Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
"One Piece." – Speaking
'One Piece.' – Thinking
One Piece. – Flashbacks
One Piece. – Devil Fruits and Techniques
Deadly Drinking Pirate
Battles and Spars Among the Bloody Sands
Previously on Deadly Drunken Pirate,
"Let's just say…" Luffy spoke in a whisper while the room suddenly had gotten hotter, like on a summer day and yet Crocodile was feeling a terrible chill down his spine. "When I get pissed off and hot under the collar…" The Shichibuki noticed that Luffy turned pink and steam was rising from various spots on his body. "I become a real Devil."
At the very presence of this new Luffy was enough to make Crocodile sweat through his thick clothing. He just didn't know it was from the heat of the room or…fear. 'D-damn you Mugiwara!' Crocodile cursed at his body refusing to move and his voice not leaving his mouth.
"I do hope that Luffy-kun will get out…" Nami muttered as her eyes were still glued to the front door of the casino. It was no longer bursting with high-paying customers or the sounds of slot machines handled from left to right. When the Straw Hats fled the underground room, they scared the customers since they were pirates. And while the business had fled, the Straw Hats couldn't bare moving another step away from their Captain, still inside.
Meanwhile, they met up with Sanji, Kaya and Alvida. It seemed that not everyone set off Crocodile's trap while Luffy purposively 'walked' in for his crew's sake. These three had got separated and found each other outside the Casino, told by the real Luffy in secret to wait for when the others will run out free. And this time, Sanji stayed good and kept a good watch out for Alvida and Kaya rather than flirt with them shameless. Then they came,
"Where is Captain Smoker!?" The Straw Hats turned to a squadron of marines, led temporary by the second-in-command Tashigi. The pirates then realized that not only did their captain stayed behind but Smoker never fled with them! But before any one of them could respond, the ceiling of the casino exploded like an erupting volcano that was followed by,
"…Yotta Itami no Tabi (Journey of Drunken Pain)!" That was a loud and clear voice that most of the witnesses recognized. Of course, they had to see the casino cut in half and a flood of water gushing out both sides. Then,
"Look! Up there!" One of the marines happened to glance in that direction and pointed out a figure or two airborne. Then the two figures started to sprint around in midair, a lot like a bee until they both landed right in front of the pirates and marines.
"Whew! For once I am glad that there is all this sand, anything will beat that nightmare!" It was Luffy, slightly soaked, with his rapier still out in hand and with Smoker carried underneath his other arm. The marine wasn't worse for wear, and he was twitching so Smoker was still alive.
"CAPTAIN!" Both groups called out for the pair and were about to run towards each of them until Luffy released Smoker and blocked a jab from the said marine with his rapier.
"Mugiwara (Straw Hat)! Why the hell did you save me!? I am your enemy!" Smoker snarled at Luffy, a little lacking in gratitude. For a moment, the pirate captain said nothing. He remembered that Smoker didn't leave the room, no doubt readying to arrest both Luffy and Crocodile. But instead the room was flooded with both Luffy and Crocodile going at each other's throats. Smoker could've drowned because of his annoying inability to swim.
"Smoker…" Luffy finally spoke, "Some call you stubborn and stupid. I call you a man with his mind straight and brave enough to go for it." Smoker couldn't make out this answer. "Some say that you too dumb to quit. I think that you are prescient enough to change."
"Yeah? What kind of shit are you trying to pull here, pirate!?" Smoker responded and Luffy never let his grin up, slightly infuriating the marine captain.
"What I am saying is that you are a good man, Smoker. I don't mind one bit to help you against the common enemy now and in the future." Luffy answered and Smoker gritted his teeth at the compliment. He even found his arm lowering his weapon, much to his chagrin and the other marines. "You are a man that I won't mind sharing some secrets I learned, one of these will help you preserve millions of lives. Are you willing to hear it, in return my crew and I go after Crocodile and Baroque Works?"
Smoker thought hard on it. Luffy still saved his life, so as a man, the marine owns the pirate a favor. He placed his weapon aside, ignoring his squadron's complaints and objections. "It better be good, Mugiwara."
