1,083Soooo... This chapter will have major ramifications for the story going forward, but we are reaching the end of the Dressrosa Arc. I'm thinking another two chapters, then maybe one more to finish tying up the loose ends wrapped up with arriving in Zou. Stick with me; we're almost there! And I have PLANS for Whole Cake.
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Now, onto the chapter!
Chapter 76:
Broken Will
Coby charged through the streets with Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Izou on his heels, the four men equally primed for action as they ran. The Tontatta that remained had gone ahead to the Colosseum to confirm Coby's claim that Mansherry was there and safe, leaving the humans to bring up the rear behind them. Coby, leading the group, kept his eyes peeled for any buildings that seemed ready to collapse, especially if he felt the Light of some individual nearby, typically some civilian or marine who had been a toy and, thus, had been left behind in the initial evacuation. Luckily, it seemed most of the buildings that were no longer sound had already succumbed to gravity, leaving those on the cusp and at risk for others few and far between. For those Coby suspected would be labeled too far gone to be safely repaired, he went ahead and collapsed them.
In one hand Coby held the exhausted salamander that was the country's youngest princess. He was unsure whether the newest Zoan user was sleeping or unconscious given the shock of what had transpired with her killing Diamante but still losing her father and grandfather. Either way, all he knew at the moment was it was his mission to keep her safe until Luffy could deal with Doflamingo. Whatever trauma she had suffered — and would continue to suffer through for some time — could wait until the greatest threat was finished and they knew tomorrow would come for them. There was no point dealing with it if they didn't live long enough to do so.
"I must say," Kanjuro commented. "It was quite the shock to see your magic and learn you were on our side, Sir Coby. I was tempted to attack you outright on the basis of your powers alone."
"I understand what you mean, Kanjuro," Kin'emon agreed. "I attempted to attack Sir Kaku when I first witnessed his own transformation magic. Momonosuke now bears magic with striking resemblance to Kaido's."
"What‽" Izou gaped. "Momonosuke ate a Devil Fruit?"
"A what?" Kanjuro questioned.
"Do they not know about Devil Fruits in Wano?" Coby asked. He blinked. "Hold on. Wind told me about Kin'emon attacking him, but what's the deal? I don't understand. Is there some reason you two hate Zoan users?"
"Is that what you call transformation magics?"
"The vast majority of Kaido's warriors have incredibly-similar powers," Kin'emon explained. "Kaido himself can become a dragon like Momonosuke can now, but his coloration is blue rather than pink."
"Word on the seas is the Beast Pirates got their name because their Devil Fruit users are almost exclusively Zoans," Izou put in. "The higher ranks possess Ancient Zoans like yours, Tri-Horn. To my knowledge, there aren't any Logias or Paramicias in their ranks. If there are, they don't have bounties."
"That says nothing of the monstrosities that we witnessed before our escape," Kanjuro added. "They had human elements and minds, but their corporeal forms were combined and twisted with bastardizations of nature."
"Those must be the results of the SMILE fruits," Coby reasoned. "Not to mention the Manias Velo created that Nami and the others had to fight back on Punk Hazard. They might not be the same, but I'd bet Zoro-sensei's booze they're connected."
"That would be a logical guess," Kin'emon agreed. He hadn't fought them himself, having been sent after Velo with Kaku when she first abducted Ace, but he had seen and remembered the Lovecraftian nightmares the Manias were. "I still do not understand how such creatures could have come to exist. Even those twisted humans amongst Kaido's men were only one animal each."
"What are you talking about?" Izou questioned.
"My crew recently tore through Punk Hazard where Caesar Clown was performing illegal experiments," Coby explained. "One of his underlings was a member of Kaido's crew who was experimenting with SMILE fruits, which Caesar was making for Kaido. According to Law, they're artificial Devil Fruits, but exclusively Zoans. Velo turned at least five people into horrible monsters beyond anything I saw when I was in Impel Down, apparently. His other underling was loyal to Doflamingo and abducted her, leaving Caesar to our mercy."
