudded heavily into the ground, requiring three of my own steps to maintain distance, Shaka seemed… calmer, and that was never a good sign. "It relies on her surviving."

A spike of fear shot through me, but I maintained my stance and pace, couldn't let him goad me into losing my cool, it was the only way I was keeping up. Slow exhales, control the heartrate. Focus.

"She requires contact for her aging ability to work. It works inefficiently against objects. And her perceptive abilities are a fraction of your own. Only one of my men is vulnerable to her abilities. And she has proven unable to properly dodge sniper fire."

Dread.

"You would kill my men, she will simply disable them. You cannot defeat me… and for her… it only takes one good bullet."

The snail dropped from my face.

Fury.

-oOo-​

Pain.

His entire world was pain.

He coughed, and blood stained his beard.

"Skirt."

Dumisani stared down at the scarred man, his spear embedded in Wallace's lung, having barely missed the heavily scarred man's heart. A thousand little cuts had his lifeblood dribbling down his body and to the ground beneath them.

A spear that dwarfed even the kilted man's greatsword held him in place, the only thing supporting his stout frame as the gazelle man stared down at him.

Wallace's greatsword drooped, his eyes beginning to fade as his head drooped, casting them into the shadow of his curly brown mullet.

They stood far from the ship, from the docks, from safety.

The plaid of his kilt was stained, its green and yellow turning a dark brown from the constant slow drip of blood from the innumerable rents in Wallace's skin, his shirt in tatters and threads. A roadmap of suffering on top of what had already marred his life.

His world had faded to nothing more than a single point of pain.

'With this one defeated, I can assist the others in purging these pirates.' Dumisani nodded, drawing his spear back, he could hear the fight near their ship and–

His spear was stuck.

Brown eyes fell to the weapon, finding the bearded man gripping the spear's haft.

The gazzelle man scowled, looking up at the warriors drooping head and finding no life there, only the slowing rise and fall of his shoulders.

"Still clinging to life, like a fool, at least there's a shred of manliness to you."

Dumisani pulled at the spear again, but it didn't budge, causing his muzzle to twist into a frown.

The well-calloused hand trembled around the spear shaft, holding it tight as the heavy tip of Wallace's greatsword skittered across the ground, unable to lift.

With a snarl, Dumisani pulled at the spear, once again finding it refusing to move, "You lost! You've got a spear in your lung! You lost you weakling!"

The wood of the spear haft creaked beneath Wallace's grip as he snarled, flashing blood-stained teeth. "N'... not…"

"Let-!" Dumisani snapped, kicking the kilted man right in one of the deeper cuts in his stomach while trying to pull his spear free, "Go-!"

Grunts of pain were the only response as the blade slipped several inches, blood gushing from the wound as it did. Wallace's teeth audibly ground together, "M'... M'not…!"

His grip tightened on his greatsword, and Wallace raised his head, roaring out, "I'm not weak!"

Wood splintered as the blade swung.

-oOo-​

"You still stand."

Katlego did not sneer down at his opponent. He could not do so in good conscience.

Jaime stood there in his leopard skin turtleneck, damaged by the blow and stained with his own blood, one of his ribs poking out, his right arm pressed against his side in pain, clutching another waterskin of some of the booze he'd swiped from the bar.

And yet he still stood.

"I must commend your continued persistence, it shows an honor and vitality that I have rarely heard of beyond the annals of our heroes."

Bleary eyes blinked at me through the small curtain of crimson that dripped from the cut on his forehead, likely from hitting the walls on his way through them. His hat was long gone, and blood pooled atop his cheeks of his pear-shaped head. He took a swig from the bottle of the rum in his hand.

"I regret that our paths must cross such as this, that a warrior of such skill and deeds as yourself would end up on the wrong side of the law is regrettable."

Jaime's rapier, the thin blade bobbing and swaying weakly as he struggled to keep it up. Gingerly, he brought the bottle back up to his lips and drained the bottle.

"But just as you are bound by your bonds with your crew, I am bound by my honor to strike you down and…" The zebra man of the boiling eyes frowned as the mocha-skinned man dropped the empty bottle of booze and immediately retrieved another from the ground with a flick of his rapier. "And could you please stop drinking?"

