Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either the Dragon Ball Z or the One Piece franchises. All rights belong to their respective owners
Chapter 3: Winner takes all!
A distant noise was all it took for Goku to wake up. "Hm?" Goku said dazedly. He opened his eyes and saw he was lying on the ground face first. Goku tried to get onto his feet but his body wouldn't move, he felt his hands were behind his back and noticed snake coils were wrapped around his wrists and chest tightly, Goku sighed, he rolled onto his back and picked his head up allowing to see his surroundings.
As Goku looked around, he saw hundreds of women sitting in a massive stadium either yelling or cheering loudly. Goku picked his chest off the ground and sat cross-legged looking around in confusion. "Hey, can you tell me where am I?" Goku spoke to the audience but his question was ever so faint to their roaring cheers making it impossible to hear it. "Good, you're awake," Hancock's voice was heard from above. Goku looked up the steep steps that were in front of him to see above was the palace he crashed through, Sandersonia and Boa Hancock. While waving at her people to settle down, Hancock directed her attention to the sayian. "Now, why did you come to our island?" Hancock asked Goku, he didn't want to have to explain how he arrived at their island by a wish from the dragon balls so he decided to simply say, "I don't know really, I just woke up in your island" Goku shrugged. "Liar!" Hancock pointed at him. "You think we would believe that you came here out of the blue? Your arrival to this island must have some purpose," she said.
The half of the women around the arena cheered for Hancock while the other jeered Goku for trying to trick their empress.
Goku cocked his head slightly in confusion and turned towards Hancock, he noticed every time Hancock made any movement, the crowd would erupt in cheers. At this point, he just had to know what was going on. "These people, why do they cheer you on? Are you someone important?" Goku asked "Maybe you can help me" Hancock simply laughed at Goku's request "Help you? You're on public execution" Goku's eyes widened in shock, "eh?! Execution! For what?" Goku asked while Hancock walked over to her snake throne and sat down.
"It is because you are a male; our people despise men like you for taking advantage of other people including their own kind" Hancock replied."Look I just want to know where I am because…" Goku hesitated "... I'm not from around this part of the world" Goku said. "Then where are you..." As Hancock was about to finish her response, A voice was heard from a distant. "Sister!" Hancock stopped and everyone turned their heads to a gate leading to the palace, a figure appeared out and revealed to be Marigold. She held a boy in the air for everyone to see. "I've found him, Sister," Marigold spoke and Hancock nodded in approval. As Goku watched, he noticed the boy was wearing a straw hat around his neck and had a cut under one of his eye. The boy was trying to break free from his bounds and her grip "I'm going to beat every single one of you!" Luffy said angrily towards the three sisters but they just scoffed at the boy's remark,
"Beat us? Just who do you think you are talking to?" Sandersonia hissed at Luffy "I am the Empress of this village, what I do is to keep my sisters and my village safe from filthy creatures just as yourself" Hancock said, she turned back to her people and spoke out loud " The two of you will not leave this Island alive" Hancock spoke with authority, bringing chills down to the Kuja women's spine, they know the two men's fate were sealed.
"Please wait! Hancock!" A voice pleaded from the crowd. A woman got from her seat in the stadium and jumped on the stage in front of Goku with her hands outwards. Goku's eyes widened "It's you!" Goku said. It was the same girl he protected from the large creature on the mountain cliffs.
"Marguerite!" Luffy shouted towards the young Kuja, "Marguerite huh? Nice to see you again" Goku grinned but she ignored him and remained motionless in the presence of everyone. "I don't believe that these men are lying to us. I do not believe that they mean harm to our country." Marguerite spoke. Faint whispers swept through the audience, taken aback by their sister's apparent trust in the two men.
The Kuja empress frowned "Tell me your name child." Marguerite was trembling but bowed to her empress " My name is Mar... Marguerite" she spoke. Hancock crossed her leg over the other before she spoke. "The simple act of entering this country means certain death for any man. You, as a Kuja should know this. Why do you defend them so?" Hancock said.
