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RUMBLE!	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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RUMBLE!

32

Fade�

Less than a minute later they emerged onto the beach and got blasted by heavy wind. Zoro held Luffy tightly as they began sliding over the remaining shells of turtles that hadn�t managed to make it back to the water yet.

They could barely hear the voices of their nakama against the wind as they got closer to the dinghy.

�ROBIN! ZORO!� Nami raged.

�ROBIN-CHAAAAN! YAROU-DOMO!� Sanji first praised and later surged.

�USOPP! LUFFY!� Chopper bawled.

When the quartet reached the dinghy and started clambering in, it was revealed that Nami was indeed mad as a hornet. �Where the hell have you been? Robin! I trust you to keep them all from being stupid! Do you all have ANY idea how much trouble we�re in?�

Robin opened her bag and showed Nami its contents.

Nami�s eyes widened and sparkled. Her jaw worked itself for a moment before she broke into a glamorous smile. �I just love you guys!�

Sanji kicked off and the men grabbed oars and made with the rowing.

�Okay,� Nami said, back to normal. �When we got back to the ship it is imperative that we act quickly. Anything that wasn�t secured before needs to be tied down fast. Chopper, you and Zoro can batten down the hatches.�

Chopper nodded importantly. Zoro�s attention was also rapt.

�Sanji-kun, I need you and Usopp tying off the riggings. Robin, you�re steering, and I�m going to do what I do best.�

�Order everyone around?� Luffy asked, but not in a tone that suggested this was a bad thing.

�You betcha,� Nami answered. �I�ve got to make sure we get away from the island and out to open sea as quickly as possible. The waves are going to want us on the beach until we can get a good distance away, and we need to achieve that distance before they get too high. To do this, I need to navigate all of you plus the ship, and everyone has to follow my orders when I give them, got it? We don�t have time to argue.�

�Aa,� Zoro nodded.

�Nami-san�s beauty shines most radiantly when she�s taking control!� Sanji ejaculated.

Zoro looked at him, disgusted.

The waves were indeed putting stress on the anchor as they tried to move the ship to shore. Robin held the rope ladder steady against the ship as Sanji got out of the dinghy first.

Zoro took it upon himself to keep the dinghy near the rope ladder while Nami followed the blond, swinging back and forth a little in the wind as she went.

�Luffy can you hold out in there while I do what I have to do in a minute?� he asked, indicating the haramaki. He had to strain to hear the rubber boy over the wind. �If you�d rather be put down firs-�

�No, I�m okay,� Luffy�s dizziness from the waves was audible in the calling voice he was using. �With you is better than in Boshi now. I don�t want to slide around.�

Zoro gave a business-like nod. �Then be prepared what what�s coming. Try your best to bear with me, and stay inside where it�s dry. I might not be able to hear you, so if there�s a problem punch me so I know. I don�t know how often I�ll be able to check on you.�

Luffy nodded and Zoro got up and started to climb the ladder.

The ship didn�t rock as quickly or as often as the dinghy had, but it�s rocking motions were bigger, making balance difficult. Nami had assumed the position of the top of the stairs, Sanji at the helm, and Zoro took Luffy�s usual storm duty--tying down the cannon in the Armory before securing the door closed and moving on to the Hold hatch. Chopper was in the storage room, Luffy assumed, battening the girls� room and the bathroom closed as Nami shouted out her order to get the anchor up so they could make way.

Zoro was in the storage room after Chopper like a shot, both of them pushing the wheel to bring up the anchor as quickly as possible, but with one major set of arms down, things weren�t going as smoothly as usual.

As he pushed the wheel, Zoro took a moment to look down at his waistline. Luffy looked ready to vomit a lung and appeared to not be seeing properly anymore, but he did not cry out or signal that he needed to stop. While this endurance was admirable, Zoro hoped it would not also become Luffy�s folly--not that the swordsman could just stop what he was doing and take Luffy inside either way. The time for precautions had passed, and there was no going back anymore.

When Zoro and Chopper emerged after four minutes of anchor raising against the raging current, it was to Nami�s voice calling for Usopp to tie the riggings more firmly--they had loosened because Sanji had tied them and Sanji wasn�t accustomed to tying riggings with his soft hands. Sanji had been in no condition to participate in any such activity, anyway. He was sick, not wounded, and it was wounded that he was used to working under the duress of.

A cry of �Sorry!� came from the Galley where the cook was steering as the three men plus Robin started grabbing ropes and retying them. One of them swung out of reach and Zoro had to chase it up the rocking deck, only to miss the rope and slide down the rest of the deck into the railing when the rock reversed in the waves. Then he repeated himself.

