Chapter Text
" sugoooooiiii, the weather here is so nice," Luffy exclaimed as he Jumped down the sunny on the sandy beach of the island. the whole island was bordered by beautiful sandy beaches and filled with lush green forest.
" well according to the map if we walk along this beach towards the west we will reach the cliff from where the island broke off." Nami said holding the new map of the island she had. " that cliff should have a temple-like structure according to the books we saw." Robin pointed out.
" so who is staying to guard the ship?" Nami asked looking at everyone as nobody responded. the creatures still stood near the sunny and growled. " seems like they are ready to guard the sunny." Jules said as the leader of the creatures nodded with a gruff. Nami and Ussop sweat dropped not really trusting the monsters that tried to kill them some time ago.
"Yosh, let's gooooo." Luffy said running off in the wrong direction and Zoro following him. " papa me too." Rose yelled as she too ran off behind Luffy. " wait right there" Jules said throwing her knife towards Luffy which landed in front of him, making him come to a halt abruptly and fall face-first on the sandy beach. Robin too sprouted two hands to stop Rose from falling face first as she too suddenly stopped. "hehe heh, Robin that tickles." Rose giggled as Robin passed her with the help of several hands and made her stand right beside Jules.
" you are going in the wrong direction, baka," Nami said dragging Luffy in the right direction. " you too marimo, don't get lost, it's troublesome for Nami san." Zoro huffed and scowled as Sanji kicked his butt pushing him in the right direction.
as the group of pirates walked along the shore following Nami as she dragged the captain everyone took their time to look around and enjoy nature. rose asked hundreds of questions and Jules tried to answer all of them.
" oi, what happen Robin?" Franky asked noticing Robin who stopped suddenly and looked at the dark forest to her right. it must be a hallucination, she thought. " nothing Franky." the archeologist assured him as they kept walking.
" suuuuuuuppppperrrrrrrr, is it what I think it is," Franky said removing his goggles as he walked towards the huge trees in front of them. the stump of the tree was as broad as the sunny and some were twice or thrice its size too. some thin and some broad but still strong-looking roots hung from its branches which were covered in lush green leaves.
" sugoiiii, such a huge tree!!!!" Luffy said in awe as he walked closer to it and stretched his arms to circle it and hug the tree. " look how much I gotta stretch to hold my hand on the other side." the rubber captain said retracting his arms and jumping in amusement and excitement.
" Mumma can't see the top," Rose said looking up at the tree trying to see the top. Her little head was trying so hard to bend back more to be able to see the top but she ended up stumbling backwards and fell on her but with a frown on her face.
" here I'll show you the top. Sanji said as he stood behind her and picked her up. " ready?" he asked looking down at the little girl in his arms, she nodded, unsure what he was gonna do. " here we go" Sanji said as he jumped up but instead of coming back on the ground he sky walked upwards as Rose giggled and laughed amused to be flying. " Snaji, we fly," she said looking around as the land below her got further and further away. in response, Sanji just laughed.
' how far up does this tree go?' Sanji thought as he kept on flying up but still didn't see the top. after several more feet, the branches got thinner and thinner, and finally, the top was visible just touching the clouds.
" sugoooiiiii, tree touching cloud." Rose pointed out, her eyes shining in excitement. " tree so big Sanji." " yeah this is one hell of a huge tree," Sanji said agreeing, himself amazed by the height of the tree.
it was faster to get down than to go up and soon the duo landed as Rose laughed loving the cold air rushing through her face and hair. " Snaji again." she said when the cook placed her on the ground. " some other time Rose Chan," Sanji said looking at Jules and then at Rose. Rose got the point and looked at her mother with a huge smile. " did you have fun?" Jules asked kneeling down and brushing Rose's hair with her hand. " yes, it was so fun mumma. I see the top. it was touching clouds." Rose said animatedly moving her hands around.
" yeah, this tree is huge." Sanji said and Franky laughed. " that is because it's the great treasure tree, or Adam tree. the strongest tree in the world." Franky said amazed and still not believing he was actually seeing the tree in front of him. and not one tree but several Adam trees.
