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"One Piece." – Speaking

'One Piece.' – Thinking

One Piece. – Flashbacks

One Piece. – Devil Fruits and Techniques

Deadly Drinking Pirate

The Navy's Greatest Power

Previously on Deadly Drunken Pirate,

"If there are any more questions, it is time to set sail." Luffy spoke up. "You probably already guessed that the next place of interest will be the carpenter haven, Water Seven. The best part is that even pirates are allowed to enter as customers as long as they behave. We need to find someone there that can fully upgrade our ship to make it more suitable for the New World. After all, bigger is not always better." The crew agreed and even Usopp did, with the promise that the Going Merry stays as she is.

"But before we do, there is a little something that had to wait until the excitement was over. Just a moment." Luffy said and went through one of the doors, leaving his crew wondering what he was talking about. But they didn't have to wait long until Luffy came with what seems to be an ordinarily, standard barrel. "Now." Luffy spoke up suddenly, "Unless you show yourself or I will have to get rough and pull you out myself. And trust me, biting back is a bad idea."

Luffy then put the barrel on its side until it started to tumble a bit. The lid then fell off and when the crew tried to look inside, they flinched. It was the little girl from the rebels, Aisa! "H-hi everyone…"

"AISA!?" The whole sea shook worse than a sea quake and the native sea life thought so, and didn't give it much thought before getting back to their business. "What the hell…!?"

"S-sorry…" Aisa shamefully said from her spot behind Luffy's legs, scared by the looks of the crew when she revealed herself. "I…I…I just…" Then someone kneeled down to eye-level with the little girl.

"Did you at least let your big sister Laki know that you were boarding our ship!?" Nojiko didn't have much on the action when Luffy told her to steer the old King's Gourd back to Angel Beach. And her big sister instincts told her to try and set the record straight before comforting the little lass. "Because we can't just go back and return you."

"Laki is…more of an auntie…" Aisa responded to the first part about the question but Nojiko won't have that just yet. "But yeah, I did tell her and…and…" Aisa was a loss for words soon and gave out an 'eep' when Luffy lifts her up onto his shoulders.

"I am afraid that returning to Angel Beach is out of the question so we better do good on little Aisa." Luffy said, with a smile even though the lass in question pouted about being called 'little'. "As of now, she will be a cabin girl and an apprentice of ours. You all better treat her good, will you?" The crew knew what their captain had in mind and there were no objections like the previous member to sail with them.

XXXXX

The next day,

"Land ho!" Usopp shouted, comfy in the new crow's nest on the King's Gourd. It actually had a twin and both of them were covered with double wooden ceilings for the rain. This was something that the Skypeans did not understand, there was no rain at Angel Beach, but Alvida suggested it with the redesign of the ship. "And it looks like it doesn't have any Marines!" After shouting that off, Usopp took a better look because, "Never mind that! I can't see any form of settlement! It is almost as bad as that stripped ship back there!"

"No kidding." Luffy responded as he walked out to get a good look. The crew were either checking the ship for any damage, for the hundred time, or taking it easy to be back on the blue sea water. "Seriously, that ship was the most pitiful I even seen and that is not mentioning the pirates trapped on that rat trap." Everyone in hearing range could only nod to agree and shake their heads in pity.

It was a bit after Aisa was found as a stowaway and then made as a Cabin Girl. They were greeted by a strange sight that confirmed that they were back in the Grand Line; Sea Monkeys. They were not a threat, especially since the captain's girl is a living thunderbolt. However, the same cannot be said about that drifting ship with near-dead sailors stuck on it. The school of Sea Monkeys saw it and thought to make that ship their prey; and Sea Monkeys love to cause tsunamis!

A few of the Straw Hats tried to call out that ship about the incoming wave. However, that band of pirates couldn't even agree on who will use the bathroom next. Luffy did pick up that apparently their navigator and their captain is not on the ship. And they just argued and fought until their ship was sunk by the Sea Monkeys. Having their fun, the school of giant fish with monkey faces had left; they didn't even bother to try the King's Gourd.

