One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed Island of the Devil Fruit Gods ❯ Battle Stations ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The rest of the Straw Hats remained soundly asleep as Franky's radar kept vigilant for approaching danger. Even Smoker slept peacefully near them. But as Anu the wolf made his way nearer with Zoro sleeping upon his back, Franky's radar began to beep softly. Unfortunately, the fact that it was only supposed to warn Franky of the danger didn't mean Franky wasn't going to wake up screaming and thus wake everyone else up as well. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Franky sat bolt upright and pulled of his left hand. "WEAPONS LEFT!" he cried, facing the direction Anu was in and getting ready to fire. That, of course, woke Zoro up and caused him to shout back.
"It's me!" Zoro cried, pulling Anu's hair to make the wolf slow down.
"Zoro!" Luffy half-squealed, half-yawned. "You're okay!"
"Barely." Zoro called, climbing off of Anu and jogging over to his group. Anu didn't wait around, and ran back in the direction of Shishou's hut. The sun had just barely begun to creep up over the horizon.
"Where were you? Don't tell me you were wandering the jungle aimlessly all this time!" Nami scolded him as Zoro finally entered the clearing where they had all been sleeping.
"I was training. I met this amazing swordswoman and she told me you were in danger. But now I come back and see you were all more worried about me! What the hell is going on? Why the hell are we stuck here and where is our ship?" Zoro told them, deciding that most of what Shishou told him was a lie just to get him away from her.
"We don't know where the ship is, Zoro! We were kind of hoping you did..." Usopp said sadly.
"Oi. I'm cooking breakfast if anyone wants some." Sanji yawned, starting to cook what Luffy had gathered before they went to sleep. "Look who decided to turn up." he smirked at Zoro.
"Shut up. Where is Robin?" Zoro asked them.
"She's with...wait, so you haven't seen either of the villages?" Nami asked him.
"What villages?" Zoro shook his head.
"Never mind. We're about to launch an attack on a settlement full of Zoan Devil Fruit users and it's damn lucky you turned up when you did. You haven't by any chance seen Tashigi have you? She should have found her way here by now." Smoker growled.
"No, I haven't." Zoro shook his head again. Now he wasn't sure what to believe; Shishou had been right after all, they were going to need his help if they were planning on going into a fight.
"Don't worry, Smoker, I'm sure Robin is taking care of her." Usopp reassured him. "Besides, it's Robin I'm more worried about. You haven't seen those Paramecian villagers! They're insane!"
"Wait...hold on...there's a village full of Zoan people and a village full of Paremecian people?" Zoro halted the conversation. "What does THAT mean? Why are we attacking them?"
"The Zoan tribe tried to kill me-not that you care-and me and Chopper barely made it out of there. But now we're going back because we think they might know how to get off this god-forsaken rock." Sanji explained.
"And the Paramecian tribe and the Zoan tribe are apparently at war. And the Paramecians are planning on attacking the Zoans at sundown. So we need to warn the Zoan tribe before they all slaughter each other and we don't have anyone left to interrogate." Smoker finished.
"And we're going to beat a confession out of them, is that the rest of it?" Zoro started to catch on.
"Bingo." Franky nodded.
"Sounds like a plan. Where to?" Zoro tied his bandana over his head, prepping himself for battle.
"This way." Chopper pointed East.
"I'll lead the way." Luffy said, having already eaten everything Sanji had cooked. He began to lead them in the wrong direction.
"BAKA!" All of the others whacked him over the head and began foraging for more things for Sanji to cook. "We can't fight on an empty stomach and we don't know when we'll ever get another chance to eat!"
After eating all of their fills, the crew and Smoker all prepared to head off to the Zoan village. But Smoker looked hesitant. "I'm not going with you. I need to find Tashigi. And I'll go make sure Nico Robin is safe while I'm at it. Are you okay with that?" he asked them, in a way that said he was going whether they were or not.
"I think you should, too." Luffy nodded. It surprised everyone. "You were so useless against Crocodile!" Luffy snickered.
The veins were popping in Smoker's head but he turned away, fuming, and stalked off.
"Let's go." Luffy cracked his knuckles, turning serious again.

Ryuumaoh yawned as he awoke. The sun was coming up over the mouth of the cave he shared with Chiyu, the daughter he had to keep hidden for fear of losing the loyalty of his people. "Daddy...what will you do if you win against the other tribe? Aren't I like them?" Chiyu asked him.
"You will remain here and no one will know of your existence. That is how it has to be, my child. I am sorry. But it was your mother's doing." he answered her.
"DRAGON-MAN!" Luffy's voice rang throughout the entire village. Ryuumaoh snorted angrily; who would be so foolish and disrespectful?
