Chapter Text
The decision came down fast.
Not even from the Fleet Admiral. Not Sakazuki.
It came from the Five Elders.
Direc and ruthless.
"Issue it. Former Admiral, now traitor to the world goverment. A threat to world stability"
Kuzan. 2,2 billion.
Frozen corridors reaching through Mary Geoise, world nobles encased like statues. A mockery. Spat on their status. A declaration, no more ambugity in his actions.
In the aftermath, smoke is still curling over shattered marble of the Holy Land. The scent of scorched silk hangs heavy in the air. Even the faintest hint of seawater had intruded the serene fresh air up there.
Kizaru arrives late. Always late nowadays.
His heels echoe through halls that should have been untouchable.
Celestial Dragons weeping behind their pretend golden masks. The scent of ozone clinging to the pillars even now. Eerie cold. He walks through the wake of Kuzan's power.
Ice. Clean. Merciless.
Not meant to kill. No, no, no.
Instead meant to speak. Loud.
Sened a message.
A body had been dragged off the plaza steps. A Gorosei's personal aide. Dozens of guards. Not slaughtered.
But Shamed.
That's what made it worse.
Kizaru squints against the light reflecting off the ice. His ice. While his own light flickers still uncertain. Muted.
In the way that kind of silence falls after a betrayal.
A thick feeling in the back of his throat.
He finds a crater where some statue once stood. Or something. Who really cares anymore.
Pedestal frozen solid. Cracked at the edges. And at its side, faint.. but he knew it was Kuzan's bootprint.
--
Later. Just off the coast of Karai Bari. A small outcrop. Secret, barely charted on. A familiar rendezvous spot.
Kuzan waits ontop of a jagged alcove, perched like a crow on a gate to a graveyard. He doesn't hide. He knows who will come. He doesn't even look up when the golden shimmer appears behind him. Brightening up the foggy air. Kizaru lands with less grace than usual. He doesn't speak immediately either.
"..You guys made it official" Kuzan's voice is flat. Almost tired.
"Didn't think those old men would move so fast"
- "You left a message carved into the seat of Heaven, Kuzan."
Kizaru steps forward. His eyes behind those yellow darkened lenses don't hide the tension anymore.
"That wasn't Blackbeard. That was you"
Kuzan shrugs. "World needs to remember they're not gods. Just men in high places."
"You think you're justice now?"
"I don't believe in justice"
Spoken so flat. Not anymore? Or ever?
He finally turns, looking Kizaru full in the face.
"But I believe in consequences."
Kizaru's mouth twitches. "You're not the only one facing those"
A long silence between them.
"They finally gave you the bounty you kept asking for"
"Two point two", Kuzan mutters, almost grotesquely amused for the weight of this kind of situation. "That's what I am worth, huh?"
"No", Kizaru says. "That's what they fear you might become."
Kuzan chuckles. Cold. "Took them long enough"
Kizaru steps closer. Each move he takes is deliberate now.
"You were seen giving commands. Not just following. Not hidng. You stood in front of Blackbeard's men and against the world"
"...And I'd do it again"
There is no anger in Kuzan's voice. No pride either. But it carries a bone chilling certainty.
Ice forms around his boots, climbing into cracks of the rock.
Kizaru swallows. "You really burned the bridge this time, huh?"
"There was no bridge", Kuzan says short. "Just a tightrope. And I finally jumped off"
He turns his back again.
Final.
"What now?" Kizaru asks, quieter.
"I keep moving. You keep chasing"
Kizaru doesn't reply. His hands tremble at his sides, light flickering uncontrolled. He presses his lips together. Why is kept being put into this situations.
"You gonna come after me right now? Do your job like the good soldier you are?" Kuzan asks, his voice not unkind. Kizaru doesn't answer at first.
The wind blows cold in these parts.
"..Not yet"
Kuzan nods once.
"So you've got until the next order", he says.
Kizaru blinks. "and then?"
Kuzan looks out at the waves, their edges frosting as they hit the rocks.
"Then pick which part of you wins, Borsalino."
Kizaru vanishes without a word.
But this time, the light seems almost brighter.
Lingering longer than before.
.....
It wasn't really the event that raised the stakes to issue Kuzan's bounty. No. It was the truth in the statement he set.
Not a single attack.
Not a new crime.
No island plundered that stood under the World Goverment. No noble slain.
Just the quiet confirmation that he stayed away.
That he chose the enemies of the World Goverment.
That he didn't come back.
That he was still there - smirking behind a glass of sherry, ice forming at his fingertips while the world turned sideways. Laughing at them.
2.2 Billion
Issued not in rage, but in calculation.
