Hello everybody! Forzarismo here back at it again with a new chapter of The Rubbery Vengeance! I know I have kept many of you waiting for my next chapter, and your patience has been rewarded!
As to the guy/gal who keeps messaging me about how shitty my fanfic is and how I am a disgrace to all one piece fanfic writers out there...
Hey, if you don't like my story, don't read it. simple as that. I also don't believe that my fanfic is the worst one piece time travel fanfics out there. If it were, why do I still have an audience willing to read my story? As to making fun of my previous dealings with depression, guess what? I don't have it no more, so keep making fun of me when I was at my weakest, I don't care, you do you. And if you say that an elementary school kid can write better than me, then why don't you write a story? I have checked your account and you have been on this site for over a decade and you haven't even published a One-Shot. You have less than ten favorited stories as well, with all of them being completed or abandoned since 2010 at the very latest. Look I have nothing against you alright, but you were getting really out of hand.
I apologize for the rest of my viewers who had read that block of text, I can only deal with so much bullshit before I decide to share it with the world. Anyhow let's get back on track with these stats!:
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Disclaimer from Luffy: I owned One Piece in my first adventure, and I will obtain it again in this one!
Chapter 21: The Ultimate Chimera and The Musician
For the next couple of seconds, no one from the Marine's side moved. They were too shellshocked at the fact that this dangerous criminal is right here, right now in front of them, and they have no idea on how to stop such a powerful person. Smoker grits his teeth in anticipation, knowing that acting rashly could lead to the deaths of those under him. As much as he hates to do this, all they can do now is watch and see how the interaction between these two infamous pirates will lead to.
Luffy let out a sigh in resignation at the fact that he has been found and now their time here on Loguetown has been cut short. He looks Buggy with a deadpan stare, as Buggy has a shit eating grin plastered on his face. "So what now Big Nose?" Luffy asks, wondering where Buggy is going with this.
"Don't you dare call me Big Nose! My name is Buggy! The great Buggy-sama! As to what's going to happen now, you are going to help us escape from this situation, or you'll be heading straight to Impel Down with the rest of us!" Buggy commands, expecting Luffy to help him out.
Luffy raises a brow. "I will be the King of the Pirates! And as the next Pirate King, I refuse!" Luffy bellows out, staring down at Buggy defiantly, while everyone in the town square just looks at Luffy in shock, or in Bartolomeo's case: awe.
Luffy continues on. "I wanna be free! I wanna be free to do what I wanna do! I wanna be free to go on adventures with my crew without being hassled by the Marines. I want them all to have a good time! And no matter what, when I become the Pirate King my crew will become the very definition of what pirates will be!" Luffy proclaims not only to Buggy, but the crowd surrounding him as well.
'He… He actually said it! Such conviction! He does not only believe his own words, He states it as if it is mere fact, knowing that it will become true!' Bartolomeo thinks to himself, looking towards the execution platform in anticipation.
What happens next will only further cement his belief that the man in front of him will set the standard on what a Pirate should strive for at the Grand Line.
"Hah! If you truly are going to become the King of the Pirates like you say you are, Then may God strike me down from where I-"
In all honesty, Buggy should've chosen his words better.
A massive bolt of lightning struck down on the platform, blinding many from the sheer brightness, though those that squint their eyes could see that the only one affected by the electricity is Buggy, while Luffy stands there just picking his nose as if this is just a daily occurence. Even when the stand caught on fire and started collapsing Luffy just stood there uncaringly while Buggy fell down with the stand. That's when everyone noticed that the big time bounty man is floating in the fucking air!
Luffy stayed in his location, looking around his surroundings, seeing almost everyone stare at him, he began preparing himself to fly away, only to stop when he noticed his crew within the crowd. "Hey guys! We're heading out! Let's get a move on!" Luffy commands towards the crowd as he puts on his Straw Hat, leaving many people confused as to who he was talking to. Only when they noticed a couple of people booking it towards one of the streets where the Marines have barricaded did they realized that the entire crew is here, most likely to assist their captain.
"Send the message: I want all outlaws apprehended right now!" Smoker growls out as he prepares his Jitte for combat, heading straight for Straw Hat Luffy via his Plume-Plume Fruit.
As soon as Smoker says that, all hell breaks loose in the town square, Marines, Pirates, and some civilians fighting on another with many of the straw hats using the chaotic opportunity as a means to escape.
Tashigi got back with Smoker only about a couple of minutes ago, and when she saw that both Zoro and Kuina make a break for it along with a couple of other people heading the same direction towards the docks, she immediately left her post to go after those specific two. 'You two criminals do not deserve those swords strapped on you. I will personally liberate them from your clutches in the name of justice!' Tashigi roars mentally as she runs as fast as she can to catch up to the duo sword users.
