- Location
- Texas
Luffy would instantly pull Blackbeard's trick and learn how to wield multiple fruits at once.
Spring Time (A Bellamy SI)
- Thread starter Arthedain
- Start date
Hehehe.
We'll maybe see glimpses of Luffy's journey in some side arcs. Not sure yet. Though for now, Bellamy has potentially made Luffy's crew quite a bit stronger.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
I would say he would need if he is facing Bullet and whatever the hell film red was. I could see Bellamy and dragon deal with Z alone, and with shinki being possibly sloted to be with doflamingo only the golden shower man is up in the air as far as movie villains where concerned.
Speaking of Douglas Bullet, crazy that he was too strong and scary Blackbeard would just leave him alone than recruit him compared to his ex-Level 6 crewmates who have dreaded reputations in their own right, and Kuzan who later joined them in canon.
Then again, Doylist reason is that Bullet is the Stampede's main antagonist and he can't be a subordinate of Blackbeard.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
The thing about bullet is that he is a staunch individualist that believes that power must stand alone. The other level 6s where dickbags that would be alright to go with Blackbeard but for Douglas he rather be on jail.
True, and that Bullet respects only Gol D. Roger as the only man who defeated him and the one Bullet can never beat many times.
He's like the Vegeta who never had a family and friends, and had lost his Goku and decided to lash out.
Eh, I haven't really thought that much about it. So for all intents and purposes, he'll have the memories he needs.
Glad it worked as intended, then.
Yup.
Chapter 86: Exhibition Match
– Muret –
The Kuja were an interesting people. They were, in essence, a tribe of warriors and hunters who valued personal strength above nearly everything else. This, when combined with their near total isolation from the rest of the world, resulted in their culture developing in a very differently direction from what Muret was accustomed to. There were the obvious things such as choice of attire, favorite foods and the establishment of a matriarchal society. Though the latter was less of a choice and more of a necessity, because due to some genetic quirk, the Kuja were incapable of giving birth to male offspring.Then there were the less obvious things.
Naturally, with a complete lack of men in their population pool, the women had been forced to take up all tasks needed to maintain their society. Which, given that they were a hunter-gatherer society, included a bevy of physically demanding jobs. Perhaps it was inevitable that the traits the Kuja deemed desirable were heavily skewed towards those that helped them survive.
To them, strength was beauty and to be beautiful was to be strong. Mani had been horrified to find out that she was deemed to be one of the least attractive members of the Crew. Of course, horror had given way to pity when further conversation revealed the lack of even rudimentary knowledge of cosmetics present amongst the Kuja. If it hadn't been for the Captain having mandated that everyone be present for the current spectacle, Mani would likely still be introducing her curious pupils to the expansive world of beauty products.
Muret herself had been affected a lot less than her friend. In part, this was because she couldn't care less if other women found her attractive so long as her boyfriend did. Not to mention that Muret had more pressing matters to attend to. Because whilst she may not have met their beauty standards, Eddy decidedly did.
This was all her captain's fault. According to the rumor mill – otherwise known as Mani – Bellamy had carelessly boasted about his multiple crew members who could wipe the floor with Boa Hancock's senior officers. Not only that, but he was also said to have made this claim straight to the Warlord's face. Naturally, a brazen challenge like this could not go unanswered and an exhibition match had been organized within a matter of hours.
A match between two of Muret's friends and the younger Gorgon sisters.
Lily, being the adrenalin junkie that she was, had immediately volunteered to test out her mettle against some of the best the Kuja had to offer. Surprisingly enough, Sarquiss hadn't tried to enter himself to protect Lily, mentioning that he had complete faith in her ability to handle herself. Left unsaid was that his fiancée – he had proposed a couple of weeks ago – was also more suited to an arena battle than the first mate himself was.
The last slot had been a bit of a toss-up between Eddy and Nero, both of whom had a new trick they wanted to try out. However, as Nero had yet to stabilize his rokuogan and wasn't able to use it without breaking his arm, he'd been convinced to let Eddy take his place.
