One Piece Fan Fiction / Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Cruise ❯ Weaknesses - Fight Against Time and Power! ( Chapter 27 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own One Piece, Teen Titans, or any characters or elements contained within. I believe these can be credited to the geniuses Eiichiro Oda [author and artist of OP], Marv Wolfman and George Perez [respective author and artist of The New Teen Titans comic of the eighties], and Glen Murakami and his talented crew [the staff of the Teen Titans animated series, the Titans version which this story is based off.] Thanks for developing these wonderful characters I have the pleasure of using in this story!

 

Any original characters, however, belong to Pivitor. Remember it!

 

 

The Ultimate Cruise:

One Piece meets Teen Titans

 

Chapter 27: Weaknesses—Fight Against Time and Power!

 

The ground shook, rock tumbling from the ceiling and entire walls crumbling as explosives detonated throughout the underground fortress of Slade. In only minutes the entire compound would be nothing but rubble. Despite that ominous fate, five beings still remained within the doomed cavern—each tangled within the life-and-death web the Iso-jin had weaved.

 

“Rubber Pistol!”

 

A boy twisted as he soared through the air, his elastic body stretching from the force of his leap as his elongated arm soared forward. The attack's target, a crimson clad man with white hair, floated in the path of the oncoming punch as if it was nothing. He was Iso, a man with control over energy itself whose goal was just as impressive—the total domination of two worlds!

 

Meanwhile, the rubberman was Monkey D. Luffy, the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Steam flew from the boy's ears as he attacked—thoughts of Iso's many deeds ran through his head. Not only had he and his minions threatened the lives of Luffy's friends and the entire world, but he had insulted Gold Roger! If Luffy was ever to ascend to Roger's vacant spot as King of the Pirates, he couldn't let this deed go unpunished!

 

Smirking, Iso twisted to the side and let the punch roar past him, and then wrapped his arm around his opponent's rubber appendage, catching it in a lock. “Not too smart,” he mocked.

 

“Again!” Luffy cried, not wasting a moment in throwing another Rubber Pistol with his free arm. And, again, Iso caught this attack beneath his other arm.

 

“I've immobilized you,” Iso smirked. “Definitely not sm—”

 

“Rubber…” Not caring what position he was in, Luffy began another attack. He started somersaulting, spinning his entire body in circles, suspended between his two ensnared arms. Iso's eyes shot open wide—not smart?! The imbecile had somehow planned this entire attack!

 

“…BUZZSAW!”

 

With a snap the pirate's arms retracted, sending his whirling `blade' of a body straight for the evil powerhouse. Only moments before the strike would have landed Iso disappeared in a flash of white, reappearing on the cavern floor far below his still spinning opponent.

 

Before he even had a chance to gloat a steel-toed boot plowed into his face. Iso stumbled backwards as a green and red clad boy wasted not a moment in launching another attack.

 

He was Robin, an acrobatic detective and leader of the Teen Titans. He had sworn to protect this city, and he would defend it from slime like Iso with his very life!

 

“Luffy may be no genius,” Robin admitted, “but you're not all that smart either!” As he taunted Iso the Boy Wonder swung a hook, and as the disoriented villain managed to slap it aside he was overtaken by a kick upside his chin. With the same leg Robin contorted for another strike, but Iso blocked it with his forearm—only for the Titan to use it for a boost to soar above Iso's defense and deliver a powerful right hook!

 

Robin's opponent skidded across the floor, and the teen wasted no time in catching up. “I mean, would a smart guy be wasting his power teleporting from attacks he claims are `nothing for him' when he needs every ounce of energy to teleport out of this death trap?!”

 

Finally gaining his bearings Iso caught a punch within his massive palm, but Robin used his opponent's grip to pull himself forward and land a sickening shot to the gut. Regaining his arm as the crimson-clad man started to drop, the Titan prepared for a cross-chop across the head. However, Iso had finally had enough with the endless barrage.

 

“Insolent brat!” he cried as wind whirled from his body, ripping small shards of Robin's costume—and skin—straight off. As Iso prepared to up the attack to hurricane levels he found himself enveloped in an assault of rubber appendages.

 

“Rubber Fireworks!” Luffy cried as he twisted his body into a rapid storm of attacks that rained fists and sandals upon Iso. Knowing Robin had been correct, Iso decided to implement a less wasteful course of action; a faint golden halo appeared around his body as energy he had stolen from Terra was sacrificed to send a pillar of stone into the rubberman. Monkey D. Luffy landed next to his friend, both battered.

 

Iso frowned as he continued. “We must be a trio of idiots then,” he grunted. “Why do you two risk your lives in a fight you know you can't win?”

 

“Our lives are in danger every day,” Robin replied nonchalantly as he rose to his feet. “This is nothing special.”

