With Isshin's sudden, brutal removal from the fight, the battlefield narrowed to a trinity of monsters.
The air grew thick and heavy, charged with the weight of three clashing wills. Katakuri, his expression unreadable behind his scarf, stood as the final arbiter, his devastating Mochi Giri attack having been a feint to eliminate the most precise threat.
"One less distraction," Katakuri stated, his Peerless Donuts spinning slowly around him like malevolent halos.
Ace gritted his teeth, flames licking at his shoulders. "You bastard!"
Gunnar, however, seemed to grow calmer. The wild, chaotic energy he had been exuding began to condense, to solidify. He looked past Katakuri, toward the cluster of mirrors where Smoothie was hidden. His Observation Haki, though not as refined as Katakuri's, reached out, feeling for her presence. He felt her pain, her struggle, her life force flickering with effort.
"How is she?" Gunnar's voice cut through the tension, a low, dangerous question directed at Katakuri.
Katakuri's eyes glowed. He saw a glimpse—a cry, a flash of new life. "The child is being born."
That was all Gunnar needed to hear. He threw his head back and roared, a sound that was not human.
His body began to change. This was not the uncontrolled, abortive transformation from before. This was a deliberate, focused ascension. His skin took on the appearance of cracked, obsidian rock veined with pulsing, crimson magma. Two massive, curved horns, like those of a demon king, erupted from his temples, glowing with an inner heat. His eyes were no longer just blue; they were burning stars of glacial fire in a sea of molten rock. He grew in size, not to his full 219 feet, but to a formidable fifteen, every muscle defined, every line radiating pure, unadulterated power. This was his hybrid form, the perfect fusion of his human will and his Titan's might.
"Let's end this," Gunnar's voice was now a dual-toned rumble, a chorus of grinding rock and roaring flame.
The battle that followed was not a duel; it was a cataclysm.
Gunnar and Ace attacked as one. Ace became a living comet. "Saint Elmo's Fire!" He launched himself forward, surrounded by a spearhead of searing blue and green flames, aiming to pierce Katakuri's defense.
Simultaneously, Gunnar stomped his foot. "Eruption!" The mochi sea, still bubbling and caramelized, exploded upward in a geyser of molten sugar and super-heated rock, aiming to engulf Katakuri from below.
Katakuri was a vision of deadly grace. "Flowing Mochi." He didn't dodge. He became one with his element, sinking into the molten floor and reappearing dozens of feet away, unharmed. But as he emerged, Gunnar was already there, having anticipated the move.
Gunnar's fist, now the size of a boulder and glowing white-hot, swung in a devastating arc. Katakuri, seeing the future, raised his own Haki-coated arm, now transformed into a massive, square block of Strength Mochi.
BOOM!
The impact was apocalyptic. A shockwave of pure force erupted, shattering every mirror in the vicinity. Katakuri was sent skidding back, a visible crack appearing on his mochi armor, the heat having found a way through his legendary Haki. Gunnar, too, was thrown back, his obsidian arm steaming, the kinetic energy of the blow rattling his very bones.
Before either could recover, Ace was upon them. "Sea of Fire!" He unleashed a massive, rolling wave of flame that washed over the entire area, attempting to swallow both fighters.
Gunnar roared, stomping his foot again, creating a wall of jagged ice to shield himself. Katakuri, however, did something unexpected. He spun, becoming a massive mochi donut, and rolled through the flames, the outer layer of his body burning away to reveal a pristine inner core. He shot out of the inferno, his leg extended.
"Burning Mochi!"
His kick, now super-heated from the flames, slammed into Ace's side. It was a blow Ace's Logia form couldn't completely negate. He cried out in pain as the Haki-infused, molten mochi connected, sending him spiraling into the ground.
"ACE!" Gunnar bellowed. Enraged, he charged. The ground froze and shattered with every step he took.
The fight devolved into a brutal, close-quarters brawl. Gunnar's raw, titan-fueled power against Katakuri's elegant, future-seeing mastery. Gunnar would swing a lava-coated fist, and Katakuri would morph his body around it, countering with a sharp, piercing mochi spear. Katakuri would attempt a grapple with sticky tendrils, and Gunnar would flash-freeze them, shattering them with a flex of his muscles.
They were both taking damage. A powerful, quake-infused uppercut from Gunnar connected with Katakuri's jaw, sending him flying. For the first time, a trickle of blood dripped from behind the commander's scarf. But Katakuri, recovering mid-air, shot out a dozen hardened mochi spears, several of which pierced Gunnar's rocky hide, drawing streams of steaming, lava-like blood.
Ace, breathing heavily, his body flickering with exhaustion, looked at Gunnar, who was bleeding steaming magma from a dozen wounds. Then he looked at Katakuri, who, despite the crack in his jaw and the scorched marks on his body, stood as stoic and immovable as ever.
"Gunnar," Ace panted, a desperate, wild grin spreading across his face. "We can't keep this up. We drag this out any longer, and Mama herself will come crashing through one of these mirrors. I've got one more in me. A big one. But I need you to hold him down. Just for a second."
