11/11

The agony was all but literally blinding, and that was before the rock actually hit. Beyond the headache, Bartolomeo's arms were what supported his barriers, were the physical connection. And under such a strain… they snapped, in multiple spots. Combined with the headache, it was a wonder Barto didn't pass out on the spot.

Instead, his arms and the barrier fell, the mountain falling to the ocean in shattered pieces. "FINISH HIM!" he roared.

Luffy's arm inflated, the air this time travelling down his body, into his foot. This required him to hop onto one foot, and use his hands to direct Billy to soar at Shiki… and also do something the duck hadn't done in the fight yet.

"GUUUUM-GUUUUM…!"

"I refuse!" Shiki howled as Billy weaved between the projectiles he haphazardly flung at the rookie. "I refuse I refuse I REFUSE! YOU CAN'T WIN! GRAGH!" The Golden Lion clawed his hand forwards, throwing a chunk of rock in all but effigy. "YOU ARE ALL NOTHING! YOU! YOUR DREAMS! YOUR OCEAN! ALL OF IT, WORTHLESS! DESTINY, FATE, DREAMS!? PAH! ALL DIRT! THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN THIS WORLD! RAAAAGH!" An entire cliff tore itself from the coast of Merveille and started splintering as it shot itself skyward. "ALL WORTHLESS IN THE FACE OF POWER!"

For all that there was a variety of projectiles, however, they meant naught when they couldn't hit their mark. The majority were inaccurate enough as it was, but the few accurate projectiles were easy for Billy to dodge.

Meanwhile Luffy, grunting with exertion, sent his foot into the sky, piercing through the clouds.

And given how the battle was taking place in the middle of a cyclone…

KEE-RACK!

There was only one logical outcome.

"HOLY—!" Bartolomeo flinched away as a full-blown lightning-bolt struck Luffy's foot, the astral light dancing over his idol and illuminating him in the darkened sky.

But where Barto was shocked into silence by the display, Shiki only got louder.

"JI—JIHAHAHAHAAAA!" Shiki roared in hysterical joy, his face the picture of madness at the spectacle before him. "DO YOU SEE, STRAW HAT!? EVEN THE GODS REJECT YOU, THEY SMITE YOU DOWN! THIS IS MY VICTORY! MY STRONG WORLD! ALL MINE TO RULE! ME, AND ME ALONE!"

"No. Not you. Never you."

Shiki twitched as hisvoice whispered harshly in his ear, but before he could respond—

"Don't you remember, Golden Lion Shiki? Remember the last time Luffy fought God?"

The synapses fired in Shiki's brain, and horror set in. "No…"

"GIIIAAANT!" Luffy's voice echoed throughout the heavens.

"No—!"

"Yes."

"THOOOOR!"

"Nononono—!"

"Yes, yes, and forever yes. The gods haven't rejected Luffy, you braggart. They. Reject. You. This is the end."

"NOOOOOOO!" Shiki wailed, desperation, terror and denial mixing in equal parts in his voice as he threw as much stone, as much power, as much of his Strong World as he could manage at Luffy. He dug deep, he threw it all…

"AAAAAAXE!"

And it was all for nothing, as the judgement came down.

Shiki stared in horror as the titanic limb descended on him, wreathed in light and energy. The attack couldn't have lasted more than five seconds, but to the Golden Lion it was an eternity of hell. For in that eternity, he could not stop hearing, and he could not stop seeing.

"SHIKI!" Straw Hat Luffy's voice roared out, divine fury lacing his every word.

Shiki's eyes widened as the axe fell, but not because of the actual attack.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY CREW!"

"No… you can't… you can't do this to me!" Shiki howled, screaming at the heavens in desperation. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

"AND STAY AWAY!"

"NOT AGAIN, DAMN IT!" The Golden Lion wailed, shoving as much earth forwards as he could, trying to block what was coming, what he knew was there, to shield himself from the reality. "I CAN'T LOSE TO YOU AGAIN! NOT TO YOU! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! YOU CAAAN'T!"

But no matter how he tried to block it, how he tried to deny it… his desperation just wasn't enough.

"FROM THE EAST BLUE!"

Stone shattered, his will shattered, he shattered.

And so did Shiki the Golden Lion lose, once more, to a man from the East Blue.

And as he lost, as the light of the divine judgement burst through his defenses and laid him low, the entire world bore witness as the Golden Lion's wrath, his despair, his misery, the totality of his being manifested itself in one final scream, cursing the name of the one who had somehow, against all odds, bested him all those years ago.

