It would take quite a while for the group to arrive at the dock of Angel City. It was nobody’s fault for the time it took for them to arrive here. He wasn’t going to allow Gideon to strain himself, but he was happy that his friend was able to allow him to rest as much as he could. He wasn’t fully recovered, but it was good enough for him to continue going on with another fight. The people on the docks would see Gideon making his way to the island as they were surprised. Yuurei was laying down still as Lida was excited that she was back home. Kasui didn’t see this island since the first time they had arrived here. He had been captured in the Grand Line and saw the island the first time they had arrived in Skypiea, but after that, he was being held in the UpperYard the whole entire time.

He wasn’t as excited as anybody who would see this place for the first time, but he was relieved that he was no longer a captive. When they got to the docks though, Yuurei slowly gets up from his friend’s chest and jumped off him and onto land. He could feel the pain all over his body, but he knew that their fight was over. He looked at the people here and they looked like they were oblivious to what was going to happen in a few seconds. Kasui followed behind Yuurei as he was surprised to see how strong this man was. He was able to withstand a bunch of damage and still continue to move about. He wanted to pat the man on his shoulder but knew he might just pat an injury. He looked at that rest of the people who were getting off the giants chest and onto land.

Yuurei looked at Gideon and the rest of the group. ”I guess we made it before their captain could make it to the City. How are you doing Gideon? Can you go for one last fight?” He asked everyone this except for Lida. While he was waiting for his question to be answered, he heard a loud explosion occurred not too far from where they were. Yuurei’s eyes widen when he heard this as he shifted his body to look in the direction where it had come from. His eyes widen when he saw the smoke in the air and wondered what the hell was going on. ”Did he just make it to the city?” He asked mainly to himself. He was upset now, but he hoped the Skypieans from earlier were able to get here on time, and rescued some of the people in the city.

The thief continued to look at the smoke that that was rising through to the sky. He looked at everybody with an angry look on his face. He was not happy with this and he didn’t know what was going to happen. ”Guys it's happening. That man is trying to destroy the city. We are going to need to work together if we are going to take on this man. I need you guys to listen to me if we are going to do what is need to be done.” He said this to everyone. Kasui nodded as he was waiting for Yuurei to speak. ”As for you Lida you stay at the docks. It looks like this is the safest place for you to be, so please stay.” He said to her, and she nodded as she was agreeing to stay here.

”Kasui I need you to find a place where you can shoot that man from afar. Make sure it’s a vantage point where the man can’t get to you. I will do what I can to distract the guy with Gideon, but your main goal Gideon is to get a hold of the bomb he’s trying to use to level the city. As for you Vizmir I don’t know what you are capable of doing, but please try to assist me and Gideon out, if you can.” Yuurei explained this to everybody. When they understood what they were going to do, Yuurei had turned around and started running towards the source of where the explosion occurred. The swordsman ran through the streets avoiding the people that he was passing by. ”Everyone gets away from the city! There is a man trying to blow it all up!” He shouted, and the way he was moving made people believe it.

They started running away in chaos because they were nervous and didn’t want to be killed. Kasui was following the big guy, and it was because the people wouldn’t get anywhere near Gideon. Yuurei continued to run through the streets but didn’t know where the captain was located. He stopped running as he was looking around and heard another explosion occurred not too far from them. ”There.” He said this as he shifted his direction towards the explosion. How long would it take for them to reach this man?

They've made it to the dock, the sun, still orange, rising and providing morning light to the waking city. Once the smaller folk had their feet on the docks, Gideon stepped out of the water and onto the docks where water ran down his body. His left arm and hand were bandaged up as well as his shin and ankle. Jormungandr, his massive blade reaching thirty feet, laid leaning on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I can go for one more fight" Gideon took a moment to catch his breath, looking off into the streets of the city. Truth be told, the giant wasn't sure if he could go for another fight, the way his body ached, his left arm was too wounded to be used, and he was fatigued from the battles, regardless of the nap he had taken in the woods, but the idea that he only needed to fight one last pirate seemed easy... although he would soon realize he was wrong.

An explosion went off that set Gideon's nerves on edge; Yuurei's serious tone and look was all Gideon needed to see that there was no other choice but to run and try to defeat the enemy. Yuurei gave orders to which everyone seemed to agree upon "Aye" Gideon's tone was rough and quick as he ran towards the explosion.

"Honestly, Captain, I think it's best that I stay here with Lida-chan" Vizmir's tone showed he was all serious, his faced also proved it. How looked too stern to be scared, and seemed confident that he could actually hold his own and even protect Lida. The reason for him staying behind is because the waitress had already been through a lot and given that the Skull Pirates were still roaming, they could arrive on scene and make things more difficult for the heroes.

* * *

Meanwhile, after reaching the plaza, anther explosion happened, "How many explosions does he-?" Gideon was cut off verbally, he halted in his tracks as a chain of explosions brought down two buildings to block off the giant's path, "Damn it!" he said before he dropped Jormungandr so he could scoop up both Yuurei and Kasui into his right hand before tossing them over the large rubble that block the path, "Don't wait up for me, I'll get catch up!" Gideon assured them, though he knew this was going to be difficult.

