Redfield had completely lost interest in the weaklings standing before him.
His Observation Haki spread out like a net, slicing through the dense canopy of Trans Town's forest until it locked onto a single, frantic presence flying away at lightning speed.
Pato.
And wherever that little leaf-bird was headed, the Bato Bato no Mi, Model: Vampire was lying in wait.
With a single step, Redfield left a crater beneath his heel.
SWOOSH!
Crocodile transformed into a whirlwind of yellow grit, materializing right in his path. "DESERT SPADA!"
She thrust her bare arm forward, morphing the earth into a towering blade of pressurized sand that sliced through the air, aimed straight for Redfield's throat.
But Redfield didn't even flinch. He flicked his umbrella once.
BOOM!
The massive sand blade shattered into a useless cloud of dust. Before Crocodile could even process the block, Redfield was already inches from her face, his crimson eyes burning with intent.
"Get out of my way."
His Conqueror's Haki erupted like a volcano.
Crocodile crossed her bare arms in a desperate attempt to block, but the sheer force hit her like a freight train.
BANG!
She was sent flying back through the tree line, snapping thick trunks like they were nothing before crashing out of sight into the depths of the forest.
Jack winced, listening to the sound of splintering wood. "Croco?!"
"I'M ALIVE, YOU IDIOT!" a furious voice shouted back from a mile away.
Jack let out a sigh of relief, adjusting his tricorn. "Oh, good. Still got that lovely charm."
Redfield took another step.
BANG!
He tilted his head slightly. A sniper round whizzed past his cheek.
BANG!
He shifted to the left.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A rapid barrage erupted through the trees, each bullet zipping by at breakneck speeds. Right in the middle of the path stood Van Augur, his trusty Senriku pressed firmly against his shoulder. He loaded round after round, his icy gaze locked onto the red cloak through his scope.
Redfield glided through the storm of bullets like a ghost. Not a single shot grazed his attire.
Augur's Observation Haki was pushed to its absolute limits, desperately trying to anticipate the unpredictable. He's too quick—
BANG!
In an instant, Redfield disappeared.
Augur's monocle caught a fleeting shadow—and suddenly, a vice-like hand clamped around his throat.
"Ghk—!"
Augur's feet dangled off the ground as Redfield effortlessly lifted him with one hand. Augur clawed at the old pirate's wrist, but it felt like trying to bend solid steel.
Redfield looked up at the sniper, his expression chillingly blank. "You. You've caused me more trouble today than men ten times your size."
Gasping and struggling for air, Augur swung the stock of Senriku toward Redfield's head.
Without even glancing, Redfield caught the rifle's barrel.
"No."
With a casual flick of his wrist, Redfield wrenched Senriku from Augur's grasp and sent it flying deep into the forest. The long rifle spun through the air before crashing into the underbrush with a heavy THUD.
Augur's eyes narrowed into slits, his calm demeanor starting to crack.
Redfield tightened his iron grip around the sniper's throat, lifting him even higher. "First, you meddle with the bird. Then you dodge my strike. Then you shoot me. And now... you block my path once more."
Black Conqueror's lightning began to dance around Redfield's arm. "I can finally end you."
As darkness crept into the edges of Augur's vision, his feet kicked helplessly against the air.
"Oi!"
CLANG!
A silver flash zipped through the air. Out of nowhere, Jack appeared, swinging Wado Ichimonji with both hands, aiming straight for Redfield's neck!
Redfield had no choice but to let go of Augur, raising his umbrella handle just in time to deflect the lethal blade. Augur hit the ground hard, coughing violently as he landed.
With a fierce wave of Haki, Redfield pushed Jack back, but that split second was all Augur needed.
Still on his knees and spitting up blood, Augur pressed one palm against the ground, kicked his long leg up, and drove his boot heel right into Redfield's ribs!
THUD!
Redfield staggered back a full step. Augur seized the moment, rolling backward into a low defensive stance.
Jack stared down at the sniper in disbelief. "I had no idea you could kick, mate!"
Augur coughed into his sleeve, adjusting his cracked monocle. "...I do have legs."
"Good point!"
WSHHH-BOOM!
