Another Nakama Omakes
Disclaimer: One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonen Jump Manga and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.
A/N: I was going to save this and use it as a cover story for Another Nakama IV. But I don't know how far off that's going to be. Since I haven't posted anything here in a while, I decided I'd put it here instead. This is the Another Nakama interpretation of my favorite One Piece Cover Story Miss Goldenweek's Operation: Meet Baroque Works. Keep in mind that this is more of a side-story than an Omake because it's happening during the actual story while the Straw Hats are in Skypeia (it was going to be during Enies Lobby like the original but I got impatient). Enjoy.
Ms. Goldenweek's Operation: Free Baroque Works Pt 1
-x-
Ayako, the former Ms. Goldenweek, sat on a stool behind the bar at the Spider's Café and idly kicked her legs as she put the finishing touches on the letter that Mana, the former Ms. Valentine and new owner of the Spider's Café had asked her to transcribe.
Ayako glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen. The explosions had stopped and now there were just loud smashing noises. Mana had gotten Jun, her former partner Mr. 5 to take a brief leave from his new duties as an Alabasta Royal Guard to help her remodel the kitchen. They'd moved all the old appliances away from the back wall and had all but destroyed the empty wall to make more room. Mana's plan was to replace the wall with a large refrigerator, something that would be vital to the Spider's Café's survival is they were going to be selling chocolate treats in the middle of the desert.
Ayako wasn't made for hard labor so her task was to write a letter so they could acquire the aforementioned refrigerator from someone that Mana knew had one. Ayako finished the letter and read it over as she scanned her small and tidy handwriting.
'Dear Mr. Dalton,
I am writing to you on behalf of Mana, formerly known as Ms. Valentine. You'll remember us as the sick blonde and the quiet girl that were with the Straw Hat Pirates during their brief visit to your kingdom. I was watching you in the gondola while we were riding up to Drum Castle so I know that you managed to identify the Straw Hats' other unusual travel companion as Princess Nefertari Vivi. At the time, the Straw Hats were on a quest to return Princess Vivi to Alabasta and to prevent a Civil War that had been orchestrated by the corrupt Warlord Sir Crocodile.
I regret to inform you that Mana and I as well as Jun, the man that was with us, are all former members of Sir Crocodile's criminal organization Baroque Works. I say former because when we met Princess Vivi and the Straw Hats on their quest and tried to stop them, we were defeated. But instead of leaving us to die on Little Garden with the giants, dinosaurs and bugs carrying deadly prehistoric diseases, the Straw Hats took pity on us and brought us off the island with them. After our adventure in your kingdom, Mana and I officially renounced Baroque Works.
Jun eventually came around too and you should know that it wasn't the Straw Hat Crew that influenced his change but it was actually you, Mr. Dalton, who motivated him to show his true colors. Your dedication to your country and the fact that you were willing to blow yourself up to save your kingdom made a lasting impact on him. In the end, he and Mana worked together to destroy a bomb that Sir Crocodile had planted in Alubarna Square which if it detonated would have killed the million people that were fighting in the square below it. For their brave services, Jun was allowed to join the Royal Guard and Mana was given the deed to the Spider's Café.
The Spider's Café is actually the main reason that I'm writing to you. Mana wants to pursue her dream of becoming a Chocolate Lady and wants to use the cafe to sell her signature chocolate tarts, treats and deserts. However, the café is in the middle of the badlands on the edge of the Sandora Desert. We are in dire need of a way to keep our chocolate products cold so they do not succumb to the desert heat and melt into chocolate puddles. In short, we need a refrigerator.
After our adventure in your kingdom, Ricky and Chopper told us about the huge refrigerator that was in Drum Castle. I never laid eyes on it but given the shape of your former King I wouldn't be surprised if the unit is as large as they claimed. Mana has since stated that a refrigerator like that one would be perfect for her chocolate-making needs. Would it be at all possible for you to put us in contact with your provider? A refrigerator like that one is just what we need to get this new cafe off the ground so we can make Mana's dream of being a Chocolate Lady come true.
Sincerely,
Ayako, formerly Ms. Goldenweek
Spider's Café'
Ayako smiled as she finished reading the letter. That would do.
The artist bent down and pulled a blank sheet of paper out from her backpack that she had on the ground next to her stool. She turned the letter sideway and took one long look at the now seemingly alien symbols on the sideways sheet. Then she brought her pencil to the blank sheet and began to draw.