"Can we go and explore, Big Captain!?" Little Aisa had already learned a lot about sailing on the blue sea from pretty much everyone, especially Luffy. She was stuck between calling him 'Big Brother' and 'Captain' until Aisa decided to use both.

"Oh no you don't!" The little girl froze to the sound of a distressful mother…

"You are staying where we can see you, young lady!" …make that two.

Aisa groaned like any other little kid denied candy to face both Nami and Nojiko, each with worried-stricken and steaming mad expressions on their faces. While Luffy was strict but fair, he was also quite free-spirited; he preferred to let the little girl run around until she will trip badly. His girlfriend and her sister, on the other hand, wanted Aisa to 'grow up right'. Both of them wanted to be sure that any bad behavior doesn't spread to the little girl as long as she is in the stage of seeking suitable role models.

"As captain, Aisa is going to learn how different our islands are from her village." Luffy spoke up, still the man with the guts and balls to talk to a scorned woman or two. "And, also as Captain, I order you two to make sure that Aisa doesn't get lost or worse." He even left a threat hanging off which got the two sisters to nod; their little girl of course had no idea why that happened or that everyone else felt disturbed for a just a bit.

Once they let loose the anchors, Luffy took Usopp and Chopper to check the place out. Aisa went along too, with the captain's girlfriend and her sister to follow like helicopter parents. Kaya was also coming, something about the ordeal in the sky had left her a bit too attached for her own good; shouldn't last long, hopefully. The little girl was willing look past all the embarrassment to hang out the captain that she somehow bonded overnight.

The island looked like a simple plate covered in grass and trees that seemed to be rather thin and skinny. Luffy noticed that there was fruit on one of the trees that looked like apples but were also skinny, almost like test tubes; thankfully they did taste any apples, Aisa loved the taste when Luffy gave her one too. But then came something that really made their day.

It was a creature that stood on two legs with two arms lagging on their sides. However, this was no human. It had thick fur and sharp claws. When it turned to face the Straw Hats, it was officially…a bear! The bear-like creature certainty wasn't hostile and just got back on its way but immediately afterwards, more and more animals appeared. And they all looked like someone had stretched them long and thin like a lump of clay. Aisa, with a cute tone, pointed out to a stretched-out moose to be 'Chopper's relative'; the doctor's reaction made the present company chuckle a bit.

Luffy actually walked up to one of them, a canine that had several miles between its front legs and the rear legs. For being a wild dog, it was friendly enough and even shook hands when the pirate captain said so. Usopp thought that the dog could be a good limbo line and wanted to impress his audience with his 'skills' at the game. Too bad that Luffy had his own kind of fun when he asked the dog to sit while Usopp was only half way under.

After having enough fun at the sight, Luffy said "Okay, reach for the sky." The dog heard that and with a mischievous glint in its eye, it rose up to heights that made it hard to see the top. Still, Luffy caught the dog when it dropped to the ground. "Thanks for the fun, and be careful of those long turns!" Usopp was the only one not laughing as the stretched-out dog waved and ran off.

The sniper grumbled and got up to his feet after that not-so fun prank done onto him. Usopp didn't mind, only a bit, that Kaya quickly checked for any broken bones or bruises. But his trained eye caught something that he couldn't see from the ship. "Look! There is a hut over there!"

It took a while to get to the hut since it was far from where they played with the local dog. "It is a hut alright…" Luffy mused while the girls still attached themselves to Aisa. "But unless this is a farm without fields, there is hardly any reason to have one in the middle of nowhere. Do you see any others?" Luffy turned to Usopp who was already searching and turning up dry; the captain tried to scout out the island with his Haki but there weren't any people other than his crew that it picked up. Especially not in the hut so Luffy didn't bother even checking it out.