The name that had started everything.

"ROOOOOOGEEEEEER!"

And then, with his pride conquered, everything fell.

-o-

It would be a surprise to nobody that the Straw Hat Pirates had set up a plan in the eventuality—inevitability, in all honesty—that Merveille would fall toward the sea. The moment that the palace was emptied of valuables and enemies and set to explode, they had returned to their beloved ship, strung the biggest piece of cloth in the palace that they could find to it, and braced themselves.

To be blunt, 'having the ground pulled out from under you' was an idiom for a very good reason.

"That parachute had better work!" Sanji yelled out in more than a little panic as gravity reclaimed its hold on the land, dragging it and everything upon it back toward the sea below.

"What, you don't have confidence in my ability to sail us through hell and high water?" Merry sardonically called out from the helm.

"My lack of confidence is in the only thing keeping us from dropping like a stone," Sanji clarified, shooting a nasty look at their makeshift parachute.

"Ah c'mon!" Cross cackled with a careless wave of his hand as he yanked hard on a line that kept Shiki's flag secure. "If there's one thing we can take confidence in, it's how much effort Shiki would have put into reinforcing his own ugly-ass symbol!"

"Personally?" Merry added. "I'm not exactly enthused about Big Bro going through that scare that Cross put me through after Skypiea!"

"I said I was sorry!" Cross spread his arms in a show of innocence, though his shit-eating grin said otherwise.

Mrrrr…

The tactician flinched as the ship growled. "OK, fine, ya called my bluff, but in my defense—!"

"He's not talking about you!" Merry cut him off with a shocked look. "Sunny just said that Perona isn't onboard!"

"WHAT?!" Nami yelled, shooting a look back at the land that they were slowly sliding off of before running to the side. "WE HAVE TO—!"

"IT'S TOO LATE, NAMI!" Usopp interrupted, both verbally and physically as he Shaved behind her and grabbed her forearm. "WE'RE ALREADY FALLING, THERE'S NO TIME LEFT TO GO BACK!"

Nami made no attempt to struggle, the cold truth of Usopp's words persuading her against her will. A moment later, a firm hand grabbed Nami's shoulder, and she looked at Zoro's unflinching expression.

"She can take care of herself," he said.

Nami cast a tortured look for the shore, and for an agonizing minute it seemed like she'd actually fight to disembark the ship.

And then she snapped her head away and marched back to the center of the Sunny, eyes screwed shut. "BRACE FOR—!"

"Hold it!" Cross cut in. He then readopted his shit-eating grin as he brought his mic up to his mouth. "Well, loyal viewers, there you have it. One week ago, Shiki the Golden Lion, former rival of the Pirate King himself, attacked our crew, stole one of our crewmates, and threatened our home sea, the East Blue. And not even he managed to get away with it; by the efforts of my captain, Straw Hat Luffy, and another rookie from the East Blue, Black Bart Bartolomeo, Shiki and his twenty-year plan are going down in flames. With the East Blue and our crew safe and sound, it's time to head back to the sea of adventure, and you can also look forwards to the SBS resuming its regular broadcasting once we've managed to get some well-needed R&R! But for now, this is Jeremiah Cross!"

"And Soundbite!"

"SIGNING OFF!" Cross and his snail crowed in concert as he slammed the connection shut, jabbing his finger at Merry. "ALRIGHT, HIT IT!"

"YOU HEARD HIM!" Gin roared from the deck of the galleon parked next to the Sunny. "WE CAME, WE SAW, WE KICKED THEIR ASSES! NOW LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! CREW!"

"EVERYONE!" Nami concurred in the same breath.

"SET SAIL!"

With that, the sails of the Thousand Sunny and the Cannibal unfurled, and the rushing wind of their descent seized on them immediately. In short order, the ships tipped over the edge of the island, and for the next several seconds, they were free-falling.

Hirahirahira—FWUMP!

And then, as a final insult to the Golden Lion, the fall of the two crews that ended him and his ambitions was arrested thanks to the flags that they had stolen from Shiki's flagship. And as the aftershock of the snap wore off, both crews got to their feet and turned their attention back toward the falling islands.

"Where are they?" Usopp muttered. "Come on, Luffy, come on…"

"Barto, I swear to hell, if you actually died to that bastard—!" Gin snarled around the thumb he was chewing on.

Despite themselves, most of the Straw Hats and Barto Club were holding their breath.

