Chapter 129:
Forbidden Fruit
"What news do you have for me?" Hancock demanded as her crew unloaded the spoils of their most recent journey. They had plundered three merchant ships, a pirate ship, and most recently the Marine ship anchored just outside the island's bay.
"Snake Princess!" Kikyo answered with a bow. "Little happened until yesterday. A man was found in the woods covered in parasitic mushrooms. Being mistaken for a woman of the village, it was carried in, healed, and given a bath before the treachery was revealed."
"A man?" Hancock wondered. "On Amazon Lily?"
"Yes, Snake Princess! Without you, we did not know what to do. It is currently in a cell on the north side of the village because several girls wished to study it. We were waiting for your orders on the matter."
"Hmm," the Warlord hummed. "That is quite strange. Do you believe... it was brought in for the purpose of disrupting our village?"
"No, Empress," Kikyo answered, shifting uncomfortably. "It was an honest mistake. Your word is law, please do with the man as you wish! No one will object."
"Very well," Hancock nodded. Whomever brought the man in wouldn't die today if it was only a mistake, as long as they didn't do something foolish like stand up for him. "Lead me to... it. I shall dispose of the man."
"Yes, Empress!" Passing her checkboard to another Amazon, Kikyo led the Snake Princess and her sisters to the northern side of town, stopping near the open jail the Amazons kept. Luffy was inside, doing pushups and the like while he waited or someone to come near. He didn't have anything better to do and he needed to get stronger, anyway. He paused as the four women reached the bars of his cell, pushing himself to his feet. His vest no longer had the flowers and frills, though their removal left a few holes. He knew he could escape at any time, but that would mean he'd have to run and hide, and he didn't feel like playing high-stakes hide-and-seek.
"Hi!" he yelled with a blinding smile. "Are you the one in charge, here?"
"You foolish man!" Kikyo growled, rapping on the bars. "You will show Empress Hancock the proper respect she deserves!"
"Oh, that's like a king, right?" the male grinned. "I've met a couple of those. Well, I think the old knight guy counts? I'm not sure. But I've met at least one king before!"
"Leave us, Kikyo," Hancock ordered, the woman bowing and departing with a glare directed through the bars. The empress waited until she was gone before speaking, interrupting his mutterings. "What is your purpose here, man?"
"I just want to leave," Luffy shrugged. "I mean, an island of women is cool and all, but I need to find my friends."
"...And?"
"And what?"
"Sandersonia," Marigold whispered to her sister. "Isss thisss man acting weird?"
"Indeed," the other Gorgon sister replied. "He isss not ssswooning like every other man. That is ssstrange."
"Tell me," Hancock all but growled. "Why are you here on Amazon Lily? Who do you work for? How are you here?"
"I got thrown here," Luffy shrugged again. "I don't work for anyone."
"I don't believe you," the Snake Princess sniffed. "Someone sent you here to infiltrate my empire and spy on me. Who is it? The Navy? The Five Elder Stars?" She paused, a sour look crossing her face. "The Celestial Dragons?"
"Excuse me?" Luffy demanded, a fist making the bars of his cell rattle. "I am a pirate! In fact, I'm going to be the King of the Pirates! I'll never take orders from anyone! My crew got scattered by a Warlord, but we'll find each other again! That's why I need to go. Do you have a ship I could use? And maybe a crew? I need to get to Sabaody!"
"You are out of luck," Hancock dismissed. "Lying to me or not, you shall not leave this island alive."
"Why not?"
"The law of Amazon Lily states that any man who sets foot here is to be put to death!"
"Sounds extreme to me," Luffy blinked. "You can't keep me here. I'll stay alive for my crew, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
"You don't know who I am, do you?" The empress' voice carried an air of disbelief. She quickly composed herself. "I am the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the most beautiful woman in the world!" She flipped her hair, waiting for Luffy's reaction. Rather than praise or awe, he seemed to take offence.
"Nu-uh!" he denied. "You're pretty, but Nami's way prettier than you!"