 

“Yeah!” Luffy agreed as he wiped dirt from his shirt. “Our dreams are worth risking our lives for!”

 

A smile crossed the white-haired man's face. “You must know I could escape this place and leave you to die any time you want. Your sacrifice would mean nothing.”

 

“Yet,” Robin smiled, “You won't. The `Great Power' Iso can't be seen running from a fight!”

 

“Of course he wouldn't,” Luffy continued. “That would make him a coward, right?” The way the boy was scratching his head made it doubtful he was just playing along.

 

Something inside of Iso snapped, and every last thought of leaving them to die evacuated his head. “Enough!” Suddenly he had exploded forward, planting his foot into Luffy's chin, and he followed the rubberman's flight through the air.

 

Robin heaved a sigh of relief. `Good. At least we've got him contained. Now the others have all the time to create a back-up plan!'

 

Luffy regained his bearings as he soared, somersaulting and planting his feet into the wall; the rock shifted beneath him from the force of the landing, but the boy wasn't planning on staying there long anyway.

 

“Rubber…” In a flash he was again soaring through the air, this time propelled by his own power. He spiraled like a well-thrown football, his arms and legs naturally stretching behind him, looking like the tail of a shooting star. “…COMET!”

 

The powerhouse's stomach might as well have had a target painted on it—the Rubber Comet struck straight in Iso's gut. If Iso had the power to stop a shooting star he sure didn't choose to use it as the rubberman propelled him towards the ground. The pirate's spiraling body created massive friction as it bore into its opponent, but strangely enough, this didn't bother him. Friction is just heat—even more power to absorb!

 

Iso's feet sunk into stone like it was sand as Luffy's technique tried to bury him—grinning diabolically, the white-haired man dared touch the spinning terror. Despite rotating fast enough to juice the world's largest radish, the boy's enemy was able to restrain him with no effort! Iso had a hand clamped down on each of the captain's arms, holding him well in place.

 

“Unfortunately, I haven't the pleasure of absorbing the impact of a real comet,” Iso lamented, “but if I had to imagine what it'd feel like, I'd wager this is pretty close.” Suddenly Luffy's face was enveloped by the palm of the `Great Power', and only a second later his hand literally exploded. Luffy flew as if launched from a medieval catapult, but Iso's hand was unharmed—as was quite expected.

 

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

 

With the same unexpected speed of his last technique Iso was now being attacked, and he just managed to strafe past a battle-ending blow. Blood leaked from a slash across his side, and if one followed the trail of the sacred fluid it led to the tip of a red and yellow sword, held in the hands of Robin the Boy Wonder.

 

Raising one perplexed eyebrow Iso inquired, “Didn't I already destroy that thing?”

 

Grinning, Robin slashed the weapon in front of him before pulling it behind his back, and pointing his other arm forward with two fingers outstretched. “It always pays to carry a spare.”

 

“Well no matter how many you have, those toys cannot stand up to real power!” Iso had already abandoned his hesitation long ago, and in the blink of an eye crimson energy had traveled down his arm and formed a blade. Before he could even react Robin's weapon had been effectively cut in two—and the detective was left holding nothing but a hilt.

 

Now wearing the same overconfident grin Robin had sported only moments before, Iso thrusted his other arm as a similar blade tore into the Titan's shoulder. Robin didn't even have a chance to scream before Iso's signature weapon reverted to its energy form—still embedded in the boy's shoulder, it shot him out of sight faster than a bullet.

 

However, even as blood leaked from his wound and his body slammed into one of the walls that hadn't yet been blown into oblivion, he was still ready for action. A Redbird boomerang—his last Redbird—fell from his belt into his hand and Robin wasted not a breath as he tossed the weapon with lethal accuracy.

 

Unfortunately, just one glance from Iso sent shards of the weapon flying in all directions, completely useless.

 

“I see you weren't kidding about not being afraid to put your life on the line,” Iso grunted as he watched Robin's face drop in despair. A ball of compressed energy sparked to life in the older man's palm. “But let's see if you can keep that courage as your life leaves your body!”

 

Despite Iso's intentions, however, Robin's will was left untested as a sandal-clad foot tore into his face. “Rubber Stamp!” Stumbling backwards, the impressions from the shoes' tread on Iso's face were still fresh for all to see.

 

“Bastard,” Luffy growled. “You can't treat my friend like that!” In a flash he was sprinting forward, both arms left stretching far behind him. “Rubber Ba—”

 

“I'm afraid I've gotten rather rusty on my physics,” Iso sighed, paying no attention to the attack name he'd just interrupted. The air around his hands started to ripple. “So please, bear with me as I remind myself what temperature rubber melts at!”

