Finally, substantial answers about what Luffy is. Not all yet, but there's a lot here!
Later, Luffy was looking at a huge tree island in the distance. It was close, but was not being registered on the log pose. He wanted to go there. Really badly, he wanted to go. Well, a short detour wouldn't be so bad. "We're going to that little island!" he announced as Kin'emon and Zoro fought over the sword he got at Thriller Bark.
Ace looked over the railing and asked why. "I just have a feeling we should go! Besides, we're going to weigh anchor for the night soon, anyways." Franky turned the ship, and Law didn't look happy with Luffy making this decision himself, even if it wasn't going to impact their journey to Dressrosa too much.
Everyone was looking over the side, wondering what caught Luffy's attention. As they got closer to the island, Kin'emon and Zoro were still arguing about who the sword belonged to, both adamant that it belonged to themselves.
The island was full of creatures, and Luffy went on with Ace and Robin. Ace lit the way as they followed Luffy's nose, what he thought smelled familiar. Very familiar. He had a feeling he knew what it was. The creatures he expected were there, and Luffy explained what they were and where they came from to Ace.
He was so excited, thinking he finally found some land blood stone besides the one he was unable to get a sample of at Amazon Lily. They could get a bit from here. They arrived, and saw a huge block of it. But it was a thin layer. Robin gasped suddenly, and Luffy wondered why. Ace asked what was wrong.
"It's surrounding a poneglyph!" she announced.
Luffy grinned, wondering if this was something nobody had found before. It was just luck they'd sailed past it, and found this blood stone. Luffy got a rock and smashed it into one side of the blood stone that covered it like a layer of ice. Luffy asked Ace to get a "vial thing" from the ship, and he came back not much later with one and some gloves.
He picked up a few shards of it and put them in the vial, popping the cap on. There were animals around them, but Luffy was keeping them away with his aura. These animals didn't like that feeling, so they might not have ever come across humans.
They had no proof that this stone affected humans because the island - tiny and not even a real island - had no human settlements there. Only the animals were affected. Robin read the poneglyph, and her eyes were wide and completely shocked. Once she was done, she was still shocked.
"What is it? Did you learn anything?!" Luffy asked in excitement and apprehension.
"I did. A lot. I think nobody has ever seen this poneglyph. Not even Roger," Robin said. Luffy cheered about getting something useful that the former Pirate King hadn't. "Let us go back and I can explain to the crew. I'm sure everyone will want to hear it."
The three headed back to the ship, Luffy smelling that Sanji was cooking. They called the other Straw Hats to go into the kitchen and hear some important news. They all sat in the kitchen, their guests not trusted enough to hear about this, apparently. Everyone in the room was wondering what it was curiously.
"There was a block of blood stone there, as Ace got in the vial." It was on the table. It looked no different from the other ones they'd collected. "The blood stone was wrapped around and covering a hidden poneglyph." They were surprised at this. "Many other poneglyphs speak of ancient weapons. Poseidon, Uranus and Pluton. Little is known of Uranus, but Pluton is a huge battleship, which had its blue prints burnt by Franky. Poseidon was Shirahoshi, able to speak to the sea kings.
"Apparently, there is a fourth, Ares. The blood stone is the fourth. Or at least, a catalyst."
Chopper said, "Wait… does that mean Luffy…?"
"It seems Luffy, and whoever is alike to him, affected by the blood stone, is a fourth ancient weapon." Everyone looked at Luffy in shock. He didn't think he was all that strong to be an ancient weapon! And he wasn't the only one. They were all baffled. "It seems the government does not even know of this information. Based on their reactions to Luffy, they don't even know they exist, which is surprising."
Luffy said he didn't really want to be a weapon. "It's not like you have to be." Luffy was kind of disappointed about the answer to it all, even if it was nothing he would have ever expected in his wildest dreams. He asked if there was anything else on the poneglyph.
"Yes. Based on the power it spoke of possible from your kind, there are more things to come for you. It also says you are not human," Robin said the last part quietly.
"At all?"
"At all."
Luffy shrugged. "I've been thinking that for awhile, actually. I'm not that surprised. But the other part is surprising! And we're the only ones to know of that! I wish we could hide the poneglyph again, though."
Nami said Robin was the only person in the world who could read it anyways. That was true. Robin was smiling a bright smile. Finally, a piece of the full answer to a huge mystery. "Did it say how many people there were affected by it?" Nami wondered.
"Not many. The blood stone is what affects few babies. But not many. Compared to Sky Island, the blood stone doesn't affect people as much. Like how only one of the hundreds of citizens of Amazon Lily were affected. And how Luffy was the only one on his own island," Robin explained.
Dinner was ready, and everything had been mostly explained, so they let the others in, who all wondered what had happened on the little island. The Straw Hats didn't reveal such important information. Luffy was distracted, though. It was not what he expected at all. But he was happy to have an answer. "Ares". Was that his kind's name?
He ate in silence, distracted. He was so happy he wanted to go to that little island, though! A great detour. "Is everything alright?" Kin'emon asked, seeing the distracted expressions of much of the crew. "Did something happen on the island?"
