Chapter 4
Serena sighs when she sees what Luffy had painted as their pirate mark. Luffy could not paint, thankfully Usopp took on that job and they had their pirate mark. While Zoro is dreaming of his childhood Serena corners Luffy for some bacon, she wanted a snack. Luffy hands it over and once she's eaten Luffy demands she get some sleep. Serena curls up into him, Usopp had sent his letter off the previous day. Serena had the Silence Wall up again, " You can't keep going without sleep like this. "
Serena turns her eyes towards him, " I know, Luffy, but my nightmares never give me any peace, plus there's the foresight I get from Mars and Pluto. That acts up and comes as dreams at times. "
Luffy looks at her, he had forgotten about her planetary gifts of power. At least she'd be able to direct them away from truly life threatening situations at times. " Anything I need to know? "
" Yeah, I need to go kill Marshall D. Teach before our brother does something stupid. Teach killed Thatch for the Dark Dark Fruit. Ace can't win, but I can kill the bastard and lock away that damnable fruit or give it to Eris as an offering. "
Luffy groans, of course Ace would go after him, " When do you need to leave? "
" I should go now, that way once I'm finished I can get all the sleep I want. "
Luffy curses softly, " Why do you have to be a death goddess as well? "
" I have to do this now, Luffy. He'll turn Ace into the Marines and then Ace will die saving you after you break in to stop him from being executed. " Serena says softly, " Plus, Teach will get Whitebeard's Devil Fruit as well, the Tremor Tremor Fruit. "
Luffy's eyes widen as he takes in all the implications of that simple statement, " Shit, he kills Whitebeard and leaves a power gap in the Emperors. Go, I hate using you as an assassin but this takes precedence. I'll keep the others distracted. "
Serena disappeared in that moment and Luffy stretches before going to annoy Fred. The lovable goof ball was back in control and Nami just shakes her head as she watches him, but then again she had seen his fight with Kuro. The goof ball was an act then, designed to put them all at ease. Though she wondered where Serena was.
Grand Line:
Portgaz D. Ace shudders suddenly, he knew this feeling. The Shinimegami was hunting, " Ace. "
" Sis, what are you doing? " Ace asks.
" Leave Teach to me, bro. You can't beat the Dark Dark Fruit. Wait for Luffy on Drum, okay. We'll be heading there soon enough. " Shinimegami states.
" Got it, what will you do with his devil fruit? "
" Either stuff it in subspace or use it as an offering for Eris. Imagine the Chaos she could cause with that fruit. "
Ace chuckles at this, he'd met Eris before and he honestly liked her. " All right, I'll wait for you guys to catch up. How many crew members do you have anyhow? "
" Of course there's me, Fred, George, and Luffy. We've added Roronoa Zoro, a girl named Nami as our navigator, and Usopp as our sharpshooter, Usopp is Yasopp's son. "
" No cook yet? "
" I get the feeling that we'll be meeting our cook in short order. Now, I need to go, bro. Take care of yourself. "
With that the presence was gone and Ace blinks, he hated it when she did that. He also knew that if she were interfering like this then Teach would have led to his death and she favored him.
New World:
Benn Beckman was surprised to see Feathers D. Ace approaching their current location and even more shocked to see whom the letter was addressed to. He didn't recognize the writing but still, " Yasopp, you've got a letter. "
The blonde sharpshooter ambles over and after he's read the letter he's in shock, " Yasopp, who was the letter from? " Shanks asks.
" My son, apparently my wife died shortly after I went out to sea. He's now the sharpshooter for Luffy's crew. "
Shanks winces, Yasopp would never have abandoned his son like that had he known. " They'll be on the first half of the Grand Line soon, send a letter back and maybe we can arrange to meet them. "
" That's assuming Luffy and his crew make it to the Grand Line. " Lucky Roo says.
" Roo, you should know better than to underestimate any crew that has me on it. " a voice whispers.
Shanks chuckles, " Musume, don't scare my crew members. "
She shows herself, " Gomen, Tou-san, I just had to go kill Marshall D. Teach before he could become a real nuisance of himself. Mostly to save aniki, but well, Whitebeard would have gotten to him soon enough anyhow. Now, what do you know about Arlong? "
" Why? " Yasopp asks.
She sighs, " Our head navigator's whole village is under Arlong's rule and we've agreed to deal with the problem for her. Luffy will get to deal with the shark himself but I'd like enough information that we can plan accordingly. "
Benn nods at this and she pulls out a Dicta Quill that takes the notes Benn was giving while she catches up with Shanks. No one asked what she had done to Teach, Shinimegami was known for very violent and bloody deaths. She would have also displayed his corpse in a macabre way. With a casual wave of her hand she's cleaned up, no need to scare the rest of the Straw Hat Crew. Yasopp quickly writes a return letter though Feathers D. Ace would be delivering said letter. He had a lot to make up for with his son.
