Chapter 30:Awaken the Slumbering Beast
Wano
A Few Hours Earlier (Prior to Sakazuki's Meeting with Oracion Seis)
Luffy after sensing the absurd Haki, arrived at the end of Wano. Seeing a massive golem with a skull head.
"What was that? It didn't feel nasty...but it was really strong...," spoke Luffy before he changed his focus to Teach that he was sensing inside the skull formation.
His feelings of losing Ace, the fight in Impel Down, and everything else slowly began to build further and further until it reached a boiling point. His fists clenched, and his teeth gritted, Luffy felt the Gear Fourth form surging through him like a raging river, the flaming hair on his body standing tall like a fiery crown. The air around him grew thick with anticipation, as the very fabric of the atmosphere seemed to bend to the will of his growing power. The golem's eyes, two glowing orbs, fixated on the pirate king, unwavering in its silent vigilance.
He launched a punch, only to be blocked by a blackened arm as his body went back to normal, as the arm normalized causing the body to jolt towards the formation.
This was the power of the Darkness-Darkness Fruit, the weird power that negated his Devil Fruit on contact. Teach, or rather, Blackbeard, stood before him, a twisted grin etched into the shadows of his face.
Much to Luffy's shock, he generated a whitish sphere around his free hand- Luffy hadn't known or rather cared to have read about the fact Teach did the impossible by absorbing Whitebeard's Devil Fruit- the Tremor-Tremor Fruit- making him a rare dual Devil Fruit user with two equally devastating powers.
It was surreal to see that power wielded by the large man he saw at Marineford, being used by Teach right before his eyes as it collided with his body. The tremor that rippled through the ground grew stronger and stronger, and Luffy could feel his very bones shaking in his body. The skull formation around them cracked and crumbled, the sheer power of the quake threatening to bring it down.
Luffy was propelled right into Kuri, hitting through the remains of the factories. He then heard an odd nose as Teach instantly appeared with Augur at his side.
"I've grown out my beard. Now I am Blackbeard truly...You've lost an arm to Cortez. Finally, he's beginning to show himself to the public.," the Emperor spoke.
Luffy, dazed but not down, stood up. His heart pounded in his chest as he pushed through the rubble, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He knew that this was not the time to underestimate his opponent. Teach had always been a really unusual kind of fellow, but now, with the power of two Devil Fruits at his disposal, the stakes were even higher.
"You're not interested in Pluton, right? Lemme have it instead. I've got no interest in Wano, just what's underneath.," Blackbeard spoke.
"How's Team B going?," asked the Admiral to his subordinate.
"Devon's evolved to not have to touch someone to copy their looks. Shiryu's backing her up. Wolf will cause a ruckus on the Red Line. And Laffite's doing THAT solo task. Zehahahaha. Even if this botches up, we come up with Poseidon...," Augur spoke.
Teach then pulled out Caribou as he nervously darted around.
"Sorry, Straw Hat. You're just not a safe bet to bet on. I've already told him about Pluton and Poseidon. I've heard about and I even had the pleasure of taking her- the latter.," the scared pirates spoke to Luffy.
"Oh, you're still up? I'm not sure how you managed to get all the way from Elbaf in an instant...oh, the Nidavell. Tontata were given their name to hide the existence of the original inhabitants of Elbaf? Did they tell how the Giants colonized and committed genocide on their people to establish their new home? To the point, Elbaf is associated with them?," asked Teach.
Luffy instead generated Infusion as he dashed towards the Emperor, punching him in the gut. Teach yelled in pain due to his Devil Fruit increasing the suffering of his injuries.
"Shuddup. Ace is dead because of you! Don't think you can walk here and take what you want. I'm not like before...I'm at my peak.," Luffy spoke as he turned into Gear 5.
Augur looked at the form as he warped away...only for Luffy to grab the warp indication and flick it away, causing him to become a twinkle in the sky. Teach was briefly distraught before calming down with the notion that Augur could just warp back.
"Zehahahaha. Nika...or rather Gomu, the spirit of Liberation. Your Theo is indeed dangerous. I have to go Gears myself.," spoke Teach as he began to violently bleed out.
Luffy looked in bewilderment as Teach transformed- His skin turned deathly pale, his ears elongated, his teeth became yellow and fanged, his eyes became blood red, and he then snarled.
Luffy tilted his head in confusion before snapping, "Oi, Logias can't do that! Quit and use Darkness, you rule breaker!"
"You haven't heard the term mislabelling before, have you? This is the Human-Human: Moon God Madden- I went by the Darkness-Darkness because it's better to hide your aces till the right time. You can easily tamper with a conventional Logia. So Gear 1: Negateman doesn't work. You've eaten the Gomu-Gomu Fruit, a Theo- a very rare kind of Devil Fruit. It's been renamed the Human-Human: Sun God Nika and later the Rubber-Rubber Fruit.," explained Teach.
Luffy's head sizzled from the complex information he was getting hit with, but he pushed aside his confusion for the time being. This was a battle, and he had to focus. The ground rumbled as Teach's transformed body grew larger, his fists crackling with a mix of dark energy and trembling power.
He sprouted blood arms from his back as Luffy's eyes popped out in shock before turning his eyes into wheels to dash away from the arms.
