"The Battle for Marineford"
As the war at Marineford reached its climax, at the summit of the world, the sky burned crimson over the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
In a silent, shadowy chamber, dimly lit by the reflections of a massive Den Den Mushi screen, the Five Elders watched the conflict with twisted smiles and eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Are the men ready?" asked Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro in a cold voice, slowly unsheathing and resheathing his sword"a nervous tic that surfaced whenever he was excited.
From the shadows, a CP0 agent, clad in a distinctive white mask, stepped forward and knelt.
"Yes, sir. As soon as the Navy is on the brink of collapse, they will intervene. They'll appear as saviors… win the public's favor, and when the power structure shakes, no one will dare question the changes."
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter let out a short, unpleasant laugh, like a crow tearing into flesh.
"Perfect. Make sure Akainu survives… and the names on the list we sent you. They're still useful tools. The rest… let them die. A war without casualties isn't believable."
"And if someone survives on their own?" the agent asked, keeping his head low.
Saint Topman Warcury sipped slowly from a glass of ink-black wine before answering with chilling calm:
"Send them on suicide missions. Or let the new admirals 'replace' them with some political excuse. Like sweeping dust under the rug."
Saint Marcus Mars narrowed his eyes, staring intently at a figure projected on the screen: a dark-haired woman drenched in blood, fighting like a beast. Vice Admiral Kara.
"Except for her…" he murmured with a sick intensity. "That woman must be captured alive. Her power isn't normal. We must understand it… replicate it… or destroy it, if necessary."
"As you command, sir," said the agent before vanishing into the shadows.
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn smiled with a mix of satisfaction and cruelty.
"That brat won't escape anymore. She's been a nuisance for far too long. At last, we'll uncover the truth behind that power of hers… and find out if she's useful, or just another aberration worth dissecting."
Silence once again reigned in the chamber, broken only by the distant explosions of the battlefield"and the restrained laughter of those who moved the world from the shadows… like gods over a board of flesh and blood.
...…..
As the war at Marineford reached a critical point, a wave of tension swept across the battlefield. Marines and pirates alike began to falter, their faces twisting in confusion and terror as a massive shadow stretched across the horizon.
"What the hell is that…?" a lieutenant murmured, looking up.
A gargantuan fleet emerged through the mist. It wasn't just ships"a colossal blue dragon, with scales like steel and eyes like burning torches, soared through the sky, roaring with such fury that the clouds tore apart in its wake.
"More enemies incoming!" a marine shouted, pointing in horror as another fleet became visible from the east.
Kara frowned, but after a moment of tension, her eyes lit up as she recognized a flag waving among the sails.
"Tsk… those idiots got here just in time," she said with a calm smile as she stood up.
"It's them! The Bounty Hunters' Guild!" exclaimed a marine captain, visibly relieved.
Sengoku, standing on the command platform, felt the crushing pressure of the battlefield double when he saw Kaido cutting through the skies with murderous intent. But upon seeing the Guild approach, a small portion of that burden lifted"though he knew not even they would be enough to stop a monster like Kaido.
"Garp…" he whispered the name as if invoking an ancient, doomed god.
He knew what it meant to send the Navy's hero to the front. Garp was no longer the young monster of the past. And if he fell… they wouldn't just lose a pillar"they'd lose the morale of the entire army.
Garp, who understood his old friend perfectly, let out a short laugh.
"Sometimes, being a legend comes with perks… and responsibilities," he replied with astonishing serenity.
Then, he bent his knees and launched into the sky like a living cannonball, heading straight for the monstrous Kaido.
But his path was intercepted.
Whitebeard saw it. He knew exactly what Garp intended. And though he didn't like Kaido's interference, as long as he could save his son, the destruction of the Navy didn't concern him.
With a terrifying leap for someone of his size, the Emperor blocked Garp's path.
"You'll have to go over my dead body, Garp! GURARARARA!!" he bellowed, as his fist"coated in the devastating power of the Gura Gura no Mi"shattered the very air in front of him.
Garp didn't flinch. He smiled with the calm of one who had already made peace with death.
"Just like you have sons… I have grandsons."
But just before Whitebeard's attack could reach him, a figure stepped in.
Kara. Her face was completely serious. The wind blew through her hair as she raised her fist, cloaked in destructive magical energy.
Without hesitation, she struck the shockwave.
The impossible happened.
The devastating vibration shattered into thousands of cube-like fragments of energy, which scattered in all directions. Some exploded among marines and pirates, causing minor injuries, but the attack itself… had been neutralized.
For one second, there was total silence.
"That woman… did she just destroy the most destructive Devil Fruit power in the world?" a vice admiral whispered, eyes wide in disbelief.
Kara didn't pause. With her other fist"already covered by a magical grid shaped like a square net"she charged directly at Whitebeard.
He raised his Haki-covered hand to block. The impact thundered like a storm.
Where her blow landed, square-shaped marks briefly glowed before blood splattered.
Whitebeard gritted his teeth and counterattacked. He dropped his naginata and threw a punch straight at Kara's torso. She crossed both arms to defend.
The impact was brutal.
Kara was sent flying, spinning through the air like a leaf in the wind, before crashing to her knees and slamming a hand into the ground to stop her slide.
She was breathing hard"but her eyes gleamed with wild excitement.
She took off the Cloak of Justice from her shoulders with a single motion of her arm.
"We'll have to finish you off as quickly as possible… before the old man kills himself trying to be a hero," she said with a defiant smile.
Whitebeard looked at the blood in his palm with curiosity… and a faint spark of murderous respect.
"Interesting..."
But before he could take another step, Marco the Phoenix descended from the sky wrapped in blue flames and lunged at Kara.
"I won't let you touch our father!" he roared.