Luffy immediately walked up to Smoker, confident that the marine won't try anything. The pirate captain then whispered a few words that nobody else was able to make out. Whatever it was, the severity of it was enough to make Smoker widen his eyes in horror. "This…this better not be some bullshit you are shitting, Mugiwara!"
"I am the worse liar in the world, Smoker. I wasn't even able to talk my way of snatching a piece of meat if it meant my life. So yes, it is true." Luffy responded loud and clear. Then he cut off to see what Smoker will do next,
"For this once…" The marine captain spoke up, "You and your crew will walk away." The marines were tempted to object and the Straw Hats were the same to jump in joy, "But never expect this to happen again! Understand!?"
"I do, Smoker. I trust a man like you to do the right thing." Luffy said. "Guys! We are going after Baroque Works and get Vivi to stop the upcoming war! Let's scram!" Luffy gave his orders and the Straw-Hat pirates fled with the princess still in company. The marines were forced by their captain's compromise to let them go.
"But captain…" One of the marines tried to reason with Smoker but he swallowed his words when the intimidating man glared back.
"Quit your bellyaching and make a call for reinforcements!" Smoker shouted at that particular marine who hurried to contact headquarters, getting himself ready for one hell of a scolding. "The rest of you are coming with me to Alubarna! Move your asses!" Smoker gave more orders and set off towards the city in a slightly different direction.
XXXXX
"So, what did you say to the marine, Luffy? And why did you send Chopper off?" Nami asked her captain. They checked in with Kuro, Gin and Yokogao, they were still on patrol, guarding their ship. The other Straw Hats had met up again shortly. And yet Luffy ordered Chopper off on a certain street once they were out of sight to the marines.
"I simply told Smoker what I learned about Baroque Work's latest plan for when their 'civil war' will erupt." Luffy answered in a cryptic tone. "I figured that Smoker and his crowd will see about it and Crocodile will never know what hit him." The pirates couldn't even believe that a man, a pirate that a marine let free, looked so carefree and was smiling as if he won the lottery. "As for sending my little brother off…" Luffy's features drastically changed, like he seen a ghost, "HIT THE DECK!"
Luffy dove for the ground and gently swiped his leg at his crew, causing them to fall too. And they all did right before the walls surrounding them were cut up, like carrots on cutting boards. "Damm, when the president said you were good, Mugiwara, he was right about you being a threat to our organization." A gruff voice was heard as soon as the walls collapsed harmlessly around the Straw Hats. They all saw a pair of shadows directly ahead, with the larger one on the right relaxing its arm.
"You are Mr. One, unless I am mistaken." Luffy addressed the pair that tried to intercept them. Mr. One is a tanned man with long, thin limbs and fingers. He is tall and very muscular and his head is shaven. His most striking feature is probably the black unibrow, right over his round eyes. He has big lips and the archaic Japanese symbol of the number "1" tattooed on his torso. He sported an oriental-looking attire consisting of a sleeveless dark coat with golden edges and white motifs on the front, over very loose beige pants held up by a white sash around the waist, with some light brown fur sprouting from it. His pants were tucked inside some bandages wrapped around his calves and in part around his shoes.
"And…you scored quite the eyesight for a partner eh?" Luffy then shifted focus to the woman standing beside Mr. One. And this girl will give the models a new meaning to the term 'hourglass figure'. "May I ask for your fake name, madam?" Luffy actually pulled this off; commenting a woman with unbelievable features in a mockery way and avoid getting the wrong impression with his girlfriend. In actuality, Nami was getting more annoyed that Sanji was predictably helpless with this harlot and that this pair is going to slow them down.
"It's Miss Doublefinger, Mugiwara. Not that it will make any difference since you have nothing on us." Miss Doublefinger is a young, slim woman of average height with curly dark-blue hair, thick lips, dark green eyes, pale skin and a curvaceous figure. Her most striking feature was the over-exaggerated way she walks, describing hip swings that are often used to display a sexy woman.
Her outfit fitted her figure and sassy attitude perfectly; revealing and dark brown in color, this outfit mainly consists of a short long-sleeved jacket with beige colored fur brims, a bikini top describing an unusual spider web-like pattern across her abdominal area, low-riding pants, and platform sandals. She is sometimes seen smoking from a long whitish pipe.
