By Your Side

Chapter 38

As the battle raged on, the man known as Queen, managed to shoot serval people in the vicinity, causing them to freeze over and attack anyone they came in contact with.

Amongst the commotion, majority of us went our separate ways to take down the bigger opponents. I somehow ended up tagged along with Franky, clutching onto his robot form as he ran through the enemies.

"We need to find Momonouske and Shinobu before the enemy does." I stated out, shielding my eyes from the debris that flew in the air.

"Easier said then done..." He started off as I looked at the giant following us. "We need to lose this guy first."

"Yeah, your right... do you have a plan in mind?" I asked hesitantly as I noticed the giant held a club above his head, preparing to swing. "Franky..."

"Hold on tight, (Y/N)!" Franky shouted as he jumped in the air, barely dodging the club as it made contact with the ground where we just were.

"Outta my way! Outta my way!" Franky shouted as we noticed a group ahead of the direction we're were going. "Get out of my way!"

As we landed, I saw Momonouske and Shinobu in front of us. "Franouske! (Y/N)!"

"Hm? Momo?! I'm glad you're alive! Shinobu, you're okay too, right?!" Franky asked.

I jumped off of Franky's robot, landing in front of the two. "Is Shinobu okay?!" I sunk down to my knees, seeing Shinobu's state.

Before I could get an answer, the rumbling of the giant behind us caused me to turn my head, seeing he had caught up to us, lifting his club into the air again.

He swung the club down, causing debris to fly everywhere, I wrapped my arms around the two to shield them from the blast but the wind was too strong and caused us to go flying.

When the dust settled, all of us looked down to see a huge crater below us. "Momo! Shinobu! Are you okay?!" Franky asked as I looked over to see someone had them in their arms. "Did you get caught?!"

"No! He's helping us!" Momonouske informed us, causing me to ease up somewhat.

Franky landed on the ledge as I turned to him, "Franky, I'm going to go with them and help Shinobu with her injuries! Are you going to be fine without me here?!"

As I began falling down into the hole, he gave me a thumbs up to which I nodded in return. "Cyborg Franky! I'll leave them to you!" The person beside me spoke up.

"Who are you?!" Franky asked.

"Luffy entrusted these two to me!" They responded as they let go of Momonouske and Shinobu, swinging the club in their hand. "Narikabura Arrow!" I watched as the arrow hit the giant, knocking him down.

As we landed, I looked over at them. "Before we do anything, let me look over Shinobu's wounds." I made my way over to her, concentrating as I hovered a hand over her.

After a moment, I brought my hand back to my side, opening my eyes. "She should be fine, I didn't sense anything too serious." I turned my head to the other two.

"Then we should get going then." The one, who's name I have yet to learn, announced picking Momonouske and Shinbou up in each arm. "Let's go!"

I nodded my head as we both began to run. "So, who are you exactly?" I asked, glancing over at them in curiosity.

As we ran, they told me how their name was Yamato and how he wants to be like Kozuki Oden, Momonouske's late father and proceeded to tell me the story of what happened all those years ago.

"Momonouske, you said your mother sent all of you to this time period, correct?" I asked, glancing down at Momonouske.

He glanced over to me and nodded in confusion, "Yeah, why?"

I stayed silent for a moment before I asked, "Was her name by chance, Toki?"

I watched a look of surprise cross his features as I said the name. "H-How did you know...?"

...

"You see, there was another before me who had this ability."

I glanced up to Izuku in surprise, "Really?!"

She nodded her head, "Yes, her name was Toki."

"How do you know?" I tilted my head, confused. "I thought that when a devil fruit user dies, the time and place the fruit reappears varies."

"That indeed it does. However, when I found out about my ability, I had to know more about it." She began before giving me a smile, "And what better way than to ask the previous person themself?"

I pondered over her words for a second before I let out a gasp. "Are you saying you went back in time...?!"

She gave out a chuckle while nodding her head. "I did, and she told me the full extent of what I could do."

"But why tell me all of this?" I asked, not understanding why she thought it was important to tell me, I was just a stranger, after all.

"Let's just say, I'm doing someone a favor from long ago."

...

I told them both of Izuku and what she had told me, causing both of their eyes to widen. "Are you serious?!" Momonouske exclaimed in shock.

"Do you think it's possible?!" Yamato asked in disbelief.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Not sure, but I'm willing to give it a try."

"If you manage to pull it off... then-" Yamato was cut off by rumbling as ran out of the building and down a dirt path.

"What the hell was that just now?" I mumbled as we continued running, "An earthquake?"

"Not sure, but we need to get Momonouske away as far as possible." Yamato replied, "There's a ship nearby we can use." Just as the words escape his mouth, he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Momonouske asked.

"The Animal Kingdom Pirates' ship... is gone!" He exclaimed bewildered.

I looked down, letting out a gasp. "You guys, look!" I pointed down, "The island..."

Yamato let out a grit, "It's too late..."

"Yamato, what's going on...?" I asked, confused as to what's going on, tearing my gaze from below to him.

"That quake before... I get it now!" Yamato exclaimed. I glanced back down to the purple clouds as they floated around when he spoke again. "Dragons fly through the air by creating Flame Clouds! That means now... Kaido is lifting up Onigashima!"

"He's gonna relocate the island to the Flower Capital!" Yamato continued, frustration crossing their face.

"Th-That cannot be true..." Momonouske trailed off in horror.

"What do we do now?" I asked, looking over to the others.

———
Published: 01/09/2023