"That's how Doflamingo seemed to know you all were coming," Izou deduced.
"Yeah, that—" Coby stopped, his gaze going to the top of an untouched building. He frowned. "Follow me and stay close but don't do anything until I say so," he ordered. The samurai (and former samurai) exchanged looks but didn't respond as Coby morphed into his Slasher Mode and jumped, clearing half the building's height in a single leap. His unbroken nails (the others snapped by Zekiel Jone would need some time to heal much like his central horn) dug into the structure's exterior, giving him the footholds that he needed to jump the rest of the way there.
He really needed to ask Sanji, Merry, and Kaku for tips about Moonwalk. Tempest Kick was fine even if he didn't use it much compared to his flying slashes and he had a good handle on Shave, but Moonwalk seemed like it would be really useful for moments like this.
He cleared the wall, landing on the rooftop with enough space for his companions to land behind him upon their imminent arrivals. A single glance confirmed axolotl Rebecca was still situated in the palm of his hand, the poor girl still unresponsive but alive. The roset turned his attention to the Lights, the spirits, he'd felt that drew him here.
Situated on the roof were three men, none of them overly familiar to the young pirate. One had red hair and a much darker shade of beard and another was clean-shaven with scars that passed over his closed eyes. Those two were seated and seemed to be in the middle of a card game of some sort, the scarred man's hand turned outward. The third man, who had distinctive muttonchops Coby was sure he'd seen before somewhere, was standing and had clearly been in battle until recently. The most defining trait they shared was their white-and-blue coats, though one was wearing purple.
"What the fuck are you two doing sitting there?" Coby demanded, white-hot anger bubbling up in his gut. He didn't direct the question at the third man; he'd already taken battle damage, which was more than could be said about the other two. Besides, he looked just as angry as Coby felt.
"Pirates!" said man yelled, falling back and drawing a sword. The younger of the sitting men raised a hand to stop him even as Coby gripped the handle of Hoshokusha with his free hand.
"Ah, Tri-Horn," Jonathan said. "We never met on your gaunt into G-8. Care to play a hand with us?"
"There's a Godadammed war ripping this city-state apart and two of the highest-ranking marines here are just sitting around doing nothing‽"
"We have been closely monitoring the situation," the redhead argued. "I have kept most of my own men out of combat except to defend the evacuated civilians. We cannot legally go after Doflamingo because of his status, so we have decided to let you pirates take care of this situation with him for us."
"You…?" That anger flared, Coby's limbs shaking as he beheld the Admiral and Vice-Admiral before him.
"No civilians have been harmed," Fugitora picked up. "Frankly, that's a miracle at this point. The only ones injured or killed during this ordeal have been pirates, marines, or those openly rebelling against the crown, making them national revolutionaries. The pair of us staying out of it allows you to succeed."
"Are you telling me you doing nothing is you doing something?" The tone of his voice caused the Wano natives behind him to grip their weapons, Izou going so far as to aim his pistols, but Coby didn't unsheathe Hoshokusha even if his grip went white-knuckled. "Do you know how many lives have been lost because of your inaction?"
"Everyone here knows battle could cost them their lives—" Jonathan began.
"No," the young pirate interrupted. "No. You don't get to give me that 'death in battle in honorable' bullshit when you could have prevented at least some of those deaths just by being there. I've known since I joined Captain Luffy that there was corruption at every level of the Marines, but the levels you fall to always seem to go lower. I thought I saw a glimmer of hope when I learned about DAGGER—"
"How do you…?" Jonathan blinked.
"—but when even the commanders who are clearly strong enough to make a difference sit back and do nothing… I shouldn't be, but I'm shocked."
"I hate to agree with the pirate, Vice-Admiral," Lieutenant Drake muttered. "Over a hundred marines died in the Colosseum today in a lost battle. We could have used your help."
