135 The war shifts.

The sea was aflame. Torrents of magma shot out of the ship side, downing hordes of ships one after the other amidst the screams of their crew members.

As if Big Mom had not been enough, the beast pirates too streamed towards them, clashing against both the pirates and the marines chaotically. All it had taken was a roar from their supreme commander, and the entire armada had come upon them.

Where screams of pain rose from one side, hoots appeared off the other. Marines ran across the deck, the superiors ordered around their inferiors and the chaos of the seas roared across their single small deck.

Kuzan had gotten off his patch of floor, and though he did not show it there was a smidgeon of stress on his otherwise stretched taut face. His hands splayed out in front of him, jets of ice streaming out of them as he dealt with the ships that approached.

Borsolino however, seemed to be as still as he had been when he had received his orders. He sat upon the observer's deck as he oversaw the situation, not once making a move. He would preserve his strength as he waited for the entire cluster fuck that was this conflict to fade over.

Strict orders shot out of his mouth at times, easily tearing through the noisy din on deck.

"Sakazuki~ take over and let the cannons cool down a bit, we can't be having them start malfunctioning over the course of the long and drawn out battle.

Kuzan, stop pelting the other side with hail, give yourself a break. " He called out, motioning for more men to move towards the magma man's side. While both Vice Admirals were blazing through the opposition, Sakazuki was still overly pressured by the sweet commander that had decided to attack his front.

"Ya sparkly bastard! Get your ass out here and help!" Sakazuki yelled, quite uncharacteristically. He was one to pride himself on his position and accorded others the respect that their cloak offered them. He was the perfect soldier, much like Borsolino in that regard, he would never question the orders of a superior and would never tolerate insubordination, thus for him to be forced to resort to vulgarities was a rarity for anyone on board.

"Oh~~~? But I have to work here~" Borsolino replied cheekily. Of the three of the Vice Admirals on board he was the most at ease. He was the fastest of the trio, and though neither the bushy haired man nor the cap wearing soldier would admit it he was the strongest of them. It couldn't be helped his devil fruit gave him an insane advantage.

His cheekiness wouldn't last however, for in the small period it took for the cannons to reload, the massive fleet of ships had neared. Katakuri, king, Cracker and Queen fought ferociously not budging from the place that they had occupied on the battle field. A single all star and a single sweet commander were enough to make the Vice Admirals sweat.

After each volley the Encirclement drew closer, each volley brought down more ships but put more pressure on the guardians of each flank. Sakazuki had already partially transformed into his elemental form, rabidly punching out as fast as he could.

Kuzan was no better, both his arms were raised as he trudged forward each step freezing a whole ship in its wake. From the base of his foot a trail of frost shot forward, climbing down the side of the ship and freezing the water before it continuously. The wrathful waves were stuck mid swing.

Still the other side advanced, the larger ships had a strong hull with each second the ice broke before reforming under the orders of the panting Vice Admiral.

Slowly Borsolino ceased to smile, if he stayed where he was he would be unable to dispense his duty aptly.

"Rear Admiral Strawberry, take charge of overseeing the ships condition." He called out as he made his move, within seconds the Rear Admiral he had ordered stood at the helm shouting orders the way that Borsolino had been, though it was definitely more frequent.

Borsolino on the other hand stood next to Sakazuki.

"New Orders Sakazuki~ I'm relieving you of your spot go wreck havoc on the other side instead.~" The Vice Admiral ordered, a barely concealed smirk on his face as he saw his fellow marine stiffen at the flippant tone. Nonetheless with a nod Sakazuki was gone.

With swift steps he ran across the sky, his moon walk something that he was especially proud of. His direct assault was covered by beams of light that had suddenly appeared in the cloudy sky. Area of effect wise, no one could beat Borsolino.

With a deep boom he landed on the first ship that he saw, his feet already blazing by the time it touched the shrieking wood. This was what he was an expert in, pure unmitigated destruction.

"[Flare]" he said simply as he waved his hands outward, a line of pure magma flowing off his hands splitting the ship in half. As the vassal began to sink he could not help but smile, none of the members of the crew on the ship could even near him for fear of being burned by the intense heat. So they chose the next best option, jumping head first into the sea. Where they landed there they drowned for regardless of how they jumped they would always be impaled by a mini spear of light.

