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Angel Zamora
Robert Clegg
I love you guys!
…
Chapter 11
Luffy Vs. Igor! They Meet At Last!
"I don't think this is a good idea," Chopper said to Luffy. "He's in bad shape.
"He challenged me, Chopper," Luffy said. "It was an honest request from a fellow man. I won't turn him down."
"That's so cool!" Chopper said, eyes sparkling before his doctor instincts took over. "Even so…"
Both the Straw Hats and the Iron Fist Pirates were on a nearby uninhabited island. They had come here after Igor challenged Luffy to a fight. Since the Iron Fist crew's ship was basically wrecked, and having a fight on the Sunny three times in two days just felt dumb, they found an island nearby and docked there. Both crews now stood apart on the island's beach.
According to Franky, the Iron Fist crew's ship, while severely damaged, wasn't unsalvageable. While much damage happened to the exterior that needed to be repaired, the most vital parts of the ship weren't too damaged. It was almost as if their attackers intended for that to happen.
"Your mom's a scary lady, Luffy," Franky said.
"Yeah, she is," Luffy laughed. He was currently stretching himself to loosen up for the fight. The rest of the crew was informed of the fact that it was Luffy's mother's crew that defeated the IRon Fist pirates and trashed their ship. They found the news… disturbing.
"Makes me a bit worried for Tom," Franky muttered.
"I'm kind of scared, too," Usopp admitted. He wasn't shaking, but he did look anxious. Seeing what they did to such a large and notorious crew and their ship, he was starting to think it might not be a good thing if they met with them. "You're mom's not going to attack us if we see her, will she? She's not going to throw cannon balls at us like your grandpa did, right?"
Luffy had to think about it. "She probably won't throw cannon balls."
Usopp sighed in relief.
"She's a lot more creative than gramps. She'd probably do something worse if she wanted to."
Usopp and Nami paled. "Oh, come on…"
"One thing I can say about your mom. This reinforces how crazy that Angel guy is," Zoro said. "To repeatedly harass a lady and her crew who can do this to a crew like this has to be just as crazy as her."
Luffy grimaced. Angel had left his mark on them all. When he fought that guy, he could feel just how inhuman he was. Not that it wasn't obvious from how he acted, but when he caught Luffy by the throat, he could feel just how empty and insane that man truly was. Not even his worst enemies had ever given such a creepy feeling. He called himself a pirate, but that wasn't what he really was.
The rest of the crew felt similarly uneasy.
"Honestly, I hope we never encounter that guy again," Nami said.
"Agreed," Usopp nodded.
"I don't," Zoro said darkly. "I hope we're better prepared for when we next encounter him."
"Come on, Zoro…" Nami complained. "Don't we have enough threats to deal with without asking for more enemies?"
"Unfortunately, Nami," Robin said. "Zoro isn't wrong. Avoiding such people isn't feasible. It's a huge sea filled with powerful people. People who are on our direct path. If we want to keep moving forward, we need to become better prepared and stronger."
The navigator mumbled. "I know, but can we at least try to avoid the psychos…?"
As Sanji made several passionate promises that he would protect both her and Robin, Luffy moved towards Igor. "I'm off."
"Good luck, Lu-chan!" His seven crew members shouted teasingly. They all had heard that Luffy's childhood friend was connected to the Iron Fist Pirates. More importantly, her childhood nickname for him that the entire crew seemed to refer to him by now, so they decided to tease him with it.
"Shut up! You guys are not allowed to call me that! Captain's orders!"
With angry stomps, he moved until he was several paces away from Igor. His own crew had tried to talk him out of this fight as well. Particularly his first mate, who had survived being cut down by Luffy's godfather, Rizen. But Igor was determined to follow through on this.
"You said Sona beat you before, right?" Luffy asked.
"She did. And now I've lost to Hell Princess, too. If I weren't such a great man, I might actually feel embarrassed at losing to a couple of young girls."
"If it makes you feel any better. Yuki kicked Sona's ass dozens of times back home."
