Chapter 17: Art is NOT an explosion!

Chapter 17: Art is NOT an explosion!

"Green Star: Bamboo Javelin!" Usopp roared as he fired another Pop Green.

"RRREEEEEEE" The nearest Nevermore cawed out in pain as it disintegrated from the mortal wound. Just as Usopp was about to prepare another shot…

BBBOOOOOOOOMMMM!

The whole Cutty Sark rocked from the shockwaves of Gustave's ship being rent asunder by Wildfire. Circe's prison started rolling back and forth across the deck. "Wha! I'll…get…you…all!" She would've continued, but she was starting to get sick.

Even Sasori and Jackal had to pause and brace themselves.

"Whoa! Hahaha, that was quite the blast!" Jackal laughed, clearly not caring about the fact that it was his own ship and allies that had been obliterated.

By that point, everyone in the vicinity finally got a good look at the incoming ship, including the name. The Queen Anne's Revenge was an enormous frigate with three masts. The sails and helm were covered in a deep crimson paint, with flecks of gold scattered throughout. At bare minimum, 30 massive cannons could be seen poking out. And for the cherry on top, the figurehead was a skeleton (most likely genuine). And it was heading right for the Cutty Sark.

At its helm, Captain Barbossa made sure that the ship steered as close as it could to land. With the opportunity, Emerald (with Compress in her pocket, and Jack the Monkey on her shoulder) leapt off to the shore. Midair, she activated her Semblance: Illusion to remain undetected, vanishing from the senses of any human or animal within her range.

With his infiltrators on the island, Barbossa turned the Queen Anne's Revenge back towards the Cutty Sark. "Pintel, Ragetti, Get the Bow ready! Everyone else, prepare for broadside! Make ready the guns!" His crewmates all scurried about.

Back on the Cutty Sark, Franky had just finished weighing the anchor. After giving an onceover to the cannons, the cyborg hurried back up to the helm. Just in time too, as the Revenge was bearing down fast. To the right of the wheel, there was a table with a variety of buttons. Franky's hand hovered over it until the last possible second.

Still, even he was surprised by what came next. When the Revenge's bow was nearly face-to-face with the Sark's…

"NOW!"

Pintel and Ragetti let the Bow flamethrowers loose. WHOOSH!

With no time to think, Franky pushed a blue button near the top of the control pad. In an instant, the Cutty Sark's figurehead of a witch moved. A hole appeared in her free hand, and a scroll unfurled itself. The Kanji for 'Water Wall' glowed and the Ocean itself rose to protect the Cutty Sark. Just in time, the water stopped the fire in its tracks.

"Damn," Franky thought, "that was too close. Least Sasori didn't make this ship completely dependent on himself. Still, need to keep track of what I fire. Only got a limited supply after all."

Speaking of Sasori, he couldn't help but give an admiring gaze at the Revenge. He'd never seen a ship use fire quite like that (on top of the previous explosion), so he was curious about the exact functions. Unfortunately, that would have to wait.

"Exploding Line!"

Sasori immediately dropped his platform of Iron Sand, effectively ducking under Jackal's beam attack. With a mere flick of a finger, Sasori shot an Iron Spear. 'Let's see if this bomber can actually fight close-range.'

Jackal scowled as he gathered his Curse. "Exploding Fist!" With a BOOM and a poof of smoke, the Iron Spear was punched right back at Sasori.

As the Ninja stopped it, he pondered his opponent. "So, he's capable of creating explosions from his own body as well, meaning that he can effectively do battle at both close and long-range, reminds me of some of those Explosion Corps Ninjas from the Hidden Rock. Although, none of them had this sort of power behind them. On top of that, it seems familiar. Wait…'

Sasori spoke up. "Tell me, you wouldn't happen to be an Etherious, would you?"

Jackal paused. "Well well well, you think you're such a smart little human, aren't you?"

The Ninja kept his cool at the taunt, though his suspicion was confirmed. "To be fair, our crew has already fought an Etherious. Went by the name Torafuzar."

"Oh," Jackal raised an eyebrow in interest. "You ran into that uptight killjoy. Tell me, how many of your weak human friends did he kill off?"

"None," Sasori smirked. "The crew managed to beat him with no casualties whatsoever. In fact, our numbers actually grew thanks to him."

Jackal barely held himself back from attacking then and there. 'How dare this worthless human brush off the strength of a Demon! Still, I'll have to be on my guard if these guys actually managed to bring Torafuzar down so easily.' As he mulled this over, he grinned.

CAW! Suddenly, a Nevermore tried to come at Sasori from behind. The former Akatsuki would've skewered the thing without a second thought, but…

"Green Star: Sargasso!"

One of Usopp's Pop Greens managed to entangle the bold Grimm, causing it to begin to plummet.

While the sniper turned back to the rest of the flock, Sasori had a funny idea. He quickly grabbed the Nevermore with some Chakra Strings, and hurled it right at Jackal.

"Caw?"

"SHIT! Exploding Line!"

The Grimm died in an instant and dissolved. Before the cover of the bird's massive body went to waste, Sasori discreetly unrolled another scroll, bringing out his latest puppet (laced with his newest poison) and sending it underwater, out of sight.

Jackal patted his Grimm stead, commanding it to get closer. Then, he moved both hands into the 'finger gun' position.

"Are you serious?" Sasori grumbled as he prepared to dodge.

"Bomb Bullet Barrage!"

Pumping Chakra into the 3rd Kazekage and the Iron Sand, Sasori managed to evade the subsequent explosions, though his 'heart' was starting to feel the heat with how close he cut it.

