Okay, I'm back and the second chapter of "Dragon Princess" is here.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.
Enjoy and don't forget to review.
Chapter 2
At the campsite of Dorry, Little Garden
After being invited by the Giant warrior of Elbaf to his place, Princess Nefertari Vivi and her super spot-billed duck Carue watched Monkey D. Luffy interact with Dorry. The two were getting along well as they swapped each other's meals in form of Luffy's pirate lunchbox made by Sanji and Dorry's cooked dinosaur meat from the Brontosaurus he had slain, complimenting the taste respectively.
"Th-they're getting along so well...", Vivi commented with a sweatdrop while Carue nervously sipped on a straw of his drink wrapped around his neck.
During the conversation between Luffy and Dorry, the blue haired young woman learned about the Giants' homeland of Elbaf and their law of settling quarrels by a duel between two warriors. That includes the fact Dorry and his fellow Giant named Broggy, had never managed to settle their quarrel for 100 years and they continued anyway.
Dorry just laughed about it, finding amusement from the whole ordeal and stated that Giants live far longer compared to a human's lifespan.
When Vivi was about to protest about the absurdity of the continuance of the duel and demand Dorry's reasons but then she felt something off with a chill down her spine. She turned her attention towards the saddle's backpack where it held the blue Devil Fruit she found earlier and placed it inside for safekeeping. It was placed nearby Carue who kept sipping his drink that's about to be emptied quickly.
What's this? I feel some strange power from that Devil Fruit. It's like a really strong gravitational force..., the princess of Alabasta thought with nervous sweat.
It's almost like the blue Devil Fruit was calling to her, wanting her to consume it.
And that the blue haired woman could have sworn she felt emanations of excitement and anticipation from the said Devil Fruit to have been finally found after all these years and wanted her to take the power.
However, eating a Devil Fruit was a tempting double-edged sword.
It would grant anyone who consumed it the ability of either a Logia, a Paramecia or a Zoan, becoming a Devil Fruit User. Once eaten, they will keep that power for the rest of their lives until they die naturally or violently, which the Devil Fruit will be under circulation and reincarnate into another fruit for the next person to find and eat it themselves, perpetuating the cycle.
But it came at the cost of becoming unable to swim, a hammer in the water as a consequence. Not to mention, despite the existence of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, both old and new editions, not all Devil Fruits can be identified. It would be a gamble to find out what kind of power the user will possess and they will have to deal with it whether they like it or not.
If I eat this Devil Fruit, will it give me the power to stop Crocodile?..., Vivi thought in contemplation after feeling its emanations. She got up from the ground to open the bag where the said Devil Fruit was stored inside, ignoring the loud volcano eruption and Dorry getting up with his weapons to duel again with Broggy who did the same, and they are approaching each other to begin another duel.
On the other hand, Luffy was focused on observing the showdown between Giants while Carue kept drinking to calm his nerves down.
The princess of Alabasta internally remarked to herself,
Even though I have faith in Luffy and his friends, I am not even sure they could stand a chance against Crocodile. The Straw Hats have two Devil Fruit users in the crew. A Paramecia and a Logia... They might be able to take down the high ranking agents and the rank and file of Baroque Works standing in their way...
But facing the likes of that bastard who not only possessed and mastered The Desert of Alabasta, the Sand-Sand Fruit, and is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?... Luffy would need all the Devil's luck to beat Crocodile and save my country. And it might not be enough..., she somberly thought while picking up the blue Devil Fruit with her hands.
Viv remembered how she was unable to do anything against Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine who tried to kill her after outing her undercover persona as her Miss Wednesday, and she would have died if it weren't for the Straw Hats' intervention; and how Miss All Sunday looked down on her after she callously bombed Igaram when he attempted to be the decoy, and revealed that she let her discover the identity of Mr. 0 to be Crocodile on purpose as part of the Warlord's right hand woman's personal amusement.
That didn't help the fact she was self-conscious of her lack of physical strength, which she had to compensate with her natural agility and combat skills with her Peacock Slashers and they serve her well during her infiltration into Baroque Works as Miss Wednesday. And yet they fall flat when facing against opponents who are above her weight class, Devil Fruit or otherwise.
