Bab 25: Despair
Zeus woke up the next morning in a good mood. He didn't even believe for a single second that Ace was captured. He went about his day as he normally would, he went to see Milly in the morning, played around during the day and saw Milly at night before going to sleep.
After 4 days
He got back to Garp's house after seeing Milly again and went to his room. He checked in with Lucci and found out everything was going good and was relieved. Soon it would be time for his to get started working on his underworld organization and he already had a plan to get Crocodile out of Impel Down, he even got to visit his favorite jailer during the trip.
He continued his days as usual, completely oblivious to the busy marines. He asked Garp what the big thing was but Garp told him it was a high ranking secret and to not worry about it. Zeus didn't care, he didn't believe Garp would lie to him and plus Milly's dad was not at home most of the time so he could fool around with her all day. These days he was rowdier than usual, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he just assumed it was because of his mood and ignored it.
How ironic.
6 days passed
Zeus walked out in the morning and noticed it was deserted, he was confused and went to HQ building. He saw a ton of marines there, even Milly was wearing her marine uniform and listening carefully to Sengoku speak.
Zeus looked up and his pupils constricted, he saw Ace chained to the execution tower and heard Sengoku's voice saying "Today is a big day in marine history! We're executing a famous pirate.." Zeus' head was buzzing and lightning subconsciously crackled wildly around him a Sengoku announced the pirate's name "Portgas" Zeus' heart cracked "D." his eyes turned completely red "Ace." Zeus growled and lightning spewed from his body as he screamed "GRAMPS YOU FUCKING LIED TO ME!"
Garp flashed in front of Zeus and knocked him out with a heavy haki coated chop, way too fast for Zeus to react, before saying "Continue" and disappearing.
Garp chained Zeus up in his house with heavy sea stone chains and cuffs. He looked at Zeus and sighed before leaving the house with a heavy heart.
A while later
Zeus woke up with a start form the sound of a giant explosion. He looked around and saw the chains, his memory slowly recovered and he started panicking. He struggled in the chains to no avail before screaming "GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF THESE CHAINS OR I'LL SINK FUCKING MARINEFORD!" he used his lightning to amplify his voice, but no one came. Unable to do anything else, Zeus kept screaming and struggling pointlessly but he never stopped.
Every bang, crash, and boom, smashing harder and harder on his heart. He never felt so useless in his life. He cursed everything in his heart as he screamed as loud as he could, hoping that someone, anyone, would come and free him. All he wanted right now was to be free and save his brother, willing to trade even his own life to save him.
It seemed as if his prayers had been answered.
The door opened to Garp's house and Zeus looked up to see Milly there. He said quickly "Milly! Free me! Quickly! Please, I'm begging you!" Milly was stunned, she had never seen him like this, she said "Kurama, I-" Zeus screamed "Milly! Get me the fuck out of these chains! PLEASE!"
Milly nodded slowly and grabbed the key by the door, before freeing Zeus. Zeus hugged her and said "You are my angel! I owe you a huge favor! Whatever you want!" Milly was once again stunned and couldn't react, Zeus broke off and held her shoulders before saying "Milly. It was really great to know, you. Even if we only had sex with each other, I still considered you a good friend. If you need anything just ask."
Milly didn't like where this was going and said "Kurama, what are you?" Zeus pressed his finger against her mouth and shook his head saying "I'm not Kurama." he took off his mask and said "My real name is Zeus. Monkey D. Zeus" he kissed Milly and stuffed the mask in her hands before running off saying "Keep that mask to remember me by! If you need me, call me! Bye Milly!" Milly was rooted on the spot and turned pale before running out with the mask held tightly in her hands, screaming "ZEUS NO!"
Zeus arrived at the battlefield and collapsed to his knees, his pupils shrank as he stared at Ace's figure with a molten fist running through it! Zeus trembled and tears fell from his eyes as he shouting hoarsely at the top of his lungs "AAAACEE!" an invisible wave exploded from his body and covered the entire battlefield, drawing the attention of the strong fighters and simultaneously knocking out weaklings.
