"Haa, haa, haa…"
After roaring triumphantly toward the setting sun, Butler sensed something odd.
A presence, perhaps.
Turning, his eyes widened in shock.
The once-gentle hill was now a shattered wasteland, littered with debris. Fallen animals lay motionless, not one stirring.
There they stood.
Luffy, straw hat tilted, gently laid the battered, raccoon-like Chopper down, rising slowly to meet Butler's gaze with unflinching calm—no anger, no fear.
A few steps back, Kiri stood, eyeing the monstrous enemy with the same steady look.
"What… why are you standing?"
Butler's muttered question went unanswered.
The two stared, unmoving.
An eerie tension hung in the air.
As Butler faltered under their gaze, Chopper, helped by the relatively unharmed Mobambi, stood shakily and called out. Their eyes turned to him, warm and welcoming.
"Luffy, Kiri… sorry. This mess is my fault…"
"No worries. Take it easy."
Luffy grinned freely.
Chopper, fighting tears, pressed on.
"I should've handled it, but I can't beat him. I hate saying this, but… can you take him down for me?"
"Sure. Leave it to me."
No hesitation, no deliberation.
Luffy, casually stretching his arm, turned to Butler.
As Chopper and Mobambi gaped, Kiri, with a wry smile, waved lightly. Unfazed, as if this was routine.
The two faced Butler together.
From his higher perch, Butler smirked down.
"Tag team, huh? You really think you can beat me?"
"Yeah."
"Idiots… you're no different from these beasts."
Sneering, Butler spoke with glee.
"I've claimed the King's Treasure. This destruction, this scene—it's the result. Get it?"
"Nope."
"You can try to kill me, but it'll end the same. No creature can defeat my genius mind and beastly power."
"Got it."
Luffy's bored tone and small nod irked Butler, who kept boasting.
"Run while you can! I'm the man who'll rule the world with this power!"
"Enough of that."
Cracking his knuckles, Luffy cut him off.
"I'm just here to kick your ass."
"Talking to fools is exhausting. Fine—you're not worth sparing."
Butler crouched, growling low. He didn't believe he could lose, but anger fueled him. No mercy.
Luffy spun his right arm, looking goofy, hardly threatening—less imposing than the Forest Guardians.
Then he moved first.
"Gomu Gomu no—"
No sign of effort, yet he was attacking?
Baffled, Butler laughed mockingly.
In an instant, Luffy's arm stretched, slamming a fierce punch into Butler's cheek.
"Pistol!"
"Hau!?"
The worst pain yet.
Despite his massive form, Butler was knocked back, sliding across the ground. His left cheek throbbed as he lay confused, head tilted.
There was distance. And his arm stretched. The pain inflicted on his enhanced body was unthinkable.
Panicked, Butler scrambled up, flustered but standing.
Luffy hadn't moved, only his arm extended.
He was a Devil Fruit user, Butler realized. Understanding calmed him—nothing to fear if handled right. His smirk returned.
Luffy's expression stayed blank.
Kiri stepped beside him, pulling a scrap of paper from his pocket.
A two-on-one setup.
"Ha, that caught me off guard, but so what? Just a little pain!"
"Pretty tough, huh? Let's wrap this up quick."
"Yeah."
"I'll back you up, Luffy. Do your thing."
"Got it."
Their planning was brief, almost trivial.
Luffy sprinted, stretching his arm back.
"Gomu Gomu no—!"
"Useless! That's just a sting—!"
Paper wrapped around Luffy's fist, doubling its size, hardened to iron-like strength.
Sensing something off, Butler stood rigid. Another opening, another punch.
"Hammer!"
A direct hit to the gut.
Butler's feet left the ground, unable to brace. He crashed onto his back, rolling frantically, clutching his aching stomach. This pain surpassed the last.
He realized Luffy wasn't normal.
Too pained to scream, Butler noticed Luffy closing in again.
His arm stretched back, twisted this time, tipped with hardened paper—equal or greater force.
Pale, Butler tried to flee, but couldn't rise before the attack hit.
"Hammer Rifle!"
"Ogo!?"
Flat on his back, a spinning punch crushed his stomach, forcing out air and nearly his consciousness.
Immobilized, Butler watched Luffy leap, stretching his right leg skyward, paper swiftly hardening around it.
Frozen in terror, Butler took another blow.
"Hammer Axe!"
"Gyaaah!"
"Lame name."
Kiri, watching from a distance, smiled softly, unfazed—neither worried for Luffy nor pitying Butler, almost amused.
Chopper and Mobambi, farther off, stared in awe.
The foe who'd overwhelmed everyone was being toyed with like a child.
Their strength was unfathomable, and they weren't even serious. Luffy and Kiri's casual demeanor screamed confidence.
"Amazing…"
"They're that strong…"
They muttered in awe.
Luffy kept attacking, Butler now fleeing in fear.
"Hammer Gatling!"
"Gwoaaah!?"
