One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed Island of the Devil Fruit Gods ❯ Gear 4 ( Chapter 18 )

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

The whole crew stepped back away from Luffy, except for Nami, who was dragged back by Sanji. They could all feel a terrifying aura coming from Luffy. The wind began to pick up and they wondered if it was a result of what he'd just done, or if it was merely an omen about what was about to happen. They could hear Luffy's heartbeat as clearly as day, calm, every few seconds, but like a kettle drum, causing the ground to tremble slightly. Luffy coughed. He began to hack and clutch his throat. "Oh god, he can't breathe..." Nami began to sob, blaming herself for it. But then Luffy stopped and stood up straight, his head down, eyes hidden by his hat. His mouth opened into a wide grin. He reached up and took off his hat and threw it back at his friends. He began to laugh, his eyes still slightly hidden by his hair. He laughed loudly, cruelly, like he was enjoying the idea of defeating Ryuumaoh before it had even happend.
"L-Luffy?" Usopp said carefully. "Are you going to be okay...?"
Luffy roared loudly, like he had when he was hypnotized by Django during the battle against Captain Kuro. "Is he going to stand there all day?" Ryuumaoh grunted. That was when it happened-Luffy belted him square in the jaw. The resulting impact was tremendous, the air blowing all of Luffy's friends off their feet and knocking them back, yards away.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Franky cried, grabbing up Usopp and Nami and scrambling away, with the other three nakama following close behind.
"Hey, I'll carry Nami-san!" Sanji argued.
Ryuumaoh slammed into the side of the mountain, becoming deeply buried in the rubble. Luffy was blown up into the air by his own attack, and landed neatly back down on his feet, though he was breathing rather hard. Veins were popping out all over his body, his muscles much more pronounced, his skin turning a shade darker than it had been before. Ryuumaoh roared like he never had before, and broke out of his prison of crumbling rock. He stared intently at Luffy, bewildered at Luffy's upsurge of power. Why hadn't Luffy done this before? he wondered. His jaw ached and was crooked; he popped it back into place with a loud crack. "You're stronger this time...you were holding back before." Ryuumaoh snorted. "I don't like being toyed with."
Luffy just stared at him. He sounded like he was hyperventilating, but he was laughing, a wheezy, hissing laugh.
"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or are we going to continue this fight?" Ryuumaoh stepped forward.
Luffy let out a high-pitched squeal, an ear-splitting shriek, that stopped even Ryuumaoh stopped in his tracks. "What in the world has happened to you...?" he trembled slightly. Luffy's eyes were fixed upon Ryuumaoh's, making Ryuumaoh gasp. Luffy's eyes were completely bloodshot, so much so that no hint of any white could be seen, and in fact, it even overwhelmed his irises and pupils, as though the blood vessels in his eyes had exploded and flooded them, though apparently he still did possess the gift of sight...
"Gomu Gomu no PULSE PISTOL!" Luffy vanished, moving so quickly Ryuumaoh couldn't even track him by sound. Luffy's arm stretched forward and slammed into Ryuumaoh's stomach carapace. Again, an explosion of air erupted from the impact, much more severe this time around, and some of the rocks on the mountains began to crumble and fall. Watching from afar, his friends were very worried.
"He's stronger now than he ever was before! Even Gear 3 can't create hurricanes like that!" Nami said, entranced by Luffy's new power. "Maybe he did know what he was doing..."
"But look at his body...I don't know if he'll live through his new technique..." Chopper gulped.
"Stop talking like that! He'll wear himself out sooner or later, just like you did." Zoro reminded Chopper of his Monster Point fiasco.
"Hey, where's Sanji?" Usopp looked around, the cook having gone missing.
"That damn baka love-cook is always running off...maybe he won't come back this time." Zoro scoffed.
"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp called to Luffy. Luffy turned around, breathing harshly, hissing and spitting, a bit of foam forming on his bottom lip. "Have you seen San-" Usopp wasn't even able to finish his sentence before Luffy raised his leg up into the air and brought it down towards them.