"Excuse me?" the empress gaped. It was Hancock's turn to take offense, denied that satisfaction of being reminded of her beauty. Her sisters watched in shock. "I know not who 'Nami' is, but she cannot possibly compare to this." The empress gestured to herself. "What does she have that I do not?"
"Me," Luffy answered, crossing his arms. "You claim to be the Pirate Empress, but Nami will be my queen. With the help of our crew, we will be the freest people in the world, and no one will stop us. Not even you, Hammock."
"Ahh!" Hancock gasped, resting one hand over her forehead dramatically as her sisters pulled out their weapons. "How dare you sully my name, foul man!"
"I don't know what sully means," Luffy admitted, pointing at the Warlord, "but I didn't do it! Maybe. I think."
Hancock recovered quickly, forming her hands into the shape of a heart as her anger overrode the insult. "For your insolence, you shall stand as a sentry on the edge of Amazon Lily for eternity, trapped in stone. Love-Love Beam."
Applying her powers for the first time since her return, Hancock released a beam, the pink waves rolling over Luffy. He yelped, trying to avoid the energy, but he had been unprepared. The wave washed over him.
...
Hancock's disappointment was buried under her shock, Luffy slowly opening his eyes. His hands patted down his clearly-not-stone body with a relieved sigh.
"Oh hey, I'm alive," he smiled. "That's nice."
"Sissster," Marigold hissed. "What happened?"
"What'sss wrong?" Sandersonia questioned at the same time. Hancock's eyes hardened.
"Love-Love Beam!"
This time, Luffy didn't move to dodge, letting the energy roll over him without effect.
"What is that supposed to do?" he asked.
"Love-Love Beam! Love-Love Beam!"
"St-Stop!" Luffy gasped, trying to suppress his laughter. "Shishishi! It tickles!"
"Have you no lewd thoughts of me?" Hancock demanded, one hand on her chest. "Your lecherous mind should've turned you to stone!"
"What is lewd? Can you eat it? Hey, I'm hungry. Can I have some meat?"
"You will stay here," the empress snarled. "You will neither eat or drink unless I say so. We will see how long you last."
"You can't do that!" Luffy cried reflexively at the denial of food.
"I can and I will," the monarch responded. "Not only do I rule this island, but the world will forgive my cruelty, even if I starve a man to death, because I am beautiful. Marigold, Sandersonia, let's go. I wish to bathe."
"Yesss, sissster," they smiled, the three leaving Luffy alone in his cage.
"You're so mean! Damn empire person!"
"Have someone dig through the bounties while I'm in the bath," Hancock ordered as the Gorgon Sisters made their way to the palace, ignoring their prisoner's yelling. "By the time I get out, I want to know who that man is and how he can resist me. And make sure everyone in the village knows not to feed him."
Boa Hancock laid in the massive, steaming bath of the palace, but the water failed to ease her tense muscles. A problem nagged at her soul. There was an inconsistency of the fabric of the universe. A single variable that threatened to overhaul her entire worldview.
There was a man who did not desire her.
The mere concept had never crossed her mind since she mastered her Devil Fruit. Every man wanted her in some fashion, openly or quietly. Even Momonga, the Vice-Admiral from the ship, had to stab himself to resist turning to stone, but that pirate with the straw hat didn't seem to realize the shear unprecedentedness of his actions. Luffy, she had been told, was his name.
"Luffy," she said, testing how the name tasted. Her nose crinkled at the sound of the man who made no sense. She would know more of him when she got out. Her best were digging through papers and posters for every scrap of information about the anomaly.
But would that information change anything? The man still did not desire her, did not swoon for her, and did not praise her beauty. Such a thing was fundamentally wrong. The sun rose in the morning, water was wet, and every man lusted for her... until they didn't. Until him. A man proving to be difficult, a challenge she had never faced, an apple higher than she could normally reach.
A smile spread over her lips
She had to make it right, to correct this wrong. She had to do whatever she could to make him swoon. Hancock would change her tune, dance to a different song. She would give the man another chance to repent. If he did not, she would throw trial after trial his way and allow him to win. She would let him bask in the praise, fan his ego, and even... complement him.