"Who dares...?!" he snarled, whirling around as Chiyu ran to the back of the cave, frightened. Ryuumaoh peered out and saw the Straw Hat crew. He recognized Sanji and Chopper immediately but he was alarmed that there were so many more of them. "Who are you?!" Ryuumaoh demanded.
"I'm Mugiwara no Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy declared. "And I want to touch your horns!"
The entire crew fell backwards and fainted. "BAKA! Why would you say that to him?!" they all shouted after regaining consciousness.
"But they're all black and shiny like beetles!" Luffy pointed. "And he's got a tail with spikes! SO COOL!!!" Luffy began to bound up the rocks and scale the mountain up to Ryuumaoh. Grabbing a cave mouth firmly he began to stretch himself. "Gomu-Gomu no Rocket!" he laughed, launching himself closer to Ryuumaoh.
"A Paramecian Gomu human...must be an assassin. How foolish! Only Daikyojin stands even a ghost of a chance against me, boy! But if you want to allow me to prove how futile your side's effort is, come and fight!" Ryuumaoh accepted Luffy's challenge. Unfurling his wings completely, he swooped down upon Luffy and, when he was close enough, unleashed a storm of fire breath. Even being as dumb as he was, Luffy knew that was coming and jumped down from the cliffs to avoid it. Shooting his arm up and grabbing a ledge, he rocketed back up to the very top of the cliffs once again and looked around the skies for Ryuumaoh.
"This is gonna be so fun!" Luffy grinned.

The others all made their way to the center of the village. The villagers all surrounded them but most of them were terrified and none dared attack. Sanji had made a fool of Egetsunai, Ryuumaoh's right-hand man, and so they all didn't believe they stood much of a chance. "Oi-except for that baka over there, all we want are some answers." Sanji told them. "One, we want to know where our ship is if you know where it is now. Two, we want to know what these gods of yours are, and why you say they won't let us leave the island. And three-aren't there any girls here who don't turn into monsters?!" Sanji declared.
The villagers heard an ear-splitting screech and fled, and six members of the tribe arrived in their place. "You'll never get an answer to those questions because you're going to die right now!" the bat Zoan from earlier screeched at Sanji. Letting out a sonic wave, the bat Zoan screeched at them, scattering the crew as the rest of the Zoan soldiers each picked one of them with whom to tangle. The bat took after Usopp, who began to climb up the cliffs after Luffy so he could have a better view of the action.
Nami was followed by an invisible foe whose only visible feature was its footprints, which looked reptilian. Sanji was accosted by a man sprouted four extra arms, his normal two becoming pincers, and growing a spiny tail; a scorpion Zoan. Chopper transformed into his deer form and bounded away, being chased by what looked like a saber-tooth tiger Zoan that was five times his size. Franky dodged a swooping sting from an airborne killer bee Zoan. And Zoro was engaged by a very thick man weilding two bloodstained swords.

Luffy and Ryuumaoh battled fiercely, Luffy mostly being on the defensive. With Ryuumaoh soaring and swooping in only to attack, there was little the rubber man could do without being burned alive or slashed in half. Finally taking the initiative, Luffy kicked up a rock in the path of Ryuumaoh's fiery blast and ran up over the side of it, jumping up and grabbing the horns on Ryuumaoh's head and riding him like a bucking bronco. "Wow! These are strong!" Luffy grunted, trying to crack Ryuumaoh's horns like he had with Arlong's teeth. Ryuumaoh slammed his own head into the mountain trying to get Luffy off, but Luffy ran down Ryuumaoh's back just in time. "Now I've got you! Gomu-Gomu no Axe!" Luffy kicked up into the air. But Ryuumaoh was more agile than Luffy thought, and he flipped upside-down, letting Luffy fall, which caused Luffy's attack to fail and sent the rubber boy crashing to the ground.
"You're lucky you are rubber, boy, or that would have killed you! And luck is all that's kept you alive this far!" Ryuumaoh taunted. Luffy rocketed back up to the top of the cliffs and spat.
"I can't fly! It's not fair!" Luffy stuck his tongue out at Ryuumaoh.
Ryuumaoh didn't tolerate that accusation of cowardice, and dove downward at Luffy, curling into a ball, his tail the only part sticking out, and slammed it down onto the edge of the cliff, shattering it, and nearly crushing Luffy if the rubber boy hadn't jumped over it and leapt from flying rock to flying rock to safety before everything succumbed to gravity. Hardly giving Luffy a chance to recover from that, Ryuumaoh swooped back up and landed hard, causing the entire cliff to shake, and raced at Luffy, slashing with both claws, lashing out with his tail, kicking out with his clawed feet, and even going in for a bite, before finishing off with a flaming breath. It was all Luffy could do to dodge such an assault, as Ryuumaoh was unbelievably fast for someone of his size and thickness. "Still think I can only move fast when I fly?" Ryuumaoh cackled, attempting to smash Luffy repeatedly with his tail.
