Every single one of them turned and ran for their lives out the door. A thunder of footsteps followed behind, but they were't nearly close enough to be a threat.
"Shishi! Thanks for saving me!" Luffy chuckled, holding his hat down with a hand.
"No problem," Nami huffed, already out of breath. They reched the exit, and Luffy exploded out the door. Sanji dodged the door, but Kuroobi wasn't so lucky. The thick door struck him right in the face, possibly breaking his nose.
"That's gotta hurt," Usopp said with a wince. Sanji and Zoro leaped into their cars, and the rest piled after them. Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper went with Sanji, while Brook, Franky, and Robin joined Zoro. The cars were just screeching away when the first of the fishmen barged out the door, once again striking Kuroobi's face.
"After them!" the first fishman shouted, pointing to the retreating cars. A few black Mercedes, copies of Sanji's own, sped after them.
"Go this way!" Luffy suddenly ordered, leaning over in the passenger's seat to point to a turnoff. There wasn't any traffic, curiously enough, and Sanji jerked to the left.
"Now go that way!"
"Head to Genz Street!"
"Turn here!"
Sanji's head was spinning from Luffy's demands, but he automatically listened. By the time they pulled into a parking lot, they had long since lost the Mercedes. But Zoro, miraculously, kept up with Sanji the whole time.
"What is this place?" Usopp asked abruptly, kicking a discarded soda can across the parking lot.
"It's Wal-Mart*," Luffy stated. "There's so many cars here already, so they can't find us easily."
Looking around, the group noticed that he was right. They had parked in one of the small empty pockets, further from the doors than most people liked. Getting out of the cars, the group gathered up in an empty space in between the cars.
"We should go inside. We'll be less suspicious," Luffy suggested, already heading over. The crew had no choice but to follow, confused with Luffy's sudden authorativity. Reaching the automatic doors, Luffy practically threw them inside.
"Luffy...? What's the real reason you want us inside?" Usopp asked skeptically, having detected a lie when Luffy said they'd be less suspicious. Luffy's face suddenly changed from authorative to secretive, and he hopped from foot to foot.
"I gotta go..." he mumbled, then ran off. The crew, confused at first, stared after him.
"Should we follow?" Robin asked.
"Nah, leave him. He'll come back," Zoro said, shrugging. And, just like he had predicted, Luffy came back minutes later with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, I had to go... you know." He waved a hand in the direction of the bathrooms, and everyone sighed at his reason.
"Well, we're here anyways. Might as well do some shopping!" Nami cheered.
"Do I have to carry everything again?" Chopper asked mournfully.
"Nope! Luffy can carry the bags," Nami decided.
"Okay," Luffy agreed immediately, startling the orange-haired girl.
"Wh- you won't complain about it?" she asked incrediously. Luffy shrugged.
"Am I supposed to...?" He looked around at his friends' faces with a curious stare. "I woudn't know. I've never been to Wal-Mart with other people before."
"Nope! You don't complain!" Nami said quickly, grabbing Luffy's wrist and starting to pull him away. The others could only watch in horror as Nami dragged the unsuspecting teen to the clothes aisle, pulling each and every outfit off the racks and piling it into Luffy's arms.
"We start out chasing a gangster, and end up shopping. How did that happen?" Sanji mused, dousing his cigarette since smoking wasn't allowed in Wal-Mart.
"Beats me," Zoro grunted, walking off to the frozen foods aisle.
"Everyone meet here in an hour, okay?" Usopp said. The group nodded, then each went on their own Wal-Mart adventures, ducking for cover each time they saw a fishman. Chopper and Usopp went to the small arcade, Sanji went food shopping, Robin disappeared to elsewhere, Brook trolled the ladies, Franky went to the toy aisle to find machine parts for his new invention, and Zoro... got lost. Luffy was practically Nami's slave, carrying everything wherever she told him to.
"Thank you again, Luffy!" Nami gushed, swinging her one bag around. Luffy gave a grin, slightly shifting his arms. The bag perched on his head didn't move even half an inch. Reaching Sanji's car, Nami opened the trunk and dropped her bag inside. Luffy carefully placed the many bags he was holding in one by one.
"Why are you always so careful?" Nami asked, surprising herself. Luffy looked up, making the bag on his head slip dangerously to the side. Snatching it up, he placed it into the trunk.
"Just used to it, I guess," he answered after a moment of silence. Nami nodded, understanding, then turned back to the store.
"Let's go find the others. We better leave soon. A storm's coming."
*Wal-Mart- A grocery store in the U.S.. I had to say it, because some people don't know what Wal-Mart is.
And mean old Nami, making Luffy carry her bags!