Chapter 13: Snow Warning

Monkey Island was a place that saw few visitors. Nestled in the middle of a small, unremarkable Log Pose route in the Grand Line, the island was generally devoid of human life and cut off from most of the world, with its only inhabitants being the many, many different species of simian that gave the island its name.

Despite the natural chaos from having so many monkeys, gorillas, and other such animals in the same environment, it was a relatively peaceful area, free of the weather- and geography-related quirks that were so common throughout the Grand Line. The recent arrival of a heavily modified former Celestial Dragon vessel did little to change that. While the ship's inhabitants would sometimes venture onto the island itself, the people and Pokémon on board were mostly content to stay off the coast, with the doors and windows staying shut.

And then, the shutters of one such window were thrown open with a bang as a large, very loudly complaining lemur was sent sailing off back onto the island.

"AND STAY OUT!" I roared, before stomping back over to the laughing (and completely unhelpful) Sabo.

That, of course, was the reason why we were keeping the ship locked down. While, in most cases, I would have loved to explore a new island, if we didn't keep the ship completely shut, the native animals would swarm and wreck it within minutes.

"I don't want to hear another wisecrack about how this is helping with my training. If I have to kick one more primate off this boat myself, Ace can come find us on the open sea."

"Alright, alright," Sabo chuckled. "But he should be here today, and sooner rather than later."

I huffed as I pulled the window shut, glancing at the sea before marching off towards the kitchen.

"Sorry, Lucas," said another revolutionary—Natsu, I remembered—as I came in. "We've gotten plenty of good fruit from the island, but nothing comes close to matching what you've got."

I sighed, but couldn't stay unhappy at the sight of the meal everyone was enjoying. My team was taking to the cuisine with gusto, even if it used fewer berries than they were used to.

"Didn't expect any different, so it's fine," I said, grabbing a plate of grilled fish with fruit salsa and tucking in. "Mmm! Still tastes great, either way."

Natsu grinned. "Just be glad the Celestial Dragons accept nothing but the best in kitchenware," he said. "Most ships aren't stocked to the nines with built-in iceboxes and greenhouses."

Your own talents are impressive as well, Gardevoir said as she bit into a sushi roll. Our team's tastes are rather varied, but everyone seems happy.

"What, making dry, sweet, bitter, and sour dishes?" Natsu chuckled. "Any chef worth his salt should be able to adjust the flavors to suit any palate."

Gardevoir nodded, and I found my mind wandering again. I was used to preparing meals for all of my team, of course, but seeing how this chef took their tastes into account like it was nothing? I felt like I could do better.

"Would you mind sharing some of those recipes with me?" I asked.

"Sure," he said, looking back at me with a smirk. "But you know, there's no shame in relying on someone who's better than you."

That made me start to think again. Even with Dragon's favor, I probably couldn't count on having Revolutionaries crewing this ship indefinitely. And with how much work went into sailing a ship of this size, I definitely couldn't go it alone. I absentmindedly stored away the papers Natsu wrote out for me, now debating the possibility of recruiting some more help…

-o-

As he neared the island, Ace had to grin at the ship he saw. Just like stolen food always tasted the best, he felt a wonderful satisfaction at the sight of the luxury tub that had belonged to a World Noble now in far more deserving hands.

He pulled Striker up on the side facing the sea before tensing his legs and leaping onto the railing. A woman looked his way, halfway through drawing a blunderbuss before relaxing and nodding cordially.

"Fire Fist, we've been expecting you. Lucas and Sabo should be in the dining hall; allow me to escort you."

"Thanks. Any chance they have enough for me? I haven't had lunch yet," Ace said as he followed her into the ship.

"Hopefully so, yes," she replied with a smile. Another door later, they had arrived.

"Ace, you made it! Thanks for bringing him, Fuyu," Sabo said.

"Of course," she answered before bowing out.

"Good to see you again, Ace," Lucas said, giving him a nod from his seat at a nearby desk. Gardevoir dropped into a curtsey next to him while Lucario nodded his head and smiled.

"Likewise," Ace said. Then he turned to Gardevoir and bowed to her at the waist, hands to his sides. "I can't thank you enough for bringing my brother back. I owe all of you big time, but especially you, Gardevoir."

Think nothing of it, she returned with a small smile.

Ace shook his head as he straightened up, then looked back at him.

"Still, I have to thank you somehow." he offered Lucas a small grin as he gestured to his back. "As the Second Division Commander, I've got some pull with the Whitebeard Pirates. Give me a snail call when this Teach business is over, and I can definitely put in a good word for you."

"Heh. Thanks," he said. "I'm not sure which way I'm going, but I'd appreciate being able to rely on more people. But speaking of that, we should head out after lunch to find the Straw Hats."

