Izuku felt Dressrosa before he saw the island. For all that the people smiled as they walked the streets, for all the cavorting and dancing the toys did, for all the coin changing hands, music filling the air, and pleasant smells wafting in over the sea breeze, the island felt like a gilded cage. No matter how sweetly the bird sang, no matter how sumptuous the food or clean the water, they were still trapped within.
As the Thousand Stormy pulled into the dock, Izuku hopped down, stepping into the cage. The streets around the dock were empty, save for one figure waiting to greet him. An amorphous blob of a man, dripping from beard to robes with mucus, sauntered up. The man leaned in close enough that the dribble of snot running from his nose threatened to touch Izuku's face.
"Ne ne," Trebol said. "You kept Doffy waiting! We were starting to get worried you'd be late for the tournament."
Izuku held his ground. He was half-tempted to let a stray spark shock Trebol through his mucus, but he had a feeling the other presences watching the exchange closely wouldn't take kindly to it.
"We're here, and he never specified he was expecting us early. Are we going to get started, or are you going to keep dragging this out?"
Trebol frowned. "Such disrespect. I should kill you for that, ne?" When Izuku didn't even flinch under the threat, Trebol backed away. "But for someone of your stature, a little disrespect can be overlooked. Your men are welcome to find lodgings within the city. Dressrosa has no shortage of hotels and taverns."
"Are there any rules I should be aware about?" Izuku asked idly. Areas that are off limit, that kind of thing?"
"Behehehehe!" Trebol chortled. "We make no secret about what's off limits. You're welcome to try your luck. Just be warned that you won't be getting anyone back, ne ne?"
Izuku mulled the response over. Either the Donquixote pirates had little of value to hide and wanted Izuku to waste his time, or they were so supremely confident in their defenses that even the prospect of Izuku snooping around gave them no fear. Most likely, defenses in the form of a Devil Fruit guarded their secrets.
As his attention wandered, he felt out with his Haki, hoping to find some clue about whatever they were hiding. There weren't any unusual concentrations of people that he could sense, but what struck him as odd was that he could sense the toys.
"Those toys seem really cool?" Izuku asked. "Who made them?"
"Behehehehe! They're a Dressrosa specialty. You'll have to forgive me if I don't tell you how they're made, ne?"
"Any chance I can take one with me?"
"Nope! They need to be recharged every night. If they went away with you, they'd be a lump of wood before long."
The toys were likely Doflamingo's eyes and ears amongst the kingdom. He'd have to pass the word on to the others.
"That's a shame. I know Luffy would love to have one for a crewmate. Especially if they could make music."
"Well, have your captain swear himself to Doffy, and maybe we can make it happen. Behehehehe!"
"I'll be sure to pass the message on the next time I see him."
Trebol raised an eyebrow, evidently not believing a word he said. "You best get moving. There's an hour left before sign-ups close, a Marine Admiral is stationed on the island, and Diamante will need to speak with you beforehand, to lay out the terms of Doffy's little game, ne?"
"An Admiral?" Izuku asked. "Aokiji?"
"Nope! It's the newest one, Fujitora. You might want to wear a disguise if you're walking around, ne?"
Izuku debated asking if he could simply beat up the Admiral, but it wouldn't do to tip his hand to Doflamingo. The Warlord might get cold feet if he knew that Izuku was far stronger than the last time they had fought.
"Have anything that I can borrow?"
As it happened, the Donquixote pirates had a golden helm, bushy white beard, and giant red cloak. Izuku felt ridiculous striding down the streets in such a get-up, but no one gave him a second glance.
At the colosseum, the attendant gave him one look and told him to head down the hall. Izuku headed down the deserted hallway and felt a presence waiting for him. The door was open, and Diamante held up a glass of wine to his nose as Izuku entered.
"Observation Haki," Diamante noted. "Was pretty likely given you had Armament, but the boss wanted me to make sure."
"He could've just asked."
Diamante grinned. "Where would be the fun in that? But I didn't invite you here to ferret out your secrets. No, we have a splendid game before us. A challenge, a battle of wits and wills, and a prize waiting for your claim."
