Lara's POV;
The three crews had gathered together and were running out of the building. Rayleigh has told us to meet him at grove 13, but I said that my crew had a meeting with the Marines. He just laughed and waved us off.
Outside we were greeted by the burning wreckage of the Marine blockade. Luffy has become tiny from his activation of Gear 3, while the other two captains were looking cool and chilled.
Fiara was jumping around the massive bonfire and adding a few more flames whenever it looked as if they would go out. Her happy laughter rang through the air, intermixed with the cries of burning men and the noise of melting metal.
“You have one fucked up Tontatta,” commented someone from behind me.
“I couldn't be prouder. Lara, is this what it feels like to have children?” Asked Lia. She was smiling fondly at the little girl.
“CHARGE! Take those pirates out!” Roared a Marine suddenly. He and a good hundred more came from the left. Fiara only burned the front down. Two dozen more came from the other side.
“Fiara come here, we are leaving,” I called out to her and she used a quick Soru to reach us. She landed on Nojiko's shoulder with a backflip and greeted us with a happy wave. Law's, Kidd's and Luffy's crew were starting to take out the noisy Marines.
“Captain, reporting complete incineration of the bad guys,” reported Fiara playfully. She then threw one of her balls casually over her head, towards a Marine that managed to crawl out of the flames. He got hit and the burning liquid splashed all over his body.
“Good job, now let's leave. The other crews are already on their way. I don't think we will have to fight the Admiral, but there certainly are other things that they may throw at us,” I replied and began to move away from the other groups.
Nojiko shot most incoming Marines before they could do more than scream at us. Lia did her fair share of killing as well, going so far to also snipe down some Marines that were running after the other crews. We reached one of the rivers that were separating each grove and run across one of the roots that were acting as bridges.
Yosaku destroyed the tree bridge the moment we crossed it. It made it rather hard for the Marines to follow us, yet they were still trying to. The group that was after us split and was searching for another bridge, while some of them were calling for reinforcements from our side.
“Urgh, now we have to move all the way back to grove 60,” complained Jonny. He was just about to complain some more when he was suddenly pushed out of the way by Yosaku.
A laser-like beam hit the place Jonny was standing just a moment before and exploded in a fireball. Yosaku, who stood the closest, has managed to shield himself from the blast by using his massive sword as a barricade.
The retaliation strike came rather quickly, the first shot was fired by Nojiko. Three bullets were shot out of her assault rifle and flew through the air directly at one of the nearby mangrove roots. They pinged harmlessly off of the metal body of the Pacifista. The form of Kuma stood emotionlessly and calmly on the root and looked down on us. Two more stepped out from behind him.
“So they finished the project.” Noted Jo with a heavy amount of disgust and a slight bit of fear.
“How can there be more than one Bartholomew Kuma?” Asked Noa while preparing his hammers.
“Those are not Kuma. They are the end result of Project Pacifista. Their skin and body are made out of the same metal as Fiara's robot arms. They also have her particle accelerators inbuilt and are physically stronger than the average pirate captain,” explained Jo. Two wicked looking bone blades were already coming out of his palms.
“We aren't in a hurry, do you want to fight them, or should Lia and I get rid of them quickly?” I asked. Most of my attention was on the Pacifista, they weren't attacking us yet. “The Marines can't give us trouble for damaging them. It's their fault for not updating their equipment,” I added.
The Lead Pacifista opened its mouth and spoke. "Slicer Lara, Bounty 450 Million, True Shot Lia, Bounty 300 Million, Pressure Point Mengele, Bounty 75 Million, Rapid Fire Nojiko, Bounty 25 Million, Quick Draw Jonny, Bounty 35 Million, Big Cleaver Yosaku, Bounty 45 Million, The Hammer Noa, Bounty 30 Million, Hell Fire Fiara, Bounty 28 Million and Silent Fox Inari, Bounty 135 Million. A total bounty of 1123 Million Berry. You are under arrest, resist and die!"
