Everything had started out so good, almost a little too good for this crew. They had reached an island which was quite a bit larger than the ones the log post usually guided them to. As soon as Nami had understood that the island was actually one of the more well known stops of the grand line, and that it had a nice shopping district, full of naïve shopkeepers to bargain with she had decided (with the rest of the crews approval, of course) that they all needed to relax a bit and do some shopping.
So as soon as the Sunny had docked in the harbour and she'd handed out some money to the idiots and Robin, that mischievous grin we all know so well sneaked it's way into Nami's features and she set of on her bargain hunt. With the lovesick puppy, a.k.a Sanji, following her with the duty of bag-carrier, of course.
Sounds like a nice day, huh? NOT.
After a pathetic forty-five minutes of happy-time, a loud explosion could be heard, followed by an all too familiar:
"Da ha ha ha ha!"
"… Oh come on, not again." Sanji looked in the direction of the blast and sighed. "Who do you think it was this time? The eating monster or the marimo?"
Before Nami could answer the chef, the previously mentioned "eating monster" and "marimo" came bursting out from an alley, knocking a bunch of empty crates to the side doing so.
Their moronic captain was laughing like an excited child and his smile widened even more when he noticed his nakama.
"Oh hey! Nami! Sanji! Da ha ha ha! Zoro got into trouble!"
"You're the one who caused the explosion, slowpoke!" the swordsman growled and bonked his captain across the head with the hilt of one of his swords.
"…both, I guess" Nami sighed before her bouncing captain started dragging her and a cursing Sanji along the street. The disturbingly familiar sound of angry marines shouting at them filled the air around them. Nami sighed. It all started out so good.
--
Chopper smiled widely at the old lady behind the register as he received the bag with the herbs he just bought.
"Thank you!" he waved at the lady, who was completely charmed by the small, furry creature.
He had been happy when Usopp rushed in and told him Nami had said they could all go shopping at the next island, his stock of medicinal herbs had been running short, and he was fearing that they might get into some big fight, and then he'd need a ridiculously high amount of medicine because of the inhuman ability to attract wounds of Luffy, Zoro and Sanji.
So as soon as Nami had handed him his share he took off towards the city in his search for a shop selling herbs and other medicinal supplies, and the store had actually been quite easy to find.
Now that he'd done his duty as the ship's doctor, Chopper felt like giving himself a little something, since he still had some money left, and started heading towards the book store across the street with a smile on his blue-nosed face.
The bell hanging in the door frame jingled happily as he entered the store. It wasn't that big, but it had a nice feel to it. He immediately went straight for one of the shelves and buried his nose in an old copy of "the human body".
And that's where the ship's archaeologist interrupted the little creature a few minutes later.
Chopper squeaked as Robin put her hand on his shoulder.
"Ah, Robin! It's you" he said after turning around to meet Robins friendly smile.
"Hello, Chopper. Finding anything interesting?" she asked and made a motion towards the shelf.
"yes actually!" he responded excitedly. "they have an original copy of "the human body! Complete with the illustrations and all!" Chopper liked to talk to Robin like this, about books and other.. .well, intelligent things some of the crew would not understand much about.
"Ah, interesting! I've only seen one of those once in my life before, and it was only briefly. May I?" she held out her hand towards the little doctor, he reached up to give her the book.
BOOM!!
Chopper yelped and hid behind Robin who calmly said:
"Ah, it sounds like our dear captain is at it again."
"Oh, no! what if he's hurt! We have to help!" the reindeer said coming out from his hiding place.
"Oh I doubt he's hurt, you know him. But I do suspect that he has attracted some unwanted attention from the marines stationed in this city. We should hurry back to the ship"
"Yes, you're right!"
Chopper and Robin ran out of the building.
--
Usopp had been in a rare "happy period" for the latest weeks. Not a single major fight, no scary monsters, and he hadn't been beat up by the crews angry chef for goofing around with Luffy for ages! And just when he was about to run out of gunpowder and break this wonder-spell, Nami had gone crazy and actually given them all money to spend! Everything was perfect!
"Franky! Look at this one!" Usopp motioned for the cyborg to come and see.
"Ah! Super, nose-bro!" Franky came hurrying over from the manual shelf to look at the tool in the sniper's hands. "It's a Super-cutting-device-X2000, I must have one! Because it's super, just like… me!" he struck his trademark pose where his arms met and formed the blue star.
Usopp and Franky, the two handymen of the crew, had decided to go together in search for a place where they could buy wood, tools and hopefully even gunpowder.
