Man I have to say writing the last chapter actually felt a lot easier then writing the prologue. Starting is really the hardest part.

Also since no one will probably read these author's notes...butts

Enjoy ya shmucks


Luffy blinked his now wide eyes a couple times as he looked from the quickly recovering red headed marine down to his now ruined t-shirt splattered with green as he stared down at it for a couple seconds before reacting calmly as he asked. "ARE YOU DYING?! OH NO DID YOU EAT SOME BAD MEAT OR SOMETHING?!" As he sent his rowboat shaking with his now wild movements with the young woman staring at him in surprise and confusion.

As she opened her mouth to presumably say something along the lines of an apology or a greeting Luffy's mind finally caught up with what he said and responded with anger as the straw hatted teen suddenly whipped his hand around to slap himself hard enough to even make his cheek sting as his head turned around several times before whipping back straight in a blur of black and tan as he now wore a furious glare and shouted up to the heavens with his previously flat now more resembled that of a shark. "BALLS MY FEET! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BAD MEAT!" And after repenting for his sins he returned his attention to the other occupant of his boat with a bright smile again seemingly forgetting all his previous turmoil.

Staring at him still the uniform clad woman just slowly shook her head as he heard her mutter. "Must've been a hallucination..." Before she slowly started making her way out of the barrel and after a moment of thought responded. "I think you meant blasphemy? And my name's Ava." And after getting out of the barrel her cheeks turned a bright crimson as she chuckled awkwardly. "And uh sorry about your shirt...was kinda stuck in a whirlpool for a while."

Luffy let himself carelessly flop back down onto the seat of his small vessel as he listened to her eagerly and nodded with a large smile. "Yeah that's it! Isn't that what I said though?" Before he started to jump in his seat excitedly and stared at the barrel as if it held his next adventure as he listened to Ava before he sent her a gigantic smile again and practically started begging. "And that sounds awesome! Was it fun riding in there? Can I have a try? Please please please!" While making his way towards the barrel under Ava's baffled stare.

After a few moments Ava found her voice as she grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt and sighed. "No Luffy it wasn't fun. I was stuck in there with nothing to do for a few days and had to constantly worry about being crushed." And seeing the excited gleam in his eye she tacked on. "And Uhh...there's no meat to eat for those days?"

And to her silent relief that her new companion wouldn't jump into the barrel next Luffy reeled away from the barrel with a disappointed pout as he kicked the side of it a bit with a huff. "Yeah no way I'm giving up meat for that." Before he turned back to Ava with his large smile again as he started pestering. "Hey hey so what were ya even doing in there? Oh and are you a real marine? Where are ya from?"

And as he opened his mouth to undoubtedly ask even more questions Ava calmly raised her hand to cover his mouth with an amused smile. "Gimme a minute to answer em okay?" And as he nodded she graced him by uncovering his mouth and began answering. "I dozed off on my own rowboat and it drifted into the whirlpool but since I can't swim I had no other choice but to hide in it. And yes I was a marine but I...quit. And nowhere important." And before Luffy could start pestering her even more Ava was quick to interrupt him. "Hey could we head back to your island? I haven't eaten for a few days and I'm starving."

Swiftly closing his mouth to stop his onslaught of curiosity Luffy's eyes were blown wide open at the statement and stared at her utterly flabbergasted. "WHAT?! You haven't eaten meat in days!? No wonder you threw up we have to hurry back now before you die!" And as he reached for his oars he finally remembered the mess on his chest and with a pout at the smell he shrugged off his shirt and tossed it into the water before he went to grab the oars again only to blink at Ava plopping herself down beside him to take one of the oars herself as he shrugged it off and reached for the other.

XXXXXXX

Grunting softly in exertion Ava continued her rowing uncaring of how much her stomach was rumbling as she refused to let herself be just dead weight. As she continued the tedious task she tried to take her mind off her hunger to eye her new companion sitting beside her. Man I was so lucky this guy found me...I don't even wanna imagine what'd happen if he didn't fish me out. And fighting down a shudder she noticed Luffy slowing down a bit to match her pace which made her scowl and redouble her efforts to keep up with him and make land faster.

Speaking of land she glanced over her shoulder to take in the fairly large island they were making their way towards and started recounting her plans in her head. Alright so first I have to repay Luffy for saving my life, after that I'll start building up funds to buy my own ship, and see if I can make a start as a bounty hunter. Also find some trustworthy marines to turn in the Arlong information Nezumi has. And with her thoughts settled she looked to Luffy again. "So what's your home like?"

