Update 6/24/2020; Just realized that all line breaks and italics were removed when FF decided to publish the story. I apologize for the update as not much was REALLY updated, these just add clarity as before jumped around much more than I intended. Turns out FF removes my usual line breaks. I'll just be using the horizontal line for line breaks now, I'm sorry for the spam "Updates" because of how FF handles sending notifications. Thank you all for understanding!

Prologue: How did we get here?

Admiral Fujitora of the Marines was taking a very well-deserved nap. After the events of Dressrosa, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki had been generous enough to allow him a vacation. Of course the stingy hardhead couldn't be bothered to write it off so Issho's already-strained wallet wouldn't get any lighter, so the five-star resort was coming from his own pocket. Fantastic. Of course said five-star resort just so happened to come under attack by some random nobody-crew. Of course said nobody-crew HAD to try and ruin Issho's gambling. What was he supposed to do, let them walk? He may be a forgiving man, but that doesn't mean he would allow those that terrorized the innocent to leave his sight. Not without them being clapped in irons first anyways.

"Admiral!"

Yes, his nap was going very well so far.

"Admiral Fujitora!"

But of course the universe couldn't give him a break. He wasn't a young man anymore, he needed his beauty rest.

"ADMIRAL!"

With a breathy sigh, Issho rose to his feet. Slipping on his favourite pair of Geta, he crossed his quarters in three long strides and opened the door. He "saw" the young Lieutenant, standing at abdomen height, and felt him take a step back at his sudden towering appearance.

"Admiral Fujitora, sir, we've just received word that one of the 'Worst Generation', Trafalgar Law, has teamed up with Pendrag Artur of the Jinchuriki! They're just a few islands away, and the Fleet Admiral has ordered us to head out and intercept them. I was told that you would like to know beforehand," the nervous man said.

Just perfect. He knew for sure now, the universe was laughing uproariously at him. Probably watching with glee, too, busy plotting ways to heighten his misery.

With another sigh, he gathered his thoughts and started formulating plans.

"Nothing good can come from those two working together. Send a message to the Fleet Admiral telling him we're on our way, but would appreciate reinforcements," Issho responded.

With a few more strides, he was at the bottom of the stairs to the bridge. The rolling of the ship across the waves gave him little pause. With one more deep inhale (he would vehemently deny that this was a yawn), he clicked and clacked his way to the top of the stairs. He felt the officer manning the helm turn to greet him. The man bellowed out an "Admiral on deck!" to the crew within earshot, before returning his attention to the Admiral standing just near him.

"Commander, I was told that our course has been changed. To which Island do I have the… distinct pleasure of chasing these pirates to?" Issho asked.

"Their last sighting was at Lehnsherr Island, but they may have moved since then," the helmsman said. "What with its strange magnetic properties, we need to be careful of things like our weapons changing weights in battle, and bullets changing trajectories mid-flight, among other things. Whitebeard used to have a lab on the island dedicated to discovering the effect of these fields on Devil Fruits, evidently the fields could even suppress Devil Fruit abilities, similar to Seastone, but without the nausea and weakness" explained the helmsman.

"Does Haki have any influence on these fields? If I were to imbue my weapon with Armament Haki, would it reduce or nullify the effect?" Issho wondered aloud.

"Unfortunately, sir," the man replied, "It is unknown. We will have to find out when we get there"

"Evidently so!" Issho thought while dodging a swing from Pendrag Artur. "Would have been nice to test it before combat, but noooooooo, we 'had to apprehend them IMMEDIATELY!' by Sakazuki's orders"

Artur's devil fruit, the Doru Doru no Mi, allowed him to teleport anywhere with anything or anyone he touched. A perfect power to compliment the power of Trafalgar Law, who could control his "Operating Room" at will with the power of his own, formidable fruit, the Ope Ope no Mi. Blocking an overhand swing from Law, he dropped below a follow-up from Artur, who had just teleported behind him. Evidently, those Magnetic Fields didn't affect Artur and Law. But why not?

He would be fighting blind, if not for the power of his Observation Haki. Issho disliked relying upon his Haki, prefering to utilize his devil fruit to observe the world around him. His range was limited, but he was holding his own. He wasn't an admiral for nothing.

"Give it up, Fujitora!" Artur snarled. "You can't beat us here, and your reinforcements will come too late!"

"Please, Issho. We helped each other on Dressrosa! Why do you oppose us now?!" Law shouted.

"I fight because I must, Law. I do not wish to oppose you, but I cannot let you walk away. And you, Artur, you are wanted for your crimes. I cannot allow a member of the Jinchuriki to leave! You are wanted for more crimes than I can list. You will come with me!" Issho roared back. "The Jinchuriki cannot be allowed to do more damage than they already have!"

Artur faltered for just a brief second, but it was enough for Issho to land a kick to his sternum, knocking him back and briefly winding him.

"Artur, go! You know the plan!" Law shouted, jumping in to cross blades with Issho once again. Issho faltered, falling back. "A plan... that doesn't bode well," Issho thought. He would have thought more, but a flicker behind him signalled the return of Artur. Unusually, he had one more, someone that Issho had yet to meet.

