One Piece Fan Fiction / Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Cruise ❯ Clash! - It All Comes Tumbling Down ( Chapter 28 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own One Piece, Teen Titans, or any characters or elements contained within. I believe these can be credited to the geniuses Eiichiro Oda [author and artist of OP], Marv Wolfman and George Perez [respective author and artist of The New Teen Titans comic of the eighties], and Glen Murakami and his talented crew [the staff of the Teen Titans animated series, the Titans version which this story is based off.] Thanks for developing these wonderful characters I have the pleasure of using in this story!

 

Any original characters, however, belong to Pivitor. Remember it!

 

 

The Ultimate Cruise:
One Piece meets Teen Titans

 

Chapter 28: Clash!—It All Comes Tumbling Down

 

Power was everything to the man named Iso.

 

It was the only thing in his life he'd ever had to be proud of. His abilities of Konki Konki were where he rested his faith, as they'd never let him down. People, even the most faithful, could disappoint—but his power was absolute.

 

Or so he thought.

 

Now Iso was on the ground, trembling as he attempted vainly to activate his abilities. Unfortunately for him, they had been completely nullified when he absorbed power from the ocean straight into his body. Even his supposedly `absolute' abilities shared a weakness to water with all Devil's Fruits.

 

So, he had been crippled by two teenagers.

 

“Slade never goes into a plan without considering every possibility,” Robin explained from his vantage overlooking Iso. “Before he had even stolen the Stone of Iso Toa he had created an energy siphoning system through the entire city and into the ocean, all to supercharge the stone to invincible levels!

 

“After managing to access Slade's computer system I used the siphoning machine to absorb power from the ocean and download it into a special disk I had created—instead of exploding or freezing, I could download different uses to it on the go!” The Titan snickered. “Hadn't created the device to connect it to yet, but Slade took care of that for me!”

 

Iso was trembling, so frantic that he barely heard the explanation. He moved his hands trying to use some tiny speck of his power, but nothing happened. Losing hope, his hand dropped—and landed on a shiny metallic object resting on his waist.

 

Monkey D. Luffy was still laughing as he got to his feet. “Too bad red guy,” he smiled. “Looks like it's finally time for me to kick your ass for good!”

 

“Not just yet!” Iso screamed, his voice still wavering but his resolve becoming solid as he drew the Eehuah sword from his side in a lighting fast motion that sent rippling waves of crimson soaring for the rubberman. Blood flew from Luffy's chest as he fell backwards, just narrowly avoiding being cut in two.

 

“No!” Robin exclaimed as he pulled explosive disks from his belt. “I forgot he took Eehuah back from Ian!”

 

The crippled man pressed on, constant streams of energy soaring from his weapon. “See?! I knew my power would never let me down! I created this sword to cover for my weakness to the sea—I'll finish you with my Eehuah and regain my abilities! You've done nothing—there's no way you could against my power!”

 

Luffy somersaulted between two blades but before he could even land a whip of crimson energy ensnared his leg, and Iso slammed him against a rock. From atop the alcove a staggering Robin, still half-dead from the attacks his opponent had landed, managed to launch the last of his explosives, now actually effective against the de-powered powerhouse!

 

The snare around the rubberman disappeared as he went tumbling across the cavern floor, and with one sideswipe of the ancient relic Iso had created a crimson wall between himself and the disks. As its owner smirked the wall exploded from the tip of the Eehuah, barreling into the cliff and sending the Boy Wonder reeling.

 

“One down,” Iso gloated, “and one to—”

 

“Rubber Stamp!”

 

Bones in Iso's shoulder snapped as his opponent's foot tore into it, sending him spinning backwards. Luffy charged, winding his arm as he grew closer. They locked eyes, each exchanging glares full of rage.

 

And, in an instant, Luffy had run into a pillar of crimson. As he fell backwards the pillar retracted, and Iso—standing atop it—converted it into a slide as he soared towards his opponent.

