Catching Up, Fate and Duel

____________ POV Narration ____________ 

Enel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he arrived back on his throne. his awakened state already turned off. 

He was already sitting down as he reformed in front of everyone at the table. He didn't really know how to break the news to everyone.

Especially since Kizaru and some of the other Marines were supposedly quite close to Vegapunk and some of the people on Egghead Island.

But then again, most of the people that were important in Egghead were with Luffy. Hell, even Sentomaru was now sailing on Luffy's ship for some god-forsaken reason.

So in the end, the best way to break the news was to just be blunt.

"Yeah, so... Egghead is somewhat in ruins." 

The Emperor's serious gaze scanned the table before his lips turned into a scowl.

Kizaru snapped his head at Enel in that moment, his overall mood and the atmosphere around him changing instantly. The Light Admiral immediately started to bombard the Emperor with questions, breaking his usually lazy facade. 

He calmed down and returned to normal quite quickly when he found out that Sentomaru and Vegapunk were both fine. 

Sengoku was quite composed, seemingly expecting something like that to happen.

"It's only natural that the World Government tries to get rid of Vegapunk, he's always been a bit of a wild cannon, and they can't risk having him at their side in the upcoming war." The Former Fleet Admiral's reasoning was quite sound.

He also had the most knowledge regarding the dynamics between the government's deals with Vegapunk.

"But they do seem to have taken the Seraphims, and one of Vegapunk's satellites was missing. Greed, I think." Enel seemed to accept Sengoku's reasoning as well. 

"... I did hear word that the Elders had a mole on Vegapunk's side, I thought they were just referring to the Agents on the island, but I guess not..." Akainu scowled as he remembered a few meetings with the elders where they had spoken briefly about the scientist.

"This doesn't bode well, especially if they can somehow control the Seraphims." Sengoku's hair seemed to be whitening more and more from the stress of the situation. 

"Well, they have one of Vegapunk's satellites on their side, so it's safe to assume they 'can' control the Seraphs." Garp chewed on a cracker as he made a point that most people also thought about.

"Well, not really. I doubt the Sattelite currently with them is functional currently.

Vegapunk's satellites all need to be within a certain distance of the 'Punk Records' and I am assuming that it is currently with the straw hats..." Kizaru rubbed his chin as he remembered some details about Vegapunk's brain.

This caused Sengoku to give the light admiral a sideways glance, as he remembered no such information from Kizaru's reports regarding the mad scientist. 

Among the people in the room, Borsalino was the one with the most knowledge regarding the way that the scientist worked and operated. 

He always reported to Sengoku at that time, but he also kept a few things secret at the behest of Sentomaru. It took no effort to omit some details after all, not that Kizaru's reports were ever all that specific or detailed due to his laziness...

"Well, in that case, we should be able to overwrite their authority with the help of Vegapunk... Unless the World Government finds some way to alter their programming in the meantime." Dragon remembered that the Government still had plenty of scientists on its side.

The Seraphs were rather complex in nature, but they were still androids at the end of the day. Genetically modified and mechanically enhanced Lunarians.

Their minds were constantly controlled by orders, and the only thing that mattered was the order of priority that Vegapunk had set.

The Elders had obviously requested that they were to be the highest priority, but Vegapunk had likely not done such a thing... Unless York, Vegapunk's greed, had altered the Seraphs without anyone's knowledge.

"Whatever... We're still just dealing with kid Lunarians, even if they somehow inherit Xebec's skills through Linage Factor, they will still be rather simple to fight. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Garp sighed as he remembered just how vicious Xebec was during his time.

But the Xebec of back then was a fully grown adult, not a child grown out of a test tube and given cybernetic enhancements. 

 "Well, there's also one silver lining here... One of the Seraphs has Xebec's soul.

It should still be able to influence the body to some extent, and Xebec would sooner kill himself ten times over than take orders from the Celestial Dragons." Whitebeard laughed a bit as he thought of the former Rock Pirate Captain's reaction to being ordered around by any of the elders.

Needless to say, even if the elders were strong, the Golden Lion didn't imagine that they would've survived trying to pull such a stunt. 

"Well, they are robots at the end of the day, even if more fleshy than others. I'll just fry them with a wave of my hand if necessary." Enel shrugged and shook his head, choosing not to worry about that anymore.

There was a chance that fighting IMU was going to take his full attention, but with Luffy's help, he was sure to be able to spare some glances to the side, even if very brief. 

In his awakened state, Enel needed only the blink of an eye to wipe out an island. But the Government was more than likely aware of that as well, so they must've had something prepared.

Hell, Raijin himself was obviously capable of that, and he still lost. So Enel expected IMU to be able to counter most of anything thrown his way somehow. 

But Enel was not going to give up as easily. IMU was bailed out by fate all those years back, there was no such thing as saving him now. 

Enel sighed as he felt a bit more confident with that train of thought. 

He then opened his eyes and smiled.

"So... Mind telling me why Mihawk and Francisco are facing each other on one of the islands right now?" Enel's smile strained a bit as he looked at the people around the table with scrutiny.

He had trusted them, and he had left for a whole 2 minutes while looking at egghead. He noticed they weren't at the table first thing as soon as he came in, but decided to hold off on it at first. 

