Umi, or Imu, as she calls herself, was for once perched on her throne this time. That was because she just received a briefing from the five elders under her command. Like the near countless times before, there was no update on the status of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. It's been nearly 800 years, and the fruit is still avoiding her. The Sun God's spirit has been on the run since he chose to reform as a devil fruit. She's not even sure if it's been eaten again or not. There haven't been any reports of the fruit being consumed, but hiding a devil fruit power is easy. Only Zoan devil fruits have slight difficulty doing so.
Also, it's easy to mistake this Mythical Zoan for a Paramecia. She did it once before.
Well. It'll appear soon enough. No matter how much she wishes it, the power to do whatever the wielded wishes won't just pop up right in front of her.
It was as soon as she completed that thought that Luffy opened a portal to her location while in his 5th gear.
Imu could have all the ancient weapons held towards her at gunpoint, but she would have still denied the fact that she jumped like a frightened cat.
"Umi! How's it going?" Luffy's dark tone did not match the smile that was on his face at all.
"You! You dare show your face here, holder of Nika?!" Imu was so livid,her conqueror's Haki was completely visible. Her prized target appeared right in her vision, but he seems to have mastered his powers.
She can't start a battle here. From what she can sense he is surely on even ground with her, and a draw in battle is not worth it risking the Heads of the World Government as collateral.
She has to grind her teeth and bide her time. This bastard is clearly aware of all this too, that damn grin of his clearly got sharper.
"Now now, I'm not here to fight; I just wanna talk" Luffy was calm unlike his agitated opponent.
"There is nothing to talk about! You're an enemy of the entire world!"
"That's rather hypocritical of you, Umi" Nika grin was unchanged. "You and I both know the true enemy of the world, and it isn't me."
Imu flinched a little. " So you know the truth?! Who are you!" She demanded.
The grin was damn near splitting his face.
"I'm Nika, obviously." The Joyboy was living up to his nickname.
"You know that's not what I mean!" Her Conqueror's Haki was blazing.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. I'm just a simple man with a straw hat." The only truth was that he possessed a straw hat.
Considering Imu had an entire grand stature built in its imitation just so she could actually find and destroy it along with whoever had been passing it along, she couldn't handle him stating the obvious and launched herself at him.
With the amount of Conqueror's Haki leaking out from her, one might have wondered why the five rats hadn't appear to investigate.
Well Imu has grown frustrated before, rampaging and destroying everything in her furious sight. The elders must have just assumed she was throwing another tantrum. Plus due to having her…..self needs, she had to make her chambers sound proof to the surrounding area.
Hey, she's a woman, and hunting for a seemingly unattainable item for hundreds of years would leave anyone frustrated.
Moving at a near subsonic speeds, Imu was aiming to replace the lower end of his jaw with her foot, but the bastard just turned the floor to rubber right in front of her and made her catapult into a nearby standing pillar.
It didn't help that she landed in a rather unladylike position, her rear pointing straight in the air, with the garments previously protecting them covering the back of her head instead.
Of all the days to humiliate her, he chose the one she went commando. At least he couldn't see her face, and vice versa. She's been embarrassed enough.
Nika, on the other hand clearly wasn't on the same wavelength as her. He's just getting started.
"My my, still as bold as I remember aren't you Umi?" Still pretty pink too, aren't you?"
When did he get behind her? And where is he putting his hands?
Spreading pink folds that do not show her age, Nika put his fingers to work, and Imu is not having a good time.
At least that's what she's telling herself. Her body and voice are the exact opposite.
"Just as I remember, you couldn't find anyone to satisfy you could you?" Although she can't see the grin, she can very well feel it and it's driving her insane.
"Well, I'll leave you alone for now, although you are well, you, I'm not a rapist. I'll leave you hot and bothered." Luffy drops her and turns around to open his portal and leave.
"Wait you bastard, come finish what you've started!!" She doesn't care how desperate she looks, it's been millennia since she was last satisfied.
"Nah, I don't think I will. Where's your camera? I wanna take my bounty picture." Luffy spots it on the wall.
"Don't touch my stuff!" Imu was acting a lot more like she used to when she was still by her side. It made both of their hearts ache.
"What? How else are you gonna get my bounty picture if not through this. I doubt you have security footage in your room, and even if you did, do you want your subordinates to watch you get humiliated like that?" All valid points, and no, she was not pouting, swear." (She has Uranus on lock to my house.)
"Welp now that that's done, I'll see you later sweet Umi!" Nika then opened another portal and disappeared.
'That rubbery idiot!' Imu was again blasting her Conqueror's Haki, this time unrefined as she was flustered and had no target anyway.
"Oh well, at least I can hunt that bastard to the ends of the earth for this humiliation."
It was at this moment that Imu recognized one very important detail about that encounter.
"Damnit! That bastard never gave me his real name!" She has no choice but to put his bounty as the name she knows him by.
But that would get the support of those who can read the Poneglyphs.
What to do…..
Luffy on the other hand, had joined back with Koby who had been waiting for him.
"So, how'd it go?" Koby was understandably nervous. His friend just went to meet the evil queen that had secretly controlled the world for hundreds of years.
"Nothing serious, she didn't wanna fight and risk the lives of the celestial dragons like I had expected. Plus I hadn't given her my name so she had to choose between Joyboy and Nika to put on my bounty poster."
Koby was slightly confused. " That doesn't sound like something you'd do. Usually you go full blazing, yelling your name and goal."
"Well if I use my name, Gramps will be on my ass. I want to at least get on the rocks pirate crew, before the Hero of The Marines gets on my ass. Plus the government wouldn't take it well with me 'tarnishing the image of an up and coming marine admiral' and would send rat after rat at me and my crew." Luffy explained his thought process well, and Koby couldn't help but be shocked at his smarts. He's growing up.
"So what do we do now?" Koby asked.
"Now we wait." Luffy's grin returned.'I wonder what you'll do now dear Umi?' He thought menacingly.