"Everything's fine," Sanji said. "We just found something interesting there, that's all." The vial of the blood stone was in Ace's pocket so nobody else saw it. He was sitting next to Luffy, between Zoro and Ace. He patted Luffy's leg and gave him a smile. He and his crew were unbothered completely by Luffy being deemed a weapon by somebody in the past.
When it was time to go to bed, Luffy contemplated telling Law. But he didn't trust him enough. Maybe later. Well, he probably heard it all anyways. He decided to sleep in the aquarium, not a people person at all. Kin'emon and Ace took two of the extra beds. They had more than enough room. Momo was sleeping in the girl's room.
Luffy was awake for much of the night. At least they had a couple more days before they got to the next destination. Zoro fell asleep before him, but Luffy eventually fell asleep, too, against Zoro's broad chest. Even with the hard, defined muscles, he was soft in a way. When he woke up, it was to Sanji banging into the room.
"The newspaper came!" everyone jerked awake by the sudden noise. They all got up, in their pajamas to see what was so important to wake them at 6 AM. They shuffled out, and Law and Sanji were already at the paper. "Doflamingo did it! He resigned from the warlords and renounced himself as king!" Brook said in shock.
The teen captain crossed his arms and tilted his head. Luffy was happy that it seemed to work, but he got a bad feeling about it. Well, Law believed it worked, and he knew Flamingo much better than Luffy did just from a short encounter with him at Marineford. After all, Law had once been part of his group.
But he just had a weird feeling.
Then he saw that his face was in the paper with Ace and Law's next to it. They already knew Luffy, Ace and Law had teamed up, even if the government had said nothing so far. Kid, Hawkins and Apoo joined hands, too! Luffy wondered what they were doing, too. So interesting! "Ace, why did you refuse to be a warlord?" Luffy wondered curiously. He wondered why Law became one, too. Ace was unconcerned about being seen as joining them. Marco gave him permission, so everything was fine and he wasn't worried.
Everyone there had not heard of this. They were shocked. "Why would I be an awful marine dog? I was out to off Whitebeard, not become a warlord. Besies, I'm Roger's biological kid, why would I put myself so close to the marines?"
"I guess that's true," Sanji said. They moved into the galley for breakfast. There weren't enough seats at the table for all of them, so some sat at the bar counter instead. Law talked while they ate the pancakes and berry waffles with french toast and scrambled eggs. Law ignored all bread products, which were the majority.
"We kidnapped Caesar, and Doflamingo is giving up ten years of time as a king and years of being a warlord all to get him back. Once we give him back, we'll have concluded the deal. But we need to be careful of him and the plan we make," Law said. He stood up once breakfast was done. They were going to call Doflamingo, though he might not answer.
"Ace-ya is probably a surprise helper. Not a rookie at all, but a Whitebeard commander. He'll be helpful."
"I'm not the leader, don't put me in charge of anything," Ace said lightly. "For once, not being a boss is kind of nice," he joked. He had almost always been in some sort of high position the moment he set sail five years ago. A captain and then soon after joining the yonko crew, becoming commander.
They called Doflamingo on the den den out on the grassy deck. It rang for only a moment before it picked up, surprising some. "It's me. I've left the warlords," Doflamingo's kind of slimy voice said. Ace had his arms crossed while sitting on the bench around the mast. The moment he answered, Luffy grabbed the receiver and needlessly introduced himself.
Angrily demanding to know if he was the boss of Caesar who did such horrible things to kids and Brownbeard. "Mingo! We're returning Caser only cause of the deal! But if you do it again, I'll kick your ass!" Luffy vowed. His crew looked unsurprised by this.
"Straw Hat Luffy. You sure were an interesting brat back at Marineford. Is your brother there? I have something I'm sure he wants."
"Yup, I'm coming for that fruit," Ace said simply.
"I look forward to finding out what your situation is, and where you've been for the last two years."
"I ain't telling you any of that!" Luffy shouted. Law pushed him away and took the receiver in annoyance.
"Joker! Don't say useless things! We'll return Caesar to you as promised."
"Well, you should, for your sakes. If you try to flee after coming so far, you know very well what will happen to you. Huhuhuhu! First, let's check if my business partner is safe." Law had Caesar shout apologies about being caught.
"Eight hours from now, on the solitary island north of Dressrosa, 'Green Bit', south east beach!" Law would give the gas man back to him then and there.
"Huhuhuhu, you make me sad. I wanted to have some drinks with you." Law hung up then, done speaking and not wanting to talk to him anymore. Luffy felt a blast coming, and knew it would be big for some reason.
"Hey, Franky! Catch me!" Luffy called, and went to the railing. Franky did so without a word, standing behind him. Luffy put his hands out, and let out a burst that left a crater in the water, throwing by backwards into Franky's solid body. "Thanks!" Luffy said and stretched his arms. Ace was happy it wasn't damaging him anymore.
