Chapter 67 - The fight ends
Luffy's slip was the thing that saved him, though not by much. As Luffy fell, Garp's fist was heading towards the upper area of his head, almost touching nothing but the hair, and posed no immediate danger, allowing Luffy to focus his Armament Haki on his neck to guard against Gion's strike. As for Tokikake's bullets, he used Garp's fist to push himself in the air and twist, dodging them.
Even if he didn't take Garp's fist head-on, there was a reason Garp was considered the strongest Marine with Sengoku in a close second. Luffy flew forward, with a giant ice fist flying at extreme speeds towards him. Luffy got hit by the fist as he got a small concussion from Garp's strike and he didn't recover in time.
Luffy flew back again, only this time he flew high in the air. As Luffy soared above Garp, several purple rings appeared above him. Luffy plummeted down, straight into Garp's uppercut. Luffy's stomach stretched upward in contrast to his body, which followed a second later as Luffy flew straight up. Gion jumped up with her sword overhead, getting ready to cut Luffy in half. But as her sword was about to touch Luffy's skin, a black hand caught her blade.
Luffy pulled the sword, with Gion following, straight into a ready punch. A loud sound was heard as Gion crashed into the ship. "Damn, that was a little too close to my liking," Luffy said as he gently landed on the ruined ship. By now the ship was bearly floating, with all the Vice and Rear Admirals that were onboard running for their lives. "How about we switch a battlefield?" Garp smirked. "Not a chance," Luffy replied. Luffy could fight in the air comfortably, while only Fujitora could rival him in the air. In conclusion, the ruined ship was an ideal battleground for him.
"Heh, good choice." Garp smiled proudly at his grandson's decision. "Not the time, Garp," Aokiji rebuked Garp. All of the sudden, a bright light flashed in the direction of Water-7. All the people present turned their heads, only to see the light originated from a giant ship with the flag of the Straw Hats. Luffy had a bad feeling, a very bad one. "Shit, what did Franky do?!" Luffy yelled in frustration as he tried to grasp the danger level of the light. He figured it was a weapon from Pluton, but he didn't know which one. Pluton didn't have laser weapons. He would know since he had to fight against a Fleet Admiral that found the ship in one of his wars against the Marines.
'So Franky customized one of Pluton's weapons, but which one... It needs to be compatible with lasers so that narrows it down but...' Luffy thought. 'I better get going... This is going to be annoying to block' Luffy flew up just as a humongous laser beam shot at the ship he was just in.
"Aokiji! Ice walls!" Garp commanded. Aokiji didn't hesitate and made multiple thick ice walls to block the laser just before the cannon fired. The bright yellow beam shot at the ship, demolishing wall after wall. Everyone on the ship had grim expressions as they prepared to defend against the laser, but just before they could, a shout was heard.
"Aokiji! Keep the ship intact!" A shout could be heard as Sengoku, who stayed hidden until now, landed on a broken ice piece from Aokiji's walls in his giant golden Buddha. Sengoku punched with full force at the laser, and the sea shook as golden shockwaves from Sengoku's attack collided against the laser.
"Ugh!" Sengoku spit blood as the laser inched towards him, slowly but surely, the laser got past his shockwaves. "It's been a while since I've seen Pluton's power, Franky sure did an amazing job," Luffy commented from above, shocking the Marines. "That's Pluton?!" A Vice Admiral exclaimed. "Technically, no, but it has most of Pluton's weapons," Luffy informed, not making the situation any better.
"If it's Pluton, we can't leave Sengoku alone," Fujitora said as he charged forward. Unfortunately for him, Luffy wasn't about to let him do that. A booming sound was heard as Luffy flew down in an instant and buried Fujitora's defenseless head in the wooden floor with a punch. "Do you think I'm just going to let you do that?" Luffy questioned. "Help Sengoku!" Garp ordered as he charged at Luffy to keep him occupied.
Ice suddenly spread across the ship in Luffy's direction, attempting to keep him in place. Luffy didn't care for the ice, but he did care for Aokiji. Fujitora would be out of the fight for the next few minutes, so only Aokiji could provide the Marines a way to go help Sengoku since the shockwaves blew all the ice chunks away. Luffy flew at a speed that even Aokiji couldn't react to, and before the latter could comprehend what was happening, Luffy's Haki-clad hand grabbed Aokiji's face and dragged him along. Luffy flew from the ship and smashed Aokiji against the sea waves to weaken him, before throwing him into the deep ocean. 'I'll make Zoro get him out later,' Luffy thought as he flew back. Luffy liked Aokiji, he was one of the better Marines.
Luffy flew past the ship as he headed towards Sengoku, punching him into the laser. "AHH!" Sangoku yelled. Luckily for Sengoku, he was too large for the laser to completely engulf him. And Sengoku was a veteran, so as soon as he realized he was no longer in a clash with the laser he tried to sidestep. As a result of Sengoku's reflexes and effort, the laser only took his arm as it continued its way towards the ship. By this point, however, it was weakened so when Garp charged at it with his fist at the ready, it didn't take a lot of time for the laser to disperse and Garp was left with only a few burn marks.
Luffy caught the exhausted and maimed Sengoku by the neck with his arm. "Retreat or I'll kill him," Luffy stated. "I could say the same to you," Onigumo stated as four of his swords were at the injured Zoro's neck. "Same, *huff*, here," Momonga said as he was bearly standing, with his sword at the unconscious Nami's neck.