A.N
This chapter has been edited as 11/15/15.
A.N.
People have been asking what the pairings for this story are. To be honest, I don't particularly know lol. I would like to put it out there that I am a canon LuNa fan but I like pairing Luffy up with any woman when it comes to fanfiction. When I made this story, romance was one of the last things on my mind. I will get to the romance eventually but for now, there will be no pairings. Anyways enjoy the action packed chapter!
Chapter 4: Battle Royale
The atmosphere was tense as the three groups watched each other. Luffy was struggling to get out of his confides while Teach dispelled the smoke with his own Logia abilities. Burgess decided to ruin the stare off by dropping a building on everyone. Smoker tried to pull Luffy towards him but Zoro intervened by holding on to his captain. Smoker reluctantly canceled his powers to escape the falling building. "What do we do Captain?" Zoro asked as he watched his surroundings. The first mate had his katanas ready and his bandana tied to his head.
"We need to find Robin." The Strawhat Captain declared as the archeologist was missing. Both Strawhats frowned at their current situation. They had two groups pining for them while one of their crewmember was missing. A sound of gunshots rang through the air as both Strawhats dodged the bullets. Van Auger was sniping them from the top of a nearby building.
"Captain, Strawhats are 100 feet left of you." Auger gave his captain, their positon.
"Black Spiral." An arm of darkness was flung towards Luffy. The black haired man tried to evade the attack but it was coming too fast.
"White Blow." An arm of smoke clashed against the darkness, just as the spiral of darkness was about to reach Luffy. The green haired swordsman sensed danger and immediately turned around to parry an attack.
"Roronoa Zoro, I will defeat you." Tashigi proclaimed as she pressed her attack.
"I don't know who you are but Strawhat is my target." Smoker growled as he tried to hold the darkness at bay.
The only reply that was given was several apples thrown at them. "Crap." Luffy said as he recognized the apples. Zoro kicked Tashigi away from the apples as his captain grabbed him. The two Strawhats launched into the air just as the apples exploded, causing everyone to take cover. Once in the air, Luffy noticed a large group of people surrounding someone. Thinking it was Robin, Luffy rocketed towards the figure. Unfortunately it wasn't Robin but rather a Vice Admiral! The crowd wasn't surrounding the man but rather, they were cowering away from him.
"Oh Strawhat Luffy. I was looking for you." The tall, imposing figure towered over Luffy and Zoro. The marine was a little giant with a gray metal mask that had ten holes on it. A large sword was hoisted on his shoulder as the imposing white coat danced in the wind. It was none other than Vice Admiral Bastille.
"A marine!?" The Shichibukai panicked, forgetting the fact that he was now technically on the marines' side. The black haired man was about to flee when Bastille raised his sword to deflect bullets that were aimed for Luffy's back.
"I was sent here to discuss matters with you but it looks like that will have to wait." The giant said as he directed his attention to Van Auger.
"Captain, I suggest-"
The gunman was unable to finish his sentence as the Vice Admiral was behind him. Bastille slammed the large sword downwards toward the sniper, who fled the roof. Once the sword stuck the ceramic roof, the building crumbled under the pressure. "Captain! Vice Admiral Bastille!" Auger shouted hastily as he fled from the marine.
Unfortunately Teach was unable to hear his subordinate as he was preoccupied with Smoker. Blackbeard was trying to get in close to negate Smoker's Devil Fruit but the ex-marine was keeping him at bay with his jitte. "Stay still." The captain of the Blackbeard Pirates shouted as he dove in close.
"How about no." The smoke user replied as he swung his weapons sideways. Teach grabbed the part of the jitte that wasn't covered in seastone.
"I got you now." Blackbeard declared as he touched Smoker, negating the ex-marine's abilities. The smoke man quickly noticed that he lost his intangibility. With his abilities and weapon sealed, Smoker spat his cigar at Blackbeard's face. Teach didn't expecting the dirty tactic and received a burning wound to his forehead. "Ah shit!" The pirate screamed as he desperately tried to get rid of the ashes. Smoker noticed that someone landed near them.
"Man I lost the sniper." Bastille spat out as he saw a familiar face. "Smoker long time no see." He friendly greeted. "Oh wait, you're not a marine anymore." The marine remember as he looked at Smoker and then to Teach. Drawing his own conclusions, the Vice Admiral raised his sword into the air. "I never thought you would have sunk so low to become a pirate!" Bastille shouted as he slammed his massive sword towards his former comrade. Smoker simply turned himself intangible to dodge the attack.