Gunnar didn't need to be told twice. He met Ace's fiery gaze and nodded.This was it. The final gambit.
"You think you can end this with one last, desperate attack?" Katakuri's voice was calm, but for the first time, there was a faint strain in it. He was seeing the future, a blinding, all-consuming inferno.
"We're not trying to end it," Gunnar growled, his hybrid form pulsing with power. "We're just trying to punch a hole through it."
Gunnar exploded forward. He wasn't aiming for a decisive blow; he was a living cage of ice and fire. He slammed his fists on the ground, and jagged walls of ice erupted, hemming Katakuri in. He spewed a torrent of lava, not as an attack, but as a molten river that restricted movement.
"ACE, NOW!"
While Katakuri was forced to navigate the treacherous, ever-changing battlefield Gunnar had created, Ace soared into the sky. He became the sun. His flames, which had been orange and yellow, began to burn with a blinding, white-hot intensity. The heat was so immense it began to melt the very fabric of the Mirro-World, the checkered floor sizzling and warping beneath him.
"This is everything," Ace whispered to himself, a tribute to his captain, his brothers, his family. "My will, my fire… all of it!" He brought his hands together, forming a sphere of solar energy so dense it seemed to bend the light around it.
"GREAT FLAME COMMANDMENT…"
Gunnar, seeing his cue, let out a final, guttural roar. He lunged through his own molten rivers, grappling with Katakuri. For a glorious, brutal second, he held the mochi master in a titan's embrace, his arms of ice and lava freezing and burning simultaneously. Katakuri struggled, his Haki flaring, but he was held fast.
"…FLAME EMPEROR!"
Ace descended, bringing the sun down with him. The world went white. The explosion was a silent, all-consuming cataclysm. It was not a sound one heard, but a pressure one felt in the soul.
When the light receded, the scene was one of utter devastation. A massive, molten crater smoked in the center of the Mirro-World. Ace lay at its edge, unconscious, his body steaming, his fire finally extinguished. He had poured every last drop of his life force into that attack.
In the center of the crater, Gunnar was on one knee, his hybrid form flickering, his body a ruin of burns and deep wounds. A few feet away, Katakuri was down. For the first time, the invincible commander was on the ground, his back smoking, his mochi form destabilized and semi-liquid.
But then, with a groan that seemed to shake the dimension, Katakuri began to rise. He pushed himself up, his body slowly reforming, his breathing ragged. He was wounded, severely, but he was not defeated.
Gunnar watched him, a curse forming on his lips. They had thrown everything at him, and he was still standing. The fight was not over.
And then, a new sound cut through the ringing in their ears.
It was small, fragile, yet it silenced the entire world.
A baby's cry.
Clear, strong, and filled with the indignation of new life, it echoed from the cluster of mirrors where Smoothie had been taken.
Both Gunnar and Katakuri froze. The killing intent that had saturated the air vanished, replaced by a stunned, profound silence. The war, the battle, the hatred—it all seemed to shrink, becoming insignificant in the face of that tiny, powerful sound.
From behind the mirrors, Pudding emerged, her face a mess of joyful tears. Behind her, supported by the two nurses, came Smoothie. She looked exhausted, her face pale and etched with the lines of her ordeal, but her eyes shone with a light more powerful than Ace's sun. Cradled in her arms was a small, swaddled bundle.
Gunnar's legs, which had refused to buckle under the force of Katakuri's blows, suddenly felt weak. He pushed himself to his feet and limped toward her, his every step an agony he no longer felt.
He looked down. The baby was so small, so perfect. A tiny tuft of hair, as pure and white as her mother's, crowned her head. She opened her eyes, and Gunnar's heart stopped. They weren't amethyst like Smoothie's. They were a brilliant, molten gold.
"It's a girl," Smoothie whispered, her voice overflowing with a love so profound it was a tangible force.
Gunnar reached out a massive, trembling, blood-stained finger and gently brushed his daughter's cheek. She was real. She was here. He looked at Smoothie, his own eyes welling up.
"Iris," he said, his voice raspy and thick with emotion. "Her name is Iris."
Smoothie smiled, tears tracing paths down her cheeks. "Iris. It's perfect."
It was a stolen moment of impossible peace in the heart of a warzone. Gunnar looked over at Katakuri, who was now standing fully, watching the scene with an unreadable expression. A tired, genuine grin split Gunnar's face.
"Well, Uncle Katakuri," he said. "Meet your new niece. Now, are we going to do this all day, or are you going to let me take my family home?"
Katakuri's eyes, which had softened for a fraction of a second, hardened once more. The duty, the mission, his loyalty to his mother—it all came crashing back.
"Let's end this," he said, his voice a low rumble.
Gunnar gently took Iris from Smoothie's arms and placed her back, kissing his daughter's forehead. "I'll be right back," he promised. He then kissed Smoothie, a deep, desperate kiss filled with love.
[A/N: Guys MarineFord arc is nearing. Hold no tight.]