The winds of Enies Lobby whipped around Nico Robin as she soared through the sky. Her wings, crafted from hundreds of sprouted arms, beat rhythmically, carrying her away from the broken form of Spandam and back toward the safety of the Going Merry.
Below her, the Bridge of Hesitation was a ruin. The battle was winding down, the screams of the Marines fading into the background of the ocean's roar.
"Almost there," Robin whispered to herself, her eyes locked on the ship where Ben and the others waited.
But the World Government had one last assassin hiding in the wings.
CREAAAK.
The air directly in front of Robin's flight path split open. A green, swirling dimension appeared, forming a door in empty space.
Stepping out of the air was Blueno.
"You aren't going anywhere, Nico Robin," Blueno stated calmly. He tensed his legs, preparing to intercept her mid-flight. "Geppo!"
He kicked off the air, launching himself at her exposed flank.
"Rankyaku!"
A blue blade of compressed air slashed toward her wings. Robin banked sharply, barely avoiding the cut, but the turbulence destabilized her flight.
"Persistent," Robin muttered. She crossed her arms. "Seis Fleur: Clutch!"
Six arms sprouted on Blueno's body to snap his neck. But Blueno didn't panic.
"Air Door!"
Blueno spun, creating a door in the air around his own body. He stepped into the green dimension instantly. Robin's sprouted arms clutched at empty air as her target vanished from reality.
"Where?" Robin scanned the sky frantically.
CREAK.
A door opened directly above her. Blueno dropped out, falling feet first.
"Rankyaku: Sen!"
He fired a piercing air bullet. It struck Robin's wing of hands.
"Ah!" Robin cried out as the limbs dispersed into flower petals. She lost altitude, plummeting toward the churning ocean below the bridge.
"Surrender," Blueno commanded, using Geppo to dive after her. "You cannot grab what isn't there. My defense is absolute."
Robin gritted her teeth. She sprouted a net of hands to catch herself on a bridge pillar, hanging precariously over the abyss. Blueno landed on the pillar above her, preparing a lethal Shigan.
"I can't lock him down," Robin realized, sweat trickling down her face. "He's too slippery."
WHIRRRRR-CLICK.
A mechanical sound echoed from the Going Merry.
"HEY! HORN-HEAD!" A loud, boisterous voice roared. "GET AWAY FROM THE LADY!"
Franky stood on the deck of the Merry, his left arm raised. His hand had folded back to reveal the hidden gatling gun barrel in his wrist. But this time, he wasn't just firing bullets.
"Weapons Left: Tracer Barrage!"
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A storm of bullets tore through the air. Blueno tried to open a door, but the sheer volume of fire forced him to defend instantly.
"Tekkai!"
PING! PING! PING!
Sparks flew as the bullets ricocheted off Blueno's iron body. He was pushed back, his feet sliding on the stone pillar.
"Damn cyborg," Blueno grunted. "You are annoying."
"I ain't done yet!" Franky grinned. He opened his stomach fridge. "Carbonated Power... MAX!"
He took a deep breath. His cheeks puffed out like a balloon.
"COUP DE... VENT!"
BOOOOOM!
A massive cannonball of compressed air erupted from Franky's mouth. It crossed the distance in a blink, slamming into the pillar where Blueno stood.
Blueno's eyes widened. He couldn't dodge. He couldn't open a door fast enough.
"TEKKAI: GO!" (Iron Body: Strength)
The air blast hit him. Even with Tekkai, the force was overwhelming. Blueno was pinned against the stone, his body rigid, his muscles locked tight to survive the pressure.
"Now, Robin!" Franky shouted. "He's pinned!"
Robin saw the opening. Blueno was immobile, focusing all his strength on defense. He couldn't open a door. He couldn't move.
"Thank you, Franky," Robin's eyes flashed.
She crossed her arms.
"Mil Fleur..."
A thousand arms sprouted from the pillar, from the bridge, from Blueno's own body. They layered over each other, forming two gigantic, titanic hands that wrapped around the immobilized assassin.
"...Gigantesco Mano: Spank!"
The giant hands didn't just grab him. They clasped together like a prayer, crushing him between them with the force of a falling building.
CRUNCH.
Blueno's Tekkai shattered. His eyes rolled back.
The giant hands then swung downward, slamming the CP9 agent straight into the stone bridge with enough force to crack the foundation.
Blueno lay there, embedded in the crater, twitching.
Robin dissolved the hands into petals. She sprouted her wings again and flew up to the deck of the Merry, landing softly beside Franky.
"That was... SUPER!" Franky struck his signature pose.
"Good teamwork," Robin smiled, dusting off her shoulder.
---
On the Merry, Mini Merry adjusted her fedora, watching the holographic feed.
"Yo Papa," Merry's voice was smooth, dripping with mobster charisma. "The Angel and The Cyborg just jumped the Doorman. 2v1 beatdown. Straight disrespect. He's sleeping with the fishes now."
"Good," Ben nodded. "Status on The Don?"
Merry tapped the screen. "Oh, you gotta see this, Papa. The Boss is... playing with his food. It's ugly."
The strongest agent in the history of CP9 was panting. Rob Lucci, in his massive Leopard-Human hybrid form, stared at the man in the black suit standing across from him.
