Work Text:
Usopp really thought the Firework Flowers and Exploding Pinecones would do it. He’d promised Tama that he would take care of it, that he would get their pursuer off their tail (literally, in Komachiyo’s case). Usopp could still feel the heat from the blast, even as Komachiyo sprinted down the hall, carrying them away from where Usopp set off the explosions. Those were some of the strongest explosives he had, and he had foolishly believed they’d be enough to take Kaido’s officer down for good.
Pay-pay was already on his feet again and giving chase.
“Why won’t you just stay down?!” Usopp wailed.
Usopp rummaged through his bag, fruitlessly searching for something, anything, that he could shoot to get rid of their seemingly indestructible pursuer. What would even work? These two dinosaur fruit users acted like they didn’t have any weaknesses. They cut through tangling vines with ease, ripped the heads off his maneaters. They brushed off Skull Blast Grass like it was nothing. Got up after Exploding Pinecones like they were little more than firecrackers, not high grade bombs.
As more and more of his ammo proved useless against them, panic filled Usopp’s veins. His ears were ringing, and he didn’t know if it was from the fear surging through his body or from the headbutt chick cracking his skull so many times. He felt like his vision was narrowing. Not just physically, but mentally, as fear and futility choked off his ability to think and plan. He just wanted to run, but they’ve been running, and their terrible, seemingly tireless opponents have shown no sign of giving up the chase. There was nothing he could do that would work. They were going to die.
Usopp’s fingers, still rummaging with haphazard panic through his bag, brushed over an almost forgotten weapon.
Usopp knew every single one of his projectiles by touch. He had to, to be able to fire the right ammo quickly. Though he hadn’t used it in nearly two years, the round was familiar. He’d expanded his arsenal in size and power on Boin, replacing his old weapons with much stronger and more versatile ones, but he’d kept some of his old ammunition tucked at the bottom of his bag. Keeping it was some part nostalgia, some part a nagging fear that he might need it some day. Franky had called him a pack rat once (as if he could judge) but it seems like his precaution might finally pay off.
Clarity returned. He could see the angles and possibilities again, panic lifting as an idea came together.
Usopp loaded his slingshot and drew back the strings.
Doubt, his longtime enemy, whispered in his ear.
It was an old trick. Would it even work?
“You’re done for!” Pay-pay snarled. He lunged, a terrifying mass of scales and muscle with a gaping maw full of razor sharp teeth, aiming right for them.
Usopp’s hesitation vanished.
“Deluxe Pepper Star!” Usopp screamed.
Usopp shot it into Pay-pay’s mouth. It hit the back of his throat and exploded.
Pay-pay choked. He stopped mid lunge, staggering to a halt as he gagged and coughed around the cloud of hot pepper filling his throat. Though his body was covered in nigh impenetrable scales, Pay-pay’s insides weren’t nearly as tough. The capsaicin took effect almost immediately, burning his throat and irritating his lungs. His eyes and nostrils began to stream, and Usopp could tell from his wheezing breaths that his throat was already swelling.
Usopp didn’t wait for him to recover. In the blink of an eye, he had his next projectile ready to fire.
“Sticky Star!”
The capsule hit Pay-pay right between the eyes and burst open. It splattered over his eyes and snout, sticky tendrils wrapping around his face. Some wrapped around his jaw, preventing him from opening it all the way. Blinded by the Sticky Star and out of his mind with pain from the pepper, Pay-pay thrashed wildly. He frenziedly tried to rip the glue from his eyes, only to get his claws stuck in it.
Usopp shot one of his vine plants at Pay-pay’s feet, where it wrapped around his ankles. It was one of his stretchier breeds, and would not snap so easily. Now for the finisher.
“Green Star: Impact Wolf!”
The wolf sprang into being in a flurry of shoots and leaves. It galloped toward its target. Unlike the times before, Pay-pay was not braced for impact. He did not have armament haki prepared, and his tough exterior did little to protect him from being caught off balance. The Impact Wolf hit him nose first, releasing a powerful shockwave. Pay-pay was sent flying.
He hit the ground hard, landing on his side. He thrashed and flailed. Unable to use his claws or teeth, he struggled in vain to pull free from the tangling vines and glue. He wheezed all the while, barely able to breathe with his throat still full of burning hot pepper.
He did not get back up.
“You did it!” Tama cheered.