"Works for me. You know where he is?"

"Not exactly. But we've got options," Lucas said, grabbing an Eternal Pose off a nearby shelf. "If we have no better ideas, we can start here."

"Long Ring Long?" Ace read with a chuckle. "I know that place. Pretty boring, just a lot of grasslands, weird animals, and nomads."

"Some of us would call that 'peaceful,'" Sabo snarked. "Then again, I bet anything's boring for you if it's not actively on fire, Ace."

Ace only grinned in response. Oh, it felt so unbelievably good to have his brother back.

-o-

Long Ring Long Land looked more like an archipelago than an island. Apparently, all ten individual islands were linked by an underwater path, so they all had the same magnetic signature and were considered a single island. Professor Rowan would probably have loved to study the evolution of wildlife on an archipelago whose islands could be traversed by land once a year. Still, that thought was put to the back of my mind when Haru spotted the Going Merry.

Unfortunately, because Luffy was apparently a magnet for trouble equal to any trainer (myself included), what Haru actually saw was the Merry being boxed in by another ship by way of some large claws latching onto the island around it.

And here I was hoping for a more relaxing visit.

"Any of you recognize that flag?" I asked, and while Ace frowned and shook his head, Sabo nodded slowly.

"Well, obviously, they're the Foxy Pirates," he said, pointing out the large "FOXY" written across the Jolly Roger. "From what I recall, they're relatively small-time for this part of the Grand Line, despite having a lot of manpower."

"So Luffy shouldn't have any problems there, right?"

"Unless they're deliberately underselling themselves," Ace pointed out. "You generally don't survive this far into the Grand Line with just a 24 million bounty."

More cunning than brute force? Luffy may be in trouble, in that case, Gardevoir observed.

That realization made us all grimace, and Sabo turned around to give orders.

"Fuyu, Haru, look for somewhere we can dock. I don't think we'll find anywhere covert on an island like this, but check to make sure. Gardevoir," he continued, his tone becoming more polite than authoritative as he looked back at us. "Could you bring Lucas and me ashore? I'd rather mitigate any chance of Ace burning down the island."

"Would it kill you to consider that I might have better control over my temper than I did ten years ago?" Ace groused, glaring at Sabo, who grinned unrepentantly despite the situation.

In the end, though, he didn't object to the plan.

-o-

Once we got onto the island itself, Sabo decided to hang back, with Gardevoir ready to bring him in if necessary, since he wanted to see how much Luffy had grown since they were kids. At his request, I went ahead, sticking to the nearby grasses with a plan to stay out of sight. Everything on the island, grass and trees included, seemed to be built for a much taller race than us humans. But I didn't have much of a chance to appreciate it since it wasn't long before I spotted Luffy, Usopp, and Robin squaring off with three of what must have been the Foxy Pirates.

And I know that Sabo wanted to hang back and see Luffy's growth, but it didn't sit right with me to just watch a friend get into a potentially bad situation, especially with what Gardevoir had mentioned earlier regarding the other captain's potential cunning.

"Looks like a bit of trouble Luffy's found himself in," I whispered to Vaporeon, who was crouching in the brush at my side. "Let's head that off at the pass, shall we?"

Vaporeon quietly yipped his agreement, liquifying in my hands, and I pulled back the sphere of water carefully. Now, then… judging the angle, wind back, and… ugh… the name. "Water Shot!"

The building fight between Luffy and the other group screeched to a halt as the liquid projectile flew right between them, burying its way into the ground, and I took the opportunity to further get their attention with a loud cough.

"Now, what's going on here?"

The portly guy in the lead of the other group visibly shook off his surprise to glare at me. "Piss off! This is a matter between pirates, so get lost if you know what's good for you!"

Luffy's expression, on the other hand, brightened up. "Lucas! You're here!"

"Good to see you too, Luffy," I said, giving the assembled Straw Hat Pirates a nod before refocusing on the other guy. "And I'd say that since these guys are friends of mine, I have a personal stake in what's going on here. So I'll reply to you in kind: Explain yourself, or get lost."

The split-haired pirate recoiled slightly, and the masked woman at his side took the opportunity to yell back aggressively. "Hey! You don't talk to Captain Foxy that way! Don't look down on the Foxy Pirates!"

I folded my arms and just looked at them. "My first impression of you guys was from watching your ship box in Luffy's, and your captain actually managed to piss him off. Luffy doesn't get that angry over nothing."

"He shot a hoooooooooooooooooooorse that just got back together with its owner," Luffy informed me darkly. I would have been upset a lot faster if it weren't for… well.

"Why draw it out like that?" I asked.

