Chapter 15: Fight to the Death

Everyone looked at the scene in disbelief. A lot of the Whitebeard Pirates thought something had happened to the Second Division Commander and were extremely surprised as they saw the huge water shield that protected Luffy, Ace and Sabo.

"Why, you…" Akainu spat, still stunned by the fact that his ability had been defeated rather easily.

"If you're 'magma'," the blond Revolutionary mocked him, "then I'm 'water'." Saying that he concentrated a good amount of the almost freezing element into his fist and punched the Admiral in the face, making him stumble backwards. "Ace! Get Luffy outta here, now!" he yelled while his gaze was still focused on the enemy in front of him. He knew that with how recently he had obtained his own ability, he hadn't as much control as he'd wanted over it, but if he could contain Akainu for just a while to assure that his brothers were out of harms' way… if he could just buy enough time for them to get out of there so he could, somehow, disappear as well, that would be good.

"But…" Ace retorted, unwilling to leave it all up to him.

"Just do what I say!" Sabo growled as he blocked another attack from the Admiral. "I'll be fine! Just go!"

Luffy's head bolted back at the blond, glaring at him. "No way!" he shouted. He wanted to fight, he wanted to take revenge for what had happened back in his time and he also worried about his Revolutionary brother passing away instead of Ace.

"You can't fucking fight!" both Sabo and Ace retorted. "Sabo, I can help."

"No, you can't. His ability is above your own," the Revolutionary stated. Ace gritted his teeth. "I'll be fine, just go!"

It was then when Ivankov got there. "Straw-boy," he said as he recognized that he was worn out.

"Iva-chan!"

"Iva-san," Sabo nodded as he dodged yet another attack from Akainu. "Take care of my brothers. Help them outta here."

"Will you be alright?" the Okama Queen asked, yet he had no doubt that the other Revolutionary wouldn't go down easily. Sabo smirked.

"I would be shamed if I couldn't stand up against an Admiral. You-know-who would just rip me apart."

Ivankov laughed at that. "You got paired off with a naughty one, haven't you?"

"Damn right!" the blond said as he remembered how dangerously vicious could Koala be when she got pissed off. Sabo looked back for a second to see how Ivankov grabbed both Ace and Luffy to drag them away.

"Don't think you can escape that easily," Sakazuki growled as he tried to chase after them.

"Oh, no, I don't think so," the former noble retorted as he dashed in between Akainu and his prey. He wouldn't let him go past him and he had to hold on and escape with them because he knew that if something happened to him neither of his raven-haired brothers would forgive themselves.

"Iva-chan, let go! He can't take him alone!" Luffy was yelling, trying futilely to get free from the Okama's grasp. He wanted to keep on fighting, he wanted to make sure Sabo was alright. Damn, what would be the point in saving Ace if another sacrifice was made in his stead? He wanted the three of them to get out of here unscathed but if Sabo fought alone, who knew what would happen to him? How would he forgive himself if another one of his brothers died in the hands of that merciless man?

But Ivankov knew better. She had been there when that kid had begun his training with Dragon, and it had been the Revolutionary himself who had taken it upon himself to make sure that blond got strong. Why? Ivankov was still wondering. Very few had the privilege to actually work right under his command and that man had probably seen some kind of potential in the kid.

"Listen, Straw-boy," he said, all the humor and amusement left aside. "You should have more faith in him. He's no ordinary man. Your father has trained him on a personal level."

The raven-haired teen stopped wiggling around for a second, his expression puzzled. "Huh?"

"Dragon was the one who saved his life. I was there when he got him on board of the ship and he nursed him back to health." Luffy's eyes went wide.

"What?" Ace spat, disbelief tinting his voice.

"My… father did?"

"That's right. He's a high ranking."

"He said something of being the Number 2…" Luffy said in deep thought. "Chief of Stuff?"

"Of Staff," Ivankov corrected him, being impressed himself. When did that kid get so high up? Nevertheless, he now was sure he could, at the very least, give that Admiral much more trouble than what he firstly assumed. "That means he's like in pair with the Admirals," Iva said.

"Still!" Luffy protested. "I want… no, I have to fight too!" He had to after all that had gone down in the time he came from. There had been too many of his friends being targeted. So many things that one Admiral had done when he sort of usurped what should've been Aokiji's place as Fleet Admiral. How would've things gone if the other Admiral had taken control over the Marine Headquarters? Probably bad, but he knew that it wouldn't have been as bad as when Akainu became the commander of all the fleets. "That man… that man's a monster." And it was true. He had no mercy. He had seen how many destruction he had caused on entire islands just because they had been under Whitebeard's protection or just because, somehow, they had 'allied' themselves with the Straw Hat crew. "He mustn't be left free."

"Luffy?" Ace asked, wide-eyed. "What are you talking about?"

The horror he'd seen, all the lives that had been lost, all the destruction. The Buster Call? That was nothing. That one man was the Buster Call incarnated in a human body. It was true that in his youngest years he had never thought or deemed necessary to kill someone. He had always left his enemies alive so they would suffer from the loss of their pride and probably get caught by the Marines. But this one person, this monster, he couldn't let him go. He shouldn't. "Iva-chan, I beg of you. Just a bit longer… let me fight just one more time."

