"Why is it that every time we get to a new island, we just have to have a party?" Nami whined with a wide smile on her face, obviously loving the beer mug in her hand.
"Because parties are fun!" Usopp shouted at her from where he was dancing with Luffy and Chopper. The New World was a scary place, but they were keeping their spirits high and enjoying themselves once again.
"Yohohoho yoho-hohooo," Brook sang as he played the violin. The party was in full swing and Franky and Sanji smirked at each other.
"Hey guys," the blonde haired chef called out and everyone gathered around the fire, taking seats on logs. "We've got an idea," he said and the cyborg next to him opened up his stomach cavity and pulled out a couple bottles of good old scotch from the village of Bounty Hunters they pillaged. Sanji pulled out some shot glasses, "We're gonna play a game!"
Luffy looked excited and ready to play. Zoro saw the alcohol and put down his sake, same as Nami. They drank a lot, and when a game with alcohol was involved, it was better to start off as sober as possible.
"I don't really like alcohol," Chopper said. "Mostly the smell just annoys my sensitive nose, but if we're playing a game I guess I'll try it."
"Here," Usopp reached in his bag and pulled out a clothespin. He needed it for the bad smelling Pop Greens he'd use in battle, but Chopper could use it for tonight.
The reindeer thanked him and Sanji started pouring shots. Franky decided to explain the rules of the game to them, "We're playing I Never." A few of them chuckled while most stared at him with confused looks so he kept going. "Each person gets three shot glasses," he started, "we'll go around the circle, and you say something you've never done. If someone else did that thing, then they have to drink." He paused and then added sternly, "No lying."
"How will you know if I'm lying?" Nami asked the robot in an innocent voice.
"We won't," Franky said as Sanji's eyes popped out as hearts. "But it wouldn't be that fun of a game if we all cheated would it?" The others agreed with him there since it wasn't like there was money on the line or anything.
"So who starts?" Zoro asked, knowing he could easily finish off those three shots pretty fast without having much effect to him.
"Ooh, me me me!" Usopp said waving his arm around in the air. He'd already drank a few mugs of sake and was ready to play the game.
"Okay," Franky said, "we'll start with Usopp and go around clockwise."
Chopper looked around and moaned, he was on Usopp's left and would be the last one to go.
The long-nosed pirate grinned as he looked around at the others and then stated proudly (even if he shouldn't have), "I never kissed a girl!" A few of the men started laughing at him, and Franky and Brook each took a shot from in front of them.
They looked around at the others and were surprised to see that neither Zoro nor Sanji took a shot, though they didn't look too happy about it. Usopp grinned madly, he was happy to find out that he was in the majority here. Then his mouth dropped as he watched two others pick up shot glasses and drink.
Every single one of the boys, including Chopper, stared wide-eyed as Nami and Robin picked up their glasses and drank. "Me and Vivi got a little too tipsy after the Alabasta party," Nami admitted to them after the burn in her throat dispersed. She giggled and Sanji fell backwards with a full on nosebleed while the other boys just blushed.
Robin didn't give an explanation to why she took a shot, but she grinned with a faint red tint in her cheeks that made her giggle a little. She was thinking back to a ship she spent some time on, they were good people. She laughed a little more before Luffy called out, "I never died!"
He started laughing as he looked across the fire at Brook. "Hey no fair!" The skeleton complained.
"He's right Luffy," Nami said, having played the game before. "That's called targeting. You have to say something without knowing whether or not the others have done it yet."
"Ohhhh," Luffy said, seeming to understand. He thought for a second before a lightbulb flashed in his head. "I never met my dad." He had no idea that the man who saved him from Smoker back in Loguetown really was his father, so he wasn't necessarily lying.
Most of the others moaned and picked up their shot glasses. Zoro took his first with a reluctant Chopper while Franky and Brook both took their second.
The orange haired navigator complained, "I'm not going to get a turn!" She pouted, having Sanji and Robin both before her and knowing that both of them were going to get her out.
Once all three shots were finished, the game would be for her and she'd just have to watch the rest of it without playing.
Sanji didn't want to disappoint the ladies next to him, so he tried to come up with something he knew they wouldn't have ever done. "I never," he paused and thought for a few second longer. He wanted to say 'hit a woman,' but he knew the two girls would probably fail that one. "Hmm, had a pet?" He said half-heartedly, not able to think of anything better.
Zoro laughed at his pathetic response and looked around. He was surprised that three people raised their glasses and saw Sanji's horrified expression as Robin took her second shot and was almost out of the game right as it was about to be her turn.
Brook looked around with his second shot in his bony hand, "Just so you know, this isn't for Laboon. He was a nakama, not a pet." He downed the shot and slammed it down on the table with a pink blush coming over his face, "It's for my parakeet Mr. Chipsworth." With that, the skeleton was the first one out of the game. He had kissed a girl, met his dad, and had a pet. He'd already lived a full live, it was only natural he was the most experienced of the crew.