When he was moving to the new direction, he noticed that there was rubble in front of them. They would have to climb the rubble or find a different path. He didn’t like that, but he noticed that he had been grabbed. He looked and noticed that it was Gideon who was doing this. Kasui got scared because he didn’t like the fact that he was being grabbed by the giant yet again. This time he was tossed over rubble, which made him nervous, and he was sure that he was going to die. Yuurei smiled as he could feel his body being flung into the air. He grabbed onto Kasui’s hand and took out Benihime for his other hand. When they were dropping down to the other side, he smiled because his friend had done it right. He near a building, and stuck his favorite sword into the building.

Yuurei was sliding down the building now as it was killing the momentum of his fall. He heard Gideon’s words and nodded as he had to continue and stop this guy from destroying more of the city. Soon enough the two would be close to the ground. He looked at Kasui as the man looked like he had passed away from the throw and the drop. ”We are okay don’t worry, Gideon knew what he was doing.” He said this to Kasui as he looked a bit nervous. They both dropped to the ground and continued to stride through the area and towards the source of the explosion. He kept moving as he was keeping an eye out for people. There was nobody around here, which meant those Skypieans had done their job. ”I will find a place.” Kasui simply said as Yuurei knew what he meant by those words.

He nodded, which allowed Kasui to run off into a different direction. Yuurei was left on his own again, and soon enough he would find a man standing in the middle of the city with something big in his hand. It wasn’t just that. On his other hand, he had a gun with an extended clip. No, this wasn’t a gun now that he looked at it and noticed that it was a damn grenade launcher. ”Stop this madness. What are you doing?  A lot of innocent people will be killed.” He tried to reason with him, but knew it wouldn’t work. The captain of the Skull Pirates looked at Yuurei with a smile on his face. ”It’s you, the man who entered the cave before Kokkauku and Gaikotsu attacked you. I see they did a number on you, yet you still have the nerves to follow me.” He said.

Yuurei noticed that this man also wore a skull mask on his face. The left side of the skull mask revealed a man with purple eyes and blonde hair. He had a captain’s hat, which made him look like an original pirate captain. He wore a trench coat, that looked like it could hide a bunch of things in there, a scarf around his neck and the inner clothing of a pirate. The captain would aim his gun at Yuurei and shot out a grenade at the thief. Yuurei noticed that he was being aimed at and started running towards his right. When the man shot at him, Yuurei could only lung himself forward as he hit the ground, and rolled on the floor. He got up real quick and noticed what that weapon had done. Yuurei looked at him with an angry look on his face. ”What is wrong with you, and why are you doing this?” He asked him.

Kasui was moving through the place as he was trying to find a building he could go to, he had the gun he took from Gaikotsu but knew that weapon wouldn’t work for the range he was going for. He was glad to have this rifle and made his way towards a small building that was to the East of where Yuurei was. The marksman could see the two as he wondered what they were talking about. He had gotten ready as he was going to shoot him when he could. ”My name Kazu. I plan to get rid of anybody who has slaves. It’s not right, and I will do anything to make sure that they are taken out. If I killed the innocent so be it, it beats allowing things to go on for a lifetime and more people become a slave.” He said this to Yuurei. He was right though, if he didn’t do this then more people would become slaves as the time gone by, it would outweigh the people who would die if you were looking towards the future.

”I understand what you are saying Kazu, but that is not the way. Stop this madness and let’s work together to get rid of slavery in Sky Island.” He proposed this to Kazu, but he didn’t listen. Instead, he pointed his gun at Yuurei, which brought the thief to start running again. He would shoot a barrage of grenades at Yuurei as they were barely missing, and the pirate would continue to fly away from the explosion and get up on his feet real quick to run away again. Kazu was finding it difficult for him to get a good shot on him as there was a lot of debris in the air because of the explosion. They had to do something soon.

Picture of Kazu:

1/20 Haki Observation

Gideon had attempted to climb over the fallen rubble, however it had proved to be too difficult due to the injury of his left arm, "I guess I have no choice but to go around" He said as he got down, nearly stumbling. He grabbed Jormungandr and made his way around the destroyed buildings, trying to find an alternate path.

The giant was squeezing his way through an alleyway when he began hearing explosions going off, coming from the direction they were heading to initially. "Crap! This guy is an explosive expert or something? Every other enemy uses swords" he didn't look forward to facing off against an enemy who excels in explosions. When it comes to foes, swords had been worse to handle then fists, but they were still somewhat easy to handle depending on the wielder, then there are guns which are fast and can deal lethal damage, but the users can be taken down when they need to reload or if they lost line-of-sight, but explosions were different, they cover distances and taking cover didn't work so well some times.

Gideon managed to reach the area where the battle was going on; he had to quickly duck his head just in time to dodge an incoming pellet and the moment it touched the side of a building, it exploded, "Crap!" and the worse part about it was that this mask-wearing pirate was coating the area in these pellets, making it difficult for the Phantom pirates to get in close, especially for Gideon.

Possibly because of his size, Captain Kazu focused his fire upon the giant, knowing he was an easier target. The giant quickly hid behind a house, trying to block the crazed man's line of sight. He reached into his bag and was about to pull out his flask when he remembered that his saki was flammable and an explosion would set off a larger wildfire that would do more damage to the city. He was pinned and he needed someway for Kazu's attention to be drawn.