Marguerite straightened her posture to look directly at her empress. "…I feel have I debt to them! I was being attacked by vicious creatures up near the mountains when he saved me" Marguerite said pointing at Goku. Marguerite then pointed towards Luffy, "and if wasn't for him, I would not have made it back to the village" she said.
The audience grew silent as they watched their Empress uncross her legs, rise from her throne and stroll casually down the long and steep steps, they feared for their kuja sister, anticipating what would happen next. Marguerite bowed her head as Hancock was upon her, waiting almost patiently.
Hancock stepped forward, "Raise your head, 'Honest' Marguerite." The empress spoke. Marguerite felt her chin uplift by the Kuja empress, forcing her to gaze directly into her majesty's mesmerizing eyes. Hancock smiled, knowing well that the young Kuja was entranced by her beauty; she raised her hands in front of the young Kuja, "Mero Mero Merrow!"
Before Marguerite could blink, she was turned to stone, frozen in whatever stance she held."What?!" Goku exclaimed in shock. "What happened?! That's the same move that she used on me before, so why did she turn to stone?" Hancock turned around and casually walked back up to her throne.
"Why did you turn her into stone, she was just trying to help us out!" Luffy screamed as he was flailing around. Marigold had pushed Luffy to the ground in order to restrain him from escaping her grip."Exactly, she helped out you out which is prohibited in our village that is why I turned her into stone," Hancock said as she sat back on her throne. "No!" Goku shouted. He laid on his back and raised his legs into the air. He then propelled himself forward and landed lightly on his feet, Goku expanded his arms apart allowing him to slip through the snake coils and run towards Marguerite. This surprised the Kuja women as they witnessed Goku's athletism. Goku reached Marguerite's lifeless body and was horrified.
He couldn't believe it, why would an empress do this; it was just like in Namek when Frieza took the life of his best friend Krillin in cold blood, right in front of his eyes. Even though he didn't know Marguerite very well, he still cared since she tried to help him and the boy out, even when she knew there would be consequences. There were still kind people in this island Goku thought but he couldn't believe how they were treated. He bent his head in front of Marguerite, masking his face away from everybody. Goku was pissed and I mean pissed, "how dare you…" Goku said in a low and dangerous voice which surprised everyone.
"How Dare You!" Goku roared, his shout was so loud it shattered all the glass in the palace which made all the villagers scream in terror, Hancock leaned forward and gritted her teeth. "Who is this man?!" the empress thought in disbelief. Goku not moving his body turned his head towards the empress and her two sisters with anger in his eyes."You will turn this girl back to normal or else…" Goku said in his steely voice.
Hancock scoffed "Who do you think you are talking to?" Goku turned around fully and stared directly at the Empress. He took a step before vanishing. "What?!" Hancock exclaimed as everyone just witnessed the man disappear right before their eyes. Immediately Goku reappeared in front of Hancock and her sisters taking them by surprise. Goku glared at the three sisters "I won't let you kill innocent people just because of me, I don't care who you are, I'm not letting you take your hatred of me out on anyone else." Goku spoke with authority sending chills down the sister's spine.
"Why you..." Sandersonia said as she struck her fist forward only to hit the air.
Sandersonia was shocked at how quickly the sayian moved. She looked left and right for him but couldn't see him; suddenly Goku appeared onto the stadium with his arms crossed. "You'll turn her back to normal now!" Goku spoke. The stands full of women whispered in disbelief to what they witnessed. Hancock stared at the man expressionless as she thought over the Saiyan's demand. "Alright, I'll turn her back to her normal If you beat my sister Marigold in a duel" Hancock said, "I've got him now, when Marigold is done with him, he is going to wish he never challenge me" Hancock thought to herself, "that man may as well surrender" She laughed silently at the thought of it.