The Straw Hats and the Foxys both pointed to the side, and following their fingers—

"…I see," I deadpanned, but my bewilderment at the creature's very long neck and legs quickly gave way to anger at seeing the bullet wound on its side, even if it was already being tended to. "Chopper, need a hand?"

"I can take care of something like this, no problem," the Stantler-kid said before giving me a pleading look. "But I wouldn't say no to another look at Lucario's Heal Pulse!"

I almost smirked as I drew and tossed the ball out, letting Lucario materialize beside him. My friend needed no direction, kneeling and coalescing the energy to heal the…no, I'm not repeating that.

"Y-you!"

I looked back at Foxy and—wow, I'd never seen anyone's face pale that quickly before.

"Y-you're that new Super Rookie! Th-the Pokémon Champion!" His two companions weren't much better, with the woman looking on the verge of fainting and the larger man pulling a not-quite-convincing Sudowoodo impression.

I… didn't quite know how to feel that my title could scare anyone this badly, but I mentally pushed that aside to cross my arms and give the three pirates an unimpressed look. "I am. Are you going to go away now?"

-o-

From his spot a good distance away from the confrontation, Sabo grinned as he watched the Foxy Pirates suffer a minor breakdown from realizing who exactly was facing them. There was a certain enjoyment from seeing someone realize that they were hopelessly outclassed.

"H-hold it!" Lucas turned around, regarding the trembling Foxy with a curious look. Despite his obvious fear, he still planted his feet and shouted his next words. "I, Captain Foxy of the Foxy Pirates, challenge you to a Davy Back Fight!"

That man is in for a rude awakening, Gardevoir observed dryly. I did some research while we were in Baltigo, and Lucas would have only been disappointed by what goes into that kind of 'fight.'

"A… what?" Sabo had to slap a hand over his mouth to muffle the sniggers at the pure confusion in Lucas's voice. "I mean," the trainer continued, "If you really want a battle, I might agree, but you don't look ready to face down Luffy's crew, let alone one of my team."

"Wha-you-no, not that!" Foxy yelped. "It's a traditional pirate competition! A three-stage challenge between pirate crews!"

"Ah, if I may," Nico Robin spoke up, sprouting a mouth off of Lucas's shoulder (to his mild surprise, Sabo noticed with a snicker) to whisper to him what must have been an explanation of the Davy Back Fight's history.

"Oh." It must not have taken long because Lucas gave the split-haired pirate a very unimpressed glare before shaking his head. "No, thanks." And suddenly, muffling his laughter became that much harder.

"No? How do you call yourself a pirate if you refuse this challenge?" Foxy retorted triumphantly.

Lucas's already unimpressed glare darkened.

"First of all, I'm not a pirate. I acknowledge that I'm an outlaw to the World Government, but that's as far as I'll go. And second, I became an outlaw in the first place because a stupid, selfish, perverted idiot with way more power than he deserves ordered me to give him one of my team members, and I refused."

Lucas reached out his hand, and the water on the ground pulled together and coalesced back in his palm like a cannonball. Sabo knew it was just Vaporeon at work, but it surprised both the Straw Hats and the Foxys, with the latter looking even more on the verge of panic.

"If I would rather declare war on the entire world than lose one of my friends, what makes you think trying to coerce me into gambling one of them is a good idea? I suggest that you either surrender now or prepare to fight."

The man was sweating profusely now, and he swallowed as he took a step back.

"A-alright, alright, whatever you say." Then, shaking himself, he looked back at Luffy. "What about you, then, Straw Hat? You were all ready to accept a minute ago!"

Lucas's gaze turned to Luffy, who barely glanced at him before answering.

"I still want to kick your ass. But I'm not gambling any of my nakama either, even if I know we wouldn't lose."

Foxy and the ones beside him grimaced again, but a side glance towards Lucas seemed to remove any more fight from him. Though that only lasted a minute before he perked up, a gleam of some sort back in his eye.

"Alright, I see how it is. But if you're so confident, then how about a lesser wager? A duel between captains, you and I, and the winner gets one favor from the loser's crew. Anything short of demanding the ship, crew, or jolly roger."

Lucas remained silent, though his stance seemed to have lost some tension. Luffy, for his part, barely needed to consider.

"You're on."

Lucas sighed quietly before looking their way.

"Gardevoir, let the others know our business here will have to wait."

Understood, she conveyed, and Sabo barely had time to brace himself before they warped away. The next thing he knew, he was back on the ship's deck, and Ace raised a brow.

I will leave you to explain the situation here. The other Straw Hats will want to know about this, I think.

She flashed away a moment later.