"What? Our new vixen has the third highest bounty of all of us?" Asked Yosaku in shock and with a surprised look at Inari, who was looking somewhat embarrassed for the attention.
Jonny drew his sword and got ready. “Well, I'd like to see how strong they are. Better now than later when we are not together.” Yosaku lifted his own sword up and nodded, a battle-ready expression on his face.
“I agree, I feel safer with you two supervising us. Fiara and I will take on one,” agreed Nojiko. She has already switched her assault rifle to her sniper. The first attack made no damage at all, it'll be interesting to see what kind of damage her sniper can do.
Jo pulled his finished blades out of his palms. They were the length of a dagger with a ridged blade and sharp spear-like tip. “Then Noa and I will fight the second.”
“Great, that leaves the last one for me and Yosaku,” laughed Jonny. He was already mid jump at his designated target. The lead Pacifista, the one that has attacked us first.
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Nojiko jumped into the air, while Fiara took off from her shoulder. Her metal arms were spread wide and her normal robotic arms have changed into chainsaw blades. They took the Pacifista to our right.
Noa and Jo were also mid-sprint at their target. Jo was shooting his finger bones at the Pacifista, with Noa following him from the side.
“Inari, please stay back and watch. You are new and we don't know yet how you fight, neither do you know how we fight. There are chances at a later time for you to help,” I said with an apologetic smile towards the fox woman. She nodded and started to closely watch the different fights.
“Who would have thought that this day would become this much fun.” I shared Lia's delight. While she jumped into the air I deemed it better to watch Noa and Jo from the side, ready to interfere at a moments notice. Lia will have an eye on Nojiko, Fiara, Jonny and Yosaku, while I take Noa and Jo.
We both think that Noa and Jo will have the hardest time with their Pacifista. Jo's bones are not exactly the hardest material and Noa is not our strongest fighter. It'll be the best if one of us fully focuses on their fight.
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Nojiko's and Fiara's fight; Nojiko's POV;
The three Kuma lookalikes have split up to face each group of us. Our Kuma jumped at Fiara with frightening speed for someone this large. He reached Fiara quickly and punched down at her from above.
The ground cracked under the force and a small crater was formed from the impact. The dust was quickly blown away, thanks to Lia most likely, and I could see how Fiara's four metal arms had grabbed the fist of the Kuma, I think Jo called them Pacifista.
Each metal claw has dug into the arm of the Pacifista and punctured the skin, or metal, whatever these guys are made out of.
The Pacifista opened its mouth and a yellow glow began to shine out of it. We all have seen how Fiara's arm weapons charge their attack before firing, that's how I knew that the Pacifista was doing the same now.
I aligned my rifle and aimed at its right shoulder. I'd rather shoot its leg, but it might still be able to fire the attack if I do that. Better to help Fiara now, then get an advantage in the fight.
The bang of my shot deafened everything around me and the recoil left my shoulder tingling. A lot better than what it was a few months ago, yet still not good enough.
The bullet hit true and the shoulder of the Pacifista was pushed downwards. Its face moved along and the particle cannon was shot above a nearby root and into a mangrove tree. The explosion was big and ripped a good chunk out of the tree.
Now Fiara was in a good position to attack, one she used. Her two arms roared up and she was cutting herself into the chest of the Pacifista, while her robotic arms on her back lifted the massive frame of Kuma into the air.
Sparks sprung off from where the metal teeth of her chain sword were cutting into the chest plate of the Pacifista. Then, with a cute and high pitched roar, Fiara threw the Pacifista away and into a nearby root. The body crashed loudly into the tree and destroyed its bark. Three yellow balls of her liquid fire were thrown at the body as well.
I aimed at the dust, an eye out for any kind of glimmer that would reveal another particle attack. There came none, only the light red, almost white fire of Fiara's balls shone through the dust.