The match itself had started out simply enough. Both sides spent a couple of moments testing the waters, launching small probing attacks to see how their opponents would react. However, with a hothead like Lily involved, things escalated rather quickly.
"Let's get this party started!!"
Strength against strength, speed against speed. That would have been the most optimal pairing in Muret's opinion, especially if both Lily and Eddy were superior in their respective abilities when compared to their opponents. Fortunately for the Gorgon sisters, their quartermaster had other ideas. Why compete with her best quality when her weakest would do and make for a more interesting fight?
"You're a Paradise pirate!" Sandersonia exclaimed in alarm. "Why do you have observation haki?"
"Because I'm amazing, that's what."
Maybe Sandersonia was a smidge faster than Lily. Maybe she possessed a little more in terms of mastery over observation. But the advantage wasn't large enough to compensate for the overwhelming gap in their ability to use armament. Within moments Lily had driven Boa Sandersonia to the edge of the platform, using her own observation haki to force the Kuja warrior to either block or parry her blows. Soon, visible bruises began appearing wherever Lily's fists made contact, with the green haired woman wincing evermore visibly whenever said contact occurred.
"Whoa. I thought you were a slippery girl, but your name makes so much more sense now."
"It'sss payback time!"
"I don't fucking think so."
Perhaps having decided that there was no other path out of her predicament, Sandersonia called upon her devil fruit and successfully slithered her way out of the proverbial corner. Though this had been only possible, because Lily had been suitably distracted by the appearance of Sandersonia's new appendage. Not that it was her fault really. Seriously, how many people were accustomed to a giant tail lashing out at them from their blind spot? That Lily had avoided getting brained from behind was already praiseworthy in Muret's opinion.
"Gotcha!"
"Where are you touching me?!?"
"Sister! Out of my way, male!"
"Not happening, miss. My girlfriend is watching."
Unfortunately for Sandersonia, she wasn't able to push her momentary advantage properly before Lily adjusted to the new variable. As a result, rather than the Kuja ensnaring her opponent with her tail, she ended up with Lily grasping hold of it instead.
"Let go of me! Why can't I move?"
"What makes you think I'd tell you, dumbass?"
With her mobility neutralized by Lily's Rust Rust Fruit forcefully stiffening her spine, Boa Sandersonia was rendered helpless before she even knew what was happening. As such, when Lily let go of her tail and began casually strutting up towards her head, she could do nothing but watch in silent horror as the fight entered its final stages. Watching as Lily jumped into the air. Watching as Lily drew back her leg. And watching as Lily's boots made contact with her frozen chin.
"Laki's super deluxe special order boots: IMPACT!!!"
While this was all happening, Eddy had been keeping the youngest of the three sisters at bay. Which was easier said than done because as soon as Sandersonia was in trouble (which she was from the very beginning), Marigold had gone berserk. Naturally, this meant facing down the trio of the king cobra zoan's enhanced strength, venom and large mass barreling down towards him.
"Miss, spitting poison at people really isn't the politest thing to do."
"Raaah!"
And for all that Eddy had recovered from the injuries inflicted upon him by the pacifista, raw brawn was never going to be his strongest suit. What he did have, however, was superhuman control over his own body. Originally meant to be a way to make the best of the meagre reserves his lung had left, it had blossomed into something incredible. Even if it went against just about everything Muret had learned during her medical training.
"Ora! Ora! Ora!"
"Oh dear. That's a lot of property damage. What did the floor ever do to you?"
Beyond a certain point, there wasn't a way for a human being to influence how quickly their nervous system processed information and transmitted commands. Likewise, there was only so much metabolic waste that could be carried off by one's blood in a certain time interval, just like there was an upper limit to how quickly one's energy reserves could be mobilized. These were well-established medical facts.
"Stop dodging and fight me!"
Eddy's Seimei Kikan ran contrary to this principle. Via some means that Muret still didn't completely understand, her boyfriend had managed to transcend humanity. At least a little. Simply put, whenever he so desired it, Eddy's body worked faster than it had any right to on all levels. Electric signals travelled faster, muscle fibers took less time to recover, glucose was turned into ATP at a ludicrous rate. All of it working together in flawless concert to increase his speed to levels that easily matched Aisa's ridiculousness.
