Ch. 1- IT'S GONE!
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard © Me
It was morning on the Thousand Sunny, home to the Straw Hat Pirates. Everybody was well rested after last night and had gone about doing their usual routine.
Zoro was on the deck, training as usual by swinging his weights.
"1,788…1,789…1,790…"
Nami is in the bathhouse, taking a bath.
Usopp is down below deck with Franky, working on yet another weapon.
Sanji is in the kitchen, making breakfast, while Brook is already there eating his.
Chopper is in the sick bay, making medicine.
Robin is in the library, reading.
Blizzard, wearing a green hoodie with the word "OKAMI" written in big yellow letters on the front, is sleeping on the deck.
As for Luffy, he was just now waking up, but when he did, he screamed like he had saw a nightmare come true.
"IT'S GONE~!"
Luffy ran around in the men's room, frantically.
"It's gone!" he cried. "It's gone! It's gone!" He came out of the room, looking panicked. It's gone!"
Blizzard looked up at Luffy, inquisitively.
What's gone? Blizzard thought. Unless you're talking about the last peanut butter biscuit, I didn't take it!
"Where is it?" Luffy questioned.
GACK! Blizzard gagged as Luffy forcefully opened his mouth and reached inside.
WHAT THE HELL? Blizzard thought.
"It's gone!" Luffy exclaimed before he ran off into the kitchen, where Brook and Sanji were. "It's gone! It's gone! It's gone! I can't find it!"
"Y-you can't find what- WAH!" Brook started before Luffy picked up the table, looked under it, and then dropped it before running into the next room, but not before swiping Brook's bread.
In the sick bay, Luffy jumped onto Chopper's desk, then onto the bed, and then picked Chopper's chair up and then put it down (with Chopper still in it), all while saying, "It's gone! It's gone! It's gone!"
His next stop was the bathhouse, where Nami was still bathing, and she was really in for a shock when Luffy just barged right in and started searching in the soapy, sudsy water. The hot-tempered navigator responded with a hard kick to his chin.
Luffy may be her boyfriend, but regardless, no one walks in on her while she's taking a bath.
"GET OUT!" Nami snapped.
Luffy jumped back up to his feet, as if the kick meant nothing, and just shouted, "I can't find it~!"
He ran right out, headed for the weapon storage room, where Franky and Usopp were working on this cannon, when Luffy rushed in, continuing to shout "It's gone! It's gone!"
In his agitated and frantic search for whatever it was he was looking for, Luffy stuck his head inside the cannon, and accidentally caused it to tip over and fall, destroying it.
"Damn it, Luffy!" Franky cursed.
"We've been working on this since last night!" Usopp added, crying.
Luffy had already left the room and is now in the library, flinging books off the shelves, crying, "It's gone! It's gone! It's gone! It's gone!"
Robin, who didn't seem at all disturbed by the captain's presence, simply caught the books with her Devil Fruit powers as Luffy left the room.
"It's gone! It's gone! It's GONE!" Luffy cried as he ran around Zoro, who was doing one-handed push-ups while holding a dumbbell in the other hand, and stacks of crates, barrels, and dumbbells on his feet. Luffy jumped up onto the stack, throwing Zoro off balance.
"W-whoa!" Zoro cried. "L-L-Luffy! Stop! Get down!"
KRASH! The tower of crates, dumbbells, barrels, and Luffy came down on Zoro, piling on both of them.
"It's gone," Luffy said, sadly.
THUD! A dumbbell fell and bounced off of his rubber head.
"I can't find it, anywhere," the captain said, forlorn.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?" Zoro snapped.
Luffy turned to Zoro sadly and answered, "My hat!"
"What?" Zoro asked, now concerned.
Everybody knew that aside from his crew, Luffy's hat is the most precious thing in the world to him. Finding out that it was gone was a very serious thing.
"I looked all over the ship," Luffy began, "and I can't find it."
Just then, his face lit up in realization.
"Wait!" he said. "Maybe it fell into the ocean!"
Uh, wasn't it with you last night? Blizzard thought, questioningly.
Luffy pulled himself out of the pile and ran out towards the rail.
"Dammit," he cursed.
"Uh, Luffy!" Zoro called. "Wait!"
WROING! He stretched his neck out.
"WHERE IS IT?" He cried.
As Luffy's neck kept stretching, he slipped off the rail and fell into the water with a SPLASH! Blizzard attempted to catch him before then, but it was too late.