"I'm not a pirate. I became a bounty hunter." The ex-marine coolly said as he lit three cigars. He turned to his previous opponent. Bastille followed his gaze to see the now recovered Blackbeard.
"Dammit that hurt." Teach said as he looked up to see that the bounty hunter and marine Vice Admiral was looking at him. 'Shit where's the rest of my crew?' Teach thought as he now had to face two strong opponents.
*With Tashigi*
Tashigi was pursuing the man on the horse while avoiding his explosive apples. Although the horse initially looked weak, it sprang to life when it saw the swordswoman running after it. Doc Q frequently threw random apples at her, mixing in the non-explosive ones to add confusion. The female bounty hunter had to dodge every apple, in case one of them was laced with gunpowder. This, in turn, allowed Stronger and Doc Q to gain a sizable cushion on the ex-marine.
"Come back and fight me you coward." She shouted, dodging another barrage of apples. As Tashigi the doctor, she noticed that the moonlight had suddenly disappeared. The swordswoman looked up to see Burgess above her. Not wanting to see what the pirate would do, Tashigi dive rolled to safety.
"Champion's Kick." Burgess used gravity and his leg strength to stomp the ground where the female once was. The solid ground cracked from the attack, causing a light tremor to erupt in the area. "I need to work on that." The wrestler commented as he pulled his leg from the ground. Tashigi was pinned on both sides by the pirates. The swordswoman decided to attack Burgess as he was a close ranged fighter.
Tashigi rushed in, hoping to put her opponent on the defensive. The masked pirate dodged the katana as he rushed at the swordswoman. He slammed Tashigi right in the gut with his shoulder. The woman coughed as she was sent soaring into the nearby building. Doc Q, wanting to make sure she didn't get up, grabbed an explosive apple and threw it towards the building. Suddenly hands sprouted in the air to catch the apple and proceeded to stuff the apple in Doc Q's mouth.
The doctor was so surprised by the action that he failed to take the apple out of his mouth. The apple exploded, causing him and Stronger to be inflicted with damage. Both were rendered unconscious from the full force of the explosion. "Who's there?" Burgess shouted as he scanned the area. Nobody responded as the wrestler continued to look for the enemy.
"Seis Fleur." Six arms sprouted throughout Burgess's body, holding him in place. "Clutch." Robin unleashed her back breaking attack on the champion. The Devil Fruit user walked from out of the shadows as she looked at the unconscious Blackbeard pirates. "It's not nice to gang up on a lady." The archaeologist commented as she went into the broken building where Tashigi laid.
"Nico Robin." The bounty hunter coughed out blood as she saw the person approaching her.
"Hello marine-san or should I say, bounty hunter-san." Robin smiled sweetly. The ex-marine tried her best to stand up but her injuries were proving too much. "Don't worry. I'm not going to attack you. After all, I owe you for not arresting my new crewmates in Alabasta." She assured the swordswoman. Realization hit the blue haired woman like a stack of bricks as she registered the words.
"You're part of the Strawhat Pirates." Tashigi stated. "Why would they invite a former enemy to their crew?" The ex-marine asked as she remembered what Nico Robin did in Alabasta.
"Fufufu they have a very accepting captain. He might even invite you and your captain to join his crew." The raven haired woman replied with a chuckle. "Anyway I need to find my crewmembers. Bye swordswoman-san." The Devil Fruit user waved before she left the broken building. The swordswoman slumped her body against the wall, resting her body.
'I'm still weak.' Tashigi thought sadly, reminded of her weakness. Not wanting to remain on the ground like a weakling, the woman pushed her body upwards. The bounty hunter walked out from the destroyed building to see the two defeated pirates. Ignoring them and her body's pain, she staggered towards where her captain was.
*Back with Luffy and Zoro*
"Damn this guy's annoying." Zoro complained as he dodged several bullets. He and Luffy were unable to retreat because Auger was preventing them. When they finally decided to fight, the sniper was making sure they didn't get close with well-timed attacks. His captain was unaffected by the bullets as he simply bounced them back. That changed when the Blackbeard pirate began adding needles to his ammunition.
"Hey Zoro can you keep him occupied?" The raven haired man asked his first mate while bouncing off a wall. The swordsman wondered what the rubberman was going to do but didn't question his captain.
"Alright." The green haired male complied as he sprang towards Auger's positon. As bullets came at the Strawhat pirate, he deflected them with his sword. Zoro jumped on a wall to propel himself to the roof. "Found you, sneaky bastard." The bandana wearer smirked as he spotted sniper's cape. As the first mate was running to the gunman, he noticed that the enemy had thrown something into the air. Auger quickly shot the object, filling the area with smoke. 'Shit smokescreen.' Zoro cursed as he was now in a disadvantage. 'I hope Luffy hurries up, whatever it is that he's planning.' The swordsman mused as he tried to get out of the smoke.