"…I'm just amazed there are such scary strong people wrapped in such lovely packages. The world is truly big and beautiful. If only Hell Princess had stomped on me. That would have made me feel better…"
Luffy shivered, disturbed by his shameless perversion.
"I like this guy's style," Franky laughed.
"You would, pervert," Nami said darkly.
"Thanks for the compliment!"
"It wasn't one…"
Chopper asked why would being stomped on make him feel better, to which Robin merely smiled maternally telling him that it wasn't something he needed to ever know or understand.
"Captain, please stop shaming us more than we already have been with your weird kinks," Viktor, his first mate, sighed.
"Just being honest!"
"Yuki would kill you if she heard this, you know?" Luffy said. "Speaking of. Are you sure you want to do this? I know it's hard to move right after getting beat up by Yuki. Ace almost had to leave home late after their fight."
"Don't worry about me, Lu-chan. I know exactly what I'm doing."
"She's that strong?" Usopp asked. He remembered Ace clearly from Alabasta. The idea of any of Whitebeard's commanders getting beat so bad, even if it was before he officially became a pirate, was horrifying. Just how much of a monster was this girl.
"At least," Robin said. "They say the Princess of Hell is the strongest of any of the young marines. Actually, they call her the Generation's Strongest. As in, your generation."
Zoro side eyed her. "You're excluding yourself from our generation?"
The beautiful archeologist smiled. "Well, I am a bit older than the rest of you, remember? In any case, there's no real hard determinant for deciding generations. When people call Hell Princess the "Generation's Strongest" they really just mean she's so strong that it defies her age. I have no way of actually knowing if she's that much stronger than the rest of you, but I can say the fact that she easily defeated Iron Fist Igor helps reinforce her reputation."
"…I wouldn't mind testing that out," Zoro said, gripping his sword handle.
"She sounds truly beautiful…" Sanji sighed, love struck by the idea of her. "I truly can't wait to meet her…"
Usopp glanced back at the Iron Fist Pirate's ship and took in the state of it. He could wait, if he was being honest.
Luffy and Igor began their fight.
The huge man charged at Luffy, moving fast despite his size and build. It was especially impressive considering the damage he had taken.
Even so, Luffy easily avoided the swing of his fist. Luffy was made of rubber, and the iron gauntlet that was Igor's namesake had been destroyed, but his strength was the real deal. It'd be difficult to escape if caught by him.
Luffy knew that, so he intended not to get caught. Although if he did, he would still escape.
Still, the guy was moving really well for somebody beat up by Yuki. The girl was really strong, and worse, didn't have the best self control. Igor was either really tough, or she had learned to hold back a bit.
Perhaps both?
"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy fired his signature move. Igor crossed his arms and blocked it. He was pushed back several inches.
"Tough," he smirked. "But far less than what the Hell Princess did to me. Or even Sona's attacks!"
Luffy looked annoyed at the suggestion Sona could be stronger than him. "Oh, yeah?! Well check this out!"
Luffy triggered it.
The darkness oozed out of Luffy's body, enveloping him like an aura.
The Iron Fist Pirates flinched. This was the same power the members of the Demon Unit possessed when they defeated them!
Igor braced himself for what came next.
In a blur, Luffy vanished. His inherited power gave him speed greater than even his Second Gear.
Luffy appeared above Igor, his arm outstretched at least 10 feet..
"Gum-Gum…" Luffy's voice was warped. It sounded demonic. It sent a shiver down the spines of the Weakling Trio. The Iron Pirates, too, flinched as memories of their crushing, one sided defeat by the Demon Unit flashed into their minds. "Black Pistol!"
At incredible speed, Luffy's darkness cloaked rubber fist flew at Igor. The large man reacted quick enough to block it, but the sheer power of the attack knocked him flat on his back.
He stood over the big man with his eyes glowing red. In the face of Luffy's demonic expression, Igor let out a sigh and smiled contently. "You're as incredible as Sona said. I concede."
The Iron Fist Pirates sighed in disappointment, but accepted the results.
"It's over already?" Franky said, in surprise.