"You could have chosen not to side with the homicidal, dictatorial sycophant just because he's a Celestial Dragon with a broken Devil Fruit and a God complex!" Coby roared. "I understand the world isn't black-and-white like I used to think, but one side here is clearly in the wrong, and your organization chose to fight for it just because his ancestors founded the World Government a long time ago and have been literally above the law since! One of his men murdered three of the previous royal family, two of them right in front of the princess, and bragged about it!"
"That is a very heavy accusation," Fugitora — for no one but an Admiral could wear that sort of coat; the realization only made Coby's anger burn brighter — warned.
"Then why don't you ask the princess when she wakes up?" the pirate demanded, gesturing to the axolotl in his hand. "She might be down an arm, a father, a mother, a grandfather, and had to be force-fed a Devil Fruit just to not bleed out, but I'm sure she'll be perfectly amicable to you assholes! I know, you can take her on a tour of the world! Show her Sabaody where you can sell her into slavery to shut her up!"
"Slavery‽" Drake echoed, aghast. Notably, though they flinched, neither Jonathan nor Fujitora looked surprised at the information.
"Yeah, apparently Doflamingo's funding that, too! And let me tell you, it's not fun being on the other side of those chains! Maybe you should open a damn inquiry into that and pray to Goda your illustrious bosses don't make you the merchandise for asking too many questions like they did Captain Havrar."
Lieutenant Drake jerked. "How do you know that name?"
"Captain Havrar was beset upon by pirates," Jonathan tried to argue. "The reports—"
"Your reports were wrong," Coby interrupted. "I met Havrar myself. We were locked in chains together but he was taken away, sold without an auction. I don't know what happened to him in the end. I just know that he said it was CP6 that abducted him from his ship in the dead of night."
Fugitora's grip on his sword tightened, anger flaring across his face as an inch of steel glinted in the sunlight. Gravity in the area spiked, but Coby kept himself rooted and upright, his stance widening to support the increased weight. Idly, a part of his brain recognized the hamon on his simple sword as one of the 12 Saijo, or Supreme Grade. Considering there were only 12 and they were all quite different from each other, he identified the one in Fujitora's hands as the Yakuza Kasen. Clearly, this was not a man to face head on.
"I will have to have words with some of my coworkers when all this is over," Fujitora decided, clicking his sword back into place. The weight of the air eased up, Coby hearing Kin'emon and Kanjuro suck in large breaths behind him.
"It seems both of us will need to," Jonathan commented, the same steel in his eyes.
"Jonathan called you Tri-Horn, yes?"
"That is my moniker," the youngest in the area confirmed. "'Tri-Horn' Coby of the Straw Hat Pirates."
"I thank you for bringing this information to our attention. In return, I shall offer you a warning. We have our orders to take you and yours in because of your growing notoriety and track record. Given the number of marines currently on the island, we probably have ships surrounding it already. If you wish to escape the island with your freedom, you will have to leave immediately before the dust settles or otherwise have allies pull some legally-risky and very costly maneuvers. After your battle today, none of you will be in any state to face me and Jonathan, much less the remainder of our forces."
"We'll keep that in mind," Coby replied, turning his back on the marines. "And by the way, do something about Helmeppo, would you? He's becoming the Mad Dog's mad little puppy."
"Vice-Admiral Helmeppo isn't supposed to be on the island," Fujitora said. "His mindset in actions related to your crew were deemed irrationally bias by independent review."
"Then he chose to ignore orders. Because of that, the former King Riku, Rebecca's father Kyros, and nearly a hundred dwarves are dead. I managed to defeat him without killing him this time, but I can't say if the next time will be different. Deal with him, then maybe we can talk about integrity in your organization. Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Izou, we've got somewhere to be and a princess to protect." He glared backwards. "Unlike some people."
The four jumped from the roof, Izou doing so last after clearly debating with himself if it would be worth it to put a bullet in each of the marines there. He must have decided against it since he holstered his pistols and followed, leaving Fujitora, Jonathan, and Drake on the roof physically unharmed. Mentally, however, the three marines were still reeling from the pirate's harsh words.