The moment Smoker reaches Luffy, he aims his Jitte for a jab, only for Luffy to grab the jitte, making himself sure that he is not touching the kairoseki tip.
"Hello there! The weather is nice isn't it!" Luffy says, actually happy to see his frenemy up close for the first time.
Smoker's eyes narrow. "It's raining."
"C'mon! Humor me for a bit, is that too much to ask?" Luffy pouts, using his unnatural strength to pull the Jitte out of Smoker's grasp before throwing it into the crowd, unknowingly hitting Alvida in the process, knocking her out before she could do anything noteworthy to gain anyone's attention.
"You're a criminal, An incredibly dangerous one at that. I will capture you here and now before you can do any lasting damage in the Grand Line! White Blow!" Smoker exclaims as his arm turns into a pillar of smoke, engulfing Luffy in an attempt to ensnare him before he can do anything.
Luffy disperses himself before reforming behind Smoker, cocking his fist in preparation for a punch.
Smoker looks at Luffy with widened eyes. He immediately turns his body into smoke, spreading smoke as far as possible as to give him a means to get his Jitte back and take down Straw Hat. He goes down on ground level, looking for it desperately as it is useful for fighting Devil Fruit users, and while he has been training up his Observation Haki since three years ago when he got promoted, he still isn't sure whether or not it will be enough to defeat the pirate in front of him. 'Found it.' He thinks to himself as he finds his Jitte being wielded by some grangly looking pirate. Blitzing himself towards the man, he shoves him down and takes his weapon back by force, and turns around to face the smoke screen in the dark sky that should be blinding Straw Hat.
Only to see Luffy with a shit-eating grin up close along with a blackened fist heading towards his head.
'This just isn't my day'
The fist collides into his eye, sending him careening into the crowd of pirates, knocking down multiple of them in the span of a single second. With his vision blurry along with having the single worst headache he has ever gotten in his entire life, Smoker is pretty much out for the time being.
Luffy looks down at his fist with slight contemplation. 'Huh, maybe I shouldn't have put too much force into the punch.' Luffy muses to himself, giving Smoker an eye smile before heading back to his ship with his crewmates.
With Zoro and Kuina…
"Dammit Kuina stop holding my hand! It's embarrassing" Zoro complains loudly as he is being led away from the ruckus by his best friend/'secret' 't their captain keep his disguise on for at least a couple more minutes? They had just found the weapon's shop they were looking for and could only get a fair amount of good quality swords before noticing the ruckus going on, and with seeing the amount of Marines heading towards the same direction as the town square, they could only hope that it wasn't Luffy getting into any sort of trouble.
Needless to say they were wrong.
So now all of them are on the run, with the Going Merry being their destination, and having the Marines up in their asses.
"No can do Zoro, knowing you, you would somehow end up back at the Town Square or God forbid another island like four years ago." Kuina states without missing a beat, already having learned her lesson about leaving her best friend unattended for even a moment's notice.
As they reach one of the last streets before heading towards the docks, they notice a familiar woman standing before them. She appears to be glaring at them with anger evident in her eyes.
As they stop in their tracks, Zoro asks, "Isn't she the one that got hit by birdshit about an hour ago? What was her name? Tanya? Sashimi?"
"I don't think she even gave us her names Zoro. Also, why did you say those specific names anyways?" Kuina asks Zoro.
Zoro just shrugs. "Eh, they just popped up in my mind."
"IT'S TASHIGI! AND STOP IGNORING ME!" Tashigi screams out, now much more furious than ever at the fact that they don't seem too bothered or threatened by her. She'll fix that soon enough, once they feel the sharpness of her blade, they'll know that they have messed with her for the last time. She pulls out her own blade, Shigure and points it at the two pirates, a clear message that she won't let them through without a fight.
Zoro and Kuina look at each other before looking back at Tashigi.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Kuina asks
"Nah, you can fight her." Zoro replies, just wanting to head back to the ship so he can sleep.
"Your loss then." Kuina shrugs as she takes out Wado Ichimonji from it's sheathe, casually walking up to a safe distance from Tashigi before sprinting towards the Marine Swordswoman, who is barely able to put up her blade to intercept the woman in front of her. "Hmm… You have potential, but that doesn't mean anything when you can't use it." Kuina remarks as she pushes Tashigi back and hits her gut hard with the blunt end of Wado's handle.
The wind gets knocked out of Tashigi, whose eyes widen in pain as she is thrown to a wall by the impact. She puts her sword up again just in time to block another strike from Kuina. However, that appears to have been a mistake in her part as Kuina hit the blade with enough force to knock it out of Tashigi's hands, causing the marine officer to be defenseless.