Yuurei continued to run through the area of rubbles that Kazu had created with his explosions. It was a mess indeed, and he just couldn’t believe this was happening. He did notice that Gideon had arrived at the scene, but he was only met with the explosion from the same man as well. That actually gave Yuurei time to run towards him. He stopped his stride from the direction he was moving to and shifted to running towards Kazu. The man noticed from the corner of his eyes that someone was coming straight at him. He noticed the man who was running away had gone on the offense the moment he had stopped shooting at him. Kazu kissed his teeth as he was trying to aim his gun at Yuurei, but a gun was shot at him from a distance. He heard it, and when he noticed the direction it was coming, he knew he had to avoid it.

Kazu jumped back to avoid the bullet, and while he was jumping back Yuurei was already swinging his blade at the man and connected on the grenade launcher that was in his hand. Yuurei was able to cut through launcher with Benihime, which he had coated the weapon in Armament. Kazu noticed what had happened and let go of his weapon, which exploded in front of Yuurei. The swordsman was pushed back and rolled back a few time because of his run momentum and the explosion that occurred. He also noticed that there was a lot of piece of the weapon stuck on his skin. He was saved, but he could feel them hurting him with every move he made. Harley is going to hate us when she sees the wounds on our body. He thought to himself as he was looking Kazu who was safe from the explosion.

His cape helped him with that, and he could only smirk looking at Yuurei. ”My weapon you destroyed my weapon. I guess it is time to start the timer on this thing.” He pressed the button that was on the contraption to his right, and within seconds Yuurei and Gideon would be able to hear a beeping noise. It happened every second, which made Yuurei looked at the bomb, and then towards Kazu. ”If I die the bomb off early, so let’s play why don’t we.” He was a bit upset because with the loss of his grenade launcher he wouldn’t be able to catch the man who shot at him. Still, he took note that there were three of them and not just the two around him. Yuurei was getting ready to take him out. He heard kill him but knew that he didn’t have to kill him to take him out.

The thief took a step forward and twitched when he felt the pain on his left leg. It hurt, and he noticed the piece of the gun that was stuck on his leg. The wounds were enough to bother him, but they weren’t life-threatening. It wasn’t just that everything he had been going through the past twenty-four hours was affecting him. Yuurei needed this to be done before he passed out; Kazu noticed that man with the sword was struggling to move, and he moved his free hand into his cape and took out a grenade and launched at Yuurei himself. The swordsman saw this coming, and switched his weight onto his good leg, and pushed off the ground away from him, covered his torso, his good leg, and his face with Armament.

He was safe from the explosion but was surprised that this man had more bombs with him. The sound of the ticking bomb made Yuurei nervous because Kazu was planning on taking his own life for his cause. ”You are going too far. Are you going to give up your own life just to prove a point? That is mad; what if the people you are truly aiming for aren’t even around?” He was trying to reason with a madman, but at least he was trying. ”If they aren’t here, then they don’t have slaves to work for them. Then they will have to start all over, and someone will stop them by then. I will give up my life to set these people free. You have about two minutes left, do you run, or do you fight?” Kazu said with a huge smile on his face. He said this, but it looked like he had a plan to escape in the last second.

Yuurei’s face was frustrated at this moment because he was going to have to be the distraction Gideon would need to get the bomb from this lunatic. Kasui was finding it hard to get a good shot off. Yuurei was in his way a lot, but he could see that this was a good shot right now. He took a shot at Kazu and then another one. The Captain of the Skull Pirates noticed something coming his way and avoided the first bullet, but then noticed the second bullet coming, and was surprised about that. It had hit him on his leg, and he grunted because he wished there was a way he could have dealt with that shooter. Still, he slid back as he noticed it went through, which was good and looked around for the next attack.

3/20 Haki

For the moment, Gideon was pinned. He tried counting the gaps between each explosion, wondering if he could find a window of opportunity to escape through, but given his size, he concluded until the skull pirate captain stopped, then he would have no safe escape. The house Gideon was was hiding behind began to creak, it's support beams were damaged, a few of them blown off, soon it would collapse and the giant would be exposed.

Then there was a pause from the explosion, there was a sound of steel against steel and gunshots coming from one of the distance rooftops, from Gideon's point of view, he should be able to catch a glimpse of any gunman, but given the lighting, he couldn't really find whoever it was, in his heart, he hoped it was the man named Kasui.

This was the window he needed, no explosions had assaulted his direction. Gideon stepped out the observe the situation between Yuurei and a man with a skull mask, obviously it had to be the captain or another goon of his.

A beeping began to emit from some kind of device beneath the captain's arm. For a moment, Gideon caught a glimpse of it, some kind of black bowling bowl. Is it a bigger bomb? the giant wondered, and if it was, then the size of it could level the entire district or worse.

As the two of them fought close combat, they exchanged words to which Gideon didn't pay much attention to, all he understood was that Yuurei was demanding answers to why the captain was doing this and the only answers he got were complete nonsense coming from an insane extremist which made little to no sense to Gideon.

Gideon was going to step into the fight and assist Yuurei but noticed the enemy was pulling out more grenades to fight off Yuurei, if the giant go any closer, then there would be a greater chance he would lose a leg by accident. The giant looked around and found a broken support beam; he then picked it up and was just about to throw it at the enemy but then remembered he had a bomb right beneath his arm, if he would have hit it, then the district would still be destroyed along with Yuurei and himself.

"Damn it!" he cursed, unable to figure out a plan good enough to turn the tables to this fight.