After they gathered back on the deck in a circle, Law explained the rest of the plan he'd made. Moving Caesar was a decoy. While they returned him, the rest would be taking out the SAD factory. "Straw Hat-ya can probably smell the place out, even though I have no idea where it is or what it looks like." Luffy wished he could fight with Ace and have fun there with him. Fighting in a tournament would be so much fun!
"Can I go with Zoro on a date first?"
"No."
Luffy pouted.
Kin'emon expressed worry about going to Green Bit and not Dressrosa until Law said they would be going to Dressrosa on the ship. "Oh, thank goodness," the samurai said.
"I won't be helping you guys out, I'm gonna get Pops' fruit. After that, I'll find some way to help. Don't know how long it will take me to win the tournament." Chopper said Ace was just as overly confident as Luffy was.
Luffy was confident Ace could do it just fine. Law said he'd never been to Dressrosa, so he didn't know where certain locations were. "Well, let's decide later! Adventure! I'm so excited. And I want to hurry to go to Wano, too! It'll be fun, I know it! Shishishi!"
"We can't just go without a plan!"
"We gotta find the SAD factory and kill it, right? Then we get Caesar to Mingo!" Luffy summed it up.
"Well, that's the plan, but we have to go into more detail!" Luffy was already bored and ran off to go inside.
"Hey, you just had breakfast, no getting into the kitchen!" Sanji shouted and went after Luffy when he did try getting into the fridge with the strong lock. He whined that he was craving chocolate. Sanji sighed and gave up, getting him a chocolate popsicle. "If you ever break open the refrigerator, I will never make you a blood dish again," the chef warned. Luffy nodded, and sat at the table while Sanji went out to plan with the others.
Ace walked in, not part of the plan either. "You sure are a weird captain. Letting your crew do all the planning for you. Though I guess it makes sense since you're never good at making plans." Luffy nodded. Plus, he got bored listening to that stuff! Everything always worked out anyways. After a bit, they all came back inside, Chopper asking for cotton candy while Zoro asked for alcohol.
"You all just had breakfast, why are you so hungry?" Sanji asked in irritation. "Now I have four more people to feed, too."
Ace chuckled. "I'll eat a normal amount of food here, then."
"The rest of us don't have bottomless pit of a stomach. You don't need to complain about everything," Zoro said snidely.
"You don't realize the more food I feed everyone else the more food I gotta give to Luffy." Ace said he spoiled him. "Better than having him steal everyone else's food." They all got the snacks they requested as Kin'emon explained his dilemma that ended up having the mess at Punk Hazard happening to the two Wano citizens.
He said, "I cannot say why they were after us! But originally, we set out to sea to look for a place called Zou!" Law was surprised by hearing that. "Do you know of it?"
The surgeon nodded. "So many coincidences, what is going on…? After destroying the SMILE factory, I was planning on meeting my crew there. All of my nakama are there right now. It's been awhile."
"Is it true! Well, then, may we travel together?!" Kin'emon begged. Luffy cheered they were all going to Wano together. They all had a reason to, after all! Kin'emon apparently was shipwrecked on their way to Zou, and drifted ashore to Dressrosa, he and Momonosuke as well as one more samurai. They wanted to go back to the island and rescue him.
"Once we got there, Doflamingo chased us around," Momonsouake, in dragon form, said sadly. "Then I went to a ship I had no idea about to hide. There were many children who wanted to be healed. Unfortunately I found myself on that island soon after I went to the wrong place."
"To go after them, my fellow samurai, Kanjuro, made himself a hostage to cover me. He let me go to sea to rescue Momonosuke. I have to go back and save him!" Kin'emon said, clearly holding back tears. Momonosuke looked to be in the same position. Luffy wondered if they'd feel better after crying. Luffy did. But that was in front of family, so it was different.
Luffy, Chopper and Franky were touched but Kanjuro's selfless actions. "I wanna save him, too!" Luffy cheered. Law was not happy with all the deviations of his plan, but he couldn't really do anything about it.
It was a few more hours until they reached the island, and Luffy was sparring with Ace, keeping up well for once. The last time Ace had seen Luffy fight was two years ago when his body was in shambles.
Ace was determined to win, but so was Luffy. but Luffy finally lost, and the crew were amazed by Ace beating their strongest member. Luffy was a captain and very strong, but Ace was still just a little stronger. He was out of breath, too.
"Man, I wish he would help us!" Usopp said in an upset voice.
"Well, he wasn't meant to come in the first place. Besides, he'll help us later, after he wins. Though what will you do with the fruit after you win it?" Robin wondered. Ace said he'd bring it back to the ship, but bring his bag with him anyways. He'd fight to the death to keep that devil fruit.
Ace promised to help out later, if they couldn't pull the plan off perfectly. Once Luffy smelled the island, he alerted them they were getting closer. Law seemed to really hide every aspect of what he was. He didn't act like he had super senses, he hid everything that made him look different. Was he afraid to show any of it?
