Ch. 6- Natural Born Kings

One Piece © Oda

Blizzard © Me

The air was filled with cheers and chants of "Death! Death! Death!". Luffy and Blizzard stood back-to-back in between the arena, surrounded by the Gorgon Sisters, Marigold and Sandersonia, who had transformed into a pair of gigantic snakes, both prepared to crush them.

"Such a glorious sight!"

"There's the proof that they had slain the Gorgon!"

"They're beautiful, even in their accursed form!"

"Curse?" Luffy repeated, questioningly. "What curse? They're just Devil Fruit powers."

Yeah, big deal, Blizzard thought.

"Sandersonia! Marigold!" Hancock shouted. "Punish the man and his mongrel for defiling the island of women with his presence and for insulting our honor! Let him fall victim to the war dance!"

"Should I swallow them whole?" Sandersonia asked, teasingly.

"There won't really be much left after I crush them to the death," Marigold said.

"Can we wait for a second?" Luffy asked.

"Don't try and weasel your way out of this, man," Sandersonia hissed. "You and that beast's fate was sealed the moment you came here!"

"Well, it's not that," Luffy said before he turned to the three stone statues of Marguerite, Sweet Pea, and Aphelandra. "I wanna get these three out of our way, first."

Good idea, Blizzard thought. They might end up getting smashed if they stay here.

The Gorgon Sisters, however, just stared at Luffy in anger as he approached the stone effigies. How dare this man ignore them while they're about to kill him?

"Don't you DARE turn your back on us, man!" Marigold roared as she prepared to skewer Luffy with her spear, but then…

Bullet FANG!

BANG! SKISH! What sounded like a gunshot went off, and a white blur went flying passed Marigold's face, causing a long, bleeding cut to appear on her cheek. Looking back, Marigold saw Blizzard, licking his lips.

Likewise, the wolf-dog thought.

The two snake-women hissed at Blizzard.

"Damned mutt," Sandersonia growled. "If you really think that you and the man have a chance against us, you're dead wrong!"

Slowly, Blizzard looked over to Luffy to check on his progress.

He managed to get Aphelandra, Marguerite, and Sweet Pea to the lower part of the arena, quickly but carefully so as not to break them. He was afraid that even the slightest crack could hurt them.

"There," he said. "Nice and safe. You three wait right here, okay? I'm sorry I got you into this mess. Maybe you can be turned back to normal. I sure wish Chopper was here. I'd have him take a look at you girls."

"I think you should be more worried about yourself," said Sandersonia.

"Zip it!" Luffy spat.

The audience, however, was a bit surprised to Luffy helping the frozen trio.

"The man is saving them?" Kikyo questioned.

"He's already been condemned to death, twice!"

Luffy jumped back over to Blizzard's side.

"Okay, buddy," he said as he cracked his knuckles. "All we gotta do is kick their scaly asses, right?"

That's the basic idea, I guess, Blizzard thought.

The women in the audience began to burst out in laughter.

"Did you hear what he just said?"

"Him? Defeat the Gorgon Sisters? Preposterous!"

"Ridiculous!"

"He's still so funny, even when he's about to get killed!"

"Humph," Marigold scoffed with a grin. "Go ahead and try, if you wish. If you still don't understand that you and your wolf about to die, then let met give you a warning. Be careful you don't fall out of the arena. There are razor sharp spikes down below."

Blizzard looked down below the arena and saw that Marigold spoke the truth. Sharp, silver spikes were pointing up towards the sky. The wolf-dog inwardly grimaced at the thought of himself and Luffy getting skewered.

"I don't plan on dying, any time soon," said Luffy. "Besides, I still have to find the One Piece!"

Now it was Marigold and Sandersonia's turn to laugh.

"Did you hear what he just said, Sonia?" asked Marigold.

"I heard him Mari," answered Marigold, "but I don't believe him. You? Find the fabled One Piece? What a joke!"

Hearing that made Luffy even more pissed than he already was.

"You shut up!" he barked. "I WILL beat you! I WILL get Blizzard and me outta here! I WILL get back with my crew! And then…I WILL be the King of the Pirates!"

"Mari! Sonia!" Hancock bellowed. "Stop wasting time and KILL THEM!"

"Yes, sister!" the two snake-women said.

"Blizzard," Luffy said. "You take the big one."

Gotcha, Blizzard thought, but then his eyes went wide in realization. Hey, wait! Which big one? They're both big!

The wolf-dog soon got his answer when he saw Luffy charge at Sandersonia and attempt to throw a Gum-Gum Pistol at her, thus leaving him to take on Marigold, who, as of this moment, had raised her spear at him.

"Take THIS, and THIS, and THIS!"