"Run like hell!" Franky cried, grabbing Nami and Usopp and making a mad dash as far away as he could, with Zoro and Chopper close behind.
"Gomu Gomu no PULSE AXE!" Luffy shouted, his leg shattering the ground beneath his friends' feet, sending them all flying and crashing into upraised rocks jutting up from the shockwave Luffy had sent through the ground.
"It's like he doesn't care who he's fighting...he didn't even recognize us. I think his brain got fried by this technique..." Nami panted. Her skirt had ripped completely off, leaving her in nothing more than a two-piece bikini now. Any other time, the men would have cared, but they were too afraid for their own lives to be paying any attention. Luffy was about to head over and finish off his friends, so it seemed, but Ryuumaoh's protests reached his ears and Luffy turned back around, apparently remembering that his first target was still alive.
Ryuumaoh was on his knees, clutching his stomach, gasping for air. Luffy had definitely done some damage this time; his stomach carapace now had a large crack in it and a trickle of blood leaked through Ryuumaoh's scaly fingers. "What the hell are you doing, you freak?" Ryuumaoh grunted, unable to comprehend why Luffy was suddenly attacking his own allies. He struggled to stand back up but Luffy wasn't holding back any longer, he had already commenced with another attack, disappearing into the air with a powerful jump.
"Gomu Gomu no PULSE WHIP!" Luffy's outstretched leg connected from aboved with Ryuumaoh's shoulder, shattering the scaly armor around it and twisting Ryuumaoh's arm around as though popping his shoulder out of place and rotating the bone inside of his arm. Ryuumaoh howled in agony but these cries did nothing to halt Luffy from his rampage. It was as if Luffy had lost all sense of himself, he was clearly in control of the battle now but he gave no thought to demanding surrender from Ryuumaoh, or anything else. Indeed, if this kept up, Ryuumaoh would be nothing but a bloody smear on the crumbling mountains by the time Luffy was finished with him. And his crew sensed it.
"That's...not Luffy anymore...what have we done?" Usopp gulped.
"Luffy wouldn't do this...he's become a monster. Did he know this was going to happen?" Nami wondered aloud.
"I think the bigger question is...which one of us is going to stop him once he's used up his chew toy?" Zoro reminded them. They were all exhausted and injured from their own battles, it didn't seem likely that if Luffy was done tearing Ryuumaoh limb from limb, that he'd stop from going after every other person he came across, even his own friends.
"Gomu Gomu no PULSE SPEAR!" Luffy launched both legs downward onto Ryuumaoh, crushing his back and pushing him into a deep crater in the ground. Luffy was now standing on top of Ryuumaoh's back, retracting his body back towards the ground rather than retracting his legs back up and staying airborne. Luffy was still laughing, more of a wheezing hiss than a laugh, but it was clear that he was enjoying himself. Like a demon possession, he was no longer the same carefree pirate he once was, his brain being affected so severely by the powerup that it destroyed what little sense and memory he once possessed. He picked up Ryuumaoh by the tail and lifted him bodily up over his head, swinging him around like a jumprope, the arc widening as his arms lengthened, though that didn't diminish the speed at which he was spinning Ryuumaoh. "Gomu Gomu no PULSE TORNADO!" Luffy cried, letting go of Ryuumaoh and watching him slam into yet another mountainside. This time there was a lot of rock above the newly-created cave Ryuumaoh had been thrown into and all of it crumbled onto him, burying him so deeply even at his peak he wouldn't be able to free himself, let alone with one broken arm as he had now.
"Oh no, he's going to come after us now!" Usopp trembled, thinking Luffy was finished with Ryuumaoh. But Luffy leapt up again with unheard of power, on top of the mountain Ryuumaoh was buried beneath, and thrust both arms up in the air. "Gomu Gomu no PULSE BAZOOKA!" he roared, shattering the mountain into a shower of tiny pebbles and sand. Only by creating a small whirlwind with his swords was Zoro able to ward off the storm of overwhelming dust and debris.
