Chapter XV: Nightmare Training

Luffy fell to his knees in exhaustion. His lungs struggled to decide between the pain that Luffy's heavy breathing brought upon them with every intake and the pain of continued oxygen deprivation should Luffy ease up on his inhales. His entire body was lead. He stared down at the unanimated form of Marshall D. Teach in shame. He'd killed him. He had crushed the life out of the man's body with his own two hands. He'd killed him. He shook himself out of his shock. He'd had no choice. The bastard would have healed again unless he ended it. He had no choice…

Luffy coughed up a clump of blood, and a wave of searing pain shot through his lungs again. Blackbeard had been a monster. With Marco's MythicalZoan added to old man Whitebeard's Paramecia and his own Logia, he just seemed so unbeatable. But here he lay, brought to death by his own ineptitude as a Haki user. The fight between the 1st division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and the former member of the 2nd division had been close. But close wasn't good enough. Marco's death that day didn't just signify the loss of friends and allies for Luffy. It had signified the sway of an era for the world. What would have happened if Marco had won that fight and the rest of the Whitebeard\ hadn't been crushed? One could only speculate.

Zoro and Sanji ran up to him in a rush. "Luffy, we have to get out of here!" Sanji shouted. "They're coming, it's an ambush! We have to move!"

But he couldn't. He couldn't move. Even if he could, he felt as if the slightest movement would kill him. He should have been used to the feeling by now. But every other time he had felt it, they had been safe. In the past, when he finally dropped to his knees and his mass produce of adrenaline ran dry, his complete and utter exhaustion was always accompanied by a sense of sweet relief at having accomplished his task. Now, the only emotion he felt was dread.

The admirals of Marine Headquarters were coming. They'd been waiting them out, and now they were coming. And there were three of them. Two admirals and the fleet admiral himself. Three fucking admirals would be a commitment if they were fresh. As they were now…their dread wasn't unfounded. But they couldn't stop now. They were so close. They had to make it out.

I couldn't help them.

The battle that ensued on the sea leading up to last island of the New World changed everything. It was truly the turning point of an era. It just wasn't what the Straw Hats had had in mind when they'd thought about it. Akainu, Kizaru, and Ryokugyu were relentless. They tried to escape on the ship at first with a Coup de Burst, but the admirals would have none of it. They soon found themselves far too preoccupied with staying alive to even think about escaping, their only choice being to fight. Zoro and Sanji would have actually had the latter two admirals at disadvantages despite their own fatigue if they weren't constantly distracted by the peril that the other Straw Hats were in.

I couldn't protect them.

Luffy tried to fight Akainu. He really did. But his body was running on…no, he didn't even know what it was running on anymore. He didn't even know how he was still standing, much less attempting to ward off volcanic eruptions. He could barely feel the burns anymore. His body was numb. His senses were numb. And as the battle continued, his spirit numbed as well.

I couldn't save them.

Six times Zoro and Sanji lost their heads and attempted to ditch their fights in favor of running to the side of a fallen comrade, and six times they were rewarded with pierced organs and crushed bones. Six times Luffy lacked the strength to even let out an agonized wail. Chopper was the first to fall, his desperate rumble having left him defenseless. Usopp was next, and then Nami, Robin, Brook, and Franky all followed. After half an hour, six were left standing.

Zoro and Sanji locked eyes, and a long conversation seemed to pass between them in a few seconds as Zoro's expression changed from desperation, to fury, to agony, and finally settled on resigned acceptance. Luffy could no longer resist enough to refute the plan the two had forced upon him. Sanji held the fort against two winded admirals and one fresh one as Zoro grabbed Luffy and fired off one last wind slash as he fled.

The admirals dodged, mindlessly jumping off the small, restricted space of the Sunny's deck, and Sanji quickly followed. The Marine warship that Ryokugyu attempted to land on was fried by Sanji's explosive kick, and after one last charge in the name of Mindless Justice, the Devil Fruit user was kicked into the sea. Akainu and Kizaru lost their heads for a split second, and that was the deciding factor. They charged Sanji, knowing they couldn't recover their comrade without losing this fight themselves. Whatever mobility their Devil Fruits allowed them couldn't compare to Sanji's Sky Walk, and he relentlessly kept them at bay despite the damage his body was taking from the laser and magma blasts. "Live on, Luffy! If you ever gave a shit about any of us, you'll live on!" Luffy's eyes were forced closed by the weights of his exhaustion, and in that moment, his entire world was the dimming aura of his crewmate in his last act of martyrdom. The Thousand Sunny shot off into the atmosphere with a Coup de Burst, and Luffy knew no more.