Meanwhile Luffy was standing stationary, trying to remember something. 'What did that guy do again?' The male thought as he tried to remember his fight with Bellamy. 'Oh yeah, he pressed his legs down so they could become springs.' The Strawhat captain remembered. Luffy, while not the brightest person in the world, was body smart. The raven haired man was able to remember his opponent's attacks and how his own attacks affected them. He had realized that his blood could serve as a substitute to water when battling Crocodile.
"Okay press my legs down." The rubberman said to himself as he used his hands to press down on his kneecaps. His rubber legs shrank before the Strawhat captain released his hands. As soon as his legs regained its normal shape, the Devil Fruit user could instantly feel the difference. His body was hot as if he was inside a burning furnace. Steam rose from his body as he tried to steady his breathing. 'What is this?' Luffy thought as he noticed that his skin had a red hue.
The rubberman then noticed that smoke erupted where his first mate was. Deciding that now was a good time to test out his body, Luffy shot towards where Auger was hiding. It was like the black haired man was shot out of a cannon as his body went beyond its normal limits. Unused to the speed, the Devil Fruit user missed his target and slammed into a chimney instead.
Auger noticed the crash but didn't know the cause of it. He was unable to react when Luffy suddenly appeared in front of him. "Gomu Gomu no." The rubberman cocked his fist back. "Pistol." The sniper didn't even see the attack connect as he was sent flying through the air. The Blackbeard pirate slammed into several buildings before his body finally halted. The gunman fell unconscious but he had amazingly held onto his rifle.
"Zoro it's safe." Luffy yelled to his friend. His nakama came out of the smoke and made his way to his captain.
"What happened to you?" Zoro asked, noticing the steam from the black haired man's body.
"I don't know but I did what that spring guy did. My body suddenly started steaming and I became super-fast. That's how I defeated the gun guy." Luffy explained to the best of his ability, which only added to the swordsman's confusion.
"Captain-san, Swordsman-san." Robin's voice broke the males from their thoughts.
"Robin, we've been looking for you." The Strawhat man waved. Robin noticed the unnatural steam but decided not to comment. Right now was not the time for questions.
"I've been looking for you as well. I suggest we return to the ship. There seems to be another battle in the middle of the town." The archaeologist suggested as she would rather not be seen by the marines. Even if she was technically on their side, the woman didn't trust the World Government.
"I want to fight." Luffy said excitingly. He wanted to see what his new abilities could do.
"Don't you want to go to the Sky Island?" Robin inquired innocently. The fellow Devil Fruit user instantly forgot about the battle.
"Back to the ship!" He ordered as he ran ahead back to the ship. The raven haired woman began giggling at her captain while Zoro could only think how easy it was for her to trick Luffy. The two followed their captain, who had a sizable lead on them.
*Back with Smoker*
"How about I help you catch this pirate Smoker?" Bastille asked as he lifted his huge sword off the ground.
"Sure he isn't my objective anyway." Smoker agreed since he wanted to find Strawhat. "A fair warning though. His Devil Fruit has the ability to negate logia abilities as well as having the power of darkness." The cigar smoker warned the marine.
"Zehahaha. You're correct that I hold the power of darkness but I'm able to negate all Devil Fruit abilities." Blackbeard corrected as darkness oozed from his body.
"Good thing I don't have a Devil Fruit." The Vice Admiral remarked as his sword gleamed black. Teach instantly realizing the 'Armament Haki', evaded the swipe from the blade.
"I forgot that all Vice Admirals can use Haki." The pirate said.
"White Blow." The smoke user threw a fist of smoke towards the other Devil Fruit user. Blackbeard managed to dodge out of the way by crouching.
"You're really annoying me." Teach said in annoyance. "Dark Matter." He created a sphere of darkness in his palm. Just as he was about to throw it, Bastille came from behind with his Haki powered blade. Caught off guard by the attack, the pirate captain was sent flying into some nearby crates. "Alright enough is enough." Blackbeard yelled as he shook the pieces of wood off of his body. "I'll show you why the Yami Yami no Mi is the most powerful Devil Fruit." He shouted.
"No thanks." The bounty hunter declined as he tried to stab Teach with his jitte. The darkness suer kicked Smoker away from him while dodging the weapon.
