Chapter 13: Battle of Pluton II

May 14, 801 WG

Landing smack in the middle of half the fleet is not the sanest position to have. The other half being on the far side of a large ship and a giant whale in the middle of a head-butting match and probably worrying about other things besides flying ships at the moment.

Thousand Sunny landed with three ships to her stern, two to her bow, and one on each side. The eighth ship in this posse got to be her pillow. Her reinforced hull crushed the masts of the battleship and sent Marines diving overboard before her weight broke the deck and splintered the sides. She then sat there like a brooding hen on her nest while the ruined battleship began to sink, water pouring in through her cracked sidings.

Chaos erupted as soon as Thousand Sunny touched down. Oddly enough, chaos was exactly what the Straw Hats needed with the added benefit of being wholly familiar ground to them. The three ships to Sunny's stern could do nothing, as they were facing the wrong way and most ships, even in the war happy Marines, did not possess stern cannons. They had to first turn around first to face the pirate ship that just landed among them before they could even think about firing a single shot. A small respite.

The remaining four, in more ideal positioning, all turned their cannons on Sunny. Sunny was in no position to dodge, stuck on top of a battleship that wasn't sinking fast enough. Not that she could have given she was surrounded, so it was only a minor negative. Instead, the Marine submarines now had no way of striking them directly. In fact, it was possible they had no idea Sunny was even there since her hull hadn't materialized on the surface yet, though it was only a matter of time before someone filled them in. At least the torpedoes wouldn't be able to hit her directly for a bit.

The pirate ship was far from a sitting duck, however. When it came to sea melee combat, Sunny had always relied on her capable crew to defend her flanks. And they weren't failing her now. While Zoro and Sanji focused on redirecting or destroying cannonballs, several of the redirected ones slamming into the sides of Marine battleships, Franky and Usopp focused on prepping the air cannon for action. Jinbei stayed on standby by the helm with Nami settling next to him as she prepared to use her wind sword to power the Thousand Sunny forward once they were in the water.

It was tempting to send Jinbei into the water to take advantage of the fishman's native superiority in these types of fights, but a few well-placed torpedoes could hasten Sunny's return to sea water. Better he remained by the helm to guide the ship once she was free of her cradle. That would serve them more. Or at least that was what Lance was dictating.

The Straw Hats expressed mild confusion but an uncharacteristic snap from their captain ended their questions. Luffy trusted Lance wasn't under employing his crew. And he didn't want to Sunny to sink. If she hit the water without her best helmsman, she might take fatal damage should the submarines being lying in wait.

Meanwhile, Marines that had abandoned ship, or avoided being crushed, were now climbing up the sides of the Sunny to engage the pirates in melee combat even as their comrades continued to fire on the ship. It was disturbing to see the zealot level of dedication. Everyone involved must have been hand-picked for that very trait to ensure the mission was completed successfully. Robin, Chopper and Carrot, who had jumped down from her perch on the crow's nest, began fending off the boarders.

Lance stuck close to Luffy, refusing to let him join in. Luffy understood, hated it but understood, every fiber of his body wanted to join his crew, to help defend the ship, to protect them! But he couldn't! He had lost the only fighting style he knew. And while Lance had been drilling him mercilessly on the art of self-defense since he awoke, he was nowhere near ready to engage in a battle of the magnitude, or really, let's be honest, any magnitude. It frustrated him and burned into his mind the need to take his training to the next level once Alabasta was safe. It would be the two-year hiatus all over again, but it was going to be necessary if he was to continue as a pirate. At least he had his haki ability, he just had to relearn how to fight without being about to stretch or expand. This was going to suck.

And none of that changed the fact that he couldn't fight right then! Lance having to babysit him pricked his pride when few things would. However, he managed to refrain from taking any action that would reveal how bad a state he was in. The Marines that managed to get onboard didn't seem to notice, but what about the Marines sitting on the ships? They had a little more breathing room to assess this stuff. Were they noticing that Luffy wasn't rebounding their shots? Were they wondering why he wasn't helping to knock boarders off the ship?

Short-term, it didn't mean much. It just meant it was that much harder for his crew to overwhelm the Marines. The real threat was if they started communicating their findings. Den Den Mushi, without encryption, were easy to eavesdrop on. If pirates learned he was vulnerable, his ship would become a target. Most in New World had to have realized he had everything needed to find Raftel, even if they were keeping their discovery a secret.

