Disclaimer: Heck, you probably know this by heart now.
"Is that everything?" asked Usopp, gathering up what bags of treasure he could carry. His fellow crewmates were picking up bags as well; Zoro had six bags filled with gold and silver stacked up on one shoulder.
"Yeah, I should hope so." Franky replied, slinging a couple bags over his shoulder. "We can't get everything, but we got what we could."
They began walking back towards the Thousand Sunny when Chopper stopped and sniffed. "Wait... I smell Luffy and Nami!" He turned towards the center tunnel where, sure enough, the happy-go-lucky captain was walking through, talking animatedly with Nami. The young pirate noticed his crew, grinned and dashed to them.
"Hey, guys!" Luffy said, smiling. "Ooh, you got the treasure? Cool!"
"Are you okay, Captain-san?" Robin asked as Nami hurried over. "Did you fight Blackbeard?"
"Yeah. Kicked his ass." Luffy saw some other bags on the floor and picked them up with ease. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" interjected Nami, as if just remembering something. "Luffy... we should tell them."
"Huh? Tell them what?" Luffy repeated blankly, only to get punched in the face.
"Oh, right," said Usopp. "Did you find One Piece?"
"There's no One Piece," Nami muttered blandly. She explained about the hidden cavern and Roger's note. Robin was the first to understand, judging by the smile on her face.
The rest of the crew took a little longer. Sanji got it next, puffing on his cigarette quietly. Franky tapped his foot on the cavern floor, then grinned. Usopp and Chopper looked at each other, then at Nami. Zoro said nothing, lifting the bags of treasure in his hands and counting in his head.
"But... did Luffy still become the new Pirate King?" asked Usopp, worried that they came all this way for nothing.
All heads turned to Luffy, who was dancing around singing a song horribly off-key. He noticed their stares and blinked. "Pirate King? Oh, yeah, that's me! I'm the new Pirate King! Ya-hoo!" He leapt in joy and continued dancing.
"That settles it," replied Zoro, walking to the Sunny. "Now can we go before something happens?"
Sanji thought to ask what could possibly go wrong now that their captain–leader of a crew worth 667,000,050 belli–was the most powerful pirate in the entire world when the air whistled and an explosion came from outside the cave, shattering a section of the ceiling. "What the–?"
Brook peeked out, his jaw dropping. "M-m-marines!! A whole battalion!"
Zoro groaned. First a Buster Call, now this. "Quick, get the treasure on the ship!" They did so, and a few minutes later found themselves surrounded by white-and-blue clad soldiers. None of the pirates dared to move.
Then the sea of Marines split as a large, white-haired man walked through, two cigars in his mouth. A giant jutte was strapped to his back over his jacket, covered with several cigars on his arms. "Mugiwara," he hissed, purple mist escaping from between his teeth. "Now I've got you."
"Smokey!" Luffy jumped slightly, but kept his gaze on the commodore. "What are you doing here?!"
"Catching you, of course." Commodore Smoker moved aside to allow his ensign, Tashigi, to approach the wanted criminals. Zoro visibly flinched at the sight of her and edged behind Franky. "I've heard you're the new Pirate King."
"So what?" growled Luffy, fists clenched. He didn't want to fight Smoker, because of the latter's Logia Devil Fruit. "You still can't beat me and my crew!"
"That's true," agreed Smoker, nodding. "But my crew will." Silence, then... "Go."
Everything happened at once; Franky, Sanji and Zoro took down the first wave of attacking Marines, Robin tripping some more with extra arms appearing on the ground. Luffy grabbed Nami by the waist and pulled the two of the to the ceiling, allowing Usopp to fire a few rounds from Kabuto.
Chopper and Brook blocked a few blows, then countered. Chopper couldn't use a Rumble Ball anymore, but he could still go into his Heavy Point. Brook pulled out his cane-sword and walked by a few unaware soldiers. He nodded to Smoker, who stared. The sword went back into the cane and the soliders fell to the ground.
