#thriller bark arc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theshittymarimo · 2 months

Text

The Prince's Blazing Fury

Fandom: One Piece Character: Sanji Words: 2,755 Link to Ao3 Note: I wanted to write something and I thought of the scene with Sanji and Absalom's fight in the Thriller Bark Arc. I didn't like what it did to Sanji's character to be so similar and compared to the creep Absalom. So here is my slightly (hopefully) improved fight between them.

“Nami-san, I’ve come for you!” Sanji shouted with tears in his eyes. “There she is!”

Relief flooded through him as he saw her, she looked uninjured he decided with a glance over her. He swirled around in a storm into the chapel, his heart brimming with happiness. He was just in time to save her! He would be her saviour; he could already imagine her gratitude…

“Skip, skip, skip”, Sanji murmured joyfully to himself as he tapped further into the chapel. “Nami-san~!”

Well, after he saved her, that is.

“Get your grubby hands off her!” Sanji shouted, delivering a swift kick to the zombie holding her unconscious body, sending it crashing into the wall behind.

With outmost care, he caught Nami in his arms – “Sorry to have kept you waiting, Nami-san. Your prince is here.”

He turned to the other two zombies in the doorway and the one he suspected was Absalom, making sure they weren’t close enough to disturb them. Then, he looked down to Nami to ensure that she wasn’t hurt.

“Nami-san, you’re in safe hands”, he started, but then stuttered as he saw her appearance in that white wedding dress. She was always beautiful, of course, but this…

“Is she a goddess?” he whispered to himself, then shook his head. “Uh, no. It’s Nami-san. Focus!”

The beast Absalom approached, and Sanji immediately shifted his gaze to keep an eye on him.

“What are you going on about? As I recall, you’re part of the crew that was on that pirate ship”, Absalom said, but when he looked at Nami, he gasped. “A-an angel? N-No, she’s human. I’m sure of it. Ah, she had me scared there!”

Sanji’s eyes narrowed, but he decided play along with a relaxed grin – “I don’t blame you! Nami-san and rice are about the only things that look this good in white!”

“Yeah, seriously!” Absalom immediately agreed.

“I know, right?” Sanji continued grinning, though his legs tensed in preparation. “You get it, right?”

“Why must she look so stinking good in white?!” Absalom answered, and Sanji’s grin disappeared.

“What are they going on about?” One of the two zombies asked.

“Lowly pirate!” Absalom gasped and raised his palms toward them. “I don’t need to be chums with you!”

He fired at them, and Sanji leaped away just in time, already prepared for the attack. The shots left only marks in the stone wall, leaving dust in their wake.

“Hey!” Sanji shouted angrily. “You nearly hit Nami-san! When a lady is in the vicinity, you should avoid attacks that could hit her!”

“I’m impressed you dodged that, bastard! I see you’ve already lost your shadow”, Absalom remarked, eyeing the floor beneath Sanji’s feet. “Come to think of it, one of our new zombies was oddly obsessed with that woman. He retained some will of his own, so he wasn’t fully subservient. I suspect that was your zombie. Considering that your shadow wasn’t put into a general zombie, your fighting ability can’t be all that impressive.”

Sanji carried Nami to a bench while the beast was talking and carefully placed Nami there to keep her safe. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be leaving as quickly as he’d hoped to protect her.

“In fact, that penguin talked big, but was terribly weak!” Absalom continued, still behind him. “I’m known as one of the phantoms and lead the General Zombies. It was impudent of that small fry to defy me!”

“I will be right back, Nami-san”, Sanji assured her with a smile and a soothing tone, wanting to make sure she felt safe, even if she couldn’t hear him.

“Listen to me, punk!” Absalom shouted angrily, stomping on the floor.

“I’m so glad that I managed to get here before anything happened”, Sanji sighed in relief. “Everything will be fine now.”

“Don’t heave a sigh of relief! You know, it doesn’t matter how obsessed you are with that woman! I’m going to marry her!” Absalom declared, and Sanji’s smile immediately disappeared. “Now take a word of advice and leave that woman with me while you spend the rest of your life hiding in the shadows!”

