(A/N) In a perfect world, I could update this every day. Unfortunately, I am primarily a Fate author. I can only touch this so often before an uprising is staged. One Piece will forever be my favourite manga and this story will forever hold its place in my heart (that place being number one), but until I finish one of my other stories to clear up my backlog, I'll just have to keep doing what I can. Hopefully, the turnaround for chapter 4 will be much shorter.
If it's any consolation, this story won't just up and vanish one day. Slow and steady wins the race, but let's hope that it isn't too slow and steady haha.
On a side note, I just discovered that I can't use the "greater/lesser than" symbols on lol. That sucks the big one considering the fact that this is a "gamer fic" (kind of but barely) and I need those.
X
「Your opponent's level is too high! The [Gomu Gomu no Mi] cannot mitigate all damage.」
「[Rubber Body] has reduced blunt damage by 98%」
「Notice!
It's never a bad idea to ask for help!
(Inactive party members can be called to your location through the [Party] menu).」
It hurt.
It was strange. It didn't hurt in the same way that Grandpa's punches hurt: those felt more like his body wasn't made of rubber whenever he hit me.
This wasn't that. My devil fruit was still working just fine, and really, it wasn't the hits themselves that hurt. I just bounced around like I always did.
The issue was that I was "bouncing around" way harder than I've ever been "bounced around" before. It felt like I was being stretched too hard. Too fast.
It wasn't hurt in the "ouch" kind of way. It was… uncomfortable. Really, really uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that I was scared that I might snap in half.
The scary guy's next hit was just as fast as the last one. Again, it was too fast for me to even tell what he hit me with.
「Notice!
It's never a bad idea to ask for help!
(Inactive party members can be called to your location through the [Party] menu).」
He hit me harder than last time. There was nothing that I could do to stop myself from crashing straight through the wall.
The wall was thick.
I bounced on the ground a few times before rolling to a stop. I was lying flat on my back, and I noted that I could see the sky. The clouds looked totally different from the ones on Dawn Island.
My body shivered. Again, it was supposed to hurt, but it couldn't. I didn't like the feeling at all.
With blurry vision, I could see my life numbers. They were way too low right now. I only had half left, maybe.
"Hm? Still alive?" The big, scary jerk followed me through the giant hole he made in his tower. "You must have a devil fruit then. A smile, maybe? I didn't want to have to use my haki to slay a pest, yet here we are."
The closer he came, the heavier the air around me seemed to feel.
「Notice!
It's never a bad idea to ask for help!
(Inactive party members can be called to your location through the [Party] menu).」
My legs were really, really shaky, but I was able to sand on two feet. I was breathing super heavily, and it was kind of hard to look at the bad guy straight on because of that.
I saw something. Slowly, my eyes widened.
His hand was turning black. It was like what Yama-o did earlier.
This could be bad.
「Notice!
It's never a bad idea to ask for help!
(Inactive party members can be called to your location through the [Party] menu).」
「Notice!
It's never a bad idea to ask for help!
(Inactive party members can be called to your location through the [Party] menu).」
「Notice!
It's never a bad idea to ask for help!
(Inactive party members can be called to your location through the [Party] menu).」
"Shut uuuuuup!" I screamed at the annoying mystery squares. Didn't they know that I was busy right now? Did they really think that I would bother trying to read anything at a time like this?
Mustache Guy was looking at me strangely.
"You're understandably upset," he said. "Don't blame me. It was Yamato's own foolishness that landed you in this mess. If it's any consolation, Your death will be so quick that I wouldn't be able to make it anything but painless."
"Thunder Bagua!"
Mustache Guy wasn't able to kill me. Wait. Was it really "killing me" if I didn't actually die?
That aside, whatever it was, he wasn't able to do it, and that was because Yama-o showed up and stopped his giant club with her own not-as-big-but-still-really-big club.
She grunted. Mustache Guy didn't let up; he pushed his club down on hers, and her knees started to buckle. She looked back at me and smiled even though she was sweating a lot.
"I found you!" she yelled.
I smiled back.
"Yama-o!"
"You're awfully bold, daring to show me your back to me after all you've done."
Something hit Yama-o, and she was sent crashing into me. We tumbled around until we were stopped by a wall.
Hm? There were people here. A lot of people
They were dressed in strange clothes, and they were starting to crowd around us.
They were watching, talking to themselves, but I couldn't really understand what they were saying since they were all talking at once.
Mustache Guy didn't seem to mind them. He took his time walking towards Yama-o and me. I think he was glaring at us, but I couldn't see very well right now. Yama-o's chest was crushing my face and only one of my eyes was free.
