Chapter 33: The Tsunami Trap

It took three solid days to completely dismantle my sister’s paranoid doomsday fortifications.

I spent most of the week helping the Revolutionary logistics team fill in the massive, ridiculously deep moat Jasmine had excavated around the command tent.

We tore down the anti-aircraft netting, stacked the titanium barricades back into storage, and finally got the hidden base looking like a functional staging ground again instead of a maximum-security prison.

It was nice, honestly.

Between hauling supply crates and sparring lightly with Jasmine, it felt like we were finally getting a chance to breathe.

That peace shattered on the afternoon of the fourth day.

The emergency Den Den Mushi in the communications tent began screaming frantically.

A terrified rebel scout from a neighboring archipelago island was on the line.

An unnatural, catastrophic disaster had just struck, a massive, towering tsunami had appeared out of nowhere and was minutes away from wiping out a heavily populated coastal city.

“The ships won’t make it in time!” Jasmine yelled, grabbing Coil Mjolnir and sprinting into the courtyard.

“They don’t have to,” I replied, tapping my disk.

Within seconds, the Sky-Rift Roc and the majestic Phoenix-Peacock, HoHo, materialized over the camp.

I grabbed Gammamon, Jasmine grabbed Palmon, and we hauled a strike team of twenty rebels into the heavy oak carriage.

The two giant jade birds grabbed the carriage rings and launched us into the sky, breaking the sound barrier as we shot toward the neighboring island.

We arrived just as the shadow of the colossal wave fell over the terrified city.

“Rebels, focus on the evacuation!

Get the civilians to the high ground!” Jasmine ordered, leaping out of the carriage before it even touched the ground, her boots sparking as she hit the cobblestone streets to guide the panicked crowds.

I didn’t run toward the city.

I sprinted directly toward the shoreline, standing alone on the docks as a wall of water the size of a mountain prepared to crash down on us.

I didn’t panic.

I just unhooked the disk.

Summon: Glacial-Inferno Sovereign.

The jade unicorn materialized in the shallow bay right at the base of the wave.

Its hooves touched the water, and its horn ignited with a blinding, terrifying aura of absolute zero.

I pushed my Fa-Jin to the maximum, funneling a massive burst of kinetic energy into the Sovereign.

The unicorn unleashed a shockwave of localized, physics-breaking cold.

The towering tsunami froze in a fraction of a second.

The roaring ocean instantly fell dead silent, transmuting from liquid destruction into a magnificent, harmless, glittering ice sculpture that loomed over the city’s skyline.

For a moment, there was absolute silence.

Then, the civilians and rebels erupting into deafening cheers.

But my Observation Haki flared.

Using the cheering crowd and the massive frozen wave as a distraction, a volley of specialized bullets hissed through the air from the rooftops, aimed directly at my back.

I could have easily dodged them.

I could have summoned the Ferret to swallow them in shadows.

But a realization hit me, Who shoots at the guy who just saved a city?

I wanted to know exactly who set this trap.

So, I let them catch me.

I sidestepped the bullets just enough to let them graze my coat, intentionally acting surprised.

In the next second, a massive, incredibly heavy net dropped from the rooftops, enveloping me completely.

The metal mesh glowed with the distinct, dull sheen of Sea-Prism Stone.

The World Government assumed that because I possessed incomprehensible powers, I had to be a Devil Fruit user.

They assumed the Sea-Prism Stone would instantly drain my strength, paralyze me, and render me completely helpless.

They were wrong.

I didn’t have a Devil Fruit.

My alchemical weapon and Fa-Jin were entirely independent of the sea’s curse.

The heavy net felt exactly like a regular, slightly uncomfortable metal net.

But I am a very good actor.

I let my knees buckle.

I let out a dramatic gasp, slumping to the cobblestones under the weight of the mesh, letting my arms go limp as if my energy had been violently ripped away.

“Victor!” Gammamon yelled from a nearby rooftop, but I shot him a quick, subtle wink.

The little dinosaur instantly stopped, tilting his head in confusion but staying put.

From the shadows of the alleyways, a squad of masked assassins wearing pristine white cloaks stepped out.

Cipher Pol Zero.

The CP0 Captain walked toward me, his featureless mask staring down at my “weakened” form.

“You made a fatal mistake playing the hero, Victor D.

Costa,” the Captain monologued coldly, drawing a heavy flintlock pistol loaded with Sea-Prism bullets.

“The World Government will not tolerate an anomaly of your magnitude, nor will we suffer the Costa bloodline to exist.