Sanji straightened up and lit a cigarette.

“I’m rather busy at the moment!” Absalom continued. Sheesh, he was certainly chatty, Sanji thought. “Your captain’s zombie may have crushed some of my most powerful subordinates. Before I deal with that, I need to kiss my bride!”

Sanji clenched his teeth furiously.

“I’m in a foul mood right now”, Absalom growled. “I don’t have time to deal with weaklings like—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before Sanji kicked him square in the face, sending him hurtling through the air.

“Shut up, fur face!” Sanji shouted angrily at him.

“Absalom-sama!” The zombie priest exclaimed in shock.

“No way!” The other zombie shouted. “He weighs 300 kg! How did that man send him flying?!”

“You are the invisible man Usopp mentioned, aren’t you?” Sanji asked as he walked up to Absalom, who groaned amidst the wreckage of the bench he had collided with.

“Hands of the Dead!” Absalom shouted, raising his palms at Sanji. However, Sanji leaped up and stood on his arms, redirecting the shots away from him and causing them to strike the ceiling instead. Absalom gaped in surprise.

“Basses Côte!” Sanji shouted as he delivered a powerful kick to Absalom’s jaw. “Longe! You’re the beast that showed up on Sunny and licked Robin-chan, aren’t you?!”

Fire ignited in Sanji’s eyes.

“And you ogled at Nami-san in the bath, didn’t you?!” Sanji shouted furiously, landing several more kicks on the beast. “Tendron! Flanchet! Quasi!”

Fury coursed through his veins like wildfire.

“Queue! Cuisseau! Jarret!” Sanji continued to unleash a flurry of attacks with fire blazing in his eyes. “Why is she unconscious?! You didn’t touch her, did you?! ‘Marriage’, my ass! Take a good look at my eyes, I’ll crush you under my feet and turn you into a croquette!”

“Damn it!” Absalom gasped. “I’ll have to retreat for now. Skating!”

Absalom turned invisible. Sanji looked around, but he had already planned ahead, his hand finding its way into a pocket.

“I’ve got Usopp’s salt balls”, he muttered to himself, throwing small salt balls in different directions until one hit something invisible in the air. “Over there!”

“What is that?” Absalom’s voice sounded from the spot Sanji had struck. “It’s salty!”

“Veau Shot!” Sanji shouted, launching a barrage of kicks that sent Absalom flying through rows of benches, reducing them to splinters until he crashed into the wall.

It seemed like Absalom lost focus as he turned visible again, all the easier for Sanji to keep going.

“You said that you were in a foul mood?” Sanji told him furiously. “That doesn’t begin to describe mine. I’m so mad I feel like my body could explode!”

Sanji didn’t even feel it when his body exploded into fire.

“It did!” The zombies shouted in the background.

“And unfortunately for you, there is bad blood between us over one more thing!” Sanji glared angrily at Absalom, who lay bloodied amidst pieces of ruined wall.

“A-Absalom-sama…” One of the zombies murmured, both of them gaping in shock.

“You… and I… have bad blood?” Absalom winced as he looked up at Sanji.

Sanji hadn’t intended to reveal it, but the anger over what Absalom had done to Nami loosened his tongue. Ah well, it didn’t matter, they wouldn’t meet again.

“That’s right”, Sanji replied coldly as the fire dissipated.

“Doesn’t ring any bells”, Absalom hissed as he sat up amongst the rubble. “There must be some sort of misunderstanding. You and I … met for the first time today! I’m going to send you flying! … with my Hands of the Dead!”

Sanji turned around and blew smoke out – “Take them off.”

“Huh?”

“I said drop the bazookas attached to your arms”, Sanji spoke calmly.

“Wha--?!”

“Do I need to spell it out?” Sanji asked furiously, glaring at Absalom. “If Nami-san gets hurt because you went overboard, no one will be able to tell you were ever alive by the time I’m through with you!”

