The Archive shuddered.
From the gaping wound in the ceiling, serpent mechas poured in—sleek, obsidian machines powered by cores of voidlight. Their eyes glowed with artificial intelligence tuned to one command:
Eradicate the carriers of the Flame.
Inside the Archive
The Straw Hats formed a circle, weapons ready. The panels of truth hovered around them like stars waiting to die.
Arkan stood in the center, his hand blazing with the newly embedded Flame of D.
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "You take the big ones. We'll handle the rest."
Arkan nodded once. "No holding back."
Robin chanted something in the Old Tongue. The Archive responded, releasing bursts of defensive glyphs from the ground.
Zoro and Sanji shot into motion—flashes of steel and flame.
Franky activated full mecha mode: "Franky Iron Megazord V3!"
Usopp fired memory-enhanced slingshots that struck the mechas and showed them visions of their own destruction—disorienting them.
Chopper injected himself with a new formula: Guard Point Titan Mode.
Brook's music turned furious, and every note made the enemy slow, falter, forget.
Nami summoned a tornado of crystallized lightning, slamming three units into a pillar of memory.
Luffy roared into Gear Fifth.
And Arkan... changed.
Arkan's Transformation
The flame expanded. His cloak burned away, replaced by armor made of luminous white and gold strands that moved with his will. His hair glowed silver. His eyes… became twin suns.
A mark of the First Civilization burned on his chest.
"Let memory judge you."
He raised his hand. Glyphs ignited around him. When he swung—light itself obeyed.
He split a mecha in half without touching it.
Robin stared. "He's not using haki. That's… code manipulation."
Oras's voice echoed faintly in their minds: "The Flame is not fire. It is truth given shape. Use it wisely."
The Battle Shifts
Despite their power, the enemy began adapting. The serpent mechas fused. One formed a titan nearly forty feet tall, humming with a corrupted copy of the D Flame.
Veyron's voice boomed from its core: "Let's see if the new King of D can survive without a crown."
The titan struck. Arkan caught the blow with both hands. Stone shattered. Archives crumbled.
Arkan looked to the crew. "Protect the flame. I'll buy you time."
Elsewhere — Deep in the Roots
Robin discovered a hidden panel. It responded only to her touch.
A voice whispered: "You are of the last scribes. The true name… is Nicole."
Tears welled in her eyes. "My mother's name."
The panel opened.
Inside—a weapon. Not to destroy.
But to remember perfectly.
Back in the Archive
Arkan pushed the titan back. He placed a palm against its chest.
"I see your code."
He reversed it.
The titan screamed and collapsed inward, becoming a ball of compressed light.
Arkan fell to one knee, breathing hard.
More were coming.
Robin arrived beside him.
"I found the Seed."
Arkan looked up.
"It's time," she said. "To restore the truth. Not just fight for it."
He nodded.
"Then let's burn lies with light."