“Take that, you ugly overgrown lizard,” Nami said.
Usopp sagged, a mixture of disbelief, pride, and relief swirling through him. He did do it, huh? It wasn’t a clean knockout, but Pay-pay was as good as incapacitated. Usopp would take it.
Before Usopp could celebrate, their other pursuer caught up. The Impact Wolf was circling, gaining speed to go in for another strike. With one headbutt, Ulti shattered its nose. Without its root, the rest of the plant fell apart.
“Not her again,” Nami groaned, while Tama urged Komachiyo to move faster.
Ulti took in the scene. She crouched and leaned over her choking brother.
“Pay-Pay!” Ulti cried. “What have they done to you?”
Pay-pay wheezed in answer.
She sliced the vines hobbling his ankles, but recoiled from the glue coating his face and claws.
Usopp prayed her fretting would keep her distracted long enough for them to get out of sight, but he’d never had that kind of luck. Ulti looked up, fury in her eyes. She looked even madder than she did when Nami refused to deny that Luffy would become pirate king.
“You’re going to regret that ever so much!” Ulti snarled.
“Run, Komachiyo!” Usopp yelled. “Get us out of here!”
It was too late.
Usopp did not have time to even raise his weapon. She moved almost too fast for his eyes to follow, rocketing down the hall like a pinball.
“Ulti Mortar!”
One second she was crouching by Pay-pay, the next she cannoned into Komachiyo. Bones cracked, blood spattered. Komachiyo yelped as Ulti’s headbutt knocked him sideways and sent Usopp, Nami, and Tama flying.
Nami picked herself up.
Nearby, Tama was crying, letting out great gulping sobs as she tugged at Komachiyo’s fur. Komachiyo lay on his side. For one horrible second Nami thought he was dead; then she saw the faint rise and fall of his flank.
Ulti stood over him. “Stupid lion dog,” she panted. “You’ve been more slippery than I care to deal with. Did that break a few bones? Good.”
Nami spotted Usopp. He’d landed a ways away, on the other end of Komachiyo from Nami and Tama. Ulti stood between them. A not-so-small, shameful part of Nami was glad he was so far away when Ulti’s focus shifted from Komachiyo to Usopp.
“It was you,” Ulti said. “You’re the one who hurt Pay-pay!” She ran at him.
He tried to raise Kuro Kabuto, but Ulti snatched it from him and threw it aside. She grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed her head into his.
Nami winced at the sound of their skulls cracking together. Her own skull throbbed in sympathy. Usopp surprised her, as he always did, by still being conscious. He weakly struggled to get out Ulti’s grip, blinking the fresh blood from his eyes. His ability to take a hit had always been a mystery.
“Stop it!” Tama cried. “Stop hurting my friends!” She burst into fresh sobs, and beneath the fear, Nami’s heart broke for her. Tama had been so brave so far, but she was still just a child. Younger than even Nami had been when she set out to save her home.
“Be quiet! You all have been nothing but nuisances. Turning our soldiers against us. Running around on this stupid lion dog!” Ulti kicked Komachiyo.
Tama wailed louder.
“Shut up,” Ulti snapped. She dropped Usopp and lashed out, quick as a viper. Tama screamed as Ulti’s claws raked across her face.
“Tama!” Nami cried. She caught the little girl as she fell. Tama cried, clutching her bloody cheek.
Nami saw red. How dare she. Rage flooded her system, overpowering her desire to escape. Setting Tama down, she got to her feet. She spun the climatact, the motions so ingrained she didn’t even need to think. How dare she hurt a child! An angry black thundercloud formed.
Sensing danger, Ulti glanced up.
Nami swung her climatact.
“Lightning Tempo!”
Moving impossibly fast, Ulti dodged before the lightning could strike. The bolt struck the ground where she’d stood, splintering and burning the floor. Nami didn’t have time to even cry out. Pain exploded in her head as Ulti headbutted her. Nami fell backwards, spots and blood obscuring her vision.
“Stupid girl,” Ulti said. “Wait your turn. You will pay for your miserable lies soon enough. I will deal with you after I kill your pesky comrade.”
Usopp made a run for his slingshot, but Ulti was faster.
She grabbed him before he could reach it. She held him off the ground. Usopp kicked and struggled, but it was no use. Ulti’s grip was too strong.
