The suction intensified, drawing air into Ju Peter's enormous Sandworm maw with a shriek, as though the whole of Marineford were being pulled toward a bottomless pit.
Debris hurtled across the plaza, wooden crates splintered, and several Marines lost their footing, saved only when their comrades caught hold of them.
Zaraki planted his feet against the stone and closed his right hand around Nozarashi.
Exhausted as he was, his instincts cut through the fatigue the moment the danger reached him, but an even hotter presence erupted at his back.
"Great Eruption!"
Sakazuki's arm became molten magma as he drove an enormous fist upward, sending it across the path of Ju Peter's vacuum rather than toward the center of Marineford.
The projectile swelled in flight, and for one dangerous instant, the suction caught it and accelerated it toward the Elder's open mouth.
It struck the stone platform directly in front of Ju Peter and detonated.
Magma burst outward, and the explosion drove a wall of superheated gas through the plaza, disrupting the vacuum long enough for the Marines being dragged forward to collapse onto the ground.
Zaraki glanced over his shoulder.
Sakazuki stood behind him with a murderous expression, but his glare was directed at the Elder overhead. Magma now streamed from both arms.
"Saint Ju Peter. If the World Government wants Zaraki arrested, send Headquarters an authenticated custody directive and arrange the transfer." His voice hardened. "You do not tear apart Marineford and kill my men to collect one prisoner."
Ju Peter's enormous body shifted. "You presume to dictate procedure to me?"
"I'm telling you this is Marine Headquarters," Sakazuki replied, taking a step forward. "Destroying it to enforce an arrest is idiotic."
Golden light flashed to Zaraki's left, resolving into Borsalino with both hands still tucked into his pockets.
"My, my. Things became rather frightening while I wasn't looking."
His tone was as irritatingly relaxed as ever, though Ju Peter's monstrous form filled the reflection in his glasses.
"I don't believe Headquarters was listed as acceptable collateral damage in the arrest order."
Cold mist spread across the opposite side of the plaza, and Kuzan emerged through it with frost creeping over the stone beneath his boots.
He scratched the back of his head, looking from Zaraki to Ju Peter.
"Arara... This really is troublesome. If you keep using that attack in the middle of the plaza, we'll have casualties before anyone even settles who's supposed to take him into custody."
The three Admirals stood together in defense of Marine Headquarters.
Their intervention stopped short of declaring war on the Government or pledging allegiance to Zaraki, and although the distinction was narrow, it carried enormous political weight.
Ju Peter understood that as well.
His maw partially closed, weakening the vacuum, though his voice remained hostile.
"You would stand between the World Government and a traitor?"
"I'll stand between anyone and unnecessary Marine casualties," Sakazuki answered, his eyes burning.
Kuzan sighed at what amounted to the same problem in different words, while Borsalino tilted his head.
"Ooh... Terrifyingly serious."
Several nearby Marines almost laughed, despite everything happening around them.
Then a shout came from farther back in the ranks. "DON'T LET THEM DESTROY HEADQUARTERS!"
"MARINEFORD IS OUR HOME!" someone answered, and the cry spread through the soldiers.
They had just watched an Elder drag their comrades across the plaza in pursuit of one prisoner.
Their anger was directed at that attack on their home, with no call for rebellion or for Zaraki to become their new leader.
Weapons struck shields and boots stamped against the stone as more Marines raised their voices.
Among those who had fought beside Zaraki, a different shout began.
"WAR DEMON!"
A few men joined in, then dozens, until he glanced around with something close to embarrassment.
"Tch. Bunch of idiots."
Sakazuki heard him, and one eye twitched.
"Don't misunderstand," he said without looking back. "If you think this means I've forgiven what you did in Mary Geoise, you're even dumber than I thought."
Zaraki grinned. "There he is."
Before Sakazuki could answer, a roar came from the harbor.
"JU PETER!"
Heads turned toward a small Marine cutter racing into port, its bow almost lifting clear of the water as it approached the dock.
A massive figure leaped from the vessel before it had finished slowing down and struck the harbor hard enough to fracture the stone.