"Is that so?" Luffy muttered before he charged forward, with his katana in hand. Mr. One saw it and arrogantly thought that he could block it with just the swipe of his bare arm. Instead, Luffy appeared on the other side in a flash and the massive man labeled as 'One' fell to the ground in pain. All the while, Luffy sheathed his sword and spoke in Miss Doublefinger's ear.
"…And you have nothing on us, Paula…" That was a whisper in the wind, only the woman with the revealing outfit heard it and she looked as pale as a ghost. Even more so when she saw Mr. One cut down without a hitch for some reason. Then Luffy moved with a blur to kick away at Mr. One, sending his body through a wall facing the left; meanwhile, Miss Doublefinger was sent flying into an alleyway to the right, also in a blur.
"Zoro, you are my first male mate and the one to take my place as captain one day…" Luffy then said without facing his crew, "…And Nami, I love you with all my heart…" This was just creeping everyone out, "But since you walked blindly into a trap, ignoring my orders…" Luffy finally turned to face his friends, with the smile of a man turned mad among his features. "…I am leaving these two for you to take care off. And don't even try to run, I will double your training as your punishment. Understand?"
Zoro and Nami couldn't argue even if they tried. Not against the man that trained with the devil that Zoro wished to defeat in the far future, and not against the pirate the dominated a tyrant that Nami wished to be killed off. So Zoro charged into the hole in the wall to the left while Nami took the alleyway to the right.
"Luffy! How could you do that!?" Vivi finally had enough with the silent treatment and watching everything happen, seeming with her as a background character. "Those were Baroque Works agents, the strongest under Crocodile himself! You practically sent your first mate and your girlfriend to their deaths!"
"First off all Vivi, Alvida is my First Mate. She is my crewmate, before I recruited Zoro." Luffy spoke firmly, with his priorities hard to make out. "Second, I am aware that they were a part of Baroque Works. I told you all, walking into a trap blindly, that you will have to pick an agent for yourself; otherwise it is the usual punishment." Nobody argued; it was still a terrible pain to be so stupid and to see their captain disappointed in them since Luffy had to do everything to get his crew out of this big mess. "And if my judgement was off, I will fix my mistakes. I already got this entire island under watch, nothing will escape me."
With that said, Luffy walked off to where the two agents tried to block them. The crew hurried to catch up along with Vivi. She was still wrestling her overall concerns and her disapproval of Luffy's tactics for dealing with Baroque Works. Then,
"Big Brother! I found one big enough for all of us!" The uneasy atmosphere was broken when the sounds of heavy poking at the sand was to be heard along with a certain, adorable voice. The Straw Hats were amazed that Chopper appeared, with a new friend; a monstrously big crab with a very wide grin to boot. "But where is Scary Face Zoro and Nice Lady Nami!?" This time, nobody answered.
XXXXX
Back in Rainbase, where Crocodile's casino once stood, Zoro finally found his selected opponent. Mr. One was trying to get himself out of a large pile of rubble that he was sent flying into. "What is this crap? I was given orders by the president to kill Mugiwara Luffy. Why are you here, Pirate Hunter?"
Zoro simply got into his signature posture, with his swords getting a slight darker hue. 'Damn, I still can't cover all of my swords with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) yet. Hope this is still enough.' Zoro cursed to himself and then focused his entire attention to Mr. One, who looks barely anymore amused.
"Oh? Your captain stuck you with me eh?" Mr. One sneered and got in his own stance. "This will just be a short delay, I will hate to have president more humiliated than he already was."
"It won't matter." Zoro grumbled through the handle of the Wado Ichimonji, a technique that he spent years to perfect. "Nobody on this damn sandy wasteland of an island can stop Luffy. Your boss will never win."
"Should you be more worried about your own defeat?" Mr. One, in a single sentence, shoved aside Zoro's words and arrogantly proclaimed his victory before they even started to fight. "Then again, your pathetic swords won't even scratch me. And once I am done, I will cut Mugiwara to ribbons. Starting with you!"
Mr. One charged in with his bare hands for a claw swipe. And the kicker was when Zoro tried to block it with one of his three swords only to hear the sounds of blades clashing and saw that Mr. One's hand was actually pushing against him. Zoro then saw something up about that hand and honed instincts screamed for him to jump back.