SWIPE! SLASH! THUNK! Marigold slashed and stabbed her spear at Blizzard, who was bobbing and weaving around the blade, barely avoiding it as he dodged.

He could already tell that the cobra-woman was going to give him a rather hard time.

"Gum-Gum BAZOOKA!"

WROING! Luffy stretched his arms back and attempted hit Sandersonia with a double-fisted punch, but Sandersonia effortlessly dodged his attack.

"What the…?" Luffy muttered.

"Are you done?" Sandersonia asked before WHAM! She slammed her tail into Luffy's side, sending him crashing him into the ground.

Luffy! Blizzard cried out in thought.

Luffy managed to pick himself up, clutching his side as he did.

"Ah…that hurt!" he groaned. "Wait…that hurt? But how? I'm supposed to be made of rubber!"

Blizzard was also surprised. How could it be that Sandersonia managed to hit Luffy and hurt him, too?

"Don't look away, wolf!" Marigold said before SPURT! She spat out a strange, purple liquid at Blizzard, who jumped away in the nick of time. Looking back, the wolf-dog saw that the liquid was causing the spot where he was standing to melt.

What the hell? Blizzard thought. Is that poison?

"You managed to dodge my deadly venom," said Marigold. "How lucky for you, but I'm afraid your luck is about to run out."

Blizzard strafed around to evade Marigold's venom attacks before he jumped up into the air.

CRACKER! he yelled in thought.

BAM! Blizzard dove down at Marigold, prepared to deliver a powerful head butt, but when his skull made contact with Marigold's, he immediately dropped down to the ground, holding his head with his paws. He felt a small stream of blood starting to seep out from his forehead.

Damn! he cursed in thought. She's got one hard head. Harder than mine!

"Foolish mongrel," Marigold said.

Grr~! Blizzard growled in frustration.

Marigold raised her spear at Blizzard again, but then…

"Blizzard!"

Marigold turned and saw Luffy, preparing to kick her with a Gum-Gum Stamp, but the cobra-woman raised her hand up, causing Luffy's foot to go in a different direction before he went ricocheting towards the railing.

KRASH!

Luffy moaned again, clutching his head.

"Ow~!" he cried. "Damn it! Why does it hurt?"

The Gorgon sisters laughed sinisterly at Luffy's expense.

Grr~! Blizzard growled before he lunged at Marigold again.

Don't you look away from me! he thought. I'm the one you're fighting! Twister FANG!

Blizzard started to spin around as he reached Marigold, who managed to evade the attack simply by slithering to the left, causing him to hit the ground. Before he could get up, BAM! Marigold slammed her tail on Blizzard, causing him to yowl in pain.

"BLIZZARD!" Luffy cried as he stood up and ran to his dog's aid, but as he was running, a tail grabbed him from behind, wrapped itself around him, and lifted him up into the air.

"Hey, no fair!" said Sandersonia, who had her head rested in her hands. "I'm not done playing with you!"

"Put me down!" Luffy yelled. "I gotta help my dog!" He turned to Blizzard, who appeared to have fallen unconscious. "BLIZZARD! GET UP, BUDDY!"

Blizzard only responded by trying to get up, but fell back down.

"Humph," Marigold scoffed. "How pathetic! I was hoping this mutt would bring more of a challenge!"

"DAMN YOU!" Luffy shouted. "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASSES TWICE AS HARD, NOW- ARRRRRRRGGH!"

Sandersonia began to squeeze Luffy's body with her tail, causing him to let out an ear-piercing scream.

"WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH?" he yelled. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE MADE OF RUBBER, DAMN IT!"

Sandersonia just chuckled.

"Like I said," she started, "you should be more worried about yourself."

Luffy growled at the anaconda-woman.

"Gum-Gum…"

Sandersonia nonchalantly grinned and said, "A kick from the left foot."

"STAMP!"

WHOOSH! Luffy tried to deliver a kick to Sandersonia's face, but she easily managed to dodge it by jumping back up to the arena. SLAM! Luffy's foot made contact with the ground where she once stood.

"Heavy SNAKE SLAM!"

SMASH! Sandersonia drove Luffy into the ground, headfirst, but Luffy managed to himself out of her grasp once he landed, seemingly unharmed.

"I knew it," he said. "I knew I was still made of rubber! Attacks like these can't hurt me! Gum-Gum…GATLING!"

"Snake Dance!"

Luffy let loose with rapid-fire punches, but Sandersonia managed to weave her way around the blows.

The audience roared with cheers.

"What amazing strength!"

"With the power of her Haki, Sandersonia can dodge anything!"

"Damn, damn, damn!" cursed Luffy. "She's reading all my moves, just like Eneru!"