With the Wado Ichimonji now at her throat, Tashigi could only stare in horror as she looks at her look-alike wondering if she is going to lose her life right here and now. Kuina stares at her intently for a couple of seconds before stepping back and sheathing her blade. "Train hard woman, and maybe someday you'll have a chance on making us break a sweat." Kuina states, walking away from the woman nonchalantly.
Tashigi grits her teeth in anger at the fact that she couldn't even put up a fight with her look-alike. It infuriates her even more because she looks like her.
A more mature, womanly, stronger, confident her.
"Why won't you strike me down!?" Tashigi screams in fury at Kuina. Zoro and Kuina look at her impassively before walking away, completely ignoring her question. "Answer me dammit!" She roars out, both angry and confused at the fact that they haven't acted like any of the other pirates she has faced in her life.
Kuina looks at her dully. "As you are now, you're not worth the effort." She states before walking away with Zoro.
With that, Tashigi falls on her knees, tears streaming down her face, feeling deep shame at the fact that she can't even hold a candle to these damn pirates. What would Smoker say when he finds out?
Because of what is going on through her mind, she never noticed a man in a grey suit walk up to her. "Are you going to keep laying on the ground sulking or are you going to stand back up?" The man questions Tashigi.
Tashigi can hear her fellow Marines yelling at the man with uproar, only for them to suddenly gasp and quiet down when she sees the man's feet turn towards their direction.
When she looks up, she takes note of what the man is wearing. He appears to be wearing a grey suit with the World Government's symbol on his breast pocket along with brown suede shoes. He has plain features, his skin color being bronze colored and his black hair in a buzz cut style. The only thing unusual from him would be his crimson irises on his eyes. That and the weird umbrella covering him from the rain that appears to be made entirely of bone.
"Who… who are you?" She inquires shakily, a little afraid at what to expect from the man in front of her.
The man just stares at her impassively. "Under orders from Admiral Akainu have I been sent to your jurisdiction to improve the base strength of the Marines under your Captain Smoker's command. As to my name..." The man pauses as he extends his open hand towards her.
"…Call me Jaa."
With Usopp and Kaya…
"We're almost there Kaya! I can see the docks straight ahead!" Usopp shouts as he runs in a pace that Kaya can keep up with, while ignoring the unconscious bodies of both marines and pirates at the docks, and judging by the presence he can sense on the Going Merry, he can already tell who it is.
"That's a relief, the rain is getting harder than ever!" Kaya remarks as she holds her left arm over her eyes to block the water from hitting her eyes.
Before this mayhem had all happened, these two were enjoying themselves to their hearts content, not having a chance to be together by themselves since the crew began getting together. They had a nice meal, strolled around the streets, got some supplies that they have already dropped off in the Merry, chatting about what they miss over at their home island, and what they hope to see back at the Grand Line.
Maybe they'll see their teachers again, they haven't had contact for over five years now. While they worry from time to time as to why they haven't contacted them, they at least know that they are alive, since they each have the vivre cards to Arasval and Neos respectively.
Regardless, they were confronted by an old rival to Usopp's father Yasopp, who goes by the name Daddy Masterson after said bounty hunter noticed the resemblance between the father and son. He requested a duel from Usopp, to which the sniper agreed, saying that if he wins, he'll tell him his experiences with his father.
As expected, Usopp did win his duel against Daddy Masterson, but it was surprisingly a close one in Kaya's opinion. Then again this man did go toe-to-toe with Usopp's father, who she learned long ago is the Yonko Red-Hair Pirates' Master Sniper.
Not even ten minutes passed when they noticed the riot happening at the Town Square, seeing the exact moment Luffy took off his disguise and proclaimed that he will be the King of the Pirates and his crew being what every pirate crew should strive to be.
Which brings them back to now, with the two childhood friends-turned-lovers running together back to the ship so as to minimize contact with the enemy.
They're not afraid of fighting by all means, they just learned through experience that sometimes it is best to leave while you still can before you bite off more than you can chew.
As they reach the ship, they notice Sanji has already prepared the ship to leave immediately.
"We need to pick up the pace you guys! The Marines are going to be swarming this place any minute now! I may have taken down everybody here, but that doesn't mean that reinforcements aren't coming soon." Sanji explains as he looks towards the direction from where he can actually see Marguerite coming now with a massive bag filled with who knows what. She leaps from the street and makes it all the way to the ship, causing it to shake a bit from the momentum of Marguerite's landing.
"Who's left missing?" Marguerite asks as she puts her bag down with her snake Calla coiling herself around her master's arm.
