I'M BACK! Hard to believe it has been almost a decade since I touch this story. Wow this may come off as review farming, I wanted to finally post this final bonus chapter. I also want to say that I went back and did some slight modifications to the story. It's nothing huge. Mostly it me cleaning up some continuation issues. While I always believed Sabo was alive, which is why Sabo's ghost never appeared, I went back to include Robin seeing the similarities between Luffy's Sabo and the Sabo she knew. I also fixed a mistake I made on Chapter 29. Otherwise, a lot in this story aged surprisingly well despite me writing it near the end of Punk Hazard and into the beginning of Dressrosa.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Bonus Chapter 6: 3D2Y Special

(I was asked a long time ago to do this special, but at the time I was kind of burn out at writing One Piece stories and by the time I did want to cover the Special, years has past and I felt guilty for updating a story that was years old, especially since it came off as milking. Now, despite this story being so old, I want to post this chapter since it has some interesting discussions that people may like. Hope you all enjoy it, both old and any new fans that finds this story in the future. On the actual chapter itself, this takes place after Bonus Chapter 5, so this is part of Maxwell's gift.)

As soon as the memory faded with Luffy's strawhat, the mist reformed and the crew found themselves….back at Marineford. This was the last thing that anyone expected.

"Why are we back here?" Chopper asked. He never wanted to returned to this place ever. There was nothing here except bad memories.

Robin looked around and realized what was happening. "This is a dream."

"How can you tell?" Nami asked.

"Because Maxwell would have no reason to show us Marineford again and look at the memory," Robin explained.

The crew slowly realized that the scene was slightly fogged over, like they were looking at a daydream. It was very similar to other memories they have seen when Luffy was dreaming or half-conscious.

"I see," Sanji said, "we much be seeing Luffy reliving the war."

They suddenly saw Luffy run past them, just as bloody and battered as he was on that day. Running besides him was Inazuma who used his Devil Fruit to cut up the pavement and opened a path to execution platformed.

"Luffy, go!" Inazuma they heard ordered as Luffy ran passed him without a word.

Garp jumped down on the bridge to stop him, but Luffy without a thought went into his Second Gear and decked Garp right off the bridge.

Zoro's eye narrowed. "You can tell that isn't reality since this isn't exactly what happened."

Once Luffy reached Ace, Sengoku went immediately went into his Buddha form, ready to crush all the pirates.

Much like what happened in reality, Mr. 3 was there to shield Ace with his power while Luffy used Third Gear to act as a cushion. The shockwave that Sengoku created was so powerful that execution platformed shattered, sending all the pirates falling to the ground where the marines began to shoot them.

Mr. 3 created the key for Ace's shackles and Luffy wasted not a moment freeing his brother. Before the bullets hit them, Ace came to life in flames and melted them.

"You never change, Luffy. Never listening to a single word I say. Always doing the dumbest things," Ace scolded, however, the entire time he was smiling.

Luffy could only laugh happily, seeing his brother free from death. "Ace!"

The Strawhats were near tears watching this triumph scene again. It was filled with nothing but false hope.

Franky growled as he turned his head. "Must we see this again?"

Brook was silent for several seconds. "For Luffy-san, this scene must have replayed in his head millions of times."

The happy mood of the memory changed and everything suddenly became blood red. Flames overtook the scene and before the Strawhats could even blinked, the scene of Ace being saved by Luffy was changed to him standing in front of their captain with Akainu's fist though his chest. It was just as bad as seeing it the first time.

Nami gasped, despite knowing this was coming.

There was no sound except for the dripping of Akainu's magma as he burnt Ace from the inside and the crew was once again assaulted by the smell of burning flash and blood.

As soon as Akainu removed his fist, Ace collapsed and fell into Luffy's arms.

"I'm sorry...Luffy..." Ace spoke softly as blood ran down his chin and spilled onto brother's shoulder. "Just for me...you did all that crazy stuff...but...I couldn't let you save me properly. I'm...so sorry…"

Luffy could only sit there stunned, not believing what had happened.

"This can't be real…"

The crew looked around for the source of the voice.

"What was that?" Usopp asked as he looked around.

"It…sounded like Luffy," Chopper said.

"Wh...what are you saying? Don't be ridiculous!" Luffy screamed in denial. "Don't say stupid things like that!" He turned towards Ace's crew, desperate for any kind of help. "Someone, help him! Ace...please save Ace! Hey, isn't there anyone who can save Ace!? Come on!"

This sent Nami into tears. She couldn't stand hearing those broken pleases.

None of the other Strawhats were doing much better as they were forced to relieved Luffy's worst moment.

They saw the doctor approaching, however, unlike what they saw in reality Ace stopped him.

"I can feel it….slipping away…." Ace said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. He huffed for every breath. "I...can't speak loud enough for the others to hear it…"

"Ace…." Luffy mourned as he hugged his brother tighter as if praying that his hold would keep him from fading away.

"This can't be real…..I won't accept this….!"

"That voice again," Sanji said before his eyes widened. "Are we hearing Luffy's thoughts. Like before in the infirmary."

Robin lowered her head. "It would make sense. These thoughts could be embedded into this dream, which is why we can hear them."

"Please...pass on...what I'm about to say…" Ace whispered. "Old Man, everyone, and you, Luffy... "

"This can't be the end…"

"Even though...I'm so worthless...even though…I carry the blood of a demon...THANK YOU FOR LOVING ME!" Ace managed to shout with his dying breath.

Luffy felt his brother hugged him one last time before his body went completely limp. Unable to support his brother's body anymore, Ace hit the ground with a loud thug.

Everything become still.

Luffy could only stare at his brother's body in stun disbelief.

"This….can't be….the end…"

Luffy completely broken down and cried to the heavens as the memory slowly faded into black and soon, there was nothing.

The scene suddenly came back except now, Luffy was jolting from a makeshift bed.

The Strawhats quickly saw that some time had pass since the last memory. Luffy's chest wound was completely healed. He now bear the familiar 'X' scar. However, he still bore clear injures from the war given that part of his torso and left arm were bandage.

If Chopper had to guessed, he estimated that closed to a year had gone by. Still, it was disturbing to think that even after all this time Luffy was still healing. It told him either that Luffy's wounds were so severe that even with his enhanced healing that it took this long to reach this state, or that Luffy's healing was severely compromised. Most likely, it was a little bit of both given how Luffy had damaged his body.

The crew was so focused on Luffy that they nearly missed Rayleigh sitting next to Luffy. From the looks of it, the old pirate have been observing Luffy for some time.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Rayleigh asked, although he already knew the answer. From the way he looked on, this wasn't the first time this had happened.

Luffy was shivering and his eyes were unseeing. His breaths were also ragged, almost like he was going to hyperventilate. They could also hear Luffy's rapidly beating heart in their ears.

Chopper rushed to Luffy's side, despite knowing that he couldn't do a thing. "He's going to faint unless he gets his breathing under control."

Rayleigh got up from his seat and walked over to Luffy with a mug in his hand. "You're covered in sweat. Here, try drinking this."

Without a word, Luffy desperately took the mug and guzzled down its contents. Within a few minutes, Luffy slowly began to calm down and his heart beat slowed until the crew couldn't hear it anymore.

Chopper shook his head. "It's just as we feared. Luffy indeed has PTSD. He has all the signs; upsetting dreams about a traumatic event, reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again, and recurrent, unwanted distressing memories. These symptoms are also what are causing his bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts." He sighed as tears built in his eyes. "How could I have missed this?"

"Luffy did a good job hiding this from us, which is common for those with mental disorders" Robin said in a knowing voice. She did much the same for most of her life.

Brook looked at Rayleigh who sat by quietly, waiting for Luffy to calm down. "Couldn't Rayleigh help him?"

Zoro sighed. "I'm sure he tried, but he probably couldn't handle Luffy's issues. His only solution was to make Luffy stronger to rebuild his confidence. I also doubt Luffy would've felt comfortable telling Rayleigh about what happened."

Chopper hummed. "It takes special training to deal with people with a mental disorder. Not even I'm trained." And he hated himself for it. Treating the body was pointless if the spirit was damaged.

Sanji lit a cigarette, took several puffs, before he sighed. "Unfortunately, the only therapy Rayleigh knows is Jack Daniels."

It took several more minutes before Luffy fully calmed down. He was even smiling softly into his mug.

"Do you feel okay," Rayleigh asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah….." Luffy answered softly, "…..I just wonder what everyone's up to."

Rayleigh smiled. "You mean all of your friends?"

Luffy nodded before turning to look at Rayleigh.

"Do not think about the ones you have lost! You can never get back what you have lost! Remember what you still have!" the voice of Jimbei shouted throughout the memory.

"I still have...I still have my crew!" the voice of Luffy answered back.

"Zoro…Nami….Usopp…Sanji….Chopper….Robin….Franky….Brook," Luffy spoke. With each of his crew's names, the memory flashed to when he first met them and their most intimate moments. It was just like Amazon Lily.

This made almost the entire crew tear up.

"I see," Robin said softly.

Nami was openly crying. "He…he thought of us to keep himself sane. To remind himself that he still had something left in the world. Without that…."

She didn't want to finish. It was painfully obvious that the only reason why Luffy didn't kill himself was because of the bond he had with them. At this moment, they were his only reason to live. It was both touching and frightening. As much as they may love Luffy, she hated the idea that they were the only things still binding him to this world.

"It's just like me and Laboon," Brook whispered. "Without him and the vow I made to my crew…I too would have nothing left to live for before I met all of you."

Usopp walked to Brook's side and gently padded his back.

Chopper dried his tears. "That….maybe a good short-term solution, but it doesn't address the issue."

"Until we address the issue, it will have to do," Zoro said, never taking his eye off his captain.

Franky shook his head. "Luffy is way too young to be burden by such feelings."

Then again, when you become a pirate, you give up any claims to innocence.

Luffy suddenly stopped smiling. "That's why…..I have to get stronger. So I can protect my friends."

As he said that, flashes of Omatsuri Island and Sabaody came rushing through the memory.

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "So I can fight to make their dreams come true just like they do for me."

Rayleigh smiled as he listened to the conviction in Luffy's voice. "Who knows. Maybe your friends are thinking the exact same thing. Perhaps they all want to become stronger just like you."

Zoro smirked. "Damn right."

Franky grinned as he slammed his fists together. "Yeah!"

Usopp also smiled. "What are our dreams worth if we can't even make Luffy's dream come true."

The rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

"The sun will raise soon," Rayleigh said. "Get some rest. Tomorrow will be even tougher."

"Right," Luffy replied as he put down his empty mug and laid back down on his bed. "Night, old man."

The memory went dark for a moment before he suddenly returned.

It was now morning and Luffy was currently fighting a giant blue gorilla. The giant beast jumped into the air, attempting to crush the rubber captain with a sledgehammer. Luffy barely had time to dodge.

The gorilla growled at him when it realized its attack missed, but Luffy charged in.

"Eat this!" Luffy shouted as he attempted to hit the gorilla with a Pistol.

The gorilla easily dodged the attack and proceeded to run away.

Luffy chased it and was right on the gorilla's trail when a giant bird came out of nowhere and attempted to impale Luffy with its beak. The rubber captain sense the bird at the last second and dodged.

"Sheesh, everything on this island really is trying to kill Luffy!" Franky exclaimed. It was just like Shiki's island all over again when they were forced to survive for days against wild beasts.

"No wonder Luffy became so strong. This place is horrible," Usopp said. How could mere beasts be this strong?

"But Luffy's Observation Haki has greatly improved since he sense that bird coming," Zoro noted.

"Yeah, you can also tell because our own Haki senses are better in this memory. Before, it was like trying to sense through thick fog," Sanji said. "Heck, I can even count how many beasts are in the current area."

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy shouted as he shot his right arm forward. As he stretched, the Strawhats could see his arm turn black.

"And Luffy has learned how to use Armament Haki," Zoro said with a note of pride.

The attack connected and instantly knocked out the giant bird.

"Haki!" Luffy exclaimed in both surprised and happiness.

"From his reaction, it seems he does not have complete control over it yet," Robin observed.

Zoro hummed. "Seems so. If he could used it reliably, something like that wouldn't be exciting."

Luffy landed and looked around the jungle in confusion. "Where the gorilla go?

As soon as he asked that, the nearby bushes began to shake.

Luffy grinned as he got into his horse stance. "He won't even know what hit him." He pumped his legs. "Gear Second!"

As soon as Luffy activated his Gear, the beast came jumping out of the bushes. It looked like a black bunny with red eyes.

"What is even is that thing!" Nami shouted.

"It looks like it belongs in the same family as the Lapahn," Chopper replied.

"You mean those vicious rabbits that Luffy and Sanji fought in Drum?" Franky asked, surprised to see any beast move so fast.

"I do see the similarities," Robin said.

"Gum Gum Jet Pistol!" Luffy shouted as he shot his arm so fast that it looked like the rabbit was hit by an air cannon.

"His Gears are also much faster," Zoro noted. Even he could barely see it with his Haki.

The rabbit when flying across the air until it hit a nearby tree. It crumpled to the ground and didn't move.

"There we go!" Luffy exclaimed happily as he ran towards the fallen rabbit.

Luffy, however, quickly learned that the rabbit was far from dead since it came back to life the moment he reached it, startling the young captain when the beast roared at him.

"A rabbit!" Luffy yelled in shock. He obviously thought it was the gorilla.

The rabbit smirked at him and dusted its chest where the Jet Pistol landed as if to tell Luffy that it didn't hurt. While Luffy was stunned by this, the rabbit proceeded to smacked the boy captain with its ear several times. The rabbit hit him so hard that his cheeks actually swelled.

Luffy reeled back in pain and grabbed his injured cheeks.

"That thing made a rubberman's face swell!" Usopp yelled in surprised and horror.

This shocked even Sanji. "Not even Lucci could have done that. How hard are that rabbit's attacks?"