"Adam tree, you mean it's the tree you used wood from to make the Sunny?" Zoro asked admiring the humongous tree. " yes Zoro bro, it's very hard to find and very expensive too, i got its wood from the black market for the sunny. I never thought I would see the complete tree."
"That's true. these trees are very very rare to find. and you have made one hell of a ship from it Franky." Jimbe said.
"This is a good chance. I can take some of this and store it on sunny. it will be useful for repairs and redesigning, I won't have to spend money on getting more from the black market." Franky said as everyone admired the trees as they walked further along the shore.
Robin again felt something deep inside the forest but when she turned around to see there was nothing there. After it happened again sometime later she was sure she wasn't hallucinating. " you sensed that too?" she was startled when the green-haired swordsman suddenly walked beside her. " I see it's really not a hallucination then." that's all she said as they kept walking. in the distance, the cliff was visible now and the closer they got to it the more that weird presence was noticed by the duo.
soon they realized that the presence was walking along with them practically following them but from inside the dark forest. the straw hats and the presence walked parallel to each other now. Luffy was so excited to explore that he didn't care to keep observation Haki active nor did Sanji. Robin tried to use her devil fruit powers but couldn't see anything in the darkness of the Jungle. Zoro was on high alert too.
when the group reached the cliff an old temple-like structure could be seen. it was pretty much broken and nature had taken over it a lot too, with moss and small plants and grass growing everywhere on its stone walls. intrigued by the historical building Robin stepped forward, gently touching a collapsed wall and examining it with keen eyes.
it was as if she was trying to uncover the building's stories as if she was talking to the old walls and pillars as they told her their old Tales. " it's at least 1000 years old." she said walking around and touching more broken pieces. she spotted the black stains on the grey stone and traced them, transferring the black color to her fingertips. " these are due to burns. must be the remains of Buster Call. " she stated kneeling down to look at the broken arch with intricate design.
"Let's go in and see." Luffy said already about to enter the half-broken temple. " wait Luffy." Nami yelled at the rubber man and grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back. " the building looks very damaged, old, and fragile, with your excitement it will probably collapse in a second." Nami explained. " so please stay calm, we don't wanna die with a building falling on us." she said bonking him again " Understand?" she asked and Luffy perked up "Ai ai sir." Luffy acted out as a marine officer and then laughed like an idiot.
with cautious steps, except for Zoro and Luffy who honestly didn't give a shit, entered the temple. the duo still was careful, not wanting another hit or debt increase. " the carvings on these walls are so pretty." Ussop said as he admired the artwork inside the temple. half the temple was damaged but still a lot of carvings and sculptures were still there.
"Indeed, it's suuuuuppperrrrr, work done here. and the architecture of this building is excellent too." Franky said looking at something in the middle of the floor. " what are you looking at Franky." chopper asked standing beside the cyborg now.
" you see that hatch there. it probably leads to an underground tank. that white line around it is dried salt. seeing the water level outside, during high tide a lot of water must come inside the temple. this hatch here helps drain that water to prevent the seawater from staying in the temple."
Franky explained. " that doesn't seem right Franky. it's high tied right now that too at its peak." Nami said frowning. " then what is the hatch for?" that residue of salt and minerals indicates that seawater comes in here." Jimbe asked examining the salt and minerals.
"sugggoooooiiiiii" they heard Luffy's loud voice from further inside the temple. apparently, Luffy, Zoro, Brook, and Sanji had gone ahead of the remaining. Juels and Rose who were looking at the carvings perked up hearing Luffy shout. everyone followed the direction the voice came from and found Luffy with his jaw dropped and eyes sparkling. when the new arrivals followed his line of vision Nami's eyes turned to that of berry signs as she swooned over the huge white diamond in the middle of the room. " wow, it's so pretty mumma." Rose said tugging Jules's hand but her mother was lost in some world, starting at the pretty diamond in the room.
