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With that, please enjoy.
Chapter 14: Captain vs. Crew
The Strawhats stared at their captain as he continued to grin at them. It was the normal smile he gave just before any big fight. It shone with confidant and self-assurance that usually put the crew at ease. It was that indomitable spirit that had led them this far and protected them from even their worst enemy. It told them that he would win, no matter what. To see that same look now pointed at them was more than unnerving.
"Luffy, you don't have to do this," Usopp attempted to reason with the boy captain. "That guy is controlling you."
Luffy's grin never waver. "My master gave me an order and I plan to do it." Without another word, he charged towards his former crew.
Usopp squealed in terror as Luffy came upon him before he could even blink. He was saved, however, when Sanji kicked Luffy on his side, knocking him off course.
Sanji continued his assault with several fast kicks to Luffy's head, but the rubberman was able to dodged most of them and the ones that did hit did little to no damage.
Both Zoro and Brook used this time to sneak beside Luffy and attempted to hit him with the blunt side of their swords. Luffy turned around and caught each of their blades with ease.
"If you're going to fight me, you won't be able to half-ass it!" Luffy exclaimed as he pushed the swords back. "Gum Gum Whip!" he yelled as he attempted to trip both of the swordsmen. They were able to jump safely away, but they were then hit by a backhand from Luffy.
"Strong Hammer!" Franky yelled as his exoskeleton fist slammed into Luffy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Chopper also ran towards the group and gave Luffy a powerful left hook, which sent him tumbling across the floor.
"Sanren Kayaku Boshi!" Usopp exclaimed as several pallets exploded around Luffy.
For a moment, Luffy didn't moved from the smoke. Luffy, however, suddenly jumped out of the cloud of smoke and seemed to hover in the air for a moment.
"Gum Gum Stamp Gatling!" he yelled as he kicked his foot so fast that it seemed to multiple and he hammered his crew relentlessly. The floor around them crumbled and broke from the sheer power of the attack.
Zizu watched the battle from a safe distance. "Strawhat is stronger than I thought. What destructive power." His right eye glowed for a moment. "And he is still holding back."
"Cyclone Tempo!" Nami screamed as she attempted to knock Luffy out of the air.
Without missing a beat, Luffy easily caught the projectile and violently whipped his arm around. He then snapped his arm back and threw the Clima-Tact right back at Nami with tremendous force.
It was only her experience as a nimble thief that kept Nami from being beheaded by her own attack. Nonetheless, the force behind the attack was so great that when Nami looked behind her she saw that her Clima-Tact had become embedded into the stone floor.
"Don't attack Nami-san, shit captain!" Sanji exclaimed as he began to spin around, heating his left leg.
"Sanji, you could seriously injured him with that technique!" Chopper warned in horror. He knew Sanji's Diable Jambe could easily burn down to the bone and Luffy was the most vulnerable to heat compare to other elements. In fact, heated attacks were one of the few things that could scar Luffy's rubber skin.
Sanji gritted his teeth in response. He knew he could morality wound Luffy, but he didn't have much choice. His normal attacks would just bounce off Luffy.
"Premiere Hachis!" Sanji yelled as he ran forward and jumped after Luffy, who was still hovering in the air. The boy captain's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden burst of speed from the chief. He barely had time to move as he was bombarded with kicks to his midsection.
Luffy fell to the floor, and he quickly rolled away to keep Sanji from stomping him with his inflamed leg. He, however, didn't expect Sanji to suddenly spin around and hit him on his left shoulder.
Luffy screamed in pain as he clutched the burnt shoulder. "HOT, HOT, HOT!" he yelled as he attempted to cool himself by waving his hand back on forward over the wound.
"108 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro yelled as three air-compressed projectiles came spiraling at Luffy. He got himself together just in time to evade the hit.
Ivy used this time to charged in and attempted to disable one of his arms. Luffy saw the attack coming and intercepted Ivy by brutally grabbing her wrist. With a slight twist, he snapped it with little effort.
"Sorry, Thomas," Luffy whispered once the deed was done.
Ivy screamed in pain as Luffy ran towards the two monsters of his crew and leaped back into the air. He then begun to spun around rapidly as he stretched and wrapped himself in his own arms and legs like a giant rubber ball.
