Ch. 3- The Island of New Beginnings
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Fake Blizzard © Me
In Grove 35...
"ROBIN~!" HUFF! "ROBIN, WHERE ARE YOU~?!"
BA-RUMP! BA-RUMP! BA-RUMP! Chopper, in his new Walk Point form (which looks more stag-like now, especially with longer fur and bigger antlers), is running through the grove, trying to find "Robin", and all the while, he continued to think about how "Luffy" and his "friends" reacted to the situation.
"I can't believe those guys!" Chopper said. "Luffy…Zoro…Nami…Sanji…Franky! What's happened to them?! They used to care so much about each other, but now, they don't even care that Robin's been kidnapped!" HUFF! HUFF! "They're nothing but a bunch of jerks, now! I spent those last two years training for nothing! WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR?!"
Chopper sniffled as tears began to form in his eyes, but then he shook them away. When he looked up, though, he saw that he is about to run right into a large wolf-looking dog with white fur and a scarf around his neck.
"WAH!" Chopper gasped.
SKREEEEEE! The reindeer tried to brake to a stop, but instead, he just ended up sliding.
"HEY!" Chopper called. "LOOK OUT!"
The dog turned to Chopper, revealing himself to be Blizzard.
"Huh?" he said in his own language, but when he saw Chopper, he screamed.
WHAM! Chopper couldn't stop fast enough and ended up crashing into Blizzard, and the two fell to the ground.
"Ugh…" Blizzard groaned. "My head. Hey, you moron, are you blind?! Watch where you're go- huh?"
Chopper is down on the ground in his Brain Point form, his eyes swirl-y from dizziness.
"Hey!" Blizzard said. "I recognize that little blue nose, anywhere! Chopper, is that you?!"
Chopper shook his head and looked up at Blizzard, and gasped the moment he saw those pink eyes of his.
"BLIZZARD!" Chopper cried, joyfully. "IT'S YOU!"
WHUP! Chopper leaped up and hugged Blizzard around his neck, sobbing, and Blizzard held him up with a paw to keep him from falling.
"WAAAAAAAH!" Chopper sobbed. "I MISSED YOU SO MUUUUUCH!"
"I missed you, too, little buddy," Blizzard said, a single tear forming in the corner of his eye.
Just then, Chopper stopped crying and pulled away from Blizzard, looking rather confused.
"What's wrong?" Blizzard asked. "You wondering where I got my new scars or something?"
"Blizzard, how can you be here?" Chopper asked. "Nami said you were unconscious!"
"Unconscious?" Blizzard repeated. "Where'd she get that idea?"
"Well, you see, I…" Chopper suddenly gasped. "Oh, yeah! Blizzard, look, I'm happy to see you and all, but this no time for small talk! We've got a big problem!"
"Yeah?" Blizzard asked. "What's wrong?"
"It's Robin!" Chopper answered. "She's in big trouble! She's been kidnapped by human traffickers!"
"What?!" Blizzard questioned. "But how?!"
"There's no time to explain!" Chopper said. "Just come on! We'll be able to find her, faster, if the both of us are working together!"
"Okay!" Blizzard said. "You lead the way! I'll follow!"
Chopper shifted back into his Walk Point form and galloped away, and Blizzard followed not too far behind.
"Where are the others?" Blizzard asked. "It'd be nice to see them again, after two years! Besides, they could help us find Robin."
"Trust me, Blizzard," Chopper said. "You don't wanna see any of them. Especially Luffy!"
"What do you mean?" Blizzard asked.
"They've all turned into a bunch of bastards!" Chopper answered. "They don't care about anyone, anymore! Luffy kept going on about how we should just forget Robin!"
"That doesn't sound like Luffy…" Blizzard murmured, but then he gasped in realization. "Chopper…wait a minute. Wait a minute! WAIT A MINUTE!"
Blizzard jumped in Chopper's way, forcing him to stop, once more.
"Huh?" Chopper muttered. "Blizzard, what are you doing?! We're wasting valuable time!"
"Chopper, just answer me this," Blizzard said. "When you saw 'Luffy', what did he look like to you?"
"Huh?" Chopper asked. "Oh! Uh, well…he looked like he'd put on a lot weight, for one thing. Oh! And his hat looked a lot different than the last time I saw it, and he had facial hair!"
