Chapter 6
One Piece © Oda
Pokemon © Nintendo, Game Freak
Blizzard © Me
Luffy ran as fast as he could through the dense foliage. Tailing right behind him is Zoroark, who had dropped down on all fours and broke into a fast gallop. It looked like she was even swifter on all fours than on two.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Luffy muttered as he kept running. "Isn't she tired from all this running, yet? WHOA!"
Luffy nearly tripped on a rock, but he kept going with Zoroark not too far behind. Once he finally broke through the trees, he was soon met with a shock: a cliff. He almost fell if he hadn't stopped himself in time. It looked like a steep 20 ft. drop.
"Phew!" Luffy said. "That was a close one!"
GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWRR!
"Oh, right," said Luffy. "I forgot about her- UGH!"
BAM! Zoroark tackled Luffy off his feet as he turned to face her, thus causing the both of them to tumble down the steep cliff until THOOM! They ended up landing on the ground below.
Zoroark jumped out of the cloud of dust and then turned to it. She let out what sounded like a grunt in disappointment.
"Pathetic," she said to herself. "I was hoping this human would pose more of a challenge, but of course, I was wrong. It's so boring that they die so quickly."
"I'm not dead!"
Zoroark's eye widened in surprise. Luffy stood up from the ground and dusted his pants off, the resulting fall not really meaning much to him due to his rubbery body.
"Ah, man," he said. "That startled me."
"I see," Zoroark said, a toothy grin appearing on her lips. "You are no mere human, are you, boy?"
"No, I'm not," said Luffy. "I ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit, so that makes me a rubber-man. See?"
WROING! He hooked his right finger into his cheek and stretched it.
"Well," said Zoroark, "this should be interesting. Perhaps I will give you a sporting chance, after all."
Luffy smirked before he popped his knuckles and goes into a fighting stance.
"Bring it," he said.
GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWRRK! Zoroark stood up on twos and roared at Luffy before she got back down on all fours and charged at him, once again.
Luffy stood his ground and glared at Zoroark. However, as he did, he noticed that Zoroark wasn't ceasing in her charge.
"What the…?" Luffy muttered, bewildered. "Why isn't she fainting?"
GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWRR! Zoroark roared as she lunged at Luffy with claws outstretched and glowing a bright red.
It was then that Luffy gasped once realization set in.
"My Haki won't work on her!" he cried.
SMASH! Zoroark slammed her claw on the ground, but Luffy evaded her attack at the last second. The ground cracked from the Illusion Fox Pokemon's strength.
"Damn!" Luffy cursed. "Well, if my Conqueror's Haki won't work, there's always Armaments and Observation Haki!"
Zoroark turned to Luffy, whose arms went black and hardened.
"Armaments Enhancement!" he declared.
"What's this?" Zoroark questioned. "Some sort of trick?"
"No tricks, fuzz-face," Luffy said. "Gum-Gum GATLING!"
BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! Luffy unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire punches at Zoroark, who soon fell victim to his attack, but then, as he let up, he saw that she had disappeared.
"Huh?" Luffy muttered. "Where'd she go?"
"Up here."
Luffy looked up and gasped. There was Zoroark, up in the air above him!
"How in the hell did you-?" Luffy was about to ask before Zoroark cut him off.
"I am full of surprises," said Zoroark. "For instance…I can do this!"
Zoroark crossed her arms over her chest, and then, an ominous orb of black and dark blue circles appeared before them. Then, as Zoroark separated her arms, the orb fired some sort of beam at Luffy!
Luffy jumped away in the nick of time.
BOOM! The beam struck the ground while Luffy landed on a nearby boulder.
"She can shoot beams, too?" he questioned. "But…that wasn't a regular beam! That was like…some kind of EVIL beam!"
TMP! Zoroark landed on the ground on her feet.
"Had enough, Straw Hat?" she questioned with a smirk.
Luffy growled.
"Gum-Gum…SNAKE SHOT!"
WROING! Luffy stretched his arm, which swerved like a slithering snake, out at Zoroark, but once again, she proved to be too fast for him, for she maneuvered herself away from his arm by somersaulting backwards, too far out of Luffy's reach.
"Damn!" Luffy cursed. "Hold still, will ya?"
"Typical human," said Zoroark. "You always seem to lose focus when you get frustrated. What a pity."
Zoroark suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared behind the Straw Hat captain. However, Luffy managed to predict this and jumped away as Zoroark slammed her claw into the boulder, shattering it into pebbles.
Luffy smirked as he was suspended in midair.
