Yet again, it's a fairly short chapter. Yet again, I'm sorry. This is basically like a filler while I plan out the battle sequences. *But* I'm already working on them, so no worries.

R&R!

Chapter 3 – Preparations

The sun was setting beyond the horizon when the pirates regrouped at the ship. The people of the town had begun closing up shop as soon as the sun dropped under the trees. When questioned by Nami, the villagers explained simply that six o'clock was the time to wind down the day and return home for bed by nine.

Zoro, Robin, and Sanji had returned shortly before Luffy's team. While Sanji cooked a delicious dinner of octopus that made Luffy's mouth water, each group relayed the day's events as it was customary.

No one had disturbed the ship while Usopp's group had been on watch. They had all decided to at least clean up the ship while everyone was away. Luffy was too preoccupied with the beautiful meat in front of him to notice.

Zoro's group hadn't obtained much information either, only that there was a marine base near the north of the island, best to avoid that area. Sanji had gone shopping to restock his refrigerator, which Luffy found as a greater reason to figure out how to break into the locked storage room at night.

Then, it was his team's turn.

"You did what!"

Usopp's voice was loud in Luffy's ear. The Straw Hat captain pushed the sniper away and rubbed his temples while shoveling another long octopus tentacle into his mouth. "I accepted." He said, not bothering to chew with his mouth closed.

The sniper turned on Nami and Franky. "And you didn't stop him?"

Nami let out an exasperated sigh. "Come on, Usopp. You know that's pointless."

"Well, yeah, but still –"

The swordsman interrupted him. "Well, what's done is done." Zoro put a hand on his katana. "There's no backing down from a fight once you've made the handshake. So, Luffy," The first mate addressed his captain. "Who are you going to bring?"

Luffy stared around at his eight crewmembers, a smile lighting up his face. "All of you!"

"But we can only bring two," Franky reminded him.

"Oh. Right."

Luffy hated choosing between his crew. He wasn't one to play favorites, always wary of the others' feelings. Back in the day, he knew each member's strengths, weaknesses, and specialties. They all played off each other, attacking and blocking in perfect sync. Now, after two years, most of his crew's abilities were a mystery to him. He could go based off of previous experiences, from what he saw at Fishman Island, but he felt that it wasn't the best solution.

He also had an idea of what his opponent would be like: their personality, fighting style, et cetera. Satoshi was a complete mystery to him. Evaluating opponents with a glance was more of Zoro's thing, but his first mate hadn't been in his group of three when he met Satoshi, scar-guy Basco and drunk-guy Harou.

Finally, a plan came to his mind that suited him nicely. He gathered his crewmates outside in the grass, forming a circle with him in the middle. Luffy closed his eyes, threw out a finger, and spun rapidly on his heels. The idea was genius; it wouldn't be him consciously controlling his choice, so he wouldn't have to worry about hurt feelings. He worked well with the entire crew, so whoever was picked would be an excellent asset.

He stopped spinning, opening his eyes.

Usopp stared wildly around him, as if trying to figure out if the finger was pointing to him or Brook. "Congratulations, Brook," he said quickly, trying to pat the skeleton's absent back. "You ge – "

"Yay!" Luffy grinned. "Usopp, you better get ready to show your stuff! It's an adventure!"

Usopp's face fell. "I think I have I-can't-participate-in-this-battle disease…"

"Suck it up, moron," Sanji muttered, puffing out a stream of smoke.

Usopp backed out of the circle, going to sit dejectedly on the small swing in the corner of the ship.

Luffy repeated the same spinning maneuver, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. When he opened them again, Chopper was on the opposite end of his finger, holding his hoof to his chest with a surprised expression on his face.

"Eh?" The little reindeer cried.

"Yosh! It's decided!" Luffy said, putting his hands firmly on his hips. "Usopp, Chopper and I will fight tomorrow!"

"Ah, Luffy…" The doctor waved to get the captain's attention. Luffy knelt beside Chopper, giving him a wide smile. "Luffy… I… I don't want to fight."

Luffy's smile faded a little. "Why not?"

"Because…" Chopper's words came out all at once. "Because I really just don't want to! If it's not for a good cause, I don't see the reason in fighting a pointless battle!"

Luffy nodded, understanding a little bit of the reindeer's point of view. He didn't want to admit he was scared out of his wits. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, Chopper," Luffy said, and stood up to face his crew. "Any volunteers?"

No one moved for a moment, until Zoro finally stepped forward. "I want to see this Satoshi guy. So I'll fight in Chopper's place."

With his team decided, Luffy nodded and made his way to the head of the Sunny, putting one hand on one of the mighty triangles that made up the masthead's mane. He turned his head to catch the last bit of setting sun before night enveloped the island. "Just wait, Satoshi," he murmured to himself. "We're ready for anything!"

Yep. Short chapter. Gomen nasai. The upcoming ones will take a while to be posted, but I swear they will be worth the wait. And I may update this one and make it longer in some point in time, but not right now. I'm already halfway through the next chapter, so I want to go ahead and get this one up so I can (hopefully) get the next one up sooner!

Coming up: Chapter 4 – Zoro vs. Basco