Both fists, clad in paper, pummeled relentlessly.
Butler couldn't endure, pushed back, his sharp claws scraping the ground but unable to stop. His strength to resist was gone.
A final blow to the face sent him flying, nosebleed arcing comically, amplifying his humiliation.
Butler collapsed, eyes ruled by terror.
He wasn't a warrior. A scholar, never in a real fight, his kills were ambushes on the defenseless—not true strength.
Even with newfound power, it wasn't his.
Facing true strength, Butler felt death, his panicked eyes seeking only escape.
He scrambled, but Luffy's gaze never wavered, fixed on him.
A brief pause in the fight.
Chopper shouted, catching Kiri's attention. He knew the weakness and believed they could win.
"Kiri! His weakness is the antlers! Break them, and he'll lose his power!"
"Antlers?"
"He ate the Animal King's antlers to transform! Without them…"
"Got it."
Kiri stepped forward, relaxed.
"Luffy, you hear that?"
"Yeah. Antlers, right?"
"I'll handle them. Keep him busy."
"Got it."
"Damn you! Don't underestimate me! I'm stronger now! I can't lose!"
Desperate, Butler charged recklessly.
No strategy, no threat.
Luffy reacted alone, no support from Kiri. After a quick wind-up, he unleashed a double-palm strike.
"Siege Cannon!"
Too fast to see, it struck Butler's gut.
He crumpled to his knees, immobilized.
Kiri leaped gleefully, aiming for the antlers.
"First one."
Crafting a massive paper axe, hardened, he swung at the left antler's base. The clash met resistance—too tough to cleave.
Kiri frowned.
The cracked antler was unnaturally durable. His strike only chipped it slightly.
He stepped back, observing. Both antlers bore cracks—Chopper's work, likely. Impressive. A plan formed.
More force was needed.
Luffy's strength would speed things up. Kiri proposed it.
"Sturdier than expected. Luffy, got a sec?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"I'll make the blade. Hit it hard. Should cut through."
"Got it. Just punch, right?"
Nodding, Kiri shaped a long, hardened paper staff, gripping it with both hands.
A club taller than himself.
He sprinted, striking the kneeling Butler's head, toppling him flat. Sprawled, head dazed, it was the perfect position.
Kiri moved masses of paper, binding Butler's limbs, pinning them to the ground. Perfect restraint neutralized his strength.
Butler's terrified cries went ignored as Kiri built something else.
A guillotine, aimed at Butler's antlers.
Just paper, but iron-hard, capable of cutting.
Certain of death, Butler thrashed futilely, the restraints expertly sapping his strength.
As execution loomed, Kiri's glee unnerved even Luffy.
"Aaah!? Wait! Stop! Rethink this!?"
"Ready. Execute, please."
"Kiri, why so excited?"
"Not excited. Why?"
"You're grinning like crazy."
"Smiling spooks the enemy. Psychological attack."
"Huh. That's how it works?"
"Stop it! What's your grudge against me—!?"
Ignoring Butler's pleas, Kiri signaled Luffy, smiling as always.
"Go high, Captain."
"Alright."
Kiri crafted another staff.
Luffy hopped lightly, landing on the staff as Kiri swung it, launching him skyward.
Falling from high, Luffy spun, stretching his right leg upward.
"Gomu Gomu no—"
"Gyaaah!? Murderers! Demons! You're not human!"
"Says the guy who gave up being human. You brought this on yourself."
"Aaaaaaah!?"
Luffy plummeted toward the guillotine's blade, aimed at the antlers.
As he neared, he retracted his leg, stomping the blade.
"Axe!"
The blade crashed down, hitting the cracked antlers precisely. It dug deep but stopped short of severing.
Too tough.
Kiri jumped in.
"Luffy, finish it."
"On it!"
"Stop!?"
As Luffy stepped back, Kiri swung a new staff down, using his fall's force to drive the guillotine lower.
The added force sliced through, severing both antlers. A strange light burst from the stumps.
The stolen power was fading.
Kiri swiftly released the paper restraints.
Freed, Butler sprang up, clutching his head. No antlers. He tried to stem the leaking light, but his body shrank—golden fur fell, muscles withered, weaker than before.
A skeletal husk in an instant.
"Aaah! My power…!?"
"Gomu Gomu… Gomu Gomu no—"
Luffy's arms stretched to their limit, poised to strike.
Butler's eyes widened, too late.
Luffy fired.
"Stop—!"
"Bazooka!"
His hands slammed Butler's shrunken gut, silencing his scream. The force launched him skyward, out of the island's center, soaring over the sea.
Like Monsieur Wapol before him.
Butler vanished instantly, the fight ending anticlimactically.
Luffy's arms snapped back as he stood tall.
Kiri stowed his paper, neither showing fatigue.
Chopper, watching, felt their strength was in a different league. He'd given the weakness, but they might've won without it.
Feeling inadequate yet awestruck, he realized he'd joined an extraordinary crew. His jaw stayed dropped.
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