That was until Chopper called out, "Big Brother! Someone does live here and she is on the other side of the hut!" When the Straw Hats moved around the hut, a beautiful creature was to behold. Unlike the other animals that were stretched out, this was a purebred horse that had the legs and neck like a giraffe yet she looked lovely all the same. And she was certainty friendly enough to nuzzle with Chopper the whole time.

Then Luffy decided to play a bit. He picked Chopper up and gave a killer hug as bad as an excited mother to her little boy. "You make me proud, Little Brother! You found yourself a beautiful girlfriend~!" Chopper burned up a killer blush and the other Straw Hats found it both cute and amusing, especially when Chopper stuttered out in denial. "Just kidding, Chopper."

"Not funny…" Chopper muttered but that was all he could say before Luffy rubbed where he loves it to most. This only made him look cuter, Chopper even purred somehow. "…never mind…" Luffy was proud of himself and even switched his hand to rub his little brother on the head.

"So Chopper, what's her name?" The native horse chirped in an excited tone, like she is happy to introduce herself to good company.

"Shelly! And she has been waiting for her owner to come back, for ten years!" Chopper shouted and the Straw Hats had mixed reactions; it was almost like with Laboon the Island Whale in the Twin Capes.

"You truly are one of a kind, girl." Luffy said with affection and respect while he tenderly rubbed the bottom of Shelly's chin. "Whoever your owner is, they better see how a good girl you are." The girls, watching their captain tending to the native horse, almost wanted to blush with jealously; they wanted to wish that it was them in the horse's place. However, they couldn't stop imaging how Luffy will be with kids if he is that tender with an animal.

"Hey Luffy, look at this!" Usopp suddenly shouted out from some spot close to the house. The young captain ceased his tender petting, much to Shelly's pout, and walked over to where the sniper is. "Take a good look at these two!"

Luffy followed Usopp's hands to what looks like a pair of bamboo stalks that definitely stick out from the various tall, thin trees. When Luffy looked up to see the top, he found that to be quite difficult. They both look like they reach the clouds. Then suddenly, one of them began to move with the other following closely behind. "Those are-!" Usopp wanted to speak until one of the stalks waked him in the stomach, while not leaving a bruise but stopped his train of thought.

"Yes they are!" Luffy shouted off, followed by his fist and the sniper's cracking the stalks apart. Only a few second later, Luffy caught a small figure that fell directly above. "…hello."

"…hello, I am Tonjit." Tonjit is an elderly man, with wrinkles and a round white beard. He has small round eyes, a round nose, and is missing one tooth. He has a purple-brown hat, with brown fur lining, and brown cloth on the sides. He wears a yellow tunic, with green lining with a circle design on the end of the sleeves, and side of the chest. He has a purple sash, with a red string hanging down. He wears purple shoes, held on by white strings, and grey on the toe area. He also wears vertical zigzag striped purple and tan pants. "Thank you, gents, for helping me down."

"Don't get up now, you have a bloody nose!" Chopper heard the ruckus and was tending to the old man while the girls watched. "But how can you have one when you didn't even hit the ground!?"

"Must be the sudden increase in air pressure." Luffy answered instead of the old man. "From what I can tell, those were silts he made and somehow, they never stopped growing and he was stuck at the top. Must have been so high that the sudden change in atmospheric pressure will give him a nosebleed." Seeing the looks everyone was giving him, Luffy chuckled bashfully. "When you hang out with Nami-chan, you can learn a lot." That got him an affectionate hug from you-know-who around the neck.

"Aww~! Thank you, my wonderful and considerate captain~!" Tonjit almost cracked a smile, something about when he was that young and in love. He finally shared that his dream was to make the world's tallest stilts but when he did make them, he couldn't get down. And as time had gone on, the silts still grew to even taller heights. Luckily for the old man, there were trees just as tall and with apples that he ate to survive. How did he do everything was best not shared. All they need to know was that he got stuck on his own stilts…ten years ago!

