A/N: Alright ladies and gentlemen, good news and bad news. Good news first. I'm fresh out of ANOTHER surgery-hurts like hell. Bad news. Things aren't looking well for me. My health has been on the mend as of late, though my job isn't going so well, had to go home recently due to health issues. Ain't that just peachy?! *Takes a deep breath* Alright then, enough of the rant, ya'll are here for the story, not the rambling of a man potentially on his deathbed.
Anywho,I managed to put this up here at points between the forced anesthetic. Bad news is I still have more surgeries ahead. Still, I'm feeling a bit better now. Really. I'm hanging tough though, despite everything life is throwing at me. Despite all that's happening, I don't intend to die quietly in a bed somewhere! And on that note I should give you fair warning, some changes have been made here to keep things interesting, folks. So with that...
...onto the next chapter! And remember: I! Own! NOTHING! Remember! This is rated M now! The title is inspired by the hit song "I Am Machine" performed by Three Day's Grace, and I think it suits this chapter quite nicely. Remember to reread and remember!
Hope you like it~! AND BRACE THYSELVES FOR THE FEELS!
THE FEEEEEEEEELS~!
"When a man earns my respect, that means I do not rest. I devote all my energy, everything I have, to killing him."
~?
I Am Machine
"Arararara...
Aokiji sighed softly, a small, exasperated breath escaping his lips as he lay there in the rubble, staring wistfully up at the sky. His body ached in every bone, every cell united in the agony it had endured. There would be scars from this battle, of that much he was certain. There would also be a reckoning for this once word reached headquarters. They'd probably blame him for this, Akainu and Kizaru both. He hadn't held back; he'd gone at the kid with everything, intent on destroying his unknowing nephew before he recovered both might and memory.
Kuzan knew in his heart that he'd given it his all.
Instead?
His hand fell slowly, covering his face as a blinding light lit the horizon. He told himself he was just covering his eyes, shading them. Wasn't crying.
...I lost. This seriously isn't funny."
It'd been many years since he'd taken a beating like that. Not since Zephyr-sensei. But these weren't tears of sorrow, but of pride.
Naruto had taken his all and returned it tenfold.
For a moment there near the end of their battle though there had been something...else. He didn't rightly know how to describe it. As though Pluton had actively tried to pry his power away from him, threatening to split him in twine. It was still there of course his ability, but it felt drained, somehow. Weakened. As though part of him were drained dry. His strength was returning gradually to him-slowly-but it would be a long time before he could make his report.
He supposed it was for the best. He was duty-bound to inform the government of what transpired here...eventually.
And yet...
Somewhere across the horizon, Kuzan thought he heard laughter fading into the distance, and he smiled.
...he was just so damn proud of that kid.
(Earlier...)
"I LOVE YOU!"
Nico Robin couldn't quite contain the tears that came to her eyes, her joy spilling over and onto her cheeks as she those fateful words reached her ear, called out from the tower itself. Through the soliders that surrounded them, though the Buster Call that still raged around them, his words had finally reached her. Across many battles and time immoriarum, when faced with an admiral and frozen hell itself...still he had prevailed.
SHe felt like an absolute buffoon for crying in the middle of the battlefield, but she couldn't help herself, nor the whispered reply that escaped her lips.
"I love you too...
Once she would've despaired at feeling this; once-not so long ago in fact-she might have ignored this fire in her heart, the inferno racing madly in her breast. Now, as she looked on, saw him standing there, his fist held high into the storm, that flame cooled into a gentle glow. One that warmed her to the tips of her toes. Ah. So, this is what love feels like...? It felt like she was standing in the sunlight, in spite of the dark clouds swelling and raging overhead.
Here in this instant, she could admit it without fear or regret. The thought of having a child with him still terrified her, but it was a good fear; filled with energy and excitement, sweeping away the terror and hiding it under the proverbial rug.
He was safe.
He was alive.
That was all that mattered. Now, they just had to escape-
"Unacceptable."
And then one word took all that and shattered it like glass.
A shadow fell over her.