It made the princess of Alabasta absolutely livid about it.
As if sensing her feelings, the said fruit's emanations grew even stronger than before, promising the blue haired young woman its great power to save Alabasta and crush her enemies that threaten her people and loved ones. They will learn to know the wrath of a descendant of one of the 20 Families that founded the World Government even though the Nefertaris chose not to ascend to Mariejois and remained in Alabasta!
And it will all be hers if she takes one bite.
Making a decision that can never be reversed and it's for the sake of stopping Crocodile from taking Alabasta, she steeled herself with resolve,
There's no turning back after this. I'll do it! For Alabasta... For Igaram... For Kohza... For my father!
Then Nefertari Vivi opened her mouth and chomped on the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon in one bite.
At the duel grounds on Little Garden
As Dorry and Broggy were about to clash with their long sword and battle axe and declare that they forgot the real reason why they duel, which would be observed by Luffy, Nami and Usopp as their witnesses from respective Giants' campsites, a massive gusty shockwave had exploded out of nowhere! Followed by a bellowing roar that shook the entire island and the surrounding areas!
"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
That blew away and flattened most of the trees of Little Garden, and it almost knocked down the Giants and the humans nearby.
It also drove away many dinosaurs, who were just minding their own business, into fleeing as fast their legs can take them as the cook and the swordsman of the Straw Hats were in a middle of a hunting competition of bringing back the amount of dinosaur meat to resupply the food stocks at the Going Merry currently docked at Little Garden.
"What the hell is going on?!", Sanji wondered with a worried look as his quarry in form of an Allosaurus ran off from him.
Turning to the source that scared off the Stegosaurus he was supposed to take down, Roronoa Zoro commented with wide eyes while preparing to unsheathe his Wado Ichimonji, "Wait a minute, is that a dragon?"
At the camp of Broggy, Nami screamed in fear as she hid behind the large log for safety, "Holy shit! Is that a dragon?! I thought there were only dinosaurs here in Little Garden!"
Equally scared and hiding behind the log with his fellow crewmate as well, Usopp stammered, "U-uh-uh! Yeah! I think I heard I heard of a legendary tale about this dragon! Something about finding seven glowing balls around the world in order to summon a dragon of phenomenal cosmic power and you get three wishes from it!
* Quick, Nami! Make a wish! Wish for a billion Beris like you always wanted!"
With her right fist, the orange haired young woman angrily smacked her long nosed friend's poor attempt of a joke at her money loving habit in the middle of potential danger, "Not funny, Usopp!"
"Owww! Sorry, Nami!", Usopp yelled in pain.
At the camp of Dorry, Luffy literally bounced back on his feet from the ground after being knocked over by the sudden explosion. "What happened? Vivi, whe-", he said before he looked up with his eyes widened in shock.
He saw a giant feminine-looking serpentine blue-scaled dragon with a pair of large horns, sharp fangs, mustache tendrils, and limbs with clawed hands and feet, and it has a long flowing blue hair. It was floating in the skies altered by its presence in form of a dark storm, hovering over Little Garden and its prehistoric inhabitants.
The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates then looked down to see no sign of his friend Vivi anywhere at all, only her duck companion, Carue who was having a panic attack of the creature's sudden appearance and frantically looked around for his friend.
He did not notice the eaten remains of a blue Devil Fruit on the ground next to the duck.
Realizing that the blue dragon might have been responsible behind the princess's sudden disappearance, Luffy clenched his fists and angrily shouted loudly as possible,
"HEY, BLUE DRAGON! WHERE IS VIVI?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU JERK?! ANSWER ME OR I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"
To his annoyance, the gigantic draconic being didn't seem to hear or notice him at all, as if he was just an insignificant bug to it and not worth its time at all. That made Luffy mad as he prepared his right arm to stretch and attack.
"I SAID, WHERE IS VIVI?! GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
With a mighty effort, the Straw Hat captain threw a powerful punch enhanced by his Gum-Gum Fruit toward the dragon, hitting it on the cheek like he did before on the Lord of the Coast Sea King when he left Foosha Village to set sail for the Grand Line and become the King of the Pirates with a crew of friends he met and recruited by his side.
