The Jackal Guardian's Ascent

Chapter 33

"Robin! We finally found you!" Luffy shouted.

"Luffy, where the hell have you been?!" Zoro asked, angry that his captain had run off without telling anyone.

"Robin! I'm so glad I got to see you again!" Chopper told her.

"Hold on. What's going on here?" Nami asked.

"Well, well, well..." Lucci said to himself.

"Straw Hat...Paulie!!" Iceberg managed to get out, still laying on the floor.

"Mr. Iceberg?! What...what on Earth is going on here?!" Paulie asked, confused about the situation.

"Paulie, you idiot, why didn't you run?!" Iceberg asked him.

"What's going on here?!" Paulie wheezed out. "It almost looks like you guys are the ones who're trying to assassinate him?! Why are you dressed like that?!"

"Paulie, the truth is, we work for government intelligence." Lucci admitted. "If we apologize, you'll forgive us, won't you? All those days we spent together, building ships from dawn until dusk...we've been comrades. I know this is sudden, and you may not believe us, so should I... smash Iceberg's face in to prove it?!"

"Quit messing around! That's enough!!" Paulie wheezed. "The voice I just heard, coming from the guy with the bull mask... it was your voice, wasn't it?! All this time you could talk just fine!! I'll teach you to make fun of me!!"

"Paulie, stop!!" Iceberg pleaded.

"Really, that's what you're mad about it?" Anu asked, confused.

"Pipe Hitch Knives!!" Paulie launched a line of rope, with a number of knives tied up in intervals, at Lucci in a fit of rage. Unfortunately, Lucci caught it barehanded and closed the distance between him and Paulie in an instant.

"Finger Pistol." Lucci's finger penetrated Paulie right around his right lung, incapacitating him in an instant. "Haven't you learned your less yet?! Paulie!" Lucci pulled his finger from Paulie's body, causing him to collapse to a knee.

"Why?! Why would you guys...?!" Paulie managed to get out.

"Don't try to tough it out." Lucci told Paulie. "It's pointless to resist. We're trained in an art that goes beyond anything you can imagine! A martial art which, at the culmination of training, makes the human body equal to a weapon. Six Powers. A master of this art is as strong as 100 men."

"Why...are you people...?!" Paulie asked, still in immense pain.

"Well, never mind. Unfortunately, my friend, you were going to be eliminated anyway." Lucci told Paulie as he stood over him. 

"Lucci!! You dirty-!" Iceberg began to say before he was interrupted.

"Stop it, you guys!!" Luffy interrupted as he launched a kick at Lucci. 

Lucci caught the kick with a single hand and stared down Luffy, waiting for his next move.

"Gum-Gum..." Luffy began to wind up an attack.

"Iron Body." Lucci stood there, prepared for whatever attack Luffy was about to dish out.

"...Gatling Gun!" Luffy unleashed a furious barrage of punches at Lucci, all of which landed but did nothing. "Huh?! It's not affecting him at all!!"

"What a pain. Shave." Lucci disappeared in an instant.

"Huh?! He disappeared!! Where did he-GAH!!" 

"Finger Pistol." Lucci reappeared right before Luffy and jabbed his finger right at Luffy's throat, sending him flying against the near wall. "If you were normal, you'd have a hole in your neck. You'd have died instantly, rubber man."