One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed Island of the Devil Fruit Gods ❯ Beginning of the End ( Chapter 29 )

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

At the bottom of the hill below the Paramecian village, the four Shinigami stood, looking up.
"He's done. It's time." Kagemaru announced to the three others. "Move out."

"Oi! Giant-man! Where are you? Tell Ossan I beat you already so I can get Sunny back!" Luffy shouted.
"He's got to be around here somewhere!" Usopp looked around desperately. Everyone turned around and scanned their surroundings for any sign of the shrunken giant.
Luffy took a deep breath just before opening his mouth wide to scream at Daikyojin, when he felt something hook into his cheeks. He choked and his eyes peered down his face. He could just barely see the form of Daikyojin, barely three inches tall, jumping into his mouth, laughing triumphantly in a voice higher than Chopper's on helium.
"Fools! You stupid fools, how could you ever think I had lost?!" Daikyojin began to expand inside of Luffy's body, the rubber boy stretching out like a balloon. The shape of his body was becoming warped with Daikyojin trying to fit, but his fingers were pricking out of Luffy's wrist, and his face was popped out of Luffy's mouth like he was wearing Vice Admiral Garp's dog mask. "Any attack you hit me with, your friend will feel instead! I'll crush you all and then I'll stretch this boy until he's torn to ribbons!" Daikyojin cackled monstrously.
"Why, you bastard!" Franky readied his left arm to blast Daikyojin.
"No!" Sanji kicked Franky in the chin and knocked him over. "Didn't you hear what he said? It'll hurt Luffy too!"
"But he's rubber, bullets bounce off him!" Franky argued.
"No! He's right!" Usopp interrupted. "Luffy's being stretched to the breaking point, he's losing whatever stretchiness he had, he's going to react to any damage like a normal person would!" he explained.
"Shit! What do we do now?!" Franky growled.
"Robin, can't you do something?" Usopp asked desperately.
"I don't know what I could do..." Robin shook her head. Attacking an enemy from the outside was what she could do, attacking them on the inside was harder, as she already knew. And inside Daikyojin's humongous heart, it would be impossible to hurt him in time to save Luffy.
"Hold on just a minute!" Nami's voice rang out in the distance. Ryuumaoh was circling the village and heading back towards the group now, still carrying Nami on his back. "Ryuumaoh, get me up to Daikyojin's face, I have to save my friend!" she said urgently.
Ryuumaoh soared higher, glaring angrily at Daikyojin's equally enraged face. "You again...!" Daikyojin snarled.
Ryuumaoh hovered in front of Daikyojin's face and Nami stood atop his head, holding out something in her hand. "You have ten seconds to get out of Luffy's body or I'm throwing this down your throat!" Nami threatened.
No one knew what she was talking about, but the crew seemed hopeful. "What's she doing?" Sanji wondered.
Nami was holding the Devil Fruit she'd found on the Great Tree from the jungle when she and Luffy were wandering around, before they met up with Smoker and Tashigi. "You know what this means!" Nami told Daikyojin. "If you eat two Devil Fruits, you're not going to survive, right? So either you get out of my friend's body and shrink back to normal size right now, or...!" Nami's eyes were like steel, not even Daikyojin could doubt her just for being a woman.
Breathing hard, but knowing he was beaten, Daikyojin began to shrink, and climbed out of Luffy's mouth, looking furious at the rest of the crew like he'd enjoy nothing more than to crush them all into pulp. Robin crossed her arms and summoned some extra arms and restrained him to make sure he wouldn't be pulling any of his tricks again. But he was in too much pain and his body was too badly strained to change size again.
Ryuumaoh brought Nami back down to the ground, where she was given a warm greeting from the others. "That was really brave, Nami! You stood right up to him in his full giant form!" Usopp cheered. "I can't believe you found a Devil Fruit that wasn't used around here! And you were really going to use it to stop Daikyojin!"
But Nami made them all fall over backwards in exasperation when she began cuddling the Devil Fruit like it was a newborn child. "Oh, my sweet little treasure, Mommy Nami would never let anything happen to you, until someone comes along and offers me over 100 million berries for you..." she cooed to it.
"Now we see where your loyalties are!" Usopp shouted accusingly.
Luffy was flat on his back, gasping. "Oi, Ossan...I won, gimme back Sunny!" he whined.
But an ominous wind was blowing past them, carrying the scent of decaying bodies, and blood. Only Zoro's and Smoker's faces remained unchanged, but everyone else was shaken and repulsed. "They're here." Smoker turned around slowly.
Indeed, the four Shinigami had finally all arrived, showing themselves to the Straw Hats. "It's her!" Usopp gulped, remembering what Tomoshibi had tried to do to eliminate them back at the Zoan village. "And I don't know who those other guys are but if they're with her, then that means..."