"Luffy! What is that form that Fiend Blackbeard is turning into? He's forgetting he's a Logia! Treacherous Cheater!," shouted a familiar voice.
Luffy's eyes, teeth, and tongue burst out of his face as he saw Yamato chase Holed'em, Jack, Ulti, Black Maria, Page One, Sasaski, and Who's Who among the remaining Beast Pirates who managed to escape Kibi.
"Piss off, we're making a ship to get the fuck outta here. The world's gonna sink! Elbaf and the Red Line are the only places likely high enough to avoid it," Who's Who spoke.
"Trying to make a party from the civilians? Even without Kaido, you're still up to no good!," shouted the Oni child with Tama riding Komachiyo.
"Oi, Yama-bro. Tama. I got here thanks to Real Dwarfs- they're like short Giants but mysterious and stuff. What're you doing?," asked Luffy.
"I'd like to talk but these guys are trying to leave Wano to cause more trouble.," Yamato said.
"Once we're outta your hair, we'll never interact with you again. Turn the other-," Page One spoke before seeing Teach.
"Emperor Teach?," asked Who's Who before the arms turned into ravenous blood dragons as they fired boiling red plasma.
"He's not a Logia?!," asked Sasaki.
"Zehahahaha. The jig's up. I am a Zoan- the counterpart of Gomu. The moon to his sun. The Darkness to his light.," spoke Teach as the torrents headed towards them.
Yamato quickly turned into his hybrid form as he blew ice to freeze.
"I'm still getting used to Gear 2: Blood-Man. How about Gear 3: Knightman?," asked Teach as he turned into a fully armored knight version of himself including a knight visor over his eyes.
"W-what the hell?," asked Sasaki. "His Zoan doesn't follow the common procedure! That can't be a hybrid or Beast form! He can't be a Logia either. It must be a Paramecia!"
Suddenly, they all were paralyzed as metallic bumps appeared on their skin.
"What the hell? Dragging us into this...," spoke Black Maria.
"Zehahahahaha. I'm accessing the trace metal in your bodies. People inevitably eat iron in their diet.," spoke Teach.
Luffy chewed and proceeded to blow from his mouth, a bubble of iron that exploded much to Teach's surprise. The Straw Hat felt queasy afterward, however.
"You need iron in your blood to survive, otherwise your oxygen levels will get dangerously low. It's not like there's a way for-," Teach spoke before seeing Komachiyo find and give Luffy meat after paying for it from a local vendor. He then recovered much to the Emperor's shock.
"How long is it gonna take?," muttered Teach to himself as he then transformed again- this time into an owl humanoid.
"He keeps on changing and getting weirder and weirder.," complained Luffy as he changed into a giant to fight this version of Blackbeard.
Luffy attempted to attack from behind but Blackbeard's head turned 360 degrees as his arms also rotated backward as he flung feathers at Luffy and Yamato. For some reason, Luffy and Yamato became disoriented and fainted.
"Damnit...that's dirty...," Luffy cursed, figuring out the feathers had something to do with it. He also noticed that the golem's eyes he was looking at in the distance had vanished.
Luffy realized Teach was using himself as bait for his real objective.
Moments Earlier
Pizarro had merged with the island and appeared in a cavernous place with a worn-down metallic material that implied this area was once very high-tech of a bygone era. He then vomited out Shot, Burgess, and Kuzan.
"Nyayayayayayaya. Teach is really coming into his own. That quack doctor we took in secretly really paid off. He's now stronger than before. I'll still make a name for myself through this catastrophe.," spoke the rock formation taking on the Corrupt King's likeness.
"Wiiihahaha. Did you feel a bit guilty over their deaths?," asked Burgess to Kuzan, the former Admiral.
"It was a necessary evil. Sakazuki won't have anyone he'll be able to talk to on an even level...and he's going to become reckless and easier to exploit...as for Satu- I mean Ezekiel...while we respect the Elders...I feel like he had it coming as a hunch.
Pizarro looked at the hidden shadows on both sides- being surprised of what they looked like. Two different PLUTONs- ships that supposedly can wipe out an island in a single strike. While the Corrupt King looked with elation, Kuzan turned his head away from one of them.
"It's going to be in our custody...still, it looks like something the Devil would make. And I'm talking about the slander people give to criminals.," Kuzan noted.
"Hey, there's another one. What do we do?," asked Burgess.
"Let's fry it and cook it.," Shot suggested.
Suddenly, this thing opened its eyes as it woke up, causing the underground to rumble and the quakes to head upward.
Wano- Surface
Teach smirked as crevasses began to open. Caribou darted around and nervously went into a pot.
Luffy looked in confusion as a darkened figure emerged from the opening as the villagers observed what it was.
"It's a...," spoke Tama.
"MOLE!," shouted the populace.
Indeed, it was a gigantic mole covered in skeletal armor and high-tech electronic symbols. It has a drill for a nose and purple ripple pattern irises.
PLUTON (TRUE)- Ancient Weapon.
"Finally, we can talk from them.," spoke a voice that caught Teach's attention.
"Who's there?," asked Teach.
What no one was paying attention to was the rising, colored winds with oddly spectral faces emerging from the Mole's body, going all around the world.
Next Chapter: Imposter
Author Notes: While Luffy and Teach's fight was the highlight, the true importance issue was the reveal of PLUTON- being a Mole according to some prominent fan theories.
