The Flying Lion's Rage and Confusion
_________ POV Narration_________
Wyper didn't quite know why everyone was scrambling so frantically, he was a bit confused, at least until he finally saw it in the distance.
A huge, floating island just as big as their own, if not bigger, it was just hovering in the air, directly in their course.
'If the wind doesn't change, it will be a full-on collision...'
Wyper instantly started panicking when he thought about that. But he somewhat calmed down when he remembered that his new Conqueror's Haki teacher was also on the island.
'Pretty sure he can do something about this... I hope.'
Wyper thought to himself as he started hurrying to Gan Fall's side. He was still one of the Sky God's Guards, so he needed to be there in case something major happened.
Not like he could stop the islands from colliding anyway, so Wyper didn't even bother thinking about it anymore.
Francisco and Garp also woke up at about the same time.
Garp was still in the city, so it wasn't hard for him to hear the commotion.
Francisco on the other hand was near Enel's old cabin, sleeping in a cabin nearby that was built specifically for Bonney.
He only woke up because his senses somewhat flared up at the odd amount of movement in Skypea.
Francisco was hammered, as he had drunk with the gluttonous pirate the whole night as a way to thank her for restoring his youth.
His sleep wasn't exactly deep, as he liked to be cautious at times, especially when randomly drifting in the sky.
He was a bit confused at first when waking up in bed with her, but he wasn't exactly a spring chicken, so he rolled with it.
Bonney herself didn't wake up though, either too tired or drunk to do so. The old pirate also didn't wish to wake her up for no good reason.
Francisco jumped from tree to tree, reaching the edge of Upper Yard quite quickly, he looked ahead at the flying island with a raised eyebrow.
'So you're telling me there were more flying islands?... No, the people of Skypea didn't mention there being any others...
It's also not flying through natural means, there's no cloud carrying it... Wait a minute... Is that bastard still alive?!'
Francisco couldn't help but smile at the thought.
The Rocks pirates had many members, but not all of them were figures he had heard much about from the briefings Enel had given them.
In fact, most of them had been forgotten by history, much like Francisco himself.
But the stronger and more talented seemed to have survived and thrived regardless. So Francisco was somewhat befuddled that he hadn't heard about the flying pirate at all...
'Shiki the Golden Lion... Garp did mention him breaking out of Impel down at some point by cutting his legs off, but I don't really remember that... I was probably already down on Level Zero at that time...'
Shiki was one of the strongest members of the Rocks Pirates, being about at the same level as Whitebeard at that time.
Francisco knew him very well, and the two of them had separated on good terms. He was off doing his own thing when God Valley happened though.
The old master swordsman was unsure which side Shiki would have picked, but that was somewhat irrelevant at that point.
'Meeting an old, but friendly face might make for a nice change of pace...' He thought to himself as he smiled widely and crossed his arms.
Then he stopped for a second, as the thought finally reached him.
'Wait... Aren't we just going to crash if we keep going?'
At the same time, Garp also stepped onto Upper Yard, meeting up with Francisco at the edge of the island as they both looked at the distant flying plot of land they were about to collide with.
"Well, shit... I thought that old guy croaked at some point..." Garp immediately recognized the floating island as the work of the 'legendary' Golden Lion Shiki.
"What? You're mad that he managed to escape from you guys?" Francisco smiled with a bit of smugness in his tone.
"Bah! Couldn't care less!... He was pretty strong though. Without his legs, he is a lot weaker though." Garp also crossed his arms as he looked at the closely approaching island.
It seemed that Shiki had also noticed them, as his island quickly started shifting, moving to the side to avoid them, and Francisco noticed a small yellow dot in the distance, quickly approaching their island.
"Oh, seems he's coming over to greet us!" Francisco smiled as he spoke, his child-like excitement making Garp roll his eyes.
"Yeah, greet and kill us more likely..."
"Oh, he wouldn't dare... You should be enough to deter him, but knowing him, he'd probably be glad to see me."
"... I guess we'll see."
Garp scoffed at that. He had almost 0 trust in Francsico's words. Even Shiki was once a member of the Rocks pirates, a lot of time had passed, and it was hard to say how he'd react when seeing a young Francsico greeting him...
But Garp was about to find out, as Shiki arrived on their island very quickly. His speed was just as impressive as Garp remembered it to be, but Shiki's real strength was his swordsmanship.