"That guys isn't weak," Zoro said. "In fact, I can tell he is strong. It's just that Luffy's reached another level. I experienced it last night.
The night before, Luffy and Zoro had a sparring match. The rest of the crew was watching. As they ignored Nami's complaint that it was too late at night for that, they went at each other hard right from the start. Things were even in the beginning with neither of them gaining an upper hand. Then, Luffy activated his mother's inheritance and Zoro found himself staring at the starry sky with Luffy standing above him, just as he was with Igor right now.
Luffy had completely bested him last night. That shocked the entire crew, even Sanji. There was always a belief that Luffy and the other two mMonster Trio were relatively even in strength, but Luffy had just totally overwhelmed Zoro. He couldn't make any excuse that his inherited power caught him by surprise. Right now, there was a wide gap between Luffy's strength and the rest of the crew.
His fight with Ryuuhei had not only allowed him to unlock his innate abilities and learn to harness them. It had pushed his fighting strength to a new level. He likely stood no chance against Angel, Ryuuhei, or the admirals right now, but now he was a step closer to their power than he was before.
Zoro was determined not to be left behind by his captain.
"This would have been harder if you weren't hurt by Yuki, you know?" Luffy said, his darkness fading away. He could only maintain it for about ten seconds at a time. He offered Igor his hand.
Igor accepted it. He pulled himself up onto his feet. "Even if I wasn't, I have a hunch you'd still win, Lu-chan… Luffy."
"Duh," he laughed, happy that the guy wouldn't call him by his horrible childhood nickname. "But you're strong. Let's fight again when you've regained your strength!"
"I'd like that…" Igor said. Luffy looked perplexed by his face. His expression told him he'd found an answer to something. "...I quit trying to become King of the Pirates."
Luffy stared at Igor in shock. His crew, too, stared stunned at their captain's sudden declaration.
"I became a pirate because I saw myself as strong," he started to explain. "I left my hometown and started building my pirate crew. It was on the sea I found out I really was strong. I defeated every rival pirate and marine who came after me. Pretty soon, I became one of the most notorious and feared pirates in West Blue. I had decided to ride the high of strength I was on and take it to the Grand Line. I had decided to follow the path of Gold Roger and become the Pirate King. Just before I left West Blue, I encountered our mutual treasure hunter friend. One thing led to another, and we fought. After a hard fought battle, she beat me. My first loss ever, and it was to a girl who by looks alone, I could mand handle, throw against the wall, and-"
"Get to the point!" Nami and Robin both said coldly, releasing a terrifying aura even more scary than what Luffy looked like in his dark form. The men flinched at their death glare.
"A-Anyway, for a certain reason, Sona and her team stayed on my ship for a bit. We talked a lot. Well, she talked a lot. I mostly listened. She spoke about you and Kyo-chan for a long time. So, very long…" He muttered with an exhausted face. "I heard so much useless trivia that I thought it was mostly a lie. At some point, she told me about your dream to become the King of the Pirates. I then told her that I was going to become Pirate King. When she heard that, she suggested I go find you on the Grand Line some day and challenge you. But she gave me a warning, too. Can you guess what she said?"
"Going into Sona's head doesn't sound fun…"
"She said if I fought you, I would lose my dream."
The Straw Hats, who were listening intently to Igor's story, stared in surprise.
"I didn't understand what she meant back then, and she didn't elaborate before we parted. I assumed she meant you would kill me as a rival, but what's happened is more severe than merely dying. I truly lost my dream to you. Or more specifically, in fighting and meeting you, I realize now how pathetic my resolve was compared to your own. Becoming the Pirate King to me was just a notch on my belt. The achievement alone would have satisfied me, but you. You're different, Straw Hat. It's not the end goal for you. It's a part of you. Even if the One Piece didn't exist, you would still chase after that title, right?
"Just so you know, I have no intention of stopping being a pirate. I doubt the marines and the government will just ignore me even if I did. I don't exactly understand everything I'm feeling, but I know that I can no longer continue as I am. I have to rethink my path and figure out what I really want as a pirate. So, you guys?!"
His crew jumped into attention when he shouted to them.
