Sixth chapter! Hope you enjoy! This is where things start to really pick up!
"Strawhat?"
Luffy looked to Tobio questioningly, head cocked to the side in innocence. "What is it?" he asked.
"N-Nothing!" the double agent stuttered, waving his arms around in apology. "You just looked a little red in the face. I was just wondering if you were developing a fever."
"Oh," Luffy said, surprised the villager had even thought about him. "Nah, I was just thinking."
"Your face gets red when you think?"
Luffy laughed at the skeptical tone in in Tobio's voice. It was true that it didn't seem very likely, but Luffy wasn't an avid thinker. Too much of it made his brain hurt, so he usually tended to avoid it. Though, yesterday and today had been a lot of mental work for him. Just thinking normal thoughts made his head hurt. If he wasn't careful, he could probably end up developing a fever.
"It happened once," Luffy revealed casually.
It was true. Once, when he and Ace were trying to escape some brutes from Edge Town, they had gotten lost in the labyrinth that was Gray Terminal. Both tried to put their heads together to find a quick way out of the situation, but Luffy had thought so much he had gotten sick. Sure he had been feeling crummy the entire day, but thinking had just made everything ten times worse. Ace had to pull it together and carry Luffy and their stolen medicine back to Mt. Corvo.
Tobio laughed. "That actually doesn't surprise me. You seem like that type that doesn't use his head too much."
Luffy nodded enthusiastically. "It hurts my brain, so I like to let Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin do the thinking for me. I just do what my gut tells me. Although, I'm better at using my head since Rayleigh taught me how to fight smarter."
Tobio looked a little lost but nodded anyways. "That sounds complicated. Aren't you the captain of your ship? Don't you have to think about things like what the best decision to make is?"
Luffy shrugged. "I usually go with what feels right. Or, if the arrow is spinning like crazy, I like to go to that island! It usually has the best adventures!"
"You're an adventure kind of guy," Tobio said, smiling wryly. "Why does that not surprise me?"
A rustling in the bushes caught both males' attentions. They stopped walking. Luffy being the more curious of the two, moved forward to peer through the bushes, only to find a clearing on the other side with a large building on the other side. Luffy looked down, turning back to the clearing when he realized the rustling had been a rabbit hopping out of the bushes and into the clearing.
"What's this?"
"What's what?" Tobio asked, crouching down to find out what was so interesting behind the bush. After peering through, the villager's eyes widened in surprise. "This is...This must be Avalo's base!"
"Really?" Luffy asked. "That's so cool! It was so close!"
Tobio shook his head. We've only been walking for half an hour. Why would Avalo keep his secret base so close to the village?"
Luffy shrugged. "Does it matter? We found it, right?"
They crept out of the bushes, keeping low to the ground and trying their best to stay quiet. Even Luffy, usually loud and uncaring, made sure he didn't make a sound. This wasn't something that he could take lightly. Avalo could be anywhere.
Luffy sensed it before Tobio could shout it out.
"Look out!"
Luffy grabbed Tobio's hand and jumped back a few yards, just in time to dodge a giant bullet that could rival a cannon ball. The bullet exploded at their feet, making Luffy wonder if it actually was a cannon ball. The blast left a crater the size of Sunny's head, leaving no qualms about how powerful the blast was. The explosion sent smoke and dirt into the air. Luffy waited until it cleared before talking.
"Are you Avalo?" he addressed the man with the twin flintlocks. They were giant, the right fit for his gigantic hands.
"Avalo Pizarro," the man said, bowing in a mockingly royal manner.
"The Corrupt King," Tobio whispered next to him, his tone somewhere between awe and disgust.
The man held himself with authority and esteem, as if he really was a king. His clothes sure suggested it, since he was adorned not with simple pirate clothing, but extravagant furs and fabrics. He mustache was ran to the width of his shoulders, blue sideburns dangling to form that symbol that Robin had always talked about. The one that stood for a number. Pie? Luffy didn't ponder it much longer, continuing his look over of his opponent. Where his sideburns and his blue hair touched at his temples, horns protruded outward. With his black spotted coat and horns, he reminded Luffy of a cow.
