"MICHAEL!"
After Sengoku transformed into his Buddha form, his massive body produced a voice as resonant as a great bell.
The entire sea rippled under the roar of his fury.
Meanwhile, Garp narrowed his eyes and charged toward Shiki with even greater force.
Unlike the rage burning in Sengoku and Garp, Shiki's expression now mirrored Garp from moments earlier.
The fact that Sengoku and Garp—both individually on par with him in combat—could dismantle part of his Float-Float Fruit assault didn't surprise him in the slightest.
In fact, those mountains of rock and steel had been deliberately sent toward Garp and Sengoku.
To truly make the Marine pay a devastating price, he had spread out his attack!
Though he had come prepared to die, Shiki hadn't completely lost his sanity.
He had specifically chosen this moment when the Marine headquarters had only Garp and Sengoku left as their strongest fighters.
By dispersing and expanding the Float-Float Fruit range, its power naturally diminished.
If those Logia users had been present, not only would he have been finished, but he might not even have been able to leave the Marine with a lasting lesson.
But…
Who the hell was this winged freak unleashing terrifying white flames!?
Since when did the Navy have such a powerful rookie in their ranks?
"What's his deal!?"
"Is he a Flame-Flame Fruit user? But those flames aren't yellow!"
"And what's with the wings?"
"Could he be one of Vegapunk biological weapons…? To think they've advanced this far."
Before Shiki could finish muttering to himself, a figure shot out from the massive steam.
It was Michael, the one who had just nullified his final seawater assault.
Hovering midair, Michael locked eyes with the man known as "Golden Lion."
Arrogance, malice, fury.
Truly, this was one of the apex figures of the sea.
Even now, sandwiched between Garp and Sengoku, he showed not a hint of retreat.
If not for the double debuff of being in a movie special and half-mad on death door, pre-timeskip Luffy taking down Shiki ?
Yeah, right!
But respecting his strength was one thing, Calling him out was another!
"Hey! You crazy old bastard! What kind of lunatic chucks giant water bombs at people homes for fun?"
"Are you out of your damn mind—oh wait, you literally are. Who the hell stays sane with a ship rudder lodged in their skull?"
Michael spat, making his contempt for the old lion crystal clear.
"Michael! Are you alright!?"
Amid the battle, Sengoku caught sight of Michael unharmed and finally let out a sigh of relief.
At the same time, he began reassessing Michael abilities.
He had assumed this young man—whom he treated like a son—had hidden strength, but nothing too outrageous.
Yet here he was…
Already capable of intervening in the most elite battles of the sea.
Michael… was only eighteen, wasn't he?
A thought flashed through Sengoku mind.
A future Admiral… might just have Michael name on it.
"Old man, Garp-san! You two can definitely catch that Golden Lion, right?" Michael shouted before landing back on the ground.
"I won't cheer you on—I'm exhausted after all that... You better give me a raise!"
"You damn brat! You had plenty of energy when you were cursing earlier! And now you're slacking off?!"
Even in the heat of battle, Sengoku couldn't resist calling out Michael laziness.
Though he complained, deep down, he was immensely grateful for Michael presence.
Truth be told, both Sengoku and Garp had been ready to close their eyes, unable to bear witnessing the destruction of Marineford.
Had Michael not appeared in time, the Marine Headquarters would have suffered unprecedented devastation.
A massive tsunami crashing down from the sky... At the very least, half of Marineford would have been obliterated.
But now, that threat had been completely neutralized.
With that worry gone, the two of them could go all out to capture Shiki.
At their peak, Sengoku and Garp were more than capable of taking down Shiki alive.
Especially since... Shiki didn't seem the least bit interested in fleeing.
And so, the battle between the three top-tier fighters escalated into a fierce aerial clash.
Garp and Sengoku coordinated seamlessly, ensuring Shiki couldn't take a single step closer to Marineford.
With their concerns alleviated, if they—two against one—still let Shiki slip, they might as well commit seppuku out of shame!
"HEY! YOU BRAT OVER THERE! JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Shiki shouted during a brief lull in the fight.
"Who am I?" Michael folded his wings slightly, watching the battle with leisurely amusement.
"Just an insignificant little Marine lieutenant commander, that's all."
"Tch... Talented, yet knows how to stay low-key..." Shiki remarked, parrying Garp and Sengoku attacks.
"You Marines really lucked out with this rare seedling!"
Without waiting for a response, Shiki suddenly surged with power.
His swords, Oto and Kogarashi, slashed wildly through the air!
"Lion Thousand Slashes!"
Countless massive flying slashes engulfed both Sengoku and Garp.
Shiki understood, At this point, words were meaningless.
Only an all-out battle to the death could satisfy him.
***
The powers of the Float-Float Fruit were truly terrifying.
If Shiki at his peak had truly wanted to escape, even Garp and Sengoku together wouldn't have been enough to stop him.
Hell, even if another prime Zephyr showed up, they still wouldn't have been able to hold him.
But this Shiki had come for a suicide mission.
Escape?
That word didn't exist in his vocabulary.
The righteous two-versus-one battle raged on through the night.
The sun set.
Then rose again.
Under the morning glow, the sea shimmered with light and finally, Garp succeeded in clasping a pair of Seastone handcuffs around Shiki wrists.
Of course, this was only a temporary measure.
For a Devil Fruit user of Shiki caliber, a single pair of cuffs wouldn't suffice.
A full set of Seastone restraints would be necessary.
Michael gazed at the coastline bathed in dawn.
It was utterly ravaged.
It was impossible to imagine the scale of destruction if the battle had taken place any closer to Marineford.
But this was already the best possible outcome.
After all, Akainu and Aokiji had fought for ten whole days on Punk Hazard! In the end, even the terrain and climate were transformed!
One half became a sea of fire, the other half a glacier.
In the original work, half of the Marineford was destroyed, with countless casualties.
Yet, with Michael intervention, the Shiki The Golden Lion attack—which should have been devastating—ended with zero casualties...
A miracle.