Undying Flame: A One Piece What If Story

Part 6: Second Skin

"Jinbe!" Luffy screamed. "That island, up there!" I looked forward, an island approaching us, but just as far away as the Marine ships were in the other direction. "If we can get to land, me and Ace can help!"

"All right." Jinbe said, his legs moving far faster than the eye could see. Rayleigh was still keeping pace with us as we neared the island's port.

We reached the port and got on solid ground, Rayleigh actually panting. "You offered a good challenge, Son of the Sea."

"I'm glad." Jinbe said as we ran from the port. I glanced back, noticing an irregularly.

"One of the ships is coming this way." I said. Everyone stopped and looked out towards the horizon. I was right. One of the forward most ships had broken off and was now approaching this island. "What do we do?"

"We could fight!" Luffy said, slamming his fist into his other hand.

"We should escape." Jinbe said. "We don't know how strong those Marines are."

"If we run, they could keep chasing us until we stop, then attack while we're tired." I said, clenching my fist. "Fight now, at least weaken them." I looked over to Rayleigh, who was breaking a stick off a tree.

"I guess you two aren't gonna stand down." Jinbe said, sighing. "Fine. We'll fight with intent to slow them down, then we escape." With that, Jinbe started swirling his hand, then threw a single punch towards the water, calling out "Ripple Blow!" Then, a path of water started shooting towards the Marine ship, which was just within Cannon range. The blow struck the bottom, tipping it slightly. With that, several cannon balls shot into the water.

"That's unfair!" Luffy yelled. "We can't fight that far off shore!"

"You can't." I said, smiling. "But I can." With that, my legs and hands turned to flames, then blasted off with them, soaring over the water and towards the ship. Once I was close enough, I started dropping, building flame up in my hand. "Fire Fist!" I threw my blast towards the ship from the top, the entire ship blocked off by it. Then, slowly, the flames disappeared into one guys hand as I landed on the front of the ship, all the Marines standing there.

"Fire Fist Ace." the man who absorbed my attack said, tossing a dial up into the air, then catching it. "Son of Gold Roger, Former 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and consumer of the Flame Flame Fruit." With that, he pulled out a katana, the Dial in his other hand. "You are quite troublesome." With that, he lifted the Dial, my Fire Fist shooting back at me. Instead of dodging, I simply became flames, the Fire Fist burning the front of the ship. While the flames collided around me, the man appeared to the side of me, his katana drawn. With a single slash, his blade opened a gash across my forearm. Then, with his foot covered in Haki, he kicked me in the chest, throwing me away from the front of the ship. I looked, up, bullets whizzing through my flames.

"That Haki is annoying." I said, standing upright. You have to imagine it as a second layer of skin. The Marine leapt at me, preparing his sword. Breathing, a black layer covered my fist. Grinning at the development, I swung my fist, calling out "Fire Fist!" The attack came out, a black aura swirling inside of it. The Marine swung his sword, the attacks clashing with sparks. As the prior attack dissipated, I leapt to the side, forming finger guns. "Fire Gun!" With that, bullets of flames came from my fingers, causing the Marine to block them with his sword. Upon a second glance, the flames were somehow swirling around the sword, seemingly due to his deflection technique.

"Flame Scyth!" he screamed, slashing his blade, the flames coming off in a crescent. My body merely absorbed the flames, the Marine running at me, his sworth resheathed. "Iai Elemental Trim!" In a quick maneuver, he dashed past me, swinging his sword at my neck. I blocked it with my arms, coated in Armament Haki. Exhaling, I felt an odd feeling, knowing that the sword wielding Marine was behind me, his sword sheathed, and the rest of the Marines were watching in horror. I opened my eyes and turned around, the Marine on his knees, his sword resheathed, panting. "No one told me you could use Haki." he said, breathing heavily between his words.

"I didn't know I could." I said, scoffing. I raised my fist, fully confident he couldn't deflect my attack. As I went to throw a Fire Fist, he jumped upwards, landing behind me. I spun to see him, my hand ready to explode into an inferno. Before I could, he swung his sword towards my neck, Armament Haki instinctively covering the area, shattering his katana. I grabbed his hand with my free hand, bent his wrist back, forcing him onto his knees, then scoffed. "You focused your Haki at the impact point, but the vibrations caused microfractures. Just in case you were wondering how that happened." With that, I launched my attack, totally engulfing the Marine, as well as half of the ship, leaving the small part towards the front, in which I stood alone, and the back part, all the Marines bunched up.

"Kenkuro lost?" one of the Marines said as I prepared to blast off with my elemental blast. "But he was unbeaten, and he's been a Marine for decades." I shot flames out of my hands and feet, abandoning the ravaged Marine vessel, looking forward towards the island. Flying back towards land, several cannons fired off. One projectile struck the docks, the group reacting. Another flew through my body, my flames morphing around it. The dense ball fell into the sea with a splash as I landed on the dirt ground, Rayleigh, Jinbe, and Luffy standing there.

"They won't be getting any closer." I said, smirking. "We should be good to run." Then, countless cannon shots went off. Looking up, cannon balls were soaring up, human shapes attached to the balls. Then, the balls detached from the people and the human shaped figures dropped into the sea. In front of us, countless Marines appeared from the sea, holding rifles covered in a shiny material.

"Coated rifles?" Rayleigh asked, then stepped forward. A blast of... something, shot out around us, numerous troops collapsing in the water, face down. "They must be some sort of experimental division." With that, several gunshots went off, bullets hitting around us, a few whizzing through my body.

"We should get going!" Luffy screamed, his body steaming as he readied a punch. "Jet Pistol!" He threw the punch out with a miniature sonic boom, striking a Marine and sending them flying away.

"Luffy!" Jinbe yelled, rotating his hand. Luffy looked behind him as he ducked, Jinbe throwing the punch, calling out "Water Jet Stream!" A torrent of water shot out of his fist, sending the Marine flying back. As I glanced around, countless troops barreled towards us, wielding rifles and swords. One of them slashed at Luffy, but I caught it in my palm, starting to heat up my hand.

"That's my brother." I said, the molten metal falling between my hands, smoke pouring between my fingers. Then, I slammed my free hand into the soldier's chest, exploding flames out of my hand. The Marine fell back, his chest completely scorched, his sword merely a hilt. Looking back at Luffy, he blew into his hand, his entire arm expanding.

"Gear Third, Gigant Pistol!" With that, he threw a punch with the oversized fist, dirt flying up, creating a blinding wall.

"Jinbe!" Rayleigh yelled, tossing Jinbe a small item. Then, he swung his stick, now coated in Armament Haki, and knocked a Marine down. "That's an Eternal Log Pose. Follow it, I'll meet up with you guys." Jinbe nodded, grabbed Luffy who exhaled, his body shrinking, and I followed him.

"I'll warn you, we're submerging." Jinbe said, clutching me and Luffy against his chest, diving into the ocean. I held my breath as we went under, that action null and void. The sea hates those who ate the Devil's Fruit. I felt my eyes get heavier as the island disappeared from view through the water.