Second Wind

54

Lucci growled in aggravation as he dodged another lightning strike and series of explosive projectiles, only for Black Leg Sanji to assault him with that annoying technique. Although he normally wouldn't have any trouble with these fighters in his godforsaken Zoan form, he had to grudgingly admit that their coordination was phenomenal. The only one that was attacking him straight out was Black Leg Sanji. The reindeer was attacking only when an opportunity presented itself, and Franky, who had been freed, had grudgingly adopted the same tactic after nearly being defeated by a single hit while he'd still been focused on the chef. The other two were both shrouded from his view by what he had deduced was one of the orange-haired thief's techniques. Had he had any breathing room, he'd have been able to pin them down with his other senses without too much trouble.

Suffice to say, he had no such breathing room at the moment. He was being triple-teamed up close and liberally assaulted from afar by two opponents he couldn't find. Using Life Return would be counterproductive. His speed form sacrificed both strength and endurance, and their attacks were too unpredictable and could, in some cases, bypass his Tekkai. To make matters worse, the reindeer had taken advantage of his underestimation of the pirates' abilities in order to recover Nico Robin, who he was currently guarding protectively.

That wasn't even taking into account that his fellow assassins were currently drowning, and he was a Devil Fruit user.

His only option seemed to be to outlast the chef and then take him out of the fight. Without their superior combatant keeping him occupied, the rest would soon follow. A plan quickly formed in his mind, and he quickly aimed a Shigan to the chef's throat as to gain some time. As expected, the chef leapt away. Before he could re-engage, Lucci aimed a deadly Rankyaku at the reindeer, who couldn't dodge since he was covering Nico Robin. Predictably, the chef intercepted the attack, as he had been doing for the past minute.

Before he was even finished deflecting it, Lucci was upon him, arms extending outward to unleash his most devastating attack.

"Six King Gun!"

That, unexpectedly, was when the fight fell out of his favor. He was shocked as all the force behind his strike seemingly vanished, along with the shockwaves that it unleashed. He felt, rather than saw, a large crack form through the small circular object that he had unknowingly run into. As his momentum carried him forward, he also felt said object being pressed to his torso, and heard a foreboding whisper of "Impact."

His entire body tremored as his own move was turned against him, his Tekkai barely holding it together as blood erupted from his mouth and he was forced backwards, feet grinding against the ground in an attempt to keep their traction.

"Kokutei, Roseo Metel!"

"Strong Hammer!"

Before he could regain his bearings, the reindeer unleashed a barrage of strikes upon his already battered body, while Franky landed one powerful blow to the back of his head. Ignoring the pain, he lashed out with a kick to the reindeer-human hybrid, before turning around and backhanding the cyborg away. But he was injured, and the strikes were weak in comparison to what he would normally inflict. Chopper used his Guard Point instantly, and although the attack was staggering, he wasn't rendered unconscious. Franky, meanwhile, was durable enough to withstand the hasty strike, even though he was sent skidding across the ground.

Lucci was then forced to once again parry a barrage of kicks from the chef, who had now regained his bearings. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another projectile hurtling towards him.

It was a water balloon.

While he would have normally dodged it just to be sure, he wasn't in a rational mindset at the moment, and so he instead ignored the apparently harmless projectile as it collided with him, soaking him from head to toe.