"If it was any normal person, those hits may have taking off their head," Brook noted as he shivered. He now fully understood why humans lost the battle to survived on this island if a common rabbit could do this.

"You're going to pay for that!" Luffy attempted to yell, although it was hard to do since his voice sounded like it was stuffed with marshmallows.

The rabbit ignored the rubberman's threats and hopped away. It sounded like it was laughing as it was leaving.

"The rabbit called Luffy a loser," Chopper translated.

"I don't think we needed that translated," Usopp said dryly.

Rayleigh chuckled as he approached Luffy. "Are we having fun yet. He's tricky."

Luffy turned towards his master.

"We call that one a toughness rabbit. Considered your cheeks an introduction," Rayleigh said with a note of humor.

"Toughness rabbit," Robin repeated, taking a mental note.

"I've never heard of a creature like that," Chopper said. "But if it can do that type of damage with just its ears, it isn't beast we should mess with."

Luffy huffed in annoyance as his puffy cheeks flapped in the wind. "Whatever, I'll get him back."

"Based on what I saw, you can now use Armament Haki with a fifty percent chance of success that is," Rayleigh observed.

"Fifty percent, huh," Zoro repeated. "Given that his training appears a little over a year ago, that isn't too bad. Took me a year to get that good."

Sanji smirked at his rival. "Slow learner?"

Zoro side-eyed Sanji. "You wish. The truth is, my Haki wasn't awakened when I started my training under Mihawk."

This surprised Brook. "It wasn't? I thought for sure your Haki would have awoken sooner given all your trials. Especially…..after Thriller Bark."

It felt strange to be able to talk freely about that incident since it was a secret for so long.

Zoro sighed. "Haki usually awaken under great stress or hardship, and apparently, I never reached that point. Don't know if it was my personality or because I never faced a traumatic enough situation. In either case, it only took a month with Mihawk to put the fear of god into me to awaken my Haki."

Sanji hummed, but decided not to tease the swordsman anymore. Truth was, his Haki didn't awakened until he was knee deep in Hell. It's actually pretty pathetic that it took them so long to awakened their Haki while Luffy awakened his before they even reached Water 7. But given how he got it…..

"Your Observation Haki is also getting a lot better. You should be able to sense both your enemy's presence and how strong they are," Rayleigh went on. "You rely far too much on your vision. So we need to prevent you from doing that in the future."

Luffy looked at his teacher. "Huh?"

The memory skipped and the Strawhats suddenly found themselves in darkness.

"That's better," they heard the voice of Rayleigh say.

"I can't see!" Luffy complained in the darkness.

"Leave it on for awhile and let yourself get used to it," Rayleigh gently ordered.

"He's really going to make Luffy go blindfolded through an island full of powerful beasts?" Nami asked in disbelief.

"That is the quickest way to learn how not to used your eyes," Zoro said with a shrugged. "I had to do the same thing, except I had to fight baboons."

Franky looked at the swordsman. "Huh, baboons? I thought you trained with Mihawk. Did you do survival training like Luffy?"

Zoro sighed. "It's a long story."

"Although you got to admit, moss head fighting his own kind is the perfect kind of training," Sanji teased.

Zoro reached for his sword. "I'll kill you!"

They heard a shuffling noise, telling them that Luffy was trying to walk. And by the screaming and crashing, it was easily to tell that Luffy had falling to the ground.

"This is stupid! I can't see a thing!" Luffy whined.

"This is training. You have to use all of your senses. Not just your eyesight," Rayleigh said in a surprisingly patient voice.

They heard another shuffling sound.

"No matter how good your eyes may be, you will never see everything," Rayleigh explained. "Enemies that move at the speed of light must be detected by other methods."

The moment Rayleigh said 'speed of light', an image of Kizaru appeared across the memory.

"Was that how he was able to fight that admiral?" Chopper asked in awe.

Zoro nodded. "Yeah. Even with powerful Armament Haki, that bastard admiral is impossible to hit if you only used your eyes."

"Out of all the Devil Fruit users we've faced, Kizaru may have the most dangerous ability next to Eneru because of his speed," Nami said. "The only saving grace with Kizaru is that his Devil Fruit lacks the pure destructive power of the Rumble Rumble Fruit."

"Which isn't much since Kizaru is far more skilled than Eneru's lazy ass," Sanji said.

Franky sighed. "As painful as it is to say, if we ever do meet that admiral again, only Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro can handle him. As great as I am, I can't hit something as fast as light."

Brook shook his head. "As painfully for me to admit, I can't either."

Usopp's shoulders slumped. He spent two years of training so he could lighting the burden Luffy carried. So he wouldn't have to keep tearing his body apart to protect them. Yet….here he was again depending on Luffy and others to protect them. It disgusted him, especially after everything he's seen…..especially from Marineford.

He gripped his hand into a fist. How he wished he knew about Haki. If he could've train to used it…..he could used that power to protect everyone. Yet….such a power wasn't meant for a weakling like him.

Robin frowned as she took in the Dark King's words. "Did Rayleigh say 'enemies'?"

This got the crews' attention.

"What difference does that make?" Chopper asked.

Nami eyes widened. "'Enemies' as in plural. Is he saying that they're others who can move as fast as Kizaru?"

Usopp paled at the thought.

"As crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't be shocked if there are monsters in this world who can move at the speed of light without a Devil Fruit," Sanji said as he puffed out some smoke.

Zoro folded his arms. "Which is what we trained two years for."

They heard Luffy slammed his fist into an opened palm. "Right! Let's do it!"

Within minutes of Luffy's declaration, they heard their captain screaming in terror as wild beasts mercilessly attacked.

This made almost the entire crew sigh.

"Seems he has a long a way to go," Sanji humored.

Several hours past and the Strawhats were still in darkness as they heard Luffy training. From the sounds of it, Luffy wasn't doing well and they could hear him getting smashed into the ground several times.

It was night before the memory was finally giving scenery again. While Luffy looked remarkably well despite all the physical abused he took, he was clearly frustrated to the point that not even eating calmed him down.

"Dammit!" Luffy shouted as he ate his meat. "I swear, all the animals are gaining up on me! I'll get them back as soon as I'm done eating!"

Rayleigh looked at his student with an amused expression. "Ready for Round 2, already?"

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "Yeah! I'm tired of being beating by…." His last words couldn't be fully understood since Luffy stuffed the rest of the meat into his mouth while talking.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, you uncouth barbarian," Sanji scolded.

As soon as Luffy finished washing down the meat, he was up and ready to take on the beasts again.

"He's so dedicated to fighting those animals that he stopped eating," Chopper said in disbelief.

Zoro smiled. "Luffy is taking his training very seriously."

"Either that or those animals pissed him off that much," Franky mused.

Not even a minute after Luffy left, he put his blindfold back on, sending the crew back into darkness.

"Try not to die," Rayleigh playfully warned.

"Right," Luffy answered back

"I don't mind watching Luffy's training….when we can actually watch," Franky said, tired of the darkness. "What exactly is the point of us seeing Luffy's training anyway?"

Nami shrugged. "I guess this is part of Maxwell's gift to us."

"Huh, where did all of them run off to? They didn't go to sleep did they?" they heard Luffy asked. "Hey, Mr. Gorilla! Mr. Alligator! Mr. Lion! I'm ready! Come out and fight me!"

"He can tell what the animals are blindfolded?" Brook asked.

"All part of Observation Haki," Sanji explained. "It not only allows you to sense the presence and strength of your opponent, but also their species."

"Observation Haki sounds extremely diverse," Brooke noted.

Zoro nodded. "It's probably the most diverse of all Haki with various means of mastery. I've even heard Mihawk say once that you can train Observation Haki to see into the future."

Nami turned towards the swordsman in disbelief. "See into the future? That's crazy!"

"No more crazy than many of the other things we've seen on the Grand Line," Zoro countered.

Nami had no answer to that.

Franky folded his arms. "Still, if one can see into the future, they would be unbeatable."

"Strong, but not unbeatable," Zoro corrected. "That type of foresight is only good if you can do something with the information and you can always change the future."

"While true, I doubt it's that simple," Brook said.

"Haki is truly a mysterious thing," Chopper said in wonder. He looked at Zoro. "Can you train to see into the future?"

Zoro sighed. "Observation Haki isn't my speciality. I lean far more heavily on Armament Haki."

"But didn't Rayleigh say it's better to master all of them instead of depending on just one?" Franky asked.

"It is, but in my case I greatly favor Armament Haki to the point that it's hard for me to used Observation Haki outside of the basics," Zoro said with a little amount of shame. "Because of how convenient Armament Haki is, it's far too easy to depend only on that."

Sanji puffed out some smoke. "As much as I would love to tease moss head, I have the opposite problem. I have great Observation Haki, but my Armament Haki needs work." He stared into the darkness. "So far, only Luffy is well-balance in all areas. I guess that shows how great Rayleigh is as a teacher along with our talented rubber head."

"So you can see into the future someday, Sanji?" Chopper asked in excitement.

Sanji shrugged. "Who knows. Although, that would be a handy trick to have."

They heard Luffy suddenly stop walking. They could tell by the sounds that he was making that Luffy was sniffing the air.

"Hey, what's that?" Luffy asked. His voice was growing in excitement. "Whatever it is, it smells really tasty." They could actually hear Luffy drooling. "Where it's coming from?"

"I guess he got over his grudge against those animals," Franky teased.

Nami sighed. "I should have guess that he wouldn't be able to think outside of his stomach long."

After a few minutes of walking, they heard Luffy stop. "That…smells like food! Okay, I got to see!"

As soon as Luffy said that, vision returned to the memory and the Strawhats saw several plates of food lying on a low wooden table. From the looks of it, everything was well-made and cooked to perfection.

"Food! I knew it!" Luffy exclaimed in pure happiness as he ran towards the table.

"Huh, where that food come from?" Franky asked.

"It much be a trap," Usopp said.

"By who? I doubt the beasts on this island knows how to make sea king pasta and no human should know where Luffy is," Sanji said as he looked over the meal. Whoever did this was a top tier chief.

"Is this for me?" Luffy asked as he looked around as if expecting someone. "Guess so!" he concluded as he sat down and began to munched on the meat. His face was the definition of bliss.

"Huh, he wasn't eating like that at all earlier," Nami said.

"I'm not surprised," Sanji replied with a small shrug. "From what I've seen, the meat Luffy had before was done over an open fire with little to no seasoning or prep. In other words, extremely bland and tough." He pointed to the table. "This, however, was done by chief and an outstanding one. I would go as far as to say this meal looks like something you would see fixed for royalty."

"For royalty," Robin repeated. "Then…this could have come from Boa Hancock."

"Hancock?" Nami asked before she pause in thought. "That….does make sense since Hancock has a major crush on Luffy. So it makes sense that she would send him food. She's also one of the few people that knows Luffy is here."

"But didn't Rayleigh tell Hancock not to spoil Luffy since he's training?" Chopper asked.

Zoro snorted. "Like a woman like Hancock would listen. Especially a woman who has crush."

Sanji sneered in jealousy. How could the most beautiful woman in the world fall for his shit brain captain? It wasn't fair!

Luffy put what appeared to be clothing into his mouth and ate them.

"Wait minute, that wasn't food!" Chopper exclaimed.

Usopp sighed. "He actually ate clothing that Hancock left him."

Just as Luffy finished the last of his meal, something came flying out of the forest and landed behind him.

"What the….!?" Nami exclaimed.

Zoro instinctually reached for his sword. "One of those beasts?"

When the dust cleared, the Strawhats saw Margaret, Sweetpea, and Aphelandra lying on the ground.

"Hey, what is up you guys!" Luffy greeted cheerfully. "If you brought this food for me, thanks! It's even better than last time!"

"Huh, so Hancock has been spoiling Luffy," Franky chuckled.

Sanji growled. "Lucky rubber bastard."

Brook sighed. "Even as a famous pop star, I didn't have girls bringing me food like this."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Something is wrong."

Margaret stared right at Luffy. It looked like she had been on the losing end of a battle. "Luffy, run away!"

Luffy frowned upon hearing the warning. "What's wrong?" He ran towards the three women. "Did Mr. Gorilla attack you?"

From the forest came a huge man. In his arms he held an unconscious Marigold and Sandersonia.

Luffy stopped running when he saw him. "Is that dude your friend?"

The man was at least four times Luffy's size with a long green beard and a mustache that was in the shape of a small 'W'. He wore what looked to be a broken horned helmet and his cloths were torn and haggard like it had been weathered by age and battle. Even his eyes had dark circles over them like he hasn't slept in months.

Overall, he looked old. Like a man who had been beating up by time. And yet, he had an aura around him that demanded fear and respect. The aura briefly reminded the crew of Whitebeard.

"Who is this guy?" Usopp asked. Whoever he was, he made his blood run cold.

Robin shook her head. "I don't know. He doesn't look like any pirate I have seen."

"Whoever he is, he's strong to take down several Amazons so quickly," Zoro noted. Even if this was just a memory, he felt this man's power. Whoever he was, he was extremely dangerous.

"Byojack, who's he," the man asked in a gruff voice.

The crew noticed that on the man's left shoulder was a sickly old man holding a steel pole that held an IV bag. He wore similar clothing to the bigger man and also had a long beard and mustache, except his mustache was pointing down and his hair was white.

Luffy looked at Margaret, Sweetpea, and Aphelandra and finally realized that the thing that hurt his friends wasn't the beasts on the island, but this guy. His eyes nearly went white with rage.

Instead of waiting for the smaller man to answer his question about who Luffy was, the gruff man glared at the Kuja. "I have no business with the rest of you. So time to die!"

Luffy jumped forward. "Fat chance!" His arm turned black and he decked the older man in the face.

The attack did nothing since before Luffy's fist connected the man had covered his entire face with his own Armament Haki. He didn't even appear to feel the attack.

"This guy's good," Sanji said in worry. Even if Luffy's Haki was still immature, it still should have made the guy flinch.