 

Iso's slide hit the ground, the flaring energy wrapping around him until just a constant stream of red barreled for Luffy. As the pirate regained his footing his eyes bulged out of his head, and in a second both arms had stretched far behind him. “Rubber…”

 

“…BAZOOKA!”

 

With a snap both his palms hit the ground, and Luffy was sent soaring far above the comet of crimson. Of course, at this point nothing could deter the bloodthirsty Iso, and as he dug his heels into the floor his attack kept going, following the direction of the Eehuah as it again aimed for the mid-air rubberman.

 

Gritting his teeth Luffy flipped, sending another bazooka blast into the ceiling; as Iso's attack obliterated much of the already battered roof Luffy soared like a rocket to the floor, mere feet in front of his opponent.

 

“Perfect!” he exclaimed. “Rubber Gattling!”

 

As the storm of punches drew close Iso's eyes grew wide, but in his hands already rested all the defense he needed. One swipe of the Eehuah surrounded him with a crimson bubble, and as Luffy's raging fists pounded into it the ball countered by pumping his rubber body full of sparking energy.

 

Energy still sizzled down the boy as the bubble retracted, revealing Iso sending more crimson blades his way. As Luffy finally regained his bearings he instantly lost them again as he fell beneath the oncoming attacks; however, in the process he managed to launch his arm, which ensnared the leg of the white-haired man.

 

“Rubber…”

 

His arm snapped as Luffy retracted towards Iso. Sending his body into a spin the boy's legs flew to the side, becoming nothing but a blur.

 

“…PROPELLER!”

 

All energy surrounding Eehuah's ancient blade instantly dissipated as Iso raised it above his head, aiming to sever his opponent's arm in one swift instant. Even Luffy wasn't dense enough to miss those intentions and instantly let his arm retract; this sent the rubberman spinning across the floor, standing on his hands as if he was about to perform Sanji's helicopter kicks.

 

A grin leapt to life as the pirate captain remembered his cook's techniques. “Rubber Whip!” Spinning on his hands, Luffy's elongated legs whirled forward into vicious kicks, and Iso's sword became a rapid blur as he deflected them with every bit of his energy.

 

As the Eehuah attempted to swipe aside a kick the rubberman's sandal latched to the edge; just moments later it slipped off, but the attachment was just long enough for Luffy's leg to retract, sending the boy soaring towards his opponent with enough momentum to stop a rampaging rhino in its tracks.

 

With one panicked motion Iso erected a crimson wall between the two, and as Luffy's fist tore into the defense it shattered, the recoil sending both warriors reeling backwards. Iso gritted his teeth as his now-feeble body was blown across the floor, but his rubber opponent had landed without giving it a second thought and was already charging forward for more.

 

However, Iso wasn't going to have any of it! “No you don't!” he cried as he swung Eehuah furiously, at this point desperate to keep himself out of the range of Luffy's immense power. A blade of crimson energy soared for the boy's head, but Luffy slapped it aside with barely any thought.

 

Sheathing the ancient weapon, Iso growled. Energy from the sword radiated through the sheath, turning the man into a beacon of light in the dark cave. “I said…”

 

Iso drew the Eehuah in an amazingly fast swipe, and though Luffy was far out of range of the actual blade there was no escaping the concentrated beam of crimson that exploded from the sheath and plowed into his gut like a battering ram.

 

Digging his feet into the dirt and responding with a primal growl of his own, Monkey D. Luffy swung both arms across his chest, completely annihilating the attack. It had barely even slowed his charge.

 

Still, the crimson energy exploding from the Eehuah proved that the last several attempts had merely been distractions.

 

“…I said no you don't!” Iso screamed as nine separate blasts tore into the Straw Hat Pirate, sending him rolling backwards. Blood leaked from numerous wounds across his body, but he rose with dogged perseverance, his teeth clenched so hard his entire body was shaking.

 

Laughing to himself, Iso drew a circle around himself in the rock with the tip of his weapon. Energy soared from the outline, surrounding him like a ring of fire.

 

“Even against a man reduced to the strength of a typical human you fare so badly?” Iso taunted as the power blazing around him grew. “Though I guess it's no surprise—even such a small fraction of my power would decimate men far stronger than you!”

