Luffy emerged from the portal looking up at an endless deserted land. Large pillars stood in unusual formations throughout the territory and there wasn't any wind to speak of—this place was unlike anywhere on earth he'd traveled to. The night sky shown several small moons in the near distance; numerous stars decorated the spectacular scenery. It bewildered the young man to speculate where he landed exactly.
"Welcome to my domain." The almighty spoke from his throne causing Luffy to whip around. He could only glare at the tall figure that stood at attention beginning to descend from the steps.
"So you're him huh? The almighty one that all your sons bow down to?" Luffy questioned stepping toward the figure that descended the steps.
"I go by countless names mortal—however I'm universally known as Elyon in your language." The almighty spat the last part.
Luffy halted his movement in surprise, "you know me?"
Elyon also stopped in his tracks hearing the surprise of his creation. "You're the mortal cursed with the gift of devil fruit powers to challenge the gods." He spoke before descending the rest of the stairs to stand only feet from his opponent.
"So you really are the one supreme being?" Luffy asked examining God. He stood around nine feet and looked to weigh over a thousand pounds of pure muscle. He appeared as a younger man in his mid-thirties with shiny black curls draping to his shoulders.
Elyon looked contemplative for a moment before answering, "its been centuries since I've talked to a human, and since you've managed to make it this far, I suppose I'll explain to you mortal." He clasped his hands behind his back not taking his eyes off the calculated man.
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was God. And the Earth was without form and void; and darkness was over the surface of the deep. In the beginning I created. I gave the universe form. And in creating it, I determined exactly what would happen and when it would end. And when I looked at everything I'd created, it was perfect. So perfect, and predetermined that it no longer had meaning. It had become a complete waste of my time. So I changed things. I created humanity. Because I needed something that was flawed. Oh... that's right. You know everything. You have it all figured out. That's why you became high councilor, deciding to try and lead humanity, because you've got all the answers." The words spat by the supreme being held a clear disdain. He appeared to hate the very thing he should've held previous—it irritated the high councilor.
Luffy could only stare in bewilderment at God's word unsure of what to make of them. Despite his irritation he didn't doubt this being, he spoke the truth.
"So, I'm going to continue talking if you won't respond. You don't have to listen if you don't want to. Humanity is a unique part of my creation. All those centuries ago, I realized I'd made a mistake. If everything I'd created was perfect and it was all decided, then it was pointless. I could't accept that. I decided I didn't want to know how it all ends for you mortals. There was only one way to do that, I had to make myself forget. I hid the end of humanity's story, even from myself. That's the point of mankind. That's the truth."
Luffy grew angry at the being's truth being spoken; it was bullshit to him. He thought Alpha and the new gods had been arrogant enough but this God took it a few steps further. He claimed humanity was imperfect and decided to forget their ending willing to let his mistakes die if necessary, to amuse his boredom. He could've saved countless lives and instead chose to stay secluded letting the people of the world; his suposed creations suffer.
"Almighty one or not, God or not; all you bastards sound the same to me," Luffy growled, " I killed kings and gods alike; you'll end up like all the rest, I've faced." The hellfire surged from his body encasing him in black and cerulean flames; the golden cuffs around his wrists expanded, encasing his hands in the lion-headed gauntlets.
God examined his foe thoroughly for the first time noticing the mortal had stolen his eldest son's gauntlets—perhaps he would be a somewhat worthy opponent.
"You seek to kill me after I told you the secret to life's creation. To think you could have a chance, you're a foolish mortal indeed." The almighty mocked unmoving from his position.
"You're Insane." Luffy spat transforming into his dragon release state. Every opponent he faced beforehand, he'd been able to get a reading on their power proved. However with this being he sensed nothing, as if he was on a different plane of existence entirely. Despite his unsureness he stood tall not backing down from his toughest battle by far.
The change in appearance didn't faze the being. "Does it really matter? There are alternate versions of me you would find quite charming." He mocked with a sly smirk.
Luffy didn't waste any time dashing toward God aiming a flaming gauntlet fist aimed directly at his face.
The being easily caught the gauntlet, hooking underneath his elbow and tossing Luffy over his shoulder.
