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Grand Line – Paradise
Alabasta – Nanohana
In the sky, above the port city of Nanohana, Luffy's uncontrolled and flaming body passes flying at the speed of light, toward the coast of the island, getting closer and closer to the ground.
After already having crossed half the city, his body begins to collide with several buildings, crashing through them before continuing, his momentum decreasing with each collision, finally stopping when he hits one of the masts of a large ship in the city's harbor, breaking it in half before falling onto the deck.
=Scene Break=
Now, let's go back a few instants in time, three Baroque Works agents, Billions, had just executed an official agent, Mr. 11, captured on a Marine ship, out of personal interest, coveting his position.
The three were going out to the deck of the ship when, out of nowhere, something hits one of the ship's masts with a loud crash, splitting it in half.
"What the fuck?...", the three shout, startled, jumping back so as not to be hit by the debris of the broken mast.
As soon as the noise ceases and the dust settles, "Ugh... is it to go all out? Fine then!", Luffy, now visible to the three, says, slowly getting up while extinguishing the flames stuck to his body.
Stretching a little, Luffy then quickly enters Gear Fourth, Rocketman, before disappearing from where he stood using a combination of Soru and Geppo, at no moment noticing the presence of the three.
"That was the...?", one of the three Baroque Works agents begins to ask half-dazed, only to be interrupted by his companion.
"Yes, here... Straw Hat, three hundred million Berries!", one of the other two interrupts him, taking Luffy's updated wanted poster from a pile of posters inside his bag, showing it to his companions.
"The boss said to report if we saw him in Alabasta", the third agent says, remembering the notice that all the agents had received a few days ago.
"He seemed to be in the middle of a fight, didn't he?", the first of the three asks, wanting to confirm he wasn't the only one with that impression.
"Yes...", at this moment, the three are interrupted by sounds of explosions happening throughout the city.
"Do we confirm what's happening before informing the superiors?", one of the three asks in doubt, looking in the direction from which the noises came.
"No, the city's packed with Billions, who must have already realized something is happening. We have the temporary advantage of knowing that Straw Hat, and by consequence, his crew, are involved in this. So, while they risk themselves trying to get close to the confusion to understand what's happening, the three of us report to the superiors and are rewarded for it! Simple, right?", one of the other agents replies with a sly smile on his face as he explains his plan.
Then, leaving the Marine ship and heading to a safe place, the three quickly pass the information ahead to their superiors.
=Scene Break=
Meanwhile, in Rainbase, more specifically in the Rain Dinners casino, Robin enters Crocodile's office and sits on one of the sofas in the place.
Standing in front of a large glass window, the Shichibukai watches a giant Bananawani pass swimming in front of him.
"I received interesting information from the Billions in Nanohana. Apparently, the Straw Hats and the Marines are using the city as a battlefield", Robin suddenly says, informing him of the news she just received.
"Any estimate of how long this confrontation will last?", without turning to Robin, Crocodile asks, calculating, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Several groups reported that the Marines are losing unilaterally, but there's something interesting; no one saw Straw Hat in the middle of this confrontation. There was only one report from three Billions who saw him. They reported he seemed injured and that he muttered about 'going all out' before undergoing a strange transformation and then disappearing from the place where they were", Robin informs him, assuming Luffy is fighting someone as strong or stronger than him.
"One day at minimum then!", Crocodile assumes. Battles of that level generally last at least a day, presuming that the newspaper from a few days ago was telling the truth.
"You seem to be plotting something", Robin comments, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah... I have a mission for you, Miss All Sunday!", Crocodile replies before then turning to Robin and saying.
"And what this mission is about?", Robin asks, frowning imperceptibly, not liking where this conversation was going.
"Go to Nanohana as quickly as possible and use the chaos of this confrontation between the Straw Hats and the Marines to stealthily assassinate Princess Vivi!", Crocodile says, giving her a 'suicidal mission', but honestly, he didn't have many options, and this was an unexpected opportunity that presented itself at his door. Losing it would be a waste. Besides, Robin, though not stronger than him, is his most capable agent to complete this mission stealthily.
