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Chapter 3: Fiend vs Pirate
Within the confines of the wiped-out Diamonds' base, the confrontation between Demon and Pirate escalates into a brawl between the Straw Hat Captain and the Fiend Prince. The three spectators stood away as the two combatants circled each other, as if waiting for the other to make the first move.
Aware of his new opponent's strange body, Beelzebub decided to test his luck once more. He charged forward with a kick aimed at Luffy's chest, and the pirate took the attack. Beelzebub's foot sunk into the body like water, the mold of his foot protruding through Luffy's back. Luffy flexed his muscles to fling the prince back. But Beelzebub grabbed onto his blue vest to prevent himself from being sent flying. The prince used this to his advantage to bring Luffy down with him to the ground. Once his feet hit the ground, Beelzebub uppercuts the pirate with a strong punch that sends him flying towards the ceiling of the cave.
"Luffy!" Nami cried.
"Hrah!" Luffy grunted, flipping himself around to push his hands against the ceiling. Sticking his fingers into the rocky surface, his muscles bulged as he exercised strength to rip out a decently sized chunk of the ceiling.
The sheriff's eyes widened at the feat, and he was already surprised by the pirate's rubber-like body. "That kind of strength?! Is this guy really human?!"
"If not, then he's certainly not a demon I recognize!" Thief exclaimed.
Before gravity could bring him back down, Luffy chucked the rocky chunk at Beelzebub, forcing the demon to dodge out of the way. This left him open for Luffy's arm to wrap around his waist and pull him up towards the falling pirate. Luffy's right arm was pulled back, his arm flexing the hidden muscles. As he felt the rubber appendage around him loosen, Beelzebub quickly put up his own guard to block the oncoming attack. "Gum-Gum Bullet!"
Beelzebub grunted from the sheer strength behind the attack as it propelled him back towards the floor of the cave with a loud crash. Luffy touched back down to the floor and waited for his opponent to step out of the crater he made.
Without missing another second, Beelzebub stood from the crater with a clear agitated look on his face. His body was a little scuffed up from the collisions of the cave, but he was overall perfectly fine. "For such a skinny guy, your attacks hit hard. I'm certain now, there's no way you're human."
"Huh? Not human? Of course, I'm a human!" Luffy yelled. Then he stopped and turned to Nami. "I'm human, right Nami?"
"Why the hell are you asking me?!" Nami yelled.
"Whatever!" Beelzebub's yell gained their attention. "You can keep spouting all that crap about being human all you want, but that doesn't change that no human can do the things you do. Hell, I don't even think I've met a demon that could stretch their body like that either." The prince turned around. "Have you, Thief?"
"Can't say I have, Prince."
Luffy frowned at the little demon. "Yeah? Well, you look like a stupid vegetable!"
"HUH?!" Beelzebub yelled, clearly taken offense by the childish insult. "Who are you calling a vegetable, string-bean?!"
"Your head looks like those stupid greens that Sanji tries to make me eat!"
"You mean an asparagus, Luffy?" Nami clarified.
"Yeah! An esophagus!"
"It's asparagus, dumbass! She literally just told you!" Beelzebub shouted back. "And for the record I don't look like a vegetable! I hate vegetables!"
"You could try to add more greens to your diet, Prince." Thief adds.
"Shut up, Thief!" Beelzebub stomped his foot childishly.
"Shishishishishi! You got scolded!" Luffy laughed at the little demon, clearly pissing the prince off more.
"That's it! I'm totally kicking your ass now!" Beelzebub cracks his knuckles. His declaration killed whatever humor Luffy had found. The pirate refocused himself as his opponent was clearly prepared to continue their fight.
Nami's eyes widened as she noticed the purple energy gathering around the prince's body, confused as to what was happening to the young demon. Beelzebub grinned evilly and charged at Luffy with a raised fist that slugged the rubber pirate across the jaw. However, to the pirates' shock, unlike before this one did affect Luffy. The Straw Hat Captain sailed across the cave until he crashed into one of the walls.
"No way…! His punch actually hurt Luffy!" Nami gasped.
"Heh! I had a feeling that might help even the odds!" Beelzebub smirked.
Luffy emerged from the wall, wiping away the blood on his lip. He was surprised to see that the blunt force attack actually managed to hurt his body. Not many were actually capable of doing damage to him besides his grandfather and Nami (For some reason). Well, it wasn't something to worry about. This just meant he'd have to fight harder against the kid.
The sheriff narrowed his eyes. "That's weird, the Prince's attacks weren't doing anything to that guy earlier but this time he managed to hurt him."
"It's likely due to the Prince's dark energy manifesting. Don't you remember what he told you before?" Thief reminded the sheriff.