As Sasori evaded with Jackal in pursuit, the Queen Anne's Revenge had turned. In a matter of seconds, the ships would be facing broadside, their ports exposed to the enemy.

"NOW!" Barbossa shouted.

"FIRE!" Pintel and Ragetti roared below deck. And the Port side lit up.

Franky managed to counter with the mashing of a few buttons. Below deck, the Sark's cannons lit up and began their own bombardment. While they weren't filled with conventional cannonballs, a pre-prepared pool of Chakra was allowing them to fire off various Elemental Jutsu like Fireballs, Mud Shots, and the like.

While most of the cannonballs had been countered, a few managed to slip past and were leaving their marks on the Cutty Sark. Holes and splinters started popping up. But the Revenge wasn't getting out unscathed either. One lucky shot sent a Mud Shot straight down one of the enemy cannons, essentially spiking it.

"We've only got so much Chakra stored away," Franky thought as he pulled a lever. 'Our best option is to get some distance and prep for our stronger moves.' At the rudder, the outer layer peeled back to reveal something resembling steamboat paddles. Then, with the SUPER power of Cola, the ship began to disengage from the Revenge.

Surprisingly enough, Barbossa smirked. "Yer not getting' away that easy," he chuckled as he unsheathed his blade. The Sword of Triton seemed to hum with power. Then, he thrust it forward.

All of a sudden, the Cutty Sark stopped. "WHAT?!" Franky exclaimed. Then, the ship itself seemed to groan and sway. The wheel wasn't responding. Before Franky could react, the rigging began wrapping around his arms and legs. "Damn it!"

Normally, rigging attacking Franky wouldn't be much of an issue, but this was rigging that both he and Sasori had created, so it was much more durable than it looked. To be fair, it still wasn't enough to actually harm the cyborg, merely restrain him momentarily.

On his own end, Usopp had to put his culling of Nevermores on hold as he evaded the rigging snaking its way towards him in the Crow's Nest.

"Just hold on, Usopp!" Franky cried out. "I've got a plan to get outta this!"

"Right!" The sniper leaped around while still managing to keep the Nevermores at bay with some smaller rounds.

The Revenge started bearing down on the Cutty Sark.

Back in the air, Sasori had finally gotten enough space to renew his offensive.

"Iron Sand: Scattered Shower!"

Jackal brought his steed back, managing to avoid the Iron pellets.

By happenstance, this brought the combatants closer to the ships.

"VOLLEY!" more of his crewmates brought out personal arms, ranging from crossbows to rifles to shotguns. Aiming up, the Revenge's crew fired at Sasori, Jackal, and his Nevermores.

Two of the closest Grimm were torn to pieces. Sasori smirked as his Iron Sand: Wall blocked all the nearby projectiles. On top of that, he was able to magnetize them and keep them suspended.

On the other hand, Jackal was enraged at the interference. "Damn Humans!" Once his Nevermore got close enough, the Demon held out a hand.

"Exploding Tower!" For a brief second, a circular pattern glowed under the Revenge.

Acting quickly, Barbossa cut his left palm, and slammed it onto the railing. In the instant before the blast, Sasori saw black markings appear throughout the ship. 'Is that…?'

Before he could finish that thought, the Exploding Tower completely engulfed the ship.

When the attack cleared, a glowing bluish barrier had encircled the Revenge, completely protecting it from the Curse.

"What?" Sasori thought incredulously to himself. "That looked like a Barrier Jutsu. But how? That Captain clearly doesn't have any Chakra, but it was still his blood that activated it. Did someone figure out how to make Seals compatible with non-Chakra users, with blood as a substitute? That's not impossible, considering the enormous Chakra cost of the Summoning Jutsu is somewhat alleviated with a blood offering. It's likely that an incredibly talented Seal-Master was able to push that concept even further, if it was combined with other worlds' techniques. But who could be capable of such a thing? And why would this Pirate have his hands on it?"

While the Ninja thought of the implications of Jutsu developing enough to where everyone could use it, Jackal's thoughts weren't nearly as complicated. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!"

"I'll tear those humans apart for making a mockery of my power!" Jackal pushed his Nevermore to fly right towards the Revenge.

"NOW!" Tikka-tikka-tikka-tikka. Something had shot right out of the water, and was moving so fast that it punched right through the Nevermore.

"A Manticore?!" Jackal only had time to scream in shock as his steed started crumbling away from the damage.

The Manticore Puppet didn't stop, and drove its jaws into Jackal's leg, while his claws scratched his chest. "GAH!"

Thinking quickly, Jackal made sure his back was turned to the nearby shore. 'Damn it, no choice,' he quickly realized.

Suddenly, every part of the Manticore actually touching Jackal began to glow. Then…

BOOM!

The Puppet was blasted apart, freeing Jackal. Incidentally, the force was enough to send the Demon crashing onto the beach.

Knowing he needed to keep Jackal away from his ship, Sasori moved his Iron Platform closer to land. Ordinarily, he'd be feeling disappointed at having to repair his newest puppet so quickly after its first use, but the intel had been worth it. "So, he can detonate anything touching him. I wonder how long after initial contact his 'Curse' would affect something. Still, my Manticore isn't out just yet." With a gesture, Chakra Strings caught the parts of his Puppet, and put it back together best he could. While the mouth was nightmarishly mangled, and the right paw was destroyed, the rest of the Puppet was usable.