"Nami, Nojiko, Kuina, Zoro, and Luffy." Kaya states as she gets on the steering wheel while Usopp starts up the hydro powered engine connected to the paddles on the ship.
After turning the ship around so as to improve their chances of getting away, they can see Kuina and Zoro coming along with the sisters Nami and Nojiko, each of them holding some form of cargo over their shoulders. As they jump onto the ship, they look frantically around to see if everybody is on, only to notice that one very important person is missing at the moment.
"WHERE'S LUFFY!?"
With Luffy…
In the midst of the rain coming down upon him, Luffy stares at the person in front of him with a neutral look.
The very person that saved Sabo from death.
Monkey D. Dragon.
Most wanted man in the World.
The Revolutionary Leader.
His father.
Dragon stares back, with a smile on his face, happy to see that his son has become so incredibly strong and powerful.
Though that begs the question, how did Luffy get so powerful in the first place? His father wouldn't have a hand in it and neither would Red-Haired Shanks. How does he know this? Well you wouldn't be the Most Wanted Man in the World for so long without having some very trustworthy informants in places that others would deem impossible to infiltrate successfully.
He doesn't even look like someone who by all means should be seventeen, but rather a young man who has reached his prime. He should be proud, but there is something wrong with his son. He can tell by just looking in his eyes, beneath all that happiness and adventurous expression there's something in him that has broken most likely beyond repair. He doesn't know what it is, but it deeply concerns him, despite not being in contact with him for pretty much his entire life, he wants to know what his son went through to get so strong.
"Luffy… It's nice to finally meet you face-to-face after so long." Dragon states.
"Father." Luffy replies curtly.
While he doesn't show it, Dragon is surprised to find out that his own son know about him. How did he find out, through Luffy's grandfather? That's the only explanation he can get so he just continues on. "So I heard that little speech you gave out. I must say that I'm quite impressed by your conviction. Do you believe that you are ready for whatever hardships you'll face when you enter the Grand Line?" He questions his son.
"I'm more than ready to face whatever the sea throws at me. I will make sure my crew will obtain in their dreams no matter what!" Luffy states with pride.
"And what about your dream?" Dragon inquires.
Luffy has a faraway look on his face as he looks off into the distance. "As long as they succeed in their own dreams, I will be happy." Luffy says softly as he imagines all of the friends he will make in the future again.
'There it is again.' Dragon thinks to himself as he notices the look in his son's eyes. It was one that he is quite familiar with. A look filled with loss, regret, anger, determination to see that whatever happened to him will never happen again. What happened to his son to cause him to get a look like that?
He can hear the Marines coming closer and judging by the shift his son's face took it looks like he did as well. "It seems our time has been cut short. It has been a pleasure talking to you son. I hope to see what kinds of chaos you will spread when you reach the Grand Line." Dragon states, smirking at his son as he begins to engulf Luffy in a tempest of wind.
Luffy gives out a very big grin in return. "Oh you have no idea." Luffy speaks before the tempest takes him away from the mostly empty street.
And at that, both father and son have finished their little chat, leaving Dragon all alone when the Marines finally reach his location.
As the Marines being led by an irate Smoker reach the area, they look to see Dragon looking on in the distance before turning around to face them with an amused expression. "Why hello. It appears that you have missed your target."
Smoker looks on at the man in front of him, gritting his teeth in frustration at the fact that not only Straw Hat Luffy got away, but now the Leader of the Revolutionary Army is right in front of him. "What on earth are you doing here Dragon!?" Smoker roars out, his patience wearing thin, and with every single marine gasping in shock at the fact that the Most Wanted man in the World is right in front of them.
Dragon smirks back at the Marine Captain. "I'm just here to see what kind of chaos this new contender will bring into the world." Dragon merely replies.
"I'm quite interested as well. It's been getting too boring in the Grand Line if I'm quite honest." A new voice says, causing Smoker and Dragon to turn their heads towards the new voice. They look to see an umbrella wielding Jaa walking towards them with Tashigi and the other Marines in tow.
Dragon's body tenses ever so slightly in case this man decides to attack him. He can tell just by looking that this man in front of him is incredibly dangerous. And while he is confident in his abilities and by no means a coward, he'd rather not deal with someone of that caliber at this moment.
Jaa looks at Dragon with a neutral look and the umbrella begins regressing into the palm of his hand. "Don't worry, I'm not here to capture you. That's not my job nor my reason to being here." Jaa states uncaringly as he puts his hands in his blazer's pockets.