Luck had been on their side, as they had soon found a nice store which had a little backyard with timber stored, but also all kinds of tools and manuals inside.
Usopp laughed at the blue-haired man's antics and turned back towards the shelf.
"But really, they have an impressing amount of stuff here. Even I, the amazing captain usopp-sama, can see things I don't know what they're for.
"Yeah, you know what they say, you can't know them all." Franky said with a glint in his eyes and crouched down in front of the shelf next to Usopp. "But I think that's kinda good. It's always fun when you find new stuff, and if you knew about everything, then that fun would be taken away."
"Heh, I know what you mean." Usopp smiled back at the man. "look at this for exa…"
BOOM!!
"KYYAAAA!!" Usopp shrieked, knocking over the shelf of tools in surprise.
"What was that!?" Franky quickly got up and looked around.
"Eh.. Eh he he… well of course it was the sound of my private army attacking the giant leach roaming this area! I, the great captain usopp-sama, am very well known here for my strategic mind and my…" Usopp started blurting out pure nonsense to cover for his un-manly shriek earlier as a crimson flush spread across his long-nosed face.
"That was an explosion caused by gun powder, right sniper-bro?" Franky looked out towards the street. "And for some reason my gut tells me who is behind it"
Usopp stopped ranting. "Oh no, Luffy" the coward groaned and smacked his head.
"come on, let's get going before the marines start rushing in!" Franky rushed out of the store.
Mentally beating himself up, Usopp followed the shipwright.
"crap! Why didn't I get the gunpowder before the tools?! Oh man, I knew things were going too well!"
--
Luffy was very happy. As always when there was food in front of him!
As soon as he and his nakama had reached this funny island, he had begun bouncing up and down at the thought of possible adventure. Nami had given him some money and told him not to waste it all on food. Luffy had asked, "what else is there to buy except food?" Nami had hit him in the head. Luffy had whined and asked her why she hit him? Sanji had kicked him into the deck yelling "Don't! talk! Back! To! Nami! San!" emphasizing every word with a sharp kick.
His nakama were so funny!
After rocketing off, he had hit the jackpot directly. A restaurant with an "all you can eat sign" outside of it, and at the first try too! Perfect!
So that's the reason he was now ruining the poor restaurant owner by stuffing himself full with pasta, meatballs, lasagne, applesauce, French toast, sausage, chicken, for some weird reason gingerbread cookies covered in peanut butter, yakisoba, bouillabaisse (whatever it was, it tasted funny), goat stew and of course, MEAT.
The poor owner had given up and was now lying in a heap on the counter, silently weeping.
Luffy had a sixth sense for these kinds off things, he could feel something was wrong with the man and that he needed some human contact.
"Oi! Old man!" he said smoothly, spraying the owners face with half-chewed cheesecake.
"…wh-what is it, dear customer?" the man sighed, wiping his face off on his sleeve.
"What's up with this island?" Luffy decided to go for the "small-talk tactic".
"Ah well, this has always been a big shopping island. Travellers who come by here are a great source of income for us". the restaurant owner peered at Luffy and sighed."…most of the time..""Huh?"
"oh nothing… anyway, sometimes even pirates stop here too. That's why we have marines stationed here." the man continued.
Luffy grunted and started wolfing down a large serving of steak. This was really delicious! Not as good as Sanji's, but still! The people here were really nice too! …Wait a second, what did that man just say?
"…marines?" Luffy looked up at the owner.
"yes. But wait, haven't I seen you somewhere…?" The owner frowned as he studied Luffy's face. But suddenly, a shout could be heard from the street:
"It's Roronoa! GÈT HIM!"
Luffy twirled around to see his first mate charging a group of marines, swords drawn. Luffy grinned.
"Fighting time"
The owner gaped as 300, 000, 000 bounty head Monkey D Luffy somehow rocketed himself out of his restaurant.
--
Zoro was so NOT lost! He was just temporarily "misplaced", that's right. When they arrived to the Island, he had kept his calm, received his money from the witch, wrestled with the aho-cook after referring to said witch as a witch and then he simply wandered off.
And now, somehow, he was 'temporarily misplaced'. This really pissed Zoro off, since the last thing the aho-cook had said to him was, "try not to get lost, marimo!"
Zoro gritted his teeth and growled as he walked down the street. He hated when Sanji got the best of him! And the stupid witch had also warned him about getting lost, "this was a big city and all". He wasn't some little brat! He was the feared Roronoa Zoro damn it! His bounty exceeded 100, 000, 000 for fuck's sake!