"Alright. As I'm trying to be a gentleman, far be it from me to refuse a lady her wishes."
And like Izou always liked to say: speed was power.
It was over in an instant. One moment, Eddy looked like he was preparing to draw his blade (his old one, not the shiny new toy they'd pilfered from Mad Treasure) and in the next he was sheathing it again. Understandably, the crowd was confused. Muret was too, until Marigold's head snapped back accompanied by the belated sound of the flat of a blade smashing into her forehead.
"At least that's what Sabo's manual said anyway." Eddy murmured.
Eddy's opponent didn't reply on the grounds that she no longer was capable of doing so. With her consciousness having fled her body, Marigold's eyes rolled up into the back of her head, even as her large form toppled over with a heavy thud. Sandersonia joined her sister not long after, the two sisters forming a large X on the ground.
And as Muret watched the crowd go from stunned silence to ardent admiration and avid applause, she couldn't help but wonder how many sticks she was going to need to fend of Eddy's new fans.
– Bellamy –
Sometimes there were things that one had to do, even when one knew that it wasn't the most intelligent thing in the world one could be doing. The reasons for such a choice were many, ranging from showmanship for the sake of appearances, to desperate last-ditch gambles to overturn a hopeless situation. Or as it was in my case, when facing a hill I had to climb for the sake of my dream.So yes, what I was about to do was most definitely not the smartest thing to do. There were better places, better times and better circumstances in which I could…in which I should attempt what I was about to do. Then again, what choice did one have when Hancock demanded proof of my worthiness? A friend needed no qualifications but to become more than that required respect. As to the Kuja to be worthy of respect was to be strong, Hancock had not so subtly suggested that I also take part in an exhibition match. Thankfully, she'd let me pick my opponent and in that case, there really was only one choice I could make.
If I had so wished, this could have been a much more dramatic occasion, one in which I would call out my rival in a suitably grand and charismatic manner. Something along the lines of striding triumphantly into the ring and looking wordlessly in his direction, our gazes locked in a staring contest lasting way longer than would be comfortable. Once the moment had been savored for a sufficient amount of time, I would make a come-hither motion with my hand to which he would grin and jump into the arena to join me.
But…that would have been way too juvenile even for my tastes, so I ended up going for the more casual approach. Then again, we were talking about Luffy here, so this was probably the better choice.
"Hey Luffy." I called out after jumping into the ring. "Let's have some fun!"
"Yeah!"
He'd certainly seemed equally enthusiastic about the idea when I had pitched it to him after my audience with Hancock. Something about being curious as to what I could do and a good scrap always being fun. This was kind of unsurprising to be honest, because one of the ASL trio's favorite pastimes on Goa used to be training and sparring with each other. Perhaps, it was this joy and delight that had been the driving force behind Luffy's rapid growth. Or at least one of them.
"Luffy looks so handsome, doesn't he? Oh, it's too much…"
"Snake Princess?!? Hurry, someone fetch a doctor!"
In Oda's world, Luffy was meant to become the strongest character… eventually. After all, he was the main character whose main strength lay not in his ability to solve problems with his analytical mind, but in punching those very problems until they went away. Plus, his uncanny ability to turn enemies into allies and his instinctual grasp on what needed to be done whenever the going got tough... but you got my point.
Luffy was meant to be strong. Bellamy was meant to be a joke.
Like hell was I going to accept that! If Oda had decided to turn Luffy into this immeasurably tall mountain, it behooved me to climb it, no? Again, I could have done this at a later point, possibly when we met again at the end of our respective journeys. There was no objective need for me to commit to this at this very moment in time. But should that be my chosen path, there would always be this nagging feeling at the back of my mind about how I had avoided this challenge in the name of efficiency and rationality. That wasn't acceptable to me on so many different levels, so despite everything which spoke against it, I had issued the challenge before a host of witnesses.
"Aright! I'm going to win!"
"No Luffy, you're not."
"Yes, I am!"
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"In your dreams, mate."