Redfield's umbrella sliced through the air, unleashing a sharp wave of compressed air that ripped through the dirt. Augur saw it coming, but his battered body couldn't react fast enough.
SWOOSH!
Jack stepped right in front of Augur, raising Wado Ichimonji in a cross-block.
"Captain—" Augur started.
BOOM!
The force slammed against Jack's guard. The sword held firm, but the sheer impact sent Jack flying backward, crashing into Augur. Both men tumbled into the underbrush, landing hard against the base of a massive rock.
A heavy silence enveloped their corner of the woods for three long seconds.
Augur let out a raspy groan from beneath the pile. "Captain..."
Jack's face was buried in the dirt. "Mhm?"
"You're really heavy."
Jack slowly lifted his head, spitting out a mouthful of grass. "That's quite rude."
"Get off me."
With a heavy sigh, Jack rolled off onto the grass.
Before Redfield could make his move on the duo, a fierce storm erupted, engulfing the path ahead. Dragon descended from the sky, his fist cloaked in deep black Busoshoku Haki, accompanied by swirling gusts of wind.
BOOM!
Dragon's fist slammed into the tip of Redfield's umbrella, unleashing shockwaves that rippled through the nearby forest.
"You won't get your hands on that fruit!" Dragon bellowed, his green cloak flailing wildly in the tempest.
Redfield clenched his teeth, bracing himself against the overwhelming force of his opponent. "You have no idea what you're guarding, Dragon!"
"I don't need to!" Dragon's winds grew stronger, uprooting boulders in their wake. "Your desperation reveals everything I need to know!"
"Idiot!" Redfield shot back, and the two legends transformed into a chaotic whirlwind of lightning, wind, and clashing Haki.
High above the treetops, Pato was flying faster than he ever thought possible.
His muscles screamed in protest. His chest felt like it was on fire. Tears streamed down his face, whipped away by the wind, but he refused to ease up. Clutched tightly in his tiny paws was a strange, menacing Devil Fruit.
The Bato Bato no Mi, Model: Vampire.
Its dark, blood-red skin was adorned with intricate, curling swirls, resembling folded bat wings tightly wrapped around a central stem.
Pato despised it. He loathed the fruit. He hated Redfield. He was fed up with this dreadful, blood-soaked day. But more than anything... he hated knowing why Red had wanted it.
The small clearing came into view.
"RED!" Pato cried out, plummeting from the sky and rolling across the grass to land beside the pale artist.
The Devil Fruit tumbled onto the soft leaves.
Red forced his eyes open, a faint, fragile smile creeping onto his lips. "You... you found it. Good boy..."
Pato stayed silent. Red reached out with a trembling, blood-stained hand toward the dark fruit, but Pato quickly spread one of his wings over it, blocking him.
"No," Pato cried, his tiny frame shaking with fear. "No..."
"Pato..."
"If you give it to him..." Pato glanced over at Gibbs, who lay still and barely breathing nearby. "...you'll break your promise!"
Red's smile was achingly soft. "I don't have much time left anyway, my little friend."
"Then eat it yourself! Save your own life!"
Red slowly shook his head. "One Devil Fruit... is already more than enough for one lifetime."
Pato understood the rules of the sea. He knew that a person couldn't eat two. But coming to terms with what was about to unfold was tearing him apart inside.
With great care, Red moved Pato's wing aside and picked up the heavy, swirling fruit. Inch by agonizing inch, he crawled through the dirt toward Gibbs' side.
"Gibbs..."
Silence. Gibbs' pulse was a faint, flickering light.
Red reached out and gently slapped the old pirate's grey cheek. "Oi. Gibbs."
A weak, raspy groan escaped Gibbs' lips.
"Good," Red sighed in relief.
Summoning the last of his strength, Red broke off a sizable chunk of the dark, repulsive fruit. The smell hit the air like a punch—metallic, sour, and rotten. Red forced the piece past Gibbs' dry lips.
Even in his half-conscious state, Gibbs' face contorted in disgust. "Tastes..." he whispered, barely audible, "...like rotten bilge water..."
Red chuckled softly, tears streaming down his blood-stained cheeks. "Then swallow it quickly, you old fool."
