sulongmirko: (o^▽^o)

Wishfull-star: Thank you!

IIRoxaII: If the spider turns on you, this cat with help next. (=^･ｪ･^=) And yeah, lots of emotions to come!

Sentonmaru was screaming at the pain, and Luffy now couldn't move his left arm. One enemy was taken care of, though. "Run! Zoro, Usopp!" Luffy screamed. The pacifista was out of control now, Luffy had no finishing blow. It took out most of their fighters at once. Chopper screamed and tried to help, but ate too many rumble balls. Like Luffy, he overdid himself to try to help, but only caused more harm.

"Chopper! No!" Luffy shouted. He would be useless after this! But Sentonmaru told the pacifista to only focus on Luffy. After all, Luffy just destroyed one of his arms. The one that didn't hold the axe.

"What did you do to me?!" he shouted. Luffy had never been more afraid. He could die and let his crew try and get away, or he could fight as a distraction. But one arm was gone, halving all of his attacks. "PX-1, kill him!" Everyone screamed his name before the pacifista shot a laser through his left arm, blowing him away.

Luffy shrieked at them to run as he rolled. Now he was bleeding in multiple places. How could he have prevented this? But then another presence appeared. This one was another pacifista, but it wasn't, it was the real one. The real warlord. Was that better or worse for them? Luffy clawed his way up so the pacifista couldn't get him. Luffy held his injured arm as he ran to them, wanting to go something against the Kuma.

"So, you're still alive, Roronoa Zoro?"

"Thanks... to your mercy."

"Zoro!" He was awake! "Zoro, run away!"

"If you were to take a trip, where would you go?"

"Luffy! I'm-"

Zoro was gone once Kuma touched him. The world went silent. The pacifista was still after Luffy as he was in shock. A laser shot through his stomach, a burn straight through his gut, and bleeding badly. He needed blood. But his friends came far ahead of his own health. And everyone was panicking about Zoro. Good, they didn't notice him yet. Luffy put his bleeding arm in his mouth and sucked. He was able to fool his body into thinking he was drinking blood, and the wound in his stomach closed only slightly as the one in his arm worsened.

He could manage the damage if he tried hard enough. But where was Zoro? Everyone was screaming about Zoro. They didn't notice the state Luffy was in. He hoped they didn't. He didn't want them to worry about him. "Run! Zoro would want all of us to run!" Luffy said, tears in his voice.

What could I have done differently?

"Get out of here!"

"What about Zoro?!"

"We'll find him when we're safe!"

"Oh, no you won't! He's long gone!" Sentonmaru said. He was aiming at getting Luffy now. Couldn't he get his arm fixed by the guy who made the pacifistas? Luffy stood to fight. He demanded to know where Zoro went. "His paw will send you flying to the ends of the world for three days! He'll probably land in the ocean far from here! PX-1-"

"Don't interfere," Kuma said, and the pacifista threatening Luffy was gone. Now there was only an arm-less Sentonmaru. Was Kuma on their side? Where was Zoro? Chopper slammed his hand down on Luffy's back.

"Chopper, let me go! I'm on your side!" he tried reasoning, but he was weak and tired and thirsty. Robin managed to wedge him out from under Chopper's massive arm.

"What are you playing at, Kuma?!" Sentonmatu asked. Thank god, Rayleigh still had Kizaru. Maybe blasting off his arm was a mistake. Another mistake.

Everything was happening too fast. Luffy couldn't keep track until he heard one less voice, one less scent. Brook was gone.

What do I do?!

Usopp was gone.

What do I do?!

Sanji rushed when Luffy managed to shout at him not to, and Sanji was gone.

What did I do?!

Three of them in the blink of an eye. They didn't even make an exhale before they were gone.

What have I done?!

Luffy got up and ran at Kuma, but was bounced away painfully. The warlord went up to Rayleigh, and said, "Dark King Rayleigh" and Luffy heard "his son" and then Rayleigh asked, "Do you expect me to believe that?"

What did he miss?! Whose son? Why was Kuma doing this? What should Luffy do? He could barely move by now. Maybe out of bodily damage, maybe emotional turmoil.

"That is up to you," Kuma mumbled. Luffy forced a surge of energy from himself and pumped out as second gear and went after the warlord. But Franky sent a strong right. It was weak, he was far past being out of cola.

"Franky, no!" And he was gone.

I should have done something better.