Without further delay, Sasori sent the Manticore forward, keeping the 3rd Kazekage and the Iron Sand by his side.

OoOoOoO

Back with the ships, the Revenge had pulled up for another broadside. This time, Barbossa was doing his damnedest to keep the enemy ship's rigging under his control. His Sword of Triton seemed to be pointing right at Franky.

Oddly enough, Franky was grinning. "That's it…you're right where I want you." Then, with only moderate difficulty, the cyborg reached out and pushed a big, red button. Now, in normal circumstances, it's very unwise to push a big, red button, yet many people have done so for the sheer novelty of it. In this case though, pushing the big, red button was exactly the thing to do.

Before Barbossa could react, the Cutty Sark's figurehead turned its head right towards him, greatly unnerving him. Then, the visage of the Scottish Witch yanked itself free of the ship. It landed with a resounding 'THUMP' on the Revenge.

On a side note, The Witch was quite possibly the greatest creation of Sasori and Franky's collaboration. A metal automaton fueled by both Cola and Chakra, it was capable of standing and fighting on its own for a limited time. Granted, it wouldn't be a very creative thinker, but it could relentlessly pursue and annihilate any enemy close enough.

As it stood there, the Horse's Tail in her hand began to extend, revealing that it was a tassel for a sword hidden in her arm. Then, it brought down a hard strike towards Barbossa. He had no choice but to release his control on the Sark's rigging, and quickly roll out of The Witch's way.

"How do you like that?" Franky brought his hands together as the rigging fell slack. "SUPER!"

Back at the Crow's Nest, Usopp was able to finally settle down now that the rigging had. To celebrate, he prepared something special for the Nevermores bearing down.

"Green Star: Skull Bombgrass!"

The shot annihilated the closest two Nevermore. 'That leaves around a dozen left. They're getting faster. Eh, it's nothing the Great Captain Usopp's Observation Haki can't handle!'

OoOoOoO

Off shore, Sasori was still floating on his Iron Sand: Platform, staring down at Jackal. The Demon had gotten up, and he was Livid.

"You Damn Human! I'm going to blast you to bits!" Jackal growled at his opponent.

"It doesn't matter if you do, I've already won," Sasori dispassionately claimed.

That was what drove Jackal over the edge. "THAT'S IT!"

He roared as his body began to change. Golden fur grew and his snout elongated. His teeth and nails became razor sharp. He gained enough muscle mass to tear apart his shirt. Overall, he resembled a golden werewolf.

Sasori raised an eyebrow at the transformation. "If this is anything like that Torafuzar's transformation…then his abilities and strength have skyrocketed. Better keep my distance."

In an instant, Jackal had jumped and appeared right beside Sasori.

"Damn it!" the former Sand Ninja instinctively raised his arm to block as he leapt back. The force was enough to send Sasori to the beach. To cover himself, he launched a barrage of Iron Sand: Scattered Shower combined with the Manticore Tail's Needles. Even though Jackal was driven back to land, he still had the sense of mind to activate his Bomb Impact.

With a flash, Sasori's left arm had been blown off. At that sight, Jackal laughed in a deeply distorted voice. That is, until he saw a Chakra String attach to the limb and reel it back in. With a click, the left arm came back into place.

"Hmm…I built these parts to withstand C3-level explosions. I'm lucky that this demon hasn't gone past that. Still, that was only a glancing blow. If he had had more time or contact…he really would've destroyed my arm."

"What are you?!" the Demon stared incredulously.

"I…" Sasori paused as he threw his cloak off, revealing his Puppet body, "am TRUE ART!"

Jackal simply roared and threw an "Exploding Spiral!" incinerating everything in front of him.

Sasori quickly hopped out of the way. "I was right…his power did increase. I don't have that sort of raw power, so keeping my distance is my only option. I just need to last a little longer."

The Manticore Tail opened fire. Supplementing that with Wind from the pipes in his arm, Sasori forced the senbons to speeds great enough to surprise Jackal. While a few managed to scratch him, the Demon kept the others away with another "Exploding Spiral!"

From behind, a chunk of Iron Sand in the shape of a pyramid hurtled at the distracted Demon. Just in time, Jackal turned around with an enhanced "Exploding Fist!" And he punched the pyramid right towards Sasori.

Seeing what was coming, the Ninja leaped away. Then, the pyramid imploded thanks to Jackal's Bomb Impact.

The only reason Sasori survived was thanks to Substituting with his Manticore, which shattered to pieces. 'Great, now I'll really need to repair it,' he thought in annoyance. "Come on, I just need to keep alive for just a bit longer."

Seeing Jackal charge, Sasori pointed an open palm. With a click, the pipe shot out fire. For the briefest moment, Jackal hesitated, flashes of his first defeat playing in his mind, phantom burns needling his senses.

That hesitation was all that Sasori needed. "Iron Sand: World Order!"

All of the Iron Sand coalesced into what appeared to be a cloud. Then, branches and spikes came down everywhere.

Jackal howled as he dodged and bashed some away with "Exploding Fist!" Still, one managed to get through, grazing across the side of the Demon's stomach.

"RARGH!" He stomped the ground. At that moment, a massive glowing circle appeared on the ground beneath Jackal, large enough to include Sasori too.

"Enhanced Landmine Curse!"

"Damn!" Sasori was clearly not expecting an attack this strong so late in the fight. "Iron Sand: Sphere!"

BBOOOOMM!

OoOoOoO

Even inside, all the fighters could feel the ground and walls tremble from the force of the last blast, with some stalactites being dislodged.

