(A warning to my readers! There are potential triggers in this chapter for those who have suffered sexual assault of any kind up to and including rape. While this only shows the aftermath there may be enough information to invoke traumatic memories. Reader discretion is advised.)
Nami stood on the railing of the Thousand Sunny, showering the decks of the small support craft that surrounded the Singing Ship of the Big Mom Pirates with lightning, wondering how it had come to this. They thought Pudding was their friend. They thought they could trust her! But it had been too long. Pudding was aboard the Singing Ship along with Luffy and Jinbei and they had been there for two hours. Luffy and Jinbei had been on the ship for far too long!
When Pudding appeared, escorted by an armada of small support ships, she said she just wanted to talk. The armada had moved to surround them as she spoke, like a silent threat to the Straw Hats, however, Pudding was nothing but polite to them. The 36th daughter of Big Mom, now leader of the Big Mom pirates, had hinted at an alliance of some kind now that she was establishing herself as a Yonko in her mother's place. It seemed reasonable, Pudding may have been taking over an established group, but the transition was probably shaky. She was not Big Mom and other pirates on the Grandline knew that and they would not hesitate to test her to see if she could hold her own in that position. Wanting to make connections and ally with non-hostile but strong ships would make things easier for her as she worked on her own reputation. Luffy would probably refuse such an alliance, but they could at least listen to her since they had worked with her to bring down Big Mom.
Big Mom had made herself their enemy when she tried to force Sanji into marrying her daughter, Pudding, by threatening the crew and Sanji's mentor. After the initial rescue fell through, Luffy and the other had teamed up with Bege at Jinbei's suggestion. Bege had already spent a year planning to kill Big Mom when the Straw Hats had arrived on Whole Cake Island to rescue Sanji. The plan was to end Big Mom during the wedding, but that hadn't worked out either and everyone had ended up running for their lives. Fortunately, Sanji had charmed the diabolic Pudding with his natural kindness and, when the plan failed, she had rushed to help the Straw Hats escape. The final result of the chaos that followed had been Pudding taking control of the Big Mom pirates and locking her deranged mother away so that she could no longer rampage and threaten the citizens of Tottland again with her cravings. Pudding and the Straw Hats had parted on good terms. From what they understood, Pudding had wasted no time establishing control over her siblings and the Big Mom domain. It was probably all due to her Memo Memo Fruit ability, rewriting everyone's memories to favor her take over and quell any arguments causing things to go more smoothly than they ordinarily would have. However, it wouldn't have been completely without trouble thus her need for more allies.
But these talks should not have taken two hours. Once Luffy made up his mind, there was no changing it. Talking to him about it for two hours would only end with him falling asleep ten minutes into it, so the talks would not carry on for two hours. Jinbei would back up Luffy's decision to not participate and Luffy would want to leave. Two hours meant trouble. One hour meant trouble but Nami and half the crew weren't ready to believe that Pudding was up to no good. Now they hoped their naiveté hadn't doomed Luffy and Jinbei as they struggled to make their way to the Singing Ship so they could discover the fate of their captain and friend.
The side of the ship suddenly exploded and out flew Luffy and Jinbei.
"Luffy!" shouted Nami a wide smile breaking out on her face, then it faded. Luffy had misjudged the jump, not unexpected, and was heading for open water. For one second Nami wasn't concerned, Jinbei was there and he could carry Luffy back to the ship if they fell into the ocean, then she realized Jinbei was motionless. Luffy was grasping the fishman's kimono as they flew through the air, carrying the unconscious fishman along with him. He tossed his head about but didn't seem to see them and began plunging toward the sea. All he had to do was stretch out an arm to grasp the railing of the ship but, for some reason, Luffy wasn't doing it.
"LUFFY!" screamed Nami, panicking. Her cry was echoed by Zoro and Sanji as they abandoned fighting Big Mom Pirates and started running across the decks toward their falling captain.
