"Ready, you guys? Hold tight, she's gonna blow," Franky said with a cocky grin. "Coup de Burst!"
The Thousand Sunny seemed to explode with the force of its departure. The town disappeared instantly in a cola-scented rush and they went flying into the air.
"Wheee! This is awesome, Franky!" Luffy cheered, stretching from the mast. The ocean spray evaporated quickly in the sun and the rush of the wind whistled in their ears. The main-sail's Jolly Roger grinned just as widely as Luffy was as it flapped in the wind.
"Franky, what are we going to do when we land?!" Usopp asked hysterically, clutching the railing for dear life. The answer came when the ship landed with a mighty crash.
"Don't worry, this baby's built to withstand much more than that little bump!" Franky said, patting the ship proudly. "What do you think, you guys?"
"Lion-chan is certainly quite majestic," Brooke mused, tapping the deck firmly with his cane. Ignoring Franky's protests of "It's the Thousand Sunny! Not 'lion-chan!'" he turned and gazed at Luffy. "What's our course?"
Luffy looked at him quizzically. "Course? What do you mean?"
Nami sighed. "Brooke, if you want to know about navigation or where we're going, then just ask me. I think he'd be content to sail around aimlessly until the Marines caught him. Even if we're out of the reach of the bakufu, they Marines will still be on our tails." She looked at the small compass strapped to her wrist carefully before snapping out instructions. "Pull the main-san thirty-five degrees southward! No, Zoro, that's west…theeere you go. Baka. We're lucky that there's an easterly wind, so once you hoist the sails just stand by!"
The sea was calm, for typhoon season would not come for many months still. The Mugiwaras ran about busily storing their belongings in the proper receptacles and exploring the depths of the ship. Zoro milled about, unsure of what to do with himself—besides his swords and materials for their care, he had brought little clothing or items of personal value—until he found that the grassy lawn on the deck was extremely comfortable. He settled in a patch of shade and promptly began to snore.
"Tch, lazy bastard," Sanji growled, carefully placing one of Nami's mikan trees in a plot of soil that had been specially put aside for that purpose. He patted the soil lovingly before moving on to the next tree. "He's definitely on dish duty tonight."
The next few hours passed uneventfully, save for when Luffy got into Usopp's store of inventing materials. He had chewed up a handful of Tabasco Boshi rounds and ran around the desk, before jumping into the ocean in desperation to quench the fire in his mouth.
"Luffy, you freaking idiot! Don't go into the water, you'll drown!" Nami yelled, looking around desperately. "I'm not strong enough to bring him up. Someone else has to bring him back!"
"Ugh, what's all the ruckus?" Zoro stood unsteadily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with one hand. He looked into the water and saw the struggling rubberman. "What, he can't swim? What kind of idiot goes sailing without knowing how to swim?" Without waiting for an answer, he stripped off his shirt and dropped his swords on top of his boots. He then dove gracefully into the water, landing right next to the quickly sinking hammer. After pulling him back up and climbing on board, he received another lesson in Devil Fruits from Robin.
"Few people can really claim to know anything about the Devil Fruits. The way that they affect a human's body is inexplicable, and only one scientist has managed to really find any answers through research. They say that the Fruit is a physical manifestation of the Sea God's own powers, and that he reclaims you when you enter the water. In other words, a person with abilities finds him or herself unable to swim. Kairoseki has the same effect." She waved one hand and a row of arms grew on the ship, which proceeded to bring two towels to them. "Perhaps you'd like to dry off, swordsman-san? You wouldn't want to catch pneumonia."
Zoro jumped when he saw her use her ability; it was still disconcerting. Zoro looked in concern at Luffy, who was still lying on the deck. "Shouldn't we resuscitate him first?"
Chopper shook his head. "He doesn't seem to have swallowed much water. The ocean just has a general draining effect on our bodies. He should be okay in a few minutes."