Goku's face lit up. "Really? You can turn her back if I beat her in a fight awesome! LET'S DO IT!" Goku cheered while Hancock had looked of shock by the man's sudden change to his normal self, Luffy couldn't help but laugh at Goku for being serious for one moment and then not the next. "Your pretty funny spiky-haired man, what's your name? I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I want to be the ki- Ugh" Luffy had been punched in the face by Marigold knocking him unconscious. "Silence you little brat!" Marigold said. Goku saw Luffy's ki was low; he assumed Luffy had probably taken a beaten before Marigold brought him here since Goku saw many bruises on Luffy.
"Wait! I want to compromise; I will take on both Marigold and Sandersonia if you return Marguerite back to normal and release Luffy too. "How dare you ask to change the rules our sister had laid down," Sandersonia said, "you should be grateful that she is allowing you to live this long to fight me!" Marigold hissed at Goku. "I accept your demands" Hancock replied taking the sisters by surprise "Big sister... Marigold said slowly. "But I want to add something, you will have to take on one more thing before you vs. my sisters" Goku grinned while cracking his knuckles "The more the merrier for me I guess"
Hancock pointed towards the arena "Release Bacura!" she shouted causing a wave of whispers to form around the stadium.
Goku turned around to see a gate opening and within it was a Black Panther beast staring at him. It walked out into the arena and growled at Son Goku, Hancock smirked "That beasts name is Bacura and he was our executioner back then, it will be your opponent" Hancock told Goku, "If I recall, he didn't eat for 7 days, Bacura will eat anything we give him, so you better fight will all your might" Hancock spoke as she and her two sisters smiled expecting Goku's fate to be sealed.
Goku didn't fear the beast; in fact, he left himself wide open for the panther to strike. The panther seized the opportunity and struck at Goku. But to their shock, Goku launched his leg up and struck Bacura's jaw. Bacura was sent flying into the air as everyone looked into the sky wondering where Bacura was. Suddenly Bacura was seen hurtling back to Earth and crashed into an empty stand. The shockwave of his kick had caused the tiles underneath him to crack. The crowd and the three sisters couldn't believe their eyes, a mere man had that much willpower to knock a panther that size out of the arena. Goku turned back to the Empress and her sisters, "alright, who's next?" Goku asked while cracking his knuckles. Annoyed, Hancock arched her back and pointed towards Goku.
"Take him out for me will you sisters?" Hancock asked. "Of course! Empress Hancock!" both women said in sync. Both Sandersonia and Marigold went into the ring and smirked as they started to transform into their real forms. Both women had grown bigger and transformed with odd snake-like tendencies. Marigold had a voluminously bloated stomach with large swollen lips and long wavy and untamed orange hair while Sandersonia had a disproportionately wide head with a snake-like split tongue that dangled loosely out of her mouth and a slender snake-like body. (Salamander/Forked Snake)
Hancock crossed her leg over the other before she spoke. "Once we beat you, you will forgive me for turning her into stone won't you?" Hancock asked though she already knew that like every other person he would not be able to resist her beauty.
"If you think I will forgive you for what you did then you must be out of your mind," Goku said in disbelief
Hancock was holding her chest in pain as if she had been attacked, "How… how can there possibly exist a man who is immune to my charms! Hancock exclaimed out loud. The crowd had grown even rowdier and wanted revenge for their empress, throwing slurs at Goku for disrespecting their empress.
"But you've got something wrong" Goku's voice was heard "and what's that?" Hancock looked down at the Saiyan "You still think I'm going to lose," Goku smirked. Hancock was getting annoyed with Goku's cockiness, "Sisters! Get rid of him now!" Hancock ordered.
