Chapter LXIII: The Siege of Sabaody

"Yo, Law! Try this pizza! It's the best I've ever had, I'm serious!"

"Woman, how many times must I repeat myself? I don't like bread."

"Who the hell doesn't like bread?" Bonney asked, staring at the Heart Captain dubiously.

"Maybe he likes it...Glutton-free?" Usopp chimed in.

The room was rendered silent as every face paused to stare at the sniper. To Usopp's credit, he looked entirely unrepentant.

"Usopp…that…was terrible," Nami said. "Never do it again."

He crossed his arms defiantly and huffed. "You can't handle my puns!"

"Yohoho! It was no Skull Joke, but I liked it!"

Meanwhile, Luffy had paused in his own ravenous rampage, and was staring out the window, expression pensive.

"Yo, Luffy! What's wrong?" Sanji asked. "It's not like you to stop before your 50th plate."

Luffy's brow furrowed. "Mavric is flaring his aura…" he said. "It almost feels like he's sending us a signal, but I can't sense anything out of the ordinary on the Archipelago."

Zoro hummed. "Now that you mention it, I feel it too. Didn't Mavric have a Devil Fruit that lets him see really far away? Maybe the threat isn't on Sabaody to begin with."

Luffy closed his eyes, focusing his Observation Haki out to the sea. By now he had drawn the attention of everyone in the room, and all three crews listened curiously.

Suddenly, Luffy's eyes snapped open, and he began to sweat.

"…Oh, shit," the rubber-man mumbled.

"All right, anything that has Luffy sweating is Emperor-grade levels of danger," Sanji said, getting to his feet. "What are your orders, Captain?"

"Sunny," Luffy called.

The girl appeared in the room immediately, leaving the two outsider captains utterly confused as the other nine stared at thin air, the skeleton straining his eye sockets.

"We're going ashore. As soon as we're offboard, go around to the other coast."

Sunny looked like she wanted to argue.

"We'll call you if we need you, but the longer our enemies don't know that our ship can fight on her own, the better," Zoro said.

Sunny sighed. "Aye-aye," she conceded.

"…What," Law and Bonney said together.

"Explanations later, evacuations now," Usopp said, already on his way outside.

As they exited the ship, Bonney demanded an explanation. As expected, Luffy was blunt.

"An elite army from Marineford is heading our way. Admirals, Vice Admirals, Warlords, you name it…" he said nervously.

"This is a hell of a way to kick off our alliance, Straw Hatter," Law deadpanned.

"You think I plan for these things? On second thought, I probably should…"

The three pirate crews were uncharacterisically silent as they fell back to the lawless zone.

As Ace and Sabo met up with the alliance, Mavric having alerted them both, Sabo asked the obvious question.

"Luffy, do you have a plan? This isn't going to be like the time with Aokiji; it's going to take more than just you and your First Mate."

"I know, and I have a feeling it's going to be touch-and-go for a while," Luffy replied. "For now, just fall back and suppress your auras."

Ace gave him a skeptical look, and Luffy was quick to reassure him.

"It's our best bet. The Marines don't even know you two are here, so we should keep the element of surprise. I actually do have a plan this time, and the two of you will know when to intervene. Besides…backup will be on its way soon."

Luffy then turned to Law. "Law, I need you to teleport everyone else to a safe distance. Wait for an opportunity to step in."

Law nodded in compliance, making a mental note for later to ask how Straw Hat knew about his Devil Fruit, before holding up one hand. A blue bubble appeared around the group, and soon the Heart Pirates, Bonney Pirates, and every member of the Straw Hat Pirates other than Luffy and Zoro were teleported away.

Ace and Sabo soon followed suit, suppressing their auras and making their way deep into the lawless zone.

Luffy and Zoro didn't have to wait long before they felt the Marine Admiral's aura coming in fast. Too fast.

Zoro quickly reacted to the threat, leaping into the air and using two swords to deflect the oncoming beam into the sky. The resulting explosion was visible from the entire archipelago, lighting up Sabaody with all the intensity of a second sun.

