Ch 10 - Comrade and Cannons
The train pushed through the underground canals at breakneck speed. Luffy sat outside at the front with his rubber arms wrapped tightly around the chimney. All the passengers were holding on to whatever they could in order to stop themselves from falling over or injuring themselves...Everyone, except Nana.
She had her back turned to the window and was oblivious to where they were heading. Instead, her attention was focused on the steam gauge and the firebox. She would check on the water pressure and then swiftly throw in more coal into the furnace after a few minutes. The temperature in the cab was steadily rising and Granny Kokoro had her head stuck out the window, partially to keep cool but most importantly so she could spot the tracks when they reach the sea. Nana was undeterred by the heat and wasn't even sweating that much under her helmet. By her feet, Pygmy was curled up into a ball and was napping comfortably.
The further they pulled away from warehouse, the more worried Nana was for Franky. When they had shot off, Nana had caught the distressed look on Iceberg's face. She knew he was feeling the same thing as her...and although she had never met Nico Robin, Nana was concerned for her too. The image of Luffy angrily defending her back at Dock #1 was imprinted firmly in her brain. Robin should know how highly her crew thought of her...but then again, considering she had laid down her life in exchange for theirs, she probably already did.
"Get ready, Nana-chan," Granny Kokoro warned with an inebriated laugh, "We're coming out to sea in a few minutes."
Nana said nothing and just placed her hammer on the steel floor with the head down while continuing to check on the pipes and steam gauge. She held onto the handle with one hand and placed her other hand on her hip.
Granny Kokoro chuckled, "Is that going to hold you down?"
"There is a strong magnet in this hammer," Nana replied, "i just turned it on so it should be locked to the floor now."
Granny Kokoro took a gulp from her bottle and smiled at the back of Nana's head. She liked the girl a lot. She had a lot of spunk.
Nana felt the floor shift beneath her feet. The train had started to tilt down without any signs of slowing. They flew down the canal like a chute in a water park, causing enormous water and wind to fly out from the sides of the wheels.
"H-H-Hey, monster granny!" Luffy shouted from outside, "Are we falling?"
Kokoro laughed, "The exit is real close now. We'll keep on going and go down in one shot."
"What?! No way!" Nana heard Nami's voice call out from the passenger car behind them.
"Almost there, Nana," Kokoro warned and that's when Nana turned to look out the window. She held her hammer tightly and a smile sprouted across her lips.
They shot out of the canal like a cannon and were rocketing out 30 feet above the sea water. "Wahoooo!" Luffy cheered.
There was a loud crash from the back of the train and Nana felt a slight push forward as they slammed into the water. It slowed down the train tremendously. Granny laughed as she continued to lean out the window. "Looks like the Franky Family's got the highest grade bulls."
Nana stuck her head out of the other window and looked behind. The Franky Family had fired their connection cannons to the back of the train and it was now pulling them and their two King Bulls, Sodom and Gomorrah. Behind the bulls was the Franky Family's own ship.
"You idiots!" Zoro's head popped out from a window and he shook his fist angrily at the King bulls, "Don't be so reckless!"
"Thank you for your help!" The Franky Family replied cheekily.
Granny Kokoro laughed, "What a cheerful bunch."
"Hey, monster granny, is this the fastest this train will go?" Luffy asked.
Nana turned her head to face the rubber boy. "No. We'll reach full speed when we get onto the railways."
"Railways?" Luffy put his hands over his eyes and he stared into the water, "Where's that?"
"Looks like it's drifted quite a ways away…" Nana murmured as she looked down at the sea.
"Hmph!" Granny Kokoro sniffed indignantly, "I've observed this sea train since it's development. Don't underestimate me." Her eyes narrowed in on the waves ahead and she stared at intently. After a few seconds, her eyes lit up and she pulled on one of the levers. "I see it! Here we go!"
The train started to accelerate and it veered towards the left. Nana placed one arm around Pygmy's neck just in case when the dog slid over towards her leg. Granny Kokoro pulled down the transponder intercom snail on her dashboard. "Urgent message from the engine room," she said, "The train will go on the railway shortly. Once it does, it'll rapidly accelerate. Hold on tight to something so that your injuries won't be severe."
The train lurched forward and landed harshly onto the water. "Tsk, missed it by a little…" Granny Kokoro said as she gritted her teeth and pushed down a lever.