"I failed," Fujitora muttered, feeling tears rolldown his cheeks. "I let my fear of legal repercussions prevent me from doing the right thing. I left the hard work to others, and now I missed a chance to save lives."
"It seemed like the logical course at the time," Jonathan tried. "Back before we knew about the toys—"
"That's no excuse." Fujitora turned his head upward, his blind eyes staring into the sky he could not see. "Is there something above us?"
"There are lines in the sky," Drake answered. "Reports say it's shrinking, sheering apart anything it passes through."
Fujitora nodded to himself. "Jonathan, Drake, all marines on the island have new orders. They are to arrest all pirates in their vicinity, the Doflamingo Pirates included. All others are to do everything in their power to stop or slow those strings, and we will be no exception. Once we make a breach, we will work to keep it open and get as many civilians out as possible. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir!"
"Gum-Gum Balloon!" Luffy spun, sucking air into his gut. He landed, his engorged torso absorbing the kinetic energy of his fall and preparing to rebound only for Zoro and Jinbei to land on him just a second before he did. The force caused him to exhale, deflating, until he was left underneath his two crewmates.
"That's quite the useful ability, Luffy," Jinbei commented, getting off the rubber-man.
"You get used to it after he throws you around enough," Zoro grunted, also getting off. Luffy laughed, dusting his clothes off and standing. Zoro drew his swords. "No time to relax. We've got company."
He threw four flying slashes into the air in something of a square before jumping, his Haki-coated swords clashing with the string-covered fingers of Doflamingo as he fell on them. Black lightning flashed and stone shattered as Zoro hit the ground again, his legs absorbing the impact this time.
"Jet Pistol!"
"Ten-Thousand Brick Fist!"
The air pressure rapidly condensed before exploding as Luffy's and Jinbei's fists met above Zoro's swords, the pressure wave sending all three pirates backward. Doflamingo watched from several feet away, his crooked smile never wavering as he allowed his foes to recollect themselves.
"We don't have time to play around," Luffy said, his eyes narrowing on the blond. "Traffy's all alone up there."
Doflamingo's smile widened but he said nothing, his silence doing nothing to elevate the worry in their guts.
"There were two of them," Zoro recalled, layering his swords in Haki as he drew all three. "If we're down here, then Law's alone with the other one."
"All the more reason to hurry up," the captain growled.
"We'll follow you, Luffy," Jinbei grunted.
"Jet Stamp!" Luffy shot forward in a burst of steam, his sandaled foot smashing into the crossed arms of the Doflamingo they found themselves facing. His Observation flared, prompting Luffy to dig in with friction and push himself upward in a flip the moment before the blond lashed out with an unannounced Five Colors String that sliced through the air where the rival captain had been.
Zoro caught the strings with Kitetsu and Shusui, his own Haki forcing the seemingly-unbreakable strings into the ground. Jinbei jumped over him, only grunting as he barreled toward the Warlord. Doflamingo vanished, vacating his position as the fishman's fist came down, caving the ground without contact.
"Jet Whip!" Luffy whipped his leg around, limiting Doflamingo's options for escape. The man's smile only widened, not moving as he grabbed the rubber-man's leg. Luffy's eyes widened slightly as he started to retract, but for a kinesthetic learner like him, he wouldn't make the same battle mistake twice. Luffy leaned into the momentum, clotheslining the blond and driving his back into the street.
Doflamingo's smile never wavered.
"Something doesn't feel right," Luffy commented, his eyes narrowing. "He feels… soft."
"Soft?" Zoro echoed, clearly confused.
"Not soft soft, but that's the best word I've got."
"Ah, I see," Jinbei nodded. "I'd wondered if this was the real Doflamingo in a feign, but he did just give us his String Clone."
"The bastard can clone himself?" the swordsman demanded.
"Not literally. He simply made a copy using thousands or millions of color string he's forced together and is reacting in response to our movements in his Observation. The more trouble Law gives the original, the slower this one would be to respond."