As Zoro landed, Admiral Kizaru materialized in front of the two combatants.

"Ooh. It seems that I'm facing quite the adept swordsman here," he droned mockingly. "You've gathered some useful allies, Monkey D. Luffy. Though not all of them are as forthcoming as your First Mate." He smirked. "Did you really think you could hide a Yonko Commander and Revolutionary from me?"

He took aim at Ace and Sabo, despite both of them being out of sight. "My Observation Haki isn't exactly subpar."

Luffy quickly appeared in front of him before he could fire, aiming a Red Hawk at his face and forcing him to block.

"Neither is mine," Luffy growled.

Kizaru merely pointing a finger at Luffy, preparing to blast him at point blank range, but was forced to dodge a Lion's Elegy from Zoro.

Kizaru proceeded to barrage them with lasers, prompting Zoro to start deflecting and Luffy to start dodging.

Luffy appeared in front of Kizaru again, aiming an Elephant Gun at him, but Kizaru effortlessly warped behind him, aiming a laser at his head.

According to Kuzan's intel, with that strength technique of his activated, he should be slower to dodge.

He was proven wrong when he realized the Elephant Gun was just a feint, and that Luffy had already begun dodging before Kizaru could take aim.

As Luffy appeared to his right with a Hawk Gatling at the ready, Kizaru's brow furrowed in confusion.

I'm moving faster than him, I'm not broadcasting my intentions, and yet…

As the Straw Hat Captain once again dodged his lasers without even looking, he realized what was happening.

That's Future Sight Observation. Rookies these days sure are scary…

Opting to try a different approach, Kizaru decided to use an attack that would be harder to dodge. He appeared in the sky above Sabaody, readying another area of effect blast.

In his haste, he was blindsided by Zoro, and forced to abandon that maneuver when he was hit dead on by a 1080 Caliber Phoenix and torn to shreds.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" the swordsman asked.

Kizaru once again reformed on the ground without a scratch on him, aiming a lightspeed kick at Zoro, which the latter attempted to block with all three obsidian swords.

The kick connected, only to be stopped when Luffy helped block it, his arms also clad in Armament Hardening. Black lightning danced around the pirate captain's frame, and Kizaru's eyes widened.

Luffy spread his arms out wide, his Conqueror's Haki working in conjunction with Zoro's Armament to send Kizaru hurtling away.

Kizaru gritted his teeth as he was sent hurtling away. Zoro quickly pressed the advantage, calling upon a fraction of Asura's power and aiming a flying slash at the admiral.

"3000 Caliber Nightwing Gale!" The wind blade had a dark purple tinge. Kizaru once again warped away to avoid the worst of it, but as he reformed, this time a small pool of blood could be seen dripping down his leg.

"First blood," Zoro grunted, panting heavily along with Luffy.

"Oh, dear, this doesn't look good for me," Kizaru said. "You know, if you two step up your game, you might actually be able to take me out before my backup arrives."

Luffy and Zoro exchanged a brief look, before nodding at each other and turning back to their opponent.

"Make us!" they shouted as one.

Kizaru inwardly sighed. He'd been hoping to bait them into going all out and exhausting themselves, but it seemed they weren't that stupid.

Luffy and Zoro both charged forward, ready to push their advantage, but were intercepted when a large, bearlike figure appeared in front of their paths.

Bartholomew Kuma stared them down, Ursus Shock ready in his palms.

They both fell back to dodge the explosion, giving Kizaru a small reprieve.

"Nice of you to come, Bartholomew Kuma." Kizaru's sarcasm wasn't at all subtle, but then again, it never was.

"It's your own fault for warping in ahead of us, Admiral," the cyborg replied.

"Hmm, but you could have done the same thing, you know?" Kizaru replied.

Kuma ignored him.

"Fine, whatever. I just need you to separate Roronoa from his captain, anyway. Can you can do that?"

Kuma once again didn't answer, but wordlessly engaged.

As Luffy and Zoro charged in again, Kuma tried to catch Zoro with his Paw-Paw Fruit and remove him from the battlefield, but Zoro effortlessly dodged his every swipe.