"Well... It was clear that they wanted to fight, the only way for us to stop them would've been to physically hold them back, and I doubt either of them would appreciate that." Dragon recalled the strained atmosphere in the room as the two swordsmen stood up.

Shiki was the one to point them towards an empty island, and they went there without any hesitation. 

"Yeah, boys will be boys at the end of the day..." Big Mom seemed to be quite excited to find out which one of them would come out on top.

Enel just sighed, most of the Marines didn't bother stopping the two as they couldn't be bothered, the revolutionaries didn't want to antagonize them and the pirates wanted to see who would come out on top.

It seemed that the only one against them fighting was Enel. 'Majority vote huh...'

"If they come close to injuring each other too much I am stopping them." The Emperor shook his head and spread out his senses, closing his eyes as he moved his mind to that scene.

Dracule Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world, with Yoru already drawn and held in both hands, with its blade aimed at Francsico, the strongest swordsman of the previous generation, already clutching his blade, the Saber of Xebec in one hand.

Without a word, they launched themselves into action, their swords flashing in a deadly dance. They didn't use any haki at first, instead, they displayed their skill with their blades. 

it seemed like a blur of movement, each strike and parry executed with precision and grace.

Each time one gained ground, he was forced back, all the same, every slash, swipe and thrust was matched in intensity, strength and skill.

The ground around them became filled with scars, as they continued their dance, each and every slash aiming for an ending, but only serving to prolong their battle. 

Eventually, the two pushed each other back, and Francisco smiled, dust rising as their unmoving feet dragged on the broken ground beneath them. 

Neither swordsman took a step back, and neither one made a move at that moment. 

Throughout that confrontation, it was clear that the two of them were matched in skill. But they were entirely different.

Their understanding of the sword was fundamentally different.

Francisco relied on speed, accuracy and surprise bursts of speed and strength. 

Mihawk on the other hand was a lot more steady, his style more heavy, sharp.

t was hard to describe for Enel, who was a layman when it came to swordsmanship, but Mihawk's style felt more refined in a sense. 

But, even though their levels were similar, results still varied.

Mihawk had a few very small scratches on him, including the one on his cheek, and Francsico had one slightly larger scratch on his torso. 

Overall, one could say that the first round had ended in a stalemate. 

"I must say... I was not expecting you to be this skilled. But the true winner will only be decided in the coming bout..." Francisco smiled, his blue eyes glistening with a red tint as a wide smile spread on his lips.

"No need for words... Let's let our blades speak for us." Mihawk matched his gaze in intensity, a smile calmer smile spread on his lips as his yellow eyes glistened with a green hue. 

The gazes of the swordsmen met in the middle, and in a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, the world around them slowed down, and the air crackled with energy.

The clash of their swords had sent shockwaves rippling through the air, and the ground trembled beneath their feet. But now it was time for a different type of clash.

Suddenly, the sky above them split open. a burst of green and red lightning sprouting from each fighter's eye and meeting in the middle, the colours swirling and dancing between them like ethereal ribbons. 

A clash of Conquerors. A battle of wills that transcended mere physical combat. At the end of the day, willpower was the most important component of a swordsman.

In fact, a man wielding a sword would never be called a swordsman, no matter how skilful, unless they had at least some basic understanding of Haki. 

So for two master swordsmen, a clash of willpower was simply natural. 

As their auras collided, the very space between them was bending, the distance seemed to become meaningless. 

Mihawk's eyes narrowed, his focus unyielding as he poured every ounce of his strength into the clash. Francisco met his gaze head-on, his own determination shining through the storm of concentrated Willpower that surrounded them.

For what felt like an eternity, they stood locked in a stalemate, neither willing to take a step back. 

Francisco's Conqueror's Haki seemed to be sharp and threatening. Mihawk's Conqueror's Haki was steady and resilient, neither willing to lessen in intensity. 

Yoru, the Black Blade immediately started glowing in Mihawk's hands, green lighting rolling off of its edge in an instant. 

The Saber of Xebec also gained a metallic sheen, as red lighting started enveloping it completely.

The intentions of the swordsmen were clear. They were going to conclude their duel with one last clash. 

But before each of them could take a step forward, a gigantic flash of light filled thier vision, breaking thier concentration.

A gigantic pillar of lightning hit the middle of the battlefield in that same instant, a thunderbolt resounding in the skies and cracking the ground, splintering the island that the swordsmen were on completely.

Mihawk and Francsico were both forced to stop and jump away, both of them sweating a bit.

Both of them sheathed their swords swiftly. With a tacit understanding, they nodded towards each other. 

'It's better if we stop now, but we shall settle this another day.' 

Enel sighed as the island he had just fractured started healing thanks to Shiki's interference. He felt the displeasure of both swordsmen, but he knew that one of them could easily have died if he had let that final clash continue.

'Why do swordsmen have to always be so stubborn?' 

Enel just shook his head and set his sights on the next target... The Thousand Sunny. 

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Hope you liked today's chapter! Next one will be more about Nika and the Strawhats and alldat

In the advanced chapters on patre.on, I'm already in the final war ark, and It's kinda shaping up into a total constant action fest :)) It's pretty fun to write tbh 

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