Luffy found himself trembling. This man was a member of Blackbeard's crew. He knew he was confusing Tobio with his complete mood reversal, but the rubber teen couldn't help it. He was brimming with anger.
"Where is Blackbeard?" Luffy demanded.
Unfortunately, Avalo hardly reacted. "Yeah, yeah, Strawhat. I get your pissed at the captain for your brother's death, but remember that he wasn't the one to actually kill Fire Fist. Akainu did."
"I don't care!" Luffy roared. "Ace only died because Blackbeard turned him in after betraying his own crew! It's unforgivable!"
Settling in his horse stance, Luffy pumped one of his legs, causing his blood flow to speed up and tinge his skin pink. His rubber skin was heating up from the fast-paced blood, causing it to emit steam. "Second Gear," he murmured to himself.
Avalo didn't look impressed. Instead, the man sighed.
"I never wanted to work on this dull island," Avalo admitted. "Blackbeard ordered it, though, so I came here. Who knew that Strawhat himself would come to grace my presence?" Avalo laughed softly to himself.
Luffy didn't say anything. If anything, his expression grew stormier. This was the man who had broken out of Impel Down with Blackbeard. One of the feared prisoners of Level 6. But Luffy had trained with Rayleigh for years. He would defeat this man, for Ace.
The teen shot forward with blinding speed, seeming to disappear from sight. He heard Tobio gasp, but didn't bother to look the other man's way. It wouldn't do to get distracted. He reappeared in front of Avalo's large form, pulling an arm back to punch his fist into the man's gut. Surprisingly, the attack hit. Ripples resonated from Luffy's punch and Luffy stepped back uncertainly. This wasn't right.
Avalo began to chuckle before he fell into a full on laughing fit. "You call that a punch, boy?!"
Luffy's grim determination began to waver, wondering wearily if this was going to go as he had planned. Growling, Luffy set his shoulders, steering himself forward. Disappearing once more with extraordinary speed, Luffy knew he could only try again. This time, Luffy descended from above.
Avalo didn't even bother to move as Luffy extended his arm back and thrust it forward, willing himself to stretch. He slammed his fist down on the man's head, but just like before it was a useless. Avalo wouldn't budge. He absorbed Luffy's punches like a gel pack, the shock just rippling through his body ineffectively. Luffy didn't understand how the bastard was managing it, but it was causing a hell of a lot of problems for Luffy.
"Surprised?" Avalo asked when Luffy landed in front of him again, casually examining his nails. It pissed Luffy off. The man grins. "It's hard to feel your punches as anything worse than a mosquito bite when I've stood up to Sengoku's hits before. Yours are nothing compared to that monster."
"Shut up," Luffy growled. "I promised that I would defeat you."
Avalo raised an eyebrow, flintlock raised with it. "You promised? Too bad you won't be keeping that promise."
He fired. It didn't matter. Luffy only took a step to the right, successfully dodging the giant bullet. Avalo fired again, that sickening smile never leaving his mustached face. Again and again he fired, and again and again Luffy dodged, his Observation Haki working overtime to keep up with the man's fast paced shots. Behind him, trees exploded and dirt flew up in the air. He didn't care. Slowly but surely, he made his way toward the blue-haired man.
The worst part about all this was that Avalo didn't even look slightly ruffled by the fact that Luffy kept dodging all of his attacks. Meanwhile, Luffy could only find his temper rising, to the point where he felt he was going to explode in anger. This was the man who had forced those villagers to do things they hadn't wanted to do. Luffy may not have known everything the man had done, but he imagined it was bad. This man was the reason his crew was in the danger it was. If he could defeat this man, then his crew would be able to gain the Kudzu Root they needed.
It was like hitting two birds with one stone. And one of those birds was Blackbeard.
Finally, Luffy reached Avalo. The two stared the other down, neither moving an inch. The smiling bastard he was, Avalo let his finger twitch as he hovered over the trigger, and like some sort of signal had sounded, Luffy attacked.
He punched the air in front of him, letting his arms extend further and further the faster he punched. "Gum Gum Gatling!" he roared, driving his fists into the man's stomach at breakneck speeds.