Jaime hiccupped, "W'y shood I?"

"I'm trying to be serious. And offer respect for your accomplishments and the assistance you gave–"

*gulp-gulp-gulp*

Katlego's cheek twitched, "... the assistance you gave Enitan's tribe in the slaying-"

*gulp-gulp*

"-slaying-Will you stop that?!"

Jaime pointedly took one last gulp of the booze before letting the bottle drop, pressing his arm against his side as he swayed in place, "No."

Katlego whinnied, giving his head an angry shake, "You-!"

"I'm fightin' for m'life. Bleedin' out on the floor." He staggered forward, the tip of his rapier flashing and sending another bottle of booze from the floor of the bar arcing up before falling into his hand, still pressed to his side in pain, "Not gonna that sober."

-o Lucca o-​

I couldn't see.

Gotta move.

Ears were ringing.

Gotta hide.

Nose and mouth are full of dust.

Can't make noise. Can't cough.

The wall pressed against my hand as I scurried through the alleyway. Where was he-? Where was the attack-?!

I'd dropped one of my guns, couldn't find it now, had to hide, limit his possible shots-!

Mud, blood, debris, it was all in my hair, eyes, and mouth. The shot had barely missed me, I think I'd lost most of my hair from how close it'd gotten.

I couldn't bank on him thinking I was dead, I had to fight back-!

Damnit Florida! You said Observation Haki was good for this but I couldn't-!

I had to focus, if I didn't, I was dead. I was dead, and all of the amazing ladies out there I could love were lost to me, all the work I'd done was meaningless, all… all of my affections would be worthless. All my promises…

No breath, no sight, no sound.

But there was something.

… Bonney…

A light, vibrant, almost pin, but blazing like a fire… it was Bonney.

She… she was coming this way…?

-oOo-​

Sparks flew alongside the fists as I did my level best to tear Shaka a new one.

Armament came to me easily, knuckles striking exoskeleton, the shock of each impact going through my very bones up to my shoulders as I struck again and again and again. Fury, fear, and far more were flowing through me with an intensity that I hadn't felt in who knows how long.

And I was being pushed back.

High left. Low left. Right. High right. Left. Right. Low Right. High Left. Low right. Low left. High Right. Uppercut. Straight. Straight.

For all of my rage and concerns, I could not overwhelm Shaka, even with the surge of strength that had come… I couldn't even match his sheer physicality.

Uppercut. Low left. Right. High Right. Low Right. Left. Upper. Right. Upper. Uppercut. Left. Low left. Straight. Kick. Straight. Hook- Horn!

His four limbs were like lightning and struck like thunder, a rapid, random, staccato beat. And my offense had bled away into a struggle to hold my ground, and then into backing away once more, giving ground to prevent him from abusing his far greater reach. Or, worse, getting a good grip on me and bodily ripping me limb from limb. There was no doubt in my mind that he was strong enough to tear solid steel apart, and I had no clue what would happen if I lost a limb while metal.

I had no intentions of finding out.

Straight. Right. Left. Right. Upper Right. Lower Right. Upper Right. Right. Left. Straight. Uppercut. Overhead!

What had been a stalling attempt had become a desperate struggle to avoid getting mauled by what amounted to a giant hereacross trying to use fury swipes.

Frustrating.

I was tiring even faster now, my attempt to attack him only having expended some of my precious energy, and now I was being forced back through the streets.

'Damnit-!' I snarled, dancing backwards, 'Need some space! This will have to do!'

My hands came up with a hum, "Iron Shockwave!"

And down they came with a thunderous boom-! The ground buckled and exploded beneath me and I flipped away from the dustcloud, blurring around the corner-!

Incoming-!

Shaka wasn't fooled, used the trick too many times!

Without even observation haki, he charged straight at me through the dust cloud I'd kicked up, anticipating my dodge with ease.

Perfect.

I saw it in that instant, the realization of where I'd led us.

Right over the water.

I wasn't great at tactics, I knew that, too fast in an actual fight to think it through. I relied too heavily on blitzes to end fights quickly to be used to planning things out. But he was a Devil Fruit user too, he knew I was, there was no reason to think that I'd lead him to charging at me right off the edge of the dock. Right over the ocean. Set up the ninja vanish. I had to give ground, but I could choose which direction I went. And I'd gone straight towards the ocean, as if I was aiming for the Cake to escape.