Somehow, someway, Rob Lucci had found his feet. Despite his bruising injuries, those wounds, despite all the blood he'd lost-despite missing most of his teeth-somehow, the determined agent was standing again. Rising amidst the chaos of the marines being picked apart by the strawhats. And he was close.
Too close!
No...!
"Don't you know when to stay down?" she eyed him warily, feigning a calm she no longer felt as the bloodied agent of the government towered over her.
"When a man earns my respect, Nico Robin," he continued, growling, "That means I do not rest. I devote all my energy-everything I have-to killing him and everything he holds dear. Naruto is that man." A clenched fist cocked backwards with murderous madness, intentions clear. "Now, I'll start with you and break his spirit...!"
Everything collapsed down around her. She could feel it crushing her. Everything was moving so fast. She was drowning in water she couldn't see. Every fear she'd ever had-every single one-came back to her at once. Marines surrounded her. Her stomach inverted, her hope shriveled out of existence and her heart caved in, dread taking her even as she raised her arms to defend-
Thunk.
But those clawed digits never found her face.
"Oi."
An iron vice locked around the leopard-man's wrist and yanked it backward, hauling the mangled limb up into the air. Gasping, he jerked his head around to ascertain the identity of his captor-only to find himself staring into a pair of icy blue eyes. A heart-stopping hiss snaked through his ears, and his blood turned to ice in that frigid grasp. He was looking at a dead man; someone he'd personally slain back at Water Seven and yet here he was, alive, well, and absolutely livid.
Even covered in frostbite and missing half a leg, he still conveyed that same nameless menace when he was like this.
"You don't touch her." his voice was a whisper, little more than a snarl, teeth at his throat. "Not again. Never again."
"Naruto?!"
Robin glanced back to the pillar where he'd been standing a heartbeat before. All she saw was a lone blue spark. He'd moved. Almost instantaneously.
'That ability...Enel's...?!'
Sensing a distraction, Lucci lunged with his free arm...!
"Shigan-
"CHOU ODAMA RASENGAN!"
With a throaty roar that'd challenged the very foundation of the world itself, the blond smashed an open palm squarely into the zoan's chest. The result was nothing short of spectacular; Lucci rocketed away against and within the spiraling sphere as if propelled by a miniature rocket, cannoning into marines like a giant bowling ball. When faced with the whiskered warrior's signature technique, his already weakened body simply couldn't stand up to the strain.
In short, Robin surmised, he got "wrecked" as Naruto would have so bluntly put it.
It was a very nice explosion she surmised, watching the sphere streak off into one of the warships; very bright, very...large. If she hadn't seen it herself, she never would've believed it. A Buster Call vessel, perhaps one of the mightiest vessels the navy could bring to bear upon its foes. Naruto's attack had just blown a massive, gaping hole in its hull. She could already see it going down...! And then, in a final salute, its captain perhaps knowing the fate that awaited them in the swirling currents below, fired off one last salvo...
...in their direction.
BANG!
Naruto stood slowly, shaking the sensation back into his arm as bits of broken cannon shell crumbled around them. A lone blue eye shone over his shoulder at her, uncertain and hesitant.
"You okay?" the question was soft, almost awkward.
"I believe so...
"I love you!"
In all honesty Robin wasn't quite certain she was, now that she remembered those loud words. The slow flushing of her face was like a wildfire, slowly spreading to every inch of her being. Nothing quite showed affection like stopping a cannonball dead in its tracks.
But she had more pressing concerns on her mind.
Because Naruto was missing almost an entire leg, and it hadn't grown back. Or perhaps he was healing; his regeneration so badly hampered that he was forced to conjure himself another shin out of some strange black material she could not recognize. Regardless of whether it healed or not, he looked quite the sight. How was he still standing?
"That new power you used earlier...where did you get it?"
He smiled sheepishly.
"Well, I'm not rightly sure myself. It's just-
"Soru!"
Once more, Lucci returned to the fray. Once more, he refused to stay down.
Once more, his fist failed to find its target.
