Chapter 48

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Chapter 48

Title: Setting Off...

…

Luffy and Ray stood opposite to each other, snow surrounded them. Each was in their fighting positions while Max, Kureha, Chopper, and the Strawhats were observing the fight from one of the mountains. 

Also, Max learned one other thing, unlike in canon, for some reason the Starwhats didn't have their permenant Log Pose that leads to Alabasta. So now Luffy's fight had become even more important as he promised one of his Permanent Log poses to Alabasta if he won against Ray. 

"Luffy won't lose," said Vivi as if trying to convince herself. And as if that was a signal, Luffy attacked. 

"<Gum-Gum: Pistol>!" Luffy stretched his hand and sent a devastating punch towards Raynare. But she didn't dodge and extended her hand.

Pow!

It sounded like a bullet had been shot when his fist hit her palm, yet Raynare didn't even flinch. Instead, she clasped Luffy's hand and tugged it.

"Uaaah!" Luffy screamed out in surprise as he flew towards Ray. She then clenched her other hand and a dark hue appeared over it

[Armament: Hardening]

Baaam!

Her fist hit Luffy head-on, and what shocked the Strawhats was the blood came out of Luffy's nose and he was sprawled on the ground. 

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" he moaned in pain.

..

"What?" Sanji was surprised. "He is supposed to be rubber, how is a punch hurting him so much?"

Max only smirked and didn't say anything. 'This should teach them to not be too arrogant and assume that Luffy is the strongest out there just because he defeated trash like Arlong and Krieg.'

Back in the fight, Raynare didn't go easy on Luffy and took this moment where he was surprised by the pain her punches caused and stepped on his stomach. If this had been anyone else the power behind that stomp would have broken their ribs and raptured their organs. Yet Luffy was made out of rubber so this didn't hurt him, but it left him out of breath as his lungs were squished. 

"So this is all you amount to?" asked Raynare, clearly showing her disappointment. "All that big talk and in the end you can barely just crawl."

Luffy's face showed his anger and he tried to punch Ray in the face, but she just tilted her head to the side, easily dodging the attack. He was at a complete disadvantage, and when he had first fought against CP9 on Water 7, a similar situation had occurred in the anime. Luffy simply wasn't strong enough or familiar fighting with people who have higher physical specs than himself. Also, the Rokushiki Techniques and Haki would be able to put him down. Plus she had seen him use his Devil fruit a lot, so Raynare had already guessed how his powers worked and made a countermeasure. 

Max saw all of this with an indifferent look. Truth be told he knew it would end like this, but he had expected Luffy to be able and at least fight back a little. After all, he was known for defeating opponents many times stronger than himself. 

'So it is still too early.' He calculated and just walked off. "Well, see ya later guys."

He kicked off the ground, and the shocked Strawhats were surprised once more when they saw Max casually jump from the mountain they observed the battle from at and towards his castle.

"These guys are damn monsters," Zoro remarked and he clenched his fist in anger. He didn't like feeling weak like this. He promised himself to train a thousand times harder than before. 

Raynare saw Max go off and sighed. She then let go of Luffy, and used <Soru>, and kicked off the snow and within an instant, she was in front of the Strawhats and the doctors. She looked at the pirate crew and saw that they were distraught. "Chopper, go and take care of Strawhat's injuries. Also-"

"HEY!! Where do you think you are going?!" Luffy's yell rang out. "Our fight isn't over yet!! So don't assume that you have won yet!!"

She sighed and for the first time in the fight used her wings, and they were gigantic in form. They could cover the ship Going Merry easily. One of the feathers shot out from her wings at incredible speeds and pierced Luffy in the stomach, and the tip of the feather came out from the other side of Luffy's body. He fell on the ground and coughed out a mouthful of blood.

Sanji immediately went to kick Raynare in the head. "Why you-"

Baam!

But Zoro used his sheathed sword to stop the attack. "Don't attack her needlessly, Luffy lost in a duel. There is no need to dishonor the meaning of this fight."

The cook calmed down and put down his leg, Ray looked at this uninterested and sighed. "Max will give you the Log Pose anyway. He plans to ally with Alabasta, and Crocodile has other plans and it would be detrimental to us. Don't be distraught by one loss, just remember to not underestimate the Grand Line."

Vivi bowed her head. "Thanks…"

Raynare shook her head. "No need to thank us. This is just more beneficial for both of us. Also, Crocodile's weakness is water, remember this, or else you won't be able to beat him."

…

Soon after the Strawhats left the island, but they had one more person sleeping on board. None of the crew noticed Ace sleeping in the hammocks when they set sail.

While this was happening, Chopper looked from the window of the castle. Seeing the pirate ship sailing away and a look of longing appeared in his eyes. He wondered if he one day would also set sail. 

"What are you waiting for?" a voice said behind him. Chopper turned around and saw Max leaning on the wall and smirking at him. "You wanna go don't you?"

"Yeah…" the young reindeer nodded. "But I have a family and home here I can't-"

"You will still have a home here when you finish your adventure and dream," Max smirked. "Kureha will scream out my ears though. Xahahaha~."

Chopper immediately attempted to go and get in one of the boats to try and catch up with the Strawhats. But Max grabbed him by the nape of his neck. "Woah there~ you won't be able to catch them that easily… but…"

He then crocked his hand backward like a baseball pitcher, but instead of a ball, there was Chopper. The young doctor felt a sinking feeling of fear in his stomach. "I would rather-"

And then Max threw him and Chopper flew through the air like a ragdoll. His screams of fear were heard through the island as a ball of fur flew towards the going Merry. Max narrowed his eyes for a better field of vision,  and he smirked when he saw the young reindeer land on the ship. "Damn I am good."

He wasn't worried about Chopper being injured as he had entered Guard Point midway through the flight. 

Siddenly Raynare came out of the shadows, her dark feathers allowed her to hide easily in the dark once she entered hybrid form. "Did everything go as you predicted?"

"Some parts did, some didn't," said Max with a smile on his face. "Also, we will be leaving the Drum Kingdom. Kureha and one person of her choice will rule while we are away. I have told her what to do when certain situations happen."

She nodded, understanding that the Drum Kingdom wasn't the limit of his ambition. For some reason, Luffy's arrival here was the event that he had been waiting for. 

___

At the same time, in the New World, a small ship was sailing towards one of the first islands and an annoyed Negan was in the ship. And the crux of his annoyance was the mermaid in the same ship as him.

"Why do you have such an annoyed look on your face? Are you hungry?" asked Mero with a smile on her face. "I can call some fish over."

"Ugh…" he groaned in annoyance. "I regret taking you with me…"

Negan had started his search in the New World since here is when one of Jinbe's subordinates had found him. 

…

A/N: I just learned that America (U.S) actually has a plan in case a Zombie Virus came about. CONPLAN 8888 also known as Counter-Zombie Dominance is a U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Command CONOP document that describes a plan for defending against zombies.