Okay, awesome. Just read the new bounties after Dressrosa. If anyone's curious, they are as follows: Luffy 500 million, Law 500 million, Zoro 320 million, Usopp 200 million, Sanji 177 million, Robin 130 million, Franky 94 million, Nami 66 million, Chopper 100 (Lol), Brook 83 million. I think these are good amounts, but I'll be doing some tweaking as soon as Zou happens and everyone finds out about the new Templar additions, like Arlong, and Kid and Hawkins, and Crocodile, and Arlong Lol. Everyone seems pumped for his return at a much higher level, and trust me, it's gonna be really good. After Mihawk, he'll be the second strongest Warlord with his powers. I'll be leaving most of the bounties as is, except for Luffy's and my own, obviously. Additionally, after Nami begins to showcase her haki abilities, I'll probably have hers shoot up quite a bit as well. The reason why I like the idea of her having it so much (I've used it in A New Era and The Dark World too) is because if she's going to be the Pirate Queen, she should be pretty strong, right? But anyways, here's Dressrosa. And if it gets confusing when I fight Luffy, just remember that it's Ryokugyu controlling my body. I'm still referring to myself in the first person. Again, let me know about the drawings of Arlong and Ryokugyu, if anyone is interested.
Songs
Walk to Doflamingo's Palace and Slaughtering the Guards: Master Assassin (AC Brotherhood Soundtrack)
Shay's Armor: Hood (AC Rogue Soundtrack)
Birdcage Bounties: Sakusenkaishi Osowareru Mura (One Piece OST)
Doflamingo's Death and Templar Reveal: A Duelist's Secret Feelings (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Ryokugyu's Speech and Challenging Luffy: Something to Protect (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Vs. Luffy round 1: Ultimate Power (Epic Score)
Vs. 4th Gear Luffy: Yasha's Theme (Asura's Wrath OST)
Demon Mode vs. 4th Gear Luffy: Blackbeard (Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides Soundtrack)
Vs. 5th Gear Luffy: Bonds (Asura's Wrath OST)
Luffy's Defeat: Vogel im Kafig part 2 (Attack on Titan OST)
Vs. Ryokugyu: Attack on Titan (Attack on Titan OST)
Ryokugyu Transformation: Xl-Tt (Attack on Titan OST)
Final Blows: Yuya's Theme (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Supposed Victory: Counter Attack-Mankind part 1 (Attack on Titan OST)
Ryokugyu's Full Power Transformation: Counter Attack-Mankind part 2 (Attack on Titan OST)
Demon Mode Phase 2: Creator of Worlds (Epic Score)
Vs. Golden Bull: Doa (Attack on Titan OST)
Vs. Golden Bull-fishman karate: Omake-Pfadlib (Attack on Titan OST)
Victory-Dressrosa Freed: Call Your Name (Attack on Titan OST)
Quitting the Strawhats: Will of the Heart (Bleach OST)
Deciding to Stay: Here to Stay (Bleach OST)
I continued to walk up the inclined street, on the way to Doflamingo's Royal Palace.
"Hey, you…" One of the guards stopped me.
"Who are you? This is a forbidden route to the palace meant only for the executives of the Donquixote Family! You have no right to AUGH!" I cut him off my stabbing him in the throat with my hidden blade. Another guard who was near him ran over but before he could aim his rifle at me, I fired my hidden pistol at him, and he fell over. Blood started to drain from their necks, and made a trail down the street that was in plain sight. I smiled and kept walking. Along the way, I came across more and more guards that were stabbed and shot just the same. Finally, I reached the palace and went through. I began to walk to the back where I could see everyone was. One of the executives quickly stood up and pointed a gun at me. Before he could shoot, I was behind him with the gun on the floor and his hands held behind his back.
"Calm down, Gladius, it's only me." I let go of him, and he picked up the gun, then put it away. Doflamingo perked up and glanced back towards me. I walked out onto the patio and saw him sitting on a couch. He grinned and looked at me.
"Welcome back."
"Thanks, I guess."
"Have you come here to kill me? Aid Straw Hat and Law?"
"I have no intention of doing so. I'm sure you're already aware by now, but the influence of my Sage's Madness has already begun taking over. I'll have already become a Templar before I defeat you. There's no point."
"Hehehe...I suppose that's true. I don't suppose you feel like fighting against your crew, do you?"
"Like I said, I'll become a Templar soon at the rate this is progressing. Especially after what Ryokugyu did to me."
"So you noticed that, did you?"
"His clone's already in my subconscious."
"I see. No wonder why all traces of hope have left you. Hahaha…"
"I suppose it was foolish of me to think that I could take down all of the Templars in this region of the world. I'm not a legendary assassin. I'm strong enough to defeat the Warlords, but the Admirals is where it gets iffy. And Ryokugyu's clearly out of my league. I don't even think Dragon or Shanks could beat him."
"Probably not. Are you ready to become a Templar? I can do the induction ceremony here."
"...Why not?" Doffy led me over into his own room. There was a blank section of the wall opposite his bed. He pushed one of the square stone tiles in, and the wall began to sink down into the ground. Behind it lay something that I thought I'd never find in a million years.
"I-Is that…?"
"Hahaha Hahahaha! You look surprised!"
"What are you doing with Shay's clothes and weapons? How did you get these?"
"Hawkeye found them a while back and Ryokugyu said to leave them here, because Dressrosa is peaceful and untouchable."
"You say that, but for those who know the truth about this country…"
"What, so the Straw Hats will find out and come to kill me?"
"Yes. I know they will."
"You know I'll win."
"Against Law. But maybe not Luffy. He's gotten a lot stronger than you think."
"I know that you've been collecting these armors. I want you to have this one. It's not like I'm going to wear it. It's not my size anyway." I went and changed into it and came back out.