“Understand what happens now?” She asked. The horns and armor on her forehead thickened. She drew her head back. Her powers elongated her neck, allowing her to stretch, to loom threateningly over Usopp as her muscles tensed for the strike.
“Usopp!”
“I’m going to pulverize your skull!”
“No!” Nami screamed.
Ulti slammed her head into Usopp’s.
Nami screamed. She didn’t want to look, but when she did, she blinked, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing. Ulti had tried to crush Usopp’s skull. She’d reared back, put an incredible amount of force into the attack, but then… stopped? Right before hitting Usopp? Ulti seemed just as confused about it as Nami did. She pulled her head back, brows scrunched in confusion.
Usopp’s head was still on his shoulders. His brains intact. He had one arm raised, holding a hand in front of his forehead.
In his hand, he held a familiar circular shell.
An impact dial.
Relief made Nami’s knees weak. He’d used an impact dial to absorb the force of the attack. He was okay.
Usopp took advantage of Ulti’s confusion. He pressed the dial to Ulti’s scales, just below her ribs.
“Impact,” he said with a bloody smile.
An invisible bolt of concentrated power burst from the dial. It struck Ulti, a blow made from the combined physical power of Ulti’s own stone-shattering headbutt and whatever other force the dial had absorbed before it. It knocked her backwards. She dropped Usopp and was sent sprawling.
Clutching his arm, Usopp staggered away from her. He snatched up Kuro Kabuto and ran to Nami and Tama.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said. He carefully scooped up Tama, wincing when got a good look at her cheek. “Oh, that looks vicious. Hang in there, kiddo.”
Ulti rose to her feet.
Blood dripped down her side where the impact dial had ruptured her scales. There was murder in her eyes. Usopp scrambled back as she took a menacing step toward them.
She didn’t get any closer.
“Lightning Tempo!”
Nami sent another bolt of lightning. Unlike the last one, this strike hit. Ulti’s body jerked as the electricity fried her. The smell of burning meat filled the air.
Before the lightning ended, Nami was already setting up her next move. She spun her Climatact.
“Tornado Tempo!”
After the impact dial and lightning, Ulti was too slow to dodge it completely, though her wickedly fast reflexes did enable her to start to react. She lunged to the side, but the tornado caught her and sent her flying, slamming her into the wall. A shower of wood and stone fell on top of her.
Satisfaction eased some of the rage burning in Nami. Not all of it though. Not by a long shot. Ulti needed to pay for what she’d done to Tama, and for what she almost did to Usopp.
“Come on, we gotta go!” Usopp urged. He cradled Tama in his arms. She held one of his emergency bandages to her cheek.
“What about Komachiyo?” Tama whimpered.
Nami looked at the poor lion dog. Komachiyo was unconscious, and there was no way they could carry him. After what Usopp and Nami had just done, however, Ulti was more than likely dead set on killing the two of them. If they ran, she’d probably leave Komachiyo alone. Nami and Usopp shared a glance, and she was glad to see they were on the same page; now was not the time to fight Usopp’s refusal to leave anyone to the wolves.
“I’m sorry Tama, but we can’t bring him,” Usopp said.
“He’ll be okay,” Nami promised. “We’ll circle back and come get him after we get you to the sound stage.”
Wood and stone shifted. Ulti was already moving again beneath the pile. Nami had expected it (the angry, illogical side of her anticipated it) but they weren’t ready yet. Staying put right now would only lead to a repeat of what had just happened, only with far worse results.
Nami took off down the hall with Usopp on her heels. She ran in the direction of the sound stage. That was the main goal, though obviously they’d need to take care of their lizard problem before they reached it.
“An impact dial? I thought you didn’t have any more of those.” Usopp had regaled the crew with (highly edited) stories of his trials and tribulations on Boin Archipelago. He’d lost or broken most of the dials he had on him, and the remainder were incorporated into Kuro Kabuto’s design.
“I found another one in my dial stash on the Sunny.”
“Hoarder.”
“Says you, greedy hag. How many treasure chests do you have stashed on the ship right now?”
“Treasure is different.”
“How many empty treasure chests do you have stashed on the ship right now?”
Ulti’s scream of rage echoed down the corridor. Nami and Usopp ran even faster.
“She’s up again,” Tama said, looking back the way they came.
“Are you sure your dumplings don’t work on dinosaurs?” Usopp panted. “They’re animals too, aren’t they?”
