melodiesoflife | The Shopkeeper's Daughter: Act 2

She wasn't sure what was happening because her vision was still a little fuzzy but after rubbing her eyes a little longer she was finally able to see.

"What is THAT!" Yuffie was pointing at the pod with her mouth hanging wide open. She also stopped paying attention to the plants around her.

Sparks was trying to keep up with the amount of blossoms trying to open up on the vines near him, hitting each one with fiery punches. But it wasn't getting him very far, and keeping the spell going repeatedly was more draining that he thought. When he hears Yuffie shout, he makes the mistake of turning to look - opening himself up to a blast of pollen in the face. Coughing and rubbing his eyes, Sparks backs away from the plant.

"Dangit. Look away for one second..."

At least he got a glimpse of what it was the ninja girl had pointed at. Whatever it was, that was probably what they needed to go after. Except when he goes to run toward it and dodge the other bulbs, Sparks only makes it a handful of paces when he starts to slow down. Poison was pretty nasty.

"Ugh. What'd that thing hit me with...?"

Putting a hand to Cloud's shoulder, Luffy props himself up and follows while leaving his gnawed on opponent in the dirt. It's as they pass that he sees the bulb through his hazy vision, his bloodshot eyes glaring at the plant as he pushes off of his savior to approach the large horticultural aggressor.

"Spiky-hair! Get Yuffie out of here! We need those seeds-!!"

Spinning around, yelling in all directions to try and get the attention of those past his vision, Luffy calls out to the rest of the party as his body begins to succumb to the poison. He can feel the weight take his arms, struggling with sheer willpower to keep his fists raised.

"Hit it with everything we've got! I'll keep it distracted!"

Where his arms had started to crumble and grow weary, his legs could still summon enough to draw the focus of the creature. Darting towards the bulb, Luffy gets himself close enough to swing a kick at the plant, growling as he does so in hopes of keeping it on him rather than his crew.

"Stupid veg! That's what you get for hitting my ninja!!"

Cloud wasn't sure about leaving Luffy, but he wasn't a white mage and there wasn't much more he could do than just ask him if he was alright. But if it came to keeping that thief of a girl safe, he had the spells to do that. He lent his shoulder to Luffy as long as he needed it, but as soon as the fighter ran towards the fray, Cloud made for Yuffie.

Again he used his sleeve to shroud himself from the pollen flying about, but there was only so much he could do. Carefully, he sent off blasts of flame at the plants surrounding Yuffie. He didn't want to hit her, so he took extra time to aim. This was going much slower than he would have liked. "Yuffie! Did you find any seeds?"

Finally reaching the ninja he turned to stand at her side, slightly in front of her. He was in no position to defend her, but he could at least keep her covered until she was ready to fight again. He eyed the greater plant as it emerged; it looked like they'd have to use all of their combined strength to put it down. He was ready.

"Keep setting those smaller ones on fire!" If the fighters took their eyes off of them, Ales was sure the plants could easily overrun them.

He then turned to Ashe. "You can heal yourself? Think you can also help the others?" They all looked terrible, but if one of them had the ability to cure poison, there might be a chance for everyone to get away from this alive.

She heard Cloud before she saw the fuzzy pointy hair in view. She could feel the flames from his spell and trusted him not to hit her. They might have argued when the first met but she couldn't deny that she kind of liked him; at least he wasn't a SOLDIER.

Yuffie rummaged around in her pocket with her free hand. Her other hand was still rubbing at her eyes as she tried to see.

"Is this it?" It was a small thing and at the time she picked it up it looked like a seed. She really hadn't had the time to figure it out and before she could ask they were attacked. Even if it wasn't the seed she thought it looked cool so she took it.

The vines seemed to be less of a problem than before, as whatever the plant was seemed to be occupied by propagating the bulbs. The main body of the plant just sat there, swaying in the breeze, seemingly satisfied at its job in coating the plateau with its pollen. It didn't even react when Luffy kicked it - bent over a bit, but popped right back up again. It didn't make a move against him, either.

The movement was slowing down all over the plateau. As the air became more and more filled with pollen, the flowers stopped spouting it out. Bulbs still broke ground, but were slower to bloom. It was as if the monster knew that the Heroes could only last so much longer, poisoned as they were.

"Ignore the bulbs - attack the main body!" Ashelia called, launching an Esuna spell at Luffy. it wouldn't take long for him to get poisoned again, though, and while she was focused on dispeling the poison, she wouldn't be able to heal wounds. "Marshal, take to the skies! Luffy or Yuffie, ride with him if you can. Cloud, put everything you have into your Fire spells, I'll keep you safe! Just burn it!"