Garp strode toward the plaza with bloodshot eyes, his Marine coat snapping behind him.
Sengoku and the main fleet had stayed behind to reorganize after Ju Peter abandoned the blockade, but Garp had taken the fastest cutter available and gone ahead.
From the look on his face, he was prepared to punch his way through the Holy Land itself if that was what it took.
Then he spotted Zaraki, alive, and for half a second his expression eased before his gaze found Ju Peter and the relief vanished beneath his anger.
"You lying bastards." His fists clenched, and his voice carried across Marineford. "The Government tells us the brat is dead, and now I find him alive while one of you is trying to tear Headquarters apart around him?"
Ju Peter's eyes narrowed as Garp took his place alongside the Admirals, standing with the Marines whose home was under attack.
"If you want the brat arrested, do it without burying thousands of Marines with him." Garp cracked his knuckles, his grin entirely without humor.
"And if you take another swing at Headquarters, I'll put you through that execution platform myself."
Silence settled over the plaza. Ju Peter's Sandworm form shifted as though he meant to answer with force, but the ringing of a Den Den Mushi interrupted him, absurdly small against the tension gripping the fortress.
He paused, his body gradually returning toward its human form, then reached inside his robe for a secure Government Den Den Mushi.
It was a private communication device, distinct from the Golden Den Den Mushi used to authorize a Buster Call.
No one below could hear the voice on the other end.
Ju Peter listened without speaking, and after several seconds, an almost imperceptible change crossed his expression. His eyes moved to Zaraki while the call continued.
When he finally lowered the receiver, his anger remained, but whatever he had heard had forced him to bring it under control.
The political situation had changed.
The royal delegations had escaped the immediate danger around Mary Geoise, and the Government's false announcement of Zaraki's death had collapsed in full view of the world.
Nusjuro had also regenerated enough to confirm what had happened during the duel.
An open battle against Marine Headquarters, with all three Admirals and Garp standing in the plaza, would turn an already catastrophic scandal into something far worse.
Ju Peter's gaze traveled across the Marines, pausing on Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino, and Garp before settling on Zaraki.
"You've bought yourself time."
Zaraki snorted. "That line sounded better in your head."
Anger flickered across the Elder's face, but he ignored the insult.
"The World Government has not withdrawn its judgment. Your crimes remain."
Zaraki rested a hand against Nozarashi and said that suited him just fine.
Ju Peter's eyes narrowed further.
"I would hate for you to misunderstand what happens next," the Elder warned as he turned away.
"This is not forgiveness."
"No," Zaraki agreed, his grin widening. "It's you realizing today isn't the day."
Ju Peter stopped for half a second before continuing toward the harbor, with CP0 following him to the waiting Government vessel.
The pressure over Marineford gradually eased, though it was only after he had left the plaza that thousands of Marines finally began breathing normally again.
Garp turned to Zaraki and examined him from head to toe, taking in the torn clothes, the dried blood, and the faint Strength of a Hundred mark on his forehead.
Then he raised a fist.
"You wouldn't hit an injured man." Zaraki lifted an eyebrow, but Garp's fist came down with a solid bonk, drawing an indignant "OW!"
"You stupid little bastard!" Garp seized him by the collar. "You disappear into Mary Geoise, kill a Celestial Dragon, pick a fight with one of the Five Elders, let the Government announce you're dead, and then come strolling into Marineford like you went out for lunch?!"
"I won," Zaraki said, rubbing the new lump on his head. Garp roared that that wasn't the point, which only prompted him to add, "It usually is."
A twitch of the old man's other fist finally persuaded him to stop talking.
Around them, the tension that had nearly torn Headquarters apart began to loosen, though nobody mistook the retreat for peace.
The Government had branded Zaraki a traitor, and he had publicly exposed its account of his death as a lie.
One Elder had suffered a defeat that required him to regenerate from decapitation; another had come close to fighting all three Admirals and Garp inside Marine Headquarters.
Sixteen tolls of the Ox Bell had already carried Zaraki's declaration around the world.
Whatever followed, the relationship between Marine Headquarters and those who ruled over it had begun to fracture.