Blizzard sighed.
I should've known, he thought.
"Chopper, come with me," Blizzard said.
"But what about Robin?" Chopper asked.
"Don't worry about Robin, for right now," Blizzard answered. "Come on. I've got some money. I'll buy you some cotton candy."
"Really?" Chopper asked.
XXX
A moment later, Chopper is back in his Brain Point form, riding on Blizzard's back while eating a stick of cotton candy, and all the while, Blizzard had explained the entire situation to Chopper.
"Huh?" Chopper asked. "Impostors?!"
"That's right, Chopper," Blizzard answered.
"So that explains why they looked so different!" Chopper said.
"Chopper, think about it," Blizzard said. "Robin's been on the run from the World Government for more than 20 years, now, right? Do you honestly she'd let herself get captured that easily?"
"Hey, you're right!" Chopper replied. "I thought that something seemed off about her when I saw! She didn't even smell the same!"
Finally, he gets it, Blizzard thought.
"Grr…!" Chopper growled, clenching his hooves. "That makes me so mad! Where do those guys get off, pretending to be us?! They're gonna pay for this! It's almost like…" he suddenly started wriggling around happily. "It's almost like we're famous! Those bastards~!"
Blizzard rolled his eyes and smiled. Even after two years, Chopper still hasn't changed…but to him, that was all right, because he missed how his little reindeer brother would do his little "happy dance".
Suddenly, the two heard familiar voices.
"Hey! Blizzard! Chopper!"
"Over here! It's us!"
The two looked up and they see Usopp and Nami, riding on a bubble bike. While Usopp peddled, Nami is sitting in the back with many bubble bags attached.
"Look, Blizzard!" Chopper exclaimed. "It's Usopp and Nami! The REAL Nami!"
Blizzard smiled and ran up to the sniper and navigator.
"Usopp! Nami!" Chopper cried as he jumped off Blizzard's back, ran up to them, and leaped up into their arms.
"Hey, Chopper!" Usopp said. "Long time, no see, huh?"
"Aww, you look so much cuter~!" Nami cooed before she noticed Blizzard. "Oh, Blizzard, look at you! You look beautiful!"
"And huge!" Usopp added. "I bet it'd be a lot of fun to ride on your back!"
Not on your life, Blizzard thought.
"Uh…Blizzard?" Nami asked, causing the wolf-dog to turn to face her, and that moment, he noticed how much Nami had…grown.
Holy peanut butter, he thought. Look at those jugs!
"Blizzard," Nami called, pointing up to her face. "Eyes up here."
Blizzard looked Nami in the face, this time.
"Since you're here," Nami began, "does that mean that…Luffy's here, too?"
Blizzard looked at Nami, but then he smiled at her. WOOF! He let out a big bark.
"That means 'yes'!" Chopper said.
Nami squealed in joy and hugged Blizzard around his neck.
"I knew it! I knew it!" she cried. "I just knew it!"
Blizzard smiled and put his paw around Nami.
"Well, Nami," said Usopp, "looks like you're gonna be reunited with Luffy, after all."
"…yeah," Nami agreed, a single tear streaking down her cheek. "I know."
XXX
Meanwhile, in Grove 40, the fake Zoro and the fake Sanji are running through the town.
"My…my side hurts," said the fake Zoro.
"Dammit!" the fake Sanji cursed. "Just when we thought that we'd caught the pet of the real Straw Hats!"
Flashback
"What?!" the fake Luffy questioned. "That thing was one of the real Straw Hats?! Why didn't you idiots tell me?!"
"Well, you see captain-"
"Don't just stand there!" shouted the fake Luffy. "Go and get it back, right now!"
Flashback end
"How in the hell are we supposed to find it?!" asked the fake Sanji.
"We completely lost sight of him!" said the fake Zoro, panting heavily. "And the Sabaody Archipelago…is a really big place!"
"Whoa, whoa, hey!" the fake Sanji. "Slow down, okay? Let's take a little break, pal."
"Good idea," said the fake Zoro,
Just then, the two impostor Straw Hats spotted someone approaching.
It's Luffy, but now, he's wearing the fake mustache that Hancock gave him.
