"D-Diddy, l-lend me y-your tail." Said Freyja between her ragged breathing and broken body as she slowly crawled toward Diddy, who was lying motionlessly on the ground a few meters before her.
"N-No." Replied Diddy as he begrudge rolled his body over onto his side while coughing blood, his body having not only reached but exceeded his limit.
"I-If you d-don't w-well both g-going to die h-here!" Yelled Freyja angrily as she looked at Diddy, who was slowly standing with his destroyed body through his sheer will alone.
"No, you're going to Impel Down, Freyja of the Frenzy pirates alongside your Captain." Said Mini as he landed on the ground beside Freyja, sporting a moderate amount of injuries before reaching down and cuffing her with special handcuffs that sapped her of all her strength.
"U-Urgh, m-my strength! T-Those c-cuffs! S-Sea stone!" Muttered Freyja weakly as she lay near motionlessly on the ground, no longer able to move except her lips when speaking.
Using my bo-staff for support, I watched how Freyja got detained, and given her injuries along with the seastone handcuffs, she wasn't able to put up even the slightest bit of resistance; I attempted to approach her, but my condition was worse than hers, so the moment I took a step, I nearly collapsed back on the ground.
'W-Where the fuck is Sebas!?' Thought Diddy angrily as he warily eyed the approaching Mini before turning around when he sensed Lindbergh nearing him from behind, the latter seemingly taking his time.
Looking at Lindbergh and seeing how minimal the injuries he sustained during our fight were, I quietly chuckled to myself as I picked up Naga-sa with my shaking arm and rested it on my shoulder, eyeing Lindbergh without fear. Though just when I was about to lunge forward, or at least attempt to, given my body's state, I suddenly heard a gunshot, followed by a bullet whizzing right past me, hitting Lindbergh in the face.
Of course, it did no damage as he was able to cover his head in armament haki, but it caused me to look behind me, only to see Trenza, who was also injured, pointing her pistol at Lindbergh; she wasn't alone, as running toward Freyja and I were Grand and Scar, both were also significantly injured, even more so than Trenza.
"Heh, it's my turn to save you, Captain; you owe me for this!" Yelled Trenza with a smirk amidst her bruised, sweaty, and bloody face as she fired upon Lindbergh rapidly, though they did nothing against his haki-clad skin.
"Tch, w-well, I at least tried, Captain!" Yelled Trenza with an awkward smile as she holstered her pistols before suddenly grabbing a spherical object from her waist and throwing it toward Lindbergh, who easily evaded it, but right when it passed him, it exploded.
"Haha! Don't forget about us, Captain and Freyja! We've come to help you hold them off until Father arrives!" Stated Grand with his loud, deep voice as he charged toward Lindbergh like a ferocious bull, given his towering frame.
"Don't worry, Freyja; I'll assist you." Said Scar solemnly with a hardened gaze as he eyed Freyja's weak state before shifting his attention toward Mini, who was standing over her, looking at him swiftly approaching.
Seeing Scar runt toward Mini while Trenza and Grand attacked Lindbergh, I was momentarily stunned as I didn't know how to react; these fools were over here risking their lives for someone they'd barely known for two weeks, purposely engaging in battle with someone who could kill them with one motion.
"Tch, stupid fools." Muttered Diddy, though a feral grin couldn't stop itself from appearing on his face.
Despite their reinforcements, I knew they wouldn't be of much help at all; in fact, it would've been better if they had headed west towards Sebas, as he advised. Now I've got to worry not only about Freyja but these three idiots as well, and given my condition, Freyja was already more than I could handle.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Though their presence did provide some semblance of respite as they managed to change Lindbergh and Mini's focus from us to them, granted, it wouldn't last long at all, but I didn't need it, too, I just needed a short break to regain some strength even if it was small.