Yuurei noticed that there was anybody could do right now. They had to take things carefully because the wrong move would have caused the destruction of this city. The thief had to think about something, but his leg was hurt, and he felt like after this fight he was going to truly need an intermission with Harley. She was going to have to go through a lot to fix him up, but that was later and this was now. Kazu had looked around as he was trying to figure out how he would be able to stop that gunner from shooting at him. It didn’t take long for him to find a solution, and he threw a bomb in the direction where Kasui was located, but of course, it wouldn’t have hit him, or the vantage point. Instead, he was aiming for a building that was close by.

The grenades had hit their mark and the building tilted from the explosions and fell to the side. Kasui noticed this and sucked his teeth as he wasn’t expecting this man to do something like that. He had pulled his gun back and started running down the building. The gunner had rushed down the stairs and started moving towards a different area. He was going to have to find another place where it would be good enough for him to be able to get a better clearing. Kazu had gotten rid of one of the pirates, he had to pay attention to the two pirates who were close to him. Yuurei looked at him and shook his head as he figured there was something that needed to be done. He rushed over towards Kazu, but the pain on his leg resonated throughout his body. He squinted but continued to run through it all.

Kazu noticed that his movement had slowed down a bit, and started throwing bombs at Yuurei. The thief had sighed because he was going to have stopped running and defend himself. He stopped, and he was focusing on deflecting the bombs that were coming his way. He took out Kusanagi out and started swinging his swords around the area. The bombs that were heading towards Yuurei were being deflected away from Yuurei before they could detonate. It wasn’t just that, but there were a few of them that had been sent flying straight back to Kazu. The captain’s eyes widen when he saw this and covered himself as the explosion occurred. After a few had bounced back to him he could be seen being tossed back. Yuurei smiled when he saw this because his defensive attacked had finally come through. He decided to move towards him now as Kazu was trying to regain his composure.

Yuurei started running towards the captain even though the speed wasn’t as it was at the beginning of this fight it was better than nothing. He was planning on helping Gideon out with this and hopefully, the giant would be able to take the bomb away from Kazu. The thief needed that, for it was the only way he could take this man out. He was too extreme to be kept alive, and that much he knew about. He started running towards Kazu as the man landed on the ground. When the captain would land he would feel the pain that was on his leg as well. Kasui had shot him before and that would help them a lot in the long run. When Kazu noticed Yuurei was running towards him, his eyes widen because this was the second time this man had gotten close to him.

He wasn’t the type of person who fought in close combat, and it made him nervous. Yuurei was getting ready to hit Kazu, but with his sword flipped backward because he couldn’t kill him just yet. Kazu would move the big bomb in front of him, and Yuurei stopped his attack from going through. This man was smart to use that as a defense, but Yuurei thought about doing something else. He flipped his blade back and sliced Kazu’s right hand off. ”Gahhh!” He shouted in pain as he dropped the big bomb. Yuurei dropped Kusanagi and caught the bomb. He sighed when he grabbed it, and then tossed it towards Gideon. ”Catch that and do something with it, but when you do let me know when it is safe to kill this man.” He said this to Gideon. This whole time they didn’t really kill anybody from the crew, but this guy had to go.

Kasui, on the other hand, had found another building through all the running he was going through. It had tired him out, but he knew once he got to a building he would be able to rest. When he got to the rooftop he noticed the scene that unfolded now. ”You think you can stop me!” He shouted as if he had something up his sleeve.

5/20 haki.

Technique Used:

The battle continued on between the Skull Pirates captain, the two Phantom Pirates, and the unknown gunman, but even though it was three against one, it was difficult to get anywhere close for Gideon due to his size, making him more prone to being hit by explosions and for Kasui because grenades were destroying the building he was currently in, sadly the giant wasn't aware of Kasui's location, so he wasn't able to be any assistance to him.

Only Yuurei was able to be in close quarters with the villain, but even so, it was proving difficult because of Yuurei's fatigue and now with a limp. But this disadvantage didn't hinder him long, soon enough, Yuurei was able to disarm the villain, figuratively and literally. Yuurei quickly caught the bowling ball size bomb and tossed it over to Gideon to which the giant quickly moved in to catch it with his good hand, dropping Jormungandr in the process.

"Right!" Gideon carefully held the black sphere in his hand, it's beeping seemed fast, as if it was going to explode at any moment, but slow compared to how fast his heart was beating. He then began to run towards the docks.

* * *

"Throughout the time I've known those two, even though it's only been a small amount of time, I wonder..." Lida's soft voice broke the silence of the docks, though the sound of explosions could be heard in the distance, "Who exactly ... are they?" she stared into the city, watching the debris move about, the smoke from burning buildings rise to the air.

Vizmir took a pull from his cigarette, looking towards the issuing battle with no worry or concern, "Pirates, no doubt about it" his tone was matter of fact rather than a guess. Lida looked to him in shock, "Though given that they are fighting so hard to protect others, they both seem very dangerous, it just begs the question of 'how long before they become like that pirate captain they are chasing?'" Vizmir continued to look towards the plumes of smoke rise like the smoke from his cigarette, both escaping ashes that burn, regardless of size.

"I see hope and the need to do the right thing in those two" Lida said with the utmost determination.