"Hey, look!" whispered the fake Sanji. "It's that kid with the huge backpack that the captain wanted us to get! But where's his mutt?"
"Uh…you sure that that's a kid?" asked the fake Zoro, eying Luffy's fake mustache.
"Huh?" Luffy muttered. "Oh! Zoro! Sanji! Long time, no see!"
XXX
In Grove 40, the real Zoro and Sanji are walking through the city, together, the latter holding a bunch of bubble bags with food inside.
"Hey," said Zoro. "I'm going down to the beach. I wanna go fishing."
"Like hell, you are!" Sanji shouted.
"Why not?!" Zoro asked. "You're not the boss of me!"
"Listen, you," Sanji growled. "I'm not walking with you because I want to! You're a huge pain in the ass, but if I let you keep wandering around the island, you'll just get yourself lost, Moss-head!"
"What was that?" Zoro questioned, irritably.
"The others will be here any minute," Sanji said, "so just your mouth and follow me back to the ship!"
"Humph," Zoro scoffed. "Pretty bold of Number 7 to be telling Number 1 what to do."
"WHAT?!" Sanji shouted. "YOU'RE RANKING US ACCORDING TO HOW WE GOT HERE?! IT'S A MIRACLE THAT YOU EVEN GOT HERE, FIRST, SO DON'T LET IT GET TO YOUR HEAD!"
"Okay, sorry!" said Zoro. "Number 7..."
"THAT DOES IT!" Sanji snapped, a comical red flame around him. "I SPENT THE LAST TWO YEARS IN HELL, TRAINING MY LEGS FOR THIS! I'M GONNA GUT YOU LIKE A TROUT!"
"WELL BRING IT ON!" Zoro shouted, a comical blue fame around him. "I'LL SLICE YOU IN HALF!"
XXX
In Grove 46, the meeting place of the fake Straw Hat Pirates…
"Reporting from Grove 46. The Straw Hats are gathering here."
A Marine soldier is seen hiding behind a hunk of rubble.
"The greenhorns are showing up here, one-by-one," he whispered into a Baby Transponder Snail. "I can confirm the identities of four pirate captains."
The first is a pale man with a large, ovular head that is wrapped up in bandages, like most of his body, from his forehead to his scalp, with his face occupying the lowest part of his head. He has a long, black ponytail on the back of his head, growing out from underneath the bandages, and he wears a buccaneer's coat. Around his neck is what appears to be a shirt collar with two buttons that have the letter "A" on them, along with a red-and-maroon striped tie around his neck. He also has a dark yellow sash around his waist. He is holding three thin dagger-like weapons on his right hip and is holding a large sword in the other hand.
"'Gashed' Albion with a bounty of 92,000,000 Berries."
The second is a tan-skinned man with a pointed head and a regular chin jutting out from it. He wears a tricorne hat with his Jolly Roger on it; underneath that is long curly black hair. He wears a plain shirt and polka-dotted pants, has a foulard around his neck, dons a sash around his waist, in which he keeps numerous weapons, and he sports a cape. He has big, plump, red lips, but he has a very small nose and eyes, and he seems to have a permanent scowl on his face.
"Lip 'Service' Doughty with a bounty of 88,000,000 Berries."
The third is a tall man with dark hair reaching down his shoulders, a distinctive wet-looking tuft and a beard in the shape of a whirl going upwards on his chin. He has psychotic-looking eyes with dark and medium green circles around the pupils, pointed ears, and long limbs. He has a long tongue lulling out of his mouth. He wears a fur coat, dark on the outside and lighter and spotted on the inside, like a leopard's, and it's draped over his shoulders like a cape. He wears dark pants and shoes, and he wears an extremely loose shirt with long sleeves with an X-shaped design on his chest which has dried blood on the neckline. With the way he wears it, it almost looks like an unbuckled straitjacket.
The fourth is a large, rotund, egg-shaped man, towering over the third captain and the rest of his crew. His legs are rather skinny in comparison to the rest of his body. He has dark lips and circles under his eyes, and on his head is what appears to be an iguana that acts as his hair, with the tail acting as a tuft, covering the right part of his face. He dons a pair of dark pants and shoes, and a lighter shirt with dried blood stains on some parts near and on his neck with loose sleeves and ruffled edges and a X-shaped design on the chest.
