~Men of the Seas~

Disclaimer: All One Piece characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Warnings: SPOILERS FROM MANGA CHAPTER 568.

A/N: A small tribute to Luffy. I haven't written in a long time so my expressions seemed to have gotten weirder. Nonetheless, enjoy. Please R&R. :D

He wanted it. The pain. The sweet excruciating shot of forbidden strength. His body most probably would not survive this second bout of adrenaline. But still there was no other way. He has taken his final resolve. Luffy will fight, to save Ace, even if it meant his death. He refused to lie on the ground like a wounded animal and watch helplessly as Death steals one of his precious persons away. Weak was unbecoming of him. He is Monkey D. Luffy - the next Pirate King.

Ivankov could barely control his trembling fingers as they left the boy's body. "Fool" he muttered averting his eyes to the side, crestfallen. Blood from Luffy's battle wounds stained his fingers and Ivankov felt disgusted at himself for adhering to that unreasonable request. He knew the chances of Dragon's legacy surviving this ordeal would be miniscule. The odds were against them.

Not a second later, the boy's screams pierced the skies – long sharp wails ripping free from his throat. Fighting men jerked to a pause and heads swiveled involuntarily towards the anguished voice. Acute pain seared through his wrecked body and he thrashed his limbs violently about on the ground. His vision blurred and threatened to drown him in oblivion when he heard faintly through his pain-shrouded mind, the desperate cries of a man yelling his name.

"LUFFFFFFFFFFFFY!" Ace cried hoarsely, straining against his restraints. His eyes were wide with shock and tears streamed shamelessly down his dirty face. He watched helplessly from the execution platform, not understanding what the Okama Queen had done to his brother. All he knew was that Luffy was suffering terribly.

He recognized that voice. Ace was calling for him. There was no more time to waste. He has to go back. He must not fall asleep. Biting harshly down on his lips until he bled, Luffy was barely able to choke back his screams into a strangled gurgle. Then, with sheer willpower, he clenched his fists and pulled himself up painstakingly to his feet. He wavered, stumbling slightly.

"Strawhat boy!" Ivankov protested, reaching out immediately to help the lanky youth. The hands that came to rest on his arms were shaking and burning hot. Upon seeing Luffy stood up again, the men who were daunted by his screams previously resumed fighting and the atmosphere was once more permeated with the ruthless sounds of violence.

Luffy stood there weakly holding onto Ivankov for support with his eyes shut tight. He never stopped trembling like a tuning fork as the pain continued to consume him from inside. A long moment transcended. His tremors subsided and he quietened down. When he finally opened his eyes again and took a deep breath, the strawhat boy seemed fine. As he released his grip on the Okama Queen, he softly made his thanks to him with that familiar beautiful smile. Without hesitation, Luffy stepped forward to meet the oncoming battle, looking strong and renewed like a well rested fighter.

But the older man knew better. The effects of the vigor hormones was not something that a person could recover from so fast, especially after two jabs within such a short period.

Ivankov watched the boy go – the legacy of his revolutionary comrade. Monkey D. Luffy really was his father's son, but he saw the youth even more now as a strong respectable individual himself. Ivankov bowed his head in a small salute. He really was a brave one – a man of the seas.

End.