The battle between Goku vs. Marigold and Sandersonia was about to begin. Goku observed his surrounding, "If I were to attack them at full power I might accidentally kill them, let alone destroy the entire island, I should lower my power enough to battle them both" Goku thought. As Goku got into his fighting stance, Marigold was lifting her ax and swung at Goku, who jumped back to avoid being sliced from the shoulder to his hip. Not letting up, Marigold began a relentless attack on Goku; he was forced to evade the ax, content to study the reptile-like woman's fighting style. Just as Goku ducked at a strike meant to behead him, he took a quick glance at Sandersonia coming from the side and dodged her tail attack, relentless both Marigold and Sandersonia went on a barrage of attacks but none of them would connect with Goku since he moved faster than they could hit him.
Changing tactics, Marigold spit out a purple ooze that Goku noticed was melting a small part of the ring "best not get hit with that" Goku thought as he continued to evade their attacks, Sandersonia was keeping Goku busy with her barrage of attacks but could not connect with him, Goku wasn't worried until he noticed that Marigold wasn't in front of him, he soon realized that she must have gone behind while he was fighting Sandersonia and was going to strike him behind again. "Clever, but it's not going to work," Goku thought. He was right, Marigold was right behind him with her axe in the air and waiting for the moment to strike him.
Quickly Goku slammed his fists down on Sandersonia who plummeted downwards on the floor which caused the entire arena to shake, next Goku turned around to see Marigold about to slam her axe on his head " I only got one shot at this" Goku thought. He stood his ground and raised his hands to grab the axe before it landed on his head, Marigold was startled and shocked at the man's reflexes, not that many have the ability to stop a moving blade with their bare hands, now Goku and Marigold were locked in a battle of strength to overpower the other.
Marigold thought she had the upper hand at Goku since she was pushing the blade towards him "I'm done playing around" Goku said that made Marigold wince, he grabbed the handle and the bottom part of the axe and along with Marigold threw her across the arena, she landed with such force it caused the arena to explode with dust and rock scattering across the arena and into the stadium, the crowds had to duck under to avoid being hit with the debris. Goku was the only one standing; he looked at Hancock and smiled "I guess I win right?" Goku grinned.
"I don't think it's over do you think so Marigold?" A voice was heard behind Goku, "Certainly not Sister Sonia" both sisters laughter was heard by Goku; he turned around to see two dark outline figures inside the dust that formed around the arena. As the dust receded, Goku had a look of horror; Sandersonia was tossing the stone girl like if it was a ball. He raised his hand at Sandersonia.
"Stop! What are you doing?" Goku yelled at her but Sandersonia looked at the statue and back at the Sayian smiling devilishly "I'm going to crush her" she said in a low whisper, Goku was now worried if she breaks the statue, Marguerite may never come back. He pleaded with Sandersonia and then turned towards Hancock "This is between us, not her!" Goku yelled. He was now on the verge of dashing towards them and get the stone girl but was worried that he might shatter her instead; Goku was running out of options until one idea popped into his head.
"Go ahead, crush her see if I mind," Goku said casually shocking everyone considering he was pleading them not to do it a few seconds ago. "Ok then, I'll go ahead and destroy her into pieces" Sandersonia spoke as she lifted the statue up in the sky watching Goku very closely. "Come on a little higher," Goku thought, When Sandersonia lifted the stone to the maximum height she can lift it, Goku dashed towards Sandersonia's face "Solar flare!" Goku shouted, immediately a burst of light shined across the arena blinding everyone except Goku who swiftly grabbed the state and kicked Marigold and Sandersonia to the ground. Everyone around the stadium screamed in terror as they were momentarily blinded and couldn't see.
Hancock gritted her teeth as the blinding light affected her too. "What did you do?" asked Hancock when her vision cleared up to see both her sisters on the ground again and Goku the only one standing, "Hm?, I just used an attack that blinds the opponent momentarily" Goku said as he held the statue carefully over his shoulder, Goku disappeared again and reappeared in front of Hancock and the unconscious Luffy. "Ah! Big sister!" Sandersonia and Marigold shouted, worried the Saiyan might attack her. Instead, Goku placed the statue near the throne to protect her from being caught in Goku's battle against Marigold and Sandersonia.