Diamante swirled the wine and took a sip. "But, of course, the rabble out there is far too easy for someone who can go toe to toe with a Warlord. And there's also the matter of the Admiral, who will be personally attending the spectacle. Not to mention, if you were to participate, there wouldn't be a soul in the stands betting against you. Therefore, it's entirely necessary that you maintain your disguise. No Devil Fruit powers. No Rokushiki, or at least, nothing obvious, and keep the Haki to a minimum."
"That's quite a handicap," Izuku said flatly.
"If you think the challenge beyond you, you're welcome to try your luck somewhere else."
As sorely tempted as Izuku was to leave the island behind, he didn't spend three months sailing for Dressrosa and whipping his makeshift crew into shape just to call it quits before he started.
"Basically, as long as I don't get recognized, it's fair game, right?"
"Exactly so. I take it you'll participate, then?"
"Sure. I could use a workout."
"Excellent. And have you thought of a stage name? You can't exactly use your name or moniker."
"Eh, just call me Deku."
"Worthless?" Diamante sneered. "How amusing. Very well, I've kept you long enough. Get signed up and wait for the round to begin."
Once he got registered under his pseudonym, Izuku strode past racks of weapons, took a long metal staff that felt right in his hands, and roamed about the waiting area. Pirates and thugs milled about in groups, sharpening weapons and glaring daggers at their competitors. Standing above it all, wreathed in beams of sunlight shining through the open roof, stood an enormous marble statue of a mighty gladiator.
Izuku stepped closer to the statue. Its surface was smooth and even, with sharp lines carved into its stony chin and abs. At its base, the inscription was blank and smooth.
"They say he was the mightiest gladiator ever," a woman said next to Izuku. "He won a thousand battles in a row and won his freedom. It's one of my favorite parts of this island."
Izuku glanced at her. The armor seemed more for show than actual protection, though the massive shield and sword strapped to her back looked plenty effective enough.
"What happened after?"
"Nobody knows. No one remembers who he was, or even if he existed."
"That's weird."
The woman turned. "Why is that weird?"
"The stone they used for the statue doesn't match the colosseum. It's much newer. Most of the stonework around us is worn away, but the statue still has well-defined features."
"But the inscription is gone."
"If it was erosion, there'd still be some residual traces of it, protrusions that could be analyzed with the right tools." Izuku ran a hand over the statue. "This was defaced. Hard to tell how long ago. Robin would know more."
"Robin?"
"An archaeologist I sailed with. She would've had a better idea when the statue was made."
"So, you're saying the statue isn't that old?"
"Fifty years at most."
The woman peered back up at the statue, as if seeing it for the first time. "But nobody remembers who this is."
"And that's why it's strange." Izuku leaned away from the statue and turned to face her. "But there's a lot of strange things in the Grand Line, and sometimes, a statue's just a statue."
"I guess. I'm Rebecca, by the way."
Izuku almost gave his own name, before saying, "You can call me Deku."
"Not giving your real name? I had a feeling you'd be one to watch. At least tell me you're not in Block D."
"Block C."
Rebecca smiled. "Good. I'd hate to have to take you out before the final round."
"You're awfully sure of yourself."
"I've won nine hundred and ninety nine fights." Rebecca looked up at the statue. "This will be my last. Then I will have my freedom and the grand prize."
Izuku thought about offering her the freedom and the prize. He had no need of the hundred SMILE touted as the grand prize, and in all likelihood, he'd have to fight Doflamingo anyways. But then he wondered how he would feel if someone offered him everything he wanted without having to fight for it. He already had a taste of it being given the Number One hero position, and he had no desire to taste it again.
"See you in the final round, then."
As Groups A and B went out to compete, the waiting area grew empty and quiet. None of the competitors, victors or vanquished alike, returned to the waiting area. Izuku felt the unconscious sparks of fallen warriors vanish as they were carried away on stretchers. Somehow, Izuku had a feeling they weren't receiving that complementary medical treatment he had heard about.