To make things worse, he was part of a nomadic tribe that has settled on not only the island but the entire chain! Normally, it was impossible to get between islands on foot or horse with the sea separating each island. But there is this special time that comes every few years when the water level drops to the point that dry land is available for the tribe to move along. And Tonjit missed it when he couldn't get down from his stilts for ten years.

"Anyhow, there is someone that has been waiting all this time for you, had to miss out on the move and has been alone the whole time." Luffy spoke seriously and Tonjit didn't want to argue with that. However,

"Shelly!" The sight of his faithful steed rose his spirits and the good girl couldn't hold a grudge against the man that has made her lonely for a whole decade.

XXXXX

Later,

"Wee! You are even faster than before, girl!" Tonjit yelled like a little boy on a roller coaster, which was appropriate to say because he was riding Shelly for the first time in ten years. The Straw Hats sat on a hill to watch the sight.

Luffy suddenly stiffed before taking out a double mouthed pistol ready to fire. "Brace!" From the gun was not just the sound of bullet shot but the sight of a blinding glare that swiftly covered the spot. Everyone nearby had to block their eyes to avoid getting blind but that was when they heard something else; the sound of something moving fast, hitting another one.

"Alright, come on out!" Luffy shouted out to a nearby bush. "You dare shoot at a horse who was just riding with her master for the first time in a decade!? Show yourselves before I shot your heads off!" Then it started to shake before a trio emerged out. Chopper and Kaya, along with Usopp, were too busy checking on their new friends while the sisters kept their hands on Aisa.

"How rude to talk to me like that and to steal my catch! That horse was mine!" Luffy was not amused and it showed in his face. "You don't even know who you are dealing with…" The young captain knew perfectly well and can sense that this was a weakling, plain and simple, with nothing to hide.

"You are Foxy, the Silver Fox." Luffy interrupted with a neutral voice that had a hidden annoyed tone. Foxy was a short man with a real flashy attire and a nose that was worse than Usopp's and it was red like a patient with the cold. Not to mention that his head had a pointy hairdo and a chin like a bowling pin.

"Oh-oh! I take that back, you do know that you are outmatched!" Foxy laughed and so did his two little minions; one of them was a woman who wore a ridiculous black mask that had fox ears and the other was a gorilla that also wore a mask too. However,

"…who has a mere twenty-four million berry bounty and cheated for every nine hundred and twenty Davy Back Fights he has ever challenged other pirate crews to." Luffy spoke next and that got the trio to be shocked. "So, you are hardly a threat, just a bunch of no-good liars and cheaters that break their own rules." This got those three to fall to the ground with their foreheads on the grass with a dark rain cloud over their heads. All they could do was mumble about being called cheaters that they are.

Yet the trio found themselves looking at angry devil when Luffy grabbed them by the collars. "And if your ragtag crew had made a scratch on my ship, you will die on that rat-trap like the filth you are."

XXXXX

Thankfully, for the cheater trio, there wasn't one dent on the King's Gourd. Foxy's ship was simply shoving its weight around with its cat paw anchors blocking off Luffy's pirate ship. And the crew onboard were talking them down about how they were 'undefeatable' in Davy Back Fights. Apparently, those were events and competition between two pirate crews to see who will be traded off to the winner. That is, if both captains agreed. And Luffy has made his decision clear: he doesn't play games with cheaters.

"Just who do you think are!?" Foxy apparently had a bad memory, an over bloated ego or both to forget that Luffy threated the former and his minions expertly. But the young captain was beaten to the punch.

"BOSS!" One of the Foxy Pirates, evidenced by the same ridiculous black fox mask he was wearing, shouted off with the face of a man watching a predator staring at him. "That's Monkey D. Luffy! He replaced Crocodile of the Shichibuki (Seven Warlords of the Sea)! And he defeated him without getting a single scratch!"