As Kuma continued his assault, however, the swordsman noticed he was being directed away from Luffy and Kizaru. Before he could spare his captain a glance, he received a mental nod of reassurance from him, and thus allowed himself to be led away.

Kizaru lazily turned his gazed between the Warlord-engaged swordsman and his opponent, his carefree expression not wavering in the slightest. "Well, I guess it's just the two of us now."

Luffy, for his part, pursed his lips and let out a long-winded hum. "Ohh, my, it seems like I've fallen right into your trap. How scary," he drawled mockingly.

For a long moment, the admiral didn't react.

"…Is that really what I sound like?" he asked beseechingly.

Further into the lawless zone, Sanji and Usopp were watching the fight from afar using Observation Haki, narrating its events to the rest of the alliance.

"They've been separated!" Usopp exclaimed. "Isn't that really bad?"

"They don't feel very nervous about it from their auras," Sanji replied. "Do you think it could be part of their plan?"

"Either way, are we really just supposed to sit here and find an opening?" Franky asked, frustrated.

"It's Captain's orders, so it can't be helped!" Sanji said with a scowl. Clearly, he had a problem with this too.

Suddenly, the chef let out a loud string of curses.

"Sanji-kun? What's going on?" Nami asked worriedly.

Beads of sweat dripped down Sanji's face as he uttered a single word.

"CP9."

At the coast of Sabaody Archipelago, several figures had just arrived ahead of their respective battleships, leaping through the air without a foothold.

"Lucci-san," Vice Admiral Onigumo spoke up. "Can you and your fellow agents help me deal with the weaker Straw Hat members? Admiral Kizaru won't need any help against Straw Hat Luffy." Despite technically being his superior, the high ranking Marine had a good amount of respect for Rob Lucci's Dark Justice.

Lucci wordlessly signalled to the rest of CP9, and Kaku, Jabra, Blueno, Kumadori, Fukurou, and Kalifa all followed behind the two to engage the Straw Hats.

Meanwhile, Ace and Sabo both had their eyes closed, keeping tabs on all of their allies from afar.

"This is it," Ace said. "We'll need to get involved now that there's a Vice Admiral here."

"You're right," Sabo admitted. "Other than Luffy, Zoro, and maybe Mavric, we're the only ones here who can deal with him."

Suddenly, numerous explosions could be heard throughout Sabaody.

"Shit. They're attacking the lawless zone," Ace realized. "It's a focused Buster Call." He turned towards Sabo. "I need to take care of the battleships before Sabaody goes up in ashes. You need to go help Luffy's crew."

Sabo nodded, and the two split up without another word.

Onigumo was nearing the location of the Straw Hat crew, and judging from their panicked auras, they knew who was coming. So they have someone else who can use Haki. Interesting…

He was interrupted from his musing when another, more powerful aura roared to life behind him. He had no time to react before an Armament-hardened staff caught the side of his face, sending him crashing headfirst into one of the mangroves.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something," Sabo said innocently as he touched down next to the downed Marine.

"Revolutionary!" the Vice Admiral spat in disgust, and the fight was on.

Sentomaru eyed the archipelago under siege with a critical eye. Their battleships had finally arrived, and it felt like a long time coming what with Uncle Kizaru getting impatient earlier. But now they'd be free to test out Vegapunk's prototypes at last.

That plan was soon thwarted when their battleships began going up in flames one by one. A quick scan with his Observation Haki alerted him to the threat.

"Fire Fist!" he shouted in fury. He quickly leapt off of his battleship, axe reared to cleave the hovering Logia user in two. Ace ceased his assault on the battleships to throw his trademark move at Sentomaru, who was forced to abort his attack and disperse the flames with his Haki-imbued weapon.

The two landed on the coast of Sabaody, Sentomaru seething all the while. The damage had been done. Five of their battleships had been destroyed, and with them, half of their human weapons.

He quickly engaged Fire Fist, swinging his battleaxe in a wide arc. Ace, for his part, just stood there, allowing himself to be bisected by the blade. His Haki easily nullified Sentomaru's, and he was able to reform without much trouble.