 

A rippling blast soared past the rubberman, and instantly steam started pouring from both his body and the ground. His shirt started to grow crispy and brittle; Luffy groaned as he noticed his sandal starting to stick onto the stone floor.

 

Yet, the freak weather pattern only lasted a brief moment—the break in the heat wave was brought about by a small, metal semi-staff tearing into the side of Iso's head. Completely ignoring the pain of his gored shoulder, Robin now stood with one of those semi-staffs—known as Escrima Sticks—in each hand. Small specks of Iso's blood dotted one of the rods.

 

“Sticks now?” Iso asked, amused despite the hit he had just taken. “When are you going to stop playing with toys?”

 

“Funny.” Robin span forward, becoming a streak of red, green and silver as he lashed out savagely. Tapping his foot against the ground Iso swooped behind one swing—and with the snap of his wrist both Escrima Sticks suddenly became white-hot.

 

Robin felt like he was holding the Sun. As fast as he could he chucked one of the rods towards Iso's head—though he easily evaded it by moving his neck—but only managed to drop the other to the ground. The palms of the Titan's gloves had been burned straight off.

 

Iso laughed. “See? You should have listened to my lesson about toys earlier.”

 

As the stick he had thrown bounced off the wall, Robin couldn't help but laugh as well. “But you haven't seen all my toy's special features yet!”

 

Suddenly the reflected Escrima Stick struck the back of Iso's head; not wasting a second, Robin hurled a powerful kick that would make Sanji proud into his mouth. “You see, it comes with special `surprise attack' action!”

 

However, this seemed to do nothing but enrage even further the already unstable powerhouse. Lightning started to spark up and down Iso's body, a much more foreboding sight than any thunder storm. “You insignificant, pitiful, weak little boy!”

 

The booming roar of thunder echoed through the air as enough electricity to stir-fry a pack of elephants soared towards the Teen Titan. There was no escaping this one—Robin could only watch in horror as doom closed in on him.

 

Until, with a snap, a single figure propelled himself in the path of the deadly attack.

 

Both Iso and Robin watched in stunned silence as that figure landed and laughed. Throwing his arms to the side, Luffy completely dissipated the electricity. Besides the steam that flew from his body, he was absolutely unharmed.

 

“You're right red guy,” Luffy laughed, “You have gotten rusty on your physics.” He cracked his knuckles and put up his fists. “Even I know rubber doesn't conduct electricity!”

 

 

 

Toa and Slade both flew backwards, reeling from the power of their exchanged attacks but already prepared to strike yet again. Slade already had his hands in his belt as he landed on a rafter, but unfortunately for him, his opponent was faster to the draw—and held a much more powerful weapon.

 

Taking full advantage of his enhanced reflexes, the masked man soared far above the simmering stream of chi that incinerated the rafter he had been perched upon. He hurled several disks of explosives, but they were worthless against the wall of pure life-force that leapt to life around the beautiful woman.

 

“Die!” Toa commanded as she lashed out with another beam aimed for her mid-air opponent. With incredible acrobatic prowess Slade managed to grab an overhead rafter, flipping atop it and out of the line of danger. He sat squatted on the bar like a bird on a power line.

 

“What a bad attitude,” Slade sighed. “Not to mention bad aim.” Toa started to growl at him. “How strange you're so angry at me—I'm not the one that double crossed somebody, you know.” Suddenly his voice dropped. “Not that I wasn't going to, but still…”

 

The oracle screamed as she unleashed another blazing stream of power. “But you were the one who ruined everything!”

 

In a blaze of speed Slade leapt ahead of the blast, and in that same instant unfurled his extendable staff, which pushed him into the woman's personal space. He hadn't been before her for even a second when, influenced by her boiling rage, she blasted him.

 

Or at least, attempted to. Once again the terrorist had the ability to outmaneuver her chi, but Toa did manage to destroy the I-beam they had been standing on. As she fell she lashed her hand into the air, but before the energy could even leave her fingers it was intercepted by a sparking blast of red from her opponent's blaster.

 

She snapped back her injured hand in pain as she landed, and only moments later Slade's foot landed on her shoulder. Energy sparked around her even as she fell to her knees, but now the merciless villain had the advantage as he grabbed her face. She cursed him, but the profanity was muffled out by the gloved palm.

 

Slade thrusted his knee into her stomach and then, letting go of his hold, span a devastating left into her face. Blood and a tooth tumbled from her mouth as she soared backwards, her flight only stopped by a support beam.

 

“Not so hot on defense, are you?” Slade probed, walking closer. “Your chi is powerful, but if you can't tell what I'm going to do next you might as well just knock yourself out and save me the time.”

