Luffy stared at his savior not knowing exactly what to do next. He had seen this man fighting for his crew, so he wasn't in any way feeling threatened, but now what? He was in no condition to be protecting his crew and every marine on the slope seemed to be focusing mainly on him, but all of that didn't matter now. What mattered most was the protection of his crew, and he wasn't doing his job as captain being held up by his collar by some stranger.
"Oi, could you put me down? I need to go protect my nakama" he said point blank to Canan with a calm, in charge tone to his voice.
The marine's amused grin faded into a kind smile and he shook his head "even in this state you intend to look after your crew. I admire that determination but I can't allow you to go after them just yet."
And with that, the Elite shoved the miniature Luffy into his jacket and covered him over with the long textile. He heard Luffy mumble protest through the fabric but didn't try to interpret it. So Canan held Luffy in a bundle under his left arm and with the other returned his focus to the battle which was hardly a battle at all by then. The shots were still coming in the direction of Paul and Usopp from their hiding place. This was what was causing all the chaos on the grounds; that and the loss of Luffy who seemed to be the main focus of the Elites while the Privates mainly feared for their lives. No one seemed to be going near the other crew mates. They were all searching for the missing captain; some believed that he was the cause of the bullets flying. He had just vanished, and now it seemed he was taking the offensive. This of course was just the result of panic, which lead to rash assumptions.
Canan looked over the scene to see where he was needed most. He saw the four generals standing with the president watching over the scene and felt a sense of uneasiness in his gut, but he knew that Sky was standing there with them, and he was a trustworthy friend. He then turned his head to see how much progress the pirate crew had made. It was slow going, but they were going a lot faster than would be expected of anyone.
He then began to sprint at the group of marines closer to the small group.
The president's expression could not be read through the mask, so Sky had not clue what he had up his sleeve. The young general kept his expression blank, staring over the battle field. He felt a great sadness seeing his underlings in such disarray. Many of which he had built up strong relationships with. He saw several whom he believed would have joined him in the pirate's favor being shot down. He wished that there had been more time; and then there was the matter of trust to where it was only in Paul and Canan who he trusted completely. It would have been too risky to get the others involved, but so many were being sacrificed for the pirate's expense.
Sky closed his eyes and prayed that this would end quickly and with as few casualties as possible.
Canan was relieved to see that the crew had almost reached the clearing where they had set the detonators. Soon they would out of harms way for the most part; just a bit further. As long as the marines were kept busy looking for Luffy, their focus would be drawn away from the crew.
Just as he thought this his cloak seemed to come alive under his arm to where he couldn't control it. This caught the attention of several marines around them who had known that Canan had been fighting against them.
"He's hiding something!" one of them yelled, and then the inevitable happened. Luffy's head popped out of Canan's jacket, inches from his face. Apparently Luffy had returned to his usual form. This caught every marine in seeing distance's notice and they began to yell to their friends that Luffy had been spotted.
"Crap" mumbled Canan as he looked around him, wondering who to evade first.
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?" shouted Luffy right into Canan's ear. "Who just goes around stuffing people into their coats!?" Canan made a face of irritation; this was rather awkward.
And with that, Luffy began to try and untangle himself from Canan's jacket. After a couple of seconds without success Canan swept his hand over to unfasten the coat from his shirt. Upon doing this Luffy fell in a clump to the ground and took another few seconds in a furious skirmish against the cloak to finally free himself.
"Seriously man" declared Luffy as he dodged an attack from a broad marine.
"Listen" retorted Canan "don't go near your nakama; the marines are after you and they would have a better chance of escaping if you kept your distance."
Luffy punched the man in the stomach and glanced over at him with a more solemn look on his face. "They're after me? Why?"
"It's complicated" Canan replied "but please, trust me; you should be focusing on your own safety rather than theirs. I can take care of them, but you are in much more danger. Get away from here as fast as possible if you care for your wellbeing."
Luffy looked away from him and stood to his full height. "I will do what I can for my crew. Please don't interfere again, but thank you for your help."
The captain turned away from his crew and began to run in the opposite direction.
Canan's expression turned to shock. It was a good plan, but it was also a risk. The raven haired boy was gambling his life with the hope of his nakama's escape.
