Shiki's Defeat

[ Third Person POV ]

Marineford

Shiki continued to laugh as he gathered more and more rubble for his boulder.

The bolder's size was now roughly less than half of Marineford.

"That bastard! Is he trying to bring the entirety of Marineford down with him?!" Sengoku growled incredulously.

"We can't let that thing land on Marineford," Garp muttered solemnly as he clenched his Haki-clad fists.

"I'll take the boulder; you take Shiki," Sengoku proposed as his fists began to darken with Armament Haki.

"No, we'll take them both down with one attack," Garp counter-proposed.

Sengoku nodded as he readied himself for their next attack.

"I'll bring Roger out of that damn prison and usher in a new Age of Piracy myself!!"

"Over our dead bodies!" Garp snarled as he began infusing his fists with Conqurer's Haki.

Shiki, smiling as he felt that the size of the boulder had been just enough, immediately let the boulder fall. He led the boulder's path and lunged straight at Garp and Sengoku.

His blades were slowly getting coated with Advanced-Armament Haki as the distance between him and the Marine duo got closer and closer.

"Galaxy Impact!!!"

"100 Palms!!!"

"Golden Leon!!"

All three attacks made by Garp, Sengoku, and Shiki, respectively, immediately made contact. Alas, the result was evident to the average person.

Garp and Sengoku's combined attack immediately shattered the boulder that was about to destroy the entirety of Marineford, almost killing Shiki in the process. Shiki's body was pinned against the remnants of the boulder, and they both fell to the ground with a loud crash. His eyes already rolled to the back of his head as he lay there unconscious. 

 In comparison, Garp and Sengoku were relatively unharmed due to the fight. Granted, they still had suffered quite a bit of injuries from the Golden Lion, but it was mere child's play compared to what they had dealt to the Golden Lion.

The Marine soldiers arrived immediately before saluting Vice-Admiral Garp and Admiral Sengoku, dutifully awaiting their next orders.

"Looks like he's down for good this time..." Sengoku remarked, using his Observation Haki to analyze Shiki's condition.

"Well, let's get him confined before he gets up. It'll be troublesome if he wakes up too soon," Garp replied, looking at the Marine soldiers.

"Get some Sea-Stone Cuffs on him before giving him any medical attention. Then you can throw him in a cell until we find the next ship heading towards Impel Down," Garp ordered.

The soldiers saluted before getting busy with the orders they had been given.

Garp and Sengoku immediately headed to Fleet Admiral Kong's office to report the situation. Fleet Admiral Kong's meeting with the rest of the higher-ups should have ended by now because of all the commotion that Shiki had caused with his abrupt intrusion.

Sengoku knocked before the duo walked into his office.

Fleet Admiral Kong had been looking at some paperwork about recent Pirate Activity near Paradise.

"I take it that Shiki's down?" Fleet Admiral Kong asked without bothering to look at them.

"Indeed, he was planning on destroying the entire Marineford base so he could drag out Roger," Sengoku responded.

"Well, we already destroyed half of Marineford because of the battle," Garp remarked while scratching his head.

"You've done a good job of ensuring the capture of the Golden Lion if he had escaped and the news got out. It wouldn't have been a good look for us as an authoritative organization," Fleet Admiral Kong complimented.

"Hopefully, that's the last time we're going to have to deal with it in Marineford," Garp chuckled a bit before grabbing a bag of seashells from a nearby table.

"I doubt that," Fleet Admiral Kong said as he slid a piece of paper containing an image and a detailed paragraph under it.

Sengoku picked the piece of paper up and promptly began to peruse its contents. His eyes narrowed as he kept reading further and further down the report.

"When did he start moving?" Sengoku asked solemnly.

"A couple of days ago, he was spotted coating his ship with resin, and since then, We've been getting more eyewitnesses of his ship passing through various islands leading towards us," Fleet Admiral Kong replied.

Garp snatched the paper from Sengoku and promptly looked at its contents. His chewing slowly began to stop the more he kept reading.

"That brat has already reached Paradise? Is he coming here?" Garp asked curiously as he placed the paper on the table before resuming his consumption of seashells.

"We're not entirely sure. There had been reports earlier that he could be heading to Water 7 to grab a new ship, but those chances are low compared to him attacking us," Fleet Admiral Kong replied.

Garp hummed thoughtfully as he kept chewing some more seashells. 

"The Whitebeard Pirates aren't that close to the Roger Pirates. Sure, they have fought in some wars together, but that doesn't warrant the movements for someone like him," Garp commented after thinking.

"Then what do you think he'll do?" Admiral Sengoku asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, maybe watch?" Garp responded, warranting a fist on the head by his friend.

"Whatever the case, we need to keep our guards up in case of the inevitable. Which is why I sent Borusalino to keep an eye on the Storm Dragon," Fleet Admiral Kong commented.

"Didn't we send Borusalino to do the same thing before?" Garp asked curiously.

"Well, Borusalino had been advised to keep a distance from the Storm Dragon. Whatever he may be thinking of doing, it would be bad if his passive mood turns into aggression to us," Fleet Admiral Kong pointed out.

"Oh well," Garp replied, "I'm going back to keep an eye on Roger."

"Sengoku, in light of all that's happening at the moment. I'm going to need you to keep an eye on Mariejois for a while," Fleet Admiral Kong said as he watched Garp leave the office.

"I'll get my ship ready and head over," Sengoku replied before departing.

Meanwhile, Garp slowly made his way towards the deepest parts of Marineford; inside lay a bunch of prison cells that were specifically reserved for prisoners who were a high priority for the Marines. 

Garp's footsteps slowly stopped in front of a chair that happened to be resting in front of an occupied cell.

Inside the cell sat a man who looked like he had one foot on the grave. His hair was rugged, and he breathed more forcefully after he let out a bloody cough.

"Your condition is getting worse, Roger," Garp remarked as he looked down on him.

"It doesn't matter; it was inevitable," Roger smiled as he returned Garp's stare.

"As expected, it was hard for us to notice that you were sick before it was too late. It doesn't feel as accomplished as it was supposed to, especially after the fact that it was you who willingly gave himself up," Garp commented.

"I feel pretty accomplished. Unfortunately, I couldn't realize my dream in its entirety, but I was able to fulfill it regardless," Roger commented as he crawled over to a nearby wall to lean his back on.

"Now all that's left is to see if the younger generation can accomplish what I couldn't," Roger concluded.

The torch flickered and danced as Roger's face went from clearly visible to half and vice-versa.

Garp didn't completely understand what he was hearing and wanted more clarity.

"Younger generation? Your death will mark the beginning of the end of the age of Piracy," Garp argued, slowly grabbing the chair that happened to be nearby and sitting on it.

"Not necessarily; the young will always find a way to follow the will of their parents. They sometimes do an even better job than us," Roger chuckled as he rested his head against the wall.

"You're talking as if you have a child on the way; you're going to die by the end of the month. You know that, right?" Garp asked.

"That's because I do, and that child is likely going to die because of the sins of its father," Roger replied, "Unless there's a guardian who's willing to stand in front of it and shield it from the biases of the World."

"What are you trying to say, Roger?" Garp asked seriously.

Roger slowly got back up to his feet. Coughing and spitting out some more blood before fully standing up and looking Garp right in the eyes.

"I want you to watch over my child, Garp."