"They're all just as dangerous." Smoker assured him. "Their powers are not unlike mind, but of different sorts, like mine compared to Crocodile's. Remember?" he quizzed all of them. Franky was the only one left scratching his head.
"So they ate Logia Devil Fruits?" Nami confirmed. "Then they're just as deadly as Eneru..." she shivered, remembering how she was the only one not struck by Eneru's lightning, but being terrified of it nonetheless.
Chiyu had finished healing Luffy, and stood up, hiding behind her father. Luffy stood up and looked over at them. "Dragon-san, take her and Giant-man away from here where it's safe." Luffy instructed them. He cracked his knuckles. "All right, you all! I'm so tired of this stinky, boring island! There's no good food here and the Dragon-man and Giant-man weren't cool because they were mean when I met them! Now tell me where Sunny went so I can get out of here and find a restaurant!" he demanded of the Shinigami.
They all stared blankly at him, as though they didn't know if he was joking or serious. "You won't be needing to leave the island, Straw Hat boy. You're staying here with us, until it is time for our grand exodus and we shower the world with the darkness of our glorious leader." Kagemaru told him, stepping forward.
"What the hell are you talking about, Shadow-man?" Luffy started picking his nose.
Kagemaru was offended beyond belief by Luffy's act, and slashed at him with the shadowy blade that materialized on his arm. Luffy caught it in his other hand like it was an annoying fly. "Oi, I asked you a question! It's rude to try and hit me when I'm asking you something so important! Nothing is more important than food!" Luffy scolded him, pulling his finger out of his nose and throwing back his arm, still holding Kagemaru's blade with the other. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" he cried, his fist flying at Kagemaru, and straight through his head. Kagemaru's face warped as Luffy's arm recoiled and snapped back, but after a fraction of a second it was as normal, the dark shape of his face returned and the glowing red eyes in their original positions.
"You still don't understand, do you? We are Shinigami, gods of death. We have lived for a thousand years and we cannot be killed by you pathetic mortals. And we carry out the orders of the only god greater than we-and his orders are to take away your lives immediately. But if you'll be so kind as to offer yourselves to him as sacrifices, we will gladly grant you painless deaths." Kagemaru crossed his arms as Luffy let go of the blade protruding from his arm.
"Gods of death, my ass." Zoro growled. "You may have the power to murder, but our power to protect lives is even greater. I bet Shishou tried to teach you that...you killed her, didn't you?!" Zoro snarled, drawing his swords. "Onigiri!" he roared, blasting through Kagemaru's body, but only passing through him harmlessly. The other Shinigami laughed at the pathetic struggle.
"Do you see? You cannot hurt me, you cannot even touch me. This is futile. But if you insist, we can make your deaths as agonizing as possible so you realize what a mistake you have all made in defying us. Unless, of course, the Straw Hat boy immediately and unconditionally agrees to join our ranks and prostrate himself before our lord. The rest of you will be spared." Kagemaru explained their ultimatum.
"And we can go? You'll give us our ship back?" Nami asked, thinking they could pull a double-cross.
"No. You will remain imprisoned on this island for the rest of your lives. We cannot afford to have you preparing the outside world for our coming or bringing in armies to defy us. The master's plan cannot be interfered with after this long." Kagemaru shook his head.
"Then you can eat my fist!" Luffy growled, charging forward. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" he cried as he attempted to strike Kagemaru. All of them passed harmlessly through Kagemaru and he stood still, sighing.
"Then the master will be very disappointed. Not only will he not be acquiring a fifth Shinigami for his brigade, but he will also be losing nine souls that could have been sacrificed. A pity." Kagemaru closed his eyes and turned to Zoro, who was still standing behind him. "I'll be waiting for you, boy. Come find me where you washed up like a dead fish. Except this time when you do come, you will be a dead fish." Kagemaru's cackling laughter rang through all of their ears as he sank into his own shadow and vanished.
"Anu!" Zoro shouted. The wolf raced forward and Zoro leapt onto his back. "Let's avenge her!" he growled as Anu carried him full-pelt through the jungle, back to where Shishou was fading.
Tashigi's arms were trembling. Kagemaru had kidnapped her and left her to die in his dungeon, then murdered the woman who had rescued her? And now Zoro was going off to fight him to the death, when he had no way at all of winning? She couldn't just stand idly by and allow that to happen. She raced off after them. "You're not the only one who owes him pain, Zoro!" she said tearfully, following Anu's trail, which wasn't difficult with the huge footprints he left behind. But he was monstrously fast-she'd never catch up to them in time to help, unless Zoro managed to keep the fight going longer than it seemed he would be able to...

