"The Gathering" Arc: The First Two Crewmates, pt. 2
Chapter 2: Landing on Kōyō Island! The Sniper and the Assassin
Wealth, fame, power. All of these, as well as the ultimate freedom, have once more gone up for grabs. Why? The pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy, wanted to see men once again go after dreams and hopes. Fearing that his acquiring of the throne was ending piracy in the Blue Sea World, he stepped down from it and hid all his gold on a previously undiscovered island at the very end of the New World. Now, hopeful people in all of the Blue Seas have once more begun to search for the ultimate treasure… the fabled One Piece.
-Two Days Later-
Lucy was getting hungry again. Luckily, an island was in sight.
She sailed towards said island, heading for the port that was visible from her distance. Her sense of adventure was tingling; she couldn't wait to meet new people here! She'd never sailed past Dawn Island's cove before, so she was very interested in what lay beyond its borders.
The straw-hatted girl finally reached the docks, where she rolled up the sails and tied her new, small boat to a post and jumped on to dry land. She took a few paces, but immediately fell over, her head spinning. Gah. Still got landlubber's feet, I suppose. Lucy waited a few minutes for her stomach to stop rebelling, then once more stood up. Much better. Now she could actually walk without falling over.
She made her way to dry land, where she was stopped by an old sea salt smoking a pipe. "And who might ye be, lassie?" he queried.
"My name's Lucy. I'm... running away from home," she lied, not wanting to reveal that she was a pirate.
"Ah."
She continued on to the town that was just up ahead, examining the island as she went. It was fairly small, though large enough to support a forest and a town. The trees here were all decidious-Lucy could immediately tell that because the leaves were all different colors.
"What's with this island?" she wondered. "It's the middle of the summer! The leaves should'nt abe change color already."
By now she'd gotten into town, and a villager answered her question. "This is an autumn island, ma'am. You don't see many of the different-season islands outside of the Grand Line or New World, but there are a few. Here on Kōyō Island, it's always autumn."
"That's messed up," said Lucy. "I'd expect it in the Grand Line, 'cause that whole place's messed up. But out here on the East Blue? That's especially weird."
"Yeah, but you get all kinds, you know?"
She nodded. "I need more supplies for my voyage; I'm running low. Could you tell me where to find a grocer's?"
"I can do more than that!" the villager, a boy about her age, said brightly. "I'll take you there!"
"Thanks!" Lucy said. She followed the boy, who began walking down a path to her right that was lined with shops and houses. "By the way, my name's Lucy. What's yours?"
"It's Tsuribazu Justin. I'm a bit of a whiz at hunting; I can shoot anything perfectly from up to 250 feet away!" he bragged. "Watch!"
He pulled a bow off his back, which Lucy hadn't noticed before, and took an arrow out of his quiver, slinging it into position on his bow. "I'll hit the center of that sign over there-which happens to be the sign of the grocer's, where I'm taking you." He pointed to a green sign hanging off a shop some distance away. He aimed the bow, pulled the string back to the corner of his mouth, and fired.
The arrow stuck into the sign, making it swing a bit, and hung there, quivering.
"Wow, you're good!" said Lucy, grinning at Justin.
He blushed from the busty girl's praise. "Ah... heh-heh, it's nothing compared to Long-Nose Usopp, Sniper King. It's my goal to surpass even his skill!"
"Really? That's cool. You know, I met him when I was six."
By now, they'd reached the shop, and Justin pulled his arrow out of the sign. "Really? You met him? I'm so jealous of you! I've always wanted to meet him."
A short time later, Lucy had finished her shopping, and Justin was helping her carry the things she'd bought back to her 'ship'. They were quiet for a while, but then Lucy said, "You know Justin, if you want to become the best sniper, then that means you'll have to challenge the other snipers to duels, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah, that's correct."
"And you'll have to go to the Grand Line to do that, right?"
"Your point is..."
"What do you think about joining my pirate crew?" Lucy ventured.
Justin nearly choked with laughter. "You're a pirate?! Dude, are you feeling OK?"
Lucy pouted. "Of course I am. And I'm serious about being a pirate. This straw hat on my head belonged to Straw Hat Luffy, but he gave it to me eleven years ago, because I'm his sister. I promised him that I'd find the One Piece and become queen of the pirates!"
"Wha... Luffy's your brother?!"
"You'd better believe it."
The sniper shook his head and sat down the shopping bags he'd been carrying. "Sorry, but I just don't believe you. The only sibling the great Pirate King had was Fire-Fist Ace." He began walking away, muttering about stupid girls.
"It's the truth!" she shouted after him, but he made no sign that he'd heard her. "I've already decided you're gonna be my nakama, you know!"
That got Justin's attention. He turned and fumed, "YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE THOSE THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE!" Then something caught his eye, and his angry face suddenly turned into one of desperation. "Hey, look out!"
Huh?
Just then, she felt something cold and hard press against the back of her head and she heard a click, like that of... of somebody cocking a gun.
"Don't move, or a bullett will be fired straight through this girl's brain," said a distorted voice from behind Lucy.
She smiled.
"You don't move, either, girlie, until I say so. Got it? Otherwise you're dead."
Justin's face was a mask of horror. He was standing completely still, staring at whoever had their gun against Lucy's head. He didn't move an inch. He didn't even blink. His jaw had dropped.
Nobody could help her, because they were already back at the docks and the old sea salt had left.
Lucy stepped forward, smiling.
Crack.
"Noooooooooo!" Justin shouted, rushing forward, kicked out of his stupor by the gunshot. He may have been annoyed by this girl, but that didn't mean he'd just stand by and watch as she died! The sniper unslung his bow and began to prepare an arrow when he noticed something strange:
The girl didn't have a hole in her head. In fact, she hadn't even fallen over; No, she kept walking forward, albeit slowly.