"Don't forget about me, man!" a voice called out. "Heavy SNAKE STICK!"

WHAM! The tip of Marigold's tail impacted, dead center into Luffy's stomach, forcing him back. KOFF! BLEGH! Luffy coughed up some blood as he went reeling backwards, off of the arena and towards the bottom where the spikes were, and he was losing his senses as he was falling.

Was this is it? Was this really the end of the road for our hero?

Luffy kept dropping towards the spikes, his death appearing inevitable, but then…he stopped when he felt something clamp down on his foot…rather painfully, too.

"YOW!" Luffy cried as he was brought out of unconscious. When he looked down, he saw that he had been caught just a few feet above the spikes. Also, this pain in his foot. It felt…familiar…like the piercing of sharp teeth. Looking up, he saw that it was Blizzard, his teeth clamped around Luffy's foot.

"Blizzard!" Luffy exclaimed, smiling. "You're okay!"

Blizzard gave Luffy a grin of his own.

Just barely, he thought.

WHUP! Blizzard threw Luffy back up towards the arena, where he landed safely. Although, he did stumble a bit. Apparently, Blizzard bit down on his foot a little too hard, because Luffy saw that it was beginning to bleed.

Blizzard soon came up to meet with Luffy, although, when he saw his master's foot, he felt a slight twist of regret inside, but decided to put it off for now.

Luffy looked up to the Gorgon Sisters.

"Looks like them beating them is gonna be easier said than done, buddy," Luffy said to Blizzard.

Tell me about it, Blizzard thought. They can read our moves and they're able to hurt you! This isn't gonna be like any of those fights we ever had, before!

Luffy turned to Blizzard, his usual grin upon his face.

"Don't worry," he said. "We can take them as long as we fight together."

"That's impossible."

Luffy and Blizzard looked up at Hancock.

"You two are nothing but bark," she said as she brushed her behind her ear, thus making the audience swoon, lovingly. "A man with the ability to stretch like rubber and a white wolf. How stupid."

"You're the stupid one!" Luffy barked.

That got her again. Hancock collapsed into her snake throne, once more.

"Oh, my…!" she gasped.

The audience roared in anger.

"HOW DARE HE INSULT THE SNAKE PRINCESS A SECOND TIME!"

"UNFORGIVABLE! HE MUST BE PUT TO DEATH!"

"SONIA! MARI!" Hancock bellowed as she stood up and went into her "looking-down" pose. "END THAT MAN'S LIFE, AT ONCE…SO I'LL NEVER HAVE TO HEAR HIS FILTHY TALK, EVER AGAIN!"

"Yes, big sister!" the Gorgon Sisters said as they surrounded Luffy and Blizzard, once again.

"What a shame," said Sandersonia. "I was hoping to play with the wolf next. Too bad they have to die, now."

"These are big sister's orders," Marigold said. "Therefore, they must be carried out." She nodded her head at Sandersonia, who nodded back and pulled something up over the arena with her tail.

It was a stone Marguerite.

"Hey! Wait!" Luffy cried. "What do you think you're doing? Leave her outta this! You could break her! Blizzard and I owe her friends our lives!"

"That's the point," Sandersonia said. "I AM going to break them, one-by-one. Since she and her cohorts saved you, that makes them criminals, as well."

"Too bad for you," Marigold said, "but that is YOUR punishment, man."

"Don't talk stupid!" Luffy bellowed. "This is a duel between you and us!"

"A duel, eh?" Marigold said. "You're the only one who thinks so."

WHAP! She smacked Luffy with her tail, again, causing him to fall onto the cold, hard ground.

Luffy! Blizzard cried in thought before he tried to run to his aid, only for Marigold to wrap her tail around his body and lift him into the air.

As Luffy got to his feet, he saw his dog, now struggling to get out Marigold's grip.

"BLIZZARD!" he cried.

YOOOOOOOOWL! Marigold put the squeeze on Blizzard, causing him to let out an unearthly yowl of agony that was practically loud enough to break the sound barrier.

Luffy was about to go after Marigold, but then he looked over Marguerite, who was being tossed up and down by Sandersonia.

"Let them go!" he shouted.

"Oh, come on, man," said Sandersonia. "You think it's going to be that easy? You can only save one of them."

Hearing that made Luffy's heart sink down into his stomach.

"Who's it going to be, man?" Marigold questioned as she glanced to the struggling Blizzard. "Your precious little doggy? Or the foolish warrior who saved your lives? Your choice."

Luffy glanced, back-and-forth between Blizzard and Marguerite, his expression taking on one of anger and frustration.

"NO!" Luffy cried. "PLEASE, DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE! THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

"Sometimes, life just isn't fair," Sandersonia said, her tone turning bitter.