Then there was his Grandfleet. Would they continue to follow once they realized his current state? He still wasn't sure what had inspired them to declare themselves his subordinates. He hadn't even wanted them to make the Father-Son swear and now he was hoping they wouldn't violate it. If they turned out to be truly loyal to him, he promised himself he would redo it and make it right. He was going to need that kind of help for the foreseeable future. Damn it would have been nice to have been able to call on them for this. Too bad everyone had rushed over without considering it. Or maybe it was better they hadn't risked it. This wasn't the time to find out the depths of their loyalty.

Maybe that was the real reason everyone else "forgot" about calling for help. They needed to get back to the New World and sort this all out. He hated the uncertainty of not knowing. The anxiety it caused him made him feel like a coward.

Well it didn't matter one way or the other. The Grandfleet wasn't here simply because they didn't know, and he and Law were all that stood between Alabasta and Pluton and very possibly the destruction of the rest of the world. Crap they should have risked it. They were way in over the heads.

Luffy's head began to throb once more from overwork which only aggravated him further.

Thousand Sunny lurched as the ship beneath her finally broke apart. She slid into the water with men screaming in terror as they leapt back into the sea to avoid being crushed as she ground over the remaining planks of the battleship she had body slammed.

"Jinbei! Bear port five degrees then fire the cannon!" shouted Lance as soon as they touched the sea. Jinbei didn't hesitate to follow the directive. The air cannon blasted a battleship, masts shattered like twigs, the bow erupted in a shower of broken wood, and even part of the deck blew off taking men with it. The battleship pitched forward as water poured into the gaping maw that had been her bow. The back blast, used to keep the Sunny from flying backwards when shooting, capsized another in the rear as it tried to turn to face the pirate ship.

Was that on purpose or just dumb luck? wondered Luffy in awe.

"Starboard 20! Fire when ready!" shouted Lance again. Luffy watched the ship move to face another then checked the rear. There was another broad side ship there. The same thing occurred as before. Now they only had three to contend with or at least until the seven on the other side made it over here.

The remaining three weren't letting themselves get lined up like that, though. Now that they knew the back end was as dangerous as the front, they tried to stay at angles to each other. They would have to pick them off as singles now and worse they were trying their damnedest to stay to Sunny broadside where she had no weapons and was vulnerable. Franky pumped his barrels trying to make sure they stayed ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"Starboard 30!" called Lance. Luffy blink as the ship turned to face Pluton.

What? We aren't going to damage that! Then he checked the stern. Oh…

Their attempts to dodge cannons and keep the battleships off them as they stayed on Pluton's portside had resulted in two ships now being broadside to Sunny's tail. The air cannon slammed Pluton's portside without affect but the two ships behind them capsized. One ship remained. Sunny turned herself around to face the remaining battleship.

If ships could express emotions, Sunny would be grinning like a fiend while the Marine battleship would have been squeaking "Oh fuck!" One little blast from the air cannon and they were gone. Their side was now clean of Marines on the surface, but Luffy was surprised they weren't being harassed by the submarines. Had they not realized he was here? Or had Law taken care of them?

Laboon groaned in pain and Luffy and the others looked toward Pluton's bow where the Titans were clashing. The ocean was red with blood. Laboon had banged his head for years on the Redline and had tunnels and passages carved through him to make treatment of his large body easier. He was extremely tough as a result. For him to be crying out in pain meant the hits he was taking were starting to reach more sensitive insides.

The other seven battleships weren't bothering to head over to their side. They couldn't damage the ship, Laboon was the threat and thus remained their only target. Was that what was going on with the subs?

Luffy ran to the Den Den Mushi. With this side clear, and Laboon a giant distraction to the Marines, Law could easily use his fruit to tear apart Pluton now. If they hadn't realized it was Law in the submarine and targeted it because of his powers.

"Law!" shouted Luffy into the speaker.

Silence.

His blood running cold, Luffy called again, "Law! Answer me! We're clear on the portside. Get over here. Law!"

After several anxious moments, the snail sputtered, and an exhausted Law came on the line. "It's no good, Luffy," he said, he choked for a moment. Was his ship filling with water. "I got five of them, but only have one shot left. Not that it matters. They decided to focus on the whale now. They're pounding him."