"Gum Gum Fireworks!" he yelled as he rapidly unwrapped his body and a bombardment of punches and kicks came flying at Zoro and Sanji. They both threw themselves out of the way, but were still hit several times.
Zoro growled in pain and frustration as he rubbed his now swollen arm. He was lucky that last attack didn't break his arm.
When Luffy landed back down, he got a nasty surprise. Covering the floor were several spiky jacks. He cried in pain as he hopped around, trying to find a safe spot to land as the spikes dug into the soles of his feet.
"What the hell!?" Luffy yelled as he remembered the last time something like this happened. He looked up towards Usopp who gave him a somber smile.
"It's nothing personally, Luffy," Usopp said as he took aim. "Fire Bird Star!" A bird of fire came right at Luffy and hit dead on. He was thrown back and landed butt first into the spikes. Luffy gave an even louder scream of pain as he attempted to pick himself up.
"Damn you!" Luffy yelled as he plucked several spikes from his butt.
"How shameful, Strawhat," Zizu said casually from his place away from the fight. "Are you really going to allow that weakling to get the best of you?"
"Usopp isn't a weakling!" Chopper yelled angrily. He wanted to run over and punched the bastard, but he knew he would most likely just hit another illusion. He could try to close his eyes and used his sense of smell to track him, but that was nearly impossible now since the entire room was covered with the scent of smoke, blood, and explosives.
Luffy painful picked himself off the floor. "This won't do. I'm sorry, master."
"Don't apologize to him, Luffy-san," Brook said more fiercely than anyone had ever heard the skeleton swordsman. "He isn't your master."
Luffy looked confused for a moment before he vaguely noticed that something was missing from the back of his neck. He looked around for a second and saw that his hat had falling off and rolled some distance away from him. Usopp's Fire Bird must have burnt the string that kept it in place.
"My hat!" Luffy exclaimed in shock. It didn't seem to be damage from the last attack, which he was thankful for. He hastily pulled himself out of the spiky battlefield and ran towards his prize treasure.
"What are you doing, get back to the fight," Zizu ordered, stopping Luffy in his tracks.
Luffy turned towards his master and gave him a pleading look. "But..."
"I said leave it," Zizu ordered more firmly. "Forget about that musty, old thing. It means nothing to you now."
Luffy stood perfectly still as if he didn't fully comprehending the order.
"How can you be so cruel!?" Nami asked in disgust. There wasn't a person on the crew who didn't know how important that hat was to Luffy. "That hat represents both his dream and a promise to a person special to him!"
Zizu gave a side line glanced towards Nami. "Oh, I already know all of that. I can see his memories, after all. But he no longer has any need for such a pointless dream. Everything your captain was is long gone and he belongs to me, mind and body."
"That's a lie!" Nami screamed angrily. "Luffy is the strongest person I know and he would never allow his dream to be destroy by the likes of you!"
"His dream, you mean about him becoming the next Pirate King? What a complete waste of time," Zizu sneered in disgust. "I have given him a far greater purpose in life. The purpose of destroying the World Government."
"His dream isn't worthless!" Zoro exclaimed as he glared at Zizu.
"It is? What's the point in becoming the Pirate King?" Zizu challenged. "It's nothing more than a worthless title given by the World Government to scare everyday people. Do you truly believe he would become an actually king if he found the One Piece or that all the pirates of the world would suddenly bow before him? Wake up, it's all a silly child's dream."
Sanji clamped down on his cigarette so hard that he nearly bit it in half. "If I recall, the last Pirate King changed the world."
"He changed the world by getting himself killed like any common criminal caught by the government," Zizu retorted. "In the grand scheme of things, all Gold Roger did was encouraged bloodthirsty scofflaws to take to the sea and murder countless innocent people."
The entire time they were talking, Luffy didn't move from his place. His eyes were blank and he didn't show any emotion to what Zizu was saying. But he still kept his eyes on his hat.
Zizu began to chuckle. "Besides, what kind of 'king' will Strawhat be when he doesn't even have his own mind." He then turned towards Luffy. "Strawhat, get down on your knees and kneel before me."