"Super rookies, 'Wet-Haired' Caribou and his brother and co-captain, 'Blood Splatter' Coribou."
The Marine then turned to talk into the Transponder Snail.
"If those guys teamed up with Straw Hat Luffy, then it would be…a real…" he froze when he had the feeling that someone was watching him from behind. Looking back, he saw, to his horror, that Caribou is standing right behind him.
"Hey! What's wrong over there?!"
XXX
At the Marine base in Sabaody…
"This is bad!" said a Marine captain. "HURRY UP AND SEND REINFORCEMENTS!"
"Yes, sir!"
XXX
Caribou grabbed the Marine spy by the back of his shirt.
"Hey, hey, hey!" he shouted. "Did you just summon some troops here?!"
"N-no, but I was about to!" said the Marine.
"Oh, that's bad," said Caribou. "Because if you did summon the Marines here…KIHIHIHIHIHI…I'd have to paint this whole plaza red with your blood! Isn't that right, Coribou?"
"That's right, brother!" said Coribou, bowing his head in the opposite direction. "I-I mean, 'sir'!"
"I'm over here, stupid!" said Caribou.
"Sorry, brother!"
"I'm not over there, either! You big dummy!"
As Caribou is dealing with his idiot brother, the Marine soldier is seen reaching behind his back for something. It is revealed that he has a gun concealed behind his cape.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
SHUCK! Caribou stabbed a spear into his shoulder.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!"
The pirates around him watched nonchalantly.
"He went and did it."
"So the rumors about him are true."
Caribou then got down on his knees and held his hands over his head.
"Oh, lord, have mercy!" he prayed, jokingly. "Forgive this foolish bastard who tried to kill me with a gun!"
"Sorry, God!" Coribou said, bowing in the opposite direction. "Really sorry!"
"Bury him, Coribou!" Caribou demanded. "Bury this wicked soldier alive!"
"Yes, brother!" Coribou said as he began to dig. "Dig, dig, dig!"
"No! No!" the Marine cried. "Please, spare me! I have a family!"
"That's enough, Caribou!"
Caribou and the pirates saw the fake Luffy, now wearing a buccaneer's coat like a cape.
"There he is! It's captain Luffy!" the pirates cheered.
"Let that insignificant soldier be!" the fake Luffy shouted. "Listen, men! Look around you! You may not know each other, but as of today, you are all my vassals! You're all Straw Hat Pirates, now!"
"YEAH~!"
"That means that when I become the King of the Pirates, you'll share in the spoils and the glory!"
BANG! Fake Luffy fired his gun in the air, and the pirates cheered, again.
"But to make that happen," fake Luffy said, "I need every single one of you to work and fight for me in the ventures that lie ahead in the New World!"
"YEAH~!"
"It's like a dream come true! That's the infamous pirate who wreaked havoc on the three World Government facilities: Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marine Headquarters!"
"And now, we get to be a part of his crew!"
"He's definitely a candidate for the next King of the Pirates! This is what means to join the winning side!"
"Now, I summoned you here for one reason!" the fake Luffy called. "Your precious big boss, that's me, has been insulted by a bunch of nobodies, and they're still somewhere on this island! FIND 'EM AND BRING 'EM HERE TO ME!"
"YES, BIG BOSS LUFFY!"
"We'll make 'em pay for this!"
At that moment, fake Zoro and fake Sanji appeared with Luffy (still in disguise) walking alongside them.
"Wow," said fake Zoro. "We sure did gather a lot, didn't we?"
"Is that where we're meeting up?" Luffy asked. "Well, still, I can't wait to see everyone. Still, two years is a really long time, huh? You two are a lot quieter than you used to be, and I don't remember seeing you act so chummy with each other, before. I guess a lot can change in two years, huh? Just like your faces! Are you guys wearing masks or something?"
"This mustache guy seems to know the real Straw Hats," whispered the fake Sanji. "Who is this guy?"
"I dunno," replied the fake Zoro, "but keep your mouth shut and don't give us away."
"Hey, captain!" called the fake Sanji.
"Call me 'big boss', you morons!" shouted fake Luffy.
"Sorry!" the fake Zoro said. "We couldn't find the real pet, but isn't this one of the people you were looking for?"
"Huh?" Luffy muttered.
