Most of the teenagers in the group were startled by the sudden roar that bellowed in the air. Luffy was the only one that seemed to be unfazed by it, knowing the owner of the sound.
"Oh man, what was that?"
a scared Jaune said. They just finished a tough battle with two old Grimm. Another one was going to be more dangerous since the previous fight already tuckered them out.
"That... might be the gorilla that Luffy fought earlier. We're gonna clear out of here to give them some room to fight, but we'll be sitting back unless he really needs us. That alright, Luffy?"
Yang asked. On the inside, she does feel a little intimidated by the Grimm and knows when she is close to her limits. Yang doesn't want to endanger her own life so recklessly because of Luffy's priorities.
The moment that someone close to him is in mortal danger, he will ditch all sense of self preservation and protect said person with his body if that's what it takes. Luffy looks to her with a wide grin as he nods his head.
"That's fine. You can leave or stay, it doesn't matter to me. But if you do stay just keep yourself out of my fight."
Luffy instructed which caused concern to appear on some of their faces. Jaune seems to take the initiative to respond.
"You can't seriously mean that you're gonna fight it alone. That's insane!"
Jaune protested to the straw hat boy who did not budge. As much as he may be a weakling, having his new friend fend for himself would leave a bad taste in his mouth.
Ruby peers into her cousin's eyes and discovers the look of determination and confidence. She sighs to herself in frustration with a hint of sadness. Frustration for him being so stubborn and hogging a new Grimm to himself. Sadness for the fact that she doesn't get to support him directly.
'I promise that someday I'll be strong enough to actually help you instead of twiddling my thumbs Luffy.'
Ruby solemnly thought.
"Come on guys... when he gets like this, he won't listen to anybody. Lets just go somewhere safe so we don't get caught up in the crossfire."
Ruby announced resulting in a reluctant nod from the rest of the group.
Though to the observant eye, Ruby's smile was a little strained. She doesn't like it any more than the next person. Luffy approaches her before she could start moving and removes his straw hat to place it on Ruby's head.
"Hold onto it for me, I don't want to ruin it."
Luffy told Ruby, to which she replied with a soft smile.
Whenever he lends his hat over to her or Yang, it is an unspoken promise that Luffy will return to get it back. He does this to reassure them that they will see each other again or that he will not lose.
As they were making their way to a more elevated location to spectate the soon-to-be battleground clearly, Luffy spots Ren holding his side as he walked by him. Perhaps the Deathstalker did a number on him.
"Oi Ponytail Guy, you look pretty banged up."
Luffy pointed out for Ren. Ren and Nora turn around with a raised brow before coming back to him.
"My name is Ren, not Ponytail Guy. And it's just a bruise, don't worry about it."
Ren reassured him, although Luffy didn't look convinced with the effort it took him to walk over to him. A symbol appeared on his hand in the form of pink cherry blossoms, in homage to a jolly roger back at Chopper's home. The two notice the glow and can't help but wonder what that was supposed to be.
"Memory Bond: Doctor"
Luffy inspected the rib area by tenderly touching any possible spots that could cause Ren discomfort. Ren winced in pain when he found a few injuries. Luffy crossed his arms in thought of how it could be treated before scrounging around the medical pouch. He pulls out the light green ball he showed Jaune, Weiss, and Pyrrha before initiation started and hands it to a confused Ren.
"Some of your ribs are bruised so it hurts to walk. This should dull the pain and make aura heal it faster."
Luffy simply stated before deactivating his semblance.
It was Ren's turn to inspect the item given to him before he shrugged his shoulders and popped it into his mouth. He is no expert in the medical field, so he'll just have to take his word for it. A few seconds after swallowing the medicine, the pain slowly dissipated and felt his aura get a sudden kick as it was working on the wound. He adopted a look of surprise at the recovery rate before giving a small smile in thanks for Luffy's help.
"Thanks second best buddy! Both for giving me the thunderbolt and making my bestest buddy, Ren, feel better. Oh, maybe you can break that thing's legs for us."
Nora said with bubbly enthusiasm as she bear hugs Luffy and lifts him off the ground. Luffy just replies with the usual chuckle before being released and then the two finally left the area.
Silence filled the space as Luffy stood in the middle, waiting out the Berserker Kong. Eventually, the Grimm revealed itself at the edge of the clearing with rage in its eyes and the markings still had a bright glow. It was not alone however, for it brought along a horde of small Grimm with it. B.K intends to wear the human out with sheer numbers before going in for the kill.
Luffy gives a fearless gaze to the shroud of black beasts as they make their way towards him.
