Escalation!!

Before we start, I just have some updated pictures for some of the OC's in the crew:

Calvin.

Ian.

Diana.

Amber.

Yamamoto.

Ken.

…

…

*CRASH* Luffy kicked away a large boulder before he got on his feet again.

"I can't let my guard down against you, Flamey!" Luffy said while still wearing the same smile before he jumped at Ashen "Da-hahahaha!!"

*STRETCH*-*BOING* Luffy proceeded to use his awakened power to stretch a pipe and using it to propel himself forward like a slingshot before he grabbed the ground around Ashen and wrapping it around him and then punched Ashen through it sending him flying back.

"Isn't this fun?!" Luffy exclaimed.

Ashen thrusted his sword into the ground to stop himself. He slowly got on his feet again after that before he proceeded to use one of his strongest transformations.

"Flame Seraph!!"

Majestic wings of flame gracefully extended from Ashen's back, resembling ethereal plumes of fire dancing in the wind. Brilliant hues of Purple and blue flickered and shimmered, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle. As they flapped, tongues of fire cascaded in radiant patterns, leaving trails of shimmering embers in their wake.

This transformation added many benefits to Ashen. The wings of fire acted as additional propulsion, allowing him to achieve even higher speeds during flight when combined with Inferno Jet Steps. By manipulating the shape and angle of the wings, he can streamline his movement and reduce air resistance, resulting in enhanced speed and agility.

The wings also provide increased maneuverability, enabling Ashen to change direction swiftly, execute aerial acrobatics, and perform complex aerial maneuvers with precision. This gives him an advantage in combat, as he can swiftly evade attacks and launch counterattacks from unexpected angles.

They can be utilized as formidable offensive and defensive weapons, as he could unleash projectile attack from them and coat them with Haki to defend himself effectively blocking or reducing the impact of physical strikes, projectiles, or even certain elemental attacks.

Ashen proceeded to fly in the air before he flapped his wings, releasing dozens of fireballs from it towards Luffy, the latter dodged by extending his legs until they were overly long in a comedic way, letting the fireballs pass and then he enlarged his head many times and he proceeded to eat the ground before he spat dozens of rocks, flying towards Ashen.

"*PEW*-*PEW*-*PEW*!!…Shishishi!"

Ashen soaring in the air, he easily dodged them, closing the distance between him and Luffy and then slashed him downwards with his sword after infusing it with Armament and Conqueror's Haki while channeling his flames into it, creating a massively deep hole into the ground while Luffy fell, cracking the entire section of the island open before flames erupted from it.

"…Abyssal Embrace!!"

Luffy coughed blood as he took that attack, as it seems that it caused some internal damage, but he quickly stood up again.

Ashen didn't give him time to recover and he immediately raised him palm towards the sun and absorbed solar energy, storing it, and concentrating it inside his body before he unleashed it from his eyes as a devastating beam of searing heat.

"Why are you attacking us, Flamey?!--...WHOAAAA!!" Luffy asked Ashen for the reason he's attacking him as this is the first time he even met him in person before the laser beams was unleashed at his direction. Luffy used his awakened power to stretch the ground up and redirected it back at Ashen.

"Isn't it obvious? I know that you have the Road Poneglyph from Zou, so I came here to take it" Ashen calmly responded while flying mid-air. Ashen didn't have the chance to go to Zou since he couldn't get his hands on a Vivre Card.

"Road Poneglyph?! You're also after the One Piece?!" Luffy asked looking more serious.

Ashen smirked before he responded "Of course…I'm gonna become the King of Pirates!!" Ashen declaring as the flames in his flame wings became more intense.

Luffy glared at Ashen when he heard that before he responded "I guess I'm going to have to kick your ass, because I'm the one who's going to become …"

"…The King of Pirates!!"

"Hahahaha!! Well then…each of us have one different Poneglyph if we exclude Kaido's. So, the winner takes all!!"

…

At the same time Calvin was looking for the Straw Hats ship.

"I think Straw Hat ship is on the other side, but I can't get through this dome that easily…" Calvin muttered to himself while scanning the area before an announcement was made.

"The dome is offline? I don't know who did it, but I guess we'll have to thank him later" Calvin said as he immediately jumped in before they were reactivated.

"…?!...That was sudden…if those deterrents are really down, this is a golden chance!" Kaku stated while clashing with Ian, before he kicked him away and went in after grabbing the unconscious body of Lucci.

"I don't know what any of this shit means but I guess we'll have to make our way in!" Ian said, and everyone moved passed the dome before it was reactivated. Sentomaru and the Seraphim chased after them as well, he also took control over S-Bear from CP0 when Lucci was knocked out by Ashen.

Calvin kept flying around the vicinity until he finally stumbled across the 'The Thousand Sunny' Straw Hat's Ship.

"That's Straw Hat Ship…" Calvin smiled in satisfaction before flew towards it and landed on the ship's deck. He immediately noticed a green-haired figure with three swords having a nap "Roronoa?"

"Zzzz-…*Rustle*-*Shing*" the moment Calvin landed on the ship, Zoro was immediately alerted and proceeded to get on his feet while unsheathing his sword before he sent a flying sword slash towards him.

Calvin easily deflected it away.

"Who the hell…"

"…Interrupted my nap?" Zoro questioned as his forehead veins bulged in anger before his eyes fell upon Calvin.

Without a notice, Calvin immediately used friction to ignite his fists with flames and launched himself at Zoro punching him with his Haki-Coated fists.

*Bang* Zoro used his two swords to block the attack but the two of them were pushed out of the ship.

"Who the hell are you?!" Zoro asked Calvin and Brook also showed up near them.

