(Vol 4) CHAPTER - 31 { Joker's Play }
Devil's Home___
Akuma raised his eyebrow as he scanned the reports in his hand with a surprised but also expecting face.
"Where is he?"
His voice was cold and indifferent as always, it looked as if Akuma didn't want to change himself from what he was now.
"His tracker is pointing out that he is still deep underwater but I believe that's not the case. Joker might have already got rid of the tracker."
Erika informed the ongoing details next to Akuma without leaving any secrets. She, unlike Maba, was made to serve Akuma.
Her sole purpose in life was to be a tool for the Devil.
Akuma passed the reports back to Erika with a slightly tired expression. Days had gone since he last slept peacefully.
"I need to sleep. And I mean, I really need to sleep. I won't be up for an hour I guess. Everything's yours to handle, Erika."
Akuma gestured to Erika to leave the dark and silent hall as he leaned back on his huge throne.
His eyelids were heavy due to fatigue. He closed his eyes, his thoughts stopped processing any further information.
After a very long time, the Devil has finally fallen into a truly deep slumber.
His body, it seems to merge in with the atmosphere turning in gaseous state. The moment Akuma's body went into a translucent form, the surrounding air became highly pressured.
The dark gas escaped through the doors of the hall and surrounded the White Crystal House, the thorn forest and the single mountain.
* * *
On the sea, a pirate ship sailed with the wind. The dragon head on the front, with some scales on the frame, the flag of this pirate ship had a skull wearing a straw hat with two bones behind that were crossed.
Night Dragon!
The pirates on the Night Dragon, they were the notorious Straw Hat Pirates infamous throughout the GrandLine.
On the deck of the ship, Zoro was working out with his heavy weights when the sudden movement behind him caused his instincts to roar.
Slash!
Within a split of a second, Zoro pulled out one of his katanas and swung it but all he felt was empty air.
Not just him but Luffy and Samji were also alarmed due to the sudden presence of an unknown individual on the ship.
"Who are you!"
Zoro glared to his right where a man taller than him stood, he had a grinning face with trails of dried blood all over his face.
"It's him!"
Sanji was the first to identify the invading individual near Zoro. Then Luffy and Zoro widened their eyes.
"It's you! That bastard!"
Luffy gritted his teeth when he remembered what had happened a few days ago.
The battle between Straw Hat Pirates and Dream Dead Pirates.
"Hi! I am Joker!"
With a not so friendly grin on his face, Joker looked at the three pirates in front of him.
"Sanii, Zoro, Luffy, what happened?"
From the other rooms, Robin, Goof, Usopp, Chopper and Franky came out hurriedly.
As soon as they saw Joker, they got into guards. Their senses went to high alerts. Joker could shift himself anywhere he wanted as long as there was enough space for his body.
This ability came from a devil fruit of unknown name, first time ever to be correct.
"Hey everyone! Name's Joker!"
Joker waved his hands and smiled at them. Zoro retreated backwards from Joker.
"Why are you on our ship! Explain, now!"
Luffy said with a serious expression. His eyes showed that any extra joke would be the cause of a big commotion to Joker.
"Well, I am here to tell you all about why you, you all, are going through these tough situations."
"What if there's someone wanting you all dead?"
"I can tell many things about who that person is and why the situation of GrandLine is so intense now."
Joker slowly walked and rested on the side railing of the ship. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for their response.
While Joker patiently waited, the Straw Hat Pirates went on a serious and disturbing discussion.
"Someone wants us dead! Fuck!"
Usopp shrank in distress, his body trembling in anger as well as fear.
"If what that guy said is true, doesn't that mean that all what happened on our way, the many near death difficulties were actually planned."
"Yes. If so, we are in a tight and very dangerous rope which might get ripped any moment."
Luffy looked at his crewmates with a sigh. Never did he expect that all the adventures in their path were preplanned.
Robin, she was silent the entire time. Because she had already guessed the identity of the person wanting them dead.
'Why him! Why always him! What have we done now! Is it because of the Drum Kingdom that we conquered?'
Many thoughts appeared in Robin's mind but she couldn't really narrow those thoughts done to a particular matter.
"Guys! Listen…"
Luffy's voice made the others turn quiet. Taking in a deep breath, Luffy stared at each of his crewmates one after another.
"This is something we need to vote about. Fight, or flee?"
As he asked, all the crewmates took on faces of contemplating.
"I will go first, Fight."
Being the captain of the ship and the pirate crew, Luffy voted first.
"Fight."
"Fight."
"Fight."
"Flee."
"Fight."
"Flee."
"Fight."
Out of seven, two choose to flee. They were Robin and Usopp.
Usopp, he didn't surprise anyone but Robin's vote, it did cause the others to have second thoughts.
Why would she want to flee?
It's likely because the enemy was too strong and Robin had some information about him, her, or them.
"It seems you all came into an agreement."
Joker heard their conversations come to a stop so he walked towards them with a calm mind.
"His identity, like some of you have already guessed."
Saying so, Joker shifted his eyes on Robin as he smiled at her. He still remembered what happened a few years ago in Ohara.
"You must have heard of him, the 'Devil of the Sea'."
When they heard who was behind their necks, the Straw Hat Pirates went into panic.
Devil, Unkillable Monster, Currently The Strongest Creature on 'One', these all were the names people, pirates and the Marines call him.
"Why would the Devil personally want to kill us!"
Usopp asked with his hands clenched into tight fists. Sanji nodded and looked at Joker for further information.
"Well, that's something nobody except the Devil himself knows. But it's sure that if there's someone who can kill or stop the Devil, that's you all!"
Joker stood there with a straight face, his eyes scanned the looks on their faces.
"Why should we trust your words? Give me a good reason to not kick your ass!"
Luffy narrowed his eyes at Joker and said with a threatening voice.
"Hahaha! Yes yes! How can you trust the words of a Joker!"
Laughing as he realized a fact, Joker wiped the tears of his moist eyes and stared back at Luffy.
"Because you don't have an option but to trust me."
Hearing him, Luffy grunted and walked forward with heavy steps showing his dominance. Strong aura with killing intent burst out from Luffy.
"Hehe! Just this?"
Joker shook his head, then his body vanished from the spot where he stood in a blink of an eye.
"None of you can catch me. So forget about kicking my ass, kids…"
His voice echoed on the ship but his figure was nowhere to be found.
"I can sense him. It's like he is teleporting continuously!"
Luffy noticed and quickly shared this with his crew. Zoro prepared to cut down Joker the moment he was visible.
Bam!
Suddenly, the loud noise attracted the attention of the crew. Their eyes widened as they saw Usoop lying down on the floor with his hands on his stomach.
"Usopp!"
Chopper made haste and came beside Usopp. Joker's laughter still rang all around the ship.
"Damn it! Come out and face me like a man!"
Luffy roared in anger but Joker being an experienced pirate, why would he show himself.
Slash!
The three swords cut through the air, each sword had enough power to cut the entire ship in half.
Drip.
A trail of red blood dripped down from the one of the three swords wielded by Zoro.
"Ah, you barely got me! You are quite a bloodthirsty beast, Roronoa Zoro."
Zoro frowned, he did leave a cut on Joker's body the moment Joker shifted on the deck near him.
But it wasn't deep enough to give Joker a setback or something.
The Straw Hat Pirates faced Joker at his prime, will they be able to beat him or will Luffy have to drop his aim to become the Pirate King?