6. Shaking Up A Bag Of Shells
Story Start: En Route To Shells Town
Sitting on the 'figurehead' of our boat (It was really just an extension of the keel three feet above the water) Luffy laughed as she said "Ah, we certainly have great weather today!"
"Yeah, if it keeps up then we should be able to reach our destination within the next couple of hours." Koby said with a smile as he retied a sail line after having made a course correction. He then turned serious and said "But Luffy, do you really want Zoro on your crew? It's said he's a bloodthirsty demon of a bounty hunter that slices up anyone who gets in his way."
"I'm sure. Plus, he can't be too bad if Matt said he joined my crew, right Matt?" Luffy asked, turning her head like an owl to shoot a grin at where I was leaning against the mast.
I gave a thumb's up and said "While he really is quite blood-thirsty, he does have an honor code he goes by. So long as you don't get in the way of his dream, then you should be fine." I then smirked and said "You might have to blackmail him a little to get him to join you though."
"Eh?" Luffy asked, cocking her head to the side, which just appeared wrong for a human neck to contort like that while still twisted even as my Captain asked "Why would I need to blackmail him?"
"He's of the mind that all pirates are the kind who loot, pillage, rape, and kill rather than some of them being adventure seekers." I said. I then shrugged and said "Of course, the person in charge of the base we're heading to and his son aren't much better."
"What?! B-but Matt, they're Marines! Why would you say that they're as bad as pirates?!" Koby asked with wide eyes.
Lowering the bill of my camo hat, I said "You'll see when we get there. All I'll say right now is that despite what many wish, this world is not painted in black and white. Not every Pirate is a devil and not every Marine is a saint."
Koby looked confused, but thankfully didn't ask anything further. Gaining a thought, I glanced up at him and Luffy and said "By the way guys, since we've got a couple of hours, would you like to watch a movie?"
"Eh, what's a movie?" Luffy asked, spinning around even as her head cocked again.
"Oh yeah, you guys don't have the infrastructure for them." I said with a snap of my fingers before I grinned and said "Well, you guys are really going to get a kick out of this then." Pulling my laptop and one of my external hard drives out, I set them on the bench and powered up my laptop and said "A movie is a story told by moving images and sound. They're usually around an hour and a half long though some can be as short as fifteen minutes while others can be nine hours long." As the laptop finished it's start up sequence, I attached the external hard drive and pulled up the movie files and continued "I think Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World will be a good introduction. It's about a British naval ship hunting down a French one."
"Ah, sounds interesting!" Luffy said eagerly hopping over to my side to watch. Koby also looked interested so I moved away from the laptop to sit next to Kushina who was leaning against the boat side while the two locals eagerly began watching the screen as a ship moving through fog appeared on it.
Two hours and eighteen minutes later, Luffy leaned back and said "Ah, that was such a great story!"
"It was at that, but it also got pretty dark at times." Koby said, biting his thumb a little.
"The best stories tend to have at least some darkness in them." I said with a shrug, putting the laptop and hard drive up even as I smirked and said "By the way, we're here."
"Huh?" Luffy and Koby asked only to look up and forward following my pointed finger. In front of us about a mile away was Shells Town. Slightly freaking out, Koby asked "Ah! Matt, why didn't you tell us you had spotted the island earlier!?"
"Because it would have been rude to interrupt you guys during the movie." I said with a smirk as I shouldered my bookbag. Tyrus snickered as he came down the mast and took his position on my shoulders, his wings shimmering out of sight. I gave his head a pat as I studied the island in front of us and said "Well guys, this is the first Marine island on our journeys, it certainly won't be the last though, for either of you two."
"The base sure is something. As expected from such a world spanning organization." Koby said with awe.
"It's got some tall buildings for sure, but I'm more interested with who's at those buildings rather than the buildings themselves." Luffy said with a wide grin.
'Indeed, I might be able to get another of our crewmates early if I play my cards right.' I thought with a grin.
We were soon tied up at one of the town's docks and Kushina and I followed behind Luffy and Koby as we made our way up to the base. As we walked, Koby tried one more time to dissuade Luffy from recruiting Zoro as he said "You know Luffy, if he's being detained it's for a reason."
"It could be a stupid reason though." Luffy said.
"Oh, it is." I said to myself.