But once Zoro did, he widened his eyes that when Mr. One's second swipe missed, Zoro's clothes were shredded and the house next to them was also sliced and diced. That was when Zoro realized that it must be, "…An Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit)!"
Mr. One smirked viciously and then laughed, "Took you long enough. I ate the Supa-Supa no Mi (Dice-Dice Fruit). I can freely transform my body parts into blades that are matched only by the legendary swords; a lot the one you shamelessly clutch with your dirty teeth." And Zoro found himself doing just that to the Wado Ichimonji, clipping off another small part of his teeth on the handle.
"Now feel my superior cutting power!" Mr. One charged in, with his forearms and fingers each gaining a bladed edge. "Supākuringu Deijī (Sparkling Daisy)!" The large man stabbed and sliced at Zoro, destroying yet another house in the process. Too bad for him that Zoro was able to channel his Busoshoku Haki to his swords, acting like a makeshift anvil to meet the hammer.
Zoro then called out the strength from his hellish training to send Mr. One flying off. "My turn! Oni Giri (Demon Cutter)!" Zoro charged in to swipe all of his swords at Mr. One. But when the three blades met the large agent,
"Supaidā (Cutting Man)." Mr. One transformed his body to the density and durability of an actual blade; in a sense, he parred Zoro's blades using himself as one. And the Oni Giri attack didn't make Mr. One budge an inch. This allowed the large man to kick Zoro away. "Supā Kurō (Spar Claw)!" Mr. One then moved in with his entire hand transformed into blades, with speeds greater than previously.
It was so fast that Zoro knew that he couldn't recover from the backlash of that sudden defensive move. Not it was time to listen to the ancient phrase, in Zoro's own style. 'Busoshoku Tekkai (Armament Iron Body)!' Zoro came up with this defensive style while Luffy was pushing the swordsman through Rokushiki (Six Powers) training; Luffy even allowed Zoro to patient the art of combining the durability of both Tekkai (Iron Defense) and Busoshoku Haki as an extra thick defense.
And thankfully, it worked and Zoro was spared of the same fate as the ground beneath him. "You are just full of surprises. You will make a fine assassin if you didn't decide to become rats of the ocean like your bastard of a captain." Mr. One mocked Zoro and was sent flying again, this time into the ruins of a house that was recently destroyed.
"Don't talk crap about Luffy!" Mr. One heard Zoro roar and was genuinely surprised to see the swordsman lift up an entire house, and threw it towards the former's way.
"Atomikku Supa (Atomic Spar)!" Mr. One shouted, making an X-slash that severed both houses into harmless blocks of stone, which only disintegrated on contact with his blades. "Fine, we will talk about you and your upcoming defeat. Do your worse." Mr. One then got into his stance again, with blades showing on almost his entire body. Zoro readied his Haki and his swords again for a more intensive fight to come.
Meanwhile,
"Where is she!?" Nami was not having such luck finding her opponent, not when Miss Doublefinger happened to disappear in the alleyway to which she was sent flying. Still, Nami wasn't going to lower her guard and had her latest weapon in hand, a pole arm that is called the Clima-Tact. 'Truly a masterpiece, and it was all done by Usopp and the man of my life!' Nami took a chance to be a little 'affectionate' with her gift from Luffy but her senses screamed for her to move, 'Soru (Shave)!'
Nami vanished in a blur just in time to avoid large spikes that pierced a wall and a door, causing the building to collapse next as soon as the spikes retracted to who knows where. 'That harlot is definitely here!' Nami thought to herself as soon as she reappeared, with her posture tensed after that attempt at an ambush. 'But where?'
Then Nami sensed another attack coming and, with unbelievable grace, she dodged another volley of spikes. "What are you, a navigator, a thief or a ballet dancer?" Nami narrowed her eyes to where the spikes were protruding from until they too retracted. Out of the hole from which they came from, Miss Doublefinger appeared. "Then again, I am sure that while you can amuse your captain, I can give him a real pleasurable time." She mocked Nami with another sway of her hourglass figure.
"I know Luffy-kun and he has no interest for bitches like you." Nami could have exploded for this insult but Miss Doublefinger was a dangerous woman to say the least, charging blindly will just get Nami killed. "Not that you had a better reason to be a criminal then to try your luck with a certain crocodile, harlot!"