His stretched out limb was noticed by Zoro and Sanji who dropped their hunting competition and were on their way to where the blue dragon is and it isn't hard to find due to its massive size hovering above Little Garden. Their captain needed their help and they're going to back him up.
On the other hand, the blue-scaled dragon was unaffected of Luffy's punch, not feeling anything at all and it annoyed him. He then decided to get up close and personal by stretching out his arms to grab the dragon's right mustache tendril.
"GUM-GUM ROCKET!", Luffy yelled as he retracted his two stretched out limbs, projecting himself high into the air at high speeds at his massive opponent!
Reaching his quick destination, Luffy slammed himself with a strong headbutt into the dragon's chin, finally getting its attention of being hit at last. The said dragon felt briefly surprised yet completely unharmed. Not losing momentum, the Rubber Man stretched out again to grab the dragon's nose and on its snout so that he can have an up close meeting with it to the face.
"NOW TELL ME WHERE IS VIVI, BLUE DRAGON?! OR I'M GONNA PUNCH OUT YOUR EYES IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!", he bellowed with his right arm ready to stretch and punch the massive being at close range.
"L-Luffy?! Stop! It's me, Vivi!", the blue-scaled dragon spoke with deep but familiar voice of the princess of Alabasta herself, easily shrugging off from the full body slam and noticing the Straw Hat captain on top of her snout.
Making a massive jawdrop and eyes bulging, Luffy exclaimed,
"EEHHHHHHHH?! VIVI?! YOU'RE A DRAGON?!"
"WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT?!", the Straw Hats shouted out loud with their own jawdrops after overhearing the fact that the draconic being was revealed to be their friend all along.
They did not see this one coming at all.
Broggy and Dorry, who were both interrupted of their duel by a sudden appearance of a dragon out of nowhere, were stupefied to learn that one of the humans they met had turned out to be a Devil Fruit User and with their keen eyesight, the Giant warrior duo saw the remains of a Devil Fruit on the ground nearby the panicking duck. The two Giants realize that the humans must have found a Devil Fruit on Little Garden and one of their guests had eaten it and transformed.
Meanwhile, the dynamic duo from Elbaf looked at each other for a brief moment and sheathed away their weapons for now.
"A temporary break until another volcano eruption signaling for another duel in the glory of Elbaf? GEGYAGYAGAYAGYAGYAGAYAGYAGYAGYAGYA!", Dorry asked with a grin.
Broggy nodded with a huge smile in agreement, "Temporary break it is then! GABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABA!"
On the other side of Little Garden
Within the wax house, Mr. 3 and his partner, Miss Goldenweek were terrified of the sudden shockwave that they had felt across Little Garden. Some of the picnic baskets and a set of teapots and tea cups were scattered and black tea spilled everywhere. Luckily, anything made by the Wax-Wax Fruit of Mr. 3 was as strong as steel, sturdy enough to withstand the stampede of fleeing dinosaurs and falling trees.
"Wh-wh-what was that, Mr. 3?...", Miss Goldenweek muttered in fear after hearing that roar.
Mr. 3 gulped as he wiped out away the cold sweat, "I-I don't know, Miss Goldenweek... Whatever it is, the dinosaurs must have been spooked enough to go on a stampede and nearly brought down our hideout if it weren't for my Wax-Wax Fruit reinforcing the walls."
Hearing a frantic opening of the wax house's door, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek turned their heads to see Mr. 5 and his partner Miss Valentine looking quite startled themselves. Along with the fact that they barely evaded the stampede of dinosaurs in their path as shown with their heavy breathing and startled looks on their faces.
"Mr. 5, Miss Valentine, what the hell happened out there?", the Candle Human demanded as he was their superior officer in Baroque Works.
Mr. 5 responded, "Some kind of blue dragon that appeared out of nowhere and shook the whole place up!"