Foxy started to see the picture and when he turned to face the black-haired pirate, Luffy was just playing with one of his hair stands under his signature hat. "He did get some sand in my sandals, they itched like hell." Then Luffy turned to face Foxy again and that same murderous look somehow got even scarier. "And don't think that I haven't noticed the looks you made on the girls while you were basking in your self-glory. That was my girlfriend and her sister, that you were planning to steal from us."

For once, that trio of cheaters looked really pitiful as more and more of the Straw Hats gathered around them with demonized looks of anger and disgust. The very next second, they felt like they were squeezed through a straw and their bigger-than-life rattrap had a massive hole which leaked in ocean water. All it took was one large wave to sink that eyesore. But just as Tonjit was thanking the Straw Hats for dealing with those scumbags that tried to capture his steed, the doctor pointed out what he thought to be another strange, stretched-out animal native to the island. Yet,

"Chopper, get the hell away from him!" Luffy shot off and scared everyone a bit. Their captain actually looked worried about this strange figure. This was the first time they saw it happen, especially since Luffy stared an actual god in the face with no worries. Chopper didn't want to argue and ran to hide behind his big brother's legs, in his cute way of reversed hiding.

"Maa~, maa~! Keep it down! I am trying to nap here!" The figure spoke in a real lazy tone. And with a long yawn, he removed his sleep mask for one of his eyes. "Ooooh! If it's the little boy with Akagami, you have grown quite a bit since then. Just like you, Robin."

Luffy scowled and when he felt the archeologist herself move behind him to hide, the pirate captain grasped one of her hands and the other did the same to Nami's hand. The latter girl was too concerned and curious to worry about another woman cozying up to her boyfriend. "L-luffy-kun…" Nami was also scared of Luffy's expression and feeling the pain of his grasp. "Who is that…?"

"He is one of the three monsters among the Marines, one of its greatest powers. He is Kuzan, aka Aokiji, an Admiral." Luffy answered and the rest of the Straw Hats were on guard. Even Chopper had heard about the Marine Admirals, who can strike fear in most pirates and criminals because of their unstoppable power. The only one that didn't respond to the name Admiral was Aisa for obvious reasons but her natural talent for sensing others had alerted her; this man's power overshadowed Eneru back in the Upper Yard.

Kuzan is an incredibly tall, slim and muscular man. He has black, curly hair cut to chin length that fans out at the tips, tanned skin, and an altogether lean, long build. His outfit consisted of a white buttoned-up vest with standing collar over a long-sleeved navy-blue shirt, with matching white trousers and black dress shoes. This is all rarely accompanied by a matching white suit jacket. He also wears a yellow tie divided geometrically by black lines and again, a sleep mask on his forehead.

"Now, now I am not here on Boss's orders~! I like this place and felt like relaxing on my usual spot." Kuzan spoke but the Straw Hats were still tense, marveling at how such a lazy man could have a power level that rivals their captain. Then he turned to Tonjit and Shelly, "I heard that you, my man, had missed your ride a decade ago because of a silly mistake on your part. I can offer a solution if you wish to get back with your tribe."

Tonjit wished he knew if he could trust this tall lanky man whom his friends were wary of him. After a bit he accepted yet, "If this is a trick, then you will have to answer to them." Kuzan was lazy but no fool, he agreed with the suspicion about his motives.

Soon enough, Tonjit had packed up everything including his house and followed Kuzan along with everyone else to the west shore of the island. "You might want some distance so you don't get caught in its tracks." That was already done and then Kuzan dipped his hand in the ocean. Just then, a Sea King many times larger than Umi appeared with the intent to devour Kuzan! And yet, the one in danger was the beast when Kuzan spoke again, "Aisu Eiji (Ice Age)!"

The present company were shocked again when the ocean in front of them along with the Sea King were frozen solid, instantly! After a painfully long moment, Luffy spoke again with Robin still hanging onto him. "This is the power of an Admiral, with his Devil Fruit; the Hie-Hie no Mi (Ice-Ice Fruit). He can freeze nearly anything and everything with ice as well as turn into ice." If they weren't scared before, the Straw Hats were definitely frightened of this man.