Garp looked over and his pupils constricted, Sengoku was stunned, even Smoker was stunned before thinking about it and shaking his head slowly, he muttered "No wonder.." but he still felt bad for Zeus, he remembered what Zeus said before leaving his office once.
Zeus was about to leave Smoker's office, when he paused and said "You're a good friend Smokey"
Smoker sighed and he looked away, unable to watch anymore.
Whitebeard looked at Zeus then Luffy and mumbled "What a pity.."
Akainu ripped his hand out of Ace and sneered "So you finally showed your face Kurama!" Zeus was silent and his hair shadowed his eyes, he looked through his hair and his red eyes glowed with a deadly light as he growled "My name is Monkey D. ZEUS!" he roared a dragon roar from his mouth and threw off his marine jacket, vaporizing it in mid-air before lightning fell from the sky and bathed Zeus' entire body in it.
The lightning subsided and a giant 100 meter white dragon appeared in the air where Zeus was.
Zeus roared to the sky and red lightning crackled above him in the skies before covering his entire body. Zeus looked down at Akainu and growled "Sa.. Ka.. Zu.. Ki!!!!!" His whole body turned jet black and he charged at Akainu let a bullet, smashing his head into Akainu's body and sending him flying across Marineford, shocking everyone who was watching, regardless if they were at Marineford or watching on a screen.
On Sabaody
Bonney was rooted on the spot as she watched Zeus show his face and transform, she collapsed to the ground weakly, her gaze fixated on the screen.
Back on Marineford
Zeus was in a severe rage mode and a giant red lightning ring appeared behind his back and started turning extremely fast. He opened his mouth and lightning fell from the sky into the middle of the ring, Zeus was staring at Akainu and suddenly a thick lightning beam shot out of his mouth and blasted Akainu, shaking the entirety of Marineford.
The marines fell down to their asses and stared with their mouths wide open, even some of the pirates were slack jawed as they watched the carnage, feeling Zeus' rage and sadness washing over them, making them shiver.
Whitebeard looked at Zeus before turning his head to where Akainu was and shaking his head. It was powerful but not powerful enough. Crocodile was among those who were stunned, his mouth was wide open and he remembered talking to Zeus when he was in the marine ship's cage. He suddenly shuddered when he remembered what Zeus wanted from him, but beneath that fear was excitement.
The lightning breath stopped and everybody looked to see a giant hole of nothing, even the sea had a hole in it, the water didn't fall until a few seconds later, as if it had just regained it's senses as well.
Zeus stared at the hole in a frenzy and magma bubbled out of the ground, slowly forming to reveal Akainu's figure. His clothes were tattered and he looked disheveled but besides that, he was completely fine.
Akainu sneered and started laughing, it was the only sound that could be hear across the entirety of Marineford at this moment. Every laugh and sound coming from Akainu rang in Zeus' mind and made him angrier and angrier. The only one who didn't notice anything was Luffy, who was holding Ace's, still warm, corpse. He was completely frozen in shock staring at the, now dead, Ace and mumbling over and over "Ace, come on.. Wake up.. We're gonna go get some food.. You always fall asleep eating.."
Zeus charged at Akainu and everyone got back to their sense and started fighting again. The pirates moral was pretty high, considering they had a giant dragon on their side pinning down an Admiral all by himself.
Before Zeus could get to Akainu, Aokiji and Kaizu stopped him. Zeus was in a complete rage state and couldn't even see who it was, there was only an enemy in his way to his brother's killer. Whoever stopped him would die as simple as that and so, Zeus started fighting Aokiji and Kizaru while Akainu laughed behind them, further enraging Zeus as the giant red ring slowly started to spin faster and faster.
Jinbe made use of Zeus' distraction and grabbed Luffy in the chaos, along with Ace's body. Akainu noticed him and chased after Jinbe intent on letting Zeus feel the despair he had mocked him for doing before. Jinbe ran as fast as he could and threw Ace to the Whitebeard pirates so that he could run faster.
Akainu made a last ditch effort to kill Luffy and shot a magma fist at Jinbe, singeing Luffy's chest and burning Jinbe's side before they both escaped. Akainu cursed as he watched Luffy and Jinbe get away before turning around and looking a Zeus with a sadistic grin.