"How does it feel?"
"Comfortable. But strong. Shay was one of the most powerful Templars, so having his gear is a giant boon for me."
"Good. I'm glad you like it. Welcome to the Templars." Doflamingo smirked.
X
"So that's everything. Got it?" Law asked. They all nodded.
"Good. Let's go." They all left towards the town, and Sanji, Chopper, Brook, and Momo walked back onto the ship. Nami was about to turn when Luffy held her shoulder for a moment, stopping her.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Be safe." He told her in a serious tone. Nami's eyes widened.
"Of course I will be, why do you even have to tell me?"
"Because I care about you, Nami. A lot. More than the others." he whispered. Nami blushed heavily. Luffy leaned in and planted a kiss on her cheek, then ran after the rest of them. Nami held her hand up to where his lips had just touched, and her mouth parted while her cheeks were stained with a light pink.
"Oi, Nami! You coming?" Chopper called.
"Y-Yeah!" She walked up to the ship.
'So he isn't just an idiot after all.' She thought, smiling.
X
"The toys are turning back into humans. I guess Usopp did save them, after all." Doflamingo was clearly enraged.
"They're all going to want to escape now, you know…"
"I won't let them. I'm going to use the Birdcage." My eyes narrowed.
'Ryokugyu…'
'Yeah. I suppose we'll have to kill him after all.'
"I'll pay one hundred million berries for each star rating!" he announced as he gave off the criminal bounties. As he went through them, I stood behind him, wondering if the others would take notice of me at Doffy's side. He finished, and the monitor that he was using disappeared.
"Alright then. Sabo, we're going to have to start- Sabo?" Robin asked. He was staring off into the distance.
"Sabo." Robin said with a firmer tone.
"H-Huh? O-Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry. Let's go." They carried Usopp off and began running from the greedy pursuers that were after the bounties.
'Was that really him? Why was he with Doflamingo, a Templar?' Sabo thought, looking at his own Master Assassin necklace for a moment before continuing on and shaking that thought out of his head.
X
"GOD THREAD!"
"GUM GUM KING KONG GUN!" Doflamingo was overpowered by Luffy's fourth gear, and sent crashing to the ground down in the city.
"D-Damn you…" he said before flying back up at Luffy, who was in the Sunflower Field. Luffy dodged his attack, making Doflamingo tumble onto the ground due to all of the damage he had taken. He turned around and readied himself to go at Luffy again.
"Hmph. Pathetic." I turned the monitors on and began broadcasting all over the world. Ryokugyu's Order Order Fruit made the vision clear through the minds of those who didn't have a monitor to look at.
"H-Huh? Am I seeing Dressrosa right now? Is that Aaron and Luffy?" Nami asked.
"Huh...Aaron and Doflamingo. What's going on?" Big Mom asked herself. The rest of the Straw Hats along with the whole world could now see the battle.
"I WILL END YOU, MONKEY D LUFFY-AGH!" Doflamingo felt blood drip from his mouth. He looked down at himself and noticed a sword sticking out of his chest with blood dripping off of it. He glanced behind me to see me holding the sword and looking down at him with a look of contempt on my face.
"Y-You...bastard...You still have your mind intact?"
"No, I'm afraid the full transformation happened a while ago. I am in control of this body now, Mingo."
"Grandmaster...why?"
"We no longer have a need for you in the Order or in this world. The Templars' aim is to control and lead the world, not destroy it and cause mayhem. I never trusted you from the start. Don't worry, though...we can still achieve our goal without you." I smirked and plunged the sword deeper into his chest, then quickly pulled it out. He spit up blood and fell to the ground. To make sure he was dead, I extended my hidden blade into his heart. After a few moments, his body became still, and I walked over him. Everyone was shocked at this.
"Damn! He just killed Doflamingo, Fujitora sir! We were supposed to capture him too!"
"Don't worry about it. That was a ruse. We meant to do this from the start. Besides, the boss likes to make a showcase of his executions."
"B-Boss, sir? That's Aaron Hawthorne, the legendary pirate and Revolutionary, in case you forgot."
"I know. But he's under Ryokugyu's control right now."
"A-Admiral Ryokugyu sir?!"
"Correct. From now on, that man is our ally, and don't you forget that."
"...A-Alright, sir."
"You didn't have to kill him." Luffy told me.
"But I did. Did you forget that I'm an Assassin, Luffy? I get paid to do this. It's my job." I said while walking around him in a circle. Luffy noticed my clothing and the Templar cross on it. His eyes narrowed, and he quickly attempted to punch me, but I caught it using my observation haki.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" I laughed.
"...What have you done with Aaron?" He asked, his eyes dark. Nami's face turned into one of confusion.
"Have you lost it? I'm right here!" I closed my eyes for a split second before Luffy quickly punched me in the face with a hardened arm and sent me flying backwards.
"L-Luffy?!" Nami yelled. He looked angry.
"Don't play dumb! There's no way Aaron would ever wear something like that! He despises the Templars!" He yelled, pointing furiously at the Templar Cross necklace I was wearing. I slowly got up and wiped the blood away from my nose.
"Hehehehe...Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA! WELL WELL, YOU'RE SMARTER THAN YOU LOOK, BOY!" I yelled with a psychotic grin on my face. Luffy took a step back, noticing that my eyes had changed color from the green and yellow that Sage's Madness normally had to pure crimson red.
"Who are you?!"
"I think you already know the answer to that question already, don't you Luffy?" I asked, creating a golden aura around my fist. His eyes widened, then became enraged.
"Ryokugyu…"
"Correct. Are you surprised? That the Templars were able to get into the mind of your closest friend and ally? Your father and I knew that this would happen, you know. Sage's Madness takes a hell of a person to be able to control it. The last successful Assassin Sage died 500 years ago! What makes you think that Aaron can control it?!"