Luffy swung his head toward Nami then hurled a hand toward her. The arm stretched as he reached then, to her horror, bounced off the side of the ship. Nami dropped her weapon and leapt forward, grabbing the ricocheting arm before it could retract. She almost went over the railing but Robin's extra hands bloomed all around the navigator, anchoring her to the ship. Luffy's hand gripped her wrist and she clamped both hands around his as the arm began to retract, pulling on both Nami and Luffy who held Jinbei. Zoro and Sanji saw and changed course for their ship. The two leapt on board just as Luffy collided with the railing and bounced both Nami and Jinbei half way across the deck. Jinbei rolled but didn't stir. Nami sprawled on the grass and Luffy landed on top of her.
"Luffy! You bastard!" yelled Sanji. No doubt protesting both the rough landing and the fact that Luffy had landed face first onto Nami breasts.
"Run," Luffy gasped.
Nami sat up and Luffy slumped onto her lap. He was hot and sweaty, much more than she expected for a battle. His lungs heaved as if he had been running a marathon. She turned him over, his hair was plastered to his skin and his eyes refused to focus. She cradled him and said, "Luffy, what happened?"
"Run," Luffy gasped again. "Get me away... from her. She drugged me. So please. Run."
"Franky!" shouted Nami. "Get us out of here!"
"On it!"
Nami felt the ship turning and the engine roaring to life as Franky fired the Coo-Do-Burst. The last glimpse she had of the Singing Ship, she spied Pudding looking out the opening Luffy had made. She was wearing a black and purple robe, not the dress of midnight blue from before. What? Then the image was shrinking rapidly in the distance as Sunny flew through the sky. Nami pushed the image from her mind and refocused on what was before her. Luffy's temperature was rising.
"Chopper!" she shouted.
At the same time, Robin called, "Jinbei's fine, he's just asleep, probably a tranquilizer of some kind."
"Chopper!" Nami shouted again. The reindeer turned away from the unconscious Fishman.
"Nami?"
"Luffy's in trouble. His temperature is rising and I don't think he can see," she cried.
Chopper yelped and ran over. "Luffy!" he cried once he arrived at his side. "What's wrong?" Luffy's breathing was growing more labored. He didn't seem able to answer anymore. He had used the last of his strength just to order them to flee.
"He said something about being drugged but this seems more like poison to me," said Nami.
"Drugs can be poisons if mishandled," said Chopper. He pulled out a stethoscope and placed it against Luffy's chest. Chopper grimaced as he listened then said, "His heartbeat is rapid and irregular and he's sweating profusely."
No kidding. Nami's pants were already soaked through and the sweat rolling off his neck was sliding down her arm. Ordinarily, she would be disgusted, but, right now, she was worried, frightened even, for her captain and friend.
"No good, I need to run some tests first to see what she gave him. I can't tell from these symptoms alone," said Chopper. He grew big, transforming into his heavy point, and lifted their captain from her arms. Nami rose and ran ahead to open the door to his medical office for him. Chopper ducked inside and laid Luffy down on the room's one and only bed. Nami stripped off the dripping rag that had been his shirt and pulled off his sandals. Chopper shrank again and rummaged through his desk, pulling out an empty syringe. He turned back to Nami. "I need to draw some of his blood, can you hold his arm for me, Nami?"
"Yes, here," she said and quickly restrained Luffy's right arm. Chopper pricked Luffy's skin with the needle. Luffy gasped and cried out weakly. "Luffy, don't move," cried Nami as she felt his muscles bunch. If he fought her, she would not be able to hold him. He groaned and force his muscles to relax. Chopper finished and pressed the prick site to prevent bleeding. Once he was certain the tiny hole had clotted properly, he took a cotton swab and soaked it in Luffy's sweat.
"It will take me a bit to run all the tests to see what he has if I don't get lucky in the first few," said Chopper.
"I'll get a bucket of ice water and a cloth to try to bring his temperature down in the mean time," said Nami.
"Luffy probably will need water to drink as well. With all of this sweating, he's dehydrating very quickly," he said. Nami nodded and ran out of the room to get the water while Chopper turned to his equipment to test for the drug Pudding had given Luffy.
Hours slid by as Chopper worked to discover what Pudding had done to their captain. However, as midnight approached, Chopper sat back with a resigned sigh. Nami looked up from her place by Luffy's bed where she had been wiping his face and chest down with a chilled rag.