Zoro, to his horror, soon found himself face-to-face with the Marine who beared an uncanny resemblance to his long-dead childhood friend. He grimaced, but realized that, sooner or later, this was bound to happen. He pulled out his swords and pointed one at Tashigi. "I don't care if you look like Kuina," he muttered, more to himself then anyone else.
Tashigi was the first to move, pulling out Shigue to hit Roronoa in the chest. He blocked it easily, flicking his wrist to tilt Kitetsu III. At the same time, he swung Shuusuiaround only to have Tashigi push off and land safely out of range.
"Not bad," Zoro complimented, pausing to untie his bandana from his left arm and put it on his head. Shadows fell over his eyes, giving him a demonic look. "But I'm serious now. Oni Giri!"
Luffy stared down Smoker, a mix of determination, fear and anger dancing in his eyes. Luckily, he had stored some meat in his shorts before they landed, so he shoved them in his mouth, tossing the bones over his shoulders with such force it knocked out two of the soldiers approaching Franky from behind. "Gomu-Gomu no Pistol!" His elastic punch was much quicker than at Lougetown, but the opposing Marine morphed half his face into white smoke.
"If you know you can't beat me..." Smoker drifted behind Luffy, arm turning to smoke. "Why do you fight?"
Luffy didn't turn around. "To protect my nakama..." He dropped to the floor, just in time to avoid Smoker's Howaito Buro. "And their dreams!" In the split-second Smoker's concentration was lost, Luffy fired a Spear at his chest. The commodore went flying, but quickly recovered.
"Howaito Supaku!" Smoker dived at Luffy, but missed again. "You little worm..."
Luffy stretched his leg up until it touched the ceiling. "Gomu-Gomu no Ono!" CRASH! The impact send chunks of rock flying up from the ground, blocking Smoker's view. Luffy charged, fists flying. "Gatling!" But the punches just went through.
Smoker punched Luffy in the stomach, sending the pirate into a row of Marines chasing Usopp around the cave.
"Shit..." groaned Luffy, standing up. "He's gotta have a weakness, I know it. Crocodile had water, Gasparde had flour... what's this guy weak to?" He thought about Alabasta and how Ace was able to fight evenly with Smoker. "Fire won't help completely... dammit!" Luffy jumped up in time to avoid Smoker's jutte. "Wait... that's got Kairouseki on it... That's it!" Grinning, the rubber pirate stretched for the metal weapon.
Smoker scowled and yanked, pulling the wanted criminal down to the floor. "Little monkey."
"That's what they call me!" Luffy replied, jumping out of the way again to avoid both the jutte and some soldiers who collapsed from Nami's Swing Arm attack. "Gomu-Gomu no...!" Twisting his arm like a corkscrew, Luffy charged, arm drawn back. As he expected, Smoker turned to smoke and began to drift away. But Luff wasn't aiming for Smoker. He grasped one of the spokes of the jutte, then unwound his hand, wrenching the weapon free from the Marine's grasp. "Yoink!" Luffy proclaimed happily.
Smoker felt a vein twitch in his forehead. Was this idiot really serious? "I'm going to enjoy watching you hang from the gallows, Mugiwara."
Luffy stuck his tongue out. "Like hell you're gonna capture me! I'm finally the Pirate King, and no one's going to send me to get hung!"
"How's it going, suit-bro?" Franky asked, firing off another cannonball from his left arm. He saw how injured Sanji was and knew that, as a pirate in this particular crew, he had to look after his crewmates.
"I'm fine," Sanji replied, sending three or four soldiers flying with a single kick. He inhaled deeply from his cigarette. He thought about Nami and the announcement she had made just a few minutes ago. Was it really that long? It seemed longer... "Shitty-gomu..." he cursed, feeling his leg give away slightly, but he ignored it. "You mistreat Nami-san and I'll flambé you alive!"
To be continued...
