The streets of the island were chaos. Civilians screamed and ran through distorted alleys as sirens echoed across warped buildings. Time stuttered in irregular pulses, and the ground cracked beneath shifting physics. The once-bustling port town was now a fractured memory of itself, and reality shimmered with Kael's increasingly frequent warps.
Marines guided panicked citizens toward the emergency evacuation ships stationed along the northern coast. The sky overhead boiled violet and black. From the horizon, warships approached—the Buster Call.
"Move! Everyone move! We've got 24 minutes before this place is wiped off the map!" shouted a commanding officer.
Back at the central battlefield, Luffy and Zoro fought a losing battle.
Kael, or what was left of him, twisted again mid-air, warping into three copies of himself. One distorted time, another bent light, and the third reshaped terrain under Luffy's feet.
"Kael's cheating!" Luffy growled, bouncing off a sideways wall.
"No excuses, Luffy! Just hit harder!" Zoro shouted, slicing through one illusion.
As they clashed, Kael's mind flickered with Noel's voice:
"Remember who you are, Kael. You're not their weapon."
A single tear escaped Kael's glowing eye before his mouth opened, letting out a mechanical screech. The Core's control tightened.
Franky shouted from the underground terminal, sweat pouring down his face. "Guys, the system's fighting me at every turn! I tried to initiate a shutdown sequence but the Core's resisting—it's morphing the protocols!"
Each Den Den Mushi sparked to life.
Sanji and Nami – Eastern Pillar
Nami's eyes widened. "This pillar is absorbing ambient weather. It's syncing with my clima-tact."
"Then give it a thunderstorm it won't forget, Nami," Sanji said, booting a drone aside. "Let's do it together."
"Don't slow me down, Sanji," Nami smirked.
As they moved closer, the pillar came to life—tendrils of electricity lashed out, forcing them back.
"Watch out, Nami!" Sanji shouted, leaping in front to intercept. "No harm will come to you while I'm breathing!"
"Stop trying to impress me and focus!" Nami growled, eyes locked on the pulse core inside the pillar. "We can overload it—if we time our attacks."
Sanji grinned. "Say the word."
Nami spun her clima-tact high. "Now!"
Lightning surged into the core as Sanji twisted midair, unleashing a Diable Jambe kick. The double impact struck true. The pillar screeched, overloaded, and imploded in a surge of thunderous steam.
Sanji caught Nami as the wind knocked them back. "A storm and a goddess. What a combo."
"Shut up, Sanji," Nami said. "Let's move."
Robin and Chopper – Northern Pillar
Robin deciphered the glyphs while Chopper held the crumbling platform with Guard Point.
"This wasn't meant to power destruction—it's been inverted," Robin said. "I need ten more seconds."
Chopper gritted his teeth. "You've got nine!"
The pillar unleashed a pulse of dark energy, knocking debris loose.
"Robin! Watch out!" Chopper cried, shielding her.
"I'm fine, Chopper," Robin said calmly. "But the structure is adapting. It knows we're trying to shut it down."
"Then we'll outsmart it!" Chopper declared, shifting to Heavy Point and smashing a mechanical tendril.
Robin's hands formed wings across the glyphs. "Gigantes Mano!"
Her limbs burst forth, bracing the pillar's inner structure.
"Activate the glyph matrix," she said. "Now!"
Chopper leapt to the node and stabbed it with a cryo-syringe. A shudder ran through the column before it cracked and collapsed into a shaft of pale energy.
Robin exhaled. "Two down."
Usopp and Brook – Western Pillar
"Brook, it's reflecting my shots!" Usopp shouted, diving behind rubble.
"Then let's confuse it with something it can't reflect!" Brook replied, strumming a chilling chord. "Soul Parade!"
Spectral figures danced across the battlefield, clouding the pillar's sensors.
"Now, Usopp!"
"I got this!" Usopp shouted, loading a special pop green. "Firebird Star—plus Nightmare Dust!"
The blast ruptured part of the pillar, but an appendage rose and lunged at him.
"Usopp!" Brook cried, intercepting with a frost slash.
"I'm not done yet!" Usopp scrambled up. "Sniper King never gives up!"
He locked onto a glowing socket and fired a compressed slingshot orb directly into it. The pillar erupted in a cyclone of smoke and cracked metal.
Brook twirled his cane. "Splendid work, Usopp."
Usopp panted. "Told you... I'm brave... sometimes."
Back underground, Franky wiped oil from his forehead.
"All three points down! Initiating Core loopback—wait—what the hell?!"
The console shimmered.
"Core override... blocked?! It's rewriting my code!"
The Hellix Core's center erupted with pillars of refracted space, and Kael—floating, glowing—jerked violently.
"Final evolution engaged," the mechanical voice echoed. "Emergency Host integration complete."
Kael's body warped.
His skin shimmered between chrome and ash. Cracks glowed with internal red light. Multiple arms unfurled from his back. His face was a fractured version of himself.
Zoro narrowed his eyes. "That's no longer Kael."
"Nope," Luffy muttered. "But I'm still gonna punch him."