" we should take it, it has to be about 800 million or even more," Nami said swaying around the diamond as Sanji swayed around her whipped by her - according to Sanji - greedy money-loving beauty. watching them a picture of the solar system popped up in Robin and Jimbe's mind with the diamond being the sun, Nami the earth going around the Sun (diamond), and Sanji being the moon going around the earth (Nami).
" yes, yes Nami, let's take this diamond. Franky can fix this huge diamond on the sunny it will be so cool." Luffy said already beside Franky and asking him to do it. Franky just sweatdropped at that though. but this earned Luffy a bonk on the head from Nami "No we can sell it have lots of money. Oh, I'll get to do so much shopping." Nami was already daydreaming about being surrounded by riches.
"Mumma. Mumma. Mumma." Rose pulled on Jules's skirt but the mother did not budge as she still stared at the diamond. her eyes solely focused on the diamond and void of any emotion. Rose's desperate cries to get her mother's attention were heard by everyone except Luffy and Nami who were arguing in front of the diamond. " oi Jules, sister Jules" Franky called out to her but still nothing. Robin sprouted a hand and tapped Jules but still no response.
"Mumma." Rose whimpered her eyes watering and lips quivering. " o..oi Rose, your mumma is okay nothing is wrong." Ussop said trying to get Rose's attention but the little girl only looked at her mother who was in some kind of trance. " Rose, look at me here watch this." Chopper tried and made some funny faces but Rose didn't look at him." mumma." she said again but still no response. Zoro walked up to her and picked her up. " hey little devil, your mother is okay, you know she is strong right. she is completely alright." he said walking a bit away from the petrified Jules and making Rose look at him. " mumma okay?" she asked and Zoro nodded. trusting the swordsman Rose clumsily wiped some tears that had rolled down her cheeks. sniffing her nose she put her face in Zoro's chest as she breathed and calmed down then rubbed her face on his clothes. Zoro grunted seeing the snot on his clothes but sighed when he saw her giggle.
"Luffy You okay? Luffy." they heard and Zoro tightened his hold on Rose as he walked back and saw Jules standing near the Diamond still in a trance but it seemed that she was hypnotized by the diamond. and Luffy opposite to her the pillar with a diamond between them. Luffy's hand was on the left side of his chest and he was out of balance. steam was coming out of his body and he looked distressed.
"It's out of control," he said breathlessly still clutching his chest. everyone was worried. two of their crew members were behaving weirdly and a little girl who was closest to the two was scared as hell. there was just too much chaos and no one understood what to do. " oi, Jules." Zoro yelled noticing her about to touch the diamond. she didn't hear him and everyone anticipated what would happen once she touched the diamond that had hypnotized her while Luffy was still struggling.
he could feel his heart beating abnormally and his abnormal heartbeat filled his ears. he couldn't hear anything other than his heart beating. with every second the sound was taking over his senses as the voices of his nakama shouting at him and Jules faded and only his heartbeat remained.
and in the next moment, a bright light traveled down from the diamond to the pillar and into the ground, and at the same time, Luffy's heart stopped.
silence.
dengarous silence. the kind of silence that comes before a storm.
and then as expected yet not expected it came. the storm. the danger. the shock.
with a slow but loud noise coming from above them, the straw hat crew looked up at the stone ceiling and saw it open up like a hatch.
and once it was completely open there was no time to process what all happened simultaneously. Luffy who was still struggling suddenly collapsed on the ground. the white light that traveled from the diamond through the pillar to the ground shined bright. last but not least salty sea water suddenly came pouring down through the now open ceiling and dropped with terrifying force on the newest member of the crew and took the form of a ball with Jules still inside it looking unconscious with her eyes closed. the water ball still had a current of water attached to it coming from the ceiling.
all this happened in a matter of seconds and the crew didn't understand what exactly happened. and after a few seconds when things finally processed it was utter chaos. Rose was in tears and screaming for her mother and papa not understanding what happened to them. Zoro who was still holding her didn't know what to do to calm the little girl down or worry about his crew mate or his captain. chopper was already beside Luffy panicking and crying but still trying his best to help Luffy. Ussop was panicking along with Brook and Nami. Sanji was mostly only worried about Jules and Rose and circling the water globe Jules was in. Robin was worried but kept calm for everyone's sake and the same with Jimbe.