"You read the newspaper from a few days ago, right?", Robin asks, trying not to show her indignation. It was a suicidal mission. She was basically being sent to her death.
"Are you questioning me?", Crocodile asks threateningly as he sits in his chair, drumming his fingers on the large wooden desk in front of him.
"... Never. Assassinating Princess Vivi, right? It will be done!", after a few seconds of silence, Robin says without raising suspicion, making her decision in secret.
"Good. Now go! There's no time to waste", Crocodile then dismisses her, not paying attention to Robin's exit from his office.
=Scene Break=
Going back a little in time, Smoker arrives, on his motorcycle, at the place where the three brothers were fighting, just in time to see Ace's colossal tsunami of fire collide with Sabo's blade of air.
Even from a distance, the clash of these two attacks almost sends him flying away like a sheet of paper, the magnitude of these 'forces of nature' paralyzing him in place, and even after everything passes, he still stares into the void for a while, stunned.
Clenching his jaw and fists tightly, Smoker turns around and gets back on his motorcycle, starting it and then returning to the city. He was weak and felt it in every atom of his body; the collision of those attacks had made him feel it.
He was no match, and now he understood it. He needed to get stronger urgently, but first, he needed to understand where he stood compared to the Straw Hat crew.
=Scene Break=
Back to Luffy, upon returning to where his brothers were, he comes across the two engaged in a battle of colossal proportions, which only grew larger in size, voraciously engulfing the desert and destroying everything in its path.
Without wasting time, Luffy joins the party, and from that point on, chaos reigns with even greater force.
Luffy attacks Ace, who attacks Sabo, who attacks Luffy. There was no order; it was all at the same time, everyone against everyone, more and more wounds and bruises piling up on their bodies as the fight grew in scale and destruction; and thus, twenty-four hours passed.
It was early in the morning, the desert that lay between Nanohana and Katorea was no longer the same, kilometer-long ravines stretched across the ground in a shapeless way, gigantic sand whirlwinds formed holes throughout the entire desert, swallowing anything that dared to step a little beyond their edges, vast areas were filled with quicksand, sand tornadoes moved aimlessly through the desert, the place had basically become a dead zone, an area without life, where nothing survived for long upon entering, and if the fight ended there, the desert would remain that way for a while.
They fought the whole night, without pause, their clothes were in rags, only the hats of the three, plus Luffy's sandals, remained intact, their bodies were tired and completely injured, they weren't on the reserve fuel, but, for a fight between brothers, this had already lasted a long time.
Reaching the final climax of the fight, with the three being separated by a few dozen meters from each other, Ace then forms a ball of fire in his hand and infuses it with Armament Haki of a level superior to Advanced and Advanced Conqueror, throwing it at Sabo in the next instant while murmuring, "Daienkai: Chōshinsei!!!".
The fireball then crosses the distance between them at the speed of light, traveling through space like a misshapen mass of plasma wrapped in Conqueror's lightnings.
Reacting instantly, Sabo coats his metal pipe with Armament Haki of a level superior to Advanced and Advanced Conqueror before then batting Ace's fireball, sending it straight toward Luffy.
Upon seeing this attack coming in his direction, Luffy makes a finger gun with his hand and points it at the fireball while murmuring "Gomu Gomu no...", quickly concentrating and compressing his Armament Haki of a level superior to Advanced and Advanced Conqueror at the tip of his finger, a mass of blackish-red energy the size of a marble forming a few centimeters from his outstretched finger, with Conqueror's lightnings crackling around it.
"Finger Gun!!!", Luffy finishes, firing a compressed Haki bullet at the fireball that was approaching at the speed of light. This energy attack used the same principles as his 'Gomu Gomu no Kamehameha', with the only difference being the addition of the superior level of Advanced Weaponry to the mix.