As Ace clad his arm in Armament Hardening and reared it back, the limb encasing itself in a searing flame as he aimed his fist straight at his opponent's heart, Sentomaru had never been so certain of an enemy's capability to kill him.

He was saved from that fate as Vice Admirals Bastille, Strawberry, Stainless, and Dalmatian swiftly surrounded Fire Fist, all with haki imbued steel at the ready.

Ace pulled his fist back and thrust both arms out, surrounding himself in an explosion of flame that forced all of them back. Sentomaru leapt backward, sweating heavily.

"Go ahead of us!" Bastille shouted, as the four Marines got into formation around Ace. "There should still be some human weapons that can fight! Take them and eliminate the Straw Hats!"

Ace's eyes narrowed dangerously. As he exploded into a bombardment of fireworks, Sentomaru shouted an order to the remaining Pacifistas. The five remaining cyborgs answered his call, following him onto Sabaody while Ace was preoccupied.

No one noticed a certain Pirate Empress also sneaking into the lawless zone.

Sanji was once again facing the familiar sensation of having to push his body to the limit of its physical capability. The fact that he'd been facing the exact same foe the last time this had happened did not escape his notice, but he didn't have the luxury of entertaining that line of thought right now.

Lucci was already in his Zoan form. The agent clearly held a grudge after having been forced to retreat the last time. As Sanji blocked a particularly brutal kick with his fire-encased leg, he heard several shouts of distress from the rest of the crew, who were all occupied with the rest of the government assassins. He gritted his teeth and willed himself not to lose focus.

As he clashed with the Rokushiki user again, Bonney tried to get behind the leopard man and use her powers on him, but Lucci easily saw her coming and swatted her away, causing Sanji's blood to boil. Every time the other Supernova would try to pin him down long enough to use her Devil Fruit, she would be thwarted. This bastard was just too fast. Even with his Observation Haki, he had trouble keeping up, just like last time.

"Room," Law muttered as his translucent blue sphere formed around him again. He was facing off against both Kaku and Jabra, and had quite a few bruises to show for it. He had managed to avoid any lethal blows by using Shambles on himself, but against two opponents who were faster than he was, he couldn't create an opening to cut either of them up and put them out of the fight.

That wasn't to say he hadn't landed any hits himself, but his normal sword slashes weren't enough to pierce their defense, and they were cautious enough not to charge at him recklessly when he had his Room up.

To top it off, they both had Zoan Devil Fruits, which augmented their physical abilities greatly.

"Great," he muttered. "I knew Sabaody had a theme park, but not a circus."

"Tell me about it!" one of his opponents, the wolfman, agreed. "I thought Lucci was the only copy cat around here, but now fucking Kaku gets a Zoan-type Devil Fruit too!? And a giraffe, of all ridiculous things! What was the Chief thinking, after they failed in Water 7!?"

"Will you focus?" Kaku asked calmly. "We have a job to do. And for the record, giraffes are a lot cooler than wolves."

"My ass, you bastard! Your long neck has nothing on my long—"

"Does it look like I give a shit about either of your idiotic powers?" Law drawled. "It's not like either can compare to mine."

"What!? Now this fool too!?" Jabra shouted. "Your stupid bubbles can't even compare to fucking giraffes, much less wolves!" The agent charged forward, forgoing caution in his enraged state.

"Rankyaku!" the wolfman shouted.

Law smirked. "Shambles."

He quickly switched places with Kaku, causing the giraffe man's eyes to widen as he was hit dead on by Jabra's attack.

"Gah!" The wind blade had pierced his hastily executed Tekkai, and blood now seeped from the resulting wound across his torso. His usual patience now being tested, he glared at Jabra.

"Will you watch it? You charge in without thinking, and this is what happens."

"What!? Don't blame me! It's your fault for getting in the way!"

As the two argued, Law saw his chance. He didn't know why these two fought so horribly as a pair, but he wasn't complaining. Creating another Room, he swung his sword at Jabra, effortlessly bisecting him from shoulder to waist. The wound didn't bleed, or even hurt, but it would help immobilize him, and from his alarmed shout, he knew it too.