The next few hours passed by without much mishap. Zoro sat in the crow's nest, absent-mindedly lifting free weights. Due to the afternoon heat and his bath in the ocean, he had stripped himself bare save for his haramaki and pants. As he gazed at the turquoise waters of the ocean where they met the powder blue of the sky, he saw a tiny dot appear on the horizon. "Hey, I see something other there," he announced through the open hatch.
"Is it an island or a ship?" Nami asked, taking out a spy glass and looking through it.
His sharp eyes locked on the object and he appraised it. "It looks like a ship. A big one, too," he said. "Oh crap…"
"What seems to be the matter?" Brooke asked.
"The sails are unmarked, but some of the sailors are wearing the uniform of the bakufu. There's no way they could have followed us this quickly, is there?"
"There's no other way, then," Luffy said. His face was shadowed by the brim of his straw hat, and he pushed it back with one hand. "We'll just have to take them head-on!"
Zoro slapped a hand to his forehead. "I'm not saying that we probably couldn't mop the floor with them, but wouldn't it be better to stay away from them just in case?"
Luffy scoffed. "Pshaw, if we can see them then they've probably already spotted us. Let's go!"
The tides and winds were in their favor, but the other ship seemed to be going in the same direction and it took hours to reach it. Everyone soon grew bored of watching the miniscule dot on the horizon grow larger and had returned to their previous activities. The sound of Zoro snoring lustily droned on. When they finally did reach the ship, they were met with a rather unpleasant sight.
The ship did indeed have bakufu members on it. The many sailors that began to swarm onto the deck were all garbed in the dark blue and white-striped uniforms that were typical to most European maritime vessels. The unpleasant bit? They were all armed to the teeth—mostly with pistols, but there were also many bristling swords and bayonets held at the ready. The milling seamen suddenly snapped to attention as a figure stepped down from the quarter deck. They lined up smartly and shock still, which was quite a feat on the rocking ship. The man that appeared was tall and well-built; his commanding stature instantly let the Mugiwara crew know that this was definitely the guy running the show here. His cigar-lined jacket was opened to the flapping wind, revealing a bare chest over the standard dark blue slacks of a Marine official. Behind him walked a stately young woman, her hand resting on the hilt of a katana with an ease that hinted at great skill. She adjusted her glasses carefully as the two of them approached the deck of the ship.
"Je n'ai jamais vu ce drapeau avant," the man said, speaking around two cigars resting on his lips. "Tashigi, venir. Siège a envoyé de nouveaux rapports?"
The woman carefully placed her dark hair behind one ear and looked carefully at the Mugiwara crew.
"Je pense qu'ils sont…japonais? Oui, japonais."
"Oy, what's going on?" Zoro said, rubbing one eye sleepily. He had just risen from his nap and was not too happy to see a strange ship looming menacingly.
The woman jumped when she saw him. "Commodore! Regarder!" she said shrilly, pointing straight at the green-haired man. "Cette cheveux verts…peut-il être?" She blushed as she saw Zoro standing in all of his shirtless glory.
Zoro nearly fell over when he saw the woman. "You!" he yelled, looking around desperately for somewhere to hide. When there was no convenient method of escape, he continued. "You're that copycat!"
The woman glared at him, and spoke. "Zoro l'Ollonais, you despicable man! How could you be consorting with pirates?" Her Japanese was flawless, and it was apparent that she was fluent in the language. "Commodore Smoker, I believe these pirates are Japanese. This man is none other than the famous Demon of the Forte Rhum. I believe the last time we lay eyes on him was in Paris last summer."
Commodore Smoker puffed thoughtfully, and said, "L'Ollonais, eh? I remember you. You killed an entire crew of Italian pirates who tried to come up the Seine River, but spared one man because he fought 'with honor' or some bull like that. I heard that your crew departed for Japan as soon as rumors about the Japanese blockade being lifted were spread. What the hell are you doing, man?" His gravelly voice was accented very slightly by his native French, and it was surprising how he managed to speak with those cigars constantly in his mouth.
Zoro shrugged. "Here, they call me Roronoa. My men and ship were sunk when we tried to enter the harbor, and I was picked up by these fellows here." ("And the ladies," Sanji reminded him) "What are you doing here? I know that they didn't just call someone like you all the way to Japan for something like diplomacy."
