Flames of the Sun God
A One Piece Fanfic by GreyNimbus
Author's Note:
I apologize to those who are getting constant update notifications of chapters that I've already released. I've been proofreading each chapter for errors or changes that I want to correct. I'm thinking of getting the Premium for Grammarly, but I wanna see how much I can improve on my own. I'll try to be a better proofreader before I publish chapters from now on, but I don't make promises.
Also, if it wasn't obvious yet, I'm going to replace Luffy's Second Gear with the Six Powers, but I'll still keep the attack names the same, like "Jet Pistol" or "Hawk Rifle".
I'll also be writing the majority of this story from Luffy's point of view, so there are some scenes that I will not write about that exclude our main protagonist.
GreyNimbus out!
OP/Luffy, Mature/Luffy, EarlyDFAwaken/Luffy, NoPairing
Disclaimer:
One Piece is owned by Eiichiro Oda. I do NOT own anything One Piece related. Obviously(!)
Chapter 4 — Raise the Bars Higher
After a couple of hours of resuscitating, after Luffy's swift defeat at the hands of Byrnndi World, he, Rayleigh, Hancock, and the rest of the Kuja Pirates were currently sailing the sea on the Kuja's flagship, the "Perfume Yuda", a galleon with a pink, mansion-like structure in the middle, and paddle-wheels installed on the stern in place of a rudder. Instead of a figurehead on the bow, the ship has a pair of Yuda, a breed of ferocious and highly-poisonous sea serpents, tied to the front, where they steer the vessel. The front sail bears the Jolly Roger of the Kuja Pirates.
This ship was specially designed to sail safely through the Calm Belt.
The Calm Belt is an ocean that borders the North and South of the Grand Line, which acts as the breeding grounds of Sea Kings, colossal sea creatures that can grow to the size of islands, which makes them the biggest obstacle. This stretch of ocean acts as the most effective barrier for those who try to enter the Grand Line directly, because, for reasons unknown, there is never any wind or any ocean currents in the Calm Belt. It acts like a void where everything is stagnant, making it impossible for sailboats to travel through.
Islands, such as Amazon Lily, and its neighbor Luscaina, are located in the Calm Belt. Thanks to the Kuja's close relationship with snakes, these brave warriors were more than capable of taming Yuda to pull their vessel, protecting them from Sea Kings that could easily swallow their ship whole, as well as traversing the Calm Belt safely.
On the deck of the ship, Luffy was leaning the guard rails, staring out into the ocean. In addition to Luffy's previous apparel, he was now wearing a red, sleeveless jacket, given to him by the Kuja, with the hood up to conceal his head, at Rayleigh's request. The latter doing the same with his hood.
Speaking of the old man, who approached Luffy from behind, cleared his throat, gaining his student's attention.
"Luffy, since there's a good chance that you'll be going up against this World character soon, I'm willing to remove those restraints for you, so you can fight at your best," Rayleigh said, pointing to Luffy's Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs.
Luffy took a moment to contemplate his restraints. If he took them off, he could use his Devil Fruit powers to fight at his best. But, on the other hand, they don't have any space cuffs. If he decided to remove them, Rayleigh would have to break them off with his Internal Destruction, rendering them useless afterward, and they don't have the key or any spare cuffs.
The Kuja, while a strong and proud people, were too isolated in the Calm Belt to have any knowledge of Sea-Prism Stone or Devil Fruits, so they were unable to accommodate a spare set of cuffs.
With a smirk, Luffy shook his head and answered, "I'll leave 'em on. I'll just think of this as part of my training. Besides, I never go back on my word. I'm not taking these off until I can do it by myself."
Rayleigh smiled and put a hand on his student's shoulder from behind, expressing how proud of Luffy he was for continuing to raise the bars high.
The reason Rayleigh decided to accompany Luffy with Hancock was to supervise his student's training in a practical setting while making sure he was there to prevent Luffy from getting himself killed since he already had so much riding on Luffy. He refused to intervene in any of the fights that Luffy may encounter during this rescue mission.