"And maybe that's the problem" Vizmir said in a whisper too soft for Lida to hear. Lida sees hope while Vizmir has seen hope die many a time. And when it comes to the Skull Pirate captain and the Phantom pirates, they may be fighting one another, but both of them are seeing  the other side as evil while seeing themselves as the real hero of the story.

No matter the viewpoint, at some point in time, all heroes fall as the angel did.

Kazu was in shock with everything that had happened. He had just lost his arm out of this whole ordeal, and not just that he lost the bomb that he was going to use to destroy the city. He looked at Yuurei as the man had picked up his weapon really quickly and looked at Kazu. The swordsman cracked his neck as he was really exhausted. ”I don’t have time for this Kazu. I think you understand what was going to happen right?” He asked him as the man was holding his missing hand. He was in pain and mumbling something. Yuurei couldn’t hear him, but he could also see that this man didn’t lose his spirit. He figured he had something up his sleeve that Yuurei didn’t know about. He knew he had to be careful with this man. He didn’t care if he lost an arm he could still be armed and dangerous,

”Give up? I will never do such a thing. Do you think your friend will be able to make it in time to save this city? I don’t think so. He only has a few seconds left before that bomb explodes.” He said to Yuurei with a smile on his face. He had faith in Gideon, so he knew he would be able to do it. He kept his eyes on Kazu and soon enough the man through his cape at Yuurei. At first, he didn’t understand why he did that, but then he noticed all the bombs that were in there. Is eyes widen when he saw that, and he didn’t know what to do. Yuurei tried to move away, but he couldn’t move fast enough because of his leg that was in pain. He thought he was a goner right there, as he tried to step back, and he did.

Kasui had made it to the building alright and when he got prepared to shoot Kazu he noticed what was going on. He was surprised that the man didn’t ask Yuurei for forgiveness. Instead, he had thrown his cape. Kasui knew there was something fishy about it and he could tell by Yuurei’s reaction that it wasn’t good. He kept moving back but knew that if nobody did something he was fucked. Kasui shot the cape and right then and there it had exploded. Yuurei covered his arms and his face in Armament as the explosion wasn’t as close it would have been. He used his arms to cover his torso, which is why he left his face with Armament. Yuurei was blown away from the explosion as he hit the ground a few times as his body was sliding on the floor.

When the debris dispersed Yuurei was on his back while Kazu was standing tall. He had lost an arm, but he was able to get his opponent good this time. Yuurei was bleeding on his face and some parts of his legs. He coughed a bit from the explosion but had to thank Kasui for saving his life just now. ”I’m taking a break from all of this chaos I swear. “ He said to himself as he got up from the floor slowly. His body was trembling as he was hurt everywhere; he had cuts everywhere, but some were more severe than others. It wasn’t just that, but he had also fractured ribs, and a fractured jaw as well. It wasn’t his day today, but he looked at Kazu with a smile on his face. The man was surprised that Yuurei was still alive through all of this, but he knew why.

His bombs didn’t hit the ground, which didn’t cause the explosion he was hoping for. ”I think you should give up. You are on your last leg.” He said this as Yuurei chuckled when he heard those words. ”Nah, I think you don’t understand the math here. I’m not the only one here.” He said this to Kazu. The man was bleeding out though, and he was trying his best to make sure that didn’t happen so quickly. He had wrapped his shirt around his arm and his belt as well. This had happened the whole entire time Yuurei was on the ground. Kasui didn’t shoot Kazu because it looked like Yuurei was keeping him alive for a reason. Still, he figured he would shoot him on his other leg. He let out a shot, and Kazu noticed it was coming and when he went to move away he couldn’t from the pain he felt on his leg.

Now his good leg had been shot and he grunted from the pain. He was scared now because he knew that he couldn’t do anything. He looked at Yuurei and figured his words were going to have to be the last thing he could use. ”You can’t kill me. You don’t know if your friend has gotten rid of the bomb yet or not.” He said with a smile on his face. Yuurei shook his head as he didn’t understand the situation. ”Gideon tell me when you launch that thing into the air.” He said into his Baby Den with a smile on his face.

7/20 Haki.

Gideon ran as fast as he could, despite the pain his body was dealing with. The fear of being blown to bits was forcing the thumping of his heart into his throat. During this run, he realized how much he wanted to live, how life was so precious and didn't want to waste it away, the desire to see the world and finish the business he had made in life was too strong for him to just give up on.

Then he spotted the docks, the open water. With the bomb in his hand, he pulled it back and prepared himself for the throw, he needed to make it into the water, the safest place away from the others. His arm felt tougher, stronger, more solid, though he didn't pay attention to the fact that it's complexion darkened, he kept his mind on throwing the damn bomb.

* * *

Vizmir and Lida continued to wait and watch, though Lida was the one more anxious. Within moments, she broke the silence between them once more, "Look! the giant!" she pointed to Gideon he had came into view.

"So it is" Vizmir gave a smile, though the smile was short lived when he began to wonder - "What is he doing?".

"I think he's throwing something this way" Lida squinted her eyes, trying to figure what the giant was holding. Then he threw it it. The speck they saw flew into the air, making it's way towards them.

"Does he want us to catch it?" Vizmir questioned as he held out his hands, watching the speck begin to fly over his head.