Before Law could cut him down to smaller chunks, Kaku charged in with a Soru, and Law was forced to block the Rankyaku with his longsword, deflecting it to the side with great effort. He teleported out of the way again before the next kick could cut him in half.

"One down, one to go," he muttered.

"Strong Right!" Franky's punch connected with Blueno's face, causing him to groan. The latter nevertheless delivered a blow to Franky's skull, causing the cyborg to groan in turn. The two had been fighting evenly for a while now. Blueno's Shigan and Rankyaku had proved largely ineffective against Franky's steel body, and the two had resorted a contest of strength in which neither had the edge.

Blueno finally decided to use his Devil Fruit, opening an Air Door and appearing behind Franky. To his surprise, the cyborg spun around and delivered a haymaker to his face without hesitation, breaking his nose in the process.

What? He couldn't have known where I would appear! Was it his immediate instinct to guard his blind spot?

Before he could ponder this more, Franky exploited the opening and aimed his strongest move at the assassin. "Max Cola Power! Coup de Vent!"

The air cannon blasted against the front of his body, sending him careening backwards, bouncing off of the ground several times before he was imbedded in one of the mangrove trees.

Franky's hair sagged a bit. "That's just super. I'm almost out of fuel." As Blueno forcefully pulled himself out of the tree, gasping for breath, the cyborg grimaced. "And that bastard's still kicking, to top it off."

"Kokutei: Cross!" Chopper shouted in Arm Point as his hooves impacted with Kumadori's chest. The eccentric agent gasped in pain, but brushed it aside and readied his staff to punch a hole in the Zoan user.

"Treinta Fleur!" Thirty hands gripped his arms, legs, neck, and torso, stopping him in his tracks.

"Yoyoi! This won't hold me!" With some effort, he managed to break out of the hold, the shock jarring Robin, who winced, but it allowed Chopper time to shift forms and jump out of range.

"Arrow Notch Strike!" Brook appeared behind Fukurou, drawing blood, but the wound wasn't very deep. Although he was faster than his opponent, his attacks couldn't seem to penetrate very far into his defense. At least not enough to deal more than trivial wounds. He was a speed type swordsman, after all.

"Yohoho! Any ideas, Usopp-san? I must admit I'm not making much progress!"

"I do have one!" Usopp shouted, as he barraged the round faced agent with Firebird Stars, which he either dodged or brushed off. "But I really hope I won't have to use it!"

Meanwhile, Nami was once again facing off against Kalifa. Although she was faring better this time, she knew she wouldn't be able to gain the edge in this fight unless she was able to slip into Mirage Tempo.

Suddenly, she heard a desperate shout. "Everyone, Get out of here! This place is about to become a warzone!" It was Sanji, and he shouted even more distressed than before, if that was possible.

It was soon revealed why, as more enemies charged onto the battlefield. Sentomaru and his small legion of Pacifistas arrived to top the scales, with the human weapons all taking aim at the Straw Hats. Sanji gave a cry of warning before he was battered by a devastating kick from Lucci for losing his focus.

Salvation appeared in the form of Mavric, who used a combination of Soru and Geppou to appear in between the Pacifistas.

"Rebel Storm!" He placed one arm on the ground and spun, sweeping his legs out in a widespread Rankyaku that instantly cleaved through three of the cyborgs. Sparks flew off of them as they all split in half, fell to the ground, and shut down.

With no intention of allowing the final two to meet the same fate, Sentomaru attacked. Mavric dodging the battleaxe as it impacted harshly with the ground, spinning around and aimed another Rankyaku at his opponent's face, but Sentomaru brought his axe back up and cut through it with a grunt.

The two remaining human weapons resumed their assault, forcing Robin and Brook to break away from their respective fights to try to ward them off. They had little success, as the durable cyborgs brushed off their techniques and swatted them both aside, slamming both Straw Hats into the ground. Then they began charging up beams in both their mouths and hands, ready to unleash them on the preoccupied Straw Hat Pirates.