Smoker could only grit his teeth in frustration. If this man sent by the higher ups won't help them catch Dragon when they have the opportunity, then their chances are pretty much zero. He's read the report about this man. Jaa, no last name, born twenty seven years ago and part of Akainu's Personal Force. It seems that Akainu felt that they are going to need more training since he believes that the Marines in the East Blue have become incredibly lax, and so now they have him being part of his sector, and with him being his superior, he has to take orders from him now.
"Everyone, we're leaving, head back to HQ." Jaa commands as he looks at Smoker to relay the order.
"You heard him! We're heading back!" Smoker relays, having everybody round themselves up before walking back. As he walks past his shorter superior, he grabs him by the shoulder, causing Jaa to look at him with a raised brow. "We need to talk." Smoker whispers to him.
Jaa remains silent and once Smoker realizes he's not going to get an answer from him, he leaves the scene, leaving Dragon and Jaa by themselves.
"So you truly do not intend to capture me." Dragon states more than questions.
"As I stated before, that is not the job I was given. I'm just here to improve the overall strength of the marines under Captain Smoker." Jaa replies, turning around before walking back to HQ.
"If I may, one last question before you leave." Dragon says, making Jaa stop in his tracks. "Doesn't your group work in pairs?"
He got his response in the form of a giant spiraling spear made entirely of bone coming straight at his face.
With The Straw Hats…
After getting away from Loguetown, The entire crew began berating Luffy about his reckless behavior, bringing a lot of unnecessary attention to them.
They can see the now far away Loguetown being drenched in rain as well as shockwaves and black lightning coming from the city.
Not to mention the constant tremors coming from the battle can be felt from their location, which is now rather far from the island.
"Take a good look at this everyone. This is a clash of wills going on over there." Luffy states, using his Observation Haki to observe what is going on in the fight.
"It's been years since we've seen something like this." Kaya mutters out, watching with slight nostalgia.
"Is this what we'll go up against when we go inside of the Grand Line?" Nojiko whispers out with slight fear.
"Oh no not even close. You'd only find people of that strength once you all reach the New World. Think of this little skirmish in front of you as a preview of what's ahead."
Everyone including Luffy turned their heads around in surprise at the sudden voice to see an unknown person on the middle of the ship, leaning on one of Merry's masts with utmost confidence.
The man had orange hair in a crew cut fashion, with a goatee to complete the look. He also has one of the most muscular bodies the crew has ever seen, to the point that it could put olympians to shame. He is wearing a pale yellow dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with grey slacks and black shoes. Lastly in his gloved hand is a black cowboy hat not unlike the one Robin tends to wear at times.
"Who are you!? And how did you sneak in our ship without us even noticing!?" Sanji demands angrily, wondering how in the hell this man got in the ship when he was here way earlier than anyone else.
"My name is Norris. As to how I snuck into your ship, I just turned myself into an ant." He merely replied, shrugging his shoulders as if it were no big deal. "What? None of you believe me?" he asks, getting off of the mast and walking towards them, wondering if anyone of these pirates in front of him will challenge his claim.
"No, I believe you. As an experienced liar I can also tell when someone is bluffing or not." Usopp says.
"Aha! As expected of my Sniper!" Luffy proclaims proudly.
"Why thank you Lu-Wait was that an insult!?" Usopp stops himself before yelling at his captain at the minor jab.
"Even if these two believe you, that doesn't mean we believe as well. We need to see proof as well." Nami states seriously, idly hoping this man in front of them will give them the proof that they need.
"Very well then. Just give me a moment." And then lo and behold, the man started shrinking and morphing himself until he became what he told them he can become: a yellow and orange ant, that Luffy could swear still has his goatee around the ant's mandibles. He and many of his other crewmates also noticed that when he shifted his form into that of an ant, his presence or 'voice' so to speak became much, much smaller than what it was originally, which is rather odd.
Disturbingly odd, considering that never happens when other zoans transform.
"Well what do you all thi-!" He never got to finish his sentence as Marguerite came forwards and stomps rather hard on the deck with a haki-infused foot.
"You were saying?" Marguerite asks, her eyes narrowing down on her foot that is currently on top of a crushed Norris in ant form.
"Good job Marguerite!" Nojiko praises as she give the first mate a high five, defeating the idiotic enemy before he can do anything.
Luffy however is becoming increasingly worried after Marguerite's 'attack'. Norris' 'voice' never disappeared. In fact it is slowly getting louder by the second, something that everyone soon begins to notice. "Marguerite get your foot off the man now!" Luffy yells out.
Marguerite complys, but when she tries to get her foot off of the ant she has crushed, it does not budge even a millimeter. "I can't! I have to get my boot off!" Marguerite yells back, with Nojiko going up to her boot in an attempt to get it off.