"Too bad, I'm going to show it to you anyway." Black matter quickly spread throughout the area. "Black Hole." Teach announced as he slammed his fist down. Smoker and Bastille instantly felt their bodies drawn towards the pirate. The ex-marine turned himself into smoke and flew away from Teach. The Vice Admiral used 'Soru' to also escape through the air. Both men watched as the town was sucked into Teach's body.
"What in the world?" The masked giant said in shock as the town was gone.
"Zehahaha, I'm not done yet." Teach shouted with a smirk. He pointed his hands at the two men. "Liberation." The darkness ser released the ruined town at them. The cigar smoker flew around the objects and turned intangible for the ones he couldn't dodge. The marine simply slashed anything that came near him.
"He left." Smoker announced as Teach was nowhere to be seen.
"Che, he left knowing that he was at a disadvantage. Better luck next time." The Vice Admiral told Smoker. "Anyway I got a mission I need to complete." Bastille said his goodbyes before heading towards where he left his subordinates. The bounty hunter stood there, slightly agitated that another pirate had gotten away from him.
"Captain Smoker." A weak voice called out to him. The white hunter turned to see his injured subordinate. Smoker rushed over to prevent her from collapsing.
"What happened Tashigi?" He asked as he placed her against a broken piece of wood.
"I was double teamed by the man on the horse and the wrestler guy. I was defeated by them when I was saved by Nico Robin." Tashigi reported.
"So it's true that she's with the Strawhats." The Devil Fruit user frowned when he noticed his subordinate's down expression. "You'll get them next time. You just had the misfortunate of being double teamed." He tried his best to consul her.
"Thank you Captain Smoker." She smiled gingerly.
"Alright we're going back to the ship. With luck, we might be able to catch the Strawhats tomorrow." He said as he tossed her gently onto his shoulder.
"You mean our lifeboat?" The swordswoman corrected. Hina had given them a lifeboat after they resigned from the marines.
"Shut up and get some rest. You're going to need it." The man grumbly replied.
*With Blackbeard*
Teach had managed to locate each of his subordinates, who were all unconscious. He was able to move them into the woods. "We got our asses whooped." Teach said as he lightly laughing. "I would've defeated Strawhat if it wasn't for the intruders." The ex-Whitebeard pirate grumbled. "I don't mind waiting. I'll just wait for a moment of weakness and then I'll strike." Blackbeard concluded before he began chuckling evilly.
*With the Strawhats*
Luffy, Zoro, and Robin had almost made their way back to the Going Merry. Halfway there, the Strawhat captain stopped producing steam and immediately felt extreme fatigue. The first mate had to carry him part of the way before the raven haired man recovered. Just as their ship had come into view, they noticed the crowd of marines.
"What are you guys doing here?" The rubberman asked since he didn't need to punch the marines as they weren't necessarily enemies.
"Strawhat Luffy, we were sent here to relay a message to you." One of the marines stepped forward. "Vice Admiral Bastille had stationed us to remain here while he searched for you." The man reported.
"Luffy you're back!" Chopper and Usopp screamed from the ship. The pirate captain stretched himself on to the ship while the marines made way for Zoro and Robin. Once on board, the returning duo noticed that Luffy had gained a sizable lump on his head.
"Robin-chwan welcome back." Sanji twirled to her before noticing the swordsman. "Why didn't you get lost in the woods?" The cook groaned.
"Oi you want to go?" The green haired male said as he put a hand on the hilt of his katana.
"Stop it." Nami yelled as she bonked both of their heads. The navigator took a deep breath. "So what did you guys do in town!?" She practically shouted. The crew that remained on the ship saw the explosions and how the town disappeared into thin air.
"We got into a fight with a couple of people." Luffy answered honestly. The orange haired woman face palmed at her captain. She wished he thought before he acted.
"Please tell me that you got some information for us." The cat burglar asked but she wasn't expecting much. The two returning males began sweating as they forgot to ask for information. After all they were fighting, you couldn't exactly blame them for forgetting.
"I got some information, Navigator-san." Robin replied, allowing the two men to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Robin." Nami hugged the older woman. "You're the only one I can count on." The orange haired girl said as she released the hug but not before glaring at the two men.
"There's a man called Monblanc Cricket who was exiled for talking about Sky Island." Robin explained as she handed the younger woman a map of Jaya. "He should be able to help us."
"Welcome back Vice Admiral Bastille." The marines shouted as the not quite giant man appeared.
"Oh you're that marine guy who helped us." Luffy said as he recognized the mask. "Thanks for that by the way." The pirate naturally thanked him.