The marine was struck with admiration of the young captain's nerve, then returned his thoughts to the current situation. If the boy was to risk himself for his crew, it was his job to make certain that they got away safely.
The sun had almost risen completely from the horizon and was throwing blasts of red dye all over the heavens. It was both beautiful and poignant at the same time, haunting the plane where the battle was taking place.
Luffy drove his fist into the earth, then with a powerful force, he charged his attackers, taking the terrain behind him with him. This caught everyone's attention and immediately the entire marine militia headed in that direction. Luffy suddenly stopped, allowing his arm (which had been increasing in force as he ran) to propel in front of him and rise from the ground to take out, not only the marines in front of him, but also the earth beneath them, leaving the whole group in disarray. Once his arm had snapped back into place he commenced in running at full speed away from his crew with the marines on his tail.
Sky watched as the captain made his way opposite of his crew and let out a small grin.
"Suppose he knows we're after him now" he thought to himself. "Very admirable Mugiwara."
He then looked over to see what the president would do about the situation. It was clear that it would be far more difficult to capture the pirate without him being distracted with his crew. At least there would be fewer casualties on the marine's side now that they were drawing away from the crew. It must have been hard for Paul to take out his former comrades.
Then the president spoke. "Bring out the cannons and take aim at the crew" came the muffled order. Sky's eyes widened. This was not what they had expected. Even Canan couldn't block the canon fire, and the crew was in no shape to do so. The grey-haired boy stepped over to the president. "Sir, wouldn't it be unwise to fire upon our own men, while our main goal is Monkey D. Luffy? What good would it do to destroy the crew?"
The president looked down at him "you are correct Sky, our main goal is Luffy, however, the best way to catch a fish is to use bait; which, fortunately, we have. Watch, General, as we lure in our prey."
Sky frowned and turned back to look over the battle field. He figured that was what the president had thought, but had hoped he could stall him or change his mind by questioning the order. This had failed and all he could do was watch.
Nami looked over her shoulder to see if she could spot Luffy. This was a lot easier than she had thought it would be. Apparently he was doing a fabulous job of making his presence known to everyone, but why was he running away from them. He couldn't be abandoning them, for he was going deeper and deeper into the marine's forces. But her captain wasn't mad (though he seemed that way at times). Why would he do that?
Suddenly she heard cannon fire from the destroyed cell where the Generals stood. She looked just in time to see several huge cannonballs flying her way. Nami screamed but there was no time to dodge so she grabbed Robin, who was supporting herself on her shoulder, and closed her eyes waiting for impact. It never came but she had heard it hit something. She opened her eyes to see Sanji kicking the cannon ball back at the cell. He then fell to the ground in pain, bringing Zoro down with him. He didn't have the strength to use so much power yet.
"SANJI!" Nami shouted then bent down to help him up. He was shaking and covered with sweat as he tried to get himself on all fours. "Its ok Nami" he said weakly then brought one leg up in an attempt to return to a standing position.
Zoro also was trying his best to get up, but before any of them could recover completely, another cannonball smashed a boulder beside them. Nami screamed again and Robin looked up in fear.
"LUFFY!" Nami shouted, for she knew only he could block those cannonballs.
Canan had seen them bring out the cannons and was running at full speed to help the crew when they had taken the first blow. He was amazed at the strength of the blonde man who had blocked the cannon ball with his leg alone, but he could tell all of them were reaching their limit.
Usopp looked upon the scene in shock. This wasn't happening! Why wasn't Luffy defending his crew? He was running out of ammunition and was trying to make every shot count. He knew he had to take out the marines firing those cannons or his crew would be destroyed. So with careful aim he shot one of them in the shoulder. He couldn't hear him, but he saw the man scream out and fall over. He had gotten used to the sickening effect of his bullets on the men below, but not without leaving a small puddle of puke beside him.
"Nice shot" he heard Paul say and for the first time in a while he looked over at the marine. The boy looked tired, and sad; as if he had just suffered the loss of a close friend. Usopp then came to the realization that every man he took down, Paul had probably known personally. The marksman looked sadly down at the his gun, then at his crew below.