"Damn it!" Luffy shot again as Kuma reached for Nami. "No!"

"Luffy!"

"Nami!"

"Help m-!" and Nami was gone.

I should have been a better captain!

All that was left was Chopper and Robin. Chopper, who was too big to help at all now. "Chopper!" Robin was shocked into silence and still. "Chopper, run!" Chopper roared and Kuma got closer. "Stop it! Please, stop this!" Luffy shouted, pleading to leave him Chopper, the one on the crew that knew what it was to be a monster. But he was gone.

I didn't do it right! Something went wrong!

Ace's young face went through his mind. "I'm sure you'll be a great captain, even if you're weird, too. Haha!"

I'm not… I lost them.

"Chopper! ROBIN!" Robin was all he had left. Please, don't let him fail one more person! Let him have somebody left! He didn't want to be alone! He didn't want to lose everyone!

"Luffy!" Robin screamed in fear. She reached out her hand as he rushed for hers. She was gone.

Garp's face flashed next, standing in front of him, so much bigger. You're better off staying on the island. You'll just cause trouble for yourself and others if you go off on your own.

An image of all of his friends together, all of them happy, flashed through his mind. Monster. Failure. If it hadn't been YOU they would be fine.

Any other normal captain would have done better.

I wasn't strong enough.

Luffy fell to his knees, and started to bang his head on the floor, panting and sobbing. "I couldn't… even save any of them! They were for me…. E-Even when I'm not!" Maybe the others watching could understand him, maybe they couldn't.

He only looked up when Kuma finally reached his hand down, leaving him last to die. He glared hatefully at him, but didn't fight back. Couldn't even if he tried. "We will never see him again. Farewell," and Luffy was gone, too.

The Straw Hat pirates were defeated completely... Under their captain, Monkey D. Luffy.

-x-

Luffy remembered mostly the pain of the three days and nights in the sky. Both of his arms blew up nineteen times. Unable to move to dispel them and in too much pain to try and focus them on other places to relieve the pain just a bit, they went off. Maybe the physical pain was better than the emotional turmoil that would have replaced it.

He was also extremely starved with all three fuels: food, water and blood. It was amazing that he didn't become a flying dead body. So when he landed, all of him jolted in pain, and he cried out.

He'd landed. On an island. He didn't smell anything familiar, and sat up with a deep sigh. Luffy looked down and saw the horrific shape of both arms. Could they both be fixed? He couldn't even move them, so he had to pick up his hat in his teeth by the brim. He could hear people. His shirt was gone, too. Everything of him that wasn't normal was shown. His marks, hair, eyes.

Should he really proudly be showing that stuff? He was a monster who couldn't even protect just one of his crew members. He couldn't even protect himself.

He needed blood. He followed the scent of people, and came across a large group. He was covered in blood and dirt, burns and holes. And then the mangled arms. If he just was able to take one of these women and have her blood, then he'd heal.

But he wasn't a monster. He could be a monster without being a beast. He needed blood but that didn't mean he had to kill them. He took a step before he collapsed. He was too sick and starving and thirsty and in pain. "Oh my, what's wrong with her? What happened to her?!"

"What happened to her arms? Where did she come from?!"

Did they think he was a girl? He didn't even have a shirt on. Well, whatever. He let them put him in a stretcher. "Help me… please."

"Hang on, we'll get you help!"

"Thank… you," he sighed. He didn't know or trust these women, but he wasn't going to die alone, at least. He couldn't die and leave his crew. "Wait… be careful. M-My arms can… explode. Keep me out doors." They looked shocked, and stopped outside of a village. They didn't take him inside, and instead put him down and got him treatment while he laid outside in the heat.

He didn't recognize any familiar scents. A crowd gathered around him as they tried to treat his wounds. He was washed off with water, and his simple wounds were taken care of. The scratches and gashes along his chest and face were treated. They seemed unaware of what to do with his arms. They looked impossible to heal.

"What are you doing all the way out he-?" the old woman was shocked when she saw Luffy. A very short old woman with a snake cane. They all seemed to have snake bows and arrows, and very little clothes. Sanji would love it here. He'd never want to leave.

But Luffy had to get them all together again. He desperately wanted to look at the vivre card, make sure he still had it, but his arms were unusable at the moment. "What happened here?!"