That was fine. Izuku had no intention of losing.
Once his turn came around, Izuku followed his opponents into the giant circular arena. The combatants all stood in a ring around the arena's edge, waiting for the match to start with the crowd roared with excitement.
"We've had two exciting matches so far, and two victors waiting for their shot at the grand prize. Now, let's give it up for our third round of contestants!"
The crowd went wild, and their shouts echoed off the masonry, until the cheers hummed against Izuku's chest. On impulse, he twirled his spear with one hand, thumped it against the ground, and stared up at the crowd.
The announcer made note of the more notorious combatants on the field, but having not paid much attention to bounty posters, Izuku had no idea who any of them were. He only paid attention enough to make sure they didn't slip his name in there.
"Let the round… begin!"
The two gladiators adjacent to Izuku rushed towards him. One swung a sword at his neck, and the other tried to split his skull with an axe. Izuku sidestepped the axe and caught the sword with his staff. Sparks flew as the edge dragged aside. Izuku planted a foot on the axe, keeping the man behind him from raising it, and threw a jab into the swordsman's chin.
As the portly combatant yanked on his axe, Izuku swung the quarterstaff back. Teeth flew as the steel smashed in his jaw. The swordsman lunged. Izuku parried with the staff, hooked his foot behind the man's leg, and shouldered him into the ground. A quick stomp had the man going limp with a groan.
Two arms wrapped around Izuku from behind. As the man tried to squeeze, Izuku leapt, tipping them both backwards in an involuntary suplex. His assailant smacked head-first into the ground, and his arms slackened enough for Izuku to wriggle free. He flipped back onto his feet just in time to bend out of the way of a jagged knife. The scarred man scowled, threw a handful of sand at him, and disappeared back into the fray.
With a momentary lull in the action, Izuku surveyed the crowd. Knots of fighters had formed, with groups working to take down the more notorious fighters among them. Izuku wondered if he should join the fray, to remove the larger threats to his victory, or wait until all the fighting tired them out.
Heavy footsteps made the decision for him. Izuku turned to see a giant bearing down on him, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck.
"Have you no pride?" The giant bellowed. "Will you stand there, watching the others fight, while you wait like a vulture to pick over the scraps?"
"Actually, I was looking to see which fight looked the most fun," Izuku said amiably. "Guess you made the choice for me."
The giant grinned. "Big words for a little man. Know that I, Hajrudin, will be the one to defeat you today. Now, take this!"
His fist crashed down, cratering the arena. Stones went flying. Izuku flowed through them like water, sprinted up the giant's arm, and smacked the giant's head with his quarterstaff. The blow barely made him flinch. The giant swatted at him, and Izuku dove behind the giant.
"Is that all?" Hajrudin asked. "I barely felt that."
Izuku gritted his teeth. He could've ended the fight in any number of ways, like Haki, his Devil Fruit, Geppo or Shigan to give his blow more force, but with Doflamingo's rules in place, those options went out the window. All he had was a metal staff with a giant head-shaped dent in it, a helmet he'd trust less than his own skull, and his fists.
Izuku was proud of his fists, but he had to admit he had nothing on the massive blunt instruments of death pounding a new topography into the arena floor. As he ducked and wove around the blows, his thoughts raced through all his notes on gigantism and its weaknesses. Once he got a game plan, he went in for the kill.
Hajrudin, expecting Izuku to keep retreating, overshot his next punch. Izuku raced under it and swung his staff with all his might at his shin. With a thunderous curse, the giant clutched at their shin and hopped on one foot. Izuku rolled the staff under the foot, then kicked the giant's other leg. The staff slipped out from underneath Hajrudin. Tipped off-balance, the giant lurched forward. He swung his arms to catch himself, but Izuku wasn't waiting for him to hit the ground. Standing underneath Hajrudin's darkening shadow, Izuku braced himself and punched upward. His fist caught Hajrudin between the eyes with a resounding smack.
The giant's sudden lack of consciousness did nothing to stop his fall. Struggling under the dead weight, Izuku shuffled out, dusted himself off, and looked for his staff. He found it in the eyes of a heavy-set man wearing a cactus on his head.