Seemingly unaware of how his new friend's mind was whirring away Lufy began to endlessly ramble on and on about how cool his home was while talking about the likes of the gray terminal, how fun hunting in the woods were, and how nice Foosha village was and adding that they'll be heading there to eat at Makino's bar. And as Ava nodded along while listening she wore an amused smile the entire time.

XXXXXXX

"Shishishishi Told ya Makino's food was the best!" Was heard over the clattering of dishes and the sounds of chewing as sitting at one of the stools of a relatively large bar Luffy was smiling brightly with tall plates of food around him as he eagerly dug into a new plate laden with ribs with a cheer of pure joy. Although I wish the portions were bigger. Went unsaid as he began to eat the ribs bones and all.

With a grunt of agreement beside him Ava added another plate to her own growing stack that while still large was noticeably smaller then his as the 'marine' woman reached for another plate laden with a steak and mashed potatoes as she sighed happily. "Honestly at this point I'm sure even dog food would've tasted delicious but the fact that this is already delicious? Luffy you undersold this place!" And looking to the bartender Ava sent her a grateful smile with a nod. "Thanks again for all the food."

Smiling back a woman in her late 20's with dark green hair giggled at the compliment. "Oh it's always a pleasure to serve friends of Luffy! I just hope this'll help with how much you must've been starving in that barrel." Frowning lightly as the thought back to the story Ava and Luffy had told her between mouthfuls of their food Makino's continued to polish an already sparkling glass mug as she watched them enjoy themselves as she piped up. "So Ava did you have any plans on where you were going? If so I'm sure I can help find a ship heading that way!" And while she smiled comfortingly at the girl who she silently thought was too young to join the navy.

While the two women talked they didn't notice Luffy pouting at the thought of losing a new friend already as Ava finished her current plate already while panting a bit at eating so much as she shook her head. "Nah not really. I was just thinking of sticking around these parts for a while. Maybe pick up hunting to get some cash." She then smirked a bit and elbowed Luffy playfully as she added. "After all Luffy here said there's some cute little animals in the woods here!"

As Makino was about to say something Luffy let out a loud belch from Ava's elbow in his distended gut as he perked up excitedly. "Oh oh if you wanna stay here and hunt you can stay at my place! There's lots of animals around for meat!" After a moment he tacked on blandly. "Oh and I guess the place is free so you can build up money or whateva." As he shrugged carelessly and kicked his legs lazily with an excited smile. Wohoo new friend! And she's a marine so maybe she'll teach me some super cool marine secrets that gramps won't teach me cause he's a stink!

Blinking in surprise at Luffy's kind offer Ava stared at him for a moment before leaning over to slap him upside the back of his head. "First of all manners dumbass." Before she sat back and smiled at him with a nod. "And if you're sure I won't be a bother then thanks again for helping me so much. I definitely owe you one.

Watching the two teens Makino couldn't help the small sigh and amused smile that came to her face as she looked to Ava with a smile. "Well if you're sure dear. But you're always welcome to stay here. Now you said you have money right?" And upon receiving a nod the older woman continued. "Alright well for all the food you ordered..." And as she eyed Ava's stack of cleaned plates she said. "3,500 Beri and how about you go do some shopping in town?" And then she turned her attention to Luffy as her smile turned from warm and caring to more of a teasing one as she reached out to pinch his cheek. "And you can stay here and help me with some heavy lifting Luf-Chan~!"

Fighting down his urge to grumble some curse words out of fear for Makino's wrath Luffy felt his ears turn red upon hearing Ava giggling loudly at him as he wondered how Makino pinching his cheeks was able to actually sting as he whined. "Makino don't call me that! Imma be the king of the pirates and I can't have something as embarrassing as that be known about me!" And as Makino continued to giggle at him Luffy was quick to notice that the second set of laughter disappeared and glanced to the side to see Ava staring at him wide eyed. Do I have something on my cheek? Although even with that thought Luffy somehow knew he was off the mark but decided to shrug it off for now.

After that Ava was quick to pay for her meals and make her way out of the Party's Bar with a strange hurry in her step that left Luffy a little concerned for his new friend but an oblivious Makino was quick to distract him as she led him downstairs to have him help with moving barrels of alcoholic drinks and crates of ingredients she was 70% sure he wouldn't eat.

