Ch. 12- Final Bout

One Piece © Oda

Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, and Anubis © Me

A right jab, a left hook! Fists colliding and arms swinging with full force! Luffy and Mad Treasure were locked in all-out fisticuffs battle! As Luffy stretched his Haki-imbued arms at Treasure, the maddened chain man pushed his arm back before he started to throw punches of his own, which the Straw Hat Captain blocked!

"Luffy!" Olga shouted.

"C'mon, Luffy!" Usopp cheered. "You can do it!"

"Get him, Big Brother!" Aika called out.

Luffy growled before he landed an uppercut against Treasure's jaw, causing him to stumble back.

"You can't have my crew!" shouted Luffy.

"Will you quit that dull crap, already?!" Treasure questioned as he charged at Luffy, once more.

XXX

Concurrently, Zoro was still facing off against Naomi, who fired her arrows at him while he was busy with some lower-ranking thugs...but they were nothing that he couldn't handle.

"Three-Sword Style!" Zoro shouted. "BLACK ROPE DRAGON TWISTER!"

With a swing of his swords, he sent a massive whirlwind of blades that began to chase the underling pirates, who screamed as some of their comrades ran away.

"How long is that thing gonna keep chasing us?!" asked one of them.

"...To the ends of Hell," Zoro answered, a glint in his eyes, before he glanced over at Naomi, who gasped.

XXX

Not too far from Zoro, Sanji was dealing with his own batch of enemies, which he quickly disposed of with his fast and furious feet. As he turned around, though, he saw Psycho P appear right over his head, preparing to cut him down with his katana.

"Hey, what's up?!" Psycho P questioned as he tried to slash at the cook, who jumped away at the last second before he charged.

"DAMN YOU!" Sanji cursed as he tried to kick the camouflage-man, who blocked with his sword.

XXX

Meanwhile, Blizzard roared as he tackled another of one of Treasure's men, then turned and slammed his paw into another. When a third tried to cut him down with his saber, the wolf-dog bit on his arm, causing him to scream in pain before he got thrown across the ruins!

As for Anubis, he hid in the underbrush, looking for the perfect chance to strike...and that's when he spotted a piece of rubble that towered over Blizzard...the perfect vantage point. With that in mind, the cowardly hyena grinned before he slunk toward the rubble, preparing to land a sneak attack on the seemingly unsuspecting wolf-dog.

XXX

"Mad CHAIN!" Treasure shouted as he started throwing several chains at Luffy, who tried to defend himself, but he ultimately ended up getting pushed back and got thrown into a rock with a chain uppercut!

"Big Brother, look out!" Aika called to him, and soon, Luffy managed to dodge another punch from Treasure, who ended up punching the rock instead, and the force was so powerful, the rock shattered into pebbles!

"Gear...SECOND!" shouted Luffy, pumping blood through his body with his arms and charged at Treasure, who seemed a bit taken aback by the Straw Hat Captain's sudden transformation, but then growled as he met him head-on, wrapping his fists in his chains, but Luffy quickly shattered them with his fast punches, and soon after, he threw a sucker punch right in the chain-man's face, causing him to cough up blood. However, Luffy ended up stumbling back into a puddle of Bonbori's stomach acid, which burned his ankle, but he was so caught up in the fight, he didn't seem to notice!

"Hey, hey, hey!" Usopp exclaimed. "Luffy's gonna be okay, right?! I mean, he's fighting in the middle of all that acid!"

"He'll win!" Aika shouted. "Big Brother has to win! I know he will!"

"...C'mon, Luffy," Nami whispered, her hands on Aika's shoulders. "You can do it! Don't let us down!"

"JARARARARARA!" laughed Treasure as he swung his chains at Luffy, attempting to bind his arms, but once again, the straw hat-wearing rookie proved to be fast for him, for he quickly caught the chain on his right arm and smashed it with his left fist. Then, with a roar, the two pirates charged at each other, once again, but as they continued their bout, Usopp and Chopper both yelped as they saw something alarming: the gastric acid was beginning to rise!

"Oh, no!" Chopper cried. "We're in trouble, too!"

"This isn't good!" said Acier. "The gastric acid is beginning to swell! If nothing's done, soon, we'll get dissolved, along with this island!"

But just when it seemed that all hope was lost, BOOSH! Something emerged from the acid's depths, and Usopp, Chopper, Brook, and Acier all gasped upon seeing...the General Franky!

