"Sengoku, get out here!" Hovering above Marineford, Golden Lion roared down. Instantly, everyone in the headquarters could hear his voice.
Every Marine present jumped in alarm. None of them expected Golden Lion to suddenly show up on their doorstep. Had he deliberately timed this, knowing that most of their top-tier fighters were away at Impel Down?
To make matters worse, Fleet Admiral Kong was currently in Mary Geoise reporting to the Five Elder Stars. He wasn't at headquarters either.
"Golden Lion, this is no place for you to run wild!" A Marine Vice Admiral stepped forward, barking a reprimand at him.
"Scram. It's not your place to speak." With a single flying slash, Golden Lion blasted the nameless Vice Admiral aside. The man crumpled to the ground, his fate unknown.
"Damn you, Golden Lion! This is Marineford! Not your Golden Lion Pirate crew's territory! You can't just do whatever you please!"
"If you've got the skill, then stop me. Otherwise, you're just a bunch of loudmouthed trash."
"All Marines, charge! We cannot let Golden Lion do as he pleases here!" another Vice Admiral ordered the surrounding soldiers.
Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp were currently on their way back from Impel Down. They would surely arrive before long.
"We have to hold him off until Admiral Sengoku gets back!"
"Yes, sir!" Hearing the order, the Marines' morale instantly surged. If Golden Lion were captured, they would be the heroes of the Navy. That was the kind of glory they could brag about for the rest of their lives. I helped capture the great pirate Golden Lion, they could say. Played a huge part, too. As for exactly how huge... well, who was going to check?
"Heh. You think numbers can hold me back? You seriously underestimate me."
Golden Lion flashed a wicked grin, eyeing the swarming Marines before him. In his eyes, they were no different from ants.
In the next breath, he drew his twin swords and casually flicked out two flying slashes. Neither was something the Marines could ever hope to block.
Before long, a mountain of Marine corpses had piled up at Golden Lion's feet. The surviving soldiers didn't dare to attack anymore, staring at Golden Lion with sheer terror in their eyes.
"Let's see who else dares to stop me. Today, I'm tearing this Marineford to the ground!"
"Golden Lion, you've gone too far!" An angry voice suddenly rang out, rapidly closing the distance before a dark silhouette crashed down right in front of Golden Lion.
From that signature afro, it was unmistakably Admiral Sengoku.
"Took you long enough, Sengoku." Golden Lion flashed a sinister smile. "If you were any later, your precious Marineford would be sleeping at the bottom of the sea."
Sengoku surveyed the gruesome scene around him, his expression darkening by the second. If they had just returned a little sooner, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this.
No one had expected Golden Lion to be this unhinged, actually daring to launch a direct assault on Marineford at a time like this.
"Is Garp here too?" Golden Lion shifted his gaze. Another figure was walking slowly toward him. From the heaving of his broad chest, it was clear the man was absolutely livid.
"Golden Lion, you went way too far this time."
"You mean to tell me you actually caught Roger? Sounds like a load of fake news to me."
"Why don't you test us and find out?"
With that, Sengoku and Garp readied themselves to strike together. There was no way they were letting Golden Lion escape this time.
"Come on, Sengoku, Garp. Show me if your strength has actually improved these past few years."
Both sides radiated an intense killing intent. The ordinary Marines had long since evacuated the combat zone. This was no longer a battle they could even hope to spectate.
Zephyr arrived shortly after. He didn't join the fight directly; instead, his job was to protect the Marine families living in Marineford from the aftershocks of the clash.
The battle was brutally fierce, raging for roughly a full day before Golden Lion was finally subdued by the combined might of Garp and Sengoku.
"Golden Lion, you'll spend the rest of your days in Impel Down."
Sengoku stood over Golden Lion, who lay on the ground gasping for breath. Sengoku's uniform jacket was torn open, revealing a chest covered in fresh wounds. Garp had fared slightly better. His primary role in the fight had been support, cutting off any route of escape for Golden Lion.
"Hahahaha!" Hearing Sengoku's words, Golden Lion let out a burst of manic laughter.
"I'll take this loss this time. But it won't be this easy next time."
"There won't be a next time," Sengoku retorted coldly.
"Who knows?"
Marine soldiers immediately stepped forward and clamped Seastone cuffs onto Golden Lion's wrists. Just like that, he was completely stripped of his ability to fight back.
The Marines collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Cuffed in Seastone, Golden Lion was no longer the legendary pirate—he was just a declawed rooster.
Early the next morning, the Navy loudly broadcasted the news of Golden Lion's capture. The world, which had barely had time to settle, exploded into an uproar once more.
"Golden Lion was actually caught? You've got to be kidding me!"
Every pirate familiar with Golden Lion wore an expression of sheer disbelief upon hearing the news. But when they saw the photographs in the papers depicting Golden Lion's battered state, they had no choice but to accept that the Navy wasn't bluffing.
"Hmph. Reckless fool."
Whitebeard tossed the newspaper aside after reading the report. In his eyes, this was the height of stupidity. Attacking Marineford alone? Did Golden Lion have a death wish?
Unlike the pirates, the common citizens were filled with absolute awe for the Navy. In just a matter of days, they had first killed the Supernova captain of the Silver Pirates, then captured the Pirate King Roger, and now they had taken down Golden Lion to boot.
It had been a whirlwind of sensational news for the public, one bombshell dropping right after the other, each more explosive than the last.
Even locked away in a Marineford cell, Golden Lion still refused to believe that the Navy had actually caught Roger. He was convinced it was all an elaborate trap just to lure him to the headquarters.
Sengoku had played him like a fiddle, knowing exactly how to exploit his temper.
"You bastard, Sengoku, you scheming old fox!"
"Shut it. You're being transferred to Impel Down today. You can spend the rest of your life rotting there."
Garp was tasked with escorting Golden Lion. As an Admiral, Sengoku had to stay behind to deal with the massive headache Golden Lion had left him. With so many Marines dead in a single day, the casualty reports had to be suppressed for the time being.
After the formal handover, Golden Lion was thrown straight into Level 6 of Impel Down.
It was there that he ran into the very last person he ever expected to see.
"Roger? You're actually in here?" Golden Lion's eyes went wide as he stared at Roger, who was bound hand and foot inside the cell.
"Yo, Golden Lion! How'd you end up in here too?"
Seeing Golden Lion, Roger broke into a genuine grin. Finally, someone to keep him company during these final, boring days.
"Hmph. It's your fault I'm here."
"Oh? Do tell." Roger's eyes lit up with curiosity. He had actually gotten someone locked up because of him?
Although their cells weren't adjacent, that didn't stop the two of them from happily chatting away.
/-\
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