He was considered a master swordsman, and he was only weaker than a few people in the world even in Francsico's generation.
His devil fruit made him deadly as well, especially when he was on his home turf, as he had great control over the things he floated.
If Shiki had been present in God Valley, then it was hard to say if Garp and Roger would've actually won.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!" Shiki's voice was heard all across the islands, as he arrived angrily.
The wind from his shout shook some of the trees in the forest of Upper Yard, and even those that were imprisoned heard it.
'Seriously?! So now he's also joining the party?' Kaido thought to himself with a scowl, he wanted to break out then and there and attack Shiki.
Shiki was one of the people that he detested most from the former Rocks Crew, merely due to Shiki once stealing his sake and beating him up when he was younger and without a devil fruit.
A petty dispute that turned into a deadly grudge, much like the situation between him and Francisco, Kaido simply wasn't the type to easily let go of grudges.
'Still... To think that he's been hiding around above the clouds until now...'
Meanwhile, back at the edge of Upper Yard, Francisco laughed a bit when hearing Shiki's angry voice, and Garp just shrugged.
They were somewhat expecting that reaction. They had just almost crashed into his home base.
Francisco decided to be the one to greet him, as they were technically old friends.
Though, the Golden Lion did look a bit different.
He was an almost 3-meter-tall old man with really long golden blonde hair and a beard. His moustache and eyebrows were black though.
One thing Francisco noted was the fact that the man seemed to have a piece of a steering wheel stuck in his head.
'When did... You know what, I guess it is what it is...'
He was wearing a loose Yellow striped Kimono, and his legs seemed to have been replaced with high-quality blades.
Not that he needed legs, as the man could simply fly at all times effortlessly.
He looked especially dishevelled, but Francisco guessed that might have had something to do with the fact that they were currently in the middle of the night.
'I guess he also woke up in the commotion huh? Still, he sure looks like shit now... I remember him being pretty handsome as a young bloke...'
Still, the young-looking old pirate didn't waste any more time, as he jumped from the beach, his hand reaching for the hilt of his cutlass as he did so.
The shockwave of his jump also rose some dust which covered Garp completely, who simply swore loudly at Francisco.
"SHIKI!" Francisco's blunt cutlass was already drawn, as he approached the floating Shiki, who froze when seeing him.
'Who the hell is this!?' Shiki's memory failed him for that moment, he figured it was some young pirate attacking him to test himself.
Many young men and women hoped to fight legends from his era after Roger started the 'New Age of Pirates'.
Francisco did look eerily familiar to him, but he didn't really have the time to dwell on it, as a blade was quickly approaching him.
Shiki decided to simply crush the newbie in front of him, at least he planned to do that until he noticed Francisco's blunt cutlass turning completely Red.
'Advanced Armament concentrated to that extent?!' It was at that point that Shiki realised he wasn't dealy with some random rookie.
Only a few people could boast about such a high level of mastery over Armament after all.
His leg-blades instantly turned completely black, purple lighting rolling off of them as he twisted himself in the air, and kicked towards Francisco.
The two met in the air, causing a shockwave with enough force to blow away all of the nearby clouds in an instant, as their wills clashed with one another.
Francisco's red lightning seemed to overpower Shiki's will, as he was quickly pushed back, sent flying in the distance with some blood coming out of his lips.
"Damn... You've gotten a lot weaker, Shiki..." Francisco's voice rang out. He didn't bother to pursue and continue attacking the Golden Lion.
Thanks to that, Shiki was able to stop himself in midair, a bit further from the Sky Islands, as he finally managed to catch a good glimpse of Francisco's face and blonde hair.
"W-what?!" Was the only thing Shiki could say, as he finally recognized the face he was staring at.
The old golden lion stroked his beard for a bit, his eyes bulging out at Francisco, who was somewhat mimicking Garp's Geppo to awkwardly keep himself afloat.
"Wait... Would your father happen to be named Francisco D. Guzman per chance?"
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Sorry for the delay in this one! Trying to get used to night shifts and schedule changes at work :(( Hope you liked the chapter regardless tho ;)
Also, Shiki will obviously not be a weakling in this fanfic. He's sailed with Xebec and drank with Whitebeard before. He's also sparred with Roger like 100 times :))
I'll try to do him some justice, but expect him to be very different from how the movie portrayed him.
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster(Vegan Cult) on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)