'Alright, this is doable; I only need enough strength to make it toward our ship while carrying three people and Grand. I don't need to immediately worry about Lindbergh; without his jetpack, he won't be able to keep up with me, and neither will Mini, hopefully.' Thought Diddy with heavy eyes as he leaned against his bo-staff and watched Grand approaching Lindbergh, only for him to grunt in pain as he was sent flying several meters back to Trenza, along with four long bloody gashes appearing on his chest, though thankfully they weren't too deep.
Seeing Grand being taken down in one attack, I glanced at Scar, only to see Mini punch through his dagger with his haki-clad fist, breaking it, before his fist landed on his chest, breaking his ribcage and flinging him tens of meters in the distance as he skids across the ground; stopping far off in the distance while unconscious, leaving only Trenza remaining.
'I knew it would be short, but not even 30 seconds, urgh, c'mon.' Thought Diddy with a slight grunt of pain as he stood back up with the help of Naga sa before closing his eyes and making a plan first.
'Tch, I detest fleeing, but it's not like I haven't been forced to do it before. Now then, thankfully, Scar was flung towards the west so that I could pick him up last, but I first needed to get Trenza and Grand as they are in the opposite direction, and then Freyja before finally heading toward my ship at the fastest speed I can.' Pondered Diddy with his eyes closed before suddenly snapping his eyes open along with lightning coiling around his arms as he launched two thick bolts of lightning toward both Mini and Lindbergh.
After attacking the two, keeping them at bay for a moment, I Immediately pushed off the ground with all my might and rushed toward Grand and Trenza. Swiftly, I appeared near Trenza, who was currently running toward Grand, but I passed her as I went to get Grand first so he could hold everyone else. Landing on the ground right beside Grand, I didn't waste a single second with pleasantries and grabbed him by the leg with my free hand before stopping myself with my tail, only to propel myself back toward where I came from, which happened to be blocked by Lindbergh and Mini.
Seeing them both seemingly coming to a silent agreement to team up against me, I inwardly cursed as I had hoped they might fight each other, but that didn't seem to be the case; with both of them coming after me, I didn't have many options to deal with them, if any at all. I would use my Haki that I apparently have, but if I did so, I would risk harming my own crewmembers, and I couldn't have that, not right now.
"G-Grand, brace yourself; this may hurt!" Yelled Diddy loudly as he flexed his arm holding Grand, who nodded in response and curled himself into a ball just in time to be thrown toward Lindbergh and Mini.
They were either surprised or didn't care by my actions of throwing Grand, that he managed to slip right through between them, which did make dealing with the two of them slightly easier, but not by much. The only thing I had going for me right now was my potent electricity, but the problem with that was that it wasn't infinite; it took time for my body to produce electricity, and while it seemed to produce it at a much faster rate than Lindbergh, I had a limit, and I could tell I didn't have much of it.
Still, I didn't have a choice in the matter if I wanted to get past those two, so when I neared them, I summoned nearly all of my remaining electricity before releasing it indiscriminately, similar to an EMP explosion. Thanks to that, I managed to push Mini rather far away, while Lindbergh, on the other hand, wasn't too affected by it; however, it still allowed me to fly right past them.
Slamming my foot against the air behind me, I launched myself forward, catching Grand out of the air before passing by Trenza once again, this time yanking her off the ground with my tail before handing her to Grand, making sure to keep a firm grip lest she gets sent flying away.
"G-Grand, hold her!" Yelled Diddy as he eyed Fryeja, whom he was rapidly approaching, Grand nodding once more as he reached his arms forward, grabbing Trenza before tightly embracing her.
With Grand's large frame above my head, I propelled myself towards Freyja, and as I neared her, I sensed Lindbergh approaching me from behind, causing me to grunt as I threw Grand and Trenza into the air before turning around and placing Naga-sa before me, just in time to block his claws from tearing open my chest, which would've been the third time for just today.
"I don't know what you're doing, but my instincts warn me to stop you." Said Lindbergh with a frown as he glared at Diddy while pushing against his bo-staff with his claws in mid-air.
"Hehe, well, I won't let you." Replied Diddy with a grin as he kicked Lindbergh in the stomach that he blocked, but he wasn't trying to harm him but push him away, which he successfully did.