Beelzebub crouched into a running position as his eyes glowed bright red. "If you were fighting me during the day, then you'd probably have a bit of an easier time against me. However, we demons thrive in the dark!" With a loud boom, Beelzebub blasted himself at Luffy. Their fists clashed against each other, creating a shockwave that cracked the walls and ground around them.
Beelzebub continued his onslaught of punches, forcing Luffy onto the defensive, his back against the wall. The prince kicked upwards, breaking through Luffy's guard. The pirate grunted when the smaller fist smashed into his chest with enough powerful force to shatter the wall behind him.
A cocky smirk only lasted for a second when the prince noticed that both of Luffy's arms had been pulled far back as they descended into the lower parts of the base. "Gum-Gum…!"
"Crap!" Beelzebub tried to move out of the way, but it was too late.
"BAZOOKA!" Both of Luffy's palms smashed into Beel's smaller chest, causing him to cough up spit. The force of the attack sent the prince flying through the ceiling and into the chilly night of the desert. Luffy stretched his arms to grab the edges of the hole and rocket himself out to continue his battle.
Seeing that the fight had changed locations, the sheriff turned his attention to Nami. As the strategic mind of the group, there were several things running through his head during this fight. These individuals they had been chasing were strange for a couple of teenagers, especially the ones he was used to dealing with from time-to-time. Not counting the boy's strange powers, their clothing and mannerisms were clearly unlike Sand Land. The possibility of being from another country crossed his mind, but he needed to be sure. He started walking towards her, much to Thief's bewilderment.
"Sheriff?" Thief called out to him.
"I need some answers." He responded with Thief begrudgingly following after him. He could've gone to follow the prince's fight, but he knew that no one in Sand Land could beat him other than the King of Demons, Lucifer.
"Excuse me, miss!" Nami turned to see the sheriff and Thief approaching her. The navigator was quick to go on the defensive, pulling out her Clima-tact. Taken aback by the strange weapon, the sheriff quickly raised his hands to show no harm.
"I don't know who you guys are but stay back. I may not be as strong as Luffy, but I know how to defend myself." Nami threatened.
"Please, calm down, miss. We don't mean any harm." The sheriff reassured her.
"Oh yeah? Then explain the kid that just attacked us." Nami accused.
Thief sighed. "I will admit that the Prince has a habit of getting ahead of himself. Especially if it involves fighting or video games."
The sheriff knew what he had to do, so he dropped his tonfas and gun to the floor in front of Nami. "I'm disarmed, meaning that I can't harm you in any way. Trust me, now?" The navigator didn't put her weapon away, but she did lower it. "That's fine, it's smart to not trust strangers right away so easily."
"With all of the stuff I've experienced in my life, I can never be too careful." Nami responded.
"Fair. My name is Rao, a sheriff here in Sand Land." Rao introduced himself.
"And I'm Thief, a demon from Demon Village. That boy fighting your companion is the Fiend Prince Beelzebub." Thief explained.
Nami examined Thief, noticing his strange characteristics and thought back to Beelzebub's own strange appearance. She gulped, a sense of fear creeping up in her. "S-so you guys really are demons…?"
Thief huffed proudly at the look of fear on her face, only for Rao to ruin it. "They're good demons. They've willingly been assisting me in our quest to return water to Sand Land."
"Return water to Sand Land? I get this is a pretty dry country, but how would any of that be possible?" Nami asked.
"I'd be more than happy to answer, however I have some questions of my own that I'd like to have answered, miss…?"
"Oh, right, sorry. My name is Nami, and my friend is Luffy. We're…pirates." Nami wanted to lie, but Luffy had already shouted his dream so there was no point.
"Pirates in Sand Land?" Rao hummed in thought. "I guess, this makes my first question much more important then."
"What is it?"
"Where exactly are you two from?"
Beelzebub hissed as he landed on the roof of the cave. That last attack actually hurt a lot compared to the previous ones. It's a good thing they were now outside where the moon could shine down on him. That way he could heal up from the damage dealt. Soon his rubbery opponent touched down in front of him with that hat of his flapping on his back. "You're still standing?" Luffy questioned.
"Duh! No way an attack like that would take down the Fiend Prince! Not that some weirdo like you ever could!" Beelzebub yelled.
"Heh! You talk big for a kid!"
"And you talk a lot for a moron!"
The two smirked at each other before engaging each other once again. Beelzebub had learned his lesson about charging straight at the rubber pirate, instead choosing to attack from an angle to catch Luffy by surprise. However, Luffy reacted quickly enough to stretch out his left leg at the demon. "Gum-Gum Spear!"