The other three Shinigami watched her run off. "He wanted to kill her too, anyway." Rikujou shrugged. "As for the rest of you, you have all proven yourselves to be exceptional human beings. We will be honored to fight and kill all of you in glorious battle. But first allow me to introduce myself-everyone should know the name of the person who kills them! I am Rikujou, Lord of Earthen Terrain, Master of Rock." he made a macho pose, flexing his muscles even though his power lay not in his body but in the ground beneath his feet. "I believe I should finish what I started with you..." he pointed at Robin.
Robin rubbed her cheek, still sore from when he had struck her. Sanji looked over at her and his eyes narrowed angrily. "You hurt my Robin-chan...?" he fumed. "Your opponent will be me, you filthy pile of dogshit." Sanji stepped forward.
"Me too!" Franky stepped up after him. He still felt protective of Robin since Enies Lobby. Sanji didn't say anything to object. Apparently he didn't think his chances of beating Rikujou alone were too good.
"Very well!" Rikujou laughed. "The two of you against me, atop that mountain!" he pointed to another tall range in the distance. "Come get me!" he sank into the ground leaving a small mound not unlike a gopher hole in his wake.

Tomoshibi giggled. "So chivalrous! Gallant men defending the honor of their women. I suppose I should fight the two girls then." she blew a mocking kiss towards Nami and Robin. Robin stepped forward bravely, wanting to show her who the tougher woman was. "You should all know me, except you two." she pointed her pinky at Robin and Smoker . "I'm Tomoshibi, Goddess of Light, Mistress of the Sun."
"Hey, Kagemaru said I could have the redhead!" Jigyousho argued.
"Oh, pooh. Fine then, I'll take the tall, dark, handsome man and the brunette. They haven't seen what I can do yet, so it'll be more interesting. I've never killed someone who wasn't already terrified of me." she laughed. She aimed a hand at the sun and the other hand at a section of the jungle. Focusing hard, a strained look appearing on her face, she summoned a focused blast of sunlight onto the section of jungle she was pointing at, and the jungle there burst into flame and nothing remained in it, a completely open field for the fight. "I'll meet you there." she winked at them both, vanishing in a burst of blinding light.

"That just leaves you three to me. Not that I'm complaining, you're very cute." Jigyousho complimented Nami. "But your jester and your pet have to go." he glared at Usopp and Chopper.
"Hey, we're not-" Usopp tried to interject but Nami stopped them.
"Shut up, he's trying to play mind games with us. He's going to kill all three of us no matter what so don't think he's going to be taking it easy on me." Nami explained.
"Oh, you saw through me. Yes, even if I wanted to I couldn't keep you alive, Kagemaru would kill you himself." Jigyousho sighed. "But that doesn't mean we can't have fun." he began laughing maniacally. "I am the final Shinigami, Jigyousho! Mother Nature's Husband, the the toughest PANSY around!" he declared. He began sprouting roots from his feet and sank into them as they began expanding towards the thick jungle. "I'll be in the heart of the jungle, so don't keep me waiting!" his voice seemed to echo from everywhere in that direction, as if he was the jungle, that it was his body.
The three of them all gulped. "We're so dead..." Usopp's eyes were streaming tears.

"Oi! What about me!" Luffy shouted. They had completely ignored him. "What the hell am I supposed to do?! I want to fight! But there's four of them and I don't know which one to pick! They all looked so cool..." he started pulling his hair in frustration. But the volcano was beginning to act up again. "Hey! That's it! I have to go back there and find Ossan and beat him up! Yosha! I get a bad guy to fight all to myself!" he laughed, jumping off the ledge of the village into the thin jungle path leading to the volcano. It was emitting green light and an unnatural red smoke, as though something was about to happen that had never happened before.