Besides, if I couldn't beat him now when I had all the advantages of an earlier start to my haki training, the steeper learning curve that came with being an amateur at combat and the initial strides I'd made in my devil fruit mastery… if I couldn't beat him now when the gap between us was theoretically going to be at its narrowest… when was I going to do it then?
"All out, Luffy. Hold nothing back."
"Of course I won't. That would be boring."
"Hah! You got that right."
When it came down to a choice between defying fate with a chance of greater triumph or relegating myself to safely chasing after Luffy for eternity, I was making a conscious decision to pick the former. Not to mention that I really wanted to know where I stood in relation to Luffy. Had I caught up to him yet? Had I surpassed him? Or did I still have a long way to go?
"Ready, Luffy?"
"Ready!"
Of course, a single spar wasn't going to prove anything in a decisive manner. After all, if one looked at Luffy's fights in the canon timeline, he always managed to exceed his limits whenever his crew and his dream were on the line, whereas this was a match between friends for the sake of fun, training and a small amount of self-validation. Plus, it wasn't as if a loss today was going to cause either of us to give up and crawl into a corner in self-pity.
"Kick his ass, Luffy! Make your brothers proud!"
"My life's savings on the Captain! Anybody going to take that bet?"
"A bet? Count me in!"
"Me too!"
But…even if nothing would change about the path I was going to follow in pursuit of my dream, regardless of the outcome… or perhaps precisely because it would change nothing… investigating where I stood today wouldn't hurt, now would it?
"Gear Second!" "Coil Chassis."
This wouldn't hurt at all.
"Spring Deathknock!" "Jet Pistol!"
Peace and Prosperity
Welcome to Marineford Daily News, your only source of accurate and unbiased truth.Today we bring you the happy news that the World Government has announced a new program to bring peace and prosperity to the entire world. While the specifics aren't known yet and won't be for quite some time, rumors are circulating that the allocated budget is going to vastly dwarf the annual revenue of the ten richest nations of the world… combined. Surely a responsible and benevolent organisation such as the World Government will use such vast resources for the betterment of mankind.
While it is a pity that the World Government is not forthcoming with further details, it is a sad reality that there remain inhumane elements who would abuse such knowledge to sate their terrible greed. At least it remains in safe and responsble hands for now.
The catalyst ist said to have been a comment from the ever merciful St. Charloss who was horrified at the macabre state of his servants. After all, if even those who most closely served the god suffered so, how much worse must the situation be for those bereft of their divine providence?
One theory put forward by an insider (who remains unnamed to the wider public for their protection) was that the world's greatest minds are working on a revolutionary new power source. One which has the potential to either destroy the world or save it. Of course, we at the Marineford Daily have no doubt that our kind overlords will make use of this research for the latter purpose. Perhaps with cheap energy available to all, economies around the world will flourish and less people driven to desperate acts of criminality. One can hope that with the denizens of the world happy and well-fed, the despicable pirates will no longer find fertile grounds to seduce our good citizens away from the just path.
We remain hopeful that the results will have a palpable effect in the coming years.
This was Marineford Daily reporting.
And as always, please follow us to never miss an update on the best news reports this side of the Red Line.
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YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
Eddy isn't an inhuman monster like Zoro though. Zoro essentially has the strength and endurance of someone with an Awakened Zoan without Devil Fruit Bullshit or Super Science Shenanigans like Sanji. (that we know of, Zoro might literally have Oni/Demonic/Draconic ancestry)
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
Do you really think Zoro would care?
He sees a swordsman, no bullshit, no powers no robot gimicks, just a guy that is really good at sword and he can fight him.
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
But comparatively, Eddy is NOT a challenge for Zoro. Eddy's best chance would be to try and finish the fight as quickly as possible, while Zoro is still underestimating Eddy.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
Honestly you are underestimating the guy "human" limits by one piece standards are ludicrous and he is someone that can make the best of it.
I would say he ultimately lose but the reason is more one piace like.
Put simply Eddy want insight in what transcend sword mastery. Zoro made a Oath to never lose again and he will become the greatest swordsman in the wrold.
Meaning eddy can afford to lose Zoro does not.
