The Mermaid Legend

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The warship struck by Luffy and Lucci burns on the sea, its deck split and its crew thrown into panic. Smoke rises from the wreckage while Luffy crashes through debris and shouts as he is hurled back. His huge attack has torn the battlefield open, but the danger around him has not stopped. He pants, shaken by Gear Third's aftermath, and admits, "I... I AM SHRINKING." The power that let him blast Lucci away now starts taking its price. Even after the massive impact, Luffy is not in control; he is caught between the collapsing ship, the Buster Call, and the weakness that follows his new technique.

Luffy lands amid rubble, now reduced by the cost of Gear Third. He says through exhausted breaths, "HAA... I USED GEAR THIRD FOR ABOUT A MINUTE...!! SO I'LL PROBABLY BE LIKE THIS FOR ANOTHER MINUTE...!!" He tries to steady himself, thinking, "I SHOULD GO HIDE UNTIL I GET BACK TO NORMAL OR HE'LL KILL ME!!" Then he sees that Lucci is still moving. "EITHER HE'S BEING SERIOUS... OR JUST JOKING AROUND... THE FACT IS HE'S STILL ALIVE..." he thinks. Lucci, thrown from the bombardment and the impact, reflects bitterly, "IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BORING, THOUGH, IF HE DIED FROM SUCH A BOMBARDMENT. JUST LIKE TOM-SAN WAS." The past and present overlap: Franky's old wound over Tom and Lucci's survival both sharpen the stakes.

From the Bridge of Hesitation, Franky and the others see the main island ahead and push toward it. Someone shouts, "HURRY LUUP!!" and another cries, "WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!" Franky spots the route: "I SEE THE MAIN ISLAND'S FRONT GATE!!!" But the battlefield is still collapsing around them, and he calls out, "YOUR BUDDY FRANKY... WAN TAKEN AWAY," while the chaos of smoke, cannon fire, and broken buildings surrounds the bridge. Lucci's voice cuts through from elsewhere, cold and taunting: "WAN' COME WITH US!?" The gap between the fleeing group and Luffy's duel is still dangerous, and the Buster Call keeps closing behind them.

On the bridge, Spandam tries to turn the exploding warship into proof that the pirates are finished. He laughs, "WAHAHAHA-HAHAHA!! HEY!! DID YOU SEE THAT!?" and declares, "THE STRAWHAT WHO WENT BERSERK ON THE WARSHIP HAS BEEN BLOWN UP INTO PIECES!! WAHAHA, TAKE THAT!! YOUR CAPTAIN IS DEAD!!!" Then he turns on Franky and Robin: "NOW!! HAND NICO ROBIN OVER!! THIS IS THE POWER OF THE BUSTER CALL I TRIGGERED!!" He boasts, "THIS IS JUSTICE, CUTTY FLAM!!! THEN MAYBE I CAN PARDON YOU FOR YOUR CRIME!!" Robin kneels, still shaken, while Spandam attacks her existence again: "BESIDES, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO PROTECT THAT WOMAN? YOU'RE NOT A PIRATE!! WOULD YOU TRUST A DANGEROUS WOMAN WITH OHARA BLOOD RUNNING IN HER VEINS OVER THE WORLD GOVERNMENT THAT PROTECTS YOU DAY AND NIGHT!?"

Franky answers Spandam with a fist to the face. The punch smashes Spandam backward as the soldiers shout, "CHIEF!!!" and one notes in disbelief, "HIS FACE CAN'T POSSIBLY SWELL ANY MORE THAN THAT!" Spandam refuses to stop. He draws his elephant sword, and the Marines panic, "HE DREW THE ZOUKEN 'FUNKFREED'!!" They warn, "THAT'S A STRONG ONE!!" Spandam commands the weapon to attack Robin: "LISTEN!! FUNKFREED, GIVE NICO ROBIN A FATAL WOUND WHILE SHE'S OFF-GUARD SO THAT SHE WON'T BE ABLE TO RESIST LATER...!!" The blade-elephant charges as he screams, "TAKE THIS!!!" Franky has knocked Spandam down, but Robin is still under immediate threat.