"Because he's different. His dream is on the same level of insanity as mine! But like me, he'll stop at nothing to achieve it! Because the two of us...WE ARE ASSASSINS." Everyone who was watching became shocked, including Ryokugyu.
"Then why don't you prove it to me? Prove to me that you have the conviction to save your friend. Prove to me that you have the strength to break my control over him!"
"I thought you'd never ask. Second Gear!" Luffy turned one hand into a fist and stretched the other one back into an open palm, making his second gear pose. I placed one hand on my elbow while the other one was raised up before chaos surrounded it. We faced off for a few seconds.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"Of course I am!" He charged at me, and I did the same.
"Hey hey, those two aren't really going to fight each other at full power now, are they?!" Zoro yelled, watching the battle.
Luffy hardened his arm and stretched it back, then twisted it.
"Gum Gum Jet Rifle!" I dodged it, making his fist punch a cliff. I swung my sword at him, but he ducked, then punched me in the jaw with his other hardened fist. I jumped back and stood in my place for a moment.
"Interesting...I'm going to have to change your bounty, you're definitely worth more than 400 million. But are you good enough to dodge this?" I lifted my sword above my head, and it began to glow with black energy.
"I-Is that…?" Zoro began. Luffy's eyes widened as I unleashed a wave of energy from my sword. I then shot another one at him that overlapped the other, making a cross shape. Luffy jumped into the air, dodging both of them. I held my hand out and then clenched it into a fist.
"Knight's Blade." The two waves began to flare up, and went after Luffy, exploding in the sky. I watched the boy fall down onto the ground with a loud thud. Luffy stood up slowly. He had a few minor burns on his body and he was bleeding.
"I guess this isn't going to work, is it? Alright. Fourth Gear." Luffy bulked up after biting into his hardened arm and inflating himself.
"There it is." I smiled. Luffy glared at me before mumbling:
"Gum Gum Serpent Cannon." He fired what looked like a regular Gum Gum Pistol at me, so I dodged it.
'What's with the name change, then?' I gasped as the attack redirected and went after me again. I smiled.
"I see…" I used my wind to propel me upwards into the sky. Once again, the fist changed course and flew towards me. Luffy jumped up, still using his attack to go after me.
"Luffy! You seriously think this will work?!" I dodged once again, but this time Luffy retracted the attack and both arms went into his body. He then extended them towards me faster than I could react to.
"Gum Gum Lion Bazooka!" It hit me square in the chest, making me cough up blood. I fell back down to the ground. Luffy went back down too, but continued to bounce using his feet. I stood up, laughing.
"Fourth Gear...Instead of simply inflating your body like third gear, you actually inflate your muscle structure to make yourself much stronger. You're smarter than people give you credit for. But I'm afraid that even this won't be enough. Aaron's still stronger than this form. Demon Mode!" Before Luffy knew it, my hand collided with his face and I threw him into the ground, now in my demon mode form. I shot a blast of haki into the ground after him, making the ground shatter apart. I looked down into the crater, but didn't see Luffy. I began to look around.
"Where have you gone?"
"Gum Gum Rhino Schneider!" I whipped around to see him flying at me with his legs pulled back, ready to double kick me.
"Chaotic Oblivion Burst." I held my hand out towards him and used my armament haki to repel him slightly, then I shot a beam of chaos at him. Luffy held out his own hands to block it, but he still took damage.
"Gum Gum King Kong Gun!" He screamed as he sent his most powerful punch at me. I sighed.
"Chaotic Oblivion Fist!" I charged up my own most powerful attack and clashed with Luffy. A large explosion engulfed us, but in the end, Luffy was knocked back into the side of the cliff again. He released fourth gear and stood up, panting.
'I've never really noticed until now. Every time he uses Demon Mode, it's on our side, but now that I'm facing it...it's power is extraordinary! I think I'm going to have to use...that.'
"So your full power doesn't work. What are you going to do now, Luffy?" I asked.
"This." He smirked. "Fifth Gear!" My eyes widened.
"Fifth Gear?!" Luffy's body became covered in a golden aura.
'Impossible...that looks just like the Order Order Fruit's powers!'
I charged at him, but he didn't move. He just stood there. I shaved behind him and threw a punch at him, but he moved his head out of the way at the last second. He then appeared behind me before I even saw him disappear.
"Gum Gum Rocket Pistol!" Faster than I could react to, I was sent flying back into the cliff.
"This is more than he bargained for. At least his clone, anyway." Arlong said from atop the royal palace, watching the fight along with Hawkeye.
"We're not supposed to step in. If things go south, he said to forget it and move on. Besides, his possession isn't as strong as the clone. Even if Aaron breaks free, the clone will appear and finish the job."
"I know that already."
"Gum Gum Golden Rifle!" Luffy dashed at me again, this time with a Gum Gum Rifle charged up. I stood up and this time, blocked his attack, although I was blown back a bit. I punched Luffy, then knocked him onto the ground. I placed my foot on top of his face.
"You little bastard. You can't win." I growled.
"Gum Gum Rocket Stamp!" One of his legs extended and kicked me in the face, setting him free. He jumped to his feet and went after me.
"Gum Gum Golden Gatling!" he screamed as he began to throw a barrage of punches at me. Instead of dodging, I began to throw my own barrage of punches back at him, countering each and every blow.
"Damn you!" I screamed at him. He grinned, before knocking me back.
"Gum Gum Golden Rifle!" He smashed me in the stomach, making blood fly out of my mouth and back against the plateau again. He stood there for a moment, expecting me to get up. I stumbled to my feet again.
'A-Arlong!' I communicated telepathically.
'Hm? What is it?'
