Chapter 17: Bounce Back

After leaving his brother in Wano and presumably returning to his original timeline, Luffy found himself instead being pulled in several different ways. In one way he was being pulled towards something that made his skin crawl. In another pure joy was pulling him towards it. Truthfully Luffy was curious about both and didn't know which way would lead him home. The feeling of pure joy won out between the two and thus Luffy was flung towards it. The white wispy clouds surrounding him protected Luffy in this form as he broke through into another timeline different from his. This time Luffy could feel the difference between timelines. This one felt older, way older than where he was from.

"It's about time you showed up brat." The voice was deep and smooth behind him.

Upon turning around Luffy was forced to look up. The man wore a similar strawhat to his only bigger and his was torn and missing a small piece to it. The man was somewhat a giant. Bigger than Luffy but smaller than the giants from Little Garden, perhaps the size of old man Whitebeard. Luffy decided this man was definitely the size of his brother's old captain. "Shishishi." Luffy laughed lightly. "I've never met you before."

"Of course not." The giant stated. "You were not ready. You hadn't awakened your fruit to its fullest extent."

Luffy cocked his head at the man. "Who are you?" He asked. "How do you know about my fruit."

The man grinned when suddenly his black hair and beard suddenly began to bleed white. His clothes changing from dirty ones to ethereal like as they too turned white. The giant grinned widely. "Like you I too ate the same fruit as you but it goes by another name." Luffy cocked his head in confusion. "You know if by the Gomu Gomu no Mi. I know it by its original name. Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika."

"Nika." Luffy repeated at he brought his hand up and looked at it. He recalled Robin talking about that person while they had been leaving Skypia.

"It is classified as a Mythical Zoan-type fruit that allows one to transform into the legendary god Nika." the giant explained as he looked at the billowing clouds around himself and Luffy's bodies.

"Why do I need to know this?" Luffy asked. "You haven't even told me who you are." He frowned. "For all I know you are a new enemy trying to confuse me." He glared at the man, his haki simmering under the surface. "What do you want?"

The man chuckled again, loving the energy coming off of his successor. The boy was strong, perhaps even stronger than himself in some ways. Perhaps the generation this boy came from would be the ones to stop the coming darkness and the monsters within the world government. "What I want is for the world government to stop pressing its will upon the people. For the people to be free to become what they dream of. I want my family to be free to choose their path in life! I want my friends to be able to go after their dreams and achieve them!" He leaned forward closer to Luffy. "I want freedom for all who want, dream or wish for it."Luffy's eyes were wide as he realized that this man's dream was very close to his. "What do you want?"

Luffy laughed lightly. "Shishishi." He looked into the giants eyes. "I want to be the King of the Pirates!"

"And how will you rule them?"

Luffy's laughter gained volume. "Being King doesn't mean ruling people or the sea or anything like that. It means I'm the free-ist person alive and that I can do anything."

"Baaahaha!" The giant laughed loudly, Luffy joining him in his joyful laughter. "Boy, I wish I could journey with you! Your adventure surely is just getting interesting!"

"Yes! It is!" Luffy agreed. "I only just brought down Kaidou, the King of Beasts! He was terrorizing Wano! Before that I fought Big Mom, 'Mingo and-"

"Whoa!" The giant held his hand out. "You don't have to tell me. I can already tell. The fruit only would have awakened once you have gone through several life altering battles." He stood up from his constant squat in front of the boy. "Mine awoke when I was betrayed by a crewmate that I considered family." He looked off in the distance pain in his eyes from the pain of that day. "I failed to destroy that person before they became a threat and now from time to yourself they have done everything in their power to destroy my legacy." He noticed Luffy picking his nose acting as if he wasn't paying attention and chuckled. "I know this is boring to you now, but one day soon we will meet again. It will be that day that we fight side by side."

Luffy raised a brow. "Will you force me to fight as your subordinate?" He asked sounding annoyed.

"Never."

Luffy grinned. "Then I'll look forward to that day and perhaps we can have a friendly duel afterwards." The giant laughed at this. Suddenly Luffy felt the all familiar pull again.

"Oh and as for my name." The giant looked at the floating boy in front of him knowing he was close to leaving."History calls me one name as my crew knows me by another. Joyboy is the title the world has bestowed upon me." He grinned as Luffy began to disappear meaning he was returning home. "My name is Monkey D.-"

Luffy's eyes burst opened he found himself lying on a futon with a warm blanket covering his body. His stomach rumbled loudly. The memories of the night before rushed through his mind. From seeing Ace to the JoyBoy he had heard Robin talk about obsessively. Next to him he could sense Zoro's energy. His friend was waking up as well.

Sitting up Luffy decided he wanted one thing first and foremost. "I WANT MEAT!"

"AND BOOZE!" Zoro yelled out as the servants who had been waiting for them to awaken ran off to tell the master that his friends were awake and hungry. There would be a celebration later for the hero pirates that had saved a country from two dictators but for now Luffy just needed his hunger satisfied.

M-Angel: Thought I would get another chapter out for Labor Day weekend. My sinuses are doing so much better today. I am sure everyone has an opinion about who JoyBoy is. My theory is that he is an ancestor of Luffy's from the void century. I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later.

Kharaki Taken - Thanks!

Find True Strength - Aw. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story.