RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
The climate of Marineford was actively tearing itself apart.
To stand anywhere near the northern front was to step into a paradox of elemental annihilation.
TSSSSSSS.
On the right, the air was superheated to a degree that instantly blistered the lungs, radiating from the bubbling, churning mass of dark red magma that composed Admiral Akainu's upper body.
SHHUAAAA.
On the left, the temperature plummeted so violently that the ambient moisture in the air crystallized into a swirling, jagged blizzard, anchored by the absolute zero aura radiating from Admiral Aokiji's Ice Gloves.
RUMBLE.
Where the two extremes met, a terrifying, hyper-pressurized dome of screaming steam had formed, violently hissing as boiling water and freezing frost continuously annihilated one another.
At the very center of this meteorological nightmare stood Edward Newgate.
The World's Strongest Man could only be seen grinning. All his sons had shown extreme valor in fighting an uphill battle. His son was safe in the care of his old friend.
He had not taken a step backward.
He gripped the thick, iron-reinforced shaft of his bisento, his knuckles white, a blinding sphere of quake-energy violently humming around the heavy curved blade.
Blood dripped steadily from the searing burns on his chest and the frostbite scarring his arms, but his massive frame remained as immovable as a continent.
"Come then, Navy brats," Whitebeard rumbled, his voice a low, tectonic growl that vibrated through the ice beneath their feet. "Show me the weight of your Justice."
Admiral Akainu and Admiral Aokiji did not offer a battle cry. They didn't exchange a plan. They didn't even need to speak.
Because despite their profoundly clashing ideologies, despite the underlying friction that might one day tear the Marines in half, Sakazuki and Kuzan had been colleagues for over thirty years.
They had trained together under Zephyr. They had fought side-by-side through the ranks. They knew the rhythm of each other's breathing, however weird that sounded. The exact timing of each other's Devil Fruit activation, and the flawless geometry of each other's movements, they knew it all.
When they locked eyes for a single, silent second, the individual duels ended.
BOOM!
The apex tag-team of the World Government was unleashed.
Aokiji moved first.
The lazy pheasant vanished with a sharp, concussive crack of displaced air. Utilizing a terrifyingly high-speed application of Soru, Aokiji crossed the thirty yards separating him from the Emperor in the blink of an eye.
Whitebeard, still grinning, tracked the blur with his golden eyes and watched as the Ice Admiral blitz close to him.
"GURARARARA!"
SKRRRRRRR!
WHOOSH. SWING!
The Emperor swung his massive bisento in a devastating, horizontal sweep aimed at bisecting the ice-man, the quake-bubble on the blade screaming as it tore through the air.
"HYAAA!!
But Aokiji didn't dodge. He dropped his center of gravity and lunged forward, thrusting both of his massive, jagged Ice Gloves directly into the path of the supreme grade weapon.
CLANG! KRA-
BOOOOOM!
The collision sounded like a mountain striking an anvil. Aokiji's Ice Gloves were not merely frozen water; they were hyper-condensed permafrost reinforced with the absolute maximum density of his Advanced Armament Haki.
The ice did not shatter.
Aokiji caught the flat of the bisento blade between his hands. The sheer, apocalyptic kinetic force of Whitebeard's swing pushed the Admiral backward, his boots violently carving two deep, smoking trenches into the ice, but Aokiji successfully halted the weapon's momentum.
"Aa ra ra..."
More importantly, he anchored it, keeping it immobile.
"How will you stop the other one now?" Aokiji exhaled, a cloud of freezing mist erupting from his lips as he channeled his Devil Fruit power directly into the bisento's shaft, rapidly encasing the massive weapon in a thick layer of unbreakable ice to temporarily lock Whitebeard's arms in place.
"HAAAAA!"
Blood-craving eyes and with madness on his face, Akainu was already there.
Using Aokiji's rapid advance as a physical screen, the Red Dog had followed mere inches behind his colleague's shadow. The moment Aokiji halted the bisento, Akainu leaped high into the air, using a ramp of jagged ice that Aokiji had subconsciously formed in his wake to propel himself entirely over the Emperor's guard.
"MEIGO!" (Dark Dog!)
BOOOM!
Akainu brought his right arm back, condensing the magma until it turned from bright orange to a terrifying, blinding red-hot hue. He aimed the devastating, close-quarters thrust directly at the center of Whitebeard's skull.
THRUST!
Whitebeard was temporarily anchored, his primary weapon locked in Aokiji's grasp. But the World's Strongest Man was not a stationary target.
"GRAAAAAAAAH!"
GRIP.
SMASHHHH!!!
With a roar that shook the heavens, Whitebeard completely abandoned the bisento. He released his right hand from the shaft, clenching his massive fist, and threw a point-blank, left-handed uppercut directly into the descending magma.
A sphere of pure quake-energy met the red-hot volcanic rock.
KRA-
BBOOOOOOM!
The resulting explosion was catastrophic. The shockwave violently blew the screaming steam dome away, flattening the surrounding terrain for a quarter-mile.
"GEH-"
BANG!
Akainu's magma fist was shattered by the vibrations, the molten rock violently splashing back against the Admiral's own face and chest. But the sheer, localized heat of the Meigo was not entirely canceled. A concentrated stream of magma bypassed the quake-sphere, grazing the side of Whitebeard's torso.
TSSSSSSS.
The heat instantly incinerated the Emperor's flesh, searing a horrific, smoking trench into his ribs.
But to the common man's surprise, Whitebeard didn't even flinch.
He didn't scream or even break eye contact.
"Only know tickling, magma brat?!" Whitebeard roared.
Operating purely on the terrifying, undying vitality of a true monster, Whitebeard used the recoil of his own punch to spin his massive body.
GRIP.
CRACKLE-
BAANG!
He ripped his bisento free from Aokiji's icy grip through sheer, unadulterated brute strength, shattering the Ice Gloves in the process.
"Ara that's bad-"
SWISH.
He brought the heavy shaft of the weapon around in a brutal, sweeping backhand that caught Aokiji squarely in the ribs.
CRACK-
BANG!
BANG!
Aokiji was launched sideways like a cannonball, skipping across the frozen bay until he smashed into a massive glacier, embedding himself deep within the ice.
But Akainu had already recovered his footing. The Red Dog landed heavily on the ice, his right arm rapidly reforming from bubbling rock.
"Don't give him a second to breathe!" Akainu roared, launching himself forward in a relentless, furious barrage of molten punches.
"HAA.... HAA... "
"Shut up!"
"As if I don't know that!" Aokiji shouted back.
From the glacier, Aokiji took a second to recover. He instantly extended his hands.
"ICE AGE!"
.
.
.
A/N: I like to do things I don't see anywhere else. What if Akainu and Aokiji ever genuinely fought together against someone? See, since Rayleigh prompted Whitebeard to fight earlier than he had in the original, Whitebeard was never backstabbed by Squard. Butterfly effect!
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