'I need your help. Although I'll win if I use it, I don't want to reveal Aaron's new form yet. I need you to knock Luffy off guard for just a moment so that I can finish him. Got it?!'
'Of course.' Arlong didn't move from where he was sitting. Mihawk stood next to him, watching him aim at the back of Luffy's chest.
"Don't miss."
"You forget who you're talking to. Although I don't use guns or gun principles that often, I'm a master marksman." Arlong formed his hand into a finger gun while his other hand gripped the wrist, steadying his aim. He closed one eye as if he were looking through a scope.
"Water Pistol." Arlong's index finger formed a small ball of water at the tip before firing off with the sound of a gunshot. The shot was as fast as a sniper bullet, so before Luffy could fully turn around, he was hit through the chest with a water bullet.
"Gah?! ARGHHH!" He clutched his chest and stumbled for a minute before I appeared in front of him and stabbed him with my sword.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"'LUFFY!" Nami shrieked. I planted my foot on his chest and forcefully kicked him off of the sword and onto the ground. His hand had fallen off of his chest, as he couldn't even move his own body anymore. I bent down and picked him up by his throat. I held him in the air for all to see, dispersing my Demon Mode.
"HeheheheHAHAHAHAHAHA! And so ends the life of Monkey D. Luffy, the 'Second Pirate King'! Luffy's face had gone dark. His mouth was slightly open, and blood was dripping down from it. I extended my hidden blade, ready to stab him in his chest.
"Luffy! Luffy! You can't die! I can't watch this!" Nami screamed.
"Ready to die, kid-huh?" Luffy slowly glanced down at me with a sympathetic face.
"Aaron...I know you're in there…" My eyes widened from inside my subconscious: the real me.
"I...want you to know something...before I die." Tears began to fall down my face.
"If you want to kill me...then that's fine...it's your choice. If you want to become a Templar...then fine. But if you do these things...promise me...that they're your own decision! Promise me...THAT YOU WON'T LET RYOKUGYU CONTROL YOU!" He screamed out.
Tears were streaming down my face in anger. Ryokugyu chuckled.
"Sorry kid, but he's been gone for a while now. You won't reach him. So, I suppose that you have nothing left to give but your life." He pulled his hand back, and quickly began to shove the blade into Luffy's chest, but stopped only a few inches away.
"! What's going on?!" Ryokugyu yelled. They could suddenly hear my voice conveyed through my body.
"NO! I'm not letting you control me anymore! I'm not a Templar! I'M AN ASSASSIN! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A large burst of chaos began tearing around my body, making Ryokugyu drop Luffy onto the ground.
"Get...out...of...my...mind!" I yelled. My eyes were fluctuating from red back to green and yellow.
"Damn you! You're suppose to be finished! You're not supposed to exist anymore! GAHHHHHHHH!" The blast of chaos became blinding, and the others had to cover their eyes. When the explosion had subsided, I stood next to Luffy, panting. Across from me stood Ryokugyu's clone, looking exactly like him. I glared at him angrily.
"Haki Healing." Luffy said, healing himself. He looked at Ryokugyu, then stood up next to me.
"And now the real fight begins." Arlong said.
"I-Is that him, then? The Admiral that beat Aaron?" Usopp asked.
"That's him. I wonder if Aaron will get slaughtered just like before?" Robin asked.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?! You're not helping!" Usopp yelled at her.
"That's him...the same guy as before…"Nami mumbled, glaring angrily at the green admiral.
"Nami, come see this on the real TV!" Chopper called.
"A-Alright, I'm coming!" she walked down to the aquarium, as Franky had recently installed a large plasma screen TV there. She sat on the couch watching along with Brook, Chopper, Sanji, and Momo.
'Please be safe.' she thought.
"H-Him…" Luffy said rather nervously, taking a step back. I noticed this.
"Don't tell me that you're afraid to fight him?"
"And you're not?! He destroyed you last time!"
"This time will be different. I'm much stronger than last time. Plus, I have you fighting alongside me now. Stay back for a minute to understand his fighting style. I'll fight him first." I began to walk towards him.
"How quickly you forget. Remember what happened last time? What makes this one any different?"
"You're only a clone, you're not the real thing. You only have half of the real one's power."
"True, but that doesn't mean that my powers are limited in any way. I have all of the same techniques that the real me has." He activated his Crush Crush powers and smashed the ground around him with his fists. Debris flew around us, but it didn't waver my concentration on him one bit. I activated my chaos powers and charged at him. He began to fight back. We kept throwing punches at each other, some of them missing, others hitting. I pulled out my sword and began to slash at him, still dodging his punches. He gripped my sword and pulled me forward, kicking me hard in the stomach. Blood dribbled down from my mouth onto my chin. I gritted my teeth angrily.
"You were completely outclassed by the real me, and now you can't even stand up to a clone that's only got half of my real power. You're a disappointment. Even more so than the last time." I chuckled, then kicked him back, making him lose his grip on my sword. I spun around and slashed upward, leaving a large upwards cut on the left side of his body. I finished the job with a powerful uppercut that slammed into his chin, knocking him into the air, and making him fall onto the ground.
"Says you. I'm not the same as before." I grinned. "Last time, even after my most powerful attack, you were barely wounded, and didn't even get warmed up. This time, I've already injured you several times, and all with only haki, not even my devil fruit powers, let alone Demon Mode. Even if you are a clone...you've gotten soft."
"Have I now?" He stood up again.
"Haki Healing." He healed the damage that I had already inflicted on him.
"I beg to differ." he growled as he summoned golden spheres around his hand. "Apollo's Judgement: Celestial Punch of Destruction." He lunged at me, but I used my chaos powers and haki to clash with his own fist. I blew him back again.