Funkfreed swings down with "ELEPHANT CHOOOP!!!" and a huge "PAOO!!!" Robin stares in shock, "EH?" as the elephant blade bears down on her. Franky throws himself in front of it and catches the strike with his own body. The impact grinds against him while the Marines cry, "HE STOPPED IT!!" Spandam can only scream, "BASTARD!!!" Franky, bleeding and straining, is called "TRULY A HOPELESS GUY..." but the meaning is clear: even after the Buster Call, even after the bridge, Franky still chooses to stand between Robin and the weapon meant to cut her down.

Franky holds Funkfreed back and scolds the living sword like a misbehaving animal. "FUNKFREED!! YOU'RE AN ELEPHANT, BUT HE STILL STOPPED YOU!!" Spandam yells. Franky snaps, "TURN YOUR NOSE BACK TO NORMAL... ELEPHANT!! OTHERWISE, I'LL SHOOT YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR FOREHEAD!!!" Funkfreed obeys with a meek "PAO," and Franky tells him, "OKAY, THAT'S GOOD, YOU'RE A GOOD BOY." Then he turns to Robin. "NICO ROBIN. WILL THE STRAWHATS COME HERE?" Robin answers after a pause, "EVERYONE... FOR SURE!!" Franky grins because that is exactly the trust he wanted to hear. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THAT I'VE PLACED MY BET ON THEM, SPANDA!!"

Franky's thoughts turn back to Tom. He remembers the words that once followed Tom's death: "PATIENCE, GUYS... TOM-SAN JUST SAVED YOUR LIVES. IF YOU HAVE THEM AS YOUR ENEMY, YOU'LL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH LIVES TO LIVE!!" Franky admits, "I NEVER THOUGHT THAT THIS DAY WOULD COME. IF ONLY I'D HAD THE POWER THAT DAY. I WANTED TO GET TOM-SAN BACK NO MATTER WHAT...!!" The old order rings again: "STOP THE SEA TRAINS!!!" Now Franky faces the Buster Call and the bridge with a different power. He says it is refreshing: despite knowing Enies Lobby's myth, the World Government's power, and the Straw Hats' reckless march ahead, they will not hesitate to make the entire world their enemy for one nakama. "IT'S SUCH A REFRESHING FEELING...!!!" Robin listens, and Franky's old wish to crush the injustice around Tom becomes his present decision to fight for Robin.

Franky acts on that old wish at last. He seizes the Marine ship and smashes it down with the force of a weapon, shouting, "JUST LIKE THIS!!!" The ship slams into the bridge and water with a huge crash as Marines scream, "BAO-OO!!!" and "HOGA-AAHH!!!" When the wreck settles, Franky breathes out, "THANKS TO THEM... MY WISH HAS COME TRUE!!!" He has finally been able to strike back against the kind of machine and authority that took Tom from him. On the Bridge of Hesitation, this is not only an escape tactic; it is Franky paying back a grief that has followed him for years.

Franky turns the captured ship into an escape route. He swings the remaining weaponry and shouts, "WEAPONS LEFT!!!" Then he makes his resolve clear: "SURRENDER YOUR SHIP!!! I'LL MAKE A WAY FOR THEM TO ESCAPE!!!" He is willing to go as far as death: "I'VE BEEN DEAD ONCE. IF THE STRAWHATS CAN GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE, I WOULDN'T MIND SACRIFICING MY LIFE AGAIN!!!" Robin tries to stop him. "I'LL HELP, TOO! I THINK I'M FINE NOW," she says, but Franky answers, "ROBIN, GO!!" and she protests, "NO!! NO ONE IS IN THE OCEAN?!" Then Robin's face changes. "IT'S DIFFERENT NOW FROM THAT TIME IN OHARA...!!" she says. "I HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR... BECAUSE I'M NOT ALONE ANYMORE!!"