Luffy showed everything proudly. He didn't care, and wanted to meet others like himself. And he had met Hancock and Law! He didn't count the Skypiea people. They weren't the same, he felt. Before they landed, Luffy went inside and drank three blood bags. He reminded Law to do so as well in passing in the hallway.
Luffy sensed him going into the bathroom and doing so. He wished he could openly speak to him about it, but he didn't want to talk about anything at all. He had a long conversation with Hancock two years ago. He was bummed he couldn't do the same with Law. Well, maybe not yet. They would be traveling together for a while.
When they nearer to the island, they saw it was surrounded by a rocky formation, so they couldn't see anything on it at all yet. "We're here! Dressrosa!" Luffy shouted excitedly from on top of the crows nest. Usopp shouted at him to be quiet, and Doflamingo could hear them. "Nah! I don't think so."
"You don't know that, what if he's like you?!"
"He's not," Law said firmly. "I know that personally."
"See? We're just fine!" Luffy cheered. He jumped off of the crows nest and landed lightly on his feet. Ace was all set, all his accessories on and watermelon bag, too. Luffy wondered what kind of guys he'd be up against in there. "I wish I could go with you," he whined. "I wanna fight in a competition, too!"
"You can't! We need you for the plan," Law snapped. Luffy was annoyed Law seemed to ignore his senses completely. Or at least not use them in any helpful way so far. Luffy was glad he didn't ever feel the need to hide, even if it meant something was wrong with him.
When they landed there and dropped anchor, Ace was grinning in a determined way, hand on his hat and shoulders on fire. Usopp asked Kinenom if they should wear disguises there. Luffy was told to hide his markings. "What? Why?!"
"You're too noticeable with a bunch of weird tattoos," Zoro said. "You should also hide your eyes. Doflamingo no doubt knows what you look like." Luffy pouted and went inside. Getting a red t-shirt and arm sleeve.
"Happy?!"
"No, but that's necessary." Kin'emon gave the others suits and sunglasses with fake beards.
"Are you gonna hide, Ace?" Luffy wondered, putting on some sunglasses and fake facial hair. He didn't really like the idea of hiding himself, but he said he would help out Luffy. He hated wearing shirts, but was given a gray tank top. Ace had wanted to keep his tattoo on his shoulder showing. It was much less famous than the Whitebeard jolly roger tattooed onto his back. He put sunglasses on, and left his hat on the ship. He didn't put a beard on, though.
"This sucks ass," he complained. Luffy agreed. He didn't like hiding everything about him he was proud of. While they were complaining, Law gave Nami a vivre card to Zou in case something happened to them.
"Hey, nothing's gonna happen to us!" Usopp insisted.
Zoro yawned. "Well, we can't be sure. Something always goes wrong, even if they usually end up okay at the end." Law was not happy with that statement, but knew it was true based on their time in Punk Hazard. Ace was unbothered, seeming really happy to not be in charge for once. Law showed them a map one of his nakama had drawn. It wasn't the best map, but it would do just fine.
Luffy got bored before he explained, and he, Ace, Zoro, Sanji, Franky and Kin'emon all hurried onto the island, Luffy following the scent of delicious food! They all stood there in their disguises. "Well, I'm off to win back Pops' fruit. I'll see you later. I won't say be careful because you won't be, but good luck," the disguised commander said.
"Right, have fun!" Luffy said. Ace waved as he walked off. He left before the group saw the strangest sight they'd seen in a long time. Talking and walking toys! One walked in front of them, and as he walked, the marionette strings on him tangled up. They all had their jaws dropped in shock. Luffy heard Ace exclaim, "The hell are you?!" from a bit away.
There were so many different scents and sounds. Not overwhelming, but a bit distracting if he didn't focus. The smell of food, perfume, plants, and fabric were everywhere. There were dancing ladies and music, the sounds of people and laughter and cheering. It was so lively, but hard not to focus on the sentient toys.
If Doflamingo was such a horrid person, then why was his country happy? It was kind of weird. Well, it didn't change their plan. "Neh, let's get some food!" Luffy cheered, and they followed the scent of good food, which not only Luffy could smell. It permeated the area, drawing them in easily. "You guys, don't pretend this is a date," Sanji said shortly when Luffy and Zoro held hands.
"Don't go getting distracted by women, then," Zoro snapped, but held Luffy's right hand. He was so happy his ear was fixed up and wouldn't be damaged so easily. He didn't regret turning down the offer to fix his arm. Nobody else who wasn't at the mermaid cove with him knew about that point of view about the permanent injury.
Luffy was completely disguised, even a hat over his hat. He hid everything about himself, and it was annoying, but necessary. Well, hopefully something happened later to destroy these clothes. Who knew? What kind of adventure would it be in a country full of living toys? A fun one, hopefully. With new players, too, even if they wouldn't be working with three of the four.
They got food and drinks at the restaurant, which they justified by getting information from somebody there. Anybody there. "I'm confused, though," Sanji said. "Their king resigned not long ago, and yet they're all fine, nobody is upset. You'd think the place would be in a panic with their king resigning."