The guff man barely turned his eyes towards Luffy. "Hey kiddo, what are you doing?"

Before Luffy could react, the man viciously kicked him into a mountain, embedding Luffy into the rock's face.

"He did that with just one kick!" Franky exclaimed.

Zoro growled. "Even with Haki….to do that much damage with one attack…" Who was this guy?

The man tossed Marigold and Sandersonia onto the ground and picked up a small rock. He juggled it in his hand for a moment before he sneered at Luffy. "Say goodbye. More More Hundredfold Gun!" He threw the rock at Luffy.

"A rock?" Nami questioned.

"Is he training to pierce Luffy's body with it?" Usopp asked. He noticed that the rock had turn black, telling him that it was embedded with Haki.

Luffy saw the rock coming. "That won't work…" He got the shock of his life when he saw the rock suddenly increased in size. It was now bigger than him.

"An ability!" Brook exclaimed.

Luffy didn't have the chance to scream before the rock slammed into him and the memory immediately went black.

The Strawhats were stunned for several seconds.

"What the hell just happened?" Franky asked for everyone.

"Where did such a strong guy even come from?" Usopp asked in disbelief, not believing that Luffy lost so easily, especially with all his Haki training.

Robin put her hand on her chin. "I find it hard to believe that I know nothing about such a powerful enemy."

Her ignorance frustrated her. If it was one thing she prided herself on, it was her acknowledge. For two years, she studied every powerful pirate, marine, or person of interest that her crew could encounter. But this man rung no bells.

Although, the name of his attack did sound vaguely familiar. Did he say, More More?

"That rock had Haki in it! That thing could have crushed Luffy's organs!" Chopper shouted in panic.

"Thankfully, Luffy is plenty tough even without his ability, so something like that wouldn't kill him," Zoro said, deeply disturbed by how decisively his captain lost.

"Still, if that thing could instantly knockout Luffy, then it would have turned a normal man into powder," Sanji noted.

A low groaned was heard, getting the Strawhat's attention. Slowly, the memory returned, although it was out of focus. However, they could see Rayleigh standing over Luffy. He looked extremely concern, which wasn't something they had seen from Rayleigh outside of Sabaody.

"Get over here!" Rayleigh called to someone. "I think Luffy's awake!"

The memory went blank for a moment before it returned. Now the crew could see Boa and Nylon standing over Luffy. After a few seconds, the memory finally came into focused and cleared.

"Hancock…" Luffy whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"You have finally woke up," Boa sighed. "What a relief."

Luffy slowly sat up, but by the way he was groaning it obviously hurt.

"Don't try to get up. You still haven't fully recovered yet," Rayleigh warned.

Sanji shook his head. "Who would have thought Luffy would be critically injured by being smash by a rock?"

Brook looked around, seeing that it was still night. "It seems Luffy-san wasn't out long. Perhaps no more than a few hours."

Luffy's eyes widened as he remembered what happened. "Oh yeah, what happened to the girls!"

"They were treated for their wounds and now they're sleeping," Nyon answered. She closed her eyes. "As for Sandersonia and Marigold…."

"That guy took them, huh," Luffy finished as he growled. "Man, what was his deal!?"

Boa stood up, looking very much like the imposing Warlord she was. "From the sound of it, he wanted something from me because I'm one of the Warlords."

Sanji bit his cigarette when he heard this. "What does that shit head want with my Hancock?"

Zoro rolled his eye. "She isn't interested in you, eyebrows. She only have eyes for Luffy."

Sanji turned towards rival. "That's because she hasn't met a real man yet."

"And how does that relate to you?" Zoro mocked.

"Don't start," Nami warned before the two started their usual fight.

"Are you going to rescue your sisters?" Rayleigh asked, although it was more of statement than a question.

"Of course," Boa answered, insulted that Raleigh would even asked.

"Hancock may act coldhearted to her people and those around her, but there is no doubting the love she has for her sisters," Robin said.

Brook nodded. "That family been though so much."

He thought of how Boa and her sisters were enslaved by the Celestial Dragons. It was a fate he wished on no one. He would preferred going to Impel Down over being a slave to them. Impel Down may tortured you to death and break you physically, but the Celestial Dragons stole your very pride and dignity. He fists clinched as he remembered that pirate begging for help at Sabaody.

"Although, what business does that guy have with a Warlord?" Usopp asked. "I mean, he's pretty bold to challenged one of them."

"Maybe so, but it looks like a fight that he can handle given that he easily took out Luffy along with Hancock's sisters and the Kuja that escorted them," Franky pointed out..

Zoro folded his arms. "At the very least, it would be an interesting fight."

"Princess, if he is really the notorious Byrnndi World, then even you're too weak to challenged him," Nylon warned

This got the crew's attention.

"This guy is even stronger than a Warlord!?" Nami exclaimed in disbelief. "But Hancock went into the War of the Best and left without a mark on her."

"Byrnndi World?" Robin repeated before her eyes widened. "….That Byrnndi World!"

"You know him, Robin?" Brook asked.

"Only from what I have read about in the papers. Byrnndi World was an infamous pirate who terrorized the Grand Line thirty-years ago. He was known far and wide as the Destroyer of the World," Robin explained.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Destroyer of the World? Sounds pretty melodramatic."

"Perhaps, but he more than earned his pirate's name since he was known as a pirate who was a threat to everyone. Civilian, marine, other pirates, it didn't matter. Because of his reputation, he made more than a few enemies," Robin said. "The World Government took advantage of this and made an alliance with all of World's enemies and they teamed up with the Marines to put him down for good."

"An alliance of pirates and Marines. Sounds like the Seven Warlords," Nami noted.

Robin turned towards the younger woman. "I guess you could call it a precursor to the Warlord system. In either case, the alliance was a success and World was promptly erased from history. However, about a year ago, he suddenly returned and caused a giant uproar by attacking the World Nobles, Marines, other pirates, and even his own men."

Usopp's eyes widened. "He attacked his own crew and the World Nobles!? This guy's crazy!"

"But how could he have returned if the marines defeated him?" Brook asked.

Nami was silent for several seconds as she took in all this information. "You said he was erased from history… That means he much have been imprisoned in Level 6 of Impel Down."

"If he came from Impel Down, how did he escape?" Franky asked.

Zoro closed his eye. "How do you think?"

"Luffy!" Nami exclaimed. "He must have escaped when Luffy broke into Impel Down and released all those prisoners."

Sanji shook his head. "Couldn't be. The only prisoners released from Level 6 were that bastard Crocodile and Jimbei. Iva made sure not to released anyone else."

"Then….it must have been Blackbeard," Robin concluded.

Franky's eyes widened. "Yeah, didn't that bastard have several Level 6 prisoners on his crew when he arrived at Marineford?"

"I do not know exactly what he did, but it appears while he was gathering allies, several Level 6 prisoners used the opportunity to escape," Robin surmised. "Byrnndi World must have been among them."

Zoro gave a soft growled. "That bastard's poison managed to haunt Luffy even here."

"So the enemy Luffy faced was on a whole different level from anyone else outside of the admirals," Nami said in worry. "No wonder he lost so easily."

Robin nodded. "Which explains why Nylon believes that not even Hancock can beat him." She paused in thought. "That…may also explain that incident."

Chopper stared at the older woman. "What incident?"

"A little over a year ago, the Revolutionaries got intelligence telling us that the World Government had summoned the Warlords again. However, we never learned why and the incident was apparently cleared up within a few days," Robin explained. "It does make sense that a pirate of World's caliber would invoked such a response, especially since the Marines were still in a weakened condition from the war. They may have also been afraid of the Warlords teaming up with World, so they summoned them to keep an eye on them."

This got Zoro's attention. "Now that you mentioned it, Mihawk along with Perona left around that same time. While it isn't unusual for Mihawk to run off for weeks on end with no warning, he rarely takes Perona anywhere. When I asked where they went, Perona only told me it was Warlord's business."

Franky whistled. "If the World Government summoned the Seven Warlords to deal with just one pirate, he's indeed a force." He looked at his captain. "Luffy is lucky to still be alive after dealing with a guy like that."

The full impact of Robin's words finally hit Nami. "Wait, Robin! You were with the Revolutionaries?"

Robin turned towards the younger woman. "I was going to tell you all when my turn came."

"Then that means you met Luffy-san's father," Brook said in awe. "What was he like?"

Robin paused in thought. "Both very similar, yet very different from our captain."

"I'll go with here!" Luffy proclaimed as he stood up, interrupting any further conversation. "If we're together, there's no way he can stop us!"

Boa's mouth dropped in shock. "Luffy….!?"

"Is he crazy!" Nami exclaimed. "What is he thinking going after a guy like that!?"

Sanji sighed. "I hate to say it, but Nami-san is right. Luffy really shouldn't be tangling with someone like World. Especially with Haki that only has a fifty percent success rate."

Zoro narrowed his eye. "That and this would be Luffy's first real battle since the war." He then sighed. "But…it really doesn't matter. Once Luffy makes up his mind, there's no stopping him. I doubt even Rayleigh can talk him out of this."

"Hold on. The reason that you are training here is because you're not strong enough to fight opponents like him," Rayleigh said.

"I haven't giving up on that," Luffy assured as he turned towards his master.

Rayleigh narrowed his eyes. "You are improving, but you have a long way to go before you master Haki. You could be killed!"

The way Rayleigh raised his voice on the last sentence startled some of the Strawhats. If this was a foe that even Rayleigh was weary of, then World was truly a force of nature.

"I'm not going to lose to him!" Luffy yelled.

Rayleigh was unperturbed by Luffy's tone of voice. "What have you been training yourself for all this time? If you leave right now, you may never see your friends again."

"Is he serious?" Chopper asked in fear.

"If World is even half as good as his reputation, then the chances of Luffy fighting him and coming back alive are low," Robin stated in her usual calm manner, although there was a subtle fear in her voice.

"Surely, not even Luffy can be this reckless," Nami said softly. "I mean…doesn't he understand what he's getting into it?"

Luffy lowered his head. "But….they came here and were kidnapped because they were delivering food for me." His eyes narrowed. "I can't just sit here and do nothing while people I care about are in trouble!"

Boa looked touched by Luffy's words. "Oh, Luffy…."

Brook smiled, despite having no skin. "That's Luffy-san for you. Always thinking of others."

Zoro stared at Luffy. "Something's off."

Nami looked towards the swordsman. "What do you mean?"

Zoro didn't speak for a moment. "While this sounds like something Luffy would say….there's something else to him wanting to help Hancock's sisters."

"Maybe….he wants to prove himself. You know, prove to himself that he can fight people like World," Chopper theorized.

"To rebuild his shattered confidence from the war," Franky finished Chopper's thoughts. "That definitely sound possible."

Zoro hummed. It sounded possible….but still not quite right.

"Rayleigh, I promise I will keep him safe," Boa said as he turned towards the old pirate. "With him by my side, we will finish this quickly."

Rayleigh wasn't convinced by any of this as he sighed in defeat. "It doesn't matter what I say. I'm not going to change your mind."

"Nope," Sanji said sympathetically to Rayleigh, "our idiot captain is as stubborn as a mule."

Luffy and Hancock smiled at Rayleigh's acceptance.

"Whatever you do, come back alive," Rayleigh said with a small smile.

"Okay!" Luffy exclaimed.

"And remember, you have to be extra careful. Nobody knows your whereabouts and I would like to keep it that way until your two years of training is over," Rayleigh warned. "Don't stir up any trouble in public places where you can attract a lot of attention."

"He's asking Luffy to do the impossible," Sanji said.

"He must have succeeded since I heard nothing about Luffy during those two years and Dragon was keeping an eye out for him," Robin said.

"I guess when Luffy put his mind to it, he can be stealthy," Usopp humored.

Luffy smiled and gave a small nod. "I got it."

The memory ended at that point.

When the memory returned, the Strawhats found themselves on a red ship that was being pulled by two snake sea creatures. Boa was on deck with her fellow Kuja and pet snake. Luffy was also there, looking around for something.

Luffy was wearing a modified version of the outfit he started wearing after they reunited, except the coat was thicker and had a furry hood. The Strawhats also realized that Luffy wasn't wearing his hat. It took them a moment to remember that Luffy had left his hat behind on that radish tree before he stated training.

He wasn't Strawhat Luffy at this moment.

Robin looked at the sea snakes pulling the ship with interest. From the looked of it, they appeared to be Yuda, a ferocious and poisonous type of sea serpent that lived in the Calm Belt. If what she studied was true, these sea snakes were feared even by sea kings to the point that they wouldn't attack them. That would explain how the Kuja were able to sail within the Calm Belt without lining their hauls with seastone. The Kuja had to be fierce tamers to domesticated such fearsome creatures.

"This is where the Viva Card led us, but…." Boa stopped mid-sentence.

"Viva card?" Chopper repeated.

"I see, so World much have left a Viva card so Hancock could find him," Zoro surmised.

"I wonder what World wanted with Hancock anyway," Franky wondered. "Did he find out that the Warlords were summoned on him and he tried to take one of them out?"

"Unless Luffy asked, I doubt we'll ever get an answer to that question," Sanji said.

Luffy let out a loud groaned as he stopped looking. "Yeah, I think it may be busted."

"I don't think a Viva card can be busted, Luffy," Usopp said in a deadpan voice.

Nami looked around. There was nothing in sight. She took a quickly glanced at the Viva Card in Boa's hand. "Still….the Viva card is pointing here, yet there is no one around."

"Could it be….that World is under the sea," Robin wondered more to herself.

"Under the sea?" Sanji repeated. "You mean like Traffy's submarine?"

"That is the only way to explain how the Viva card can be pointing to this location, yet there is not a ship in sight," Robin surmised.

A sudden rumbled stopped all conversation among the crew.

"Wait a minute! What's going on!" Boa exclaimed.

Nyon began to screamed in fright.

The ocean itself rose up in front of the ship, looking like it was going to engulf it and caused both Luffy and Boa to lose their balance. Once the water had cleared, it appeared that an island had came out of the sea.