Upon meeting halfway, the two attacks quickly surpass the repulsion of the Conqueror and collide with each other.
The instant after the collision, a gigantic flash covers the desert in its entirety, and, as soon as the brightness fades, a massive explosion of energy expands, swallowing everything in its path, almost reaching Luffy and Sabo, dissipating just before that, the sheer force of this explosion being so great and violent that just the shockwave produced by it causes the illusion of space being bent and distorted upon itself.
Meanwhile, wasting no time, as soon as he fires the Haki bullet, Luffy begins to say "Gomu Gomu no...", getting into position, his hands parallel at the side of his body. Between his palms, a blackish-red energy ball forms at the speed of light, sucking in his Armament Haki of a level superior to Advanced and Advanced Conqueror like a thirsty man in the desert, growing in size and compressing upon itself countless times, Conqueror's lightnings crackling chaotically around it.
As soon as the explosion caused by the collision of the previous attacks dissipates, Luffy extends his hands in front of his body while shouting "Kamehameha!!!", firing a laser beam as thick as a bus at Sabo.
Even without touching the ground below, the Kamehameha rips through the desert floor at the speed of light, reaching Sabo instantly.
The revolutionary then begins to spin his metal pipe coated with Haki like a ventilator, batting and redirecting Luffy's Kamehameha to Ace, who defends himself by firing a fire laser beam of his own authorship, coated with Armament Haki of a level superior to Advanced and Advanced Conqueror.
The three then begin to approach each other, keeping their attacks active while doing this.
Luffy's Kamehameha, reflected by Sabo, and Ace's fire beam distort and grow in size unstably at the point of contact, quickly breaking through the Conqueror's repulsion and colliding with each other.
Another flash covers the desert in its entirety, a massive explosion of energy swallowing the three brothers the next instant, but, caring little about the increasing damage to their bodies, Luffy, Ace, and Sabo continue advancing toward one another amidst the explosion.
And not even a microsecond later, as soon as the three get close to each other, Luffy inflates and compresses the skeletal and muscular structure of his forearm before then contracting it like a spring, twisting it at the same time to create tension; screaming in pain "Gomu Gomu no Nuke Punch!!!" as he delivers a punch to Ace with all his strength, his black fist passing through the Conqueror's repulsion as if it were nothing, brutally smashing his older brother's face.
While his face is being smashed by Luffy's punch, Ace, at the same time, lands a punch with all his strength on Sabo, shouting "Daienkai: Ryūsei Ken!!!", his fist was a black core wrapped in living flames, shining brighter than the sun and propelling him forward at the speed of light, passing through the Conqueror's repulsion as if it were nothing before then violently striking the revolutionary's jaw.
At the same time, Sabo passes his metal pipe to his right hand, from behind his back, grabbing it in a reverse grip before then swinging it toward Luffy while shouting "Ryūsōken: Bitsui!!!", the tip of his pipe passing through the Conqueror's repulsion as if it were nothing, smashing his little brother's face as if it were a sledgehammer.
Imagine a scene from above, with time stopped, the three forming a triangle, Luffy's fist buried in Ace's face, his head turned to the side from the punch.
With Sabo, it was the same; Ace's blazing fist was buried in his chin, his face also turned to the side because of the punch.
Luffy's face was also turned to the side, Sabo's metal pipe buried in his cheek.
What happens next is of colossal proportions. First comes the flash that covers the desert and beyond, quickly dissipating, then comes the shock wave; accompanying it comes the explosion. With the three brothers as the epicenter, the shockwave and the explosion expand at the speed of light, bringing with them a crater that completely swallows the desert between Katorea and Nanohana, the growth of the crater and the explosion stopping only upon reaching the border of the two cities. The shockwave, however, though weaker after traveling all that distance, continues beyond, forcing everyone to hold on to something so they don't get blown away. The sea at the coast becomes agitated, the waves grow in size and turn violent, making navigation difficult, and last but not least comes the sound. I think it's easy to imagine the magnitude of the sound of this three-way impact, right?