* * *

"There it goes" Gideon huffed, trying to catch his breath, relief came to him the second the bomb was out of his reach. He watched it soar through the sky. Yuurei's voice came through the den den mushi, but before Gideon could answer, a loud and large explosion lit the sky. The force of the explosion caused the glass of numerous buildings to shatter and even caused the clouds up above to part.

Boom Baby!:

"Got your answer?" Gideon chuckled through the den den mushi as he covered his eyes from the explosion. As the light from the explosion dimmed, the giant felt his body give way before falling onto this back.

* * *

Vizmir and Lida stared up into the sky, wide eyed and dumbfounded. Even after the explosion ceased, Vizmir stood there with his arms still out as he tried to register how he should feel to what just happened.

While he was waiting for his friend to answer him he heard a huge explosion and he looked over to the direction where it came from. He could see the clouds splitting apart as the explosion was vast. It wasn’t just that, but he had to cover himself as glass could be seen shattering from the buildings that were nearby. His eyes widen when he saw this because he knew that there wasn’t going to be any living soul left in the city if it had exploded here. He looked at Kazu as the man was upset that the bomb didn’t go off before the giant was able to get rid of it. He also wondered who had told them about him dying and activating his bomb earlier if it did. ”Did my son tell you about the dead man switch?” He asked Yuurei curious to hear what he had to say.

Yuurei smiled at Kazu as he heard Gideon in the Baby Den. ”Yeah I got my answer. Thank you, Gideon, you helped out a lot.” Yuurei said to his friend. ”Your son told us everything we needed to know. I got to say he chirped like a bird, but it was because you left him there to die. Don’t worry though your son is alive and well. We didn’t kill him because he was only like that because you were spoiling him. However, you will not see this world again.” He said this as he rushed over to Kazu and even with the limp on his leg. Kazu couldn’t run and he had gotten rid of all his bombs the moment he threw it at Yuurei. His eyes widen and he waved his hands as if he wanted his life to be spared. He didn’t do what he wanted to do, so he couldn’t die just yet.

The swordsman didn’t care what he did, and when he got near Kazu he thrust both Kusanagi, and Benihime into the man’s stomach. The blades would go through the man and come out of his back; he would be lifted up in the air and Yuurei separate the blade apart from each other splitting the man apart. Kasui saw this and shook his head as he figured Kazu did deserve it. The marksman got out from his position and started making his way down the building and head towards Yuurei. Kazu eyes widen, and soon enough they turned white as they were lifeless. Yuurei had killed someone who didn’t deserve to live. Still, his body was hurt, exhausted, aching, and sore. He placed his swords into his sheathed before he fell to the ground. He dropped on his back as he had a smile on his face.

”We were able to save the girl, and save the city. I mean he did a number on the place, but that’s okay. The people should be safe.” He said in the Baby Den, so Gideon could hear him. ”Gideon meet me at the ship, so we can get patched up. Harley should be there waiting for us. I’m sure she will have a field day with us when she sees how badly hurt we are.” He said this to him and chuckled as he could feel the pain surging through his body. Yuurei did have pieces of certain bombs on his leg, and he knew that he would need Harley to take them out. It wouldn’t take long for Kasui to get there, and when he did he looked at Yuurei who was on the floor. ”where to?” He asked him as if he knew that he needed to get patched.

”The doctor of the crew I’m in should be there. I will direct you on where to go if you can take me to her.” He said to Kasui. The marksman nodded as he picked up Yuurei from the ground. ”Ow, ow, ow, be careful with the merchandise. I’m valuable.” He laughed and Kasui chuckled with him. He was making his way towards the Docks as per direction from Yuurei. They would maneuver through the city, and soon enough they would make it out of the city. It was kind of hard for them to do, but soon he was walking Yuurei towards the docks where his crew’s ships were located. ”Thanks Kasui you been a great help this whole time.” He said to the marksman as he was glad that he was there when they needed him.

On top of the roof, there were several people looking down at the results of the battle that just occurred. There were marines on the rooftop as they noticed that Kazu was dead. It wasn’t just that, they had avoided Yuurei’s Observation range the whole time, which they had been watching since they were scouting Kazu’s base of operation. ”It seems like Yuurei and Gideon, with a couple of other people took out Kazu and the Skull pirates. I think he’s getting to strong sir what do you think we should do?” One of the guys asked. ”We will report it back to the world Government about what transpired here, and that the Skull Pirates and their captain have been dealt with. As for Yuurei leave the man be for now. We won’t touch him until he goes back to the Grand Line where it matters.” He said as the six figures disappeared from the area.

9/20 Haki

The sky became became orange once more, the morning sun continued to rise as if nothing had happened. Silence filled the city, no explosions, no screaming, no trouble, no anymore, at least for today. Gideon laid upon his back, pain surged through him like electricity and fatigue felt like he was being pinned to the ground. Yuurei's voice came through the Den Den mushi, thanking him for a job well done, which felt worth it, surprisingly, "No problem" he chuckled weakly.

For the moment, the giant continued to look to the sky, watching it lighten in color, soon it would be a bright blue like most days. His eyes began to slowly close, his sleep would soon take him over... but not as of yet. Yuurei's voice came through again. "Ugh!" Gideon forced himself to stand back up. He hated the idea that he needed to keep moving, to keep pushing himself, but he knew he couldn't just lay there in the street, he needed to be tended to, to have his makeshift bandages replaced with actual bandages, needed to be checked up on by an actual doctor.

