"Ahahaha!" De Leon laughed as he leapt from the wall as the rubble descended to the ground! His large coat that he wore like a cape fluttered behind him as he descended! Suddenly! His sixth sense shot through his skull! Warning him of danger!
He was far far far faster than what ever was coming. And in the split second between the signal and the impact. He decided to allow it to hit him! His arms coming up and coating in glossy black as sparks flew when gold slashed against it! Sending him through a building!
But as the building came down. With De Leon standing up. The rubble landing against him didn't even budge his stature. His eyes locked onto the man who had done it.
Hornigold Rackham.
"Ah..aha…Huhuhu. Hornigold Hornigold Hornigold." De Leon raised a finger and gestured with it like a Parent reprimanding a child for being naughty. "Did you really think that was going to do something?"
He cocked a brow. His eyes perpetually hidden by his circular rose tinted glasses. His large hand came up to brush the dust from his cape. De Leon and Hornigold had been in a financial battle between their operations and companies for years. But much like how Tizona stood almost 3 feet taller than Hornigold. So to did their businesses.
"No. But it sure as hell made me happy!" He launched forward! His claws glowing as he slammed them against De Leon! Only for him to raise a hand and stop the attack in midair! A thin line travelling through the air as if it were superpositioned, unmoving.
This was the power of De Leons Devil Fruit. The Paramecia Class; Suji Suji no Mi. The Strand Strand Fruit. It allowed him to control, manipulate and produce Strands. From Muscle, to string, wires, cables. If it was a Strand. It could be done.
"Come on. Keep trying." De Leon taunted as he shuffled backwards. Egging Hornigold on to continue his swipes! Even as he was in his molten form, boosting his speed and strength. De Leon continued to casually leap backwards. Blocking the strikes!
But only in a few moments. They were away from the hole. And couldn't see what was happening. Even if they could feel it. And De Leon sensing it. "Things just got interesting…And here I am missing the show!"
He grinned. "This place is a stage! Allowing us all to show off!" He bent forward. Hands out to the side like a bow
"And you're giving quite the show! Aligning yourself with Red Sash? The Rise Star? But also…Diva. Whats going on there?" He questioned. Genuinely confused and questioning the implications of a Lucratist like Hornigold aligning with a Radical Collectivist like Diva…
"Shut your mouth and fight!" Hornigold grit his teeth at the words! Sending gold through the ground! "Doro Manus!"
Again. De Leon dodged Effortlessly. "Tsk tsk tsk…Huhuhu…"
"You're Haki's weak. No wonder Red Sash beat you. Even now he's not controlling or using his. But is leaking out of him raw unusable form…Let me guess. You did something that caused you to be too weak to use your feeble and rudimentary usage of Haki…" De Leon dodged another slash, which passed by him and sliced through a dozen buildings.
Hornigolds Silence told him everything. That was how Leroy had beaten him over a year prior. It was all the right conditions. Set up by Hornigold himself in his hubris…
"Why are you doing this?" Hornigold said. Zipping passed De Leon in a futile attempt at a dash. He slashed again
"Justice? Aint you a pirate! Why would you come here to fight! Whats it to you!" Another slash!
"I could ask you the same thing." De Leon kept his hands in his pockets. "But I'll ask you a question."
"What is: Justice? What are Laws? Laws are rules. And promises of threats to those that step out of line. The Line of Culture. The Line of Civility. The Line of Expectations! Laws are the looming idea of enforcement to a systems Ideals! They are tools!" He Dodged again
"Tools used by those in power to keep their power! Protect their money! Their Stock! Its a glorious thing! Because if you make the Laws. You define what you want to protect! Is money? Stocks? Ideology? Yourself…People? War…?"
He leaned forward. A Manic look on his face as he shouted!
"What is Justice then? If Justice is what comes down on you when you break the rules. Break the law…Then Justice is the Enforcer of Laws! It is the Predication of law! If Laws are the Stage! Then Justice are the Actors! And they all have different Scripts! But its all on the same stage…The same story…"
"Pirates are Evil…Marines are Righteous! But they are both in it for an Agenda! The people here in the trenches, the people people in Eden. Kids on the Street. Kids with silver spoons…They all have different Values…"
"Different Agendas!" He restated!
"But they are all after similar things! Connections! Power! Money! Influence! This entire place!" He reeled back! Looking to the sky!
"Its a proving ground! Neutral! Because who ever wins this war! Wins Justice! They proved themselves to be the righteous ones!"
"They become. The New Paradigm of Justice!" He finally leaned forward. Eyes covered by those glasses. Locking onto Hornigold.
"So tell…Hornigold Rackham. Where do you fall? Are you enlightened like me? Knowing all the strings, how to pull them. When and where. Or are your strings still holdin' you down?"
Hornigold…
Did not answer…
Instead. He stood straight. And disappeared into a plume of Dust…The Wall was Down. And they had a path forward to Azar. His task. Was done.
Minutes Prior. Just as De Leon and Hornigold were beginning to clash in what could not be considered a fight.
"Holy shit! The Wall! The Walls Come down!" Rowdy Row screamed! But he stopped his movement when he sensed the sheer number of Marines on the other side…It had to be at least 25% of the entire population of the Marines on the Island right now!
Polo suddenly appeared next to Rowdy. His head having stopped bleeding. "Seems like the plan didn't quite work…"
"Heh. Yeah. You got thrashed by the Old White Tiger Himself." That name was the Epithet of Jack, just as the rest of the Admirals had if they were up to snuff.
"I think…We May be able to cut away through i-" Polo was cut off! A booming and thunderous voice came over them all! It was-!
Redbeard!
"Andreas! I know you can hear me, my son! Help our family! One Last time!" The words reverberated and shook the very bones of the entire Crew…Each of them could feel it inside of them as the voice literally instilled energy into them
Inside the mech…Andreas hung like a puppet in the confines of his cockpit. Blood dripping…But the words caused his eyes to slowly open again…His heart beat was faint. He'd lost far too much blood by this point. And they were not in the position to help him. He accepted that.
"For…The…Crew!" He grit his teeth! And slowly the massive body of Andreas began to move! The mech whirring and whining from damage as he began to use all of strength he had to lift himself up, and use his devil fruit to create 16 Miniature Mech! Which all delivered one single blow! Shooting back groups of Marines as Andreas lifted himself up to canopy over the crowd! Allowing for the Pirates to have safe passage onto the final level of Marine HQ!
With a deep breath. Redbeard screamed! "Charge!!!!"
The cacophony of screams filled the air as the Pirates launched forward! Running towards Andreas! Hundreds of Pirates climbed over the mech, under him, and even through him! In his last act alive! He provide safe passage for them all!
45 Minutes…Remained.
And Finally. After the Entire War of watching and waiting. And only making Decisive Blows.
Redbeard, began to take a step….