The White Sword Descends <rewrite>

The world exploded in a deafening, blinding cataclysm. Lightning, not the crackling, ephemeral kind, but a solid, incandescent pillar of pure, untamed energy, slammed into the execution platform. The ancient wood, a symbol of grim history, vaporized in an instant, showering the plaza in a storm of superheated splinters and acrid smoke. The sheer force of the impact sent a shockwave outwards, knocking everyone – pirates, Marines, onlookers – off their feet, a collective gasp sucked from a thousand lungs.

Nami was thrown backwards, tumbling through the air like a rag doll, her ears ringing, her vision a chaotic blur of white light and swirling debris. She landed hard on her back, the impact knocking the wind from her. For a terrifying moment, she couldn't breathe, couldn't see, her mind a maelstrom of panic. Luffy!

The System's voice, usually so calm, was almost drowned out by the roar in her ears, but it managed to cut through:

[CATACLYSMIC EVENT: DIVINE INTERVENTION CLASS ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED! HOST IN PROXIMITY TO EXTREME DANGER! EXECUTION PLATFORM DESTROYED! LUFFY'S STATUS: UNKNOWN! ASSESSMENT: CHAOTIC NEUTRAL INTERVENTION – IMMEDIATE OUTCOME UNPREDICTABLE!]

Unknown?! Nami's heart seized. She pushed herself up, ignoring the screaming pain in her back and the taste of blood in her mouth. The plaza was a scene of utter devastation. The execution platform was gone, replaced by a smoking, cratered ruin. Bodies lay scattered, some moaning, some still. The unnatural storm raged with renewed fury, rain lashing down, wind howling like a tortured soul.

"LUFFY!" Nami shrieked, her voice raw, scrambling to her feet.

Then, a cry from the edge of the plaza, near where the wreckage of the platform had been densest. "Over here! He's… he's alive! But… he's flying?!" It was Usopp's voice, tinged with disbelief and terror.

Nami's head snapped in that direction. And she saw it.

Luffy, his straw hat miraculously still on his head, was indeed airborne. But not in a controlled way. He was limp, unconscious, his body crackling faintly with residual electricity from the lightning strike. He wasn't flying so much as being flung, arcing through the storm-wracked sky like a human cannonball, propelled by the sheer explosive force of the divine intervention. He was heading away from the plaza, towards the distant docks, at an alarming speed.

"He got blasted!" Zoro roared, already on his feet, his three swords glinting despite the gloom. "That idiot actually got struck by lightning and survived!" He started running in the direction Luffy had been flung, but the distance was already immense.

"Fifteen kilometers, at least!" Nami breathed, her navigator's mind instinctively calculating the trajectory even as her heart hammered with fear. The System flashed an update: [Luffy's Trajectory: Approximately 15.2 kilometers, bearing 275 degrees West-Northwest. Projected landing zone: Port District outskirts, near old shipyard.]

Before anyone else could react, a new, powerful voice cut through the storm's howl, sharp and authoritative, coming from the direction of the main Marine contingent who were slowly picking themselves up, their initial shock giving way to disciplined readiness.

"All units! Straw Hat Luffy has been displaced by the… atmospheric anomaly! Search teams, sector seven through nine! He can't have gone far on foot if he's even conscious! The rest of you, secure the plaza! Apprehend any remaining pirates! That includes Buggy the Clown and his crew, and any associates of Straw Hat!"

The speaker was a tall, white-haired Marine, his uniform impeccable despite the chaos, a perpetually lit cigar clamped in his teeth. He moved with a grim efficiency, Jitte in hand. This had to be Smoker. Captain Strasser's promised doom.

"Buggy!" Nami spun around. The clown captain and his remaining conscious crew (Mohji and Cabaji were still a groaning, tangled heap) were trying to make a run for it amidst the chaos, their earlier bravado completely gone.

"Not so fast, you painted buffoon!" Nami snarled. She wasn't about to let Buggy escape after what he'd tried to do. Her GP total was now a respectable 875 after the various successful combat encounters, and the thought of more, plus a little payback, was a powerful motivator. Her body still ached, but the 'year' in the Training Grounds had forged an endurance she hadn't known she possessed.

Smoker, however, seemed to have other priorities. He took one look at the direction Luffy had been flung, then at the sky, then transformed into a column of dense white smoke, rocketing off with incredible speed, clearly intent on reaching Luffy first. "I'll handle Straw Hat myself!" his voice echoed back.

"Damn it!" Zoro cursed, watching Smoker disappear. "Logia user. That's going to be a problem for Luffy."

"We need to regroup and find him!" Sanji yelled, kicking a piece of flaming debris out of his path. "But first, let's clear out this trash!" He gestured towards Buggy's pirates and the advancing Marines.

The plaza erupted into a three-way brawl. Straw Hats versus Buggy Pirates versus Marines. It was utter chaos. Zoro was a whirlwind of steel, his three swords deflecting Marine sabers and Buggy's disembodied, knife-wielding hands with equal disdain. Sanji's kicks sent Marines and pirates alike flying, his movements a blur of black-suited grace and power. Usopp, having found a relatively sheltered spot behind an overturned cart, was peppering the enemy ranks with Kayaku Boshi and other ingenious projectiles, causing confusion and minor explosions.

Nami focused on Buggy. The clown captain, seeing her advance, yelped. "You again! Bara Bara… Emergency Escape!" He tried to split his body into a dozen pieces to flee, but Nami was too fast, her footwork honed.

"Not this time! Tasogare Kiba!" She feinted high, then drove a knife-hand strike into one of Buggy's floating forearms, the one still holding a dagger. The impact was jarring, and the dagger clattered away.

"My arm! You little witch!" Buggy shrieked, his parts whizzing around her.