"An island!" Boa shouted, not expecting this at all.

"Why is he coming up from the sea!?" Luffy yelled.

"There was an island under them!" Usopp screamed.

"How is that even possible!?" Chopper asked in awe.

A head suddenly emerged and it looked like the skull and crossbones of a Jolly Roger except the skull had a giant 'W' mustache.

Robin narrowed her eyes. "It isn't an island. That is a submarine."

"How the hell is that a submarine!?" Franky yelled in disbelief. "It looks like an entire city is built on top of it!"

"It is definitely a submarine. Given the scope of its design, it must have taking years…..no decades to build," Robin surmised with awe in her voice.

Franky shook his head. "How do pirates even find the funds and the materials to build something like this? Even with all the shipwrights in Water 7, a submarine like this would take at least twenty years to build and all the city's money twice over."

"But wasn't World in prison the entire time? How did he build something like this so quickly?" Brook asked.

"My best guess is that his old crew did it," Robin stated. "From the papers, not everyone on World's crew was captured. One of them being his eldest brother. I supposed the remnants of World's crew build this submarine."

"But why?" Nami questioned. "They couldn't have believed that World would return, couldn't they?"

"If they did, that's some loyalty. Building a ship like this for twenty something years on the hope that your captain will returned after being captured by the marines," Sanji said.

"They could have been building it to bust him out of prison," Zoro suggested.

"Well….I wouldn't say it's impossible. If nothing else, that ship should be able to sail across the Calm Belt and bypass the marine's ships," Franky said after a moment of thought.

Luffy, Boa, and Nylon were left shellshocked as they stared at the enormous submarine.

"Awesome!" Luffy exclaimed.

Usopp and Chopper nodded in agreement with their captain.

World made his appearance, walking on top of a metal sphere domed that was on top of the submarine. It appeared to be the Observatory. The small, sickly man was also with World, riding on his left shoulder.

"Thank you for coming all this way, Empress!" World greeted mockingly. "So far, your sisters are enjoying their stay!"

The front of the submarine opened and revealed the Boa's sisters trapped in a cage that could barely fit both of them.

"Big sis!" Sandersonia screamed in distressed.

"Run away! Just leave us!" Marigold shouted.

"Sandersonia, Mari!" Boa yelled.

"We'll get you out of there!" Luffy shouted.

Sanji growled. "If that shit head harm those two girls, I'm personally coming up there and kicking his ass."

The small man on World's shoulder stared at Luffy and began to say something to World.

"Who is that little guy anyway?" Franky asked.

"That must be World's older brother, Byojack vice-captain of the World Pirates," Robin said. "From what I have read, he was stricken with an illness that hampered his growth and left him in a constant fragile state. Regardless of his physical disabilities, he was a brilliance planner and gatherer of information. He was able to used his information network to stay one-step ahead of the marines countless times."

"Bold for such a sickly man to become a pirate and survive this long," Brook said. He couldn't help but admire him for that. Especially since he stood loyal to his brother for thirty-years.

"If you want them back, then you have to come get there!" World dared. "I'll be waiting!" As World yelled his challenge, cannons appeared from the eyes of the skull at the front of the submarine.

"Quick, evade them. Don't let them hit us!" Boa ordered.

The Kuja ship quickly did evasion maneuvers to avoid the cannon fire. The ship was amazingly agile despite being pulled by two Yuda.

"We need to get closer to that island somehow," Luffy said over the roar of cannons.

"Just a moment," Boa replied.

"What is Hancock waiting for?" Chopper asked.

"They can't board that submarine until they clear the cannon fire," Sanji answered.

From the side of the submarine, at least two dozen cannon locked onto the Kuja ship and fired.

"I got this!" Luffy yelled as he ran to the front of the ship and jumped in front of the Yuba. "Gum Gum Balloon!" He quickly inflated his body and bounced back all the cannonballs to the submarine where it destroyed the cannons.

"Yeah! He did it!" Chopper cheered.

"Look at Luffy go!" Usopp also shouted.

Zoro hummed. "It appears he hasn't learned yet how to bounce things back with twice the force."

"More More Fiftyfold Cannon!" The Strawhats heard World yell.

They suddenly saw five cannonballs heading towards Luffy. Unlike the last batch, these were infused with Haki.

"Did World just throw five cannonballs at once!" Franky exclaimed. "Not even Garp could do that!"

"He said More More….he must have a Devil Fruit," Nami said as she turned towards Robin. "Do you know what ability that is."

Robin paused. "I don't remember the details of World's Devil Fruit, but I do remember reading that he could amplify the size of any object he touches."

"That would explain how he made that pebble into a giant boulder when he first fought Luffy," Usopp said.

"In other words, this bastard can make even the tiniest of objects into lethal weapons," Sanji summarized. "Hell, he can probably turn a needle into a harpoon."

"That and he can infused any object he touches with Haki. Truly a person who have mastered his ability," Brook said as he shivered slightly.

Zoro folded his arms. "If this guy was so dangerous that the government had him erased from history, I would be disappointed if he did anything less."

Luffy's eyes widened when he saw the Haki infused cannonballs heading towards him. "Armament Haki…." Luffy began as he released the air from his body.

He didn't activate his Haki fast enough and he was forced to dodged the cannonballs and one of them glazed his right arm. The moment he winced in pain, the cannonball exploded behind him, sending him trembling into the sea.

"Luffy!" the Strawhats yelled on reflex.

The memory went dark as Luffy went deeper into the sea.

"He was foolish. He shouldn't have tried to used Haki in that moment. Especially since he can't activate it one-hundred precent," Zoro scolded.

When it looked like Luffy was about to drown, Hancock's snake appeared and wrapped itself around Luffy's body. Once the rubberman was secure, it quickly swam back to the surface. It took a few seconds before the snake dropped Luffy onboard a deck. From the looked of it, it appeared to be World's ship.

Luffy coughed and spat out sea water.

"Luffy!" Boa exclaimed as he ran towards her beloved's side. "That was far too close!"

Sanji growled when he saw how concern Boa was. She was closed to tear. Damn that rubber head bastard.

Luffy slowly opened one of his eyes. "Yeah….I screw that up….. I'm sorry…"

Zoro raised an eyebrow when he heard this. Luffy rarely, if ever apologized for his screw-ups. He mostly laughed them off.

Boa looked over Luffy several times to make sure that he was really okay before she turned her eyes to the entrance of the ship. Her eyes narrowed in both anger and determination. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted as stood back up and ran towards the doorway.

"Go straight. We'll get in through that opening," Boa said.

Ahead of them were several stone statues of what used to be pirates. Some of them were even broken.

"Looks like Hancock was busy," Usopp noted as he shivered. The pirates who were broken could never be restored.

"One thing for sure. Her Devil Fruit is great for crowd control," Franky said.

"Great Water Shot!"

Before either Boa or Luffy could react, they were slammed by a wave of water and sent flying off the ship.

"What the hell!" Nami exclaimed.

"It must have been a Fishman," Robin said.

Before the two fruit users could fall to their watery deaths, Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed the wooden railing that lined the deck. He quickly grabbed Boa with his other hand and rocketed both of them back to the ship.

A low laugh filled the air as a giant figure came from the doorway. "So you want to get your friends back."

Luffy looked up to see a giant fishman holding a two spiky maces. One of the maces hung lazily in his right hand while the other one was swung over his left shoulder. He wore a violet vest with a white collar and red bow tie, as well as two white cuffs on his wrists with black buttons. He also had a belt with a buckle in shape of a fish. He wore a smug grin and his eyes were hidden by thick sunglasses.

"He's huge!" Chopper exclaimed.

"A Wotan," Nami said.

"Do you know anything about him, Robin?" Zoro asked.

Robin shook her head. "Unfortunately, outside of World and Byojack, I do not know much about the World Pirates."

"Don't worry, you'll be together soon enough," he brought his mace down. "In Hell!"

He slammed the mace into the deck, which Luffy and Boa barely avoided. The floor exploded into splitters of wood.

The Wotan attempted to hit Luffy with his other mace, but the rubberman gracefully dodged the wide attack.

Boa charged in and attempted to kick the giant fishman, but he was able to double back and nearly hit Boa.

"He's pretty fast, especially since he is swinging around those giant maces like they're mere sticks," Sanji said, mildly impressed.

"But Luffy-san and Hancock have the clear advantage," Brook noted.

"Step aside if you know what is good for you," Boa warned. She held out her arms and put her hands together in a heart shape. "Or, perhaps you rather be turned to stone." Instead of waiting for the Wotan to answer or to backdown, Boa shot her hand beam. "Love Love Beam!"

To everyone's surprised, however, the beam had no effect on the Wotan.

"Nothing!?" Usopp yelled in surprised.

"Is that guy immune to Hancock's charm!?" Franky yelled in equal surprised.

"Maybe as a fishman he doesn't find Hancock attractive," Chopper surmised.

Like him for example. While Chopper did find Boa 'pretty' by human's standards, he didn't quite understand why everyone found her beauty to be unmatched. He personally found Shirahoshi to be prettier.

Sanji growled. "There's no way that anyone can find my Hancock unattractive."

Zoro stared at his rival. "There you go with 'my' again."

"Why isn't it working!" Boa yelled in disbelief. "Surely, no one's taste in women can be that bad!"

"So sorry," the Wotan mockingly apologized as he pushed his sunglasses up. Across both of his eyes were large scars that went horizontal. His pupils were completely white and unseeing. "Turns out that I'm blind. So your power means nothing to me. Don't take it personally."

"It would be a literal blind person who would be immune to Hancock's power. That and someone as innocent as Luffy," Franky mused.

"This do anything for you!?" Luffy suddenly yelled.

Everyone looked up to see Luffy jumping towards the Wotan. His skin was red and steam covered his body, telling everyone that he was using his Second Gear. "Gum Gun Jet Pistol!"

The punch landed hard and the Wotan was knocked flat on his back, breaking more of the deck. He also dropped one of his maces during the fall.

"Yeah, a solid hit!" Usopp cheered.

The Wotan sat back up with some difficulty and he was bleeding pretty badly from his month. Despite this, however, Luffy's Pistol didn't do much damage.

"Man, you got me pretty good there, kid," the Wotan complimented with a smile as he wiped the blood from his lips.

Luffy growled. "I went all out. This guy's tough."

"Of course he's tough," Nami said. "He's a hybrid of a giant and a fishman. Those two species are natural monsters."

The Wotan grinned as he lifting up his remaining mace. "You had your shot. Now it's my turn to pay it back!" He gave a loud battle cry and charged in, ready crushed Luffy and Boa.

For several seconds, Luffy and Boa gracefully dodged the Wotan's attacks. While he was powerful and fast for his size, he was still slow compared to them. Luffy was able to score several hits, but nothing he did could bringing the Wotan down.

Boa, strangely, never attack, only dodged. It was almost like she was allowing Luffy to handle things. No one was sure it was because of her lack of interest in the battle or her wanting to see Luffy fight.

"This guy maybe strong, but his fighting style is about as refined as a drunk sailor. He isn't doing anything besides swinging that mace around like a bat, hoping to hit something," Sanji said.

"It's obvious that this guy is used to fighting against large crowds, not one-on-one," Zoro observed. "Otherwise, he wouldn't be making such wide swings that leave him open."

"It could be rust too," Brook said. "The World Pirates haven't been active in thirty-years and if they haven't been maintaining their skills in that time, they would be out of practice."

"But didn't Robin say that World and his crew was fighting the marines and other pirates? Those guys aren't made up of weaklings on the Grand Line," Nami replied.

"While that's true, you can be dangerous and out of practice if you were powerful to begin with," Brook explained. "Look at Rayleigh. He's undoubtedly a monster who can probably still beat all of us blindfolded, but I bet what we have seen is nothing compare to his peak. He fought evenly with an admiral, while Whitebeard while dying was able to crush Akainu after he murdered Ace."

"That's….a good point," Nami said after some thought. "Rayleigh was the right-hand of Gold Roger. An admiral shouldn't have been a problem for someone like him if he was anywhere near Whitebeard."

"I guess that shows that getting rusty is more degrading than getting ill or even dying," Franky said after some thought. "It was also the same with Shiki, wasn't it. He was Roger's rival, yet he was beaten by Luffy before he even learned Haki. Yeah, it was a hard as hell victory, but….after seeing what the real monsters in the New World and beyond can do, Shiki was an amateur."

With a well-placed punch, Luffy knocked the mace out of the Wotan's hand.

The Wotan growled at him before he turned and ran.

"Is he running away?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

Luffy voiced the same thought as the Wotan drive into the sea.

"No, he's going for the home field advantage," Sanji said in worry.

Boa had the same concern as they waited for the Wotan to make his move since neither Devil Fruit users could follow him into the sea.

They didn't have to wait long before the sea exploded into a geyser and the Wotan took to the air. "Great Shark Arrows!" he yelled as he threw water at the two users.

Zoro sneered. "It's the same thing Arlong did."

Luffy and Boa dodged and the water droplets exploded onto the deck. This turned out to be what the Wotan wanted since while Luffy was evading, the Wotan appeared before him and punched him in the gut, sending him crashing into the deck.

"Luffy!" Boa yelled in despair before her eyes narrowed in fury. "You will pay for that!" She ran in to kick the Wotan's head off. "Perfume Femur!"

The Wotan was ready for this. "Camouflage Air!" He suddenly became hazy and Boa's attack passed right through him.

"What he do!?" Chopper exclaimed.

"He's using the water and air pressure around him to create a mirage," Nami explained. "It's the same thing I do with my Clima-Tact."

While Boa was stunned, the Wotan snuck behind Boa, ready to finish her.

Before Boa could react, Luffy jumped in front of her and took the full force of the Wotan's punch, causing them both to fly across the submarine and fall into another section that appeared to be a forest.

"Are you alright?" Luffy asked as Boa attempted to regain her bearings.

"I'm fine, thank you," Boa replied with a small smile.

