III - An Admiral Arrives At Sabaody?

Concerned, Y/N decided to slalom through the streets of the archipelago to get a feel for the situation. It was simple, you wanted to find a big Navy guy, follow the screams and the crowd movements. The whole archipelago began to shake. Whatever was going on down there, it didn't bode well. More than ten pirates worth more than 100 million berries, an admiral, the entire armada of the Navy... Y/N's head hurt. Knowing the island like the back of her hand, she managed to slip through the armed groups of the Navy without being spotted. This time she made sure her cloak covered her face at all times. She followed the bubbles and shockwaves that caused every bit of water in the atmosphere to quiver. Finally, she reached a promontory from where she observed an unprecedented battle.

"Bartholomew Kuma..." she murmured, speechless.

She shook her head to compose herself, no, this was not the famous Warlord. Kuma couldn't shoot laser beams out of his hands last time she checked. With her eyes, she gauged the confrontation, Kidd and Law, three pirates from her crew each. She hissed, they didn't stand a chance. At best they could hope to stall the confrontation and stall until they could get away. There was something wrong with their enemy. Usually, the young woman's Perceptive Haki, coupled with her ability to sense the presence of water, helped her to perceive all living things around her. Nothing was emanating from him.

Damn, these pirates were in some serious pain. For the second time that day, she just clenched her fists and forced herself to stay in her corner, telling herself over and over that she didn't owe them anything so she didn't have to intervene.

But get the hell out of here, stop thinking you can handle it.

It certainly wasn't Kuma, but this thing was no match for her in terms of raw power. And now the two roosters were at it again. Y/N was exhausted. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that one of their attacks had finally hit their opponent, sprays of electricity and sparks were now flying from his body.

But then that means - this thing was just a robot all along!

Suddenly it dawned on him... could it be the Navy's new weapons of war? The Pacifistas?

**

Kizaru... they had sent Kizaru...

Y/N couldn't remember running as fast as she had at that moment. The archipelago was upside down, the admiral sent by the Navy was Borsalino Kizaru, and he wasn't alone. At first, she had thought it was Bartholomew Kuma, the Warlord. Then when there had been two of them, she had realized that something was up. They had made human-sized weapons, how many did they have in all? And where was the real Kuma in all this? Her thoughts raced through her head as she continued to spin through the GR. Her Perceptive Haki was pushing her forward, guiding her without really knowing where she was going. She was no match for them alone. And as powerful as they were, the Straw Hats weren't going to be able to fight for long either.

Come on Y/N, keep running!

Her heart was pounding in her chest at full speed, pounding her rib cage. Her lungs were on fire and every breath she took was agony. But she couldn't stop or even slow down. So she ran faster and faster.

**

The second the admiral's beam of light was about to pierce Roronoa Zoro's body, Rayleigh stepped in and deflected the attack. In the same second, a violent shock was given to Sentomaru who retreated several meters. Facing them now was the Dark Lord, calm, with the same smile on his face, and Y/N, in combat position, ready to fight.

As Kizaru and Rayleigh glared at each other, Sentomaru couldn't believe his eyes. A 500 million berries bounty on the Sabaody archipelago, he'd seen it all. Without warning, Y/N went on the attack. Her fist struck the Marine in the stomach, he took the shock without bending but coughed nonetheless, surprised by her strength.

"Your Haki isn't too bad, kid, but it's not enough to overcome my guard."

Y/N did not answer, she concentrated. Rayleigh gave her a worried look, he wasn't sure she was up to the task of taking on someone so powerful and she had already given it her all this morning. He shouldn't have let her fight like this, they took too many risks, and even now, she wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready for this fight. Nevertheless, she did not fail and chose to continue to oppose Sentomaru, while Rayleigh was busy standing up to Kizaru. Y/N was surprisingly agile, dodging the attacks of the officer in front of her. But despite her precision and speed, she was no match for him. Very quickly, Sentomaru managed to counter her attacks and even sometimes retaliate. He ended up hitting her with a palm strike that sent her flying and crashing several meters away.

"You are not bad, Sea Siren Y/N, you are certainly very formidable. But you are too young, too predictable. You can't do anything, I have the best guard in the world."