"What the hell?!" Hidan exclaimed as he parried Soul Solid. "Don't tell me that whiny little bitch of a bomber is out there too!"

"No, that wasn't Deidara," Kakuzu corrected as he crossed his Iron Skinned arms, blocking Halibel's Tiburon but still getting hit hard enough to crash into the opposite wall.

"Damn it, Jackal!" Youpi roared in agitation as he flew past some falling debris, Sanji and Mira in hot pursuit.

"What is that idiot doing out there?" Lucci scoffed while Moonwalking over the latest barrage of Balas from Grimmjow.

"He has to be in his Etherious Form to create such a blast," Gustave realized. He growled, simultaneous blocking a '5000 Brick Fist'. "Damn, there must be a powerful enemy out there to force Jackal's hand like that. We need to hurry things up if that's the case."

The crocodile turned to his horde at the entrance. "Stop delaying you simpering pups! CRUSH THEM ALL!" With that 'encouragement', the animals and Grimm started pressing ever closer to Apacci, Nami, and Silver.

OoOoOoO

Jackal panted, but his monstrous visage gave off a satisfied feel. All of the Iron Sand: World Order was collapsing. As for the Sphere around Sasori, it had been just enough to keep him alive, but it didn't look good. His 3rd Kazekage was lying in pieces in front of him, since he desperately used that as a 'human shield' on top of the Sphere's defense. There were burns all over Sasori's Puppet body, even a few on his 'heart'.

"HAHAHAHA! You weak little human! Give up! It's all you can do to stand. This is what happens when people try to take down a superior de…" Jackal suddenly didn't have the strength to stand, and collapsed. As he did so, his Etherious Form began to dissolve, reverting him to his normal appearance.

"What's…happening?" his vision was starting to get blurry.

"Hehehe, took long enough. I was starting to wonder if it actually worked," Sasori quietly chuckled.

"The Hell you talking about?" Jackal began to roar, but coughed instead.

"I poisoned you," Sasori simply said.

"What? But when? Wait a minute," Jackal recalled the fight. He saw the Manticore biting and clawing him. The senbon fired out of its tail later. The Iron Sand: World Order grazing his stomach. But which was it?

"All of them, I've been pumping more and more poison into you as this fight dragged on. You should've dropped a few seconds after that first injury the Manticore inflicted. It was probably due to your Etherious physiology," Sasori revealed.

"How? How could I be defeated by a poison for pathetic humans?" Jackal started writhing on the ground.

"Because this poison was the ultimate culmination of years of research by the Hidden Sand's finest minds. Still, it took you far too long to succumb, on top of it requiring too much toxin to actually do the job. I would've died if I simply waited you out like I did in my first life. Perhaps I should alter my concoction with samples from that Torafuzar's poison. That way, any Etherious I faced in the future would be dead with just a scratch," Sasori gave an eerie smirk as he approached the downed Jackal. "I won't make the same mistake as I did with young Kankurō," he claimed as his 'intestine stinger' unfurled.

"DAMN YOU!" All of a sudden, Jackal started to glow. "You're coming to Hell with me!" Pillars of light began forming around him.

"Are all bombers such sore losers?" Sasori backed up and started thinking quickly. "I need to get him out of range of this island, or my ship and I will both be blown to bits."

Thankfully, the 3rd Kazekage was still functional, if barely. It was just enough to form a spear with hooks on the end in front of Sasori. Then, he placed both open palms behind the flat end of his creation. Wind Chakra (supplemented with Franky's improvements) bulged in his right arm. Fire Chakra gathered in his left arm. From the soles of his feet, he literally nailed himself into the ground.

"Iron Sand: RAILGUN!"

There was a WHOOSH! And the Iron creation blasted forward at ridiculous speeds.

"GAH!" The hooks impaled Jackal in the shoulder. It was going at such power, that it drug the Demon along with it out to sea. "DAMN YOU!" Jackal's voice began to fade as the sight of him became smaller and smaller towards the west.

Sasori panted as he kept his Iron Sand together til the last possible moment. Then…

KRA-BBOOOOOOMM!

While there was quite the burst of wind following the explosion, Sasori didn't seem too impressed.

"Looks like he cut back on power when he realized he was too far away to actually take anyone with him. He might still be alive," the Ninja scoffed. "But I can't worry about that now." He turned to the caves, briefly sensing all the ridiculous power being thrown around in there. Deciding to leave it to his crew, Sasori gathered up and sealed his Puppets, knowing they wouldn't be useful until after the battle. He then turned, and started running on the water towards the Cutty Sark.

OoOoOoO

Captain Barbossa was NOT happy. He was currently in a swordfight with The Witch figurehead come to life. Granted, the automaton didn't have anything resembling skill, but her strength on top of being twice as tall as the Pirate certainly compensated.

As the duel went on, Barbossa quickly learned to not directly attempt to match. Rather, he'd use the creation's own momentum against it. Even then, the Sword of Triton's own unnatural durability was the only thing keeping him alive.

He feinted to the left, prompting the automaton to step forward and swing. Instead of clashing, Barbossa brought his sword up. In the blink of an eye, the rigging had wrapped around the creature's leg. Now off-balance, The Witch tumbled to the ground with a THUMP!

Moving fast, Barbossa quickly had more rigging tie up The Witch, separating it from its sword while suspending it in a scarecrow-like position. His smirk quickly fell when The Witch began to rip apart 'her' bindings. On top of that, her sword was starting to move back towards her.

Thinking fast, Barbossa had the rigging throw The Witch off the Revenge, her sword hovering after her.