Law slipped away from his fight and hastily teleported the Straw Hats out of the way of the blasts, but almost got his head taken off by Kaku in the process, and was forced to refocus on his fight even as the two cyborgs took aim again.

"Shit! No!" Sanji shouted.

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice sounded out across the battlefield, causing the human weapons to cut off their attacks in order to scan for the new threat.

"Come on let's go everybody, oh we share the music! Come on let's go baby, baby oh we share the one dream!"

Sanji's eyes widened as he felt the new auras approaching.

"Come on let's go everybody, oh we share the good times!"

"Who is that!?" Nami shouted, desperately hoping it was an ally this time.

"Come on let's go baby, baby, oh we share the one world! Scratch!"

Both Pacifistas suddenly went up in flames, and stumbled backwards. Though the move didn't seem to do that much damage, it had been effective to an extent. Both of their ears were now bleeding, and they had burn marks all over their cybernetic bodies from the strange attack.

Scratchmen Apoo walked leisurely onto the battlefield, followed closely by X Drake and Eustass Kid.

"Hey, Black Leg!" Kid shouted. "Don't think this changes anything! I'm still gunning for your captain when the time comes! But this is a matter of principle!"

"I might just have to agree," X Drake said. "The entitlement of the World Government is still as baffling as ever."

"Yo yo yo! Do these government dogs seriously think they can just walk into our turf and interrupt our celebrations right when we're gearing up to enter the second half!?" Apoo asked. "Just this once, we'll show them why we're called Supernovas! After that, don't expect any help from us in the New World!"

X Drake was the first to charge in, swinging his axe and sword at once of the Pacifistas and sending it flying. Apoo followed suit, sending a barrage of sound waves at the same target, damaging it further.

Eustass Kid merely stuck a hand out, and the other one was stopped in its tracks. "You shitstains are made of metal, aren't you?" he asked with a savage grin. "This isn't going to be fun for you."

Law was panting heavily. Jabra had managed to put himself back together while he'd been occupied with Kaku, and he was back to square one. Seeing an opportunity, he called out to Drake.

"Red Flagger! Switch with me! My powers are better suited to fight that hunk of metal!"

Drake, seeing that his physical attacks weren't doing much damage to Vegapunk's creation, complied easily enough.

"As if we'd let you!" Jabra shouted, aiming a Shigan at Law's throat. But it was too late; the surgeon teleported again, and in his place stood Drake, who blocked the strike with his sword.

Leaving Law, Kid, and Apoo to deal with the Pacifistas.

Luffy was covered in bruises and burns from head to toe. Although none of them were serious, he hadn't landed a single hit since Zoro had left, and he knew he wouldn't last too much longer like this. Kizaru was far too strong to be fighting on his own, much less holding back.

Just as he was preparing to enter Gear Fourth, he sensed a familiar aura approaching. Kizaru must have sensed it too, because his eyes snapped to the approaching figure in surprise.

"This is quite the situation you've gotten yourself into, young one. I don't suppose you'd have any complaints if I decided to lend a hand?"

Luffy exhaled deeply as Rayleigh drew his sword. "Nope. Be my guest," he said, visibly sagging in relief.

Kizaru drew his light sword and tried to finish off Luffy before the Dark King could interfere, but the Right Hand of the Pirate King easily foresaw the move with his own Future Sight and intercepted Kizaru, swiping his sword at the admiral's neck. The Logia user moved just in time, and the blade nicked his cheek instead.

The admiral sighed in annoyance as blood dripped down his cheek, resignedly shifting his full focus to the dangerous adversary before him.

Luffy, having caught his breath, wanted to help his old mentor against Kizaru, but knew he'd have to wait when he felt another familiar presence approach.

He turned around and came face-to-face with Boa Hancock.

Sabo was finally making some significant progress against Onigumo. After his first surprise attack, it had been tough to get around the Vice Admiral's eight arms, but once he had, the wound he'd inflicted with a well placed Shigan was enough to slow him down significantly.