"I'm surprised, Yamato. I didn't think you'd go this far just to undermine me."
She didn't say anything to him. Yama-o slowly pushed herself to her feet.
"Luffy. Run."
It took me a moment to register what she told me. I frowned.
"No way! I–"
"I'm sure you're strong," she snapped back at me before I could finish, "but you're not strong enough to fight my father! I hate to say it, but the way that I am now, neither can I. If you want to live, run."
My mouth fell open.
"What about you, then!?"
"Don't worry about– tch!"
She grabbed me and threw herself to the ground. Something really fast and bright shot over our heads. Was that a lightning bolt? I couldn't tell.
"I'm killing the boy," Mustache Guy growled. "We'll be having word la–"
Yama-o leapt at him and slammed her club onto his head. Her dad stumbled back and clutched his face with a hand.
"Yamato! You dare– I've had enough of you!"
「[Sense Danger] has levelled up!
The skill [Sense Danger] is now level 55.」
He was angry. Very, very angry. I thought he was angry up 'til now, but this was way worse.
Yama-o gasped. Something in her body sounded like it just broke.
「Warning!
If Yamato is defeated, the quest [A Shackled Ogre's Dream] will no longer be available.」
「Warning!
Yamato's health is getting low! This character cannot be revived if their HP reaches 0.」
What!? But I revived all the time! That's not fair!
「4 minutes have passed!
Time remaining: 3M : 06S」
Wait… That's right! I only had to hang on for a little while, right?
But…
I could leave Yama-o here, could I? Her dad was really mean.
"Gomu gomu no…"
My hands stretched out behind me.
"No!" Yama-o shouted. I didn't listen.
"Pistol!"
The air clapped when my arms shot forward. I tried to hit Mustache Guy as hard as I could –as fast as I could– before he hurt Yama-o any more than he already did.
It worked.
It kind of did, at least. When I hit his head, Mustache Guy's neck was pushed back far enough for Yama-o to break away from their contact.
"That was dangerous, you know," she told me. I didn't answer back.
Three minutes left.
If my punch did anything, I couldn't tell. I still couldn't see any of Mustache Guy's numbers.
I grabbed her hand and started running away as fast as I could. She was able to keep up easily.
I didn't know why, but no one really stopped us. The crowd moved out of the way, And Mustache Guy just watched us leave with a really mean look on his face.
We ran, and ran, and ran. Yama-o eventually pulled ahead and yanked me into a seemingly-random building.
"This is our provisions stockpile," she started to explain, gesturing to all the crates in the warehouse-looking space. Father will find us soon, but hopefully, we can hide here long enough to– are you seriously eating right now!?"
I had found a bunch of bananas in a box. Three were in my mouth right now.
I swallowed them so that I could answer her dumb question.
「+70HP」
「+70HP」
「+70HP」
"Of course I am! We should refuel ourselves while we have a chance. I'm a little beat up right now, but I'll be a lot better once I eat."
She wasn't impressed.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard"
"Eh!? It works!"
"It doesn't."
"Does so!"
"Does not!"
I huffed and looked for more food. Did they have any meat around here?
We were both quiet for a moment.
"I'm sorry," she muttered. Her wrists were held out in front of her, and she stared at the shackles on them. "As long as I have these, I won't be able to do much more than this."
"Eh?" I tilted my head. It was a fashion statement or something, wasn't it? "Take them off, then."
"I would if I could!"
I made grabbing motions with my hands.
"Aren't you super strong? Just pull."
"They're seastone. It's not that easy. I need a key."
A key, huh?
I put a fist under my chin. I tried my best to think of a way to help her. I didn't know anything about a "key" or whatever.
「Notice:
[A Shackled Ogre's Dream] must be commenced order to change the main quest. The [onyx key] can be accessed from the inventory menu.」
Another annoying mystery square popped in front of me, but I turned away and closed my eyes. Thinking was already hard enough as it was. I didn't need more words to distract me right now.
"Does your dad have it?" I asked.
She clicked her tongue.
"Probably? Who knows. Maybe he threw it out."
My jaw fell open.
"What!? That's so mean!"
Maybe something else then.
「Notice:
[A Shackled Ogre's Dream] must be commenced order to change the main quest. The [onyx key] can be accessed from the inventory menu.」
"Maybe you don't need a key. What if you use a really big rock to break it?"
"Seastone is much stronger than any rock."
Tche.