Zeus was slowly becoming conscious of his actions and finally saw Aokiji and Kizaru. He was confused and said hoarsely "Where's Sakazuki?" before Aokiji and Kizaru could answer, Akainu's voice came from behind "Here!" Zeus turned around to see a giant magma blast coming right for him, he tried to dodge to the side, but the magma splashed on his right shoulder, burning his flesh and melting his thick scales.
Zeus activated his haki and focused it on his right side neck-shoulder-upper bicep area. Zeus backed away slowly and stood in front of the three admirals before saying "How can you burn me!"
Akainu sneered and said "My fruit is a variation! The magma is from the planet closest to the sun!"
Ice crystals appeared in the air and Aokiji sighed before saying "Me too, but my ice is from the furthest planet from the sun."
Kizaru flashed around sporadically and said "My fruit broke it's limits and I can physically travel at half the speed of light exactly."
Zeus looked at the three and grit his teeth, lightning wasn't looking too good here if he had to be honest, but he would never back down. Either he dies today or their do, there's no in between! He roared and swept his tail at the three admirals, it was pitch black and covered in black lightning. Kizaru flashed away, Aokiji backed off, and Akainu punched at it.
Zeus' tail smashed against Akainu's fist and bounced back. He grit his teeth and charged at Akainu, fully intent on killing him somehow. Aokiji was going to make a move, but Marco stopped him. Kizarus flashed but Whitebeard shot a tremor slash at where he was going to be.
With 2 of the 3 Admirals occupied, Zeus and Akainu started fighting again. Zeus focused his haki on the spots he was going to hit Akainu with and slashed with his dragon claws, making electric slashes in the air, going right for Akainu, who kept dodging.
Zeus realized his body was too big and shrank down to his hybrid form, he only had dragon arms and horns with a tail but he sucked the tail back in and attacked Akainu once more. Black electricity covered his dragon claws and became sharp dragon gauntlets, extending his reach and sending electric slashes at the same time.
The ring on Zeus' back kept spinning faster and faster the longer he fought.
Zeus charged at Akainu and slashed, catching him in the chest and ripping his marine suit right off, drawing blood. Zeus grinned like a mad man seeing the blood and went into a frenzy, furiously swiping and slashing, cutting and sending electric slashed at Akainu constantly, but this didn't mean he lost his mind!
On the contrary, Zeus was conscious of every move he made and was paying attention to everything around him as he fought Akainu, dodging the magma blasts, and avoiding clustered areas. He lunged at Akainu and his mouth grew out like a dragon before he bit Akainu in the neck and covered his entire body in haki. Akainu grunted in pain and punched Zeus repeatedly in the stomach, but Zeus held on.
The red lightning ring spun and Zeus laughed like a maniac as lightning gathered in his mouth. Akainu felt it and sent magma in Zeus' mouth but it was too late.
BOOM!
A huge explosion occurred, engulfing the duo. Whitebeard, Marco, Aokiji, Garp, Kizaru, and Sengoku all slowed down their movements and paid attention to the explosion and watched as the dust settled.
A wind blew the dust away and revealed Akainu's ragged figure standing above Zeus' unconscious body. Akainu's neck and arm were severely scarred and his shoulder was broken in several places, while Zeus lost consciousness as soon as he let out the lightning breath, relatively less beaten than Akainu.
Akainu raised his arm to finish Zeus off, but Garp shot forward and punched Akainu in the face sending him flying across Marineford like a bullet. Garp stood over Zeus taking deep breaths and glaring at Akainu, Whitebeard saw this and smiled to himself.
Sengoku saw this and didn't have an expression, but there was a small bit of unconcealable relief in his eyes. Sengoku grabbed Garp and held him back before grabbing Zeus and bringing him with him, ending Zeus' participation in the war.
Sengoku handed Zeus to Yamakaji and said "Infirmary. We'll deal with him later.. After he heals" Yamakaji nodded and left with Zeus to the Infirmary, doctors rushing behind him.
