Ch. 27- Luffy and Blizzard vs. Master

One Piece © Oda

Blizzard, Aika, Kumi, and Jupiter © Me

Luffy and Blizzard growled as their combined punches pushed Caesar back several feet while Smoker stood by from behind. The Vice-Admiral seethed silently in frustration upon realizing that Vergo was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, he remembered something Law said at the time they were escaping from the cage, earlier.

"Listen closely, White Chase. I want you to stay away from Caesar! If we start crushing each other's hearts, it does me more harm than good. Don't pull stunts until I've taken my heart back from Vergo. You're following my orders as we're on this island, you got me?"

Smoker growled at the memory. He couldn't believe that he was taking orders from a pirate. He never thought he would stoop so low…but then again, Law did have a point. Smoker couldn't leave the island as long as Caesar had his heart, and if he wanted it back, he had no choice but to listen to what Law said.

So, if he couldn't touch Caesar…then he decided to go after somebody else.

Smoker then spotted his sea stone jutte leaning against the wall before he picked it up.

'I took the shortest route here…and at top speed,' Smoker thought before he ran back out to the corridor. 'So where the hell are you, Vergo?!'

Caesar seethed in pain as blood dripped from his lips before he stood upright…only to see Luffy jumping to grab him, again!

"Now I gotcha!" Luffy shouted.

"Oh, no you don't!" Caesar cried before he turned into gas and flew up at the last second. Then, he lit up two matches, one in each hand.

"Combustible…IMMOLATION GAS!"

FWOOF! BWOOM! Using his Gas-Gas Fruit powers, Caesar made the flames on the matches larger before he threw down a huge wall of fire at Luffy and Blizzard, who jumped away just in time!

"Dammit!" Blizzard cursed. "This guy's already trying to give us a hard time!"

"Hold still and let us catch you, already!" Luffy barked.

"What reason do you have for coming after me, Straw Hat?!" Caesar questioned.

"I…I dunno…yet!" Luffy said. "All I know is that Traffy told me that something cool's supposed to happen when I catch you!"

"THAT'S YOUR REASON FOR JOINING IN AN ALLIANCE WITH HIM?!" Blizzard questioned, comically.

"Shulololololo!" Caesar laughed. "I see now. It looks like you've formed an alliance with Law, did you?! You're a fool to trust him! He'll turn on you, too, just like he did me!"

"Luffy, as much as I don't like this guy," Blizzard began, "he does hold a pretty good point! Being in alliance with Law is bound to get us into more trouble than we bargained for!"

"I'll be the one to decide that!" Luffy shouted.

"Shulololololo!" Caesar laughed. "So, I suppose you haven't had enough punishment yet, rubber boy?! Then take this! Land of Nothing!"

Caesar clenched both fists, extinguishing the fire around Luffy and Blizzard, who suddenly dropped to their knees and started grabbing their throats.

"L…Luffy…!" Blizzard gasped. "W-what's going on?! I can't breathe!"

"Oh, yeah…I forgot to tell you!" Luffy answered, trying to catch his breath. "He can take the air away from you and keep you from breathing!"

"Well, do something about it before we pass out!" Blizzard cried.

Luffy nodded before he and Blizzard held whatever they breath they had. Then, the former stretched his fist out, forcing Caesar back before they both leapt away and gasped for air!

"Ugh…man! That was close!" Blizzard said.

"This looks like a good distance," Luffy added.

"Shulolololo!" Caesar laughed. "That's right! There's a set radius, and within it, you and that mutt of yours cannot breathe!"

"Luffy…let me try something," Blizzard said.

"Sure," Luffy said.

"Shulolololololo!" Caesar continued to laugh. "The question is can you maintain that distance-"

"X-FANG!"

SLICE! An X-shaped, air compressed slash flew at Caesar, and while it did not cut him, it did manage to hit him in the face! However, the gas-man simply turned into a gas cloud and floated toward the two Straw Hats!

"AAGH! THAT HURT, YOU DAMNED DOG!" Caesar shouted.

"Ugh!" Luffy gasped and clutched at his throat. "Dammit…not again!"

Blizzard gagged and coughed as he tried to breathe, too.

"Shulololololo!" Caesar cackled. "You see?! Once I get close, you only suffocate, again! Hurts, doesn't it?!"

He then held up a sword hilt, and a blue aura appeared from it.

"Here's your precious oxygen!" Caesar said. "Blue Sword! My poison gas might not work on you, Straw Hat, but I have plenty of other attacks at my disposal! Now take this! BURNING SLASH!"

SLICE! Caesar attempted to cut Luffy and Blizzard with his oxygen sword, and the resulting cut ended up burning half the room!

"Shulololololo!" Caesar laughed. "There…that should take care of-"

"Armaments Hardening!"

Caesar gasped before he turned and saw Luffy, sitting on Blizzard's back with Haki-imbued fists.

"Gum…GUUUUUUUM…"

"AAAAAAAH!" Caesar screamed.

"Igloo!"

"JET GATLING~!"

WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM! Luffy began to make a barrage of rapid-fire punches, but all he ended up hitting was a large wall of snow that protected Caesar!

"What the hell!?" Blizzard questioned. "What is that?!"

"A wall?!" Luffy questioned.