Avalo's grin faltered for a moment as he tried to absorb the shock, but it was back seconds later. The man jumped backwards, leaving Luffy to punch nothing but air. Luffy stopped his attack and glared heatedly at his opponent. Avalo held up a flintlock and fired. Luffy back flipped out of the way, narrowly missing the explosive bullet. Grimly, Luffy set forward to attack again.
He knew what he saw. Avalo had taken some damage from his punches. He had to keep trying. As long as he dodged those crazy bullets, he would be okay. He just needed to keep attacking Avalo. If he let up now, he might not have the strength or determination to keep going.
Pushing himself forward, the straw hatted teen ran towards Avalo, disappearing from his sights only to reappear behind him.
Doing the same thing as last time, Luffy began to rapidly punch Avalo's more vulnerable back, arms extending faster and faster. Luffy was pushing himself, but he saw no choice in the matter. Again, Avalo's resistant body absorbed most of the shock from Luffy's attack, but this time Avalo flinched, turning around to fire his flintlock at Luffy again. Except Luffy was no longer there. He was in the air again, bombarding the man with his Gatling punches once more.
Avalo ducked out of the way, leaving Luffy to break up the ground instead. Pulling his arms back, Luffy landed on the split ground, glaring at the man. He had found it. Finally. This man could absorb shock, but not all at once.
Narrowing his eyes, Luffy pressed forward once again. The rubber teen ducked as a heavy flintlock passed over his head. Luffy danced out of the way as its twin slammed down on the ground in front of him.
Still smiling—although, to Luffy it looked a little forced—Avalo did nothing more but hold out his flintlock like he was challenging the teen. "Tell your friend over there that his fruit isn't going to work on me. I'm not a weak-minded little brat like he seems to take me for," Avalo said coolly.
Luffy glanced at Tobio from the corner of his eyes, watching as the villager broke his concentrated look, swore, and darted into the safety of the bushes. Seeing Tobio clear of danger, Luffy returned his full attention to the blue-haired manin front of him. He would not lose.
Taking a chance, Luffy disappeared again, materializing right between the parallel flintlocks. When the guns smashed together, Luffy jumped up, sandals slapping down on top of the crossed weapons. He glared down at Avalo.
"I will not lose to you," Luffy repeated, this time out loud. "I will defeat you."
Avalo finally lost his smile, his patience flying out the window after it. "You're a little brat. Stop dodging and let me blow you to little pieces or I'll take my anger out on this precious island of yours."
Luffy said nothing. Instead, he raised a fist, brought it forward, and then stretched it backwards. Avalo just stared at him like he was crazy, but strangely did nothing to interfere. Luffy grit his teeth, covering his fist with Armament Haki. He looked down at the man who had destroyed this village's hope. The one who had inadvertently doomed his friends. This man was despicable.
All that anger built up inside Luffy as he pulled his fist forward. His fist heated up as he pulled it forward, sparking a flame. That flame grew, enveloping Luffy's whole arm. Luffy's eyes were shadowed by his hat as he pulled forward his arm. As his fist got closer, he looked Avalo straight in the eyes, pupils dilated with unadulterated rage.
"This is for this island, for the villagers, for my friends, and most of all...THIS IS FOR ACE! RED HAWK!" Luffy roared, slamming his flame covered fist into the other man's face, forcing all his weight into that single punch.
Avalo's eyes rolled back into his head, his body rippling as it received the shock but was unable to absorb all of the weight Luffy had thrown into it. Flames licked greedily at the man's body as it tried to find some sort of balance. Avalo most likely wasn't used to the pain, falling to his knees almost immediately after the blood had spurted from his mouth. Being able to absorb attacks to the body, Luffy wasn't surprised that Avalo's pain tolerance was so low after the shock absorption stopped.
Luffy hopped back, watching with enraged eyes as Avalo crumpled in on himself, finally succumbing to unconscious. Releasing second gear, Luffy finally let out a small, steadying breath, which turned into several, until he was left panting. Using his Haki and his gears at the same time always seemed to exhaust him.
Luffy let his legs buckle, falling to his knees.
It was over.
"Strawhat!" Tobio yelled enthusiastically, darting from his hiding place to kneel awkwardly next to where Luffy had collapsed. "You did it! You saved the village!"