"Green Star: Impact Wolf!"

CCAAAWWW!

Usopp cheered as the last Nevermore started plummeting down, disintegrating in the process.

At that point, Barbossa realized that the sniper would be turning towards the Revenge soon enough. He also spotted that red-head running on the water back towards the ships still barraging each other. The Captain was just about to give the order…

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

And he turned to see The Witch using 'her' bare hands to punch in footholds and climb up the Bow.

"Get off our ship!" Pintel and Ragetti shouted and let loose the Greek Fire flamethrowers in the thing's face.

FWOOSH!

When the fire subsided, The Witch was still there. Half her face was burnt off, revealing a glowing red eye along with a metal skull, along with slabs of charred wood loosely hanging from her jaw.

The two pirates immediately began to regret all their life choices as The Witch brought back a fist aimed for them.

Up above, Barbossa removed the bandage from his bloody palm, and slammed it down on another part of the railing. 'Damn, only got a few more shields left to use.'

In an instant, another Barrier appeared. In the process, it cut through The Witch's punching arm, while dislodging the rest of the automaton. With nothing to hold onto, The Witch fell back into the water.

"EEP!" Pintel and Ragetti shrieked and hugged each other as the arm fell right in front of them.

The rest of the crew was eyeing them.

"What're you bilge rats starin' at?!" Pintel turned and roared, sending a shiver down the crew.

"Right…Captain's put the shield up." Ragetti went back to barking orders. "So get those oars out and start rowing us out of here while it lasts!"

With that, the crew scurried about, unfurled the oars, and rowed with all their might. To add to that, Barbossa thrust the Sword of Triton forward, making the ship move forward as well. If the crew hadn't gotten used to that, they would've tumbled to the floor.

OoOoOoO

Back on the Cutty Sark, Franky grinned at the damage that The Witch had inflicted. 'Ah…nothing like a SUPER test run,' he thought in satisfaction. 'Honestly, with a sword that feels so powerful, I'm surprised The Witch did as well as it did.'

He pushed the big, red button again. This time, The Witch started coming back, and secured herself back to her place on the bow. It was only now that Franky noticed the melted face and missing arm. "Aww man…am I gonna have to go over there and get that arm back?"

"No need," Sasori's cool voice called out as he climbed back on deck.

"Oh man," Franky cringed at the sight. "You look like crap."

"Your unparalleled insight truly is a gift to humanity," the Ninja glared at the cyborg. "Anyways…the rest of The Witch should catch up after the shield goes down."

OoOoOoO

Once the Queen Anne's Revenge had gotten some distance, the Barrier Jutsu began to dissipate.

Unnoticed by the rowers, The Witch's hand twitched.

Once the defense went down, the entire crew seemed to breath a sigh of relief.

Then, the hand instantly got up on all its fingers, and started scuttling down the deck. Needless to say, the crew started to panic. It then leapt forward, fingers outstretched as if to grab someone's face.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Both Pintel and Ragetti had emptied their pistols into the hand, sending it falling. The two were silent as they approached. The pointer finger twitched.

"AAAHHH!" The pirates screamed and kicked the hand out of an open cannon port, becoming more at ease after hearing a splash. In their panic, they had forgotten what it was made of. With the adrenaline gone, the duo were now hopping on one foot while clutching their throbbing toes. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Pintel, Ragetti…get up here!" their Captain called from the helm.

Once the two had limped up the stairs, Barbossa handed Ragetti his scope, pointing it towards the island. "Things are starting to get out of hand there."

The one-eyed man gaped at the sight of the island's natural features beginning to crumble, with the occasional flash of light (typically blue or gold) from the cave openings.

"We can't risk another volley with that Cutty Sark," Barbossa came to realize. "We'll keep our distance, but we still need to stay close enough to shore for Emerald, Compress, and Jack to get back with the Chest."

With that, he came to decision. "We'll keep circling around the island. Tell the men below to stay rowing so we stay out of range. But have some men on the cannons to keep up bombardment on Cipactli's beached animals."

"Aye Sir," the duo rushed back down to relay his orders.

OoOoOoO

On the Cutty Sark, Usopp aimed his Kuro Kabuto at the Queen Anne's Revenge. "I could still take them out."

"No, save your ammo," Sasori advised as he applied a sort of cream to his 'heart's' burns.

"Huh…why'd you say that?" Franky was scooping the hand out of the water, his welding equipment on standby.

"Look at the island. And really try to feel it," Sasori told them.

Franky and Usopp's eyes widened at the rumbling that was emanating from the island.

"We have the Revenge on the run," Sasori pointed out. "So we can afford to save our big guns on whatever comes out of there…which will obviously be a greater threat if the rest of the crew can't handle it."

"Hey! I have faith in my SUPER friends," Franky protested.

"Faith shouldn't blind you to preparing for a likely scenario," Sasori argued.

"Che," Franky scoffed as he turned the wheel. For now, the Cutty Sark would keep the Revenge in its sights, but they would withhold fire in case something worse came along.

OoOoOoO

On shore, Tsuyu and Hanataro were starting to make their way towards the entrance.

"1000 Brick Tongue Slap!" the Rainy Season Hero whacked a bull on its skull, earning a cry as the bovine collapsed.

In response, a bobcat clawed across Tsu's exposed tongue. "AHH!"