The train's whistle pierced the air as the train shot forward once more. The wave sent it high into the air and it came crashing down with so much force that even Pygmy bounced lightly in the air. "Got it?" Nana asked.
"Not yet…" Granny Kokoro grumbled as she focused on the sea below.
"Grandma! That was close! A little to the right," a cheerful voice called from the top of the train.
"Just wait and see," Granny Kokoro responded, "I'll just- WAIT WHAT?!" She looked up and gasped at the sight of her grandchild and her pet rabbit sitting without a care on top of a high speed train in the middle of a storm. "Chimney! Gonbe!"
"Chimney? Gonbe?!" Nana gasped and she ran to the window where Granny Kokoro was, "You guys came with us?!"
"Yep, we did! Hi, Big Sis!" Chimney said with a wave.
"Ahhhh! For God's sakes, come inside or else you'll get blown away!" Granny Kokoro screamed.
The train swayed sharply to the left and Chimney lost her balance. She fell over the side. At the last second, she reached out to grab one of the metal bars along the side of the train. She held on for dear life while Gonbe held onto her ankles.
"Ahhhhh!" Granny Kokoro screamed again, "Hold on a second! Let me stop the train!"
"Brakes don't work, Granny, remember?" Nana cautioned. She moved her head back into the room and made a grab for her hammer. She placed it on her back and then climbed back out the window towards the little girl and her pet. "Hang on, Chimney," Nana said as her leather gloves gripped the slippery, rain drenched side of the metal train.
"I'm being blown away!" Chimney called out cheerfully.
Luffy ran over to the little girl from the front of the train, "Oooh, that looks like fun!"
"Straw Hat, Nana! Hurry and get Gonbe and Chimney inside!" Granny Kokoro cried from the engine room.
"On it, Granny!" Nana used one hand to steady herself on the windowsill and she reached out to grab Chimney by the wrist with the other. She pulled the child off of the railing and flung her into the window with the rabbit flying behind her. They knocked into Granny Kokoro in the process. "There we-"
She was cut off when the train was pushed up by the wave and connected perfectly to the rails. The train shot off at full speed. Nana lost her grip, while Luffy was blown off the top. Both of them went flying towards the back and they landed smack dab in the middle of Danbe's pink star, with Nana's hammer hitting first.
"Oooooof," Danbe grunted in pain as his metal lederhosen started to crumble beneath Nana's hammer.
"Whoops...Sorry, Danbe. I can fix that for you later…" Nana said sheepishly as Luffy and her slid off his stomach and landed on the Franky Family's ship deck.
"Oy! Luffy! Get inside!" Nami called from the train.
"Yosh!" Luffy cried and then without warning, he shot his rubber arm around Nana's waist. "Come on, Dog girl!'
"Nana! My name is NANA!" Nana shouted emphatically as he grabbed the back of the train with his other arm and they shot towards it.
When they climbed into the back of the train, Nana was surprised to see Granny Kokoro there with Chimney and Gonbe sitting on top of Pygmy. Immediately, Nana lifted Chimney by the pigtails and Gonbe by the ears and casually tossed them towards the couch on the side. "Get off my dog," she grumbled.
"Woof! Woof!" Pygmy barked.
"He says 'They needed to ride on me or else they'd be blown away when they moved between the train cars'," Chopper translated. Pygmy licked his face and Chopper laughed. "Complimenting me like that won't make me happy, you jerk!"
"Whatever," Nana said and set her hammer on the floor. She flopped onto the couch, in the space next to Chimney, and stretched out her arms. "Ugh…" She then looked over to where Zoro was sitting. "Could've used some of your help prepping the train, you know."
"Huh?" Zoro growled, "What do I know about-"
"Not you," Nana grunted and pointed next to him at Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone, "Those three idiots who decided it was okay to hide in the tender, while Icy and I serviced the train."
"What the hell?! WHEN DID YOU THREE GET IN HERE?" Zoro shouted angrily, just realizing presence of the three stowaways.
"How did you know, Nana-san?!" Tilestone roared.
"What's a tender?" Luffy asked and picked his nose.
"Tch," Nana scoffed and folded her arms across her chest, "I just did, Tilestone...and Luffy, a tender is the car where we keep all the coals. It's right behind the engine car."