Dammit, Luffy! Blizzard cursed in thought.
"You moron!" Zoro cried.
SPLASH! He dove into the water after his captain.
XXX
A few minutes later, Zoro came back up on deck, with Luffy, who is lying on the lawn with a waterlogged belly, dripping wet, and mourning the loss of his precious hat. Zoro had finished explaining the situation to the crew.
"So his hat is missing?" asked Sanji as he lit a cigarette. "I thought it was in our room when he was asleep, last night."
"Hmm," Brook hummed, inquisitively. "You don't suppose someone came and took it, do you?"
"That couldn't be," said Robin. "The Sunny had been anchored all night in the middle of the ocean. No one could've taken it."
"Wait!" Usopp said. "I just remembered! Last night, after I came back from taking a leak, I saw what looked like some big bird flying away!"
"A big bird?" Franky repeated.
"Uh-huh," Usopp replied.
"But Luffy was asleep in the men's room, right?" Nami asked. "There's no way that a bird that size could've taken it."
"You got me there," said Usopp.
"What about Blizzard?" Chopper asked. "Even if he was asleep, he would've sensed an intruder and woke up, right away, right?"
Grrr…! Grruff! Ruff! Blizzard growled and barked.
"What did he say?" Usopp asked.
"He said, 'Actually, I couldn't really hear anything since you guys were snoring so much'," Chopper translated.
"Blizzard wouldn't have smelled anything, either," said Robin. "Remember? His nose got stuffed up when he got sprayed with perfume, yesterday."
ACHOO! Blizzard sneezed.
"Tell me something," said Brook. "Is that hat really so precious to Master Luffy?"
"Yes, it is," Chopper answered. "It's Luffy's greatest treasure. He's willing to risk life and limb for it."
"Looks like we've got no choice," said Zoro, sitting on the stairs. "Looks like we'll have to start looking, too. If the captain is looking for it, we should, as well."
"That's right," said Nami.
"Let's do this!" Usopp said.
"My…hat…!" Luffy moaned.
Nami walked up to Luffy, got down her knees, and then cradle his head in her hands.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," said Nami. "We'll find your hat for you. I promise."
Smooch! She gave Luffy a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks, Nami," said Luffy.
Nami smiled before she headed below deck.
"Blizzard!" she called. "Come!"
Blizzard followed after Nami, as did the others, ready to begin their search for their captain's hat. The crew gathered into individual vessels in the Soldier Dock System.
Nami and Blizzard took the White Rocking Horse I.
Sanji, Brook, and Robin took the Mini Merry II.
Usopp and Chopper had the Shark Submerge III
Franky, meanwhile, stayed behind on the Sunny with Luffy, who's still waterlogged.
XXX
Out at sea, Sanji, Robin, and Brook are still searching for Luffy's hat.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Sanji called.
Nami and Blizzard pulled up beside them.
"Any luck?" the former asked.
"Nothing so far," Robin replied.
"Blizzard and I aren't having any luck either," said Nami. "He's kind of useless without his nose."
Blizzard seemed to take that into offense.
Uh…can you say "hurtful"? Blizzard thought.
"N-no offense, Blizzard," said Nami, as if she heard his thoughts. "Anyway, we'll be going on ahead."
"Um…Miss Nami, I-" Brook began, but she and Blizzard were already gone.
XXX
Underwater, in the Shark Submerge III, Usopp and Chopper are also searching.
"So, what do you think Chopper?" asked Usopp, who is steering. "I'm telling you, I really saw something."
"Maybe you were just dreaming," Chopper said, looking through the periscope.
"But I'm telling you, I saw something!" Usopp remarked.
Chopper gasped.
"Usopp, wait! Stop!" he said. "I see something. It looks like the hull of a ship."
Chopper was right. There was indeed a ship up ahead. The Shark Submerge III emerged from the water, and the ship was revealed to be a pirate ship, designed to look like a golden eagle.
"Hello~?" Chopper called as he climbed up. "Can anyone hear me?"
"H-hang on, Chopper," Usopp said. "Isn't this a little dangerous? We're boarding an unknown pirate ship!"
Suddenly, they heard a moan, alerting them to the presence of what looked like an old man, collapsed in front of the helm.
"B…Buzz…" he muttered, weakly.
"Oh, no!" Chopper cried before he and Usopp ran to his aid. "Are you okay?"