But now Shaka was already more than half off of the dock, even as I was falling through the air towards the water below.

The air exploded beneath my feet as I launched through the sky, just a few feet over the waves, spinning around and chambering a kick, "Rankyaku!" With a sound like a gunshot, my leg lashed out and sent a brilliantly blue crescent slamming into Shaka's side.

Even at maximum power, I couldn't pierce his shell with my rankyakou's, but knock him off balance? Oh hell yes.

His arms snapped up, keeping the vacuum-blade from hitting his face, but the impact took his precarious balance away from him.

The king fell.

Victo-

His shell exploded open like a hurricane, sending me into an uncontrolled tumble through the air-! My leg lashed out to arrest my momentum, what-?

Wings.

Like a fucking hurricane, his wings beat and the turbulence was making it hard to geppo! Water! Incoming water! Incoming-?!

I kicked off the air, arresting my movement even as my observation haki screamed at me, steel arms crossed over my head as Shaka's horn slammed into my defense and knocked me towards the ocean-?!

"Fishman Karate-!" Desperately I lashed out as I hurtled downwards, "Crashing Wave Palm!"

The ocean beneath me parted explosively, several dozen cubic feet of water went airborne all at once, blasted away from my hand, only instants before I would've gone into the water-!

Shaka made an angry noise even as I twisted midair to get my feet underneath me, hitting the sandy ocean bottom. The walls of water around me were already closing back in and I was immediately launching away, angling away from Shaka and only barely avoiding his swipe as I skipped across the surface of the water, using the same principles of my iron steps and geppo to run across the surging ocean waves, leaving little geysers of water behind me from the impacts.

'Goddamnit, didn't think he could fucking fly, but of course the asshole can-!'

My feet hit the dock once more and I scowled, the turbulence made my iron steps more difficult, too risky to fight him over the water. I could not bank on being able to manage Fishman Karate every time I screwed up. Damnit, if Ami was here she could just judo the whole damn bay up at him and this fight would've already been over.

I danced backwards and the beetleman was already landing… despite the fact that being airborne was an enormous advantage as I'd already demonstrated…

He couldn't maintain it, no more so than I could. Heck, it might actually tire him out more than mine did me… damn, wish I'd realized that earlier, might've been able to force him to try and outlast me… too late now though. Have to make do with what I've got.

The mass of exoskeleton and muscle landed, "A vicious trick, but a foolish one."

"Yeah, like trusting you."

Shaka's head dropped like a thunderbot and the blastwave was already almost at me-!

My entire body tensed as my arms crossed in front of my face, "Tekkai!"

Plain flared in my entire body as my will slammed into the concentrated blast of the king's own, threatening to overwhelm me, my feet desperately trying to dig into the hardpacked street, cutting deep furrows into the dirt as I tried to stem the tide of the shockwave. Push-! Push harder!

Can't knock it away! Gotta deflect-! Even the heavy steel of my coat was billowing under the pressure, gotta deflect-!

Arms aching, I finally angled them enough to allow the blast to glance off of them- and into the buildings behind me. I cringed, damn, who knows how many people had been in thos-

"You dare?!"

'Wait, wha-? FUCK- Armam-'

Half-formed will did little in even muting the intense pain as I only barely caught the horn that tried to impale me! My hands felt like they were on fire, the chitin cutting into even my steel skin just from the impact, let alone the follow-up inertia that drove me even further back. My teeth ground as the avalanche of noise drowned out everything else, whatever he was saying lost to the roar and crumbling of one, two, three, I quickly lost track of how many walls we went through-! My steel back aching distantly despite being steel.

Metal screeched and groaned under the stress as I dug in my heels, sinking into the dirt as we slowly skidded to a halt. All I could see was Shaka's exoskeletal bulk, my muscles trembling as I struggled to hold back the horn aimed at my chest-! Did not need another scar there damnit!

Barely holding it back! Couldn't deflect it-! And then my feet lifted from the ground, 'Wait, why are we going up-?! What's-?!'

Shaka raised his head, and with my grip on his horn, I went with it.