"Lose my focus, huh?" he mused. "Now, Gum-Gum…BAZOOKA!"
WHAM! Luffy threw both hands down at Zoroark, who dodged the attack, once again.
"And Gum-Gum…WHIP!"
POW! Luffy outstretched his leg and managed to kick Zoroark down to the ground, just as he landed on his feet.
GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRR! Zoroark roared as she charged at Luffy, once again, but this time, he met her, head on, trying to hold her back as best as he could. Then, he stretched his right arm back and started to twist it around.
"Gum-Gum…RIFLE!
BAM! Luffy sent a spinning punch into Zoroark's stomach, sending her flying into a tree. However, it was only until after he made the attack that he saw that the Illusion Fox Pokemon had this one trick up her sleeve: she had grabbed his other arm while he was holding her back, and when he sent her flying, she had stretched it!
"Uh-oh…!" Luffy muttered.
Zoroark grinned as she stood up and then swiftly tugged at Luffy's arm, thus pulling him towards her.
"H-hey!" Luffy cried. "That's not fair!"
POW! Zoroark punched Luffy in the face with her claw, sending him down to the ground.
"Ow…!" Luffy said as he held his cheek. He pulled his palm away, revealing smeared blood on it.
GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRR! Zoroark roared again as she swiped her claws at Luffy, who jumped away as she kept attacking.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" cried Luffy.
SKISH! As Luffy jumped away, Zoroark only managed to slice off only a few strands of hair that was in his face. He landed on his hands and put his feet together.
"Gum-Gum…SPEAR!"
WROING! Luffy stretched his legs, trying to jab Zoroark with his feet, but Zoroark jumped up into a nearby tree, thus causing him to miss, but he wouldn't give up, yet.
"Gum-Gum…STAMP!"
BAM! Luffy stretched his left leg out and stamped his foot into the tree that Zoroark was standing in, causing it to topple over, but Zoroark jumped out at the last second. THWAM! She pounced on Luffy as his leg retracted, and CHOMP! She bit down hard on his right arm, piercing through the sleeve of his cardigan and penetrating the skin.
"AAARRGH!" Luffy cried before he kicked Zoroark off of him, yanking his bleeding arm out of her mouth as he did.
Zoroark landed on her feet, and while Luffy was distracted, her claws began to glow red.
RRAAAAAAAAAAAAWRRK! Zoroark roared as she charged at Luffy, once again.
Before Luffy could react fast enough, SLASH! Zoroark swiped her claws at his stomach, leaving two huge gashes.
Luffy stumbled back for a moment, a hand clutching his fresh wounds. He pulled it away from his bleeding abdomen, revealing a large amount of blood seeping from the gashes.
"That's quite an injury," Zoroark mused, mockingly. "Be careful that you don't do anything to make it worse."
Luffy seethed.
"Damn you…!" he hissed at Zoroark. "Gum-Gum…PISTOL!"
BAP! Luffy managed to punch Zoroark in the face before he turned tail and made a run for it. Of course, Luffy would never even dare to run away from an opponent, but he was injured enough as it is. The least he could do was try and rest somewhere before he could start again.
"Trying to escape, eh?" Zoroark inquired.
She looked down at the ground and smirked at the small specks of red that had been left in a trail before she soon ran after Luffy.
"This will be too easy," she said.
XXX
Not too far away, the Straw Hats were trying to catch up to Luffy and Zoroark with Zorua leading the way.
"This way!" Zorua called. "Momma and Luffy have been through here!"
"You said that, like, 15 minutes ago!" Zoro complained.
"Oh, just shut up and follow him!" Nami ordered.
As the group broke through the forest, they soon saw the cliff that Luffy and Zoroark had tumbled down.
"Oh, dear," Brook said. "You don't suppose they…?"
"So what if Luffy fell off?" asked Usopp. "He can survive any fall! That is as long as there's nothing sharp at the bottom."
"But what about Zoroark?" Nami said.
"Momma's strong!" said Zorua. "She can handle anything! Now let's go!"
Zorua and the Straw Hats carefully slid down the steep cliff until they landed down below. Of course, Usopp landed unceremoniously on his face.
"Ouch," he muttered.
Sniff! Sniff! Zorua sniffed the ground, as did Chopper and Blizzard.
"Momma's been here," Zorua said. "So has Luffy!"
"Judging by the damage that's been done around here," Sanji began, taking a look at their surroundings, "Zoroark and Luffy must've had one hell of a scuffle."
Usopp managed to pry his nose out of the ground, and then gently bent it back into place.
"Guys!" Chopper called. "Look what Blizzard and I found!"