"Hang on," her Soul Reaper comrade called out. "Bakudō #9: Geki!" The bobcat instantly froze, paralyzed by the Reiatsu. He quickly made his way to Tsu. Hanataro then brought his Zanpakutō, Hisagomaru, on the tongue. With a puff of red smoke, the wounds vanished while a red light slowly crept an inch or two towards the tip of the blade. Then, he Flash Stepped back to the bobcat. With a swing of his Hisagomaru, he hit the creature. This time, the red line of light got a little smaller, and a wound appeared on the bobcat, as if by its own claws.

As a reminder, Hanataro's Zanpakutō, Hisagomaru, isn't normally a katana capable of cutting. When young, all he could do was simply take in the damage of any injury his blade touched, and unleash it all in one big blast once it transformed into Shikai. Now though, after more centuries of practice, he could now take in and release damage at will. For example, in this battle, he went in with the red light already more than ¾ full, giving him plenty of leeway as he waited to take in any injuries inflicted in the present brawl. How did he accomplish this, you may ask? Well, recall that he healed Circe, who had been absolutely demolished by Kisame. When tending to someone who loses to someone like that, there was plenty for him to work with.

Anyway, back to the story. Tsu gave her tongue a quick lookover. Satisfied, she leapt high into the air. Then, she aimed and let gravity do its thing.

"RIBBIT!" CRUNCH! And so ended a supposedly mighty boar.

"We're almost at the entrance!" Hanataro exclaimed. Right after he said that, as if the universe was intent on mocking him, three big rabbits blocked the path. Just as they were about to lunge at him…

"Arabesque Brick Fist!" Tsuyu seemingly just punched the air.

It took a second, but…"GAH!" The rabbits were blasted apart.

"Huh…huh…huh…huh," Tsu panted from the effort of that next-level Fishman Karate. "Guess that's…a little…advanced…for me."

"Hold on," Hanataro slapped the sword on her torso. She felt the fatigue wash away, and watched as Hisagomaru reached near-full. Once done, he pulled the blade back. "You ready?" he asked.

"Absolutely," the Pro-Hero gave a determined nod.

Tsu hopped onto the ceiling of the cave, sticking to it thanks to her Quirk's enhancements, while Hanataro ran on the air. That way, they avoided the vast majority of the animals making their way through the cave. Still, they didn't go unnoticed. The animals began to holler and wail at the sight of their enemy, but only a few were able to get at them, such as birds and wall-crawlers like lizards. And those came one-at-a-time, so it wasn't anything Tsu or Hanataro couldn't handle.

"Hold on Sensei," Tsu thought of Jinbe. "We're coming."

OoOoOoO

At the entrance of the cavern, Emerald was doing her damnedest to keep everyone nearby under her Semblance: Illusion. "Damn it…it really is a warzone in here." She leaped aside as a wolf zapped by lightning crashed where she was standing. "Just because they don't know they're throwing bodies at you doesn't make it any less annoying," she grumbled.

Finally, she got some distance between her and those rabid animals. She turned to the trio holding back the horde. The two girls had stayed focused, assuring Emerald that her Semblance was working. As for Silver, his mechanical eye was staring right at her as he continued firing into the crowd. Smirking, she started giving hand signals to the cyborg.

Silver growled to himself. 'If Emerald's here…then the boss has decided to get that chest out of here. But how?' He kept his eyes on Emerald, who winked as she brought out a glowing blue marble, the monkey on her shoulder tilting its head.

'Oh…Compress is here too. At least that'll make extraction more manageable. Now…maybe this'll work while keeping my cover.' Silver waited for the opportune moment. He saw Emerald concentrate.

"Sensei!" Tsuyu called out as she emerged from the tunnel.

"Tsu, No!" Jinbe called out while crossing Haki-covered arms to block Gustave's punch. Leering at that little show of attachment, the crocodile started running back to the entrance, intent on hitting Jinbe where it really hurt.

"Forget about someone, pal?"

Kisame crouched down and SLAMMED Samehada into Gustave's knee, earning a roar of pain.

With the others nearby distracted, Tamatoa started stomping towards the entrance.

"Now!" Silver saw his chance. He took aim at the crab, seemingly to give cover to Nami and Apacci. Then, his Howitzer fired.

While the crab hadn't actually been damaged, it still paused when it felt a certain something dislodge itself. Silver had obliterated the gold keeping the chest in place on his back. Now, the Aztec treasure was sailing through the air, its lid still tight.

The whole cavern went still as they saw the chest make its trajectory.

THUMP!

The chest landed upright, somehow completely intact despite its age. However, the lid had slid a few feet, revealing the contents for all to see. Hundreds of golden medallions, with the visage of a skull engraved on both sides, glittered in the light of the cavern.

No one dared take their eyes off each other. Until…

"Milky Hand!" Nami instantly created an arm made of clouds and grabbed the chest, reeling it in. Those close to her would swear they heard a 'Ka-ching' from the navigator.

"NO, YOU IDIOT!" Apacci roared at her newfound comrade, but was forced elsewhere by the roaring herd of Beringal Grimm.

Before the chest could get close, Youpi had swooped down and grabbed it. The Chimera Ant pulled hard enough to break the cloud apart, his wings pulling him back certainly helping.

When the clouds dissipated, one small sliver that had hovered over the lid made its way to Nami's pocket.

Youpi then glowered at the navigator. "You're next!" As he created a long, third arm to secure the chest, the accompanying hand began to reach into the chest. He flew directly towards them.

"Crosse Strike!" In a single move, Sanji had torn through Youpi's third wrist and the corresponding upper arm, separating him from the chest. He then rammed his fiery Haki-enhanced foot in the Ant's chest.