" Robin," Zoro called out and Robin understood. She sprouted several hands took Crying Rose from him and tried to calm her down as she walked away to another room in the temple. if anything happens to Jules or Luffy, Rose better not see that. " Chopper how's Luffy doing," he asked taking control of command while everyone was panicking.
" Zo....Zo...Zoro... hi..his heart." Chopper said crying hysterically. " what is it Chopper? get yourself together and tell me." Zoro yelled a bit as the situation was getting out of hand. Chopper wiped his tears reluctantly. he understood he needed to get his shit together as Jules might need his help too.
" his....his heart it... it's not... not beating. Luffy's heart's not beating." Chopper said at first whimpering and then shouting out loud for everyone in the room to hear. Robin too who was in the other room heard through her powers and stiffened and looked down at Rose who was kind of calm down now.
everyone in the room went silent. only the sound of water flowing from the water globe. " that....that can't be true." Nami said not believing Chopper. " oi Chopper check him again." Sanji said, a slight quiver noticeable in his voice." " oi Chopper bro, that can't be true." Franky said removing his goggles. " Luffy." jimbe said worriedly. " Luuuuuffffyyyyyy." Ussop cried falling beside the unconscious Luffy.
" chopper that can't be true," Zoro said much more harshly now. this can't be happening Luffy's heart stopped beating so easily? " o...oi Luffy." Zoro said nudging the captain's face a little with his sword only to step back startled when a loud noise filled the room.
DHUM
DHUM DHUM
DHUM DHUM DHUM DHUMD DHUM DHUM DHUM DHUM DHUM
it sounded like drums banging loudly. and then they started beating on a particular rhythm. Snaji, Zoro, Ussop, and Jimbe looked at each other remembering where they heard this sound. they sighed in relief but still looked confused as somehow now everyone looked like they could hear it.
suddenly more steam started rising from Luffy's body and his body jarked up. and again and again. it happened and with that, all his clothes turned white and so did his hair. a smile formed on his face as he jerked up and stood on wobbly rubbery legs. everyone looked at him stunned. all of them worried not understanding what happened to their captain.
" shishishshishishishishsi." Luffy laughed as he stumbled around as if he was drunk. his voice was the same as usual but it had a sinister undertone to it. and that smile that was so contagious looked much more psychotic now. Franky gasped looking at his eyes, bright reddish pink with a sparkle in them. all the while Luffy just giggled and laughed as if he had heard some hilarious joke.
suddenly he stood straight. no more wobbling around or laughing. " o....oi how did this happen?" he looked up at his crew and asked utterly confused. " we should be the one asking you that Baka." Ussop yelled hitting Luffy on the head but it was soft and a lot more rubbery so it didn't hurt. " hu, hey did you become more rubber?" he asked and Luffy just laughed but it was his usual laugh.
"it seems you have awakened your fruit Luffy." Jimbe pointed out looking at the ground which was bouncy and rubbery under Luffy. " shishishishi, yeah it happened while fighting Kaido. I call it gear 5." but this doesn't look like a paramecia awakening." Sanji pointed out. " what do you mean Sanji Kun?" Nami asked "Well you see like Pramecia awakening he is affect -" Sanji was cut off as Luffy suddenly started laughing again but this time it was again that maniac-like laugh that made everyone shiver.