Now Zoro was really pissed. His fists were clenched and his eyes not really paying attention, that's why he didn't notice the cart of cabbages in his path, and that's why he was quite surprised when he was snapped out of his angry trail of thoughts as he lost his footing.
"what the hell…!?" the somewhat embarrassed first mate of the strawhats sat on the ground rubbing his head in front of the tipped over cabbage cart. "stupid wannabe salad!" he mumbled as he kicked one of the offending vegetables.
Unfortunately, the crash from the cart had attracted the attention of a nearby group of marines.
"It's Roronoa! GET HIM!"
Crap. Zoro jumped up from the ground, drawing two of his swords in the same motion. The green-haired swordsman emptied his mind, let himself relax. Twelve, twelve marines. Nine swords and three riffles. Swords rushing against him, riffles raised. Not good. Riffles too far away. Shift weight to left foot, and push!
Two marines gurgled as Zoro suddenly shot forward, swords moving smoothly through the air, slicing their targets. One of the more alert riffle bearing marines at the back took aim at the swords man, his finger slowly squeezed the trigger.
Zoro looked up to see the man take aim. Fuck. There was no time to avoid the bullet. Suddenly, something red flashed in the corner of his eye. Luffy. Of course.
"heh". Zoro grinned and lashed out at two marines coming at him, confident that his captain would take care of the riffle threat.
Luffy crashed into the marine with the riffle from the side, just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet's course was abruptly changed, and it hit, by some weird twist of fate, the cabbage cart Zoro just knocked over. But Zoro had not only knocked over the cart, but also six barrels of gunpowder. Gunpowder which had escaped it's containers, and was now mixed up with the cabbage. The spark from the bullet hit the lovely mix.
Cabbage and gunpowder makes a surprisingly strong bomb.
BOOM!!
"Da ha ha ha ha!"
Zoro stared in disbelief at the burning pile of vegetables and gunpowder, wrinkling his nose as the smell of burned cabbages hit him.
Luffy, the idiot, pointed at the pile and laughed.
"Look Zoro, ha ha ha ha!"
Zoro couldn't help but grin as he started running away from the marines who were just beginning to recover from the blast and motioned for his captain to follow him.
"RUN, you idiot!"
The two pirates headed straight for a small alley, marines and cabbage smell short on their tails.
A pile of neatly stacked crates blocked their escape route.
"Gomu Gomu no, GATTLING!" Luffy's arms made the crates flight all over the place as the burst out from the alley. Zoro quickly scanned the new area and noticed the aho-cook and they witch down the street. Ha ha, how do you like the cabbage smell? Pansy-chef?
"Oh hey! Nami! Sanji! Da ha ha ha! Zoro got into trouble!" his laughing captain had noticed the pair too and was now rushing against them.
"You're the one who caused the explosion, slowpoke!" Zoro growled at the rubber man and hit him over the head with the hilt of wadou. Nami sighed and said something inaudible.
Zoro grinned as their captain grabbed the protesting Sanji and Nami and started dragging them along down the street.
"OI! What the fuck, you shitty rubber ass!?" Sanji blurted out as his foul mouth kicked in.
Zoro laughed, this day was getting better and better.
--
Sanji was overjoyed. He and the lovely Nami-san, out shopping, alone! He smiled goofily as the thought hit him: this was like a date. Their first date! Something to tell the children they'd hopefully get together. Oh their children would be so pretty, seriously, with Nami-san as the mother and himself as the father, there's no way they'd end up ugly, heh heh. Ah, Sanji could really see himself and Nami-san sitting on a porch, little kids running around their feet, happily giggling and…
"Sanji-kun?" he snapped out of his daydream and shook his head.
"huh? Oh, what is it my wonderfully perfect tangerine blossom?" he chirped.
"I wanted your opinion on something". Nami said, smiling slightly at the comment. "Will this look good on me?" she held up a blue shirt in front of herself.
"Well of course, Nami-san! Everything will look good on you!" Sanji sang happily.
"hm, yeah it does, doesn't it?" Nami grinned in a narcissistic way, even though to Sanji, it was a beautiful smile of love. Ah, what a perfect day!
BOOM!!
"Da ha ha ha ha!"
Sigh. Why today?
"… Oh come on, not again." Sanji looked in the direction of the blast. And he had his suspicions about who was responsible. "Who do you think it was this time? The eating monster or the marimo?"
His angel opened her mouth to answer him, but was stopped by the brutal entrance of dumb and dumber. Luffy and Zoro.
Sanji just looked at them with a blank expression on his face. They had came bursting out of a wall of crates. A wall of crates. Crates. Those drama queens.
