Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The military port was bedlam. Dozens of Marines, faces twisted with shock and terror, were hacking at each other right on the docks.
"What are you doing?! I'm your comrade!"
"No—I don't want to—my body… it's out of control!"
"Why?!"
"Damn it!!"
Steel rang and scraped until the whole port seemed to spin in a vortex of violence.
"Heh heh heh… This is Marine Headquarters? Pathetic…"
A figure drifted down from the sky, arrogance in every line, pink feathered coat billowing. Short golden hair caught the sun like a crown.
His hands hooked into claws, fingers flicking as if teasing invisible strings.
With every twitch, the Marines' self-slaughter worsened; their faces contorted in pain.
Farther back, rifle squads froze as they recognized him, shock breaking into a chorus of gasps.
"Donquixote Doflamingo!!"
"Bounty: 250 million berries!"
"One of the soon-to-be-appointed Shichibukai!"
"So that's his ability!"
"Damn it—do we fire?"
…
Hundreds of barrels leveled as one—yet no one pulled a trigger. Without orders, no Headquarters Marine dared engage a Shichibukai candidate.
"Kishishishi… What a lively scene."
The sinister chuckle rolled across the harbor.
Marines turned to see a ship with a bat-skull Jolly Roger gliding into the port. On the prow loomed a gaunt giant, skin ghost-pale, hair sprouting like a flaming scallion, face demonic. Curved horns sprouted at his temples; ears and teeth sharpened to points. Thick, gruesome stitch-marks tracked from scalp to neck. A bat-collared shirt showed beneath gothic finery.
He had only one arm.
"Bounty: two hundred eighteen million!"
"Gekko Moria!"
"Another Shichibukai candidate—!"
Their faces darkened.
"Hey, brat," Moria called, "you the one who wriggled your way onto the Shichibukai list?"
He sneered at Doflamingo, features twisting. "Kishishishi! Who'd you bribe for that seat?"
Doflamingo gave the batlike specter a sideways look and let out a soft, cold laugh. "Heh heh heh… I don't waste words on cripples with only one arm."
"You're dead!" Blood flushed Moria's eyes. He roared and whipped his lone arm forward.
His shadow lurched, warping into a lance that shot for Doflamingo like a razor of darkness—words knifing the rawest nerve.
"Shadow Spear!"
Clang!
A spreading lattice of threads slammed into the spear, the impact blasting the air apart. Sparks fountained as a shockwave hammered the dock.
Doflamingo's eyes narrowed at the vibrating point—stalled half a meter from his face. His coat flared; his smile went thin and cruel. "Heh heh heh… Is that all?"
"I'm starting to think you don't deserve to stand next to me… Gekko Moria."
"Then let's test it!"
Moria's cackle turned feral. He snatched up a jagged greatsword as he sprang from the bow. Swarms of Brick Bats spiraled around him, their droning enough to make men dizzy. Purple lightning crawled along the blade as he charged. "When I take your head, we'll see how arrogant you look!" His aura surged to madness.
"Now it's interesting," Doflamingo said.
A gale swelled, thick with colliding wills. Doflamingo's eyes burned for battle. He dropped his hold on the Marines and shot forward, a flamingo diving. In an instant, the gap between them vanished.
Their gazes locked—crimson flashed.
A hand slashed out.
A blade swept up.
Clang!
Steel-on-silk shrieked as Armament-coated threads met the jagged sword, shockwaves rippling the sky.
They cut loose. Purple, red, and black lightning webbed overhead, warping the air.
Heaven seemed to tremble.
Stone split underfoot and spat jagged slabs skyward.
"A Conqueror's Haki clash!"
"Those two… they both have Conqueror's Haki?!"
Headquarters elites fell back, arms up against the flying debris, horror etched on their faces. Neither man's will alone would have felled them—but the primal dread crawling their spines was real.
"Even with one arm, looks like you've got a little bite left," Doflamingo said, feeling the pressure of the blow—and laughed.
"Don't underestimate me, punk!" Moria snapped. "Even one-armed, I can butcher you!"
Murder flared in their eyes as they gathered something worse—
Whoosh.
A clean, ringing hum carried across the sea—a sword leaving its sheath.
Both men's pupils pinpricked. They sprang apart in the same heartbeat.
Whoosh—
The moment space opened between them, a colossal emerald slash carved through the earth with unstoppable force.
Stone parted like water. The blade of air screamed across the harbor and sheared a ten-meter artillery turret in a mirror-smooth cut.
Gasp.
Every Marine in earshot sucked in the same breath.
That power—unthinkable.
They spun to see a horrifying chasm bisecting the dock and racing out to sea.
At its far end, a small black Coffin Boat drifted.
Green candles guttered on the Coffin Boat, casting an eerie glow.
A young man sat with unshakable poise, black top hat shadowing a burgundy shirt. A gigantic black sword—taller than he was—rose behind him.
He lifted his head at last. Sharp features surfaced… and amber eyes like an old hawk's.
He also had only one arm.
To be continued...