I let them die.

Luffy woke up in a cold sweat and immediately shot upright in his bed. It took his brain a moment to process the concept of a nightmare and another to convince himself that the flashback had been just that. The dreams were always so vivid. Even the pain that his mind invented didn't wake him up. He raised his hand over bloodshot eyes and slowly climbed out of bed. Taking a deep breath, he walked out the door and onto the deck of the Going Merry. He spotted Zoro leaning over the railing, green hair following the path of the cold night wind. Luffy walked up beside him and stared out over the sea, still trying to get the images out of his head.

"Couldn't sleep?" Zoro asked. Luffy shook his head. "Which one of them was it this time?"

"All of them," he replied. Zoro was silent for a minute.

"It won't happen again. We're here for a reason," Zoro reminded him. That reminder alone seemed to give Luffy strength, and he nodded. For a long while, they silently looked out over the dark waters, leaving each other to their thoughts.

Luffy finally spoke up. "Hey, Zoro? How strong do you think you are right now?"

Zoro thought for a moment. "A little stronger than I was after our two years of training, I guess," he answered. "How about you?"

"About the same," Luffy replied honestly.

They were thinking the same thing, but Zoro voiced it. "We really need to get into shape," he said.

"Not just us," Luffy replied. Zoro shot him a curious look.

"Tomorrow, we start Haki training with the rest of the crew," he said. Zoro blinked.

"Already?"

"The sooner the better."

An excited grin made it's way onto Zoro face. "Sounds like fun."

Luffy smiled despite the lingering tension in his mind and body. "Go easy on them," he said as he turned and walked away.

"No promises."

Nami, Usopp, and Sanji stared at Luffy and Zoro in confusion. "Haki?" Usopp repeated. "Those techniques that you use? Can we really learn those Luffy?"

Luffy nodded. "Zoro has mastered them too. There are three types of Haki. One is Conqueror's, which isn't an option for you guys unless I've completely missed something, but anyone can learn the other two. I'll demonstrate those now. Which of you wants to volunteer?"

Nami and Usopp both turned to Sanji, who shrugged and walked up to Luffy. Luffy turned around so that his back was facing Sanji. "Try to kick me. As many times as you want."

Sanji raised an eyebrow. Is this dipshit serious?

"Yes, Sanji, I'm serious. And I'm not a dipshit. Not unless I want to be."

Sanji blinked in surprise. Did he just—

"Read my mind?" Luffy finished. "Not exactly. If you want an explanation, you better start kicking." Sanji, who was extremely curious now, started doing just that. He started with one swift kick, expecting Luffy to get shot overboard, but Luffy swayed out of the way of his kick, coming back to his initial position once Sanji brought his foot back. Sanji frowned, and then kicked three more times. Three more times Luffy dodged. A tic developed over Sanji's eye. He attempted to sweep Luffy's legs only for Luffy to jump over his foot, and then launched into a full on barrage of kicks, which were all dodged as well. Finally, he stopped.

"This game sucks," he said plainly.

"It's no game," Luffy said, turning around. "That was Observation Haki. It allows you to sense a living being's aura as it radiates off of them. The most obvious use of this skill is that you can sense where people are, and the most practical use is arguably that you can predict what a person is going to do next in a fight before they even start doing it. But those are just the most basic uses. Once you get really good, you can sense things like the type of being, its strength, and its emotions. With full mastery, you can even hear individual thoughts as they go through someone's mind if you focus hard enough."

The Straw Hats were silent as they took in this information. Sanji himself was getting kind of excited thinking about the potential of such a skill. "So, you really were reading my mind earlier?" Sanji asked in amazement.

Luffy shook his head. "It's not really reading your mind. I can't tell what you were thinking a minute ago, just what you're thinking when I listen in. And even then, it's a much more vague feeling than that. It's not as if I'm hearing what you're thinking. It's more like I'm feeling what your emotions are with extreme precision. People who train in Observation Haki, along with training to suppress their auras so that they're more difficult to keep track of, usually train to control their emotions so that it's harder to know what they're thinking. I'm not much good at that, though. But anyway, that's Observation Haki. Next." Luffy pointed to his forehead with his thumb. "Kick me in the head as hard as you can. I won't move this time." Sanji didn't question it this time, his curiosity getting the better of him, and he spun around on his palm for momentum before kicking Luffy's head full on with a Concasse. Luffy didn't budge. Sanji grimaced and got up.