XXXXXXX

Pirate king, PIRATE KING, PIRATE KING?! Was burning through Ava's mind as she lazily picked through some clothes with a blank stare as she picked at a couple shirts she thought looked close enough to Luffy's size to make up to him for puking on his yellow one as she tightly gripped one and looked down with a furious scowl with her mind whirring through a mess of emotions and memories.

HOW?! He's so nice! He found an unconscious woman in a barrel and fished her out, talks endlessly about food and friends, and has such a genuine nice smile! But he wants to be a pirate? What's wrong with him?! And with a deep breath Ava noticed the idle glances the shopkeep was sending her way as she grabbed some clothes she had picked out for herself and made her way into the closest changing room to try and sort her thoughts.

As she sat on the provided bench in the small room she found herself staring up at the ceiling with a scowl that would require a crowbar to remove from her face as her mind blurred through old but still raw memories of collapsed and burned buildings, physically scarred men, mentally scarred women, and an all encompassing since of despair with gritted teeth as she struggled to see how someone like Luffy could ever dream od doing things like that.

As her mind came upon a pair of lifeless brown eyes and whipped her hand around to slap her cheek hard enough to leave a deep red mark that slowly faded as she snarled and forced her mind onto more pressing issues. Okay okay...Luffy is only an idiot with idiot dreams. That can be fixed...yeah yeah that's how I'll pay him back for all the help. Standing up Ava began to change into her new outfit.

I'll get him to drop that idiotic dream of becoming a pirate and convince him on something better...who knows maybe I can convince him on the idea of joining my future bounty hunting crew. And with her mind busy on future plans Ava looked herself over in the mirror in her new clothes consisting of a simple white tank top hanging loosely over a pair of dark jeans tucked into heeled boots as she let her hair hang free behind her as a curtain of dark red.

Nodding in satisfaction at her new outfit Ava eyed her old marine uniform mournfully and breathed out a small sigh. "I'll still protect everyone...just in a different way." And slowly folded up her uniform neatly and set the hat atop it as she had done many times previously in the evenings before she left to retrieve her other shopping bags of supplies as she silently thanked Nezumi for seemingly loving 10,000 beri notes more then any other and leaving her a couple million to use for the moment despite the small space she had in her sack.

Making a stop by the docks before returning to Makino's bar Ava breathed out a small sigh as she looked down at her old uniform sadly before she leaned down let them sink into the water as she breathed out and stood back up. "No regrets there's not taking it back." And with that she turned her back properly on her uniform and stepped away with a determined stare that soon enough broke away to let an amused smile slide onto her face when she saw Luffy waving her down excitedly and jumping and yelling in front of Party's Bar. With a lift and wave of her hand she laughed softly as he started waving more excitedly as if she didn't just acknowledge her noticing him. You're a good guy Luffy. I'll be sure to help you every step of the way no matter what.

XXXXXXX

"Why did I bother with white?"

Luffy broke out giggling at Ava's idle question as he happily lead her through the woods and shot her one of his blinding smiles over his shoulder and either didn't notice or didn't care about the dirty look she shot him for laughing at her minor plight as he looked back ahead and happily announced. "Welcome to the super secret fort ASL!" As he yelled this at the top of his lungs several flocks of birds quickly fluttered off and left Ava with a sweatdrop at this fact before she shrugged it off and started looking over her soon to be home which is a task Luffy happily took alongside her looking up at his home for the last few years proudly.

Built into the upper half of the utterly gigantic tree trunk was what looked to be the front portion of a very round ship sporting a guard rail and even a keel that Sabo had found one day as peeking up through the tree tops was a makeshift mast with even a crows nest and flag pole as the 3 different colored letters flapped through the air on the winds proudly and as he smiled up at the reminder of his brothers Luffy turned with an even bigger smile at Ava. "Cmon I gotta show you the inside!"

Nodding along as she followed Luffy Ava let her eyes roam over the somewhat ramshackle but oddly warm looking 'building' as she followed her straw hatted friend up the rope ladder and looked around at the singular wide open room with a fire pit built in what constituted as the 'kitchen' of the ship and Ava couldn't stop the small laugh that came out when she saw the helm taking up its proud position at the front of the makeshift ship. "So is she sea worthy Luffy? But jokes aside this place seems nice...kinda Uhh...makeshift though."

Seemingly not hearing that last part of her sentence Luffy eagerly showed her where to put her bags and started babbling on. "Yeah it's super cool right? Me and my brothers built it when we were younger and didn't wanna deal with Dadan and Gramps being so annoying! Sabo did all the planning cause of how smart he was and Ace did a lot of the cutting and stuff cause he's strong. But I hammered!" As Ava nodded along looking away from Luffy to set her bags down she didn't notice as his blinding smile turned sad for just a moment as he looked up at the flag. Just 2 more years Sabo and I'll start my journey...you'll be proud!