"If it's not real, why's this one feel like him?" the behatted pirate questioned.
"It's pumped full of Doflamingo's Haki," the fishman answered.
"So it's a mystery fake" Luffy muttered.
"No, you dumbass," Zoro grumbled. Louder, he asked, "Should we be worried about this one's reaction speed, then?"
"Yes, I'd say so," Jinbei nodded.
"Traffy's got the other one and the better he does, the slower this one gets," Luffy summarized. "Simple enough. Let's hit this thing fast and hard!"
"I thought you'd never ask," the verdet grinned. "1060-Caliber Pheonix!"
"Arabesque Brick Fist!"
Luffy leapt away as the ranged attacks fell upon the clone. He didn't wait for the dust cloud to clear or to see the results, pressed as they were for time. "Jet Gatling!"
Luffy felt his fists land several times but he didn't let up, each miss increasing the density of the obscuration. He felt rather than saw Zoro and Jinbei repositioning, so he kept up his onslaught until the pair stopped, flanking the dust cloud. Only then did he pull away.
"Two Sword Style: Two Gorilla Slash!"
"Water Shot!"
A pair of flying cuts in an X and a number of water droplets at the speed of bullets converged, the dust in the air swirling in on itself as the attacks passed through. Jinbei jumped away, avoiding Zoro's attack. Motion froze save for the slowly-settling dust.
"Don't drop your guard," Zoro warned. "I missed."
"Well, don't miss next time," Luffy ordered.
"You do seem to be the best counter to this simulacrum," Jinbei commented. "Compared to mine and Luffy's blunt attacks, one good cut should be enough to destroy this clone."
"I can think of some— duck!" The three pirates dove away at Luffy's warning, each barely avoiding the tightly-wound balls of string that threatened to pierce them at high velocity. The Doflamingo clone's smile never faltered despite the scuffs to its outer layer from Luffy's blows, the thing appearing from the fading dust cloud with its fingers shaped into a handgun firing string bullets at each of them. Even Luffy was forced to dodge seeing as said bullets were pumped full of Haki.
"Tiger Trap!" Zoro yelled, charging in from the side. The clone turned, swinging upward with a hand trailing another Five Colors String. The defensive attack could not stand against Zoro's swords, but it did hold out long enough for the clone to get away. It spun, spreading strings out to debris that were then pulled from their resting places. "1060 Caliber Pheonix!"
Zoro cut through the largest chunk, most of a building's wall being sliced into a dozen smaller pieces and the string pulling it severed, but that did nothing to affect the other two dozen stone chunks swinging in. Zoro was forced to retreat as his former position was swallowed under rubble.
"This must be the extent of the clone's abilities," Jinbei observed, pulverizing two stone slabs that came for him with his Sharkskin Palm technique. "Doflamingo himself can puppet humans and the like. If the clone could as well, at least one of us would be forced to fight the others."
"Great," the swordsman muttered. "Small mercies."
"Zoro!" Luffy called. "Jinbei! Take care of the rubble for me!"
"Captain's orders," Zoro grinned, glancing at the fishman with his lone eye. "Let's go."
The pair charged forward, the clone's fingers dancing as it controlled the debris at the end of its strings. Sword and blue fists blurred, slicing and crushing the veritable avalanche that tried to either stop them or slip past to the captain.
"Zoro," Jinbei grunted, snatching a near-boulder out of the air above his head before smashing it into the ground. "Can you created a space down the middle I can reach into?"
"Of course," the one-eyed man replied, the air around his swords waving as he layered his Haki into the blades. He jumped, twisting to swing all three in the same direction. A sharpened, black wave shot from the weapons, slicing down and through the constantly-renewed hoard of stone. A small mountain blocked visual between them and the clone, that amount of rock stopping the cut short of severing the simulacrum, but the lost visual was of little concern.