Eddy isn't quite on the same level as Zoro. After all, Zoro can probably fight a weaker Warlord by this point and win. But Eddy is significantly faster than Zoro and better at observation.
Zoro is a lot more durable, physically stronger, possesses better instincts and is better at swordsmanship.
Though that latter gap is closing for one particular reason. Zoro is creating his own form of swordsmanship whereas Eddy is learning something that's already been tried and proven. Only making small adjustments along the way to make the style his own.
Hopefully I can have the two become more or less equal in their understanding of the blade by the end of the time skip.
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Not quite yet, but soon. I'd say that Vista or a couple of the Vice Admirals are better...for now. Though that should more or less change by the end of the Time Skip.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
Yeah, unfortunately there's not much pure swordsman om top of the world right now.
Eddy strength is less about he being a monster and more because Bellamy really stacked the cards to give his crew power.
- Location
- Texas
After their epic sword duel
Eddy: "Soo....swords?"
Zoro: "Fuck yeah swords."
Eddy: "Nice."
Then they brofist and are glad someone else actually gets it.
Chapter 87: Oddly Poetic
– Bellamy –
But…even if nothing would change about the path I was going to follow in pursuit of my dream, regardless of the outcome… or perhaps precisely because it would change nothing… investigating where I stood today wouldn't hurt, now would it?"Gear Second!" "Coil Chassis."
This wouldn't hurt at all.
"Spring Deathknock!" "Jet Pistol!"
Fighting Luffy could mean two vastly different things depending on the circumstances. On the one hand, Luffy could be having the time of his life running around and seemingly goofing his way to victory, such as he did for much of the tournament in Dressrosa. In this case, the difference in strength usually favoured Luffy quite heavily, such that the risk of significant personal loss was so small so as to be negligible. And if it was negligible Luffy didn't have to care about it, meaning that he could seemingly play around with no worries.
"Gum gum jet spear!" Stubborn person that I was, my response to Luffy's attempt to plant his feet into my gut had been to dig in my own heels and meet him head-on. Figuratively speaking.
"Spring Shield!" And according to the laws of physics, if a rubber object met an unmovable wall, said object bounced off. Usually at the same angle of incidence relative to the orthogonal. Or in layman's terms, it was a simple matter to change Luffy's direction of motion…upwards. "Bye bye, Luffy."
"Whoa! I'm flying."
But should his opponent be a danger to the things Luffy held dear, then it was like a switch was flipped inside his mind. Gone was the happy-go-lucky goofball, only to be replaced by a deadly serious pirate who knew no compromise. While exceptions did exist – for how could they not – such cases tended to involve either an insult to his believes or a threat to the safety and well-being of his friends. A prominent example being his fight with Lucci on Enies Lobbie.
"Oh well, if I'm already up here… gum gum axe." The triple combination of gravity, Luffy's rubber tension and the downward pull of his well-trained leg muscles granted his heel a terrifying amount of momentum. The flooring tiles never stood a chance.
"Just so you know, I'm not paying for a new floor." I told him, my face set in a deadpan expression and one foot trapping his beneath my soles. Luffy didn't seem too bothered, choosing to pout instead of trying to escape.
"You moved, Bellamy. That's cheating."
"What in the world made you think I was going to stand around and let that hit me? That ain't normal behavior. You should know this."
"But that's what Gramps did all the time. As did most of those I've used this on."
"I hate to break it to you buddy, but your gramps isn't normal."
Now, our current situation clearly belonged to the former. However, did it mean that just because Luffy wasn't risking life and limb, he was holding back? No, not really. While he lacked the destructive potential that rage and desperation could provide, Luffy's more joyful approach did have its own benefits. One of the more annoying being his creativity running amok, almost like a child which had consumed a bucketload of candy.
"Spring Hammer!" Held in place as he was by my boot, Luffy had no chance to dodge my own kick to his backside. Not that he had any intention to.
"Gum gum Balloon."
"Luffy! Stop bouncing all over the place and get back here!"
"Okay." Luffy grinned, changing track as easily as he would eat a boar whole. "Gear Third."