 

Then the energy surrounding the man exploded, the cavern nearly filling with crimson until the power shrank and transformed. Floating around him Luffy was faced with the sight of half a dozen replications of Iso, forged from pure energy. The rubberman seemed neither impressed nor scared. He simply frowned.

 

“You should give up now!” Iso's voice boomed from each of the giant crimson constructs—hiding which one he was truly hiding within. “It won't save your life, but it will sure give me pleasure!”

 

Luffy frowned. “Like Hell!”

 

This was met by hysterical laughter from the Iso imitations. “Please! You stand no chance! Why would you possibly keep fighting me?!”

 

“Cause,” Luffy growled, “I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!”

 

The boy was met with incredulous stares. “To do that, I can't let you disgrace the name of Gold Roger!” he continued. “And I can't let you rule these worlds either! There's no way I'm gonna do anything but kick your ass!”

 

Suddenly all the Iso-shaped clones lunged forward for an attack. “Nonsense!” they cried. “Even in my weakened state you're no match for me—certainly not king material! There's no way to tell which one of me is the real one in time—you'll be skewered!”

 

Six giant beings made of crimson energy swiped for Luffy, but he just stood there—almost as if he was frozen. However, in the space of a second he lashed forward, his arm soaring straight through one of the clones.

 

And a second later all of them vanished as the Eehuah sword spiraled to the ground, embedding itself in stone. Iso, meanwhile, was held in Luffy's grip, and with the snap of his rubber limb pulled to the boy's face.

 

The former-powerhouse—now officially helpless—trembled. “H-how?! Those clones were all identical!”

 

“Nuh-uh.” A grin spread from one side of Luffy's face to the other. “Only one of `em smelled like hot sauce!”

 

As quickly as he'd been grabbed the despairing Iso was let loose from Luffy's grip as he span.

 

“Rubber BULLET!”

 

Blood exploded from Iso's mouth like a geyser as the boy's right fist tore into his stomach, and he was hurled across the room. Still, he was alive—conscious. Iso kept his senses steady—he could still win!

 

`My powers will be back any second!'

 

“PISTOL!”

 

Now teeth clattered across the floor as a left hook was added to the damage Iso had taken. However, despite his loss of power, he hadn't been defeated yet.

 

`It's only a matter of moments!'

 

Snapping back, Luffy's arm wrapped around the man's neck and pulled him forward. Laughing, the rubberman launched his other arm to the side.

 

“SICKLE!”

 

The outstretched limb clotheslined Iso in the chest, shattering each and every one of his ribs.

 

`No! Can't die yet!'

 

Iso became ensnared in a whirl of rubber appendages as Luffy threw his head backwards, his neck stretching across the cavern.

 

“BELL!”

 

The sound of a bell being struck echoed across the battlefield, shattering both rock and the target's very skull. Yet, his brain was untouched.

 

`Any second now!'

 

Luffy's arms retracted as the boy started to spin backwards, winding himself up.

 

“BOW GUN!”

With a snap he unwound, his head again banging into Iso and sending him soaring into the ceiling with a crunch. He was stuck in his own caricature for a few seconds, before he started to fall to the ground.

 

`Any second and it'll save me!'

 

As Luffy finally uncurled into a normal stance he threw his leg into the air, and as it neared its limit his foot hovered just over Iso's chest.

 

“AXE!”

 

Another resounding snap sent Luffy's foot plowing into the ground with enough force to demolish a building—or in this case, a man. Iso's body was useless as he lay pulverized in a small hole on the ground. Still he held on valiantly, but for the first time, doubt crossed his mind.

 

`Won't it?'

 

Meanwhile the force of his attack hurled Luffy to the ceiling, and somersaulting through the air he rested his feet against the roof. With a scream he pushed off, spiraling like a football as his limbs span behind him, giving the impression of a shooting star and its tail.

 

“RUBBER COMET!”

 

The comet hit the ground, the very force creating a crater that encompassed the entire floor of the cavern—all centered around the point of impact, Iso's body.