The spell works for a moment, keeping eyes clear long enough for him to see the main body before him. It's a flash in the pan, the passing of an instant, the brief moment fleeting for him to know what his next move should be.

"TAKE YUFFIE AND GO!"

Luffy raises a thumb to his teeth, biting down hard on the tip to blow into the bone. He knew his powers had been robbed from him, but something in the back of his mind kept itching for him to make the last ditch effort. Screaming between gritted teeth, the pirate begins to glow red as his whole body is soon covered in steam, like that of a boiling kettle.

"GEAR.. THIRD!"

His limit break hits, just before his eyes go narrow from the sting of pollen now crowding his vision.

"CLOUD-!!" Luffy sends a fist backwards, the limb stretching like a cord of rubber as it comes within a few feet of the blonde-haired teammate. "SET MY FIST ON FIRE! DO IT NOW!"

Orders were being shouted every which way, but Cloud forced himself to focus. Protect the seeds, beat this monster. All they had to do was get rid of this thing and they'd be in the clear. Sparks was the paladin, he could handle the protection side of things. Cloud was a black mage and his job was damage.

He's skeptical about Luffy's command, expecting that throwing his fire at the monster directly would make more sense but it looked like he was preparing something strong. How was his body doing that? In any case, he'd seen members of SOLDIER using Elemental materia to enhance their attacks. Was he trying for something similar? He had to trust him.

"FIRE!" Gripping his staff with both hands, he felt the power surge through him. He took a step forward and thrust the arcane tool forward, propelling that burning energy into Luffy's hand.

Good, good. Ales kept telling himself. It looked like his party members had some sort of formation going on, thanks to Lady Ashe's commands. He edged closers towards the battlefield as the smaller monsters were being defeated, hoping to help out in some way.

Right then, he saw Cloud throw a ball of fire right at Luffy. Was he aiming at a bulb? No, he was actually aiming at him!

"What are you doing?!" He managed to get out, but not before it hit Luffy's hand.

Yuffie finally clears her vision and watches the scene in front of her. It was hard to believe but then again she was watching it happen. Her mouth hung open as her eyes followed Luffy's stretching arm until her eyes landed on his fist, which was now on fire.

"Kinda seems like over kill don't you think." She tossed the thing in her hand in the air and then tucked it into her pocket. She figured she would ask if it was a rock or a seed when they were done with this mess.

When the sting hits his fist, his initial reaction causes him to bite down on his thumb harder. With the piercing teeth tearing into his digit, Luffy draws in a long breath of air to inflate the hand in which he bites. The clenched hand expands out like a balloon, growing large and stretching out from all sides as he continues to push air into the limb.

With a growl, the lighted arm begins to draw back at great speed. The flame keeps and burns his hand as it comes flying back towards him. In mid-flight, the air from his bitten hand shifts, causing his torso to grow large before cyphering into his now blazing punch.

"GIGANTO PISTOL!"

The screaming attack of flame and fury rockets towards the plant, covering enough size to not only slam into the vines but to the bulb as well. His punch was more like a wall, an anger-fueled bulldozer of flame that struck the exposed plant with the kiss of fire and the full rush of his called upon strength.

"Luff - Cloud, no!" Ashelia called out, reaching out to them. The boy is mad! She looked down at Ales, dumbfounded. Was he seeing what she was seeing?

The plant was indeed literally bulldozed by Luffy's onslaught. An ear-piercing shriek echoed from under the dirt as what was left of the main body was engulfed in flames. The smaller bulbs and vines all around the plateau began shaking violently, whipping around and spewing the last of their pollen in their death throes.

Ashelia took a step back, breathing out a gasp of surprise. What...was that? She snapped out of it just long enough to send a Water spell Luffy's way, just in case he was still on fire. The queen looked back down at Ales, again dumbfounded. Did he just see what she just saw?

When the fire subsides and the smoke finally vanishes around the rubber pirate, the youthful monk no longer is standing before them. Where once a man stood, the party will find a what appears to be a child-like resemblance to Luffy. Panting heavily, the shrunken lad tries to regain the use of his lungs while heavy, rapid breaths fill his smaller chest with air.

His voice, when he speaks, has drastically changed. Sounding more like a pipsqueak than ever, he turns around while holding a hand to the hat atop his sized-down head.