Everyone glared at Zizu in surprise.
Ivy clenched her fists in hatred. "You just have to show your level of control, you manipulative bastard."
"You bastard, take back that order!" Sanji yelled.
Zizu ignored them. "You heard me, get down on your knees and bow before your master."
Luffy tore his eyes from his hat and stared at Zizu for a moment. Without any hesitation, he got on one knee and bowed his head before Zizu.
The Strawhats watched in disgust and shock as Luffy was forced to humble himself in front of them. The added fact that Luffy didn't even fight the order also horrified them.
"Behold, your 'Pirate King'!" Zizu continued to mock.
"You monster!" Usopp screamed as he raised his Kabuto at Zizu. How dare this man humiliate Luffy like this.
Zizu didn't even flinch and didn't even bother to glance at Usopp. "Think about that for a moment, boy. I can have your captain break you in two with just a thought."
Usopp growled in frustration when he realized that he was right.
Zoro shook in anger and wanted to yell for Luffy to stand back up. To see his captain like this was even worst than fighting him.
"You are nothing but a hypocrite," the voice of Robin said coldly as she slowly lifted herself off the dusty floor. She was holding her hand close to her ribs and there was some blood on her mouth. "How many lives have you ended and ruin to obtain your army of slaves? You are no better than the World Government."
Zizu's eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth. "Don't compare me to the scum of the government. What I do is for the greater good of the entire world."
"And the greater good means enslaving countless people, forcing them to sacrifice their lives, and make them murder their friends and family," Robin said in an icy tone. "I was wrong. Not even the World Government is that cruel."
"I would expect someone who survived the genocide of their homeland to be more understanding," Zizu said, causing Robin to flinch. "Besides, their lives are not needlessly wasted. Their sacrifice is needed to bring about a new era free of the World Government. You of all people Nico Robin should be grateful to us."
Sanji glared daggers at Zizu. "Is this the true form of the Revolutionary? Preaching freedom while you steal people's lives."
"What would you understand, boy?" Zizu questioned with heat. "The Revolution is freedom and we take our first major step soon by taking the heads of the government itself, the Gorosei."
A long silence filled the room as everyone took in Zizu's words.
"Kill the Gorosei, are you crazy!?" Ivy exclaimed once the shock had worn off. "Even if the marine's resources are busy elsewhere, it would be pure suicide for anyone to go near the Gorosei. Are you telling me you're willing to sacrifice your own men on this futile assault?"
Luffy's eyes widened when he heard those words. His master wouldn't sacrifice Sahara, Timber, and Thomas, would he? He couldn't. But could that be the reason why they were so upset? Did they know that their master had all but sent them die?
"Even if they fail, their bravery will go down in history," Zizu stated. "They will be heroes to the Revolutionaries and inspire an entire generation. What greater honor can anyone ask for."
"You irredeemable bastard," Zoro growled. He was shaking so hard that the steel from his swords could be heard clinging together. "You're nothing but a coward that hides behind the strength of others and dare to call yourself noble. Why don't you go and die for your own ideas instead of hiding behind others?"
Zizu took a quick glanced at Zoro. "You're just too naive to understand anything outside your own little world. Even your captain seemed to have come to understand the righteousness of our cause."
"Explain yourself!" Brook demanded.
"That's right!" Usopp also exclaimed in anger. "Luffy isn't willingly working for you. You've enslaved him just as you've done everyone else here."
Zizu's smirked at him. "You think so? When I entered your captain's mind he didn't even put up a fight. He willingly accepted me and called me his master within seconds. That is why he shows no resistance even now and has willingly bowed before me."
"That isn't true!" Franky yelled.
"It is very true," Zizu said almost cruelly. "I have possessed many people and they all struggled and fought at the beginning. Even after I bring them under my control, a part of them still resist and try to fight me before they come to accept their new lives. Especially when it came to fighting their love ones. Your captain, on the other hand, didn't even put up a struggle. So you see, he has willingly betrayed you."
Everyone looked at Zizu with a mixed of disgust, anger, and hatred. None of the Strawhats believed a word he said. Luffy was undoubtedly fighting very hard to break his control, but he didn't have the mental strength needed to overcome Zizu. It was one of Luffy's greatest weaknesses, but that was why he had them.
