"What is that?!" Many people stared up at the sky, their mouths unconsciously falling open.
"Aaaaah!" Screams and cries of panic filled the air. Countless prisoners plummeted towards the ground, the image of being smashed into meat paste flashing before their eyes. The most frantic screams of all came from Buggy the Clown and his crew.
The dark shadow in the sky drew the attention of everyone on the battlefield, even the three Admirals and Sengoku on Marineford's high platform, and Whitebeard himself within the bay.
"Die, die, die!" Bacon squeezed his eyes shut, muttering desperately. His arms and body were clamped tightly around… something.
"You bastard! How much longer are you going to hold on?! Let go of me!" Sherilmo's face was as black as charcoal. He roared in fury! Having a man clinging to his thick arm like this was unbearable!
"Waaaaah… I won't let go! I won't! I'm going to die anyway!" Bacon wailed, snot and tears smeared all over Sherilmo's arm. He only hugged tighter.
"I swear…!" Sherilmo stared at the snot on his arm, his vision going black. His mouth trembled, a feeling of utter despair washing over him. The veins on his forehead throbbed; he almost had a stroke right there.
Just then, Bacon and Sherilmo felt something wrap around their bodies. They opened their eyes to see sticky swamp tendrils had extended towards them, binding them like ropes.
"Boss." Sherilmo looked along the swampy rope. This was the first time he'd ever willingly called Wilder "Boss."
Wilder nodded, his expression blank but his brow furrowed. Seven or eight arm-thick swamp ropes extended from his body, pulling back towards him. Vice and the others were also being dragged in.
Once his crew was gathered around him, a massive amount of swamp began to secrete from Wilder's body. It covered them, but didn't stop. More and more swamp enveloped them.
"Not enough," Wilder muttered, glancing at the ground. The swamp surged out of his body frantically, layer upon layer, merging seamlessly, leaving no gaps. A spherical shape gradually took form.
Wilder himself had completely transformed into swamp and merged into it, and the swampy sphere continued to grow and expand.
The Straw Hat crew was about twenty meters away from Wilder, and at a lower altitude. If nothing changed, they would hit the ground first.
The screams had never stopped. Luffy was excited. Crocodile's face was dark with, undoubtedly because he got roped into something by Luffy, again.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Two tremendous crashes echoed, one after the other. Water splashed, ice shards flew, and the two groups of dark dots in the sky slammed down!
"Cough, cough! Ow! Hot, hot, hot!" Prisoners in their striped uniforms landed in the scalding seawater, instantly turning red and screaming as they scrambled towards the shore.
Jinbe hauled Luffy up like a drowned dog, holding him under his arm.
Crocodile, before he even hit the water, turned to sand, his body scattering into swirling grains that landed on the ice.
Ivankov, at the moment of impact, used a Death Wink to create a burst of counter-force, landing face-first but otherwise unharmed.
Buggy crashed onto the ice, his body shattering into countless pieces.
This bizarre group, with their bizarre entrance, instantly seized everyone's attention. Most faces were frozen in utter astonishment.
"St-Straw Hat… Monkey D. Luffy!"
"The former Warlord, Sand Crocodile, Crocodile!"
"Jinbe the Sea Knight!"
"And that one… could it be… the Revolutionary Army officer… Emporio Ivankov, the Okama King?!?!"
"And that...they are all escaped prisoners!"
A Marine officer instantly recognized many of the figures in this strange group, his eyes wide as he shouted out their names in disbelief.
Marineford fell silent for a moment. Then… Sengoku clenched his fists tightly, his face contorted in a grimace. His eyes flickered rapidly!
Impel Down… what happened?!
Below, Akainu's eyes shifted slightly, as if noticing Sengoku's reaction above. He looked back at Straw Hat Luffy, a faint, almost imperceptible curve forming at the corner of his lips.
"Oh~! Luffy…!" Above, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock nearly fainted the instant she saw Luffy. Her eyes glazed over, her cheeks flushed.
"Hey! Hancock!" Luffy spotted her too, waving with a bright smile. At the same time, he saw Ace, and his fists clenched.
"Ah! Luffy… Luffy finally said my name!" Boa Hancock clasped her hands together in a heart shape, swaying back and forth.
"Ace! I'm here to save you!" Luffy shouted towards the execution platform, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.
"Luffy! You idiot…" On the platform, Portgas D. Ace's eyes had already flashed with regret countless times, but now he felt a surge of genuine happiness and… gratitude.
"Gururarara~ So that's the kid Ace is always talking about? Straw Hat?" On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard grinned with interest.
"Looks like it, Pops," Marco, the First Division Commander, replied with a smile.
"Gururarara! Well, don't let that kid die," Whitebeard laughed, his gaze shifting to Sengoku on the execution platform, his eyes thoughtful.
The battle, which had paused briefly due to the Straw Hats' arrival, resumed. But in one area of the ice, a massive, spherical object drew attention.
"That thing… did it just fall from the sky too? What is it?!"
The house-sized sphere had crashed into the ice, with about a fifth of it submerged. Swamp-like mud had splattered around it, and now, those muddy patches were slowly ing, flowing back towards the sphere.
Crocodile glanced at the giant ball, raised an eyebrow, and, expressionless, turned and walked away.
"Is that some kind of ability?" One of the giant Vice-Admirals, who seemed to take a particular interest in large objects, spoke in a booming voice, looking towards the distant sphere. He stood on equal footing with the Warlords.
"Shall we find out?" A cool female voice replied from beside him. It was another giant Vice-Admiral, holding an enormous sword. She took a step forward.
Two steps, three steps… four steps…
Six steps!
She stopped, a cold smile curving her lips. She raised her massive longsword high. A black sheen flashed across the blade, like a layer of invisible armor wrapping around it. Then, she brought the sword down on the unmoving sphere!
Even before the giant sword landed, it generated a powerful gust of wind, as if carrying the force of ten thousand pounds. The sword crashed heavily onto the spherical object!
_______
+40 chapters on: patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls