49. For the future

After a short conversation, Chopper went to sleep and Luffy left the men's quarters by climbing the mast.

On the deck, Zoro was lifting his weights, while the two girls were relaxing in their chairs. Sanji swirled around them like a tornado, offering refreshments, even though they exited the kitchen not very long ago. Usopp was on the crow's nest. He was the one he was most worried about.

Should he tell them now? No, Chopper went to sleep and he'd prefer if he could tell everyone at once. He sighed in displeasure.

The girls noticed his annoyed expression.

"What's wrong, Luffy?" Nami asked. He shook his head.

"Nothing." he lied. He could see Robin eying him suspiciously, but he ignored it.

'If we should have to fight the CP9, which we probably will, regardless of what Robin does, we'll need to be as strong as possible.' he thought to himself. He headed towards the figurehead.

'There's also the problem with Ace.' he thought. 'I can't really help him much right now. From what I know he'll get captured in the next two weeks or something like that, but I can't just leave everything and go after him.'

He sighed again. 'Not to mention that I have no real idea where he even is. I only know the direction.'

'If only I'd have killed that fat bastard in Jaya.' he mentally scolded himself. 'Screw Whitebeard's request. I should have just ignored it and said he attacked me.'

He really didn't want to go through either Impel Down or Marineford again, but unless something changed, he was headed in that direction. He'd have to storm the great prison again. That, at the very least, was nearly certain.

'This time it should be easier.' he thought to himself, but it didn't help any. Marineford and to a slightly lesser extent, Impel Down, was his own personal hell.


Flashback:

'I'm so close.' he thought. 'Ace is in view.'

In front of him, Kizaru materialized.

"Ooooh, its Straw Hat!" he announced. "The celestial dragons will be on my case if I let you go again."

He raised his leg high and kicked. A beam of light shot from the end of his foot.

"DEATH WINK!"

.

The greatest swordsman in the world slashed wildly, sending powerful flying blade attacks across the battlefield, using only a fraction of his strength.

"Now, what are you going to do?" the swordsman asked. "You're being pushed further and further away from your brother!"

.

"Back where you started!" Kizaru mocked and kicked him across the battlefield, not even bothering to use much haki.

.

Smoker sped towards him using his Moku Moku no Mi and struck him across the head with his seastone-tipped jutte.

"Straw Hat!" he snarled. "You won't leave this place!"

.

The encircling walls surrounded them. Whitebeard's attacks did not work against them.

Magma rained from the sky.

'I must save Ace.' he thought.

He jumped across the many terrified pirates, who nearly lost all hope.

He ran ahead, unknowingly making hundreds of them follow his lead.

.

He was hit by several cannonballs. He was bleeding everywhere.

.

"Ararara! You've finally made it here." Aokiji announced.

"Quite an entrance, son of Dragon!" Akainu continued.

"This youngster sure is scary!" Kizaru commented.

Luffy looked above them at Ace.

"But, you're not ready for this stage yet." Aokiji told him solemnly.

"There is no way you can beat us, you know." Kizaru said.

.

He tried to get past them. He activated his Gear Second. He followed after the pieces of frozen wood that he had thrown at the admirals and went through Kizaru's logia body.

"Too slow." Kizaru told him as he appeared in front of him and kicked him into a building.

.

Blades approached his brother's head.

"ACEEEEE!" he yelled.

Sand blades cut the executioners.

.

An ice blade hit him in the shoulder.

"I owe your grandfather." Aokiji announced. "But I have no choice. You've chosen your own death."

.

"I, Vice-Admiral Momonga, stake my pride as a member of the navy on stopping you here, Straw Hat."

.

"He has no more energy." Momonga mused. Dalmatian smirked.

"I'm not surprised." he said. "He's just a Rookie, after all."

.

Kizaru shot a laser beam through his body, intentionally aiming not to kill.

Luffy fell on the ground. He could no longer move.

He looked up at the Admiral.

"Without enough strength, you can't save anyone." Kizaru told him. "No matter how hard you try."

He smirked.

"Now will you please go away already?!"

He kicked him across the battlefield.

"I can't believe the great Whitebeard himself would let reckless trash like you lead his army."

.

"Iva-chan, I want to make this my final request." Luffy said desperately.

"If I let you die here today, I won't be able to look Dragon in the eyes again." Iva told him.

"If I can't save Ace, I'll WANT TO DIE!"

He stabbed him with his nails.

.

But it wasn't enough. Everything he had and it wasn't enough. At the end, his brother collapsed on the ground, dead.


"Luffy!" Zoro yelled. The straw hat captain finally snapped out of his nightmarish memories.

He felt pain in his right hand. He looked at it. It was blackened by haki and clenched. Drops of blood fell on the figurehead. He had broken through his own armament with his nails.

"Luffy!" Zoro asked again. He unclenched his fist and took a deep breath. He stood up and turned around.

"What, Zoro?" he asked.

"You're bleeding." the unofficial first-mate told him. Luffy wiped his hand in his shorts.

"It doesn't matter." he replied. Zoro looked at him in concern, but then sighed.

"Do you want to go sparring?" he asked. Luffy blinked.

"Okay." he replied.

"Oh and the crap cook wants to go as well." Zoro continued. "Do you mind a 2 vs 1?"

Luffy shook his head.

"No, not really." he replied honestly. Zoro and Sanji were both already quite strong, but with his speed and haki, it didn't really matter.

However they didn't have much room to fight, as the crates and smaller boxes were everywhere. Except the deck above the storage room, the front of the ship.

Luffy went to the right of the figurehead, while the other two stood on the left.

"If you focus, you should be able to keep up." he told them. He waited a few moments for them to prepare. Sanji tapped his shoes on the ground and Zoro took out all three of his swords.

Then Luffy activated his Soru.

He dashed ahead with a punch aimed for Zoro. The swordsman barely dodged it. In fact, the fist brushed his right shoulder. Sanji raised his right leg and attempted a sideways kick, but Luffy ducked underneath it and then jumped backwards, landing on top of his leg.

Zoro ran towards them and slashed at Luffy. Sanji lowered his leg and Luffy would have fallen, but he kicked the air to stay in place. He blocked Zoro's swords by covering his head with his crossed arms while infusing them with armament haki.

He kicked with his right leg and hit Zoro in the stomach, sending him into the railing. At the same time, Sanji attempted a high kick, aimed for his ribs, but Luffy dropped from the air, causing the kick to miss.

Sanji slammed his foot down on Luffy, but he blocked it with one of his hands and pushed his leg away. Zoro came from the other side and dashed ahead in an attempt to do a 'Santoryu Onigiri', but Luffy used his Soru and kicked the ground underneath him and punched ahead, stopping all three swords when they were in the same position with his fist. Much like Mihawk did when they fought.

Sanji came from behind and kicked Luffy's legs, making him fall, but Luffy used one of his hands to touch the ground and then kicked in the direction of Sanji with both of his legs.

The cook jumped back to dodge the kick, but his chest was still brushed by Luffy's feet, causing him some pain. The captain jumped back into a standing position. The green-haired swordsman attempted to slash Luffy, but he jumped in the air with Soru and slammed a foot down on Zoro, which connected and slammed him into the deck.

Sanji jumped into the air with a kick aimed for Luffy's stomach, but the captain easily dodged it by moving his body and used his own kick to send Sanji into deck as well.

Zoro picked himself up and sent a flying blade attack at Luffy, but he unsheathed his sword and deflected it so that it flew somewhere in the sea.

He sheathed back his sword and used his Soru to dash towards Zoro with a punch ready. The swordsman somehow blocked the punch with two of his crossed swords, but he was unable to stand up to the overwhelming force of the punch and so was sent into the railing again.

This sparring continued for a while longer, until Sanji and Zoro were tired. Luffy was happy to find that while they were unable to really match him in any way, they were fully capable of reacting at the speed of his average Soru (he didn't really go all out with his Soru, but he didn't really restrain himself too much either). Their strikes were usually much too slow, but it was start and they managed to get a few hits in. In the strength department, Luffy also did not go all out and only used his observation haki for avoiding some of the attacks and armament for blocking Zoro's swords.

They agreed to continue this training every day. Luffy was also pleased to find that their observation haki developed to some extent. They were able to dodge a few moves that they wouldn't have been able to otherwise.


A few hours later …


A while after the reindeer doctor woke up, Luffy strode from the figurehead towards the rest of the pirates.

"I need to talk to you guys about something." he announced. Everyone stopped in their activities. He sighed and turned to Robin.

"Could you go and replace Usopp?" he asked her. "We'll be in the kitchen. You can listen in with your powers."

She nodded and started climbing the mast. Luffy sighed and motioned for everyone to follow him. He opened the door and entered the kitchen, where Sanji was.

"Hey, shitty captain!" he protested. "I don't have any snacks for you!"

Luffy shook his head.

"I have something to tell everyone." he replied. Sanji blinked a few times, but then nodded. Luffy waited for everyone to sit down.

"Luffy, what-" Nami started. Luffy raised his hand.

"Wait for Usopp." he told her.

After a while, Usopp entered through the door. An ear appeared on the wall. Luffy sighed.