"Iron Pirate...GENERAL FRANKY!" Franky shouted from within the robot, causing the eyes of the boys to sparkle.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Usopp, Chopper, and Brook cheered.

"A GIANT ROBOT?!" Acier asked in awe.

Nami, Robin, Aika, Kumi, and Olga just stared with deadpan expressions.

"Ow!" Franky exclaimed as he came out of the cockpit. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Anyway, c'mon! I parked the souped-up Sunny nearby!"

On a nearby shore, it is revealed that the Thousand Sunny is now covered with sheet metal, thus allowing her to sail along the gastric acid without getting dissolved.

"Now come on! Let's get movin'!" Franky called, and with that, they hurried to board the ship.

XXX

Back with Blizzard, he had just finished off the last of his enemies...except for one.

"Hey, hyena!" Blizzard called out. "Where are you, you coward?! Get out here and fight me!"

Anubis snickered silently as he climbed up onto the rubble while Blizzard stood below, looking around for him.

"I know you're here, somewhere," Blizzard hissed. "I can smell your fear!"

By now, Anubis had reached the top of the rubble, glowering down at Blizzard, who, at first, didn't seem to notice anything, but as he glanced down at the ground, he spotted a familiar shadow. He gasped before he turned around and looked up, just as Anubis lunged for him with jaws agape.

"DIE~!" Anubis roared, but then, the wolf-dog leapt up and clamped his jaws around the hyena's neck. "GACK!"

"1,000 Pound PRESSURE FANG!" Blizzard roared before he imbued his fangs with Haki andWHAM! He slammed Anubis into the ground, creating a huge crater, as well as a powerful shockwave! When Blizzard stood back up, Anubis was on the ground...unconscious and defeated.

"Hmph!" Blizzard scoffed. "You hyenas are always such a joke. Next time, try to bring a better fight!"

XXX

With Sanji, he was currently getting the upper hand on Psycho P, surprisingly able to land his powerful kicks on the camouflage man, despite him being invisible.

"What the hell?!" Psycho P questioned. "How can you attack me when I'm camouflaged, yo?!"

"I've fought someone like you before," Sanji answered, "and you're no different from him! I know how abilities like yours work.

XXX

With Zoro...he had just dispatched Naomi's underlings, and was now going for her.

"Eye, ear," he spoke as he easily blocked the arrows coming toward him, "nose, tongue, body...mind."

BOOM! The arrows exploded behind Zoro, while Naomi growled as she tried to loose another arrow at the swordsman.

"Those six organs," Zoro continued, "have senses of..."

TWANG! SNATCH! Naomi fired at him, but he easily caught it in his hand and threw it behind him, causing it to explode!

"...good, bad, and neutral!"

Naomi gasped as she kept firing more arrows, but they just kept missing!

"So, those 18 senses are classified into the purified and defiled states!" Zoro added. "One life...36 desires!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!" Naomi screamed as she kept firing arrows...but no matter how many she fired, none of them hit the swordsman!

"That's enough horseplay," Zoro started as he brandished Wado Ichimonji, "you drunk bitch. One-Sword Style...36 CALIBER PHOENIX!"

WHOOSH! Swinging his sword in a circular motion, Zoro sent the arrows that Naomi fired flying back towards her, causing her to scream as they exploded around her, but when she looked up again, she gasped in horror when she saw the demon-eyed swordsman lunge for her!

"No! No!" Naomi cried as she backed away with tears of fright in her eyes. "STAY AWAY!"

"SOBER-UP STIMULUS STRIKE!" Zoro shouted as he swung down...and at first, it seemed he was going to cleave her in two...but a closer look revealed he had only sliced through the rim of her cap. Naomi, on the other hand...was on her knees, eyes having rolled into the back of her skull and foam bubbling from her mouth...before she collapsed.

"You shouldn't be so surprised," said Zoro. "After all...flying slashes aren't so rare, these days."

XXX

Fwik! Sanji flipped open his golden Sleeping Mermaid lighter and lit up a cigarette.

"You know," he said, "I actually gotta thank you."

"Thank me?" asked Psycho P. "For what?"

"Once...I had a dream to eat the Clear-Clear Fruit so that I could turn invisible," Sanji answered, "but...when I found out someone got to it, first, I had to abandon that one forever. However, when I saw your ability to camouflage...it reawakened something within me!"

"What you babbling on about, now?!" questioned Psycho P.