-o-

Within an hour, we were seated in an upper set of stands on Foxy's ship, which had been converted into an arena for the sake of the upcoming duel. All of my team was watching as well; Gardevoir and Lucario on either side of me, Vaporeon around my neck, Houndoom on Ace's lap, Torterra watching from a jumbo-sized extension nearby, and Crobat resting beneath the shade of his tree. Foxy had some big crewmembers of his own, so he naturally had accommodations for them, and I had to admit I was impressed. Even if he wasn't a good guy, he was a good captain who genuinely cared about his crew and inspired the same loyalty.

Of course, that made me worry a bit more about Luffy, and the fact that they were fighting on Foxy's ship didn't help. I'd wanted to speak up when Foxy had suggested the location, but Ace (through Gardevoir) had asked me not to, something along the lines of seeing what Luffy could do with the odds stacked against him.

Thankfully, most of the Straw Hats were more focused on the match at hand, and Foxy's crew seemed more than happy to put on an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude. Otherwise, they would have spotted Ace and Sabo and probably caused an even bigger ruckus. Instead, the most we got were sidelong glances from the Straw Hats and a literal eye or two courtesy of Robin.

"You need to be careful, Lucas. At this rate, we might have to call you our brother, too," Ace said ruefully.

"How's that, exactly?" I asked.

"Do you not know how hard it is to make Luffy change his mind?" Sabo demanded. "We've seen literal cold-blooded torture fail. You barely even had to try to make him rethink accepting that challenge!"

"So, you think he really would have risked one of his crewmates?"

The way that Ace and Sabo hesitated was not reassuring. "Luffy's logic would be that you're not risking anything if you're not going to lose," Ace answered, grinding his hand against his face. "It's not that he'd ever do anything that would actually endanger the ones he cares about on purpose. It's just…how do I put it?"

"He doesn't treat us with kid gloves when we don't need it."

We looked around to see Zoro sitting behind us, watching the arena.

"He'd crash a ship into you in the middle of a forest a mile from the shore, tackle you so hard that you go flying out to sea, and steal food off your plate when you've just come out of a war, just because he knows that you're tough enough to survive it."

He turned to look me in the eye. "He'd also use his body as a shield to protect you from a firing squad and climb a mountain barehanded in the middle of a snowstorm to get you to a doctor at the peak, carrying you in his teeth the whole way. I always ask myself why I ended up following this moron, especially when he does something stupid and we're the ones who get hurt from it. And the answer is that he's still worth it."

Ace smiled and shook his head ruefully. "That sums it up, yeah. He's an idiot, but the two things he understands are fighting and nakama."

"Three things. You forgot meat," Zoro said dryly, getting some laughter out of us as a thinner, large-mouthed pirate hopped onto a raised platform on the side of the arena.

"WELCOME, ONE AND ALL!" The pirate announcer's voice boomed out from the Den-Den Mushi microphone at his side. "TO TODAY'S SPECIAL EVENT! OUR BELOVED CAPTAIN, FOXY THE SILVER FOX, HAS CHALLENGED "STRAW HAT" MONKEY D. LUFFY TO A CAPTAIN'S DUEL! IN THIS CORNER, WITH 920 STRAIGHT VICTORIES AND A BOUNTY OF 24 MILLION, PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR YOUR BELOVED CAPTAIN, FOXY THE SILVER FOX!"

"He's really hamming it up," Ace said, watching Foxy strut onto the main deck. He'd traded his coat for a pair of blue boxing gloves, and he had no trouble waving and bowing to the cheering crowd, who mostly consisted of his crew.

"Gardevoir had the right idea to be worried earlier," Sabo commented as he watched the portly captain grandstanding for the crowd. "If he's won that many times in a row, he's got to have all kinds of tricks up his sleeves. And Luffy's not exactly the sharpest."

"AND HIS CHALLENGER, WITH 81 MILLION BERI TO HIS NAME, AN UP-AND-COMING ROOKIE SENSATION, 'STRAW HAT' MONKEY D. LUFFY!"

"Right," I said. "Well, apparently, Luffy's been training really hard ever since he discovered our bounties, so I guess we'll be able to see how he—"

What in Arceus's name is that? Gardevoir and Lucario cut in.

The four of us spun around at their question. Then, in perfect unison, we slapped our palms to our faces.

"Of course, his crew isn't entirely blameless. They seem to be enabling him," Sabo groaned, glaring between his fingers at the monstrous afro sitting on top of his little brother's head. "Present company excluded, of course," he added to Zoro, who was scowling and doing his best not to look at Luffy's new hairstyle.

Ace wasn't much better, glaring over at the Straw Hats' area in the stands, where Sanji and Chopper were cheering wholeheartedly, while Nami did her best to seem as invisible as possible. Nico Robin, surprisingly, looked to be on the verge of outright laughter at Luffy's antics, which was a breath of fresh air compared to the despondent mood she'd had in Alabasta.