The Thunder Maiden will fall next.

In the name of Absolute Justice…

your execution is at hand.”

He leveled the pistol squarely at my head and pulled the trigger.

CLANG.

The bullet never reached me.

A blur of dark hair and cracking blue electricity slammed into the cobblestones directly in front of me.

Jasmine stood there, breathing heavily, the smoking, flattened Sea-Prism bullet resting harmlessly against the thick, insulated metal head of Coil Mjolnir.

Because her powers came from Compound V and absorbing electricity, the Sea-Prism bullet had absolutely no effect on her either.

Jasmine slowly lifted her head.

Her eyes weren’t just angry; they were practically glowing with a terrifying, unhinged fury.

They had just tried to shoot her brother in the head.

“You,” Jasmine whispered, her voice vibrating with raw, murderous static.

“You targeted him?”

The CP0 agents instinctively took a step back, sensing the sheer, violent intent radiating from the Thunder Maiden.

Jasmine didn’t just attack, she erupted.

She absorbed the latent charge from Mjolnir, her muscles supercharging instantly.

She blitzed the squad.

She swung the heavy pole-hammer with enough physical force to shatter a galleon, completely bypassing their Rokushiki defenses.

She slammed the hammer into the chest of an elite assassin, sending him flying through a brick wall.

Another agent tried to use Soru to flank her, but she was faster, catching him by the throat and slamming him violently into the cobblestones, cracking the street.

On the rooftop, Palmon let out a battle cry.

“I have to go help her!”

Palmon prepared to launch herself into the fray, but Gammamon reached out and grabbed one of her vines.

“Nah, she’s fine,” Gammamon said casually, pulling a bag of dried meat from his scarf and tossing a piece into his mouth.

He pointed a stubby claw down at the street.

“Look at Victor.”

Palmon paused, looking down.

I was no longer slumping on the ground.

I had casually slipped out of the “inescapable” Sea-Prism Stone net.

Because I hate leaving a mess, I was currently standing on the street, humming quietly to myself, carefully folding the heavy metal net into a neat square like a bedsheet.

A few feet away, the battle, if you could call it that, was ending.

Jasmine had utterly dismantled the assassination squad in less than thirty seconds.

Only the CP0 Captain was left.

Jasmine kicked his legs out from under him, pinning him to the ground.

She raised Mjolnir high above her head, her eyes dark, fully intending to cave his masked skull in.

“Jas, wait,” I called out mildly, tucking the folded net under my arm.

“Spare him for now.

We need to extract info from him to find out who sent them.”

Jasmine froze, the hammer inches from the Captain’s face.

She recognized my voice, but it wasn’t coming from the ground where I was supposed to be trapped.

She turned her head, her expression shifting to complete bewilderment as she saw me standing entirely upright, holding the folded Sea-Prism net like a load of laundry.

“How…

what are you doing?” she asked, blinking in confusion.

“Folding,” I replied simply.

“They made a mess.”

Jasmine stared at me, then looked down at the terrified CP0 Captain under her boot.

She let out a heavy, exasperated sigh.

“Fine,” Jasmine grumbled, lowering the hammer.

“But he’s not running away.”

Before the Captain could react, Jasmine lifted her heavy combat boot and stomped down hard.

CRACK.

The CP0 Captain let out a muffled scream of agony as both of his femurs snapped simultaneously.

“Good compromise,” I nodded approvingly.

With the assassins neutralized, the immediate threat to the city was over.

The towering, frozen tsunami remained perfectly intact, acting as a bizarre, glittering new landmark for the coastal town.

For the rest of the evening, the Revolutionary squad, the Costa siblings, and the Digimon worked side-by-side.

We helped the local citizens settle down, cleared the debris from the initial panic, and used the Sovereign to slowly, safely melt the frozen wave into the ocean over the course of a few hours so it wouldn’t flood the streets.

As the sun began to set, Jasmine and I sat on the docks, watching the ice melt.

We had the CP0 Captain securely bound and gagged in the carriage, ready for interrogation.

“So,” Jasmine said, bumping her shoulder against mine.

“Sea-Prism Stone doesn’t work on you either, huh?”

“Nope,” I smirked, tossing a small pebble into the water.

“But I think we should let the World Government keep thinking it does.

It gives them a false sense of security.”

Jasmine laughed, a bright, clear sound that carried over the bay.

“You’re a menace, Victor.”

“I’m just a guy trying to keep his family safe,” I replied softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“And God help anyone who tries to get in our way.”

Word Count: 1597

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