"This child came out of the forest in this state and asked for help. But she told us to keep her outside. Her arms are somehow explosive, which is what seemed to have happened to her. What do we do, Elder Nyon?" the blonde girl asked, the first to help, named Margarete.

"First of all, this is a man, not a woman. Second of all, what on earth happened to him?!" They were all hung up on the fact that Luffy was a man. "Explain, man. Before we cast you out."

He was rested enough to speak. "I was with my friends and we were attacked. Someone with a devil fruit sent us all in different directions. All because I hit a Celestial Dragon. I-It's all my fault. They're hurt cause of me." He managed to not cry along with the shame and hatred in his voice.

They were shocked he hit a Celestial Dragon. The old woman walked next to him, and leaned forward to look at his tired eyes and the markings. "Get Giselle now, please. And leave him to me." The women treating him ran off. "Boy, what is wrong with your body? How do we fix you? Is there a way? If not, we will put you out of your misery here."

"Why help me?"

"You share things with our Snake Princess. Tell me, what do you need to eat and drink?" Her face was set and angry, maybe determined. He finally admitted that he needed blood. It might be the only way for his arms to heal.

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone. Donated blood? I can't even feel my arms anymore," Luffy insisted. "Not animal blood! That will kill me."

"I know," she said. Luffy wondered what the princess was like. If she was like Vivi, then she wouldn't need any help or information from Luffy…. Wait. She shared characteristics with him? And the woman wasn't shocked that he needed blood. And wasn't horrified or disgusted at the thought. A woman came out, looking like royalty, really. A pretty head dress and looking less rugged than the other women who'd rescued him. "How much blood is left in the supply?"

The woman looked at Luffy and Nyon in disapproval. Maybe nobody knew about the princess? Was he really going to meet somebody else like him? Right after learning they could possibly exist? All he wanted was his arms back. He'd rather have his arms back than meeting anyone like him.

Without his arms, Luffy could do nothing in life. Nothing he wanted. Even trying to twitch them didn't work. They were useless and unusable. He eventually fell asleep, exhausted from the flight. He didn't know how much he actually slept. His crew should have ended up the same. Sentonmaru was being cruel when he said that. He was probably lying. Kuma saved Zoro once, and he saved Luffy. His life, not his sanity or soul. Just his life. So maybe he wasn't evil. Well, he was, but he wasn't evil evil. He hadn't been on the side of the marines, even taking out their own weapon, keeping Luffy from death.

Luffy had to trust this one thing keeping him sane. The option that his friends were all alive. They just had to be in safe places. He had to hope they were lucky. When he woke up, he was in a courtyard of a sorts. Someone came over and put a block up behind him so he sat up. "Man, what are you?" Elder Nyon said. "Answer honestly and we'll heal you."

Luffy answered honestly. "I don't know what I am. I've only ever met people of another nation like me, and sea creatures. I'm the only person I've met like myself. The arm problem came from being impaled by a red stone that left those marks and a disorder where I have strength build up in my arms or other parts of my body. If I don't let them go manually, they'll go off on their own and damage my arms."

They didn't seem like they expected all that information. He was given a cup of blood. It wasn't enough, so they gave him three more. They all watched as his wounds healed and as Luffy's arms untwisted themselves, the gashes healing over and the fingers going back to normal shape. But he was still hungry and dehydrated. Why would his arms heal from so little blood? Why couldn't it be consistent?

"Thank you!" he said. And sat up. His hat was there, and he pulled out the vivire card. It still was there! Everyone was pointing their arrows at him. He bent over to bow respectfully.

"We have to kill you now."

"What?! But you just saved me!"

"To prove a point. We had to find if your information was valid," a woman with a very high ponytail.

"But I have to find my friends! I don't even know if they're alive! I can't die here!" he said, growing confused and angry. "Where is this? I can just leave!"

"There's no way off for you. This is Amazon Lily. No man enters and no man leaves."

"You could just pretend I was a woman. Before, you guys didn't know I was a man, go back to that way!" Luffy insisted. He could tell they weren't going to let him go. They wanted to hide him from the princess and kill him secretly. He wasn't dying there. He had to see Zoro again, had to meet his crew.

Weak. Too weak.

He would think about how to fix that later. He got his hat on and immediately fled, zooming out of the courtyard and onto the roof, fleeing even as people shouted about him leaving. He ran over the wall of the large city with the bay, and went into the forest. Best to try and lose their trail. Then he came across a huge slab of blood stone inside the mountain wall.

