50 Valediction

(Several Hours Later)

"You! Are! An! Idiot!" Kureha and Rose cried out simultaneously, alternating bonks on Rex's head.

"Come on, it was treasure." Rex said with a shrug. "You can't expect me to not take treasure!"

The two frowned, seeing Rex's money grubbing attitude still survived his freefall.

"You know, you could have been killed!" Kureha screamed out. "What if his bite was poisoned, or he struck a major artery? Besides, that pig looked like he would eat anything. He could have all kinds of bacteria in his mouth."

"How do you know what he looked like?" Rex asked.

"Eh, educated guess. Now sit back down!" Kureha shouted, stitching Rex up.

"Besides that, you didn't have to sink the entire island!" Rose shouted out incredulously.

"Hey! I did not sink that island." Rex said defensively. "That was gravity's fault. And Apex's fault for being fat, but mostly gravity. Why don't you go yell at gravity!?"

Rex grinned as he thought back to it. After Rex had smashed Apex's body down, the force was so intense that it accelerated the island shrinking manifold. In the end, Rex had to take the treasure, the Aetherians and whatever animals he found interesting onto the King Gucci before the island sank.

Rose had mentioned a few things about it being irresponsible, how Rex might have wiped out dozens of extinct species bla bla bla… However, what Rex was curious about was where the island would drop in the Grand Line.

Rose had said that because all the force in his and Apex's clash was focused in one area, the island was shifted to a certain direction as it fell. Rose said that, in theory, the island could land hundreds of kilometers of where it was meant to land because of that.

Eh, Rex shrugged. He was sure that no matter where the island landed, it wouldn't be too bad.

"Yell at gravity?" Rose asked incredulously. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"I know a blind old gambler you could talk to about that." Rex offered, figuring Issho was as close to the personification of gravity one could get. "Anyway, how much was in all that loot I got?"

"I don't know. I recall Kid saying it was around 400 million." Rose said with a shrug.

"400 Million!?" Rex cried out. "Shiki must be such a miser! No wonder he needed to go to Roger to beg for an ancient weapon. The man was broke!"

"400 Million is a lot, ok!?" Rose shouted out. "My father would need to go on over a dozen missions to make that much!"

"Really?" Rex asked, looking at Rose with an expression of pity. "I didn't know your family conditions were so rough. I'll up your allowance."

Rose's brow twitched fiercely. Getting all that gold on Shandora really got to Rex's head.

"Oh, did you find the Devil Fruit in the end?" Rex asked, with Rose shaking her head.

Rex just shrugged at that. You win some, you lose some. C'est la vie.

Besides, the crocodile fruit wasn't much of a prize considering what he got instead. After killing Apex, Rex had rushed him over to Faust, who had extracted what he could from his memory before he died. With that, Rex had a semi-complete training method for armament haki.

As for Observation haki, much to Rex's shock, Apex didn't have it. The dumb lizard just relied on his defense, thinking Observation haki was for losers who had to dodge.

Rex shook his head. No wonder Apex was such a loser now. He was super cocky.

Rex also got a front row seat to the Edd War conflict, which he had to admit looked spectacular. Roger was just OP when it came down to it.

Unfortunately, when Apex was in the Rocks Pirates, he was just a low-level nobody, so he didn't get to see anything. In the final fight, Golden Lion just stole a ship and flew away so Rex never got to see the legendary Rocks D. Xebec in action.

"Has Hawkins found a suitable Island yet?" Rex asked, wanting to dump off, ahem, relocate the poor homeless Aetherians somewhere. Such a poor, inevitable tragedy what had happened to them.

However, Rex needed to be rid of them before continuing on his merry way to Birka. The Goro Goro no Mi wasn't just going to wait forever.

"He has." Rose said, causing Rex to smile.

An hour later, the King Gucci has docked at a moderately sized Sky Island and unloaded the 'cargo' onto it.

"Vesta Rex, we will always remember your kind deeds." Ares said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You are by far the most generous, honorable, faithful and kind-hearted man I know! Not only did you selflessly defeat the Apex pirates for us, you even saved us from the Island's sinking and found us a new home! I vow to endeavor for my whole life to be one-eighth of the man you are!"

Rex scratched the back of his head, feeling that Ares had the wrong idea. Of course, Rex had conveniently omitted the fact that he looted Apex's castle and accelerated the island fall, but he still felt Apex was reading too much into his actions.

"Live well my friends. May we meet again!" Rex said with a smile. "Remember to always be generous and selfless. Follow in my, the great Jacket Christ's, footsteps and the doors of Closethaven will always be open to you!"

Then, Rex sailed away, getting dirty looks from all his crewmates for deceiving the kind-hearted, innocent Aetherians.

Rex just grined. "Hawkins, resume course, destination, BIRKA!"

Marineford, Paradise

"What is it!?" Sengoku barked out, staring at the massive island that was flying towards Marineford. "Is Golden Lion attacking again!?"

In the square of Marineford, dozens of marines are in a panic, trying to flee the base in terror. Some try and fire cannonballs at the island like fools, but the cannonballs just rain back down on Marineford.

"No, not again!" Sakazuki growls, staring up at the falling island. "RYUSEI KAZAN!"

A barrage of lava fists fly into the air as they slam against the islands, creating many massive cracks in the lower surface. Still, the island remains whole, nearing Marineford.