 

Wiping tattered curls from her face, Toa hissed. She hated to admit that the bastard was right. She could feel her chi draining, plus she was taking damage! But perhaps things had changed, she told herself! Fate would never let her down!

 

“Yoken Yoken: Thirty Seconds Parallel Run!”

 

With a scream Slade charged—through one eye Toa could see the man coming, but in the other, in the eye that viewed the future, she could only see her and her love.

 

His fist lunged into her face, but she never saw it coming. Thirty seconds in the future, she could only see herself in the arms of Iso. They were celebrating the defeat of those children. It was the future she had been anticipating for decades. But it wasn't the future she was living!

 

Slade chuckled. “Not what you anticipated? Shame.”

 

“Don't laugh!” Toa roared as chi exploded around her, sending the one-eyed man tumbling backwards. “Just tell me what you did!”

 

As Slade climbed to his feet he just sighed. “There you go again, blaming everybody else when the fault plainly lies with yourself.”

 

“My fault?!” the woman repeated, dumbfounded. “MY FAULT?!?!” In a flash she unleashed a blast that tagged her aggravator's hand. With the injury, Slade could barely protect himself from a second attack. He only managed to turn just enough to prevent a lethal shot; blood exploded from his side as he fell to his knees.

 

Toa's remaining teeth clenched madly as chi built up around her like oncoming storm clouds. “I don't even care anymore how you tampered with my visions! I'll make you pay for it regardless!”

 

A massive, lumbering shot of pure hatred exploded from the Iso-jin, and it was just what Slade wanted. Thrusting one hand forward Slade screamed, and a small, pointed blast of chi shot out. It tore through the larger blast until it stabbed Toa in the stomach, treating her like a tourist in a dark alley.

 

Blood spurted from the wound and her throat as she fell backwards, her chi exhausted—her seemingly endless offense shattered by the damage she'd taken. Slade walked through the smoke of the attacks, steam flying from his hand.

 

Her face sagging, Toa could only manage to mutter a strained, “How?”

 

“All martial arts require an understanding of chi,” Slade explained. “I don't have nearly the control you do—yet—but after seeing it done, it wasn't hard to learn the basics on my own.”

 

She sighed, obviously struggling just to do something. Yet, she could no longer fight, no longer probe for answers, and no longer see the future. She cursed the hand fate had dealt her here.

 

Getting on one knee, Slade stared the woman straight in the eye. “Despite what you think, this is your fault.

 

“The future is fluid, and every decision we make changes its flow—I've seen enough time travel to know this to be fact.” Pausing, Slade frowned beneath his mask.

 

“Yet, you've clung to this concept of fate as a scapegoat! If fate is dictating everything you do, then you're never to blame! You've convinced yourself of this so thoroughly that—when the future deviated from what you'd seen—even your Devil's Fruit ability was unable to show you the new future!”

 

With a faint groan Toa tried to protest, but she simply didn't have the power. Rising, Slade grabbed her by her hair—once lovely, luscious curls that were now as ratty as her battered body—and dragged her towards the other fight.

 

“Fool,” Slade growled. “Fate doesn't control our lives. I've gotten as far as I've gotten because of my efforts—nobody else's!”

 

 

 

Sparks of electricity still sizzled across the unaffected rubberman as an explosion of crimson sent him and his companion soaring backwards. Iso took to the sky, fuming over the two boys. Here they were—mere boys—surviving against the most powerful man alive!

 

However, they were smart, he'd give them that. They'd kept him on the defensive, and selflessly defended each other against attacks that'd otherwise meant sure death! Well then, he'd have to separate them—and not give them a chance to fight back!

 

Robin reached to his belt, but his face drooped as he found nothing but grappling hooks and explosive disks—nothing worthwhile! “I'm out of weapons,” he sighed to his rubber teammate. “You got any ideas?”

 

A light bulb—or, in Luffy's case, perhaps a candle—flickered to life above his head as an idea sparked. “You bet! Just be ready to give me a hand!”

 

Leaping into the air, Monkey D. Luffy twisted his body as he span, until he had compressed and contorted into the shape of a small ball.

 

“Rubber…SUPER BOUNCY BALL!”

 

“THAT'S your master plan?!” Robin exclaimed, his jaw flapping on the ground and steam flying from his ears.

 

From within the rubber ball came the question, “Got any better ones?”

 

Snickering, Robin couldn't respond with anything besides, “I guess not.” One scream and one whirling kick later, Luffy the super bouncy ball was airborne—and the high speed attack was enough to interrupt the would-be conqueror's train of thought, allowing him a narrow escape.

 

“Some plan,” Iso laughed, sharing a common sentiment—until the ball collided with a wall, bouncing back towards the powerhouse with twice the speed! Even with his full attention on Luffy he could barely dodge! With each bounce Luffy picked up speed until he was nothing but a blur of constant motion.