"Oh, I see," Luffy said with firm nod.
"Idiot! NOT THE THING TO FOCUS ON RIGHT NOW!" Nami seethed as she pinched her captain's cheeks and dragged it to the floor.
"The enemy you're trying to rescue your friend from, is also the culprit who tried to kill Iceberg-san," Paulie said carefully to Luffy as he shot a quick glance over at Nana.
Nana sighed, "You can say their names. I already know."
Paulie almost dropped his cigar. He leapt to his feet. "How?!"
"Icy told me," Nana said.
"Ugh...I told him not to tell you. It'll just cause more-"
"I already know so there's no point in griping about it," Nana replied and then jabbed a thumb over towards Lulu and Tilestone, "Plus, you told Weird Cactus and Thunder Voice over there…"
"I didn't," Paulie growled with annoyance, "They followed me."
"We weren't going to let Paulie steal all the glory!" Tilestone shouted, "We thought we'd be able to find Iceberg-san's assassins if we followed you."
"So it seems we were right," Lulu added as he pushed a spike of his hair down, just to have another one appear out of his nose, "Let us join you in this battle."
"Oy! This isn't just your fight. We need to take out the foes that took our Bro!" Zambia interjected.
"Hey! Galley-la, how are you going to take responsibility if anything happens to our Bro?!" one of the twins demanded.
"Shut up!" Paulie retorted, "It's Iceberg-san's who's endured the most!"
"You shut up, Paulie!" Nana had had enough and she stood in front of the foreman with her hands on her hips, "You're missing the point!"
"What?! Nana-" Paulie started to say.
Nana pointed a finger at Luffy, who was busy eating a water-water meat, "What matters is that we help them get their nakama back..." Her finger then moved in Zambai's direction, "And we help them get Franky back."
"Nana," Lulu protested, "We need to find the assassins that-"
"No, Lulu!" Nana crossed her arms. "Icy is alive and out of the woods for the time being so we have no right to make any demands. Our guy is safe but theirs is not. I'm not saying we don't have a right to kick their ass when we see them, because I'm damn sure going to shove my hammer straight up-"
"Watch your mouth!" Paulie warned.
"The point is," Nana snapped, "I'm just saying...in this room right now, we have the least on the line. So stop shouting and saying stuff about glory and your 'right to fight', god damn it. Because there is no point if we don't even catch up to them!"
The rubber man, who had been watching this whole episode, gulped down the final mouthful of savory water-water meat and then got onto his feet.
"Ahhh, well I'm full," he said as he patted his belly with satisfaction. His face then turned grim and he looked at Nana. "We've all got into fights with both Galley-La and Franky Family but we are all going after the same enemy now. The strongest one among the guys is the pigeon one. He's mine, I'm definitely going to beat him up."
"Nana is right," Zoro added, "This battle is to get back what the four took from us. In any case, if we don't reach them, nothing will end."
"Ah…" Lulu said sheepishly, "You guys are right…Sorry, Nana-san. Paulie...why don't you tell us who the culprit is then so...that we can help."
"So you guys don't know who assassins are?" Nana asked.
"We have a rough idea," Lulu said, "So just tell us. We're not going to be surprised."
"Well, I guess you suspected something when they disappeared for no reason…" Paulie reasoned, "Then I'll tell you straight. The true identities of the masked men are...Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, and Blueno from the bar."
"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Lulu and Tilestone bellowed. Their jaws dropped to the floor, their eyes bulged out of their sockets, and even their face turned a ghostly white.
"I THOUGHT YOU GUYS SAID YOU HAD AN IDEA!" Paulie snapped.
"But...you said they went back to their hometowns!" Lulu cried.
"Why would they?! During an emergency like this?!" Paulie shouted.
"We...thought it was Michael and Hoychael from the backstreets," Tilestone howled.
"Who the hell are they?!" Paulie cried.
"Guys! Focus!" Nana shouted angrily and punched them all very hard on the head.
Suddenly, Luffy stood in front of her with his arm out. "When we have the same goal," he said solemnly, "It's senseless to fight separately."
"Ah," Nana agreed with a nod and put her hand on his elbow, "Agreed."
Zambia got up to his feet and placed his hand on her elbow, with Luffy grabbing his, so that the three of them formed a strong triangle with their arms. "Agreed."