The tickle of intent danced across my spine and despite the intense burn in my biceps, I launched myself away only a moment before he brought his head down.

The earth shook as his horn met the earth, a small earthquake shaking the buildings around us and sending cracks going up some of the adobe walls, cratering the street.

My feet hit the dirt several dozen feet away, and even now I could feel the ache building in my bones. Microtears and fractures were probably rampant in my body now, and who knows what the metal stresses were going to translate to when I shifted back. Fuck, we'd gone through who knows how many houses and storefronts to get here… had to defend my own but I'd been trying to minimize collateral.

Gotta delay, stall, just get some more time, "What's this accomplish? You went on and on about what's necessary, needed sacrifices and that bullshit, but here you are… how many of your own people have you killed fighting me?" I gestured around us, we were in some sort of plaza, I think we were to the east of Io's forge…? Tiles all over the ground in some sort of design that we'd ruined by plowing through it, and fuck, Eritan? Etinan? The long-necked chick that Katlego was in tsundere with was only just starting to stir behind me. Goddamnit, what were they doing here? We'd just barely avoided plowing through the civilians laid out in the street. We've got to move this somewhere else damnit. "What's so dangerous about us that you need to kill who knows how many to kill us rather than just shooing us–"

"You dare?!"

His will blasted out in another wave and I had to grit my teeth, this was just bullshit. I couldn't really start circling him to try and get a better angle, my legs were still jelly from fighting off the headbutt and the horn attack, the fucking Conquerer's Haki was not helping. Damnit, I needed a way to match his physicality then! If I can't trick him I need to stop him or run away. Goddamnit, I need to try it, I wanted more time to test it out safely first but it's do or die! "All I've seen is you attacking us, so excuse me if–"

"You killed my mother! After I'd given you sanctuary!"

Metal melted back into meat as I stopped using my fruit in something like shock or dumbfoundment, "... what? I've barely been on island for the last few weeks, and I was tearing down a mountain for most of that time, so what are you talking abou-"

"Don't you dare and try to pretend otherwise!"

"What the hell evidence do you even have? Because if you're killing all these people on a fucking guess I'm going to be pissed-"

"You're the only person on this island that can kill people with your fingers, and you've done so before! There's no question what happened to my mother's head!"

'… shigan. The only person he knew of on the island that could do it, but only World Government agents should know that skill.'

"Wait-" Shaka snarled, and I held up my hands, fuck they ached, "No, seriously! The technique I use is a World Government technique! It's Shigan! I copied it from them! Why would I even want to hurt your mom?!"

Impossibly, the king's face twisted into even further anger, "Lies!"

"Listen damnit! You're supposed to be some sort of wise king! Why would I knowingly provoke you?! Why would I risk this-?!"

"Enough!" He was vibrating in his fury, visibly mastering himself as he growled, "At least your captain doesn't pretend to be righteous."

I twitched, "I'm trying to tell you we've been set up! Someone's trying to put us at odds! What's my motivation supposed-"

"I don't know and I don't care!"

Shaka dropped to his knees.

'... no…'

I hadn't seen this before, but I'd heard the stories, it was all the crew could talk about. This one attack of devastating power, it was battleship destroying class. A literal degree of magnitude over anything I could do even with my fruit. I might be able to dodge, but… he was going to use it in the middle of the city.

"Wait! Your people are–"

"The ends justify the means!"

And that was the final straw.

No more.

-oOo-​

Dumisani glared at the blood-soaked man before him, glancing back down at long staff in his hands, the speartip cut off and leaving him with a splintered mess at the end of the long shaft. The blade still embedded in the lung of the smaller, but bearded Wallace.

And yet the bastard still stood.

'Heck, leaving the thing in is probably the only reason he hasn't bled out already…' Given the enormous amount of damage the man had already suffered, the way his very skin seemed to be stained crimson from the amount of blood he'd lost, removing the sword would be the end of him. He was larger than the average man, but he couldn't have that much blood in him.

The gazelle man frowned, twirling his broken spear shaft as he began to circle the man, staring intently.

Wallace, for his part, was barely standing, struggling to even breathe, his greatsword barely held up in his hand, the other holding the spear-blade in his torso steady so it wouldn't cut any further. His head hung low, eyes shadowed by his hair.

