Chapter 301: Freyja & Diddy Vs Garp, Kizaru & Ryokugyu
While I was enjoying my fight with Garp, now that we'd rescued Freyja, there was no longer any point for us to stay here any longer; after all, we've already got what we came for, and speaking of her, ever since she appeared I've been keeping an eye on her, mainly to see how much stronger she's gotten, and seeing her fighting against Kizaru on even ground only caused me to smile with joy.
'Heh, all that waiting, and it's finally starting to pay off.' Mused Diddy with a feral grin as he licked his lips while glancing at Freyja, only to be punched in the stomach, forcing him back several steps.
"Urgh, that one freaking hurt." Muttered Diddy lightly as he rubbed his bruised abdomen while glancing at Garp, who was faintly smirking while rubbing his blackened fist.
"Good, though I need you to do much more than just get hurt." Said Garp with a smile as he lunged towards Diddy, whose body suddenly arced with lightning.
As lightning traveled through my nervous system, enhancing my speed and reflexes, I speedily approached Garp and violently punched him in the face before he could block it in time, causing him to be flung through the walls of Impel Down. However, I wasn't done yet; turning around, I leaped off the ground and dashed through the air, rapidly nearing Ryokugyu, who was fighting against Mael and Sebas.
Since I wasn't trying to conceal my actions, he spotted me, but by then, it was too late as I grabbed him by the neck before kicking my feet once again, lunging towards Kizaru, who had just taken a violent attack from Freyja, drawing blood. While approaching Kizaru, Ryokugyu tried attacking me, yet I bombarded him with lighting before he could, causing him to grunt in pain while he lay within my grasp motionlessly; with Ryokugyu no longer proving to be a problem for the next few seconds, I shifted my focus to Kizaru, who happened to notice me, prompting him to try and distance himself from me.
However, after fighting with Kizaru multiple times over the years, I've learned a lot of things about him, and one of them was that, despite being insanely fast, he couldn't immediately reach his top speed, granted, it wouldn't take long, but that short window was all I needed arrive near him and grab his ankle before he could escape from me.
With both Admirals in my grasp, I spun around in a circle, building momentum before flinging them directly at Garp, who had just emerged from Impel Down, causing all three of them to be thrown even deeper into the prison than before.
"Tsk, the hell was that for!? I was getting my revenge!" Exclaimed Freyja angrily as she slashed at Diddy, who didn't bother dodging with her elongated nails, causing several gashes to appear on his back.
"Heh, look at that, you're finally able to wound me when I'm not using haki." Said Diddy with a grin as he glanced at his wounds, which bleed, before glancing at Freyja, who clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"Tch, I was hoping for more, but I suppose this is better than nothing; improvements are improvements, no matter how small." Muttered Freyja lightly with a click of her tongue as she rested her hand on her hip while glancing at Diddy, whose face twitched.
'D-Did she just call her improvements small?' Mused Diddy with a twitching expression as he looked at Freyja, only to shake his head, forgetting about it.
"What the hell was that for? Well, if nothing is done, we'll eventually be overrun; their numbers vastly outnumber ours; besides, our only goal was to rescue you from Impel Down. Now that we've achieved that, there is no longer a reason to stay here, which means… RETREAT!!" Remarked Diddy loudly as he gestured to the ground below, prompting Freyja to look as she observed her fellow crewmates fighting against a seemingly endless horde of marines while Pandemonium fended off an entire fleet.
With my words reverberating through all of Impel Down, my crew promptly followed my orders as they all began making their way towards Pandemonium, who had arrived at the edge of the Island, which allowed the many battleships they were halting to approach the island, though hopefully by then, they would have escaped. Thanks to Sebas and Mael taking the lead and carving a path through the endless hoard of marines, they were able to make it to Pandemonium while they prevented the marines from coming any further, helping the many other crewmates, though I happened to notice that Scar seemed somewhat reluctant to separate from his battle, but he eventually did, prompting him to assist Sebas and Mael, with Chala and Grand following soon after.
