Chapter 2
It had started out as a slow day for the Straw Hat crew, who for once didn't have any reason to rush on their journey. But that perfectly peaceful morning had been destroyed with a push of a button.
"What are you going to do this mess?!" Nami screeched furiously, arms flailing to indicate the state of their ship. The Going Merry was brutally attacked by Usopp's Gum Gum Machine, splatters of pink sticky substances all over the floors and walls. "And most importantly, what about my shirt?!" By now, Nami had stopped her flailing arms to grab the dazed Usopp by the neck and shook him vigorously with each syllable.
"I..I..Wa..Wa..Wait...Na..Na..Mi..i..i," Usopp stuttered, trying to get his head straight again. Chopper peaked beneath Usopp's legs and unfailingly loyal, defended his poor friend, "He didn't do it on purpose! And it's my fault because I asked him to show ....it to.. me..EEK"Chopper ran back in tears for cover from the burning eyes of the navigator.
Nami turned her eyes back on the cowering sniper. Her eyes turned into slits and her voice lowered to a hiss, "Do you know how much this shirt cost me? After all my hard labour, stealing from pirates, it was the first gift I treated myself to, and you go and ruin it with your stupid machine!"
"Now, now, navigator-san," the only rational, calm voice on the ship had cut in, "Maybe we should talk this over calmly and think of a solution, and hopefully Sniper-san can give us an explanation." Usopp nodded his head wildly in agreement, glad to be saved from the demon pressed painfully against his nose. "And for the shirt, I'm sure Sniper-san is willing to pay up with interest," To which Usopp had paled and stuttered, "Uh, hold on...That's not.."
Within seconds, the demonic Nami had transformed to the cheerful, smiling navigator. Usopp could swear that he saw Beli signs on his eyes. "Perfect! Robin, you're right. We should be discussing about this like grown adults! And we can talk about what you owe me later Usopp-chan," Nami nearly skipped towards the kitchen, leading the rest of the crew. Robin smiled apologetically as she passed by the frozen sniper. Usopp gulped in fear as he predicted the debt he'd be in for the next ten years. Chopper had to drag his petrified friend towards the kitchen.
But three figures still remained behind on the deck. Luffy was still laughing at the recent turn of events. He had been bored the whole day and this was what he needed. He could always count on Usopp to make a day fun. He looked up with a grin to see the two unmoving crew mates standing next to him. Zoro was looking away with a disgruntled look on his face, as if he was displeased by something. Sanji was smoking with his free hand, muttering obscenities behind his hand. But both had a noticeable blush on their faces. Luffy blinked in confusion until he realized something. "You can let go of my hand now, guys," He tried to pull his hands away from their tight grip.
"Luffy," Zoro had finally looked down at the younger boy, sighing. "We can't let go,"
Sanji let out a smoky breath, "Looks like Usopp's invention got us, too."
"EH? What do you mean?"
"We're stuck," The two simultaneously lifted their grasped hands to indicate that squashed between the hands were the familiar sticky pink stuff. The two rivals whipped their heads to face each other, "Don't copy me!"
"Idiot, who'd copy YOU?" Sanji growled.
"What's that supposed to - " Zoro started until he noticed his captain's struggle.
"Luffy, stop moving, you'll just hurt yourself." Zoro grunted, looking down at the boy who was dragging himself away from them, only to have his arms stretch with him while his hands remained glued to theirs.
With a surprised yelp, Luffy was flung backwards when he reached his limit, thanks to his elasticity.
Expecting this, Zoro and Sanji caught the boy before he slammed into the wall, hands holding him steady.
Sanji sighed, "We told you. It won't - "
Completely ignoring him, Luffy made another attempt to pull himself away, dragging his feet on the ground with eyes brimming in stubborn determination.
"IDIOT! DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN!" Sanji bonked him on the head before he could advance any further.
He hadn't meant to hit so hard, but Luffy was already face down on the ground, with a lump on his head and a muffled sorry.
"Come on. Ussop should be able to figure this out," Zoro calmly headed towards the kitchen, a jumbled Luffy in tow.
Sanji grumbled, following behind. Ussop had better have a solution, or the Straw hat crew would lose one of its members soon.
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"48 hours?!"
Ussop slightly shrank back against his chair, as his crew mates towered over him. Nami was enraged to say the least, her eye twitching like a timed bomb about to explode. Chopper was gaping at him, half in amazement and half in shock. Zoro glared at him with a tense jaw, a hnad gripping his sword. Sanji grounded his teeth as his eyes narrowed dangerously at the sniper. Luffy looked at him with pitiful eyes, mouth in a pout. Only Robin seemed to have no reaction to the news, as she remained calmly sipping her coffee, seeming to be enjoying a performance.
"W..well, judging by the amount of glue I added to the gum balls, it'll take around ... 2 days for it to get off," Ussop explained nervously, his eyes snapping back and forth at the exit, ready to bolt.
Nami slammed her hands onto the table in front of the shriveling sniper threateningly. "Two days?! I'm not waiting two days! You better come up with an antidote NOW!"
"That's impossible! Coming up with an antidote will take twice as long! It's just better to wait - " Usopp cut himself off before he dug his grave deeper, quite aware of the deadly aura emitting from the orange haired girl.
"Navigator-san, Sniper-san is right. We're better off patiently waiting instead of wasting time to figure out an antidote that might not even work. This seems to be quite powerful stuff, after all." Robin offered a small smile at the sniper, whose chest swelled with pride at the compliment of his new invention.
"Of course it is! It's one of my greatest inventions! Able to stop an enemy on their tracks, no - " Sanji sent a swift kick to the sniper's side before he could continue his self indulging speech.
"And how are we supposed to live for two days - stuck like this?" Sanji drawled casually, but no one missed the dangerous edge in his tone.
Usopp laughed nervously," Hey, hey...two days isn't that ... long..." His voice failing him as the last word came out as a squeak.
Nami let out a frustrated growl."It's bad enough that we have to live with this pink mess for two whole days. But now these three are stuck together. Sanji's our chef. He needs his hands to cook! And worse, what if we get into a fight?! How the hell are they going to be able to fight?!"
"Yeah! And how the hell am I going to eat?!" Luffy added indignantly, indicating his stuck hands.
Nami looked as if she was going to explode again. So, Zoro decided to jump in, "Nami, give it a rest."
The navigator snapped her head towards the swordsman and glared."Don't tell me what to do! And aren't you the one who's TOO calm?!"
Zoro shrugged, "Well, there's nothing that can be done, is there?"
"Swordsman-san is right. We have to make the best of this. If it's a fight, there's still the rest of us, and we can always make a quick escape. And the cooking..." Robin trailed off, looking towards to the chef to come up with a decision.
"No problems, I can still cook with one hand and I'll be able to fight too, after all, I use my legs." Sanji answered, taking another drag from his cigarette. "Although I don't know about the shitty swordsman here."
"Oh yeah? I could fight you with one hand any day!" Zoro took a fews steps threateningly.
"Try it," Not one to back out, Sanji also stepped forward until Luffy was completely sandwiched between them, looking up towards the taller pirates with curious eyes.
The two continued their glaring contest and although their hands remained by their sides, there was an unspoken and almost aggressive claim on the boy between them.
Robin watched this with an amused twinkle in her eyes, wondering if maybe this would be a good experience for all of them.
AN: I AM SOOOO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! BUT HERE IT IS NOW! KISS WILL COME SOON SO KEEP VOTING! XD AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED~