88 Sabo's First Real Fight

Otohime and the Heavenly Demons spent 12 hours sat peacefully waiting to arrive at Enies Lobby. Finally they arrived at Day station which was their stop. It was a 10 minute walk from the station to the main gate.

When they arrived everyone was shocked by what they saw, Otohime included. They realised Enies Lobby was a giant floating Island. The gate that lead into the main island was so big that Ori realised he couldn't see the top with his eyes.

They walked up to the guards at the front gate where Queen Otohime reached inside her pocket and handed over a letter with the world government insignia on it. The guard captain took the letter and read the contents. As he read it Ori and the others could see the surprise on his face. After reading he bowed to Otohime and said politely

"Sorry for the delay your majesty, please enter!"

Just as Ori and the others were about to follow her in, the guards crossed their spears preventing them from entering.

Ori glanced at the guards blocking his way then looked at the guard captain and asked lightly.

"Why are you blocking the path of a Queen's guards?"

"Queen Otohime has permission to enter but you don't. You can wait here until she returns!"

Ryu (Silk) the big towering man dressed in a karate gi was the first to object.

"I knew we weren't allowed to enter Mary Geoise but since when are personal bodyguards of high value guests not allowed entry into Enies Lobby?"

When Ryu (Silk) asked that Ori could see that the guard captain seemed fidgety and nervous as he kept glancing to the side. It was at that moment that Ori understood the captain was under orders to prevent them from entering and protecting the Queen.

"Your highness, since your personal guards are being barred entry we're going to have to cut this trip short. Unfortunately we can't afford to send you into Enies Lobby without protection."

Just as Ori had figured out there was a conspiracy, Queen Otohime had also realised something fishy was going on.

"I understand Mr. Shunsui, it's a shame we have to leave early but better safe than sorry."

Just as she was preparing to return to Ori's side, the guards that had just let her pass now prevented her from returning. Shunsui's eyes were covered by his conical straw hat but the guard commander could still feel the samurai's eyes trained on him. He knew that if he made any sudden moves he'd more than likely lose his life.

Knowing that he couldn't afford to just fight his way out of this one, Ori said in a very Shunsui like manner.

"Mr. guard captain I understand that you must have your reasons for not allowing us entry into Enies Lobby, but surely the World Government aren't so overbearing that they'd prevent a Queen from leaving? I mean if others were to hear of this, the stellar reputation of the World Government would be dragged through the mud."

The guard commander frowned as he looked at the samurai. To be honest he didn't want to take any part in this, but the person who asked him wasn't someone he could afford to offend. Now he felt as if he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he stopped her from leaving he may well lose his life to the samurai in front of him but if he didn't, the person who gave him the order would have his head.

As he was weighing his options the main gate opened and 3 men stepped forward. In the centre was a Celestial Dragon who was dressed exactly the same as every other world noble and like the others Ori had seen till now, he too had a 'unique' hair style. The mans most eye catching feature was the giant snot bubble hanging from his nose.

On the right was a man stood at a height of 10" dressed in a white suit wearing a large red and black mask. Even though all they could see was his eyes, they could clearly feel the maliciousness in his gaze as he glared at Queen Otohime.

On the left was a young man who looked no older than 20. He was a relatively tall and slim man with arched eyebrows and long shoulder length black hair that was tied in a ponytail. He was dressed in a black suit with the sleeves rolled half way up his forearm and a black top hat with a cream sepia band running round it.

Ori looked at the group who had just arrived with a frown.

[If memory serves, that World Noble is St Charloss, the same one that Luffy ended up punching in the canon. That man on the left is a young Rob Lucci, judging from his aura he isn't even as strong as he was in the canon, but that's to be expected as we're about a decade away from the start of the story. The main threat should be that man in the mask, for some reason I can't feel anything with my haki but every cell in my body is telling me to run!]

Whilst Ori was eyeing the new arrivals St. Charloss didn't even spare Ori and the others a glance, his lecherous eyes were glued to the figure of Otohime.

"Father was right, that fish woman would make a good addition to my collection! Cipher Pol bring her to me and kill anyone who gets in the way."

The large man didn't say anything he just glanced at Lucci and nodded. Lucci understood what that look meant. He smiled sadistically as he prepared to move.

"Soru!"

The moment he moved Sabo who had been keeping an eye on him using his observation haki moved to intercept him. Even though Sabo moved after him and his speed couldn't match Lucci's, by using his haki he was still able to successfully intercept him.

He thrust his staff out aiming at Lucci's head. But Lucci's no slouch, he easily dodged the attack but was forced to move back. As he stopped, Lucci looked at the staff wielding child in shock.

[He was able to stop me even when I used 'Soru'?! Impossible! I saw his speed and although it's above average, it's only that, above average! How can someone like that stop me? Unless he's using haki… That's impossible, how old is he?!]

Lucci shook his head and decided to put his thoughts to one side and finish the task at hand.

"Soru!

Shigan!"

Lucci moved like a flash and appeared behind Sabo and stabbed out with his finger that seemed to transform into a bullet!

Sabo was able to make up for the difference in speed with the use of his haki. As soon as Lucci began the motion to stab out with his finger Sabo was already moving to evade it.

This was Sabo's first time fighting against a human opponent who was near enough his level and genuinely wanted his life. At first his movements were sloppy because of nerves but as time went on he began to calm his nerves and eventually he started enjoying the fight.

The thing that caught everyone's eye was that he was actually improving at a noticeable speed as the fight went on. At the beginning Sabo could barely dodge each attack but now even with the difference in speed he was still able to counter every once in a while.

Suddenly Sabo stopped attempting to counter and even closed his eyes as he only focused on dodging.

[So this is how observation haki should be…]

Sabo's observation haki improved to the point where he was now able to clearly see the path of each of Lucci's attack by seeing the young man's initial movements. No matter what Lucci tried, he wasn't able to even come close to landing an attack on Sabo.

[He's using me to train. This little bastard!]

"Raaah!"

Suddenly Lucci transformed into a humanoid leopard. His speed suddenly skyrocketed as he appeared directly behind his target and thrust his finger forward.

Sabo suddenly became flustered as he wasn't able to capture Lucci's movements even with the help of his haki.

[How… How did he become so fast all of a sudden?!]

As Lucci's finger pierced Sabo's shoulder, Sabo let out a loud cry in pain. He tried to jump back and put some distance between him and his assailant when he felt something soft but strong hold him by his waist. When he looked down he saw a yellow tail with black spots holding him up and 2 large yellow fists in front of him.

"Rokuga…"

Snap!

"Aaah!"

It's unclear when he moved, but Ori suddenly appeared beside the human leopard, grabbed his wrist and with the flick of his hand snapped the bone in Lucci's forearm.

Lucci automatically released his hold on Sabo and Ori glanced at the masked man before throwing Lucci's body in his direction.

"You can have him back!"