Sengoku looked back to the battlefield and clenched his fist in frustration. Whitebeard had a big smile on his face as he laughed "That kid has spunk! It makes me energized!" he looked at Garp and nodded slightly feeling sympathetic, this old time rival, had to choose between his life's work and his family over and over again.
It took a real man to do what he did and that earned Whitebeard's respect, although he would never say anything about it, and if he was asked, he would deny it vehemently. Garp was shaking at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to rip Akainu limb from limb, Sengoku squeezed his shoulder and said "The kid is okay. Calm down."
Garp took a deep breath and calmed down, but still didn't feel good. What was he doing really? Was it worth it to sacrifice your family for the marines? What was true justice?
Zeus was hook up to Iv's and getting blood transfused. His internal wounds were recovering extremely fast but the external one, wasn't budging at all. The scrapes, cuts, and burns, recovered but the first hit from Akainu was still there, glaringly obvious, almost mocking Zeus and the doctors for trying to get rid of it.
The doctor's patched him up and covered his entire neck, torso and arm with bandages. They sighed and left the infirmary to go tend to the wounded. Zeus' breathing stabilized and time passed on the outside world.
The first visitor was Garp, who watched over Zeus and even slept in the infirmary.
The second was Sengoku to comfort Garp.
Third was Milly, who was still holding onto Zeus' mask tightly with tears in her eyes as she looked at Zeus in the bed. What he said was right, even though they only had a sexual relationship, it didn't mean they were strangers. They considered each other friends, she didn't care who he was really, pirate, marine, revolutionary. She was his friend first before anything. Before she left she told Garp to let her know when he woke up and Garp nodded wordlessly.
After Milly came, Aokiji and Kizaru showed up and looked at Zeus sadly, he was still a marine for 10 years prior to the war. They didn't have anything against him and they understood his actions, they contemplated that if they were in the same situation they would probably do the same thing.
Kizaru apologized to Garp and left. Aokiji looked at Zeus and remembered the times he was joking around with him and making himself laugh. He and Zeus were quite similar in a way, their attitudes were in line with each other and they were considered friends, he sighed to himself and thought 'It this all really worth it? Is this the Justice that I thought it was?'
He shook his head and tapped Garp on the shoulder before leaving.
Finally on the third day on Zeus' recovery.
Smoker walked in by himself, while Hina and Tashigi stayed outside the room. Smoker walked over to Zeus' bed and stared at him silently for a moment before leaving a box of cigarettes on the table next to his bed. Garp was sleeping and Smoker said "Was it worth it?" before sighing and turning around, he was about to walk away when his wrist was grabbed.
He turned around and saw Zeus opening his eyes, Smoker said "Are you okay?" Zeus looked at him and around the room before back to Smoker and saying "Is he dead?" Smoker was startled and shook his head, Zeus let go of Smoker and looked at the ceiling silently.
Smoker sighed and turned around to leave but before he walked out the door, Zeus spoke again "Are you still my friend?" Smoker paused for a second before saying seriously "Of course." and walking out, hearing Zeus' weak chuckles from behind him.
Garp woke up after Smoker left and saw Zeus staring at the ceiling in a daze, he got nervous and said "Are you okay Zeus?!" Zeus nodded and said "Why am I not dead." Garp flinched and said "I knocked him across Marineford." Zeus chuckled and said "Cool. Why didn't you do it for Ace."
Garp froze and sat back down before saying weakly "I don't know." he paused before adding "Do you hate me?" Zeus laughed and shook his head as he said "It's my fault. I'm too naïve. I should've prepared instead of indulging in my own selfishness. I should've killed Blackbeard. I should've stopped Ace. I should've... I should've.." his voice started trembling as he held up his hands and tears streamed from his eyes as he finished "I should've died instead."
Garp grit his teeth and tears fell from his eyes, hearing that and seeing Zeus' state, made him feel even worse than seeing him die. He took a deep breath and said "I'm my fault not yours." Zeus laughed and put his hands down saying "I knew this would happen. Don't blame yourself Gramps. It's my fault in the end. At least Luffy is alive."
Garp stabilized his emotions and said "Sleep now, talk later." Zeus chuckled and slowly fell back asleep.
