The battlefield of Marineford had descended into complete chaos.

Smoke choked the sky. Fire burned across shattered stone. Marines and pirates clashed in waves below the execution platform while the sea itself trembled from the aftermath of Luffy freeing Ace from the cuffs that had chained him moments before death.

Luffy could barely stand.

Blood ran down his face. His chest heaved violently from exhaustion, but he still grinned like an idiot through split lips.

“Ace… we did it…”

Ace stared at the broken platform for half a second like he still couldn’t believe it himself.

Then—

The temperature spiked.

The air warped from heat.

A slow, heavy sound echoed across Marineford.

Drip.

Molten magma slid from a massive fist.

Sakazuki stood several yards away, smoke curling from his shoulders, hatred burning in his eyes.

“You think you can simply leave?” Akainu growled.

Every pirate nearby froze.

Even seasoned commanders felt their stomachs drop.

Akainu’s arm expanded into boiling magma, the heat alone scorching the cracked ground beneath him.

Luffy turned too slowly.

Ace’s eyes widened instantly.

“LUFFY!”

Akainu vanished forward.

The magma fist roared toward Luffy’s chest fast enough to tear apart the air itself.

Ace moved without thinking.

His body twisted between them—

—but before the hit landed—

You appeared.

One second there was nothing.

The next, your body stood directly in front of Ace.

Akainu’s magma fist punched straight through your chest.

Time stopped.

A wet cough escaped your lips.

Blood splattered across Ace’s face.

“No…” Ace whispered.

Luffy’s eyes went impossibly wide.

Your body swayed slightly, magma burning through your torso as smoke rose from the wound.

“No… NO!!”

Luffy’s scream ripped across Marineford hard enough to silence nearby fighting.

The sound cracked something inside Ace.

Memories flashed violently through his mind.

Three kids racing through forests.

Stealing food together.

Laughing beneath the stars.

You threatening bandits twice your size with that terrifying grin.

The three of you against the world.

And now—

Now Akainu had—

Your body shimmered.

Once.

Twice.

Then dissolved into crimson light.

Silence.

Akainu’s eyes narrowed.

“What—”

A thick red tendril of chaotic energy suddenly wrapped around his throat.

The battlefield erupted in shock.

The tendril yanked upward with catastrophic force, launching Akainu across Marineford like a ragdoll. Buildings exploded as his body crashed through stone walls before disappearing into smoke and rubble.

Everyone froze.

Marines.

Pirates.

Warlords.

Even Whitebeard slowly lifted his head.

Above the battlefield, crimson energy spiraled through the sky like a living storm.

And there you were.

Floating high over Marineford.

Your coat whipped violently in the wind while glowing scarlet tendrils coiled around your body like serpents. Red lightning cracked through the clouds overhead as reality itself seemed to distort around you.

Some Marines physically recoiled the moment they looked at you.

Because the air around you felt wrong.

Unstable.

Chaotic.

Like the world itself couldn’t decide what was real anymore.

“The Crimson Witch…” someone whispered in terror.

Luffy stared upward with tears still streaming down his face.

Ace looked seconds away from collapsing from relief and fury at the same time.

You folded your arms slowly, red eyes glowing against the burning sky.

“Did you boys honestly think I’d let that idiot kill any of us?”

Your voice echoed across the battlefield.

A Marine suddenly dropped his weapon screaming as hallucinations overtook him.

Another turned on his allies in blind panic.

Probability itself bent.

Cannons misfired.

Weapons shattered.

The sea churned violently beneath Marineford.

Akainu emerged from the rubble below, blood running down his face now, fury twisting his expression.

“You dare interfere—”

A pulse of chaos energy exploded from your body.

The sky cracked crimson.

Akainu stopped talking.

For the first time since the war began—

Fear crossed his face.