"Must be the Ashen Pirates, only pirates dress that way" Brook remarked.

"It doesn't matter…he's gonna wind up a diced-up corpse anyway" Zoro said calmly while tightening his grip on his swords.

"You must be strong since you kicked King's ass, let's see what you've got kid" Calvin said as he kicked the air with his leg sending a Haki-Coated Rankyaku slash. Zoro quickly drew his third sword and put it in his mouth.

"Look after the ship, Brook!"

"Understood!"

*Clang* Zoro easily deflected Calvin's slash before he clashed with Calvin up close, he proceeded to dash at him at a high speed, attacking him with his three swords that were wrapped in green aura.

Calvin kicked the ground while emitting a Hasshoken shockwave, causing it to shatter to many large rocks before he pushed one of them with his palm while channeling his Haki into it, and using it as a shield to block Zoro's attack before he kicked it towards him.

Zoro leaped in the air while avoiding it before he sent two large flying sword slashes at Calvin. The latter jumped in the air as well, igniting his leg with friction while spinning rapidly around himself and generating strong fiery, tornado made of wind blades.

Zoro used his swords to block it while getting pushed back a little before he jumped a few meters away from the tornado, coated his swords with Haki and then sent a powerful, horizontal sword slash that discarded the tornado.

"You're pretty strong, but don't think you can defeat me with something that cheap" Zoro declared, gazing at Calvin while grinning manically.

"Fair enough, I was just warming up" Calvin calmly responded while lighting a new cigarette "*CLICK*…Puff…I'll get serious…"

"In that case…" Zoro said as he hardened his arms and green Aura surrounded him and his swords, and after choosing to let Enma draw out as much Haki as it could, he infused it along with his two other swords with Armament and Conqueror's Haki, drastically increasing his power and range.

"…King of Hell Three Sword Style!"

"Conqueror's Haki…I won't say I'm surprised. No wonder you guys took down Kaido, your captain must be strong" Seeing that Calvin rolled his fiery fist while infusing it with Advanced Armament and Conqueror's Haki.

"Off course…He's the man who's gonna become the Pirate King!" Zoro proudly declared as thick black lightning surged from his weapon.

"Unfortunately for you, that's a dream that will never come true!"… Calvin said before he used Soru to close the distance between them and punched him down while emitting a Hasshoken Shockwave "…In this realm of strife, only the demon shall prevail!"

"…"

"Ragnarok!!"

*KA-BOOOM*-*Lightning* As they made contact, both Calvin's fist and Zoro's swords were barely touching each other as black lightning with red hue surged from their position, and the two of them kept pushing and trying to overpower the other.

[Somewhere in the waters of the New World]

"WOAH!!"

"Isn't that fish bigger than normal?!"

"Kid! Wake up! We're near land!" While looking at a map, Killer informed Kid who was having a nap on the ship's deck "Should we go look around?"

"Are you really asking that?! When have I ever passed on exploring an island?!"

"I know but this island is probably the home of Giants…Elbaf!!"

"Elbaf?!"

…

"Emma, we've arrived! Should we go on land?" Kuro informed Emma who was sitting on top of the ship's figure head before he adjusted his glasses and continued speaking "We're in Elbaf, the land of Giants!"

"Elbaf, huh?...Isn't it part of uncle Ashen's territory?" Emma asked him.

"I doubt he's around here at this time, words out that he left Hachinosu a couple days ago with a massive fleet of ships" Kuro calmly responded "…Something big is gonna happen for sure"

"Looks like the Kid Pirates also made it here" Gin remarked as Kid's ship was spotted from a distance.

"Hope that bastard don't try anything funny!" Desire exclaimed.

"Forget about him, I've been feeling uneasy for some reason…" Emma confessed with a serious face.

"…We might run into something unexpected"

…

Meanwhile…

"Momousagi-san! We've prepared snacks and tea for our guest"

"I'm sure you remembered to test for poison, right?" Momousagi asked. She is a tall, slender woman with red lipstick, long curly black hair that is tied back, and a mole on the right side of her face below her mouth. She possesses a black spider tattoo on her left thigh. She also wears a Marine coat on her shoulders like a cape, and her sleeves have pink cuffs, and the epaulettes are pink.

"Of course, Madam!"

"I'll take it to him. Back to your post"

"Yes, Madame!"

"…"

"So, have you ever met Dr. Vegapunk before?" Momousagi asked the Elder while serving him tea. She and Ryokugyu were in the same room with him.

"Once…a long time ago…I think what's happening now is truly such a shame" The elder responded.

[The highest authority in the world – One of the Five Elders]

[Saint Jay Garcia Saturn]

Three months prior to this the Five Elders received the report about Vegapunk researching the Void Century and to verify it, they sent CP5 agents. But their inspection revealed nothing, and their ships mysteriously disappeared as it attempted to leave Egghead.

CP7 and CP8 were both deployed to shed light on the situation however, no government ship returned from Egghead.

Later on, the Five Elders about the the full extent of the genius scientist's treachery. And so, the Elders decided to order Dr. Vegapunk's assassination, and it fell to Cipher Pol 'Aigis' Zero to execute the mission.

However, the Five Elders anticipated that Vegapunk would resist so they sent one of their own escorted by Admiral Momousagi and Admiral Ryokugyu. They also reinforced the fleet they deployed by backup from several Naval Branches….and with more than 150 warships they are now headed to Egghead.

Their caution level raised to: "Total War Imminent."

Then the sudden and unexpected appearance of Emperor Ashen's Fleet and Emperor Straw Hat Luffy's ship left the Government forces feeling more than a little disquieted by the complication.

In any case, this chain of events is going to culminate and the outcome…

…Will shock the World!!