"Damn you, you have gotten better. That same technique you just brushed off was the same one that killed you last time. Then let's try this one instead. Hyperion's Judgement: Astral Strike of a Thousand Gods!" His fist became coated in golden light, and he charged at me. This time, I went for him too, instead of standing there. This punch had much more power than the last one. The clash seemed to tear the ground apart, and the resulting haki cracked some of the ground even on the lower levels of the plateau. This time, it was a draw. We both stood opposite of each other again. He laughed.
"You've gotten better, but you're still not good enough to defeat me! You were stronger than the first punch and equal to the second. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but by my calculations, the next attack should be stronger than your own."
"Say what?!"
Amaterasu's Judgement: Solar Oblivion of Rebirth!" This time, the golden aura encompassed his whole body in what looked similar to armament haki. He charged at me again, and this time, I activated Demon Mode and fought with him. Unfortunately, I was blown back and he beat me into the ground.
"It looks like I was right. Even in Demon Mode, you can't stop that punch. I have one more for you, my strongest one. It looks like you'll be dying today after all. So long-"
"Fifth Gear! Gum Gum Golden Pistol!" Ryokugyu turned his head towards Luffy, but the attack had already connected with his chest, knocking him away from me. Luffy sped towards him.
"Gum Gum Golden Gatling! Golden Rifle! Golden Axe!" Ryokugyu was getting tossed around left and right by Luffy.
'He still had this much power? What was he so afraid of?' I asked myself. Ryokugyu had had enough.
"Phanes' Judgement: Eradication of the World: Transcendental Extermination of the Supreme Deities!" His entire body, inside and out, bursted full of golden energy. His eyes were glowing white while the aura channeled around him tore through the ground like it was nothing. He leaped at Luffy, who countered.
"Third Gear! Gum Gum Elephant Gun!" He shouted. But it was no use. The moment their attacks connected, Luffy was sent flying back into the cliff.
"Luffy!" I yelled. He slowly got up again. Ryokugyu sighed.
"If I were to keep fighting you like this, it would take forever to kill the both of you. So instead, I'm going to make things interesting. Transformation: Bull of Earth." His body became surrounded by a bright green aura. His power surged, and his body began to glow white. His form changed. Little by little, he grew bigger and bigger. I clenched my teeth.
"Luffy, he's doing it! The Transformation! We have to stop him before he can complete it!" We both flew at him.
"Chaotic Oblivion Barrage Fist!"
"Gum Gum Elephant Gatling!"
"Oh no you don't. Water Cuffs."
"Ggh! What?!" We couldn't move. Our hands were tied behind our back with handcuffs made out of water, and our feet were shackled with the same material as well.
"Who did that?!" I looked around, then used my observation haki to sense their presence. I sensed two very powerful people at the top of the palace. And they were both very familiar. I glanced up, and saw a most unlikely duo standing there.
"Water Gatling." Arlong continuously used both hands to fire multiple shots of water at us. They were all coated in haki, so they pierced us, and hurt like a bitch.
"GRARGHH!" 'He can use haki now?! Damn it!' Before we knew it, Ryokugyu had finished transforming. He stood towering over us as an enormous muscular dark green bull. Steam came out of his nostrils.
"Luffy...are you ready for this?"
"I hope so. Fourth Gear. I'll need a lot of power for this one. He was hard enough to injure before."
"Right. Demon Mode."
"I hope you two are ready. It would be a shame to use this transformation only to kill you after 2 or 3 minutes."
"Go to hell." I told him.
"Gum Gum Kong Gun!" Luffy charged at him with a fourth gear powered punch.
"You think that can stop me? Earthen Hoof Smash." He picked up one of his hooves and moved in to clash with Luffy's own attack. There was a large haki burst that expanded from the collision. Both were thrown back from the assault.
'Hrghh...That attack was stronger than I thought. Hm?!'
"Chaotic Oblivion Kick!" I appeared at his side and kicked him hard, making him fly into the plateau.
"They're better than we thought." Mihawk commented, watching the battle.
"It doesn't matter. The Boss hasn't shown his true power yet anyways." The bull appeared from the debris and charged at us. I grabbed him by the horns, trying to throw him, but he was too strong. He swung around and crashed his back leg into Luffy, who got pinned to the ground. He then charged for the cliff and aimed his horn at it. He impaled me and smashed me into the side of it.
"Aaron!" Luffy called out.
"Gum Gum King Kong Gatling!" Luffy flew at Ryokugyu again and this time demolished the Templar Grandmaster with a barrage of his strongest punches. He kept beating the admiral into the ground with his amazing strength.
"Luffy, it's my turn! Switch off!"
"You got it!" He moved out of the way and I appeared over the giant crater that he had created.
"Chaotic Oblivion Beam!" A beam of pure chaos energy exploded from my hands and made the island itself implode when I fired it into the hole. I landed next to Luffy.
"Think he's dead yet?"
"Only one way to find out." I called down the hole.
"Hey, if you come out now, I'll get Hancock to flash you!" Hancock happened to be watching the broadcast at the time too, and was heavily blushing.
"THAT DUMBASS!" she screamed.
Nami facepalmed, Arlong laughed, and Mihawk nearly fell off of the perch that they were sitting on. Luffy laughed with me. Ryokugyu jumped out of the hole, no longer in his bull form. He was badly beaten.
"I think I'll pass!" He yelled, lunging at me.
"Too bad, buddy, you just missed your one and only chance! Chaotic Oblivion Fist!" I screamed while throwing a powerful chaos and haki fist into his stomach, making the color in his eyes drain.
"Luffy, why don't you do the honors?"
"Got it! Fifth Gear! Gum Gum Golden Rocket Axe!" He happily yelled, jumping into the air and quickly coming down, slamming his foot into the green admiral's head. A large crater formed as Ryokugyu crashed into the ground. When the debris cleared, he was unconscious, and covered in blood.