"THERE! HERE THEY COME!"

Then, barely visible in the distance, a speck of yellow appeared, which slowly grew into the familiar forms of Billy and Lindy. And on their backs, exhausted from their ordeal but still very much alive, was the slumped and groaning Bartolomeo and the panting and shrunken but grinning Monkey D. Luffy.

"Hey guys! I'm alive!" the miniaturized rubber man greeted as exuberantly as his shrunken vocal cords would allow.

"Why do you say that like it's a good thing, dumbass…" Barto groaned, his limbs swinging lifelessly at his side. "I swear to heck, my arms feel like they're gonna fall off, so if you guys could be real gentle about getting me—WA-AAAAAGH!" Barto cut himself off in a pained and panicked yelp as Lindy bodily bucked his captain from his back.

The Barrier-man spent a second writhing in utter agony from the impact before shooting a scathing glare at the dragon. "Fucking fuckstupid fucking fuck why the fuck would you fucking fuck that!?" he hissed viciously.

"Well, that demonstrates the flexibility of that word…" Robin muttered.

Lindy's response was to flash a cocky smirk. "Cause I felt like it," he rumbled without a hint of remorse.

Barto's responding slew of profanity was without a hint of censor.

A round of laughter echoed across the two ships, relief and good humor lightening everyone's spirits—

"Wait, what about the villagers?!"

Until Vivi's exclamation killed the mood hard and prompted them all to turn back toward the falling island. Thankfully, it wasn't long before more silhouettes came into view, not unlike a flock of birds in appearance. Amazingly, it was by all appearances the villagers, gliding on the air with the feathers on their arms.

"…How?" Carue asked through a dropped beak, his tone weak.

"I should be surprised by this. I really should. Buuut after a few weeks with you guys, I'm not," Perona shrugged her shoulders with a defeated sigh.

"Agreed," Robin nodded in, well, agreement.

"I wonder if I'll be able to do that with my new wi—ERK!" Conis started to muse as she fluttered her wings before yelping as a large, gorilla-esque hand grabbed the once-vestigial limb.

"Not until we've recovered from this mess," Chopper firmly stated.

"Y-Yes, Doctor!"

"He does raise a good point," Su said, flopping onto the deck as she kneaded her paws into her temples. "Now that the fight's over, I just wanna sleep…" She cracked an eye and glared at their current interloper. "But first, care to explain what you think you're doing, Ghost Princess?"

Those who hadn't already realized who the second speaker was turned towards the floating form of the lolita.

"Perona!" Nami gasped in relief, running up to the ghost with tears in her eyes. "Oh thank God, you're still alright! Look, just tell us where you are, and, ah—Billy!" The navigator waved at the electro-duck. "Billy, get ready to fly, we're going back for—!"

"Ah, actually?"

Nami was interrupted by Perona, who'd floated before Nami and was wearing an… actually contented smile.

"I'd… really prefer if you didn't do that? Please?" the Ghost Princess asked politely.

Nami blinked, utterly dumbfounded. "Wh-What? Perona? Why on earth—?"

"And I'd prefer you not do that, because… well, as fun as our time together has been…" Perona's smile became slightly sheepish as she floated back, off the edge of the ship, and in the direction of the falling Merveille. "I'd really rather not leave."

The navigator's mind flat-out stalled as she tried to process just what on earth she was hearing. "Perona?" she breathed.

"Horohoho… what, did you already forget?" Perona tucked a lock of hair behind her ear in an almost shy manner. "I never planned on joining your crew to begin with, remember? And, don't get me wrong, after the past few weeks, I can definitely understand how it could have happened, how in another life, maybe… and even now I probably wouldn't mind…" The spirit trailed off for a moment before shaking her head with a wry chuckle. "But… But no. No, I have other plans in mind now. So… Sorry. But I won't be coming back."

Perona then turned towards Luffy, and curtsied, tugging her skirt out in an overly cutesy display of deference. "And as such, thank you, Straw Hat Luffy. You had no reason to trust me, no reason to let me stay on your ship… but you did anyway. You showed me unconditional kindness where every time before someone wanted something from me, and I honestly can't thank you enough for that. And, when the day comes that you're crowned as King… I'd very much like to be there to see it."

"Shishishi!" the newly restored rubber man chuckled. "Mah, no problem!"