 

`Damn!', cursed Iso in his head, `So much for taking the offensive! There's no way out of this…' Suddenly, as the ball soared towards his face, inspiration struck. `Unless…'

 

With every ounce of effort the crimson-clad man span just before the attack hit, rotating behind the ball. Embers already burned on his fingertips.

 

Unfortunately for him, once again he'd been beaten to the draw. Luffy was only a few feet past him, but already he was being intercepted by Robin—who easily reversed the trajectory of the Rubber Super Bouncy Ball attack with another well-placed kick. There was nothing for Iso to do but be hit by the full force of a rubberman rolled into a little ball slamming into his stomach. The two flew across the cavern and into a wall.

 

Robin raised an eyebrow. “That actually worked better than I expected!” However, despite the success of the unconventional maneuver—as if all Luffy's ideas weren't unconventional—the next sight the Teen Titan was greeted with was a stream of several different energies blowing across the battlefield. Iso exploded into the sky, steam pouring from his hands.

 

Blood actually trickled from his mouth as he spoke. “Looks like I've finally got him detained—time to take care of the other!” Flames roared from his arms as lightning erupted across his body. “And with me in the air, there's no way for him to attack—and I'll make sure to leave him no chance of escape!”

 

The Boy Wonder's eyes bulged from his head as he leapt into the air, narrowly evading a cracking bolt of electricity. A constant assault of fire and lightning rained from the sky as Robin leapt across the battlefield, his evasions almost looking like a dance. Finally, as flames intercepted his only path, the hero hid beneath his cape.

 

Fire tore across Robin's cape, but it wasn't just a fashion accessory. The cape was made of a flame-retardant, flexible metal—it was as cool as a fall day beneath his cape's lining! Suddenly a grappling hook exploded from beneath the cape, and almost the instant it anchored itself in the ceiling it had pulled the Boy Wonder into the air—his feet colliding with Iso's face!

 

Iso stumbled backwards as Robin span in mid-air, rapidly pulling his grappling hooks from his belt and firing them in all directions. “I can't attack you in the air?” Robin smirked as he hung from one of the hooks. “Please. I was practically raised on the trapeze!”

 

Leaping from the wire, Robin became a streak of red and green as he dashed between his grappling lines, taking mid-air shots at Iso all the while.

 

Unleashing a primal growl, Iso span and landed a devastating blow to the Titan, interrupting his attack. He wasn't having any more of this!

 

“You think you're so smart!” Iso exclaimed as he grabbed his young opponent by the collar, holding him before his face. “But let's face it—you're not! I am Iso, the strongest man in all of existence, yet you're stupid enough to fight me!

 

“Just what are you?! You may be smart, fast, even have a few fancy toys, but you're still just a boy! Nothing but a frail, human child!”

 

“Put that child down,” A voice demanded—however, it wasn't the expected voice of Robin's companion. Instead, it was the calm, cool voice of Robin's worst enemy! “He has much more skill than you give him credit for, and I won't let him be defeated by anyone but me!”

 

Never losing his grip on the Titans' leader, Iso laughed. “You're giving me orders, Slade?! What could possibly give you the right to do that?”

 

Slade sighed. “You're smarter than that, Iso. I'm standing here, holding in my hands the beaten body of your love. I didn't think I'd have to spell it out for you.”

 

“No matter what you have in your hands,” Iso informed him, “you have no power to threaten me!”

 

Suddenly Slade was in the air. Toa fell from his grip as he gasped, fear overtaking his body as a crimson aura built steadily around him. “How—”

 

“In the chaos you never removed the connector to my power.” The red crystal emerged from within Slade's tunic, flittering in the air before him. “I wonder, Slade, how much of my power can your body safely hold?”

 

Energy surged into the villain's body, Slade screaming in pure pain as he was inundated with more power than any mere mortal could ever handle. The rafters of his own hideout shone a brilliant crimson as Slade exploded, the force so powerful that every molecule of the terrorist's body was completely vaporized.

 

This time, there was no doubt that Slade was dead.

 

Robin's eyes shot open wide. He couldn't tell what he felt. His greatest enemy was gone—nobody had caused Robin more pain in his life than that man! Yet, more than anything the emotion flowing through his body was simply…rage.

 

“Y-you saved me,” Toa smiled as she managed to stammer a sentence even in her state. “I kn-knew you would.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, her love ignored the sigh of faith. “You've taken quite a beating,” he said, stating the obvious. “Lose your perfect defense?”

 

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Toa admitted it—the best she could, at least. “Slade—he imp—stopped my visions…I—”

 

Iso's teeth clenched. “Blaming it on Slade?” His lover gasped. “What happened to the woman I loved, that sought me out with every intention of making me her own any way she could?!

