Chapter 243: Captain Reuniting With His Crew

Flinging Freyja into the distance, I swung Naga-sa behind me, blocking Mael's axe, only to grab the top of his axe with my haki-coated foot as I leaped off it and kneed him in the face, only to grab his head with my hand as I threw him towards Freyja, who was charging towards me from behind.

Flipping in the air while using my bo-staff to smash through several telekinetic barriers, I looked at Sebas and raised my hand, causing lightning to dance around it before I chucked a lightning bolt at him, though he forcefully dissipated it before it could connect with him.

"Ho, it seems like someone improved over the last month." Said Diddy with a smirk as he dashed through the air, dodging all of Sebas's psionic attacks while smashing through any invisible barriers.

"Hoho, I appreciate the compliment, but I'm not the only one who improved." Said Sebas with a faint smile as he waved his hands, forcing Diddy into a trap while Freyja and Mael lunged at him from either side.

Grinning at his words, I followed the trap Sebas was leading me into while occasionally attacking back; though I was keeping my strength in moderation, it was quiet yet time to go all out; besides, we were fighting right above Marineford, so I'd prefer if everyone didn't notice us.

Dashing through the sky, I finally arrived within Sebas's trap, though even before I did, I had seen what it was going to be thanks to my haki, entering a vacuum in the middle of the sky devoid of any air, which successfully took away all of my agility. It didn't matter how hard I could kick the air, if there weren't any air or anything for my feet to hit, I would go nowhere.

With me now trapped, both Mael and Freyja lunged at me, entering the void while slashing down at me with their weapon of choice; even though their attacks hadn't landed yet, from this short fight, I could discern they had all improved, and it wasn't small improvements either, it was very noticeable.

'Heh, it seems facing someone like Akainu really made them train.' Mused Diddy with a feral grin as he eyed his three crewmates, not knowing they had greatly improved because of all the infighting.

Tossing Naga-sa into my hand, I swung it at Mael, causing our weapons to collide against each other, and because I had no air to kick, I was forced towards Freyja, who slashed down at me with her elongated nails, though by dislocating my shoulder, I was able to spin around and snake my foot around her arm all while blocking Mael with my dislocated arm.

Now, since there was no air in the vacuum, not only did I lose the ability to maneuver, but so did Freyja and Mael, and so, when we finally emerged from the vacuum, I kicked the air, launching me towards Sebas while twisted Naga-sa, causing Mael's axe to slide down the shaft as I hit him in the face with the opposite side. Before he could retreat, I slammed Naga-sa on his axe, which he was tightly holding, forcing him forward, allowing me to grab him by the neck with my hand just after I had placed my bo-staff in my mouth.

While I had dealt with Mael, I swung Freyja, who I was holding by the arm, into the air, causing her to miss her attack by a hair's breadth as I bent my leg, bringing her face forward, only to use geppo directly on her cheek, though she hadn't received all those beatings from me in the past for nothing; even though I was withholding my strength, she was still practically unharmed, and instead just looked further pissed.

"Tsk, you bastard monk-" Said Freyja in annoyance as she took a deep breath, focusing all of her fire inside her throat, yet before she could finish it, a lightning-coated foot kicked her in the face, silencing her.

Laughing in amusement, I brought Mael before me, using him as a battering ram as I smashed through barrier after barrier while constantly using geppo on Freyja's face, rapidly nearing Sebas. Approaching Sebas, I narrowed my eyes and blasted him with my conqueror haki, which wasn't enough to do much, but it momentarily stunned him, allowing me to close the distance, and by the time he had regained his bearing, I was only a few meters away.

Just before I reached him, I felt a powerful weight start pulling me backward, and it only served to increase further when Sebas raised his hand, pointing it at me; smirking, I used geppo and soru together, forcefully powering through his telekinesis as I swiftly flew past him, hitting him in the stomach with my bo-staff, which was still in my mouth.

"So, are we finished or not?" Asked Diddy with a grin, eyeing Mael, Freyja, and Sebas while speaking through Naga-sa in his mouth.