"Yeah! It spooked the hell out of the dinosaurs with that roar! We were almost trampled if I didn't use my Kilo-Kilo Fruit to fly with Mr. 5 holding on to me!", Miss Valentine added, remembering such close call and she'd rather not be on the receiving end.
Mr. 3's face paled with cold sweat when he heard that, "Wait a minute? Did you just say blue dragon?"
"Yes, why?", the Bomb Human wondered with his fellow Baroque Works agents being curious themselves.
Showing his colleagues a certain page of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia after skimming through the book, the Candle Human explained with a nervous sweat, "... B-Be-Because, it appears that one of our enemies must have eaten the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. ... The strongest class of Zoan Devil Fruit. The Mythical Zoan. It previously belonged to the deceased Kaido the King of Beasts years ago."
The Kilogram Human said with shock as she gripped her umbrella's handle, "Kaido?! As in the same guy who got killed by Shogun Oden at Wano that was placed under Whitebeard's protection after that?! His death was all over the news years ago!"
The death of the King of Beasts had caused a huge power vacuum where many powerful pirate crews were competing against each other to become new Emperors and fill in the vacant positions or they form alliances or fight by themselves to try their luck against Whitebeard and Big Mom, believing that if Kaido can be defeated, then it's possible to do the same on the other older Emperors.
And then there's the Marines attempting to take advantage of the conflict between pirates by striking them at their weakest after every battle. They do not always succeed and suffered severe casualties in their ranks despite having the aid of three Admirals and several Vice-Admirals leading them. Even the Vice-Admirals weren't lucky and fell in combat despite their abilities, Devil Fruit or otherwise.
That also includes some of the Seven Warlords of the Sea being involved too in the fighting as well.
"Damn, and that Devil Fruit had reincarnated here on Little Garden of all places?", Mr. 5 muttered with a tsk that they had missed an opportunity to stumble upon it when he and Miss Valentine were on the prehistoric island after tailing the Straw Hat Pirates and their target, Princess Vivi.
They could have sold that Devil Fruit on the market with hundreds of millions of Beris or even give it to their boss, Mr. 0 who can do whatever he wants it, probably selling it himself or set it up as a prize for any agent to prove themselves worthy to be granted the Devil Fruit as his new powerhouse.
Either way, getting hold of the deceased Kaido's Devil Fruit would have been very beneficial to Baroque Works.
Miss Goldenweek commented out loud, "And it was eaten. But who could have done it?"
Fortunately for them, the Baroque Works agents got their answer when they overhear the loud voice of Monkey D. Luffy confronting the new user of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon and unafraid of picking a fight despite the difference of power between them. They note of the Straw Hats captain having no indoor voice with such set of lungs he had.
"NOW TELL ME WHERE IS VIVI, BLUE DRAGON?! OR I'M GONNA PUNCH OUT YOUR EYES IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!"
"L-Luffy?! Stop! It's me, Vivi!"
"EEHHHHHHHH?! VIVI?! YOU'RE A DRAGON?!"
"SHIT!", Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine cursed together, unhappy to find out that the princess of Alabasta became a Devil Fruit user and she apparently hit the lucky jackpot in form of a gigantic dragon.
Getting up from his wax chair as if someone is after his life, Mr. 3 declared with his face still pale, "We have to abort mission! Leave Little Garden as soon as possible! I'll contact Mr. 0 and inform him that Princess Nefertari Vivi ate the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. It's best to let our boss to know about it as soon as possible before we get to the Chiryaku Ten'nen Maru."
"Hopefully, Mr. 0 will send Mr. 13 and Miss Friday to deliver us an Eternal Pose to Alabasta so that we can sail away from here as fast as we can...", he added.
That took his fellow Baroque Works colleagues by surprise to see him deciding to know when to fold them and right now it's folding time. "Why?", the three asked Mr. 3 together.
"Because we stand no chance against Princess Vivi's dragon form! None of us would be able to even faze her if we tried! We all end up dying in vain and our efforts would have been all for nothing!", their superior officer told them.
The man in a trench coat attire sneered, "So what if the princess became a dragon? She's a rookie with her Devil Fruit after eating it and we three have respective experience with our Devil Fruits to know how to use them."