"Good job protecting Hancock-chan. Maybe you're not shit for brains," Sanji cheered.

Zoro side-eyed Sanji. "First 'my' and now 'Hancock-chan'?"

"Afraid I have to send this. Shame. We were really having some fun," the Wotan said from the other side of the submarine. He jumped into the air. "Now die!" He rolled into a ball and began to spin. From his back and arms, large spikes appeared. "Spin Tornado!" He came charging at Luffy and Boa.

Luffy grinned as he put his thumb in his mouth. "Gear Third!" He blew air into his right arm, turning it into the size of a giant. He jumped to match the Wotan. "Gum Gum Giant Pistol!"

His fist clashed with the Wotan and despite him being covered in spikes it didn't take long for Luffy to overwhelmed him and punched the Wotan across the submarine and into the window of the observation tower. He then slid off the tower and tumbled down the entire length of the submarine and landed back onto the deck.

"Yeah, Luffy won!" both Usopp and Chopper cheered.

"Not much of a fight. Luffy didn't even need his Haki to break that guy's spikes," Zoro said.

Sanji took note at how hard Luffy was breathing. "For not much of a fight, Luffy is already tired."

"On the bright side, he no longer shrinks after using his Third Gear," Nami said.

"Nice work," Boa praised.

Luffy turned towards the Warlord. "Let's go, Hancock."

This made Boa blushed like a little girl as Luffy ran ahead. "Oh, why, yes dear," she stuttered as she followed Luffy.

Sanji burned in jealousy. It just wasn't fair.

The two Devil Fruit users made their way back to the main deck and ran past the fallen Wotan.

"Come back here!" the Wotan suddenly shouted.

"He's still conscious after taking one of Luffy's giant punches?" Chopped asked in shocked.

"As Nami said, a fishman giant hybrid is tough," Robin said.

"If you think….this fight is over….you're dead wrong…!" the Wotan struggled to shout.

"Look at that sad little fishy face," a voice mocked.

The Strawhats turned to see Perona floating above the Wotan's head.

"What's Perona doing here?" Brook asked.

"She must be with Mihawk. So he was summoned to deal with World," Zoro mused. A part of him was upset that he wasn't invited. He would love to had crack at the World Pirates.

"You might make a cute slave," Perona teased. "Negative Extra Big Hallow!"

Before the Wotan could move, two Hallow Ghost past right through him. Within seconds, he slumped on the floor and wallowed in despair.

Perona laughed as she watched the Wotan lose his will to live. "Never mind. I don't want you anymore."

The Strawhats could only look on in silence.

"That ability….is pure evil," Nami mumbled.

Usopp sighed. "I see she hasn't changed."

"Nope," Zoro muttered.

"After seeing so many tragic events in Luffy's memories, I hate to think what she would do against a truly depressed person," Franky said in fear.

"Going off of Usopp, she may not have any effect on them. Or, she can make them so depress that they kill themselves," Robin stated in her usual calm manner.

"How can you say something like that!" Chopper asked in tears. After they came so closed to losing Luffy via suicide, he didn't even want to imagine what Perona could do to him.

Boa finally took notice of Perona. "Who's that?"

Luffy looked up. "What the heck!?"

Perona was equally surprised to see him. "Huh, is that Strawhat!?"

"Hold on! Do you know her from somewhere!?" Boa asked desperately.

Luffy paused. "Maybe….nothing is really ringing any bell though."

Usopp growled. "Really, Luffy?"

"Well, it isn't like Luffy saw much of Perona. I think they met about twice and you know how Luffy is. You have to make a strong impression for him to remember you," Zoro said with a small smile, enjoying the fact that Luffy didn't remember Perona. "I barely remember her when we met up again."

"Still, you'd think you would remember someone who can give a person depression," Nami said as she sweat-dropped.

"Anyway, thanks for knocking out that fish-dude!" Luffy yelled in gratefulness.

"Hey, my actions are independence of whatever mess you've gotten yourself in! Chalk it up to coincidence, okay," Perona sputtered as she turned her nose. "Besides, my friend said he needed to go somewhere and I just came along to past the time. I had no idea the likes of you would be here. Otherwise…."

Before Luffy could hear the end of Perona's rant, Boa and he fall through a trap door, sending the memory into darkness. A loud crashed was heard as Luffy and Boa hit the floor.

"Well, that's one way to end a conversation," Franky chuckled.

Zoro shook his head. "Perona never did learn when to shut up."

Robin smiled. "It is interesting that Perona referred to Mihawk as her friend and he was willing to let Perona tag along."

"Yeah, as weird as it sounds, Mihawk and Perona get along all things considering," Zoro said as he closed his eye, remembering his training with the Warlord. "Perona can actually be nice when she isn't running her mouth."

"Well….as long as she isn't causing trouble like she did with Moriah, I think it's fine," Brook said. Beside, he held no real grudge against the girl. He just found her creepy.

"What's wrong with this ship?" Luffy asked as the memory slowly came back. Although it was still very dark to the point that the Strawhats could barely see. "Door aren't supposed to do that!"

"Luffy, are you certain that you do not know that girl?" Boa asked as she trembled violently.

Nami chuckled. "Sounds like someone is jealousy."

Sanji snorted. "Let that shit head have Perona. I'll take care care of Hancock-chan."

Luffy was confused by the question.

"That cute flying girl following us!" Boa exclaimed. She was closed to tear.

Nami could feel herself blushed. "She's cute even when she's sad."

"Oh yeah!" Luffy exclaimed before he paused in thought, scratching his head. "Let me see…"

Franky sighed. "We can be here all day."

"I do think I met her before, but I don't remember her name…" Luffy replied, he was still deep in thought.

Boa became more distressed. She looked like she was about to have a meltdown.

Robin couldn't help but chuckle. The Snake Princess was acting like a school girl.

Luffy finally gave up trying to remember who Perona was and looked around the empty hallway. "Where are we suppose to go?"

Luffy and Hancock ran blindly down several hallways for several minutes. The entire hallway was covered in cubes of various sizes and looked like a demented funhouse. The only source of light were rays of sunlight that broke through the small holes at the top of the large ceiling.

"What kind of places is this?" Luffy asked in frustration. "This is like a maze."

"I have to agree," Franky said. Between the darkness and the cubes, his eyes were beginning to hurt. "Who designed this place? It isn't practical at all."

"I guess it was made this way to throw off intruders," Nami surmised.

Sanji nodded. "Yeah, have an intruder lost down here for several hours and by the time they find their way out, they're exhausted and easy pickings."

After several more minutes, the two Devil Fruit users saw light at the end of the hallway.

"Oh finally!" Luffy exclaimed in relief. "I thought we would be stuck forever."

When they entered the room, they were both disappointed to see it was just a large circler room made of grayish-red and green cubes. Light filled the room thanks to a sun roof built into the ceiling.

"What is this place?" Usopp asked.

"A training room, perhaps," Zoro guessed.

"Now where are we?" Luffy asked, truly annoyed now.

"At this point, any direction will do," Boa said. She pointed to an opening on the far right wall. "Come on! Let's try this path."

Boa ran ahead with Luffy not far behind her. However, before Luffy could reach the opening, it was suddenly sealed off, separating him from the Snake Princess.

"What the..!?" Usopp exclaimed.

"A trap," Sanji said.

"Look!" Chopper yelled as he pointed up.

Standing on one of the many cubes was World. He stared down smugly at Luffy.

Zoro hummed. "Looks like the big boss himself have decided to deal with Luffy."

"This isn't good. He will be fighting World without Hancock's help," Brook said fearfully.

Franky growled. "Hate to say it, but I don't see much chance of Luffy winning here. Half-ass Haki against a pirate of World's caliber….."

"There may still be hope," Sanji said. "He beat that shitty golden lion who rivaled Roger even if he was rusty as hell. He can still pull out a win, given if World isn't at his best."

Robin put her hand on her chin. "Sadly, true. Luffy's only chance at winning is if the years at Impel Down has weakened World. Even then, it will be a tough battle."

Luffy was stunned by this turn of events, especially since his legs were nearly trapped by the door sealing on him. It took him several seconds to finally notice World. He barely heard Boa yelling through the seal door, asking if he was okay.

World began to laugh. "I came to kill the Empress, but I think I will have some fun with you first."

Luffy quickly stood up. "Hancock, don't worry about me! Go find your sisters!"

"But Luffy…" Hancock shouted though the seal door.

"Hurry!" Luffy yelled, leaving no room for discussion.

There was a slight pause. "Alright then. I'll go. Please be careful my love, we shall meet again!"

They heard the clicks of Boa's heels running and slowly fading away.

"What is he thinking sending Hancock away!?" Nami yelled. "Does he really thinks he can take on World alone!?"

Robin rubbed her chin. "He could be worried that Hancock's sisters will be harm if they stay too long fighting World."

While that sounded like something Luffy would do, it didn't seem quite right. Instead….it almost felt like Luffy was trying to prove himself.

Luffy got into battle position. "Yeah….I got this."

World didn't seem concern about Boa escaping. Instead, he continued to stare down at Luffy.

"World, watch out for that kid!" a voice suddenly exclaimed.

The Strawhats looked around for the source of the voice.

World lifted up his hand and the crew could see that he was holding a transponder snail.

"He's no normal boy so don't underestimate him," the voice warned.

This got World's attention.

"Who is that?" Chopper asked.

"That much be Byojack, World's brother," Robin said. "It seemed he did his research on Luffy."

"You remember the story, right? He's that upstart, the one who raided Marineford to rescue his brother, Portgas D. Ace, from execution," Byojack explained. "He's the leader of the Strawhat Pirates. You are facing Monkey D. Luffy!"

World looked utterly baffled. "I'm sorry, who?"

"He never heard of Luffy despite all those crazy things he did?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"Well, he was locked up in a cage for thirty years," Sanji pointed out.

"Oh you know him," Byojack said. "The marines' Vice-Admiral Garp is his grandfather."

World's mouth dropped when he heard Garp's name. "You mean the one who throws cannonballs!"

Zoro chuckled. "Looks like Garp left an impression. Then again, it's hard to forget anyone who throws cannonballs like baseballs."

"I bet Garp was a monster thirty-years ago. That would be him at his peak," Nami whispered. She shivered at the thought at what prime Garp could do. Even in his advanced age, she had no doubt Garp could beat almost all of them.

World stared at Luffy for several seconds. "Are you telling me this twap is the reason why Marine Headquarters have falling into ruin? I don't believe it."

"Believe it," Usopp said with pride, backing his captain.

"Besides, it was Whitebeard and later Blackbeard that brought Marineford into ruin," Sanji said. "Luffy, amazingly enough, did very little damage."

Luffy narrowed his eyes as World sized him up.

The two men stood in silence for several seconds.

World suddenly began to smile again. "So, save that brothers or yours or not?"

Luffy's eyes widened and he recoiled like World has struck him. Within seconds, images of Ace's final moments came rushing through the memory. When the images faded, Luffy was slumped over in pain.

"That was low!" Usopp yelled in disgust.

Zoro growled. "That bastard knew where to hit Luffy where it hurt."

"But how did he know that Luffy failed? He didn't even seem to know much about the incidence," Brook said, also angry at World for provoking such a painful memory.

Nami lowered her head. "It's Luffy's eyes…"

This made the Strawhats turned towards the navigator.

"Luffy's eyes?" Chopper repeated.

Nami didn't answer right away. "When people go through extreme grief and sadness, they developed shadows behind their eyes. Luffy has had them since…since he accepted that Ace died."

"World much have sensed Luffy's grief and correctly concluded what must have happened," Robin surmised as she glared at the old pirate.

What she didn't say out loud was that World probably could read Luffy so well since those same shadows were embedded into World's eyes. World too had experience extreme grief. Was the story true about him?

"That's what I thought," World mocked. "A wimp like you isn't strong enough to save anybody."

"Shut up!" Luffy shouted as he jumped and stretched his right arm for a powerful punch.

"That fool," Zoro growled, "he's attacking on blind emotion, which is exactly what World wanted."

World easily dodged the rage-fueled punch and seemingly disappeared. Before Luffy could react World kicked him downwards, spiking him to the floor. Luffy was left groaning in pain.

"He did that with just a kick!" Chopper yelled. "But it didn't even have Haki."

"World is physically strong as well it seems," Brook noted in worry.

Luffy quickly rolled over and charged World who currently had his back to the rubber boy. "Gum Gum Gatling Gun!"

World disappeared again and decked Luffy in the face, sending him tumbling across the floor until he stopped by a nearby wall.

"Luffy can't even touch this guy," Usopp said, hating that he couldn't do anything to help.

"Luffy needs to calm down and clear his head," Sanji growled. "World isn't an opponent that you can beat on pure rage."

Zoro narrowed his eye. "Still…that speed…it isn't natural."

"He moves as fast as CP9 without tapping his foot several times. It's like he's naturally that fast," Brook said.

Luffy forced himself to his feet and got into his horse stance. "Gear Second!"

World was unimpressed as he slowly approached Luffy.

"Gum Gum Jet Gatling!" Luffy screamed.

Despite the fury of the assault, World easily dodged each of Luffy's attack. He moved like water as he closed the distance.

Once he was closed enough, World infused left arm with Haki and slammed it into Luffy's chest. It was so powerful that it sent Luffy crashing into the wall and the memory actually went blanked for several seconds. When the memory did returned, the Strawhats saw World right on top of Luffy before he viciously kicked him through another wall, making the memory go blank again.

"Did he lose consciousness?" Nami asked in concern.

"And he did it with just two attacks," Usopp muttered. "World is truly a monster."

Sanji shook his head. "Luffy is losing because he allowed World to get into his head by mocking him about Ace. He can't just used his Gears against someone with such advance Haki."

Slowly, vision returned to the memory and they saw Luffy groaning on the floor.

"You're not dead yet," World spoke in a low voice as he walked into the room. "This is my weapon storage. Feel free to use whatever you want."