He also had a personal reason for going but chose to keep it to himself.
"If that's what you wanna do, I won't stop you. But it will make things a lot harder," Rayleigh warned.
"That's the whole point, right?" Luffy asked rhetorically.
Rayleigh smiled as he got a glimpse of the fire he came to admire so much, blazing majestically in his protégé's eyes
"Luffy! Rayleigh!", a raspy voice interrupted from behind.
The teacher and student turned around to be greeted by Gloriosa, who continued,
"Come with me. I nyeed to inform you both about our enemy," she said before walking back the way she came, towards Hancock and the rest of the Kuja Pirates.
Hancock's glance was currently fixated on a small piece of paper in her hand.
A Vivre Card. Byrnndi World's Vivre Card.
These cards can also act as a guide for those who want to find the owner of the card. When placed on a flat surface, the paper will slowly shift in the direction of its owner. Vivre Cards are only made in a certain place in the New World.
As to how Hancock was able to acquire it…
(Earlier, after Luffy got knocked out…)
The boulder that had just been thrown at Luffy had just been broken in half after World's Armament Haki had faded from it, with Luffy's unconscious body falling face flat into the dirt.
"Luffy!" Hancock's voice sounded from the Transponder Snail, which was now in Byojacks feeble hand.
"So, is this the Empress of Amazon Lily?" Byrnndi World spoke into the snail.
"Where's Luffy?! Tell me you didn't hurt him!" Hancock demanded angrily.
"Hmm?" World looked a little confused at that name.
Byojack spoke up, "I assume she's talking about that boy."
World looked at Luffy's downed form before looking back at the snail and chuckling, "Balololo! Come here and see for yourself. I'll leave my Vivre Card next to the punk. As for you, Pirate Empress, if you ever wanna see your sisters again, track me down in two days, before the break of dawn. Good luck. Balololololo!"
"Wait, no–*Ga-cha*"
The snail immediately went to sleep after World hung up, who then picked Sandersonia back up and dragged both her and Marigold away through the dark jungle.
"World," Byojack muttered, "I've heard that name from somewhere before. Luffy."
World simply stayed silent and continued walking away.
(Present…)
Back on the deck of the Perfume Yuda, Gloriosa was in the middle of telling the group about the man who had kidnapped Hancock's sisters. She had just finished explaining the madman's powers, after Luffy asked, being on the receiving end of it. Luffy recently started learning from Rayleigh that information is power, something which he now had in common with one of his crewmates, Nico Robin.
World had gotten his powers from eating the More-More Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, which allows the user to amplify the size, speed, and strength of any object they touch, including themselves.
World's reputation was mostly based on his use of his Devil Fruit powers, mainly targeting islands and other ships, which he destroys with a single shot from his power-amplified cannonballs. This, in turn, earned him the nickname…
"Destroyer of the World?" Luffy asked Gloriosa, his hands in the pockets of his borrowed jacket.
The elder nodded, "That's what they called him. World has a reputation for taking out anything that crosses his path. He was as much a threat to other pirates as he was to normal civilians. It didn't matter who you were!"
Luffy frowned. Pirates who destroy and ruin other people's lives are the kind he hated the most.
"Thirty years ago, the Government decided to secretly assemble his enemies and others who held grudges against him. They joined the Navy and executed a plan to take down World once and for all. Ultimately, World and his allies were defeated."
"If it was such a decisive victory, why on earth is he causing trouble again all of a sudden?" Hancock asked.
"I have nyo idea," Gloriosa answered, "I heard a rumor that he had been locked up in Impel Down, in a frozen state of constant slumber. Perhaps, he was awakened somehow."
At the mention of Impel Down, Luffy was suddenly having troubling thoughts. After he had snuck into the underwater prison to try and save Ace, with Hancock's help, he managed to make it to the lowest level of the prison, Level 6 - "Eternal Hell", where the World Government keep their most powerful, dangerous, and irredeemable prisoners. Their crimes are so atrocious that their mere existence is considered a major threat, and are given either a life sentence or the death penalty.