"Your words are meaningless," Robin said with cold fire in her eyes. "Even though you have access to Luffy's mind, you know nothing about us if you think you can make us believe our captain betrayed us."
"Believe what you want. It still won't change the fact that you all are about to die by your own captain's hands. Then, I will make you see the truth of our cause, Nico Robin," Zizu said as the turned his attention back towards Luffy. "Finish them."
Luffy, however, didn't move from his spot.
Zizu became annoyed by his slave's lack of movement. "You heard me."
Everyone stared at Luffy, hoping that maybe he was somehow able to fight the spell.
"Master...is it true?" Luffy asked quietly as he lifted his head to face Zizu. "The attack on Mariejois, is it really a suicide mission?"
"What different does it make?" Zizu asked impatiently.
"Timber, Sahara, Thomas have serve you fatefully for years," Luffy said softly. Ivy's face became ashen when she heard her father's name, but Luffy paid her no heed. "They don't deserve to die like this. They don't deserved to be made to die."
Zizu narrowed his eyes. "That's no concern of yours."
"BUT IT ISN'T RIGHT!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs as he stood straight up, stunning everyone. Even Zizu was caught by surprise by the sudden outburst.
"Where did this burst of mental strength come from?" Zizu wondered. "He wasn't able to resist at all before now."
Luffy looked close to tears and for first time his eyes seemed to become clear again. He looked very much like his old self.
"They...they became like a family. Why do they have to sacrifice? A good leader shouldn't throw away their friends' lives like this," Luffy said. He was actually begun to shake with anger. "You…you can't betray them like this!"
Luffy was suddenly overwhelmed with memories of his crew during happier times. He could remember when they sang and danced on the Going Merry and had wild parties after someone had joined the crew. He remembered Brook waking everyone up in the morning by playing music and Nami throwing one of her shoes at him for waking her up too early. He remembered Zoro training while Chopper watched in admiration and awe. He could also see Franky working on the ship or fooling around with Brook as they both play their instruments.
He didn't have a strong bond with his current comrades, but he felt a similar bond had formed between them. In his mind's eye he could remember what Thomas had said just the other night.
"But you have nothing to protect now, old man," Timber stated.
"No, I do," Timber said with a slight smile. "I have all of you."
"Thomas..." Sahara whispered in shock.
"You all are my family," Thomas finished.
Zizu looked concern as he felt Luffy really beginning to struggle for the first time since he had possessed him. He had no idea where this sudden bout of resistance had risen from and Strawhat picked a bothersome time to decide to grow a brain. It was, however, a minor inconvenience. No one could break his spell.
Nami, on the other hand, saw this as their chance to free their captain. "Luffy, this guy cares nothing for the people who serves under him. That jerk is just using all of you and thinks nothing of your lives. You have to fight him!"
She knew that the bond of family were the one thing that could reach him. Even when they fought rival pirate crews, like Captain Kuro, Luffy always despised when people abused their own crewmates. They were the people that Luffy hated the most.
Luffy's forehead became covered with sweat and he grabbed his head in pain.
"Stop sobbing for those fools and get back to your job," Zizu said harshly as he right eye glowed, causing Luffy to nearly double over in agony.
"Don't listen to him!" Zoro yelled at his captain. "Fight him! You're stronger than this!"
"Come on, Luffy. Come back to us so we can continue on our adventure!" Chopper cheered in encouragement.
"Ad...adventure...?" Luffy whispered. What adventure was he on? Wasn't he Zizu's servant?
"The adventure to become the Pirate King," Usopp answered, seemingly reading his thoughts. "To explore the world and fulfill the promise you made on your hat."
"Hat..." Luffy whispered hoarsely as he looked back towards his strawhat. He wanted so badly to reach for it. In the back of his mind, he could remember the face of the red-haired man again.
Nami nodded and smiled. "You're our captain, not this guy's slave."
"And once you're free, we can save the others too," Chopper continued. "They won't have to die."