But Absalom fired anyway, the shot hitting the wall as Sanji jumped aside.

“I said to lose the bazookas!” Sanji shouted as he kicked one of Absalom’s arms, causing the bazooka to fell off. Quickly, he turned to deflect a rock debris from hitting Nami.

“Wow! A bazooka magically materialized!” The zombies gaped in bewilderment. The morons.

Absalom growled as he glared at Sanji.

“Yeah, that’s about what I thought”, Sanji remarked. “It seemed like the type of attack you would come up with. You can make yourself invisible. While in that state, you can make anything you touch go invisible as well. That is your current ability. Invisible man born of the Clear-Clear Fruit. I know every possible move you could make!”

“Who the hell are you..?!” Absalom growled.

“Has that man met Absalom-sama somewhere before?” One of the zombies wondered. “Why does he know his powers inside and out?”

“What could this bad blood possibly be?” The zombie priest asked.

“Back when I was a kid”, Sanji said, clenching a fist that steamed of heat. “I read an encyclopedia on the Devil Fruits. I had no interest in a shady object that would make the ocean grow to hate you. But there was one and one alone that caught my interest. I decided that in the unlikely event I came across that Fruit, I would eat it, even if it meant losing the ability to swim! But there aren’t two identical devil fruits at the same time! If I ran into someone with that ability, my dream would go up in smoke! Now do you get it? I wanted to become an invisible man!”

“Is he venting?” One of the zombies wondered from behind them.

“I put a lot of thought into it! If I ate the fruit, I would be able to turn invisible at will. No one would be able to find me! Just think of all the things I could use it for! At first, I just wanted to avoid my brothers, but then I imagined how I could help others!”

“His brothers?” One of the zombies asked in surprise.

“Shut up!” Sanji snapped annoyed at them. “That’s not the point! After long years of imagining what I’d do, I’m fully aware of what I could do with that ability!”

The fire in his veins reignited, and his body burst into flames once again.

“Between this and endangering Nami-san, you have compounded transgression upon transgression making it impossible to forgive you!” Sanji shouted at Absalom. “Prepare to wave goodbye to your life!”

“I was wondering what your problem was!” Absalom retorted as he stood up from the pile of broken wood from the benches. “You’re picking a fight over the stupidest thing! It’s absurd!”

Absalom grabbed his coat and ripped it off, exposing his muscular torso covered in scars from surgeries and various colors from transplantations.

“Have it your way! I will throw your sudden claim of bad blood and rage right back at you!” Absalom growled. “The lion muzzle wasn’t my only transplant! Elephant skin! 300 kg of compact bear and gorilla muscle! Dr. Hogback had conducted one transplant after the next on this body, allowing me to become the ultimate beastly masterpiece! The Clear-Clear Fruit’s ability is a mere bonus. Next to my strength, it’s nothing more than an accessory. Get it?”

Absalom grinned at him. Sanji was boiling of fury, but the issue that bothered him more than the fruit was …

“You peeped at Nami!” Sanji shouted furiously. It was unforgiveable! He kicked Absalom’s face down onto the floor, cracking the stone.

“He’s right!” One of the zombies admitted.

Absalom slowly got up from the floor, shaking with blood pouring from his head wound. He seemed shaken from Sanji’s kicks, but he glared at him.

“Regardless, I will be the last one laughing!” He said, grinning as he turned invisible. Sanji gritted his teeth as he took a few steps back, scanning the surroundings. “I have claimed the power you wanted! And the woman you longed to protect is about to become my wife! I could not imagine a more bitter defeat!”

Sanji gritted his teeth, but then he remembered what Usopp had said about Nami vanishing with Absalom when he abducted her. They had lost the trail after that. Sanji’s eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

“You want to make Nami-san go invisible!” Sanji said and quickly turned back to her, taking her in his arms again. “But you can’t have her!”

With her in his arms, he looked around anxiously, trying to listen to where Absalom could be coming from. Now, it was more important than ever to see where he was coming from, to not let him hurt her.