"Maybe they don't know yet?" Franky offered. Zoro took a swig of his drink. It didn't matter, they had one mission. He didn't say what it was out loud.
"I hope the plan goes more fun than Tra-guy wants."
"Why would you want that?" Kin'emon asked.
"It's Luffy. Don't question, you'll get no meaningful answer," Franky said lightly. Luffy laughed about that. Zoro smiled through his tankard of beer. Their food came, a ton of it, and they dug in. while they were eating, Sanji spoke to a waiter, and got information that made this country even stranger than they thought with only the living toys.
The people here believed in fairies. And they were allowed to steal whatever they pleased with no consequences. Nobody had ever seen them, but they knew they were there. Or at least believed it. For centuries the people had believed in it. "Be careful on your travels. The fairies might take something of yours as well!" The toy waiter walked away, loudly with his metal-drum-thingies as hands.
Luffy looked over and the others' gazes followed to a gambling area, where an old blind man was getting duped by a bunch of thugs in uniforms. Weird uniforms. "Disgusting," Franky said. Nobody else in the restaurant thought that was honorable or right to do, either. Luffy felt bad for the blind guy. What a disadvantage it was to be blind.
Luffy had been blinded before, and it was terrifying. He remembered being unable to see back in Alabasta when he drank animal blood. Luffy went up over there with his pasta plate, and watched them from behind. They lied again, and Luffy said, "It's white. The old guy won." He stuffed another forkful of food into his mouth.
The thugs argued with him, but Luffy continued to tell the truth. "Neh, you guys are lying, huh?" Luffy asked casually, stuffing more food in his mouth. The room was quiet, watching with shock for some reason. Were these guys supposed to be strong? They reminded Luffy of fodder marines that thought they were tough but really weren't.
"Thank you, whoever you are! So I won, did I?"
"Yeah, lots of times," Luffy stated honestly. When the guys started yelling about the guy being blind, so why would he play in the first place, Luffy was asked to move aside, and he did. Then the old blind man pulled out a sword from his walking stick, and suddenly there was a huge force that blasted them through the ground. Like something incredibly dense and heavy just slammed into the wooden floor. It was hollow below, strangely, and the thugs fell inside.
"Whoa! That's awesome! You're not helpless at all, huh?" Luffy asked, finishing his plate finally.
"It can be amusing not to see… In this world… there are many horrible things you do not want to see," he said.
"Yeah, it sucks hearing and smelling bad things, too," Luffy said conversationally. The old man looked surprised at his answer. He went back to the table, where his friends were watching in skepticism and wariness. This guy was very powerful and unassuming. Perhaps dangerous. "Hey mister, what are you?"
"Hehe, I think for both of our sakes, it would be best not to answer. Thank you for your kindness," he said pleasantly, and gave the money to repair the damages to the owner of the place. Then he left.
Sanji said, "'For both your sakes?' Is he some infamous guy or something?"
"No matter who he is, he's not a regular guy."
"He's a marine," Luffy said simply. "Smells like one, even if he's not wearing their justice jacket."
"Then we'll stay away from him," Zoro said. "We don't need marines on our asses, too." They were all alerted to the fact something had gone through the room and stolen all sorts of objects from everybody. Purses, wallets, keys, lots of things. And nobody seemed bothered. Even though they lost some important possessions.
"There's one missing! I'm missing a sword! Shusui is gone!" Zoro said angrily. Kin'emon was upset, too, as he wanted that sword for some reason.
"It looks like you were taken in by the fairies. All you can do is laugh it off and move on. They've protected Dressrosa for so long, we don't bother them," another toy with marionette strings said. Zoro and Kin'emon were not happy with this. His sword was very important to him. And Kin'emon kept saying it was Wano's treasure. Well, it was Zoro's sword now.
Then Zoro saw the window, and a big sack trying to get through it, along with his sword. He chased after it without saying a thing but telling the fairy to "get the fuck back there!" "Wait! You can't go off on your own!" Sanji called, following him. Kin'emon came, too, insistent on getting that sword back.
"Ooh, looks fun!" Luffy cheered, but Franky grabbed the scruff of his t-shirt to stop him from following. "Hey, let me go, we're going, too!" Luffy asked, hearing his two crew members chase the fairy, spewing profanities on their way. Well, Zoro was. Franky kept him, though.
Franky said, "I have a better idea. I've got it all figured out. Since we're dealing with these kinds of guys, I've got to take the lead here! Let's leave everything to this guy!" he said, pointing this thumb to himself. His plan was dragging out one of the beaten underlings, which was clear by the fact there were so many wearing weird outfits and were part of a group.
But he had no idea what SMILEs were, or any sort of factory. All he remembered was some mission to chase samurai around, and that was the extent of any knowledge they might want. "Well?"
"He's not lying," Luffy said. "He's just really unhelpful. Neh, where are the big guys?" Franky punched the wall, much more intimidating right now.
"I- I don't know! There's a big competition today! They're scattered around, probably! It has a really good prize, so everyone is at the coliseum today! The family leaders should all be there!" They all already were aware of what the prize was. And that somebody they knew was fighting in it.
