A Ship Waiting for Wind

No description for this page.

The warships open fire on the first bridge prop. Cannon blasts tear into the wall, and the shock shakes the ruined battlefield where Luffy and Lucci still face one another. Luffy stares upward in alarm: "...!! THE WALL...!!!" Lucci, panting "HAA... HAA..." turns as well and growls, "WHAT...!?" The fight is no longer only between the two of them. The fleet has begun destroying the very structure beneath their feet.

Half of the first prop collapses in smoke and falling stone. A Marine report confirms it: "DETACHMENT OF THE FIRST PROP HAS BEEN COMPLETED." On the escape ship, the Straw Hats stare in horror. Sanji realizes the scale of the blast and shouts, "THEY DESTROYED HALF OF THE BRIDGE!!!" Franky, Chopper, Nami, and the others react with "WHA...?" and "WHAT'S GOING ON!!?" The answer comes over the military report: "MR. ROB LUCCI OF CP9 AND STRAWHAT LUFFY ARE IN THE FIRST PROP." Nami looks toward the warships and understands the danger: "THE WARSHIPS ARE COMING THIS WAY!!!"

The fleet closes around the Bridge of Hesitation. The order goes out: "ALL SHIPS: FORM A BATTLE FORMATION AROUND THE BRIDGE OF HESITATION." The Marines confirm the target list: "WE HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THERE ARE NINE PIRATES," including "PIRATE HUNTER ZORO AND NICO ROBIN" on the bridge and the convoy. Sanji says, "THEY'RE COMING TO GET ROBIN AGAIN." Robin lowers her eyes in silence, "...!!" Nami grips her weapon and refuses to let the Government take her: "WE WON'T LET YOU DO THAT!!" The ships are not simply trying to sink the escape route; they are moving to reclaim Robin.

The Marines identify the Straw Hats as the people who defeated CP9 in the Tower of Justice. Officers ask, "...BUT WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE THEY...!?" because since CP9 reigned over Enies Lobby, the legend said the tower never fell and stayed intact for the past 800 years. Now its members have been defeated by pirates, and one officer concludes that the captain must be on par with Rob Lucci. Another says, "I GUESS STRAWHAT LUFFY ISN'T AN ORDINARY ROOKIE." But they also believe the gang's annihilation is imminent: "THIS RUBBISH EVIL ATTACK WILL BE PUT TO AN END RIGHT HERE!!"

Zoro notices movement through the smoke. "HEY!! LOOK OVER THERE!!" he calls, and the others look toward the broken first prop. Across the rubble, Luffy sees the silhouettes of his friends at last. Someone calls, "LUFFY-KUN---!!" and another voice cries from the bridge, "WE'RE HERE!!!" Luffy's battered face changes as he realizes they made it. He has been fighting alone inside the prop, but the people he fought to protect are alive and close enough to shout to him.

The Straw Hats answer Luffy with everything they have. "WE ALL GOT TO THE BRIDGE SAFELY!!!" they shout. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT US, LUFFY-KUN!!" "WE GOT ROBIN-CHAN SAFELY, TOO!!" Luffy pants "HAA... HAA..." and looks back at them in disbelief: "YOU!!" They promise him the escape he has been buying with his body: "WE'LL GET OUTTA HERE ALIVE TOGETHER!!!" and "DEFEAT HIM!!!" For the first time in the middle of the collapsing battlefield, Luffy smiles. Lucci only watches in silence, "..."

Lucci understands what the reunion means and turns it into a threat. "FOR NOW, ALL OF YOU ARE ALIVE. JUST LIKE YOU SAID... GOOD JOB..." he says while the warships loom behind the bridge. Then his expression hardens: "BUT IT'LL BE WORTH SEEING IF THEY CAN KEEP THE SAME FACE... IN A FEW MINUTES. 'EVIL' WILL NOT PROSPER IN THIS WORLD!!!" To him, the Straw Hats' survival is temporary, and the Buster Call is proof that the World Government still owns the battlefield.

The warships fill the sea around the bridge, their decks lined with cannons and soldiers. The Marines decide they have no need for anyone below lieutenant commander rank at the front. An assault unit of 200 is formed, and the order is given to captains and commanders only: "TAKE CARE OF THEM IMMEDIATELY." Zoro notes that they are the same level as "THAT SMOKE BASTARD, SMOKER!" and that there are so many of them. Sanji is suddenly missing. Someone asks, "EH!? HUH!? WHERE'S SANJI!?" and realizes, "HE WAS HERE A MINUTE AGO!!" Zoro snaps, "DID THAT IDIOT COOK GO!?" while Kokoro laughs that she is scared, and the Marines roar, "CHARGE!!!"