"Are you going to give that back, or am I going to have to beat you up for it?" Izuku called out.
The man scurried off, towards fallen bodies and more discarded weapons.
"Rude."
Izuku didn't feel like chasing after some guy over a bent piece of metal, but he still had to respect the principle of the matter. Izuku wove through sword strikes and punches as he chased his elusive quarry. Once the man noticed Izuku on his trail, he flung a massive greatsword at Izuku's head. Izuku parried with his forearm, clipping a man behind him. An axe swung end over end in its wake, and Izuku kicked it into the air. It landed haft-first onto someone's skull, and they dropped like a rock.
Weapons of all shapes and sizes flew with unerring precision. Without Haki, they wouldn't have left a scratch on Izuku, but he could hardly risk the Admiral noticing his Devil Fruit. He ducked and wove, dodged and sidestepped, deflected and leapt over an entire arsenal. It took all his concentration to simply dodge, without relying on Rokushiki or making his Haki too obvious, and the onslaught of weapons had him slowly backing away.
He felt a moment of opportunity as the bent quarterstaff made its way into the bounty hunter's hands. Izuku raced forward, kicking dust with every step. Spooked into throwing early, the man threw the weapon straight on. The bent weapon flew off course. Izuku snatched it as it passed his shoulder, swatted away a machete, and cracked the man under the chin. His cactus-looking hat fell off, revealing prickly green hair in almost the exact same shape.
"What's the point of the hat?" Izuku asked. "Is it armor, or to keep the hairstyle in place?"
The bounty hunter was too unconscious to answer. As Izuku pondered the deeper mysteries of plant-themed headwear, a noisy throat-clearing interrupted him.
Izuku turned. An elderly man loomed over him. Knives, axes and swords stuck out of his chest, but he paid the bloodless gashes no mind.
"Are you quite done?"
"Yeah, sorry, got a bit distracted. Are we the only two left?"
"All those weapons you deflected got everybody else," the man snapped. "Including my grandsons."
"Huh. Are they okay?"
The elderly man seemed taken aback by the question. "With how much they are complaining, they should be. Wouldn't have the energy for it otherwise."
"Good. I'd hate to kill somebody's grandkids, even by accident."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be an insult?"
"No? Why would it be?"
"You don't know who I am?"
"Wasn't paying attention to the announcer."
"The name's Don Chinjao." The man inclined his head, exposing the crooked point. "Many years ago, Garp gave me this wound. Ever since, I was a shell of the man I used to be, not even able to access the vast riches I stashed away on a continent of ice. I vowed eternal revenge against the man, and though that old Marine remains beyond my reach, I'd be more than willing to settle for his grandson."
"You know who I am, then."
Don Chinjao grinned. "Word gets around, kid. Isn't exactly hard to hear about you breaking out of Impel Down and stealing a Marine frigate, catching your scuffle with Doflamingo on the newspaper, then connecting the dots to a suspiciously familiar Marine frigate pulling into the docks. You might not be the Straw Hat I want, but you'll be the perfect bait to lure out the little pest. Once I've beaten him too, then I can cash in both of your bounties." Chinjao rubbed his hands together and grinned. "Can you imagine it? I'll have Garp give me the money personally. Ha! I'll make the man pay me for his own grandson's head."
"That all assumes you can beat me."
"You're dangerous, but you've been sandbagging this fight. Something tells me that has to do with the Admiral in the stands."
Izuku cracked his knuckles. "Don't expect me to be a pushover because of it."
Chinjao's hands darkened, and purple wisps of Haki drifted in the air. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
The elderly man rocketed forward. Izuku jumped and flipped over his shoulders as a punch shattered the ground. Izuku flung a kick at his head, only to wince as rock-hard Haki blocked the blow.
"That all you got, brat? My wife hits me harder than that!"
"I do not need to know what you get up to in the bedroom, old man."
Chinjao's brow twitched. "Cheeky brat. Let's see how you handle this!"