The bombardment continues with a "KA-BOOOM!!!" as the tower and ship structures break apart. Lucci stands over a shrunken Luffy and explains the price of Gear Third: "THAT FIGHTING POWER YOU HAVE IS VERY UNSTABLE... YOU SHOULD ACCEPT THAT FACT AND SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY IN EXCHANGE FOR THE POWER YOU HAD EARLIER." Luffy, tiny and helpless, thinks, "HE... HE FOUND ME..!!" Lucci changes his form with "SEIMEI KIKAN" and "KAMIE BUSHIN," tightening himself back into a leaner fighting body. Luffy can only watch as the enemy who survived Gear Third becomes fast enough to hunt him down in his weakest state.

Lucci rushes the shrunken Luffy and drives a "SHIGAN" into him. Luffy screams, "UYAAAAH!!!" as he is struck and thrown. Lucci says, "AFTER ALL, YOUR STUPID ATTACK WON'T..." and then traps him against the broken surface. "IT IS UNFORTUNATE... BUT IN THAT STUPID FORM... DIE, STRAWHAT!!" Luffy panics, "CRAP! I... I'M TRAPPED!!" and begs his body to return: "UGH...!! COME BACK TO NORMAL, BODY!! HURRY!!! HURRY!! OR I'LL BE DONE FOR!!!" Lucci prepares the killing technique, "SHIGAN MADARA," surrounding Luffy with the threat of many finger-gun strikes while the small form leaves him almost defenseless.

Lucci's attack sends Luffy rebounding away instead of finishing him. Luffy flies back through the wreckage and realizes, "THE DAMAGE FROM EARLIER IS COMING TO MY LEGS!!" Then he understands the strange advantage of his tiny body. "COMING BACK!! I'M COMING BACK!!" he shouts as he ricochets toward safety. Lucci notices too late: "HEY, LOOK!!" Luffy grins through the pain and declares, "IT IS WORKING WELL!!!" The weakness from Gear Third nearly killed him, but the same light, springing body sends him back from Lucci's reach before the killing blow can settle.

Below, the underground passage becomes a drowning chamber. The group is swept through the water and debris, and someone thinks, "I'VE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!!! OR EVERYONE WILL DROWN TO DEATH!!!" Nami struggles for air: "I CAN'T BREATHE...!!" Chopper cries, "I CAN'T HOLD MY BREATH ANYMORE!!!" and another desperate thought breaks through: "THIS IS THE END OF MY LIFE, HUH...? SHIT!! IT WAS PRETTY FUN... BUT I DIDN'T LIVE LONG ENOUGH!!!" In the darkness, someone calls, "HELP..." The scene is not heroic motion now, but the raw fear of people running out of air with no visible escape.

As the drowning group begins to fade, a voice cuts through the water: "IT'S OKAY!! PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER!!! I WON'T LET YOU DIE!!" Sanji, half-conscious, realizes something is pulling him. "WHAT!? WHAT'S GOING ON!? I'M BEING PULLED BY SOMETHING!!" Beneath him, a long-haired figure moves with the current. Through his fading vision he thinks, "AAH, AM I DREAMING OR SOMETHING...!? ... I BET I AM..." He sees drowned sailors, then a tail and fins before passing out. "THE MERMAID LEGEND..." appears in his thoughts: "LOOKING UP, I SEE LONG HAIR FLOWING WITH THE CURRENT... SUCH A BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE AS IF... I AM SEEING A DREAM OR A VISION. IF THIS IS A DREAM, PLEASE..." The legend he imagines is real enough to save them.

The savior is revealed: Kokoro is a mermaid. In the flooded tunnel she gathers the drowning group around her and surges forward, laughing "NGAGAGA-GAGA!!!" as bubbles stream past. Someone's fading thoughts break into disbelief: "DU... DU...!! DUGONG!!?" Kokoro answers with practical cheer, "LET ME SAY... THIS WILL BE AN EXPRESS RIDE!!! HOLD YOUR BREATHS!!!" With Nami, Chopper, Chimney, Gonbe, and the others clinging to her, she carries them through the water like a living rescue train. The chapter's title becomes literal: the mermaid legend is Kokoro herself, dragging the crew through the flood before the underground passage can become their grave.

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