They used it as decoration, it seemed. It smelled bad. It didn't smell like the blood stone on Sky Island. He didn't touch it, didn't get close, but heard voices coming from the sea, and many coming from the city. His stomach roared, and he needed to eat quickly. He found the nearest animal, expertly roasted it and ate it to the bone.

Luffy was full of blood and food. He was back in tip top condition. He had come from an area at one side of the city. The big building, no doubt where the princess lived, was on the opposite side. He waited for the ship to go, staying silent and completely still, tucked under a rock on the cliff top, until the princess went into her castle.

He only knew where she went based on the constant screams of her name. She was adored by her country. She must be a nice person, then, like Vivi. Once she was in the castle, he jumped on the roof. He fell, through not expecting to fall in. Was the roof that unstable? Where was this island anyways?

He ended up falling into the water on his back, and freaking out before he jerked back upright. He was still shirtless. His shorts were there, but his shirt was gone. At least his hat was still there, thank goodness.

Luffy had seen Makino naked when he was little when she let him take baths with her, but he didn't remember it. He was only five years old then. Bless her heart for accepting him even when Garp never wanted her to know. She found out when Luffy brought a sippy cup to the bar without his permission, and it had blood in it.

He'd asked for some warm blood, and it wasn't exactly easy to explain away. She ended up accepting it, yet Garp never saw other people could be that way, too. But then he remembered the baby book of him, and his apology.

Brought back to the present, the Snake Princess was naked in the bath. "A man? I knew I smelled something off!"

"You really are like me!" he said, pointing at the black marks around a tattoo that looked kind of familiar. She jerked around and said, "You saw it?!" He wondered why she was angry.

"Yeah, but-"

"Now that you've seen, you can't be allowed to live." Luffy frowned and crossed his arms.

"I finally found someone like me but she wants to kill me!" he said in irritation. She finally looked over him, eyes narrowed. "Why do you all want to kill me so bad? It's not like I came here on purpose!"

"Who are you?" she asked coldly.

He gave his name and dream. "Neh, old lady said you drank blood, right?"

"Why would she say that? I'm going to have her executed!" He heard the voices of those outside the bathhouse. He was completely unphased by the naked woman. He thought Zoro looked a lot more attractive in the bath. He missed him… he hoped he was okay. He had to hope so. If he didn't have hope, he might as well have these people just kill him here.

"She told me because I do, too. When I got here my arms were all dead. Hey, do you have a place off this island?" Luffy asked. "I have to get back to my friends."

"What's going on here, older sister?!" a very fat and muscled woman with orange hair asked. The other girl had long green hair and a long tongue. The Snake Princess said she didn't know what the situation was, but wanted to preserve the man.

"Mero mero beam!" she said. Luffy stayed still, not knowing what to expect and not feeling any danger. He just stood there, nothing happening. He put his hat back on his head and pursed his lips. Was what supposed to do something? On a second try, nothing happened. "What are you?!"

Luffy shrugged. "By the way, you know having a blood stone can be dangerous?" The women didn't know what to do. The biggest one asked if he really drank blood. "Yeah, I think they gave me some of your stash. I was really hurt and couldn't feel my arms at all."

"Why?"

"My crew got attacked and sent flying everywhere. It was all my fault… my friend got shot by a bubble head so I punched him and an admiral came after us. Anyways, I have to get back to my crew!" They were shocked.

"What do you mean, a 'bubble head'?" the princess asked, sounding funny when she said it. Luffy sourly said what he was meaning. "What's your name?"

"Don't you wanna get dressed, aren't you cold?" They seemed to only just realize she was butt naked, covering her breasts or not. Luffy wasn't much bothered, but it was kind of weird. Not that he was affected by it. They got her a robe immediately. "Get Elder Nyon right now. Man, follow me," the Snake Princess demanded. Nobody offered him a towel even though he was soaking, too.

Luffy commented on her house. It wasn't like any castle he'd seen before. "Be quiet, man. You're annoying me."

"Hmmmm," was Luffy's response. He wanted some way off this island and back to Sabaody, so he didn't want to piss her off. She already seemed pretty cranky, but at least she wasn't threatening to kill him anymore. The people here were violent. He really hadn't seen a single man. Or smelled one. They smelled distinctly different than women most times.

And we meet the first other person confirmed to be like Luffy! Poor baby, too, though his insecurities. See you next week!