"Tsk, well, I'm not retreating, not until I've beaten Kizaru." Remarked Freyja solemnly as she floated forward, hovering in the air beside Diddy while her conqueror's haki erupted from her body, causing nearly half of the marines down below to fall unconscious.
"Heh, fine, stay if you want; you've got the strength to protect yourself, so I don't really care." Said Diddy lightly as he fell towards the ground, crashing in the middle of the path leading to Impel Down while Freyja gracefully landed beside him with a smirk.
"Hehe, what's this? Diddy worrying for the safety of dear ol' me? Seems my charms have finally managed to crack through that tough skull of yours." Said Freyja with a seductive smile as she grabbed Diddy's hand and was about to place it on her breast, but before she could, a bullet suddenly whizzed through the air and hit her hand, though thanks to her haki; it harmlessly bounced right off.
"NO TOUCHING!!" Yelled Trenza, her voice sounding almost indiscernible amongst the chaotic and loud battle, though Freyja's sensitive senses could easily hear her.
"Tch, of course, I worry for you; I've kept your annoying ass alive for nine years while dealing with your bullshit every day; I'll be beyond pissed if some other fucker kills you." Remarked Diddy lightly as he yanked his arm out of Freyja's grasp while she faintly chuckled before blowing him an illusory kiss, which he smacked out of the air with his tail.
"Hehe, I feel the same. If someone else ever killed you, I'd go crazy. Though, I'm entirely confident in you achieving your goal of becoming the strongest, so I'm not too worried, and after you've done that, I'll come right along and kill you myself." Stated Freyja earnestly as she brushed her hair aside while glancing at Diddy, only to sport a murderous smile, causing him to grin.
Before I could respond, Freyja suddenly slashed forward while I grabbed Naga-sa and swung it forward, just in time for the two of us to block the combined might of Garp, Kizaru, and Ryokugyu, which wasn't easy as we were forced to take several steps back.
"Heh, back for round two?" Asked Freyja with a sinister expression as she attempted to lick her long tongue onto Kizaru's cheek, though he retreated before she could.
"Tsk, where do you think you guys are going!?" Exclaimed Ryokugyu angrily as he glared at Pandemonium, observing the retreating pirates, yet before he could lunge after them, a bo-staff hit him in the stomach, sending him back.
Quickly raising my arm, blocking Garp's punch, which nearly knocked me off balance, I slammed Naga-sa on the ground, causing an explosion of lighting that forced him backward.
"Heh, I see you're blocking again; is this old man too much for ya?" Asked Garp with a faint smirk as he stood beside Ryokugyu while eyeing Diddy, who chuckled while wiping blood from his mouth.
"Well, I've got to keep you and Ryokugyu busy until my crew escapes." Remarked Diddy with a feral smirk as he twirled Naga-sa before infusing Nimbus with it, causing cloud-like symbols to appear around the edge of the shaft.
"Heh, don't lie, Diddy; you just want to have a good fight." Said Freyja with a smirk as she glanced at Diddy while aggressively eyeing Kizaru, who didn't seem so nonchalant as usual.
"Hehehe, looks like the cat's out of the bag." Muttered Diddy with a feral grin as his bo-staff violently arced with lightning while Freyja's body was set ablaze with inky black flames.
The five of us didn't need a word to start as Freyja and I suddenly lunged toward our opponents, causing them to do the same; with Freyja and Kizaru branching off into the distance, I was left to deal with both Garp and Ryokugyu, which was going to be even tougher than when I fought against him and Fujitora. To be honest, it was a bit of a stretch to call it a fight; Garp alone required almost my full attention, and with Ryokugyu added to the mix, taking advantage and attacking me when I was fighting Garp, I was pretty much their punching bag, though it's not like I wasn't fighting back, I was, it was just a very difficult thing to do.
'Tsk, I'm glad I've gotten stronger after my battle with Linlin; otherwise, I would've been even worse off than I already am.' Mused Diddy as he was nearly stabbed in the stomach with a thick tree root, though he managed to evade and divert it at the last possible second before pushing himself off it, dodging a punch from Garp.
"Hehe, still, this is fun!" Muttered Diddy with a smile as he fearlessly lunged back into the fray, fighting two powerful opponents without a shred of concern.