"Will you give it a rest already?!" Naruto snapped into existence behind the relentless assassin in a black blur, this time seizing hold of both the zoan's arms. "Know when to quit, oi!" Stone and earth molded itself at his touch, binding his wrists firmly together behind his back in defeat.
Defeat.
Choking on the sentiment like poison, Lucci struggled in the renewed grip of his captor.
"How are you still alive, Contact?!" he hissed. "I tore out your lungs! HOW DO YOU STILL LIVE?! Tell me!"
...fuck you, that's how."
"I'm not afraid of you!"
"No, you're not. I know your lot. You're afraid...of being ashes!" heaving with all his weight and might the blond slammed their shared enemy down, forcing the larger man to his knees, "You're afraid of being forgotten." that same arm twisted, pressing his forehead into the stone, subjecting his broken nose to the unyielding concrete and trapping it there as those strong hands dug into the muscle. "And you WILL be forgotten, Lucci. Not because of me, but..."
Raising his gaze, he met her eyes.
...her."
In that instant, she raised her arms.
"Cien fleur!"
At any other time, on any other day, Lucci would've broken the hold of those slim arms. He would've snapped them like twigs, and then her neck with them. But today, his body failed him. Today he succumbed, trapped as those slim limbs locked around him, bending him backwards at an impossible angle. Even then, it took nearly all of Robin's remaining strength to hold him. The mad leopard raged back and forth like a caged beast, a force of nature just waiting for the right moment to break free.
Robin didn't give him that opportunity. She might not have the strength to snap his spine, but still, she held him. Held fast, pinning him, even as Naruto released their deadly charge.
"Damn you!" he seethed! "Filthy pirate!"
"No, damn you for making me do this." the blond hummed quietly.
"This won't hold me! I will destroy you both!"
Naruto didn't even deign to answer that, he simply raised a steaming hand.
"Chill."
One word, that was all it took, and everything froze.
Literally.
"Impo-!" Lucci fought fiercely to strike his arm but by then it was already too late; ice leaped from the blond's fingertips to engulf the battered CP9 agent. First his arm, then his shoulder then all the rest, engulfing his battered body in white tundra as the temperature plummeted to absolute zero. Flash frozen. Defeated in an instant his body was left standing there, rigid, face set in a snarl. Naruto released the zoan's arm and moved behind him, limping slightly on his earth-covered shin as he stepped to the large man's flank.
Zoro saw it all from afar; the deadly ability that had nearly destroyed their crew once before; the same power as Aokiji.
"How in the hell did he do that?!"
Naruto exhaled a cloud of cool steam, looking as baffled as she felt. "I'm not rightly sure." he looked down, glancing at his still frosty hands. "I think something got knocked loose during my bout with Aokiji. Its just like Enel; I took some of his power somehow when I was in "that" form again. Not sure if it'll last or not."
"Lucci-san!" one of the marines cried!
"Oi, Robin." Naruto ignored them all, his fingers clenched, forming a taut point. "This guy...what do you think he deserves for messing with us?"
Her glare spoke volumes.
A small smile plucked at those whiskered cheeks.
"I didn't think so."
Then, mercilessly, he drove that point into the leopard's chest, burying it to the wrist. Then, with one vicious yank, he tore its contents free.
"He...
...won't chase you anymore."
With a grunt, fingers clenched and Lucci's still-beating heart violently exploded in Naruto's hand, showering him and Robin in bits of broken gore and frozen blood. The rest of him crumbled swiftly, his body falling to tiny pieces of broken ice as the rest of the Strawhwats and Marines looked on. Lifting his head slowly, he craned his neck loosely and somewhat erratically to look in the direction of the voice- twitching, spasmodic movement to his motions.
"You lot have three seconds to lay down your arms before I turn the lot of you into icicles, 'ttebayo." he called. "One...
It would've been nice if they'd complied.
"Two...
It really would.
"Three."
Being marines, they unfortunately didn't.
"KILL HIM!"