Koby looked back at me before he said "Whatever the reason, it's because Zoro's a bad person!"
And que townsmen jumping away from us number one. As Koby looked around in confusion, I grinned and said "Looks like you shouldn't mention his name around these parts."
"Yeah, I guess so." Koby said, turning to look behind us at all of the people that still looked spooked as we walked away.
"Ah, who cares about those guys." Luffy said, putting her hands behind her head as she said "Come on, we need to head to the marine base, you can't become a Marine if you don't sign up now can you Koby?"
"Y-yes…But I'm not really ready yet…" Koby said before tapping his pointer fingers together a couple of times and said "Rumor has it a guy named Captain Morgan is at this base and…" And que townsmen jumping away from us number two, this time with them looking even more scared.
Looking around in confusion, Koby said "Alright, I get Zoro, but why are they scared of Morgan?"
"It's like I said earlier Koby, the world isn't as black and white as people wish." I said.
"Yeah but." Koby said before Luffy ruffled his head and said "Come on Koby, with Matt being all secretive, we won't learn anything here, let's keep going to the base like I said."
"O-Okay." Koby said with a nod.
Reaching the base, Koby swallowed and said "I'm finally here. L-Luffy, even though we've only known each other for a little while, you've been a great friend. But even so, now that I am about to become a Marine, that makes us enemies. What I'm trying to say is that this is goodbye."
Luffy snorted and said "You're getting a little ahead of yourself there Koby."
"E-eh?!" Koby stuttered, a mild look of shock mixed with just a hint of hurt on his face.
"Well yeah, you aren't a marine until the person in charge of this place says you're accepted in their ranks right?" Luffy asked with a grin.
"Oh, well that's true I guess." Koby said rubbing the back of his head.
"Mh-hm." Luffy hummed before she turned to me and said "Hey Matt, where's this Zoro guy?"
Now frowning, Koby said "Obviously he's in a cell somewhere Luffy."
"Nope, he's tied up in the yard just down there." I said with a smirk pointing a little bit down the wall.
"Thanks!" Luffy said before running along the wall a little before leaping up. A moment later, she said "Hey, he's right, there's a guy tied to a cross over here!"
"Seriously!?" Koby asked quickly joining him up on the wall, an action Kushina and I copied so that Koby was between Luffy and me.
Grinning at the person I spotted, I said "Oh yeah, that's him alright. The number one badass in the East Blue."
"Hey, what about me?" Luffy asked with a pout.
I waved my left hand and softly in a tone of voice that wouldn't carry said "You're strong for sure, but pretty soon this guy's going to take a knife to the chest, with the blade stopping less than an inch to his heart and he won't take a single step back."
"He's what?!" Koby asked with wide eyes.
Luffy meanwhile hummed to herself and said "Hm…yep, I've got nothing."
"Hey you guys." The man we were talking about said, and I SWEAR I heard the sound of an electric guitar being strung as he looked up at us and continued "You guys are an eyesore, beat it."
Koby let out a full body shiver and said "H-he's so scary!"
"Incoming tyke." I said just before a ladder appeared on Luffy's other side. We all glanced at the girl who climbed up to the top and held a finger up to her lips and shshed at us before she lowered a rope over the side of the wall, dropped down, and ran towards Zoro.
"Ah, she's going to get hurt! Luffy, Matt, you gotta help her!" Koby said in a panic.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Kushina asked causing Tyrus to hiss out in laughter.
Meanwhile the girl (I think her name was Rika?) had made her way to Zoro who stared down at her and "What?"
"You must be hungry! I made you some rice balls!" Rika said, beginning to unwrap them.
As she did so, Zoro asked "Do you wanna get killed, pipsqueak? Scram!"
"You haven't eaten anything this whole time." Rika said before holding up her offering and said "Here! This is my first time, but I worked really hard to make them!"
Zoro's eyes widened slightly but then narrowed as he said "I ain't hungry! You're an eyesore, get outta here!"
"But…" Rika said unsure.
"I don't want 'em! Don't make me kick your ass!" Zoro yelled.
It was at that point that the nearby gate rolled to the side and an annoying voice said "It's not nice to be a bully!"
"Oi, this guy." I muttered with a scowl as we watched Helmeppo and the two Marines assigned to him walk into the yard. A decent Marine down the line this guy might turn into, but right now he was still a spoiled brat.