"Impressive," said Monet, who had been standing nearby, watching from the sidelines. "Not just any pirate can put even a crack in this wall."

CRINKCH! The snowy wall crumbled, revealing Caesar unharmed.

"What the hell?!" Luffy questioned. "You've got Devil Fruit powers, too?!"

Monet chuckled as she stood in front of Caesar, defensively.

"Now's your chance to make a run for it, Master!" Monet said. "This is pointless!"

"Bah!" Caesar scoffed. "Tell me about it. Fare thee well, Straw Hat and White Wolf! Do your worst! I already have an experiment in mind for your little crew! Shulololololo! Enjoy your fate!"

With that, the mad scientist flew off.

"Hey!" Luffy shouted. "You bastard! Get back here! C'mon, Blizzard! After him!"

"Right!" Blizzard said, but before they could pursue, Monet stopped them by holding them back with her talons!

"Ah-ah-ah~!" Monet sang. "Not so fast, boys. You're not going anyway. If anything happens to the Master…then Joker will get rid of me."

"That flamingo guy I saw during the war?!" Luffy questioned. "What's up with him, anyway?!"

Blizzard just growled viciously.

XXX

Meanwhile, in the connecting hallway of Buildings A and B, Sanji is facing off against Vergo…while the alarm began to blare around them. That only meant one thing.

"Oh, no!" cried a G-5 soldier. "It's that alarm, again! That gate ahead is about to close!"

"Quick!" shouted another soldier, carrying one of his injured comrades. "Let's get going before it's too late!"

"Wait! Who's that guy fighting that Fake Vergo?!" asked another.

"It's 'Black Leg' Sanji from the Straw Hats!" shouted one more.

"Why's he helping us?!" asked his friend. "Do you think maybe we should help out?!"

"Don't! It looks like he's got this!" answered one more.

"Flanchet STRIKE!"

THWAM! Sanji sent a blazing kick to Vergo's stomach, sending him crashing through the wall. The force was so powerful, it actually made a Vergo-shaped hole!

"Whoa!" said a G-5 rifleman. "He's crazy tough!"

"What are you dumb-asses doing, gawking at me?!" Sanji questioned. "Get the hell outta here already! Don't you see they're trying to trap us in here with that gas, again?!"

Everyone gasped before they looked up and saw the gate leading to Building A beginning to open up, again, allowing Shinokuni to seep through!

"See?! Here it comes, now!" Sanji shouted.

Soon, the G-5 men panicked before they turned tail and ran!

"HOLY CRAP!"

"The other gate's opening again!"

"Everybody run! The gas is coming for us, again!"

However, some of them stopped and turned to Vergo, as if concerned.

"V-Vice Admiral Vergo…"

"Forget about him! The real Vergo wouldn't try and kill us!"

Before long, they all left, just as Vergo pulled himself out of the hole in the wall. Aside from a bleeding nose and mouth, he looked virtually unharmed.

"…I see now," Sanji said as Vergo dusted himself off. "You're probably made of steel or something, huh?"

"…Don't interfere," Vergo hissed as he winded up a kick. "This is an internal matter!"

"Tsk…!" Sanji scoffed. "You're the kind of son of a bitch that my captain hates the most!"

TWHAM! The cook raised his leg, blocking Vergo's kick! However…a sickening crunching sound was heard as Sanji gritted his teeth in pain.

The force of Vergo's kick was so strong…it actually made a hairline fracture to Sanji's tibia!

"Urgh…!" Sanji grunted before he pushed Vergo's leg away! However, he barely managed to duck down to dodged another one of the Vice-Admiral-gone-pirate's kick! The two soon began to exchange and block blows, so much so, they didn't notice that Shinokuni was approaching them fast!

"Hey! Black Leg!" shouted one of the G-5 soldiers. "Hurry! That poison gas is almost upon ya! The gate's closing! You better get outta there!"

Just then, a voice on the P.A was heard.

"Attention! Attention! This is Building D, reporting in! Emergency alert to all Third Lab structures! Be advised that Trafalgar Law and Jupiter have infiltrated the S.A.D. manufacturing room!"

XXX

Caesar had just heard the announcement, and needless to say, he was shocked at this news…and perhaps a little horrified, too.

"What in the hell?!" Caesar questioned. "Has Law gone mad?! If that brat and his mutt poke his nose in there…they'll be biting off more than they can chew!"

XXX

Luffy, Blizzard, and Monet had just heard the announcement as well.

"S.A.D.?" Blizzard repeated.

"What's that?" Luffy asked.

"Kidnap the Master…then S.A.D.?!" Monet questioned. "So…that's what you're really after!"

XXX

Smoker is seen flying down a corridor as he heard the announcement. However, he was focused on looking at a piece of paper in his hands at the moment.

XXX

"Dammit," Vergo cursed. "I should've known!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sanji questioned.

"Law must've joined forces with your captain in order to keep us busy!" Vergo said. "It's likely he became one of the Seven Warlords…just to get into that room! He's got one nightmarish scenario planned out in his head! If I let him continue like this, that boy is going to unleash Hell on all the New World!"

XXX

In Building D…Law and Jupiter are seen walking into a room with confident smirks on their faces as they left the guards cut and defeated.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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