 

“All that remains of her is a brittle shell, sitting around waiting for things to happen!”

 

“But—” Toa stammered, tears streaming down her cheeks, “We—we're together…again…”

 

Suddenly, the connecter around the woman's neck lit up and dragged her into the air, surrounding the great power's love with the same crimson aura that had decimated Slade only moments before.

 

“So?” Iso asked coldly. “We could have been reunited years ago if you had taken action instead of waiting for everything to happen! How many years of my life has your inaction wasted?!

 

“You are no longer the same woman I loved! All you are now is a broken Oracle—”

 

Toa's body was overtaken by overwhelming energy, completely drowning out her last cries of love.

 

“—and nobody needs one of those!”

 

With a second, deafening explosion Toa's life ended. All that survived the blast was a single tear, which sloshed to the ground unnoticed by the man that had caused it.

 

“You're a monster!” Robin cried as he struggled in the monster's grip. “How can you kill the woman you love?!”

 

“Quiet!” Iso demanded as he soared to the ground, pointing Robin towards a dark alcove, one of the few places in the cavern not yet affected by the self-destruct command. “I have more power than anybody else, so they shall do as I please!”

 

The corner of the Boy Wonder's mouth turned into a tiny grin. “So, finally the truth comes out. I knew I was right to fight you.”

 

Not showing any sign of emotion, Iso placed his hand on Robin's stomach. “Nonsense. It was foolish of you to think that you, a mere boy of flesh and blood, could do anything to the great power that can absorb nearly all the momentum behind your attacks!”

 

The color left Robin's face.

 

“For all your effort you've barely bruised me—but let's see if your body can handle the punishment you handed to me as well as mine has!”

 

Energy boomed from Iso's palm, sending Robin soaring far into the alcove as the combined power of every hit he had landed on the powerhouse was reversed upon the boy. Blood exploded from his mouth as if a water main had broken, and several bones shattered before he hit the wall.

 

“I doubt it can,” Iso continued as a ball of his signature energy appeared around his hand, “but I'm not about to take any chances of you surviving!”

 

“Rubber Gattling!”

 

A veritable maelstrom of elongated arms overtook the great power, perhaps saving the life of the rubberman's teammate—if he was fast enough, that is! Throwing his arms to the side Iso broke through the pirate's attack, but he paid it no mind as his arms snapped back into place.

 

Instead, Luffy clenched his teeth and exclaimed, “Nobody does that to my friends!”

 

 

 

Drops of blood spattered consistently on the floor as Robin, doubled over in pain, tried to crawl back to his feet. The effort was proving futile, though, as the Boy Wonder's injuries were more severe than anything he'd ever experienced before. Still, despite everything that had happened, he was determined to keep fighting!

 

Gritting his teeth, he finally gained the strength to stand up straight; however, Robin was only able to stagger a few paces before collapsing. Fortunately for him, his fall was broken by a large console.

 

`Maybe he's right,' Robin admitted. `What can I do? Against a guy like that all the skill and weapons in the world are worthless!'

 

“Please enter password,” a robotic voice instructed.

 

Robin's head snapped upright, and he found himself starting straight into an enormous computer monitor. The console he had happened upon seemed to be Slade's master computer, taking up the entire alcove!

 

He began typing eagerly, entering the word apprentice into the box provided. `If I can shut down the self-destruct sequence, the others can bring reinforcements! We still have a chance!'

 

“Password denied,” the computer droned.

 

Slamming his fists on the console in frustration, Robin cursed his predicament. Slade had caused him more trouble than any other opponent, yet in the end he knew nothing about the man's motives or past. He knew nothing beyond his cruelty, skill, and his search for a successor. How could he guess a password with that?!

 

Suddenly, an idea sprang into his head, illuminating his mind like a sun rising.

 

Then Nami turned to Robin, pulling something from her pocket. “And this is for you.”

 

“What—”

 

“I have no clue what it is, actually,” the navigator admitted. “When Slade captured me I managed to pick his pocket. I was hoping for a bomb or something, but that disk was all I could find.” She sighed, her Straw Hat topped head drooping. “I kept telling myself I would help today, so I'm sorry that's all I could do.”

 

Slipping the tiny computer chip into his utility belt, Robin didn't seem concerned. “Hey, picking Slade's pocket is impressive enough to me!”

 

“Now leave the rest to us!” Luffy declared.

 

As he reached to his belt for the disk Robin skimmed the console desperately looking for a slot just the right size—“Got it!” he exclaimed as he inserted the chip in one last-ditch move.

 

“Password accepted,” the voice told him. “Welcome, Slade. You have no new mail.”