"What are you doing marksman?! I can't protect your crew all by myself!" shouted Paul over the cannon fire below "take out those guys manning the cannons!"
Usopp shakily took aim once again to see the man had been replaced with another. "Crap."
Luffy heard the cannon fire and had also heard Nami call his name. He immediately knew what was happening. They were being blasted with cannon fire and he was nowhere near them to block the attacks.
"NAMI!" he shouted aloud as he dodged several attacks from the surrounding marines.
Then he knew what he had to do. He needed to take out the cannons before his crew was killed.
So with one powerful swipe he took out the surrounding marines then brought his thumb to his mouth and bit down.
"GEAR THIRD!"
Filling his arm with air once again he swung his oversized fist back and then used his unnatural strength to swing it straight at the cell he had already destroyed earlier. The attack was successful and the cannons were completely destroyed.
Luffy grinned, then his eyes widened as a terrible pain shot through his arm. He went to bring his arm back to him but it wouldn't move.
"What the heck!?"
Sky looked down at the huge fist of the pirate. It was covered in blood as a result of it being impaled by 3 huge spikes. The other generals had been ready for his attack as was planned by the president. Sky wondered if his superior was suspicious of him.
The air in Luffy's fist seeped out of the holes that had been created till it had shrunk down to its regular size. They heard the boy scream as his arm was spread apart by the painful spikes, ripping his wounds farther apart.
Sky didn't know what to do. Their plan was falling apart before his eyes. The captain was as good as captured now.
Zoro heard the cannons being smashed into bits and looked up with a grin expecting to see Luffy beating the crap out of the marines near the cell, but what he saw brought an expression of dread to cross his face. "Luffy…"
Then the others looked up to see how the tides had turned against them.
"Luffy!" shouted Robin weakly.
"Zoro!" called Sanji and they all looked to see Zoro making his way back to where they had just come from. Blood covered his tracks as he made his way back up the hill.
"Zoro! You can't save him!" shouted Nami who was beginning to panic. Everything had been going so smoothly till now. "You're in no condition to save anyone! Please! Come back!" she was crying now, the situation was becoming hopeless.
Zoro ignored her and continued to limp as fast as he could along the rocky earth. The marines were nowhere near them anymore so no one opposed him.
"Those cowardly dogs!" shouted Canan in rage. He didn't know whether to help the crew or the captain and was having trouble with the marines; several of which he had trained with himself.
"What are you doing Canan!?" cried out one of the marines in front of him. "Why have you betrayed us!?"
"I have betrayed no one! Since when did your orders become more important that justice itself!?" he retorted making his way to Zoro who was about to kill himself trying to get up the hill.
"This is justice! They're murderers and thieves! Pirates Canan! Pirates!"
But Canan was ignoring them by now and watched the scene up at the cell unfold.
Luffy was propelled forward. Since his arm would not come to him, his body was snapped forward and he crashed into the huge spikes holding his arm causing them to dislodge from the earth, freeing him. He gritted his teeth in pain.
The boy immediately scrambled to his feet and was about to attack when he shrunk once again.
"Dang it!" he shouted and began to run for cover.
"Shoot him!" one of the generals ordered and a marine took out his dart gun and took aim at the small captain. However, when he shot Luffy turned at swatted the dart away before it could hit him. Though he was small, he still had the same amazing reflexes he had built up over his adventures in the past, and then began running again.
"Heh, think you can get away that easily?" said one of the taller generals calmly.
Then the man took out a large seastone net and threw it at the small boy. It couldn't be dodged with his small legs and definitely couldn't be blocked. All he could do was run and hope to be missed. His wish was not granted. The net covered him and he fell to the ground, deepening the scrapes on his knees and hands.
Just then he returned to his regular size.
"Perfect timing" Luffy growled under his breath reaching his hand out of the net to grab onto something. He hissed at the pain in his arm as he tried to move it, but it was covered in so many wounds he could hardly recognize it as his own anymore.
Sky looked down at the boy on the ground in front of him in horror. Then the president spoke to him
"you see Sky, the best way to capture your prey is to use bait…"
To be continued…
Hope u enjoyed it, I used up my entire Sunday on this, but here it is. PLEASE R&R!! Wut will happen to our crew??????