"Okay, everyone's here." he began. He looked at every member of his crew.

"What I'm about to tell you, isn't good news." he continued. They looked at him in surprise. He sighed again.

"That night, when Usopp and I saw a ghost, I didn't just see the ghost, I spoke to him." he said. Everyone gasped.

"S-So y-you did speak to him?" Usopp stuttered. Luffy nodded.

"So, what did that ghost say that got you so serious?" Zoro asked. The others nodded.

"First thing's first." Luffy answered. "You need to know what that ghost is."

He paused for a moment. Everyone looked at him.

"So, what is it?" Nami asked impatiently.

"It's Merry." Luffy replied. Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"W-What do you mean, Merry?" Chopper asked. Luffy sighed.

"Like I said, it's Merry." he repeated. Sanji's eyes widened in realization.

"You don't mean … the ship, do you?" he asked. Luffy looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

"H-Hey, don't be ridiculous!" Nami stuttered. "You couldn't have spoken with the Going Merry!"

Zoro gained a thoughtful expression.

"But how come you're the only one who heard it?" he asked. Luffy shrugged.

"No idea." he admitted. "But Usopp saw the ghost as well."

Usopp nodded.

"Yeah, but I couldn't hear anything." he said. "Luffy kept saying that he heard someone calling him though."

Luffy nodded.

"But, it doesn't matter if you believe me or not." Luffy continued. "Either way, what Merry told me is true."

Everyone looked at him. He sighed and took a deep breath.

"The thing is." he started. "Our ship is dying."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"M-Merry said that?" Usopp asked quietly. Luffy nodded.

"Is it true?" Chopper asked. Tears started gathering in his eyes.

"I'm no shipwright, but the keel is damaged." Luffy said after he nodded. "That means the ship can't be repaired anymore."

He sighed. Everyone was quiet for a few moments.

"So … we'll have to replace the ship?" Zoro asked solemnly. Luffy nodded.

Usopp stood up. Everyone looked at him.

"No." he said. Luffy looked at him.

"Usopp-" he began.

"No." Usopp interrupted him. "Merry is our ship. And not just that, she's more than that, she's our nakama!"

He glared at them.

"We can't just replace her!" he yelled. After that he stormed off.

Luffy sighed and followed after him. The rest of the straw-hats remained seated.


"Usopp, wait!" Luffy yelled after him. Usopp turned around.

"Why?" he asked. "So you can tell me that we'll replace the ship again?"

Luffy grabbed both of his shoulders with his hands and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Usopp, we're in the Grand Line." he told him. "We're pirates!"

"But, Luffy-" Usopp started.

"If our ship breaks down in the middle of the ocean, who will come to help us?" he asked him in a low tone.

Usopp looked struck.

"Even if we send a call for help, who will come for us?" Luffy asked. "We're pirates. People want us to die."

Usopp looked on the ground.

"I know you love the Going Merry and I'm sorry, but it won't even make it to the New World." he answered. Usopp looked up at him. He had tears in his eyes.

"But Luffy, Merry's our ship!" he said. "And Kaya gave it to us."

Luffy sighed.

"Look, the keel is cracked." Luffy said. "And the fact that the ship even has a ghost means it's already too late."

Usopp looked down again.

"Usopp, lets not fight about this." Luffy continued. "This is unavoidable. I'm not happy about it either."

Usopp nodded.

"I'm sorry, Luffy." he whispered. Luffy smiled.

"It's okay, Usopp."


So, that's this chapters done. Did you like it? Why did I include the Marineford flashback? Well, it just sort of went into that direction, so I did that. I wanted to get it across that Luffy is still haunted by what happened there. And he fears having to return there.

I hope you liked the spar. Luffy did not hold back as much as previously, but at this point of the story, the monster trio are capable of following the speed of Soru. Only Luffy can achieve it, but all three can react to it. Luffy's Soru is quite a bit better than the average Soru, so that's why they can't get any damage done. Although I'm sure that some people will tell me that Luffy seems too weak because of it. But remember, he still has Gear Second. That's way faster. Also, I'd have written a much longer spar, but I just wasn't in the mood and didn't want to force it.

I hope you like the talk about Merry. Remember that the circumstances are much different than in canon. In canon, Usopp was beaten up to a pulp twice and had a serious inferiority complex because of it. Also, Luffy completely lost his nerve there and even told him that he should leave if he doesn't agree. Not to mention the fact that Luffy basically announced his decision, not giving him any say in the matter at all. Those facts seriously pissed Usopp off. Here, none of that happened. I thought Usopp still wouldn't like the decision, which is why I made him storm off.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review.