The others ran over and saw the small specks of blood left behind by Luffy's injuries.
"Oh, no," Nami said. "Is that…blood?"
"By the looks of it, yes," said Robin. "But whose?"
"This is definitely human blood," Chopper replied. "So that can only mean one thing…"
"Luffy's injured," Nami concluded. "Zoroark must've hit him with her claws."
"Guys, this is bad," Chopper said. "Luffy's in big trouble!"
"He's right!" Usopp said. "Look at the trail of blood that he left behind! If Zoroark doesn't kill him, then the loss of blood will!"
"Then let's hurry!" Nami said before she picked up Zorua and ran off, following the bloody trail on the ground with the others not too far behind.
Please, Luffy, the navigator, worryingly. Please, don't do anything too stupid!
XXX
Meanwhile, Luffy was still running away as fast as he could, an arm still wrapped protectively around his wounded stomach. He could feel the warm, thick blood seeping from the gashes left by Zoroark's claws. He panted as he kept running, but he didn't hear the sound of Zoroark's galloping behind him, so he must've lost her.
Perfect.
After he ran through a creek, Luffy stopped running and sat down against a tree, panting heavily and still holding his wound.
"Dammit," he said. "Look at me, running away like a mouse, all because I got hit in the gut! What kind of a man am I?"
He looked down at his stomach, which was still bleeding, but not as much as it was before.
"I just…need to rest, that's all," he thought aloud. "Once I get my strength up, I'll kick that fuzz-bag's ass, quick as a snap."
Suddenly, Luffy froze as a chill went down his spine.
"Oh, crap," he whispered. "She's here. How the hell did she find me?"
He looked down at his wound, again. It was then that it became obvious to him that Zoroark had followed his trail of blood.
"Damn," Luffy cursed.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are, Straw Hat," Zoroark said. "I know you're around here, somewhere. You can't hide from me, forever."
Luffy silently swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to breath as quiet as possible.
"What's wrong, boy?" Zoroark questioned. "You're not afraid to face me, are you? Are you scared that I am going to do more than just give you a flesh wound? Come out and fight me!"
Luffy sat in his spot, trying not to make a sound, but knowing that Zoroark was getting closer, it wasn't easy.
He didn't want to believe but…Luffy might've been scared of Zoroark.
Just then, out of the corner of the eye, Luffy spotted the tip of Zoroark's snout rounding the corner, and he scooted away, trying to get as far away from the Pokemon as possible.
Snort! Snort! Snort! Grr~! Luffy saw Zoroark's nose twitch, and then, her lips curled up in a snarl as she growled viciously, saliva dripping from her maw.
SWAK! She attempted to hit Luffy in the face with her claw, but he ducked and ran at the last second, causing her to hit the tree instead. GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRR! Zoroark roared and gave chase, once more.
"Turn around and face me, you coward!" she yelled.
Luffy tried to keep running as fast as he could. He even through an upcoming creek, hoping the blood from his wound would be washed away, but it didn't matter, for Zoroark wasn't too far behind to not see him.
He stumbled into another clearing and fell to his knees. His vision was starting to go blurry, and he felt his body begin to get heavy.
"Dammit," Luffy cursed. "This sucks! I can't pass out! Not now!"
RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWRRK!
Zoroark suddenly appeared as Luffy turned to face her. She crossed her arms over her chest, again, creating that same black and dark blue orb from earlier, and as she separated her arms, the same beam was fired at him.
"Whoa!" Luffy cried as he dodged the attack. "Gum-Gum…PISTOL!"
WROING! He stretched his arm and punched the Illusion Fox Pokemon in the jaw. As it retracted, however, he grunted in pain and clutched his wound, again.
"Crap!" he cursed.
THOMP! Zoroark landed on the ground, once more, and then charged at Luffy with claws open and glowing red.
Luffy jumped back as Zoroark swiped her claws at him, once again, but as he did, he heard a small ripping sound.
He gasped before he landed on the ground. He took his hat off of his head, and his eyes went wide.
There was a tear in the rim of his hat.
"What's wrong, Straw Hat?" Zoroark asked, teasingly. "Did I scratch your when I was not supposed to?"
A pause, but then, Luffy began to shake, not out of fear or lack of blood…but really out of pure anger. Then, he looked up at Zoroark, revealing raging flames burning in his eyes.
"You…just…nicked…MY…LUCKY…HAAAAAAAAAAAT!"
FWOOSH! A comical fire of anger exploded behind Luffy.
XXX
Nami suddenly felt a chill go down here spine, making her shiver.
"What's the matter, Nami?" Zorua asked.