Without saying a word, Y/N got up, mechanically wiping the trickle of blood that had run down the corner of her mouth, gave him a murderous look, and resumed the assault. Undaunted, Sentomaru prepared himself. He had to admit, the girl was tough. The young woman gave him no respite, no opening. And she wasn't even using her power, just her hand-to-hand skills, and her Fluid. No matter how many times Sentomaru knocked her down, no matter how many blows he landed on her body and face, Y/N always got up. Bruises and contusions accumulated on her body, dust mixed with sweat and blood.

The fight was uneven. Even though Lucia was a good fighter, she was no match. Her attack sequences were the same, it was a classic pattern that was effective but not worked and studied enough. He could see that she had never really fought anyone for her life. At least not very powerful opponents. She had immense abilities, her power was certainly very impressive and she mastered the Haki despite her young age. But the problem lay in that adjective: young. She was too young. She was not strong enough, nor tough enough. Blue streaks were beginning to run down her arms, down her torso, up to her face... without really knowing what it meant, Sentomaru understood that it was inevitably the signs of fatigue and weakness.

She would not give up. Her body ached, her breath was short, and her throat burned every time she breathed in and out. Y/N was exhausted. Her muscles ached. A small pain was starting to creep into her skull. She was dehydrated. One of the constraints of her power was that she had to drink often, each of her attacks using its water. She had not drunk anything since the episode in the auction house. A beginner's mistake. She hadn't drunk anything, had gone after an admiral out of curiosity, and then charged headlong into a fight she wasn't sure she'd get out of unscathed. Foolishness. So for several minutes now, her objective had changed: she had to secure the Straw Hat crew. Whatever blows she had to take from her opponent, she would take them. If she and Rayleigh could keep the two biggest pieces of Kizaru and Sentomaru occupied, there was still hope that all the crew members could escape despite their injuries. She couldn't help but glance over at Zoro, who was the most severely injured and couldn't move without assistance.

Taking advantage of this moment of inattention, Sentomaru escaped Y/N's gaze, whom she hit violently in the face, and joined Luffy, whom he sent flying with a palm strike. One knee on the ground, Y/N felt her strength leave her. A roar made her head stand up and what she saw made her blood run cold

"The doctor... he's gone wild... and over there it's ..."

Y/N's eyes widened petulantly:

"Oh my God, it's him, the real Bartholomew Kuma."

Gathering all the strength she could muster, she stood up and shouted:

"RUNAWAY! RUNAWAY!! DON'T LET HIM TOUCH YOU!"

Before her eyes, Zoro disappeared, leaving only a circle of dust behind him. Y/N was stunned, they all had to leave, now! Luffy had the presence of mind to verbalize the same thought as he ordered his companions to flee. However, Kuma was not done, it was Brook's turn to disappear. Then Usopp. Sanji.

Is he seriously going to send them away one by one?

When Kuma teleported in front of Rayleigh, Y/N panicked:

"RAYLEIGH!!!"

But he did nothing, unlike Luffy who decided to go and confront him but was left behind as the Warlord rushed past Franky and Nami. In two seconds they too disappeared. Now there were only three of them left. Lucia didn't know what to do. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Driven by the energy of despair, she decided to protect Luffy at all costs. Chopper disappeared. Then it was Robin. Kuma leaned over Luffy, looking him straight in the eye. He raised his palm, preparing to send him flying too, but at the last moment, Y/N materialized her body between them, her body had turned entirely to water. She had used her last resource, her last strength. Before launching herself, she had placed her palms on the ground, absorbing as much water as she could. She was blocking his way, wanting to protect Luffy at all costs, surrounding him with her arms.

I'm a Logia type, he can't-

But the second the Warlord touched the young woman, she knew that it wouldn't help. She opened her mouth in amazement before smiling sadly as she read Luffy's deep despair at seeing her last friend vanish before her eyes. And just as she felt the time was running out, strange words reached her ears:

"I'm sorry. I have to maintain my cover as much as possible now. You are the one who will help me. But if it's any consolation, they're all safe. This is goodbye, Sea Siren Y/N."

"YYY/NNN", Luffy shouted.

He reached out for her, hoping to hold her, to save her.

His hand closed on a trickle of cold water before it vanished too. Rayleigh was stunned, his eyes dark, a void around him. He then witnessed Kuma's final act, making Luffy, the last member of the Straw Hat crew, disappear. GR 12 was overwhelmingly silent.