Usopp growled. "Cocky bastard. He's just mocking Luffy."

World walked over to a weapon rack and picked up a sword. He casually tossed it to Luffy who was still on the floor. The young captain glared daggers into World.

"Swords," World said as he walked to another weapon rack, except this one was full of spears. He grabbed one and tossed it to Luffy. "Spears." He continued his walk around the room and approached a crated full of random weapons and a shelf full of guns. "Guns, hammers." He picked up one of the many guns. "You can take what you like. Then….," he picked up a mace, "maybe this will get fun."

Luffy growled as he pushed the sword away from him. "I don't need any of that crap."

World put down the gun and mace and picked up several shurikens. He played with them in his hand. "That pride will get you killed."

With much effort, Luffy finally managed to stand up. "I don't need," he went back into his horse stance, "any weapon!" Luffy then disappeared and reappeared behind World. The old pirate didn't even blink. "Jet Pistol!" He covered his arm in Haki.

"Oh, he was able to activate it," Sanji said.

Franky grinned. "Now he can hurt World!"

Despite the speed of the attack, World easily evaded it by just slightly moving his head.

"That's if Luffy-san can hit him," Brook said in worry.

Zoro narrowed his eye. "No, it hit."

World's cheek started to bleed.

"Haki!" Luffy exclaimed in excitement.

World didn't even look annoyed as he wiped the blood and licked it.

"Gross!" Nami yelled.

"Don't push your luck, kid," World spoke softly. "You don't even know how to control your Haki."

Sanji sneered. "Unfortunately, he's right."

"You were too weak to save your brother and you're no stronger now," World mocked.

Luffy's eyes dilated and the memory again began to rapidly flash back back to Marineford and Ace's dying words.

"Him just mentioning his failure with Ace is causing this strong reaction," Usopp said softly.

Robin's eyes widened in horror. "Luffy is having a waking nightmare."

Chopper was shaking, upset that he couldn't do a thing. "World is trigging Luffy's PTSD. It seems the trigger for Luffy is being called weak along with being reminded that he couldn't save Ace."

Luffy tried to banished the nightmares, but he memory still kept flashing to Marineford.

"Listen up, kid," World's voice said though the flickering memory. "If you can't keep up with my next move, nothing you do is going to make a lick of difference!" He tossed the shurikens into the air.

Luffy gasped as he kept his eyes on the shurikens.

"More More Tenfold Speed!" World shouted as he suddenly appeared in front of Luffy before the rubberman could blink and nailed him in the stomach, knocking him to the air. It looked like he teleported across the room.

"What the hell!" Franky yelled.

"World's More More Fruit does more than enlarged objects," Robin observed in deep worry. "He can used it to make himself faster."

Zoro sneered. "And if he can make himself faster from his ability, he can probably increase his power too."

"That explains how that bastard can move as fast as CP9 without using their technique," Sanji said.

Before Luffy could get his bearings, World appeared before him again and began to knock him across the room like a paddle ball. World was so fast that only Zoro and Sanji could keep up with his movements and that was only thanks to their Observation Haki.

The memory shook violently with each blow and everything became darker.

"This isn't good! He's losing consciousness!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I was wrong, he isn't as fast as CP9…..he much faster," Brook said in hear.

World spiked Luffy to the floor and before he could even move, World threw the shurikens down at him. Instead of hitting skin, however, it entrapped his wrists and ankles.

"Dammit, he pinned him!" Usopp yelled near tears.

World descended for the finishing blow and rammed his fist again into Luffy's chest. The Strawhats actually heard bones crack from the impact. If Luffy was a normal human, that last attack would have caved in his ribcage and punctured his heart and lungs.

"Luffy!" Nami screamed out in terror as the memory went completely black.

"Well, that's just too bad, isn't it," they heard World's fading voice. "I take it that you came here to help the Empress save those weakling sisters of hers. Then there is something that you should know." There was a short pause. "You're a weakling too," he sneered with nothing but disdained. "You're not strong enough to save anybody." As those cold words were spoken, all sound left the memory.

"That monster!" Usopp shouted into the empty void. Now, he was crying shamelessly. "He….he ripped Luffy apart by attacking all his worst fears."

Chopper was also crying. "How can someone attack someone with PTSD like that. He was stronger….he didn't have to be so cruel…"

"That World….he's an utter bastard," Franky hissed.

Sanji sighed as he took out another cigarette. "As strong as World was….Luffy's greatest enemy in that fight was himself."

"That fight was already over the moment World mentioned Luffy's inability to save Ace. The physical beating was just a formality," Zoro muttered as he lowered his head. "He saw Luffy's weakness and took full advantage of it."

Robin wrapped her arms around herself. "It was exactly what CP9 did to me. They used my trauma of the Buster Call to manipulate me and render me unable to fight without ever throwing a single attack."

"The wound would still be raw despite almost a year passing for Luffy," Brook spoke softly. "Jimbei foresaw this. That simply making Luffy-san stronger wouldn't heal the wounds done to his soul."

"But World was beating, right?" Usopp suddenly spoke up. "That means that Luffy must have won."

"World could have been defeated by someone else besides Luffy. Remember, the government summoned all seven Warlords," Nami pointed out. "One of them could have beating World."

"But didn't that Nyon lady say that not even Hancock could beat him? I mean, Hancock is a tough woman," Franky said in thought. "…. I mean, I guess Mihawk could have done it. Being the greatest swordsman in the world and all, he would be one of the most powerful Warlords."

"Hard to say, but from what I've seen, even Mihawk would have trouble with World," Zoro said. "His Armament Haki is outstanding and his Devil Fruit ability is dangerous. Mihawk may win, but it would be a hard fought battle. Which is probably why he even responded to the summons. The guy can never pass up a good fight."

The memory suddenly flashed and images of Sabaody appeared. They were forced to watch again as Kuma made them disappeared before Luffy's eyes.

"I don't ever wanna let my friends down like that again…." Luffy's voice spoke, sounding like it was at the edge of tears.

The memory changed and they witnessed Ace being pierced by Akainu.

"I never want to feel that pain again for as long as I live," Luffy's voice all but whispered.

The crew understood since most of them went through their fair share of tragedies that they wouldn't wish on anyone. And to think, Luffy hid the depths of his pain for over two years. Forcing himself to move past it instead of confronting it.

The scene changed to Rayleigh talking to Luffy from the other night appeared.

" If you leave right now, you may never see your friends again," Rayleigh warned as flashes of the crew overlapped the memory. "Whatever you do, come back alive."

"You're a weakling too. You're not strong enough to save anybody," the cold words of World sneered. Echoing across the memory.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!" a voice suddenly shouted, catching the Strawhats off-guard.

"Who is that?" Chopper asked.

"That voice…it sounds family," Nami said. She knew she heard it somewhere.

"IF YOU WANT TO TAKE DOWN WORLD, QUIT LYING AROUND!" the voice continued to yell. "GET BACK UP AND FIGHT, DAMMIT!"

The memory returned to the present and standing over Luffy was Buggy. Their captain was clamping down hard on Buggy's wrist.

"Buggy? Why he's here?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

Robin rubbed her chin. "I did hear a Buggy became a Warlord."

This got everyone's attention. "WHAT!?"

"Not long after the World of the Best, the World Government recruited several new pirates to take the place of Blackbeard, Jinbei, and Moriah. Among them was Buggy who became renown for being a pirate under Roger's crew and a comrade of Shanks."

"What didn't you ever tell us this!?" Usopp demanded.

"It was never important," Robin answered.

Zoro rubbed his forehead. "How the hell did the marines and the World Government misjudge Buggy so badly?"

Sanji sighed. "They seem to assume that anyone from Roger's old crew must be awesome."

"Maybe I can save them and maybe I can't," Luffy said. While he was looking at Buggy he didn't appear to notice him. "But I never know unless I try!" He knocked Buggy away from him and sending him flying to the floor.

Zoro wondered if Luffy was talking about Hancock's sisters or them in his speech.

Luffy slowly stood up as he gasped for air.

Chopper quickly took noticed of Luffy's body. His chest and right arm were covered in bandages. "It seems Buggy cared for Luffy's wounds."

"Yeah….but why?" Nami asked.

"If I had to guess, it's because Buggy wants Luffy to fight Worlds for him," Robin surmised.

"But what I don't get is why did Buggy even answered the World Government's summons. Couldn't he ignore them?" Usopp questioned.

"Perhaps Buggy would have been stripped of his position if he didn't heed the call," Brook theorized.

Robin nodded in agreement. "That would be my best guess as well."

"Tell me…," Luffy spoke as he finally caught his breath. "which way did he go?"

Buggy's crew, who they Strawhats recognized as prisoners who escaped Impel Down with Luffy and Mr. 3, pointed behind Luffy. "He went that way."

"Thanks," Luffy said as he rushed in that direction. However, he was very unsteady on his feet to the point of nearly falling down several times. "That guy better be ready for an ass kicking! Come here World! You can't hide from me!"

Zoro shook his head. "He won't be kicking anyone's ass if he's moving like that."

"Not to mention, Luffy still hasn't overcome his issues," Sanji said in worry.

Luffy didn't get far in his run before the cube walls started to move in front of him. "Huh, what's that!?"

The walls kept moving until only one path remained to move.

"Damn, I'm trap!" Luffy exclaimed as he ran down the opened path.

When he did, the cube walls began to attack him, forcing Luffy to dodge and jump to keep from being crush.

"What is doing this?" Brook asked.

"Must be a Devil Fruit," Nami said.

Luffy kept running until he swan dive into a room. There, the Strawhat saw a fat man with a giant hammer on his back. He wore a blue and white stripped shirt with overalls that looked like he had metal shorts and a short red scarf tied around his neck. He was mostly bald with only two long braids sticking out from both sides of his head. Oddly, the braids were in the shape of a square.

"Who's this clown?" Sanji asked with an air of indifference.

"Must be one of World's men. He carries the same aura as that fishman," Zoro said.

Luffy quickly took noticed of the strange man who laughed at him.

"Welcome aboard my ship," the man greeted with a cocky grin.

"Oh, he must be the shipwright," Frank said. He had to admit, he was a damn good one to make such a beauty. He almost wished he could have gotten tips.

"I'm Gairam, the man who ate the Cube Cube Fruit." He grabbed the giant from his back. "Now, with my powers I can change anything into a cube!"

"Really?" Usopp muttered. "That's….a really lame ability."

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge," Zoro warned as he recalled his fight with Kaku. "We have all witnessed silly sounding abilities being incredibly strong."

"Yeah…" Nami muttered as she remembered Kalifa's power. Who would have thought soup could be so dangerous.

"Observe!" Gairam declared as he brought his hammer down and slammed it into the floor. At first, nothing happened, but then giant cubes started to emerge from the floor. They grew so tall that they boxed Luffy in.

"Well, I guess that solves the mystery of why the walls were all cubes," Franky mused.

Luffy growled in annoyance as he stretched his arm and grabbed the top of one of the cubes. He then recoil himself upwards, right into Gairam who was waiting for him. Before Luffy could even move, Gairam slammed his hammer into Luffy's chest, sending him flying into the floor.

"Luffy's lucky that he's rubber. That kind of attack would have crush his chest," Robin observed.

"Luckily, this Gairam guy doesn't appear to use Haki. If that's his best, he won't be able to harm Luffy," Sanji said.

"Come on kid, are you serious?" Gairam asked. "You think I'll let you reach the captain that easily. Try this!" He put his hand on the cube he was standing on. "Cube Booster!"

Several small cubes came from the bigger cubes and flew at Luffy.

Luffy defended himself by punching and kicking each of the cubes. When he got tired of this, he jumped on one of the last cubes and headed straight for Gairam. He didn't get far, however, since a bigger cube suddenly appeared and pushed him away and into a wall.

"Cube Booster!" Gairam shouted as he sent several cubes to crush Luffy. Within seconds, the entire memory went black. "I thought you would put up more of a fight, but I'm afraid there is no stopping that one."

"He isn't aware that Luffy has a rubber body," Zoro noted.

The memory suddenly returned and Luffy's flattened body floating down from where it was entombed. He body quickly went back to normal as he sat up. "I thought I was a goner!"

Usopp rolled his eyes. "You were never in danger."

"Strawhat!" Mr. 3 exclaimed.

"You're suppose to be fighting Worlds! Will you hurry it up!" Buggy yelled.

"Why does Buggy care about Worlds?" Chopper asked.

Nami folded his arms. "If I know Buggy, it's because he wants credit for defeating Worlds since he's too weak to do it himself."

Zoro sighed. "That sounds like Buggy."

Gairam was surprised to see Luffy alive. "Didn't I crush you already? How did you survive that attack?"

Luffy gave a cocky chuckle as he rubbed his nose. "I'm made of rubber."

"Enough with the chitchat! Get moving! You got more important things to do!" Buggy continued to yell.

Luffy stood up and gave the clown captain an annoyed look. "Cut me some slack. This place is really confusing."

"I have to agree with Luffy on this one," Franky said as he glanced around the room. "Not sure how anyone can find their way on this ship."

"That Strawhat boy, always full of excuses. Why am I not surprise," Buggy growled.

Nami and Zoro just stared at Buggy.

"Don't argue with me! Get out there and beat Worlds already!" Buggy demanded.

"He really wants that credit," Sanji muttered.

"That's our captain," one of the former Impel Down prisoners said in admiration. "First he heals him and then he gives him a pep talk."

"How is that a pep talk?" Usopp asked. "He's just giving Luffy commands."

"Now, he's even offering to stay here and fight this guy so Strawhat can go head," the former prisoner continued with tears in his eyes.

"Truly, you're an inspiration to all of us," another former prisoner said. His eyes were also filled with happy tears to the point that he had to wipe them.

Those who were originally part of Buggy's crew looked at their former prisoners like they were crazy.

"It's been over a year…..how do these guys still not know what Buggy truly is?" Franky asked in disbelief.

