Last Rites

Dante decided this time to set the tempo for the fight, throwing himself forward and striking first with a high kick aimed at Sengoku's head, followed by several more battering against the arm that Sengoku used to block them.

Eventually Dante shifted his weight, now striking low at Sengoku's knees, with the same foot. He had done nothing but continuously move forward and kick Sengoku, and so far it was succeeding.

The old man tried to meet Dante's foot with his own, but was stopped short by raw agony burning across his limb after blocking Dante's kicks. He sneered, and decided that he didn't care about the pain.

Coating his boot in Conqueror's Haki, Sengoku met Dante's next kick in the middle, both legs now locked against one another as the very sky split in two from the sheer pressure unleashed by the collision.

Sengoku began pouring every last ounce of his soul into his strikes, draining his Haki dry. He called on what little of his Devil Fruit he could maintain, his skin turning a shimmering gold.

The next time Dante tried to kick him in the neck, he was parried by Sengoku's fist throwing his leg back with a thunderous punch, Dante himself being sent back a few meters, landing deftly on his feet.

He grinned, cracking his neck and stretching his shoulders, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Alright. No more games. Let's get this party started."

Sengoku blinked, and Dante was stood directly in front of him, arm poised for a jab that would leave him reeling. Anxiety began bubbling inside of him that was quickly squashed beneath unyielding determination as he watched Dante's fist sail towards his face. Sengoku raised his guard, unable to do anything else but take the beating.

His arms burned with pain and exhaustion, with every second that passed he felt hundreds of strikes land against his guard, the only thing keeping him together being his Conqueror's Haki, and eventually even that failed. Dante swung one last time, and Sengoku's guard shattered, his arms thrown open wide by the force of Dante swing.

The half-devil Tricked in close afterwards, unleashing a devastating uppercut to Sengoku's chest that threw him into the air, leaving the old man vulnerable.

Dante then Tricked once more above Sengoku, clenched both fists together into one and slammed his arms down with enough force to leave contrails in the air that followed his arms, with Sengoku audibly choking after landing on the ground.

After Sengoku had landed, Dante began falling to the ground, which he used in his favour by sticking a foot out and spinning himself forward while he fell, building up an extreme amount of momentum as he sailed through the air. Dante had taken notes from his training with the Straw Hats, and found himself slightly inspired by Diable Jambe. So, he decided to test if he could use it here.

His boot gained enough speed that it began to glow red, covered in fire from the raw friction his kick was producing. When he finally landed, he did so with the force of a thousand men, fire fanning out in every direction as a result of his collision with Sengoku's limp form, scorching and flash-melting the ice around him.

Dante had landed directly on Sengoku. If the man had survived such an attack, Dante had nothing but respect for him. If he hadn't survived, then at least he got to die fighting.

After several seconds of suspense, Dante could hear a violent, hacking cough from beneath him, and had to stop himself from sighing.

Well I'll be damned. He's one tough cookie.

Sengoku was mere seconds away from death. He could feel it. Dante's last strike had utterly eviscerated most of his internal organs, then incinerated them afterwards. He didn't have time to curse Dante, or curse the world, he had to speak to his troops.

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"Marines!"

Despite his voice being a faint rasp by now, despite the intense battle going on around them, every Marine and Pirate in the vicinity fell silent and listened to Sengoku's words. The image of Dante stood atop his body was an imposing one, but everyone around the world was paying attention to Sengoku's final speech instead of his killer.

"This, is my final order."

He pointed a charred, burnt fist to the sky, and began his own last rites. For a brief moment, all ears were wide open.

"These Pirates, they do nothing but take! Take land, take lives, take loved ones! We Marines have worked rigorously to stop them, but sometimes they take our strength from us."

Solemn looks were exchanged among the Marine forces.

"However there is one thing they can never steal from us! And that, is Hope! The hope that one day, we can live in a world free of Piracy! A world free of evil! A free world..."

Sengoku choked back his own blood, his lungs rapidly filling up as he spoke.

"We do not fight because we enjoy dispensing Justice! We fight to one day live in a world where our Justice is not needed! We fight so that our sons, and their sons, need not entrench themselves in this War! We fight to ensure the safety of this world."

Sengoku's fist was slowly beginning to lower, against his own will. He tried his very best to hold his arm up for as long as possible, but his energy had long since left him. All that was left was fumes.

"So long as there is evil in this world, there will be good to oppose it. Until that evil is quelled, our work is not done. That is why we must never lose Hope, even when we falter, even in the face of defeat!"

His charred face moulded itself into a grin. The gold on his skin began fading, ever so slowly.

"Our cause will forever be one that is fought for, because we do not fight for treasure, we do not fight for riches. We fight for the future! We fight for all those who require it of us, be they grateful or ungrateful! We fight to protect!"

He paused to breath, the last one he would ever take.

"No matter what, never lose your Hope! Because every day, you contribute to a brighter tomorrow, to a world free of piracy! Stand proud, Marines! Avenge the past, and protect the future!"

That was a surprisingly peppy speech for such a gruff asshole.