“No,” Tama said, her voice muffled in Usopp’s poofy hair. “I tried it on another officer but it didn’t work. Horselina had to save me.”
“Great. Maybe we can lose her with Mirage Tempo?” Usopp said.
“We’re not trying to lose her,” Nami said.
“What? Nami, what are you talking about? The goal is to get away from her, remember?”
“We’re putting space between us, for now. We’re going to take her down.”
“Did she give you brain damage!?”
“She deserves what’s coming to her,” Nami said.
“What’s coming— nothing works against her! She’s too fast for me to get her with the pepper star, and you know the impact dial won’t work twice, not now that she knows what it does! She won’t stop until she kills us!”
“Which is why we can’t run forever.”
“Standing still will just let her kill us faster.”
“I’m done running. We’re going to make her pay.”
Nami was tired of running. More than that, though, she was angry. Angry that Ulti hurt Tama. Angry at how close she came to losing Usopp. Angry at how easily they were being pushed around by a single fruit user. She hated feeling small and helpless, and she hated seeing another little girl made to feel small and helpless. She was a pirate, which meant no one controlled how she lived, not ever again.
Nami wasn’t a helpless little girl anymore. Nami also wasn’t the girl who curled up and played dead when faced with a dinosaur anymore either.
“But Nami, you’ve seen how none of our weapons work against her! You’ve hit her with lightning like three times, and she just keeps walking it off!”
“She’s getting closer!” Tama said.
Nami chanced a glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, Ulti was sprinting after them, her long, scaly legs eating up ground. She seemed recovered from her run in with the wall. At this rate, she’d catch up before Nami was ready.
Nami reached into her obi. Thankfully everything hidden in her clothes transferred when Kin’emon changed her outfit and it turned back again. She pulled out a wind knot. She’d been so tempted to use these on Whole Cake, but she tried to save them for real emergencies, since she didn’t have the technology to make any more.
This definitely counted as an emergency.
Nami skidded to a halt. Ignoring Usopp’s surprised shout, she turned and braced herself, then unleashed the wind knot.
A massive gust, stronger than any typhoon in Paradise, burst from the untied knot. It screamed down the corridor, sending wall hangings, potted plants, and anything else not nailed down flying.
Ulti slid back. Her weight kept her from flying away in the initial gust, but the wind knot was more concentrated and longer lasting than Tornado Tempo. She dug the talons on her feet into the wooden floors, but the floorboards splintered and gave way, until finally Ulti lost her balance and tumbled backward head over tail.
The wind knot puttered and went limp as the last of it was spent. Nami dropped it and turned to face Usopp, who stood waiting with Tama peering over his shoulder.
“Our weapons will work,” Nami said, meeting his eyes. “We’ve just got to use them the right way.”
Nami had been reminded of that while watching Usopp take down Page One. They needed to work smarter, not harder. Nami and Usopp weren’t monsters, but they also weren’t helpless. They needed to take control of this fight, their way, and fast.
“I have a plan,” she said. “You know me. I wouldn’t lead you into doing something unnecessarily dangerous unless I had a good reason.”
“Unless it’s for money,” Usopp joked halfheartedly.
She didn’t laugh or scold him. She looked at her friend, letting him read the determination in her eyes. The I can’t do this without you went without saying.
“Do you trust me?” she asked.
“With my life,” he answered.
Nami smiled grimly.
“Then let’s do this. Start laying traps along our trail, anything to slow her down. I need a little time to get ready…”
They came to yet another large, high ceilinged room. Nami had memorized the mansion layout; the soundstage overlooking the plaza was in the next room. This was where they needed to make their stand.
“Keep her out as long as you can,” Nami ordered Usopp. “Tama, stay along the wall here.”
A small group of enemy pirates was in the room.
“You think we’re just going to let you do what you want? We’re the Waiters, members of the Beast Pirates, we’ll—”
Usopp shot a pop green at them. A massive plant spawned, vines and giant red flowers growing from the pod. The hungry flowers opened up, revealing teeth. They snatched up several of the Beast pirates.
“Anyone else have a problem?” Usopp asked. The remaining enemies took several big steps back. “I didn’t think so.”
Nami got to work. She spun her baton, constructing clouds, adjusting temperatures. She pumped out cold balls, letting them gather into a mass of air just inside the archway to the next room. She occasionally switched gears to create rain clouds, building a heavy gray nimbostratus over the center of the room. With the improvements Usopp had made, the Climatact worked faster than ever. She churned out the clouds she needed at record speed. The dinky first model she’d used in Alabasta never could have done this in time.