"I don't have time for weaklings like you. Get out of my way."
Luffy said in a low tone. He unleashes a wave of Conqueror's Haki upon the blanket of Grimm. The dark creatures stopped in their tracks as they just stare at him in fear.
Since they don't have souls, the Grimm don't fall unconscious like every other living being. At the same time, he can't tame them as if they were wild animals.
The cannon fodder understood that they don't stand a chance against him and returned back to where they came from; avoiding a fight they know they can't win. B.K didn't waver at his overwhelming willpower, but it still got the job done.
"Yosh, now it's just you and me, gorilla."
Luffy said as he cracked his knuckles.
With the others...
Ruby and the others managed to find a great spot to observe the fight, which would be the summit of a hill near the clearing they recently left. It was close enough to clearly see what's going on and easy to intervene when things get dire with long ranged shooting, but distant to the point that they are out of the way.
By the time they started spectating, they spotted the gorilla that Luffy was talking about along with a horde of Grimm which caused them to panic for leaving him to fight so many enemies. Then their panic changed to that of a mix of disbelief, amazement, and curiosity after what happened next. The small fries ended up running away from him, thus leaving only the gorilla.
Yang and Ruby widened their eyes in realization at the Grimms' behavior.
"He must've used Conqueror's Haki to scare them off."
Ruby said out loud but regretted it as soon as she got the curious gazes of the entire group except Yang.
She didn't want to be stuck explaining everything about his abilities to the rest of her friends, at least not yet. Ruby was sweating profusely at the undivided attention she was receiving.
"Ummm... oh look at that, Luffy is about to start his fight."
Ruby lamely excused while giving a nervous laugh, causing Yang to pinch the bridge of her nose.
Ruby couldn't come up with an excuse to save her life at the best of times. However it worked somewhat considering that everyone slowly turned their attention to Luffy's location, much to Ruby's relief.
'This is going to be a looong day.'
Yang thought to herself in a tired tone. They were just shelving away the topic for the time being. Once the fight is over, the two sisters are going to be interrogated.
With Luffy...
B.K growled at him before rushing towards the boy. Luffy swung his arm to pump it and enter Second Gear then ran towards the big gorilla with incredible speed. His arm was behind him and twisted up before spinning back towards it when Luffy got inside its guard.
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Rifle"
In a blur of speed, his spinning fist landed a hit on the abdomen of the beast, sending it flying back through a few trees. Luffy heard a roar but was introduced to chunks of wood being hurled at him. He backed away to dodge the debris that would have hit him. A steamy B.K used the distraction to enter Luffy's blind spot and throw a punch at him, only for him to disappear from view. Luffy got in front of its face before cocking back his leg covered in Armament.
"Gomu Gomu no Hawk Stamp"
The lightning fast kick met the Grimms face causing it to reel back its head. It recovered more quickly than Luffy anticipated and landed a solid punch to the boy. Luffy was sent rocketing across the arena but stretched out his arms to grab a hold of the two pillars that was at each side. He deactivated Second Gear for the moment and imbued Armament into both his legs as he slowed to a stop from flying back.
"Gomu Gomu no..."
he started as he sent himself back at his opponent at breakneck speeds. He put the bottoms of his feet together in preparation for the attack.
"Javelin"
By using a new technique that fused the ideas of his Rocket and Lance, the tips of his feet impacted B.K in the chest. The attack managed to crack a bit of the upper body armor through the slight puncture force it gave. B.K howled in pain as it was skidding back from the hit. The gorilla started exuding soft flames from the markings as it gave a deep growl.
Luffy raised a brow at the change before he received a swift blow that sent him crashing into the temple wall. He climbed out of the rubble and winced when he put a hand on his chest.
"Owowow... What's was up with that punch. That actually burned me a little."
Luffy said in confusion. He looked over at B.K and noticed it fought a lot like someone familiar.
"Huh, that gorilla kind of reminds me of Yang. It gets stronger every time I hit it and now it burns things."
Luffy thought out loud.
It is very much like how Yang's semblance worked in a way. Taking hits to improve overall performance and eventually enter a state of expelling flames from the body.
Yep, that definitely sounds like Yang. Yet in B.K's case, it's more of an innate ability rather than a semblance since Grimm don't have aura.
Luffy had a stupid grin on his face after thinking he figured out the mystery behind the gorilla's glowing markings.
He didn't get much time to think when B.K was in front of him throwing a barrage of wild punches, which he barely dodged. Luffy jumped away from his opponent before witnessing the Grimm lift a large pillar above its head and tossed it at him. Luffy leaped over the pillar and noticed another heading his way while he was in midair.