Beelzebub jumped over the attack and pushed himself off of Luffy's stretched leg. He elbowed the pirate in the face, causing the straw hat wearing boy's face to scrunch up like a sour patch. Charging up a burst of dark energy in his fist, Beelzebub punched Luffy in the chest and sent him spiraling across the roof of the cave. Luffy recovered quickly, grabbing onto one of the spiky rocks to swing and fling himself right back at Beelzebub. His own arm was pulled back, twisting as his sandals skidded across the rocky ground. "Gum-Gum…!"
"Not this time!" Beelzebub charged right at Luffy with his own burst of dark energy pulsating around his fist. The two were completely unaware of the dark cloud building up over their heads. "HAAA!"
"RIFLE!"
Their fists were inches from collision before another voice called out from below. "THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!"
SHOCK!
"GYAAAAA!" Only one of them felt the static shocks, but both were blown off the roof of the cave by the third party. Luffy and Beelzebub fell down towards the entrance of the cave, piled on top of each other. The prince's body was smoking from the heat as little statics danced around his body.
"Prince!" Rao and Thief hurried out of the cave as Nami carried a much larger sack of treasure behind her. Luffy and Beelzebub immediately recovered and showed their displeasure over the interruption in the most mature way possible.
"Who the hell did that?! I'll kick your butt for that!"
"Namiiii! Why did you have to ruin our fun?!"
Nami stared at the whining monsters with a flat look. "We have more important things to worry about, Luffy."
"Like, what?" The captain stopped whining immediately.
"Like, getting to Spino. And these guys are gonna help us." Nami motioned at Rao, Thief, and Beelzebub.
The prince looked annoyed at the idea. "And why should I help you, witch?" A second later, Nami's fist smashed against the top of his skull. "OW! What was that for?!"
"For being a brat."
"Do you know who I am?!"
"A bratty prince."
"The Fiend Prince, human!" Beelzebub yelled at her.
"True." Nami shrugged as she dumped the bag of stolen goods onto the back of the group's car. "And I'm a pirate, a cat burglar at that. I'm sure you would hate to have those games you love so much be snatched right from under you, right?"
"E-eh?" Beelzebub stuttered. "H-hey! You better not be thinking about busting into Demon Village! And leave my games alone!"
"Certainly! Unless…there's an issue?" Nami's smile sent an unnerving shiver down Beelzebub's spine. The way she talked and looked at him reminded him too much of his big sister, and that was more than enough to make the prince shut up.
"Shishishishi! You got scared!" Luffy teased Beelzebub.
"Shut up, idiot!" Beelzebub yelled at him. "I would've totally kicked your butt if she hadn't interrupted!"
"Huh?! No way, I would've won!"
"No, me!"
"No, me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
Rao pinched the bridge of his nose. He was used to dealing with kids, and the prince's usual behavior wasn't too bad to put up with at times. However, Luffy, a 17-year-old, seemed to have the same level of maturity as the prince.
BONK! BONK!
"SHUT UP!" Nami left the two reeling from her knock-out punches. "If you two want to fight, then do it later! I won't tolerate your childish arguing!"
"Y-yes, Nami!"
"Tch…!"
Thief stroked his beard. "For a human she certainly has a lot of gall to antagonize the prince like that. It reminds me of Lilith."
"As long as she can keep those two under control, then I don't think it matters too much." Rao said.
"Hm…perhaps not."
As the group settled into the car with Rao behind the wheel, since Beelzebub didn't feel like driving at the moment, Luffy turned to his navigator. "Hey, Nami?"
"Yeah?"
"What about those guys from before? Aren't they coming too?" Luffy looked back at the cave.
"Don't worry, Luffy. I knew you'd want them to come along, so Rao left a map leading to Spino for them to take. They didn't seem like they wanted to be a part of that gang anyway, right?"
"True. They were really funny." Luffy smiled.
"And as we're driving, we can use this time to get all of our facts straight. Nami explained some stuff to us, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this." Rao said.
"Around what?" Luffy titled his head.
"Luffy…"
"Huh?" He looked to see his navigator now looked tense. She seemed very uncertain about whatever was dancing around in her head. "What's wrong, Nami?"
"Luffy…we might not be in the Grand Line anymore." Nami could see the confusion across his face and continued. "I mean we're in a different world, Luffy."
…
…
…
"AWESOME!"
…
…
…
"He's an idiot."
Chapter End
NOTE: Thanks to the more reasonable members of both parties, it seems that trust and peace has been established between them. Nami and Luffy are now made aware of their positions of being in a completely different world. How will they move going forward? And will they find their friends? Find out next time on: Sands of Freedom!
Have a great day!