Luffy said they could try and get answers there. "Yeah, that's the only hint we have."
"Family leaders? So, is Dolfamingo still in power? We heard he resigned."
"Yeah, it was just a mistake in the paper!" Luffy looked to Franky.
"I was skeptical about how easy it was," Franky said, Luffy nodding in agreement. Luffy knocked the guy out with his haki, and he and Franky were going to the coliseum to see if there was any helpful information there for them. How to get to the SAD factory, as Luffy couldn't smell anything familiar. It could be different from the chemicals at Punk Hazard.
It would be hidden in a place that was airtight, or even underground. So, Luffy's senses were useless right now. Completely. His job was not important anymore since he couldn't pull it off. He wanted to fight, but he also wanted to explore this place. They went to the coliseum but were denied entry if they weren't going to fight.
For once, Luffy had some self-control. It sounded fun, but he had no desire for the scary fruit that could destroy the world. If he wanted to win, he'd have to beat Ace, and he felt he'd be unhappy if Luffy was the one to get the fruit. This was Ace's fight, not his. "Looks like a bunch of the strong guys are in there. But it doesn't look like we can get in easily, either," Franky said.
"Yeah. Well, I don't want to ruin my brother's fun." Though he said it with a deep pout. Franky commended him on his self-control. Luffy asked to see who had gone in already, just to make sure Ace got there safely. He assumed the alias "Trace" was Ace. Luffy hoped he had fun.
Luffy turned to Franky and asked what they should do now. "Look around the country some more. Maybe being up close would help us find the factory." Luffy nodded, and looked longingly at the coliseum. He might not get this chance again! Maybe he could fight, but then bail out once he'd had enough fun?
"Luffy, let Ace have his fun," Franky said. "Besides, you're not after the prize fruit." Luffy drooped, knowing that was true. Luffy's hope was crushed completely when the gates to the entrance were closed. He wished he could at least watch! But then he would feel crappy he wasn't taking any part in it.
They stood outside the gate, Luffy feeling regret but better now that he couldn't ruin the plan and fight with his brother. He had lots of time to spend with him, it would be fine. Ace made a promise, and he never broke promises.
Looking to the side, they saw a toy soldier, one legged, with a plastic toy gun, skidding on the street with the wheels on his only leg. Were toys really breakable? It would suck to lose a limb. Well, he looked at his arm. Nah, that didn't count.
The soldier was being chased by authorities and then hopped into the coliseum window, bars there but he could fit through. Apparently any kind of authorities were not allowed in the coliseum. That was interesting! Maybe because the fights were so brutal, or the fighters were all criminals.
Based on no loud shocking exclamations about Ace's presence, maybe he was still hiding. Well, it wouldn't stay hidden long once he started fighting with his fire.
He jumped down, as the voice was clearly male, right in front of the two. "Oh, oh, what an aged fellow you are! Can I carry your luggage?" Luffy looked at himself and Franky. They had no luggage.
"Neh, this guy is funny! Hahaha!" Luffy laughed, though not in a rude way.
"Oh oh oh? Am I funny?" he asked, twisting himself. Luffy laughed louder, then something caught his smell. Luffy bent down and sniffed him, though the toy soldier could make no expression. Franky asked what he was doing. "Nothing, this guy just smells weird for a toy."
The toy soldier asked what he meant. "You smell like a human," Luffy said bluntly.
"He's probably been around them a lot. We should get searching," Franky said. "We're not gonna take Doflamingo down just staying in one place. Let's go looking. We can walk around the circumference of the island. It means around the outside."
"What?! That would take forever!" Luffy complained.
Frankly said, "True. It would take quite a while." The toy soldier jumped onto Franky's shoulder, asking him to take him someplace more secluded. "Get off me, you'll be a burden! We don't have time for some toy to bother us," Franky said dismissively.
"I can help! I know all about Doflamingo!" Luffy paused, and said he was telling the truth. "Go to the flower field! We can speak there!" Franky looked to Luffy who shrugged. He was useless right now. He didn't know what the factory wound sound like, so that sense was botched as well. They should go with him.
"Besides, it might be faster than it would be to run around the whole island." They paused when they saw a burning meteor fall down at the north part of the island. Luffy went rigid. "Franky, that way was where the Caesar team was going, right?" he asked quietly. "Who was on that team?"
Franky said it was Robin, Usopp and Law. Luffy clenched his fists. He was worried about his crew. "What should I do?" Luffy asked.
"What do you want to do?" Franky asked.
"I'm worried. I want to go check on them. Law would get mad, though. But I don't care what he thinks if my crew is in trouble. Should I trust in them or go make sure they're okay?" He was torn. Franky asked the toy soldier if he could really help with taking Doflamingo down, as he suggested.
"Absolutely!"
He was telling the truth. "Don't expend too much energy, okay? We're probably gonna end up fighting." Luffy nodded. He ran back the way they came. When he passed, he saw Ace fighting on the screen without his devil fruit. As he used haki to beat the shit out of everyone, he was grinning, having fun. Lucky!