「Notice:
[A Shackled Ogre's Dream] must be commenced order to change the main quest. The [onyx key] can be accessed from the inventory menu.」
"I got it! Why don't you–"
Before I could finish, the roof of the food-place disappeared.
"Eh?"
"Yamato…"
It was a deep voice. Loud too, even though it sounded like it was supposed to be a low tone.
Slowly, I looked up. Sweat started pouring down my face.
There was a big, spiky snake flying floating in the air. It was glaring at them intensely.
Yama-o sucked her teeth.
"Father found us."
"That's your dad!?"
The big floating snake growled.
"I didn't 'find you'. That insinuates that you had gotten away in the first place. I let you run off to wherever it was that you thought you could escape to; if you had a means of leaving this island, it wouldn't have hurt to let you lead me to it. A moot point now, since you just locked yourself in here and hoped for the best. I expected much better from you. A plan, at least."
"As if I'd run!" Yama-o screamed back. "I will be the one to free Wano Country!"
"Small minded!" the snake shouted right back. "I will make you the shogun, and you will rule as I tell you!"
I frowned.
"No!"
Her snap shut the snake up for a moment.
"…I'll have to teach you a more permanent lesson, then."
I was angry. Not for me, but for Yama-o. I wanted to yell at the snake. I wanted to yell at him so badly.
But I couldn't, because I fell onto my knees.
This bastard!
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't breathe I couldn't breathe I couldn't breathe I couldn't breath I couldn't–
"Luffy!"
Yama-o called my name. She looked shaken up too, but she was in a much better condition than me.
It felt like someone was pushing down on me. It wasn't that I didn't feel "strong" enough to push back, but rather, it felt like I didn't have any arms to push back with in the first place. It was like I didn't know how.
My arms were right there on my shoulders. They hadn't moved. I could still use them.
So why–
「Haki (1/3) has been achieved. Discover all 3 to unlock active skills for this ability.」
I found my arms, and I pushed back.
The snake was stronger though. Much, much stronger.
My hands were shaking. My knees trembled. Sweat dripped down my chin.
But I stood up and glared at the snake bastard.
"…"
"…"
"You're more of a pest than I believed you'd be, boy."
I ignored him.
I turned to Yama-o instead. She was giving me a wide-eyed look.
"Sorry, Yama-o. I lied earlier."
"Huh?"
"Your dad. I'm totally gonna kick his ass!"
「7 minutes have passed!
Time remaining: 0M : 06S」
For a moment, everything was quiet. I didn't feel the imaginary arms pushing down on me anymore.
And then the snake bastard laughed.
The sky split in half.
I heard crackles. They got louder and louder.
Flames appeared in the snake bastard's mouth. He was going to hit us hard.
But he wouldn't be fast enough.
「Time remaining: 0M : 02S」
Wait.
I panicked.
Was I going to disappear like I usually did? What about Yama-o then?
Her dad wouldn't–
…Would he? I didn't know.
I jumped onto her at the last moment.
"Yama-o! Stop being dumb! I'm taking you with me!"
"Wha–
The last thing that I saw before I stopped being able to see was the snake bastard's face. It looked really surprised.
X
「(************) has been cleared!」
「Error!
Start requirements for [A Shackled Ogre's Dream] have not been met. The main story cannot be changed to a narrative branch quest at this time. You will continue the main quest [Getting Stronger: The 100 Floor Demon Pagoda] from your last progress point.」
「Congratulations!
[Getting Stronger; The 100 Floor Demon Pagoda] has been cleared!
Remaining time: 1068D
Level Disparity Bonus: 4 003 302」
「Completion Rewards: [Infamy (Epic)] + [56 565 EXP]」
「Level up!」
「Level up!」
「Level up!」
「Level up!」
「Calculating bonus rewards.
Time remaining100D: Clear
Level Disparity Bonus10 000: Clear
Rewards will scale to the amount by which the clear threshold has been surpassed.」
「Bonus rewards calculated!
Please choose one of the following boons:
Devil Fruit Mastery: Instantly awaken the full power of your devil fruit.
Willpower Mastery: Instantly learn and master all 3 forms of [Haki].
Random Skill Mastery: Instantly learn and master the [fishing] skill.」
When I saw all the mystery squares suddenly appear, I almost passed out from too much information being thrown at me at once. They were surrounding me. I couldn't even tell where I was right now. There were so many words that I didn't know what to do. Was this because I was ignoring them for the past while?
I took a deep breath and tried to focus. Usually, they'd go away once I actually found out what they wanted from me.
One thing at a time.