"Guys…did you feel that?" asked Nami.
"We sure did," Usopp answered.
"Now it's Zoroark who's in danger," Robin chimed in.
"In that case, we better hurry," Franky added.
With that, the Straw Hats ran off
XXX
"Gear…SECOND!"
Luffy, no longer caring for his injuries, pumped blood through his arms, causing his skin to go pink and steaming.
"What's this, now?" Zoroark asked. "Another trick?"
"No," said Luffy.
Suddenly, Luffy disappeared from Zoroark's sight.
"What?" Zoroark questioned. "Where did he go?"
"Gum-Gum…JET BAZOOKA!"
BAM! A fast, double-palmed blow hit Zoroark in the back, taking her by surprise.
"And…JET PISTOL!"
POW! Another unseen punch struck Zoroark, this time in the jaw.
GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRR! Zoroark roared.
"SHOW YOURSELF, STRAW HAT!" she shouted.
Just then, Luffy reappeared several feet behind Zoroark, and just as she turned to face him, WRRROING! He stretched both arms out and wrapped them around each other before he grabbed Zoroark by the face.
"What?" Zoroark cried. "W-what trickery is this? Release me, at once!"
"And now…" Luffy began before he lifted Zoroark up into the air.
"Release me!" Zoroark shouted before Luffy began to unwind his arms, causing her to spin around.
"Gum-GUUUUUUUM…JET HAMMER!"
THWAM! Luffy piledrove Zoroark headfirst into the ground!
There was a long pause as Zoroark's body twitched, but then, she ceased, and Luffy backed away as his body returned to normal.
He heaved a sigh.
"Finally," he said. "It may've been a short one, but still…you put up one hell of a fight."
With that being said, Luffy turned away from Zoroark to go and pick up his hat, which had fallen out of his grasp when he attacked her. He did stumble a bit due to the loss of blood, but it looked like he could manage for a bit longer. Tsk! He sucked his teeth as he saw the cut that had been left on the rim.
"Well, it's good thing Nami remembered to bring her sewing kit," he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, Luffy heard the sound of the ground cracking. Looking back, he saw Zoroark, attempting to pry her head from the ground. Once she did, she let out a fierce roar before she turned to Luffy with eyes closed.
"Aw, man!" he said. "Don't you know when to give up?"
He heaved a sigh.
"Well…I do admit, I kinda like having strong opponents like you," said Luffy. "But can't you at least gimme a timeout or something? I kinda need to rest for a minute!"
Zoroark didn't seem to hear him. She just stood there, her eyes still closed.
At that moment, Luffy seemed to noticed that something seemed off.
He began to feel this…strange power that seemed to be emanating off of Zoroark, and whatever this power was…it looked like it was going to come at him at full force.
All of a sudden, Zoroark quickly opened her eyes, revealing them to be glowing blue, and her body became surrounded by a crimson aura. She then raised her arms above her head, causing the aura around her forearms to get thicker.
"Uhh…wait…!" Luffy muttered. "What are you-"
THOOM! Zoroark slammed her claws into the ground, creating a huge blast of pink and crimson energy that grew larger and spread throughout the clearing.
"AAAAAAAAAGGH!' Luffy cried as he was blown off of his feet.
XXX
Not too far away, the Straw Hats saw what looked like smoke rising into the sky after hearing what sounded like an explosion.
"Do you see that?" Usopp asked.
"What just happened?" Nami questioned.
"That was Momma."
Nami looked down at Zorua.
"When Momma gets really angry," he began, "her eyes start to glow, and then she uses this attack where she hits the ground with her paws and everything around her gets destroyed."
"Night Daze," said Robin, out of nowhere.
"Night Daze?" Chopper repeated.
"Care to explain, Robin?" asked Zoro.
"Night Daze is the signature attack of Zorua and Zoroark," Robin explained. "It's a very devastating attack that, when used, will not only destroy the users surroundings, but also blows its victims away."
"What?" Nami cried. "Are you saying Zoroark could've killed Luffy with that attack of hers? What the hell are we just standing here for? Let's go, already! Luffy maybe made of rubber, but still, even HE has his limits!"
Nami's such a dream, even when she's worried about Luffy! thought Sanji.
XXX
"Ah, jeez…what happened?"
Luffy was lying down on the ground, stunned and confused from Zoroark's sudden attack. As he attempted to get back up, THWAM! A gray blur rushed at him and then pinned him to a boulder, causing his hat to fly off of his head. It was Zoroark, growling viciously in his face with her left claws wrapped his around his neck.
