A/N: I love this chapter.

Luffy had been fighting for only three minutes, and already he was exhausted. He was losing blood from numerous punctures and scratches all over his body, and the nearness of the seastone was swiftly weakening his life force. But all he had to do was think of his nakama – of Chopper and Brook, who were still bound but had him between them and their captors. The thought of anyone taking them away from him surged new strength through his body. He had to be able to protect them; otherwise, he wasn't fit to be their captain. A quick look told him that both were unconscious, cocooned as they were in the seastone nets. He gritted his teeth, bent his knees, and placed his fist on the ground.

"Gear… Second," he intoned. Steam rose swirlingly off his pink skin. He felt stronger, but he wished he had some meat.

His eyes met those of the bounty hunters' commander, who scoffed. "Do you really think this trick can keep you from your defeat, Monkey D. Luffy? You cannot touch us!" He laughed loudly. "You haven't touched us yet!"

"That laugh is really annoying," said Luffy simply, breathing hard. Being in Gear Second with the seastone so close was uncomfortable, like a rock was stuck in his sandal. He shook off the feeling and focused on saving his friends. "What you say doesn't matter. I will surpass you."

And he readied himself for the next assault.

Behind Luffy, Chopper struggled to open his eyes and think. His thoughts were scattered easily by the seastone, and it was so very tempting to slide back into the blackness. But he couldn't. Luffy would need his help.

There, his eyes were open. What were these shapes he was seeing? Oh, that's Brook. Those black squares behind him are the windows to the empty stores. Where was Luffy?

The little reindeer squirmed and craned his neck to look around. There! Up the street Luffy stood, facing the strange men. What were they carrying – spears? How lame. A man in the center – the leader, Chopper assumed – was laughing, and the sound made Chopper's blood boil. They can't do that. Not to his nakama. And certainly not to Luffy.

"Bastards!" he squeaked, trying to wriggle out of the net. He tried shifting into his Heavy Point, because the larger body might break his bonds with sheer pressure, but it was no use: he couldn't shapeshift while the seastone was so close. He stopped moving and, despairing, felt tears fill his eyes. He wanted to help!

Voices reached him from up the street. Luffy was shifting into Gear Second. "You haven't touched us yet!" shouted the laughing man.

Chopper strained to hear Luffy's response. The rubber man's tone had transformed from its normal gaiety into something dark and terrible; cold shivers moved down the reindeer's back at the sound of words, even as their content warmed his heart. "That laugh is really annoying. What you say doesn't matter. I will surpass you." Yes, Luffy! Beat them!

The reindeer watched the battle with wide eyes, worried for his friend. He saw for the first time the wounds his captain had suffered, making his skin slick and red with his blood. Surprisingly, Luffy had no gaping wounds, just little nicks on his arms and legs. Chopper wondered why he was covered in so much blood… And then, as the battle raged, he realized that something was very, very wrong.

The spears… are made of kairouseki… … …

Chopper gasped. As ship's doctor, he made sure he knew exactly what kinds of effects kairouseki had on his Devil Fruit user charges: Robin, Luffy, Brook, and himself. Robin became unnaturally tired, lost her ability to reason and think logically, and could not use her powers; but the weakest part of her was usually her limbs, the parts of her body she could most easily bloom elsewhere. He himself, obviously, could not shapeshift, and his human thoughts were harder to maintain – he found himself wishing for a patch of green grass to munch on. When he examined Brook, he found that the skeleton usually became just that – an inanimate skeleton – and they had speculated that, since the fruit the fencing musician ate had given him life after death, too long in the proximity of seastone would lead to his permanent death.

Luffy became very tired and craved meat when under the effects of the stone. He also lost much of his elasticity as well as his quick healing. Chopper guessed correctly in that the spears, which had barely scratched his captain, were the main cause of the unnaturally profuse bleeding from the cuts. As he continued to watch, he saw that none of Luffy's flying fists or kicks actually hit their targets. That was why the men were laughing at him.

Anger rose in Chopper's chest. He watched Luffy use his Jet moves with no effect other than a tap on the men's chests; while his arms were outstretched, the men were using the opportunity to slash him with the spear tips.

"Ow!" cried Luffy after a particularly deep cut on his forearm. He let his hand snap back to his side and looked at the bleeding. "You'll pay for that," he told the man who had struck him, who snickered back.

"LUFFYYYYY!" shouted Chopper in the battle's lull.

The black-haired man whipped his head to see him, a relieved expression on his face. "Chopper! You're okay?"

"A-Aye!" he yelled back. "You have to be careful, though! Those spears are made of kairous—"

"I know, Chopper," Luffy interrupted seriously, turning back to his foes. The little reindeer could well imagine the terrifying glare his captain was sending his enemies, but he was surprised when some of the men – so recently unafraid and laughing – actually backed away.

The leader of the group was surprised too. "Hold your positions, idiots! Or I'll cut you down myself!" he ordered, menacing the men nearby with his own spears.

"You shouldn't treat your nakama like that," said Luffy solemnly. "You take care of them, and they take care of you. You have to work together. That's how you all survive. That's what being nakama means!"

Yes! thought Chopper. "Luffy! Beat them!" he cheered.

Luffy bit his thumb. "Aye, Chopper," he said around it. "Gear… Third!"

And Luffy threw himself back into the fight.

Keep going… Keep going… keep … going… thought Luffy as he attacked and counterattacked. The men were holding back, remaining in a tight group so his arm couldn't sneak around them to knock them off their feet or punch the back of their heads. It was as though he were just flapping his hands around a wall that could repeatedly stab him. It was surprising and frustrating and angered him to no end. There had to be something else he could do to get around their guard… If he could just take out one guy, he'd have made a hole in the wall and could gain an advantage…

A spear tip cut across his fingers, and he yelped and drew back his hand, inspecting it. "Damn it!" he yelled. If only Zoro or someone would come, they could fight the stupid Mystery Stone and get this over with…

He prepared himself for another attack. "Bone… Fuusen!" he called out to the shadowy street, his right arm expanding to outrageous proportions. He swung the fist back, cried, "Gomu Gomu no… Gigantic Pistol—"

And the world seemed to stop.

No, he thought, no, no, no, no, no, that's not right, that can't have happened, he must protect. He must keep going. He must, he must, he must; Chopper and Brook need him, they need him to win –

Plink, plink, plink. Tiny circles of red liquid on the ground, at his feet, falling off of him. Plink, plink, plink.

He took a shattered breath, and groaned a little. It hurt. Sure, things like this had hurt before, what Crocodile did had hurt, what Lucci did had hurt, a million times more than this… This was nothing. Keep going. Keep going. He must.

Plink.

Dimly was he aware of his surroundings. The annoying man was still laughing, but – there. Was someone screaming? Was he screaming? No, no. Not him. He was just surprised, is all.

He'd keep going. That blood there – it was nothing. He had to be strong enough to protect them, his nakama. Gear Third had been lost, in his surprise, but he wasn't small, he wasn't unconscious. This was nothing. He'd been through worse before.

And he remembered, not a moment ago: "Luffy! Beat them!"

And he had said, "Aye." Meaning yes. Meaning I will, or I will die trying.

Well, he wasn't dead yet.

"Gomu Gomu no… Gatling!"