The fight ended quickly as Sabo surpassed his opponent's guard and managed to grab Onigumo's skull, then crushed it like an egg in his talons. The Marine groaned in pain and stumbled backward; he tried to get one last shot in with his eight blades, but Sabo leapt over the attack and bashed his staff against the Vice Admiral's already battered skull one more time. He went out like a light.

Panting slightly, Sabo took stock of his injuries, which weren't too serious, before reaching out with his Haki to find where he was needed most. His first instinct was to go aid the Straw Hats against CP9, but as he locked onto two other auras in the distance, he hesitated, and then made a different decision.

Sanji, Bonney, and Lucci were all tiring. Lucci from constantly warding off both his opponents, and Sanji and Bonney from taking so many of his attacks. Bonney wasn't as durable as Sanji, but at least she had taken less hits. Sanji, on the other hand, was covered in wounds and bruises, and visibly struggling to stay upright.

"Bonney-chan," he said suddenly. "Could you go help with my crew? I've got this covered."

Bonney looked rightfully skeptical in the face of the bold-faced lie. "You're fucking crazy." Still, seeing that some of the weaker members of the alliance were struggling, she huffed and relented. "Try not to die," she said, before rushing off to aid the others.

"What a fool you are," Lucci scoffed. "You know full well that you can't win this fight by yourself."

Sanji, having already exhausted himself using Diable Jambe, inwardly agreed.

But that's exactly why I need to do this alone.

Lucci used Soru to charge forward and Sanji did the same. They clashed in a barrage of kicks, Sanji's leg screaming more at the abuse each time. Finally, when they collided again, his leg received a hairline fracture, causing him to grit his teeth through the pain. Stunned, he was completely open to Lucci's next kick, which impacted with his face and sent him hurtling across the ground. The Zoan user then jumped into the air and descended down on the chef once again. Sanji rolled out of the way, and Lucci's kick cratered the ground where he'd just been lying.

He couldn't dodge the next punch in time, and it hit him square in the gut, knocking all the wind out of him. He tried to leap back to gain some distance, but Lucci's tail wrapped around his waist, holding him in place.

"It's over," Lucci growled, bringing both fists to Sanji's torso. Sanji's eyes widened as his Observation Haki screamed at him. He knew with absolute certainty that this attack would destroy him, but there was nothing he could do about it while he was trapped like this. He just had to withstand it somehow. He braced himself for the pain he knew was coming.

"Rokuougan!" The ultimate Rokushiki technique tore through Sanji's body, jarring his insides and causing him to bleed internally. Blood spewed from his mouth, and he fell limp.

Lucci's tail uncoiled from his waist, and he dropped the chef carelessly.

"Now, for the rest of your crew," the agent said, spitting a wad of blood onto the ground next to him.

He stopped in his tracks as he heard the unmistakable sound of movement. He turned back towards the chef with wide eyes.

He was standing.

That shockwave should have shredded his insides! He shouldn't even be alive, much less able to stand!

The leopard man was soon proven wrong as Sanji dashed forward again usings Soru. Lucci grit his teeth and swatted him aside, causing him to roll across the ground, but he was up again in an instant.

I'm at the end of my rope here, the chef thought. My vision's starting to darken. I'm at the brink of death. So why do I feel…

He let out a roar and jumped into the air, Sky Walking towards Lucci, and readied another kick, which the Zoan user raised an arm to carelessly block.

Why do I feel like I just can't lose?

Lucci was shocked to his core when the kick broke through both his guard and his tekkai, sending him crashing into a nearby building. He pulled himself out with widened eyes.

Impossible! He's nearly dead, and yet his kicks feel stronger than before? Did he learn Tekkai?

As Sanji shot forward again, Lucci dismissed the thought. No! He wouldn't be able to move while using it if it was newly learned!

He raised both arms in a cross block, activating Tekkai, but was still knocked off his feet again by Sanji's Concasse.

This is Armament Haki!

"Come on, you bastard. Round Three," the chef whispered.