"We beat him." I remarked.
"...YEAH!" Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs. I smiled and closed my eyes. My idiot captain will never change. All of my friends breathed a sigh of relief. Sanji lit a cigarette.
"What a team…" he sighed, grinning.
"Yeah…" Nami choked out, tearing up. "I'm glad that they could beat him this time."
"Oh boy. They took him out. Now what?" Arlong asked.
"They didn't take him out. Otherwise the clone would disappear. He's pretending to be dead." Arlong paused for a moment before grinning.
"This is gonna be good." He turned to look back at us, his chin resting on his hand.
"Hey, Lu-" Before I could look at him all the way, a saw a hand plunge through his chest. Luffy's smile turned into an expression of agonizing pain. Everything moved in slow motion.
"L-LUFFY!" Everyone turned back towards the TV again. Nami covered her mouth with her hand before screaming out his name. Ryokugyu forcefully pulled his hand out of Luffy's chest, and started gasping from the damage he had taken. His face was one of absolute anger.
"You damn sons of bitches! I swear that I'll kill you here and now! AHHHHHHHH!" A powerful golden aura encompassed him, and he once again proceeded to transform. His eyes glowed white and his form began to grow in size. I ran over to Luffy.
"Haki Healing!" I yelled, fixing the wound that was inflicted on him.
"Are you alright?!"
"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine." he responded, gripping his chest and standing up. We both turned back to see Ryokugyu's green bull form again. But this time, he didn't stop the transformation there. The bull began to glow brightly again, and grew bigger than before.
"So I was right...he does have another transformation beyond this one!" Ryokugyu's bull form changed. It was now bigger than before, and was gold in color. A red Templar Cross was emblazoned on both his left and right sides, made out of pure energy. His tail had split into five different tails, all looking like whips. His eyes were glowing blood red, and his horns had become more curved. He smashed the ground with his hoof and gave us a death stare.
"Luffy. This is it. The final battle, for real this time. We have to win, no matter what. Because if we don't, then he'll kill the rest of the crew, and all of our friends. He'll kill Nami…" I told him in a softer tone. Luffy's face became angry and determined.
"I won't let that happen! Fifth Gear!"
"Demon Mode!" Our full powers all clashed, almost splitting the island apart. The rest of the world could feel our presence. Nami shivered.
"I...I can sense it. His power…" She mumbled.
"You can? That means that your haki abilities are beginning to surface. What do you sense?" She looked at Sanji with a concerned and sad face.
"...That Ryokugyu's power is greater than their own."
"Chaotic Oblivion Fist!"
"Gum Gum Golden Gatling!" We gave him everything we had, but he blew us away with just a shout and a burst of haki. We fell back onto the ground.
"Damn. I don't think this form will be enough, considering how easily he just knocked us back. ...Luffy. Stand back. I'll take care of this." Luffy took a step back, curious as to what I was going to do.
"Time to see if those training sessions with Dragon paid off! Demon Mode: Phase 2!" The chaos explosion that engulfed me changed colors. It went from the normal black and purple to silver and blue. When the energy column had disappeared, I stood there in my new form. It looked the same as the previous one, only that my chaos cloak was silver and color, and my eyes had an ocean blue glow to them. I glanced up at the Golden Bull.
"Are you ready to die, then?" I asked.
"You stole my line." He said in a low and malicious tone. There was a moment of pause before Luffy and I both shaved towards him, and he charged.
"Third Gear! Gum Gum Golden Elephant Gatling!"
"Chaotic Pandemonium: Limbo Kick Disaster!" While Luffy's attack began to injure him and keep him from moving, I appeared under him and smashed my foot into his chin, sending his head upward. I appeared above him again and slammed down on his skull with such force that his entire body collapsed onto the ground.
"Damn it. Before, they couldn't even scratch me, but now, they're destroying me again!"
"Chaotic Pandemonium: Limbo Blast!" I shot a silver beam of energy at him, which exploded the ground in a column of light. Ryokugyu leaped out of the blast, damaged by it, but still going strong.
"Phanes' Judgement: Golden Laser of Redemption!" He shot a powerful golden beam out of his mouth at us. We dodged it and went back towards him.
"You know what the disadvantage of these transformations is, Ryokugyu?! You may be the most powerful man in the world, but the fact that you're so big is that you're an easy target and you're slow! Now let me show you my final technique. This will kill you."
He gritted his teeth and stood back. I took a fishman karate stance.
"Chaotic Pandemonium Fishman Karate: Nine Circles of Hell. First Circle: Limbo." I appeared before Ryokugyu's bull form and smashed my leg into his chest, knocking him back a little bit.
"It'll take more than that to kill me!"
"...Second Circle: Lust." This time, I appeared under his stomach and kicked hard, straight up, with my lightning abilities activated. He was sent flying into the air from the sheer force.
'Wh-What is this technique?!'
"That's a new one. He must have learned it recently, he never knew fishman karate of that level when I was with him." Arlong mentioned, enjoying the carnage.
"Me neither. I've never seen that progression of strikes before."
"Third Circle: Gluttony." I appeared above him this time. I activated my water powers from within my leg, inflating it in a similar way to third gear. I slammed it down onto the Templar's head, knocking him back onto the ground once again.
"Ah! D-Damn it!" He screamed.
"Fourth Circle: Greed." I appeared in front of his face now and spun around, kicking him extremely hard in the face with both haki and chaos abilities activated. He got knocked onto his back.
"Fifth Circle: Anger." My body became engulfed in fire, and I encased my fist with the flames. I threw my punch in the air, similar to how Samegawara Seiken works, but this time a massive wave of flames went to incinerate him.
