"D-Dragon?!" Usopp stammered, his eyes wide with terror. He grabbed his purchases and fled the shop, heading in the general direction of the plaza, hoping to find the others, his mind already concocting a brave (and entirely fictional) tale of how he'd wrestled the Dragon to a standstill.
Back at the execution platform, Nami had bought herself a precious few seconds. But more Marines were converging, and Buggy's dismembered upper body was already reattaching itself to his legs with a series of comical plink-plonk sounds, his face a mask of enraged disbelief.
"You little brat!" Buggy shrieked, his nose practically glowing with fury. "You actually hit me! Mohji! Cabaji! Dispose of this nuisance! I'll deal with Straw Hat myself!"
Mohji, astride his giant lion Richie, roared and charged towards Nami. Cabaji, unicycle appearing from nowhere, pedaled furiously, his sword flashing.
"Richie! Dinner time!" Mohji yelled. The lion leaped, jaws agape.
Nami didn't flinch. KF23 Drill Scenario 7: Multiple assailants, one significantly larger. She sidestepped Richie's lunge with a 'Silent Typhoon Step' that took her almost under the lion's belly, then sprang up, delivering a sharp 'Twilight Fang' elbow strike to Richie's exposed flank. The lion yelped in pain and surprise, stumbling. Mohji cursed.
Cabaji was on her now, his unicycle allowing him to weave and feint with dizzying speed, his sword a blur. "Taste my acrobatic swordplay, girlie!"
Nami gritted her teeth. This was faster, more unpredictable than the dummies. She parried a thrust with her forearm (thanking the System for the increased durability), the impact jarring. She needed an opening.
Luffy, watching from the platform, yelled, "Hang in there, Nami! I'd help, but I'm a little tied up! Shishishi!"
"Focus on not getting your head chopped off!" Nami shot back, ducking under another of Cabaji's slashes.
The unnatural storm was intensifying. Rain began to fall, thick, heavy drops that stung like hail. The wind howled like a banshee. Thunder rumbled, not in the distance, but seemingly right overhead, shaking the very ground.
Buggy, fully reassembled and livid, grabbed the execution lever again. "Enough of this! Say goodbye, Straw Hat!"
"NO!" Nami screamed. She saw Cabaji overextend on a flamboyant flourish. Now!
She dropped low, her body a coiled spring, channeling every ounce of her newfound strength, every lesson KF23 had beaten into her. The image of the 'Tempest Knuckle' demonstration flashed in her mind – the perfect alignment, the explosive release.
"This is for messing with my Captain, you circus freak!" Nami roared, her voice barely audible above the storm. "TEMPESTO NAKKURU! (Tempest Knuckle!)"
Her fist shot out, aimed at Cabaji's exposed torso as he recovered from his missed swing. It wasn't as powerful as the demonstration in the Training Grounds, her form not yet perfect, but there was force behind it, a solid, concussive impact that felt like it came from her very core.
Cabaji's eyes widened in shock as Nami's fist connected. There was a sickening crunch. He was lifted off his unicycle and sent flying backwards, crashing into Mohji and Richie, sending all three of them tumbling into a heap of flailing limbs, fur, and spinning unicycle wheels.
[Signature Move 'Tempest Knuckle' successfully executed! Significant damage inflicted! Opponents temporarily neutralized! GP Earned: +150! Skill Proficiency 'Tempest Knuckle': Rudimentary+ → Novice!]
Nami stood panting, her fist throbbing, a wild, almost feral grin on her face. She'd done it. She'd actually landed her signature move!
But her triumph was short-lived. Buggy, ignoring his downed crewmates, was yanking hard on the lever. The heavy blade of the execution device began its descent.
"LUFFY!" Nami shrieked, her heart leaping into her throat.
At that precise moment, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp burst into the plaza from different directions, their eyes taking in the scene with horrified disbelief.
"LUFFY!" they all yelled in unison.
Zoro, three swords already drawn, launched himself towards the platform. Sanji, a black blur of motion, aimed a flying kick at Buggy. Usopp, fumbling with his slingshot, tried to aim for the lever.
Luffy, trapped, facing imminent death, looked down at his approaching friends, at Nami fighting desperately below. He looked out at the terrified crowd, at the raging storm.
And then, he smiled.
A wide, bright, completely unfettered smile. The same smile he'd had when he declared he'd be King of the Pirates. The smile of a man who had absolutely no regrets.
"Zoro! Sanji! Usopp! Nami!" he called out, his voice surprisingly calm and cheerful amidst the storm and his impending doom. "Sorry! Looks like… I'm dead!"
The blade whistled downwards.
The world seemed to hold its breath. The onlookers, the Marines, even Buggy, stared, momentarily transfixed by the sight of the young man in the straw hat, smiling in the face of certain death. He's smiling? The thought rippled through the crowd. Just like him…
And then, with a cataclysmic, earth-shattering KRA-BOOOOOOM!, a bolt of lightning, impossibly bright, impossibly powerful, descended from the churning green-black sky. It struck the very top of the execution platform with the force of a god's hammer.
The entire structure erupted in a blinding flash of light and a shower of splintered, electrified wood.
The world exploded in a deafening, blinding cataclysm. Lightning, not the crackling, ephemeral kind, but a solid, incandescent pillar of pure, untamed energy, slammed into the execution platform. The ancient wood, a symbol of grim history, vaporized in an instant, showering the plaza in a storm of superheated splinters and acrid smoke. The sheer force of the impact sent a shockwave outwards, knocking everyone – pirates, Marines, onlookers – off their feet, a collective gasp sucked from a thousand lungs.
!Nami was thrown backwards, tumbling through the air like a rag doll, her ears ringing, her vision a chaotic blur of white light and swirling debris. She landed hard on her back, the impact knocking the wind from her. For a terrifying moment, she couldn't breathe, couldn't see, her mind a maelstrom of panic. Luffy
The System's voice, usually so calm, was almost drowned out by the roar in her ears, but it managed to cut through:
[Cataclysmic Event: Divine Intervention Class Energy Signature Detected! Host in Proximity to Extreme Danger! Execution Platform Destroyed! Luffy's Status: Unknown!]
Unknown?! Nami's heart seized.