Chinjao slammed his head into the ground. A shockwave rippled outward, kicking up jagged stone spikes. Izuku leapt aside, rolling to his feet just as the spikes passed him. Chinjao rushed forward, throwing another punch. Too unsteady to dodge, Izuku braced his arms and took the attack. He felt the air sizzle as their wills clashed.
"You have Conqueror's Will too," Chinjao said, pushing harder on Izuku. "But your spirit is weak! You have no conviction!"
Izuku gritted his teeth as the pressure increased. He felt his breathing falter as the weight of the presence before him squeezed his chest.
"My time has come and gone." Chinjao tilted his bent head. "But my quest for revenge pushes me onward. I will not falter, brat! I will make Garp pay for the long years I've suffered. You cannot hope to stand against my will!"
As Izuku felt his vision dimming, he realized Chinjao was right. He had lost that burning ambition to be a hero, lost the goal he had built his life around. He might not have any idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, but he knew one thing very well. He had his own vengeance to take.
His Haki roared like a living flame. Chinjao grunted as the battle of wills tipped in the other direction. Pushing himself to his feet, Izuku stared down Chinjao and said, "Akainu killed my mother. Until I've turned him into a bloody smear on the ground, I won't quit either."
Chinjao grinned. "Now that's more like it. But a brief flame like yours has nothing on the embers I've stoked for decades. Now, take this! Hasshoken!"
Haki sprung across Chinjao's forehead as he slammed it at Izuku. The world slowed to a crawl around Izuku. His arms were still holding back Chinjao's hands, and he had a feeling that taking Chinjao's Haki head-on would split his skull. All that was left free were Izuku's legs. Dodging would take Rokushiki and break the rules Doflamingo set, but he could still use Haki with them. He didn't have any leg-based moves of his own, but he did have a mentor he could borrow from.
"Luna Arc!"
His leg swung in a silver blur the shape of a crescent moon. His foot slammed into the awkward bend in Chinjao's scalp, knocking it aside with a gut-wrenching snap. Chinjao's Haki flickered out, and the man teetered on his feet. His eyes rolled back. He fell backwards onto the ground, and his head split the arena in two as it smacked the ground.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a victor!" the announcer roared. "He came into this arena a nobody and now stands as a champion! Give it up for Deku!"
Izuku politely waved at the cheering crowd, before sourly noting that he had given in to old habits from being a hero. He walked off before the Doflamingo's crew could rope him into anything else.
Still wearing his disguise, Izuku headed out into the streets. He carefully prodded and felt some of his crew snooping around the giant Sea-Prism tower. Marco made his way closer, then vanished. Izuku strode quickly after the echo of his Haki, trying to avoid prying eyes, then stopped.
"Weird. Where am I going?"
Izuku took another few steps forward. The only notable landmark in that direction was the giant Sea Prism tower. Izuku gave the building a wary stare before turning away. He didn't know what was going on with it, but so long as Doflamingo gave him that Eternal Pose and let him leave, it was none of his concern.
He wasn't a hero anymore, no matter how much he itched to turn around and punch Doflamingo's teeth into his intestines.
A/N: I'M ALIVE!
Ugh. Took way too long to get this done. Most of the problem was me writing half a chapter of Izuku going to Fishman Island before realizing he had nothing to do there. Luffy had come and gone, and while I could rehash what happened there, it felt pointless. All that really left were time-wasters like throwing a party, a training montage, or showing off bounty posters. So, half a chapter got unceremoniously deleted, and then I had to brush up on the Dressrosa arc earlier than I was expecting.
In other news, I made cheese. From scratch. Specifically, I took a crack at making Ras Malai for my dad's birthday. It's essentially a dessert with sliced pistachios and milk sweetened milk flavored with saffron and cardamom. The chenna (cheese) had too loose a texture and I used too much saffron, but it was otherwise fine. This has led me down the rabbit hole of trying to make other cheeses. Game plan is homemade pepper jack.
CHANGELOG: 3/20/25 – added a bit to Chinjao's dialogue to make it clearer he knows it's Izuku under the helmet, and not Luffy.