When Nami actually stopped directing Sanji�s steering and began to verbally assault Zoro�s inanity, Robin noticed his plight and lent a few hands, giving Zoro just enough time to grab the rope before a huge wave slammed into the ship and knocked Chopper over the rail.

The little Xoan clung to the rail and used the ship�s rebounding rock to swing himself back aboard with Usopp�s help. The sniper�s hands were bleeding from rope abuse, but he ignore the pain, much more scared that the main sail might tear.

To distract him, Nami told him to get his ass inside and help Sanji turn the rudder. His strength alone wasn�t up to par.

Robin was ordered to get onto Aft and watch Lateen Sail to ensure it was actually moving as they wanted.

Zoro hoped the floor of the Hold had been patched well enough, while Chopper went up the mast and took down the flag before they lost it to the wind.

Through all of this chaos and noise, Luffy had just struggled to hold on. They were moving so much he was sure he would get sick any second. The noise scared him a little. He could hear Nami shouting, but he couldn�t see what had her panicked when her voice rose on occasion. One of them he could feel, because he had wanted to shout at Zoro himself when they started running up one half of the deck and falling down the other, but he hadn�t had the energy at the time to raise his voice uselessly.

It was then, however, that he had started to sense another problem.

Being jarred around so much had loosened his position against Zoro�s lower abs, and his own dizziness had robbed him of his grip on the fabric. He felt himself sliding down through the green haramaki, finally gaining a grip on the bottom of the cloth, trying to pull his left leg back into the heat it had fallen from.

Zoro, of course, was preoccupied and did not think to notice any of this. His nerves had been numbed by the cold and he was moving a lot, so when Luffy socked him in the leg, weakly due to his new position, Zoro didn�t feel it.

He must have known that Luffy would get sick from so much motion, but better sick than drowned at this point.

When they broke free of the island waves, the sea calmed noticeably. It was still very rough and cold, but they had tied everything off and there was little left to do besides steer vigilantly and try to keep dry. Hence they all began to trickle indoors, Zoro taking care not to be last for Luffy�s sake.

That had been WAY too much for his captain. He should have left him inside despite his protests! Damn, he had to be seizing or something by this time! �Except that he was being awfully still. Had he passed out?

Hastening up the stairs, Zoro entered the Galley, and opened up his haramaki, which, again, gained him the attention of Sanji, whose cry (�what did I tell you about doing that in front of me?!�) went unnoticed according to the confusion on Zoro�s face.

�Luffy?� the young man said, opening his waist sash to see more deeply into it.

Unable to restrain himself, Sanji objected further because Robin was in the room to see his chivalrous display. �Not in the kitchen, crap-pervert! Why do you stick him down there, anyway?!�

Any entertaining blushes and fierce denials that should have followed this implied accusation did not come, because Zoro, instead of heating up, all but turned to stone in realization.

It was then that his heart literally stopped (it was a painful few seconds), and he looked up to the others in the room, shocked fear written all over his face.

�What is it?� Chopper asked tiredly, not really perceiving what Zoro�s countenance indicated.

The stunned young man didn�t answer right away, which was what inclined the two women to first glance over at him, and then slowly shift posture, rising to their feet.

��What�s wrong?� Nami asked, her tense voice sounding as though she was carefully preserving panic for a near moment in which it might be called for.

��Luffy�� Zoro whispered in stunned disbelief, his mind unable to form any other sound.

Instantly all eyes were on him in fear, and for a few moments not a soul in the room breathed.

�Shit!� Sanji ejaculated fiercely and suddenly, jumping to his feet first.

The sudden movement in the otherwise still room acted like an alarm clock, and all of the instantly alert crew members, Zoro included, were jolted into action, either shooting up from their seats or turning on their heels to race out the door.

------------------------

Luffy hit the deck with a resounding SMACK in his own ears. His vision danced for several moments before the rocking of the ship forced him to attention with an adrenaline rush. By that time Zoro was someplace else on deck, a mile away, or as good as, due to the storm. Luffy would never be able to get his attention from the floor. The wind blew cold and the rain came hard and heavy. His automatically adopted fetal position was maintained for seconds at most before it became hard to draw breath into his shaking chest through chattering teeth.

He tried to summon all his body heat to the surface to fight off the bone-chilling cold that had turned his skin a sickly pale blue.

He told himself that he'd been in this war, fighting and winning every battle that the RumbleBalls had thrown at him thus far, and Zoro's constant support gave Luffy courage now. He would get through this and be fine when it was all over. He'd look back in an hour and laugh at himself if he lost control now, so close to the end of the war.

Fighting his instinct to curl up, he did his best to answer the need for shelter. He knew what hypothermia was. He�d even mentioned it to Sanji on Drum island, and had not been believed, but plenty of people had called his knowledge of all kinds into question before that, and Luffy held no uncertainly in himself regarding it. He needed to keep his blood flowing, to stay awake at all costs, and to get someplace dry foremost.

