**Chapter 7: The Fractured Sky**
The *Going Merry* groaned as Beta's axe cleaved through the air, blue flames licking at the splintered deck. Sam's wings beat furiously, carrying him above the chaos as the enhanced Ushimaru subjects descended. Zoro's blades clashed against Delta's spear-arm, sparks flying as Sanji ducked beneath Eta's mirrored wing, his kicks deflected with brutal precision. Luffy hauled himself out of the shattered forecastle, straw hat singed but grin intact.
"Okay, that was cool! Let's try again!"
Sam swooped low, tackling Luffy out of Beta's follow-up strike. The axe embedded itself in the deck, flames devouring the wood. "Stop charging in!" Sam barked. "Their wings adapt to every attack!"
"Then we adapt faster!" Luffy retorted, stretching his arms around the mast.
Eta's laughter echoed unnaturally as her wing morphed into a prismatic shield, fracturing sunlight into deadly beams. Nami barely raised her clima-tact in time, summoning a rain cloud to douse the spreading flames.
"Robin!" Nami shouted. "Find a weakness!"
The archaeologist's hands bloomed from the railing, clutching an ancient text. "The carvings mention a 'core'—a node stabilizing their wings!"
Sam parried Delta's spear thrust with his golden knuckle braces, the impact reverberating up his arms. "The cores are embedded in their wings! Destroy them!"
Zoro's blades locked against Beta's axe. "Easier said than done!"
---
The lab reeked of antiseptic and burnt flesh. Strapped to a cold metal table, Sam's vision blurred as scientists adjusted dials on a humming machine. His right wing, freshly grafted, throbbed as if alive.
"Subject Seven shows promising assimilation," droned a voice. "Prepare the core infusion."
A needle pierced Sam's spine. Fire flooded his veins. He screamed, his wing spasming, black veins crawling up his neck.
In the adjacent cell, a boy with cracked obsidian wings met his gaze. *"They'll keep pushing until we break,"* he whispered, his voice a fractured echo. *"Don't let them win."*
---
Sam's wing lashed out, deflecting Eta's prismatic beams. "Luffy! Now!"
The rubber man shot toward Eta like a cannonball, fist aimed at the glowing node pulsing at her wing's base.
"Gomu Gomu no—"
Eta's wing morphed into a mirrored dome.
"—BAZOOKA!"
The reflection struck Luffy mid-air, but Sam was already moving. His wing sliced through the shield, exposing the core. Luffy's rebound punch smashed into the node.
Eta shrieked as her wing disintegrated into ash, her body crumpling.
"One down!" Sanji cheered, kicking Delta back with a flaming heel.
Beta roared, his axe flaring brighter. The remaining subjects' wings pulsated in unison, their cores synchronizing.
"They're linking their power!" Robin warned.
The sky darkened as a storm cloud coalesced above—black lightning crackling.
Nami's log pose spun wildly. "The weather's not natural!"
Gan Fall's voice boomed from above as Pierre swooped low. "Their cores are overloading!"
Sam's wing shuddered, seastone bandages fraying. He felt the storm's pull, his corrupted core resonating with the others.
*"Join us, Seven,"* Beta's voice reverberated in his skull. *"Together, we'll erase this flawed world."*
---
Luffy landed beside Sam, panting. "We need to smash those cores!"
Sam stared at his trembling hands. "If I tap into my full power to disrupt the storm, it might… kill me."
Zoro sliced through a falling lightning bolt. "Might?"
"The core's tied to my life force," Sam admitted. "Destroying theirs could destroy mine."
Usopp fumbled with a slingshot. "There's gotta be another way!"
Robin held up a Skypiean dial. "The text mentions a 'key'—a frequency that destabilizes cores without detonation!"
Nami grabbed the dial, hands flying across her clima-tact. "I'll need time!"
Sam met Luffy's gaze. The captain nodded. "Buy her time."
With a roar, Sam unleashed his wing's full span, blotting out the storm. He shot toward Beta and Delta, golden braces glowing like molten suns.
---
The clash shook the heavens. Sam's fists collided with Beta's axe, each strike sending shockwaves. Delta's spear-arm pierced Sam's wing, but he barely flinched—years of pain had numbed him to everything but purpose.
"You could have been perfect," Beta snarled, his core pulsing madly.
"Perfect is boring," Sam spat, slamming his brace into Beta's chest.
The core flared, absorbing the blow. Beta laughed—until Luffy's fist, wrapped in gold gauntlets he found, smashed the node from behind.
"Gomu Gomu no… GOLD SLAM!"
Beta's core shattered. The storm faltered.
Delta lunged at Nami, but Sanji intercepted. "Not today, shitty spearman!"
The dial in Nami's hands beeped. "Got it!" She hurled it into the air.
A piercing frequency erupted. Delta and Beta clutched their heads, cores flickering.
"Now, Sam!" Robin shouted.
Sam plunged his wing into the storm's heart. Black lightning arced through him, burning—but he held firm. With a scream that shook the clouds, he *pulled*.
The storm collapsed inward, sucking the cores into a vortex. Luffy's rubber arm yanked Sam back as the vortex imploded.
---
The *Going Merry* floated in calm seas, Skypiea's remnants distant specks. Sam lay on the deck, his wing a shriveled stump, seastone bandages glowing faintly.
Chopper pressed a stethoscope to his chest. "His heartbeat's… erratic. The core's damaged."
Luffy crouched beside him. "You gonna die?"
Sam chuckled weakly. "Not today."
Gan Fall landed softly. "This isn't over. Jorin warned others would come."
Robin studied the ancient text. "The Ushimaru project was a prototype. The true weapons lie elsewhere."
A distant thunderclap interrupted. On the horizon, a Marine battleship emerged, sails emblazoned with a fist clutching lightning.
Zoro smirked. "Looks like the World Government's here for their failed experiment."
Sam forced himself upright. "Let them come."
His wing twitched, a single black feather regrowing.
**End of Chapter 7**
**(Word Count: 4000)**