118 Late arrival works wonders

*Clank*

Shanks just hung up on the 5 elders, unwilling to discuss this matter any further with them, than he absolutely needed to.

"So? Any plans on what to do now?"

Ben Beckmann asked while lighting up a cigarette. He, Lucky Roo and Yasopp, took care of the 5 agents and were now about to burry their bodies. No matter what conflicts in life they had, everyone's the same in death.

"Ben…"

Shanks slowly turned his head so as to properly look at Ben while he spoke with him yet remained silent. His silence spoke louder than words could.

*Sigh*

Ben exhaled audibly. In fact, he knew that there was no sure way to safely deal with a situation once it involves 'the numbers'. One could be affected this very moment and not even know until death. Now that they actively took out a 'number', The World Government might not even care anymore about their deal.

*Tap*

Lucky Roo walked up and tapped Ben on his back.

"Chin up vice. They won't act out just yet, after all they have to lose more than we do."

"… I hope you are right."

"Guys?"

Yasopp, who just finished burying the bodies spoke up.

"Our matter regarding Jackson… should we proceed, now that it came to this? I'm just saying but shouldn't he be a real monster, to have been targeted by a 'number'?"

They all paused for a moment, before simultaneously turning towards Shanks, who in turn shook his head.

"Slight change of plans."

Jackson POV

Death. I could have sworn it already had me in it's grasps, even tighter than 6 years ago, on Sabaody. Yet the very next second it just vanished as if it was an illusion.

*Haaaa*

Air escaped my lungs, which I didn't even know I was holding. That… whatever it is that just happened, was way too abnormal. Had it not been for a cold shiver running through my body and these goosebumps, perhaps I would have thought of it as an illusion.

But it was no illusion! I really would love to go and investigate what just happened but an ear piercing explosion sound paired with sky splitting black lightning and rising flames, visible from miles away reminded me of what to do first.

"Damn it. I'd better hurry for now and investigate later."

*Crack*

The ground beneath my feed caved in.

*Whoosh*

Trees vanished from my sight as soon as they appeared. A minute went by then another one until finally this forrest seemed to end. With one strong leap and a few times using geppo and soru together, I found myself high up above Sweet City… or what was left of it.

Big Mom's Chateau wasn't the only building that was razed. In fact, huge parts of it could be seen lying in different areas of Sweet City while other parts sped through the air in an attempt to hit certain targets.

"Seems like Sabo is really going at it."

Following those gigantic pieces of a once infamous Chateau with my eyes showed me who they were trying to smash to death. Of course, I'm talking about Big Mom here, though she seems quite different from anything I saw or read about her, in both my lives.

Her Hair was now of a brightly shining golden colour, her clothes seemed to be made out of light, and a golden star mark was visible on her forehead.

Zeus, her lightning cloud was much less of a cloud and much more of lightning. Quite literally, it turned into a dense, purple mass of lightning.

Prometheus was no longer a ball of fire but a humanoid figure consisting of pure white flames.

As for Napoleon. Napoleon was in Linlin's hands looking like it did before except for it switching it's coating between purple lightning, white flames and golden lights.

"What the fuck happened while I was gone?

3rd Person POV

Big Mom was livid. She swung Napoleon at all those huge chunks of what was once her chateau. A bright light covered it, which instantly extended until the blade was long enough to cut through the buildings like a laser through tofu.

All the while, lightning fell like rain and ravaged her city thanks to Zeus confronting Enel on his own. It was a catastrophic scene to look at. Sudden laser shots were fired at her, from a distance she couldn't even see, but the golden star on her forehead automatically fired laser shots on it's own, turning Augur's attempt to disturb Big Mom into a laser show with explosive after effects.

"Mamamama. You pests should have obediently died like I had planned. Now, even if that brat Jackson appears he won't be able to save you."

Drunk on her new powers, she exclaimed shortly before vanishing and appearing next to Kuina, whose right arm was already thoroughly broken in multiple places. Knowing that she might have trouble defending in her current state, Law tried to help her, but Prometheus intercepted him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He gloated with a shit eating grin. Law instantly created one of his 'Rooms' and swapped Prometheus for Kuina in the last second before Big Mom could critically wound her though it didn't make their situation any better than it was before.

Sabo landed a short distance away from her. From above he could better oversee the situation and how all battles went. Boa Hancock, together with her sisters, Kench, Bepo and Shachi and Penguin were doing ok, holding off Big Mom's remaining troops but not long ago, Katakuri, Cracker and Smoothie awoke and rejoined their siblings.

Now it turned into another loosing battle, which they had not a lot of time to sort out. Though it was frustrating Sabo felt like the only option would be to give up this fight and try again later. So, he gave the command.

"We will retreat!"

They were actually so close to beating a yonko, simply by keeping her away from her crew while they dealt with them first and Big Mom later, but everything changed after she awakened her devil fruit. Despite being unwilling, they knew that winning without Jackson wasn't an option any longer.

*Crackle*

Lightning went off in the sky, tearing apart Zeus' as well as Enel's. It was pitch black with a crimson outline. Everyone, Big Mom and her crew, just like Jackson's crew felt their neck hair standing up.

"Divine Descension!"

A figure, surrounded by a torrent of crimson haki, shot down from the sky, aiming precisely at Big Mom. What seemed like a red starlight falling hit Big Mom like a flaming meteorite, pulverizing whatever stones managed to stay on one another until now.

She herself only barely managed to defend with Napoleon, the sheer force from this clash coursing through her body, forcing the ground to break apart. In fact, all of Sweet City nearly broke, with huge plates of the island rising while others sunk, similar to how an earthquake would ravish whatever it hit.

Nonetheless, Linlin resisted such a force. Locked in a contest of strength she looked Jackson, the cause of this disaster, into his red, glowing eyes. A smirk, which irked her to no end hung on his lips, effectively spurning her battle and killing intent beyond what she thought possible.

"Jackson brat."

Linlin nearly spit his name, eager to tear him apart.

(AN: Trying to get back into writing. Shorter chapters for now but hopefully without months long breaks.)