"It's no problem Strawhat Luffy. May I come onboard? I was sent here by the World Government." The marine explained. The archaeologist didn't like that the World Government had sent a Vice Admiral.
"Sure come on up." Luffy complied since the mini giant seemed like a nice guy. Bastille jumped on board with his subordinates remaining down below. The masked man cleared his throat as he faced the Strawhat crew.
"Shichibukai Luffy, the World Government would like to ask a favor of you." The Vice Admiral spoke professionally as he read from the parchment. "They would like to request Nico Robin's services." He explained. The raven haired woman instantly tensed up. "If you choose to accept, Nico Robin would depart with us and will remain in our care until her services are no longer needed. In return you will be compensated with seastone weapons and jewels." The giant finished reciting.
Robin slowly backed from the crew. She knew that she was going to be betrayed, just like every other time. After all, everyone besides the captain and cook was reluctant on her joining. They would gladly take the jewels and weapons in exchange for her. The archaeologist began thinking of escape routes. It would be difficult to escape the Vice Admiral but the woman believed that she was nimble enough.
"No." The pirate captain replied, much to Bastille's and Robin's shock. "Robin's part of my crew and I want her here on our adventures." Luffy declared, to which the rest of the crew nodded. They had already knew what the rubberman was going to reply. The raven haired woman couldn't comprehend what the young captain was thinking. He had given up riches, just so she could journey with them.
'Maybe they're different from the rest. Maybe I don't have to be alone anymore.' Robin thought as a genuine smile crept onto her face.
"Well it looks like your mind is made up. I'll report to HQ regarding your refusal." The marine gave up quickly as he didn't want to reason with the Strawhat captain. "Anyways I'm off." The masked man said as he jumped off the ship. As soon as the Vice Admiral and marines left, the archeologist turned to the crew.
"Thank you everyone." She thanked him with sincerity.
"Shishishi no problem." Luffy laughed.
"No one can replace you Robin-chwan." Sanji declared.
"You're the only one I can trust." Nami said, although she wondered how much jewels they would've gotten.
"You're nice Robin and you also like books." Chopper added.
"You're welcome." Usopp said, taking the credit.
"As long as Luffy trusts you, you have my trust as well." Zoro stated. The swordsman didn't sugarcoat his words and spoke the truth. The other members, sans Luffy and Robin, glared at the first mate.
"Alright guys, next stop is Bontblanc Bicket!" The captain shouted to the crew.
"Luffy it's Montblanc Cricket." The navigator corrected as she began issuing orders.
"Alright next stop, Monblanc Cricket!" The Strawhat boy shouted as the Going Merry sailed off.
*Marine Head Quarters, the Five Elder Stars Room*
"Thank you Vice Admiral Bastille." The monk elder said as he hung up the Den Den Mushi. "They refused our offer." He informed the rest.
"Of course they refused." The huge mustache man scoffed. The tallest elder picked up the Den Den Mushi.
"Give me the statuses of all cipher pol agents." The tallest elder requested before hanging up. A marine came shortly with the report. The five elders looked at the pieces of paper.
"The closest to the Strawhats is CP9." The youngest elder said after skimming the papers.
"They're currently on an undercover mission regarding the schematics of Pluton." The elder with the cane reminded.
"Not all of them. We'll sent the other members of CP9 after the Strawhats." The tallest elder suggested, to which the others agreed.
Reviews:
Lightningblade49 – You're the only one who spotted that (the only one who reviewed anyway). I left that tidbit there to make the readers think that Smoker arrived in a marine ship, when he actually didn't.
Son of Whitebeard - Garp and Sengoku had a nice relationship before the Battle of Marineford. I don't want to spoil too much of what I have planned for Blackbeard.
Emma Iveli - I know! I can't believe no one thought of this idea earlier. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Johnny Spectre - Thanks for answering my author note question. I'm going to stick with the English names. I've also read the Luffy's mom theory being a celestial dragon but it wasn't the same fanfiction. As of right now, I have no plans for his mother's appearance. I read 'Nine Minutes' after your review. It is a very good One Piece AU fanfiction. I also have them going up to Sky Island.
pizzajon - A good while but it'll eventually end later on. (Hint: Battle of Marineford)
Monkey D. Conan - Yeah Luffy will meet some of his later enemies and allies earlier as a way of learning faster. He has to live up to the title of Shichibukai after all. You're one serious LuNa fan lol. (That's not a bad thing). I addressed the pairings issue in my author note.
OnePieceDoesExist - Thank you, I wanted you guys to see how it changes things. I addressed the pairings issue in my author note.
ichigo1508 - Thank you very much!