Goku got up and looked at Marguerite; he placed his arm on her shoulder and sighed "I'll beat them and return you back to normal, I promise, I don't know if you can hear me but... I just wanted to let you know" Goku said as he turned towards the steps and walked towards them. Hancock huffed in annoyance "Bah, you men are troublesome" Goku stopped in his tracks and turned his head to glare at the Empress "You just piss me off" Goku said as he continued to walk down the steps. Hancock fell faint to the Saiyan's words.
"Big sister!" Marigold and Sandersonia cried out, they glared at the Sayian coming down the steps and struck at him; Goku saw them and disappeared from sight as the two sisters struck only the air. Immediately, Goku appeared on the stadium behind the two sisters with his body turned away from them, he spun around to see all three sisters and crossed his arms before he spoke. "Whatever issue you have with me, leave my friends out of it. This is between you and me only!" Hancock bristled. She hated being ordered to do anything, much less by an inferior man of all people."
Hancock was seething with anger, her beautiful face contorting in rage. But for some odd reason, Hancock felt lightheaded and a certain warmth rush in her cheeks when the man spoke to her; voice filled with such strength, leaving no room to argue. She dismissed these feelings as an odd side effect of the distress that had afflicted her ever since Goku had taken in the sight of her back. "Sisters I want this filthy creature gone now!" Hancock ordered "Yes Big sister" Sandersonia and Marigold replied as they faced Goku.
"This time we are going full power," Marigold said as she engulfed her body in flames, Sandersonia's hair started to form into snakes but made of hair, "it may just be hair, but their bites are as strong as steel," Sandersonia hissed as the two sisters surrounded Goku."Do you think you can stop us now" said Sandersonia, Goku looked at both fighters and smirked "I guess I'll go full power as well," Goku said. (Lying) Goku clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Goku yelled as he was powering up, it felt like the entire island was shaking because of him, "What is he doing?!" Sandersonia thought, suddenly his body was flickering a red aura that looked similar to Marigold's technique "KAIO-KEN!" Goku yelled. Suddenly, a red aura flamed Goku's body as it turned a shade of light red, "what type of Devil fruit does this man possess?" Marigold thought.
Hancock grew impatient, "Enough! take him out sisters" Hancock spoke, "Yes big sister" Marigold and Sandersonia said, they charged at Goku who wasn't moving "we got him now" Sandersonia thought, as they inched closer, Goku disappeared from their view, "what the?" Marigold said. "KA ME HA ME-" Marigold turned around to see he was behind her with his hands cupped together "NO!" Marigold screamed "HAAAA!"Goku shouted as he pushed his hands forward and a blue energy ball came from Goku's hands struck Marigold, causing her to lose balance and hit her sister Sandersonia, who sadly got caught on fire.
"Oh, no Sister Sonia!" Marigold cried desperately trying to calm her sister down but Sandersonia was frantically trying to douse the flame by moving around, to which made the situation 10X worse. Sandersonia accidentally crashed into Marigold which caused them to fall over to the arena and down towards a pit full of spikes, screams erupted from the crowd as they watched Marigold and Sandersonia falling in. "NO!" Goku shouted as he ran towards them and instantly disappeared. The two sisters closed their eyes waiting for their impending doom when nothing happened.
Marigold and Sandersonia slowly opened their eyes to see that it was the man they were fighting mere seconds ago trying to save them. Goku was floating in the air holding onto them as he was flying them back to the arena. "I got you, don't worry I won't let you fall" Goku smiling at them. He lifted them back onto the arena where thousands of spectators were cheering that Marigold and Sandersonia were alive. When Sandersonia was about to get up her cape had slipped a little causing the people to scream in terror, "the gorgon eye! If we see it we will turn to stone" the crowd yelled.