Skish-skish-skish! Skiiish! Skish-skish-skish-skish! Skiiiish! Skish-ski-shish-skish!
A moment later, she was done. She turned both sheets of paper upright and revealed that, thanks to her photographic memory, her drawing and her letter were completely identical. She took her job at the Spider's Café semi-seriously. While she was hard-pressed to do any physical labor, she still tried to make full use of her skills where she could. Now they had one letter to send to Dalton and an identical copy that they could keep for their records if the ever needed it.
"I'm bored," she sighed to herself. When she was with the Straw Hats they had gone on adventures and seen incredible things. Now the adventure was over and the highlight of her day was copying a letter. Ayako looked back at the kitchen. "Mana, I'm done! And I'm bored."
"Do you want to come back here and help us?" Mana called back to her.
"Nooo..." Ayako answered. Physical labor... ew.
"Then find something to do," Mana stated.
Ayako sighed then heard Jun grumble from in the kitchen, "You know, I have a legitimate job now. I took time off to help you with this. Why am I working like a dog while that lazy lump sits out there and does nothing?"
Ayako sighed. Lazy. That's how everyone described her. Lazy to a fault. She preferred to think of herself as unmotivated. When she was working with Mr. 3 he'd always complain about her getting bored easily but hating to work. He didn't realize that she hated to work because she hated what she was doing. Her artistic talents were wasted working for a criminal organization.
"That wasn't what I wanted to do," the mousy girl whispered. "This isn't what I want to do." Honestly, she didn't even want to work in a café. She agreed to it so she'd have a roof over her head, free meals and protection. This café was Mana's dream. Her dream was to be a real artist.
Over the last week she'd covered her half of her shared bedroom with Mana with countless paintings. All of them had been from when she was with the Straw Hats... or from the stories Usopp told her… while she was with the Straw Hats. But now that she'd painted her heart out, her muse was annoyingly absent. She was once again left bored and unmotivated. "I'm bored..."
Krek... The front doors swung opened, Ayako looked up in time to see a well-dressed man enter. He was tall and thin with neatly combed black hair and he wore a nice navy blue suit and a very colorful high collared undershirt that Ayako eyed with appreciation. Then she shook herself.
"Um... sir... we're not opened yet," Ayako informed him.
"Oh, I know that," the man replied, "I just thought I'd have a quick look around. Do you mind?" Well she certainly wasn't going to get up and force this strange man to leave.
"No, guess not," Ayako answered. The man gave her a strange grin as he began to wander around the front of the café. "Weird..."
Ayako spotted a newspaper further down the counter from her. Thankfully it was within arm's reach and she wouldn't have to get up. Ayako frowned. This newspaper was from last week. They didn't get the paper delivered out here in the badlands. Vivi had specifically sent this one to them since the main story was about Crocodile's arrest and the Civil War that he'd caused.
"Uhh..." Ayako groaned as she idly scanned the paper. It mentioned that some Marine called Smoker and his two officers had been promoted for foiling and capturing the corrupt Warlord. "They didn't do anything... They just cleaned up the mess and took credit for it." Ayako flipped through the pages and blinked when she came to a list of the captured officer agents. She'd never even actually met Mr. 1 and Ms. Double Finger. But Mr. 3 always said that was a good thing. She knew about Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas but again she'd never met them.
"That could've been me," she whispered as she eyed the two female Officer Agents in their black and white prison clothes. "We met the Straw Hats and thanks to them we got a second chance. But no one ever gave them one... Mana and Jun are happy and living their dreams now. What about them? No one ever gave them the option to not be criminals. No one stopped to ask them what their dreams were."
Ayako squinted. The paper was oddly darker than it had been when she first started to read it. Ayako looked up and her eyes bugged out when she saw the strange man standing on the other side of the counter leering down at her.
"EEP!" Ayako squeaked as she fell backwards off of her stool. THUD! Ayako slowly sat up and glared up at the strange man as he leaned over the counter to check on her.
"Can I help you, sir?" Ayako asked in annoyance.
"Noo, but I couldn't help overhearing that wonderful conversation you just had with yourself," the strange man replied, "And I like the sound of that idea you were about to have. So maybe the better questions is... can I help you?
The man touched the side of his face. SWISH! The man's normal face vanished and was suddenly replaced by the make-up covered face of Mr. 2 Bon Kurei.
"Mr 2!" Ayako gasped.
Suddenly she wasn't bored anymore.
-x-
'Till Next Time...
Peace!
