"G—Garp!"
Roger rasped in response as Rocks pummeled him. Blood stained his lips but he forced a smile.
"You're still breathing? Don't let Rocks pin you."
Roger grabbed Rocks' fist; his dropped sword lay just out of reach. He was bloodied, breath fogging his eyes, yet he slowly held Rocks' punch at bay.
"Roger! This time I won't lose — not unless I die!"
Garp pushed himself up from the rock face. Spectators could barely move, yet somehow Garp's battered body rallied a fierce will. It was absurd — what sort of inhuman beings were these?
Garp sprang up and swung a fist at the back of Rocks' head.
"Annoying!" Rocks spat. "Two of the D — one who doesn't even know his own name, and yet you bear the D will."
"You're detestable. What has this world been waiting for? For centuries the D family has wandered every sea. Many cling to D destiny even in death. You can't comprehend it."
"To see three D-bearers at the peak of one era — do you know what that means? It means the world's will, unmoved for eight hundred years, will start to tremble!"
"Garp, Roger! You're still too young. When you learn the truth — the blank history — you'll understand what happened to this world!"
Rocks punched and traded blows with Garp; every blow struck true. Neither man dodged — they both fought to break the other. Roger's sword blended speed and force so perfectly his movements were nearly imperceptible; each strike of his Conqueror's Haki hit with the force of quake-imbued power.
"Shut up with your nonsense!" Garp roared. His iron fists embodied human martial achievement: straightforward, uncompromising. Whatever the foe, meet them full force until they break.
"You're old, Rocks. This world won't belong to you!" Garp glared as if he could rip flesh from Rocks. Rocks wiped blood from his mouth. If Devil Fruits couldn't affect these two, he'd use the full three-fruit, three-Haki form to beat them down.
A flash of movement — Rocks appeared before Roger and threw a punch aimed at his brow. Roger countered with a blade: "You think I can't sense that? Your future has nowhere to hide — I can see and hear it all!"
Inside the ROOM, Rocks' advantage against the two enemies was shrinking. He never imagined that two Haki masters could have blocked him so thoroughly. Was this to become a standoff until someone simply collapsed from exhaustion? After nearly three days of near-continuous fighting, even Rocks had to consider whether he could win a combined Garp+Roger assault.
And while Rocks' inner ranks — Whitebeard and Lion — grew stronger, if he couldn't seize victory now all his plans would collapse. If he lost, everyone would scatter; he would be left with nothing.
"Who still has any strength left?" Rocks muttered. "Everyone is trying to recover, but as long as the fight continues they tremble on edge. You two are the strongest foes I've met — especially you, Roger." Rocks admitted his Haki couldn't outmatch Roger. So he had one last card as a Fruit user.
"I never imagined it'd come to this." Rocks breathed. "Immortality wasn't yet mine, and here I am forced to fight. What good is it? If I had both the Meatball Fruit and the Surgical Fruit, you'd have no hope. Sorry for raising impossible expectations. Now begins my performance." He rattled on, but the jabber hid dwindling stamina. Both Roger and Garp readied for the final, decisive clash — whoever struck first could seize a late edge.
"Fruit awakening! Dark Paradise!" Rocks declared.
As a mutate (altered) body — having just eaten the Surgical Fruit and earlier sampled the Sweet Fruit — those were incomplete awakenings. The Dark–Dark Fruit was different: complete, perfected. He was about to teach Roger and Garp a lesson on the Devil Fruit's highest use: awakening.
"You know?" Rocks said. "My fruit is special — it is darkness. Once the user awakens, other Devil Fruit users will be affected in varying degrees. Ready? Enter Dark Paradise!"
Blackness erupted from Rocks' hair like a gaping abyss swallowing him. In the next instant, endless darkness poured from his body. The shadows tore outward — at first only within inches — yet every cell ejected black, flowing tendrils. The darkness wound like spider silk, enveloping his brow, limbs, torso. Rocks vanished and in his place stood a faceless being of shadow — a human-shaped void. It was beautiful and terrifying, like a writhing Medusa of shadow, a death god risen from hell. Only his eyes remained: two glowing lanterns.
He opened his mouth and the darkness tore apart to shape his words. His hoarse voice sent shivers down spines.
"This is my ultimate form."
"The perfect fusion of three-color Haki and Fruit awakening!"
"The Dark–Dark Fruit — the most unique Paramecia/Nature element — will become a human abyss that rips and draws everything in."
"I am darkness. I am Death!"
Rocks' fists condensed into flowing night, wrapped in Armament and Conqueror Haki. He turned to Sharn, whispering like a demon: "You recording all this?"
"Perfect. This is the best ending."
Black tendrils shot from Rocks; anything they touched was instantly devoured. At the same moment every Devil Fruit user present felt their cells being torn apart. Sharn realized with horror this was not metaphor — his bloodline factors were being seized by the darkness. Rocks had spoken truth: the fully awakened Dark–Dark Fruit would inflict indiscriminate assault upon other fruit users. Weakening their bodies was one thing — being consumed by the darkness meant true annihilation.
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