"Y-yeah! I mean if we work together with our abilities and your planning, even a mountain can be leveled down to the ground, right? Kyahahahahaha!", the woman in a yellow dress added.
"Indeed. Didn't you know say and I quote,
"No matter how powerful one's Devil Fruit ability is, without the talent to use it effectively, one will forever be a useless bum." back at Kyuka Island?", the painter girl pointed out, agreeing with the two.
"I KNOW THAT!", the Candle Human screamed indignantly at his shocked colleagues before composing himself and stated. "... But if we go against the princess in her dragon form, we would be completely
crushed. Even though she's obviously a novice with her new abilities after gaining it for the first time, there's nothing we can do to even scratch her scales... She'll just bulldoze through our attacks, defenses and traps."
He added, "She might even tear Little Garden apart just to get us. It'd be like the equivalent of insects trying to take down a human who'd just brush and stomp them away."
Not wanting to give up on the mission, Mr. 5 made a suggestion to his superior officer, "How about we target Princess Vivi's pirate escorts? She seemed to be attached to them. If we beat them and their captain, as discreetly as possible of course, we can use them as leverage to make her stand down and surrender. The princess is that bleeding heart type after all."
"Hmmm... That could work.", Mr. 3 agreed as he rubbed his chin before throwing back at his subordinate's face with a retort. "... But unfortunately, we don't have the Seastone Cage needed to contain the princess and her companions, denying them access to their Devil Fruit abilities if we somehow manage to pull this suicidal stunt off. Mr. 0 has a Seastone Cage at Alabasta and there's not enough time to bring it to Little Garden."
"Not to mention the two Giants they might have befriended on Little Garden. They were supposed to be our targets for their bounties if it weren't for this massive monkey wrench.", he noted with annoyance.
The Bomb Human gritted his teeth in annoyance while the Kilogram Human and the painter girl can only begrudgingly agree with Mr. 3. There really was nothing they can do and it's like committing suicide with a massive nuke to the face.
"So we're gonna withdraw then?", Miss Valentine asked.
"Yes. Let's lay low at my ship before they find out we're on Little Garden and wait until we get an Eternal Pose for Alabasta.", Mr. 3 ordered which his colleagues reluctantly complied and left the wax house to get to his ship and set sail back to the desert kingdom.
He finished with a dark smirk, "Although, it doesn't mean I didn't leave a little surprise on their barrels of rum... Hopefully, it might take out some of the princess's friends and weaken them."
Back to the campsite of Dorry in Little Garden
After everyone had calmed down from the revelation of the blue scaled dragon to be Nefertari Vivi all along, the Straw Hats and Carue, and the two Giant Warriors gathered together in one place. They watched Vivi trying to fly down and land on the ground with Luffy as her passenger. It's very clear to them that she has some difficulty in using her new Devil Fruit abilities she gained.
"How does Pell do this when he fly and land? He made it look so easy...", Vivi muttered to herself aloud when going slow and steady to not crash into the ground.
"Who's Pell? And can he turn into a dragon like you too, Vivi?", Luffy asked her with curiosity while still standing on her snout and enjoying the view of Little Garden.
The princess in her dragon form answered with fondly, remembering him,
"One of the Six Royal Guardians of Alabasta. And no, he ate the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon. He was one of my close friends in Alabasta. I hope he was doing alright there..."
The Rubber Human nodded in understanding, "Cool."
When Vivi finally made a landing albeit with a huge thud on the ground thanks to her dragon form's massive size, Luffy jumped off from his friend's snout. "Yahoo! That was fun, Vivi! Let's do it again! Shishishishishishishishishi!", he cheered with glee.
"HELL NO!", the Straw Hats angrily protested at his face while Dorry and Broggy were amused of the humans' antics.
"Luffy, can we address the elephant in the room? And by elephant, I mean the dragon that Vivi turned herself into!", Usopp reminded with Carue quacking in agreement.
Bashfully looking down, Vivi explained to her friends,
"To tell you the truth, everyone... I found a Devil Fruit when Luffy and I went off to explore Little Garden and met Dorry. ... And then I ate it."