Laughing as he walked over, he said "You seem surprisingly well, Roronoa Zoro…"
"Now there's another weird guy!" Luffy said and I snickered before I stopped as Koby let out a sigh of relief and said "Thank goodness! He must be with the navy! Now that girl will be safe!"
"Don't count on it." Me, Kushina, and Tyrus all said together.
Koby looked at us in confusion but his attention was brought back to the scene in front of us as Helmeppo leaned over Rika and said "Oh? Those are some tasty looking rice balls." He swiped one and bit into it even as Rika cried out "Stop!" Ignoring her, he chewed a couple of times before his eyes widened and he spat out the rice ball and said "Too damn sweet! Those are filled with sugar! You're supposed to use salt for rice balls!"
"But I thought they might taste better sweet…" Rika said.
Helmeppo knocked the other rice ball into the dirt and began stomping on it, ignoring Rika's cries for him to stop. "H-how horrible." Koby said in disbelief as we watched.
Rika meanwhile began crying as she said "And I worked so hard to make those…"
Helmeppo decided to further prove his douchebaggery by pulling out a sheet of paper as he asked "Did you not read this notice? 'Those who help criminals will be executed! Navy Captain Morgan.'"
Rika's look of sadness turned to fear at the double chinned brat's words and he laughed as he said "Looks like even little brats know how scary my dad is!"
"Then that's Captain Morgan's son?" Koby asked.
Luffy let out a snort of anger and glanced sideways at me as she said "Seems you weren't kidding about this guy earlier Matt."
Before I could respond, Helmeppo glanced at one of his bodyguards and said "Hey, throw this girl out!"
"Sir!?" Was his scared response.
Helmeppo grabbed the marine's shirt and said "I said throw her over the wall! Or can you not follow my orders?! Don't make me tell my dad!"
"Y-yes Sir, R-right away!" The panicked marine said.
Rika cowered as the man picked her up. Whispering, the man said "I'm sorry little girl. Curl up into a ball."
The girl let out a scream as she was tossed over and Luffy immediately jumped into action, pushing off the wall and stretching her arms out to grab Rika, pulling the younger girl against her chest and turning to land on her back, skidding a short distance across the ground. As she sat up, Rika smiled and said "T-thank you!"
"Are you alright Luffy?!" Koby asked as he came running up. As he kneeled by Rika to check on her, Luffy straightened her hat and rejoined us up on the wall.
"Damn you." Zoro muttered, glaring at Helmeppo as he took a few steps towards the wall laughing and said "You sure are stubborn about staying alive…"
"Yeah! I will live the full month!" Zoro declared.
"Well, good luck with that." Helmeppo declared laughing as he walked back to the gate, his two bodyguards falling in behind him.
"Ten days left, you know!" Zoro called after him.
"Assuming you can live that long!" Helmeppo called back.
"How can he be so cruel, Luffy?!" Asked Koby, turning towards us only to widen his eyes as he saw that she was not with us anymore. Looking around, he asked "She's gone?!"
"She went to talk to Zoro." Tyrus said, jerking his head in that direction.
"Eh?!" Koby asked with wide eyes, scrabbling up the wall again to watch with us as Luffy fearlessly approached her future swordsman.
As she stopped ten feet in front of Zoro he looked up and she said "I hear that you're supposedly a bad guy."
"Are you still here?" Zoro asked in confusion.
"Being stuck out here for all to see…Are you really strong after all?" Luffy asked, a teasing smile on her lips.
"Mind your own business!" Zoro snapped.
Letting out an actual giggle of all things, the future 'King' walked forward and said "You know, if it were me, I'd probably starve to death in three days!"
"I've got more spirit than you. I will live through this… I swear it!" Zoro said with a grin.
"Eeh, well, I suppose we'll see." Luffy said with a smile, turning to walk away only to stop as Zoro said "Wait!"
Turning back around with an inquisitive hum, Luffy cocked her head in question. Glancing downwards at the crushed rice ball, Zoro asked "Could you pick that up for me?"
Humming again, Luffy crouched and picked it up as she asked "You want to eat this? It's mostly a mud ball now."
"Just shut up and give it here woman!" Zoro yelled.