She would break him with her praise, prove that no man, no matter how strong or foolish, could resist her charms. She would make him fall for her until he sung her praises and claimed he could not live without her. She would make that fool hers.
And then, once there were no doubts to the depths of his love for her, she would finish what she started. Once Luffy declared his love for her and her alone, she would turn him to stone with hearts in his eyes. The man would stand as a statue in her throne room forever, a constant reminder that no man could ever escape from her beauty. And the world would be right once more.
Hancock's smile widened before she giggled, the sound building into a mad laugh that echoed through the room.
She would prove her superiority over whoever this 'Nami' was, steal the man who denied her, and fix the world. Because she was beautiful, and beautiful people like her always got what they wanted, even if such things were forbidden.
"Tell me about him," Hancock ordered, lounging on her snake Salome as a throne. The intelligence officers of the Kuja Pirates were arrayed before her, stacks of paper held on their own currently table-shaped snakes. "What did you find?"
"Of course, Snake Princess!" one of the women answered, holding out a poster with a younger, smiling pirate. "His name is 'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy, worth 300-million, making him one of the rookies the papers have called Supernovas. He and a good portion of his crew are from the East Blue and he has a Devil Fruit that turned his body to rubber, making normal blunt force ineffective against him. While he is accredited with defeating several wanted and Marine foes, the most notable include 'Saw Tooth' Arlong, the former Warlord Crocodile, Rob Lucci of CP9, the current Warlord Gecko Moria, and 'Golden Lion' Shiki. It is also believed his grandfather is the Hero of the Marines, 'The Fist' Monkey D. Garp."
"Interesting," Hancock mused. The scrawny man was actually strong, relatively, and had notable family. "Rubber, you say? How unassuming, but with monsters like Doflamingo out in the world, that's not saying much. Did you find anything about the 'Nami' he mentioned?"
"We did," the other woman replied, offering another wanted poster. This one showed a woman-more of a girl, really-with orange hair and Straw Hat wrapped around her, smiling. It was sickening. No man should be fawning over any woman but her! "'Cat Burglar' Monkey D. Nami, the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates and worth a mere 30-million. Clearly, she and Straw Hat are in a-" she frowned, her nose crinkling, "romantic relationship, assumed marriage, which the man confirmed. She also comes from the East Blue, as far as we can tell. Her weapon is a staff that allows her to control weather in her immediate area and she has notable thievery skills."
"So this is my obstacle?" Hancock asked herself aloud, taking the poster. "This is the reason a single man can resist my charm? What a joke!" She ripped the wanted poster in half, carelessly tossing the pieces to the side. "This man rejects my beauty for a small, ugly, young thief girl? Ridiculous!"
"It is, Princess!" the women agreed. "What are your commands?"
The empress opened her mouth before closing it, a back-up plan coming to mind. "What was the name of his crew?"
"The Straw Hat Pirates, Snake Princess."
"I trust you at least found posters for all the wanted members?"
"Of course!"
"Were you aware that one of their number is currently imprisoned by the Marines and scheduled to be executed?"
"N-No, Empress," the underling answered, nervous. "Th-That might be in today's paper, which we gave to Granny Nyon before we started our search. If I may ask, which one?"
"Show me the posters. I shall recognize the name when I see it." Bowing, the women handed their monarch the small attack of papers, allowing Hancock to leaf through them. She stopped about halfway through. "This one. 'Tri-Horn' Coby."
"What a shame," the youngest information Kuja muttered, eyeing the picture. "He's a cute one."
"What was that?" Hancock growled.
"N-Nothing, Your Highness!"
"Yes, as I said, this one is scheduled to be executed in about half-a-week. If I cannot get Straw Hat to confess his love for me in that time, I will give him a chance to rescue this one. If he succeeds, he will owe me. If not, I will be there to pick up the pieces."
"Um, Snake Princess?" the senior information Kuja asked. "If I may, why would you go to such lengths?"
"Straw Hat is the first man to ever deny me," Hancock answered. "Not just once, but repeatedly. Such an insult will not stand, so I will go as far as I need to make him grovel with devotion before I turn him to stone. My honor demands no less, and you care for my honor, don't you?"
