CRUNCH!!
A dull, heavy impact.
"Gah!"
Shiki felt an unimaginable force drive into him. His insides shifted. The pain blinded him. His mouth opened cigar and saliva flying.
He flew backward. A golden streak across the sky. He crashed into his own floating island.
Trees shattered. Dozens of them, trunks wide as houses. He stopped in a heap of broken wood and dust.
CRASH!
Dust rose. Trees fell. Rocks broke.
Luffy shook his fist. He watched where Shiki had fallen.
One punch would not finish a legend.
But he understood something now. Shiki's body was not exceptional.
Not like him.
Luffy's body was forged by Garp. From childhood. And Nika was a Mythical Zoan. Few could match him in pure physique.
Garp could. Some others.
And youth beats age.
Shiki had not taken care of himself like Garp had.
For Luffy, this fight was just right.
"A good fight."
On the Sunny, the crew watched.
"Zoro. Cook."
Franky's mechanical arms clicked. "We can't just watch."
Zoro's swords were out. "Those islands might have his men."
Sanji's smoke curled. "Protect the ship. Protect the ladies. Clear the small fry."
"Cough... cough..."
Shiki stood. Dust on his kimono. His stomach hurt. He grimaced.
"Painful, brat!"
"You fought Roger?" Luffy tilted his head. "Not so tough."
Shiki's face went red. Humiliation. Rage.
This brat. Every word cut.
"Jihahaha! Good! Garp's grandson is just as infuriating! Roger wasn't this Annoying!"
He had asked Roger to join him. Roger refused. Garp sent him to Impel Down. Now this boy refused too.
Were they his natural enemies?
How long had it been? Only Garp and Sengoku had made him this angry.
He was Shiki. Golden Lion. Equal to Whitebeard. Equal to Roger. He had fought Garp and Sengoku alone. Destroyed half of Marineford.
He had cut off his own legs to escape Impel Down. His power was less now. The ship's wheel in his head made him unstable. But his baseline was still Admiral level.
That was a legend's foundation.
And this rookie ,this boy who had barely been at sea,had hit him. And insulted him.
Outrageous.
But beneath the anger, something stirred.
Excitement.
He had not felt pain in years. Had not been pushed back. Rocks was dead. Roger was dead. Whitebeard was a toothless old lion.
The strong were fading. He had forgotten what this felt like.
This was being a pirate.
"Jihahaha."
Shiki wiped blood from his mouth. Luffy stood on the ground before him.
"Straw Hat. I acknowledge your strength."
He spread his arms. "Join me! With Golden Lion Shiki, this sea is ours! The Emperors! The Marines! Beneath us! The Pirate King? We can talk."
He meant it. The boy had potential. At this age, only Rocks had been like this. Rocks had killed an Admiral in his twenties.
Luffy was younger.
And the flying power on his ship that was useful. With a fighter like this, his plan would work.
Luffy touched his hat. "I said I'm going to be Pirate King. Does a king serve under someone?"
Shiki's eyes went wide.
"Roger. That's what Roger said."
He was shouting now. Spittle flying.
"Roger! Stubborn fool! I offered to join forces! If he had agreed, this sea would be ours! No pointless race for Pirate King! But he had to sail alone. Had to find that final island. And what happened? The Marines caught him! Executed him! Fool! Fool!"
He was angry. But there was something else. Something like grief.
His swords hummed. Kogarashi. Oto. The blades shone. Red-black lightning coiled around them.
His presence pressed down.
"Boy."
Shiki's voice was low. "I am generous to the strong. Join me. I will forget everything. Welcome you."
Luffy stood in the clearing. Shiki's power built around him.
He shook his head.
"No."
***
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