"Alright, alright, eesh, no need to bite my head off." Luffy said before lightly tossing the 'mud ball' into Zoro's open mouth. The man chewed it a few times before he swallowed and coughed a few times. Standing up and crossing her arms, Luffy said "Told you so."
"It was good. Thanks for the food." Zoro said. Luffy blinked once before she smiled.
Taking a few steps closer, she put her hand on Zoro's shoulder and grinned as she said "Hang in there for just a while longer, I'd hate for such an interesting guy to die in such a pathetic manner."
"Heh, right." Zoro said with an answering grin and Luffy walked away waving a hand and throwing over her shoulder "Ja, ne."
Scene Change: In An Alleyway By Rika's Home
"Really, he ate it all?!" Rika asked with a grin.
Luffy nodded with a smile of her own and said "Yep, every last bite. And he said it was good too."
"I'm glad." Rika said, still smiling.
"Is Zoro really as evil as the rumors say?" Koby asked to himself.
"I did tell you." I pointed out.
"Well, yes, but there are a LOT of rumors about him." Koby said rubbing the back of his head.
"They're wrong!" Rika shouted with a shake of her head and she continued in a quieter manner "After all, he let himself get crucified in our place…"
"What do you mean?" Luffy asked with a slightly cocked head.
"It's all that Helmeppo's fault." Rika said, frowning as she explained "He's Captain Morgan's son… three weeks ago, his pet wolf was running around the village causing trouble for everyone. It came into my mom's restaurant and began eating everyone's food. I tried to chase it away with a broom but it tried to attack me. Zoro saved me by attacking the wolf. Helmeppo didn't appreciate this, but when he tried to attack Zoro he wound up being the one to be attacked. Helmeppo claimed that if his father learned of his death, me and my mother would be executed. Helmeppo made a deal that if Zoro could survive being strung up for a month, he would not only let us go, but Zoro as well. Zoro agreed."
Turning around to look at us with tears in her eyes, she continued "Helmeppo punches and kicks him while he's tied up!"
"I see." Koby said forlornly.
Before anything else could be said, a crashing sound came from the restaurant. Rika quickly opened the door we were standing near and we followed her through the restaurant's kitchen and came out to the dining area to the sight of Helmeppo with his feet on the table, crossed and in the remains of a serving bowl and smirking as he said "Hey Waitress, Bring us some food!" Gesturing at him and his two guards, he continued "We'll be eating for free of course." I noticed that said two guards behind Helmeppo shot Ririka apologetic looks as they too sat down nearby, though that was a small comfort at the moment.
While Helmeppo was making a bigger ass of himself, I spotted Nami watching him with a completely blanked face. I lightly nudged Kushina and when she followed my line of sight nodded. The pair of us kept half our focus on her as we followed Luffy past Helmeppo. However, we had only gotten a few feet when Helmeppo said "Oh yeah, I've been bored lately, so I've decided to execute Zoro tomorrow. Look forward to it!"
Luffy's cheek twitched once before she was suddenly right beside Helmeppo, fist slamming into the underside of his jaw launching him up out of his chair. The moment he was high enough, Luffy grabbed his right ankle, spun in a circle and launched Helmeppo out of the restaurant hard enough to slam into the wall of the building across the street. She started walking out after him, pipe flicking to either side of her to knock the hastily drawn sabers out of the two Marine's hands without even looking at them.
Outside, Helmeppo was cradling his jaw that was already blooming an absolute beauty of a bruise. Seeing Luffy come striding towards him, he began trembling as he shouted "You hit me! Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm Captain Morgan's son! I'll tell him what you did and he'll execute you!"
"Like I give a rat's ass about him, fight me yourself you scumbag!" Luffy snarled, grabbing Helmeppo's shirt and yanking him off the ground. Helmeppo's hands desperately grasped at her arm while his feet scrabbled to try and gain purchase on the ground but Luffy easily held him a few inches off of it. Snarling at him, Luffy said "People like you make me sick."
Drawing her pipe back, Luffy prepared to knock his block off only to pause as Koby cried out "Wait, Luffy! Don't do it, he's not worth it!"
Luffy stood still for a moment, glaring at the teen in her hands for a moment before she let out a snort and said "You got lucky punk." Tossing Helmeppo over her shoulder, she began walking towards the direction of the base and said "Let's go guys, I can't stand the stench of sewage around here."
"Right." I said and we began following her. Helmeppo and his goons quickly passed us as they booked it back to their base.