 

There was no way for Robin to repress his laughter. `Of course. Anybody can guess a password, but Slade was so conceited that—in his mind—the safest place to hide the `key' to his computer system was on his person!'

 

Even as the revelation passed through the Titan's mind, his nemesis's computer continued. “Accessing schematics of full-scale energy transfer system.”

 

The sound of Robin's jaw hitting the floor echoed through the cavern as a scale diagram of Jump City leapt onto the screen—and through the city a path of Slade's devices leapt to life. The madman had created an energy absorption system through the entire city, even past Titans Tower and into the—

 

“Ocean!” Robin exclaimed. Another batch of explosives detonated somewhere in the compound, pounding the old cliché “time is of the essence” into the boy's head. Now that hope had presented itself, he had to act fast before the computer, the system or Robin himself was destroyed!

 

`Amazing!' he thought as he started searching the pouches of his utility belt. `I have to hand it to Slade—despite being psychotic, he had the best plans! To have a complete energy siphoning system through the city before even stealing the Stone of Iso Toa—if he had been able to use it, he'd quite possible have been invincible!

 

`Or what if Iso had found out about it?!'

 

Finally Robin found what he was looking for, and pulled one shining disk from his belt. “And Cyborg said bringing this was a waste of my time,” the Titan snickered as he opened the bottom of the disk, pulling out a retractable wire. “I can't wait to rub that in his face.”

 

Robin found an USB port and plugged the wire in—an answer to his frantic prayer that Slade's advanced system would have an USB port—and began furiously typing.

 

`I hated to admit it, but when Slade said we were a lot alike he was always right. When presented with a fight we can't win physically, it doesn't mean we're defeated! Cunning is a power all its own, and it's one a power-obsessed freak like Iso could never appreciate!'

 

 

 

“Rubber Hook!” In imitation of a boxer, the rubber arm of Monkey D. Luffy curved for a sideways punch. However, Iso was growing tired of the boy's futile punches. He gracefully turned aside of the strike—and the arm followed suit, snapping into a spin around the powerhouse until he was encased in a rubber cocoon!

 

Luffy grinned. “Rubber Ripcord!” In one lightning fast motion his arm snapped back, turning his opponent into a crimson top. As Iso span Luffy charged, winding his arm so fast it was a blur. “Rubber Bullet!”

 

However, the pirate's fist landed in Iso's palm as he instantly brought his dizzying trip to a stop—instead Luffy was sent flying by the power of his own punch and of the halted spin being channeled back into him.

 

Fortunately, his rubber body was just as immune to physical damage as Iso's. Unfortunately, blades were a different matter completely, and an expanding stone blade was already barreling toward Luffy's midsection. Dirt flew through the air as he dashed atop it, and then somersaulted to its side, his right arm already stretching behind him.

 

“Rubber Pistol—” Luffy's favorite—but most predictable—attack careened for Iso, who was more than prepared to handle it.

 

“—SHOT!” he finished as, with his left arm, he strummed his elongated arm like a guitar string. As it vibrated his right arm seemed to multiply, producing a smaller version of the Rubber Gattling technique that couldn't possibly fail to take its target by surprise.

 

Certainly enough Iso was pummeled by the attack, and as Luffy's momentum faded he grabbed the larger man's throat in a choke hold. “Rubber—” His arm snapped as the boy's body flew forward to meet it, bringing his fist dangerously close to his opponent's face.

 

Screaming in rage Iso blew himself out of the rubberman's hold, soaring into the air as a crimson blur. Despite now skidding across the floor on his hands, Luffy wasn't one to waste an opportunity—or a started attack name. “—SPEAR!”

 

Iso's stomach became home to Luffy's pointed feet, but despite the blood spraying out of the man's throat he still had to make a move! His signature energy surrounded the boy's feet as his legs retracted, and by the time they snapped into place the energy had condensed into a constrictive ball of crimson stone. Luffy screamed as it barreled into his own face, sending him tumbling backwards.

 

Of course, the ball didn't stay there long. An Earth-shaking explosion destroyed the restraint and further battered the pirate; in the air, an enraged Iso was alternating between triggering explosions and unleashing careening blasts of his own.

 

On the ground Luffy was being battered so relentlessly he couldn't regain his bearing—nothing more than rubber debris. Finally he caught wind on an explosion, flipping himself upright. However, by this time he was already cornered, his back to a wall.

 

With nothing but a sneer as a warning Iso unleashed his finishing beam; while Luffy moved to counter it, however, the ground beneath him exploded and sent the beat-up up pirate soaring towards the ceiling—which, just as Luffy's current luck would have it, shattered from the self-destruct as he sailed towards it.

 

As debris pounded him Luffy noticed two large boulders falling his way—and a grin leapt back to life. “Rubber…” He sent both his arms flying backwards, each snagging one of the giant rocks.