"THE ARENA IS SET, AND THE COMBATANTS ARE READY TO GO," the announcer exclaimed as Foxy's crewmate and Usopp (who was almost definitely responsible for Luffy's travesty of a hairstyle) vacated the area, leaving the two captains facing off. Despite everything, I couldn't help but grin a little at the energy behind the crowd's cheers. It was almost nostalgic, watching a battle from the stands like this.

"IN 3, 2, 1, FIGHT!"

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy shouted, sending his fist flying forward. Foxy barely managed to sidestep it.

"You've got Devil Fruit powers, eh? Well…so do I! Slow-Slow Beam!"

A wave of light rays shot out from Foxy's hand, washing over Luffy, and I blinked as his fist suddenly slowed to a crawl.

"LOOKS LIKE THE FIRST BLOW GOES TO THE BOSS!" the announcer declared. "AS MOST OF US HERE KNOW, THE SLOW-SLOW FRUIT LETS HIM ARREST THE MOMENTUM OF ANYTHING THE LIGHT TOUCHES FOR 30 SECONDS!"

"Reducing his Speed briefly…no, it's more like paralysis," I muttered, impressed despite myself. I could even call it a very localized Trick Room, considering the potential in a full-body hit from that slowing beam.

"DON'T GET FLUSTERED, LUFFY! REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING!" I heard Usopp yell as Foxy advanced confidently on the handicapped Luffy.

And despite the distance, I thought I saw a gleam in Luffy's eye.

-o-

Gan Fall stared sternly at Luffy, having caught his fist in his Impact gauntlet and grabbed hold of his wrist before it could retract.

"You are strong, Luffy, but a straightforward assault will not work every time."

Luffy scowled back. The fact that he was doing this to train himself was the only reason he didn't argue.

"Think this through," the Sky Knight pressed, drawing his lance. "I've caught your punch. What if I decide to try piercing through your arm? How do you counter this when the rest of your body is so far away?"

Luffy forced himself to think through the question. And in answer, he kicked off the ground, sending the rest of his body zooming forward in a somersault. Gan Fall quickly released his hand and sidestepped, leaving Luffy to zoom into the outside of the arena.

"That works well," he said approvingly.

-o-

"Gum-Gum Yo-Yo!" Luffy yelled, kicking off the ground and sending the rest of his body spinning forward with his frozen fist as an anchor. Foxy barely dodged out of the way, and the rest of Luffy's body was out of reach again by the time he got back up.

"WHOA! NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE! STRAW HAT TURNED HIS SLOWED FIST INTO AN ANCHOR POINT!"

"Feh…not bad, Straw Hat, but don't expect that to work twice!" Foxy declared, eyeing Luffy with a dark grin. "Slow-Slow Road!"

The man shot his beam at Luffy's outstretched arm again, but this time, he jumped on Luffy's boxing glove, firing the beam ahead of him constantly as he ran forward.

"BUT THE BOSS IS JUST AS FAST, AS EXPECTED! HE'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR STRAW HAT, AND HIS ARM WON'T BE HELPING HIM ANYTIME SOON!"

-o-

Wiper waited patiently, arms crossed, as Luffy staggered back to his feet from the tree he'd been blown through. "You know how I hit you that time?" he asked.

"Yeah," Luffy gasped. "You smacked my arms away and hit me."

"Your sheer physical might is undeniable," Wyper said, before turning his palms to reveal the Impact Dials tied to them by bandages. "But you should know by now that just punching your way through your problems isn't going to cut it." Guilt flashed across the Shandian's face. "It's a lesson I should've learned long ago."

"Well, I'd kick you, too," Luffy added, before frowning as he realized that he'd only be left with one leg in that case.

Wiper grinned, lightly poking into Luffy's torso and watching it stretch around his hand.

"Your entire body is made of rubber, isn't it?" he asked, watching the pirate's eyes light up in understanding. "Then you've always got options. You're more than your arms and legs, after all."

-o-

"Got you!" Foxy yelled, leaping off of Luffy's arm to nail him in the chest with a punch… only for his eyes to widen as Luffy's torso stretched even further backwards, leaving his feet planted firmly in the ground as his legs extended with it.

Luffy gave Foxy a wide, mischievous grin. "Gum-Gum Sling!" Faster than Foxy could react, Luffy's torso snapped back into position, smashing into his opponent in an improvised body check and sending him staggering backward. Luffy quickly darted closer to the staggering Foxy, letting his slowed arm stretch in the process, and kicked upwards, catching the other pirate clean in the chin and sending him flying. "Gum-Gum Volcano!"