The fake Luffy gasped at the sight of the real thing, but he still didn't recognize his face, due to his disguise.
XXX
At the Sabao Dome, Brook is taking a short break, backstage, but his fans are still cheering for an encore. He was just about to go back on stage when he got a call on his Transponder Snail.
"Oh!" Brook said. "The Marines are coming, you say? I understand. I'll be right there, but first, I have go back on stage. My fans want encore, you see. YOHOHOHOHO!"
"Encore! Encore! Encore!"
"I better get out there, then," said Brook. "They won't stop chanting. All right. See you."
He hung up and went back out on stage, meeting his adoring fans, once more. Just when he is about to play another tune on his guitar…
BOOM! BOOM! Gunshots went off, startling the crowd and the performers. It is revealed that the Marines have arrived and are now aiming their rifles at Brook.
"Hold it, right there!" shouted a Marine captain, speaking into a Transponder Snail. "This concert is hereby cancelled!"
"What?! What are the Marines doing here?!" asked a member of the audience.
"Soul King Brook! Otherwise known as the second pirate captain of the Rumba Pirates! Also known as 'Humming' Brook! You are suspected of being a pirate worth a bounty of 33,000,000 Berries! On top of that, we have information that you're one of the Straw Hat Pirates, and you are hereby under arrest!"
The audience gasped in shock.
"No…not Brook…!"
"It can't be!"
"Soul King Brook is a criminal?!"
"And he's a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, too?!"
"But Straw Hat Luffy is dead!"
Just then, Brook's managers came out on stage, armed with firearms.
"It's all over, Brook!" said the lead manager. "Everything!"
"Mr. Manager," said Brook. "So this is your doing!"
"When you announced your retirement to me in the backstage room, you took me by surprise," said the lead manager. "Your fame and popularity is still on the rise! We could've made a killing off of you, but you went and betrayed us! Our company is hereby dissolved, so we're all gonna die together, Soul King!"
"Put your instruments on the ground and put your hands in the air!" shouted a Marine.
Brook just stood there, holding his guitar.
"Backup band," he called. "Chorus! Dancers! Won't you please join me in one last song?"
The performers seemed shocked by this gesture.
"It's all right," said Brook. "My music has gained a whole new power!"
"Are you mad?!" questioned the lead manager. "It's over, Brook!"
"Mr. Manager," said Brook. "You helped me a lot these past two years, and I want to thank you for bringing me to the Sabaody Archipelago. This islands hold the memory of our first defeat. It's an island of regret…but…it's also an island of new beginnings! It's my duty to bring greater excitement to our adventures!"
He then adjusted the microphone.
"Straw Hat Luffy is dead, you say?" he spoke into the microphone. "Balderdash! I'm going to tell the entire world that the great pirate, Straw Hat Luffy, is indeed alive!"
Nearby, a news reporter is trying to get a connection to headquarters.
"Hey, HQ!" he called. "Talk to me! I have big news! BIG!"
"He'll be the king of all the world's oceans!" Brook said. "A calm, quiet departure doesn't fit him, at all! Oh, baby!"
To my beloved friends, thought Brook. Let us go the New World, together, Mister Luffy!
"Listen to my last song of the soul!" Brook shouted.
"YOU IDIOT!" shouted the Marine captain. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?! THIS CONCERT IS OVER!"
"Shut up, you Marine dog!" shouted a man from the audience.
"Yeah! Just let him sing one more song! We don't care if he's a criminal!"
"Are you all mad?!"
"You see?" Brook asked. "Music is always on our side! And a one, two, three, four! The New World~!"
The whole concert hall became alive with music as the fans cheered.
"Oh, yeah! Kid~!
This is the song about a hero!
And this hero will become a king!
In war, there are no restarts,
But he stands strong and tall with sandals on his feet!"
The managers stared at Brook as he continued to sing, remembering the first time they realized that Brook could sing and began to take him on a world tour. At first, not many people listened, but as time went by, Brook had become surrounded by a sea of fans.
"Oh, yeah! Come on, baby!"
The manager began to put his gun, seemingly thinking it over.
"Dreamers will often struggle in the darkness,
For sometimes, their dreams seem out of reach!
If you wanna keep living,
You must fight your own demons!"