 

“…CATAPULT!”

 

Suddenly Iso was faced with two gargantuan boulders soaring towards his face like bullet trains—however, a frustrated scream and two outstretched hands simmering with power were all it took to derail them. An explosion containing the rest of Terra's hijacked energy sent pebbles flying in every direction, but the destruction of the boulders also revealed Luffy—his hand still gripping a remnant of the rock—snapping forward towards the tyrant at almost light-speed!

 

Iso certainly didn't appreciated his distraction tactic from earlier being reciprocated, but there was no time to voice his objections as Luffy's fist slammed into his jaw, creating a shockwave that shattered stone. The pirate captain screamed as his legs ensnared his opponent's torso, raising his other fist before the first had even returned to him.

 

“Again!” he cried.

 

“I think not!” Iso countered as crimson energy leapt to life and channeled around the boy, some of it hardening into the beginnings of a stone cocoon!

 

Grinning diabolically, Iso couldn't hide his pleasure in this situation as the energy sparked out of him. “Death might just be too good for you! Let's see how you like being trapped inside of a stone instead! Decades spent with nobody but yourself, countless years spent lamenting the loss of your dreams, your freedom, and your life!” His grin had dropped into a sneer of pure, unadulterated hatred.

 

“Let's see if you can stand knowing how your power to change the world is being wasted! Let's see—”

 

“Let's not,” Luffy smiled. “It doesn't sound like my kind of thing!” The rubberman inhaled a giant breath of air. “Rubber…BALLOON!”

 

The boy's body inflated like a balloon, but all seemed lost as the force wasn't strong enough to shatter the growing cocoon. However, the grin on Luffy's face indicated that perhaps there was still hope. Indeed there was, and a second later the air escaped from the boy's lips, sending him flying through the air uncontrollably like a popped balloon!

 

The half-formed cocoon fell to the ground as Iso swiped for Luffy, but his unpredictable path proved too much for even the crimson-clad powerhouse.

 

“RUBBER—”

 

As Luffy soared towards his opponent he opened his mouth, his face stretching wide until his mouth could swallow a human whole!

 

“—CHOMP!”

 

Luffy's jaw snapped shut, and Iso had the unfortunate `pleasure' of being sealed within the rubberman's mouth. Now carrying a huge weight, the top-heavy Luffy barreled into the ground, landing with a boom and a cloud of dirt.

 

It looked as if Luffy had eaten several rabid squirrels as Iso tried to free himself—meanwhile, fire burned in the boy's eyes and steam flew from his ears.

 

Wailing, the pirate finally spit Iso out. He rolled across the floor, covered head-to-toe with saliva.

 

“GAAH!” Luffy cried, wiping his tongue as if he was scrubbing dirty dishes. “TOO SPICY!”

 

A vicious wind spiraled from Iso's body like a tornado, blowing away the saliva and the rubberman. The man's face was contorted into a caricature of anger and hatred, and balls of sparking energy so powerful that they made the cavern rumble were born in his palms.

 

“I've…never been…treated…that way!” Iso growled savagely. “Entrapment may be a crueler punishment for you, but I believe I'll get more pleasure from killing you right now!”

 

In that moment, as death lay only seconds away for Monkey D. Luffy, several explosive disks battered Iso—of course doing no damage as the explosions were absorbed into his body, but still drawing his attention.

 

Robin stood—though barely, with his battered body—three disks held between his fingers. The middle disk shone far brighter than the rest. “Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?!”

 

Using the rest of his strength the Boy Wonder unfurled the disks, and Iso wasted no effort in dodging them—they were no threat to him!

 

“Useless!” he cried. “I hope you realize you're only making me stronger!”

 

Two explosions were absorbed into Iso's body, but as the third disk detonated Iso was instead hit with a powerful blue wave of energy; however, whatever its intentions, it too was assimilated.

 

Then, Iso fell to the ground with the finesse of a nerd's basketball shot.

 

Iso climbed from the hole his fall had created in the ground, completely stunned. He tried to fly, but couldn't. He felt completely, utterly, weak.

 

“How?!”

 

Grinning, Robin explained. “Thanks to Slade's plans for you, that was no normal explosion you absorbed!

 

“Devil's Fruit powers stop working when their user is submerged in the ocean—I figure it must be the same when they absorb the power of the ocean into their very body!”

 

Luffy popped his head up. “Ah, cool!” Iso, meanwhile, just stared dumbfoundidly at his hands as he strained futilely to use his abilities.

 

“Tell me Iso,” Robin asked with a thousand-dollar smile, “What do you think of this mere boy now?”

 

Next Time: Clash!—It All Comes Tumbling Down