Smoker barked out a laugh. "You're not going to see me in those meetings with that figurehead of an emperor of theirs. Things are moving in the world…Roronoa. The most prominent countries are starting to band together. They've formed this thing that they call the World Government." He snorted. "In my opinion, they're just trying to control the world a little more."
"Smoker-san! (A/N: I just can't see Tashigi calling Smoker 'monsieur.' San is much more…Tashigi) What would you do if our superiors saw you saying things like that? Roronoa, France has joined the World Government. All of the great navies of the world are being mobilized, but we cannot say for what yet." Suddenly she stopped herself. "That's beside the point! Smoker-san, these people are pirates. We received orders…"
Smoker growled, "To hell with the orders. Listen, Roronoa…something is happening with the world. If you come across any other ships, you better be wary. Bounty hunters aren't the only ones actively pursuing you now." He turned, and waved a hand for the sailors to stand at rest. "As for this meeting…it never happened. I still remember what you've done for France the past few years. If we ever chance upon each other again, remember that I will have to take you and your crew into custody. Understood?"
Luffy leapt up. "As if I'll let you do that! If you're going to threaten my nakama, then I'll just have to take you out!"
"Luffy, stop! He's not the kind of enemy you can fight—" Zoro yelled, running to restrain his captain.
Luffy pulled one arm back and shot it forward, howling, "Gomu gomu no piston!" His arm stretched—much to the horror of the French sailors—and hit Smoker square in the back. The impact was enough to send any man flying.
That is, if it was a normal man he was punching.
Smoker's body fell away under Luffy's fist in a cloud of smoke, and he turned with a bored look. "Who's this man, Roronoa?"
"He's my captain," Zoro groaned.
Smoker examined Luffy carefully, his body rematerializing in the air. "Kid…if that's all you got, then you better prepare yourself for a nasty shock. I'll let that one go, but don't think you'll be so lucky next time. Men, back to your stations! We're heading out to Edo." Slowly, the French vessel turned around the Thousand Sunny and continued on its way.
"What the hell was that?" Sanji said, rubbing his eye in disbelief.
Zoro sighed, plopping down on the floor against the wall. "Smoker has an ability. He explained it to me, but I didn't really understand it at the time. I think his is what you'd call a Devil Fruit ability, but he's the only one I've seen with a skill like that. Of course, I've never seen anyone with skills like yours, either. But when a guy's strong enough to strangle you from a hundred feet away, you don't find yourself asking too many questions." Zoro looked sheepish as he continued, "I tried to cut him up when I first met him. That probably wasn't the best decision of the century."
Robin shook her head in disbelief. "If I may explain, swordsman-san? I believe cook-san could use an explanation as well…You know that there are different kinds of Devil Fruits, correct? Luffy and I have Paramecia-type abilities, as does Brooke. Our bodies can be manipulated in different ways, but are essentially still human bodies. Doctor-san is a Zoan-type; he can turn into an animal outside of his species. However…" she paused, shaking her head in disbelief, "The Commodore must possess one that is of the incredibly rare Logia. I myself have never seen a Logia myself, but I have read accounts of those who have possessed those abilities."
"But what in the world is it, Robin?" Nami asked, looking bewildered. "It's one thing to be able to stretch, but to turn into smoke? That…that's even more absurd than the idea of a rubber man!"
"Basically, Logia-type users are elementals. They are impervious to physical attacks, and can go to and from human to elemental shape at their own whims. The one that the Commodore must have eaten is the Moku moku no mi."
Luffy jumped up, with a "I've just reached an epiphany!" expression stamped on his face. "Oooh! I know that those are! When Ace visited last time, he could turn into fire! It was sooo cool!"
"Baka, your brother turns into fire and that's your only response?" Sanji said, planting his foot firmly on top of Luffy's head. "But more importantly…Zoro." The chef looked seriously at the swordsman, his eyebrow bobbing.
"Who was that babe behind that smoke bastard?"