Gibbs swallowed. Red broke off another piece and pushed it into his mouth. Then another.
The moment the third piece slid down Gibbs' throat—
TH-THUMP!
Gibbs' body jerked violently!
Red recoiled. Gibbs' fingers dug deep into the dirt as his back arched at an unnatural angle. A strangled, agonizing scream erupted from his throat as a black and purple aura burst from his chest, swirling like a dark storm!
Red watched as the dark energy enveloped the old pirate, a serene smile spreading across his weary face.
"It worked..."
Pato stared in sheer disbelief.
Leaning down close to Gibbs' ear, Red felt the dark power swirling around him. "Live, Gibbs..." he whispered gently. "Live on... for your son. Don't let the life he would have wanted you to keep slip away..."
Gibbs' eyes shot open—glowing a fierce, unsettling crimson—but before he could utter a word, Red pulled back.
Turning to Pato, Red beckoned, "Come here, little one."
Pato waddled over, sniffling loudly. Red placed his hand on the creature's head one last time.
"The Caribbean pirates... they're good folks," Red murmured.
Pato sniffled, wiping his nose with his wing. "They're... they're total idiots..."
Red let out a weak chuckle. "Most pirates are."
"I don't want them," Pato cried, burying his face into Red's bleeding chest. "I want to stay with you! I'll stay right here! I'll rebuild Trans Town! I'll paint all the people again! We can make everything just like it used to be!"
Red closed his eyes, recognizing the familiar trap. The same heartbreaking mistake he had clung to for years.
"I always knew I was living on borrowed time the moment I picked up my first brush," Red reflected, recalling that first painting. "Now, my injuries are too severe for me to survive. But Gibbs can still live. Help him, Pato."
He weakly wrapped his arms around the sobbing creature. "No, Pato... When I'm gone... you have to go with them."
"I DON'T WANT TO!"
"You're going to explore the real world," Red said softly, his voice fading to a gentle whisper. "You're going to soar across seas you've never dreamed of... meet strange, wonderful people... and create real memories."
Pato buried his face into Red's coat, weeping freely.
Red gently stroked the soft feathers one last time, glancing up through the leafy canopy at the bright blue sky above. For the first time in decades, the shadows of his past didn't seem to cling to him.
"You were never meant to be trapped inside my ghosts, Pato..." Red said with a gentle smile. "I'm so tired now..."
Pato went completely still.
"And I think..." Red's eyes grew misty, catching the golden sunlight that filtered through the leaves. "...I can finally see my family again."
His hand slipped from Pato's head, falling softly into the grass.
TH-THUMP!
Across the island, Patrick Redfield froze mid-stride.
Dragon's lightning-charged fist slammed into his shoulder, but Redfield didn't even flinch. His crimson eyes widened into tiny pinpricks. His Observation Haki sensed the sudden, violent awakening of a legendary Devil Fruit.
The Bato Bato no Mi.
It had been consumed. The power surged through someone else's veins.
"No..." Redfield whispered, his aristocratic features twisting in raw terror. "NO!"
Jack lunged in from the side, Wado Ichimonji slicing through the air—CLANG! Redfield blocked it purely on instinct.
CLANG! CLANG!
Crocodile burst from the trees, a roaring wave of sand trailing behind her. "GIVE ME BACK MY HOOK, YOU VAMPIRE BASTARD!"
"She really is touchy about that metal thing!" Jack shouted, ducking under Redfield's wildly swinging umbrella.
"SHUT UP, SPARROW!" Crocodile yelled back.
Dragon closed in from behind, grabbing Redfield's wrist, but Redfield's composure had completely shattered.
The legendary pirate let out a blood-curdling roar of pure rage, his Conqueror's Haki erupting in a violent spherical blast that sent Dragon, Jack, and Crocodile flying backward through the trees!
"RED!"
Patrick Redfield screamed the name toward the sky, his voice cracking with unrestrained fury.
"YOU FOOL! THAT FRUIT WAS MINE!"
Jack tumbled across the dirt, pushing himself up with a groan. "Well, technically, possession is nine-tenths of the law on the high seas—"
Redfield shot a furious glare at Jack, his presence almost suffocating.