They were basically "erased" from history.
Shortly after stirring up trouble in the prison, and causing a consecutive mass breakout, with Jinbe included, the prisoners on Level 6 who didn't break out of their cells were later released by Marshall D. Teach, or "Blackbeard", and his crew, the Blackbeard Pirates, who appeared after Luffy's group departed. Teach then went on to recruit those, who wanted freedom, to join his crew. Those that refused his offer escaped on their own through the pandemonium that Luffy instigated.
And one of those many escaped convicts… was Byrnndi World.
(Break of dawn, the next day)
As the sun was beginning to rise from the East, the Perfume Yuda stopped in its tracks when the Vivre Card in Hancock's hand stopped moving. As the crew and their passengers checked their surroundings, they were disappointingly confused to find nothing but ocean.
"This is where the Vivre Card led us, but…" the Pirate Empress said.
"Hmm…" Luffy grumbled, squinting his eyes in confusion, "It's not broken or anything, is it?"
After a moment of silence, the sea beneath them started to quake. This tremor came so suddenly that the two Yuda pulling the ship cried out in worry as they stared at the water around them.
Luffy's pupils suddenly flashed red, immediately sensing a presence approaching from below.
"You feel that too?" Rayleigh asked him, sharing the same feeling.
"Yeah," Luffy nodded.
"Wait a minute," Hancock demanded, "What's going on!?"
Gloriosa shrieked, her face turning white, and her eyes full of fear, as she noticed something massive rising out of the water in front of them.
The sudden increase in buoyancy created rough waves in the water, causing a majority of the crew to fall onto the deck or hang onto something to maintain their balance.
The only ones unaffected by the shaking were Rayleigh and Luffy, who stood there, their bodies completely still, while they kept their feet planted on the deck, matching the swaying of the ship to keep themselves level.
What the crew beheld in astonishment was a giant ship that looked like an artificial island mixed with an aircraft carrier. It consisted of small attachments on both sides, with one on the front of the main structure, which was all covered in trees and buildings. The center of the ship had a large spherical dome with the World Pirate's Jolly Roger on the front, which housed cannons, as well as the ship's primary weapon; a giant cannon. The back of the ship had engines and aircraft runways attached to it.
This was the flagship of the World Pirates, the Groseade.
"Awesome…" Luffy muttered in awe as he stared up at it, "I haven't seen a ship that big since Thriller Bark."
"Focus, Luffy!" Rayleigh ordered.
"An island?!" Hancock exclaimed
"Thank you for coming all this way…" shouted a voice coming from the very top of the ship, "...Empress!"
Looking up, they saw Byrnndi World, with Byojack sitting on his left shoulder, stepping out.
"So far, your sisters are 'enjoying' their stay!" World shouted mockingly.
As if on cue, the middle part of the ship opened up like a big, metal sliding door to reveal what was behind them. Hancock gasped as she saw Sandersonia and Marigold together in a large birdcage, hanging from above the floor of the interior.
"Big sis!" Sandersonia cried out to her sister.
"Run away!" Marigold called out, more worried for her eldest sister, "Just leave us!"
"Sonia! Mari!" Hancock cried out in worry.
"We'll get you two out of there, don't worry!" Luffy announced.
"It looks like that kid's here, too." Byojack pointed out before letting out a sickly cough.
"Balololo!" World chuckled, slightly amused by the youth, "He can take a beating, I'll give him that much."
Placing his right fist on his hip confidently, he shouted,
"If you want 'em back, then you have to come get 'em!" Then the doors that revealed their caged hostages began to slowly close, hiding them from view once again, "I'll be waiting!"
Once they were fully closed, a pair of cannons appeared from the front of the ship, pointing directly at the Kuja's ship. Hancock immediately took action,
"Quick, evade them!" she commanded, "Don't let them hit us!"