Nami moved with a predatory grace she hadn't possessed before. She dodged a flying, fist-clenched Buggy hand, then spun, her leg lashing out. "Muon Taifū Kyaku!" The kick connected with Buggy's floating head, sending it spinning like a top.

"Dizzy… so… dizzy…!" Buggy's head groaned, careening into a wall.

This was almost too easy. Buggy, without his full crew and clearly rattled by the lightning strike and Luffy's improbable survival, was more bluster than threat. Nami systematically disabled his remaining body parts with precise 'Twilight Fang' strikes, her movements economical, her focus absolute. Each successful hit brought a small trickle of GP, pushing her total closer to the 1000 mark.

The Marines, seeing Buggy effectively neutralized by a single, surprisingly capable young woman, and with their captain Smoker off chasing the main prize, began to press their advantage against the remaining Straw Hats and the now-leaderless Buggy pirates. Reinforcements were arriving, their disciplined ranks forming a tightening cordon around the plaza.

"There are too many of them!" Usopp yelped, narrowly dodging a Marine's rifle butt.

"Just keep fighting!" Zoro roared back, parrying a flurry of blows. "We need to make an opening and get to Luffy!"

Sanji sent a Marine captain sprawling with a perfectly executed "Veau Shot." "Easier said than done, moss-head! They're like cockroaches!"

It was then, amidst the swirling rain, the crackle of distant fires, and the clang of steel, that she arrived.

The remaining Marines, who had been fighting with a grim determination, suddenly paused. A ripple of something – awe, fear, an almost religious reverence – passed through their ranks. They parted like the Red Sea before Moses, creating a clear path from the edge of the plaza.

Through that path walked a figure that silenced the battlefield.

She was tall, statuesque, clad in a pristine white Marine coat worn like a cape, unadorned with any rank insignia, yet it billowed around her with an authority that dwarfed any admiral's epaulettes. Beneath it, she wore a simple, dark, high-collared uniform that seemed to absorb the chaotic light of the storm. Her silver-white hair, pulled back in a severe but elegant knot, seemed to gleam even in the gloom. Her face was a study in sculpted perfection, beautiful but remote, her expression unreadable, her ice-blue eyes holding the chilling calm of a frozen sea. In one hand, she carried a sheathed katana of exquisite craftsmanship, its hilt wrapped in white silk.

This was Reina. The White Storm. Heaven's Iron. The woman whose very name was a legend whispered in hushed tones throughout the Blues and even into the Grand Line.

Nami, who had just delivered a final, satisfying 'Black Gale Breaker' to Buggy's reassembled (and now thoroughly bruised) torso, sending him crashing into a pile of his unconscious crewmates, froze. The System went into overdrive.

[WARNING! WARNING! OVERWHELMING POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED! CLASS: UNQUANTIFIABLE! DESIGNATION: REINA – 'SUPREME JUSTICE'! THREAT LEVEL: BEYOND MAXIMUM! RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE EVACUATION! HOST SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IN DIRECT CONFRONTATION: NIL!]

Nami's blood turned to ice. Beyond Maximum? Nil survival probability? This was worse than Smoker, worse than anything KF23 had prepared her for.

The Marines around the plaza snapped to attention, a wave of cheers and relieved shouts erupting. "It's Lady Reina!" "Supreme Justice is here!" "We're saved!" "The pirates are finished!"

Reina glided forward, her movements unnervingly smooth, her gaze sweeping over the devastated plaza, taking in the defeated Buggy pirates, the battered Straw Hats, the crater where the execution platform had stood. Her eyes seemed to miss nothing.

"What… what in the blazes?" Usopp stammered, his jaw slack. "Who is that?"

Zoro tensed, his three swords held ready, his single eye narrowed dangerously. "Never seen a Marine like her. That power… it's insane."

Sanji had stopped fighting, his cigarette forgotten, his eyes wide. "She's… beautiful. But… terrifying."

Reina then turned her gaze fully upon the Straw Hat Pirates. Her eyes lingered on the surrounding chaos, a faint frown touching her lips as if assessing a poorly managed equation, before finally settling on Nami, then sweeping towards the direction Luffy had been flung. Then, she spoke, her voice echoing with an undeniable finality, cutting through the storm's roar as if it were a mere whisper.

"Monkey D. Luffy. Where is he? By the authority vested in me by a code that supersedes all others, his chaotic journey ends here. Surrender him, and he may receive a trial. Resist, and you will face… judgment."

Nami felt a surge of defiance, overriding even the System's dire warnings. Trial? Judgment? This woman was talking about her captain, her friend! After everything they'd been through, after the hell she'd just endured in the Training Grounds to get stronger for them…

"Like hell he will!" Nami snarled, stepping forward, placing herself protectively between Reina and where she knew Luffy was, out somewhere near the shipyards, likely dazed and confused, being hunted by Smoker. Every instinct, every alarm bell from the System, screamed at her to run, to hide. But she couldn't. Not now.

She planted her feet, her newly conditioned body thrumming with readiness, her fists clenched. She met Reina's ice-blue gaze with her own fiery brown one.

"If you want him," Nami declared, her voice ringing with a courage she didn't entirely feel but projected with every ounce of her being, "you'll have to go through me first!" She took a fighting stance, the 'Cat Burglar's Claw Style' ready to be unleashed.

Reina simply looked at her, a faint, almost imperceptible arch to one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. Then, a ghost of a smile, so fleeting Nami almost missed it, touched her lips. It wasn't a kind smile. It was the smile of a predator observing an unexpectedly spirited, but ultimately doomed, prey.

"Bold words, little girl," Reina said, her voice still soft, yet carrying the weight of mountains. "Very well. Let us see the quality of this 'resistance'."

And then, Reina moved.