"Of course, Empress!" the rest of the Kuja cried.
Allowing her underlings to clear away the mess, Hancock leaned against Salome, staring out the window in the general direction of their prison.
"Such is the way of the world," she mused. "I will make you beg for me, Monkey D. Luffy."
Dinner had come and gone. The Gorgon Sisters' baths passing without incident. The sun still hung in the sky of the calm belt, its golden rays lighting the stone structure set in the mouth of the Amazon Lily's dormant volcano. The centerpiece of the structure was a large, circular battle arena lined by red guardrails that were more decorative than anything. A second-level ringed the first, about 10 feet below, with a third level under that but the rest of the center was surrounded by a pit of spikes.
"Women of Amazon Lily!" Boa Hancock called dramatically from her throne, throwing one arm up to calm the endless cheers of her people. Their cries echoed from the colosseum where every warrior old enough to have a snake partner found themselves. Their empress slashed her hand through the air, cutting off their cheers, leaving a vacuum of silence. "My people, welcome. As you know, Amazon Lily is a nation of strength. An empire of battle! A place without the impurities or weakness of the males of the human race!" She paused, allowing her followers to cheer once more as the so-called Most Beautiful Woman in the World gestured to the cage in the center of the arena. "Even so, against all odds, one has found its way-!"
"I'm not an it!" Luffy yelled, cutting the Pirate Empress off in the middle of her speech. The women around them gasped, several hurling degrading insults toward him. "I'm a he, you know!"
The interruption caused another stir in the crowd, split between insulting the man and wondering about this new pronoun they had never heard before. Hancock's brow furrowed as she weighed her choices, grimacing.
"Against all odds," she nearly muttered through gritted teeth, "one has found his way onto the sacred ground of Amazon Lily. As the laws state, he is to be put to death by combat, however, we have gone so long without such an event that I have chosen to turn this into a spectacle. Currently, the man we have identified as the pirate Monkey D. Luffy has been denied food and drink. For three days, he shall fight in this arena for our enjoyment, each victory earning himself food and rewards while staving off his demise. Should he continue to live come the end of the third day, I will permit him to leave."
The end of Hancock's speech sparked rage and confusion, the latter more because the women didn't know how the former could be directed at their empress, much less from themselves. Hancock waited for the uproar to down die down before continuing.
"Of course, he could avoid all of this. I have a feast ready in the palace I would share with him if he just bestows upon me my proper titles. Those of the most beautiful woman in the world and she who holds the undying love of every man, including his."
"Screw that!" Luffy yelled from his cage. "I'll never betray Nami's trust!"
"Then you have chosen battle," Hancock smiled. "Sandersonia, release Bacura."
"Yesss, sissster!" The green-haired Gorgon answered, stepping away from the side of Hancock's throne. At the same time, the empress nodded to Marigold, the other Gorgon making her way into the arena where she opened Luffy's cage.
"Good luck, man," Sandersonia hissed, dumping Luffy out of the cage before carrying it away. "You're going to need it." Luffy shook his head, jumping to his feet.
"That was rude," the pirate captain commented, dusting himself off. He stiffened, a menacing growl cutting through the air. The women in the stands went wild, cheering and hollering until a chant formed.
"Ex-e-cu-tion! Ex-e-cu-tion!"
"I'm starting to feel like they don't want me here," Luffy commented as he located the origin of the growling. He turned, squaring up against a large panther with black fur and a small helmet. The panther's intelligent red eyes glared at its foe, searching for a sign of weakness.
"Bacura has been the official executioner of Amazon Lily for several generations," Hancock commented. "There are a handful of Kuja strong enough to defeat them, but certainly no man ever has."
"It looksss like he'sss lucky," Marigold hissed. "Bacura hasssn't eaten in a few dayss. Ussually they play with their food."
"Really?" Luffy asked, his eyes drifting to Hancock and her sisters while keeping Bacura in his peripherals. "A big cat? I fought and ate stuff like this before I was ten."
"Bacura," Hancock announced. "Hunt."
The panther growled as it pounced, landing where Luffy had stood a second before. The pirate eyed it warily, knowing if he were to kill the creature, he would only make the islanders angrier. His eyes twitched toward Hancock.
