__________ POV Narration __________
Enel rubbed his earlobes together in frustration as he laid back on the couch by Garp's side.
"Why the hell did he have to go and do that?!?"
The Emperor swore loudly, Garp by his side also grumbled, swearing under his breath much in the same way.
Shiki rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head, his blade scratching the ground underneath him slightly as he lost his concentration.
The Golden Lion had just finished reading out the message they had received from Francisco.
It appeared that the swordsman was grievously injured and was currently being kept in some slave camp that laboured somewhere within the Land of Wano.
It was only thanks to Morgans that Shiki ever managed to get that message, it was essentially an emergency Snail Transmission that the Big News Bird had intercepted by mistake.
And Morgans immediately contacted them, translating the SOS signal over to them.
It was brief, but it was essentially summarised as:
'Got Captured in Wano, lost sword arm and legs. Be careful, Kaido is stronger.'
He wasn't really asking for help, he seemed to be merely informing them of the situation.
At the end of the day, it wasn't in Francisco's nature to ask for help.
But it was plain as day that the situation was dire.
He had lost both legs and his sword arm. And it was obvious that it had happened whilst he was fighting Kaido.
As to why the Dragon Emperor didn't just kill him... That was honestly beyond the comprehension of any of the people present.
They could speculate a few things... Like the fact that Kaido was likely trying to lure the rest of the Army over by using Francisco as bait.
It was certainly working, especially for people like Shiki.
But in truth, no one within the army was going to ever act without Enel's instructions.
Not even Shiki, who was Francisco's best friend in the Army.
The Golden Lion was on the verge of rushing into Wano himself, crashing a few islands into it along the way and bringing Francisco away.
But they all knew that Enel had quite a few plans for Wano especially.
The Sky King hadn't gone into much detail, but he did claim that Wano was going to be the stage for the awakening of a God Fruit user and that the time for said awakening was coming near.
The last thing Shiki wanted was to screw over the very thing that had a chance of winning them the war. He already knew that the God Fruits were legendary objects, on par with the strongest of Ancient Weapons. Having one on their side was vital.
Now, if Shiki had been older and more senile, he likely would've already been well on his way to Wano.
But now that he could think more clearly, he knew that there was no way in hell that Enel was going to ever forsake Francisco.
The Sky King surely had a plan to free Francisco, although he was more stuck swearing at him for now.
"What the hell was he even thinking about?!?"
The Sky King ran his hands through his golden blonde hair with an exasperated expression on his face.
And who could blame him?
'Really...
Why does he always have to get into trouble when he goes out?
Still, at least this does confirm something...'
Enel wasn't the only person in the room to come to that conclusion. And in hindsight, it was already obvious...
Kaido was already on a level of his own. Well above that of the current Yonko and even the old Pirate King.
Hell, he was likely even stronger than Rocks D. Xebec. Although Xebec's potential hadn't ever been reached.
As a Lunarian, he was infinitely weaker with his wings clipped than otherwise.
In a sense, Kaido had likely now risen to the strength of a prime Xebec with his wings still intact.
'I can still manage something like that... But it seems that Francisco alone couldn't...'
Enel himself was unsure if he could win against Kaido without entering his Awakened state, and that spoke volumes already.
Enel didn't 'need' to awaken to defeat Big Mom. He could've done it just as easily in his regular form.
This already meant that Kaido was well above Big Mom. But that had always been true.
Kaido's awakening, however, made him a significant threat to the upcoming war if he chose the wrong side.
'This is no longer a matter of Luffy's awakening... I need to do something about Kaido before he manages to ruin all of my efforts...'
After all, if Kaido interfered while Enel was busy with IMU, then the tides would shift completely.
And since Enel remembered how he didn't plan on taking any sides...'It would be pure chaos...'
But the World Government would benefit most from that chaos.
The Dragon Emperor had a lot of grudges with Enel's army. From there being former marines to people that he fought in the past, and even the fact that he had been held captive in their headquarters after being humiliated.
If Kaido got involved during a stalemate, then he would surely strike at the side he had more grievances against.
'I can't afford to have Luffy half-ass killing Kaido. I can't let his fate be ambiguous in a lava pit, he's already proven himself to be too large of a threat.