Luffy gagged as he struggled to free himself from the Pokemon's grasp, but she was too strong.
"What a shame," Zoroark mused. "It's been quite some time since I've met a worthy adversary, such as yourself. I am almost sad to take your life, Straw Hat. Almost."
Luffy looked at Zoroark with just one eye open, still struggling to get free from Zoroark's claws.
"And now, you shall meet the same fate as those humans who refused my warning!" Zoroark proclaimed as she raised her free claws. "Die, Straw Hat!"
Just when it looked as if Luffy was going to meet his end at Zoroark's claws…
"STOP!"
Zoroark seemed to gasp, and she turned and saw the rest of the Straw Hats appear. However, what caught her eye most was Zorua, who was still being carried in the navigator's arms…until she gently set him down on the ground.
"Z…Zorua…?" Zoroark muttered, unwittingly releasing Luffy in her shock. "Is it really you? My son?"
"Yes, Momma," Zorua said as his eyes began to well up with tears. "I'm home…!"
"ZORUA!" Zoroark cried as she got down on all fours and ran to her beloved child with tears of her own falling from her eyes.
"MOMMA!" Zorua cried as he, too, ran to his mother and jumped into her arms, nuzzling her face, lovingly, as his own tears fell.
The Straw Hats smiled at the scene that had been played before them. Some of them, mostly Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook…even Luffy have been watching with tears of their own beginning to form.
At last, mother and child had been reunited.
"Momma," Zorua whimpered as he cried on Zoroark's muzzle. "I missed you, so much!"
"My baby," Zoroark said as she gently licked Zorua's face. "I thought I lost you, forever, when the storm carried you away. What happened?"
"It was Luffy and his friends, Momma," Zorua said. "They brought me back!"
"That's what we tried to tell you," Luffy said as he approached Zoroark from behind. "We came to bring Zorua back to you."
"I see," said Zoroark. "Then forgive me for my misunderstanding. Had I known-"
"Forget about it," Nami said. "We're passed that now. All that matters is that you've got your son back, safe and sound."
"Yes," Zoroark said. "For that, I thank you."
Suddenly, Luffy fell to his knees, holding his stomach wounds, once more.
"Luffy!" the Straw Hats cried as they ran to his aid.
"Are you okay?" asked Nami.
"I'm just fine," said a grinning Luffy. "This is nothing. Just a scratch."
"'Just a scratch', my eye!" Nami retorted. "You have two huge gashes on your stomach, Luffy! Plus, do you have ANY idea how much blood you've lost?"
"Here," said Luffy as he planted his hat on Nami's head. "It needs to be fixed, again. Zoroark nicked it."
"I had a feeling," said Nami. "Chopper, could you-"
"Way ahead of you, Nami," said Chopper as he began to wrap up Luffy's wounds, and then proceeded to pierce his wrist with a needle. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a bag of blood; blood-type F, to be precise.
"Good thing Jimbei volunteered donate some more blood back on Fishman Island, just in case," said Chopper.
"Well, now that we got Zorua back with his mom," said Usopp, "how about we go and head back to the ship?"
"I agree with Mister Usopp," said Brook.
"We can't," said Chopper. "Luffy can't go anywhere. He needs to recover from his injuries, not to mention almost dying from blood loss, again."
"Well, what do we do?" Zoro asked. "We can't just sit out here in the middle of the forest!"
"Well, I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas, mister," Nami remarked.
Zorua looked at Luffy, who seemed to be a bit drowsy from his blood loss, and then at Zoroark before he tapped his paw on the latter's neck, getting her attention.
"Momma?" Zorua asked. "Can Luffy and the others stay here? At least until Luffy feels better? Please?"
Zoroark looked at Zorua like he was speaking another language, but then, she looked at Luffy, then at Zorua, and then heaved a sigh.
"All right, Zorua," she said. "After all, they are your new friends, and they did bring you back here, safely."
"What are you talking about?" Robin asked.
"You are welcome to stay here with us," Zoroark replied. "You have returned my son to me, safely, and as such, you deserve a reward."
"Oh, no, no!" Nami said. "Please, we don't wanna impose!"
"I insist that you stay," Zoroark said. "It's not everyday that Zorua makes new friends, especially with the likes of you. After all, your friend is injured because of me. The least you can do is let me make up for it."
"Yeah, Nami," said Luffy. "Let's stay. I wanna see more of Zorua's home."
Luffy and Zorua smiled at each other.
"You're really gonna like our home, Luffy!" said Zorua.
"I bet I will," said Luffy with a chuckle.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Once again, I'm sorry for taking so long with updates.
Review, please!