"Up to this point, you all agreed to help me become the Pirate King, but now I decided I don't want to do that anymore. If any of you want to part ways, I'll understand."
The crew answered swiftly and unhesitatingly.
"No thanks," his Viktor said with confidence. "As long as you continue to be a pirate, it doesn't really matter what your goals are. I will still follow you, Igor."
His crew shouted their agreement. A burst of emotion hit Igor, and he stared at the ground to hide his face. "Fools… thanks."
"…You've got a good crew," Luffy grinned. The Straw Hats were also moved by the Iron Fist Pirate's bonds of friendship and loyalty. Franky, as was natural for him, wept loudly and dramatically. "Iggy."
Igor glared. "Don't you dare call me that!"
He calmed himself down and spoke again. "Listen, Straw Hat. I may be retiring from the race to One Piece, but that doesn't mean you and I are through. My crew and I will rebuild ourselves, and when next we meet, you better be ready, because I'm still going to take you down if nothing else. That's a goal I'm more than capable of putting my heart into!"
Luffy put his hand on his hat and grinned. The crew stood behind him, looking ready for any future challenges. "Sure. Anytime, any place. My crew and I will always be ready to take you guys on."
After that, the two crew parted ways, but not without a few last words of gratitude from the Iron Fist crew.
"Thanks for the help, Lu-chan!"
"We'll never forget it, Lu-chan!"
"We owe you one, Lu-chan!"
"Take care, Lu-chan!"
"Shut up!" Luffy snapped as the Sunny sailed away from the island.. "Never call me that again!"
"Easy there, Lu-chan," Nami teased. "There just being grateful."
"Nami…!"
"I'm just glad you ended it without exasperating Igor's injuries too bad, Lu-chan," Chopper said.
"Chopper…!"
"Relax, Lu-chan!" The whole crew said together.
"Damn you all! This is all Sona's fault! When I see her, I'll kick her ass!"
"She sounds like quite a character," Robin said. The crew was rather interested by how much this girl got under their captain's skin. He was hardly unflappable, but it was rare to see him so irked by someone. Sona must've been an incredible girl. "She knew that Igor would realize something after you two met. It sounds like she understands you in a very special way, Luffy."
Luffy made a disgusted face. "That sounds so gross. She just likes to say stuff. She's as big a dummy as me!"
"I doubt that," Sanji said, a wistful look on his face. "She sounds like a lovely lady with great empathy. She sounds like some one I'd love to meet."
"No, Sanji!" Luffy snapped. "Anybody else! You can love anybody else! My sisters! Yuki! Even my mom! But just don't with Sona! I'm ordering you as your captain! Don't fall for Sona!"
Sanji and the others stared in complete bewilderment. For someone to have this kind of effect on their dense and easy going captain, the girl in question must be more incredible than they had thought. They were eager to one day meet her.
Back on the Iron Fist's ship. Igor retrieved a transponder snail from the ship's messaging room. Fortunately, it wasn't ruined during the attack. He dialed a certain number. He recalled after parting ways with Luffy that he had made a promise to a certain girl to reach out if he ever saw him.
Several moments passed, and somebody answered.
"Hello?" A female voice answered.
Igor smiled. He recognized the voice.
"Kino! It's me, Igor!"
"…Igor?" Kino replied in surprise. "How unexpected. How are you?"
"I could be worse." He thought of his ruined ship. "Anyway, put Sona on the line. I have something I need to tell her."
"I can do that. She's asleep, but I'll just hit her with a stick or something. Can you tell me what's it about?"
"Tell her… I found Lu-chan."
Somewhere not too far from the current location of the Straw Hats ship, a certain Navy caught sight of their flag.
"Maim!" One of the Demon Unit's lookouts shouted from up in the crow's nest. "We've caught sight of the Straw Hat Pirate's flag!"
"Really?!" Lilia could barely hide her excitement. Nagika was no different. Rizen, too, looked eager(after remembering the Straw Hats were Luffy's crew. Ren and Shauna exchange happy looks. Yuki stiffened. It had been close to two years since any of them had last seen Luffy, and suddenly she was feeling self conscious about her appearance. Logically she understood it was totally pointless to worry about how she looked in front of Luffy, who was indifferent towards fashion and looks, but she could help but want to fix herself up even slightly.