Even if he had to push himself, even if it meant that he would be forced to bring about a miracle to fully control Haki right here and now, even if he had to sacrifice himself for the sake of a better future for the pirate world, he damn would. There was no way he was letting Akainu off the hook. Monkey D. Luffy was determined to get rid of the one man that not long after the War of the Best would become a threat to the sailing people and the townsfolk that in one way or another had been attached to a pirate's name.

"Why are you doing this?" Ivankov asked.

"For the world's sake," the raven-haired boy answered. "I can't explain it right now, but you must trust me when I say that the man Sabo is fighting right now is no ordinary man. He's a monster, the worst kind."

Ace shivered as he heard those words come out from his little brother. He was too serious. In his tone there was no goofiness, no humor whatsoever. In all the years the fire user had known him, never had he seen him being so determined. The sadness he saw in his look was heartbreaking. How could this one be the same brother he met back in Alabasta? How could he have matured so much in so little time? Was it really like that? He could barely recognize him.

Ivankov seemed to notice the same as the Second Division Commander because he sighed. "It's no good. I tell you, this is a suicide, Straw-boy. I can't predict what will happen if I inject you with another dose of Tension Hormones…"

"I'll take the damn risk," the Straw Hat Captain growled. He didn't care. He just wanted one thing: get rid of that Admiral once and for all. He had no other way since no one in the Marines would ever listen to a pirate like him. They just wouldn't believe a single thing he said because he knew that the magma man would eventually destroy the Marines from the inside-out and not in a beneficial way for them. "I have to do this."

"If you're going, I will, too," Ace said. Luffy's head lashed around to look at his older brother.

"No," he outright denied. There wasn't a fucking chance that he'd let Ace get even an inch close to that man. He wasn't about to let that damn incident occur again right in front of his eyes.

"Why not?" the older demanded.

"Because you'll be so stupid as to die right in front of me like it happened twelve years…" Luffy shut up.

"What was that?" Ace's brow raised inquiringly. The hell was going on here?

"Nothing, just stay out of it and go back with your crew," the teenager said as he kicked himself mentally.

"Don't give me that crap, Lu."

The raven-haired pirate shut his eyes for a split moment as his older brother addressed him by that old nickname. Of course he remembered it and it made it harder for him to refuse his inquisitions but he couldn't tell him. Well, he didn't want to remember what happened back in his old time. Losing Ace once was enough for him and he didn't want to go through that again.

"Just go," he said.

But it was to no avail. Like hell the fire user would let his little brothers shoulder all of that on their own. He wasn't the older for nothing, right?

"We're in this together now, Luffy," Ace stated. "You've come here of your own volition but now I'm also implicated and I won't let you go all out alone and without supervision. Try as you might, I'm not going anywhere."

And the Straw Hat hated that from his brother. He was always overprotective of him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He'd been sailing the Grand Line for enough time to be able to defeat countless enemies. Damn, he'd beat up the strongest in the CP9 just so he could get back one of his nakama. "So annoying…" he mumbled.

Sabo, on the other hand, was beginning to get pissed off as he watched those two slacking off and not moving a muscle to get out of there. He was doing this to give them a chance to escape and they were being so stupid to not take it. What the hell was taking them so long? As he blocked yet another attack from the Admiral he managed to infuse his Dragon Claw with freezing water to knock Akainu back.

From the corner of his eye he watched as Ivankov injected another dose of Tension Hormones in his little brother and gritted his teeth. The heck was that idiot thinking? And right after that he saw as Ace also got ready. "The fuck are you two doing!?" he exclaimed.

He didn't even get an answer, he just watched as Luffy activated his Gear Second, disappearing in an instant as the raven-haired imbued his arms with Haki and launched himself forward and towards the Admiral. The impact of his fists against the magma man's chest echoed throughout the battlefield as the man coughed out blood.

"Luffy!" both Ace and Sabo yelled, unheard by the teenager. The rage bubbling up in him prevented him from listening to anything but his enemy's movements. He wasn't letting him off, not this time. The Straw Hat Captain knew that this was the only chance he'd ever have against that man now that he was slightly worn out after his confrontation with Sabo and he wanted to take this to his advantage. If he didn't get rid of him here and now, horrible things were going to happen in the near future.

"Do you think you have what it takes to take me on, Dragon's son?" Sakazuki said, mockingly.

"I won't let you do as you please," Luffy retorted. He was dead serious. This was a death match. It was either him or that man and he wasn't going to lose, no matter what. If he had to die along with him, so be it. If anything happens to me, I'm sorry, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, he thought as he looked at the man right in front of him. He knew they would be alright, that his brothers would do anything to find them and make sure they were save. "Let's finish this…" he said, determination plastered on his voice.

I know, I know! Right now you all must be thinking that this is insane. Well, in a way it is but you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out what will happen.

Thank you all for your support! I know a lot of you find Luffy weak and that you all think that Haki has nothing to do with one's body. I don't see it this way. Yes, Haki is about your own will, but in my opinion it also has to do with your training and your body. You can have Haki and be still weak. So, as much as I respect other people's opinions, you also have to respect mine. This is my story, and I'll tell it any way I find appropriate.

Also, a big thank you for those 138 reviews, that's crazy!

See you all in the next chapter!