After a couple of minutes, I spotted Nami also making her way to the base past us and I said "Captain, do you mind if we split up for a bit? There's something I want to deal with now rather than later."
Luffy gave me a curious look but after a moment nodded and said "Alright Matt, but don't take too long."
Nodding, I glanced at Tyrus on my shoulders then Kushina and said "Stealth mode guys, then double time it. We need to catch up with Helmeppo if we want time for set up."
"Right." The two said and Tyrus and Kushina shimmered out of visibility, Kushina imitating the Quetzalcoatl via the Chameleon Jutsu while I activated my Concealment Haki and we took off at a run, soon catching up with our targets.
We followed the three all the way to Captain Morgan's office, taking a spot in a corner to avoid being detected. After listening to Helmeppo whine to his father than watch the people inside leave, we dropped our various cloaking techniques and I sighed as I said "I swear, that brat can not grow up fast enough."
"He is rather annoying." Kushina said with a nod.
"Got that right. So Matt, what are we doing here?" Tyrus asked.
"Nami's going to be searching this place for a Grand Line map." I said, popping the cover of my Einherjar card holster up and pulling out four cards. Placing two of them on either side of the doors then making my way over to the window, I continued "This gives us a chance to recruit her a little bit earlier than in the show."
"Let me guess, she's likely to pull a runner when she sees us, which is why you're posting guards at the exit points." Kushina said.
I nodded and went to sit at the desk. Putting my feet on it as I leaned back in the chair, I said "Exactly, which is why Tyrus is going to cloak us while she searches. Our methods are good, but as both a world class navigator and thief, she's highly observant so I don't want to take any chances."
"Makes sense. I should probably go back into card form so that way there's one less person for her to potentially bump into." Kushina said. At my nod, she let out a small pulse of white light before she was replaced with her card form which floated towards me.
Plucking her out of the air with one hand, I pulled my mask down from my forehead to cover my eyes with the other and activated the multispectrum overlay function. Five minutes later, I saw a female tying up two males outside the door and said quietly "She's here."
Tyrus cloaked us and I stood up moving over to the window. I stayed there as Nami opened the door and slipped into the office, closing the door behind her. I stayed there as she looked through the few cabinets in the room as well as the desk. When she spotted the safe hidden behind a couple of barrels though, I went back to the desk and took off my bookbag while I put my feet back on the desk.
When Nami read the note that Buggy had left in place of the map and crumpled it, I smirked and said "Don't you just hate it when you're the second person to try to steal something?"
Nami's gaze snapped over to my now uncloaked form. Her eyes darted to the doors but before she could bolt, Eirika and Tana's cards activated, the pair of Magvelian Princesses wearing casual clothes but Eirika's Rapier and Tana's spear visible. A glance at the window showed Lucina and Corrin, also in casual clothes and also with swords visible, though like Eirika's they remained sheathed for now. And Kushina was right next to me again as well.
I let Nami realize that she wasn't going anywhere without a fight before I said "Relax Miss Nami, we're not here to harm you. No, we're here because you're the absolute best damned navigator I know about and I have a business proposition for you." Taking my feet off the desk and sitting up properly, I reached down into my bookbag, pulling a briefcase out of the storage space and set it down on the desk as I said "I'll even pay you for listening to me." Opening the case, I opened it then turned it so that Nami could see the twenty stacks of fifty bills inside, each one with the one thousand beri denomination on them and continued "One Million Beris, all yours, and all you have to do is listen to my proposal. After that, if you don't want to do business with me then you can walk."
"Just like that?" Nami asked with suspicious eyes.
"Just like that, but I am confident that once you hear what I have to say that you'll be rather glad to do business with me." I said.
Nami scoffed and said "Well we'll just have to see about that." However, she DID walk over to the desk, sitting down on it and pulling the briefcase over. Taking out a stack, she fingered through it as she said "Alright, you've got my attention, so talk."
"Let me start with a hypothetical question Nami. With Roger gone, the position of King of the Pirates is wide open for the taking. What do you think would be better for the world's population, the stereotypical blood thirsty pirate who pillaged, raped, and burned down every town they came across on their way to the One Piece or a pirate who is a peacemain, a person who went out to sea in search of adventure and flies the Jolly Roger because they believe it represents freedom, and thus that the King of Pirates is the freeist of everyone on the seas?"