Sakazuki frowned, feeling that maybe he had held back too much. He keeps launching flaming lava fists at the immense structure, trying to damage it, but all he accomplishes are a few cracks and a stream of lava pouring onto the marines.

"Damn it! Where are Kizaru and Aokiji!?" Sengoku barks, trying to rapidly evacuate the city. While he was prepared to strike the island, it was currently outside of his range.

A massive shadow cloaks the Marine Citadel as all the Marines feel a despair growing in their hearts.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" A booming voice echoes from a top the highest point of Marineford. "I told you this super cannon would come in handy Sengoku!"

Then, an immense cannon, the size of a Giant is heaved up to the tower, with a relatively small, human figure leaping inside of it.

For a moment, you can hear a pin drop in Marineford. Then…

BOOOOM!!!

An earth-shattering explosion echoes out as Garp flies out of the cannon's barrel, his fist fully pulled back. Staring at the island, Garp grins widely.

"Now, you're not gonna drop on my MARINEFORD! HOORAH!" Garp roared, taking multiple Geppo steps to accelerate himself even faster as he rushes towards it. "FIST! OF! JUSTICE!!!!!"

Pop.

An almost anticlimactic sound rings out as Garp punches clean through the island, flying straight through to the other side. The hearts of the marines fall, feeling that even Garp could do nothing to stop the island as it keeps falling.

However…

Crack! Crack!

Numerous cracks form on the bottom of the island, as the island bursts into hundreds of pieces. Garp posed gleefully at the top, before shooting back down, blasting the island once more.

Seeing this, the Marines lit up. These smaller pieces are quickly gunned down or cut by high-level swordsmen. A few devil fruit powers are mixed in with multi-colored clouds, cannon ball arms and lava fists attacking the shards.

Sakazuki does the lion's share of the clean-up incinerating most of the fragments, though occasionally a Marine gets caught in the crossfire. Whatever slips past Sakazuki is smashed by Sengoku.

In the end, the three, haggard panting figures stand before a partially ruined Marineford. Unlike during Shiki's attack, Garp and Sengoku were much older now, so this kind of physical activity took a lot out of them.

If it wasn't for Sakazuki being there, the damages could be much more severe.

"Get Tsuru, Borsalino and Kuzan in my office, NOW!" Sengoku barked at some random marine.

"But sir… Vice Admiral Borsalino died months ago?" The marine questioned, unsure if he is meant to go to the Marineford graveyard to dig up a corpse.

"Vice Admiral Borsalin-a." Sengoku almost hissed at the man, with him nodding and running away.

"What actions are we taking against the Golden Lion!?" Sakazuki asked eagerly. "Will we send a fleet to search for him? Or take all his comrades out of jail and brutally torture them for him to see? Or…"

"Enough, Sakazuki!" Sengoku barked, rubbing his brow in annoyance. "It is a futile effort to fight Shiki in the skies. On land we would barely have a chance with his Devil Fruit. Instead, I need to speak with that old fool, Vegapunk and design a defense system so this never happens again."

Meanwhile, Garp just stared up at the sky with an unsure expression on his face.

While Garp's relationship with Shiki was nowhere near his relationship with Roger, the two had fought at many times. This… it just didn't feel like something Shiki would do.

As far as pirates went, Shiki was proud and honorable, much like his epithetical lion was. To do something so shady… Garp shook his head, this wasn't Shiki.

"Then, who was it?" The marine hero murmured under his breath, staring up at the sky. Anyone who was both arrogant and powerful enough to drop an Island on Marineford needed to be monitored.

Meanwhile, Shiki himself lay back in a cot on Merveille, sipping a fruity cocktail. Next to him, two massive gorillas the size of giants were fanning the resting pirate with palm fronds.

"Ah this is the life." The old pirate said with a wide smile.

(1 Week Later)

"So, that's it?" Rex asked, staring off at the massive lightning storm in front of him. "Great, take us in.

"How exactly is that an island? It just looks like one massive thunderstorm!" Rose asked incredulously. "In fact, how does one even get a thunderstorm above the clouds!?"

"Well, given that it is in the right place and we were warned by Gan Fall of the odd weather, I feel that there is 99% chance that this is our destination." Hawkins said. "However, I am wary about venturing into the thunderstorm."

Rex sighs. He regretted ever saying that the White White Sea had good weather. Now, God was punishing him for it.

"Kid, can the King Gucci survive that storm?" Rex asked, curious about the damage to his ship. However, as he looks at Kid, he realizes there is an odd expression on his face.

"That depends." Kid said with a frown, staring at the storm like it was his mortal enemy. "What's your definition of 'survive'?"

"What do you mean?" Killer asked. "It seems to be a yes or no kind of answer."

"Let me clarify." Kid said. "If we go through that storm, that will be the final voyage of the King Gucci."

Rex frowned. The King Gucci didn't seem that frail to fail after one voyage. Fortunately, Kid explains further.

"I already suspected it would happen." Kid said staring off into the storm emotionlessly. "Between the marines, the submarine protocol and the knock-up stream, the King Gucci is on its last legs. If we go through this storm, the ship will never sail again."

"I see." Rex said, his face illegible. "Hawkins, set the course."

"What course captain?" Hawkins asked, confused as to what choice Rex had made.

"Full speed ahead. To Birka."