"AHHHH!" After a few seconds, he dispersed the flames using a burst of haki.
"Sixth Circle: Heresy." I appeared in front of Ryokugyu and infused chaos into him through a haki powered punch. The impact didn't harm him at first, but then sent out an internal shock wave through his entire body after a moment. All of a sudden, his golden form disappeared, and he was back to his plain old green bull transformation.
"Impossible...I can't be losing to him! I CAN'T!" he screamed out. Luffy grinned and watched the rest of the battle play out.
"Seventh Circle: Violence!" This time, my wind abilities propelled me back and forth. I flew all around his body, slashing him each time I passed by. It looked like a windstorm was slicing him up, and blood flew out of him. I appeared above him for the final blow and doubled kicked him hard on the landing. He was once again on the ground.
"Eighth Circle: Fraud." I appeared in front of his head and punched him so hard throughout his body, that the resulting shockwave cracked open his bull form's head, making it go away. The admiral stumbled to his feet, now in his base form. He couldn't even defend himself anymore. His body was covered in blood.
"...Ninth Circle: Treachery." My powers from Demon Mode: Phase 2 surged around me, and I concentrated all of my powers into my fist. It became encased in silver, blue, black, and purple. I looked at him for a brief moment before charging towards him. I plunged my fist through his chest with ease. He spit up blood onto the ground before I pulled my fist out of him.
"You haven't changed...a thing with your power...you were just barely able to beat my clone with only half of my real strength...face it...you can't win…" The clone disintegrated into a pile of mud, that also disappeared. For a moment, everything was quiet, and then I collapsed onto my knees. Luffy ran over.
"Aaron! Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I guess I'll be fine. It seems pointless to be doing this, Luffy. He was right. It took all I had just to defeat a clone with half of his power. How can I ever hope to beat the real one, let alone stop the rest of them?"
"You're looking at this the wrong way. This was an important step for you! You just proved that you could defeat him, even if was only a clone with half of his strength! Last time, you could barely scratch him. You've become much stronger and more mature than before. Which means that you just need to get stronger in order to defeat the real one. It's not impossible...Haki Healing." Luffy shot a burst of haki into my body, which healed my wounds.
"So you learned how to use it, too…"
"Yeah, Rayleigh taught me. He said that Hancock can use it too."
"She can. You've come a long way yourself Luffy. Fifth Gear was able to go head to head with the most powerful man in the world. You should be proud."
"I'm proud of the both of us. We did it together!" He gave me his stupid sappy grin. I couldn't help but grin back at him. Then, for no reason, we started laughing.
"They're finally back to their old selves, aren't they?" asked Sanji.
"Yeah...thank goodness." Nami cried.
"...We're leaving. Tell everyone to come back to the ship. I don't want to fight someone as powerful as those too. Not yet. We need to prepare more."
"Are you sure, Mama?"
"Yes. Let's just leave them."
"Alright." Charlotte's ship turned around and went the other way.
"Huh? Big Mom's ship just left us." Chopper mentioned.
"I guess she has a heart after all. She's letting us go for now. I'm sure she saw that battle as well." Sanji responded. The snail phone started ringing.
"Straw Hat's ship, Sanji speaking."
"Blackfoot-ya, I know that I wanted you to go ahead, but could you guys come back to Dressrosa?"
"Sure." They hung up.
"Nami-swan, Law wants us to go back to Dressrosa to pick the rest of them up."
"Alright. I'll go do that now, then."
"Aaron, let's go meet the others!" Luffy yelled, jumping down from the level we were on.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." I waited until he was gone, and glanced back up at the top of the palace.
"I trust that you two will take care of Doflamingo's body? Otherwise, Fujitora's men could do it."
"Yeah, we'll take it." Mihawk stated.
"You don't want to fight us, too?" Arlong asked, slightly chuckling.
"...No thanks, I have no strength left to fight the two of you. Besides, today turned out to be a good day after all. Let's not dampen the mood with me dying." I smiled and went after Luffy. Arlong stood up and stretched.
"Alright then, let's go take care of his body."
"Got it."
X
The Thousand Sunny came back into port, and the rest of the Straw Hats walked off. Everyone was bandaged up by Chopper due to the injuries they sustained against the Donquixote family.
"Luffy!" Nami yelled. She ran up to him and tackled him with a hug, crying.
"Nami…hey." She held him as if he would disappear if he let go. She didn't care anymore. The crew would have to learn about their relationship at some point or another. Luckily, everyone else was preoccupied at the moment, except for Aaron, but she didn't really care if he saw or not. Hell, he encouraged them to get together in the first place.
"Nami, are you okay?"
"You idiot! You were going to throw your life away, weren't you?! What would have happened if Aaron hadn't regained control of himself, huh?! You would be in the ground right now!" she sobbed into his shoulder. Luffy put his arms around her with a sad face on.
"Sorry about that. But don't worry, it all worked out. I knew that he would regain control. And plus, we did something more this way. If he had killed me, he'd still be under Ryokugyu's control right now."
"I suppose you're right...but promise me that you won't ever leave me alone, Luffy."
"Nami?"
"Promise me."
"...Alright. I promise. I'll never leave your side."
"Thank you." She took a quick glance around. Even Aaron had gone back onto the ship for a moment, and no one was in sight. They were finally alone. She did something that she had wanted to do for a little while now. Nami leaned in and kissed Luffy on the lips, then parted after a few seconds. It was short, but she put enough of her love into it to hope that Luffy would recognize her feelings for her. He stood there, surprised.
"...Do that again. I liked it." She smirked, and gave him another kiss, this time more passionately.
I watched from the ship and smiled. I looked down at my bags.
'What a shame. They're finally together now, but I won't be able to witness how things go from here…'
X
"Hey, Luffy-senpai!" Bartolomeo yelled, heading back towards the rest of them.