"You found a Devil Fruit in Little Garden and you
ate it?", Nami said with an incredulous look upon noticing the remains of the blue-colored fruit on the ground before shaking her head. "You could have at least told us first! I mean, we could have sold it and get a lot of money out of it!"
"Hah, I told you to make a wish for a billion Beris while you had the chance, Nami!", Usopp scolded before he got the dope slap from the orange haired young woman in response.
Pouting, Vivi in dragon form defended her choice,
"I thought we might be able to increase our chances of stopping Crocodile and save Alabasta. So I took the chance. And since I became a Zoan, I'd say it's worth it. Not the taste though. It was so horrible..."
She stuck her large tongue out, feeling nothing but complete and utter disgust at the blue Devil Fruit that she bit on and consumed tasted like shit.
Literally like shit from a fish.
That also includes her remembering how she transformed into a dragon. Back then, she felt her entire body stretching out, almost like Luffy before growing bigger than before and her face and teeth had shifted into draconic. It was quite a surreal experience for the princess of Alabasta to know what it is like to transform as a Zoan.
Such pure unadulterated power of a dragon and it's now hers to command.
Followed with a mighty roar she let out after her transformation was complete.
At that time, she did not even register Luffy punching her in the cheek before he body slammed himself and went at her face that finally got her attention, speaking up on time and clearing out the misunderstanding.
Is this how Pell and Chaka felt when they use their Devil Fruits?, she wondered.
Briefly turning around to inspect her serpentine dragon body, Vivi also realized in embarrassment,
Wait a minute, my clothes are gone! It didn't change with me when I turned into a dragon! Great... At least Pell and Chaka were lucky. They get to keep their clothes on in their Zoan forms while I don't. Oh my Ra, I hope when I turn back into human, my clothes are back.
Otherwise, I might have to borrow new clothes from Nami and then take them off before I transform to fight., she shuddered of the potential nightmare with her clothing wardrobe and budget.
"Shishishishishishishishishi! It's fine, Vivi! I ate my Devil Fruit when I found it as a kid and was hungry!", Luffy reassured with a grin on his face.
Recovering from the comical slap, the long nosed sniper stated with a fond smile, "Yeah, me too! I found a Devil Fruit and gave it to Kaya, hoping that it would cure her of her sickness. She got a lot better."
He muttered with a thousand yard stare, "Kuro and his crew though,
not so much..."
Nami mischievously chimed in, "You forgot to mention how awful they taste, you two knuckleheads."
Both Luffy and Usopp grimaced respectively after being reminded about it by the Straw Hats navigator. The Rubber Human remembered how awful his Gum-Gum Fruit tasted even when he ate the whole thing while the sniper recalled how Kaya exclaiming bloody murder at how horrible the Devil Fruit she ate after her first bite.
"Don't worry, my lovely Vivi! Even when you are a Zoan, you will always still be a beautiful Princess to me!", Sanji exclaimed with hearts on his eyes.
Roronoa Zoro rolled his eyes as he stated, "Yeah, more more like a Dragon Princess, shitty love cook."
Then the blonde chef literally butt heads with the swordsman before the two were engulfed in a comical cloud of smoke with their fists and kicks clashing with each other much to the amusement of Luffy, Usopp and Dorry and Broggy watching it.
"SAY THAT AGAIN, MOSSHEAD!"
"YOU HEARD ME, SWIRLY BROWL!"
"TAKE IT BACK!"
"I SAID WHAT I SAID!"
Turning away from the bickering men, Nami wondered, "So Vivi. When are you gonna transform back into a human?"
Attempting to shift herself back, Vivi answered with a deep frown,
"Hmm, I'm trying. I'm basing off Chaka and Pell when they transform from human to their Zoan forms."
"Just think really hard and picture yourself as a human, Vivi. Or just clench your butt cheeks.", Luffy called out.
When the Straw Hats were looking at him incredulously at the second suggestion, their captain shrugged, "I'm not a Zoan
* but how would you know if you don't try it?"
"Thanks for the advise, Luffy.", the princess in dragon form nodded in gratefulness.