Ryuumaoh lay helplessly as he awaited Luffy's continued wrath. "Gomu Gomu no PULSE STAMP!" Luffy hissed, kicking straight down and smashing Ryuumaoh's jaw once again, breaking the dragon-man's nose and causing him to lose several teeth, while once again dislocating his jaw. Nami resisted the urge to call out to him to halt his attacks for fear of turning Luffy's attention back upon them. Luffy sent both of his arms down again while still in the air, grabbing the horns on Ryuumaoh's head. "Gomu Gomu no PULSE ROCKET!" he announced, slamming down headfirst onto Ryuumaoh's chest, shattering all frontal armor on Ryuumaoh's body and being showered with blood that Ryuumaoh had spat up.
"P-please..." Ryuumaoh begged, his remaining undamaged arm reaching up, trembling, to attempt to surrender. Luffy grabbed that arm and grinned. He began to drag Ryuumaoh's body out of the rubble and back towards ground that still remained intact...but not for long. Luffy tossed Ryuumaoh up into the air. Ryuumaoh closed his eyes and unfurled his wings. He was still going to try and fight, he was not going to die without giving as good as he'd got, or so he was telling himself. Luffy followed him up, soaring effortlessly through the air, as though the air coarsing through his body made him weightless. Arms pinned to his sides, as though he was simply enjoying the altitude, Luffy drifted towards Ryuumaoh, right into Ryuumaoh's path of attack. "Ha...fool...I'll incinerate you!" Ryuumaoh said, once more popping his jaw back into place, though he couldn't diguise the whimper from the pain. Inhaling deeply, he spewed forth a towering blanket of flame that Luffy couldn't possibly dodge. But Luffy wasn't Luffy anymore.
"Gomu Gomu no PULSE PISTOL!" Luffy shouted, punching down towards the ground, which cracked slightly, but the air and pressure reacted and pushed Luffy up just a few feet further up into the air, over Ryuumaoh's flame, and in prime position for his next attack. Clasping both arms together, Luffy stretched them back, brought them up over his head, and arced them over Ryuumaoh's head next. "Gomu Gomu no PULSE HAMMER!" Luffy yelled, cracking down upon Ryuumaoh's head and sending him back down to earth, buried a few feet down in the center of the village. Luffy spun back up further into the air, ricocheting from the last attack, and was now higher up over the village than ever before. He began to flex both arms and inhaled deeply. His skin was darkening rapidly, turning a shade of purple, like he was running out of oxygen.

Meanwhile Sanji had run off to go find Chiyu. With this much chaos happening all around, it was likely the little girl would get hurt. And if there was one person in that entire village who didn't deserve to be a victim, it was her, Ryuumaoh's daughter or not. Sanji leapt from jutting rock to jutting rock along the mountainside even though he had no idea how to get back down safely from there. "Chiyu!" He called for her once he'd made it to her cave.
"Mr. Sanji! You came back!" she gasped, running over to him and hugging his legs. "What's happening? Why are there so many earthquakes?" she asked, frightened.
"I don't have time to explain, just believe me when I say we have to get out of here, fast." he told her. At that moment another shockwave rocked their entire mountain, but this one wasn't stopping after a few seconds, it continued and didn't stop. "Shit!" Sanji cried, grabbing Chiyu in his arms and scrambling for the mouth of the cave. A stalactite from the ceiling of the cave fell and stabbed into his shoulder, breaking his arm like Luffy had done to Ryuumaoh.
Chiyu shrieked. "You're hurt!" she began to sob as Sanji dropped to one knee with the pain, trembling. But his determination to save her forced him back onto his feet.