The others stared cracking up at the name and even Robin giggled a little, the two fast shots having a small affect on her as they were already setting in. Luffy was the third person to drink and now only had one glass left, "I've had a lot of pets," he told them and thought back on all the animals he'd tamed over the years. His favorite had to be Cerberus on Thriller Bark.
"I never," the archaeologist started since it was now her turn. The others leaned in. "Had any friends as a child." Everyone just stared at her for a few seconds, the woman grinning as she knew she got most of them with her statement.
"Aw man," Luffy said with a pout and downed another drink. Usopp drank his first, as did Zoro. Franky sighed that he never got a turn and downed the last drink he had in front of him.
"Well that's it, I'm out." His dad abandoned him on Water 7, but he still remembered him. He'd had a lot of kisses from girls in his day, and Bakaburg counted as a friend if he thought about it.
Chopper didn't drink, and neither did Sanji. The reindeer had Doctorine and Doctor, but they were like parents to him. Sanji felt the same way about the chefs who raised him at Baratie.
Nami took another drink as she thought about Nojiko and how they were still the closest of friends, even worlds apart. Now she was down to one left and she had to get the others out fast.
An idea hit her and she knew it was gold; "I never beat an opponent with a bounty."
The others all stared at her for a few seconds and thought back on all their adventures. They wanted to find a time where she had done just that, but each one of them was coming up blank.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Robin, all picked up their glasses and drank. For Robin, that was the third, and final shot. "Yohoho, looks like you're out too Robin-san." She smiled at the tipsy skeleton who looked around at the few who hadn't drank. "Usopp-san? Chopper-san?"
They were thinking back hard, but every enemy they could think of was without a bounty. "Wait!" Usopp grabbed his glass and chugged it fast, trying and failing not to cough at the burn in his throat.
Zoro laughed, "I remember now. Back on your home island. That hypnotist guy had a bounty didn't he?"
"Yeah, and I couldn't have done it without your help!" The sharpshooter held a thumbs up to Zoro who just scoffed and looked back at the fire in the middle of them. He tossed a log on it and smirked, it was finally his turn.
Luffy was looking around and then realized something. "Wait a second, Sanji could I get more of that scotch stuff, I'm all out." They looked over and saw all three of his shot glasses were empty.
"That means you're out idiot," Sanji scolded, refusing to use any more of the scotch on the dumbass. Luffy had pets, he had childhood friends, and he had defeated many enemies with high bounties.
Chopper was smiling, he hadn't had a drink in a while and was winning this game. Robin, Brook, Franky, and Luffy were all out, and he was up after Zoro since the two older men between them were already out.
The swordsman gazed around seeing the remaining competition. Usopp was down to his final glass, so was Nami. Unfortunately so was he, while Chopper and Sanji still had two remaining. "Alright, I never," he paused and crossed his arms, "turned my back to an enemy."
Chopper and Usopp both thought back to Thriller Bark when Perona's ghosts were heading straight for them. The swordsman was the only one who didn't turn and fled and instead stayed to let the ghosts fly through his stomach instead. The two of them drank, as did Sanji, and Nami had to drink as well, angry that she didn't win. Her and Usopp dropped out with their last glass drank.
The sniper had a few friends as a kid, he took down Jango's 9 million bounty, and he had run away... a lot. Nami kissed a girl, had her best friend and sister Nojiko, and ran just as often as the sniper.
Chopper looked back and forth between Zoro and Sanji who, like him, were down to their final glass of scotch. The reindeer didn't know how fast his metabolism moved the liquid, but it was already working! The tiny furry creature burped in a cute way that made both girls oogle over him. He saw Sanji's angry look that he was getting all the attention, and he figured it out. The reindeer jumped up and exclaimed, "I've never been in love!"
Sanji dropped his jaw, and looked back at Nami and Robin. "Of course I must drink now, as I am in love with my dear Nami-chan and Robin-swan!" He reached down to grab his glass, only to freeze as he saw a hand grabbing another glass next to his.
Everyone looked at the glasses in shock, then slowly followed the hand as it brought the shot glass back. Zoro tipped back the shot, swallowed, and stood up out of his seat. "Good job Chopper," he congratulated the reindeer for winning. The green haired man turned and walked off, "I'm going to train."
"It's the middle of the night," Nami called after him.
"Best time for it," he muttered back. The truth was, there was too much on his mind to be sitting there with the crew any longer. 'Why did I just drink?' He thought while heading up to the training room. 'Why am I training so late?" He thought as he opened up the door to the training area.
Zoro looked over at the weights and decided on lifting them for his late-night training session. He reached down to his side to remove his swords from his waist, and his hand froze over one of his weapons. Zoro slowly looked down and he stared at the white sheath his hand hovered over. 'Wado Ichimonji. Kuina's blade. Kuina...' Zoro shook his head and he took the blades off his waist. "Heh," he mumbled while smiling and shaking his head. "It was just a stupid game," he said, and then after a few seconds repeated, "just, a stupid game."