For the hundredth time, Kuma's paw pads deflected Zoro's air slash and lunged toward him, forcing him to dodge to avoid being sent flying from the battlefield. It was like a never-ending cycle. Kuma would either deflect his attacks or warp out of the way of them, and he would have to keep dodging his paws with Observation Haki. Zoro sighed in annoyance. If he really wanted to, he could win this fight, but not without a lot of effort on his part, effort that would be wasted on someone who had been an ally in all but name the last time he'd seen him.

He didn't want to kill Kuma. He owed him far too much.

"Why are you hesitating, Roronoa Zoro?" Kuma asked, even as Zoro kept dodging. "You're going through the motions, but your attacks possess no intent to kill. Why is that?"

Zoro shrugs. "This fight will be over soon anyway."

"Oh? How do you plan to end it if you don't go for a killing strike?"

"I'm going to recruit you."

Kuma froze for a fraction of a second, and Zoro thought he could detect a hint of confusion on the cyborg's impassive face.

"Kuma."

The voice caused the Warlord's eyes to widen slightly, and he immediately stopped engaging. He looked at Sabo with a blank look.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Helping the Straw Hat Pirates. It's in the Revolutionary Army's best interests to aid them at the moment."

Kuma paused. "Is it because Straw Hat is Dragon's son?"

"It's more than just that. You've been doing a good job as our double agent, but this order takes priority. Act as if you were defeated by Roronoa Zoro and forced to retreat."

Kuma gave him a dry stare. "How am I to make that look realistic?"

Sabo simply grinned. "I have faith in you," the Chief of Staff answered.

Kuma sighed and warped away from Sabaody.

Lucci roared in pain as Sanji's Haki-imbued kicks assaulted every corner of his body. Although he was still faster than the chef, Black Leg was still able to predict his moves with Observation Haki, and whereas Lucci had had the edge in strength and durability before, now that the chef was using Armament too, he was outclassed in both.

Never had a single opponent turned a fight against him so quickly. He had tried to land another Rokuougan, but the chef wasn't falling for that again, even being extra wary of his tail. His Shigan and Rankyaku were all being dodged as he began to slow down, and his punches and kicks weren't even hurting his opponent anymore in his weakened state.

In a final, desperate gambit to turn the fight back in his favor, he shifted into his speed form using Life Return and attempted to end the fight with one more Rokuougan. This proved to be a mistake, as the chef avoided the finishing move by a hair despite Lucci's increased speed, and the strain of using the move a second time in the state he was in left the assassin open.

"Diable Jambe!"

Lucci staggered back away from the heat, unaware that his opponent still had the strength to use that move.

"Mutton Shot!"

The flaming, Haki-enhanced kick drilled into his chest, breaking several ribs and setting his insides aflame. He was shot backwards, a yellow torpedo, crashing through several buildings, which soon collapsed afterward. The extent of his injuries finally caught up with him, and he slipped back into his human form as he lost consciousness.

Sanji's arms shook as he lit a cigarette. "Come back again and I'll make a feline stew out of you, shitty government catdog."

Omake: Kuma's Vacation

Kuma arrived at his destination: Kuraigana Island. He walked past the bewildered baboons, who knew by now not to attack him, and proceeded towards the castle. It wasn't long before he was greeted at the door.

"Bartholomew Kuma," Mihawk drawled. "Just because I allow you to keep one of your paw prints here, doesn't mean you can come and go as you please."

"Dracule Mihawk," Kuma greeted. "As a fellow Warlord, I request that you inflict a non-lethal sword wound on me."

Mihawk stared. "What should I consider non-lethal?"

"Not enough to kill me, but enough to make it seem as though I almost perished," Kuma replied.

"…Should I even ask?"

"It would be preferable that you didn't."

Mihawk sighed, and then casually swung Yoru, cutting halfway through Kuma's cyborg body. Kuma staggered but didn't fall.

Mihawk sheathed his sword. "You may leave now," he stated.

"Very well. But shouldn't you be at Marineford at the moment?" Kuma asked.

Mihawk hummed and relented. "Might as well. Would you like to do the honors?"

Kuma placed one large hand on Mihawk's shoulder and teleported them both to their destination.