"It's no good," said Chopper. Nami glanced back. "It wasn't one drug, it was several, and they're interacting with one another. All my tests are being thrown by the interaction."
"Can you still figure out what they were?" asked Nami, not wanting to believe there was no help for Luffy.
"I figured out enough to realize I can't undo this," said Chopper, tears coming to his eyes. "The counter for one enhances another and will alter a third. It's a huge mess!"
"So we can do nothing but wait this out?" said Nami.
Chopper nodded as the tears started to fall. "I can't give him anything even to help with the symptoms. It'll just make it worse!"
Nami felt fear and despair fill her heart. She was exhausted, drained by her worry and the earlier fight. She was struggling to keep her eyes open as she worked to lower Luffy's sky high temperature. He had only grown worse over the hours. She looked back at Luffy as he continued to shudder and convulse, sweat continuing to pour from every pore, the straw mattress he lay on was soaked through. She pulled a second cloth from the bucket of ice water and laid it against Luffy's forehead before turning to the pitcher on the table and using it to fill a small cup with water. The crew had been changing out the water for her so she could tend to Luffy. Robin and Sanji had both offered to take her place at Luffy bedside but Nami had simply shook her head. It would have been smart to accept the exchange but Nami didn't think she could relax while Luffy fought for his life.
Nami raised Luffy's head and pressed the cup to his lips. He brought up his own hand and placed it over hers as he sipped the water, as he did every time she did this, the only sign that he was still conscious. Once the water was gone she laid him back down. She had been doing this every ten minutes and each time his grip was weaker than the last. She barely felt his touch this time while she held the cup up. Without a way to neutralize the drugs, would Luffy even survive 'til morning?
A hand took hers in a weak grip and she looked down. Luffy's eyes were open, though they remained unfocused and sightless. "Don't worry, Nami," Luffy whispered. "I'll be just fine."
Nami felt her tears begin to overflow. She hastily rubbed her eyes with her free hand and snapped, "Of course you will be, stupid. You're the man who is going to become the pirate king. Besides, you wouldn't do something so mean as leave your niece behind, especially so soon after she lost her mom, right?" Nami could hear her voice cracking. Dammit! She needed to be strong for him yet, even now, he was trying to reassure her. The memory of his big fight with Katakuri in the mirror world filled her mind, Luffy had trapped himself there to fight the Sweet Commander so the Sunny and crew could escape. The shard of mirror had been their only means to communicate with him and he done everything in his power to hide the fact he was getting pummeled. He hadn't wanted them to worry about him. He was doing the same thing now.
Nami pulled free of his grip, took the now hot cloth form his head and dunked it back into the ice water bucket. She took the first cloth and rubbed it against his chest with the ice water dripping over him. Luffy gasped and his spine arched, the drugs had made him sensitive to touch, she had learned over that past few hours.
"Nami, I'm going to refill the pitcher for you," said Chopper in a subdued voice. "I can't do anything else now." Nami grimaced at Chopper's defeated tone then nodded. The little reindeer took the pitcher and removed himself from the room. He would no doubt tell the others his sad news.
Nami wished she had the words to comfort him. It wasn't his fault. This was beyond any doctor's ability to rectify. Except maybe Law, but he had the Op Op Fruit that would allow him to directly remove the drugs from Luffy's body. Without that ability, he would be just as helpless as Chopper. Besides, there was no point comparing the two. Law wasn't here after all.
As Nami continued to wash Luffy's chest with the cold cloth, Luffy writhed and hissed. His right hand gripped the edge of the mattress while his left clawed at the wall. His head rolled and his bare feet slid up and down on the bed. He had been doing this all night when she rubbed his chest with the washcloth. She and Chopper had assumed he was in pain and she had tried to be as gentle as possible to lessen his suffering but that only seemed to make it worse.