"Listen, we're comrades," Luffy continued, "Our friends are also in the train that left before us. Our fighting force will still increase. We'll all achieve our goal. Let's go!"
"Yosh!" Everyone cheered.
"Granny!" Chimney shouted across the noise. She was leaning out the window and her legs kicked in the air excitedly, "The Aqua Laguna is coming."
"Let me see," Nami said and took a look for herself. Her eyes widened and she gasped. There was an incoming wave heading towards them that was already as tall as a city wall and still growing. "This is bad! Kokoro-san, is it okay for you to leave the engine room at a time like this?! We somehow need to dodge that high wave!"
Granny Kokoro laughed as she watched the wave from another window. Nana came over to her to size up the wave herself. "I told you, didn't I?" Granny Kokoro said, "We can't control Rocketman. Nothing works once it's in operation, not even the brakes. My job ended when the train got on the railway. Hence, the train is always running at full throttle. No one can stop it anymore."
"Oh no," Nami moaned and then turned to her captain, "Luffy! if we don't do anything, the train will crash into the big wave!"
"Alright! Guys, let's fire all our cannonballs at the wave!" Zambia shouted at his team.
"Ah!" one of the family members cried, "When it comes to cannons, leave it to me!"
Nana put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at the Franky Family but remained quiet. Let's see what they got…
"Pygmy, stay here," she ordered before strolling towards the front of the car.
"Where are you going, Nana-san?" Lulu asked.
Nana glanced over at him. "Going to add more coals into the furnace. The last thing we need is for train to run out of steam, right? Plus...I want front row seats to see how you guys expect to stop the wave with your 'weapons'."
"Oy! Don't mock our cannons!" Zambai shouted indignantly but Nana wasn't listening.
She left the room just as the sound of a transponder snail went off but the door closed before she or Pygmy could catch it. She walked back to the engine room and continued to shovel more coal into the furnace.
Soon she could hear cannons go off overhead. Three...no, four demi cannons...Two 32 pounders and an extra large cannon… She thought without looking out the window, Probably specially made by the Franky Family.
The whole train shook from the firing weapons and after a pause, Nana turned to look out the window. Her eyebrows raised just slightly when she realized that the large wave was still there. Yep...I thought so.
She loosened her shoulders and rotated her arms before grabbing her hammer. She climbed out of the window and was surprised to see Zoro and Luffy already at the top of the train.
"Keep firing," Zoro said sternly to the men behind them and then he tilted his head to the side when he saw Nana, "You might want to stand back."
Nana got her footing and stood in between him and Luffy. She raised her hammer and gave Zoro a cheeky wink. "I was going to say the same to you."
Zoro scowled. "What?!"
"Zoro!" Luffy shouted as he wound up his arm.
Zoro placed his Wado Ichimonji between his teeth. "Ah."
"Gum-Gum..." Luffy cried.
"Three-Hundred Pound…" Zoro growled and raised his other two swords.
"Nana Special…Kinetic..." Nana shouted as she reached as far back as she could with her hammer and then pressed a button on the handle before swinging it forward.
"CANNON!" all three of them bellowed at the same time.
The combination of Zoro's flying air slash, Luffy's forceful punches, and the high pressured burst of energy from Nana's hammer created a hole ten times bigger than the Rocketman that cut through the wave and clearing the tracks. The train sailed through into the hole and out the other side as sea water rained down on it's passengers.
"W-W-We got through!" Everyone at the back of the train cheered in surprise, "We got through Aqua Laguna!"
"I thought we were gonna die!" Zambia sobbed.
Nana turned and smirked back at the stunned shipwrights. "Oh, did I not tell you about the latest upgrade?"
"Oy, Nana," Zoro said as he re-sheathed his swords, "You're stronger than you look."
Nana snorted. Even with so little time with the swordsman, she knew that was the closest thing to a compliment she would ever hear from him.
Luffy grinned and put a hand over his straw hat. "Oy, Dog Girl-"
"NANA!" Nana corrected through clenched teeth and then she let out a defeated sigh, "Okay, Luffy. If I let you ride Pygmy, would you stop calling me Dog Girl and call me by my actual name?"
"Shi-shi-shi-shi," Luffy laughed, "Deal!"