I will make sure to turn his body into smouldering ashes and watch it with my own two eyes as it scatters in the wind.'
The room was silent for quite a while as everyone gave Enel a bit more time to process everything.
Eventually, however, Shiki spoke out.
"S-so... Any plans?" The Golden Lion was by far the most concerned out of the people present.
To him, it was only a matter of time before Kaido decided to kill off Francisco. He didn't want to wait for long enough to find out if Bonney's powers worked on mutilated corpses...
By her own admission they didn't, so he didn't want to even think about it.
Bonney herself hadn't yet found out about the matter, but she was surely not going to react well.
And Enel also understood that. Unfortunately, they couldn't really spare Bonny the heartbreak as she was the one who would ultimately put the old swordsman back together...
"Well, the plan's quite obvious, isn't it? Can't really let Francisco die."
Enel sighed as he finally arranged his thoughts.
At that point, he didn't know if the small headache he had was remnants of his awakening kerfuffle or just frustration at the situation at hand.
But his mind was clear enough to construct a plan, and a rescue team.
"We'll be setting sail to Wano soon. Me, Shiki, Bonney and..."
Enel looked around the room for a second, he wondered who else to take with him. Thankfully he didn't need to wonder for long.
"Don't even think about leaving me out of this you dumbass!" Garp crossed his arms and huffed.
Garp was obviously unwilling to admit that was even slightly concerned for Francisco, but that was to be expected.
Even if the old Marine Hero didn't fully trust Francisco, the two of them had still spent a lot of time at each other's throats. And that was essentially bonding in Garp's dictionary.
The old Marine Hero was already feeling weird not arguing with the old swordsman on a daily basis.
Still, his tagging along was likely going to be problematic for a number of reasons... Like the fact that his temper would certainly lead to a fight with just about everything that moved.
But Enel didn't seem to feel like refusing Garp's participation.
So, Sengoku sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He was about to object to that, but another voice joined in. It was someone who had been just observing previously.
"If he is going then I am too... I need some action, and someone needs to keep good old Garp in check!"
"Black Arm" Zephyr, one of Garp's companions from back in the day, one of the leaders of the Neo Marines, and currently one of the leaders of the Marines within Enel's Grand Fleet.
Sengoku wanted to reject the notion at first, but he knew better than to even try. At that point, the battle was already lost.
'Garp alone maybe I can handle... But no one can change the minds of these two when they're together...'
Tsuru smiled as she guessed at Sengoku's internal struggles. She also couldn't help but remember their heydays.
The 'Black Arm' and 'The Fist'. Two of them always made a nice team. Hell, they had even teamed up and went against Shiki's Grand Fleet back in the day.
'These two have always been stubborn mules... Nothing's changed, so no point in trying to dissuade them.' The old crone crossed her arms and nodded at Sengoku, who only sighed.
Enel did notice their small exchanges as well, but he didn't react much to them.
"Good... The 5 of us will be leaving at night. I'll inform Bonney of the situation and tell her to pack her things." Enel nodded at the people in the room before he slowly got up.
"Hey! I can tell her what's going on, it's more fitting since I'm training her too!" Garp voiced out as he also stood up.
He didn't even get to take a step before Sengoku appeared in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No offence, but subtlety has never been your strong point... Please leave this to Enel." The former Fleet Admiral nodded to Garp.
The old Marine Hero seemed to want to refute that, but he also realized that he couldn't really argue against it.
Not like anyone in the room expected him to be able to anyway.
Enel smiled as he left, turning into a flash of light as soon as he closed the door.
In the next second, he reformed himself in mid-air, floating in place as he stared down at a large training field.
Well, it was more akin to a mountainside, countless holes and broken rocks littered the place. Enel's ears perked up as he heard the grunts of a woman.
Looking down, his eyes finally found her. Bonney.
The same woman he remembered, the same long pink hair now caught into a ponytail, same clothes for the most part as well.
Even when training, she still wore extremely tight outfits in order to facilitate becoming younger.
The Emperor touched Earth, and as soon as he did, Bonney took notice of his presence, her head immediately turning to the side as he met the Emperor with a tired smile.
"Hoh? Look who decided to show up again..." The gluttonous pirate slowly walked towards the Sky King as she reached to the back of her hair and undid her ponytail, leaving her long hair to flow smoothly.