Hancock's eyes widened, she got up from her throne and pointed to the gate leading away from the stadium, "Everyone! Get away as quickly as possible! Before the Gorgon eye is exposed!" Hancock shouted, immediately the crowd of women started running away from the arena. Before the cover could fall over, Goku jumped onto her back trying to cover the mark as best as he could, "don't move" Goku told Sandersonia until Marigold rushed over to her sister's aid and could put back on her cover. Sandersonia sighed in relief; she looked up to see the Sayian standing over them. "Why... Why did you help us?" she asked wearily, "we were your enemies and yet you treat us as if we were allies" Goku stood silent for a moment.
"Whatever this thing is that you don't want your people to see…it has no bearing on our fight. Besides, I don't think either of us really wants to continue this battle." Goku responded. He turned to see Hancock with her hand over her face trying to hide her tears from showing, Goku flew towards her and Hancock saw him coming, she wiped away her tears and glared at him "Going to mock me now huh?" Hancock's voice cracked, threatening to start tearing up again, "No, I'm not going to, I came to ask you if you would keep your side of the deal," Goku asked softly.
Hancock wanted to respond when Luffy started waking up "huh? Oi, spiky- haired man can you get me out of these?" Goku turned to look at Hancock and she didn't even try to object "By the way, it's not spiky-haired man, it's Goku" he smiled while breaking Luffy out of his bounds. "Thanks, Goku" Luffy grinned as they were now shaking hands. "Ahem" Hancock cleared her throat to get the two men's attention; Luffy turned towards Hancock and was the first to speak. "So will you turn her back to normal? Because all she did was help us"
Hancock closed her eyes, never had she actually considered complying with a man's wish before, and it was this thought that scared her. "No, I must first confirm their true nature." A sudden thought went through the empress's mind, causing a small smirk to cross her lips. "I just have to uproot these men's true desires; a test." Hancock thought, she looked at the two men before she spoke. "Indeed, I have the ability to reverse their petrification. However, I shall only grant one request between the two of you." Goku and Luffy looked at each other in confusion before Hancock continued.
"You mentioned before that you need transportation off the island correct? "Well, my proposition is this, I reverse what I've done to this woman here," Hancock gestured towards Marguerite "or you have my word that you'll leave this island safely to wherever it is that you need to be. But, let me be clear that only one of you will be leaving this island."
Goku and Luffy were shocked by the Empress proposition "Wait! You can't do that. Both of us need a ship off this island!" Luffy yelled in outrage. Choosing The Marguerite's freedom over his one chance off the island didn't even bother him. It was the fact that the Amazon empress had forced them to decide between Luffy and Goku on who would be allowed to leave the island while the other was left behind. That didn't sit right with him. Luffy never abandoned his friend, and even though the rubber boy had only known Goku for a short while, he considered the orange-clad martial artist one his friends.
Luffy felt tempted to force the empress and her sisters to give them a ride off the island but was prevented taking such actions when Goku stepped in. Goku positioned himself in front of Luffy, who stopped to stare into the uncharacteristically serious expression on the Saiyan's face. "It's okay Luffy; I know how important it is for you to meet up with your friends."
"But you'll be stuck here then" Luffy exclaimed "It's fine Luffy, there's no point in arguing with me, you need to leave more than I do and we both know it" both stared at each other trying to see who would back down but both sides wouldn't budge. After a few minutes, both Goku and Luffy laughed and turned towards The Kuja Empress who was waiting for their decision.
Bending down on his knees and pressing his forehead towards the ground, Luffy bowed; an action that surprised all of the women present. "I never abandon my friend, so please turn her back!" "The same goes for me. I'd rather be stranded here then chose myself over my friends." Goku added with a broad smile on his face. In the far off stands of the stadium sat an elderly Kuja woman who observed the scene.
"To have made such a decision without a single hesitation…" The elderly Kuja mused in silent shock. "Especially as powerful as they are. Particularly the boy with Haki of that caliber; bowing his head so willingly." The old Kuja thought as she saw the strained look of consternation on Boa Hancock's face. "What will you do now Hancock?
End of the chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and will leave a review telling me how I did Anyways tell me if you liked the fight or not, Thanks!