The look Tobio shot him was one beyond gratitude. Tobio had watched the entire fight, and he must have realized how much force Luffy had put behind those punches. It had taken a lot of determination to take Avalo down, and Tobio had to have realized that. That must have been the reason he decided to try and help, even if in the end if didn't actually help much.
Luffy nodded, a numb feeling overtaking him. "I did it," he whispered.
But it didn't feel like he did it. It wasn't a complete victory for him. His friends were sure to be saved now, but the one responsible for Ace's death wasn't this man, no matter how much Luffy wanted to feel like he had exacted his revenge. Avalo had had nothing to do with Ace getting captured. He'd been in Impel Down at the time, and Luffy couldn't help but despair at that thought. He had thought he would come closer to finding a way to heal that Ace-shaped hole in his heart with this man's defeat, but there was just the undeniable fact that this wasn't Blackbeard.
Luffy took a moment to survey the battleground around him. Nothing had been spared in their battle. The clearing, which had looked so peaceful and pristine before, was now crater ridden. Dust and smoke still swirled around in the breeze. The building hadn't been saved, either. It was burnt to ashes and Luffy could only hope no one had been in it. Luffy sighed at the mess he and Avalo had made, hoping that this clearing wasn't extremely to any of the villagers. Well, by Tobio's reactions even if it was, the villagers would probably too full of joy to care.
"I'm going to get some help to get this guy out of here," Tobio told him. "I'll be right back with some help for you, too. Your crew mate is in the village, right?"
"Yeah," Luffy breathed, unsure of what this weight in chest was. "But what are you going to do with...him?" He pointed to Avalo's charred, unconscious form.
Tobio shrugged. "The village Elder decides that kind of stuff. Or Koji, if the Elder is sick or busy. But my guess is we'll turn Avalo into the marines and collect the bounty, maybe use the money to hire some mercenaries to protect us in case Blackbeard comes here to get Avalo. It's the easiest way to get rid of him, though. And I doubt Blackbeard will know for a while, seeing as the only time he's actually been here is when he dropped Avalo off and took over the island."
"But he might find out," Luffy pointed out. "If he attacks your island again, I want to know. You have a transponder snail, right?"
Tobio nodded.
"Good. Call us, then."
"I will."
And then Tobio left, leaving Luffy to settle his thoughts by himself. He had gone to inform the other villagers of the victory Strawhat Luffy had pulled off for them. Luffy wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that, so he just didn't. It did no use to think when all his mind did was travel in dizzying circles. Staring up at the blue sky from his position on the ground, Luffy could only wonder what he was to do now. Tobio had gone back to the village to spread the good news, but would they make it in time? And what about the limited Kudzu Root?
"Luffy?"
"Zoro?" Luffy said, looking up at his first mate in wonder. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for a dog," Zoro admitted. Luffy, stunned, looked Zoro straight in the eye. Without having to say a word, Luffy was immediately reassured. The tension in his stiff shoulders relaxed. His crew was alright.
Sanji, beside the swordsman, rolled his eyes. "We came here to help you, but," his eyes wandered to Avalo's unconscious form, "it looks like you have everything under control."
Luffy grinned, feeling a semblance of peace he hadn't felt for more than a weak. Something within him settled down, not so frantic anymore. He felt a more grounded than he had since Zoro first fell ill. It was over, and they could go back to where his home was. Even if he couldn't fill his the Ace-shaped hole in his heart with Avalo's defeat, he could still be with his friends. His crew was his family, too, after all.
Sanji sighed, lifting Luffy to his exhausted feet. "Let's get you back to the ship, Captain."
"Wait," Zoro called. His gaze was cast to the side and his cheeks were red. "I promised Maki I'd find Corvi."
Luffy laughed. "Let's go find Meat, then!" he proclaimed. "And after that, we can go back and see how everyone is doing! Then we can have a party! Cook lots of meat, Sanji! Oh! But make sure you don't accidentally cook Meat. Maki and that dog are friends."
"I'll just pretend I know what the hell goes through that shitty brain of yours."
"Come on, love cook. Help me get Luffy on my back. Then we'll go look for that dog."
"Don't tell me what to do, moss head," Sanji grumbled, rolling his eyes. He helped Zoro anyways.
Luffy just laughed. He couldn't wait to see everyone else.