"Yeah, bet you're no longer used to seeing me around." Enel smiled at the De-Aging Pirate.
But his smile was quickly wiped off as he scratched the back of his head a few times before sighing.
"Listen. I'll just get to the point of my visit. There's no good way to go about this anyway.
Francisco's been caught by Kaido, bit of a role reversal if you ask me. But things aren't looking too bright right now."
Enel kept his gauntleted arms closed as he spoke, his shoulders not sagging one bit.
Although the subject matter was gloomy, his confident tone managed to somewhat calm down Bonney too.
Well, at least slightly.
"W-what do you mean caught? What's his condition, and why aren't you already there rescuing him?!?" Bonney crossed her arms as she immediately started asking questions.
"Well, we don't know how he got involved with the Land of Wano, but he fought Kaido there and lost. We only know he's missing a few limbs and is essentially kept alive for slave labour.
We suspect Kaido just wants to mess with his mind and humiliate him, maybe use him as bait. There are many options, but we can't know for sure.
Also, I've just returned from a long trip, there's not even been a full hour since I came to Skypea."
Enel shrugged as he managed to answer all of her questions uninterrupted.
She seemed to be intently listening to anything that was related to Francisco. It was quite obvious that she cared for him as if that hadn't been obvious enough from their previous interactions...
Still, Enel decided not to waste any more time and just told her to postpone her training and pack her stuff.
She readily agreed, also immediately understanding her purpose on the team.
'So I'll be the on-board doctor, huh?'
It was pretty obvious at the end of the day. The mission was not to 'rescue' Francisco. It was to heal him. And she was vital for that goal.
She knew what she needed to do. So that evening, she was well and ready to step on the departing island.
Shiki was tagging along both as a navigator/ship and extra muscle.
But they also had plenty of muscle in the form of Zephyr, Garp and Enel.
Well, Enel was the captain, but he was essentially an all-in-one package.
'With this crew, I doubt we'll run into much trouble... Now, let's set sail to Wano!'
__________________________________________________________________
Eyy, Hope you liked the chapter!
Wano arc incoming :))
Story Shoutout: The Final Desperation
Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)
__________ POV Narration __________
Enel rubbed his earlobes together in frustration as he laid back on the couch by Garp's side.
"Why the hell did he have to go and do that?!?"
The Emperor swore loudly, Garp by his side also grumbled, swearing under his breath much in the same way.
Shiki rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head, his blade scratching the ground underneath him slightly as he lost his concentration.
The Golden Lion had just finished reading out the message they had received from Francisco.
It appeared that the swordsman was grievously injured and was currently being kept in some slave camp that laboured somewhere within the Land of Wano.
It was only thanks to Morgans that Shiki ever managed to get that message, it was essentially an emergency Snail Transmission that the Big News Bird had intercepted by mistake.
And Morgans immediately contacted them, translating the SOS signal over to them.
It was brief, but it was essentially summarised as:
'Got Captured in Wano, lost sword arm and legs. Be careful, Kaido is stronger.'
He wasn't really asking for help, he seemed to be merely informing them of the situation.
At the end of the day, it wasn't in Francisco's nature to ask for help.
But it was plain as day that the situation was dire.
He had lost both legs and his sword arm. And it was obvious that it had happened whilst he was fighting Kaido.
As to why the Dragon Emperor didn't just kill him... That was honestly beyond the comprehension of any of the people present.
They could speculate a few things... Like the fact that Kaido was likely trying to lure the rest of the Army over by using Francisco as bait.
It was certainly working, especially for people like Shiki.
But in truth, no one within the army was going to ever act without Enel's instructions.
Not even Shiki, who was Francisco's best friend in the Army.
The Golden Lion was on the verge of rushing into Wano himself, crashing a few islands into it along the way and bringing Francisco away.
But they all knew that Enel had quite a few plans for Wano especially.
The Sky King hadn't gone into much detail, but he did claim that Wano was going to be the stage for the awakening of a God Fruit user and that the time for said awakening was coming near.
The last thing Shiki wanted was to screw over the very thing that had a chance of winning them the war. He already knew that the God Fruits were legendary objects, on par with the strongest of Ancient Weapons. Having one on their side was vital.
Now, if Shiki had been older and more senile, he likely would've already been well on his way to Wano.