Perona nodded gratefully. She then turned towards Nami with a tearful smile. "And Nami…" She shook her head with a hiccup. "God, where do I even start? Thank you for being my friend, Nami. You-You aren't just the first friend I've ever had, you're the best I could have asked for. And I am… going to miss you so much."

"You're…" Nami rubbed the tears from her eyes with a heavy sniff. "Y-You're sure you don't want to come with us? W-We could let you keep the crow's nest if you want!"

"Veto!" Zoro and Cross interjected.

"Horohorohoro!" Perona chuckled. "I'm sure, Nami. But as it is, I have different arrangements in mind. A palace perfectly empty for me to move into… and a load of cute new pets just begging for my love."

Nami blinked in confusion. And then Perona pointed skyward, Nami looked up, and promptly paled as she caught sight of the trio of giga-birds circling on high.

"Peronaaaa," Nami breathed numbly. "What exactly were you doing during the raid?"

"Ohhh, this and that, this and that," Perona giggled with her more normal impishness. Her expression then softened kindly. "Goodbye, Na—ah!"

Perona jerked back in shock as Nami lunged forwards and threw her arms around the ghost in the closest approximation to a hug she could manage. Once she got her wits about her, however, the Ghost Princess returned the hug in the same capacity.

"We would have raised hell together, wouldn't we?" Perona whispered through her tears.

Nami hiccuped a laugh of her own, drawing in even closer to the ghost…

"We still could," she breathed in her ear.

Perona blinked in surprised confusion, but before she could do or say anything, Nami hissed a string of numbers in her ear before drawing back, a smirk and a finger on her lips.

The Ghost Princess blinked a bit more. She then readopted her smile and nodded.

"Goodbye, Straw Hats," Perona breathed in farewell. "Till we meet again."

And with that, the Ghost Princess… dissolved, her astral form collapsing into motes of ectoplasm and wafting back to the plummeting island.

Chopper let out a sigh as he kneaded his brow. "I would have appreciated a chance to make sure my treatment was working. Well… alright, let's see what the damage is this time, Luffy," he said, fond exasperation in his face as he retrieved Luffy and laid him down on the grassy deck. "Nami, you're next."

"Right," the navigator nodded fearlessly, directing her attention to the rest of her crew, and then slumping down. "It looks like we won't be navigating anywhere until we touch back down… I think I'm just going to take a little rest."

"Heheh, trust me, I think we could all use some rest," came a new voice from beside the Sunny. A quick look revealed one of the last people either of the crews ever expected.

"Ever?" several voices inquired.

"Who?" was the question that several more asked.

"Ah, she was one of the slaves working at one of Shiki's bases," Robin explained with honest surprise.

"Yeah, one of the slaves who went free with all the rest!" Valentine gaped in confusion. "Ever, shouldn't you be back with your family!?"

"Oh, I went back to them alright!" Ever nodded in confirmation, beaming with unbridled positivity. "Found them after our village was wrecked, had the whole tearful reunion bit, very dramatic…" She smirked confidently as she cocked her head to the side. "Aaaand then I joined the bandwagon a lot of others were hopping on."

"And by 'bandwagon', you mean…?" Goldenweek trailed off curiously.

"Weeeeell," the winged-woman pointed up at the sky. "You see everyone splitting off here and there?"

The pirates looked up and saw that, indeed, while there were plenty of citizens of Merveille circling above the island, waiting for it to land in the ocean, clusters were splitting off and starting to flap away.

"Seeee, we were all trapped on that island under Shiki's rule for twenty years," Ever explained, grimacing. "Meaning that some people, like me, have never actually had the chance to live free. So now that Shiki's gone? A lot of people just want to leave, see the world, and never look back. People like me. And while most folks are winging it on their own… weeell…" She smirked as she folded her arms behind her head. "I thought that I'd save myself the effort and hitch a ride."

"Wait, you want to join us!?" Donny sputtered in shock.

"Them, specifically," Ever said, jerking her thumb at the Cannibal with a flat look. "No offense to you guys, but you all are a whole 'nother brand of crazy that I don't feel like dealing with. I'll settle for 'relatively deranged', thank you very much."

"Preach it, sister," Goldenweek deadpanned as she held out her knuckles to the feathered woman, who promptly bumped them with her own and a grin.

"You've got spirit, Ever," Bartolomeo rasped, pinning Ever with a serious look. "But can you actually fight? I run this crew like I ran Loguetown: I can't let you join if you're going to be dead weight when it comes to combat. Everyone on this crew needs to be able to hold their own against the other monsters of the Grand Line."