 

As the smoke cleared Luffy pulled himself to his feet, brushing dirt from his shoulder. With a growl he looked to the figure at his feet—Iso was finally defeated, having been beaten utterly beyond recognition.

 

“See?” Luffy growled with disdain. “I am king material!”

 

 

 

Coughing, Robin finally mustered enough strength to pull himself to his feet. All the lost blood and strength had made it difficult to begin with, and the fight between Luffy and Iso and the self-destructing battlefield hadn't made it any easier.

 

Again the ground beneath him trembled, and the Titan stumbled a bit in his step. `No! I can't stop! I gotta help Luffy!'

 

However, only a second later Robin witnessed his friend soaring towards the ceiling, in total control of his fight. With a cry Luffy spiraled to the ground, and the cavern rocked as the floor exploded into a deep crater.

 

`Luffy!' Robin scrambled to the edge of the cliff, unsure of what to expect. He was greeted by the sight of Luffy standing next to Iso's body. He was beaten beyond recognition, while the rubberman—though rather bloody himself—stood victorious.

 

“Hey Luffy!” he cried. “You okay down there?!”

 

“Yeah,” Luffy mumbled as he pulled the crimson sheath from Iso's waist. “I'm fine.” The pirate walked a few feet and retrieved the Eehuah before jumping up to join his friend.

 

Robin raised an eyebrow, perplexed by his friend's unusual sullen attitude. “You sure?” he probed. “Y'know, we don't know what happened between him and Gold Roger. Cheating? That can't happen in battle. There are a million different explanations for how he might have won or why he did what he did, but regardless he won, and that's all that matters right?

 

“It's the same here. It doesn't matter that we weren't stronger than Iso—we still won.” Robin smiled. “I know you'll become King of the Pirates some day.”

 

Luffy waved his hand. “I know all that,” he said quickly. “I'm just upset that I didn't get to fight that mask guy again!”

 

As Robin's jaw dropped in sheer disbelief the pirate sheathed the mystical sword he held in his hand. “I figured that guy Zoro doesn't like would want this back, right?”

 

“Yeah,” the Boy Wonder replied without giving it much thought. He knew all the insecurities that would be running through his mind if he was Luffy, yet Luffy didn't care about any of them—he just wanted to fight more!

 

The detective looked over his shoulder at the main console. `Yet, he reminded me of what's still bothering me. Slade…can't be dead! We haven't settled things yet!'

 

Suddenly the console was shattered as the alcove it resided in tumbled down atop itself. More explosions dotted the room, and the very cliff that the two heroes stood upon crumbled from beneath them.

 

In an impressive dash Luffy caught his friend and leaped to safe ground.

 

“No!” Robin exclaimed as he glanced around the almost completely destroyed hideout. “I forgot about the self-destruct mechanism! And it looks like it's almost over—I mean, there's nothing left but for the roof just to collapse!”

 

The eyes of the rubberman bulged from his head. “How do we get out of here?!”

 

“I don't know!” Robin cried. “I never got time to plan that far ahead!”

 

“What do you mean you never planned for it?! Don't you plan for everything?!”

 

“I'm sorry! Maybe I was too busy figuring out how to disable our massively powerful enemy?!”

 

“Hey! You only got the time for that cause I was the one actually fighting him!”

 

Again an explosion caught their attention, and rocks started to tumble into the room.

 

“Forget that!” The Titan exclaimed. “There's no time!”

 

“Yeah! Let's get the hell outta here!”

 

 

 

“Ooooooh, why are they taking so long?!” Starfire asked as she floated in mid-air, anxiously circling the group of heroes as she scanned the ground for signs of her love.

 

“Relax,” Zoro grunted—in opposition to the alien's worry, he was sprawled on the ground half asleep. “Those two can take care of themselves. Luffy's too dumb to die anyway.”

 

With a gasp Starfire opened her mouth to chastise the swordsman, but she was interrupted by a figure latching himself to her back. Smoke wafted past her nostrils.