But now that he could think more clearly, he knew that there was no way in hell that Enel was going to ever forsake Francisco.
The Sky King surely had a plan to free Francisco, although he was more stuck swearing at him for now.
"What the hell was he even thinking about?!?"
The Sky King ran his hands through his golden blonde hair with an exasperated expression on his face.
And who could blame him?
'Really...
Why does he always have to get into trouble when he goes out?
Still, at least this does confirm something...'
Enel wasn't the only person in the room to come to that conclusion. And in hindsight, it was already obvious...
Kaido was already on a level of his own. Well above that of the current Yonko and even the old Pirate King.
Hell, he was likely even stronger than Rocks D. Xebec. Although Xebec's potential hadn't ever been reached.
As a Lunarian, he was infinitely weaker with his wings clipped than otherwise.
In a sense, Kaido had likely now risen to the strength of a prime Xebec with his wings still intact.
'I can still manage something like that... But it seems that Francisco alone couldn't...'
Enel himself was unsure if he could win against Kaido without entering his Awakened state, and that spoke volumes already.
Enel didn't 'need' to awaken to defeat Big Mom. He could've done it just as easily in his regular form.
This already meant that Kaido was well above Big Mom. But that had always been true.
Kaido's awakening, however, made him a significant threat to the upcoming war if he chose the wrong side.
'This is no longer a matter of Luffy's awakening... I need to do something about Kaido before he manages to ruin all of my efforts...'
After all, if Kaido interfered while Enel was busy with IMU, then the tides would shift completely.
And since Enel remembered how he didn't plan on taking any sides...'It would be pure chaos...'
But the World Government would benefit most from that chaos.
The Dragon Emperor had a lot of grudges with Enel's army. From there being former marines to people that he fought in the past, and even the fact that he had been held captive in their headquarters after being humiliated.
If Kaido got involved during a stalemate, then he would surely strike at the side he had more grievances against.
'I can't afford to have Luffy half-ass killing Kaido. I can't let his fate be ambiguous in a lava pit, he's already proven himself to be too large of a threat.
I will make sure to turn his body into smouldering ashes and watch it with my own two eyes as it scatters in the wind.'
The room was silent for quite a while as everyone gave Enel a bit more time to process everything.
Eventually, however, Shiki spoke out.
"S-so... Any plans?" The Golden Lion was by far the most concerned out of the people present.
To him, it was only a matter of time before Kaido decided to kill off Francisco. He didn't want to wait for long enough to find out if Bonney's powers worked on mutilated corpses...
By her own admission they didn't, so he didn't want to even think about it.
Bonney herself hadn't yet found out about the matter, but she was surely not going to react well.
And Enel also understood that. Unfortunately, they couldn't really spare Bonny the heartbreak as she was the one who would ultimately put the old swordsman back together...
"Well, the plan's quite obvious, isn't it? Can't really let Francisco die."
Enel sighed as he finally arranged his thoughts.
At that point, he didn't know if the small headache he had was remnants of his awakening kerfuffle or just frustration at the situation at hand.
But his mind was clear enough to construct a plan, and a rescue team.
"We'll be setting sail to Wano soon. Me, Shiki, Bonney and..."
Enel looked around the room for a second, he wondered who else to take with him. Thankfully he didn't need to wonder for long.
"Don't even think about leaving me out of this you dumbass!" Garp crossed his arms and huffed.
Garp was obviously unwilling to admit that was even slightly concerned for Francisco, but that was to be expected.
Even if the old Marine Hero didn't fully trust Francisco, the two of them had still spent a lot of time at each other's throats. And that was essentially bonding in Garp's dictionary.
The old Marine Hero was already feeling weird not arguing with the old swordsman on a daily basis.
Still, his tagging along was likely going to be problematic for a number of reasons... Like the fact that his temper would certainly lead to a fight with just about everything that moved.
But Enel didn't seem to feel like refusing Garp's participation.
So, Sengoku sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He was about to object to that, but another voice joined in. It was someone who had been just observing previously.
"If he is going then I am too... I need some action, and someone needs to keep good old Garp in check!"
"Black Arm" Zephyr, one of Garp's companions from back in the day, one of the leaders of the Neo Marines, and currently one of the leaders of the Marines within Enel's Grand Fleet.