Jinbei lowered his stance and shoved his hands forward, palms out, his eyes closed as he focused his Observation. With a grunt of exertion, the fishman took hold of the water in the air as he always did with his Fishman Karate. Slowly at first, then with a sudden jerk, he swung outward, the thin cut Zoro had made becoming a great divide leading to the defensive mountain behind which the clone hid.
"Now, Luffy!"
"Twin Grizzly Magnum!"
Luffy zoomed past them, his massive, black, expanded forearms and hands trailing behind with enough displaced air to ruffle his allies' clothes. He growled and jumped upon reaching the halfway point, yanking his fists forward. They were staggered slightly, his left just ahead of his right.
The first impact crushed the defensive wall, turning rock, stone, and debris into so much dust. The second passed through the hole left behind, Luffy feeling the impact of some humanoid shape held there until his fist smashed into one of the few undamaged buildings which proceeded to cease to exist.
Luffy landed, panting, as he took in the results of his handiwork. The clone laid spread eagle in a hole of its own shape, its smile unwavering.
"It's not over," Luffy grunted. "Zoro!"
The verdet was already moving, having anticipated his captain's words. His path curved in from the left, Shusui trailing behind carving a line in the road.
"Tower Climb Return!"
The weapons cleaved into the earth through the clone. Its smile never faded as its color drained away, the strings that had connected it to the original broken. What had appeared to be the Warlord fell apart into naught but a pile of white, inanimate string.
"We don't have time to celebrate," Jinbei reminded them, turning his eye to the Castle Plateau. "We need to get up there quickly."
"Running will take too long," Luffy thought aloud. "Jinbei, can you throw us?"
"I won't get you all the way," he answered. "Certainly not both of you."
"I can get you the rest of the way," Zoro offered. "Jinbei and I can join you later. Just focus on saving Law and beating Doflamingo."
Luffy nodded, eyeing the cliffside at the top of which Law had been left alone with the tyrannical Warlord he's sword to tear down.
"Alright. We'll go up as high as we can first."
The trio ran at the wall, jumping onto its side and charging upward as best they could. Jinbei, with his bulk, was the first to slow as they expected would be the case. Upon his call, Both Zoro and Luffy jumped onto his hands.
"Go!" he yelled, pushing them both upward with all his strength. The pair of humans shot upward with the added boost even as gravity started to claim the fishman, but they trusted Jinbei to land safely.
It was the halfway point when both started quickly losing their speed. That was Luffy's cue for the next part of their plan. His hand reached upward, grabbing a barely-there fingerhold that was just enough to swing him over toward his first mate. Said first mate drew two of his swords and crossed them over his chest, their blunt sides catching Luffy's feet.
"We believe in you, captain," he said, slicing to send Luffy upward on a wave of force just before gravity started to take him, too.
Luffy didn't have time to worry about Zoro's landing, placing his full belief in Jinbei to catch him. Instead, he needed to concern himself with finding finger- and footholds as he scaled the cliffside at high speed, liberal use of the rubber body maintaining his upward momentum.
By the time he reached the top, a stone of worry had sunk in his gut. He didn't feel any animosity in his Observation. In fact, be barely felt anything, much less two different spirits clashing like he should have. His feet settled on the grass, his eyes rising to the horrific sight hanging from the ruined castle.
Trafalgar Law was dead.
His body hung from the stone wall by a noose, his arms severed at the shoulders and still leaking crimson blood. His sword Kikoku was stabbed in the ground below with his black-spotted white hat sitting upon the pommel, said blood trailing down the late pirate's real and peg legs to drip onto the large sword as if to further taunt the dead man that it wasn't his target's blood that now stained the grey steel, turning the white hat red. His eyes were wide, his face forever frozen in a rictus of pain, a pair of lines having carved his cheeks into a terrible imitation of a smile extending from the corners of his mouth.
"Traffy…" Luffy whispered.