"Well, can't say I didn't try." Naruto's hand twitched, a coat of ice etching itself into his right hand. "Oi, Robin. Step back a little. I don't want you to get caught up in this." Dropping to a knee, he placed a hand upon the broken bridge, fingers splayed. Cold blue eyes like the void regarded the onrushing horde of white and blue with frightening temerity.
"Ice-
"OI?!" Zoro balked, grabbing Chimney and Gonbe. "Everybody! Move!"
"Don't tell me what to do, shitty marimo!"
"MOVE IT SANJI-KUN!"
"HAI, NAMI-SWAN~!"
-Age."
Once more a thick layer of permafrost extended from his body; but this time it didn't focus itself on a single target. Cracking and snarling it lunged forward, a veritable tsunami of ice and snow, swallowing the charging marines whole. Some saw what was coming and tried to backpedal, others even tried to stand their ground, to no avail. The moment that storm touched their skin they were rendered little more than stiff statues of an exaggerated nature, forever frozen by the elements.
"Ha!" Naruto hummed. "That takes care of the small fry."
"Naruto-san...what happened to you?" Connis dared to inquire.
Robin frowned.
"I wonder."
"Urk."
Her eerie sea-blue eyes met his, searchingly, waiting for an explanation. Naruto looked away. For a moment those weathered azure orbs seemed old, most ancient indeed. Then he flickered. That was all she could think of before he vanished; only to reappear moments later with a familiar straw-hatted pirated draped over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Needless to say, his little stunt
"Luffy?!"
"How did he-?!"
"I'll explain once this is over." he said, dropping an exhausted Luffy at her feet. "Keep an eye on the captain. For now...I need to wrap things up here."
"Wrap things up?"
"The warships." his head tilted in the direction of the three remaining buster call vessels. They're going to fire on us at any moment."
A dark brow arched. "And you know this...how?"
"I can hear everything now." came the mysterious reply. "See everything. Its like I've been looking through a veil this entire time, and now, someone's torn that away. Without so much as another word, he turned away and began stalking towards the massive galleons in the distance. What was he thinking? He couldn't possibly reach them from here...
"What're you doing?!" she exclaimed! "You're in no shape to fight!"
"Something that should have been done long ago."
"And that is?"
Naruto kept walking.
"Six spears of the living, six swords of limbo, six shrieks of the damned." He intoned solemnly, placing his palms firmly together. "Six hundred and sixty six." When he opened them again, a small pinprick of light danced between them-a tiny shining star that physically hurt to stare at overlong. As his hands came apart that small star grew, swelling in size, until the keening sphere engulfed nearly his entire palm. A muscle jumped within his jaw, veins throbbing in his temple, his arms, even his neck as he called the power forth from every inch of his being.
"Oiiiiiii!"
"Eh?" Sanji twitched. "What the hell is he doing now?!"
Taking aim, Pluton planted one foot in the direction of the remaining warships.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!"
Needless to say, they got.
Naruto's arm arced back and his good leg left the ground. His entire body coiled itself like a gigantic spring, a pitcher, ready to throw their ball. His other foot stomped down with all the force of a small tsunami, powerful shockwaves spreading from the point of impact, muscles tightening in his arm until...until...UNTIL...!
He launched it.
"RASENSHURIKEN!"
Spandam never truly saw the blast that killed him.
Like a falling star, the Director glimpsed it in the distance, a tiny point of light in his peripherals.
And, like a fool, he ignored it.
"KILL THEM ALREADY YOU FOOLS!" he ranted, foaming at the mouth! "How hard can it be to destroy a bunch of pirates and take one woman from them, oi?! Do I have to do everything myself?!" So wrapped up in his ranting was he -so caught up in his own delusion- that he failed to notice the human weapon taking aim at his very vessel. Perhaps, had he not been so wickedly deadset on grabbing all the glory for himself, he might have been able to escape in time.
As it were, he barely beheld the onrushing glare until it was too late.
Far too late.
"What in the hell is-
Thoom.