"No, that's excellent!" Luffy laughed. "Want to see what else I can do, too?" Luffy grinned.
Ryuumaoh wasn't impressed, but he allowed Luffy to bluff. Motioning for Luffy to come forward with his claw, Ryuumaoh nodded. "Show me."
"Okay...since you asked for it." Luffy smiled. Pumping his legs, Ryuumaoh watched Luffy's skin redden slightly, as though he was increasing his blood pressure and becoming hot. Even steam seemed to be rising from Luffy's skin.
"What the hell...?" Ryuumaoh watched curiously.
"Gear...2." Luffy smiled. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol!" he rushed forward before Ryuumaoh even knew he was finished powering up. It hit Ryuumaoh squarely in the chest and sent him flying backwards into the air.
Ryuumaoh hung there, stunned, unable to keep up with Luffy's movements. Luffy shot out both of his hands and grabbed Ryuumaoh's horns again. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Rocket!" Luffy growled, slamming into Ryuumaoh's neck and sending both of them plummeting down below, Ryuumaoh being stunned. "And...Gomu Gomu no Jet Axe!" Luffy shot up his leg again and brought it down hard on Ryuumaoh's stomach as Ryuumaoh fell, prone, to the ground, and pulverized him deep into the bedrock below. Luffy leapt up out of the hole he'd created and panted.
Ryuumaoh quickly climbed out, furious, and apparently unharmed. "Was that all?" he snorted. "You don't know much, do you, boy? A dragon's scales are the hardest substance in the world. You couldn't break them with those feeble attacks if you tried for a hundred years."
Luffy was starting to actually worry. "I see. Then it's impossible." he shrugged. "Guess I'll have to try harder!" he flung his arms backwards. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!"
Ryuumaoh was blown back into the air once again. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Balloon!" Luffy inhaled the air around him and inflated, then twisted around and blew it out so forcefully it propelled him up into the air after Ryuumaoh. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Spear!" Luffy shot both of his legs upwards as he continued skyward, and hit Ryuumaoh in the stomach again, knocking the dragon-man even higher into the air, but not breaking through his scaly armor.
"Feeble!" Ryuumaoh roared. "All you are doing is angering me, boy! I would have expected more fight from someone sent in Daikyojin's place to battle me!"
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol!" Luffy grabbed one of the spikes on Ryuumaoh's tail. Rocketing back up at Ryuumaoh as the dragon man turned around to face him in the air, he prepared for one last desperate attack as Ryuumaoh inhaled deeply, preparing to finish Luffy once and for all.
"Inferno!" Ryuumaoh bellowed as he unleashed a devastating firestorm.
"Gomu Gomo no Jet Gatling!" Luffy cried.
Luffy's intense barrage of multiple punches, not seen since he finished off Crocodile, blew out Ryuumaoh's fire after a few seconds, and Luffy felt his punches battering Ryuumaoh. But after he stopped, Ryuumaoh remained unfazed. "Insect!" Ryuumaoh snarled, and slashed at the dazed Luffy, who barely managed to avoid being slashed in half as he fell back down from the air, but still took a thick cut across his back.
Luffy fell hard from the impact of that and crashed through the roof of the cave Ryuumaoh had been sleeping in. Gear 2 had worn off and he was paralyzed from the effort. Chiyu saw him. "You...who are you? You are dressed like an outsider...Are you...friends with Sanji?" she asked him, figuring he was an outsider from the way he was dressed.
"Y-yeah..." Luffy groaned. "I'm...hungry." he laughed. "If Sanji was here, he could cook me something..."
"Here...eat this." Chiyu handed him a large slab of meat that her father was planning on eating for breakfast. "Hey! Where'd it go?" she asked, when in the blink of her eyes, Luffy had devoured it completely.
"Thanks!" Luffy smiled, back on his feet. Ryuumaoh appeared at the mouth of the cave, fuming.
"Come out here, boy! I'll not fight inside my own home!" he snarled. He didn't realize Chiyu had disobeyed him by not hiding herself.
"Fine!" Luffy growled, jumping up and climbing out through the hole in the ceiling of the cave.
Ryuumaoh was already there waiting for him. "I tire of your persistence. You cannot defeat me, you even said so. Why even continue? Why don't you try to run away? You are obviously fast enough." Ryuumaoh taunted him.
"Because there's something here I and my nakama need. And I have to kick your ass to get to it." Luffy wiped his chin. "And once my nakama get up here with me, I will kick your ass!"