His rubbery captain was laughing constantly and when he turned around to find two more of his beloved nakama close by, his grin widened even more. He started sprinting towards them, the marimo short on his tail.
"Oh hey! Nami! Sanji! Da ha ha ha! Zoro got into trouble!" Luffy laughed even more.
"You're the one who caused the explosion, slowpoke!" Zoro growled and whacked the boy over the head with the hilt of the white sword, wadou.
"…both I guess". Nami sighed as their captain was getting closer to them. A little too close…
"OI! What the fuck, you shitty rubber ass!?" Sanji cursed as he was grabbed around the waist and dragged along the street. The sound of angry marines could be heard from behind, and Sanji could also feel the for a chef familiar scent of….cabbage? Zoro laughed and Nami yelped somewhere to his right. Argh! This day was totally messed up!
"Luffy you moron! I can run by myself, damn it! Let me go!" Sanji protested, Luffy just laughed. Sanji growled and shot out with his leg in an impossible angle to plant a sharp kick on his captain's head, that surely would have snapped his neck if he wasn't made of rubber.
"blefgh!" the surprised captain dropped the blond chef, who landed in a crouching position.
"ouch! Sanji, why did you do that?" Luffy whined as he continued running.
"Because you picked me up like a shitty sack of beans, idiot!" Sanji spat as he jumped up and continued running next to a laughing Zoro.
"And what are you laughing at, cabbage boy!? Yeah that's right, I can smell it!" the chef jumped up, spun around and shot out with a kick aimed at the swordsman's head.
"keh, shouldn't you let the strong captain carry you, oh frail little princess?" Zoro grinned at the chef as he blocked the kick with the same sword hilt he just used to whack their captain over the head.
"Frail little princess!?" Sanji flipped backwards into a handstand to swipe at Zoro's legs, but before he could do that, he was sharply brought back to reality as a bullet whizzed past above him where his head had been les than a second ago.
"Zoro, Sanji! Quit fooling around! We have to get to the ship!" the ever-so-pretty Nami-san had managed to release herself from Luffy, and was now running next to the laughing boy.
"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji chirped, swung his legs around in the air to get some speed up and jump back into a standing position.
"che, whatever.." Zoro snarled.
"Don't talk to Nami-san like that!" Sanji raised his leg at a Zoro who was drawing his swords, and was that a grin on the green-haired man's face? Was that a grin Sanji felt sneaking it's way into his own features?
"I said QUIT FOOLING AROUND!" Nami's sharp words made them both wince. They mumbled something inaudible and continued running.
Good day gone bad. His lovely date with Nami-san had been interrupted, by cabbage!
Oh, why?
--
Things were starting to look better for Franky. He had been in need of more wood for the repairs of the boat for a long time now. The ship's chef and first mate just wouldn't stop fighting! They just couldn't stop breaking things! Yesterday it was a large chunk of the storage room wall. And the day before that, they made quite the hole in the railing. Did they really enjoy fighting with each other THAT much?!
But now thing's were going to be okay. This island they had docked at had everything. He and the nose-bro had found a nice shop which had both wood and tools. Right now they were sitting and chatting over some awesome new cutting-tool. It was kinda nice. He had really come to like this crew. They all had the heart on the right place. He turned his attention back at the sniper.
"Heh, I know what you mean." Usopp smiled at him. "look at this for exa…"
BOOM!!
Franky shot up as he heard the explosion. The cowardly Usopp settled for an unmanly shriek and tipping over the shelf.
"What was that?" the shipwright looked around, trying to find the source of the noise.
The poor sniper began blurting out pure nonsense, as he often did in situations like this.
"That was an explosion caused by gun powder, right sniper-bro?" the blue-haired man looked out towards the street. "And for some reason my gut tells me who is behind it"
The now blushing Usopp stopped his ranting. "Oh, no. Luffy" he smacked himself on the head.
Franky rushed towards the door "Come on, let's get going before the marines start rushing in!"
As the two got out on the street, the were met by panicked people trying to get as far as possible from the source of the earlier explosion. And of course, a group of marines looking at them when they exited the store.
"hey! Isn't that blue-haired man part of the straw hat crew!?" one of the marines pointed at them.
"yeah! And look at that nose!" another said. "GET THEM!"
"oh bugger. RUN!" Franky an Usopp started sprinting down the street towards the docks and their ship which could be seen on the water.
"hurry, nose-bro! The sunny is just ahead!" Franky urged the sniper to go faster. "and the others are probably going there too!"
"yeah, you're proba… AHHH!! TURN, TURN!" Usopp started screaming at the sight of another marine troop coming against them, this time from the front.
