The black sand crunched under steady, heavy footfalls. From the gaping shadow of a bunker carved into volcanic rock, a figure emerged—tall, unmoving, terrible. Hope thinned from the air like smoke on the wind.
Admiral Zephyr stepped into the dying sunlight, his mechanical Battle Smasher arm catching the red glow, casting a cruel gleam across the jagged beach. He walked with the slow confidence of a man who had hunted many and missed none. His cold, calculating eyes scanned the chaos—Ace's burning defiance, Gunnar's storm-silent fury, and the freed pirates struggling to their feet.
"So," Zephyr's gravel-deep voice rolled over the sound of crashing waves and distant gunfire, "the mutts have come limping back. Still barking. And you've brought more of Whitebeard's strays to the slaughter."
One of the newly freed men—a massive brute with a tangle of beard and hate burning in his eyes—roared in anguish. "You'll pay for my crew, Zephyr!" He lunged forward, cutlass raised, fury blinding him.
Zephyr didn't blink.
With a motion like a flicked page, his flesh hand swatted the attack aside. Then came the Battle Smasher. A single punch, fast as lightning, landed squarely on the pirate's chest.
CRACK.
The pirate was airborne before the sound registered, gasping, blood flecking his lips. He hurtled backward, flailing—and slammed into Gunnar.
Gunnar absorbed the impact, his ice-coated arm softening the blow. The pirate sagged in his grasp, barely conscious.
"Stay out of this," Gunnar growled, voice like rumbled thunder. He lowered the man gently onto the sand, then rose, eyes locked on Zephyr. "All of you," he barked to the others, his tone cutting through panic like steel, "handle the rest of the Neo Marine garbage. If anyone stands between me and him—" he jabbed a thumb toward Zephyr, "—you'll wish they hadn't."
There was a beat of hesitation—then the pirates scattered, grabbing weapons, rallying behind Gunnar's fury. The air swelled with a new desperation, one not of fear, but of purpose.
Ace hadn't moved. Flames curled around his frame like armor. His eyes never left Zephyr.
"No more hiding behind rank and metal, old man. Last time, you caught us off guard. This time, you'll burn for it."
Zephyr smirked, cold and humorless. "Flames? A child's tantrum, Fire Fist. Easy to smother." He turned to Gunnar. "And you, 'Quake Prince'—still trying to be your father's shadow? Some legacies are better buried."
Gunnar's molten hand dripped glowing rock. His other arm glistened with frost. "This one," he snarled, "is going to bury _you_."
Ace launched first. "HIKEN!" he roared. A massive fist of fire tore across the battlefield, heat distorting the air.
Zephyr didn't dodge. His Battle Smasher engaged with a mechanical whirr, plates aligning. He drove his fist into the heart of the inferno—punched through it—the seastone core and Haki cleaving a hole in Ace's attack, dispersing the flames like shredded cloth.
Ace gritted his teeth, arm trembling from the backlash. "Still got some fight in those old bones, huh?"
"Enough to discipline brats," Zephyr snarled, surging forward. His normal fist, now black with Haki, shot toward Ace's flank.
Ace twisted midair, fire bursting from his heels to propel him back, narrowly evading the strike. He retaliated with a fiery whip aimed at Zephyr's face. "You talk too much!"
Just before the strike could land, a pink blur streaked in from the side.
"Not so fast, little spark."
Ain. Her pink hair lashed in the wind, eyes unreadable. She struck Ace in the ribs with a glowing hand—the touch of her Modo Modo no Mi.
Ace let out a ragged cry. His flames faltered, his skin withered in an instant—age crawling like rot across one side of his body.
"Damn it—not her again!" Ace wheezed, staggering, his voice hoarse and thin. The fire around him sputtered.
Zephyr gave a nod, something unreadable flashing in his eyes. "Your timing, as ever, Ain... efficient."
Ain smoothed her glasses, cool and composed. "Just ensuring the lesson stays uninterrupted, Zephyr-sama. Children don't learn unless the pain lingers."
"Efficient?" Gunnar's voice rolled out low, dangerous. Lava hissed and hardened into obsidian spikes at his feet. Ice raced further up his other arm, sharpening into jagged armor. The ground trembled.
Kirin, the great storm-bird by his side, let out a thunderous squawk. Electricity crackled along its feathers. It mirrored its master's fury.
Gunnar's eyes burned with golden light—almost demonic. "Or just cowardly, like your master."
Ain met his gaze with dispassion. "Courage is irrelevant. Only results matter. And the result is—your friend is crippled."
Ace, swaying on his feet, gritted his teeth. "Stay out of this, Gunnar," he rasped. "She's… cough… mine."
Before another word could fall, a cry came from the shoreline.
"SHIPS! ON THE HORIZON! MARINES!"
A freed pirate, eyes wide, pointed toward the churning sea. Several dark shapes pierced the mist—multiple vessels flying the Marine flag.
All movement on the battlefield froze.
Zephyr, Ain, Gunnar, Ace—even the clashing pirates and Neo Marines—turned toward the sea as one. A fleet of Marine warships crested the horizon, their sails white as judgment, bearing the seagull insignia of the World Government. They sliced through the waves with ruthless, mechanical precision.