Looking back at Luffy with an amused smile at his rambling Ava just barely missed his sad smile as it became blinding again as he looked at her eagerly awaiting her response to his home and after a moment of thought Ava nodded at him with warm smile. "It's a really nice home Luffy...Probably filled with all kinds of memories huh?" And at Luffy's excited nod Ava looked around again and stretched her back out with a low groan. "Well part of me is saying I've had a long fucking day and deserve a nap...but on the other hand it's only 5 sooooo." She sent him a teasing smirk as she crossed her arms. "Wanna show me how 'big and powerful' these beasts you hunt are?"

And completely missing the teasing tone of voice she was using Luffy pumped his fists into the air with an excited yell. "Hell yeah! Makino's food is really really good but it's all so tiny! Cmon I think there's some tiger's by the river around this time!" And running ahead with a cry of meat Luffy laughed loudly as he heard Ava running after him with curses falling out of her mouth as she called for him to slow down as he lead her deeper into the woods. This is just like having Ace around again! Except Ava doesn't call me Lu all the time! And with a final loud laugh Luffy sprinted ahead faster with Ava yelling at him to slow down again.

XXXXXXX

"Holy shit that really is a huge tiger..." Was the eloquent response Ava found whispered out of her mouth as she stood crouched in the bushes alongside Luffy as she stared wide eyed down at the bank before turning to Luffy with a stare that was more baffled then scared. "When you said they get kinda big...I thought you meant like horse sized or something." And she sent him a harsh glare when he had the gall to chuckle at her reasonable reaction.

Said reasonable reaction was from looking down at the tiger down by the streaming river slowly lapping up water as where it's normal brethren stood at below 4 feet tall this beast they were staring down at seemed to be an abomination from sheer size alone as it could've very easily held one of its more normal kin inside of the beasts mouth alongside the set of giant jagged teeth making their home inside its maw as it stood at nearly 25 feet in height at the shoulder and if that wasn't enough for the intimidation factor the giant beast was littered with countless scars from battling for its ongoing survival with half of its furred face and muzzle being made up of scar tissue with a lack of an eye on that side of the stripped beast's face.

Sighing softly in annoyance Ava started to try and think of any way to approach the spit in the face of the squad cubed law as she pulled out her now inadequate feeling dagger. Okay so it's absolutely gigantic, probably has the muscles of an elephant, and can eat me or Luffy in one bite... Hanging her head briefly at how much of a pain in the ass this already looked to be Ava let out a small groan before she shook it off to refocus on the situation. Well at least we have the element of surprise.

And completely unaware of his new friend planning Luffy was too busy drooling over all the meat he saw in front of him and with his signature giggle he broke out of the tree line with a loud bellow of. "MEEEEAAAAT!"

As he ran headfirst towards the now glaring and alert tiger he didn't pay much attention to Ava loudly cursing him out as he grabbed his right upper and started swinging that fist around as if it was a flail. "Gum-gum!" Before he stopped his body and swung the fist around to launch it at the tiger's face as his arm stretched out to make up the distance. "Pistol!"

Meanwhile as this was happening Ava was still cursing out Luffy's name, the name of his third ancestor, and his pet goldfish as she ran out of the bushes running around the perimeter of the clearing although stumbled when she saw Luffy's body stretch as his fist slammed into the tiger's side. And with a guttural snarl the two started fighting it out in the clearing with large clumps of dirt and grass being uprooted with the strikes of the two as Ava had to focus on dodging at the moment and occasionally slipped in to land a cut on the beast.

Okay so that wasn't a hallucination earlier...neat. Was what Ava thought before she had to hop over one of Luffy's flailing limbs and shot him a glare. "HEY STOP ATTACKING BLINDLY DUMBASS!" Before she made a quick retreat to the other side of the clearing to take stock of the situation while silently thankful that Luffy was so loud that he was drawing all of the tiger's attention.

Standing back away from the fight Ava nodded in acknowledgement to Luffy's shout of. "Sorry Ava!" As she watched him and the tiger go after one another with frustration mounting on both sides of the fight and after a couple more minutes of watching the once marine woman blinked. Oh so that's why.

Watching Luffy throw out his pistol like punches Ava could see that he seemed to be having issues aiming his attacks although based on the couple bruises they were leaving on random spots on the tiger's body they seemed to have the power.