Ever returned Bartolomeo's gaze evenly for a few moments. Then she flapped her arms, flipped herself in the air and brought one leg down in an axe kick aimed straight at his skull.

SKRANG!

She winced as it made contact with a barrier instead, and withdrew her leg with a pained flex.

"Ffffucking hell, I think that broke my heel, you bastard," she grumbled with half-hearted acid.

"There's a reason I say that they're indestructible, seeing as it took Shiki using mountains to break them, and even then, my arms are what broke first," Barto snorted with a snaggle-toothed scowl, which he shoved in Ever's face. "And besides that, how the hell do you think that attacking me while I'm exhausted and nursing two broken arms would do anything to convince me that you were capable of lasting in a real fight on this ocean?"

The Merveillan shook out her foot a bit more before looking at Bartolomeo with a pleasant smile. "Oh, no, I attacked because I knew you'd be able to put it up, even while looking like some of the nastier beasties back home had chewed you up and spat you out."

"And if I couldn't?"

Ever rolled her eyes dismissively. "Well then you'd hardly be worth following, wouldn't you?"

Bartolomeo processed that with a carefully blank face.

"…heh… hehahaha… HEHAHAHAHAHA!"

Then he started laughing. It only lasted a few seconds before a spasm of pain cut him off, but the message was clear even before he shot Ever a grin.

"That's good enough for me!" he said. "You'll have to carve your place out amongst our band of bozos by hook, crook, and whatever other cheap shots you can throw, and if someone pisses you off or something then don't bother coming crying to me, but other than that?" He shrugged, wincing his way through the pain. "Welcome aboard, Ever."

Amongst the Straw Hats, Sanji chewed on his cigarette doubtfully as he leaned in close to Robin. "Nnnooot to tell somebody how to live their life, but… she is a beautiful young girl with limited life experience signing on with one of the roughest and most certifiable crews alive. Shouldn't we… I don't know, say something?"

Robin made to answer, but was cut off by Ever leaping onto the Sunny's railing and shooting her fist in the air.

"LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE STUCK WITH ME, BITCHES!" she crowed, basking in the round of boisterous cheers that erupted from the Cannibals.

Robin let a playful smile play across her face. "Counterpoint," she purred. "She's a young girl whose entire life experience comes from serving as a waitress in a pirate bar. I think she'll be just fine." She patted Sanji on the cheek as she walked off. "It's cute of you to act so concerned, though."

Sanji's head hung with a groan. "On the one hand, I love being touched by a beautiful woman. On the other, even I can't just brush off being stepped on that badly…"

"If you've gotten over that by tomorrow, Sanji, I need to talk to you about something," Cross said, tilting his hat over his eyes as he reclined on the grassy lawn, armor shed beside him. "You too, Donny."

"Huh? Uh… OK?" the Dugong in question agreed before returning to resting with his siblings.

"HEY, LOOK! IT'S THE MARINES!" Apis called.

All eyes turned downward, where a fleet of battleships could be seen turned toward where the ruins of Merveille were settling.

"Oh, this should be good," Barto leered viciously. "What do you say to a little taunting about beating them to the—?"

"No."

All eyes snapped toward the supine rubber man, who had a firm frown on his face.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"They came here to stop Shiki. They came here to fight for the East Blue. They came here to fight for the same reason that we were fighting." Luffy closed his eyes. "We would have been on the same side. Why would we make fun of them for wanting to help save our home?"

"…There he goes making way too much sense again," Usopp heaved his shoulders in a sigh. "But hey, if they leave us alone, then—!"

BOOM!

All attention snapped back down below, and Usopp brought down his goggles to see what happened.

"…Kind of anticlimactic. Yes, they're firing at us, but we're still too high for their cannonballs to reach us," he said.

"MEEHH, and we're not close enough for me to taunt anyone anyway," Soundbite crossed his eyestalks in consternation. "SOOO FRUSTRATING!"

"Eh, I don't mind it," Merry yawned, idly steering the Sunny with a few stray taps on the woodwork. "We've kicked enough ass and torn apart enough psyche for tonight. Let's just enjoy the trip down…" She hopped up onto the nearest railing and leaned back on her palms as she gazed out at the horizon, a lazy smile on her face. "Man… never thought I'd ever be lucky enough to see this again."

Everyone else stilled at the musing, and the crews all wandered over to gaze over the edge and off into the distance.

"This is impressive," Mr. 5 whistled, eyeing the ocean below. "I guess you see this all the time, Miss Valentine?"