"What in the world are you doing…?"
"Gum gum… giant chubby dive." And as I watched Luffy's humongously inflated body falling down towards me, I could think of only one thing to say.
"Oh, shit."
Seen in that light, Luffy's devil fruit awakening had, in essence, merged these two states into one to get the best of both worlds. Those being an unerring fixation on beating his enemy into the ground, coupled with the imaginative power of a toddler. To my knowledge, Kaido had been the first unfortunate soul in the original timeline, who had the displeasure of experiencing what a single-minded focus could do if it regained access to Luffy's absurd creativity.
"Huh? Where'd you go?"
"I'm underneath you, you idiot. Now gerroff me!" Heaving for all I was worth, I launched his giant body back into the sky, helped along by the restorative properties of a flatly compressed spring. "Why are you so bloody heavy all of a sudden? It doesn't make sense!"
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" With the gathered air escaping through the small opening that was Luffy's mouth, his body followed the path that inflated balloons usually did when you deflated them. A random one, that by some coincidence brought his rear end on a direct collision course with my person.
"…not sure what I was expecting to happen, but it certainly wasn't this." I muttered before stepping aside and letting the rubber man whizz past me into a wall.
Thankfully, it didn't look like that fact was going to be changing today, which was a big relief to be honest. After all, I was having a hard enough time already without reality deciding to flip itself on its head. I wasn't sure what I would have done if he'd reached awakening already.
Regardless, Rayleigh's training had obviously born fruit even if most of them weren't quite ripe yet. True, Luffy's observation was ordinary, his armament average and his conqueror's had no effect on me whatsoever. However, what he had learned was more than enough to make the task of landing a proper hit on the guy an arduous one. Not an impossible one though.
"Gear Second: Jet Gatling!"
"Kami-e. Gotta try harder, Luffy."
Reach was one aspect in which I was unlikely to ever truly match Luffy. Undoubtedly, it was a great advantage and Luffy used it well, his punches trying to herd me into a killing zone. However, a longer reach necessitated longer preparatory times and that meant openings I could exploit. Contrary to what it may look like to others, Luffy's jet gatling was nothing but a sequence of rapid punches coming at me one after the other. Obviously, this also meant that the number of fists I had to dodge at any one time was limited as well.
"Gum gum whip!"
"Too slow~"
And if range and raw power were his strong suits, speed was mine. After crouching to avoid the leg whistling past my hair, I responded by activating my Thunder Cloak, a technique which had originally started out as a collaboration move between Aisa and myself.
"That looks so cool!" Luffy gushed, starry-eyed. "Join my crew."
"…did you seriously just ask me that?"
"Duh. Of course I did."
A couple of feints followed by a Spring Ricochet distracted him enough, for me to deck him with a Deathknock and send him flying. It didn't do much more than that though, as by an unspoken agreement, both Luffy and I had been refraining from the use of armament. Naturally, this elongated the spar tremendously, because by virtue of our respective devil fruits both of us were practically immune to blunt force trauma.
"Done with the warmup now, Luffy?"
"Yeah. You're strong alright." He nodded, grinning with excitement. "I feel like I could go all out."
"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked, cracking my neck. I didn't have to wait for long. "Let's kick this up a notch."
– Izou –
"Red Hawk!" "Raiken!"The crowd roared again as the combatants clashed in a dizzying display of sparks and light. That most of the audience wasn't capable of following their movements any longer had obviously done little to dampen the Kuja's enthusiasm. Even the vaunted Snake Princess seemed suitably impressed, though most of her emotional reserves were being rapidly drained every time Luffy allowed a lightning coated fist to slip through his defences. Of course, the assembled Kuja seemed insensitive to their empress' plight and cheered all the louder.
Was this what being a proud parent felt like?
"Geez, you've raised a monster."
"I could say the same to you, Ace."
"Can't really take credit to be honest. That's mostly old man Rayleigh's doing." Ace replied before looking askance at his brother-in-arms. "Can you stop looking so inordinately proud of yourself?"
"Wouldn't you in my shoes? Between the Dark King and my humble self, I clearly have the superior student."