"That.. That was a close one.."

He blinks curiously at his burnt hand, staring at it for a moment before he realizes why it's been charred a deep black.

".. OWWW~!! MY HAND!!"

Ales stood dumbstruck, unable to speak due to being surprised that his stupid antic actually worked.

He glanced up at Ashe the same time she looked at him. This actually happened. Luffy defeated the monster in one fell blow, while everyone else was struggling to survive the plant's toxins. As annoying that boy was, Ales now had learned why not to antagonize him.

This awe was interrupted by Luffy's new appearance and his panicking over his burnt hand. What was he thinking, of course setting his hand on fire would do this!

Ales ran over to Luffy's side. "Are you alright? What happened to you?!" At least now it was possible for both of them to look at each other's faces while standing.

Yuffie walked over, staring in disbelief at the miniature Luffy. One hand came to rest on Luffy's head as she smiled down at him. "Your so small!"

She was happy that the thing was gone and that he helped. Before he had a chance to get angry she moved her hand. "Thanks cap." With that she walked over to Cloud and held out the thing she found.

"I think I only found a small pebble."

Cloud was likewise watching in awe. He wasn't entirely sure what happened. He was familiar with the concept of limit breaks but he'd never seen one go off up close like that. And now that the attack was dealt he was worried about the change that had overtaken the pirate.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" He looked at Ashe, "I'm sorry. I thought I was just enhancing his attack."

As concerned as he was about Luffy, Yuffie was still pretty good at imposing herself into the situation, "Oh, uh, I see." He had no clue what was going on in that scramble. He's a little sad that she didn't actually have the seeds after all.

Luffy's voice isn't the same pitch as before, a higher tone like that of a child's rings as he snaps back a hearty response to the now taller ninja.

"No one hurts my nakama! Not even some crazy salad! Everyone okay? Ashe? Cloud? Wait.." He pauses for a moment, looking blankly at Yuffie. "Thanks, Youpy." As Ales runs over, Luffy crosses his tiny arms in front of his chest, looking over his form before responding to his merchant.

"Yeah, I'm fine. For some reason I get small like this if I use my GEARS. It's like my body kinda' shrinks because of all the strain, or something like that."

"IT'S YUFFIE!" She shouted over at Luffy and then crossed her arms to wait for the others.

Ales walked around Luffy so that there was someone standing between him and Yuffie. He didn't want another fight between them.

"Gears? What? Are you part robot?" That was the only context for gears that he had heard of.

"I wish! Being part robot would be awesome!"

He looks at his hands, marveling over how tiny they are in comparison to how they normally appear.

"It's what I call my technique. It's named after taking things into a different gear. Ya' know, like, 'kickin' it into high gear'? Like that."

There's a whole science to it, and unfortunately it isn't in Luffy to be able to explain it. With his body being primarily made of rubber, Luffy's internal organs and bones are able to stretch and expand at will. Pumping blood and an expedited rate allows him to move faster, hit harder, and more. Any normal human would be under extreme duress, but with his organs and veins being able to now handle it, it was a simple feat.

Turning into a 'chibi' version of himself, however, has yet to be explained.

"I ate the Gum Gum fruit, so I turned into a rubber man. That's why I can stretch."

Edited 2014-10-31 14:29 (UTC)

He had to agree, having the strength and power of a robot would be amazing, but unless that was possible, Ales was happy being an unassuming Teensie.

But at least the naming now made sense.

"Rubber? That's pretty unusual. Why haven't you mentioned that already?" There was nothing fantastical about a person that can stretch, compared to the strangeness that is his world. If he got those powers from eating a fruit, however, it meant that most people in his world couldn't.

It's a rather quick remark, tilting his head to the side as he brushes a finger over the bridge of his nose.

"No one asked. 'sides, I didn't know I could use my powers until we were fighting that monster by the big chicken ra-"

His sentence stops suddenly, his body bursting into another plume of smoke so that the pint-sized Luffy was now back in his usual form.

"Phew! That's better! Any ways, I didn't really need to use my powers for anything, so I never noticed."

Cloud nearly fell back in surprise as Luffy was once more surrounded that puff of smoke, balking at the sudden change back to normal shape. It was funny how people kept saying that this world (and by extension his own) were odd for having magic, but here was something even stranger.

Pushing it out of his mind, he glanced over to Ashelia, "So...uh...what do we do now?"

The Shopkeeper's Daughter: Act 2

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