203 Someone Unexpected

"Ugh..... Shit..." Luffy groaned as he opened his eyes, finding himself lying on the ground. He looked around him to see that he was in a golden room which spanned endlessly.

"Am I dead?" Luffy mumbled as he found the strength to sit up. He looked down to see now injuries on his body. He then touched his face, not feeling the wet blood on it at all.

In fact, he was at his full strength.

"Hello there!!"

"Huh?!" Luffy widened his eyes as he looked up to see someone before him.

" Who are you?! "

" Oh come on, surely you recognize the face of the Pirate King right?" Luffy widened his eyes in disbelief. The man in front of him was Gol D Roger, the late Pirate King.

Roger was a tall and very muscular man. His most prominent physical features were his curved black mustache, a fierce grin he almost always wore, and his intense eyes. He also had thick black hair and a short, thick neck.

"You even have my whole outfit and sword on you!" Roger grinned broadly at Luffy.

" So I'm dead then." Luffy muttered. Roger waved his hand.

"Nah, you're just very out of it. I'm just a manifestation in your dreams." Roger replied, making Luffy blink, not knowing if he should trust the man or not.

"Trust me."

"Alright."

"So that hat, Shanks gave it to you right?" Roger asked as he stood in front of Luffy who nodded before grabbing it and holding it in his hand.

"He did, I will give it back to him when I find the One Piece and become the Pirate King!" Luffy declared confidently, making Roger laugh and nod.

" You wanna become Pirate King eh?! Do you even have the strength to become one?"

"Not yet." Luffy answered immediately, making Roger laugh again.

"Hahahaha!!!! I like your honesty! Very rare from a pirate! You sound defeated though." Roger commented, noticing Luffy's grim expression.

Luffy sighed. "Where do I even start.... " He grumbled. Roger nodded and rubbed his uniquely shaped moustache.

"A lot on your mind is it? How about a spar to clear your mind?"

"Wha—"

"En garde!"

"Wha—"

*BAAAAANG!!!!*

Luffy barely had enough time to raise his cutlass and enter a stance before he was sent flying away with a powerful slash from Roger's blade which was the exact copy of his.

"Too slow kid! Hehe!!!" Roger laughed as he taunted Luffy to come fight him by signalling him to get closer. Luffy held his cutlass tightly before he appeared in front of Roger using Soru.

*CLANG!!!*

Their swords clashed.

"So why are you so troubled?!" Roger asked as he easily swatted away Luffy's slashes like swatting a fly away.

"Just got beaten up by my grandpa! He says I'm not ready for the New World when all I want is to save Ace!" Luffy shouted, getting frustrated little by little as Roger casually sidestepped his downward slash and tripped him. Roger hummed as he thought about what Luffy said.

Luffy fell onto the ground and quickly got up. He looked at Roger again before they continued their one sided duel.

"I know he's right! But I just want to save Ace and he won't allow me to!" Luffy shouted as he entered another bladelock with Roger who easily pushed Luffy back.

Roger delivered a horizontal strike at Luffy who raised his sword to his side to block it. Luffy was sent flying away and tumbling on the ground.

"I understand, child. But the fact that you're not taking this fight seriously is bothering me a lot. How are you supposed to be ready for the New World when you're so casual about everything?" Roger pointed at himself as Luffy stood up.

"Sorry...." Luffy mumbled. Roger shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. In this action filled day and age, only actions determine the course of the future. Prove that you will be better through your actions, not through your words."

" Got it." Luffy muttered before taking a deep breath in and breathing out.

"Treat me like a real person and treat this fight like it's a battle to the death." Roger reminded him Luffy nodded before leaping towards him, purposefully forgetting that Roger was just a manifestation in his dreams. The battle became even more intense as Luffy was holding nothing back against the late Pirate King.

"Why do you seek the One Piece? Why do you want to become Pirate King?" Roger asked as he punched Luffy in the face, sending the man flying back.

Luffy rubbed his face before running back to Roger.

"Cause the Pirate King's the person with the most freedom in the world, with the power to travel anywhere on the ocean without no one stopping him!! " Luffy shouted as he infused his blade with advanced Armament Haki and continued clashing with Roger.

"I want to do whatever I want! And I want everyone to be able to do the same to! But the Celestial Dragons, they want to do the exact opposite! And I hate that! What gives them the right to do that?!" Luffy asked as he sent multiple air blades at Roger who sidestepped one, slapped away another and deflected the last with his cutlass.

"What have you done about it?"

"I killed some during a slave auction in Sabaody! Now I have everyone from the World Government on my ass!" Luffy answered immediately before Roger laughed loudly in amusement.

"During a slave auction too?! Hahahaha!!!!"

