Of Mentos and Morons
The ship was quiet, strangely quiet. Usually, you could hear someone moving around, getting something out of the fridge (despite Sanji's many traps and locks), going to the bathroom, taking a shower, or even just talking in their sleep (or in Brook's case, singing or humming). But on the night of August 15th, there was none of those noises.
If Franky was to be honest with himself, it made him a little nervous.
Unlike the rest of the Straw Hats, who were all asleep in their beds, Franky had chosen to stay up late and work on a present for the crew that he'd been building recently. It was almost done, and even he had to admit it was pretty epic. He had combined two of Vegapunk's old ideas with some of his own, and the result was turning out to be some kind of high-powered fan that doubled as a fully functioning rocket launcher. Oh, and it ran on cola. Franky grinned. That was just a little shout out to the contraption's designer.
He had yet to come up with a name for the thing, but that could wait for later.
Franky set down the circular chainsaw and wiped his brow. Despite being an 'Iron Pirate,' he was still able to sweat like any other person. He'd been working on this thing (he'd really have to think about naming it soon) all day, and he was getting SUPER tired. It was looking great, though! All the effort he was putting into it was paying off. If he could just stay awake for a couple more hours...
Still, though, the lack of sleep was catching up on him, and he still wasn't quite used to the New World's totally whacked climate. It was even crazier than the Grand Line's, and more susceptible to completely random changes. Just this morning, Nami had almost been caught off guard by a sudden cyclone. Nami. The best navigator he'd ever seen. That was just how insane the New World was.
"I need a SUPER cup of cola!" Franky said aloud, leaning back in his chair and grinning at the ceiling. "Maybe that'll perk me up!"
He reached his big hand out for a mini barrel of the stuff, and a smaller, yellow, robotic hand popped out of the palm of the larger, red one to grab it. He lifted the drink up to his mouth.
Still, though... it was strange he didn't hear any of the crew doing anything. It wasn't even like it was late at night - - it was just past ten-thirty, and Lights Out had been an hour and a half ago. They weren't up to something, were they?
Franky shrugged to himself and took a long sip of the cola.
And immediately regretted it.
His body felt light, as if someone had lowered the gravity by half. He felt like he just wanted to relax and go to sleep, but at the same time he had a strange, hyperactive energy. His body was confused, not knowing whether to take it or easy or literally bounce off the walls of his brightly lit workshop. Franky's head felt like it was shuddering back and forth. And was that steam coming out of his ears?
There was an explosion of giggling from behind a few barrels. Franky threw a tarp over his contraption and glared in the direction of it.
"Okay," he growled, though it came out more like o-o-o-o-o-o-k-k-k-k-k-k-a-a-a-a-y-y-y-y-y-y-y. "Who switched out my cola for something else, and what did you replace it with?"
There was no answer, just more laughter at his now-crazy voice. He distinctly heard a familiar "Shishishi!"
Franky let loose some Franky Fire on the barrels, burning them to ash.
As he suspected, rolling on the floor behind them were none other than Monkey D. Lucy, the girl he'd chosen to be a pirate under, Usopp, the crew's long-nosed sniper, and Chopper, a reindeer-human and the best doctor around. They were quite literally heaving with laughter. He wondered briefly if Lucy would hyperventilate.
"You sound like you're on a jackhammer!" gasped Usopp in between laughter.
Chopper was grinning like Christmas had come early. "Steam's coming out of your ears! Steam!"
"We... we..." Lucy snorted, unable to continue talking. Finally, after a minute more of Olympic giggling, Lucy managed to breathe out, "We switched out your regular stuff for Diet Cola when you weren't looking!"
"And also added Mentos," the resident sniper added helpfully, bursting into another fit of uproarious chuckles.
Well, the Diet Cola explained the weightless feeling, and the Mentos explained the steam.
In spite of himself, Franky cracked a smile. He had to admit it. That had been a pretty decent prank. He had never even noticed the difference, and he probably did look pretty funny right now. Besides, he could never stay mad at Lucy long - - not since he'd come to understand her in the Enies Lobby incident. Nobody stayed mad at her for long, not even Nami, who could hold a grudge for a ridiculously long amount of time. (She was still demanding he pay her back several hundred belli, which he'd borrowed off her two years ago to buy an extra Speedo with.) She was just too happy and childishly cute. And after hearing about Anne's death during their separation, they had resolved never to make her upset. Having one of her beloved friends mad at her would probably upset her a lot.
So, although his pride was marred a bit, he shrugged it off and just went with it.
His captain was a bit of a moron, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Franky's intelligent brain started thinking.
Well, actually... Lucy had better watch out! Or else she'd fall victim to the world's most SUPER prank...