Kuzan then stood up and released his hand from the ocean. "This ice will hold for a week. That should give you enough time to find your tribe, old man. I wish you luck." Tonjit hesitated to leave his new friends with such a monster but Luffy nodded; the old man attached his belongs to Shelly and both of them hurried down the ice path towards to the next island in the chain.

"Now then, Shichibuki Monkey D. Luffy…" Kuzan waited in pure silence until the local and his steed were out of eyesight and hearing range to get serious. "I must say that I never pegged you to be so stupid."

"Yeah?" Luffy played it cool and ignored that Robin was binging to shake, and not from the icy path.

"Stop trying to be cool, that's my drift." Kuzan responded and when no one else did, he like out a real long sigh. "I mean that you let a she-devil on your ship, like many others did before the world had beaten to the ground."

"And what's your point?" Luffy continued to stare down Kuzan, despite that the Admiral easily towered over him. "I am serious, and I don't regret having Robin sail with us." Kuzan scowled, as if to say 'I have heard that before'.

"When word got out that the She-Devil has left the protection under one Shichibuki, only to land in the lap of another, the bosses decided to finally turn her in." Kuzan spoke up. "And with the other boys too busy with their fun, they thought the need to send me in." Luffy made his own scowl, not buying this story.

"You are also hear to bring up how I still did you a favor when I broke up that civil war on the World Government's lawn, done by the abuse of power from my predecessor. In other words, you want to thank me for getting rid of Crocodile." Luffy finally responded and Kuzan didn't lose his scowl. Indeed, this skit of 'reading other people's minds' is already starting to get old.

"Whatever, I am getting the She-Devil. End of story." Kuzan was no longer the lazy man from before, he really looked like a man with obstacles between him and his target. Zoro, Sanji and Alvida moved in between the Admiral and Luffy. Everyone else moved back for some distance. Not that this meant any to Kuzan, with ice forming around his hands and spreading to the grass from his feet. "Why must you kids not listen to your superiors?" Kuzan got his answer when Sanji moved in for a kick to the face, that which the former easily raised his left arm to catch it.

"Avant Bras (Forearm)!" Sanji shouted and Kuzan actually felt the blow which shattered the ice on his arm. Too bad that the Admiral was faster on the recovery and reform his left hand to grasp Sanji's foot, spreading the ice from the former's hand. That was when Zoro moved in and Kuzan saw a simple, single downward slash.

Some of the grass stalks that were frozen had floated up to Kuzan's free palm. "Aisu Sāberu (Ice Saber)." Instantly, a blade of ice without a visible handle was created and easily blocked the slash. Just as swift, Kuzan used the cook to slug Zoro across with enough strength to send them flying across the field for several feet. However, Kuzan felt something hit his body multiple times in a split second.

"Supinā Supaiku Sutoraiku (Spinner Spike Strike)!" Alvida had taken the chance while the Admiral was focused on the boy to gain momentum with the help of her frictionless bare feet, and move in on her target like an actual spinner but armed with an iron spiked mace. "My captain has helped me come a long way so you better keep your eyes peeled." Alvida soaked in the moment until the lump of ice that is Kuzan reached out and grasped her free arm with the intent to freeze it. Yet the First Mate easily freed herself thanks to her devil fruit.

Kuzan was genuinely surprised when his ice failed to capture Alvida. So much that he had to switch to defense when he was suddenly bombarded by the two marksmen on the crew; Usopp and Frank. The sniper did feel out of his element when he was not concealed but he suck it in while his comrade keep up the heat with his twin revolvers, loading each round with his breath modified to explosive by his devil fruit power.

Kuzan must have gotten annoyed when he forced the Straw hats to scatter with large ice spikes surging across the grass field. "Nami, Nojiko, get Aisa back on the King's Gourd! Fighters, stay on your guard! Everyone else move the ship to a faraway side of the island!" Luffy gave out orders and he got a quick kiss on the check from Nami before she disappeared in a spark of thunder.

