Fortunae Gauntlet by Velkyn Karma (T / PG-13)

[liashi.livejournal.com]

Fandom: ONE PIECE
Pairing: None/Gen
Length: ~77k
Author on LJ: velkynkarma
Author Website: FF.Net Profile
Why this must be read: I was mildly surprised, but also immensely pleased, when this author came into the fandom, and brought with her more than one straight-up adventure/battle/friendship fic. Awwww yeah. I had to go with reccing her first effort, as it remains my personal favorite overall, though most every one of her fics has some element that made me tempted to rec it instead.

But with Fortunae Gauntlet, more than one or two things about it have always stuck with me. I liked the variety of fighting styles of the enemies, the innovative battle tactics of the crew against said enemies (it's very One Piece), and the fact the attention of the fic is balanced among the different crewmembers, something that isn't seen in fanfic as often as I'd personally like.

I really enjoyed that the last battle gave my favorite character an unexpected character a shining moment, though the fight does conclude with a showdown between Luffy and the enemy leader, just like you might find in the original manga itself. The fic's an exciting read from start to finish. Good battle writers can be hard to come by, even when the source material has battle as a major element. Truth be told, it's tough to imagine the fandom without velkynkarma!

Note that this story takes place before Franky and Brook joined the crew, so they are not present.

Fortunae Gauntlet