The manager was about to shoot Brook, but then, his partners, who have become teary-eyed by Brook's singing, stopped him and shook their heads, as if to say, "Let him sing."
"Big dreams seem to be quite a handful,
But when he told me, 'I can do this!'
I believed in him with all my heart~!"
"Even though I don't have one!" Brook said.
"Today is the day!
We're tired of waiting!
We don't need the night,
For we are short-tempered!
Today is the day!
It is a great day!
Kick the clock that has been stopped!
For the New World~! For the New World~!
For the New World~!
This world is gonna change~!"
"One more time!" Brook shouted.
"FIRE!" shouted the Marine captain.
The Marines tried to open fire, but then, THOOM! A huge cloud of smoke exploded on the stage. As the smoke cleared, fireworks went off, but Brook was nowhere to be found. All that could be seen was a hole in the roof.
"He's gone…!" the Marine captain said. "Dammit! We almost had him!"
The audience, however, just cried joyfully. The perfect send-off for a superstar like Brook.
Some could only wonder where he went, now.
XXX
In Grove 17, the island where the Thousand Sunny is anchored…
"WOW~! SO AWESOME~!"
"I KNOW, RIGHT?! HE'S INCREDIBLE~!"
Usopp and Chopper are looking over Franky's new body with eyes sparkling.
"Franky, you're a robot!" said Chopper. "Hey! Can you shoot laser beams?! What about missiles?! Do you have any cool new accessories?!"
"Whoa, Chopper!" Usopp said, holding the little reindeer back. "You keep that up, and you'll have a heart attack! Simmer down!"
If you ask me, he looks even more annoying, Blizzard thought, obviously not impressed.
"That's right!" Franky said, flashing his trademark pose. "He's the stuff that dreams are made of, set into motion! His name is…SUPER ARMORED ME~!"
"WHOO~!" Usopp and Chopper cheered.
Blizzard let out a bored yawn and lied down, closed his eyes, and prepared to fall asleep.
"But wait, Franky!" Usopp said. "How can you do detailed shipwright work with such huge hands?!"
"What do you mean?" Franky asked.
KLANK! FWUP! VRE~EE! KLAK! He opened a secret compartment in his hand, revealing a tiny yellow robot hand inside.
"WHOA! EXTRA HANDS!" Chopper cried. "SO COOL~!"
Robin watched, standing by the railing, when she heard a voice call out to her.
"Robin~!"
Robin turned and saw Nami, standing on a hill, waving to her.
"Oh, Nami!" Robin called back. "You look great!"
A moment later, Nami reached the ship and is putting down her purchases, watching Usopp, Chopper, and Franky with the same unimpressed expression as Blizzard.
"It's like I'm watching a blooper reel when I'm looking at them," said Nami. "What's with that body of his?"
"Who knows?" Robin said with a chuckle. "I still haven't figured him out since two years ago."
You're not alone, Blizzard thought. Neither can I.
"So, this is a coated ship, huh?" Nami asked.
"That's right," Robin answered.
"Hey, Usopp!" Franky said. "Try pressing down on my nose!"
"Your nose?" asked Usopp.
"Yeah!" Franky replied. "Press and hold it for.." He suddenly started to speak in a robotic voice. "Please press and hold for at least three seconds."
"Whoa!" Usopp said. "He repeats things in a robot voice!"
KLIK! He pressed down on Franky's nose and counted.
"1...2...3..."
FWUFF! Franky's hair popped out of his scalp!
"WHOA!" Usopp and Chopper cried. "YOUR HAIR GREW OUT! SO COOL!"
"Does that mean you can change your hairstyle however you want?!" Chopper asked.
"Sure does!" Franky replied as he combed his hair into its old style from two years ago. "Yo, Nami! What's up?"
"Uh, yeah. Hi, Franky," Nami said hesitantly. "What has he doing been these last two years?"
"Franky, can you show me your new weapons? Please?!" Chopper asked.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Franky said. "I can't do the main event until Luffy gets here-mecha!"
Usopp gasped.
"He added 'mecha' to the end, like he was a robot!" he shouted.
"Hello, Straw Hats!"
Nami looked up and smiled.
"Rayleigh! Shakky!" she called.