"Alright... meet you there" Gideon spoke into the den den as he made his way lazily towards the docks. Halfway, he realized he had left Jormungandr behind. One look back told him he was way too far already, "I'll get it later" he shrugged and continued his trek.

* * *

After some time, Gideon finally reached the docks, more or less limping, his arms dangled, the left one looked obviously more wounded, his chest bare and his pants shredded. He avoided eye contact with Vizmir he gestured to him, but simply walked on.

"Heading to your ship?" Vizmir asked the giant. Lida looking very worried but knowing she couldn't help.

"Yeah... doctor's there" Gideon mumbled.

"I'll walk you then" Vizmir said after he put out his cigarette. He looked to Lida and gestured for her to follow which she did without a second thought. The three of them made their way towards the Charon, albeit slowly.

Kasui was walking with Yuurei over his shoulder. He had to say that this guy was one heavy guy, but he was the man who saved his life from imprisonment. It wasn’t just that, but Yuurei was also badly injured and needed to be treated as soon as possible. It was why he was pushing himself to the limit as he walked through the outskirts of the city, and towards the docks to where the guy’s ship was located. ”Good people waiting for you?” He was referring to Yuurei’s crew. He didn’t want them to think he was the reason why Yuurei was in condition. Yuurei heard him as he had one of his eyes closed and the other one barely open. He smiled at Kasui and figured he would answer the obvious question. ”My crew are nice and unique. Some of them have a strong personality, but overall they are kind people. They think of the crew first above all.” He said to Kasui.

He nodded listening to Yuurei be positive of his crew. ”If you want you can always join us. I believe we have room for more people to join us. We don’t like slavers like the Skull Pirates, but we don’t go to the extreme like Kazu did. It was the only reason why I felt like he had to go.” He said this. Kasui was surprised he was asked to join the crew; they didn’t even know each other like that yet he was asking him to join. ”Don’t you want to know about my past first?” He asked Yuurei actually speaking this time. The thief was surprised to hear a long sentence coming from him. ”I do want to know about your past if you care to tell me about it. I just want to know how you got captured by the Skull Pirates.” He said to him.

”Like you said, you follow the same beliefs that Skull Pirates did. I do too, but they were too extreme, and when my crew tried to stop them, they were slaughtered and some were captured.” He said as he stood quietly. ”I was a captain, but now I’m just a regular marksman trying to enjoy his freedom. Still, I’ll take you up on your offer. It would be nice to be behind the scenes.” He said this to Yuurei as he felt like he needed to be his quiet self again. Yuurei liked the words that he sprouted out of his mouth. It was how he felt as well; he enjoyed being behind the scene and not being a captain of a whole entire ship. While they were walking it wouldn’t take them long to reach the Charon.

Yuurei would point at the ship that he wanted Kasui to go over to, and the quiet man did just that. He felt the man dragging him up the gangplank, and while this was happening Yuurei looked around to see if Gideon had made it back, but that wasn’t the case. Still, he needed to be taken care of first, so he had pointed to the steps for the deck below, and Kasui nodded as he walked down. Soon enough Yuurei would direct him to doctor’s office, and he knocked on the door without hesitation. ”Harley its, Yuurei I’m in bad shape can you help me?” He asked her. Harley was in there alright, but when she heard that Yuurei was in bad shape she got annoyed. That man was always finding a way to hurt himself. She slammed the door open, which the door smacked Yuurei across the face, and hitting his nose.

The young man’s head snapped back as he felt blood coming out of his nose. Her eyes widen when she saw he was really bad, and figured he was joking around. She also took note of the other man that was with Yuurei. ”Where is Gideon? And bring him inside now.” She asked, and demanded. While Yuurei was being dragged into the room, she directed where to put him, and Kasui placed him on the patient bed. ”Gideon is on his way to the ship he also needs to be tended to. I’m sorry I got hurt like this had to rescue someone, and it got worse than what it was supposed to be.” He smiled at her, and he grunted from the pain. Harley looked at his body as she could see the shrapnel that was stuck to his leg and the smaller one that was all over his body. She could also see the cut wounds from his body, the bruising on his neck, the cuts on his face, and a piercing wound.

She wasn’t sure what this man had gone through but knew it wasn’t a laughing matter. ”Yuurei I’m going to need you up for all of this. Are you ready for that?” She asked. He nodded and was about to answer, but she pulled the first shrapnel out. His eyes widen and he clenched his teeth as he stopped himself from screaming. His hands tighten on the side of the bed as she started to take the shrapnel out first before she closed any of his wounds. She didn’t want to close up a wound that had one in it and then he got an infection. Yuurei held his screams in and he was dying to go to sleep.

He wanted to pass out, but the doctor had told him he couldn’t. That was the only reason why he stood up through all of this. It wouldn’t take long for her to finish with all the shrapnel and when she was done there were a bunch of them in a tray. ”Get me a blood bag from the freezer to your right.” She told this to Kasui. He looked to his right and headed over to it and got the blood that she was talking about. He brought it back as she didn’t take it from him as she wanted him to hold it for the time being. She was getting ready for the next part, and it was to clean the wounds.

The Charon had came into view when Gideon gave a deep sigh. The travel seemed to take a lot out of him, his body felt hot, his left arm felt as if it had gone numb and his eyes were heavy. Heavy creaking came from the gangplank as the giant walked upon it and once he reached the deck, Gideon dropped, back onto the floor, his eyes closed.