Luffy landed on his clawed feet nimbly dashing toward God once more. He stretched out a clawed kick which the lord easily ducked under. The high councilor followed it up with another furious backhanded strike only for it to be blocked again.
The Almighty grabbed the side of Luffy's face tossing him away and onto his back with a flick of his hand. Luffy rolled into a crouching position firing off his hellfire flames toward the being.
God reared his hand back diapering the flames immediately with a short powerful gust of wind. Before Luffy could blink, the almighty sprinted toward him at an unbelievable speed kicking him straight in the sternum.
Elyon followed it up with blows to body and head of his foe, before landing an uppercut sending him up in the air and finally kicking him off in the distance, sending Luffy crashing into a large pillar of rock.
"From what I gather based on how you fight I could've mistaken you for one of my sons. Everything about you tells the tale. Your attitude, your scars, your tactics. They all scream outrage, vengeance, despair; what terrible wrong could've been done to you to set you on this path?" He asked rhetorically picking Luffy up by his neck.
"It doesn't matter," he slammed the high councilor into the pillar, "nothing matters." The amount of nihilism was unlike anything the high councilor ever heard before; he rejected everything declaring life meaningless.
Luffy struggled in his grip placing his hands on the Elyon's wrist trying to break free unsuccessfully. "What the hell are you planning to do? Talk to me to death?" He taunted causing God to smirk widely.
"No actually," Elyon landed half a dozen punches before hitting him with a devastating uppercut, "I thought I'd beat you to death mortal." God sneered at the weakling that dared to challenge him. Even if he consumed every devil fruit in the known universe it still wouldn't be enough to kill him.
Luffy couldn't feel the weight of one of the gauntlets as one laid shattered on the ground. At the last moment he jumped out of the way of the almighty's landing that attempted to crush him.
The high councilor bounded off the nearby pillar landing behind God as he attempted another strike with the gauntlet. Elyon barley flinched as he held the gauntlet with his bare hands despite having his back turned. Elyon clutched the gauntlet tighter pulling Luffy to him, giving the man a hard elbow knocking the wind of him.
Still having a grip on the gauntlet, God flipped Luffy over his head before spinning him around, tossing him a few meters. Elyon examined his deceased son's favorite toy before crushing it into pieces.
Luffy's breathing became heavy as his body started to wear. His durability had began to reach his limit, the battles from earlier took a toll on his strength. But he couldn't give up, everyone was counting on him.
He put his hands together summoning a hellfire lance. He chucked it at the almighty watching as it detonated in his face causing a furious wind to blow forth and push him back despite his clawed feet digging into the ground.
Another gust of wind blew forth from the detonation site. The Almighty appeared unscathed with his arms crossed. "So that is the cosmic power bestowed to you human, very well. I will show you the gap in our strength is the difference between heaven and earth."
Elyon rose his open hand toward the nearest moon before clenching his hand into a tight fist with a loud grunt.
Luffy looked up toward the moon to see a large boom rupture from the surface. It began to crackle into fragments and soon exploded into smaller pieces.
God brought his fist down sending the fragments of the moon torpedoing toward their position.
'T-there's no way, that's impossible.' Luffy eyes widened; he barley had time to collect his thoughts as the meteors closed in on him. He expanded his wings flying at the fastest speed possible trying to escape the flaming comets that pursued him.
Loud crashes boomed all around him eventually catching up to him and sending him crashing into the ground, pinning him beneath the moon's fragments.
Luffy reemerged moments later pushing over a large boulder. He barley had time to widen his eyes before he felt the Almighty's fist enter his stomach knocking the wind from him once again.
Forced on his heels, he was completely vulnerable to God's merciless beating; being punched through a nearby pillar. He could only turn his head to side and cough slightly being nearly defeated.
"You should've stayed at home mortal, but you just had to enter my domain and try to rescue those who you can't." He taunted picking Luffy up by his cardigan, lifting him off his feet. He could tell the mortal was fading, the spirit he once had would eventually break from his power.
"If me and your sons were really alike, you know what you are doing is wrong, you must've been a good person once." Luffy said trying to buy himself sometime, he had only one option left.
The almighty simply held an indifferent expression toward his foe's words. "No, not good, never good, after all I am a God." He said striking the high councilor's face.