Bleating angrily, Dumisani started to circle the wounded man.

'I underestimated him once…' the young man's hand touched the scratch on his breastplate, he'd only just been able to dodge out of the way of that sword swipe even with his speed. A frown crossed his muzzle as he adjusted his grip on his broken spear.

'The blade is in him,' He looked over at the rest of the street. There were only a few civilians here, the two of them had moved back away from the docks and the main mass of the army, there weren't any other weapons he could swap out. 'But this will do.'

The properly sized head of his spear may still be within the scarred and bloody man, but the end was splintered and sharp. It was a perfectly serviceable weapon to finish this fight. One good blow…

A flash of steel danced in his head, how close that sword had come… If he got stuck in him again, even if it ended the fight, there was no guarantee that it would actually keep himself from being struck or slain himself. He could throw his weapon…

"Come… come on!" Wallace roared, "Fight me like a man!"

Dumisani snarled back at his opponent, no man would willingly relinquish his spear in combat!

Wallace shuffled in place, ensuring he kept facing Dumisani as he was slowly circled, the tip of his greatsword shaking as he struggled to keep it between himself and the gazelle boy.

Legs tensing, Dumisani dashed around to another side of Wallace, and only a moment later the blade was between them again. It wouldn't have been enough time to attack the man and not get cut. Another dash, and again the blade was between them. Again and again, he dashed about, a randomized encirclement of the bulkier warrior, trying to find the best angle of attack.

Bloody teeth were bared, "Are you just gonna keep running?! You scaredy goat!"

"I'm not a goat!" Dumisani bleated.

Wallace had stopped trying to keep up with his blade, instead placing both of his trembling, pale, bloody hands on the hilt of his blade, and he brought it high.

He'd tried this before! What an idiot! Dumisani crouched low, one hand on the dirt, his hooves wide apart as he brought his spear shaft up horizontally behind him he held that stupid spear behind him horizontally, "Gazelle-!"

"Storm-!"

A launching step, his entire body coiled like a spring that snapped, explosively releasing all of his energy into the single throw, "Spear!"

The wooden haft, even bereft of its speartip, cracked like a whip as it broke the sound barrier, screaming through the air straight for the fools face!

It struck with a thunderous noise! Embedding in the man's face and spinning him around a dozen times! He kept a hold on his blade like a proper warrior but Dumisani grinned.

Then the bulky man in a kilt spun to a stop, the spear haft gripped in his snarling teeth.

"... what."

The tip of the greatsword sung like blue lightning.

'I've got to dodge.'

It was the only thought in Dumisani's head. He could see it now. Wallace would bleed out. If this attack missed, he'd bleed out. Dumisani just had to dodge this attack-!

'I've just got to dodge.'

And so Wallace roared through the wood in his teeth, eyes wild with his fury as the blade high over his head began to fall, "RUUURRREEERRR!!!"

'Just got to dodge-!'

The attack exploded out from his blade as it fell. Just like a lesser version of King Shaka's own Bull's Chest! All Dumisani had to do was dodge-! The gazelle man just had to leap to one side-!

And then the blue, crescent thunderbolt shattered into a thousand little bolts, a storm of blades carried by a fell wind. Dumisani's entire horizon a wall of blue death.

The young man's hands fell as he stared at the oncoming horizon of blue death.

In an instant, a storefront became gravel.

In the next, a man fell.

-oOo-​

The zebra-man slowly flexed his hoof-covered hand, the scored mark along his forearm slowly dripping blood. He slowly circled the man in the leopardskin turtleneck, careful of the broken bottles that scattered the floor and street.

"... wha… wha'd youuu say?" the mocha skinned man swayed in place, blinking bleary eyes that refused to focus on the larger man, blood dripping down his face.

A small twitch found its way to Katlegos eye, "I did not say anything–"

"¡¿Quieres luchar contra tu mierda?!"

Katlego's almost boiling eyes blinked slowly as he sighed, "... I… still don't know what you're saying."

The silver rapier flashed through the air as Jaime lunged towards the zebra-man-! Katlego's arms came up to deflect-... the… fallen man. The pear-headed man had faceplanted only a single step into his charge. Katlego sighed, facepalming as he shook his head, "Where did all of the respectability go…?"