With a deafening shriek the massive, keening sphere expanded less than three feet from the malevolent man's mangled maw. His body was nothing but blood and atoms before his mind even realized he was dead. That alone wouldn't have been much of a problem...if it weren't for millions of explosive needless hurtling out in every direction, striking everything in sight. Ever growing, ever expanding, it spared absolutely nothing trapped in its path; butchering marine, government agent, and
Packed tightly together by the, the warships never stood a chance-their gunpowder simply added to the fire and flames, blasting them apart as though they were made of matchsticks. One attack. That was all it took to blast the remainder of the fleet into bloody oblivion.
"Everyone in the water!" Usopp shouted!
"Eh?!"
"Just do it, already!"
Steeling themselves, the Strawhat crew leapt!
Cold fury burned the world white...
...and Enies Lobby crumbled around them.
...I can't believe we actually got away from that!"
Nami exhaled heavily as she slumped against the main wheel, still gasping for breath. The fading ruins that had nearly been their doom was little more than a distant memory now, smoldering embers and sinking ships at their back. Enies Lobby was now a mass grave to the dead bodies of countless marines, Spandam, likely the CP9, and even the deadly Aokiji himself. The navigator had told herself this time and time again, yet somehow, she just couldn't shake this lingering feeling of doubt whenever she thought of the icy admiral.
Somehow, she didn't doubt they would see him again.
"Ow! You can thank the suuuuuuuper me for that!" Franky cried, belting out a laugh, "My coup de burst was totally awesome!"
"If its anyone we should be thanking, its Merry!" Chopper cried! "She's the one that saved us in the first lace!
"Aye sir!"
True, if it hadn't been for Merry Go, they'd never have gotten out of this mess. She didn't understand how their ship had found them, or who'd even repaired it; only that their treasured vessel was there to save them in the lurch when they'd needed it most. Franky's coup de burst had simply been another way to rapidly expedite their departure.
And then, there was the other fact, lay sprawled out against the deck like a corpse next to Luffy...
"What?" Naruto blinked, raising his head. "Why're ya lookin' at me like that, Nami-chan?"
"Monster," she groaned to herself, hiding her face in her hands. "He's an absolute monster...
"Now now, lets refrain from name calling," Iruka drawled, glancing up from tending Connis's battered wing, "I agree with you though in terms of strength he is a bit...beastly."
"Well," their resident angel agreed tentatively, "When you think about it, he's really on another level."
Robin shot the girl a glower.
"Ara, and what are you implying, exactly?"
The poor girl turned a vivid scarlet, but refused to cede the contest.
"I'm not implying anything!" she sputtered. "Just that Naruto is strong...gentle...kind...
"I'd thank you not to continue that sentence."
"Hai, hai, hai, number one, right here~!" Blissfully unaware of their feud and its purpose Naruto chirruped happily, raising a hand high from where he lay. Rather, he tried. "Ah. Damnitall, I still can't move after that little stunt." Nami twitched at those reckless words. Stunt? Stunt! STUNT?! The "little stunt" of which he so proudly spoke was going to land them all bounties for sure, she just knew it! There was no possible way it wouldn't! Ohhhh, why did misfortune favor them soooo~?!
"What the hell was that back there anyway, whiskers?!" Sanji lowed! "A nuke?!"
"Sore wa himitsu desu! Its a secret~!"
"KONO-!"
Robin could only shake her head at it all. She owed them so much more than words; a meager "thank you" seemed positively paltry by comparison.
Against all odds, flying in the face of impossible circumstances, they had survived the horror that was the CP9. Declared war against the World Government and walked away with their lives. Everyone had been tested to the brink of their abilities, pushed to their limits and beyond. Yet they were still victorious. Triumphant. Fate itself seemed to favor them. Was it just that? Luck? Or, perhaps... was it something more? Who knew...? She might never have the answer to that question.
Shaking her head, she turned her head toward the battered blond who'd inspired her to live in spite of everything. He was laughing with the others, grinning as though he hadn't a care in the world. A human who'd been made into a weapon, a man who'd had his very memories-memories of her-erased countless times. He'd had the chance to betray her, like so many others...
...but he hadn't.