Lia blew the dust away again. The Pacifista was lodged in the root with the face first. The back was burning and I could see what was hidden behind the facade of Kuma. A robotic monster. Its artificial skin was melting, showing metal and conduits underneath. Those were resistant to the fire and only glowed lightly.
The shoulder I have shot was heavily dented and sparks were flying out of it. I wordlessly clipped an axe dial on the side of my sniper and exchanged the normal dial with the black dial. Now let's see if he can take a punch. For this thing is extremely sturdy if it can take a shot of my normal sniper.
I aimed at its head and pulled the trigger. The recoil rocked my shoulder backwards and I had to adjust my flight with two Geppo to stop myself from spinning. I should use this not while flying, also, ouch! I rubbed my shoulder, knowing that I will get a bruise from that.
Anyway, the bullet pierced through the air and into the root.
The Pacifista has somehow detected me taking aim and pushed itself out of the root before the bullet has reached it. The root got punctured by my bullet, it came out of the other side and made a hole in the ground. Shouldn't there have been a crater or something? That happens whenever I shoot the ground with the normal dial.
I hastily evaded a rapid shot of its particle hand cannons and landed on the ground. “Fiara, hold him down for a moment!” If shooting mid-flight is not good enough, then I will do it from the ground.
The tiny girl threw herself at the massive robot. Her four arms were spread out and were glowing similar to the Pacifista's mouth, who was doing the same right now. Both fired their attack at the same time. Four smaller lasers on Fiara's side and one larger from the Pacifista.
They met in the middle and cancelled each other out. A large explosion destroyed the ground where the attacks met. The massive fireball hasn't yet fully bloomed when Fiara came flying out of it. Her arms were roaring loudly and were posed for a strike. The Pacifista raised its arms and blocked the flying jump attack of Fiara. Her chainsaw arms began to dig into the arms of the blocking Pacifista, sparks flew left and right. They were in a deadlock, one that I knew how to use to our advantage.
I couldn't shoot at it's back or head. There was a too high risk of hitting Fiara, that's why I aimed for its knees. The joint will be softer than any other part and is needed for moving the attached limp.
I pulled the trigger and the left knee of the Pacifista vanished. The bullet completely destroyed the knee and continued on. This time there was a crater in the ground, a large one as well. Maybe the first was too fast to form one?
Anyway, the sudden loss of footing caused the Pacifista to fall to the side. Its guard was broken through and its lower right arm got cut off by Fiara's chainsaw arms. Yet, before Fiara could continue she had to jump away. Two of her claw arms had grabbed the ground and catapulted her over the Pacifista and out of the firing line of its mouth-laser. The attack missed by a large margin and vanished into the air.
Fiara activated her waver-skates mid-flight and made a turn in the air. The Pacifista was ready for her and aimed his left palm at her, a yellow glow signalled the immediate attack.
Another bang rung through the battlefield. The hand of the Pacifista exploded into tiny bits of metal and cables. The energy in its arm became chaotic and exploded, taking with it the rest of the arm. My sniper smoked slightly from the continued shooting. I have only two or three bullets left before I have to let it cool down.
“Die you, evil guy!” Screamed Fiara. She brought both her chainsaw arms down and pierced the head of the Pacifista. Sparks, metal and liquid flew around. Then, suddenly, with a loud beep the whole thing exploded and Fiara got thrown backwards.
I caught her swiftly and looked for any injuries. There were thankfully only a few light burns. Fiara was smiling up at me and changed her arms back into her normal ones, before giving me a bright smiled thumps up.
“This bad guy won't be able to harm us again, right Nojiko?”
“Yeah, right. You showed it what happens if it attacks us,” I answered with a smile and placed Fiara on my shoulder. My shoulder was hurting and I am sure Josef will nag about it later, but we won without suffering any serious wounds. I turned around to the other fights and saw that we were also the first to finish. Ha, bragging rights are going to the girl team.