A yelp of pain escaped the zebraman's throat as he launched himself back, blood dripping from his legs as Jaime slithered forward on the ground, blade first-?!

"What in the world-?!"

Giggling like the drunk he was, the hispanic man squirmed along the ground and continued to strike at his opponents ankles, making the hooves dance, "Baila! Baila!"

"Will you stop that-?!" The larger man snapped before his legs bunched up and launched himself over the prone man, landing easily behind him and raising his bleeding hoof high to end this charade.

Like a puppet on strings, the man rose and twisted, his rapier snapping out behind him, and it was only quick reflexes on Katlego's part that saved him from getting stabbed in the groin, sparks flying as his hard hoof glanced off of the rapier. Without even turning, Jaime continued a relentless assault, the tip of his blade dancing and swirling through the air, swatted aside by the hard hoof-like material that covered Katlego's fists and outright hooves of his feet.

"You are insane!" Katlego barked out before sweeping his hoof low to trip backwards facing man.

The blow sent Jaime spinning in place like a top, still clinging to his rapier like a silver tornado, and Katlego hesitated before moving in as his opponent slowed to a swaying stop, finally facing him once more. The zebra-man raised his fist as Jaime swayed, his rapier coming up.

And then he vomited.

Katlego recoiled, barely avoiding the projectile spew, waving his hands in disgust and trying to shake off imaginary bits that may have landed on him, "W-Wha-? Ew! What are you even-?! Ew!"

The telltale swish was the only warning that the zebraman got.

Steel met hoof once more with a clang, and again only an instant later as the blade swirled and flowed, snapping out in a random staccato. But each time i was deflected by the hard coating on Katlego's hands, as it had nearly every time prior in the fight.

"Disgusting or not," the devil-fruit user declared, "I shall not fall in service to my king!"

With a stomp like an earthquake, the zebraman stepped forward into his punch, blowing right past the rapier and had the man not bent at the waist like a limp noodle, would have taken off Jaime's head. Jaime's leg snapped up and pushing the fist up before he wobbled back up to a (mostly) upright once more, flailing his sword about.

Katlego backed off, his greater size allowing him to simply stay out of the swordsman's reach, simply waiting for the random flailing to stop.

Jaime eventually did, blinking his eyes in confusion as he swayed in place, "S'no funciona…" He squinted, eyes going crosswise as he tried to focus on his opponent, his mustache twitching as he pursed his lips in thought.

Katlego did not roll his eyes. He didn't.

And then the mocha skinned man nodded, his nearly broken arm pressed to his side as he patted his hat further onto his pear-shaped head with his rapier. And then he shifted stances, presenting his injured left side to the larger zebra man, knees bent and his rapier held tightly, perfectly horizontal and level with his amber eyes.

This time, it did not sway.

Katlego frowned, "Again?" But he took his own stance once more, fist reared back, "If you so wish."

"Tap- *hic*"

Katlego's legs bunched up as he launched himself forward, "Bucking Fist!"

"Tap-*hic* the Keg."

The dark, hooflike knuckles met a black blade.

-oOo-​

Bonney was on her way.

The endless well of hunger, exuberance, cradled in caution, brilliantly pink in my mind. There was no question.

And she was headed this way.

Bonney was headed this way.

Into this killbox.

No.

No no no.

I couldn't-!

Where-?! Where was he-?!

Confidence layered upon a bone-deep ache, fears, and dreams, Jaime.

No, not him-!

A well of pain and simmering fury, lidded with curiosity and logic, steel and iron being put through fires, clashing against the scrabbling, biting, surging endlessly spring of pride, rage, and power. Florida and Shaka.

No no no, not them-! Not looking for them!

The vibrant pink was approaching-! Only moments away-!

The flickering insecurities upon insecurities beaten into shape by determination, faded and weakening. Wallace… I… fading…

No. Not now. Later. Where-?

There.

There was the quiet, miserly piece of shit. Even his aura was muted, greedy, almost a sickly gold. I had just one gun, I couldn't deflect his bullet and shoot at him-

And he'd seen her. He was aiming-!

My body moved, gun almost rattling in my hand as I aimed, throwing myself away from the wall, out of the alley, into the open street.