Though the sounds of battle echoed all around, Nami could hear Ulti’s fast approaching footsteps. Usopp had blocked the entrance with vines, and laid other traps just outside the door. Nami heard them go off, as well as the sounds of shredding plant matter as Ulti ripped her way through.
Ulti burst through the archway. She looked worse for wear, disheveled from everything they’d thrown at her. She was panting. Her hair was full of dust, leaves, and wood splinters. A large bloodstain covered the spot where the impact dial hit. One of Usopp’s mandrakes was clinging to her arm. She peeled it off and viciously ripped it in half before throwing it to the ground.
“Atlas Comet!” Usopp shot at Ulti.
Ulti had recovered her speed. She ducked his initial shot, and effortlessly dodged the followup. She darted forward and headbutted Usopp, sending him flying.
“I am ever so tired of this game,” she said. She turned toward Nami. Ulti looked more inhuman than ever. Her teeth and horns protruded. Scales and armored plates covered her body. Her neck and muscular limbs were lengthened, making her tower over every human in the room, and her tail lashed angrily as she stalked forward.
Despite the fear sending chills up her spine, Nami held her ground. Come a little closer, lizard girl, Nami thought.
“Usopp, get away from her!”
“Trying!” He said. He scrambled backwards, throwing down a pop green to put some distance between himself and Ulti.
Nami’s natural senses for pressure, air currents, humidity, and temperature were well honed from years of traveling on the sea. The knowledge she gained from Weatheria had sharpened those senses further, and gave her a stronger understanding of the movement and elements behind various weather phenomena.
She had never used this particular attack in battle, but she knew in her bones that the conditions were perfect.
With a flick of her climatact, the cloud looming overhead released its contents, dousing the room and its occupants with rain. Only Nami, Usopp, and Tama were spared, thanks to their position near the far wall.
“You think I am afraid of a little drizzle?” Ulti snarled. “I am going to snap that stupid baton in half.”
Nami didn’t respond. She spun her climatact, gathering a ball of wind. With one powerful swing, she unleashed it, creating a burst of air that sent the cold front she’d built surging through the room like an unstoppable, ice cold tsunami.
“Arctic Tempo: Deep Freeze!”
The blast of subzero air screamed through the room, freezing everything it touched. The temperature dropped sharply, and water turned to ice in seconds.
When it stopped, the room was quiet in the wake of the wind. Sounds of battle from around the mansion could still be heard, but this room was hushed, all movement ceased. Ice coated the floor. Flakes of snow drifted down, first only a few, then more, soon to grow into proper flurries. Usopp’s maneaters were frozen solid. The remaining Beast pirates huddled against the wall, covered in frost and shivering.
Ulti stood in the center of the room. She didn’t move. She couldn’t. She was caught, frozen, in a layer of ice.
“I take it you’ve never experienced a flash freeze before, have you lizard girl?”
The only place Nami had ever seen or heard of dinosaurs running around was Little Garden, a humid jungle in Paradise. As far as she could tell, and backed by Louis Arnote’s account, they were reptiles. Really big reptiles, but reptiles all the same.
Reptiles didn’t survive well in the cold.
The ice encasing Ulti shattered. Nami didn’t flinch. Ulti stood, shivering as she shook ice from her scales and hair.
“Is that all y-you have?” Ulti said through chattering teeth. “Mere ice c-cannot contain me. You will regret your paltry struggles.”
“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”
“Nami!” Usopp hissed. Nami ignored him, giving Ulti a challenging smirk.
Ulti’s face twisted, fresh rage coloring her frozen cheeks. She lunged at Nami. Rather, she tried to. Her feet were still encased in ice. She nearly fell; the ice broke, and she staggered forward. The difference cold weather made was striking. Ulti moved sluggishly. Every step took effort, as if her feet were chained to heavy weights. She wobbled, her coordination shot. The cold had slowed her circulation, draining her energy and deadening limbs. Making it hard for her to move, let alone fight.
No more of the high speed pinball maneuvers. No more dodging Nami’s weather or Usopp’s shots. No more stupid headbutts.
It was Nami and Usopp’s turn to deal out the damage.