"Their admiration of Buggy has blinded them," Robin replied in humor.

"I'm just so happy. No matter where my captain leads, I'm a Buggy man till the end," the first former prisoner said.

"It's settled men. Let's help Captain Buggy help his friends!" a former prisoner exclaimed. They began to cheer Buggy's name.

Nami sweat-dropped at the scene. What was even going on?

The original Buggy Pirates along with Mr. 3 were also baffled.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Mr. 3 asked his captain.

Buggy didn't answer right away. Instead, he stood there for several seconds with a huge grin on his face.

"Good grief. I can see his head getting bigger from here," Sanji said.

Gairam observed these events in complete indifference. He was even picky his nose like Luffy does when bored.

"Hey, Strawhat!" Buggy suddenly shouted. "I can handle this chump on my own. You go on and beat Worlds."

"Can he?" Nami mused.

"He's still alive today, so he much have won," Robin said, although she wasn't sure how. While Gairam was weaker than Luffy, he was still far stronger than Buggy.

"And don't worry. I won't tell anyone I saved your ass. I'm famous enough as it is, so it's not like I need to steal any thunder from a rookie like you," Buggy added. "Let's just say you owe me one, okay."

"Sure," all the Strawhats, except for Robin, chorus together.

"We do owe Buggy for Marineford since he put his life on the line to protect Luffy," Robin said.

Zoro sighed. "True…"

Buggy started to laugh. "I bet you can pay me back somehow."

Luffy didn't seem to know or care about the awkwardness of what he was witnessing. "Hey, you're sure?"

Buggy pointed to himself. "Didn't you hear anything I said, moron? Hurry up before I changed my mind."

Luffy was more than happy to obey. "I got it! Kick his ass for us Buggy!" he cheered before he ran down the empty hallway.

"Man, I wish Luffy stuck around so we could have seen how that fight ended," Franky said.

Zoro yawned. "Knowing Buggy, his stupid luck saved him."

"Buggy has to be both the luckiest and unluckiest person I've ever met," Usopp noted.

It took Luffy only a few minutes of running for him to enter a big circular room that had huge spikes on the walls.

"What is this place? A torture chamber?" Franky asked.

Nami looked up when she saw something hanging from the ceiling. "Marigold and Sandersonia!"

The Strawhats followed Nami's line of sight and saw the snake sisters in a cage that was hanging from the wall.

"Luffy!" the two sister yelled when they saw the boy captain run into the room.

"Guys! Are you okay?" Luffy asked in concern.

The snake sisters smiled, showing that for the most part they were left unharmed.

"I'll get you out, just hold on a sec!" Luffy shouted.

The soft sounds of foot steps filled the room. "You've become quite the pest."

Everyone looked to see World slowly walking down a long spiraling staircase.

"Why can't you just mind your own damn business? You pathetic little brat," World asked with an air of annoyance.

Luffy growled at him. "You think you can kidnap my friends!? Not going to happen! Besides, if I can't beat up some sad old man, how can I protect my crew!"

This made World stop walking. While they couldn't really see World since he was cloaked in shadow, they knew he was staring at Luffy. "Your crew, huh?" There was a short pause. "Is that really what you're so stuck on?" There was another pause. "You're so transparent. This is all because you couldn't save your big brother, isn't it?"

Luffy recoiled at the question.

"What does he mean?" Chopper asked.

Zoro narrowed his eyes. World just confirmed his suspicions. "Luffy didn't come here to save Hancock's sisters purely out of friendship. He did it to ease his guilt about how he failed to protect us at Sabaody and how he failed to save Ace."

"I see…." Nami whispered as she looked at her captain. "That's why he was so insistence despite Rayleigh's warnings."

"And where are these beloved crewmates of yours?" World asked almost mockingly with a smile on his face.

This made Luffy winced further as flashbacks of Sabaody filled the memory.

"Dammit," Usopp cussed. "How does this guy knows how to hurt Luffy so much? He barely knows him."

Sanji shook his head. "Once World realized Luffy had PTSD, he knew how to cripple him."

World shook his head, still smiling. "I pity them." He jumped down from the spiral stairway and landed across from Luffy. "I'm going to put an end to this in thirty seconds."

"You won't beat me twice!" Luffy declared.

"Technically, he's already beating you twice if we count your first encounter," Sanji humored.

"More More," World started as he stomped the floor, breaking it, and sending debris flying upwards, "Tenfold Shotgun!" he yelled as he shot his right hand forward. The debris from the floor went flying towards Luffy at an amazing speed.

Luffy immediately went into his Second Gear and jumped out of the way.

World expected this. He easily caught Luffy's leg mid-jump and slammed him into the floor. While he was down, he threw debris he had in his hand at Luffy that spiked him in the back, causing the rubber captain cry in pain.

"LUFFY!" Marigold and Sandersonia exclaimed in terror.

"Nothing changed. It's just like the last two fights," Zoro growled. Rather World was rusty or not, he was simply beyond Luffy's current level of power.

"Luffy is going to be killed!" Usopp shouted.

Luffy moaned in agony as he struggled to stand up.

"Looks like my prediction was off," World said as he landed and slowly walked towards Luffy. "I only need around ten seconds this time around."

While World was bragging, Luffy whipped his right arm and wrapped it around World's leg.

"Hm, are you begging for mercy," World asked as Luffy forced himself to his feet.

"Even if you move ten times faster than normal, it's not going to matter if I'm holding on to you," Luffy declared.

"I don't think it will be that easy, bro," Franky said, remembering how he tried something similar against zipper mouth.

World was amused by this. "You think you're clever? We'll see." He hunched over. "More More Thirtyfold Speed!" He jumped.

Despite this, Luffy kept a firm hold. "Jet Pistol!"

World easily dodged in spite of Luffy holding him.

Luffy growled in frustration as he rapidly tried hitting World with several Jet Pistols. Nothing landed.

"What's wrong?" World mocked. "Still can't hit me!?" He quickly pull his leg up, forcing Luffy to recoil towards him. When he was within range, World decked him hard in the face, sending Luffy towards the ground. Before he could even land, World was on the floor waiting for him. "Fool! It isn't just speed I command!" He viciously kicked Luffy in the chest, sending him flying back up. World wasn't done yet as he ruthlessly grabbed Luffy's stretched arm. "But the overwhelming power that comes along with it!" He began to swing Luffy around like a ball-and-chain.

Luffy could do nothing but scream. The memory itself was spinning.

"I think I'm going to lose my stomach….if I had one!" Brook joked.

Nami growled at the skeleton swordsman. "Now isn't the time for a Skull Joke."

"Fiftyfold Speed!" World shouted as he spun Luffy faster, making it impossible for the Strawhats to see what was happening, "Furious Hammer!" He savagely slammed Luffy into the floor, making everyone winced.

"Luffy!" Chopper screamed in panic, wanting to run to his captain's side.

"There was no Haki in that attack, so he should be fine," Sanji assured, trying to eased the worry of his crew. However, the fact remained that Luffy was badly outmatched. As hard as he tried, he couldn't see a way for Luffy to win.

"World's Devil Fruit is simple but effective. It's the perfect Devil Fruit for close-range combat," Robin said.

"Add that with his near mastery of Haki….he's truly a force," Zoro whispered. And to think, this was a pirate long past his peak.

World laughed as Luffy laid on the floor.

"Those attacks won't work on me," Luffy huffed.

World stopped laughing.

"I'm a rubberman," Luffy bragged with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget," World replied in a voice that was mixed of annoyance and boredom. At that moment, his entire body turned black.

Zoro gritted his teeth. "Now the real fight starts."

Luffy took the challenged as he bit his thumb. "Get ready, Gear Third!" His entire chest and right arm expanded as he blew into his thumb. He grabbed World with his giant hand, taking the old pirate off-guard. "Giant Pistol!" he screamed as he deflated his right arm and attempted to punch World with inflated left arm.

Despite the shock, World easily caught giant punch with one hand.

"He caught Luffy's Third Gear!" Chopper exclaimed in shock.

Usopp's mouth dropped. "But that thing is as strong as a giant and he's using only one hand!"

Luffy was left utterly shocked.

World grinned at him. "You'll always be too weak kid." He kicked Luffy's hand off of him. He then threw debris into Luffy's face, forcing Luffy block it and deflate his arm.

World slowly stood up and grinned again.

Franky sneered. "This is all just some giant game to him. He isn't remotely taking this seriously."

"World has never taken Luffy seriously," Robin noted.

Nami looked at the older girl in surprised. "You mean he hasn't been going all out!?"

Robin shook her head. "Even now, World doesn't feel threatened by Luffy."

"We'll see about that," Luffy sneered as he embedded his right arm with Haki and activated his Second Gear.

"He's getting better at that at least," Franky said. "He didn't even need to think and he was able to summon his Haki."

Sanji put his cigarette in his mouth. "Still won't be enough."

Luffy rushed forward, but World seemingly disappeared again.

"He's still too slow," Sanji said.

World appeared behind Luffy and attempted a downward thrust. Luffy sensed him coming and dodged, seemingly disappearing himself.

"Jet Pistol!" Luffy shouted from the air, but World dutiful dodged it.

"Doesn't matter," World said as he appeared on Luffy's left side. "Use the Armament Haki all you want." He punched Luffy downward.

Luffy bounce off the floor and landed on his feet. He summoned Haki to his other hand. "Jet Gatling!"

World evaded each of the punches. "The power is useless," he appeared in front of Luffy, "if you can't even hit me!" He slammed his fist into Luffy's chest, causing it to cave in. The rubberman tried to resist, but he was eventually pushed back. The force of the attack sent Luffy flying into the spike wall, where he was promptly impaled.

"LUFFY!" nearly all the Strawhats screamed as the memory turned red and Luffy screamed in agony.

Chopper wasted no time rushing to his captain's side. His eyes widened as he examined Luffy. There was a spike through his left side and right leg, yet somehow none of his injures were mortal. "Amazing….he….he managed to not to be pierce through any vital organs."

"How…?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"Luffy…he must have instinctively moved his body to keep himself from taking a fatal blow," Zoro said in amazement.

"Still," Sanji whispered as he examined the injures. "He has internal damage and can bleed out."

Brook realized that Luffy's skin was still red and stream was leaving his body. "Despite those injures, Luffy hasn't lost his Gear. Could he still fight?"

World disengaged his Haki and stared at Luffy's limp body. "Save your friends, huh? And your brother?" He gave a short laugh. "You can't even save yourself."

There was huffed of pain that came through Luffy's lips and he was shaking, The crew knew, however, that Luffy wasn't shaking from the pain. He was shaking from both frustration and shame.

"….I really haven't changed since…that day…." Luffy's voice whispered through the memory.

Flashes of Omatsuri, Sabaody, and Marineford rushed forward so fast that the Strawhats could barely see anything.

"You believed that you could overcome anything and you never doubted your strength! But all those formidable enemies took away your confidence, and rendered you unable to see anything! And then your brother, who was your guiding light!" Jimbei's voice echoed.

At those words, they saw tears subtly build in Luffy's eyes.

Zoro closed his eye. Luffy came here to face World to regained his shattered confident and to eased his own guilt for failing to save Ace and them. Instead, Luffy ended up reenforcing how weak he still was.

Luffy was never going to win with a shattered heart and mind.

Suddenly, the submarine began to violently shake and the sound of cannon fire filled the room.

"What's happening!?" Nami asked in a panic.

World had the same question.

It was at this moment that Byojack came running down the stairs. He was coughing badly and wheeling his IV stand. "The marines are here. And they're launching an all out attack on our ship!"

Soon, a hole was blown through the ceiling, allowing sunlight to enter the darkened room. This also caused the cage that the Gorgon sisters were trapped in to fall down, knocking them out.

Sanji growled. "Those shitty marines. They're going to kill Hancock's sisters."

"This isn't good. The marines will find Luffy," Usopp said as he looked at his defeated captain.

World looked up at the blown up ceiling and smiled. "The marines." He began to laugh.

"Has he lost his mind?" Franky asked. "They're going to kill him. Does he has a death wish?"

"Perfect!" World exclaimed once he stopped laughing.

"What now, World?" Byojack asked as he made it to the end of the stairway, just as unnerved as Franky.

"I didn't expect the marines to fall into out lap," World said smugly. "Time to change out plan. We have the prefect opportunity to hit them where it really hurts."

"What is that shit head talking about?" Sanji asked.

"What kind of plan could he possibly have?" Usopp questioned.

World turned towards his brother. "Prepare the cannon."

This sent Byojack into a panic. "Are you mad!? If we fire from such a close range, our entire ship is going to sink from the impact!" He coughed as he finished his sentence.

World narrowed his eyes. "Who cares. Just get ready."

"This bastard really does have a death wish," Franky said in disgust. "And he's going to take his entire crew down with him."

Nami sneered. "So his entire plan boils down to killing as many marines as possible. What's even the point?"

Byojack's eyes widened in both terror and betrayal. "But I thought the ship was…"

"Was what? A symbol of our freedom?" World question with a mixed of bitterness and spite.

This made Byojack gasped.

"Don't you get it? The ship is just a tool for getting what I want," World sneered with a grin on his face. "The rest of you always clung to your foolish dreams. But I made up my mind long ago, even before I escaped Impel Down. Then you guys picked me up in this ship, and I saw that massive cannon. So I did what anyone else would do. I decided to take advantage of the situation and used it to achieve my own goals. It's not like you can blame me. You did a good job building it."

Brook narrowed his eyes. "Despicable! That is no way for a captain to treat his crew. Especially a crew who remained loyal for over thirty-years."

Usopp growled under his breath. "He even treats his own brother like trash."

Franky was also shaking in rage. "This ship….was build with a lot of love and care, and he dares treats it like trash. He's the worst kind of scum."

Sanji lit another cigarette. "What can we expect? From a lowlife who attack civilians and his own crew. The government was right for once erasing him from history."

"You've been using us all along!" Byojack exclaimed with tears in his eyes. "Is getting revenge against the World Government all you care about?"