Luffy adjusted his sunglasses. He wasn't panting. He wasn't bleeding. He was grinning.
"Is that it, Pigeon Guy?" Luffy asked, bouncing lightly on his toes. "I thought you were the boss."
"Do not mock me, Straw Hat!" Lucci roared.
Lucci vanished. "Soru!"
He appeared instantly behind Luffy, claws extended for a lethal throat rip.
Luffy didn't even turn around. He ducked.
Swish.
Lucci's claws cut empty air.
"Too slow," Luffy giggled.
Lucci spun, unleashing a barrage of kicks. "Rankyaku: Gaicho!" (Victory Bird).
A bird-shaped blade of compressed air screaming toward Luffy. It cut the stone bridge in half as it traveled.
Luffy watched it come. He cracked his neck.
He raised his forearm. It turned pitch black.
CLANG!
The air blade hit Luffy's arm and shattered like glass. Luffy stood firm, his feet digging into the ground, but he didn't take a scratch.
"Impossible!" Lucci gasped. "You blocked a Gaicho with one arm?!"
"Your attacks are sharp," Luffy said, inspecting his sleeve. "You ripped my suit. Ben's gonna be mad."
Luffy disappeared.
It wasn't Soru. It was raw, explosive speed born from muscle training in the Time Chamber.
He appeared right in front of Lucci's face.
"Shigan!" Lucci tried to stab Luffy with his finger.
Luffy caught Lucci's finger. With two fingers.
"Got you!" Luffy laughed.
"What strength..." Lucci tried to pull back, but Luffy's grip was like a vice. Even without his rubber stretching, his raw power was monstrous. "Let go!"
"Okay!" Luffy let go.
Then he punched him.
"Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!"
POW!
It hit Lucci in the gut. The impact ripple traveled through the leopard's body, visible on his back. Lucci coughed up blood, his eyes bulging.
"You..." Lucci wheezed, stumbling back. "You are treating this... like a game!"
"It is a game," Luffy said, walking forward menacingly. "You hurt my friends. You took Robin. Now I'm gonna beat you until you can't stand up. It's a very fun game."
Lucci roared, his pride shattering. He channeled all his Life Return energy. His body bulked up, muscles expanding to their limit.
"Rokuogan!" (Six King Gun).
He lunged, placing both fists on Luffy's chest. He fired a shockwave intended to destroy internal organs.
BOOM.
The blast blew a hole in the bridge behind Luffy. Dust billowed.
Lucci panted, confident. "That destroys you from the inside out. Rubber cannot save you from—"
The dust cleared.
Luffy was standing there. He patted his chest.
"That tickled," Luffy said.
Lucci stepped back, terror finally creeping into his eyes. "Monster..."
"I'm not a monster," Luffy tipped his hat back. "I'm the Captain."
Luffy crouched. His Haki flared, coating his head in a shiny, black armor.
"Let's finish this."
"Gomu Gomu no... Bell."
Luffy launched himself. He stretched his neck back—the rubber snapping tight like a giant rubber band.
Lucci tried to use Tekkai. He hardened every muscle in his body to the density of steel.
"TEKKAI: GO!"
Luffy's forehead slammed into Lucci's face.
DON!
The sound was sickening. It was the sound of steel breaking.
Lucci's Tekkai shattered. His nose broke. His skull cracked. His eyes rolled back into his head.
The force of the headbutt drove Lucci straight down into the stone, creating a crater. The leopard transformation melted away, leaving a broken man in a tattered suit.
Luffy landed. He stood over the unconscious agent. He picked up his hat, which had fallen off, and placed it back on his head.
"Bad kitty," Luffy said.
---
"Oooooh!" Mini Merry winced, watching the feed on the Merry. "The Don just put the Cat in the bag! That wasn't a fight, Papa. That was animal cruelty. The Boss is straight-up bullying the opposition."
"He deserved it," Ben said, sipping his drink.
"Status update," Merry announced, her voice booming over the ship. "All enemy lieutenants neutralized. The Big Cat is asleep. The Don has cleared the board. Enies Lobby is ours."
Ben stood up on the deck. He looked at the smoking ruins of the Tower of Justice. He looked at the unconscious CP9 agents scattered across the island.
"Merry," Ben said. "Bring the ship around. Pick up the Captain and the boys. We're leaving."
"You got it, Papa. Getaway car inbound."
Merry pulled up the tactical map on her screen. Nine green dots representing the Straw Hat combat team were blinking on the bridge. They were all converging on the extraction point.
Except for one.
One green dot labeled "The Ronin" was moving rapidly in the opposite direction, heading straight for the open waterfall.
Merry sighed heavily into the microphone.
"Yo, The Ronin," Merry's voice crackled in Zoro's ear. "You're walking off the map, fam. Turn 180 degrees. No, the other 180. You're looking at a wall."
On the bridge, Zoro stopped. He glared at the stone wall in front of him.
"The building moved," Zoro grunted. He drew Sandai Kitetsu, cut a hole in the wall, and walked through it to find the others. "Tch. Confusing architecture."
The Going Merry, victorious and unscathed, lowered itself toward the bridge to collect the Monster Trio, leaving behind a legacy that would shake the world.
---
A/n: There is no buster call because Aokiji didn't give golden den den mushi mushi to Spandam.