With a soft exhale Sakazuki hefted a moderately sized burning wad of charcoal (for the wood around had already been burned beyond the conventional definition of wood) and with a small heave he threw it forward.

A flaming spear of sorts.

And thus the red Dog began his rampage, wrecking havoc across the myriad ships amidst the encirclement.

**********

Borsolino stood there impassively, uncaring at the plumes of smoke that rose from the wreckage. Regardless of the number of ships that Sakazuki torched to the depths of the deep sea, or Kuzan consigned to a frozen fate more still streamed forward.

And where once he had the luxury of sniping them from afar he now had to deal with up close. Many had made it past what could be considered safe recklessly charging forward either to be put down by the flaming Vice Admiral or to engage with the crew in a ship to ship battle. Here Borsolino could not help for he had his hands full dealing with one particularly annoying foe.

One Charlotte Snack stood arrogantly on a ship at the periphery his mere presence enough to deter the Vice Admiral from taking any action that would otherwise take his attention off the fat man.

A large black katana in the man's hand and a small bun on his head (the hair kind.. You can never tell with these sweet kinds) and a malevolent grin on his otherwise small face.

He roared loudly as he jumped off the ship, barely slipping over the massive quantity of blood that sat morbidly on the deck. Within seconds he was beside Borsolino, swinging his katana from on high he slashed towards the shade-wearing Vice Admiral.

"[Ame no Murakumo]" the Vice Admiral called out hurriedly as he made a sword of light in just enough time to defend against the katana wielding behemoth.

Taking a single step forward he pushed against the man, before ducking to cut his unprotected abdomen.

Snack only grunted in response, his stomach caving in slightly as if facing a blunt stick instead of a knife, before he brought his left hand out to punch against the yellow clothed marine.

Borsolino could only dodge pathetically as he switched to the side, instantly transforming to light he charged at his opponent's back, slashing down with all his power. Yet again however he was foiled, for with unreal ease the sweet commander switched out of his range, his sword coated with Haki rising to meet the Vice Admiral's.

Borsolino switched to the side as he ran forward, transforming into light he body slammed the other man, twisting on impact to kick his feet off from under him.

He could only resort to such petty movements, for on this ship anything more would risk sinking it. He worked best when Kuzan set the stage for his battles.

With a grunt Snack fell backwards, righting himself almost instantly. But the brief period of weakness was enough for the cheeky Vice Admiral. Moving at the speed of light Borsolino charged forward, his light sword transforming more dagger like he stabbed it into his foe's shoulder drawing blood.

Unfortunately for him however, Snack only grinned as he abandoned his katana, and with both hands infused with Haki he hugged Borsolino in a skeleton crushing embrace, his entire torso coloring black at the formidable amount of Haki that he employed to keep the Vice Admiral in one place.

With a twist the duo were free falling off the deck of the ship. However Borsolino struggled he could not budge, for within the massive man's embrace it was all he could do to stop his shoulder and spine from breaking. Still he struggled using his own Haki to strengthen he tried again. And as the duo neared the water he could feel his foe begin to weaken.

As soon as the bonds of Haki loosened enough that his fruit ability was no longer restricted he zoomed forward, propelling the duo onto the ship that Snack had come from.

As they landed on the deck, Borsolino powered up a full power laser, his fists gleaming he grunted as he buried it into the foe's stomach.

Snack growled out loud as he felt his vest melt and his skin tear. Still he held on his fists curling on the other man's waist he twisted pushing outward as he threw the Vice Admiral off of him.

Borsolino smirked as he flew through the air, and with a sniff of his nose he burst forth with an even faster speed, running at the other man with a vigor that would have frightened a Bull Zoan.

And as he neared the other man, he could only feel a sense of catharsis light radiating off his form before all that existed before him twisted and then was no more.

Where he once stood a triumphant and Grinning Charlotte Snack stood, his face tired and his torso bleeding with one hand he signaled his other sweet commander and with the other he slowly released his sister from his embrace.

They had successfully taken out one of the four Vice Admirals, now there was only two more to go, Momma would take care of the old man.