At her command, the Yudas pulling their ship turned and began to maneuver around the Groseade while evading cannon fire. They raced as fast as they could across the water to prevent themselves from taking any damage, as the rest of the crew was still struggling to stand up straight.
"We need to get closer to that island, somehow!" Luffy shouted, his gaze fixed on the closest deck of the enemy ship.
"Just a moment!" Hancock cried out.
The two Yudas pulling the ship were still struggling to avoid enemy fire but were quickly starting to show signs of fatigue. Luckily, they were able to get the Perfume Yuda out of the cannons' range of fire.
"They think they can avoid us that easily?" World said, still standing on the ship's apex.
At that moment, several cube-shaped cannons on the side turned to aim, then fired a barrage of cannonballs at the front of the Kuja's ship, where the vessel had no hope of evading them. The Yudas hissed in fear as they noticed the incoming rounds.
"I got this!"
Just then, Luffy appeared on the head of the Yuda that was closest to the cannonballs and got in a fighting stance,
"Shave!"
Luffy disappeared before reappearing on top of an incoming cannonball and punching it into smithereens with a Haki-powered fist. He then quickly used Shave again to jump to the next cannonball and repeated this action until all the cannonballs were reduced to sinking chunks of iron in the water, and the Yudas were safe.
Luffy then safely landed back on top of one of the Yudas, who hissed at him gratefully.
Back at the top of the Groseade, World smirked at the display of skill, "Well, whaddya know, the kid's got a lotta spunk, doesn't he?" he commented before turning to Byojack and demanded, "Come on, I need bullets!"
The old man reached into his coat and pulled out a handful of rounds and handed them to World.
"More-More Fiftyfold Cannon!" World shouted as he threw all the bullets simultaneously toward the young fighter.
Luffy quickly turned his gave to the incoming bullets, which suddenly grew fifty times their size, and were coated in Armament Haki.
"Dammit!" Luffy panicked, knowing he couldn't do much to intercept these projectiles, Luffy had to do the unthinkable and jump up in the bullets' path and cross his Haki-coated arms to block them.
"Slave Arrow!"
Before the rounds could make contact, Hancock fired a rain of arrows that were tipped with a stylized heart design, which came from a pink, heart-shaped bubble in front of her, turning the projectiles to stone on contact. Their trajectory ceased and they fell into the ocean before they could touch the ship.
Luffy lowered his arms and turned to Hancock, who looked like she just lreleased an invisible bowstring.
The two shared a nod and smiled.
"What happened?" World asked, wondering why his rounds didn't reach their target.
This petrifying power of Hancock's comes from eating the Love-Love Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit which grants the user a special range of attacks that use emotions like lust and perversion to transform their opponents who are captivated by the user's beauty into stone, regardless of their gender. This power extends to non-living objects. With Hancock's unparalleled beauty, there is no other user more qualified to wield this fruit's power. Only those with strong willpower or, in very rare cases, do not find her attractive, are immune to the petrification.
"Way to go, Hancock!" Luffy said, giving her a thumbs-up, "You were awesome!"
Hancock turned away in embarrassment, her hands on her cheeks and gleaming at the compliment. She was overjoyed to hear such kind words from the man who melted her recently cold heart.
"Luffy just praised me!" she thought, "Is this what they call a… 'proposal'?!"
However, she ignorantly misunderstood everything about how relationships work.
Her little daydreaming was interrupted when a group of World's grunts came running out onto the deck, with swords in hand. One of them carried an intact pair of Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs, intending to subdue and restrain Hancock and her Devil Fruit powers.
"Hey, Empress!" World shouted, "Just turn yourself over to my men, and no one will get hurt! It's up to you!"
Hancock responded with an infuriated growl. She then jumps high from the railing of her ship, doing an acrobatic flip in the air before landing on the deck of the Groseade, in front of World's men. She unleashed a swift roundhouse kick, knocking out several men. Despite her slim and elegant frame, she possessed immense physical strength, using extremely powerful kicks that can easily crush stone.
