Complete Defeat

The Going Merry appears right in the middle of the Buster Call fleet. Marines shout, "IT'S A SHIP!!! BASED ON THE FLAG, IT LOOKS LIKE THE SHIP OF THE STRAWHATS!!!" No one understands how it slipped among the warships, and they ask, "WHAT ARE THEY PLANNING!!? THERE'S NO WAY THEY CAN SURVIVE BY JUMPING INTO THE OCEAN...!!" When someone demands, "SHALL WE FIRE AT IT!!?" another stops him: "NO, NICO ROBIN IS THERE!!" The ship that came to save them has become a target, but Robin's presence freezes the first trigger.

The Straw Hats and their allies crash onto Merry's deck, shouting, "HURRY!!" and "MERRY!!!" Relief bursts out everywhere: "MERRY IS ALIVE!!!" Kokoro laughs, "THERE, GET ONBOARD, DF USERS!! NGAGA-GAGA!!" while others cheer, "IT'S MERRY! IT'S MERRY!!" and "WHOOO!! I LOVE MERRY AFTER ALL!!" Franky can only stare, amazed that the ship was already tossed into the ocean. Someone wonders, "WHO STEERED HER HERE?" but there is no time for that. Luffy surfaces, gasping, "BHA!! THAT WAS CLOSE. I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA GET KILLED BY THE WARSHIPS!!" Then he turns to Robin: "HEY! ROBIN! YOU SAVED ME. THAN-" and the moment tangles into the chaos of everyone scrambling aboard.

The crew gathers on the deck of the ship that came back for them. Franky calls, "NOW, LEAVE EVERYTHING TO US!!" and the others answer, "EVERYONE!!" Robin, bruised and overwhelmed, finally says the words she survived long enough to say: "THANK YOU." Around her, the Straw Hats answer with joy instead of speeches: Chopper cries out, Luffy laughs "SHISHISHI!!" and Sanji melts into a delighted "HEE HEE!!" They have Robin back, and Merry is carrying them again.

Zoro cuts through the emotion: "TALK NONSENSE AFTER WE GET OUT OF HERE!!" Luffy grins back, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!! SHISHISHI!!!" and Sanji explodes at Zoro, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY NONSENSE, MARIMOOO!!?" Sogeking demands he apologize to Robin, but Nami takes command: "SANJI-KUN, GO STEER THE SHIP, PLEASE!!" Sanji instantly obeys with "OKAAAY, NAMI-SAAAN!!" Then Spandam's voice tears across the Den Den Mushi. Still alive and furious, he orders the fleet not to let them escape. Rather than lose Robin, he screams to blow them up along with her, lying that Admiral Aokiji said so. The order spreads: "ALL SHIPS, PREPARE TO FIRE!!!"

The name "ADMIRAL AOKIJI!?" shocks the Marines into motion, and the guns swing toward Merry. Spandam laughs that it was "A BIG FAT LIE" and snarls, "I WON'T LET ANY OF YOU ESCAPE!! I'LL KILL YOU!!! JUST DIE, ALL OF YOU!!" Franky recognizes him in disbelief: "THAT SPANDA BASTARD!! HE'S STILL ALIVE!?" As cannons surround the little ship, Sanji shouts steering orders: "RECEIVE WIND FROM STARBOARD AND STEER TOWARD THE EAST!!!" The others panic that a wall of cannons is aiming at them from every direction. "NO!! WE'RE BLOCKED!!!" one cries. "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO GET HIT!!!"

Sogeking sees the barrage begin and yells, "HERE THEY COME!!!" The fleet orders, "FIRE!!!" Cannonballs roar across the water, but the shots smash wildly into the sea and even threaten other warships. Marines panic: "F-FRIENDLY FIRE!?" and "THE OTHER CANNONBALLS AREN'T HITTING US, EITHER!!!" Officers snap, "WHERE ARE YOU AIMING AT, ALL OF YOU!?" but the gunners insist the aim went off for no reason. The battlefield itself has turned against them; ships lurch, officers shout to avoid crashing, and the fleet begins losing control.

The Marines finally understand what happened. "WE DIDN'T REALIZE THE GATES OF JUSTICE WERE CLOSED!" one reports. With the gates shut, the blocked current has created whirlpools that override the ships' steering and ruin their aim. Officers shout not to be swallowed by the current and demand, "IDIOTS! WHY DID YOU CLOSE THE GATES!?" The answer is on Merry. Sanji grins, and Nami realizes it: "SANJI!! COULD IT BE...!?" He admits the enemy was not something they could escape from with guts alone. Before he returned, he had reached the lever at the third prop of the Bridge of Hesitation and closed the Gates of Justice.