"It's good to see you, too!" Rayleigh called as he and Shakky boarded the Sunny. At that moment, Blizzard saw his crush and ran right up to her.
Shakky! he cried in thought. I missed you, baby!
"Hi, Sugar," said Shakky, scratching Blizzard under his chin. "It's good to see you, too."
Smooch! She gave Blizzard a kiss on the snout, causing him to blush pink with hearts in his eyes.
"Oh!" Shakky said. "I see you're wearing Rayleigh's scarf, Sugar. He was right. It does look better on you."
Blizzard snickered.
"Oh, ha-ha," Rayleigh said, but he knew very well that Shakky was just joking. He then turned to face Nami and handed Nami a rolled up piece of paper.
"Here you are, Nami," he said to her. "These are instructions on how to navigate a coated ship, understand?"
"Oh, I see!" Nami said. "Thanks, Rayleigh! I'll do my best!"
"Anyway," Rayleigh said, "the situation on the island has changed. There's a lot of uneasiness going around, right now."
~A few minutes later~
Rayleigh had just finished explaining everything to the Straw Hats.
"What?! The Marines are here?!" Nami questioned.
"That's right," Rayleigh said. "They think that your impostors are the real Straw Hat Pirates, and now they've mobilized their forces. Shakky knows because she tapped into their communications."
"I've already warned Brook at the concert hall via Transponder Snail," said Shakky. "He should be here, real soon."
"So he's given up the life of glitz and glamour, after all, huh?" Franky questioned. "I always knew Bones had grit!"
"Where are Zoro and Sanji?" asked Chopper.
"He's with Zoro, right now," Franky answered. "I gave him a Baby Transponder Snail when he came by here."
"Hey, Rayleigh!" Usopp called. "I can't find Luffy! He's not on the ship!"
"What?!" Nami asked.
Dammit! Blizzard cursed in thought. I knew I couldn't leave him alone!
The wolf-dog stood up and prepared to go down the gangplank.
"Blizzard?" Chopper asked. "Wait! Where are you going?!"
Nami gasped before she approached Blizzard.
"Blizzard!" she said. "You're gonna go and find Luffy, aren't you?"
Blizzard replied with a nod.
"Well…could you do me one favor?" Nami asked. "Please…take me with you!"
Everyone except Rayleigh, Shakky, and Robin gasped.
"Nami, are you nuts?!" Usopp asked. "You heard Rayleigh! The Marines are coming! It's too dangerous to go out there, now! We gotta set sail!"
"I don't care!" Nami snapped. "I have to go out and find Luffy! I waited two years to see him, AND I'M NOT WAITNG A MOMENT MORE!"
Usopp flinched at those words.
A pause, but then, Blizzard heaved a sigh.
Okay…I must be outta my mind, he thought.
Blizzard gently nudged Nami with his nose, and then made a motion with his head, as if to say, "Come on. Get on my back."
Nami smiled and embraced Blizzard around his neck.
"Thank you, Blizzard!" she said.
"Wait, Nami!" Shakky called to her. "If you're going to go and look for Monkey, then use this." She handed Nami a blank piece of paper.
"Wait…is this…?" Nami asked.
"That's right," Shakky answered. "It's Luffy's Vivre Card. It'll guide you right to him."
Nami turned and pulled Shakky into a hug.
"Thank you, Shakky!" she said.
Shakky chuckled and patted her back before she pulled away.
"Go get him, Nami," she told the navigator. "I'm sure he missed you just as much as you missed him."
Nami nodded with a determined smile before she climbed onto Blizzard's back, riding sidesaddle.
"Usopp! Franky! Chopper! Robin!" Nami called. "Hurry and get the ship ready to sail! Get the ship ready to sail! Blizzard and I will be back with Luffy!"
"Good luck, Nami!" Usopp said. "And tell that idiot we said 'hi', will you?"
"Sure," Nami said. "Let's get going, Blizzard!"
WOOF! Blizzard barked before he jumped over the ship's railing and ran off with Nami riding on his back.
"Well, we better hurry," Usopp said. "The Marines could be closing in, fast!"
"Grove 42 would be a good place to have your ship anchored until you're ready to sail," said Rayleigh. "Have everyone assemble there. Remember, the future that lies ahead may be rough, but now, it's time to put the past behind you, and start anew!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Review, please!