She took up a fighting stance, her leg raised high, and glared furiously at the scrubs before her.
"You kidnapped my sisters, attacked my ship, and shot at my beloved!" the Pirate Empress shouted, eyes filled with rage, "Death is too sweet a mercy for you!"
"Nevermind, guys!" World called out to his men, "You can go ahead and kill her!"
"Hold on, World!" Byojack interjected, "We were supposed to take her as a hostage!"
"We can always nail her dead body on a pole, and head to Marineford!" World retorted, "Kill her!"
"Love-Love Beam!"
Hancock fired a heart-shaped beam from her hands, targeting the rest of the men, who were all too distracted by her beauty. After the beam died down, all that was left in its wake were the petrified bodies of the men, stuck in a swooning pose of affection.
"What, again?!" World pointed out.
"So, it's true!" Byojack added, "She really can turn people into stone!"
Luffy took that moment to join Hancock on the deck of the enemy ship. Landing next to her, he praised her feats of power.
"Nice one!" he cheered with a wide grin, "That's showing 'em who's boss!"
"Y-You're too kind, Luffy," she muttered in blissful embarrassment.
Back on top of the Groseade, Byojack was stroking his beard, pondering once again,
"I know that kid," the old man thought, "Wasn't Luffy the name of that pirate, "Straw Hat"?"
"Those idiots," World said, disappointed at the incompetence of his men, "It's like they're begging me to kill them."
*Puru-puru-puru-puru*
A Transponder Snail on Byojack's person started ringing. Answering it with a Ka-lick, he held it up next to World's face.
"Don't worry about it, Captain," said a man's voice coming out of the snail, "I'll help you dispose of them."
"Sebastian, good!" World responded, "I'll give you five minutes."
"How kind, but two minutes is all I'll need."
Back on the deck, Luffy and Hancock were readying themselves to charge into the entrance of the Groseade's interior.
"Are you ready?" Hancock asked.
"Yeah!" Luffy answered
They both made a beeline dash to the front entrance.
"Go straight! We'll get in through that opening!"
Luffy nodded, before his eyes flashed red again, alerting him of a presence in their path.
"Great Water Shot!" a voice echoed from the inside.
A great torrent of water came hurling out at them from the entrance, targeting the pair. Reacting on instinct, Luffy quickly wrapped his arm around Hancock's waist in a tight grip.
"Shave!"
He managed to dodge the blast of water, dashing to the side and saving them both. Gently letting her go, much to Hancock's disappointment, they heard heavy footsteps as someone emerged from the dark opening.
"Shishishi!" the figure laughed, "So, you wanna get your friends back?"
Stepping out onto the deck was a very large and muscular Wotan Fish-Man, with black hair, blue skin with green spots on his head and shoulders, as well as fin-like ears, fins on his shoulders and elbows, and a dorsal fin on the top of his head. His apparel consisted of a violet vest with a white collar and red bow tie, as well as two white cuffs with black buttons on his wrist, similar to a tuxedo. He was wearing dark blue pants with black shoes and a golden belt buckle in the shape of a fish. Finally, he wore a pair of dark sunglasses over his scarred eyes. In his hands, he wielded a pair of massive spiked maces that were as thick as trees.
This sharply-dressed brute was Sebastian, the half-Fish-Man, half-Giant hybrid, and senior member of the World Pirates.
"Don't worry, you'll be together soon enough… in Hell!" Sebastian claimed before bringing one of his clubs down to crush the two intruders, who both managed to back in time, evading the attack.
Landing safely, Luffy grinned, cackling in amusement, excited that he can finally test his new Haki skill against a worthy opponent. Bumping his fists together, his arms flared with Armament Haki, prepping them for a battle-hungry skirmish. Ready to bust some heads, Luffy shouted,
"Bring it on!"