"Are you sure we can't just talk?" he tried. The second of seeming distraction was all Bacura wanted, pouncing for the pirate again. "Back off!" said pirate growled, pivoting on one leg while his other came up to kick Bacura in the side of the face. The cat's eyes widened in surprise as its momentum shifted, the panther tumbling to the edge of the arena while pieces of its teeth clattered to the ground around it. It rolled through the guardrail, falling to the second level.
The Amazons around the arena fell silent as they processed the image before them.
"There," Luffy said, dragging attentions to him. "I took down your cat. Give me meat or give me a ship."
"Oh my," Hancock smiled, lightly fanning herself with pink cheeks. "I'm quite impressed. I knew there was a chance you would win, but not so quickly. In fact, I would say that was almost too quick. My warriors came here for a show, not some single kick." She turned to the stands. "Are there any in the audience who would like to test themselves against this man?"
Over a dozen hands shot up, snakes hissing alongside their partners' cheers. The empress eyed these volunteers until finding one that looked to be a good match. She chose, directing a heavier-set warrior to leap into the arena.
"I am Katrina," the warrior stated as she stood, long blonde hair falling down her back. She was dressed in furs dyed green that were a little more modest than most, nearly an entire dress. Her snake was a dark red, clutched in her hand like a club while hissing. "For your crimes and my glory, you will die."
"Listen, lady," Luffy muttered. "I'm not really sure what's going on, but if I need to take you down to get back to my friends, I will."
"Good," Katrina smiled, hefting her living club. "Come at me."
"May the battle between Monkey D. Luffy and the Amazon Katrina begin!" Hancock announced.
Katrina roared, charging the pirate. Luffy's eyes narrowed as he shifted, jumping away from the Amazon's overhead strike. Her snake, now with a shimmering if shaky layer of black shine, hit the tile where Luffy had stood, the arena's floor cracking and caving under the force.
"Woah," Luffy commented. "You're strong, but I can do that, too."
"Perhaps," Katrina admitted with a grin. "I'll admit, I still have some trouble flowing my Haki through Bessena here, but I'm leaps and bounds over most of Amazon Lily's resident population."
"I don't know too much about this Haki stuff," Luffy conceded, "but I'll still beat you quickly." Luffy shot forward, throwing one spinning arm behind him. Katrina blinked as the pirate captain surprised her. "Gum-Gum Rifle!"
Crossing her arms, the female warrior had just enough time to cover her forearms in a thin coating of Armament Haki before the rubberman's fist drove into them, pushing her to the edge of the arena. She growled, digging her feet into the flooring as Luffy's fist drilled against her defense.
"My turn!" she declared, deflecting the rest of the punch's force to the side. The Amazon jumped, spinning forward as her snake partner Bessena slithered to her leg, wrapping around her right foot like a boot as another coating of Haki formed. Luffy threw his arms up in a cross block much like Katrina had before, her kick meeting his guard with enough force to drive his feet into the tile. The crowd gasped as the pirate took the force of a Haki-powered blow without a similar defense, and without batting an eye.
"Time to end this," Luffy muttered, his hands twisting to grab Katrina's ankle. "Sorry."
"Wait, what are you-?" The Amazon didn't finish as the pirate started swinging her in a circle, twisting his body in the process on account of his feet being planted in the floor. Katrina's hands shot to her mouth as she desperately tried to keep her dinner down. Luffy wasn't helping as they slowly sped up until Luffy was wound up like a spring.
"Gum-Gum...Spring Catapult!"
Luffy unwound far faster than before, taking Katrina along for the ride. Both combatants became blurs as the captain spun, Katrina's dinner flying off into the spikes below only a few seconds in. With a final shout, Luffy released his opponent, the poor Amazon screaming her head off until she crashed into the stands, unconscious.
The stadium was silent until Hancock began a polite clap, the rest of the warriors awkwardly following her lead.
Such ended Luffy's first day of Trial by Combat in the Warrior Empire of Amazon Lily.
End of Chapter 129
Read and Review!
-SwordOfTheGods