"Ah, Straw Hat," Doflamingo grinned from atop his seat above the body. "You and your friends beat my String Clone faster than I was expecting you to, but you weren't fast enough. Poor Law finally got the traitor's death he always deserved. He never screamed, so I'll at least give him that. He was a pretty poor sport about it."
"You bastard!" Luffy roared, his nails digging into his palms with the force of his shaking fists. "You killed him!"
"Did you expect different?" the blond questioned. "I was always above Law's weight class no matter how much stronger he got. Oh, he got one good hit on me" — The Warlord gestured to a dark bruise on his abdomen where the late captain's final Gamma Knife had landed — "but it was simply too little too late. Do you think you'll fair any better all alone?"
Luffy didn't respond, sucking in a breath. He opened his eyes slowly, a miasma of Haki rising from his form to warp the air around him.
"The time for talking is over, Mingo," Luffy growled, his dark eyes narrowing, "and so is your rule. It's time for you to fall."
It was a time like any other on the Polar Tang, the yellow submarine of the Heart Pirates. Crewmates laughed with each other in their white jumpsuits with the jolly roger emblazoned on both the left breast and larger on the back, said outfits easily staving off the chill that came with travel under the waters of the Grand Line, the pirates doing their best to forget the battle above they had been unceremoniously evicted from "for their safety". Their submarine wasn't moving anymore than their dock, said submarine tied to one of Zunisha's massive legs which dragged them along maybe once or twice an hour.
The only two pirates aboard dressed differently had bear ears. One of them, a polar bear Mink, was dressed in orange, the color easily popping out of the white of the rest of his crewmates but otherwise the same style and make. This was Bepo, navigator of the Heart Pirates, and he was deep in conversation with Jean Bart, the resident partial-Giant of the crew.
The other was a woman dressed in a yellow coat over her own white jumpsuit, the coat hiding most of the curves the overalls failed to. She was the smallest member of the crew at about 5'1", her short, orange hair framing her wide smile as a pair of bear ears the same color twitched in response to sounds both within and without the underwater vessel. She had a shortsword belted at her waist but any other weapons she may have carried were hidden within her long coat. Her fingers each boasted a nail sharpened to a claw and between each finger was a kind of webbing, all the better for swimming. This was Polar Tang, the Kalabutermann of the Heart Pirates. Said spirit was in conversation with Penguin and Sachi, the three reminiscing on the adventures years ago that had brought her to life.
"And that's when the ceiling broke and Sachi fell through," Penguin laughed, slapping a hand down in his friend's shoulder. Both wore identical jumpsuits but different, distinctive hats, specifically a wide, black hat with two white spots like an orca for Sachi and a yellow-billed baseball cap with his name in black on a white background for Penguin. The latter had a black hood pulled up while the former did not, showing his rust-colored hair.
"Thank Goda I did," Sachi laughed. "If I hadn't, you would've gotten married to the Penguin Princess of the North Pole!"
"She didn't look that bad."
"She was literal bird with lipstick on her beak! She didn't even have lips!"
"It was a Zoan—"
"No, it wasn't! They were all penguins! You're just in denial that you almost married a bird!"
"Kukukumahaha!" Polar Tang laughed, one hand holding her gut. The incident in question had happened in the North Blue, before she's been sentient and most of the other members had joined the crew. "Where were Captain Law and Bepo during that?"
"Oh, Bepo was in the pews," Penguin answered. "He didn't have the heart to object. And Law was trying to fight the kraken."
"Oh, right!" Sachi remembered. "I'd forgotten the Penguin Clan had that deal with the kraken to act as their bouncer. Or was it the kraken's brother?"
"Wouldn't that just make it a second kraken?"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. You still almost married a bird."
"Yeah, good times," Penguin laughed. "I wish Law was here with us, though."
"He wanted us away from the fighting, remember?" Polar Tang reminded him. "Captain was afraid one or more of us would die in the fighting against Doflamingo and he didn't want to risk it."
"Which is silly," Sachi rebuffed. "We swore to follow him to the end of the earth. I thought he would've trusted us enough to take us on his greatest mission. We could've helped."