"—yeah, perfect time for pirate rules," Jack muttered, lifting his sword.
Redfield took a step toward the clearing but then halted.
BOOM!
A fist slammed into Redfield's chest with a force that echoed like a naval cannon fired at point-blank range. His eyes widened in shock as his feet left the ground, and he was sent flying backward like a stone from a catapult, crashing through three massive oak trees before slamming into a rock face fifty yards away.
Dust settled over the clearing, and an eerie silence enveloped the forest.
Jack blinked in disbelief.
Crocodile halted her sand, her jaw slightly agape.
Dragon emerged from the underbrush, wiping blood from his chin, his dark eyes wide with astonishment.
Even Van Augur, limping out of the shadows and leaning heavily against a broken trunk, slowly lowered his monocle in disbelief.
Standing right in the middle of the path, between them and the fallen body of Red, was a towering figure.
Jack stared, and slowly, a wide grin spread across his face. "...Gibbs?"
The man before them was enormous.
Broad-shouldered and tall, with a posture as straight as an iron mast. The grey, thinning hair that had defined Joshamee Gibbs for years was gone, replaced by a thick, dark brown mane.
The deep wrinkles etched into his weathered face had vanished, leaving behind smooth, taut skin. His belly had disappeared, and all his injuries were completely healed.
From his broad back, two massive, leathery bat wings unfurled, dark as midnight and fanning out like demonic sails. His fingers ended in sharp, obsidian claws, and when he spoke, two elongated vampire fangs glinted behind his lips.
Gibbs stared down at his huge, calloused hands, touched his thick arms, and felt his smooth, unwrinkled jawline.
"What in the..." Gibbs' voice boomed out—deep, vibrant, and youthful. "...what in the bloody hell?!"
Jack's grin stretched from ear to ear as he strolled closer, circling the newly transformed old pirate. He playfully poked Gibbs' massive bicep.
PAK!
Gibbs effortlessly swatted Jack's hand away with a backhand that nearly sent the captain tumbling. "Quit touching me, Cap'n!"
Jack laughed, rubbing his knuckles. "Look at you! You've turned back the clock!"
Gibbs ran his fingers over his face, feeling the sharpness of his jawline. "Aye... I guess I have."
"Considerably younger," Jack remarked, leaning in to inspect his fangs. "And... quite a bit more... bat-like."
Gibbs flexed his shoulders, and the enormous dark wings behind him rustled, sending a gust of wind swirling. He turned his head, caught sight of those gigantic wings, and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"WHAT IN THE DEVIL ARE THESE?!" Gibbs shouted, panic creeping into his youthful voice.
"Those would be bat wings, mate," Jack replied, keeping his cool.
"I KNOW THEY'RE WINGS! BUT WHY DO I HAVE WINGS?!"
Crocodile watched the rejuvenated pirate, taking in the menacing Zoan aura radiating from him. Despite herself, a faint, dark smirk crept onto her lips. "Not bad... old man."
Gibbs turned his glowing crimson eyes toward her, flashing a fierce, confident grin that showcased his sharp fangs. "Old? Not anymore."
Jack erupted into laughter.
CRUMBLE.
A mile away, the rock face crumbled. Patrick Redfield emerged from the debris, his crimson cloak tattered, his face twisted in a mask of pure, apocalyptic rage. The Conqueror's Haki emanating from him was so intense it felt like it could turn the very air into lead.
Gibbs' smile vanished. He glanced back over his shoulder one last time.
Under the shade of the grand oak tree, Red lay still in the grass, his face serene. Beside him, Pato was curled up against his chest, softly weeping.
Gibbs offered a quiet, respectful nod to the old artist before turning back to face the terrifying legend marching toward them.
Jack stepped up to Gibbs' right side, resting Wado Ichimonji lightly over his shoulder.
Crocodile shifted to his left, the sand swirling around him like sharp blades, even with her broken golden hook in tow.
Dragon advanced, the wind swirling around his dark cloak as if it were caught in a hurricane.
Then, from behind them, a faint CLICK-CLACK echoed. Van Augur, bloodied and barely upright, lifted the cracked barrel of Senriku he had found, aiming his scope right at Redfield's forehead.