Soon enough, the ice spikes halted and Kuzan finally got to pull himself together. He didn't even have a bruise on himself. "Okay, you kids are making my ears ring and that ruins my naps." Then a large shadow formed over Kuzan, almost blocking out the sun. "Now what?" Looking up, he could only twitch his eyebrow and feel a sweat drop fall down the back of his head.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting! This place needs more of these!" Carol chirped out while carrying a boulder twice as large as the King's Gourd, as if it weighted the same as a feather. "Look out below! 10 Tondoroppu (Ten Ton Drop)!" At the speed of a falling meteor, the boulder landed right on Kuzan; it was almost like when it happens on kid's cartoons. "I do good, right Captain?"

Luffy was not going to dignify that with a response. He knows this man better than his crew, even after everything so far. Especially when the ground sudden froze solid and yet feels like the surface of a boiling pot of water. "Aisu Guraundobāsuto (Ice Ground Burst)!" Instantly, the grass field exploded in a mass of ice spikes and shards that scattered the Straw Hats. Not to mention the over-sized boulder froze over and shattered to reveal Kuzan, once again not damaged, just more annoyed.

"No more games. I am going to bring the She-Devil, dead or alive." Kuzan spoke, with the intent of taking the kid gloves off. Searching for Robin wasn't necessary for an Admiral like him and Kuzan shot off in a torrent of ice towards her. "Aisu Taimu (Ice Time)!"

Robin let out a silent scream, eyes filled with trauma reignited. But, as Kuzan was inches from embracing her with his ice, "Hello, icebrain." Kuzan stared at the figure without only a pair of soulless eyes and an evil grin as the only features. He suddenly was as small as an insect with a demon staring down on it. Before he could utter a word, his view got split in half. "Shōgo Supitoro (Noon Spitroast)!"

Once the ice pieces and the mist had settled, the Strawhats saw that their captain had moved just as fast as their foe. And once he landed in between Kuzan and Robin, Luffy sliced the former in half! "You may be an Admiral but no Logia is strong enough against their second curse." Luffy spoke calmly down to the two pieces of Kuzan that tried to pull themselves together but were instead withering on the ground as if a worm had been bisected. (1)

Robin couldn't believe what just happened. Nobody has ever taken an Admiral by surprise or at least matched them in speed. The Admirals were the unstoppable powers of the Navy, that only the Strongest Pirates can ever hope to match. What are the odds that she will find one, especially one willing to stare down a certain Admiral just to protect her? And somehow, the sight of Kuzan helpless to get himself up felt reliving; was it her sadistic streak or something else?

"Everyone, this battle cannot be contained anymore. Kuzan will be willing to kill all of us to get to Robin. Bring her to the ship and keep an eye out for the ice. Do not let it reach the King's Gourd." Luffy ordered in a single breath, necessary for the circumstances. And for once, Sanji did not try to shove his weight around to handle Robin; Alvida was the one to get Robin off the ground while the boys occupied the girls as they fled to their ship.

And when they were out of eyesight, Luffy turned to see Kuzan finally and literally putting himself back together. And for a lazy man, he had quite the ugly scowl. "Even the Buddha's patience has limits and I just ran out. Brace yourself, brat." But there is only a few that Luffy is truly scared off and that doesn't include this.

"Last time it was Shanks and now…" Luffy simple turned with his blades out with his skin letting off steam yet again. "It is my turn."

End of Chapter 44.

*Hey guys. I want to remind you that flamers will be ignored and I am sorry that some of you are disappointed. Remember, if you don't like than don't read!*

1. When I first saw Zoro slice the Snow Logia user in half without Haki in the canon, still rendering the latter useless, I felt to mirror it with Luffy and Kuzan. Not to show off, just to remind Robin that even and Admiral is still human and mortal. He just used a different tactic to induce the necessary fear factor to make this work.