Suddenly, massive eldritch-like tendrils blast out from under her boot, wrapping themselves tightly around Marguerite and Nojiko in a millisecond flat, small tooth-like hooks digging into their flesh. Raising them up in the air, the crushed ant form of Norris turns himself into a pile of bubbling, malformed flesh before reforming back into his original form, with his left arm taking control of the powerful tendrils wrapped around the two female pirates, and his back facing the rest of the Straw Hat crew.
"You shouldn't have done that…" An angry Norris growls out as he tightens his hold on them, causing Marguerite and Nojiko to gasp and scream in pain respectively.
No sooner that they do so, the entire crew is already on the move, taking in as much info as they can to see if they can any form of weak points on the man.
Sadly, they underestimated the things Norris' body can do.
Norris' head does a complete one-eighty degree turn, catching many of the Straw Hats by surprise. What shocks them even more is when he opens his mouth and shoots out his tongue, which becomes one of the most disgusting things the crew have ever seen.
First of all, it looks more like a massive, meaty, pulsating intestine than a tongue, not to mention the amount of mouths with their own set of teeth and and tongue as well.
Even worse is the mortifying nightmare-inducing screaches each of the mouths let out as the 'tongue' heads towards Sanji and Zoro. Zoro slashes at the meaty limb, only for Norris to catch the blades with his tongue's teeth. In hopes as to not damage his swords, Zoro infuses his blades with Armament Haki.
Seeing this, Norris grows out a face from the side of his head. "Ah so your captain and first mate aren't the only ones who know Haki. Good to know." Norris states as his right arm shifts it's form into that of a mantis shrimp club, aiming it at an enraged Sanji as Sanji launches a flurry of kicks at the CPX agent.
"Let them go you malformed seafood abomination!" Sanji roars out as he infuses his leg with as much haki as he can muster.
"This wouldn't be happening if your idiotic crewmate did not step on me!" Norris lashes out as his Mantis Shrimp Club moves so fast that not even Luffy could see it moving, with only a massive sonic boom giving away that he launched the punch. The clubbed fist lands right on the middle of Sanji's ribcage, shattering both his Armament Haki as well as pulverizing his ribcage completely, causing Sanji to stop breathing almost immediately and sending his heart into cardiac arrest. The resulting hit and shockwave send Sanji heading straight into the Going Merry's Anchor Room.
"SANJI!" Luffy cries out in horror as he notices his presence become so small that if one weren't looking for it precisely, they would've thought he died instantly. "Kaya! Save Sanji! Nami! Usopp! Be ready to assist! Kuina! With me!" Luffy commands, trying his best not to let Sanji's situation get to him.
He's not going lose a crewmate so soon.
Not again.
Not after everything he's done.
He will make sure of it!
Luffy pumps himself up to Second Gear, increasing his speed multiple times in hopes that it will make him fast enough to catch this man by surprise. And thankfully it does. Luffy begins hitting him hard in any place that doesn't appear protected with haki infused jet pistols, knocking him around, though it doesn't appear that he will let go of Nojiko and Marguerite anytime soon.
Thankfully that did make his tongue let go of Zoro's swords, making him look at the saliva covering his blades with disgust. "You all have no idea how disgusting it was being near that." Zoro spits as he flicks his swords to the side as to get the saliva off of them.
"No time to rest Zoro!" Kuina chastises her friend as she deflects Norris' tongue which is now shaped to that of a mosquito's needle-like tongue.
Zoro comes to her aid as he proceeds to successfully slice off the tip of the tongue before moving in closely towards Norris. "Tora Gari!" Zoro yells out as he slices Norris' torso.
Or so he thought.
Turns out that when his blades were about to hit, three human-like appendages shot out of Norris' torso, grabbing the blades before they can pierce Norris' body.
"Did you honestly think that would work?" Norris chastises as he tightens the hold he has on the blades.
Zoro smirks, causing Norris to raise a brow at the reaction. "Usopp now!" Zoro shouts, which makes Norris widen his eyes as he turns his head just in time to see a bright blue flaming projectile reach his left shoulder.
"Incinerate him… Agni Gandiya!" Usopp roars as the flaming arrow pierces through his shoulder, separating the tentacles from him and consequently releasing Marguerite and Nojiko from Norris' clutches. Not only that, but the flaming missile of an arrow ignites Norris' shoulder before it quickly spreads to all over his body, making him scream and writhe in pain.
"Quick Nami, while we have a chance!" Usopp says, turning to Nami.
While Norris was busy with the rest of the Straw Hats, Nami had begun creating as many thunderclouds as she possibly can, which thankfully was made easier when there is a storm near your location. Now after a good amount of time has been bought for her to prepare it, she launches a weather egg into the sky, directly above a flaming Norris. "This is for hurting my sister! Thunder Dragon Lance!" Nami screams in pure rage as she begins to launch the attack on Norris.