"So what if it is?" World asked. Now he was the one shaking in rage. "I don't care about this ship. And I sure as hell don't give a damn about what happens you dirty traitors."

This caught the Strawhats off-guard.

"Dirty traitors?" Usopp repeated. "What is he even talking about?"

Robin folded her arms. "I see. So…the stories were true."

This got everyone's attention.

"You know something about this?" Nami asked.

"It was said that World was brought down by traitors within his crew. While World was fighting his own crew, the marines took advantage of the situation and wiped World out," Robin explained.

"I see…" Brook whispered, losing some of his anger towards World. "He isn't acting cruel towards his crew for the sake of it. He's doing this because he was betrayed. So hurt that he lost the ability to feel empathy with his comrades."

"To protect himself from being betrayed again, he started to see his comrades as nothing but tools, including his own brother," Robin continued. "Just as Moriah created a zombie army to cope with the lost of his crew."

"But that makes no sense," Usopp argued. "World's crew waited thirty-years for him and even build him this ship. How could they've betrayed him!?"

"The traitors are long dead. Most likely killed by World before the marines took him down," Zoro said. "The ones who managed to escape must have been the remnants still loyal to him. World is just too blind and hurt to see that."

He almost pitied the man. What he was doing was unforgivable, but betrayal was the worst thing that could happened to anyone and would turn most people into cynical bastards. Especially a pirate where you live and die on how much you trust your crew. Rotting in that hellhole for three decades also probably shattered what was left of his sanity. Whatever pirate World once was, was long gone. All that was left was a bitter shell who wanted to watch the world burn.

"But Gairam, Nightin, and Sebastian too," Byojack started in a heartbroken tone, "they fought for you because they thought you were their friend…"

"Yeah right," World cut off bitterly. "I haven't trusted you or anyone else since the very beginning. I never really need any of you and I never did."

"No way…." Byojack sobbed.

"Even…even if what you said about World is true, that's no way to treat his brother," Usopp growled. "Can't he see how much he's hurting him?"

"He doesn't care," Nami replied in disgust. "He's too lost in his own self-pity and resentment to see anything outside himself."

"….That's….that's not the brother I know…" Byojack whispered in despair.

"You lot aren't any different from this ship." World bend over and picked up several pieces of debris from the floor. He began to juggled the debris in his hand. "Just a bunch of tools and nothing more."

The Strawhats took note that they saw Luffy twitched and the memory starting to lose its red haze. They all knew that World had gone too far. Among never allowing harm to fall upon his friends, Luffy despised people who abused their comrades. Especially brothers.

"World, no!" Byojack pleaded with his brother.

"You maybe my brother, but if you can't follow orders, THEN I DON'T NEED YOU!" World shouted as he threw the debris at Byojack.

Before the debris could touch the sicken man, Luffy came back to life and shielded the old man with his Armament Haki, surprising both brothers.

"A bunch of tools? Is that what you said?" Luffy hissed. His eyes were dark with rage. "That's what you think of your friends?"

"Yeah, what it's to you?" World asked.

"TAKE IT BACK!" Luffy screamed as he slammed his fist into World's face, catching the old pirate by surprised. For the first time since he met World, he managed to knocked him to the ground.

"Get him Luffy!" Usopp cheered. "So him what makes a real pirate!"

However, Luffy's rage was spent and he lost his Second Gear. The memory hazed once again.

"Oh, that was it?" Franky asked in disappointment.

Chopper shook his head as he looked over Luffy's body. "He's suffering from blood lost and he was already heavily damage from his second fight with World. It's a miracle that he can still move."

"Luffy!"

The Strawhats turned to see Boa running into the room with her loyal snake besides her.

"Hurry! Grab your sisters and get out of her now!" Luffy ordered.

Just as he said that, World slowly sat up. His helmet was knocked from his head. He looked at Boa from the side of his eye. "The Pirate Empress."

"Me and this guy got unfinished business," Luffy declared.

"Don't be reckless, Luffy!" Chopper yelled. "You couldn't handled him alone when you were healthy. You can't possibly win with those injures!"

Sanji sighed. "He can't hear you, Chopper."

"But.." Chopper started.

"The cook is right," Zoro interrupted. "No matter how much you complain, these events have already happened. All we can do is watch."

Chopper trembled in both fear and frustration.

"But there is no way Luffy can win alone," Nami said. "He has already lost decisively three times."

"And he beat Crocodile after he killed him twice," Zoro pointed out. "As long as there's even a remote chance of winning, Luffy will find it."

Although, Luffy wasn't going to win until he got his mind straight. At the same time, World's abused of his crew seemed to lit a fire under Luffy's ass.

Boa wasn't happy leaving Luffy alone, but decided to honor his wishes. She ran to the cage and opened the door, which had broken opened from the fall. "Marigold and Sandersonia, let's go!"

This woke the Gorgon sisters. "Big sis!" They wasted no time running to the exit.

"Careful. As soon as you have taken care of him, head straight back to the ship," Boa said as she ran out the door.

"Right!" Luffy yelled.

"It doesn't matter. I don't need the empress as a hostage anymore," World said as he turned his eyes towards Luffy. "Now, you want to keep fighting, you go right ahead. "

Luffy relaxed his stance and took several deep breaths.

"If you're saying a pray, don't bother. No body can save you now," World declared.

Luffy went into his Second Gear. "Who is going to save you!"

World turned completely black. "You cocky little brat." He moved in for a punch, but Luffy quickly dodged it. The boy captain retaliated with a right hook that caused World to stumble.

"I'm not losing! Not to a jerk like you!" He swung at World who blocked the punches, but got caught by Luffy's whip kick. "Friends are more than just tools!" he yelled as he evaded World's attacks. One punched nailed Luffy in the forehead, but the boy captain didn't budge since he protected his head with Haki.

This shocked Sanji. "He managed to get that much control of his Haki so fast?"

"He's been steadily getting better at controlling his Haki as he fights World. Seem adversity is truly the best teacher," Zoro said with a note of pride.

"It is also helping that World himself isn't fighting like he did before," Robin said. "I think his mental fortitude is starting to crumble."

"You mean like what happened with Crocodile?" Franky asked.

Robin shook her head. "Crocodile began to collapsed because he couldn't understand how a man like Luffy could exist. World is breaking down not because of Luffy, but because he was barely keeping it together when he was confronting Byojack. A deep part of World wants to believe in his brother and his crew, but the scars of his betrayal won't let him." She paused in thought. "In the end, World talks about seeing his comrades as mere tools is exactly that, talk. He's just trying to justify himself."

"There is nothing wrong with abandoning the useless," World sneered. "After all, you left your brother to die at Marineford."

Luffy's eyes widened as the images of Marineford returned, blinding him as World ruthlessly plummeted him.

"Dammit!" Sanji yelled. "World won't stop with the low blows!"

Nami growled. "He's a real pirate alright."

"Get it through your head," World's word cutting through the images of Ace's death. "It's already over and you've failed completely. Nothing you do now or ever will bring your brother back. And beating me won't eased the pain of your failure. You couldn't protect your brother because you are weak."

The flashbacks were relentless to the point that all anyone could see were Marineford and Ace's final moments.

"This is bad," Zoro growled. "Luffy will die if he doesn't fight off this waking nightmare."

"Luffy-san, if you do find yourself in a moment of despair, you must remember the things you still have," the voice of Brook suddenly spoke.

The images of Marineford suddenly stopped. Then, flashes of the Strawhats rushed through the memory.

"I still have...I still have my crew! Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook! My friends are still here!"

With that, they were back in World's ship and Luffy was trembling on the floor.

"It's…just like when we started this memory…" Nami whispered. "Luffy is thinking of us to keep his mind together."

Luffy let out a small groaned. "You…may be right…"

This caught World off-guard.

"I was weak…" Luffy slammed his right hand into the floor and it turned black. His left arm soon followed. "I couldn't save Ace's life. But….I'm not dead yet." He stood up and glared at World. "And I still have my crew. Friends that are waiting for me and believe in me!"

World wasn't impressed by any of this. "Enough already!" He attempted to attack Luffy, but the rubberman seemingly disappeared. World, however, was able to keep track of him and followed Luffy into the air.

Soon, the two pirates were duking it out.

"I will protect my friends!" Luffy swore as he landed several solids hits on World. "And I will become Pirate King!" Now World was the one who couldn't keep up and Luffy spike him to the floor.

"Get him Luffy!" Usopp cheered.

"Show him who's boss!" Franky yelled.

"Brother!" Byojack yelled in distressed.

"His brother called him a tool and tried to kill him, yet he stays by his side," Brook said in admiration. "How can World be so blind to those still loyal to him? To those who still loves and cares for him."

"Luffy and World are very much alike. They're both sick in the head, hunted by their past. Except Luffy's fortitude has slowly been hardening by remembering what he still has. While World's mental stability is crumbling into dust because he rejects what he still has," Robin said.

Luffy landed across from World. "But before I do that, I'm taking you out."

World slowly sat up. "You're stubborn. But that's not enough to beat me."

"Gum Gum Jet Gatling!" Luffy shouted as dozens of fists flew at World.

"More More Hundredfold Speed!" World screamed as he matched Luffy's Gatling.

Neither pirate gave an inch and they each took several attacks. This went on for several seconds before World broke away and attempted to bull rush Luffy.

"Time to finish you!" Luffy shouted as he stretched his right arm back as far as it would go. His arm was coated in Haki and was slowly catching on fire.

"What…?" Usopp whispered.

Zoro's eye widened. "That Luffy's Red Hawk."

Luffy brought his fist forward and World could only watched in shock as the fist of fire was heading right for him. As this was happening, images of them and Ace filled the memory. Within seconds, the punch connected and flames shot out of World's back. "Gum Gum Red Hawk!"

The sheer forced sent World flying and he was now the one impaled on the spike wall. Blood gushed out of his mouth and he went limp. The fight was decided.

"Damn, did he kill him?" Franky asked in surprise. Not that he would feel sorry if he died.

Chopper went to check on the old pirate. "No, he isn't dead. But he is critically injured. He will bleed out if those wounds aren't treated."

The ship shook again, telling everyone that Luffy's time of escape was limited.

Luffy noticed none of this as he stared at his Haki infused hand in shock. "That's fire….like Ace…" He was knocked out of his stupid when the ship shook again. Luffy looked at World one last time. By the old pirate's side was his brother. "I promised Rayleigh and Hancock that I would make it back. So…I'm not going to die here."

With that, he ran for the exist, leaving World and Byojack to their fates. There the memory ended.

The crew was left in darkness.

"Do you think World died?" Usopp suddenly asked.

"He was assumed to have been killed, but they never found a body," Robin replied. "If he is alive, he hasn't reappeared in over a year."

Sanji blew off some smoke. "If he did live, hopefully that shit head is a little wiser. It sucks that he was betrayed and I can't fault him for being bitter, but he still had an older brother who cared for him despite all the abuse. He wasn't left with nothing."

"Still, can't believe Luffy won against that monster. I thought for sure he was toast without any help," Franky said as he folded his arms and closed his eyes.

"Luffy won because despite all the mental damage, World was even more damaged because he couldn't believe in anything outside himself," Zoro said. "That and World never took Luffy seriously. Even in their final clash, World couldn't be bothered to go at Luffy with his full power. His lack of conviction cost him."

Still, to think Luffy used to become cripple by the mere mention of his failure at Marineford. If World was just a little more sane and took Luffy seriously….

The memory returned and they were back on the island with Rayleigh. It was the dead of night and there was a crescent moon out. The two pirates were relaxing next to an open fire.

"Well, Luffy, you've learned the basics of Haki. All that is left is to practice," Rayleigh informed with a proud smile on his face. "While I would love to stick around, there's really nothing more I can teach you."

"There isn't?" Luffy asked, more than a little disappointed.

"I think I will return to Sabaody and check up on Shakky. Are you staying here?" Rayleigh asked.

Luffy lowered his head in thought. "Well, it's only been a year and half since I sent out that message to my crew."

Rayleigh stroked the fire. "3D2Y."

It was funny how such a simple message meant so much to all the Strawhats. It was actually brilliant how Rayleigh managed to convey so much with two numbers and two letters.

"If we want to continued our journey, we all need to get stronger," Luffy said softly as they once against saw their complete defeat at Sabaody.

"Even if I did not touch you guys, death is all that would have awaited you the way you are now! You are nowhere near ready for the New World!" Moriah's words echoed.

Sanji closed his eyes. It was still bitter how right that stupid leech was. Especially how Moriah had given them such trouble despite being lazy and out of shape.

"After what happened, I'm sure they feel the same way," Luffy finished.

"Yeah…we do," Nami agreed.

Usopp shook his head. "But still… I can't help but think it was Jimbei who was right. That we should have rushed to Luffy's side over becoming stronger. Just look what World did with just a few words."

"You still got six months, that's plenty of time," Rayleigh assured.

"Yeah," Luffy said with a soft smile. "I can't wait to see how everyone else has changed after two years. I bet they all will be super strong,"

Franky smashed his fists together. "Damn right!"

Zoro also smirked and Sanji chuckled.

"And makes me want to keep working. So that it's then. I will stay here and keep training until time is up," Luffy vowed.

"Good. Just keep on improving your Haki skills. Soon, you will be able to control it as you like," Rayleigh replied.

"You got it," Luffy said as Rayleigh got up and began to leave.

"I'll see you back on Sabaody in six months then," Rayleigh said.

Luffy became noticeably misty eyed. "Hey, Rayleigh." This made the old pirate stop. "Thank you!"

Rayleigh smiled before he disappeared from sight.

Now Luffy was alone. He looked up at the crescent moon and slowly the mist surrounded him. "I will become stronger. Stronger than anyone. I swear to all of you….no will someone die for my sake ever again."

The Strawhats then felt themselves becoming lighter and the mist engulfed them for the final time. Then, all was blank.

The final bonus chapter is done. Until next story, take care.