Nami scoffed and said "The second one obviously, though that one's a myth."
"Counter argument, Red Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors." I said before I shrugged and continued "But given your problems with Arlong, I can understand your skepticism." As Nami tensed, I leaned closer towards her with serious eyes and said "Yes Nami, I'm aware of what is going on at your home islands. My group can help you free not just your home town but EVERY population center in Arlong's webbed grip. We've got a Paramecia Devil Fruit user as our captain and around fifty highly trained members, some of them with very advanced guns that make Marine rifles look like some of those pop gun toys kids play with." Eyes now narrowing, I said "Nami, realistically speaking, we are your only chance to get out of Arlong's grip. Deal with him or no, you know, you know that he will NEVER let you go, you're far too valuable to him."
"So the only way to get free of him is to trade one master for another?" Nami asked sharply, eyes also narrowed.
"No, your only way free is to ask for help." I said standing up. Nami blinked in confusion as she watched me walk over to the window and watch as the Marines outside celebrated Morgan's defeat. Turning back around, I smirked and said "I think it's time we take this conversation to another location. ID Create: Ten Forward, Time Dilation Multipliers: 2X, 5X, 10X, 25X."
The Marine Captain's office around us was suddenly the bar on the Starship Enterprise, the desk Nami was sitting on now a table with chairs on two sides rather than just one, surrounded by other tables with a window showing streams of stars as we traveled at warp speed on one side and a bar with a dark skinned woman with a rather unusual hat on the other.
Blinking rapidly as she looked around, Nami asked "W-what just happened?!"
"You were just placed in an Illusionary Dimension that is undergoing time dilation for the purpose of having a very long discussion without being interrupted honey." Guinan said with a smile.
"Huh?" Was Nami's oh so intelligent response.
Chuckling, I made my way over to the bar and said "A&W Root Beer if you'd please Guinan."
"Right away dear." Guinan said with a kind smile, a moment later handing me a properly tall and thick glass filled with the requested drink, foam at the top. Turning her smile to Nami, she asked "And what would you like honey?"
"Uh." Nami said unsurely and I smiled as I said "Go ahead Nami, you can ask for whatever you want."
Still looking unsure, Nami asked "Can I have a Negroni?"
"Coming right up." Guinan said, pouring the ingredients into a shaker and thoroughly shaking it before straining the liquid into a properly chilled cocktail glass before putting an orange twist into it. Nami got off the table as she worked and accepted the offered glass with a small thanks. The orangette stared into the glass for a moment before she took a cautious sip, her eyes widening as she realized that yes, she was holding an alcoholic beverage in her hand meaning that this was real.
Chuckling again, I took a seat at the table she had been sitting on, where my bookbag still was in fact, and gestured at the other side as I said "Now, shall I give you a proper explanation about what's going on and my offer for you?"
"Y-yeah, I think I'd like that." Nami said, making her way back to the table. Meanwhile, my five girls were making their own way over to the bar to ask for their own drinks, though like me they were choosing nonalcoholic ones. Tyrus meanwhile flew off of my shoulders and settled on top of one of the bar's lamps, earning yet another surprised look from Nami as he decloaked his wings.
I drew her attention back to me by snapping my fingers a few times and said "Alright, for starters, let me explain the Multiverse Theory to you and we'll go from there."
Forty five minutes, two refills of Root Beer, a second Negroni, and a quick viewing of a certain fight later, Nami ran a hand through her hair as she muttered to herself "This is insane." Looking up from the table at me, she said "This is absolutely crazy, I should be checking myself into the nutter's house right now for even thinking of believing you."
"You'll find that once you enter the Grand Line, sanity is a very rare commodity indeed." I said with a chuckle before I leaned forward and said "That was the explanation for why I made contact with you early, are you ready to learn what my offer is?"
Nami paused for a moment before she nodded and said "Against my better judgement, yes."
Nodding, I pulled out a pair of papers and a pen, signing a section at the bottom on both before pushing all three over to Nami and said "Read this, and if you agree, sign at the bottom."