Luffy kept running, and passed a toy crying out at a woman. "How could you forget me?! How could you be with someone else, did you forget about me? I'm your husband, Esta!" Authorities were trying to get him, and said he had a sickness, a broken toy, but Luffy scooped the doll up on his way, running from the authorities. He could hear the truth in this toy's words. It was odd to be able to tell when they had no heartbeat to back it up. Maybe Luffy was just so attuned to the sound of lies, that he didn't need to hear heartbeats anymore!
"Thank you, but why did you help?!" the toy asked. He had tears in his voice even if none were coming from his stitched on eyes. Luffy stopped, holding the toy and making sure there was nobody else around.
Luffy asked, "Why do the toys smell human? Are you really toys?" His voice was quiet, feeling this was something big. The toys smelled like humans, even if they mostly smelled of plastic or fabric. Underneath the smell of objects, they had that same smell as humans, even if they clearly were not. They didn't have a human body.
"I was a human once. Esta was my wife! But then I was turned into a toy! I was a human here once! All of the toys were once humans. But now we're all trapped!" Luffy's face grew dark and angry.
Luffy asked who had done this. "I don't know, a girl! She was young with green hair. I couldn't see any more than that!" The pirate was angry. Looking out of the alleyway he was in, he saw how happy all of the passing toys were. They hung out with humans, and got along just fine. "The toys aren't happy. We've all been forgotten it seems. Esta… she forgot about me!" The toy started sobbing again. Luffy asked if there was any way he could help him. "Not that I know of."
"What's your name?"
"Tobi," the toy said. He had no expression, and it was hard to hear cries and not see tears. It felt wrong. Luffy was so angry. All of the toys on this island were humans, and everyone had forgotten about them.
"You stick with me. I want to see something, my crew is in danger. Then I'll help you!" Franky could deal with the factory! Luffy knew he could do it. He wasn't needed if he couldn't use his own special senses to help at all. He used gear second to double back around and sprint through the country, through streets, passed thousands of toys and humans interacting together as if those toys weren't full of pain.
Once he got to the countryside, he then ended up in another town with that bridge to Green Bit. He stopped in front of the place the meteor had hit. He saw Law there, fighting Doflamingo and that blind marine. He could smell Robin and Usopp there, unhurt. He smelled no blood. They were alive and okay enough for him not to worry. He would trust Law to be fine.
"Tell me everything you know about this country!" Luffy said going to look for Zoro and Sanji. He wanted to tell them about this. He wanted to help these toys be free. To be trapped in a fake body, surrounded by people who'd forgotten all about you… how horrible! This was Doflamingo's doing. And this country that seemed and smelled so happy before, so welcoming as a vacation spot, was full of miserable people, only they had to hide it.
As long as he wasn't turned into a toy, things would be fine. He brought gear second back, and went running to them before he heard a screaming above, and jumped up, the toy falling off, and grabbed the injured ally and landed hard on the ground, bouncing.
"Tra-guy, what the hell happened to you?" Luffy demanded, seeing all the wounds. Luffy threw him over his shoulder and ran away from where he could have landed with gear second. He snatched up his toy friend, and zoomed away from where he sensed the more dangerous guys. He wrenched open the door of an empty house and went inside, hiding in the bedroom, keeping his eyes closed as he sensed and heard Doflamingo and that marine guy looking for Law. Luffy shoved Law in the closet, making him grunt from his wounds. He was really messed up. Luffy wasn't going to find any blood here, though.
Once the enemies passed, with Luffy having locked the front door and everything, Tobi asked, "What happened to him?"
"This is my ally. It looks like he had a hard fight with the main enemy. I'm worried about my crew, but they were safe last time I checked," Luffy said quietly. Nobody knew it was him who took Law, and they were far, far from where he would have landed. They should be safe. "Tobi, stay with Law. I'll be right back."
"R-Right, you can count on me!" Tobi said. Law was still unconscious in the closet. Luffy used gear second to find any Doflamingo croony from before, and they were easy to find as there were quite a few of them sprinkled throughout the busiest towns. He snatched the guy and dragged him back to the house, sensing Law and his toy friend there.
He used conqueror's haki to knock the guy out, in the room with Law and the toy. He told Tobi to go to the other room, which he did. Luffy got Law out of the closet, and used his own teeth on the arm of the enemy, no matter how weak he was. He dribbled the blood into Law's mouth, keeping his senses open in case anybody else came.
Law's wounds healed, and he was panting. "Where are Robin and Usopp?" he demanded when Law was back. He scowled, and cursed. Luffy got a new shirt out of the closet and threw it at Law. "What happened to the plan?"
"It was a trap. Doflamingo broke the agreement. But he didn't get Caesar back. Those on the ship got away from the island. Where is everyone else?" Luffy asked about Robin and Usopp again. "They're fine, I think. They weren't there when the fight started." Luffy shoved the enemy in the closet, gagging him and locking the door.