East Blue:
Serena yawns and heads for Luffy's cabin on the Merry Go, at least there she could sleep undisturbed. On the deck Luffy pauses briefly, he'd felt the Shinimegami return, but figured Serena was now getting the sleep she so desperately needed. At least she had diverted one path to the future, and hopefully the new way forward would be a hell of a lot better. That was when he decided they should practice using the cannon. Once Nami had taken them to a place where they could practice Luffy's first shot went wide and that was when Usopp took over and hit their target, a tiny rocky island dead on.
Then they were attacked by a man whom they later find out from Zoro that his name is Johnny and then Johnny brings Yosaku on. It was Nami who diagnosed him with Scurvy and sent Luffy and Usopp, after they apologized, after limes. While Yosaku, after being an idiot, and dancing around, lays recovering Johnny, while they're eating and Luffy points out they need a sea cook, tells them about the Baratie. The Baratie being a floating restaurant on the ocean. Luffy grins, that was where he would go next, they needed a cook anyhow.
Serena awoke when she heard cannon fire and heads out on the deck, her eyes widen, " Luffy, tell me that wasn't you. "
" My grip slipped and I hit the wrong ship, I meant to send the cannon ball back to the Marine ship. " Luffy admits.
" Come on then, Captain, we'll travel over by Gum Gum Express and I'll see about fixing the damage and healing any injuries. " Serena says.
Luffy grins, Serena rarely let him take her with him while traveling by means of his devil fruit, Serena grabs on and one Gum Gum Rocket later they're on the Baratie and Serena seeks out the owner. She works everything out with him but seeing as how Luffy was still trying to convince the sous chef Sanji to be their cook they weren't going to be leaving for a while. Zeff observes Serena and Luffy, the rubber boy may act like an idiot but he was far from it. He also noticed his small and possessive gestures when it came to his female co-first mate.
Even Sanji picked up on them, and the blonde sighs internally, all the beautiful ones were either taken or lesbians. Serena sits Luffy down, " Do not move, I don't need to fix anything else you break, accidentally or not, do you understand me, Monkey D. Luffy! "
" Perfectly, Serena. " Luffy says as Sanji comes over to take their order.
Serena only has to raise one eyebrow for Luffy to get her message, one course and dessert, " I'll have the biggest Porterhouse Steak you've got and a whole Peach Cobbler. " Luffy says.
Serena looks over the menu, " I'll take the spaghetti, you can give him the meatballs, garlic bread with melted mozzarella cheese, hot cocoa, and do you guys have any chocolate desserts? "
" We have Dark Chocolate Fudge. " Sanji says, writing down their order. Luffy adds a large glass of milk to his order.
" How much of the fudge do you have left? " Serena asks.
Luffy sees the look in her eyes, " Bring it all, she'll pay any price for Dark Chocolate Fudge. "
Sanji's eyes widen at this, most girls balked at that much sugar. Once her meal is eaten Serena's eyes light up when she sees the fudge, one look at Luffy has him keeping his hands far away from her fudge. The first bite and Serena was in dessert heaven, " My compliments to the chef who made this fudge. This is the best Dark Chocolate Fudge I have ever tasted. "
" You are far too kind to me, milady. My name is Sanji and I am the one who made that fudge. "
Serena stares at him, " Please, in the name of all that is good and chocolatey be our cook. "
" Sorry, but I like my job here. " Sanji says.
Serena watches him walk away, eyes wide, " Luffy, he will be our cook. "
Luffy grins, Sanji thought he was annoying, Serena would do anything to keep a constant supply of Dark Chocolate Fudge near her, except cheat on him. Sanji was soon being courted as the Straw Hat Cook by both Luffy and Serena. Serena even paid for Gin's food, since she knew damn well what it was like to be truly hungry, after she had met Luffy and Makino that had never happened again. Gin heads back for his captain and Serena sighs wearily, " Best gear up for a fight, dear Captain, Don Krieg will be your opponent. I'll warn the others. "
Luffy nods and once that is done Serena can be found eating some more of her fudge, even Nami stayed away from her fudge after nearly getting her hand sliced off. Only George's quick thinking had saved her. He'd used a summoning charm to summon Nami to him. The crew soon learned that all things chocolate were to Serena like meat was to Luffy. Luffy soon gets into an interesting chat with Sanji about the All Blue, " How'd you meet her anyhow? "
Luffy smiles, " You become a member of my crew and I'll tell you. "
Sanji looks at him, " You two really want me that badly as a part of your crew? "
" Serena will have you as our cook one way or another. You might as well give in. " Luffy says plainly.