" But what if you fail, what if you fail to become the Pirate King? "

"That would be fine too! It's not about the title but the adventure we went through!"

" So you want to become Pirate King but you don't care about the title? Interesting."

" It's like I said, being the Pirate King means that I have the most freedom. " Luffy replied as he held his cutlass with his left hand. He appeared in front of Roger and pulled back his Haki imbued right fist.

His right hand started steaming.

"Gear Second!! Gomu Gomu no..... RED HAWK!!!"

*BAAAAANG!!!!*

Roger blocked it with his Haki infused left hand and kicked Luffy in the chin, sending him flying high to the sky.

'I'm giving it all I've got, but I'm getting toyed around!' He thought.

"You think all this strength comes instantly?! I've been at this for decades, kid! The strength comes overtime, not instantly! "

" I know that! Gear Third!" Luffy shouted as he sheathed his blade before he blew into his left arm, inflating it . He now had a giant Advanced Armament Haki infused fist with an elephantine round wrist.

"Gomu Gomu no.... ELEPHANT GUN!!!!!"

*BAAAAANG!!!!*

Roger jumped up and clashed with the fist. He smirked as he raised his left hand to hold his cutlass with his right hand.

"Haa!!!" Roger yelled, overpowering Luffy's attack with just a push. Luffy's arm returned back to normal.

"Congrats kid, you made me hold the blade with both of my hands. Now let's take it up a notch, shall we?" Roger asked and raised his eyebrow before infusing his cutlass with Armament Haki, making the blade have a black tint to it.

Roger appeared in front of Luffy before swinging his sword at him. Luffy raised his sword just in time to block it but he was sent flying back from the swing that just gotten a million times more powerful.

"Haki is everything in the New World! I'm sure Garp reminded you a bunch of times about it! You're pretty talented, being able to use all three and a little bit of Advanced Armament at such a young age!"

"But talent—*CLANG!!!* is useless in this world!! Nobody cares if you have talent *BOOM!!!* Just Work Harder And They'll All Be Looking At You!!!" Roger shouted before swinging his sword at Luffy who raised his sword to block it.

*KLANG!!!*

Luffy gasped as his sword was hit out of his hands from Roger's blade. He looked back at Roger who only grinned at him.

"Divine Departure."

*SHING!!!!*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!*

Luffy gasped and spat out large amounts of blood as he was being sent flying back endlessly from the powerful attack. He slammed into the ground before he bounced off it and started flying again.

This repeated a couple of times before Roger appeared behind Luffy who slammed into his legs, stopping his endless flight.

Luffy groaned as he lied down on the ground, feeling dizzy from the impact. Roger laughed as he stood over him.

"You still have a long way to go before you can be like me, kid!" Roger commented. Luffy stood up.

" I don't wanna be like you, I wanna be me." Luffy replied.

" Good! Because that's our time for now! Did you learn your lesson now? "

" Wait, you were teaching me something? I thought we were just sparring to clear my mind. "

"Yeah, I did say that.... Well, I hope your mind is cleared. " Roger said. Luffy grinned before scratching his neck.

"It was nice meeting you, even if it's just a dream."

"It was nice meeting you too, mini me. I hope that you and your crew have lots of fun adventures in the future. The world out there is very fun and very sad."

"Then I'll be the one doing the right thing when everybody else is trying to be the bad guy. Wherever I go, I'll try to bring smiles to people's faces. I'll bring them joy." Luffy said confidently.

" Well, you do you. And uh, about Ace. Hehe." Roger laughed a little and patted Luffy's back.

" Tell her me and Rouge I said hi and that I'm laughing my ass off at her situation. Tell her I'm proud of her. And also.... " Roger knelt down and leaned into Luffy's ear.

"Make her the happiest woman in the world alright?" Roger requested. Luffy nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

" You bet I will!"

"Good. That's all I'll ask of you." Roger smiled and patted Luffy's back a couple more times before he started walking away from him. Luffy sighed and looked down at the ground, blinking as his cutlass was right in front of his feet.

He picked it up and sheathed it.

"Oh and one more thing!"

Luffy looked up to see Roger looking at him from far away.

"Your Devil Fruit ain't what it seems to be!" Roger said, making Luffy widen his eyes a little.

"What do you mean by that...." Luffy mumbled.

" I meant what I said literally, kid! No metaphors no nothing!" Noticing the confusion was still on Luffy's face, Roger groaned.

" It ain't just Gomu Gomu is what I'm trying to say!"

" Oh.... How'd you know? "

" You'll find that answer out yourself!!! See ya kid!!! Being with Rouge is much better than being here in Limbo!! "

Luffy watched as Roger disappeared off in the distance. He looked around his surroundings for a while before he himself disappeared too.

Back to being conscious he goes.

To be continued...