Franky and Usopp turned sharply into the nearest alley, both screaming at the top of their lungs.
"bwaaaah! They're coming for us!" Usopp shrieked and tugged Franky's arm. "protect me!"
"what!? Protect yourself, sogeking!" Franky protested as the came out of the alley on the other side, and were greeted by a:
"Da ha ha ha ha! Franky! Usopp!" their captain was running against them at full speed, navigator at his side.
"huh? Oh good, you're here too! Hurry! We have to get to the ship!" Nami motioned for them to follow.
"Why do people keep appearing out of alleys?" Franky turned his head at the sound of the chef's voice. The blond and the swordsman where following their captain and navigator.
"everybody! RUN! We're being chased by marines!" Usopp screamed as he and Franky fell in behind the captain and the navigator.
"you too, eyh?" Zoro said and pointed over his shoulder.
"huh?" Franky turned around to be greeted by the sight of angry marines. A lot of angry marines. And the smell of… cabbage?
"KYYYAAAA!" Usopp threw his hands up in the air and picked up the pace as he saw the group following them.
As the group previously following Franky and Usopp came out of the alley and joined forces with the one following the rest of the straw hats, Franky grinned.
Oh how he loved this crew!
--
Robin watched as her furry little crewmate took down an old book from the shelf and buried his blue nose in it. A small smile appeared on the tall woman's face. For some reason, chopper always made her smile. He was just so adorable!
Robin thought about the rest of her crew. She felt so much closer to them all since they'd saved her. More comfortable around them. She'd even started to call some of them by name, and every time they responded she felt warm inside. She had friends who loved for her. A family. Nakama.
She turned her attention back to the little doctor. His eyes were sparkling as he took in the contents of the book. She walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, which made the reindeer squeak.
"Ah, Robin! It's you". Chopper said and met Robin's smile.
As they chatted about the book Chopper was reading, Robin thought about how nice it was to have someone to talk to about books again, and how much it meant to her.
BOOM!!
Robin looked down at Chopper who had yelped and hid behind her leg at the sound of the explosion.
"Ah, it sounds like our dear captain is at it again." she stated calmly.
"Oh, no! what if he's hurt! We have to help!" the reindeer said coming out from his hiding place, with a look of concern upon his face, one Robin recognized as his "doctor look".
"Oh I doubt he's hurt, you know him. But I do suspect that he has attracted some unwanted attention from the marines stationed on this island. We should hurry back to the ship"
"Yes, you're right!"
Robin ran out of the building with Chopper bouncing along by her side. Outside, they were greeted by a mass of running people, all confused and worried. Pirates? A war?
"This way, Chopper!" Robin motioned to a side street leading towards the way to the harbour. Once again, that warm feeling in her chest as Chopper said:
"okay, let's hurry Robin!"
As they ran towards the city's main street, Chopper wrinkled his nose.
"What's the matter?" Robin asked.
"well, it's funny, but it smells like cabbage". the reindeer said. Robin sniffed the air, and yes, it did smell like cabbage. Odd.
As they got out on the main street, they were greeted by a surprising sight.
There they were, the rest of their nakama, all yelling and running towards the ship in the distance. And behind them came a large group of marines. Robin smiled. Their chef was the first to notice them.
"OI! Robin-chaaaan!" the blond man somehow began twirling and kept running at the same time, but he gave up on that and commenced a "fighting-while-running" fight with Zoro as the green-haired swordsman smirked and said something Robin couldn't hear.
"oh! Robin and Chopper! Da ha ha ha! Now we're all here!" Luffy smiled widely at them.
"RUUUUUUN! They're coming!" their long-nosed sniper yelled as he ran next to Franky.
"yes, Robin, Chopper! Hurry!" Nami said panting as she ran past.
"y-yes! We're coming!" Robin followed the little reindeer who had started running towards the group as soon as he saw the marines following them.
Robin ran up next to the orange-haired navigator.
"how did this happen, Nami-chan?" she asked with an amused look on her face. Nami sighed.
"honestly, I don't know, ask our dear captain here!" she smacked the back of the rubbery head.
"bwahahaha! It's all the cabbage's fault!" Luffy laughed.
Robin couldn't help but chuckle. And when she heard the rest of her nakama's voices:
"crap! I forgot all the wood in the store!"
"what the hell, you shitty marimo!? What the fuck do you mean by that!?"
"RUUUUUUN!"
She realised that she wouldn't trade this away for anything in the world.
Author's note:
This is my first fan fiction, and English is not my language, so don't be too harsh!