Instead of a hole in her head, the area where the gun had been pointed had now stretched out. And on top of everything, she was still smiling.
What? His jaw dropped again. What was going on here?
"Not gonna work!" Lucy said cheerily, and the stretched-out part of her head went back to normal. The assassin fell on his back, screaming. He now had a hole on top of his nose, which didn't look very pretty. Or pleasant, for that matter.
"How-" Justin began.
"Devil Fruit powers," Lucy interrupted.
"Which one?"
"The Gum-Gum fruit. Same one my brother ate." she explained. "Now I'm a rubber woman, just like Big Bro's a rubber man! Oh, yeah, you might want to duck." The strange girl added the last sentence as an afterthought, and Justin only barely had time to react before she began spinning around like a top. Her arms flew out, and if you had a bird's eye view of the move, you would've thought she looked like a barred spiral galaxy, though a rapidly spinning one.
"GUM-GUM... BO UZUMAKI!" (literally "barred spiral) She shouted. Lucy started spinning so fast, a strong wind was created, making the bow (which he'd put back in it's usual place) and quiver on Justin's back shake violenty. Unluckily for the assassin, who'd just stood up, wiping un-manly tears from his eyes, he got a faceful of Lucy's fist and was sent flying to the side.
This time, he didn't get up, but merely lifted his head and groaned.
"Whoa," Justin said, effectively impressed. "Just who the hell are you?"
Lucy grinned. "I'm the girl who'll be the queen of the pirates!"
-Meanwhile-
The red-haired man in the tree set down the long-distance camera and pocketed his spyglass, frowning. Another pirate with the name of D. was sailing the seas. And not only that, but she apparently was the sister of the old Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy.
This could mean trouble for justice. Real trouble.
The transponder snail sitting next to him suddenly made the noise that all such items do when they recieve a call. He picked up the reciever and a voice came out of it.
"Have you found the girl, Captain Aka?" said the Marine at HQ.
"Yes, and she's just as strong as Luffy was when he started his career of crime," Captain Aka informed him. "Maybe stronger, as a matter of fact."
"...She must be eliminated before she reaches the Grand Line."
"I understand your orders to kill off every pirate with the middle initial of D. perfectly."
"Do not fail this, captain."
"Of course not... Vice-Admiral Smoker."
-Twenty Minutes Later-
"Man, this food is amazing!" Lucy gushed, stuffing her face with pot roast.
"Of course," said Justin, who was eating his food more slowly. "This is the best restaurant Kōyō Island, after all."
They were eating at a place called 'The Flaming Leaf', named that because of the firey red color of the leaves on the trees outside. Justin had decided to treat her to this meal after seeing how strong she was. He thought of it as his apology for making fun of her before the assassin had shown up.
It definitely was not a date.
Clearing her tenth plate of food (holy shit, was this gonna be expensive), Lucy finally slumped back in her seat and sighed contentedly. She patted her stomach and said, "Wow. This is a new feeling: being full."
Justin snorted the tea he'd been drinking out of his nose.
"So, are you having second thoughts about joining my crew yet?" the girl asked after a few silent moments.
"Well, you are strong," he conceded, "but it's only yourself right now. Isn't that the truth?"
"That it is, but the rest'll come eventually. That's how it happened with my brother, and I seem to have gotten not just his power, but his luck too."
"You really think so?"
"Yup."
More awkward moments passed before Justin asked, "By the way, how come you have the same powers as Luffy? I thought a Devil Fruit user's power was only up for grabs after the original user died. Yet, you said he trained you."
Lucy laughed. "Sorry, but that's a secret. Luffy made me swear not to tell anyone. That includes my nakama."
"Well, at least you can keep a secret, I guess." The sniper conlcuded, drawing laughter from the strawberry-blonde-haired girl. "You know, I kinda would like to join your crew."
"That's great!" the girl said, smiling.
"Also, you'll need a bigger ship if you want to get across Reverse Mountain and sail the Grand Line. I heard of an island not to far from here that's home to an old man who made the Straw Hats' first ship, the Going Merry. I've also heard that it's Usopp's home."
"Oh, yeah!" Lucy' eyes lit up. "You're talking about Syrup Village!"
"Wha- how'd you know?" wondered Justin.
"I told you I already met Long-Nose, didn't I? Not only that, but I also met the rest of the Straw Hats. Luffy came home to Foosha Village when I was six and brought his friends with him. They all stayed for a week, but then went their homes. All except Robin, that is. She stayed on Dawn Island with Luffy because she had nowhere else to go, but Roronoa Zoro wasn't too happy about that."
"So, you mean that we could meet with the Sniper King if we go to Syrup Village?!" the sniper asked excitedly.
"Probably."
"Awesome! Well, then, you can count me in to your crew for sure!"
"I knew you'd come around sooner or later. Welcome aboard, Justin!"
With that, the two new nakama clinked mugs and shouted, "Cheers!" They laughed and drank the contents-or at least, Justin did. Lucy's cup was already empty.
Chapter 3 is done! Hooray! Okay, here's the Redtail Pirates' crew listing so far (This will be updated every time a new crew member is added):
Monkey D. Lucy: Captain
Tsuribazu Justin: First Mate/Sniper
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of the story! Remember to give me characters for the story if you have any, although only two slots for crew members remain. Please review! I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say about this fanfic. :) Following and Favoriting is greatly appreciated, of course, but not needed. Also, please spread the word about The Adventures of Monkey D Lucy, as I'd love to see this story get popular-especially since I'm new on here.
Chapter 4 coming soon to a computer near you!
-Scarred Pirates