He tried to cry out, but it did him no good, naturally. Zoro hadn�t seen his fall, and no one would notice him sprawled across Starboard deck at this size. He was invisible to them, and there was too much else going on otherwise.

Trying to convince his body that the cold was good because it meant he was alive, a point which it rebelled against furiously, Luffy pushed himself to his hands and knees, knowing that he was on his own for the time being, and had to get away from the waves of rain lubricating the deck and trying to wash him away.

Over his shoulder, he heard a scream and twisted around, falling on his butt in the process, to see Chopper tumble overboard. He screamed his doctor�s name in unheard panic, only to see Usopp help him back of board with bleeding hands mere seconds later.

Relieved, but unable to feel it in every way, Luffy pushed himself to his feet to look for some sort of shelter. Zoro would know he was gone the second it slowed down, he was certain, but he wouldn�t be around to look for soon.

He saw some heavy barrels tied together against the side of the steps and made controversial haste toward them.

The journey was long and almost insensibly made. Indeed, Luffy would remember nothing of reaching the barrels later but that the ship had been tilting horrendously far to his perception, and that when he set out he was on his feet, but when he got close to the steps he was on his hands and knees, unsure sure of at what point that had happened. But he did finally triumph in reaching the barrels, whereupon he collapsed against the wall of the steps and slid down to the floor, holding himself in place with his feet braced in one of many imperfections in the board beneath him.

His extremities of nose, ears, and toes were by far the most painful to him, though he was fairly certain that his testicles had shrunken right into his body, as well.

He felt the first attack hit him hard, making him seize and his vision fail. The world looked purple and there was no discernable shape to his eyes.

There was no respite, no soothing voice or embracing scent; no still cessation of pain and no heat to borrow from Zoro; no sound of a rushing pulse beneath him or relaxing touch to distract himself with. There was just him. Damaged, incomplete, alone.

When he was left lying depleted of strength on the deck, the welcoming relief of warmth that he was so used to feeling after his attacks did not come. On the contrary, it was so cold that he was starting to fear he was going to die.

Why had he not held on tighter to Zoro? Knowing it would be so easy to lose him, he should have held on for dear life, relishing the feeling that had been doomed to cease soon enough either way. For Zoro did not love him. Not as he loved Zoro. He had as much as said so at the table that same afternoon.

He realized he was giving in to despair and stopped himself.

Zoro said �us�! That has to mean something. And if it doesn�t, then it doesn�t, but I have to give him a chance to say it! I haven�t even told him yet. I don�t want it to pass that he never knew he was loved!

The ship was being tossed hard, and when the nausea welled up inside him, the rubber boy fell onto his forearms and threw up on the deck repeatedly until his stomach had turned itself inside out, and retching was painful and awarded him only tiny bits of bile.

By forcing himself not to collapse into his own emesis like a drunkard, Luffy was able to regain a sense of place. His head swam in two directions, which caused in him an odd sort of vertigo, out-of-body sensation, but as it passed, Luffy became at first dimly aware that something else had come into his hiding place, squeezing into the crack between the wall and a barrel that was four barrels to the right of his own. The scuffling sounded just like that one he�d been hearing the last couple nights in the bedroom� How funny�

The connection was not made until several moments later, and then a second wind hit him hard and he looked sharply to his right and saw that the enormous rat that they had stowed away on Mookloo was struck with just as much surprise at seeing Luffy as Luffy harbored at seeing it. Neither of them moved for a few seconds, mutual shock striking them both frozen.

Then those few seconds passed, and Luffy, without really thinking on the subject, decided that the storm was safer to face than a panicked killer rat.

Moving faster than he really should have, Luffy used his smaller size to his advantage and tried to scramble out from behind the barrels that the rat had to squeeze between, slowing the animal up a little.

A little, but not enough, for as soon as the rat realized by Luffy�s struggling that the unfamiliar little red creature was dying or wounded and would make a superb dinner upon its capture, it took off after the unfortunate captain as fast as its fat girth would enable it.

Once out in the open, away from the barrels, Luffy had just enough time to fully receive the force of the chilling wind, the deafening waves, and the raindrops so thick it may as well have been hailing coconuts.

He was not looking for his nakama, as he didn�t want to be stepped on, but even out of the corners of his eyes he saw no one. They had all gone to other areas of the deck in their unorganized flurry.

It was his hope that the rat would not follow him into the heart of the storm, but the captain was overcome within six seconds, slammed to the floorboards, and suddenly forced to cope with both. He felt claws dig into his back, leaving long flesh wounds down his shoulders and sides that stung like fire, though thanks to his outfit, were not initially dangerous.