Usopp was quick to fire. He set loose an Impact Wolf. It cannoned into Ulti, sending her flying into the wall; it then circled back to do it again and again until she finally managed to sink her claws into it and rip it apart.
Nami used that time to test another new weapon. Usopp had upgraded the climatact to her specifications, making this move possible when it never was before. She gathered water from the atmosphere into her climatact; then, after stretching the baton, she released it alongside freezing air, growing a row of perfect icicles along her staff.
“Arctic Tempo: Shuriken!” She swung the climatact, launching the spikes. A quick flip of her staff sent out a gust of wind, sending them rocketing toward Ulti, who was too slow to dodge. Nami repeated the move. She didn’t have Usopp’s borderline supernatural aim, but she tried to keep hitting the spot where Usopp had ruptured her scales with the impact dial.
Between the two of them, they pelted her with bombs and javelins made of plants and ice. Using wind and plants to slam her into the walls and floor.
Every time they knocked her down, Ulti got up again. The Beast pirates, huddled out of the fray, got bolder as the fight went on, calling out encouragement to Ulti or insults to Usopp and Nami. Nami’s own frustration was growing. This fight was taking forever, and their friends needed them. What would it take to end this?
Lightning flashed overhead, jumping from cloud to cloud. Snow fell thickly, along with a smattering of hail.
“Wh-what kind of snowstorm is this?” One of Kaido’s goons muttered through chattering teeth. A chunk of hail fell from the cloud and knocked him unconscious.
Her cold front had collided with the humid atmosphere and rain clouds already present in Onigashima’s high vaulted ceilings. She’d just wanted to create conditions for a flash freeze, but in the process accidentally created a thundersnow.
Nami had unconsciously kept track of the ambient weather. Even in the middle of a fight, some part of her was always aware of it. The charge in the air felt different from her usual thunder clouds. This was no ordinary thunderstorm or snowstorm. Thundersnows moved differently, and had different effects. One difference was the increased likelihood of positive lightning.
Positive lightning, which was uncommon but stronger, longer lasting, and far more dangerous than the negative lightning Nami usually weaponized.
“Hey Ulti,” Nami called as she swung her climatact.
Creating a path for the electrons to follow. To connect.
“I think it’s time you warmed up.”
Every hair on Nami’s body stood on end. A massive bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds. Searing heat, blindingly bright. Accompanied by a near deafening roar of thunder. It shook the room.
Though Nami could barely see, she knew her aim was true. Ulti was caught in the blast.
When the lightning dissipated, Nami saw a burnt ring on the floor surrounded by melted ice. Ulti stood at the center of it. She was smoking slightly. Her clothes were burnt. All of her was burnt, actually. The lightning had fried her.
Ulti tottered for several long, terrifying seconds. Then her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell backwards. She hit the ground with a thud, unconscious.
Nami half expected her to get up again. To walk it off and keep coming with that terrifying resilience and stamina. She stood at the ready, climatact raised to deliver another blow. Ulti didn’t move, and the realization finally sank in. They’d beaten her. Finally, after all the running, pain, and fighting, they’d taken her down.
Usopp, crouched beside Tama, looked just as stunned as Nami felt.
“What? Impossible!” A voice boomed through the mansion. It was the same voice they’d been hearing all night, reporting on the battle through the weird animals like an announcer.
Nami turned. A girl with horns and one of those paper masks with the strange symbol on it stood in the entrance to the next room.
“Aaahh!! Lady Ulti just went down!” The girl shouted, her voice carrying all through the building. “First Page One and now her!”
“Wait, his name is Page One?” Usopp said as he drew back his slingshot. “That’s even dumber than Pay-pay.”
“Two of the Tobiroppo are out of the fight!” She cried. A chorus of disbelief came from beyond the soundstage.
Usopp shot a pop green at the girl. The plant bloomed, squat and hungry. She shrieked as it snatched her up in its giant maw.
“Hey Tama,” Usopp said. “I don’t know how it works, but she’s like a loud speaker. Tell everyone what you wanted to say!”
“Go on,” Nami said when Tama hesitated. She gently nudged her forward. “Tell the Gifters what to do.”
“Okay!”
Tama stepped forward, toward the trapped announcer. Nami watched her go. With Ulti defeated and Tama’s focus elsewhere, Nami finally let her shaky knees fold. She slumped to the ground next to Usopp. Together they watched Tama deliver her message and change the tide of the entire battle.