"Don't cry...remember what I told you? Be strong...I'll get you out of here. I promise." he said, kicking upwards and shattering the other falling rocks until he reached the exit. "Hold on tight." he told her, making sure her arms were wrapped firmly around his neck before they made their death-defying escape. He began to slide down the steep cliff as slowly as possible, which really wasn't that much, but at this point there was no choice. As long as Chiyu survived, that was all that mattered...the life of a lady. But Chiyu screamed so loudly a second later that Sanji thought his ears were going to explode. "What's going on?!" he looked up to see what was making her so afraid. The cliff aboved them had completely shattered, and the rocks, big ones, were tumbling down over them. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!" Sanji groaned, thinking things couldn't possibly be any worse. With nowhere else to go but down, Sanji figured it was better this way...sacrificing himself to save Chiyu. "Don't let go, no matter what." he told her, kissing her forehead in a fatherly way. Just before the rocks crushed them both, he leapt forward, avoiding them, but ensuring his own death from the hundreds of feet they were about to plummet.
Sanji's life flashed before his eyes. Training with Zeff to learn the Chef's Kick...flirting with pretty customers...kicking Patty and Carne's asses...coming up with special new recipes...everything before Luffy had shown up and changed his life. "My only regret is that I'll never have found the All Blue..." he sighed as he held tightly to Chiyu, making sure he'd take the impact from the fall and spare her from it.
"Don't say that, Mr. Sanji...the magic ocean is out there...you have to find it. You will...I promise." Chiyu whispered to him. Sanji was confused by those words; how did Chiyu and these islanders know about All Blue? And how exactly did this young child intend to fulfill that promise when Sanji was seconds away from dying?
It happened so quickly Sanji wasn't even prepared for it. Both of his legs shattered when they hit the ground; his legs practically exploded, the bones that didn't turn to dust jutted through the skin. His back was broken as well, and he could feel the back of his head crack. He was amazed he was still conscious. Nothing short of sheer willpower and determination could have kept him awake through this. Only one arm remained upright, holding Chiyu by her tiny dress, and although Chiyu was crying uncontrollably, she was no worse for the wear. Sanji was completely paralyzed. He couldn't even talk. Chiyu freed herself from his death grip and stared into Sanji's lifeless eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Sanji..." she wiped her tears away. "I won't cry anymore..." she said, kissing his forehead. Sanji was able to see all of this happening but make no indication that he knew it was. He expected everything to start going dark. But as Chiyu stood over him, rubbing his cheek, there was no great blackness. Just light...lots and lots of white light.
He couldn't feel her touching him at first, but then he felt the soft, childish skin of her tiny palms. He expected to feel the sensation of crippling agony returning to him as the rest of his body regained feeling but no, there was only great relief, if not a little bit of itchiness. He began to take breaths, the wind having been knocked out of him before, and coughed. He seemed to lie there forever until he began to feel strength returning to his body, and moved the palm of his broken arm. Only it wasn't broken anymore; his shoulder twitched and he bent his arm, proving it wasn't broken anymore. "What's the deal? Am I dead? Is this heaven? Where are all the pretty angel girls?" he said, looking around.
"I'm your pretty angel girl, aren't I, Mr. Sanji?" Chiyu asked him, standing over his legs, rubbing them. Sanji watched, amazed, as white light emanated from Chiyu's palms as she rubbed his broken legs. The bones seemed to melt into liquid and sink back inside the flesh of his legs, and the torn, bloody flesh sewed itself back up, without even leaving a scar. "You saved my life...and now I've saved yours." she smiled.
"H-how did you...?" he stared bewildered at her and the miracle he'd just witnessed.
"My Devil Fruit power...Jinsei-Jinsei no Mi...the power of life...the power to save lives." she giggled.
"Well I don't think I'm quite through saving your life..." Sanji's eyes widened. He scrambled to his freshly healed legs and scooped Chiyu up again. Over Sanji's shoulders, Chiyu saw what he meant; Luffy looked like he was preparing his finishing move.