The unrelenting scratches that came one after the other, faster than the eye could follow, however, added up quickly and when his left kidney was finally punctured, Luffy looked like he�d been gone over with a cat �o nine tails was left with no choice but to either roll over and try to defend himself, or have his innards eaten out of his back.

Flipping quickly and taking the rat by surprise, Luffy was able to land one solid punch to the rodent�s jaw, which at once stunned and angered the animal, which let out an undignified squeak that hurt Luffy�s ears over the pounding of the rain on the deck all around him.

It was incredibly dark with cloud cover, but thanks to his amplified senses Luffy could see quite clearly the form of the big black rat which towered over him, and wished that he couldn�t.

The vermin was merciless. When it�s progress on Luffy�s back was thwarted, it followed that instinct which all living creatures have, and went for the jugular vein.

Luffy was able to block it from reaching his throat only by filling it�s mouth up with his fist and arm, which the rat bit, and which stayed attached to his shoulder only by the grace of an Akuma no Mi.

Looking past the rat and up into the clouds that poured raindrops the size of bricks, Luffy tried to see the shadows of angels that had blotted out the sun only weeks ago, casting the world in a similar darkness as he perceived now.

Surely they would come for him? They wouldn�t abandon him here after he�d saved them, would they?

No. He had been to heaven once, and conquered it. He had no fear of returning there--only regrets that he would make the journey alone if he had to go.

He was tired. It wasn�t so cold out anymore to him, which he dimly thought was strange. Not that it did him much good, because his energy wasn�t coming back, and he could do nothing anymore but lie on the floor of his own ship and get the life clawed out of him by a frightened, hungry rodent twice his size.

His blood oozed gradually from the scratches he was earning, but he didn�t actually scream in real pain until the rat bit its two protruding front teeth into his hip and dragged the little pirate closer to itself with them. The bite wound, when the animal released his flank, went almost clear through him; by far the deepest wound he�d received in months, and the blood gushed too gushed openly from it. Still trying to fend off the rat with one arm, Luffy pressed his other hand to the bite, but it was too serious a flow to ebb single-handedly, or even alone. He needed help, or he was going to die.

Eaten by a rat. Angels of Skypiea, what a way to go�

I�m going to die out here.

Truly, he was.

And my nakama will never find me.

What would he do in an afterlife without them?

As the blows fell, be was surprised that his life truly flashed before his eyes--all the memories and feelings he�d loved in this world� Funny, he�d expected it to be longer. But it was glorious, full of triumph and friendship and wonder.

Yet, there were so much more to be done!

Not yet! I want to see him cure every disease in the world! I know he can do it! I want to see her map--it�ll be so perfect! And I still need to guide him to being the great warrior he so wishes to become! I have to make sure he sees All Blue, and that she remembers what it means to truly have a family again! I can�t take care of them if I�m not here! Who will lead them?

He promised me he would never lose again� if I go, who will watch his fights? Who will become the greatest beside him? Who will love him?

We were all supposed to be the best together� But now they�ll never know whether we could have done it. Will they even stay together? Will they persevere with their dreams? They�re so strong�

My nakama.

As the rat bit into his fleshy side again, Luffy became aware of a new feeling overtaking his whole body. He felt as if he was being inflated and pulled to pieces all at once. His middle was squeezed beyond endurance for a tenth of a second before it released suddenly, and he perceived that there was no longer wet cloth sticking to is skin anywhere. His lungs as though they were being pressed like a flower between two heavy books, having grown faster than they could inflate, but the scratches he had received felt as though they were tearing more widely open, and started to bleed more furiously because of it. His head swam so badly he would later swear that his brain had flipped upside down. The raindrops that had been so large and had, in single file, drenched through him utterly were now able to hit him in number, though not as hard. The cold did not diminish, but the wind against his skin became more pronounced, and the huge imperfections in the floor that had been digging into him moments before were no longer felt at all.

He had no time to take in what had happened to cause this sudden rush of sensation, however, because it claimed his cognitive self almost immediately.

In some existence far from his own, Luffy perceived that the rat was gone, and that he heard the sound of voices drawing nearer to him, though he didn�t understand a word of it all. Had they found him? Perhaps. That was good; they wouldn�t worry.

His last thought before succumbing to the RumbleBalls final strike against him was of the man who had given him the chance to experience a lifetime�s worth of adventure.

�Thank you, Shanks.

And then Luffy was in a world beyond pain; his chest relaxed, his wounds stopped bleeding, his eyes clouded over, and his naked body was left lying on the deck, at 5�6� tall.

Thus did Mugiwara no Luffy finally lose his war.
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RUMBLE!