Thud.
Weevil crashed onto the deck, the Moby Dick groaning under the impact. He ripped the massive bisento from his back—his "father's" bisento—his simple face twisted in greedy joy. "Dad's... power... MINE! Mommy said... MINE!"
He charged, swinging the legendary polearm in an arc that would have cleaved the Moby Dick in two.
He was met by a laugh. "GURARARARA!"
It wasn't the sick rattle of an old man. It was a roar that shook the heavens, a sound of pure, unadulterated power that vibrated in the bones of every single person on Elbaf.
Whitebeard didn't dodge. He didn't even grab his own weapon.
He caught the charging, Haki-infused blade in a single, open palm.
The entire weapon stopped dead, vibrating like a tuning fork. The shockwave from the stopped blow alone blasted Weevil backward, his feet skidding on the deck. Weevil's eyes bulged in pure, dumbfounded shock. He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing.
"'My 'power'?" Whitebeard rumbled, his voice a baritone avalanche. He looked at his own crackling, quake-infused fist as if seeing an old friend. He then looked at Weevil with utter, kingly disdain. "'My 'son'?"
He tightened his grip, and the blade in his hand began to crack under the pressure. "You're not my blood. You're not my family." He pulled Weevil forward, meeting the monster's confused stare. "You're just... a mistake."
He met the charging brute with a single, open-palmed strike to the chest.
"Who the hell's son are you?"
There was no grand explosion. Just a thwack... and then the sound of the world shattering. A white sphere of pure quake energy enveloped Weevil. His bones, his armor, his very being, shattered before the shockwave even expanded. He was simply swatted, a gnat against a god, and was sent rocketing back across the bay, an unconscious blur that disappeared into the horizon.
On the deck, Jewelry Bonney, now aged into a frail woman, collapsed. Marco, his eyes wide, caught her before she hit the wood, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Pops..." he whispered, his voice thick with an emotion he hadn't felt in sometime. "Pops... you're awake."
Whitebeard looked at his hand, then at Marco, and gave a wide, familiar grin. "Gurarara... It's been a while, hasn't it, my son? Now... let's clean up this mess."
The war for Elbaf had truly begun. It was chaos. A dozen battles erupted at once.
"ICE AGE!" Kuzan slammed his hand on the ground, a wave of ice racing toward the Big Mom pirates, only to be met by a wall of glutinous mochi. "Ara ra. Charlotte Katakuri," Kuzan drawled, his body already a storm of solid ice.
His 'Ice Saber' clashed with a Mochi Golem fist. "I saw you interfering, former Admiral," Katakuri's voice was calm, but his Haki was screaming. "My future says I take your head for Mama." "Seeing the future doesn't help if you can't change it," Kuzan replied, solid ice reforming around a hole where a 'Buzz Cut Mochi' strike had just passed.
Elsewhere, the rest of the Big Mom crew charged, only to be met by a wall of diamond and steel. "Get out of our way!" Charlotte Cracker roared, creating a dozen Biscuit Soldiers. "For the Captain!" Jozu roared, his entire body shifting into diamond. He became a living cannonball, "Brilliant Punk," smashing through the soldiers like they were paper. "We're Whitebeard's men! We don't break!" "With pleasure," Vista replied, his twin blades already a blur of petals and steel, clashing with Charlotte Smoothie.
From the sidelines, Nico Robin and Koala joined the fray, protecting the crew's flank. "There's too many of them, Robin-san!" Koala panted, shattering a biscuit soldier with a perfectly aimed Fish-Man Karate palm strike. "Quantity is not quality, Koala-chan," Robin replied, her voice serene as a giant foot made of her own limbs stomped a battalion of chess-piece homies. "Clutch!"
The giants of Elbaf, led by a roaring Regent Jarl, let out a unified war cry. "FOR ELBAF! DESTROY THE INVADERS!" They charged the newly arrived Blackbeard pirates. It was a slaughter.