"Although, I might have to get used to this first. To know how my Devil Fruit power works."
Fondly remembering his childhood days with Ace and Sabo when they train and fight together, Luffy said to Vivi, "Oh yeah, the best way to learn how to use your Devil Fruit is to fight with it!"
Suddenly, two explosions occurred, which caught everyone's attention! One came from the volcano which would be a signal for the duel between Giants to begin and the other came from the shoreline of Little Garden.
"Oh no! That explosion! It's the Going Merry! Kaya was there!", Usopp shouted in fear and concern for her.
With her authority as the Straw Hats navigator/unofficial quartermaster, Nami ordered her crewmates, "Usopp, Sanji! Go there and make sure the ship and Kaya are okay!"
"On it!", Sanji immediately complied as he sped towards the Going Merry, following the huge smoke.
Usopp followed suit as fast as his legs can carry, hoping that Kaya's alright even though she was untouchable against anything thrown at her. But he'd rather not take any chances.
Trusting his rival/sitcom nemesis and Usopp to handle themselves, Zoro turned to his fellow crewmates, "So how do we train Vivi? Luffy couldn't even actually faze her when he punched her in the face and body slammed himself. Not to mention, she's a bigger target for the enemy to aim for."
"Are you offering, Mr. Bushido?", the princess of Alabasta asked with raised eyebrow and a grin, which made it look terrifying due to her sharp teeth as a dragon.
Finding the prospect of clashing with a dragon interesting, the green haired swordsman prepared to unsheathe his three swords, "Sure, why not? It might be good training for you and me."
"You and I, Mr. Bushido.", Vivi corrected, which Zoro rolled his eyes.
Nami deadpanned, "If Sanji were here, he'd butt heads with Zoro for trying to hurt Vivi and act like her knight in shining armor. The only difference is that he is defending a princess who can transform into a dragon."
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYA! You humans are so interesting and amusing unlike our last visitors!", Dorry commented. "Now if you don't mind us, we must resume our duel!"
"GABABABABABABABABABABABABABA! Indeed, we fight for the glory of Elbaf until one of us remain the victor!", Broggy agreed.
Seeing this as an opportunity to learn how her Devil Fruit ability worked and permanently stop the two Giants from trying to kill each other in a repetitive duel she saw as pointless, Nefertari Vivi called out to the two Giant warriors.
"Dorry, Broggy. Before you two fight, I'd like to make a request."
Dorry and Broggy raised their eyebrows in curiosity but decided to hear the Zoan user out. "And what would that be?", they said together.
"Fight me in a duel. Luffy and the others won't be able to help me how to use my Zoan's abilities if I accidentally squashed them. But you two are strongest warriors of Elbaf. I am sure that you can handle a little dragon like me.", the princess in dragon form offered with a diplomatic tone, which surprised the Straw Hats of her bold claim.
Luffy looked insulted as he interjected, "Hey, I'm made of rubber, Vivi! I'll be fine!"
"NONE OF US ARE, YOU IDIOT!", Nami and Usopp angrily retorted as they comically dope slapped him together into the ground.
Naturally, their captain easily bounced himself back from it.
On the other hand, Zoro realized what's going on and stayed back to see how this goes, curious and interested. "This will be good.", he said to himself.
"Hmmm... I see, you're challenging us to battle you.", the Blue Ogre noted.
The Red Ogre remarked, "It's been a long time since we've faced against strong Devil Fruit users. So what are your terms, little human?"
Pressing on, Vivi explained to the two Giants,
"If I win, you two will stop fighting each other over your quarrel 100 years ago. But if you two win, then you can do whatever you like. Are you willing to accept on your pride and honor as warriors of Elbaf?"
Dorry and Broggy looked at each other for a brief moment before they bellowed with eager laughter.
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYA!"/
"GABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABA!"
Dorry answered as he prepared his long sword and shield, "We accept! But be warned! We Giants of Elbaf are powerful warriors! Don't underestimate us!"
"We won't go easy on you even if you have a Devil Fruit! Prepare yourself!", Broggy declared as he raised up his battle axe and shield.