"How'd it feel?" Luffy asked.

"Like I was kicking a steel wall. Hurt like hell," Sanji replied.

"Right. That's Armament Haki," Zoro cut in. "It allows one to coat a body part in an invisible suit of armor to strengthen both attack and defense. Unlike Observation Haki, which is pure mental training, this is half mental and half physical. Your mind and body have to be in synch for it to work. Doubt is your worst enemy. Even a true master of Armament Haki can lose to a novice at it if he's hesitating. Unlike Conqueror's Haki, which is fully powered by one's will, Armament is a power that's fueled partially by will and partially by bodily training. Once you get good at it, you can imbue weapons and other objects with it, and with enough mastery, you can use armament hardening."

Luffy brought his arm up at his side, and the Straw Hats watched as it darkened to a shiny obsidian black. "That lets you harden the entire mass of a body part or weapon rather than just coating it, making it preferable in some situations. If you're using Haki on something extremely large, like a giant inflatable limb, go with hardening if you can." Luffy almost laughed as Nami, Usopp, and Sanji looked at Zoro like he was an idiot.

"Usually for strengthening solid objects, hardening is the best choice. It's not an option when strengthening non-solid or immaterial attacks though." Zoro turned back to Luffy, who was thoroughly impressed. Zoro was good at explaining the stuff that Luffy had ingrained without really thinking about it. "Did I miss anything?"

"Devil Fruit defenses," Luffy stated, and Zoro nodded, giving him the floor. "Sometimes you'll run into Devil Fruit users who can change the nature of their very bodies. Sanji, you might kick someone only for your leg to go right through them and burn in the process when they turn into fire itself. Armament Haki allows you to bypass Devil Fruit defenses and attack the dormant human body. I'm actually a pretty good example. When Nami masters Armament Haki, I'll be in deep shit." Usopp snickered at this while Nami looked at him indignantly.

"So, that's Haki," Luffy finished. "During our journey, Zoro and I will be teaching it to you guys so you can learn it early. If you master it soon, it will be a huge advantage in the early stages, but once we get further into the Grand Line, it will be an absolute must. Most people who enter the second half of the Grand Line and survive either know Haki or learn it sink or swim. Most people specialize in one of the two types."

"Um, Luffy," Nami began hesitantly, "is there any reason why you're teaching this to all of us?" Luffy smiled at her reassuringly.

"If you're worried that you don't have what it takes, don't be. I've seen what you guys are made of firsthand. You can do it." Nami smiled softly back at him after hearing this. "But as for the reason, I won't lie to you. Our journey is going to get dangerous. There will come a time when every member of our crew will need to be able to defend themselves against powerful opponents. I can't be everywhere." Nami and Usopp's eyes widened at this revelation, and they both adopted focused expressions.

"So, then, when do we start?" Sanji asked.

Luffy thought he detected a hint of eagerness in his voice. He grinned. "Now."

It was an interesting training session. Nami checked the Log Pose every now and then, but most of their time was dedicated to getting the concepts down. Basic Observation Haki training involved putting on a blindfold and trying to move out of the way of an approaching object. Luffy decided to get creative and have them play tag with each other with blindfolds on. That was the most hilarious disaster he'd ever had the pleasure of directly causing. By the time Zoro called for them to stop, they were all pretty pissed off. Especially Nami.

Armament Haki training usually involved taking blows from a sparring partner head on without dodging until you build up a resistance to them, but Sanji would never agree to Zoro hitting Nami, so they basically set up training dummies and had the three punch them with their bare hands. Eventually their fists would build up a resistance to the hard material…eventually.

By the end of the day they were all mentally exhausted, the result being…absolutely nothing. But Luffy had expected that. No one had a breakthrough on his or her first day of training. It simply didn't happen, unless the power was already awakened on the battlefield.

"Good first day, everyone," Luffy commented. "And don't be discouraged. I felt like I was making zero progress when I first started, but this practice will pay off soon enough." He smiled cheerfully and he walked away along with Zoro, leaving the three in an exhausted heap on the deck of the ship.