This, of course, was when the effects of Foxy's beam ended, and Luffy had to grit his teeth and pull hard on his arm to prevent the recoil from sending him flying as well. As a result, Foxy's flight was unimpeded as he shook himself back to awareness, only for him to slam headfirst into the sail of his ship.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS GETTING INTERESTING! I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME SOMEONE COUNTERED THE BOSS THIS MUCH! BUT THERE'S PLENTY OF FIGHT LEFT IN BOTH OF THEM!"

"I'm impressed," I commented as Foxy struggled out of the mainsail. "Luffy's being a lot more creative than he was in Alabasta."

"You shouldn't be surprised," Zoro replied solemnly. "We've all been working hard to get stronger since then." And the way he glanced sidelong at me spoke volumes. I didn't say anything in response, just nodded in understanding, and I swore that got me a small smirk from the green-haired swordsman.

"Feh," Foxy scoffed, leering down at Luffy and drawing something from his pocket. "It looks like I'll need to take this seriously from the start. Slow-Slow Beam Sword!"

Purple light grew from the hilt, looking more like a whip than a sword, but the length and flexibility of it were still impressive.

"Let's see you dodge this, Straw Hat!" he declared, leaping off the mast and heading straight for Luffy, who stretched out an arm to yank himself up to the mast, passing Foxy in midair too fast to react and spinning in the air above him.

"Gum-Gum Spear!" Luffy shouted, slamming his feet into Foxy and splintering the deck below.

"COME ON, BOSS! THIS IS GETTING EMBARRASSING!"

"Feh feh feh… all according to plan," he wheezed, just before a large cloud of white smoke billowed out, covering his form completely. And immediately after, the light sword lashed out, striking Luffy in the torso before he could react. Foxy sprinted out of the smoke, boxing gloves ready, and under the effect of his powers, Luffy was too slow to do anything as he launched blow after blow into his body.

"A BRILLIANT TURNAROUND FROM CAPTAIN FOXY, WITH HIS SIGNATURE NINE-TAILED RUSH!" The announcer bellowed as the slowing effect wore off, and Luffy was sent reeling as the pain from Foxy's hits registered all at once. Foxy himself took the chance to open up a trapdoor in the deck, dropping down into the bowels of his ship.

Luffy, seeing this, chased after Foxy with a growl, ripping the trapdoor off of its hinges and leaping down after him. He immediately had to dodge a set of arrows flying at him, while Foxy himself was nowhere in sight. The arrows were quickly followed up by bullets, rocks, and Luffy was pretty sure he saw a sink flying around for some reason.

"Feh feh feh feh feh!" Foxy's voice floated out through several speakers mounted on the walls, while the man himself stayed out of sight. "You should've known better, Straw Hat! Never challenge a trickster on his own turf!" Before Luffy could say anything back, the ground shot out from under him, a suddenly un-slowed conveyer belt spinning beneath his feet and dragging him straight into an open port in the ship's hull. "Enjoy your bath!"

The moment he shot out, some of the Straw Hats cried out worriedly. But Luffy didn't waste a second before stretching back into the deck.

"STRAW HAT'S RUBBER POWERS HELPED HIM AVOID DEFEAT! BUT IT BOUGHT THE BOSS ENOUGH TIME TO SET HIS SLOW-SLOW MINEFIELD!"

Foxy stood proudly in plain sight, surrounded by plenty of other projectiles and weapons.

"You know, I have to admit this is impressive," Ace said. "You look at some Devil Fruit powers and wonder just how useful they can be, but It's pretty amazing when you see someone who dedicates their life to answering that question."

Sabo nodded. "My money's still on Luffy, though."

"Take this, Straw Hat!" Foxy yelled, and the entire barrage of projectiles was sent flying with, I noted, staggered timing in terms of what was fired off. It was an impressively coordinated crossfire, but Luffy didn't even flinch, sidestepping a flurry of arrows and bouncing back some cannonballs by inflating like a balloon.

At one point, Luffy stretched one of his legs into the air, weaving around several bullets in the process, and slammed it into the deck, splintering the wood around him and using it as leverage to leap over the rest of the barrage. His arms stretched out, latching onto the deck on either side of Foxy, who was still standing there, and reeled the rest of his body in for a tackle. "Gum-Gum Rocket!"

Foxy didn't even react as Luffy collided with him head-on… until his image shattered into glass shards which rained down all over.

"Gotcha, Straw Hat!" Foxy crowed, hopping out of a hidden compartment in the deck. "I knew that the mirror network would come in handy! Now you're wide open! Slow-Slow Beam!"

