The hatch slams open.
Marya and Galit step onto the deck. Wind catches Marya's hair and whips it across her face. She pushes it back with one hand.
The deck is chaos.
Ember, Jelly, and Monster ricochet across the space, a blur of pink hair, blue gelatin, and monstrous fur. Ember shrieks with laughter. Jelly lands with a wet squelch each time he hits the planks. Monster roars with joy.
Bō-Zak leans against the railing, pipe clenched between his teeth, smoke curling upward. He watches the mayhem with a lazy smirk.
Atlas rolls his shoulders. Beneath the pallid sky, his rust-red fur smolders like banked embers, and a wild blue gleam stirs in his eyes.
Luffy stands at the highest point on the vessel, on top of the streamline fin, straw hat pulled low as he peers over the horizon.
Lucky Roux devours a drumstick. The bone comes out stripped clean in seconds. He tosses it aside and reaches for another.
Bonk Punch, Howling Gab, and Rockstar stand at the edge of the deck, arms crossed, eyes on the horizon. They do not speak. They do not need to. The silent conversation passes between them, the understanding of warriors who have fought together for years.
Luffy yells, pointing. "I SEE IT! WE ARE ALMOST THERE!"
Bonk Punch, Howling Gab, and Rockstar exchange a look. The question is clear: Are you ready?
Lucky Roux steps up beside them, tosses another bone over the rail, and rubs his belly. "I am ready!"
Howling Gab chuckles. "You should be. Considering we are going to have to make a supply run after this."
Lucky nods. "Worth it!"
Ember pauses mid-chase. "BOOM! BOOM! TIME!"
Atlas grins. "Not until we actually get to the island."
Ember's head tilts. Jelly bounces. "BLOOP! ADVENTURE! FREEDOM!"
Everyone turns.
Luffy drops into the middle of the deck with a giant THUD that rattles the plates. He thrusts his fist in the air.
"LET'S GET UTA!"
Bō-Zak blows out a plume of smoke, one corner of his mouth curling. "Did you actually understand the plan?"
Luffy nods, hands planted on his hips, grin beaming. "Of course I did. We go to the island and we beat up the Toad Mojica."
Bō-Zak grins and pulls on his pipe. "Sure. That's exactly what we are doing."
Luffy nods. "I know. That is what I said."
Bō-Zak shakes his head.
Penguin and Shachi look at each other, concern flickering across their faces.
Penguin asks, "Hey, Straw Hat, maybe we should—"
Marya and Galit walk past Luffy and join Lucky Roux, Bonk Punch and Monster, Howling Gab, and Rockstar.
Galit announces, "The island is in range."
He turns to Shachi, who holds a transponder snail. "Signal the Pluton. Let her know we are in range."
Shachi nods.
-----
Jean Bart, Ikkaku, Uni, Clione, and Hakugan stand at their consoles. The bridge hums with quiet energy, the rhythm crews find when battle draws close.
Shachi's voice crackles over the coms. "We are in range. Let Vesta know."
Jean Bart nods. "Will do. We have Elegia on our sensors."
Uni announces, "I will go and tell her."
-----
The hatch to the deck of the Pluton slams open.
Charlie, Bianca, Aurélie, Limejuice, Building Snake, and Yasopp look over as Uni steps through, his boots landing with a heavy clank.
"We are in range! GO!"
Vesta's eyes never leave the horizon. She nods, slow and deliberate, and raises as single arm, dramatically dropping the picks across Mikasi's strings.
She strikes.
The chord launches across the water, a sound that is not just sound but force, a vibration that travels through the hulls of all three ships and out across the waves toward Elegia. A missile made of music. A declaration.
A massive, dancing coyote appears.
It hovers over the three vessels, a spirit woven from light and shadow and the energy of Mikasi's living wood. It wears a headdress. Its eyes gleam. Its tail wags with something almost playful.
On the deck of the Dreadnought Thalassa, Luffy holds his hat and looks up, stars filling his eyes.
"SO COOL!"
On the Red Force, Shanks looks up. A smirk forms on his face.
"That certainly makes a statement."
On the Pluton, Vesta strikes another chord and begins to sing.
"You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Tried to run, tried to hide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side, yeah
We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
A-can you still recall time we cried?
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Hey!
Come on, yeah"
Her voice rises, bright and unflinching, years of waiting breaking open in every note. The first verse sweeps across the water, summoning the sea, the sky, and the island ahead to answer: nothing will keep this crew from the far shore.
-----
The giant coyote races toward Elegia.
Its paws strike the water and send up sprays of foam. Its tail streams behind it like a banner. Its eyes burn with the fire of Mikasi's song.
Elegia begins to quake.
The ground shakes. Dust falls from the ceiling of the submerged chambers. A deafening roar echoes across the island, a sound that is not just sound but response. The island is answering the call.
One of Uta clone's eyes pop open.
She floats in her watery chamber, red-and-white hair drifting around her head. Her blue eyes, her real eyes, widen with confusion, then with understanding.
Beside her, a Gordon clone's eyes open.
The chambers hiss. The fluid drains. The glass slides open.
Both clones step out.
The ground quakes again. Dust falls. The roar echoes.
Gordon looks to Uta, his voice urgent. "Let us go!"
Uta nods. "Right!"
They rush to the surface.
-----
On the Pluton, Vesta presses on. Her voice climbs above the chaos while her fingers fly across Mikasi's strings. The second verse runs wilder than the first, and it crashes over the water like a wave.
"I found an island in your arms
Country in your eyes
Arms that chained us, eyes that lied
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through, ow!
Aw yeah!
Made the scene, week to week
Day to day, hour to hour
Gate is straight, deep and wide
Break on through to the other side"
The coyote reaches the island.
The island trembles.
And somewhere deep beneath the surface, in a chamber that has held a demon for years, something stirs.