"Law! Get up here, we have our side clear," said Luffy. "You can slice the ship to pieces now."

"I can't!" Law sputtered again. "We're sunk."

Ice lanced Luffy's veins as he realized his brother's situation. The Marine submarines had damaged Polar Tang's ability to return to the surface. Without outside help, she would never surface again. Even if the sub didn't fill with water they would eventually suffocate when their remaining air went bad.

Laboon was being shot to death by the remaining subs and battleships. How much longer the great island whale could last under that barrage was anyone's guess. Worse, Pluton was still inching forward. The engines were holding. Laboon wasn't enough.

Thousand Sunny didn't have the power to break through Pluton's thick hull. It hadn't even rattled when their shot had hit its side. Even if they shot off its engines, they would only be delaying the inevitable. Could they even shoot off the engines? He looked at the things but the ones on this side were larger than the Thousand Sunny and made of metal. He doubted they were fragile. They were the most obvious target on Pluton to strike at. If they had time to study it…

Luffy looked back the Den Den Mushi then at Laboon. A terrible weight was descending on him. Law was trapped on a sunk submarine with no way out. Laboon was being hammered by explosions and cannonballs. And Pluton was still sailing on to the doom of Alabasta and all its people, Vivi, Law's sister, his niece!

He had just found his niece. Law had just reunited with his sister. They had just sworn an oath of brotherhood. Brook had just reunited with Laboon. Did he really have to make this choice? Could he only save one? Could he save anyone?

Luffy looked at the ancient weapon then back at his crew which were feeling the same degrees of hopelessness. There was still the original plan, though, and it didn't need the whole crew. If fact it would be better if they didn't involve themselves further if he went with it.

He would save more than one. He could save more than one.

"Franky!" he called as his mind began to whirl, beginnings of a desperate plan taking shape. "Jury-rig something that can bring up a ship or at least help bring up a lame one."

"Roger, Luffy!" said Franky, not bothering to ask what his captain was talking about.

"Jinbei! I need you take the line down to the Polar Tang when it's ready."

"Leave it to me, Luffy-kun," replied Jinbei with a thump of his chest. Chopper took his big humanoid form and gripped the helm to keep the ship steady in Jinbei's place.

"Usopp! Do you have a fire dial, or can you give me your fire stars?"

"Why do you need that?" Now they questioned him.

"I'm going to light up that ship's magazine," said Luffy, knowing there was going to be a fight but there was no lying to his crew. He just wasn't able to.

"Are you crazy?!" cried Usopp in alarm.

"Indeed! If you go, you won't be able to get off in time," said Nami.

"One of us should do it instead," insisted Sanji.

Luffy glared at them. Lance held his tongue, though he had to be against it. However, the military leader in him was in control and he may have come to the same conclusion. This was all they had left, personal feelings aside, they had to do what was best for Alabasta. Thousands depended on it.

"Lance told us about the design for the ship. The corridors are only wide enough to allow one person to walk comfortably. If someone has to pass someone else, they both have to hug to wall to get around each other. It was designed that way to make it easy to defend. Sanji, your skywalk will be useless inside the ship. Zoro, your three-sword style is going to be hindered by those narrow corridors. It will be easy for them use guns against you since they don't require a lot of room."

"You're not immune to guns anymore, Luffy," said Zoro.

"I still have my haki and if you give me some small explosives, I could hurl at them, I will be able to take out those that don't faint," replied Luffy. "Look we don't have time." He pointed toward Pluton which was picking up speed as it moved. "Laboon is being killed and he's losing the fight to keep Pluton back. We don't know what this thing's range is. It could start shooting at any time. We're saving Law, but I don't think we can get him back up here to work the alternate plan before it's too late."

"Why does it have to be you, though?" wailed Chopper. It was easily a suicide mission. Whoever went wasn't coming back.

"Because, I'm the captain," Luffy with a small smile. "And there is no way in hell I'm ordering my friends to die." He felt his chest constrict as he glanced at Laboon, feeling like a lying hypocrite. "Besides, I keep surviving when I shouldn't, so I should have the best chance of surviving this." He grinned at this last statement even as he didn't believe it.

He could save more than one. He just couldn't save everyone…