"Who's the old man?" Usopp question.
Chopper put a hoof on the man's shoulder and shook him, attempting to wake him up. He saw what looked like dried blood around his mouth and on the floor.
"Hey, get up," the little reindeer said.
He moaned and twitched a little, revealing that he is indeed still alive, much to Usopp and Chopper's surprise.
"Usopp!" Chopper said. "We gotta get this man to the Sunny, right away!"
"Now?" Usopp questioned. "Are you NUTS? Now's not the time for-"
"Usopp, I know, but…" Chopper began, "he needs medical treatment, immediately!"
"F…fine," Usopp said.
The elderly man coughed up some blood.
"B…Buzz…" Schneider muttered, again.
XXX
Usopp and Chopper (in Heavy Point) got back into the Shark Submerge III, bringing old man Schneider.
"So how is he, Chopper?" asked Usopp. "He coming around?"
"Yeah," Chopper replied as he set Schneider down in one of the seats, gently.
"Who…who are you?" asked Schneider to Chopper.
"I'm Chopper," the human-reindeer answered. "I'm a doctor."
Usopp went back outside to close the hatch, when all of a sudden, something flew over him, casting a shadow. Something big. Looking up behind himself, Usopp saw that it looked some sort of bird. An eagle, by the looks of it, wearing a pair of goggles.
"Uh…a bird?" the sniper questioned.
The eagle turned to face Usopp, causing him to gasp.
There, clamped in the bird's beak…was Luffy's hat!
"DAAAAAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed. "I KNEW IT!"
At that exclamation, the big bird flew away with Luffy's hat.
XXX
"Guys! I found it!"
Usopp called the others through a Mini Transponder Snail.
"The thief is an eagle! It's flying away at an incredible speed!"
"An eagle, huh?" Sanji asked before he tossed Brook the Mini Transponder Snail. The skeleton almost dropped it as Sanji headed back for the ship.
"So, it turns out that a bird really did steal it, huh?" Robin asked.
XXX
Back at the Sunny, Franky had gotten Usopp's call.
"Roger that," he said. "I just need to head to your position, right?" He then turned to Luffy, who is still lying, waterlogged on the deck.
"Hey, Luffy!" he called. "We found your hat!"
SPURRRRRT! Luffy spat out the water, his belly shrinking until he returned to his regular figure. The captain then excitedly jumped to his feet.
"You did?" Luffy cried as he ran to the figurehead. "Where? Where is it? WHERE?"
"Calm down," said Franky. "First off, we need to regroup with Usopp and the others!"
XXX
On the White Rocking Horse I, Nami and Blizzard are also on their way back.
"Got it," Nami said. "Blizzard and I will be back soon!"
What the hell would an eagle want with Luffy's hat? Blizzard thought.
XXX
The Sunny had just caught up with the Shark Submerge III, where Usopp was standing outside, holding onto its dorsal fin.
"Luffy!" Usopp called to the captain, who was standing on the figurehead. "That eagle took your hat!"
"Damn you," Luffy cursed as he grabbed his arm, prepared to stretch it out and take back his treasured hat. "How dare you take my hat- WHOA!"
BOOM! SPLASH! An explosion went off, shaking the ship and almost throwing Luffy off balance, and he could've sworn he heard Nami scream. He looked down to the right and saw the reason why: there was a Marine battleship behind her!
"Nami!" Sanji called. "Are you all right?"
"Sorry!" Nami apologized. "I was a little careless and the Marines spotted Blizzard and me!"
"Damn," Franky cursed. "Well, looks like we don't have a choice. Everybody, get back on board Sunny and raise the sails! We gotta lose those Marines, first!"
XXX
Inside the Shark Submerge III, Chopper was getting Schneider out of his seat.
"Are you okay?" he asked him. "C'mon. We gotta get you on our ship, now."
Schneider grunted in pain a bit as Chopper gently picked him up.
XXX
Everyone had gathered onto the ship…except Zoro, who seemed to have mysteriously disappeared.
"Okay!" Franky exclaimed. "Soldier Dock System: Channel 0!"
As Franky switched the channels to 0, the paddles came out.
"All right!" Luffy shouted. "Full speed ahead! Follow that bird!"
With that, the Thousand Sunny was propelled forward by the paddles at breakneck speed, evading the cannon-fire of the Marines.
The chase is on.
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