"Yeah… that's real humble alright. Why not outright claim to be the better teacher while you're at it?"
"Because that wouldn't be humble anymore. I thought that was obvious."
"Prat."
"Please, I'm a gentlemanly prat."
The exchange down below ended with Luffy and Bellamy skidding to a stop on opposite ends of the arena, their wide smiles unable to hide their exhilaration from the world. Then they were off again, fists being parried, knees being deflected and the occasional headbutt thrown in for good measure. It was a brawl, pure and simple. Yet, despite neither having studied a structured martial art, it was common wisdom that at a high enough level, all things coalesced into one. Izou would be the first to admit that he found their movements, unrestricted by predefined forms and standards, to have some artistic quality to it. Beautiful art at that.
Once more the two broke apart, Luffy clutching his dislocated shoulder where he'd tanked a Spring Gatling, whereas Bellamy had a hole in his stomach, where Luffy's haki infused Jet Stamp had ripped through his Coil Chassis. Scattered all over the place were tiny springs that should have filled the now empty space, flopping about like little worms.
"That looks serious. Shouldn't we call a doctor or something?"
"You'd think so, wouldn't you? Surprised me the heck too the first time I saw it." Izou nodded as the hole began filling itself, the component springs flying back into position one after the other. "Damn near thought I'd killed him when I shot him through the heart."
"What in the world…since when was the Spring-Spring fruit a logia?"
"While I do think that that was what Bellamy was going for, it's really not." Izou explained to his gob smacked crew mate. "Despite practicing detaching and re-attaching pieces of himself for months, the extent he can handle is quite limited. Not to mention that it's a much slower process in comparison to the real thing. He'll probably need another year to master it properly."
As fascinated as he seemed to be by Bellamy's new trick, Luffy hadn't been idly standing around like an idiot either. To a rubber man like him, fixing a dislocated shoulder was nothing more than a minor inconvenience, which he proved by pulling on his arm and snapping the joint back into place. And with his shoulder taken care of, there was nothing stopping him from pouncing upon his distracted opponent.
"Well, it's mighty impressive, nonetheless."
"That it is… even if Bellamy didn't need to showcase that here."
"What do you mean?"
"Bellamy's coil chassis isn't fragile enough for an attack of that caliber to inflict so much damage unless he allows it to. That reassembling thing he's doing was designed to let him shrug off one of Kaido's blows – just one mind you – and take advantage of the resulting surprise to finish the fight. Though that down there? That's Bellamy showing off."
With Bellamy still in recovery mode, Luffy quickly pushed his peer onto his backfoot, forcing him to yield ground little by little in the face of his onslaught. Izou, and the audience for that matter, were treated to a full display of the capabilities of the Gum-Gum fruit. From giant fists seeking to squish Bellamy against the ground to steaming fists chasing after openings like one of Izou's homing bullets, it seemed as if Bellamy could only painstakingly parry and delay the inevitable.
"I've got you now, Bellam… WHOA!!!"
At least, it had seemed inevitable until Luffy suddenly broke off what had most likely been intended to be the final attack, only to begin backpedaling for all he was worth.
He didn't merely stop either, going ramrod straight just in time for the metaphorical jaws of death to clamp shut right before his wide-open eyes.
"Did he do what I think he did?"
"Probably."
"In that case, that was pretty clever of him. Didn't know he could do that."
"I'd be surprised if you did. It's a pretty new development."
The key detail Luffy had missed was that not all of Bellamy's component parts had returned to him. A few springs had remained where they'd fallen, innocuously lying in between Bellamy and his attacker. Silently waiting for the right moment and when that moment came, they'd struck without warning. What Izou knew and Luffy had not, was that Bellamy maintained control over his springs even when they were separated from his main body. And if he could control them, he could shape them at will.
It opened up all sorts of possibilities for traps and the like. Such as the two newly transformed plane springs snapping into an upright position and almost trapping Luffy in between them. Covered in armament haki as they were, Ace's brother could count himself lucky that his observation had sounded the alarm.
"Ack! Why's it so dark all of a sudden?"