The cloth had warmed again and she stopped and turned to the ice water bucket for the second cloth as she put the first back in. Nami sighed and stared at Luffy. What had Pudding done to him? Why had she done it? Maybe Luffy wouldn't commit to being an ally of a Yonko but he would never abandon a friend. If Pudding had needed help, he would have answered. So why? Why did she do the one thing that would guarantee they would never help her? Why did she make them her enemy? Nami lightly traced the scar on Luffy's chest as she pondered Pudding's motivation. It was an absent-minded thing to do. Luffy gasped, shuddered then snatched her wrist, startling her.
"Nami, stop," he gasped. He quickly released her and closed his eyes but not before Nami had a good look at them. In that moment, the pupils had been dilated. Nami knew that look but only because the line of work she had prior to meeting the Straw Hats had exposed her to all sorts of situations. Arousal. Her light touch on his sensitive skin was causing him to be aroused. Then understanding snapped into place and she felt her blood turn to ice with the realization. Luffy's sensitivity wasn't due to pain but pleasure. He was fighting to control his responses every time she touched him. And if he was fighting it, then it was an artificial feeling brought on by the drugs coursing through his veins.
Nami plunged both her hands into the ice cold water with enough forced to splash her face with the freezing liquid. She was glad Luffy couldn't see her; she was red with embarrassment and rage. She'd raped him! Pudding had raped Luffy in the only way a woman could rape a man, especially one as strong as Luffy, through chemical control.
Pudding had incapacitated him but left him conscious. She then had dosed him up on a concoction of aphrodisiacs that made him more sensitive to her touches and highly responsive. If Luffy's mind had maintained any degree of awareness it must have been a nightmare. To have no say in the matter, to be forced to have sex with someone he was not interested in, to be unable to escape the situation...
Nami had been fortunate to avoid such scenarios but she knew of others who hadn't. The shame and revulsion they felt about themselves for the acts committed against them were wrong since they were the victims but it was universal. As if it had somehow been their fault, it was especially strong among the male victims. Some pirates used sex as a form of domination over their victims, not pleasure, and for the men this was especially spirit breaking.
Nami took a deep breath to try to calm her outrage. She pulled the cloth out and laid it across his torso, placing pieces of the remaining ice on it. She would need a new ice water bucket sooner than usual but she needed to speak with Luffy while he wasn't being stimulated.
"Luffy," Nami whispered, glad Chopper was out of the room. Luffy opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction. The pupils were normal again. Good.
"Luffy, what did Pudding want?" Nami asked. She felt like a villain interrogating her captain while he was weak and suffering, but she needed to understand what had motivated Pudding to do all this. They had thought of Pudding as a friend and she had betrayed them in the worse way possible. How many other "friends" were going to turn on them? If she knew Pudding's motivation they might be able to determine who the other betrayers would be and avoid leaving themselves vulnerable again.
Luffy remained silent for a moment then replied in a low voice, "She wanted the information on the Road Poneglyphs. She wanted to become the Pirate King as a means of establishing herself. To take what her mother could not and surpass her in greatness." His words were halting and broken. He had to inhale every few words as he continued to struggle to breathe. Nami's guilt rose but she continued anyway.
So it had come down to being the Pirate King, however... "But you didn't have that information," said Nami. Luffy was such an idiot and so terrible at keeping secrets that she and Robin kept the information to themselves. Luffy trusted them to lead him to Raftel so he never tried to learn the information of the Poneglyphs himself.
"I knew who did, though. I didn't want her to come after you. So I refused to tell her anything, not even the fact that I didn't know that information," replied Luffy.
Nami paused to retrieve the second cloth and put it on Luffy forehead then placed more ice chips on the first cloth. She would have to wipe him down soon but right now she needed answers. "Why didn't she just steal that information from your mind? Why use drugs to loosen your tongue when she could use her devil fruit abilities to take it easily?"
Relief flickered for a moment across his face then vanished. Shame and revulsion, thought Nami. Shame for being caught in such a trap, shame for allowing this to happen, shame for being too weak to stop it, shame for liking it even though it was the drugs causing that. Revulsion at himself for everything. Nami's "misunderstanding" of what he had been drugged with was allowing Luffy some control over his situation. He was now free to decide if and when he wanted to divulge the truth. Considering how he felt, it wouldn't surprise Nami if he kept it a secret forever. The thought made her sad even as it stoked the fires of hate. Luffy couldn't keep secrets, yet she believed he would keep this one. If he did, then that meant this terrible event had already begun to change him from the happy-go-lucky captain she admired and loved.