A number that meant "you are not forgiven"
Behind closed doors, they said it plainly:
"He knows the system. The infrastructure. The inner codes. Our research. Our weaknesses! And worse, he now longer respects them"
"This is not just a pirate. This is a traitor"
A pirate might burn your ship.
But a traitor..
A traitor might show others how to burn the fleet.
It didn't matter that Kuzan hadn't destroyed a city. That he hadn't killed a Celestial.
He had done something far more dangerous:
He rejected them.
Publicly.
Permanently.
Made a fool of them.
Disrespected the very cradle of the world system.
And he wore the rejection like a new coat.
Former admiral. Once a pillar of justice to the people.
Now a symbol of rebellion that oculdn't be framed as stupidity or youthful naivety.
Not a revolutionary.
Not even a freedom fighter.
No this was a man who had seen it all, worked his way up the corporate ladder, was an Admiral of Justice, to be considered as Fleet Admiral and still dared to walk away.
To the Wolrd Goverment, that was treason in its most terrifying form:
A corporate weapon turned conscious. A former slave of the system unshackled, willingly.
Chosen to stand by Blackbeard.
A man already feared not just for power, but for understandng the rules and breaking them better than anyone else. And Kuzan with him?
Not because he was seduced.
No, but because he chose.
And that was terrifying them.
Their control meant nothing.
This needed a message to the world.
"No one leaves the system and survives. Not for long"
2.2 Billion for walking away
2.2 BIllion for staying gone
2.2 Billion because what if others follow?
No one could believe this was a thing to do. To turn their back and leave scott free. No.
__
Kuzan said nothing when he saw the boutny poster. Just stared at the number for a moment.
"..Could've rounded it up", he muttered.
Blackbeard laughed, of course. Raising another drink
But for a long time after, Kuzan just sat there.
Quiet.
The wanted poster glowing under flickering candlelight.
No pride.
No fear.
The weight of what it mean, was heavier than any emotion he could name.
They finally let the world know what he was.
Not a pirate.
Not a rogue agent.
A former admiral.
A traitor.
Now an enemy of Heaven.
.....
The order in its full was absolute. No bounty poster had really been needed. Not really.
The 2.2 billion was just a prelude.
"Execute on Sight"
No trial.
No capture.
No retrieval.
Not even a body request.
Make an example of him.
Because if he could turn - anyone could.
They didn't even say his name in the room.
Not infront of the Elders.
Not even a whisper.
Just a nod.
A gesture.
Harsh and demanding.
A single line passed from their lips like a knife.
"Borsalino. Go"
Lightspeed doesnt tremble, but the man behind it does.
He doesn't flinch at assignments.
He's carried out worse.
Hasn't he?
Killed smarter ones.
Buried better ones.
But this one still stays heavy in his bones, even as photons stretch him across the sea.
Because there was a time he also called Kuzan his brother.
A lazy one. A cold one.
But a brother all the same.
They had laughed other sakura trees with Garp.
Kuzan had leaned against him after the chaos of Ohara. Stood in silent protest against Sakazuki's fire. All three of them had laughed together - once.
They had been three gods of judgement - once.
Now one god has fallen.
One ruled in flame.
And Kizaru?
He was the one sent to clean it up.
He finds Kuzan in the cold. An outpost, north of Hachinosu. Snow creeping down cliffs like old memories. Kuzan sits on the ridge, back turned, as though he didn't know what the moment meant once light bent across the horizon like a thunderstorm. He doesn't even get up.
"Yo", he says lazily.
"They finally sent you, huh?"
Kizaru appears slowly. No need to rush now.
"...Execute on sight"
Kuzan breathes out slow, cold steam curling from his lips.
"Guess the bounty wasn't enough"
Kizaru's fingers twitch. Light humming like an old lamp.
"You knew what you were doing"
"I did", Kuzan replies, his gaze somewhere far away. "That's what makes it worse, doesn't it? Heh"
He stands now. Stretching, like there is no worry in his world. Ice crunches beneath his boots.
"So, you gonna follow the order?"
Kizaru doesn't answer. His sunglasses reflect the pale blue sky.
"I won't hold it against you", Kuzan says. "You're a good cog, Borsalino"
Something in the way he says it.. breaks the air between them.
"..I didn't want this", Kizaru murmurs.
"I know"
"I was the one who cried when-"
"I know"
Silence.
Then light erupts.
Kuzan freezes the blast mid-motion, hand already raised as if he expected it.
No more hesitation now.
Two old gods, once aligned now breaking.
The sky fractures with each clash. Cold steam and frost curling around eachother, mixing with beautiful starlight.
Kuzan doesn't smirk. Kizaru doesn't joke. There isn't justice in this. Nor mercy. Punishment or maybe regret wearing the mask of obedience. Somewhere deep down, both of them know. Only one of them walks away from this. And neither will be the same again.