"Finally, after all this time." Luffy's voice was deeper and heavier in an excited yet cold way as he again started wobbling around like a drunk. " Lu... Luffy." Chopper called out and Luffy just laughed and walked towards the water globe. " shishishishsihsishsi, this is gonna get fun now." he said looking up at the globe still laughing with that scary smile of his.
he again went stiff suddenly and then looked around him confused. " hu when did I walk up here?" he asked confused. " AAAAAAA, oh no, Jules." Luffy screamed and panicked when he saw the unconscious Jules inside the water globe. " hey, Jules, you okay, Ju-" he was cut off mid-sentence by himself as he grumbled in a deeper voice as if annoyed. " stop taking over and let me be in control damn it," he said to no one. everyone was more than confused now. Luffy was behaving weirdly. "shishishishishi, now where were w-" he was again cut off by himself as he again went stiff. " oi what are you doing? how come you are taking over completely." Luffy again asked no one in particular.
"This is the last time swear, once this task is done I'll completely get mixed with you and we won't be different then, this is the last task I have to do before I give you full control." he said again switching back to his scary self and said with a sigh. " hu? means I am still not in full control?" the original Luffy was back and asked. " stop switching and no, I hadn't given you full control, why do you think you turn old when you use gear 5. once I give you full control it will get better and after some more use you won't have that issue anymore, now let me see her, don't you dare switch back." the scary Luffy said sounding like he was done with the original Luffy.
And the next second it was like the original Luffy was completely gone and the one with those red eyes and sinister smile was back laughing like a psycho again. " shishishishishsi, now where were we, ah ha, Jules. finally, you are here." he said looking at the floating Juels inside the globe.
he looked at the diamond in front of him and gently touched it. " I am sorry for what happened, you guys swore to support me and help me but I wasn't there to help you. even though I was never able to come here to help you, you all made sure that when I do come back you'll be there to help me once again. I might be much much more powerful than you guys but without your help at that time I would have died way early and this time I wouldn't be able to reach the last island. I failed to protect you all dear to me then, but I promise that this time I won't let it happen. this new guy will do what I couldn't. thank you again for making sure I had your help in the future. thank you people of Oceania." he said looking at the diamond fondly with slight tears rolling down from his pink-red eyes. his was filled with pain and guilt. he thickly swallowed as he tried to hold himself together. he gently leaned his head against the pillar and sighed, calming down.
"Okay, take over now. my last task is done," he said again to one and his posture changed and the crew understood their Luffy was back. he was still in gear 5 form but completely in control now. he stared at the diamond sadly, wondering why he felt so sad. maybe it's his fruit feeling. he still needs to use it sometimes to gain complete control.
he was about to turn around to look at his crew when he sensed something coming towards him from the right and he stretched his hand just as a red laser beam came towards him. he easily held it because of his awakening. With a firm pull, the now rubber turned red laser-like light was followed by the machine it came from. it was a black ball-like machine with a single red eye from where the laser came from. with his other hand, Luffy held it and crushed it to pieces.
the whole crew got alert seeing the serious look in Luffy's eyes. more laser lights came from different directions the crew fought them off. " what are these things, I thought this island did not have civilization." Nami said fighting a laser with the help of Zeus. " I think these are the things that felt like following us through the forest. " Zoro said slicing a beam. " yeah these seem like those," Robin confirmed her hands bringing another machine and crushing it.
"We got to get out of here." Ussop said crying while fighting off the beams. " yeah but what about Jules, is she even alive being in the water so long." Robin asked. that statement made everyone worry about Jules still there in the water Globe. " Zoro, Sanji Jimbe, make sure everyone reaches Sunny safely, I'll be back with Jules." Luffy said pulling another Machine. " oi Luffy." Zoro looked at Luffy and understood the seriousness of the situation. " hey curlybrows, let's go."
with that everyone reluctantly left, the machines probably following them as Luffy didn't have to fight any more laser beams. he stood right in front of the Globe and touched it, but immediately felt weak like never before. something was wrong, he felt much more weaker than usual when he touched the water or seastone. due to sudden weakness, he felt himself lose energy rapidly and he realized his gear 5 was at its end. it was ending too soon, and he wondered why. he felt his skin get loose and his body become weak, and he slouched. he collapsed on the floor looking like an old man as his vision started getting black spots and soon everything turned black. the last thing he saw was a bright blue light surrounding Jules inside the water globe.
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here are some image references of some things from the chapter.