"Hmhm," Valentine giggled, leaning on her umbrella. "This a whole different scale, Mr. 5."

With that, the two crews eased into relaxation. Which, for the Straw Hats, soon turned into rest, which just as quickly turned into straight out collapsing so that they could sleep off the fatigue of the last week and the final fight against Shiki. This, in turn, led to no small amount of panic from their erstwhile travel companions.

As ever and always, not a quiet moment on the deck of the Thousand Sunny.

-o-

A few hours later, on an uninhabited island not far from the ruins of Merveille, a bloodied, legless form cracked open a bloodshot eye. Ragged gasps tore out of his throat as consciousness rudely intruded. Memories of recent events coalesced in his mind, and as he felt the stumps where his legs once were, now bereft of his precious swords, hatred crystallized in his heart.

"Monkey D. Luffy," he snarled, forcing himself upright. "I've lost everything to another rookie from the East Blue… no."

A mirthless smile came over his face. "No… I still have my powers. That's all I need. I'll take the time I need to clean my wounds."

He turned his gaze upward. "I'll fly to the White-White Sea, nobody will be able to find me there. I'll form a new plan, new weapons, a new army… and next time, I'll break his spirit first. I'll find his home, and I'll slaughter those he cares about most! Ji… JIHAHAHA! JIHAHAHAHAAAA!" Shiki threw his head back and roared with laughter, heedless of the blood he was hurling with every guffaw. "I HAVEN'T LOST YET! I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE! I'LL BE BACK! DO YOU HEAR ME!? I'LL BE—!"

"You shall not, cretin."

CRACK!

A Haki-enforced heel slammed into his skull, sending Shiki back into blissful unconsciousness. A red and white serpent bound him in its coils before moving back toward its master, who had a Transponder Snail out and in her palm.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I have located the fallen form of Shiki the Golden Lion," Pirate Empress Boa Hancock announced with a prim sniff. "And quite fortunately for your Government's reputation, he is still alive; you may retrieve him and do with him whatever you will."

The line was silent for a few moments, the snail's expression slightly wide-eyed. Then…

"…I am grateful for your assistance, Boa Hancock. But I thought you generally made it a rule to not care about anything outside the Calm Belt?"

Hancock tossed her hair dismissively. "I decided to make an exception."

"That's the best I'm getting out of you, isn't it?" Sengoku sighed, grimacing. He forged on before she could reply. "And if I asked you to extend that 'exception' to the Straw Hats?"

KA-LICK!

Hancock smirked as she pressed her finger into the receiver's cradle. "I suspect that that will suffice as answer enough."

"Honestly, some men, they just can't be satisfied with what they get, can they?" Marguerite sighed wistfully.

"Indeed, indeed," Marigold snickered before giving her sibling a contemplative look. "Though… I am curious, sister. Why did you decide to intervene, when we never have before?"

"Did you not hear me, Mari?" Hancock raised her chin as she strutted past her larger sibling, Salome at her heels. "I decided to make an exception. But, quite unlike what Sengoku believes, I did not make this exception for the sake of this," she sneered as she snapped a kick across her captive's jaw. "Pathetic wretch. Rather…"

Boa Hancock turned her gaze skyward, smiling fondly as she recalled the sight of a pair of ships gliding into the sunset as she had seen a time ago.

"I made an exception," she breathed warmly. "For the sake of an exceptional man."

Cross-Brain AN: Our sincerest apologies, ladies and gentlemen, but we will be ending the chapter here. We intended to finish Strong World with this, but the aftermath is shaping up to be much longer than we expected. But you can't be too mad as us since we got all of the action out of the way first, right? In any case, it shouldn't take too much longer for us to finish up part 4, which will be the final part before we move to the last pre-time skip saga.

Also, here's a tidbit: hidden in this chapter are expies to the original work that we, the Cross-Brain, will be working on during our hiatus! Locate them if you can, and look forward to our work!

Patient AN: And if you were wondering about Hornet's AN from part 1? We were referring to Perona joining the crew. Don't get us wrong, Ego and I both wanted her to join… but at this point, we need to be very selective about whom we add to the crew, and Perona just doesn't add enough. We do have other plans for her, though… and you've probably already guessed what they are.

Ah, yes, and one more important matter: credit for the analyzation of Indigo's Chemical Juggling and the mechanics of the subsequent fight scene belongs to the love of my life, the amazing Vikingr.