"And some of us would have died," Tang denied. "Captain was clear; it would be war, not assassination. He would make allies and let them take the brunt of the losses, but he didn't want to risk anyone of our crew except himself."
"And if that risk ends bad for him?"
"Then I have orders," Tang shrugged. "But we don't need to worry. I'm sure Captain Law will—!" The Klabautermann doubled over, falling to her knees as a horrible shriek wrenched itself from her lips. Every conversation went quiet, all eyes turning on the Wood Fairy (whose Heart was actually metal). Bepo moved first, the Mink running to her side, Ikkaku — the only other female member — hot on his heels.
"Tang!" Bepo fretted. As he watched, she hacked up a wad of red essence, coughing nearly to point of vomiting as a pain unlike anything she'd ever felt wracked her body. It felt like someone was driving an icepick into her head, severing a part of her spirit itself multiple times. "Tang, what's wrong?"
"No…" Polar Tang whispered, desperately trying to deny the truth whose evidence was clearly attempting to rip her apart. "No, please… It can't… It didn't happen… It's not true…"
"Tang, what's wrong?" Ikkaku asked, the woman with long, bushy brown hair spilling out of a yellow beanie. It was apparent Polar Tang had inherited her body proportions from her, even if Ikkaku was a head-and-a-half taller.
"I-It's Captain Law," the spirit whispered as the sharpness of the pain slowly subsided, leaving only a dulling ache and a profound sense of emptiness down to the core of her entire being. Her body flickered, barely retaining its corporeal form even as she threatened to lose it any moment. A major part of her had just vanished, ripped away in an instant. Moby Dick must have felt this sensation several times over at the War of the Best two years ago, but he had powered through it, been ready for it. For Polar Tang, she'd had neither knowledge nor forewarning. "Captain Law, his… His bonds snapped. He's…" She hiccupped. "He's dead."
Her last words came out as a whisper, echoing around her silent insides. Polar Tang didn't know where or how or the circumstances that had led to the situation, all she knew was that all of Trafalgar Law's connections to his crew, the very bonds by which Klabautermanns like her were born, had all been severed at once. Losing the captain, the beating heart by which every member of the crew were connected, had very nearly killed Polar Tang or set her back far enough that she would not have been able to form her body.
"You're lying," Penguin accused. "This… This is a joke, right? I-I know you got Hakugan's sick sense of humor, but this isn't funny!"
"I wish I was," Tang replied, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "I don't want it to be true."
"We need to go!" Sachi insisted. "Maybe… Maybe he's faking his death! Maybe he made his heart stop beating, but he's gonna replace it with another one! It wouldn't be the first time!"
"Not this time." Tang shook her head. She stood on shaking legs, accepting Ikkaku's offered help. Her voice shook just as badly. "I-I-I have o-orders…"
"No, we can still do something!" Penguin insisted. "Law—"
"The captain is dead," the Klabautermann repeated with more force even as the tears redoubled. Even then she could feel the rest of the bonds from which she'd been given life fraying as the crew threatened to fall apart. She turned her eyes on the most unique of them. "I have orders. For Bepo."
"F-For me?" the Mink questioned.
"These words came from Captain Law himself. 'In the event I die, the crew will go on. You will not seek revenge for me, nor will you pursue anything that would bring you against Doflamingo. If these are my final orders, then I pass my everything to you, my oldest and most trusted friend. Take my crew, my ship, my will, and my name.' Our loyalty goes to you now, Captain Trafalgar D. Bepo."
It was all too much, the shocks hitting him one after the other. Bepo stood there, surprised, as Polar Tang knelt before him, her hand over the symbol on her suit. Jean Bart was the second to take a knee, his sworn oath making the submarine itself shake. One by one, every other member of the Heart Pirates fell until each had bowed their head to the Mink. Bepo blinked, trying to understand.
"…I'm sorry?" he squeaked before passing out.
End of Chapter 76
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-SwordOfTheGods