God, what did he see in her? Her hands were steeped in blood, soaked in sin, and yet still, he stood with her and dared to spit in the face of the world. It was...humbling. Slowly, quietly, she reached out and grasped his hand. Imagine her surprise then, when she felt that battered palm squeeze back.
"I meant it, you know." he murmured, the words barely audible over the din Franky and Luffy were making. "Every word. Damn, I'm not good at this."
Robin's eyes.
Got.
Really.
Big.
"Ha?"
"I'm still me, Robin."
"Mmm."
Her hands fisted quietly against his shirt and she buried her head there, eyes tearing up madly. She daren't let it show. Everything came crashing down around her ears, all the stress all the tension, all the anxiety she'd been experiencing for the last month came rushing forth in that instant. This time, when the tears came, she didn't fight them. Blubbering quietly, she simply held tight, riding the rioting waves of her emotions out.
"You're alive. You're really...truly...alive...
"Aye, and I'm not going anywhere."
When she tried to speak, a frog of uncertainty lodged itself in her throat. "Naruto, I need to tell you-
A black leg ruthlessly descended on his skull before she could continue.
"Baka!"
"Cook-san!"
"Ow! WHAT THE HELL?!"
"That's what you get for upsetting Robin-chwan!"
"You wanna go, shit cook?!"
Zoro cackled. "Go on, Naruto!" he egged, grinning at his pupil. "Kick his ass!"
Naruto hissed quietly as he rubbed the rising welt on the back of his head, eyes narrow.
"Wait, what did you want to tell me?"
The smile slipped from her face like frozen petals.
Don't tell him. Don't tell him. No matter what, you cannot te-
...I'm pregnant."
Words, soft, traitorous words, escaped her in a rush. She felt naked. Weak. Exposed. And yet, at the same time, alive. Hopelessly, gloriously alive.
Her whiskered companion made a small noise.
"Sorry, must've misheard you."
Robin laughed softly.
Of course, it hadn't taken her long to rediscover the ways in which Naruto worked. That devilish, knowing smirk, the way his eyes twinkled when he was planning mischief, which was often. The infectious laugh, the one that lit up his whole face and shook his body with mirth. The sheer physicality of him, his complete and total comfort with his own bod -despite the lack of memory- and his willingness to use it; the assurance in his own strength.
That voice, of course, smoke roiling through honey, that purred such dreadful, toe-curling things in her ear while she tried to read or think or sleep or do anything, really, that did not involve Naruto and some sort of a supportive surface, preferably horizontal. Those hands, rough, calloused larger than Robin's own, with their scarred knuckles and rough nails, fingers strong and calloused but as capable of being gentle as they were of leaving bruises.
She paused, memories flooding back in a warm rush. Languid mornings spent abed, slowly exploring to find new nuances in each other's bodies. Being taken and marked, quick and hard, in her room, over her half-hearted protests. The simple comfort of a warm, soft body nestled against her own, strong arms around her. Now the anxiety in those bright blue eyes-that same, nervous energy-told her that he would prove to be more than just a capable lover...
...but a wonderful father as well.
However, her reply, accompanied by a sad, wan smile, did nothing to assuage the sudden fear that seized her heart:
"I said, we're having a baby."
There was an awful silence amongst the Strawhats.
And then.
And theeeen:
Naruto croaked. "Eh?"
All hell broke loose.
"OMIGAWD!" Nami squealed, bolting to her feet! "You two?!" a finger pointed accusingly. "When! How?!"
"OW! Suuuuuper cool!" Franky bellowed. "Hey, you guys, can I be the godparent-
"LIKE HELL!"
"A baby...I...oh my...
Connis squeaked and fainted dead away.
Luffy merely blinked.
"Nanda? I don't get it! How's she having a ba-
"URUSAI LUFFY!"
Iruka and Zoro both looked as though they'd swallowed a lemon.
"What the~?!"
"DOCTOR!" Chopper wailed! "ROBIN'S HAVING A BABY! SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR!"
"That's you!" Usopp lowed!
"Oh!"