Sengoku died a few moments later, his body unable to handle the extreme trauma it had endured, a smile etched onto his face. His words had done something entirely unprecedented.

It had caused people to respect the Marines, as more than just the dogs of the World Government. For now, at least. For those short moments that he spoke, the World understood why the Marines were necessary.

Just what the hell do they feed those Marines? Took him like 5 minutes to finally die, Jesus Christ.

Dante kicked aside Sengoku's arm that was latched onto his boot and walked away.

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Dante quickly began walking over to Yamato and eventually found her standing atop two Vice Admirals, men who frankly he couldn't care less about. She seemed quite proud of herself though.

"Oi, Yamato, chop chop."

"Huh? Oh, Dante! What's going on?"

She quickly fell in line with him while he was walking his way over to the execution platform, his speed being slightly below speedwalking levels.

"With Sengoku dead, someone else is gonna take the reins, and they just might axe off Ace here and now as revenge. I figure we should hurry up and get him out of those chains in case that happens."

She didn't need any further convincing, instead she began speeding up herself, now being quite far ahead of him. She was sprinting towards the platform, Kanabo in hand, determination in her eyes.

Dante would say he was proud, but that would imply he felt fatherly in this instance, and his thoughts about her were anything but fatherly. Instead, Dante shifted his focus to Whitebeard, who had seen his arrival and watched Yamato run up to Ace.

He simply stood there for a moment, before eventually his voice rumbled deeply.

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"Thank you."

Dante blinked in shock for a moment before waving off Whitebeard's gratitude.

"I'm only here for a favour. If it weren't for Rayleigh, I'd have let the kid die."

Whitebeard laughed, though by the end his laugh seemed much more forced than usual. His eyes watered slightly as he watched Yamato break apart Ace's chains.

"I thought my strength alone was enough, but I almost lost everything today. You changed that. Your motivations don't matter to me. Whatever you request of the Whitebeard Pirates, I will do my best to ensure it is met before I die."

Dante simply chuckled, and once again waved off Whitebeard's gratitude. The old man had nothing he really wanted other than his Devil Fruit, and that could only be attained after his death anyway.

"Much as I appreciate the gesture, I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I've already got everything I want right now."

"Gurarar-"

Whitebeard started coughing violently, but he never once lost his smile.

"Red Devil Dante... I will remember you."

What the hell is he going on about? Jesus, that sounds ominous as fuck.

Suddenly, Yamato dropped down in front of them, having jumped from the execution platform directly to their position. She dropped Ace from her arms and pushed him forward slightly into Whitebeard, who grabbed Ace by the shoulder and looked close to tears once again.

"I missed you, my son."

Ace was expecting scorn, some form of blame for his part in causing the deaths of Pirates that had come to save him, but when he was met with the loving embrace of his father, he felt his fears subside.

He would forever live with the guilt, but in this moment he felt that sense of belonging he had searched for his whole life, the feeling he had missed out on after risking it all against Blackbeard. He felt loved once more.

While the two grown men hugged one another, Dante simply stood next to Yamato and kicked his feet around, feeling incredibly out of place, while Yamato was both moved and jealous of such a display of fatherly love.

Eventually, the duo began to walk back to the Moby Dick, with cheers ringing out from the Whitebeard Pirates after seeing Ace finally free. Dante and Yamato would have to escort them back to the ship, given Ace was still malnourished and weak from his time in prison and Whitebeard was literally dying.

For now though, they stood and watched. Eventually, Yamato spoke up first.

"I can only wish that my father was a tenth of the man Whitebeard is when he raised me. All I ever wanted was to be loved, but nothing I ever did was good enough for him. I wish I had a real father."

It was an extremely emotional moment, Yamato was currently pouring her heart out to him about her struggles in the past, and so Dante did the first thing that came to mind.

"Unlucky."

He said, as he patted her on the back, trying his best to be sympathetic yet failing miserably to do so. Luckily for him, Yamato was still so starved for any form of positive affection that him acknowledging she even spoke at all was enough for her to be happy. She was incredibly easy to please, and Dante didn't know if he was happy with that, or sad that she ended up like that.

Thoughts for another day. Business as usual was going on, Dante reminded himself.

"Yamato, I'm sorry you had to go through that, but we have about 10 seconds before the Marines try and kill Whitebeard, and that's really not enough time for an emotional backstory."

Yamato immediately realised that this definitely wasn't the place to be reminiscing on one's upbringing and quickly apologised for her mistake, which made Dante feel even worse about it.

"Alright, Jesus stop apologising. We can talk about it when we're done with this whole War business, alright?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful! Thank you, Dante!"

"Great. Now then, let's finally get this War over and done with. Hopefully it should be over pretty soon, we already got Ace after all."

Yamato gasped.

"Dante, what have you done!? You jinxed it!"

Dante snapped back in an instant.

"A jinx is only ever cursed when you point it out. I may have produced the bomb, but you lit the fuse. You've doomed us all."

The two of them were silent for a moment, before looking at one another and giggling like children.