 

“Don't worry Star-kun!” Sanji commanded as a heart pumped in place of his eye. “I'll find them for you! If I have to I'll dig straight back down into that cave with my bare hands!”

 

Beside them Cyborg chuckled. “Funny, I figured Usopp would be the one to say something completely impossible like that.”

 

As her friends fretted over the fate of their leaders, Raven attempted to discover the answers for herself. Using every inch of her abilities she outstretched her mind to the cave beneath her—and found only chaos.

 

Iso's power was spread all throughout the cavern from the fighting, interfering with her empathic perceptions—and the explosions and debris didn't help much either. So much chaos ran through Raven's brain that she couldn't tell who was who anymore. However, what she could tell chilled her to the bone—where there had once been five, there were now only two living beings in that room.

 

“It's been too long,” Raven said, trying not to sound too urgent—no need to frighten the others if she wasn't sure. “Cyborg, contact the honorary Titans. The rest of you need to start moving the citizens—”

 

As black leaked from beneath the Titan's cloak she put her hand on Starfire's shoulder. “—and Starfire, I'm going to need you to call the Ba—”

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”

 

In the sky, far above the ten friends, soared two heroic silhouettes—screaming for their lives.

 

“ROBIN!” Starfire exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

 

Nami tried to shield her eyes from the sun and get a better look. “And is that…”

 

“Of course it's Luffy,” Zoro interjected lazily. “Can't you recognize that scream by now?”

 

With a horrendous crash the two heroes landed, crumpled over each other. In the background Beast Boy, Usopp and Chopper held up signs reading 9, 9.6 and 8.75 respectively.

 

The girls rushed to aid their leaders as they rolled off each other. “Glorious!” the Tamaranian proclaimed. “You are alive!”

 

“Don't ever worry us like that again!” Nami screamed as she held her captain by his collar, slapping him vigorously.

 

In a black blur followed by a trail of hearts Sanji moved to the side of his other love. “You show him, Nami-san!”

 

Smiling, Zoro finally pulled himself to his feet. “Please. If you don't want to worry find another captain to follow.”

 

Whirlpools spiraled in the rubberman's eyes as Luffy collapsed, falling from the smiling navigator's grip. “I know,” Nami laughed. “I'd miss the adventure too much anyway!”

 

“I could sense two figures alive down there still,” Raven explained to her patient—her palms rested against Robin's chest as incandescent blue energy shone beneath the two, restoring some of the boy's energy. “What's going on down there? How did you get out?”

 

“Those two,” Robin coughed, “were us. And as for how we got out…it's a funny story…”

 

 

 

“Come on!” Luffy yelled behind him. “Why are you just standing there?!”

 

As the rubberman said, Robin stood still, turning around in circles—obviously deep in thought.

 

“Come on now,” the Boy Wonder whispered to himself. “If I were Slade, where would I put it?!”

 

Suddenly he was smacked across the head by a rubber fist. “What're you doing?!”

 

Even as he saw stars Robin managed to spit out an explanation. “I know how Slade thinks—there has to be an emergency exit around here somewhere! I just have to find out where—it's our only chance of escape!”

 

Luffy scratched his head. “Emergency exit? You mean like that tube thing I saw in the place Nami was tied up at?”

 

Robin's jaw fell to the ground.

 

“You know where the exit is?!”

 

Shrugging, the pirate simply said, “Yeah.”

 

“Then why didn't you say anything?!”

 

Again he shrugged nonchalantly. “You didn't ask.”

 

The Teen Titan picked himself off the floor—having completely collapsed as those words left his friend's mouth. “Well,” he said before leaping onto Luffy's back. “I'm telling you now: get us there!”

 

“Got it!” Luffy smiled as he span towards the cliff, slinging both stretchable arms in the process. “Rubber…ROCKET!”

 

Almost instantly they were propelled into the tiny alcove; Robin leapt from the rubberman's back as he kept flying, soaring into the wall. Pebbles crumbled atop Luffy as he fell face first to the ground—meanwhile his partner had found a silver tube in the wall.