Sengoku wanted to reject the notion at first, but he knew better than to even try. At that point, the battle was already lost.
'Garp alone maybe I can handle... But no one can change the minds of these two when they're together...'
Tsuru smiled as she guessed at Sengoku's internal struggles. She also couldn't help but remember their heydays.
The 'Black Arm' and 'The Fist'. Two of them always made a nice team. Hell, they had even teamed up and went against Shiki's Grand Fleet back in the day.
'These two have always been stubborn mules... Nothing's changed, so no point in trying to dissuade them.' The old crone crossed her arms and nodded at Sengoku, who only sighed.
Enel did notice their small exchanges as well, but he didn't react much to them.
"Good... The 5 of us will be leaving at night. I'll inform Bonney of the situation and tell her to pack her things." Enel nodded at the people in the room before he slowly got up.
"Hey! I can tell her what's going on, it's more fitting since I'm training her too!" Garp voiced out as he also stood up.
He didn't even get to take a step before Sengoku appeared in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No offence, but subtlety has never been your strong point... Please leave this to Enel." The former Fleet Admiral nodded to Garp.
The old Marine Hero seemed to want to refute that, but he also realized that he couldn't really argue against it.
Not like anyone in the room expected him to be able to anyway.
Enel smiled as he left, turning into a flash of light as soon as he closed the door.
In the next second, he reformed himself in mid-air, floating in place as he stared down at a large training field.
Well, it was more akin to a mountainside, countless holes and broken rocks littered the place. Enel's ears perked up as he heard the grunts of a woman.
Looking down, his eyes finally found her. Bonney.
The same woman he remembered, the same long pink hair now caught into a ponytail, same clothes for the most part as well.
Even when training, she still wore extremely tight outfits in order to facilitate becoming younger.
The Emperor touched Earth, and as soon as he did, Bonney took notice of his presence, her head immediately turning to the side as he met the Emperor with a tired smile.
"Hoh? Look who decided to show up again..." The gluttonous pirate slowly walked towards the Sky King as she reached to the back of her hair and undid her ponytail, leaving her long hair to flow smoothly.
"Yeah, bet you're no longer used to seeing me around." Enel smiled at the De-Aging Pirate.
But his smile was quickly wiped off as he scratched the back of his head a few times before sighing.
"Listen. I'll just get to the point of my visit. There's no good way to go about this anyway.
Francisco's been caught by Kaido, bit of a role reversal if you ask me. But things aren't looking too bright right now."
Enel kept his gauntleted arms closed as he spoke, his shoulders not sagging one bit.
Although the subject matter was gloomy, his confident tone managed to somewhat calm down Bonney too.
Well, at least slightly.
"W-what do you mean caught? What's his condition, and why aren't you already there rescuing him?!?" Bonney crossed her arms as she immediately started asking questions.
"Well, we don't know how he got involved with the Land of Wano, but he fought Kaido there and lost. We only know he's missing a few limbs and is essentially kept alive for slave labour.
We suspect Kaido just wants to mess with his mind and humiliate him, maybe use him as bait. There are many options, but we can't know for sure.
Also, I've just returned from a long trip, there's not even been a full hour since I came to Skypea."
Enel shrugged as he managed to answer all of her questions uninterrupted.
She seemed to be intently listening to anything that was related to Francisco. It was quite obvious that she cared for him as if that hadn't been obvious enough from their previous interactions...
Still, Enel decided not to waste any more time and just told her to postpone her training and pack her stuff.
She readily agreed, also immediately understanding her purpose on the team.
'So I'll be the on-board doctor, huh?'
It was pretty obvious at the end of the day. The mission was not to 'rescue' Francisco. It was to heal him. And she was vital for that goal.
She knew what she needed to do. So that evening, she was well and ready to step on the departing island.
Shiki was tagging along both as a navigator/ship and extra muscle.
But they also had plenty of muscle in the form of Zephyr, Garp and Enel.
Well, Enel was the captain, but he was essentially an all-in-one package.
'With this crew, I doubt we'll run into much trouble... Now, let's set sail to Wano!'
__________________________________________________________________
Eyy, Hope you liked the chapter!
Wano arc incoming :))
Story Shoutout: The Final Desperation
Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)