"She couldn't," he said, pulling her from her troubling thoughts.
"Huh?"
"She couldn't. She tried but I used my Haki to block her," Luffy clarified.
Nami was impressed, she didn't think Armament Haki could do that. Not like she knew how Armament Haki worked, she couldn't use it herself after all. She knew it helped to defend against physical attacks and allowed a person to hit a logia type devil fruit user. She hadn't realized it could block the special abilities of devil fruit users.
"So she was using the drugs to chisel away your willpower so she could gain access," said Nami. That had to be it. The rape had been to weaken Luffy's resolve, to break his will so that she could raid his mind for her answers. Then she would have come for the crew. How Luffy had escaped was probably tied to the crew's attack. It must have distracted her from Luffy, giving Luffy time to recover his thoughts and force himself to move. It had to have taken an incredible amount of willpower to hold out for two hours and still manage to take advantage of the diversion his crew had unwittingly provided. Nami nibbled her lower lip, they should have attacked sooner.
"Your amazing," said Nami as she pulled the cloths off his head and chest and placed them in the bucket that no longer had any ice and was very low in water. "Luffy, you are amazing," she repeated. Luffy's spirit was fragile, his confidence shot to hell. Nami imagined it was probably almost as bad as when Ace was killed. She chose her words with care and said them with sincerity and admiration. Luffy needed the reassurance, the praise, if he was to begin to recover. Back then, Jinbei had gotten Luffy to focus on what he still had. This time she needed him to focus on what he had done successfully. "Despite everything she was doing, you didn't reveal anything. You didn't give away anything. You were even able to escape when the opportunity presented itself. You recognized the opportunity. I don't know if anyone else could have managed all of that. Luffy, this wasn't your mistake. We all fucked up today not just you. But you are suffering the worse for this. We'll be more careful in the future, all of us will. So just focus on getting these drugs out of your body, okay?"
Luffy gave her a small smile and said, "Thanks." He closed his eyes and trying his best to rest. If Nami hadn't figured out what really happened she would have wondered about that "thanks". She turned toward the door and frowned. Chopper was taking too long in returning with the pitcher. Not that she minded too much because it had given her and Luffy plenty of privacy for their talk, but she needed a new bucket of ice and there was no one to call on. She looked at Luffy then picked up the bucket. Waiting was not an option. It would be faster to get the ice herself and Luffy needed it sooner not later.
Her hand was on the doorknob when a strange sensation filled the cabin. Her skin pricked with cold, the air suddenly chill. The light on the desk dimmed and flickered. There was the faintest breath of air that kissed the back of her neck. Fear gripped her heart. The shadows deepened and she thought she heard the sounds of ominous whispers, too low for her to be certain they were even voices of people. Then everything was suddenly normal again. The chill was gone, the light returned and silence dominated the cabin.
Nami's heart stopped as a new fear took her and she spun to look at Luffy. His breathing was no longer heavy or struggling and a pasty white ooze covered his skin and began to gather and slide slowly down his sides. What? She rushed over to him. Taking the cloths out of the nearly empty water bucket, she began wiping down his face and body until the cloths were a ruined mess of white ooze. She was careful not to touch it as she dumped the two cloths back in the bucket.
"Luffy?" she whispered. He didn't stir. She placed a hand on his cheek, his temperature was cooler than it was only a few minutes ago. She moved it to his neck to check his pulse, it was there but slowing. "Luffy!" she cried again, alarm growing. Was this it? Was he dying right now? His breathing, now faint, was growing more shallow by the second.
The door opened and in walked Sanji with a fresh bucket of ice. "Nami-san, are you sure you don't-. Oi! Nami-san, what happened?" he cried when he looked at her.
Nami realized she was crying but didn't care. "He won't wake up and he's growing colder!"