" I owe the old man my life. " Sanji states.
" I'm sure he'd also want you to go out and live your own dream. " Luffy tells Sanji.
After Zoro's fight with Mihawk, Serena apparates over to get him before he can fall in the water and starts working on healing him, all the while the battle with the Don Krieg Pirates has started, the others are all on the Merry Go which Nami and George moved to safety. Sanji faces off against Pearl while Luffy deals with Don Krieg himself. While those two fights are going on Serena manages to get Zoro over to Zeff and gets the protection charm up. Gin finishes off Pearl after Luffy crashes into him, then Krieg unleashes his poison gas. " Ebullio Maxima! " Serena casts a large bubble head charm, Luffy was safe over where he was.
When the smoke clears Zeff, Serena, Sanji, and Zoro are safe within the bubble head charm, " Luffy, take it up a level and kick his ass, and try not to fall into the ocean. " Serena calls out, and sets to work on Zoro some more, using her second wand.
" You heard my senior first mate, I have to kick your ass now, Krieg. " Luffy states, of course Luffy knew that Serena just wanted this over with so they could go and kick Arlong's ass at long last, though they needed Zoro at full health for that. When Zoro wakes up Serena forces another blood replenishing potion down his throat and rolls her eyes, Luffy had better hope to hell that they found a doctor soon. That way she wouldn't be constantly using her power in order to heal everyone.
As Luffy dodges Krieg's spear and deals with his special bullets Serena runs a quick diagnostic spell on Sanji, and does some quick healing spells. She also gives him a thimble full of Skelegrow to fix his leg fractures. " What is that shitty tasting stuff? " Sanji asks her.
" A potion known as Skelegrow, that amount should fix the fractures you have. Be grateful, I changed the taste of that, it used to taste worse. I ought to know, in my second year at school my pathetic defense teacher removed all the bones from my broken right arm. I had drink a gobletful of that crap and spend the night in the Hospital Wing. " Serena says.
Sanji almost gags at the thought of drinking a gobletful of that stuff before the taste had been modified. " I see your point, so are you the doctor? "
" Hell no, I'm the field medic. " Serena looks over in time to see Luffy bust Krieg's armor and once the fight ends Serena curses, and aim a wand at Luffy, knowing she only had mere seconds, " Ebullio! "
Then Luffy was in the water, " Sanji, can you go get my captain, because he ate a devil fruit he can't swim and I still need to look after my junior first mate. "
Sanji takes off his shoes and dives in, swimming down after Luffy, " I have a plan to get him to go, it's harsh, but it'll work. " Zeff says.
" Time for your sous chef to graduate, huh? " Serena asks.
" It is, that captain of yours, he'll go far, especially with you around to keep him grounded. " Zeff states.
Once Zeff has implemented his plan and Sanji has joined the Straw Hats Serena puts him in charge of getting the right food for everyone, " Oh, Sanji, no damn Shellfish please. " Serena says.
" Allergy? " Sanji asks.
" Severe Allergy. " Serena responds and asks to copy any map Zeff might have, well, she has a clone do it, but still any maps they could get ahold of the better off they were. She was also making them marauder style maps. Then Serena thinks of something.
" Zeff, do you have a spar Log Pose? " Serena asks suddenly.
" Why do we need a log pose? " Luffy asks.
" A Log Pose is the only way to safely navigate the Grand Line. " Serena responds.
" Log Pose, very important, got it. " Luffy states.
Turns out that Zeff didn't have a spare Log Pose, which sucked for the Straw Hat Crew, but they'd figure something out. Things Luffy was involved in generally turned out all right.
Sanji had all his stuff packed up and was now overseeing the food supplies, making sure to have enough of the proper ingredients to make Serena's supply of chocolate goodies. Something told Sanji that keeping the female first mate happy was a very vital thing. Once on board the Merry Go Serena introduces him to everyone else, " Fred is the equivalent to our Quarter Master, Usopp is our sharpshooter, Nami and George are the navigators. Zoro and I share first mate duties, and Luffy is the captain. " Serena says.
" Do Fred and George always wear different colored shirts? " Sanji asks.
" Now they do, so everyone knows who they are. Mind you they also answer to Gred and Forge. " Serena states and shows Sanji to the room he'd share with the other boys, and his domain, the kitchen.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, Sailor Moon, or Harry Potter.