"Yes," Marigold said, also taking on the same tone. "Sometimes, things take a bad turn, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

Luffy's expression turned into one of perplexity. Blizzard stopped struggling.

The sister's words…they sounded…somewhat melancholy.

But why?

"Sometimes," Sandersonia began, "you must learn to live with the scars."

"Sometimes," Marigold said, "you can't save everybody…not even yourself."

The sisters' expressions then went back to being sinister.

"But still," hissed Marigold, "you still can't fight us."

"Yes," Sandersonia agreed. "You and the wolf are WAY out of your league!"

"I don't understand!" Luffy yelled. "How could you do this to her? Marguerite really looked up to you guys!"

Yeah! Blizzard agreed in thought. Is this how you're gonna repay he-

His thoughts were interrupted when Marigold went back to squeezing the life out of him.

"LET THEM GO!" Luffy roared, enraged. By this time, he felt his voice starting to break.

"Either save one of them…" whispered Sandersonia.

"Or they both die…" Marigold finished, sinisterly.

Blizzard howled in pain, once more as Marigold continued to squeeze him.

Luffy looked between his captured dog and the stone Marguerite, his vision becoming blurry with tears. As he did, images of his friends disappearing back at Sabaody began to play in his mind.

XXX

Kuma swiped his paw at Zoro, making him the first to disappear…

XXX

"Stop…" he murmured.

XXX

Brook was the next go.

XXX

"Please, stop…"

XXX

Usopp went next, followed by Sanji.

XXX

"I…I can't lose anyone else…!"

XXX

Kuma brought his paw on Franky, who disappeared the moment he was touched, and Robin soon followed.

XXX

"Stop…stop it…!"

XXX

Chopper let out a huge, ferocious roar as he prepared to attack Kuma…who erased him, as well.

XXX

"Stop it!"

XXX

Nami looked over to Luffy, just as he racing to her rescue, but the only words she managed to get out were, "LUFFY! HELP M-"

She was gone.

XXX

"MARGUERITE~!" Kikyo screamed over the cheering crowd.

"CHOOSE, MAN!" the Gorgon Sisters yelled as they raised their tails, prepared to destroy their captives, but then, Luffy looked up at them with a killer glare in his eyes.

"I…said…STOOOOOOOOOP!"

VEEEEN! A huge blast emanated from Luffy as he roared. The Gorgon Sisters stared in surprise as what felt like a powerful wind flowed from the boy. They weren't the only ones. The whole crowd felt a great pressure coming from him. Even Hancock felt it!

Everyone fell silent and stiff, even as the wind died down.

Then…it happened.

One-by-one, random women began to faint with mouths foaming. Some slumped in their seats, others ended up leaning on their fellow Kuja's shoulders, and most just fell forward. The remainder of the crowd began to cry out in panic. Their comrades were dropping like flies, like there was some kind of plague!

Kikyo looked down at Luffy, some sweat beading on her brow.

Could it be…? she thought.

Blizzard had stopped his struggling and watched as most of the crowd passed out, and then looked at Luffy.

He did it, again, he thought. This one was even bigger than the last one.

Marigold gently set Blizzard down on the ground. Sandersonia did the same with Marguerite.

Blizzard shook off the pressure of Marigold's squeeze before he ran to Luffy, who was down on his knees with open arms. Once he got close, Luffy pulled him into a happy embrace.

"Oh, buddy," he said. "I'm so glad you're all right!"

Actually, she might've cracked my ribs, a bit, Blizzard thought, but he was wagging his tail, nonetheless.

Luffy then broke his hold on Blizzard and looked up to the Gorgon Sisters.

"So now you're ready to listen to me?" he asked them. "I guess you're not so unreasonable after all!"

"That was…Conqueror's Haki!" whispered Ran. "Just like the wolf!"

"Impossible!" said Daisy. "Only 1-in-a-million have that kind of spirit! They must be one of the chosen ones!"

"Unbelievable," Sandersonia gasped. "Big sister's the only one I've ever known who could use Conqueror's Haki!"

"This man and his wolf are natural born kings!" Marigold added.

Hancock was also quite disturbed at seeing such a display.

"So he has Conqueror's Haki, too?" she questioned to herself. "What does it mean? He and that beast have shown that they're able to do so. So they're not ordinary, after all. Who…or what are these two?"

"It looks like the wolf can control his," said Sandersonia. "The man, on the other hand…"

"Would you shut the hell up, already?" Luffy asked. "Jeez, you're so freaking noisy! Okay…since I know you two are strong…" he parted his legs, put one hand on his knee and a fist to the ground. "…I won't hold back, anymore."

Grr~! Blizzard came up beside Luffy, growling and snarling.

And neither will I.

Review, please!