Meanwhile as Luffy ran and jumped around the clearing while using the ring of trees around it as points to grab onto the tiger was seemingly having very little luck in actually hurting the rubber man as it could only occasionally open up slices in Luffy with its steak knife sized claws but thankfully had no luck with getting the gleaming long sword sized fangs on him and after a momentary heart attack Ava learned that her new companion seemed immune to bludgeoning damage when the tiger crushed his head under of it's gigantic paws only for Luffy to get up and jump away as if nothing has happened after the tiger lifted said paw to inspect its handiwork.

Shaking off her slack jawed expression after seeing Luffy shrug off having several tons of beast stomp on his head Ava frowned heavily as she watched the fight go on. We could probably win like this if we waited long enough. But that would take forever and I don't wanna risk those fangs. Looking at said fangs Ava had to fight down a shiver at the thought of her or Luffy being impaled on those before she refocused on the beast. If I can just keep it still for a few seconds then Luffy should be able to land a fucking huge hit...

With a long suffering sigh and grinding her teeth Ava began to run full throttle at the tiger and called out. "LUFFY STEP BACK AND WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL!" And was immediately relieved when Luffy seemingly understood that she had a plan as he jumped back towards the tree line. Well my physical scores were always the best let's see how they stand up to this fucker! And running up to the tiger while it was busy staring at Luffy she was quick to stab her knife into it's side and leaving it behind as she ran on by before whirling around to send it her best attempt at a cocky smirk that was shaking lightly as she now wore a cold sweat.

With another deep growl the tiger glared her down fully now and give her its undivided attention while slowly pacing back and forth without a care of the dagger stuck into its side. After nearly 30 seconds of the pair staring each other down and just as Ava was getting worried that she'd have to initiate another attack the great beast suddenly let loose a deafening roar that shook the trees of the clearing as it reared up on its hand legs to crush the newest nuisance it had to face with its powerful front paws.

And letting loose a string of curses Ava was quick to jump back from the strike and as soon as she got her footing again she got herself ready to move once more. An action that very quickly showed its worth as she had to dive and roll when she saw movement in the kicked up dust cloud and second later the gleaming claws of the tiger tore through where her head was just moments ago and the only red it drew was a few locks of her hair as she came out of the roll with a much more confident smirk now at the beast. Just gotta wait for the right moment.

After a few minutes of ducking, dipping, diving, and most importantly dodging Ava finally found her chance as letting loose another tree shaking roar the snarling and furious tiger had seemingly reached the end of whatever patience it held onto throughout the fight as it dove at the red headed young woman with a maw full of fangs and saliva opened up wide to engulf her and end the more literal then she'd prefer game of cat and mouse.

Wincing in pain at just the sheer level of volume of the roar Ava's face quickly shifted into a gigantic predatory grin when she saw the gleaming fangs. Well now or nothing! And waiting for the right moment she snapped her arms up and with muscles and veins bulging gripped the largest pair of fangs on the great beast and heaved to barely keep them from sinking into her flesh and with a roar of her own she forced one of her legs into its mouth as well and slammed her boot down to fully keep the tiger from shutting its jaw as she yelled out. "LUFFY NOW!" While practically choking on the smell of meat and blood in its maw.

With a deep growl that Ava could feel rumble through her bones the tiger began trying with renewed vigor to crush her between its fangs as the two fought each other in a battle of pure power as they heaved against one another for a few moments. Just as the tiger was about to break the battle with a shake of its head it froze up in fear as it heard the annoying black haired monkey from earlier yell out. "GUM GUM!" And as the sounds of pounding foot steps and stretching filled the clearing Ava now wore a gigantic smirk inside the tiger's mouth as said beast was filled with dread as a pair of palms met its side and nearly caved in its ribs as Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs. "BAZOOKA!"

And with a hacking gasp and a deep wet cough that carried with it a just clump of blood they monstrous beast was sent flying through the air alongside its passenger as screaming and flapping her arms Ava could only take momentary satisfaction in watching that dammed tiger slam into the trees on the other side of the clearing and uproot a few of them with its sheer weight and speed it had come crashing into them but she currently had more pressing issues.

Namely the fact that she finally stopped flipping through the air only to find that was plummeting straight down towards the river the tiger was drinking from earlier as she screamed. FUCK I'M GONNA DROWN! And throwing her arms in front of her as if that would help her situation she closed her eyes and tried to brace herself for the worst. And while in her panicked state she didn't notice the strange to tingling feeling that washed over her body.