Not her.

The noise, the gun, it all drew his attention as my gun rose.

I was going to be shot. I could see it.

"Lucca-?"

I could deflect it. He'd move out of the way. I could dodge it. I wouldn't have enough time to line up the shot.

Huh. Guess we're doing this.

Pain flared in my chest just before the crack of the man's rifle reached my ears. And the pistol in my hand went off, kicking into my palm. Barely audible over the ringing.

I could almost trace the path of the bullet through the air. Across the street, through the window, through the chimney, through the window of the three story building behind it, and into the head of the old, decrepit sniper.

…

Ah.

That was the street.

I'd fallen.

Coldness as I pushed at the ground, arms barely underneath me.

I don't think I could get up.

-oOo-​

My heart was steel. And gray spread across my skin in a wave as I rushed, my circulatory system flexing into steel.

*Chuhh-chuh… chuhhchuh..chuhchuh-chuchuh-chuchuchuchChChChCHCHCHCHCH–!*

Like the shaking of an engine, my skin vibrated as I forced my heart to beat, faster and faster, harder than it had any right to! Fury clad my metallic fist as I built up oscillations even as Shaka's head leaned back.

"Bulls-!" The king's horn began to fall.

"Soulsteel-!" I snarled, fist clenched so hard the metal screeched and wailed as it sung.

"Chest!" THe thunderous explosion of Shaka's horn hitting the earth was accompanied by a massive vertical pressure blast, a rankyakou to end all others. The kind of blast that could've destroyed a marine battleship, barreling right towards me, and towards who knows how many people behind.

"Fist!" There was a flash of gunmetal blue-gray around my armament clad fist as I stepped forward into the punch.

The two met like a cataclysm.

My arm hadn't been fully extended before my knuckles met the terrifying pressure wave of will and death, the inertial mass of my metal form and vibrational energy of my fist meeting that of Shaka's will and the force of his entire body and horn behind the blast. I could feel the ground giving way beneath my feet, the deafening roar of the blast shaking the earth around me as I was pushed back. Air, dust, and steam blasted away from me as I strained to stop the blast.

*CRCK*

Grunting, I clenched my teeth together as a fracture went down the metal of my forearm with a stabbing hot pain, and distantly I could hear Shaka bellow, "You will die for what you've done-!"

No.

A crackling, grinding noise drowned out everything else as I struggled against the attack. Even if it cost me everything, I would not allow this to kill these people!

Wordless rage bubbled up in me, and I screamed, and despite the screaming pain, the ache, the weakness, the failures, the worries, despite it all. I stepped forward.

The attack bent inwards- and then broke.

For just an instant, the world paused.

All of that potential energy, all of the force of over three tons of heavily armored zoan-hybrid warrior and every bit of muscle mass and will in him meeting my own and likely a ton of devil metal going who knows how fast with audible amounts of vibrational energy within it… all of that was released at once!

Shaka rocked back, knocked off of his knees and sent tumbling as the shockwave blasted out from the impact point, blasting the grass roofs off of the huts even as the adobe buildings behind Shaka cracked-!

"Wha-?!"

The grimace of pain on my face was almost a snarl, my right hand was solid metal, but with a deep fissure running from between my knuckles down nearly to my elbow.

"You- no one's-..." Shaka's warbling voice was soft, "How?"

I grit my teeth, flexing my right hand hard, forcing the two parts back together! The grinding, wrenching, screeching noise was accompanied by steam and pain as the two halves of my arm were welded back together.

"I- It doesn't matter!" Shaka snarled, shoving himself back to his feet, "I can do that as many times as I need to!" The skittering of insect legs danced across my skin as he glared, "And you can't."

He was right.

My arm ached from the metal fatigue, the stress I'd just put it under… I don't think I could do that again until I'd rested.

Damnit, I was a swordsman that also grappled, not the other way around!

I had to figure out a way to end this fight.

Shaka lowered himself onto all six legs with a slam, preparing for a charge. Damnit, this was always a fucking crapshoot–!

"Florida!"

Shaka and I looked to the sudden voice, both surprised by the fact that we'd heard anyone other than Bonney, and found the same thing. The one-armed smith, with a blade in hand pulled back for a throw.