Nami realizes the ship itself is in danger. "WE'VE GOT TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE SHIP!!!" she says. "IF THEY INFLICT DAMAGE TO THIS SHIP, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO ESCAPE!" Robin, still restrained by seastone cuffs, admits, "I... I CAN'T MOVE!!!" and then steels herself: "I'LL NEVER GET CAUGHT BY THEM!!!" The fleet's order is simple and terrifying: "RETRIEVE NICO ROBIN!!!" The ladders drop, soldiers swarm down toward the bridge and convoy, and the escape ship becomes both their lifeline and their trap.

The assault begins, but the first soldiers are thrown back before they can reach Robin. A Marine is struck with a shout of "RAWR!!!" and another cries "UWAH!!" as a weapon splinters with a "CRUMBLE..." Zoro turns and sees Sanji already in the middle of the enemy formation. Someone asks, "HUH!?" and another panics, "WHAT ARE THEY...!? I CAN'T HIT THEM!!" The warning spreads: "WATCH OUT!! THERE ARE DF USERS, TOO!!!" Sanji has slipped onto the enemy side and started breaking the charge apart before it can touch the ship.

Robin notices the same danger moving toward the Straw Hats: "THE SAME... GOES FOR US, TOO!!" Marines and strange ability users are hurled through the air, but the gang understands they are outnumbered and exposed. "WE'RE HOSTAGES!!" someone shouts, and another admits, "WE'RE WEAK!!" Kokoro and the others stay back while Zoro and Sanji hold the front. The order becomes survival itself: "KEEP HOLDING ON UNTIL LUFFY GETS HERE!!!" The escape cannot begin until Luffy finishes his fight, so everyone else must become the wall that keeps Robin and the ship intact.

The bridge shakes again under cannon fire, and Luffy and Lucci collide with another explosive burst. The strike throws rubble outward as both fighters separate, panting. Lucci studies Luffy's fading steam and says, "WHAT'S UP? IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR DOPING TECHNIQUE HAS LOST ITS EDGE." Luffy coughs and gasps, "HAA... HAA... COUGH," but he stays standing. Gear Second is running out, and Lucci can see it.

Lucci explains the shape of the battlefield with brutal certainty. "AFTER ALL, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO ESCAPE ENIES LOBBY. SO I WAS RIGHT!! EVEN IF THIS ISLAND LOST ITS SHAPE..." He pursues Luffy across the broken floor and declares, "I'LL PURSUE THAT WOMAN TO THE END OF THE EARTH AND OBLITERATE HER AND ANYONE ELSE WHO GETS IN THE WAY OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE NAME OF 'DARK JUSTICE'!!!" Luffy hears the threat and answers with the reason he has come this far: "... WE'VE COME THIS FAR TO SET ROBIN FREE FROM SUCH A THING!!!"

Luffy kicks forward with "JET STAMP!!!" and drives Lucci back into the shattered wall. The hit lands hard enough to make Lucci recoil, but it does not stop him. Lucci catches the next opening and steps inside Luffy's guard again. Luffy's eyes widen as Lucci plants both fists against him and releases the same deadly technique a second time: "ROKU OU GUN"!!! The blast tears through Luffy at point-blank range.

Luffy is driven into the ground and lies smoking in the rubble while Lucci stands over him. Around them, the warships continue to rumble, and the distant bridge shakes with the fleet's pressure. Luffy does not speak. He only breathes, "HAA... HAA..." from the dust. The second Roku Ou Gun has knocked him down badly enough that even the people watching from the bridge can feel the danger before they fully understand it.

A Marine reaches for the bridge controls and says, "GOTCHA," while another voice cries from the distance, "LUFFY!!" The battlefield erupts around the crew. Someone shouts, "WATCH OUT!!!" and another yells, "UWAAH!!!" as attacks and bodies scatter across the deck. Zoro notices Sogeking wavering and snaps, "HEY!!! WHY ARE YOU DOZING OFF!!?" Sogeking is staring toward the first prop, horror overtaking him. Then his voice tears across the bridge in one desperate scream: "LUFFY~!!!"

No description for this page.