Luffy frantically jumped behind his cover, analyzing his surroundings and options at speeds that made his brain want to go on strike. He could jump out and try to land a hit before he was hit himself, but he knew his opponent would be waiting for him. That was asking for trouble. He considered his other options. Armament Haki would do him no good. If he took one more hit he was done. Using his Devil Fruit was out of the question right now, so he couldn't even stretch. What did he have left? A plan quickly formed in his mind and he smiled vindictively. I've got you now. He only had one shot at this. His opponent was in almost as bad a shape as he was in right now. He would have to slow him down long enough to land the first hit.

He rose up from behind his cover, and saw the sign of his opponent's assault, the tensing of his arm muscles. He quickly let out a burst of Conqueror's Haki. It wouldn't be enough to stop him, but it would slow him down long enough for him to dodge and end this. His opponent faltered, and Luffy sidestepped the threatening projectile that came a second too late. He coated his own weapon of choice in Armament Haki and hurled it at his opponent. Only the man's face was visible over his cover, but the hardened projectile shot straight through his defense and hit him right in the chest, stunning him long enough for Luffy to get two more shots to his face. The man's eyes widened as he realized it was over.

"Hah! Take that!" Luffy shouted. "That's 10-9 Usopp. You lose!" Usopp stood up and pointed accusingly at him.

"You cheated, you bastard! You used that Conqueror whatever thing on me!" he shouted indignantly.

"Oh, come on, Usopp," Luffy said in annoyance. "You banned me from using Soru, Geppo, Observation Haki, and my Devil Fruit. You have to give me something to work with here."

"Do I look like I have any of those things at my disposal?" Usopp grumbled. Luffy and Usopp's snowman making contest had quickly led to a snowman vandalizing contest, which in turn had escalated to an all out snowball fight in which Usopp had the advantage due to his higher ground, sniping skills, and discipline to save up his ammo rather than randomly chucking snow all over the place and yelling Snow Gatling like Luffy. "I still say you cheated," Usopp complained. "Best two out of three."

"You're on! I'll beat you three out of four if I have to!" Luffy yelled.

"You mean three out of five," Usopp corrected.

"Oh, yeah? Well, guess what?

"What?" Usopp asked lazily.

Nami watched from inside the ship in exasperation as Luffy tackled Usopp into a pile of snow. "How can those two have so much energy in this weather? Hell, how can the weather even be like this? It was sunny 10 minutes ago." Suddenly a large hunk of snow hit the window, rattling it and startling her. Annoyed, she opened the door. "If you two have time to play in the snow, why don't you make yourselves useful?

"Oh, yeah? Well, what about you?" Luffy said with a pout. "Shouldn't you be checking the Log Pose?"

"I checked it two minutes ago!" Nami yelled.

"A lot can happen in two minutes," Luffy replied. "Usopp just lost his 2 point lead in two seconds. Something like our ship getting turned around isn't anywhere near as miraculous as that." Nami looked at him as if he was an idiot and walked back inside to check the Log Pose before shrieking.

"Turn our ship around 180 degrees! We're going the wrong way!" Usopp looked at her skeptically, but Sanji just shrugged and obliged. "How did that even happen? The waves have been completely steady. For our ship to get turned around like that…"

"The Grand Line sure is interesting," Luffy commented. As if to challenge his nonchalance, the wind suddenly picked up, and a storm seemed to brew out of nowhere. Nami quickly took command and the crew took action, closing the sails and constantly changing their course to account for the supernatural waves that seemed to throw them off at every turn.

"Iceberg, dead ahead!" Usopp shouted.

"I got it! Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy's punch shattered the iceberg and the ship sailed through without a scratch, only to be taken off course again. After moving the rudder a few more times and then supervising it to make sure their course was steady, they finally unfurled the sails again. The storm left as spontaneously as it had come, and all but Luffy and Zoro collapsed to the deck, Luffy having laughed through it all, and Zoro having slept through it all despite Nami's several shouts for him to wake the hell up. Finally, he yawned tiredly and opened his eyes. He took a look around and frowned.

"What, sleeping on the job? Look alive, guys." Nami slowly turned her head towards the hypocritical and borderline narcoleptic swordsman and stomped her way over to him. There was a large splash behind the Going Merry.

"Man overboard!" Usopp shrieked, and Luffy started laughing again. Zoro climbed back onto the ship as Nami stomped away angrily.

"What's her problem? She eat some bad meat or something?" he asked, yawning again.

"Impossible. No such thing," Luffy said firmly.

"Land ho!" Usopp's shout brought everyone to the front of the ship, where they all stared out over the horizon at their stop in the Grand Line.

Luffy grinned in excitement. "This is gonna be fun."