The crew cheers Sanji's move, but he warns them not to be too happy: "THE WHIRLPOOLS ARE DANGEROUS FOR US, TOO!!" Nami snaps everyone back into focus. "SHUT UP, GUYS! THERE'S NO SEA THAT MERRY CAN'T CROSS." Then she tells them, "JUST HANG IN THERE UNTIL I MANAGE TO READ HOW THE CURRENT FLOWS!!" On the warships, rage replaces confusion. A Marine screams, "KILL THEM!!!" and another humiliates the fleet: "WE HAVE SEVEN WARSHIPS AND WE CAN'T TAKE OUT ONE TINY SNOTTY SHIP!?" The order comes again: "DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY, FIRE!!!"

A cannonball suddenly heads straight for Merry. Someone cries, "SHIT!!! IT'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US!!!" and another realizes, "WE CAN'T DODGE IT!!!" Zoro and Sanji move at once. Zoro meets the shot with a fierce "DOHEAH!!!" while Sanji launches himself into the air and kicks another blast away with "BOYOOOON!!" The two glare across the deck after saving the ship, their rivalry still alive even in the middle of a Buster Call.

The deck shakes under explosions and spray, and Spandam, seeing Zoro and Sanji defend the ship, shouts, "WHAT ARE YOU!? DEVILS!!?" Nami studies the raging sea and says, "I SEE A PATH TO VICTORY...!!" The Marines report that the pirate ship is heading toward the falls, but Nami turns that danger into a route. She calls, "CHOPPER, HARD TO PORT!!" Chopper grabs the helm and beams, "WUUOHH!! I'M USEFUL, TOO!!!" Sanji praises him, "GOOD LUCK, REINDEER-CHAAN." Merry dives into the whirlpool current as Nami points them toward nine o'clock.

The fleet fires again, but the whirlpools grab the warships first. Marines shout, "THEY SEEM TO HAVE CAUGHT THE FLOW OF THE WHIRLPOOLS!!" and "THEY'RE MOVING AT A RAPID SPEED!!!" Spandam rages, "FIRE!!! FIRRRRE!!! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!!? ARE YOU IDIOTS!!?" He cannot accept that even after using all the war force of the Buster Call and all of Enies Lobby, they still cannot take "JUST ONE WOMAN" from "THOSE INSIGNIFICANT PIRATES...!!?" Luffy lies flat on Merry's deck while the ship surges onward, and Robin watches silently as the enemy's certainty collapses.

Spandam tries to claw back control with his last spite. He orders, "SPARE ME..." and then "CLUTCH!!" Robin catches him in her power, crushing him as he screams "GYAA-AAH!!!" and calls, "CHIEF, SIR!!!" Nami yells, "FRANKY, YOUR TURN!!" Franky answers, "ALL RIGHT!!!" and prepares "COUP DE" while warning that it will hurt the ship a little. He blasts Merry with "VENT!!!" and the little ship leaps from the whirlpool path. At the same time Sogeking fires "HISSATSU" and "CHO KEMURI-BOSHI!!!" creating a smoke screen. The Marines cry, "TH-THE PIRATE SHIP JUMPED!!!" and realize Merry has leapt out of the fleet's range.

Smoke blooms between Merry and the warships. The Marines shout, "IT'S A SMOKE-SCREEN!!" and keep firing into the chaos, but the whirlpools have taken control of their ships. "IMPOSSIBLE. THE WHIRLPOOLS HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OVER THE SHIPS. WE'RE BARELY FLOATING!!" one admits. Another curses, "AFTER THEM!!! WE WON'T LOSE IN SPEED!!!" but the ship that should have been trapped is already slipping away. Merry sails out through spray and smoke while Spandam howls, "BASTARD...!!!" behind them.

At the main gate, the allies hear the news and explode with joy. "IT SEEMS STRAWHAT-SAN AND THE OTHERS GOT AWAY!!" someone reports. The sea train charges forward with everyone aboard, shouting, "WOO HOO!!" and "BRO'S SAFE, TOO!!!" They promise, "WE'RE GONNA HEAD BACK, TOO!!" and call, "GO, GO, PUFFING TOM!" Out on the water, the warships still grumble, "WE'RE STILL GONNA GO AFTER THEM!!!" and "WE CAN'T JUST LET IT END LIKE THIS!!!" But one observer cuts through the pride: there is no need. By looking at the fleet and the island, it is obvious that this is their loss.

Aboard Merry, the crew thanks the ship that carried them through the impossible. Luffy pats the figurehead and says, "YUP...! THIS IS MY SEAT!!" Someone tells her, "WE MANAGED TO GET AWAY THANKS TO YOU. THANK YOU, MERRY!!" When the others say they only took back their nakama, someone adds that what they did was outrageous: "FIRST OF ALL, HOW CAN YOU SHOOT THE FLAG OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT?" Luffy answers simply, "WHO WAS TAKEN AWAY!!" Then the declaration rises across the sea: "THIS FIGHT IS OUR VICTORY!!!" and the crew roars, "ALL RIIIIGHT!!!" On the final side panel, Aokiji gives the verdict in two words: "COMPLETE" "DEFEAT." The Buster Call did not erase the Straw Hats. It proved they had won.

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