Luffy gathered hellfire in his horns rapidly, firing into God's face just after he reared his fist back. The explosion surprised the being causing him to cover his eyes and release his hold.
The high councilor now free put some distance between himself and his opponent. The pentagram on his right palm glowed brightly indicating its readiness.
"Damn, I've got no choice—or everyone dies." He bit roughly into his thumb causing blood to run over the symbol before igniting his right hand in hellfire. He slammed his palm against the ground without a second thought.
An spacial rift opened up letting out a strong wind causing Luffy to step back. A loud roar broke out from the portal as Lucifer himself stepped out.
"Finally, I'm back in my rightful place!" He spoke turning toward the man who summoned him. The devil looked far different from his appearance in hell; he looked exactly like God did with the exceptions of the red eyes and long horns protruding from the crown of his head.
"You kept you end of the bargain human, and I'll keep mine." He said before turning his attention to the Almighty.
God glared at Luffy who rested on a knee from his fatigue. "YOU! You brought him here to kill me?! You're far more of a foolish mortal than I once thought."
"Don't worry about him dear brother, I'm the one who's going to kill you and take over this wretched place." Lucifer grinned stepping toward his counterpart.
Luffy stood up heading for the exit to the dimension. A blue energy blast stopped him in his tracks.
"Just where do you think you're going mortal?" God spat glaring at the high councilor.
"Back to my world, I'm taking everyone home; your armies are slain, and your sons are dead." He spoke staring down the two brothers.
"You really shouldn't have summoned me, before I defeat my brother, I'll kill you and devour your soul for eternity." The devil laughed seeing the helpless mortal that stood before him.
Luffy knew it wouldn't be that simple when he wrote the deal in blood. He assumed this could've been a possible outcome to deal with, the betrayal didn't surprise or phase him all that much. He got to see his beloved navigator one last time, it was enough for him.
"Come on little man, you wanted to take on God and the Devil, now's your chance." The Almighty said igniting his fist with blue energy.
Luffy stood tall against the two beings, "And join you guys in beating the crap out of each other for all eternity? I don't think so, besides I've already won." He said turning his back to walk away, he was going to return to his loved ones.
"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" Elyon shouted losing his calm demeanor. He couldn't handle being disrespected by a mistake such as a mortal, it was infuriating. He would end the leader of the world crushing the future before raining down Armageddon on earth.
"Or what? You think I care what happens to me? Come on then, do your worst." Luffy growled turning around to face the duo head on. He ignited his forearms in hellfire creating a lance to combat his opponents.
The pair of brothers ignited their hands with energy; blue and red gathered into a singular blast heading directly toward him.
To Luffy the moment seemed to happen in slow motion. Each breath he took was deep and forceful. He knew it would be his last moments alive, however he wouldn't go down without swinging. The duo were unbeatable and he finally came upon opponents that he couldn't beat even with a hundred lifetimes of training; his situation was hopeless. Most would've rolled over and died but he had way too much pride for that—something he was willing to die for.
"Goodbye everyone my citizens, my friends, my family..." He took a last exhale as his thoughts were clouded with the good times on the Thousand Sunny. Luffy let the memories of his family and crew fill his thoughts before opening his eyes one last time. He jammed the spear into the combined blasts of energy from the brothers. Immediately his attack shattered like glass, as the blast consumed his arm.
His last thought was an apology not being able to keep his promise and receive his straw hat back from Nami. He shut his eyes feeling the blast consuming the rest of his body. He didn't retreat anything he lived a full life and the death he wished would greet him finally had.
God and Satan stood triumphantly over the ashes of what remained of the high councilor—their common enemy was dead.
—
Back in paradise Nami continued catching up with the familiar faces she knew while meeting new ones alike. In an instant her mood became somber-like as she clutched at the straw hat on her head.
Sabo arched a brow at the woman he considered his sister-in-law. "Nami, is everything okay?" He asked sensing her distress. Ace and Scarlett turned their attention to her as well concerned over her changed mood.
"Luffy..." she spoke softly clutching the straw hat tighter. In her heart she felt something had happened and it worried her to know if he was okay.
—
A/N: Wu-oh, Freeze-frame! What's gonna happen next?