Pulling out a set of glasses that I was pretty sure she didn't need from somewhere that I decided not to guess, Nami put on them on and began reading out loud:
"In exchange for Nami joining the Straw Hat Pirates crew as Navigator for ten years, after the securing of the crew's Sniper and Cook said crew shall provide any and all aid in removing Arlong and his crew from the Conomi Islands. In addition, for the first month, Nami shall be allowed to keep seventy five percent of all funds she obtains in IDs, after which she will retain fifty percent, the other portion of which shall go into the crew's treasury. Finally, Nami shall have complete access to the Interdimensional Trade Forum."
Beneath that short paragraph at the bottom of the page were three lines, underneath which was Luffy's name next to her rank as Captain, my name beside the words Third Mate/Quartermaster, then finally Nami's name next to Second Mate/Navigator, my signature already in place on both copies of the short contract.
Nami hesitated for a moment, chewing her lip in thought before she gave a determined nod and signed the papers, sliding them back to me with one hand while removing the glasses with the other as she said "I'm guessing that I'll be getting one of those back when my new captain signs them?"
"Yep." I said with a nod, storing the papers for now before I reached over and said "This might be a little premature, but welcome to the crew Nami, it's good to have you on board."
"Good to be on board I guess." Nami said as she shook the offered hand. Letting go, she asked "So what now?"
"Now? Now we finish our drinks then go meet up with Luffy and the other person she recruited." I said with a smirk, lifting my glass to my lips and tossing back the last of my root beer, an action that Nami and my girls all followed, our glasses hitting our respective tables with a simultaneous thunking sound. As we stood up, Nami grabbing her money, I nodded to Guinan and said "Thanks for the drinks."
"Anytime dear, don't be shy about coming back now." Guinan said with a smile and I nodded before I said "ID Escape."
As we returned back to the 'real' world, Eirika, Tana, Corrin, and Lucina all returned to card form and I stored them in my holster as I said "Now we just need to head back to the diner. Tyrus, can you make sure Nami is cloaked?"
"On it." Tyrus said, shifting over to her shoulders. A moment later, the pair vanished from sight and Kushina and I were quick to do the same, leaving the office and walking past the still struggling tied up guards without them noticing us.
Scene Change: Ririka's Restaurant
We arrived to the sight of Luffy and Zoro eagerly digging through a large rack of ribs, small towers of plates surrounding them. Chuckling to myself, I nudged our new navigator and said "This Luffy may be a different gender than 'Canon' Luffy, but she can still pack it away like Jewelry Bonney, AKA The Glutton."
"So it seems." Nami said, actually leaning back a little as she gave Luffy a wary look.
Hearing us, Luffy did her owl trick again and at the sight of us grinned as much as she could with bulging cheeks. Giving five mega chews then swallowing everything at once, her grin grew as she said "Hey guys, isn't that the girl who's boat we almost dropped our own on top of?"
I chuckled and said "She is in fact that woman. More importantly though Captain, with your approval, she's also going to be our Navigator."
Luffy actually turned away from the food to properly face us, going so far as to stand up and lean against the table as she studied Nami intently. After the first few seconds under her stare, Nami began fidgeting slightly and actually let out a sigh of relief as Luffy turned her gaze towards me and asked "Did 'he' meet her?"
I nodded and said "They officially met at our next stop but it took a while for her to warm up to him, I just thought I would take a shortcut or two. Speaking of which, Luffy, I need you to sign these."
Pulling out the contracts and the same pen as before, I set them on a nearby table that wasn't full of dirty dishes and Luffy made an inquisitive sound as she came to join us. Cocking her head as she read the top copy of the contract, she glanced back at me and asked "Someone else is being an asshole and deserves an introduction to my pipe I take it?"
"It's a rather bad reoccurring problem I'm afraid." I said, shrugging in a 'what can you do?' gesture.
Luffy hummed at that and went back to the contract, this time bringing her gaze to the bottom where she blinked and said "Hang on Matt, you gave yourself the wrong rank."
Blinking myself, I cocked my head and asked "I did? I thought given my connection to the store and storage capabilities that I would be the Quartermaster, which in turn is usually the Third Mate position." Navigators of course were the Second Mates given how important that position was to the survival of the ship and crew.
"Oh, you're definitely our Quartermaster, that's not the problem. It's just that you're my First Mate, not Third."
"What, but I thought that Zoro was?" I said, now thoroughly confused.