The beam lanced out, and Luffy, thinking quickly, scooped up several shards of glass and threw them back at it. The ray of light hit the flying glass and reflected accordingly, sending Slomo Photons every which way. Every way except into Foxy, who'd pulled another mirror out of the deck to protect himself. On the other hand, Luffy barely escaped getting slowed down again, leaving the two pirates facing each other down in the middle of the arena.

"AND A DESPERATION MOVE FROM STRAW HAT NEARLY BACKFIRES! YOU'VE GOTTA BE FASTER THAN THAT TO GET ONE UP ON OUR CAPTAIN!"

"Don't think you'll slow me down, Straw Hat," Foxy gloated, shoving the mirror aside and summoning his Beam Sword again.

Luffy scowled. "Fine…then I'll just have to get faster."

-o-

Half a dozen Shandians on cloud skates, each armed with Burn Blades or Burn Bazookas, stood around the glade regarding Luffy. None were low on energy, but Luffy was clearly worse off than the rest.

"You're good, Straw Hat," Laki said. "But when you're dealing with opponents who have the skills to outmaneuver you, you need other ideas. What will you do if you're not strong enough and fast enough to take all of us at once?"

Luffy's eyes narrowed.

"I just need to get stronger and faster…and I know what's gonna work for that."

As Luffy took a strange stance, Laki decided to wait to see what he was up to before advocating other techniques.

Less than a minute later, all six Shandians were defeated.

-o-

Luffy spread his legs and put one fist on the ground, resting the other atop his leg, and the rest of the Straw Hats all sat up a bit straighter.

"He's going all-out now," Zoro said, his fists clenched at his sides.

"He's been holding back?" Sabo and Ace demanded.

"WHAT'S STRAW HAT UP TO NOW?"

He squatted down briefly, parts of his legs squishing on themselves, and straightened up. Then he repeated that again and again…and his skin turned pink as steam started pouring off his body. He raised his head, leering at Foxy.

"Gear. Second."

"What the hell is that?" Ace asked.

"It's dangerous, is what it is," Sabo growled, leaning forward. "He just sped up his blood flow so much that it should be making his organs explode! A rubber man can withstand it, but—"

"But it doesn't mean it doesn't have its price," I finished, wide-eyed as I stared down at the battlefield. Luffy was unsteady on his feet, but he was still holding an arm up to telegraph his attack.

"Gum-Gum—"

Then he disappeared as Foxy lashed out at him again.

And then, he reappeared behind him.

"—JET PISTOL!"

The blow was almost too fast for me to see, but everyone saw its result: Foxy went flying towards the island, crashing onto its verdant turf and causing a trench and kicking up a massive dust cloud from the impact.

Silence.

For a good long moment, there was silence. Foxy's crew, a hundred or more pirates, was struck dumb. Even the Straw Hats seemed slightly surprised by how abruptly the fight ended. But as Luffy, still steaming all over, stepped up to the figurehead and raised his arms triumphantly, the announcer got his wits about him again.

"TH-THE WINNER," he squawked, shock filling his voice, "THE WINNER OF THIS PIRATE'S DUEL IS 'STRAW HAT' LUFFY!"

And the crowd went wild. The Straw Hats that weren't cheering wore satisfied grins, and the same went for Ace and Sabo.

"He's as reckless as ever. But he's gotten a lot stronger," Sabo said proudly.

"Still nowhere close to us, though," Ace chuckled with the same pride in his eyes.

"Come on," I grinned, patting Sabo on the shoulder. "Let's go set up an official reunion, shall we?"

-o-

Of course, in the aftermath, while Chopper was patching Luffy up, the three of us were on the rest of the Straw Hats about Luffy's trump card.

"Of course we get how dangerous it is. And I'm not just talking about how much more meat he needs to eat to keep up with the blood he's burning through," Nami said with a grimace. "But he keeps saying that's the kind of power he needs. And…none of us can really argue with that."

"But there's some good news," Usopp cut in. "Luffy learned how to move that fast from testing out leg techniques, but he remembered that a pirate we fought in the past could move the same way, so it seems like, with enough practice, he can do it even without Gear Second. The rest of us should be able to do it, too." His tone turned bitter. "We just have to kick the ground 10 times in less than a second. I can only manage 5 so far."

"I'm the closest with 8," Sanji said. "But the point is that we're pushing our limits because we know how much we need to." He side-eyed Zoro. "Hate to compare us all to Mosshead, but then again, he knows better than the rest of us how tough the strongest in the world is."

And Zoro's only answer was an annoyed exhale as he raised his shirt to show—Oh wow, that was a long scar. "Not my fault that you needed so long to pick it up, shit-cook," he drawled. "I thought watching Mihawk for even half a second could've pounded that into your skull."

"As if, you damn moron," was the instant snap back from Sanji. "With how much of your brain is fertilizer already—"

"What was that, Swirly-brow!?"