"...Peeking at Vivi in the bath...!" Sanji whispered. "Err, I mean...a man can dream, can't he?!"

Hearing that caused Psycho P to gasp.

"Haven't you ever had a dream, you crappy duck?!" Sanji asked, pointing at him.

"I...I...I DON'T DREAM, FOOL!" Psycho P shouted as he ran at the cook, who blocked his sword strikes with his foot.

"Don't lie!" Sanji barked. "If there even a slight possibility, people can't help trying it!"

He then sent multiple kicks at Psycho P, who tried to fend off the attacks, only to get sent backwards.

"Blaze up!" Sanji shouted as his body began to ignite into flames. "A boyhood dream!" He then lunged at Psycho P, who gasped. "Hell Memories...REMEMBER-MY-DREAM~!"

BAM! With a powerful kick, Sanji sent Psycho P flying through the ruins, thus defeating him!

After he took a drag of his cigarette, the cook looked up at the ceiling.

"...Vivi bathing...err, I mean...don't give up your dreams!"

XXX

Back with Luffy, he was still locked in combat with Treasure, who got punched in the face, but he countered by punching Luffy in the gut with his chain-wrapped fist. By now, everyone else was on the metal-coated Sunny, watching with worry.

"Luffy!" they all cried.

"Big Brother!" Aika shouted.

"Oh, man, this isn't looking good...!" Kumi whimpered.

All around, the gastric juices were bubbling and boiling, melting the rocks around Alchemi, and even melting the shores of the islands!

"Why don't you just give up, already?!" Treasure asked. "What's the point in fighting, Straw Hat?!"

"...Because," Luffy answered, "it's no fun!"

"Eh?" Treasure muttered in confusion.

"A treasure hunt is no fun if all you do is sacrifice your friends!" Luffy shouted. "That's why...that's why I'm going to keep adventuring with mine...BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T BE FUN WITHOUT MY FRIENDS!"

"...Friends are perfect," Treasure began, "when you can use them as tools and then discard them when they become useless! I don't care if it's fun or not! This is how I live!"

Luffy only glared at him, while Treasure smirked.

"Mad Chain...GIGANTEA!" the maddened treasure hunter shouted as he wrapped his own body in chains, like armor, before he charged at Luffy once more. "JARARA~!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUGH!" Luffy roared as he ripped off his shirt and charged back at Treasure. Their fists collided, but as Treasure tried to counter, Luffy ended up hitting him with both barrels, causing him to stumble back!

"Urrrgh...I don't get you, Straw Hat...!" Treasure hissed. "I thought you went out to sea to find the One Piece, didn't you?! In this world, it doesn't matter if you discard your friends! THE ONE WHO CLAIMS THE TREASURE FIRST, ANYWAY HE CAN, IS THE WINNER, RIGHT?!"

"...That's the difference between you and me," Luffy answered. "I'm not like you...no matter what, I'd never cast aside my crew! My dream...my friends...my sister...I'll cherish them all! Without them, I wouldn't even be here! I'm going to keep sailing with them...and no matter what, I'll never abandon them! I'll keep going on my adventures with my crew...and then...I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES~!"

"What?!" Treasure questioned. "Don't you think THAT'S TOO GREEDY?!"

On that, he lunged at Luffy, who held up both thumbs to his mouth.

"Gear THIRD!" he shouted as he bit into this thumbs and blew air into them, making them huge, before he began pummeling Treasure again with both giant fists, causing his chain armor to shatter! "NOW GUM-GUUUUUUUM...ELEPHANT GUN~!"

"YEAH~!" Aika cheered.

With a giant, Haki-imbued fist, Luffy punched Treasure and sent him flying right into the wall of Lord Bonbori's stomach, where he let out a final gasp before he fell unconscious...and in doing so, he had dropped the Pure Gold.

"Whew...!" Luffy sighed.

"WHOO-HOO!" Aika cheered, again. "You did it, Big Brother! You beat him!"

"I knew he could do it!" Kumi added.

At that moment, Chavez and Elizabeth appeared, along with Zoro, Sanji, and Blizzard.

"Luffy!" Blizzard exclaimed.

"Hey, guys!" Luffy greeted. "How'd your fights go?"

"Too easy, as always," Zoro smirked. "They never stood a chance."

"But anyway, I think it's high-time we beat it, don't you?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah!" Luffy grinned. "Let's get going!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

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