A smaller, honor-bound group of giants, their faces masks of pure, righteous rage, ignored the pirates and charged the dark prince. "DIE, LOKI! TRAITOR! YOU ARE THE SHAME OF OUR PEOPLE!" Loki didn't even turn. "Traitors? To what? A lie?" he whispered. He just raised his hand, palm open, as the first giant, Hagrid the Stalwart, brought his 50-ton axe down on him. A wave of black, rotting energy washed over them. It wasn't a fight. It was an execution. Hagrid's axe rusted in mid-air, crumbling into red flakes. The giant's eyes went wide with horror as he watched his own hands wither, his skin cracking and shriveling, aging 400 years in a single second. He stumbled, falling as a skeleton wrapped in dust. The giants behind him met the same fate.
Loki stood amidst the swirling chaos, his head tilted, a cold, satisfied thought echoing in his mind. Fools. You protected my cage for forty years. You thought this was shame? You thought you were my jailers? His lips curled in a smile only he could feel. You were my cocoons. You let the World Government's lie stand... all while I festered. All while I fed on your pity, your scorn, your fear. All while I trained in the absolute dark, undisturbed. Thank you... for the 40 years of patience.
The minor battles faded to a dull roar. In the center of the ruined ring, three men stood in a triangle. Fire. Darkness. Revolution. Ace. Blackbeard. Sabo.
"ZEHAHAHAHAHA!" Teach boomed, his darkness swirling, pulling in debris. "Look at this! The sons of the Pirate King! And... who's this tag-along?"
"I'm his brother!" Sabo roared, his pipe crackling with Haki as he stepped forward, his face a mask of cold fury. "And you... you're the one. The one who started all of this. You killed Thatch. You GAVE Ace to the Marines!"
"Zehahaha! Gave him?" Blackbeard mocked. "I gave him his destiny! Just like I'm giving you yours! But you... you're not even on the board, Revolutionary whelp. This is between me and him!"
"Sabo, stay back."
Ace's voice was quiet. So quiet it cut through the din. His body was a calm, white-hot inferno. "Ace, I'm not letting you—" "Sabo" Ace interrupted, his gaze locked on Teach. "He is mine." He looked at Teach, his eyes holding nothing but a cold, final promise. "I've killed four of your commanders, Teach. Four more than I promised. You're next."
Teach's grin faltered. The memory of his humiliation stung. "I'VE REPLACED THEM ALL, YOU ARROGANT BRAT!" he bellowed, darkness exploding from him. "Replaced them with legends! My crew will devour your pathetic fleet! Kurouzu!"
A vortex of darkness shot out, pulling Ace toward him. "Enjōmō!" Ace countered, slamming his own hand down. A massive wall of white-hot fire erupted, fighting the darkness to a standstill. Sabo, seeing an opening, tried to flank. "Ryu no Ibuki!" He thrust his Haki-coated claws, but Blackbeard merely stomped his foot. The air cracked. The quake power shattered the ground, throwing Sabo off balance. The three were locked, Haki pressing against Haki, fire against darkness, dragon against quake.
But just as they were about to move, a slow, grating laugh cut through the air. Thud… thud… thud…
The three-way standoff broke. All three men turned.
Prince Loki, his dark, rotting hammer resting on his shoulder, walked towards them, the ground decaying with his every step. He stopped just outside their triangle, the air thick with his malice.
Ace and Sabo tensed, preparing for a new, giant-sized enemy. Blackbeard grinned, his greedy, broken-toothed smile returning.
"Zehahaha! Good work, Prince Loki! Perfect timing!" he roared, lowering his guard slightly. "Now, help me crush these fools, and your kingdom is yours! A perfect alliance!"
Loki's blindfolded face turned towards Blackbeard. His cruel, triumphant smile widened, splitting his face. "You're right, son of Rocks," Loki whispered, his voice carrying on the dead wind. "The kingdom is mine."
He then pivoted on his heel, his head turning to "look" directly at... Ace.
"Thank you," he said, his voice laced with a chilling sincerity.
"...for taking out the trash."
"Do you know"
"We have so much in common"
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