"I'm saying that all your brainpower goes into keeping your head green, Mosshead!"

I held up my hands really quick, heading off another of what I could tell was a very familiar argument. "Wait," I said, "Is green hair not normal around here?" While not exactly everywhere, brighter and more diverse hair colors were pretty normal back home. Aaron and Cheryl came to mind for green hair in particular.

The crew exchanged bemused glances, and Sanji sighed. "It's not common, but he's not the first I met. The first one was a psychopath, though."

"Are you saying you bother me so much because I remind you of someone you used to know?" Zoro growled.

"I mean…" I cut in against my better judgment, already wincing. "Don't you do that with Tashigi?"

Zoro's face reddened, but surprisingly, Sanji didn't press the advantage. Something Zoro also noticed. They exchanged looks for a minute and seemed to agree to drop the subject. Too personal for both of them, I guess. Then the door opened, and all attention turned to Luffy, emerging with a satisfied grin. His eyes immediately fell on his brother, though.

"Ace?"

"Saw the whole thing, Luffy. Pretty impressive."

"What are you doing here? And who's…?" Luffy trailed off as Sabo stepped fully into view.

"I know it's been a long time, Luffy. But don't you recognize your other brother?"

Luffy's eyes widened, and his jaw slowly dropped as he looked back at Ace.

"He was never dead, just lost. We owe Lucas big-time, Luffy," Ace said quietly.

His gaze briefly looked at me, then back at Sabo. And as tears started flowing, the two of them embraced, Sabo quietly crying and Luffy bawling his eyes out.

"I'll fill the rest of you in. They've got some catching up to do," I said. The rest of the Straw Hats followed me further into the island immediately, heading for the old man's house. Despite the problems with Foxy, things seemed like they were going pretty smoothly.

-o-

But no, of course, things couldn't be as easy as that.

"Ah, there you are." The tall man said, slowly rising up to a sitting position and gazing unerringly at us despite his eyes being covered. "You took so long to get here, I decided to take a little nap."

He was wearing what would have been a semi-formal outfit back home, tailored perfectly to match his height, if a bit rumpled due to his current state. Just like Gion, he had a large, fancy white coat slung around his shoulders. His eyes and much of his expression were hidden under his mask.

But I recognized him immediately.

"Admiral Kuzan."

Gardevoir wasn't willing to disclose much of what we saw in Robin's past. But with the knowledge that this man was one of the Navy's "Ultimate Powerhouses," she had shared what she knew of his role. Meaning we were the only ones not surprised when Robin started to hyperventilate, Gardevoir rushing to her side immediately as the Straw Hats gathered around her, mixed concern and fear radiating off of them.

The man, for his part, removed his sleeping mask and regarded us with a raised brow.

"Most people call me Aokiji, Lucas," he drawled.

I shrugged unapologetically. "Sorry. My first impression of you is still from how you saved Robin's life 20 years ago."

The man straightened, a bit of levity leaving his face. "Is that what she told you?"

That's what I saw, Gardevoir rebutted firmly, looking at the Admiral with a gaze one shade shy of a Leer. During a genocide in the name of your so-called justice, you went out of your way to ensure that one eight-year-old girl escaped. What reason would you have to pretend otherwise?

Kuzan stared at Gardevoir and Robin, his eyes passing over the Straw Hats, who seemed largely unsure how to react. Then, finally, he shook his head.

"We're getting off-track. I'm not here because of Nico Robin. I actually came here looking for you, Lucas."

Immediately, Gardevoir was back at my side, and Lucario materialized beside me with a snarl. The Admiral, though, held up his hands in what looked like genuine surprise.

"Hey, take it easy, I'm not here to fight."

"You expect us to believe that?" I asked coldly, already running through mental scenarios. "Aren't Admirals specifically called to avenge World Nobles?" With his ice abilities, the danger to Torterra and Crobat really outweighed any help they'd bring, and while Vaporeon could handle being frozen, it would be stupid to provide Aokiji with even more ammunition. Houndoom's fire was the obvious option, but someone like him would be more than ready for that…

Aokiji, however, didn't drop his non-hostile posture. "You can gauge my words for yourself: I'm not here because of Saint Rhode…ah, hang on a minute."

Tension faded to bewilderment as he shifted from his sitting position to lay down on his side.

"There we go. I was getting tired of staying upright anyways. Lucas… I've been ordered to offer you a position on the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

Now, the plan at first was to circumvent Foxy and the Davy Back Fight altogether. But then we realized that that meant getting rid of Afro Luffy, and we couldn't have that, could we?

Also, to those of you checking the fic out from the recommendation on This Bites! I bid you all welcome, and I hope you'll be sticking around for however long this fic lasts!