Though, he probably needed more practice, as while he'd avoided the first trap, he failed to notice the second before it was too late. Six flattened plane springs could quite easily be combined into a large, hollow metal cube, with their victim stuck in the middle. Oh, Straw Hat certainly tried his best to punch his way out, but his initial attempts barely put a dent in the thick metal. Then, to make matters worse, the cube slowly began to shrink.
"How do you like this, Luffy? It's a little trick I picked up from a guy named Mad Treasure."
"Gum gum jet gatling! I'm going to get out soon and then I'm going to kick your butt! Just you wait."
"I've got no doubt that you will try. The question is though, will you have enough time?"
"Gear third: elephant gun!"
That last one did dent the cube a little, encouraging Luffy to do it again and again. And again. Slowly wrenching his prison open by pure force. For his part, Bellamy didn't seem all too bothered at his creation coming apart at the seams with the screeching and groaning of metal. Rather, he was much more focused on bouncing all over the place, slowly at first but with ever increasing velocity, speeding up with every jump he was chaining together.
"Oh great, the box is gone. Now where's Bellam-Eh?"
It also stood to reason that if Bellamy could create a cube out of his springs, he could dismiss it just as easily. Which he did at precisely the right moment, timing the dissipation perfectly with his own passage through the space the metal barrier had occupied only moments prior. All, with one ebony fist drawn back, loaded and ready to fire.
"Spring Hopper – Deathknock!"
For some reason that Izou couldn't pin down, seeing Luffy get punched in the face by Bellamy's modified Spring Hopper seemed oddly poetic. Though for the life of him, he wouldn't be able to tell you why.
The Golden Lion Roars Once More
Welcome to Marineford Daily News, your only source of accurate and unbiased truth.The more experienced and worldly amongst us may yet remember that Gold Roger wasn't alone in causing death and destruction everywhere he went. Some of his vile compatriots are well known to you, monsters such as Kaido, Big Mom or the heroically slain Whitebeard. (That we mean heroic on the part of our brave marines probably need not be said but we say it anyway to make sure we're all aware of the right truth.)
Others are more obscure, and with good reason. Unlike the four emperors who remain at large to wreak havoc in the New World, one particular individual had been locked away in Impel Down and the key thrown into the deepest pits of the ocean. There he'd remained crippled and forgotten by the world… or so we'd thought.
Somehow, at some unspecified time, Shiki the Golden Lion escaped his rightful imprisonment. As the marine speaker revealed, the navy had attempted to track him down right away but their efforts had sadly not been crowned with success. The Golden Lion went to ground and was not seen again.
Until now.
After ripping a few islands out of the East Blue, latest reports place the legendary pirate on a straight course for the New World. Nothing in his path is safe, for unlike our tax collectors who take anything that isn't nailed down or the kitchen sink… Shiki takes everything. Including anything that is nailed down and the kitchen sink. Plus the house and island attached to said kitchen sink.
Whether or not his arrival will herald greater chaos in the struggle for Whitebeard's empty throne or the fortunate event of pirates slaughtering each other will have to be seen. But there's no question that we live in an age where the horrors of the past (such as Blackbeard's crew) walk amongst us once again.
This was Marineford Daily reporting.
And as always, please follow us to never miss an update on the best news reports this side of the Red Line.
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Looks like Golden Lion Shiki is going for a walk and the events of Strong World has already begun. This is gonna be very interesting how SI Bellamy and his crew and also Luffy and his brothers deal with this.
And it might be funny to see Vice-Admiral Aramaki get his butt whooped due to being overconfident while Vice-Admiral Issho would hold his own since his Press-Press Fruit would be ideal against Shiki's Float-Float Fruit.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This seems like it's meant to be a picture inside of a spoiler tag, but it's just the words that would be the caption for that tag.
I've removed it. It was supposed to show a giant Choji doing a belly flop. Which is essentially what Luffy did with his full body Gear 3.
The Payback War comes first. Will need to think about Strong World a bit more.
Oh okay then, hopefully Ace and the Whitebeards won't lose to Blackbeard's Offscreen Power where he stands victorious afterwards.