One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 541 - Zoro and Sanji

The world was on fire.

No, that probably wasn't true. It just felt like that because all Zoro could see was light of flames, all he could smell was the stink of ash, and all he could feel was the heat of the inferno that surrounded him.

King was going to burn down the entire castle at this rate. Zoro's friends were in this castle.

He swung Enma for what could easily be the hundredth time since this "fight" started. The conflagration parted for him seemingly without resistance, and King was ready for it.

*THWAP*

Zoro dove to the side just in time to avoid King's weird, stabby headbutt move. Before Zoro even had the chance to counterattack, the room was consumed in hungry plasma once again.

"I can do this all day. Even a week or a month wouldn't be a problem," King's voice echoed around Zoro, refusing to give away the position of its origin. "You should save yourself the time and trouble; just lie down and accept your fate."

Zoro couldn't do this all day. He could try, but he knew it wouldn't end well. The heat was draining his stamina much faster than otherwise.

He could rush things along, too. Enma was certainly raring to go, to swallow up every ounce of haki he poured into it and give nothing back without a fight.

Zoro didn't know which option King really wanted. If he was anything like Cabernet, then he was being honest about his stamina, but that could just be a trap to make him make a mistake. However, he had already cut the bastard once by surprise, so it made sense for him to play it safe.

There was another path he could take, though. He hadn't gotten it quite right yet, but now was as good a time as any. He had always grown faster under pressure.

Zoro closed his eye.

"You're really giving up, huh?" King asked. "I'm a bit disappointed, but this is also convenient for me. Thank you."

King moved in for the kill...

...but Zoro did not hear him.

King's sword lashed out to sever his head from his body...

...but Zoro did not sense him.

King's blade touched his neck...

...but Zoro did not feel its kiss.

His swords did.

*CLANG* *SHING* *SWISH*

Zoro opened his eye and stumbled forward a step, feeling lightheaded.

King clutched at the stump of his right arm, searing the flesh to staunch the bleeding. He picked up his sword with his remaining left arm and readied himself.

"I underestimated you..." King said, though it sounded more like an admonishment for Zoro than for himself.

"Maybe, but I don't think I could do that again if I wanted to," Zoro admitted freely and readied himself as well.

It's said that for a skilled swordsman, their sword is but an extension of their own body. According to Cherry, there were men and women whose entire selves were but extensions of their sword.

Zoro has just touched upon this, but it felt wrong to him somehow. Experiencing ego death, however temporary, was not exactly pleasant, of course. That isn't the problem, though.

If he had to guess, then he'd say this was just an intermediary step towards something greater, and as such it doesn't feel even remotely complete.

"Perhaps I'm not mad enough," Zoro wondered aloud.

"I've found anger to be a weakness in battle," King said as he lunged for him.

King was thinking of the wrong kind of "mad", but Zoro didn't bother to correct him.

They had a fight to finish.

...

Sanji eyed up the Raid Suit canister in his hand. Black with a yellow number 3 and made of a slightly flexible thin metal like aluminum, but no doubt some advanced alloy.

"Go on!" Queen goaded him. "Transform! I'll even wait right here for you patiently!"

Sanji wasn't sure he was being honest about that, but the transformation would be quick.

Sanji was afraid, though. Afraid because only moments ago part of his genetic enhancements had activated in this very fight. If he used the Raid Suit now, then he might awaken the full breadth of them and become an emotionless weapon like his brothers.

Then he remembered what Cherry did for his sister. She was under a compulsion to follow Judge's orders, yet now she was free to go wherever she wished.

If Cherry could do that for her, then couldn't she save him from himself if it came to that?

Sanji held the canister at his waist and activated it.

"Muhahahaha, yes!" Queen laughed. "Let me show you the real power of science! That inferior Germa crap doesn't stand a chance against me!"

Sanji's transformation finished and at that exact instant, Queen fired a massive laser from his dinosaur maw.

The laser continued on and carved a hole through several, thick walls before stopping. When it abated, Sanji was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't think you can fool me with that little trick," Queen said.

A tiny device popped out of one of his many cyborg panels and scanned the room with a deep purple light.

"When I worked with your father, he never quite got all the kinks out of that light bending field. It could hide you from the visible spectrum, but not from infrared or ultraviolet. I'm willing to bet that he only managed to fix one of those, the idiot!" Queen mocked.

Then he blinked and scratched his head as the device swept the entire room several times over. "Uh... did you run away?"

*BAM!!!*

A devastating kick to the head answered Queen's question.

"Nobody ever looks up!" Sanji chided and followed up his first kick with an even stronger second.

"Tsk," Queen clicked his tongue.

As it turned out, that wasn't merely a sign of his frustration, but the way to activate a hidden weapon in his tongue.

*pewpewpewpewpewpew*

Hundreds of needles shot out of his mouth in a shatter shot pattern, forcing Sanji to dodge and retreat.

Queen actually clicked his tongue as he saw that none of his needles hit their mark. "Maybe you're actually smarter than Judge, eh? At least you've got a better mind for tactics than he does."

Sanji said nothing, only vanishing into thin air once more.

"Two can play at that game," Queen vanished as well.

For a time, it was like nobody was even in the room. They both clearly knew how to make the most of their invisibility, keeping their steps quiet and avoiding obstacles that would give their positions away.

It was an impressive feat for both of them, as Sanji wasn't quite used to sneaking around in this way and Queen's body was quite large even in his human form.

Eventually, though, the quiet was broken.

"Hraaah!" Queen lashed out with an extending arm. "I can sense the heat from your leg, fool!"

Sanji twirled into view, one of his legs glowing white hot. He slammed into Queen's hand and tore right through it with the sound of ripping metal.

"What?!" Queen pulled what remained of his arm back in. "That's impossible! That idiot's silly suit can't compare to my cyborg body in quality!"

"Perish," Sanji aimed for the head.