"Tch, yeah. Hoho, it seems so. Hmph, whatever." Stated Freyja, Sebas, and Mael, respectively, their words causing Diddy to chuckle as he let go of them, only to sit down on his fluffy yellow cloud that had just arrived while carrying Janet.

"I hope you fools don't think, just because I've lost my arm and tail, that I'm some sort of pushover; I wasn't doing nothing in Impel Down." Remarked Diddy lightly with a feral smirk as he glanced between the three, his yellowish eyes sparking with lightning.

"Hmph, yeah, that unfortunately doesn't seem to be the case. And here I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to kill you." Said Freyja in slight annoyance as she unceremoniously sat on Nimbus beside Janet.

"So, what are you doing here, Janet? Did you perhaps miss me?" Added Freyja with a seductive smile as she whispered into Janet's ear, causing her to faintly blush before shaking her head.

"Um, i-it's good to see you, Freyja, but no, I was actually imprisoned within Impel Down as well. Haa, that place was hell, always so hot. For the first few weeks, I felt like I was going to die." Replied Janet with a shake of her head, only to sigh while lowering her head, though her words surprised them.

"Impel Down? Why were you in Impel Down? As a matter of fact, how did you even escape, Captain? Knowing the world government, they had probably ordered the Marines to put you in the most secure place there is." Asked Mael curiously with a raised eyebrow as he floated in the air and folded his arms, his words sparking everyone's curiosity.

"We can talk about that stuff in a second; after all, I'm sure everyone else is going to ask the same question, and I don't feel like repeating it multiple times. So where is everyone? If something happened to Pandemonium, I'm ripping off each one of your guy's left arms." Remarked Diddy as he dismissively waved his hand at Mael, only to suddenly squint, glaring at the three while he bared his fangs.

"N-Not me, right?" Asked Janet softly as she looked at Diddy, who merely tilted his head, causing her to sigh while helplessly nodding.

"Hoho, no, they're fine, Captain, though, ever since your loss to Akainu, it's been rather rough; I'm sure they'll all be happy for your return." Stated Sebas with a soft chuckle as he fixed his suit and tightened his tie before flying into the distance, away from Marineford.

Tilting my head in confusion at Sebas's words, I shrugged my shoulders and flew behind him while Mael and Freyja hitched a ride on Nimbus, listening to Janet talk about her life in Impel Down, causing me to grunt in annoyance, but other than that, I Ignored them.

Once we were a decent distance away from Marineford, we began to rapidly descend towards the ocean and even continued deep into the ocean; thanks to Sebas's forcefield, all of the water stayed outside, and as we moved deeper, I spotted Pandemonium floating in the middle of the ocean. Mony was tightly curled around the top of Pandy's shell, keeping the base and all of its inhabitants safe from the ocean.

When we neared Pandemonium, Pandy's eyes opened, though the instant she eyed me, I saw her eyes light up in joy as she started roaring happily, causing the ocean surrounding us to tremble violently.

"So, that's Pandemonium? A Sea king? Awesome!! I'm definitely taking a picture!" Yelled Janet joyfully with stars in her eyes as she stared at Pandemonium while fighting the urge to take pictures.

Pandy's loud roaring caused Mony to open his eyes and look at me; he had nearly unbound himself, which would've resulted in extensive damage, but he was able to stop himself just in time. Smirking, we continued towards Mony while Sebas created a large air pocket, big enough for Mony to move his body slightly, creating a pathway into the base.

"Hmm, not bad, everything is still intact. I was going to beat everyone up depending on how badly damaged the base was, but it seems like you've managed to spare yourselves." Muttered Diddy with a nod as he gazed at the pristine base, which looked similar to a large fortress.

Landing on the top of the base, I reabsorbed Nimbus, causing Janet to fall onto the floor while Mael and Freyja caught themselves, and just as I turned around, I spotted the infamous trio walking up the stairs; before I could greet them, Frenzy Pirate style, Trenza had ran up towards me and hugged me.

"CAPTAIN!" Stated Trenza happily as she tightly embraced Diddy, crying tears of joy while resting her head on his shoulder.

"Eh?"