Miss Doublefinger had a calm smirk that hid her annoyance with Nami's childish attempts to talk back. "Fine. Daburu Sutingā (Double Stinger)!" The hourglass woman charged with both of her hands transformed into spikes, stabbing at blurring speeds. But Nami was fast enough to this,
"Kami-e: Kaze Ni Mayotta (Paper Art: Lost In The Wind)!" Nami relaxed until she was as thin as paper, fluttering with the wind while dodging every single one of the spikes. Then that eventual updraft came and Nami landed, silently and right behind Miss Doublefinger. "Now that this! Rankyaku (Storm Leg)!"
Miss Doublefinger widen her eyes and dodged when spikes appeared from the soles of her shoes, propelling her to a wall to dodge the attack. "You've certainty surprised me that time but don't think of me any lower! I am an agent of Baroque Works! Sutingā Fingā (Stinger Finger)!"
Yet this attack once again missed as Nami dodged it, without even getting a scratch. "Try again. And make it count." The navigator actually mocked Miss Doublefinger who snarled and got serious. She curled into a ball and caused spikes to completely cover her body,
"Sutingā Hejjihoggu (Stinger Hedgehog)!" Miss Doublefinger then charged for Nami, tearing up the ground anything else in her way. Yet Nami merely used her Soru move to dodge it, but this time she readied her legs and kicked,
"Rankyaku: Harikēn Hasu (Storm Leg: Hurricane Lotus)!" Nami sent blades making up a lotus flower or otherwise a hurricane, with its eye as big as Miss Doublefinger herself.
This attack severed all the spikes and caused some more ruins to crumble, falling right on the Miss Doublefinger. Still, the pile of stones and rumble erupted to show Miss Doublefinger and her revealing outfit to be terribly tattered. "You are seriously pissing me off. And you will wish that you would've died instead." The woman snarled like an enraged animal and contorted her fingers into very sharp spikes, even some along the rest of her body.
"My captain is going to be the King of all Pirates and I am going to be the one to map every step he takes! My journey won't end here, so bring it!" Nami smiled to herself at how confident she sounded and she felt just as much, even while she was staring down a dangerous woman like this one.
XXXXX
Back in the main desert in Alabastra,
"Nice choice little brother, your gift with creatures had gotten us a Moving Crab." Luffy patronized Chopper, enjoying the little reindeer's cute dance while ignoring Chopper's attempt to reject the praise. "Because you were such a good boy, you can wait out the next enemy to face if you want too."
"How is that fair!?" Usopp shouted, either brave or foolish. Either way, Luffy didn't look too happy about it.
"It is fair, not because Chopper is my little brother. It is because he had gotten us the means to get Vivi over to where the war is going to happen. What did you do that was just as helpful, Usopp?" Luffy answered and the sniper wished that he will just shrink to get away from the embarrassment. Then, "Heads up!"
Luffy moved to shove Vivi down to kiss the top of the Moving Crab, and raised his other arm to catch a certain golden hook. "Get the princess to her stop, safe and sound guys! I will catch up!" Luffy gave his orders and tugged at the hook, with a stream of sand attached; like a fishing line, Luffy was pulled away from the Moving Crab as it carried his crew further and without any interruptions hopefully.
Meanwhile, Luffy saw that he was nearing his destination and got himself down when he struck the sand stream connecting the golden hook to Crocodile. And the Shichibuki didn't look any happier from when the two pirates faced each other in the flooded underground dining room. "This is it. No more waiting. Are you ready for our rematch, Crocy?" Luffy mocked the Shichibuki in front of him, confident that Crocodile will never run again, because of his anger and hurt pride. And this time, Luffy with his body steaming again and his blades at hand didn't scare Crocodile; just made him even angrier.
"Here, you will die Mugiwara!" Crocodile snarled and summoned the desert itself to his beck and call. This battle, will definitely end with blood among the sands.
End of Chapter 24.
*Well guys. That was the last quiz for the semester. The only exams left are the finals! I will be studying most of my time and it will be another long time to get back in the swing of things once they all are over. Please be patient while I try to make it through my classes and I will see you much later, in the Summer! *
