The Bridge of Struggle

The ruins of Enies Lobby keep burning while the duel continues in the shattered first bridge prop. Stone blocks fall, smoke rolls through the broken buildings, and both fighters are reduced to raw breath. Luffy stares forward through steam and blood, panting "HAA... HAA..." Rob Lucci answers with the same exhausted stillness, a low "FUUUU" coming from him as he gathers himself again. Around them, the Buster Call continues to tear the island apart, but neither of them looks away from the other.

Lucci's blood drips onto the stone, and Luffy stands across the wreckage in the haze of Gear Second. From far away, the voices of his friends reach the battlefield: "LUFFY... HURRY UP AND COME BACK!!" The call carries over the water, the bridge, and the smoke. Below it, the two enemies remain separated by the ruined floor, both still breathing hard: "HAA..." Luffy's steam rises with a sharp "SHUUU...!!!" He is close enough to return to them, but Lucci is still standing in his way.

On the escape ship, Nami looks toward the bridge and calls the plan as clearly as she can: "WE CAN SET OUT AS SOON AS LUFFY COMES BACK!!" Across the deck, the others are ready too. "WE'RE READY TO SAIL OUT ANY TIME NOW!!" The answer is tense but firm: "YEAH." Sanji falls silent with "..." as the surrounding fleet becomes impossible to ignore. If they think only about the numbers, the number of warships around them is equal to the number of people they have there. Even if they do sail out, the conclusion is grim: "IT WILL BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF HERE...."

A Marine report comes from the northeast side of the main gate: the Marines and Government officials in Enies Lobby have been accommodated, and approximately fifty pirates, including some giants, are at the main gate. One giant recognizes them with relief and pride: "THAT'S ZAMBAI AND THE OTHERS!! SEE!! THEY GOT OFF THE ISLAND ALL RIGHT." Another laughs that he is not worried about them: "THEY WILL NEVER DIE NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU KILL THEM. BASTARDS!! GAHAHAHA." But the official report is colder. On the main island itself, any survivors are considered impossible; by means of fire, death is confirmed for all of them. The voice from the fleet declares, "WE HAVE COMPLETED THE OBLITERATION MISSION," and someone adds, "THE OTHER DAY, TOO...!!"

The warships stare at the burning main island and give the number that matters most: "THE NUMBER OF SURVIVORS ON THE ENIES LOBBY MAIN ISLAND IS" answered by "ZERO." The courthouse, the Tower of Justice on the southeast side, and the underground passage leading to the bridge have all been demolished. From warship number 2, soldiers report from among the armed Marines as the guns keep smoking. The Buster Call has turned the island into a map entry with no living people left inside it, and the fleet is already shifting its attention to the only remaining target.

The order identifies the final target: "THE ONLY TARGET LEFT IS" followed by "THE BRIDGE OF HESITATION." The words hit the escape ship with horror. Franky sees the smoke and thinks of the allies still caught in the larger battlefield: "OIMO... KAASHI!!" Paulie realizes the shipwrights of Galley-La are involved too, and the Straw Hats name everyone they fear for: "YOKOZUNA WAS PROBABLY WITH THEM, TOO..." "SODOM AND GOMORRAH...!!" "EVERY-ONE...!!!" Franky stands silent for a beat, then the reality becomes an order to keep moving. "IF YOU DON'T KEEP MOVING, THEY WON'T GET WHAT THEY DESERVE!!"

Robin finally names the cruelty of what she has survived before. Looking at the destruction, she asks, "...!! CAN PEOPLE... DIE SO EASILY?" and answers herself with the truth of the Buster Call: "YOU CANNOT SEE HUMANS... ON THE MAP." The fleet has simply erased an island from the world map, "WITHOUT HESITATION. THAT'S WHAT THE BUSTER CALL IS!!!" Around her, the others turn the grief into a call for Luffy. "HURRY UP, STRAWHAT~~~!!!" someone shouts toward the bridge. Franky bellows, "BRO, WE'VE COME TO SAVE YOU. COME BACK WITH US!!" Another voice warns him with desperate affection: "BASTARD, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU END UP DEAD!!!" and "YOUR NAKAMA ARE WAITING FOR YOU HERE!!!"

Back in the ruined bridge prop, Luffy launches himself at Lucci again. Steam twists around his limbs as he draws his fist back and calls, "GOMU GOMU..." Lucci crouches like a predator, ready to meet him, but Luffy's speed closes the gap first: "JET PISTOL!!!" The blow crashes into Lucci with a heavy impact. Luffy grits through the strain while Lucci snarls "KU!!!" and refuses to fall. The hit lands, but it is not enough to end the fight.