"How far?!"
"About ten nautical miles in the current direction."
"Got it. Wonderful!"
It would take hours for their ship to reach his ship. Screw that! It had been so long, and she wasn't going to waste another second.
"Hold on tight, everyone!"
Just as she had at Alabasta, Lilia used her ability and the ship was now equipped with two giant black wings like a devil. With a few powerful flaps of the wings, the ship took to the sky.
Flying truly was a marvel. A distance that would normally take hours could be crossed in minutes. Right now, people are mostly isolated beyond their home island due to the world being ninety percent ocean. Most wouldn't want to risk their lives traversing dangerous seas. Only pirates, marines, and other sea farers ever saw the world. In fact, the chance to see new things is why a lot of people choose those occupations. The day humans could harness the power of flight would be the day the world truly changes.
Most of the Demon Unit's people were caught by surprise by their vice admiral's sudden act, but the fact that not even Nagika tried to stop her from acting so rashly showed how important her son was to all of them.
In mere minutes, they reached the Straw Hat's ship from overhead. Then Lilia let the wing constructs fade away, causing them to fall to the sea below. They were only about ten feet in the air, so nothing horrible would happen when they hit the water besides a sizable splash and rough landing, but they still screamed in shock.
"Do you guys hear screaming?" Nami asked, looking about.
"I do," Luffy said. He looked up, thinking it sounded like it was coming from above their heads. His eyes widened when he saw he was correct. A whole ship was falling from the sky. "Look up!"
His crew looked at what he was seeing and matched his expression. The falling ship landed just a couple meters to the right of them. Their land caused a big splash and a small wave which caused the Sunny to shake a bit.
"Is that… a Navy ship?!" Franky asked, observing the ship with a shipwright's gaze. On the outside, it looked the same as any other navy issued vessel, however, this one seemed different, somehow. Better made and with more care from its shipwright.
"It is," Robin said. She eyed the unique symbol depicting a demonic face as opposed to the usual marine symbol. "Luffy, I believe that is-"
"Mom?!" Luffy shouted in surprise before Robin could finish. As the crew of the ship were regaining their footing after falling from above, his attention was fixated on a single woman wearing the Marine's commanding officer jacked over a black suit. She smiled straight back at Luffy, waving at him with a happy expression.
The Straw Hats stared straight at her in fascination.
"That's your mother?" Nami said in amazement.
"She's gorgeous!" Sanji exclaimed. "How is it possible that you two are related?"
Sanji's comment earned him several side eyes from the crew, but nobody could deny Luffy's mother was beautiful. Aside from her raven black hair, they couldn't see any other resemblance between him and her.
"...Oh no," Luffy said dryly. He had a worried look on his face as he saw his mother clap her hands together as if in prayer. "Not that…"
"What-?" Nami began, but then Luffy's mother shouted something.
"Lilia World!"
Instantaneously, a sphere of pure black formed out of Lilia. It consumed both her ship and the Thousand Sunny like an explosion. Everything went black for everyone.
"...I hate Lilia World,' Luffy groaned. He was now alone in a void of complete blackness. His crew, who had been right next to him a moment ago, were nowhere to be seen.
"Come now, sweetie. You used to enjoy it when you were little."
"It got old. We all think so. It's annoying to be in here."
The only person in the black void with Straw Hat Luffy was the vice admiral, Aura D. Lilia. The She Demon. Despite there seeming to be no light at all, they could both see each other as clear as if in daylight.
His mother. Her son.
"...Hi, mom," Luffy said in uncharacteristic awkwardness.
"Hey there, Luffy," Lilia said with a look of love reserved only for her children. "I think we have a lot to talk about, but…"
She wrapped her arms tightly around him, embracing him happily.
"Let me just hug you for a little bit, okay?"
After two years, parent and child were finally back together. She didn't want to waste a second.
…
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