"Save them..." Luffy muttered as another jolt of pain shot through his head, sending him to his knees. He closed his eyes and covered his ears in a vain attempt to stop both the flood of memories and the voice that was screaming in his head. "But...I'm supposed to serve Zizu. He's my...master."
"Dammit Luffy, fight it!" Sanji yelled.
"Come on, bro, snap out of it!" Franky encouraged.
Ivy stood quietly by as she watched the events unfold before her. She couldn't believe they were actually getting through to him. Could their bond possibly be strong enough to break Zizu's spell?
"This is all so sweet, but this is getting too sappy," Zizu said as his right eye glowed brighter. "Don't forget who you're dealing with."
Luffy winced in pain as Zizu's power completely overtook him, drowning out the voices of his crew.
"Forget about those idiots," Zizu said harshly, his right eye glowed even brighter. "Dreams, family, they mean nothing. They brought about their own demise by being too weak to survive within the New World. They can only properly serve me now by dying for our cause. You, however, Strawhat have the potential for greatness that far surpasses my other servants. Now stand up, and take your place as my new vassal!"
Luffy withered in pain on the floor and his own eyes seemed to flash red.
"Luffy-san!" Brook exclaimed in worry.
Ivy stared at Zizu when he finished his rant. "The New World? Is that the true reason why you want to kill off my father and the others? So you can get a new batch of slaves to do your bidding. I should have known you would be so heartless."
Zizu said nothing, but the smug look on his face told her everything.
Luffy sat on the floor for a few seconds longer before he finally stopped struggling. He slowly calmed down and began to open his eye. His eyes were once again glazed over and they were filled with fog.
He glanced one last time at his strawhat, which lay abandoned on the floor. It looked like he was going to walk up and grab it, but he then coldly turned his back on it as he glared mendaciously at his crew. There was none of the warmth they had come to know in their captain's face and it broke their hearts to see Luffy leave behind his treasure. It was almost like Luffy was truly gone from them.
"You are correct. I'm sorry for questioning you, master," Luffy said. His voice was filled with a cold conviction. "Thomas, Sahara, Timber…..they're the weak ones. They're the ones who've failed to properly serve our master. They deserve to die."
Chopper stared horrified at Luffy. "You can't mean those things."
"I mean everything I said," Luffy said as he clinched his fist. "I am Master Zizu's ultimate vassal and I shall fulfill his dream in destroying the World Government!"
"Luffy," Usopp whispered in tears. They were so close to having him back.
"Luffy-san..." Brook also muttered sadly. He was shaking with anger and grief.
Zoro gave a low growl. Those words were not his captain. What the hell did Zizu do to him?
Ivy shook her head. "Zizu has altered his personality. Whatever hope you had in him breaking the spell is gone now."
Robin shook her head in sorrow. "For a moment I though we have gotten through to him."
Zizu smiled in satisfaction. "It is time we end this foolishness and put an end to the past. It's time for you to get serious." His right eye glowed again.
Luffy got into a horse stance and put one hand over his knee and the knuckles of his other hand into the stone floor. Everyone in the crew recognized that stance.
"Shit, this bad," Zoro cussed.
"Is he really going to use that technique?" Sanji asked in worry.
Nami had finally managed to dig her Clima-Tact out of the floor, but she wasn't sure how much help she would be. All her attacks had proven to be useless against Luffy. She hadn't felt this helpless in a long time.
"For the future of my master's plans, you all will die here!" Luffy proclaimed as he pumped blood into his legs and then allowed it to flow back up through his body. Steam began to rise from his body and his skin turned a glassy red. "Gear Second!"
Sorry that there wasn't as much fighting in this chapter as I promise. But there were some plot-related things along with character development I wanted to do first. We get to see more of Zizu's character and confirm once and for all that he is indeed a jackass. The funny thing is I rewrote this chapter several times and Zizu came out as being even more of a douche bag after each revision. His speech, however, about what it means to be Pirate King is kind of based on something I have been wondering for awhile. Knowing Oda, it pointless to really guess at this point.
I promise, however, that next chapter will have all the action goodness you want and I'll finally fulfill my promise to Regezu who has been wanting to see Gear Second Luffy since at least chapter ten.
Until next time.