Remember that I said a few paragraphs back that the desert between Nanohana and Katorea was now a death zone? Where nothing that entered could come out alive? Well, forget that, the desert, can it still even be called a desert? Well, now it's a colossal crater; maybe in the future it will turn into a lake, or maybe it will just be filled with sand again and go back to being a desert.
At the epicenter of this colossal crater, incredibly close to one another, the three brothers slowly rise from the ground at the same time. Their bodies were bathed in blood and covered in wounds. They were dressed in rags; the only things still intact with them were their hats and Luffy's sandals. You could say they were completely red silhouettes at this moment.
"How long are we going to keep this up? Luffy broke my hunting knife", Ace complains, panting. He hadn't been this exhausted since training with Pops. He could easily keep going for a few more days, but was there really a need for this?
"Who told you to keep swinging that little bread-cutting knife in my direction!", Luffy retorts breathlessly, pointing a finger at Ace.
"Sabo did the same with his pipe, and you did nothing!", Ace retorts indignantly, frowning at his little brother's nonsensical response.
"Sabo didn't call me cannon fodder", Luffy says; that had stayed in his mind, like a child holding a grudge.
"You're still on that?", Ace asks, impressed. He could be childish sometimes, too, but not on this level.
"You still haven't apologized!", Luffy says, puffing out his cheeks.
"Alright, sorry! You're not cannon fodder", Ace says in surrender, acting like the mature brother.
"Enough, you two! It's clear that the three of us are on the same level, so we all agree it's a tie, right?", Sabo puts an end to this silly discussion before commenting. They had been fighting for a little over a day, and Luffy's crew must be worried.
"I haven't given it my all yet!", Luffy suddenly says, fully catching his breath; he still had a trick up his sleeve.
"So what are you waiting for, Mr. 'I'm stronger than all of you'?", Ace asks sarcastically, gesturing for Luffy to show what he had been hiding on his sleeve.
"Since you're asking, I'll go all out! But be ready, and whatever happens, don't let me get near the city", Luffy says, warning them, as he feared what he might do after entering that state. After all, he still didn't have control over that ability.
Exchanging confused looks, Ace and Sabo turn their gazes back to their little brother, seeing Luffy close his eyes and relax his muscles, stabilizing his breathing.
A few seconds later, the two suddenly feel an overwhelming presence emanating from Luffy, a cold shiver runs down their spines. It was as if they were in the presence of an invincible predator, and they were the helpless prey. Fear, that was the word for what they were feeling.
The two then act purely on instinct, in coordination; they appear in front of Luffy and smash his face with their strongest attacks, knocking him out before he can enter whatever that state was.
"What the hell was that? Did you feel too?", Ace asks, sweating coldly as he holds Luffy's unconscious body.
"Yes… I think he won!", Sabo comments after a brief silence, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, but I'm not admitting that in front of him!", Ace says with an amused huff.
"Humm… let's get out of here! Luffy's crew must be waiting for us in the city!", letting out an amused huff, Sabo comments, starting to head back to the city, Ace following right behind, carrying Luffy in his arms.
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(AN: 2,996 Words)
Before anyone says something like "Smoker wouldn't back down in front of something like that", I want Smoker to have a reality check; feeling fear and retreating was instinctive; it wasn't his sane mind that made him pull back. He can, and has come up with every possible excuse trying to justify it to himself, and although what he said is true, deep down, he knows he chickened out. What I want is for him to feel disgusted with himself for having backed down; that will serve as fuel for his willpower to explode when he starts feeling the same way facing the rest of the Straw Hat crew.
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If you guys decide to give ideas or suggestions about things I should pay attention to in the story, keep in mind that on Patreon, the fic is currently at the Alabasta Arc, more specifically, on Alubarna.
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