"GAH!" Youpi slammed to the ground, his now-disembodied fist falling onto his burned chest. With a bit of effort, his flesh opened up to take in his fist, quickly closing. "Guess I won't be able to accomplish my mission with that blondie flying around," the Chimera Ant admitted. Getting himself some room, he gave a quick blast of Rage Incarnate, forcing Sanji to Sky Walk around him. He took flight just as Mirajane punched the ground he'd been on.

With the fighters at the entrance distracted, the metaphorical dam was broken. Gustave's horde of Grimm and animals came pouring into the cavern.

Now, for the briefest moment, thanks to screaming horde, no one was watching the chest. And that moment was all Emerald needed. She threw out the glowing marble, Jack the Monkey screeching in delight as he hopped to the chest, took out a medallion, and climbed back to her. With a flash of light (Emerald cursed at having to hide that too), Mr. Compress came out and took a bow. He then put a hand on the chest, quickly reducing it to a blue marble and putting it inside his vest.

Further back, both Kisame and Kakuzu had that nagging feeling in the back of their minds that something was off. Ever since Tsu had come in, something different was in the air. Kisame took a long look at the frog-girl, and saw that her stance was off. It took him a second to realize she wasn't using Fishman Karate.

"Wait a minute…are you serious?" Kisame grumbled. "RELEASE!"

"So that's it…RELEASE!" Kakuzu quickly followed suit.

To the Ninjas' anger, both Tsu and the chest were gone. In its place, a dark-skinned woman with green hair stood with a monkey on her shoulder, biting on a medallion. By her side was a lean man in an orange suit, black vest, top hat, and white mask.

"Jinbe! Halibel!" Kisame roared as he blocked Gustave's claws with Samehada. "It's an illusion! Tsu's not there! The chest is gone!"

Kakuzu had gone with a more direct approach, firing a "Wind Style: Pressure Damage" right at those who had dared to try and swindle him out of his treasure. Much to Halibel's bemusement, it looked like he was firing at nothing.

"Blast!" Compress tumbled to the side.

"SCREE!" Jack jumped like his life depended on it (though it really didn't).

"SHIT! How did those two see through my illusion?" she panted as she dodged. "No point in keeping it up then. Can't fight while concentrating on that."

With her Semblance released, everyone else was finally able to get a good look at the two newcomers. Honestly, it was impressive that the thieves didn't faint on the spot with how many angry faces were sent their way.

"GET THEM!" Rob Lucci roared while he tanked Grimmjow's claws with a Haki-enhanced Iron Body. With that encouragement, all the animals charged at the two.

Knowing full well that they didn't stand a chance in a straight-up fight. The three began to run to the exit. Before they could leave…

"Fishman Karate: 1000 Brick Fist!"

Tsu had shot out of the entrance, and slammed into Emerald. Even though she had blocked with her Thief's Respite pistols, that was still enough force to floor her. Thinking fast, she opened fire, prompting Tsu to hop and take evasive action.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Froppy, the Rainy Season Hero of Class 1-A?" Compress lunged forward, intent on compressing one of his long-time foes.

Before he could get close though, he felt something ominous behind him.

"Give me back my gold!" Nami shrieked as she sent lightning towards him.

Compress immediately countered by throwing out some marbles, revealing that he'd hidden massive boulders as ammo. Effectively blocking the lightning and putting Nami on the defense, Compress started running back to get some distance.

"You won't get away that easy!" Nami pursued.

Deciding that his master needed at least one Medallion, Jack ignored his companions' plights and began to run towards the entrance.

"COO-COO-COO (Tempest Wing)!" Out of nowhere, Hattori, Lucci's pet pigeon, threw razor wind at Jack, forcing him back into the cavern.

With the monkey off balance, Hattori shot forward. "COO (Beak Pistol)!" In one fell swoop, the pigeon had impaled the monkey onto the wall.

Click.

"COOO (Iron Body)!"

BANG! Despite the seeming mortal injury, Jack had brought out his own pistol and fired, forcing the pigeon off. It was only thanks to the last minute defense that Hattori was still in fighting condition.

"Coo (How could you have survived)?"

Jack simply bared his teeth in a grin, and held up his new shiny medallion. Hattori's eyes widened.

"COO (FILTHY PIRATE)!"

Jack screeched and lunged at Hattori.

Elsewhere things were starting to take a turn. To put it simply, Brook and Juvia were unable to contain Hidan once Gustave's horde made its way to them.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Hidan was having a blast with the deluge of enemies that he could cut, his scythe a whirl of red amongst the black blood. In the process, he was getting farther away from the two.

"We can't let him get away!" Juvia shouted. "Water Cane!" She was just about to whip the Akatsuki, but a Beowolf got in her way, disintegrating from the attack.

"I'm on it!" Brook hopped, but was unable to ignore some nearby jaguars. Forced to deal with them, he changed his attack. In the blink of an eye, he was behind them. "Three-Pace Hum, Soul Notch Slash!" Black blood came pouring out of the animals, freeing them of their dark god's influence.

"He was able to separate Lord Cipactli's blood without killing them? IMPOSSIBLE!" Gustave roared.

Back to Brook, he had landed after his attack. Upon that though, he began to feel woozy. The skeleton looked down and saw that he was knee deep in water. To be honest, with how serious Kisame and Halibel were getting, it was a miracle the whole cavern hadn't flooded yet. But in all fairness, they weren't solely to blame. The intensity of all the fights was beginning to wear down the cavern, and the island as a whole, slowly giving way to seawater.