The next day
Zeus recovered 80% and was brought to Sengoku's office in handcuffs. He sat in a chair and hung his head, his hair covering his eyes. Inside the office, Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu were sitting in their usual spots, but the mood this time was completely different.
Sengoku took a deep breath and said "Zeus. Do you know your crimes?" Zeus was silent and Sengoku continued "Betraying the Marines, Attacking a higher ranking officer, and.." he sighed "And releasing marine techniques to outsiders." Zeus still didn't move a single muscle, he sat and took everything that was put on him, sitting there like a statue.
Sengoku sighed and said "I sentence you to the 6th level of Impel Down.. for life." Garp, Aokiji, and Kizaru, closed their eyes and felt heavy but Akainu sneered and said "You should be dead, you little basta-" Garp snapped his eyes open and choke slammed Akainu to the ground as he said in a tone as cold as ice "Say it again punk. I dare you."
Akainu grimaced and kept silent. Sengoku sighed and said "Garp. Enough. Sakazuki, if I so much as hear another word out of your mouth today, so help me god!" he was currently trembling, in what, it was unclear but it could have been either rage or grief.
Sengoku was about to send Zeus away when the door busted open and a celestial dragon walked in arrogantly. Everyone, except Zeus, looked at him wordlessly and the Celestial Dragon said "I will take this man as my slave! Make it official!"
Garp's whole body started trembling and Sengoku grit his teeth and said 'kindly' "I don't think that's very appro-" the celestial dragon frowned and waved "What's all this nonsense! Hurry up and process him!" Garp moved but Sengoku moved faster and slammed Garp's head into the ground saying "Calm down!"
Suddenly the snail started ringing, Sengoku looked at Aokiji, who nodded and answered "Hello." a voice came over the phone and said simply "Monkey D. Zeus transferred to Saint Claudios as a slave." Aokiji was silent and the voice added "Directly from the Gorosei."
Saint Claudios sneered arrogantly and Garp trembled again, suddenly Zeus started laughing wildly and stood up, he turned around and his glowing red eyes peeked through his hair as he said "Let's go, trashcan." before walking out of the room with Saint Claudios.
Garp closed his eyes and clenched his fist so hard, blood seeped out. Sengoku let Garp go when they left and the voice sounded again, leaving everyone in the room shocked beyond belief.
Zeus walked out of Marine HQ building and looked at the destruction around him, emotionlessly. He looked over and saw Milly looking at him with tears in her eyes, she was still hugging his mask. He smiled at her and followed Saint Claudios to the ship. He stepped on the ship and looked behind him, he saw Smoker looking at him, Zeus smiled and waved goodbye before saying "You're a great friend Smokey."
Smoker clenched his fists and turned away as tears pooled in his eyes.
Zeus smiled slightly and turned his back to Marineford, he looked on the horizon and vaguely saw the red line. He smiled to himself, his grampa always did things by the rules. He wasn't going to have his grampa become a criminal, for himself. He looked into the sea and saw his own reflection, he chuckled slightly before sitting down with his back against the railing of the ship and leaned his head back, wondering what hell was like because as far as he was concerned he just cashed in a one-way ticket.
(Author's Note)
... Idk what to say. If you didn't like it then you have absolutely no heart and should check yourself to see if you are in fact a zombie. I already know you're all going to say 'Wtf he became a slave again?! This sucks! Go die! Fuck you!' and to that I say Ha! Jokes on you, I'm already dead! Also, if he didn't give himself up then Garp would've become a criminal and that's the last thing Zeus wants right now. It's a small period of self-blame and depression. It's called *Ding Ding* Character development~ Oh? What's that? What did the voice say at the end there? Well find out next time!
Also 6th chapter today just saying Im pretty fucking cool idk and also super tired woooooooo
You can check out my OTHER books while you wait:
One Piece: Another Chance (Completed)
Saiyan in Marvel (Completed)
My Hero Academia: Quirkless
One Piece: Price of Freedom
One Piece: Shadow King
Another Dragonball Adventure
DISCORD LINK: https://discord.gg/VUJYbRX7Ej (IT NEVER EXPIRES)
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