"Hm? Oh, it's you. What is it?"
"New bounties for everyone!" He shouted out, throwing the posters onto the ground. I walked up and took a look, reading them out loud.
"Luffy 500 million."
"500 million, yahoo!"
"Law 500 million."
"Whoop-dee-doo." he said unenthusiastically.
"Zoro 320 million." Zoro smirked.
"Nami 66 million."
"Not again…"
"Usopp 200 million."
"Where did they get that number from?!"
"Sanji 177 million."
"A horrible picture again…damn it." he said, depressed.
"Robin 130 million." Robin just smiled, as usual.
"Chopper 100. Wow. That's just sad." Chopper was face down unconscious.
"Franky 94 million."
"How did I not break 100?!"
"Brook 83 million."
"YOHOHOHO! That's nice, I suppose."
"Where's mine?" I asked.
"Here you go. I saved it for last, Aaron-Senpai!" Bartolomeo told me. He handed me my new poster. The picture had changed once again. It was my pose I took when Luffy and I faced off. I was wearing Shay's armor in the photo.
"How much?" asked Zoro.
"...1 billion 200 million." I said, handing the poster to Luffy. They all looked at it in shock, except for Luffy and Zoro, who understood how much of a threat I was to the marines now. I sighed.
"I suppose that now's as good a time as any...to tell you my plans, Luffy." They all looked at me and became quiet.
I pointed over towards the ship, where my bags were. They looked back, confused.
"I've decided...to leave the crew." They were all silent. Luffy walked forward.
"Why?"
"Because it's too dangerous for me to stay with you guys anymore."
"If this is about your new bounty, don't worry about it. The marines aren't strong enough to take us on, especially after what you and I just pulled."
"That's not what I'm concerned about." I cut him off. "Luffy, I'm worried that I may never gain full control of my powers. If Sage's Madness goes out of control again, I need to be isolated. I can't be near people that are affiliated with the Brotherhood, because I'll end up turning on them, like I did here. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to kill you."
"...You fool."
"What?"
"You heard me. You're a fool. Do you honestly think that after coming so far that you still don't have control over that power?"
"What would you know? You're not like me. You don't understand what it's like to have it. To have this much power. I have all three types of haki, the second most powerful devil fruit in the world, and a power that is only inherited by a bloodline that goes back centuries and centuries. I can't help but be afraid of it. To feel like it could take over at any moment. Do you know why I respect your father so much?"
"...Why?"
"Because he's the only man that I've ever met who is not afraid of his immense strength. Even the most powerful men in the world, Assassins and Templars alike, are still afraid of something: themselves. Hawkeye, Kizaru, Akainu, Shanks, Whitebeard, Rayleigh. Not one of them is invincible. The only man who seems like he is is Dragon."
"...Once again, you're looking at this the wrong way."
"Huh?"
"It's good to be afraid of yourself. You know that I'm afraid of myself too, right?"
"You are?"
"All the time. Because the last person that we ever want to go up against is ourselves. I'm willing to bet that even Dad feels that way. No matter how strong he is, he has some kind of weakness somewhere deep within him, whether it be emotional or physical. And if you're not afraid, then you're a coward."
"That statement contradicts itself, Luffy." I pointed out.
"No, it doesn't. If you're not afraid of yourself, then you're afraid of others. Look at Blackbeard. He was afraid of the Old Man, and killed him acting like a coward. He didn't face him head on. Ace knew Akainu was stronger, but he wasn't afraid to fight him to stand up for what he believed in. To say that you're afraid of yourself is good, because otherwise, you're afraid of others, and that's when you act like a real coward. I'm only going to say this once: join my crew. For real this time."
"..."
"Together, Aaron. Together, we can take down the Templars. How many different places have you been to? How many different friends felt like family, like home?"
"4. 4 different places. 4 different ships and islands that I could call home, but none of them were permanent. They all broke me in one way or another."
"Well, let's fix that." I looked at him.
"This place. The Thousand Sunny. Everyone here thought the same thing as you when they originally left with me. They wondered why they decided to join me. Why they were leaving their home. But after a while, they came around and decided that this is where they belonged. And it's no different for you. You've seen everything there is to see, I'm sure. You've been through many hardships." Tears were now streaming down my face.
"After going through the hells of life, you must have one thing that you've always wanted, right? Just one thing that you wished you could have. Tell me. Do you have one?" I nodded, now on my knees.
"What is it?" I sobbed a few times before looking up at Luffy.
"All I've ever wanted...IS A HOME!" Luffy held out his hand to me.
"Then come with us. You belong on the Thousand Sunny, as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates!" I nodded again.
"Yeah!"
"Alright, everyone! Group hug!" Luffy yelled out. They all tackled me down to the ground, laughing. I laughed with them.
X
"Are you guys ready to go?" Franky asked, aboard the Sunny. Everyone else was on deck in their usual spots.
"Yeah! Let's go! We're off to Zou!" Luffy yelled.
I came and sat down on a barrel near Luffy. I glanced around. Everyone was on deck.
"Hey, guys. Come here." They all walked over and sat down.
"What's up?" Usopp asked.
"You said that you wanted to know my past, my journey through life. I think you're ready now. I'll tell you." Their eyes widened.
"Alright. Here we go. I was born in a small town in South Blue, called Vanden Guard."
End.
I just read chapter 802 today. I'm going to fix one thing with that, you'll see what it is in the next chapter. It will be an opening scene, then my past will be the rest of it. I hope you enjoyed this, Dressrosa was big for this story. The other thing that's next...I need Island Name suggestions. After Solacia and Evergia, I have no idea what the other islands will look like, and what they will be called, so I need some help with that. Thanks!