 

“This must be it!” Robin explained hopefully—but in only seconds his hope was shattered as another explosion caused rocks to completely crush the escape tunnel. The boy's jaw hit the ground. “No,” he gasped.

 

“RAAH!” With a scream Luffy charged forward, spinning into a punch that pulverized the fallen rocks and the door caught beneath. “I'm not going to be crushed!”

 

Following his rubber companion into the doorway that had once housed the escape chute, Robin stared up into a seemingly endless tunnel to the surface. “Oh great, what are we gonna do n—”

 

Suddenly a hand clenched onto the Boy Wonder's arm.

 

“I've got it under control!” Luffy exclaimed, causing Robin's heart to sink—that usually meant that things were going out of control!

 

“Rubber…”

 

The boy sucked in a deep breath as his body inflated—he looked like a giant grape. Next he started spinning, winding himself up like a tremendous, bloated spring. His unwilling passenger swallowed uneasily.

 

“…SPRING!”

 

Air exploded from Luffy's mouth as he sprung into the air, both him and Robin spinning at insane speeds as his breath escaped from the coiled and inflated body.

 

Walls of endless gray plating zoomed past as they rocketed the length of the escape chute, drawing close to the top—where the roof of the tunnel loomed ominously in opposition to them!

 

“It's not gonna open!” Robin realized as the hatch didn't move an inch. “It must only open for the escape chute!”

 

“Don't worry!” Luffy exclaimed. “It's no match for us!”

 

A stupendous noise echoed through the tunnel as Luffy's head collided with the roof, and it was no surprise when it gave way and the two heroes went flying past the debris and far into the air, where the rubberman's momentum finally ran out.

 

They floated in mid-air for a few seconds, finally free from the underground prison they had fought so valiantly for their lives, dreams and friends in. Despite the ordeal of being dragged through a Rubber Spring, Robin smiled.

 

“Nope, nothing is a match for your hard head.”

 

 

 

As the pirate recovered from his navigator's assault Robin approached him. “That's one powerful move, by the way. Y'know, if you combined the momentum with one of your attacks it'd be nearly unstoppable!”

 

Luffy's eyes lit up. “Yeah! If I use Gattling…I'll call it the Rubber Storm!”

 

“So,” Terra asked, “we've won?”

 

The Titan's leader grin filled most of his face. “Yeah. This fight is over!”

Cheers filled the field they had found themselves in. However, only one statement later they found themselves in awkward silence.

 

“So, what now?” Starfire asked. “Do we return our pirate companions to their world?”

 

And thus the idea the twelve had pushed from their heads this entire time again showed its ugly face.

 

“Do we even know how to get us back home?” Chopper asked.

 

Zoro fell to the ground. “Well, you guys take all the time you need to figure that out.” In a second he was out.

 

“Actually,” Beast Boy said as his legs started to wobble, “I could use a rest myself.”

 

A smile crept across Usopp's face as he cheered in his head that an excuse to rest finally popped up! “Yeah, single-handidly defeating all those commando soldiers sure makes me tired…”

 

Light started to fade in Cyborg's luminescent shoulders. “And I drained almost all of my battery power in those fights.”

 

“Yes,” Star agreed, “the fight against the old woman has left me more tired than a lakor who has spent all day vezoring!”

 

A small stub of a cigarette fell from between the cook's fingers. “Well, if everybody else is gonna rest too…”

 

Even Luffy started to wobble woozily, but not before declaring “Hey, we need to have a victory party!”

 

One by one the heroes collapsed from sheer exhaustion until only Raven and Nami were left standing.

 

“Well,” Nami sighed, “I guess we have a while yet before we figure out how we're going to resolve this, don't we?”

 

“Yeah,” the Titan smiled, raising her arms as black flames leapt from the ground. “Meanwhile, I'd better get us back to the tower to heal up—and to set up that party.”

 

Nami stared at the empath incredulously.

 

“What?” Raven asked. “Can't a girl celebrate?”

 

Next time: Celebration!—Soothing the Scars of Battle