Lucci turns the impact into motion. He jumps backward at the moment of the hit, and the page spells out what that means: "...!!! HE JUMPED BACKWARD AND DECREASED THE IMPACT FROM THE HIT!!" Luffy breathes hard, "HAA..." while Lucci uses the opening to rush back in. He raises a finger and strikes with "SHIGAN." Luffy pulls away through smoke and speed, narrowly avoiding the finger pistol as the fight tightens into a battle of tiny margins.

Lucci comes in with claws, legs, and fangs, attacking from every angle. Luffy blocks one strike with an open palm, then takes another heavy kick as the leopard-form assassin drives him across the broken floor. Still, he does not stop. He absorbs the pressure, twists back through the steam, and forces his way inside Lucci's reach. The panels close in on the violent exchange until Luffy begins the next attack with the short, sharp call: "JET".

Lucci's body bends and coils with a vicious "SCREECH!!" as Luffy watches for the next opening. Both of them are battered, both still moving too fast for a normal eye to follow. Luffy completes the attack he began, shouting "JET" and then "BULLET!!!" His fist drives into Lucci at close range, smashing through the leopard man's guard in another burst of impact. The bridge shakes under them, but Lucci still stays on his feet.

Luffy refuses to let the pressure drop. He fires another "JET PISTOL!!!" and sends Lucci skidding through the debris with a thunderous crash. For a heartbeat the attack looks like it may have broken through, but Lucci's eyes stay focused. Luffy, coughing and panting, begins "GOMU GOMU" again, but Lucci has already measured him. The assassin says he will show him "THE STRONGEST TECHNIQUE OF A ROKUSHIKI USER... WHO HAS MASTERED EVERYTHING TO THE EXTREME: THE HEART OF ROKUSHIKI!!" Then Lucci vanishes into close range, setting up a technique far more dangerous than the blows Luffy has been trading.

Lucci drives both fists into Luffy and releases the secret technique: "ROKU OU GUN"!!! The impact bursts through Luffy's body from point-blank range. Luffy's face twists in shock, and the force throws him away across the stones. There is no ordinary cut or punch to block; it hits like a blast from within, and the sound of the strike swallows the battlefield for a moment. Lucci stands over the aftermath while Luffy crashes down, stunned by the strongest technique of Rokushiki.

Luffy slams into the ground, but he understands the nature of the blow even while coughing blood. "IT'S JUST LIKE THE IMPACT DIAL FROM THE SKY ISLAND...!!" he thinks, and then realizes the difference: "BUT ITS POWER IS GREATLY AMPLIFIED...!!!" Lucci breathes heavily, "HAA... HAA..." and Luffy coughs "COUGH!!" before forcing himself back into motion. Lucci follows with "RANKYAKU" and a slicing kick screams toward him, but Luffy answers with "GAI-CHOU"!!! The counterattack tears through the rubble as both fighters keep choosing offense over retreat.

A cannon blast erupts near the bridge with a huge "KABOOM!!" and the people on the escape ship react in panic: "LUFFY!!!" Yet Sanji measures the fight with grim confidence. "LUCCI IS... REALLY STRONG...!!!" he says, and admits, "IF THE STRAWHAT HADN'T BEEN HOLDING HIM BACK IN THAT PLACE FOR A LONG TIME... HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF US WOULD'VE DIED." Nami understands the same thing from another angle. Luffy has always known whom he should fight from the very beginning. He had said it himself: "I'LL DEFEAT THAT 'PIGEON GUY' FOR SURE!!!" Nami looks toward the battle and says, "...IT'S JUST THAT THIS ANIMAL INSTINCT FOR THESE THINGS IS GOOD. AND APPARENTLY HIS IS BETTER THAN YOURS."

A report finally confirms what the crew needs to hear: "REPORTING, WE HAVE SPOTTED STRAWHAT LUFFY IN THE FIRST PROP!!" A Marine officer reacts, "SO HE'S ALIVE..." and orders, "TELL ALL THE WARSHIPS TO FORM A BATTLE FORMATION AROUND THE BRIDGE OF HESITATION." Sogeking hears it and can barely believe the relief: "HE... WOULDN'T DIE, WOULD HE...?" Zoro answers with blunt faith: "IDIOT. WOULDN'T DIE, WOULD HE...?" The others shout "WHAAAT!?" but below their argument the battle is still brutal. Lucci and Luffy glare at each other, both panting "HAA...!!!" through blood and exhaustion. Luffy is alive, but the warships now know exactly where to aim.

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