"Wait Nami! He's still on the ship! An attack of that caliber will destroy this ship as well!" Nojiko warns her sister, who looks back at her with a smirk.
"Don't worry! I got this! Jet Bazooka!" Luffy yells as he hits Norris straight in the gut, launching him right on the weather egg just as it cracks open, engulfing the CPX member in a dark cloud.
Not a moment too soon, Norris' position is engulfed in pure electricity as a massive boom can be heard permeating throughout the sky. This goes on for about four seconds or so before the cloud disperses showing a smoking Norris falling down back onto the ship.
When he lands however, he lands on his feet, a chuckle escaping his lips before turning into full blown laughter, with the crew realizing that the electricity did pretty much nothing except badly burn his clothes, while round glowing blue pockets appear symmetrically throughout his body, little static shocks jumping in and out of them. "Well, can't say that I'm not amazed. This crew definitely is much more prepared for the Grand Line, in fact, I don't think you all will have too much trouble in Paradise if you don't actively seek trouble. Color me impressed, now I can see why my commander has been putting a lot of attention on your little ragtag group." Norris states as he shifts himself back in his normal form, regrowing his arm in the process, taking pleasure at seeing the shocked faces of the crew. "Now how about we step it up a notch huh? You all think you can take me when I'm serious?" Norris questions mirthfully, taking off his ripped shirt. His arms shift back into mantis shrimp clubs, his legs shift into those of a Paratarso Mite, and a rhinoceros beetle horn grows out from his head. From his back multiple slimy snake-like creatures emerge from his back, snapping at the crew with its multiple rows of razor sharp teeth.
After this terrifying transformation, before anybody can do anything…
Peroperopero~ Peroperopero~
…A Den-Den Mushi started ringing.
"Wait wait! Time out!" Digging into his pant's pocket, he takes out his den-den mushi and answers. "Jaa?"
"Norris. Get back here." Jaa replies, With Norris giving his den-den mushi an 'are you serious' look.
"Really? Just when I started to get serious of all things." Norris complains, reverting himself back into his human form.
"Don't care, I need your ass with me right this instant. Will make it a less of a hassle to explain things to these marines. That's the end of it. I'm not taking no for an answer." Jaa states before getting off the den-den mushi.
Norris just looks at his den-den mushi for a couple of seconds before sighing in resignation. Putting his attention back with the wary Straw Hats, he puts his ripped shirt back on along with his black cowboy hat. "Well… duty calls so I'm going to take my leave. Have a good day." Norris merely says as if discussing the weather, sprouting dragonfly wings and getting off the Going Merry.
With him gone, Luffy heads towards the Going Merry's anchor room, where the unconscious and dying Sanji lays, with Kaya doing everything she can to keep him alive. "He's stabilized for now, but with all of the internal injuries his organs have sustained, he's going to be out of commission for a couple of weeks." Kaya states sadly as he motions Marguerite to help her put their fellow blonde in a stretcher so that they could put him in the medical bay.
Luffy grits his teeth in frustration. Today has been a hectic day. He almost lost Sanji, and these weird people from the World Government keep showing up. 'What the hell is different in this timeline!?' Luffy mentally roars to himself as he crosses his arms while glaring at the ground, his hands tightening into a fist.
Feeling a soft, gentle touch on his shoulders, Luffy turns around to face Nami, who looks at him with a look of understanding.
"Luffy," She began, taking her hand off of him once she had his full attention. "You can't protect us from everything. No matter how strong you get, that will always be impossible. And even if you can, we won't know is you are always going to be there for us. We will all learn from this. We will all get stronger from this. We have to so that way you can rely on us during a battle. I promise you that. So cheer up! Sanji may be down for the count for now, but that doesn't mean that there isn't anybody else that can cook on this ship." She finishes, looking at Luffy with a bright smile.
Luffy's eyes widened in realization. Has he really appeared that overprotective to his crewmates? He can understand where they are coming from though. If he were a subordinate and his captain kept protecting him from every single thing that may or may not be too much for him, he would have no room to grow and would most likely feel like dead weight. He can only assume that that might what his crew might be beginning to feel if they have a captain that is so strong that his power completely eclipses their own combined. What would be the point of having a crew if you have the power to conquer the sea by yourself?
There would be no point. It would be pointless.
Luffy knows that if he wants his crewmates to grow, he needs to lay back on being overprotective. In his past life, if it weren't for all of the life-threatening situations each and every single one of his crewmates went through, they wouldn't have been as strong as they were during their final moments of their journey.