Said swordsmen took a moment from making up for three weeks of missed meals as he said "First crewmate recruited by the Captain is always First Mate unless it is shown down the line that they are not capable of fulfilling the duties of that post." And with that, he went back to finishing the last of the ribs before pulling a massive bowl of mashed potatoes towards him.
"Oh." I said, blinking again before I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head and said "Well, I feel stupid now."
"Shishishishi, don't worry about it!" Luffy literally laughed my embarrassment off as she crossed out my assumed rank and wrote my apparently proper rank under it then signed in her own spots. Clicking the pen shut, she then turned to us and handed me and Nami a contract each before offering the other girl her hand with a megawatt D-shaped grin and said "Welcome aboard Nami, I hope we can become great friends!"
Despite herself, Nami found herself smiling as she shook Luffy's hand and said "I hope so too." Her grin then turned eager and I swear I heard a CHA-CHING sound as she continued "You seem strong, just think of all the loot I can get now with your help!"
Luffy laughed at that and said "SHISHISHI, you're funny!" Still laughing, she went back to the table and dug in with gusto, calling over her shoulder as she pulled a plate of deviled eggs over "So Matt, where did he meet her?"
Walking over and grabbing an egg for myself, I said "Orange Island Captain." Popping the egg into my mouth, I chewed then swallowed as I said "I'd like to make a detour if possible. With Nami and Zoro joining us, we could use a day or two to get used to working with each other before we head there."
I made a spinning motion with my index finger and Luffy nodded her understanding, having been informed about the Chinook during my explanation for how I had gotten off of Snake Island. Swallowing the last of the eggs, she said "Sure, I'm sure we could find somewhere for that."
I noticed that the pair had finished what was currently on the table. But before they could order more food, Commander Ripper came in and made a beeline for us. Standing ramrod straight, he asked "Excuse me miss, is it true that you are a pirate?"
Luffy eyeballed him for a brief moment before nodding and said "That's right, I am."
"I see. In that case, I'm afraid I have no choice. While I and the rest of the Marines stationed here owe you a great debt, we cannot allow pirates to remain on this island, and therefore must ask you to leave." Everyone else in the restaurant was understandably upset about this but Commander Ripper ignored them as he continued "As thanks for what you have done though, we will not report your presence here to our higher ups."
"I appreciate that, and don't worry, there's no hard feelings." Luffy said with a nod, standing up, surprising not only me but Commander Ripper as well as she gave a proper naval salute and said "I hope that now that Morgan has been dealt with you have a smoother command Commander."
Ripper blinked in shock for a moment before he saluted her back and said "Thank you again for your service to this town Captain."
Luffy dropped her arm and gave one last nod as she began walking out and said "Come on guys, it's time to move out."
"Aye, aye ma'am." Zoro said, stretching his arms out before standing up and following, the rest of us Straw Hats following.
As we neared the door, Ripper said "Hang on, isn't this one one of yours?"
We turned to see him pointing at Koby and Luffy shook her head as she said "Nah, he got abducted by another crew two years ago due to his Navigation ability. I agreed to bring him here when I sent their captain flying so that way he could become a Marine like he always wanted."
"Hm, I see…" Ripper said, turning his gaze back onto Koby who stiffened with a small swallow but still managed to keep matching Ripper's gaze. After a moment, Ripper said "I suppose that I can give you a chance young man, but you will have to work your way from the very bottom up."
Koby smiled so wide he was starting to imitate Luffy as he saluted and said "Thank you sir, I won't let you down!" At Ripper's nod, Koby dropped his salute, turning towards us and said "Luffy! I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me, but now we're enemies. If we meet again, I'll have to arrest you."
Luffy laughed and said "SHISHISHI, you're going to have to get rather strong then Koby, but you're certainly welcome to try. Good luck kid." And with that, she turned around and led her crew out of the restaurant breaking into a run towards the docks. As we ran after her, we left a friend behind us but we were bringing two more with us.
END
Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Story Roster Related Poll on Profile, please take a minute to check it out.
So, I decided to merge episodes two and three together, hence the wait for this chapter. Given how Shells Town is only two episodes long and I was going off script at the end of episode two I thought it was a good idea. As you saw, we got Nami early so we're going to be spending a couple of days getting her up to standard before heading to Orange Town. (Or is that a couple of weeks? :Rubs Chin:) Anyways, see ya till next time guys and gals!