“Where do you think you’re looking?” Absalom’s voice said. “You’re wasting your energy! It’s time I showed you… the power of a Phantom!”

A burst of pain exploded in Sanji’s jaw, but he kept himself standing, shaking, and lifted Nami above his head. He could not let her get hurt. This was nothing, he thought, with the fresh reminder of his brothers. He had survived worse.

“What’s this? You’re going to sacrifice yourself for that woman?” Absalom’s voice laughed. “Protect her! Assuming you’ve got what it takes! Phantom Hand!”

Pain hit Sanji in the back.

“Phantom Leg!”

Pain hit Sanji in the leg. Then back. Chest. Back again. Sanji lost count of how many hits he took. Blood spurted from wounds opening up from the hits, but he kept Nami above his head. Sanji was panting when a break in the hits came.

“I wouldn’t drop that woman if I were you!” Absalom laughed.

She’s not just a woman, Sanji thought, irritated by his laughter but didn’t have time to say it before he groaned loudly as a worse pain hit him in the back. He could feel it, a large knife, the harsh steel stabbing through his muscles, and pain, pain. In the corner of his eye, Sanji saw Nami’s pure white dress swaying in the wind. He shook and gritted his teeth.

“Damn beast!” He gasped for air and fell to his knees. In the last second, he threw Nami in front of him to safety so that he wouldn’t fall on her. “Sorry, Nami-san…”

“You dropped her!” Absalom laughed. “I guess you didn’t value her as much as your own life.”

Sanji fell on all fours and coughed. Blood splattered on the floor.

“I’m sorry Nami-san… I can’t soil you with my blood…”, he panted through gritted teeth. “Damn invisible man, sneaking around! I’m over my childhood dream now! I don’t need to be able to turn invisible anymore, I’m strong enough to face them! I don’t care if they can see me!”

“… Is he talking about his brothers again?” One of the zombies wondered aloud.

Sanji ignored them as he heard Absalom’s steps come closer and closer. Until he saw an invisible step in his blood, he was by his side. Sanji grabbed his leg.

“Let go, bastard!” Absalom’s voice shouted at him as he could feel his leg trying to pull away. “Unhand me!”

“I’m not about to let go, you sick beast!” Sanji looked up with a grin. “If you’re a mix of a bunch of animals, I bet you’ll make lovely mincemeat!”

He could hear Absalom gasp and then he hit Sanji in several places – “Shut up, jerk! Let go of me!”

Sanji reached behind his back, grabbed the handle of the knife lodged in his back, and pulled it out in a spurt of blood. There, no more metal hindering him in his moves. Immediately, Sanji moved and started kicking Absalom. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop, he’d fall if he does.

“Extra Haché!”

“Absalom-sama!” the zombies shouted.

Absalom’s invisibility wavered, and Sanji could see him enough to kick him into the rows of benches, blasting off so hard and far that he crashed into the wall next to the door, leaving a crack from his invisible body. Sanji panted. Absalom spat out blood.

“A beast should be satisfied with a beastly bride”, Sanji murmured as he lit a cigarette.

It seemed like the Clear-Clear Fruit was only as good as its user. Sanji concluded that it wasn’t worth the trouble anymore. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest; he was stronger now, and he would make sure to be strong enough.

End notes: At first Sanji didn't mention his brothers explicitly. He just mentioned a "them" and the zombies wondered who he meant. I think that would've worked just fine in the manga/anime, like a tease about things in Sanji's past.

But since most people now know about his past I decided to let him mention them here in this fanfic. I hope that it gave a bit more of weight to his statements.

I also first wrote something about that he knew he had another family now. But I decided to delete it, in fact Sanji hadn't really learned the lesson by this time. He was still prepared to sacrifice himself for the others, ignoring of his own self value completely. It wasn't until the Whole Cake Island Arc that Sanji really understood that his crew was his new family through thick and thin.

#black leg sanji #one piece #sanji #fanfiction #my fanfics #my fanfiction #thriller bark arc #whole cake island arc spoilers #op fanfic

12 notes · View notes