"Oh, I'm counting on it.", Vivi grinned as she readied herself for a fight of her life against the two Giants with her Zoan form of a dragon.
At the shore of the Little Garden
In the aftermath of the explosion that was rigged by Mr. 3 on the barrels of wine, the Going Merry suffered some damage nearby. Thankfully, it was minimal and can be fixed up. Courtesy of the deceased Merry and the shipyards owned by Kaya's family when they built the ship from the former's design to be strong and durable enough to be capable of sailing through the Grand Line.
On the other hand, a blonde young woman was sent flying from the caravel by the explosion and crashed on the shore thankfully. If she had landed on the sea instead, it would have been her doom because of her status as a Devil Fruit user. However, she did not escape the explosion unscathed as she was blown apart with her limbs and remains of her body scattered everywhere.
If she were a normal human, that would have killed her by loss of blood and traumatic shock at the same time.
Fortunately for her, it was more of an inconvenience.
"Owwww... I never thought I'd be grateful to be a Logia... Still annoying though.", Kaya muttered as she felt a flurry of lashing vines literally pulling the pieces of her body back together again and good as new.
As a bonus, her clothes, in form of a yellow blouse dress with a knee-length skirt and a pair of boots alongside a brown jacket that was draped on her shoulders, had reformed as well as if they were never destroyed in the first place. She never questioned about why Logia regeneration included clothing as long as she doesn't have to worry about wardrobe malfunctions in the future.
Kaya wondered to herself, "And what is going on with the sky? Did it get stormy here?... The Grand Line is really weird."
"Kaya! Kaya!", Usopp called out to her from the jungle.
"I'm here, Usopp!", she responded, getting up from the ground to see him and Sanji running to her and the Going Merry.
The long nosed sniper ran up to her and asked her in concern, "Thank God, you're alright! What happened?"
Eyes widened, Kaya realized, "The barrels! They're rigged with explosions! I was cataloguing them after bringing them to shore and then they exploded in my face!"
"What?!", Usopp shouted, turning his attention to the remains of the barrels nearby and their ship being affected by the blast. "The Going Merry!"
"The ship's fine, Usopp! Just a small damage that can be fixed up later on. But it looks like we're not the only ones here on the island... It might be those bastards from Baroque Works coming after us.", Sanji gritted his teeth.
The two looked at him with shock that the enemies of their friend Princess Nefertari Vivi are here on Little Garden. And Baroque Works made their first move by attempting to bomb the Going Merry.
That is an unforgivable sin to Usopp and Kaya as the ship was a memento to the late Merry.
Usopp implored, "What do we do?"
The chef told him with a serious face, "Warn Luffy and the rest, Usopp! They need to know Baroque Works is here!"
"And what about me?", Kaya spoke up.
"Stay with the Going Merry! We don't want those bastards try sabotage the ship again while we're away!", Sanji stated which she nodded.
While Kaya headed back to the ship and checked if there's any form of damage just in case, Usopp was about to run back into the jungle of Little Garden but asked his fellow Straw Hat. "And what about you?"
Sanji put down his used up cigarette and stomped it on the ground before heading off to find the ship of Baroque Works parked somewhere or any hideout that their enemy put up on the prehistoric island as he said,
"I'll be going for a walk, Usopp. A very enthusiastic walk."
Author's Note: Alright, Chapter 2 of "Dragon Princess" is done and I hope you guys like it. Vivi ate the Devil Fruit of the deceased Kaido and became an Azure Dragon, surprising the Straw Hats and the two Giant warriors of Elbaf whose duel got interrupted. Meanwhile, agents of Baroque Works decided to exit stage left, having learned the Devil Fruit and its capabilities and are laying low for now. And that, Vivi challenged Dorry and Broggy so that she will find out of what she can do with her new Zoan form and also get them to stop dueling, playing on their warrior's pride and honor to keep their word. She will be in a fight of her life.
Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?
*It's a shout-out to Sonny Strait, the dub VA of Usopp, who voiced Krillin from the Dragon Ball franchise.
*I totally didn't make a reference to Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit to be the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika. Not at all.
Enjoy and don't forget to review.