From the lead vessel, two figures launched skyward—dark silhouettes against the blinding sky. They landed hard on the black sand, sending up geysers of obsidian grit.
The first was a giant of a man: Vice Admiral Bastille. His horned helmet glinted under the sun, obscuring his face like a war mask from another era. Slung across his shoulder was his infamous shark-slicer sword—jagged, brutal, and wide enough to bisect a Sea King. Every footfall of his radiated raw power and command.
Beside him stood a quieter menace—Vice Admiral Momonga. Sharp-eyed and composed, with neatly trimmed facial hair and a katana sheathed at his hip, he was the picture of disciplined resolve. His uniform bore no blemish, but his expression held stormclouds.
Bastille's voice rumbled like rolling thunder. "Zephyr! By command of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, stand down and surrender. Your rogue crusade ends now."
Momonga's tone was calmer, but no less resolute. "Zephyr-sensei. You've left us no choice. The instability you've unleashed must end."
Zephyr chuckled—a hard, metallic sound. His Battle Smasher whirred to life. "Surrender? To the dogs of a corrupt regime I swore to dismantle?" His gaze swept across them, from Bastille's looming frame to Momonga's stern poise, then over Ain, and finally back to Gunnar and Ace. "Seems my little beach party just made the front page."
Gunnar smirked, fire and frost writhing around him. "Popular with people lining up to kill you, old man."
Ace, weakened from Ain's power but still defiant, managed a crooked grin. "Looks like the whole damn Navy wants your autograph, Zephyr."
Bastille's gaze shifted. "Portgas D. Ace. Gunnar of Whitebeard. Your time is over. Once Zephyr is secured, you two are next."
But Momonga didn't move. His eyes flicked from Zephyr to the pirates—calculating, remembering. He had once admired Zephyr. Now, he studied the chaos surrounding him, including the monstrous aura emanating from Gunnar and the burning will inside Ace.
"Zephyr-sensei," he began, slower now, "these pirates… they are not just criminals. They're the offspring of an Emperor. A threat far greater than one fallen Admiral."
Zephyr raised a brow. "And? You think I've forgotten who the enemy is, Momonga? Pirates are the reason I became what I am. I never stopped hunting them. You just stopped helping."
Bastille's voice cut in like a blade. "Our orders are clear. You are the objective."
Momonga remained still. Then, calmly: "And what if they're the bigger threat?"
Gunnar's fist clenched, lava spitting from his knuckles. "What're you saying, Marine? You scared?"
Momonga ignored him. "Sensei… whatever you've become, your hatred for pirates hasn't wavered. That conviction, at least, we still share. And these two—" he gestured to Ace and Gunnar "—are no ordinary targets. They'll take advantage of any conflict between us. If we fight you now, they may escape… or worse."
Zephyr's eyes narrowed. "Get to the point."
"My point is this," Momonga said, stepping closer. "For now, just for this moment—we redirect our focus. Together. Against them. Capture or kill them first. Then, we settle things with you."
Bastille's helmet turned sharply. "You want us to fight _with_ a traitor?"
"Not an alliance," Momonga replied. "A tactical decision. A temporary alignment. Eliminate the immediate threat. Then, finish our mission. You always told us to be adaptable, Sensei. This is just that—adaptation."
Zephyr studied him for a long beat. "You'd raise your blade alongside mine? Against these brats?"
The beach went still again. For a moment, the crashing of the waves was the only sound.
Then Zephyr exhaled, long and low. The tired weight of his years hung heavy in his voice. "Very well. Show me what you've learned. Show me that the justice you serve still has a spine."
Momonga nodded once, sharp and respectful. "We won't fail you, Sensei."
Bastille hefted his sword, the ground beneath him cracking. "No more speeches. Time to kill pirates."
The new front lines formed.
Vice Admiral Momonga stepped to Zephyr's right, katana drawn, his eyes like steel. Bastille planted himself to the left, his presence a wall of violence waiting to happen. Behind them, Ain stood poised, a cold smirk on her lips, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Opposite them, Gunnar and Ace stared down this temporary alliance—a storm of Marine authority and righteous fury. Gunnar's body pulsed with the raw collision of lava and ice, the sand hissing beneath him. Ace's fire burned hotter, more erratic, his blood rising despite his wounds.
The black beach stretched wide and empty between them—no man's land, soon to be soaked in fire and fury. The winds of Port Obsidian howled through, tasting of smoke, gunpowder, and death.
A reckoning was coming.
And the world would remember what happened here.
[A/N: 3 Chapters release in a day. It's going great. Man, I have finished this arc. I will be dropping 2 chapters daily.
There is so many story lines.I have some figured out. If you have any idea of whatever, I am there to hear it out.
For now: Formation of Divison zero arc, Family revenge arc, Big mom pirates arc, Marine Vendetta arc, Black Beard pirates arc, Marine ford arc, Emperors arc, and many more. I have basic outline, I can say after this arc, all the others are batshit insane arcs.]