"Oh, come on... I can't just stand by while you attack our 'living wallet,'" said the mocking voice of Kizaru, who appeared in a flash of light, firing multiple laser beams from his finger.
"Listen, you yellow punk!!" Kara growled, barely dodging Marco. "You could've killed me too!!"
Then, a figure rose beside her. It was Ace.
"Let me give you a hand, Kara."
He extended both hands toward the sky. A sphere of lightning and fire began to form violently.
"Emperor of Thunder!!" he shouted, unleashing a storm of lightning that rained down like divine judgment upon Whitebeard and his sons.
The bolts exploded on the ships and ground, shaking all of Marineford. From the sea, Namur, the fish-man commander of Whitebeard's 10th division, emerged with a fierce expression, muscles tense and ready.
"IT'S TIME TO FINISH OFF THESE INSECTS!!" he roared, crossing his arms before launching himself with full force toward Ace.
"Kairyuu Ipponzeoi!!" Namur shouted in fury.
A gigantic stream of water burst violently from the hole Jozu had created, taking the form of a spiraling torrent that roared into the sky. The jet connected directly with the floating lightning sphere, and in an instant, the electricity was absorbed by the sea as if a thunderbolt had been devoured by the depths.
The discharge spread through the area, sending sparks that briefly shook those nearby. Some fell to their knees, trembling from the electric wave, though only for a moment.
Namur, his face twisted in rage, turned his gaze toward Jinbei and roared:
"Is this how you repay our father for protecting Fishman Island, Jinbei?! You're all a bunch of traitors! When this war ends, I swear on my honor I'll take care of that island personally!"
Jinbei lowered his gaze, sadness and regret in his eyes.
"You're a disappointment, Namur… You, more than anyone, should know what Whitebeard's pirates have done to our brothers."
But before he could say more, an overwhelming pressure engulfed the battlefield.
Everyone felt an explosion of Haki so intense the air seemed to freeze. Instinctively, all eyes turned upward… and then they saw him.
Garp.
Falling from the sky like a meteor, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki. His fist glowed like a shooting star and his voice boomed like thunder:
"Galaxy Impact!!"
The blow landed squarely on Kaido, releasing a shockwave so brutal it shook the nearby ships. Kaido was sent flying like a bullet toward his allies' ships, knocking down masts and splitting hulls. The clouds were blown away from the sky, the sea raged violently, lifting waves as if a storm had just been born that very instant.
Kara, still standing among the rubble, watched the attack with a growing smile. Then she turned her gaze to Whitebeard, her eyes burning with excitement.
"As Natsu would say... I'm fired up," she muttered before vanishing, leaving only floating cubes of ground expanding backward as if reality itself were breaking at her passage.
"Gurararara. So we finally meet, girl... I still remember the one who murdered one of my sons," Whitebeard growled, brandishing his naginata with a force capable of splitting the sky.
Kara appeared right in front of the blade, launching a punch coated in Haki and magical power. The clash was so violent the air cracked into crystalline cubes. The sky flickered with strange colors. It was as if two worlds collided to decide who was the most destructive.
The impact threw them apart. Kara was sent flying several meters, her body spinning through the air before landing firmly. Whitebeard only stepped back a few paces, a grimace of respect on his face.
But Kara didn't waste time.
"I'm not done with you yet, old man!" she shouted, moving at superhuman speed.
However, two figures got in her way.
Izo, commander of the 16th division, drew both pistols and opened fire with deadly precision. Blamenco, of the 6th division, pulled a giant hammer from his neck, charging at her with a roar.
"Tsk, meddling fools!" Kara growled, spinning around and extending both hands. A burst of energy in the shape of grids expanded from her palms, disintegrating the bullets mid-air and shattering the hammer into pieces.
But right at that moment, Whitebeard took advantage of the distraction. His fist, covered in vibrations, slammed directly into her, sending her flying with a burst of seismic power.
Before she could crash into the platform, a shadow intercepted her.
Aokiji, who had silently returned, used Armament Haki in his palm to stop her fall, grabbing her by the back.
"Careful. A hit like that could break your back," he said in his usual calm tone.
Kara let out a slight groan of pain as she got up.
"Ouch... That hurt. Can't you be a bit gentler with a lady?"
"When I meet one, I'll try. Don't worry," Aokiji replied, calmly gazing at the chaos.
Meanwhile, Sengoku watched from a high hill. The bounty hunters fought fiercely against Kaido's men. Garp was still clashing with the Beast, shaking the air with every punch.
"Looks like we'll have to move ahead with the plan," he finally said and raised his hand.
A signal.
The marines began to retreat with military precision. Kara, noticing the retreat, ran to the front, covering their withdrawal while holding off Whitebeard's pirates, facing multiple enemies at once.
"What are they planning...?" Marco wondered, eyeing the retreat suspiciously while blocking a laser from Kizaru and dodging a lightning bolt from Ace.
Then the impossible happened.
When the marines reached solid ground, the earth began to tremble. From its edges, massive walls rose, towering like metal colossi and sealing off the entire area.
"Akainu!" exclaimed Sengoku.
The admiral raised his hand to the sky. His arm began to melt, turning into pure magma.
"Ryusei Kazan..." he whispered darkly.
Blazing magma fists were fired into the sky like missiles, only to fall seconds later like an apocalyptic rain. The impact destroyed one of Whitebeard's main ships and set several others ablaze.
The sea boiled. The ground split. The pirates' roars turned into cries of despair.
And if that wasn't enough...
The Pacifistas appeared.
They walked relentlessly through the debris, firing laser beams in all directions, wounding every pirate in their path without discrimination.
The pride of Whitebeard's fleet… began to crumble.
And what was once a feared army… was now just chaos.