Slowly, I managed to read all of them, but I couldn't really say that I understood any of what the mystery squares were trying to say. If you're going to make me read, at least make sense, damn it!
The only part that I understood was towards the end.
Choose a reward, huh?
From the options I was given, it wasn't really difficult to figure out which one I wanted. A rubber body was a rubber body, and I didn't really know that much about that "haki" stuff to begin with.
"Give me fishing!" I shouted.
If these stupid squares weren't going to give me meat after being responsible for my life being so confusing for the past month, then I guess there was at least that. I really hoped that I could catch some super big fish if I was supposed to be better at fishing now.
If the mystery squares actually did anything, that is.
「[Romance Dawn] has been unlocked!
Note: This story quest is time-based. Event flags for this quest cannot be triggered by the player. Please see the [Help Menu] for more information.」
And just like that, all the squares disappeared.
"–uffy. Luffy! Hey! Are you listening to me?"
I only then noticed that Yama-o had been shaking me. I was facing her, so I couldn't really see anything past her body.
"Wha?"
She put me down and slowly asked, "Where are we?"
I looked left.
Then I looked right.
"Ah. We're on Dawn Island," I answered easily. "I guess I brought you back with me after all."
Ah… I'm glad that worked. It would have been bad if it didn't.
"…"
"…"
"What."
"What?"
She grabbed me again, but really hard this time.
"'Dawn Island' you said. The place in the East Blue that you said you're from?"
"Yeah."
"That's impossible!"
Was it?
I looked at the ground to double-check. Then the sky. Then the trees.
Yep, this is exactly where I was hiding when Grandpa was chasing me earlier.
"I don't think it's impossible," I decided. "We're here, after all."
Her eyes were spinning.
"No!" she whined. "I have to go back! Take me back right now, Luffy!"
I was stumped.
"Why!? You've been trapped there your whole life, haven't you?"
Yama-o growled.
"You're still missing the point, even now! I have to free the people of Wano!"
I didn't answer for a second. I took a deep breath.
I nodded to myself and slammed my forehead against hers.
"Idiot~. Your dad wouldn't let that happen either way."
She punched me in the nose, but it didn't really do anything. The punch was slower than how she usually moved, but I didn't get out of the way because it seemed like she really wanted to hit me.
"You're a jerk, Luffy."
I didn't really care about what she called me.
"You're too weak to fight him," I told her.
She was furious.
"I couldn't use my devil fruit! And you–"
"And I'm way weaker than you. I'm super weak. I'm so much of a weakling that it hurts."
I'm pretty sure that my face was calm, but I didn't feel very calm.
That whole thing with her dad sucked.
She didn't say anything for a few seconds, but she found her words eventually.
"That's right. That's why I'm going alone."
"I refuse."
Yama-o snarled at me.
"You can't tell me what I can or can't do."
"Mm. But I don't want you to go alone. You'll lose."
"It's not up to you!"
"Right."
"So I'm going."
"No."
"Damn it Luffy!" She picked up her club that had been planted in the ground and threw it at a tree out of frustration. There was an awfully loud noise when the tree blew up. "Why are you being so difficult! Because of you, I'm who knows how far from Wano Country! You ruined everything!"
The very second that she said it, her teeth snapped shut and she looked away.
She probably felt bad, but it's okay. I didn't really care.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I'm the worst."
"Luffy–"
"I do what I want, and a lot of the time, that ends up with me doing something that a 'good person' wouldn't do. It's alright though. I don't care about being a good person: because there's nothing more important to me than being free."
I sat on the ground cross-legged. I had to look up at her more than I already did before.
"You aren't free," I said simply. "Or at least you weren't. If you go back now, you won't be free again."
"That's none of your business," she shot back hotly.
"I'm making it my business. You're my friend."
"That's–" she shut her mouth and tilted her head even further. She whispered something that I couldn't really hear.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it."
"Okay."
A second passed. Then two.
With a drawn-out sigh, Yama-o gave up and sat across from me. She still had a bit of a mean face, but I met it with a wide smile.
When she spoke again, it was in a much less angry voice.
"I will save Wano Country."
"Yeah," I agreed with a nod.
Her hands rose and made gripping motions near my neck, but she quickly threw them back down.
"But you just–"
"I said that I'm not letting you go right now. I'm obviously going to help you, but I have to get stronger first. I promised my brother that I wouldn't leave the island until I turned seventeen, so we'll have to be strong enough before then."
I couldn't tell what she was thinking anymore.
"And how old are you now?" she asked.
"Fourteen and a bit."
"Hah!?" she shouted. "You're just a kid!"