Zoro and Anu were so focused on getting to Shishou it felt like it took no time at all. At least this time there were no interruptions. Zoro was meditating and trying to think of a way to take down Kagemaru. All he kept getting were visions of himself getting beaten by Aokiji, and Shishou dying. "No...not yet...I'm not ready yet..." he gritted his teeth, begging Shishou not to be dead as Kagemaru had said. But she wasn't sending him any more messages in his mind. That had to mean the worst, didn't it? He pushed that thought from his head and looked forward as Anu reached the edge of the jungle and made it to the beach.
"Shishou!" Zoro called, trying to find her. If she was dead, where was her body? Did Kagemaru bury it? "No! She's not dead, damn it!" he pounded his fist into the sand, creating a hole deep in the ground that made the sand sink into it like an hourglass.
"Zoro..." he heard her voice, like it was coming from a far away place and she was calling to him. "Zoro..."
"Where?!" he whirled around, looking every which way, but he couldn't see her or sense her. With a rude interruption, Anu grabbed Zoro by the seat of his pants with his teeth and rushed him over past the hut to where Shishou lay. "Wha-what is this?" he gasped as Anu put him down. "Shishou...please...wake up..." he told her, scooping her up into his arms. He sighed with relief when she moved her arm and put it around his shoulder.
"So cold..." she whimpered. Zoro had never seen her like this. How could Kagemaru's power be this terrible, to make even her roll over and...well, not die, but...surrender.
"You're going to be all right." Zoro said, examining her wound. He looked away in fright; it went all the way through and had pierced her vital organs. He didn't know how she was even alive right now, but something in her eyes told him she was running on pure willpower now and it was taking every ounce of it to keep herself from fading.
"No...it's too late, but...don't be sad. Don't cry for me, Zoro. I have wanted to die...for so long...but I couldn't. Not until I knew...I knew that...someone strong would come and...stop this. All of this." she sobbed in to his chest.
"Stop what? All of what? I don't understand any of this!" he cried in frustration, tears falling from his eyes onto her.
"This..." she panted softly, pulling his head down, and locking her lips with his. Far from being a kiss, this was a transfer of memories from her mind into his. Her fears, her regrets, all being channeled into him via her Devil Fruit power. The contact only lasted a few seconds but Zoro opened his eyes feeling like he'd just been watching something happen for a millenium.
"But I'm not strong." he finally said when he fully came to his senses.
"I know." she barely managed to laugh. "I know. But it's too late. There's no more time to get someone else. The number of sacrifices is almost at its peak...the master will soon be freed and the world will know true terror. You have to stop Kagemaru now or all is lost. I'm sorry I wasn't able to do it myself...but thanks to you I can at least die in peace. Thank you, Zoro. I won't be mad if you lose. But please do your best." she caressed his cheek. She closed her eyes. She let go of his shoulders. She stopped breathing. Her cheeks lost their color. Her heart stopped beating, no matter how hard Zoro listened for it. Trembling arms losing what great strength they had, he let her slide off of them and onto the rocks near her mother and father's graves. He took out the sword she had helped him create, and dug another grave for her, a shallow one, as if hoping she would return once more. Anu came forward and helped, until Shishou was buried beneath a foot of soft earth.
Zoro turned away, wiping away his tears, and saw Kagemaru standing on the beach. "That girl...always doing the opposite of what she should. Instead of dying peacefully she had to drag it out and suffer. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She never listened to her big brother." Kagemaru shook his head, staring at the ground.
"Shut the fuck up, you satanic bastard!" Zoro pointed the sword at Kagemaru. "You have no right to call yourself her brother, not after what I just saw!"
"Oh, she told you." Kagemaru chuckled. "Not that it will do you any good. It'll just make you angrier. You'll make the same mistakes she did and end up dead. Only I'll take my time with you." Kagemaru's arm once again morphed into the dark blade.
"Just one question." Zoro hesitated. "Why?"
"Why?" Kagemaru laughed mockingly. "When you've seen what I have...done what I have, felt what I have, you can't be expected to continue to embrace humanity. You scorn it, shun it, separate yourself completely from it! I tried to bring her along with me but she refused to do that, the fool that she was. What were you expecting? For me to say I'm sorry?"
"No. I just wanted to make sure you were an unforgivable piece of shit." Zoro popped Wado Ichimonji into his mouth and drew the Sandai Kitetsu with his other hand. "Let's do this."