Immediately on guard, Issho caught both Law and Artur's blades on his own, before shoving back and creating space. He felt the new person circle around behind him, searching for an opening. He couldn't have that, now could he? Feigning a strike at Law before jumping back and spinning around, he struck at the newcomer and heard a distinctly feminine yelp as they dropped beneath his blade. He could swear he recognized that Haki signature, but before he could wrack his memory for who it might be, Artur teleported next to him while Law charged in for a three pronged attack.

"This is bad," raced through Issho's mind as he spun back to desperately catch Law's blade on his own. Twisting away from a sideways jab from Pendrag, he locked his blade's crossguard on Law's, twisting downwards in an attempt to disarm him. "Not that disarming him is any good, he can just summon it back to him with the Ope Ope no Mi. Still, any break is a good break." The new adversary jumped in, and Issho caught not one, but two daggers on the hilt of his sword while simultaneously swinging down to attack Law.

"Two daggers?" Issho thought, striking with the heel of his palm at Pendrag, who barely avoided it. "Not only that, but her movements; they belong to the training of Z".

Issho had never been very close with Z, a former admiral on the level of Garp the Fist and "Great Staff Officer" Tsuru, but from the few spars he had with the man, his unorthodox fighting style was dangerous but effective. That narrowed his attackers identity down to just two people, after the massacre of Z's cadets. Either Ain or Binz, and from the feminine yelp earlier, this was Ain, wielder of the Modo Modo no Mi.

"A student of Z, and the wielder of the Modo Modo no Mi; it produces energy that reverts the state of anyone or anything by twelve years if touched"

Issho repelled one dagger with his sword, before spinning around and striking at Law. When his sword was caught on Law's once again, Issho slid his sword forwards, closing the distance between them. With a heavy shove, Law was sent skidding back as Issho caught Pendrag with his free hand as the man tried to Teleport inside his guard. With one swift twist, Issho spun and flung Artur over his shoulder in a lesser-known Marine Grappling technique.

Sensing one dagger flying towards him, Issho batted it out of the air with his sword before leaping away from Ain to create space and keep all three within his sword's effective angle. He felt the dagger on the ground twitch, then disappear to drop into Ain's hand. The work of Law, no doubt.

Thoughts raced through his mind as he formulated a plan. "Three on one, and with no reinforcements coming before they defeat me. It's difficult to fight teleporting opponents. There is no way to outmaneuver all three while also defending myself- not without my devil fruit," Issho swore under his breath as he sensed the three pirates cluster, before two split to the sides to try and flank him again. Exhaling heavily, Issho readied himself for yet another clash.

With a flicker of power, Issho ducked under a swipe from Ain as Law moved her to be just above him, then struck at her and brought his sword to bear as Pendrag teleported next to him, intent on stabbing his side. Weaving backwards and under a return attack from Ain, Issho caught Law's blade for a third time on his own as he stepped back to avoid Pendrag's sword falling into where his legs were just a moment ago.

Feeling another pulse of power, Fujitora ducked a projectile from Ain's devil fruit. Suddenly feeling his body become younger would certainly invite defeat. "So they've all started using their devil fruits." Issho realized. "I will hold out for as long as I can, but those reinforcements better move quickly."

Ain finally spoke for the first time. "I do not want to fight you, Fujitora! Z always spoke highly of you, respecting your sense of justice and worth as a person. Stand down!" She shouted across the battlefield.

"You know full well why I cannot do that, Ain. I do not wish to fight, but I cannot let you leave. My respect for Z was great, but his doctrine of killing all lawbreakers on sight has dulled my admiration! I cannot allow members of his crew to continue to roam free." Issho replied.

"Then we must remove you, permanently!" Ain cried, before addressing the other two pirates. "Law, Artur! Let's do it!"

Pendrag instantly changed tactics, moving with much more ferocity and freedom of use with his devil fruit. "Gladly!" He told Ain.

Law, however, hesitated. If only for a brief moment, he remembered Fujitora's help on Dressrosa, and it stayed his blade for an infinitesimal, crucial second. While Pendrag teleported to nearly on top of Issho, Law made up his mind, and decided to not kill, but remove Fujitora from life forever. It was better than death, in any case.

His mind made up, Law "grabbed" the projectile Ain produced with his power, moving it to nearly touching Fujitora's back. As he did, Law sliced downwards, extending his power from the edge of his sword in a blade racing towards Fujitora. Just as the Admiral turned to block the attack, Law released the projectile of Ain's design, allowing it to strike Fujitora as he also reached out with his power to move the man. To where, to when was unimportant; all that mattered was that Fujitora would live- albeit where he could not interfere with their plan anymore. They could not allow themselves to be stopped here, so close to their goal.

And as he moved the Admiral, Pendrag also teleported him, trusting in Law to guide his movement through space. That would be Artur's mistake.

A/N: Hello all! First things first, I hope you all are staying safe during our global health crisis. I'm very sorry that it took me nearly a full feckin year to get an update or story out. I do have a *very* flimsy excuse though: First, Coronavirus and Quarantine. Second, A move across the country into a house that to this day needs refurbishing and fixing. Third, relationship rockiness. Fourth, severe writer's block. Thanks to our medical industry and staff for sticking with it at risk of their own health for our benefit!

Chapter 2 should be out by July 1st, 2020. I will be taking a week-long trip to visit my girlfriend on the other side of the country, though, so Chapter 3 will be delayed an extra week.