Undying Will

Angella stood next to me, her eyes now a gleaming red and a trail of tears that still chalked out a thin line on her face. Her coat ruffled in the wind.

Fawkes stood at the very corner, downing a cup of pain killers as Sorren poked his back raw with various liquid supplements. In Sorren"s hand was a small vial of adrenaline that he would administer at the very end if push came to shove.

Terrick stood at the very corner, a grim atmosphere hung around him as he sharpened his daggers. I was sure by now that it was his way of getting completely serious.

Scipio having realized the intensity of the situation had decided to make himself useful in the only way he knew he could. He had buried himself below deck polishing the two cannons that we possessed.

He had gotten enough knowledge on the cannon that he would not be useless if we ever got into a naval battle.

Our black flag shook in the morning wing, even though it did not have the skull and crossbones that we would identify our crew under, it still symbolized which side of the law we were on. We had pitched it up on purpose, renouncing all other alternatives in our rage.

Angella looked at me through the corner of her eyes a tinge of grat.i.tude in her eyes as she opened her mouth, "Captain, if we do come across any marines on the island or in its vicinity can I be given permission to engage alone?" She asked, a stern tone in her shaky voice.

"Unless things get too lethal for you alone, sure." I said nodding solemnly as we came closer to the island that had been burned to a mere hint of its former self.

On the ocean around us we could see the shrapnel of boats that existed. Burnt hands held out in despair as blood flowed freely in its surroundings.

"Captain, how long ago did this happen?" Fawkes asked, a hint of steel in his eyes as he no doubt recalled what had happened to his own home.

"Close to three days ago… If we hadn"t taken that sh.o.r.e leave we might have been able to get here on time…" I said, gritting my teeth at the impunity of the situation.

"And what face five people on the level of that d.a.m.n flamingo?" he called back in a derisive tone. "We needed that time to prepare captain. Don"t beat yourself over a good plan." He said with certainty as he straightened up.

"You guys keep referencing this flamingo dude, who was he?" Terrick asked as he looked up from his polishing.

"Donquixote Doflamingo" Fawkes replied as he came bare chested to the prow of the ship. With a frown he looked at the oceans around him before turning back to me.

"Captain, I am as good as ill ever be…Though my endurance has taken a hit." I nodded with understanding before dismissing him with my eyes. " Go get your axe, you"re going to need it."

"Angella, if there is a single ship of marines on land, then you can take the highest ranking officer as we ransack the d.a.m.n vessel, If there are more than that however, all of us will probably have to face off against one of those blasted vice admirals.

Terrick, whoever you face, hope it isn"t a logia. Of the five of us, it"s only me and Fawkes who can actually do any damage.

If you do end up facing a logia, run around and pull it into a battle of attrition, target the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds crew and tire him out. Push him into the sea if you have to.

Sorren I want you to overwhelm anyone you face. Keep up the pressure and if you can punch until your hands are sore!

Angella…..Go crazy!" I called out as I braced myself against the ship"s mast.

"Aye aye captain!" Came the chorus from my back as we announced our presence.

Fawkes and Sorren stood to my sides pumping out their conqueror"s Haki, the wind seethed in rage as we approached the heath of burnt land.

I used my Haki as an operator, setting off concentrated blasts of the force on intervals. The intervals of the waves on the bottom of the ship…

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Kuzan could not help but stiffen as he felt it. A wave of illogical fear overcoming his suddenly frozen limbs as a dark hue overcame the sunlight from the horizon.

The winds began to rile up in a froth of fury as the sun seemingly disappeared in fear. The waves of stifling aura coaxed the sea into a rage that Kuzan had only ever seen in the grand line as a mixture of eerie colors began to profuse the sea"s surface.

The men on his ship could not help but shiver as they faced the unknown adversary. On the very horizon a blue and white ship finally appeared, with a very close resemblance to the ship that Kuzan himself used.

Though, the ship was a little odd.. It looked somewhat weird to his eyes, even as his otherwise lazy expression fell away to show his serious look. A hint of frost appeared on his cheek as his vice admiral cloth sped up in a frenzy behind him.

As the nautical monstrosity drew closer, his heart could not help but speed up as a pressure that he had never felt before blasted against his frame.

As the ship drew closer, he could feel it. The entire world came to a tempestuous stop. Sweat developed on his brow as the ship drew closer. The closer it came, the more he could see on it.

Three men seemingly holding the mast upright, seemingly smiling at him bloodthirstily. He could not help but shiver….

**********************

Angella belted out a choke of grief and indignation as she looked at the b.a.s.t.a.r.dized sh.o.r.es that had once been her home.

As she drew closer, she could see it, a single ship on the crest of the landing wave, and a single vice admiral on its prow.

With a shriek she leapt off the ship"s prow onto the other, the distance between both vessels seemingly not even affecting her in the least as she drew an elegant arc in the air before unsheathing her blade and slicing down at the ship before her.

The ice man could not help but flinch at the cathartic rage on her face as he face the twisted black slash of blade energy that came barreling at him with an intensity that he had only seen on a desperate sea king.

With stiff hands he brought his palm up, reinforcing it with Haki and ice as he made a shield to guard against it.

With a swosh the rest of the crew jumped off as well, landing on various parts of the ship and blowing it up in a rabid fit that reflected off their deranged crew member.

Her rapier danced as volley after volley of sword energy bombarded the ice man. With every hit on his shield he could not help but retreat, his feet at the very edge of the ship, before he tumbled out of it bad onto the watery depths of the ocean.

"Ice age…" he called out as the very water froze below both ships. One that had been blowing up with the rampage of those on it, and another that seemingly spat an indefinite volley of cannon b.a.l.l.s at them.

The ice man looked over at the sword wielder who had also landed on the ice. Though she did not poses a hint of Haki save for the budding hints of Observation Haki, she nonetheless made do with the rabid intensity of her slashes.

Her coat fluttered in the icy wind as she positioned her rapier in front of her.

With a deep voice she called out, "[Shard blade style: jagged blade!]" As her sword seemed to fall off her hand into the sea below, before, with her pinky she pushed outward holding the blade in a backhand stance and seemingly stabbing at the Marine Vice Admiral"s person.

With every swing of her blade a different wave of energy was pushed out, each poking at Kuzan.

Kuzan, to his surprise found that he was unable to move away from the blades that streaked toward him.

Each individual movement shattered the air as they approached and even the ice below them fractured under the strain of the attack, etching out a dark wave of pure energy at the logia users form.

As Kuzan felt the first sword stroke strike him he knew that this was not going to be an easy attack to tank, each attack left a tiny crack on the ice that he turned into, and, when he returned to his human form he could not help but wince at what felt like shrapnel in his chest.

Each attack sounded like the strike of thunder as it descended on him, and after the first blow, he was not keen on touching this particular spark of electricity….