Chapter Two
Luffy ran forward, knocking marines down as he went. Stretching didn't happen as fast as he was used to, but it wasn't as bad as he first thought. Observation Haki worked as well as it did after a long day of use, but his reaction time was still off. Armament was the worst. Instead of covering his arm from the elbow down, his first attempt only worked on his fist. It took far more effort and concentration than Luffy wanted.
Gritting his teeth, he rocketed over a group of marines and coated one side of his stretched leg for an axe attack before dodging a sensed attack. The explosion from the missed laser beam knocked him forward, but Luffy used the momentum to bury a fist in the next marine's gut. Immediately he jumped back, missing a large hand from squashing him. Looking up, Luffy caught sight of Kuma Bartholomew. He bent backwards under the following arm sweep. Flipping to his feet, the rubber-man went into Second Gear with a double arm pump.
An armament enforced jet pistol pushed Kuma back a few feet. The pirate captain focused on the Warlord, avoiding any hits from the bear-man's paws. It didn't take long until Luffy braced to receive an arm swipe from Kuma. The rubber-man didn't try to dodge. The hit sent him flying fast enough he didn't have time to turn before he slammed into a body.
Picking himself up, Luffy glanced at the mini crater and dismissed the matter. If he landed on a pirate, he would have helped, but a marine is just one less he has to fight. The hit he took sent him closer to his goal. Luffy only looked back to ensure Kuma wasn't following before moving forward again. Iva-chan was distracting the Warlord just fine.
Without Second Gear, Luffy continued to wade through the marines. There were fewer pirates around him. The rubber-man took advantage that gave him to get used to his gatling gun and whip attacks. He tried different power levels until he could knock most marines out with only a few Gatling hits. It was actually starting to be a lot of fun when his Observational Haki screamed at him.
Luffy scrambled out of the way of a moving cloud that reformed into a scowling face. This time Smoky wasn't going to get him with that stupid sea-stone Jitte. Going straight into Second Gear, the pirate captain coated his knuckles and sent a jet pistol at Smoker's arm. The hit landed, staggering the marine back a few paces, but he kept his grip on the Jitte. Luffy ignored the surprise in the marine captain's eyes and continued on the assault, keeping his body out of range of the weapon.
The smoke-man kept up with him, but using armament haki kept the logia user from getting so many hits in. Any other time, Luffy would relish the ability to finally match Smoky, but Ace was waiting on him. A well-aimed jet bazooka tossed Smoker away and down, giving both space to breathe.
"You won't get any farther Straw Hat," the marine captain declared, adjusting his hold on the Jitte. Luffy grinned, knowing Smoker was completely wrong. He crouched, ready to counter anything the smoke-man could throw at him.
"Enough!" an imperious voice demanded. Smoker dodged the high kick sent his way, bracing himself to face two opponents.
"Boa Hancock," Smoker calmly stated. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Silence!" Hancock commanded, nose in the air. "I will not tolerate this a moment longer." The snake empress turned, dismissing the marine's presence from her mind. Stalking towards Straw Hat, she regally flipped her hair over her shoulder. Her pet snake slithered ahead and wrapped around behind Straw Hat. Luffy's grin widened and he dropped out of Second Gear.
When she reached the rubber-man, Hancock leaned forward and pulled a key discretely from her dress. Hidden from immediate view by her pet snake, the Warlord handed it to her fellow pirate captain. "I obtained the key to Ace's handcuffs, Luffy," Hancock simpered.
"Shishishi," Luffy laughed and threw his arms around her twice. "Thank you Hancock!" he exclaimed giving her a tight squeeze. The snake empress was always so helpful! He still wasn't going to marry her.
Using the snake as a launch pad, Luffy left his friend behind. The surrounding marines, still stunned at the beautiful Warlord's presence, were knocked down easily. Smoker's shouts and Hancock's angry yells brought another loud laugh to Luffy.
The laugh cut off as a group of zombies tried to dog-pile him. The captain punched one away, dodged under two, and swept two others away with a side kick. Luffy created a little more distance before stepping into Second Gear. He couldn't waste time on the vegetable head.