When Brook realized this, Hidan had appeared right in front of him, using Chakra to stand on the water. "You're starting to slow down," he gave a mean smile before slashing across the skeleton's chest. His eyes widened as a piece of rib was cracked off.

Hidan grabbed the bone. "Ya know, I've really only tried my ritual with blood, since that was the easiest part of my enemy to get. I wonder if other body parts would work."

"TRIDENT!"

Before he could get a chance to test that theory, his body split in half, right down the middle. "GAH! YOU FU…" Hidan didn't get to finish that insult on account of his halved mouths being submerged in water.

Halibel lined up her Tiburon to take a finishing shot.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Kakuzu had managed to fly close to Hidan, and slammed his palms down. The Jutsu quickly obscured them from sight.

"Cero!" The blast obliterated the Jutsu, but the two Akatsuki had already escaped underground. Or rather, Kakuzu had taken cover and drug Hidan's halves with him.

Irritated, Halibel swung Tiburon to the side. Incidentally, that decimated every animal that had been bothering their Fairy Tail witch. "Juvia!" the Hollow called out. "Start clearing a path to the entrance and out the cave. This battleground won't last much longer until the sea reclaims it. Make sure the rest of our crew can get out when that time comes."

"Right! Water Nebula!" the witch carved another chunk out of the horde.

"Brook, your Devil Fruit won't do you much good for long, so get going," Halibel firmly decided.

"What about that Akatsuki?" the Pirate asked as he resorted to his usual 'running on water'.

As if on cue, Hidan (now with big ol' stitches down his middle, including his face) and Kakuzu popped out of the ground, both lunging at Halibel.

Narrowing her eyes, she caught Kakuzu's Iron-Skinned punch with her free left hand, and completely stopped the triple-bladed scythe with Tiburon.

"I'll deal with them." There wasn't any arrogance or anger in that statement. Just pure fact. And that infuriated Hidan and Kakuzu.

Off to the side, Kisame took a glance at the stand-off between Halibel and the Immortal Duo, and laughed.

Omake: Sea of Second Chances: The Musical (tribute to CoolCarnage, who's actually writing fun One-Shots of SoSC on AO3…go check it out if you're interested)

The battle had just begun in Tamatoa's Horde. The fighters were starting to square off against each other.

Except for Tamatoa, who had noticed two of the newcomers just staring at him. It was the blonde woman and the blue-skinned man. He would've said something, but he heard a full-blown orchestra start up in the background. "What the…?"

Kisame and Halibel then began humming along, slowing getting closer to Tamatoa.

"Crab legs, crab legs

How we love crab legs

Love to chop and to serve little fish!"

Tamatoa was sweating bullets at the looks the pair was giving him. It only got worse when Samehada and Tiburon were pulled out.

"First we'll cut off the head

Then we'll pull out the bones!"

Now, the hungry swordsman and woman were attempting to make the lyrics reality. Tamatoa wasn't quite at screaming like a baby as he dodged and ran…but he was getting close.

"With our swords we'll hack him in two.

We'll pull out what's inside

And serve it up fried!

God, we love crab legs, don't you?"

At this point, Tamatoa was backing towards the exit, unable to stop picturing himself chopped up on a plate.

"Here's something for tempting the palate,

prepared in the classic technique.

First we POUND the crab flat with a mallet.

Then we slash through the skin.

Give the belly a slice

Then we'll rub some salt in

'Cause that makes it taste nice!"

Even Sanji, Mira, and Silver joined in, ever so helpfully bringing in all the other ingredients for a lovely dinner. Although, Kisame and Halibel were simply throwing globs of it on poor Tamatoa at this point.

"How on earth will we miss

such a sweet little succulent crab?

What a shame, what a loss

Here we go, in the sauce

Now some flour, just a dab.

Now we'll stuff you with bread

It won't hurt, cause you're dead

And you're certainly lucky you are!"

"NO!" Tamatoa screamed at Kisame and Halibel to no avail as they drug him towards a big ol' cooking pot that now happened to be there.

"Cause it's gonna be hot in that big silver pot!

Toodaloo! Sweet crab legs!

Au Revoir!

The orchestra ended. Jinbe just stared at the scene in front of him. "Shouldn't we be stopping this?"

"You kidding?" Grimmjow laughed. "This is the best dinner I've seen in weeks!"

"And it is free," Kakuzu agreed.

"What has my life become?" Jinbe asked whatever higher power would listen.

A.N. Again…big shoutout to CoolCarnage. I never thought my ramblings of insanity would catch on like this. Also thank you to everyone who's left a comment, review, favorite, kudos, and what have you.

Alrighty…finished a few fights. Now, all the action of this arc will mostly take place in the cavern itself. I'm really proud of Sasori vs. Jackal, since it was the first time I got to really push our resident anti-social puppet-man. I really wanted to emphasize that while Jackal had the greater brute strength and destructive power…that was NEVER how Sasori won his fights. Although, that Iron Sand: Railgun might beg to differ.

Also happy that I got to finally show off some of what the Cutty Sark itself could do…and the Queen Anne's Revenge was certainly a worthy opponent.

Now, next chapter will focus on that most awesome of fights that I've concocted. That's right…JACK VS. HATTORI (which was inspired by the wonderful This Bites! OP fanfic)! LOL, but seriously…the main focus of next chapter will be Halibel vs. The Immortal Duo…and I'm gonna have me some fun. But that's not to say that I won't be wrapping up some other fights.

Til Next Time…Have Fun!