After a few moments Ava slowly realized that she didn't feel as if she was falling anymore...and there was a strange buzzing sound around her and as she slowly brought her arms away she realized her eyes were already open as she found herself staring down at the water's surface merely a few feet below her. And as she took in her reflection on the water's surface all she could muster up was a quiet. "What the fuck..."

As staring up back at Ava where her reflection should've been was instead what could only be described at the odd hybrid of a human and wasp as flying there with its pair of large blurring elytra was a 5 foot tall red wasp that instead was of sporting 6 limbs only had a pair of legs and a pair of arms that ended in gigantic stingers as both sets of these long limbs lead back to a relatively small thorax and under that was the giant form of its black and red abdomen that lead down to the wasps even bigger main stinger that glinted with poison in the slowly disappearing sunlight. And finally on top of the thorax of the large insect was its simple water drop shaped head as it sported a pair of large black eyes in the relatively same shape and finally poking up between said eyes were a pair of antenna that lazily twitched.

Staring down at the reflection Ava found herself momentarily frozen with her now insectoide eyes blown wide open until after a few moments she managed to shake off the worst of her surprise and rubbed her arm stingers together. "Huh...wasp fruit?" And as she slowly looked over her shoulder which she noted now looked to have a built in shoulder pad she took in her translucent wings and smiled a bit shakily. "O-okay...yeah that's actually pretty cool..."

"Hey Ava!" And with that shout startling the new Zoan out of her self inspection Ava looked over to see Luffy on the side of the river the tiger landed on as he seemed torn between wanting to stare at his friend with starry eyes while squealing for a ride like a toddler or saying what he had in mind until eventually the latter won out. "Cmon the tiger is getting up we gotta finish it!"

And jolting in surprise Ava looked to where Luffy was running to find that the tiger was in fact slowly rising while heavily favoring the side that didn't have a rubber man slam all his strength into as her new eyes glared it down with a buzz of frustration coming from the now big woman as Ava flew alongside Luffy clumsily while holding her 3 stingers at the ready as the tiger finally got up with a furious roar and met their charge head on.

As the 3 clashed Ava found to her immense relief that while she wasn't nearly as agile as she was before on the ground that her exoskeleton provided as excellent shielding against the swipes and bites of the tiger as with the sound of nails on a chalkboard the giant claws of the beast simply skidded off her as she sent it a challenging smirk and stabbed into its side with one of her arm stingers as it let out a roar of pain.

Luffy meanwhile was now having a much easier time with the beast as Ava took the claw swipes it threw at him head on but did panic when the tiger batted at her with its giant paw and cracks formed throughout her abdomen as Ava was sent tumbling away with a groan and green hemoglobin leaking from the cracks and her mouth.

And finally after nearly half an hour of constant fighting Luffy managed to get himself atop the tiger with his rubbery limbs tangled with its own as it thrashed and roared in fury at the position it was stuck in as he looked over to Ava and shouted. "Cmon hurry up and finish it!"

And not bothering to waste even a moment with nodding in response the new bug woman flew up awkwardly and with her left stinger pulled back yelled. "Stinger sniping!" And brought it forward in a rush of speed to sink into the tiger's throat.

With a final weak thrash the great beast crashes to the forest floor now dead as Luffy gratefully took a stinger from Ava to stand up as they stood over their fallen foe and looked over at one another.

While heaving for breath the corner of Luffy's mouth quirked up into a smile and Ava returned to her fully human form while wheezing loudly as she held a hand on his shoulder for support and upon seeing his small smile she bore one as well now. As they stared each other down Luffy's chest started to shake and Ava's standing became a bit more unstable as her shoulders shook. Until finally the silent battle was lost and they both collapsed back laughing like lunatics with tears streaming down their cheeks.

"SHISHISHISHISHISHISHI!"

"BAZAZAZAZAZAZ!"


I gotta admit I was really nervous to start writing that fight. Cause like we all know that Shonen fics in general Kinda live or die depending if fight scenes are written well.

Not to pat myself on the back or anything though but honestly I felt like that fight scene went pretty well! Thoughts on how it was in the reviews would be appreciated of course. And yeah Ava's devil fruit is the pretty simple 'bug bug fruit model red paper wasp'. Nothing op but early flying is a good boost.And yeah the hybrid form is basically just Beedrill but red instead of yellow. Cause Beedrill is great.

Also is a laugh like Ava's already claimed in one piece by anyone? I know there's a couple z ones but I can't remember.