Moria's high pitched laughter cut through the battlefield. Sprinting towards the large Warlord, the rubber-man leapt into the air. He quickly twisted his arm tight and bit his thumb. "Gear, Third." Right at the apex of his jump, Luffy started spinning as he blew into his bone. "Giant Screwdriver," he muttered, applying as much Armament Haki to his giant knuckles as possible. It only covered the middle two, but combined with the twisting arm and his body's spin, the attack worked like he wanted.
Moria had seen Luffy coming, but waited to dodge at the last minute. Too bad he didn't realize the Straw Hat Captain knew Observational Haki this time. The attack landed right in the jugular. Luffy immediately released Third Gear, but had to quickly change his follow up plan when his body snapped into mini-mode. Luffy growled. He had fixed this problem already! Stupid dream. Seeing where his little body was landing, Luffy coated his toes in Armament and shifted slightly.
The shadow-man's chocked gurgles changed to a shrill screech when the small feet slammed into his eyes. Taking advantage of the ice dust from Moria's fall, mini-Luffy hopped off the thrashing Warlord and dashed away. By the time the air cleared around him, Straw Hat was back to normal, but his direction was a bit off. Skidding a few feet, Luffy apologized to the pirate he almost ran over while he punched out the two attacking marines with a quick Pistol.
Luffy took a moment to breathe and reorient. He was closer to the wall on the right, Whitebeard that way, and Ace over there. Ace's giant friend was still down. He must be hurt bad. Or maybe he's pretending? Right, pretending to be down so the giant can keep the mystery wall section down! Wow, what an awesome guy! Luffy couldn't wait for Ace to introduce them.
"Straw Hat!" a desperate voice called.
"Huh?" Luffy stuck a finger in his ear and fished for any loose earwax. Finding a clump, the rubber-man scraped it off his ear canal and pulled his finger back out. The captain turned the newly cleaned ear to the screaming pirate. "What?"
"You need to get out of here!" The man screamed, sounding like he had said this a few times. "It's become Moria's personal graveyard. Each person who goes down adds to his army, and any we hit just keep going no matter how much we maim them."
Luffy nodded as he flicked the ear wax away. Those zombies were really annoying that way. "Ever since you showed up, Moria's been screaming for you. If he sees you, it will be too late! We need to go now!" The pirate reached out to grab Straw Hat's arm, intending to pull the rookie captain out of the front lines.
"Wait." Luffy commanded. The pirate speaking and three others nearby froze at the unexpected authority in his voice. "Are you talking about that Moria?" he asked in a lighter tone. Luffy pointed back the way he came where the dust was finally settling enough to see damage. The gurgles, thrashing body, and annoying whines all added to a pretty sad sight for a mighty Warlord.
A few brave souls started snickering, which started others to chuckling. The marines trying to treat the Warlord, while remaining too terrified to approach, pushed many surrounding pirates over the edge to full blown laughter. Luffy chuckled a bit before he caught sight of the execution stand.
"Alright!" Luffy called, clapping twice for good luck. The group turned their attention his way, but Luffy didn't notice. "It's time to help Ace!"
Pirates in earshot yelled their enthusiasm and started wading through the remaining zombies immediately. The others paused long enough to knock a nearby marine out before following. The shambling crowd of undead lingering was a bit troublesome. Luffy didn't have time to beat them all down.
A wave of water washed over the remaining zombies. They fell lifeless to the ground. Jinbei pushed another wave of sea water over the withering, complaining shadow-man, draining him of any extra power he might have held on to.
"Thanks Jimbei!" Luffy yelled before turning back to the Awesome Giant. Halfway there, a feeling of dread slammed into him. He knew the two marines fighting him weren't important, and glanced around for the danger as he moved away from the spot his haki warned him about. A long range cutting technique zoomed past him. The rubber-man hardly had time to bend out of the way. One of the marines attacking him was not as lucky.
Ignoring the falling marine, Luffy scrambled away from a second slash. Any marines left near Straw Hat cleared the area, giving the pirate time to focus on the Warlord swordsman. This was one opponent Luffy didn't want to face. Hawky was Zoro's goal, not Luffy's.
Author's Note:
Yes, that right. Luffy still thinks he's in a dream, but he is the kind of person to forget he's in the middle of a dream and think of future adventures (like Ace introducing him to the Awesome Giant) until something else reminds him is a dream.
Again, no promises on when Chapter 3 will be up. I have to find time for a final review on it.
Any comments on if I should let Ace die again or keep him alive this time?