Sanji dropped the bucket, the contents spilling across the floor, and rushed forward. He checked Luffy's vitals as Nami had. She didn't take offense, a second set of eyes may see what she had missed in her panic. "What's this slime?" he asked, noticing the ooze that was on the cloths, mattress and Luffy's pants.
"I don't know. It just appeared on him a minute ago. The same time his temperature dropped," she replied.
Sanji looked between the ooze and Luffy and said in a calm voice, "This might be an affect of the drugs being processed. He's no longer radiating heat, so let's get him off this soaked mattress before he catches a chill. We'll bring him to the shower to wash him off in warm water and get him into fresh dry clothes." Nami nodded feeling calmer at Sanji's direction. Maybe it really was just the fever finally breaking and Luffy was actually going to be okay. As the cook lifted his captain into his arms he grimaced at the mess that was the bed. "We'll probably need to burn that."
Nami grunted in agreement as she rushed to open the door for Sanji. She clung to the desperate hope that Sanji was correct. The crew was outside, apparently none of them could sleep. Jinbei was also awake. Nami didn't know when that happened but by his troubled expression he was probably wracked by guilt over the whole mess. Chopper was sobbing by Robin, apparently having forgotten he was supposed to be getting a pitcher of water for Nami. Ann was curled up by Usopp, crushing her bear. When the pair emerged with Luffy in Sanji's arms, they all rose.
"What are you doing, Sanji?" wailed Chopper.
"The fever broke, we need to get him cleaned up and dry and that bed needs to be tossed," replied Sanji as he began marching up the stairs to their bathhouse.
"Oi, let me help you, Sanji," called Usopp and he ran over.
Ann stood up but Robin called, "Stay here, Ann. Your uncle is getting better but he is still sick." Ann looked over at Robin and crushed her bear even harder. Robin then shouted up to Sanji, "I'll bring a change of clothes for all of you."
"Appreciate it, Robin-chan," replied Sanji.
"I'll take care of clean up," said Franky and he headed over to Chopper's room.
Sanji turned to Nami once they were outside the door. "Ordinarily, I'd say ladies first but..."
Nami went red as she realized what the problem was. "Go ahead, Sanji, I was going to take a shower after Luffy anyway," she said and meant it. Sanji went through the door and Usopp zipped in behind him. Seconds later she heard the shower turn on. Nami sighed.
Franky emerged from room with the mattress and tossed it overboard. Then Robin emerged from the bunks with neatly folded clothes in her arms. Nami recognized the red piece of cloth as being the yukata that Luffy had acquired in Wano. She smiled, the yukata would be comfortable and not too warm for him. Robin walked up to door then used her extra hands to place a set next to Nami.
"Thanks," said Nami.
Robin smiled at her then called to the men inside, "I have the outfits you need."
"Thanks, Robin-chan!" replied Sanji. Usopp appeared at the door and took the clothes from her. He disappeared back inside and it was just Robin and Nami.
Robin settled on the railing. "Are you all right, Nami?"
"That three-eyed bitch wanted to know where Raftel is. Luffy somehow fended her off but all this is from her attempting to break him," said Nami. Robin stared in surprise then frowned. "We're going to have to chose our friends with care from now on," Nami continued. "We have two things people will want. Ann and the way to Raftel. Though, right now no one knows about Ann but it's only a matter of time. I wonder how long we can keep it a secret."
"Yes, I wonder as well," said Robin. "Once it is revealed that the line of Gold Roger didn't die out in the Paramount War we'll have no peace. Luffy was correct not to let everyone leave the ship. Pudding was not to be trusted after all."
"Yes, how sad that was," agreed Nami and she now found herself worrying about Law, the only rival who knew about Ann, and what that might mean for them going forward.
(Notes)
"A Matter of Trust" and "Pluton" occurs after this entry. Cut over to "A Matter of Trust" and "Pluton", in that order, before continuing with chapter 4.
Thank you.
The Whole Cake Island conclusion given in this chapter as history is based on an old theory of mine regarding Whole Cake Island a couple years ago that was quickly debunked. I decided to go along with it for the sake of writing Dark Sea Chronicles. Hence the divergence that starts at Manga chapter 879.