Luffy looks down at Nami with a wholehearted smile and engulfs her in a hug. "Thanks Nami. I really needed that." Luffy says, unaware of the effect his hug is having on Nami.
"N-n-n-n-no problem L-L-Luffy. I-I'm glad I-I can help." Nami stutters out, completely flabbergasted at the feeling of Luffy's muscles. 'They feel so amazing.' she thinks blissfully to herself, imprinting this moment into her memory.
Two Weeks Later…
In front of the Straw Hat Pirates is Reverse Mountain, the most common and convenient way to enter the Grand Line without much trouble for any experienced crew.
Luffy looks on at the mountain, reminiscing about a time when it was only him, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami. Now though, his crew is basically double in size, having the ten crewmates he wanted before reaching the Grand Line.
Zoro and Kuina look on at the mountain with Zoro sweating a bit with Kuina looking at him with a deadpan stare, silently reminding him of that one time many years ago when he somehow ended up on the bottom of this mountain without a boat.
To the rest, they were looking at this mountain with varying levels of amazement.
For Usopp and Kaya, it's their first time seeing it in person, considering that when they crossed through to the Grand Line with their teachers, they went through the Calm Belt.
For Nami and Nojiko it's the first time in a while that they've seen something interesting that isn't actively trying to kill them.
Marguerite meanwhile is writing down what she sees on a notebook of hers, so that way when she gets back to her home island Amazon Lily, she can tell everyone over there what she has seen as being part of Luffy's crew. While doing so, she makes sure Sanji's wheelchair doesn't roll back before going back to writing down on her notebook.
Sanji has been doing much better these past couple of days. While he can't do any strenuous activities and can only be out of his wheelchairs at a time, it's been overall great for him. While he helps from time to time in the kitchen, Nami and Kaya tend to help him with that aspect since he is still recovering from his grievous injuries from the shapeshifting bastard. While he enjoys himself being helped out by Marguerite, he does feel bad at times seeing as he doesn't blame her for what happened, though she still does because she is the one to provoke Norris into attacking them.
"Are you all ready? Once we go through here, The real challenge begins!" Luffy says to his crew, a radiant D. smile on his face.
"Aye!" his entire crew responds back, eager to get going to see where their adventure will take them.
"Kuina! Steer the ship!, Zoro! Help Usopp set up the Paddles!" Luffy commands as he gets on top of Merry's figurehead and sits on it.
As they do so, the Going Merry begins going up onto the Reverse Mountain, climbing up 'mystery river' as Luffy has dubbed it since a long time ago. As they keep climbing higher into the clouds, a faint musical tone of a violin can be heard.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Luffy's eyes widen, tears begin to well up as the familiar voice of his musician can be heard throughout the area.
"Brook…?" Luffy's voice croaks out in a low tone, not believing what he is hearing.
He never thought that he would be hearing his old friend's voice so soon. It is genuinely making his heart hurt from the amount of emotions he is bottling up. 'No! I have to stay strong! You've been keeping your emotions in check for the past ten years! Don't break now!' Luffy mentally berates himself, though he is still genuinely happy to hear his friend so soon.
"Do you guys hear that?" Usopp yells out, a little worried from where that is coming from.
"It can be heard echoing through the mountain of course we can hear it!" Zoro retorts as he warily looks on at what's going on around the ship.
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!~
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!~
But don't look so down, For tomorrow night the moon will also rise!~
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~
Let's all sing it with a Don! A song of the waves~
Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'll just be bones~
Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funny Traveling tale!~
As the crew now begin to go downwards from the mountain, the song begins to finish up, with everybody amazed at how beautiful the song sounded, and Luffy ever so desperately trying to keep tears from falling down his face.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
As the crew get ever so lower from the mountain, and all of the clouds no longer limiting what they can see, they notice in the background what looked to be a massive black mountain dancing to the toon of the song, and on the beach of Reverse Mountain there appears to be a laughing old man on a lawn chair, clapping his hands at the performance, and a tall figure with an afro wearing a top hat playing the violin as well as being the source of the singing.
As the crew finally reach the bottom of Reverse Mountain, the tall figure turns around to reveal himself to be a skeleton. "Ah! Welcome to the Grand Line! I hope you all are prepared for the arduous journey ahead of you! Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself! Where are my manners?" The skeleton removes his hat and bows to the crew in front of him.
"My name is Brook! If you want a different tune, just give me a sax-a-bone!"
So our favorite skeleton musician is back and happier than ever!
I am just a sucker for all characters with bad backstories to have a better life.
Anyhow thanks for taking the time off of your day to read my fanfic and make sure you favorite, follow, and review! Like a great fanfic writer once said: A review any day keeps the writers awake!
Forzarismo,
March 28, 2018