Sanji starting speaking gibberish and smoking out of his ears.
Robin barely heard any of this, instead, her attention remained fixated on a single point. Naruto. She gazed up at the battered blond from her place on his chest, anxiously awaiting his reply. An explosion of rage. Tears of joy. Disbelief. Anything at all, as long as it wasn't this recchid silence. Say something, she willed at him. Anything...!
"Oh. A baby. Why didn't you say so? Well, that's loveleeeeeeeeeeey...
Naruto barely finished those words before he blew a smoke ring and passed out.
Then, impossibly, the obnoxiously loud sound of inhuman snoring reached her ears.
Everyone save the Strawhat's resident archaeologist was completely, utterly taken aback.
"DID HE SERIOUSLY JUST FALL ASLEEP?!"
A/N: Aaaaaand I HAVE DONE IT! Robin is officially pregnant! And the twists are far from finished. I thought it ironic that Naruto would get a $666, 666, 666 million berry bounty, given the fact that the World Government thinks he's an absolute DEMON thanks to Pluton.
Rest assured, he'll be living up to the name of "Hard Contact." For thos eof you who have missed it, the voting contest is now over! A name/gender has been chosen for his and Robin's child! Thank ye all for your votes!
Now, lets answer the burning question I'm sure you'r all wondering about. At this point, we know next to nothing about Pluton itself in cannon. So, I decided to go my own way with it. In my eyes, Pluton is the enemy of all life, an entity that can adapt and overcome nearly an obstacle. In this case, fruit users.
Logia, in particular.
Thus far, Naruto's modified body contains his own Iwa Iwa no mi, the stolen power of Enel, and now, a fragment of Aokiji's ice powers in addition to being able to use light constructs thanks to the cruel modifications made to him by the WG. Will these abilities be permanent? Not telling that just yet! Either way, Pluton itself is an unholy force to be reckoned with. Now, I know what you may, or may not be thinking, can Naruto copy the abilities of a Paramecia or a zoan?
Who knows? That opportunity really hasn't presented itself thus far. I will say this, though...
May KAMI help us all if he manages to lay a hand on Kizaru or Akainu~!
Hope I've kept everyone in character so far!
And with that, its back to bed for me and more painkillers to recover. Yay. Hope ya'll enjoyed the update! I sincerely look forward to your reviews on this chapter when I wake up!
So in the immortal words of Atlas...
...review, would you kindly? (And of course, enjoy the preview!) FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, IT'LL BE THREE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! Fair warning though, this takes a bit of a darker turn and its a little sad, as we have Merry's *sniff* funeral...AND WE GET TO SEE NARUTO'S NEW BOUNTY! I'm breaking some new ground here on that!
(Preview)
Naruto stared at his bloodied right arm and tried not to pass out.
Beneath the flesh of his new leg, beneath the bone, he saw it...
...metal.
"Oh," he gulped. "Well...that's new..."
"I'm sorry."
"Aw, hell. I said I wasn't gonna cry...!"
Hard Contact couldn't help himself; he really couldn't.
The moment he heard those words from the burning Merry...
...he started blubbering like an idiot.
Robin tilted her head, considering, a thought occurring to her.
Merry.
That sounded as good a name as any for their child.
Naruto gawped at the poster thrust before his face.
"My bounty is what...?"
Six hundred and sixty six million, six thousand, six hundred and sixty six. So many 6's there! Nine of them! This wasn't funny -oh, yes it was!- not at all! The longer he looked at it, the more his eyes rolled. That high?! I can't believe it! Too high! He felt as though the ground itself was about to give way beneath his feet.
"Ha?" Luffy poked his head over the twitching blond's shoulder, frowning. "HEY! No fair! Why's your bounty higher than mine?!
"You think I WANT it this high?!"
"Baka!"
"Ow!"
Naruto hissed quietly as he rubbed the rising welt on the back of his head, eyes narrow.
"What the hell, Nami?!"
Robin laughed softly.
"Well, at least its higher than mine."
All eyes turned to the poster in her hand.
"EH?!"
R&R~! =D