"Io-?!"

Thoughts flashed.

"Die!"

Attacking me? For attacking her lord? No. The intent wasn't there. A glitter of emerald and ruby.

The sword was thrown like a javelin straight at me. A bark of laughter coming from Shaka for just an instant as the powerful muscles from a life spent at the forge hurled the blade they'd forged faster than an eye could see.

Realization struck me.

The longsword flew straight towards my heart.

My back bowed like liquid as I dodged the blade, hand striking like lightning, metal skin sparking against he edge as it slid against my palm until my thumb hooked around the crossguard. The momentum of the blade pulled me along, five pounds of sword hurtling faster than an arrow spun me in place as I held on to it, letting it twirl around my fingers as I settled into a high guard, and the blade sung in my hands. Straight, double edge, three feet long, about as broad as my hand, a solid metal crossguard and a straight handle three hands long, balance exactly five inches down the blade.

Shaka's laughter instantly flashed into anger, "Io!"

I knew what I was about to do.

Steam blasted from my skin as the engine that was my heart revved, roaring in my chest as heat surged.

"Armament." The humming blade turned black, and the pitch of its song darkened, my feet planting into the hardpacked dirt with a thud.

Shaka's bug-eyes widened before he snarled, understanding what I was about to do, "You monster."

I had one word.

"EX–!" Will like brilliant light blazed around my blade, and Io realized what I was doing as well.

"No! Florida-!"

"As if that would hit me-!" Shakas arms dead out as he prepared to leap.

Proper form. Breathe in. Breathe out. Bring the sword down. Step into the blow.

I brought it down, the ground exploding under my feet as I disappeared, blurring across the distance. And now I was within a foot of the maybe beetle man.

"Wha-?!"

I brought it down, every bit of my anger, every bit of my grief, every bit of my fury. It came down with the blade and my will.

I felt the surprise, the shock, the fear. Shaka had started to move-

But I brought the blade down.

"-CALIBAAAAHHH!"

The world screamed as a vacuum blade of power that rivaled even Shaka's devastating power slammed into his underbelly at point blank range, with every ounce of strength in my steel form and the full weight of my body at full soru speeds into the strike, amplified by my will and the vibrational energy within it. A blast that could have carved a canyon or destroyed a battleship… and it had nowhere to go but into Shaka.

My fists and rankyakou could not pierce Shaka's iron shell. But this? Did.

The sound was an indescribable, horrid grinding noises like tearing a mountain asunder as the blade carved its way down the king's chest.

Hot blood sprayed all over my skin, flash-frying into steam as Shaka stumbled, fists coming up-

But my follow-up stab up into his heart ensured there would be no counter strike, "Iron Shockwave."

Gore and blood splattered across my steel clothes and skin as the vibrational energy was discharged deep inside Shaka's body, turning his own indestructible exoskeleton against him.

The mountain of a man began to slump, and I stepped back, pulling the blade free and flicking the blood off of it in a well-practiced motion.

Shaka's body hit the ground, already shrinking, his will, his life force, fading.

It was over.

… it was done.

"Florida D. Jacob, what the actual fuck was that shit?"

I looked up, finding Bonney, thankfully uninjured, standing atop a nearby building, several of our idiots slung casually over her shoulder as the pink haired pirate looked at me with an emotion I couldn't identify.

There was an emptiness in my chest, a hollowness, I could only look down at the unadorned blade, "A good sword."

Purple eyes narrowed as her lips pressed into a thin line, "... that's not a fuckin' answer, but I'll take it for now. We got to go."

"Jacob." I looked to Io, not able to give her words, ones that she probably deserved, unable to meet her gaze. A complicated look on her face before she said, "You still owe me an arm."

"Io, I–" There was a little flutter as the head hummingbird zipped right in front of my face to settle onto my shoulder, interrupting whatever it was I'd been about to say.

"C'mon, the Captain is right." I looked up to find the larger woman having approached, her face resolute, "And you look like you're about to pass out."

Bonney made a noise, but she snorted, "Whatever, pick his ass up if you have to. We're not staying here until these guys wake up."

I sighed, shaking my head as I let my fruit relax, my worries fade.

The journey never ended, did it?