"Would you like for me to get the doctor?" Vizmir politely asked the giant as he and Lida arrived on deck. Without an answer, they realized Gideon had possibly fell asleep, "I'll take that for a 'yes'" Vizmir shrugged before he began making his way below deck.

"I don't think it's polite for us to just walk about their ship" Lida whispered as she followed closely behind the old man.

"Well the big guy needs medical attention, I think that takes priority over manners and etiquette" Vizmir gave the young woman a smile.

The two ended up getting lost, passing door after door, knocking on a few but receiving no answers until they finally bumped into a skypiean, "Who the hell are you? the skypiean yawned.

"We're looking for the doctor" Vizmir simply said.

"We don't accept walk-ins, our crew is exclusive" The skypiean was more wide awake now, his tone more or less threatening as he purposely showed his sword.

"We've brought the giant Gideon back home and he's in pretty bad shape" Vizmir showed no fear but a stern look as if a concerned grandfather. With that, the skypiean changed his expression and ran out the room, pass the two and down the hall, Lida and Vizmir quickly followed.

Soon enough, the three of them entered the office where Harley was doing her work, "Doc, Gideon is on deck and needs attention!" the skypiean rushed into the room. When he noticed Yuurei on the bed, he hesitated, feeling as if he'd overstepped and interrupted a surgery.

Vizmir poked his head in, but Lida pushed passed the moment she saw Yuurei, she ran to the side of the bed "Will he be alright? Vizmir bit his bottom lip, wishing he had stopped her, now she was intruding.

Yuurei was in so much pain and it happened to be because of the pieces of shrapnel that were stuck around his body. They were all being taken out and his adrenaline had worn off when he was being dragging here. He looked at Harley as she was moving somewhere and had a what looked like a cotton swab of sort. He could see that she was putting something on it and he was worried about what was going to happen next. ”What are you planning on doing with that?” He asked her. She had a smile on her face as she would walk towards Yuurei with it. ”Now I have to clean your wounds before I actually seal them. You don’t want to catch an infection now do you?” She said to him as she wanted to see what he would say. She wasn’t going to listen to him if told her not to do it.

”Infection means I will probably get sick right? That isn’t good because I need to be in perfect health.” He said this to her. She nodded because he was a good patient and understood. She started cleaning his wounds, and when he felt the disinfectant touch his wounds, he felt a shock go throughout his whole entire body. It wasn’t just that, but he could feel the sting coming from his wounds. They were deep, so the pain was immense. He entire body stiffen as he held tightly against the sheets he was laying on. Harley shook her head because she was sure that he didn’t act like this when he was getting hit by the weapons that made these wounds. Still, she understood why and continued to do her work. While this was happening, Yuurei heard one of the people he saved a while back telling her that Gideon was on deck.

He smiled for a quick second before grunting again. He was happy his friend made it; the swordsman felt more pain as she got to one of the bigger wounds. He then noticed that Lida had rushed towards his bed on the opposite side of Harley. She glared at the girl as she wanted her away from the bed while she was working. ”Get her away from him, I’m working.” She said to someone. Kasui moved towards Lida and pulled her away. ”He will live, he just needs to be patched up.” He said to calm her down. She felt like it was her fault he was in this condition, but Yuurei would never say that. Harley sighed as she would continue to clean his wounds. He panted as he felt like he was out of breath, he could feel himself going in and out of consciousness.

Still, he knew that he being awake through all of this was for the best. He could fight whatever trouble they come around while he was being patched up. If he was unconscious, then he wouldn’t have known what was going on with his body. She was cleaning all of his wounds and she could feel the small fractures that were around his ribs. She knew that she would have bandaged it nice and tight, so that it could heal properly. She also knew that he was going to have to stay in bed for a few days before he could start moving around. ”Is Gideon in a worse condition than Yuurei?” She asked wondering where her priorities would go to first. ”I don’t think he is. He looks like he has been bandaged up, but weren’t all that good. It was a rushed job, but I think Yuurei can bleed out faster than the giant could, so take care of him first, and I will make sure that he is okay.” He said this to her.

”I need all of you to go upstairs and check on Gideon. You girl, you stay here. Clean your hands and stand next to me, you are going to help me. The guy with the blood bag give her the bag when she finishes cleaning up and go up with everyone else.” She ordered everyone around because they were in her room, and they shouldn’t even be here in the first place. They nodded as Lida went to clean her hands and when she was done with that Kasui had given her the bag before he left. She was done with cleaning his wounds, and now it was time for the stitching to begin. ”We are almost there Yuurei after I stitch you up, you can rest easy while I transfuse blood into you. I will have this girl watch over you while I take care of Gideon when I’m done.” She explained things. He nodded and soon the stitching had begun. His eyes widen as he could feel the needles poking into his open wounds.

Kasui made it to the deck of the ship as he looked at Gideon. Kasui slapped the giant on his side as he wasn’t allowed to sleep. ”Hey stay up, and wait for the doctor to get here before you dare close your eyes!” Kasui got worried for a second as he wasn’t sure if the giant had died or not. The Skypiean went up with the two random guys because he didn’t know who they were. He kept an eye on them as he was making sure that they didn’t do anything to Gideon.