"Obviously."
"That's three years!"
"Ah. Is it?"
"It is! That's way too long!"
"Well, it's not like you were actually gonna get anything done in three years anyway."
"You don't know that."
"I do. I could tell."
"If I didn't have these handcuffs, I could do something."
"I don't think so."
I didn't bother telling her why I thought that. She wouldn't listen anyway.
Yama-o slumped her shoulders.
"You're selfish. Super selfish."
"I know."
"You don't listen."
"I know."
"You eat my food even when I tell you not to."
"You shouldn't tell me not to, then."
"...I'm making you keep your word. Three years, then we're fighting my father for Wano Country. You better be strong enough by then. I don't care if you're a kid. That's not an excuse. I'm making you promise."
"I know."
"If you break your promise, I'll never forgive you."
I smiled brighter.
"Obviously!"
"…"
「You have gained 10 bond points with Yamato!」
「Your bond status with Yamato has changed from [bitter] to [well-liked].」
Huah… I'm glad we were able to talk things through. If we hadn't–
「[Sense Danger] Has activated.」
Oh no.
I shot to my feet and glared into the treeline. My legs felt like they would give out from under me.
Yama-o perked up. She didn't stand, but she looked in the same direction as me with wide eyes.
There were loud footsteps. They were getting closer.
"Luffy!" a gravelly voice grumbled.
Shit shit shit shit shit–
It happened so quickly that I couldn't react. Out from the bushes came gramps. His hand shot out, grabbed me by the top of the head, and lifted me in the air.
"I was looking everywhere for you! Where did you run off to? When were you going to tell me that Ace left the island to be a hooligan?"
"Hmfpgmy!"
I couldn't answer his rapid-fire questions because the palm of his ginormous hand was covering my mouth.
He dropped me back onto the ground. I landed on my butt with a soft "Oof!"
"I'm gonna be a pirate too!"
Grandpa didn't like that. He wound back his fist, and I already knew that this one was going to hurt.
I crossed my arms in an "x" shape in front of me to soften the blow, but it never came. Grandpa stopped himself halfway through the motion.
"Eh? Who the hell are you?" he asked.
My neck stretched so that I could look over my back. Yama-o was standing behind me, still as a statue.
Oh yeah! I forgot.
"Hey, Gramps! This is my friend. Yama-o, meet my grandpa."
The two stared at each other wordlessly for a moment. Come to think of it, Yama-o was pretty tall, wasn't she? Grandpa didn't tower over her as he did with everyone else. She was a head or two shorter than him, maybe.
Grandpa's eyebrow twitched and sweat ran down his face. He looked nervous for some reason.
"Hey, Brat, where did you meet this one, exactly?"
I put a finger to my chin and thought of the best way to explain this whole thing. It was kind of hard, wasn't it? There was a lot to cover.
"Well, her dad didn't like that we were fooling around in her bedroom, and he got really angry because I wasn't supposed to be there. Then Yama-o came to help, but he got angry at her too. We had to run away."
Grandpa would start catching flies if he didn't close his mouth.
"Luffy!" yelled Yama-o. "Explain properly!"
Eh? What? Did I say something wrong?
Gramps shook his head. "R-right. I must have misunder–"
"He took me back to his home, so now he has to take responsibility. He promised that we were going to confront my father again, but we need to work some stuff out first."
Grandpa looked like he was about to pass out. I wonder why?
"You're trying to distract me," he mumbled. "Don't think that I'll just forget about what Ace went off and did. If you think I'll let you go off and do the same thing, you don't know what's coming for you."
Of course, I know that he'd say that. And then he'd say…
"I'll make an upstanding marine out of you yet, you ungrateful brat!"
I grinned.
"Shishishi…"
"What's so funny!?"
"I'm gonna be king of the pirates!"
"Like hell you are!"
I heard a crunch. I looked back to Yamato to see that she had taken a step back. Her foot had crushed a fallen tree branch.
"King of the pirates," she repeated, "that's–"
"My dream."
She spoke again before Grandpa could get too wound up again.
"I see. No wonder you're so ready to help me confront a Yonko."
There was a prickly feeling at the back of my neck. I looked at Gramps fast enough to catch the icy look in his eyes before it disappeared.
"What was that about a Yonko?" he asked softly.
I didn't even know what that was!
Yama-o seemed confused too. She blinked owlishly.
"Ah. My father is one of the Emperors."
Grandpa took a moment. He stared at her face, then her feet, then back at her face, then her horns.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing, but his temper got the best of him.
"LU–"