Luffy went into the living room, and asked Tobi if he knew any way to fix them. "What are you doing? The plan was to destroy the factory!" Law said. He sounded angry. He was embarrassed about being saved by Luffy that way, no doubt. He had a new shirt on now. Luffy had seen all the tattoos he had that covered the black marks that had no doubt been there. Luffy said Franky was working on it. They'd all been separated. "What are you doing with the toy?" Law asked. He truly was a grumpy grump.
"I found out that all of the toys here are humans! One of Doflamingo's guys did this to them! Now everyone has forgotten they exist and they have to pretend to be happy," Luffy explained. "I'm going to go and find Zoro and Kin'emon. They got separated from me."
"This isn't the plan, Straw Hat-ya."
"Hasn't the plan been ruined? The exchange with Mingo didn't work! Now we have to destroy the factory. But I'm helping these toys! How would you feel if you were forgotten by everybody!?" He wasn't going to back down. Law said nothing, but didn't look happy. Luffy had no way to contact his friends, but would hunt them down with his senses. "You can help or not. I'm doing this whether the plan stays the same or not."
Law didn't say anything. "Don't die, 'kay? I won't be there next time with some random guy."
"Don't act like I'm weak."
"If I was that injured, I'd need someone's help, too! Asking for help doesn't make you weak. Tobi, hang onto my shoulder, okay?" Luffy told Law his plan. He could agree with it or go off on his own. He was healed enough for now. If he stayed away from Doflamingo maybe it wouldn't happen again.
Tobi grabbed onto Luffy's arm as he sped towards where he smelled his nearest crew member. It was Franky. Hopefully he joined with the others. Luffy wasn't going to go to Green Bit to look. It was crawling with marines, and Luffy could smell the smoke and sulfur even from there. Who slams two meteors down like that?!
He was running down a street until he ran into some sort of trap set around the area. It was a bunch of strings. He pulled them and they snapped, but they tangled around him. "Good person!" Tobi said in concern and worry.
"Get scissors from somewhere." It was cutting off the circulation to his hands. The wrapped around his neck, too, as he pulled away. They got tighter. Tobi came back from an alleyway. There were no people around. Damnit, they could'a helped him! Tobi had trouble holding the shard of glass as he sawed at the strings.
Luffy cursed when he knew who was coming over. Law wasn't in the area, though. "You weren't the one I was looking for," Doflamingo said. "Long time no see, Straw Hat Luffy. I see Law fixed your body up after the war." He said it in amusement.
"Tobi, run away!" Luffy said, but he was stomped on by Doflamingo, breaking his body into small pieces. Luffy's mouth opened. He hadn't felt this angry in a while. It was a sharp anger, not like the building anger at Caesar after Momonosuke explained what had happened to him. "How dare you?! How dare you do that to these people?! They didn't do anything to you!"
"Hoh, you care about the toys, do you? How about you join them, Straw Hat Luffy? Have all of your crew forget all about you. Your brother, who I must say is doing well in the tournament, will forget you and everything you did to save him," the warlord taunted. "Now, now, you can't scare me like you do everybody else. And I'm not stupid enough to chain you in seastone."
The strings wrapped around his neck, and he formed haki, breaking the strings as he managed to blow air into his thumb, snapping them. Then someone else was behind him, and pressed him down. It was the marine guy! Luffy couldn't get up. He moved his arm out of the force, the arm without feeling so it didn't hurt, and grabbed onto a pipe, yanking himself out of the circle of no gravity.
Luffy could hear Law running over. "Doflamingo!" Law shouted, opening up a room, and shuffling himself between where he was and where Law was. It was far enough out of the circle.
"So, it looks like you were healed, Law. Always a burden to everyone, like you were to Corazon." Law looked murderous. He told Luffy to get out of there. "I don't think so. Now, I want to cause both of you misery. I'll torture you, and turn this one into a toy slave."
Luffy was wrapped around tight with string. He couldn't even get out long enough to fight. Then the marine was there, and pressed him so hard, he flattened to the ground as rubber. Was his power gravity? And there was no hollow ground to fall through like there had been in the restaurant. Here, it was pure stone.
"Straw Hat-ya!" Law shouted, but he seemed like he was spent. His devil fruit power. Luffy's lungs collapsed, and he couldn't breathe anymore. He could do without oxygen, but the blood circulation to all of his body was stopping, and his vision was getting spotty. He felt lightheaded as even his head was being pressed down. It was too much, even for his rubber body. He passed out.
Poor Tobi. What could he have done differently?
When Luffy woke up, he was chained up, but not with seastone. Handcuffed in multiple places. Law was beat up and unconscious in the chair next to him. He probably was weaker without his devil fruit working. It looked like a fruit so overpowered had side effects. "Tra-guy, wake up!"
"Now, do you have any last words as a human, Monkey D. Luffy?" he forced a burst out of his body, destroying everything in the room, throwing Doflamingo and the marine guy into the wall. He went for Law, to grab him and run, already exhausted from forcing a blast, before a small hand patted him.