50 reviews! Yahoo! Ainums: To answer your question . . . I am currently writing chapter 29. I still have a few ideas and scenes in mind, so I think that this will be about 40-50 chapters, maybe less.
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"There you are brat!" a guard yelled, catching sight of Luffy.
"What did you do?" Ace asked curiously. A wallet was shoved in his face in lieu of an answer. Ace grinned.
"How many did you get?"
"Lots!"
The guard was getting closer, and was being joined by more guards.
"We start running now?" Locks asked.
Ace looked at the gathering of approaching guards.
"You bet." He answered.
The three took off in a cloud of dust, prompting the guards to begin their best imitation of a sprint while yelling things like "Get back here you little rebels!" and "Damn renegades!", which in turn reminded Ace of the song he'd heard. Right now, however, escape was the order of the day.
oOo
After this casual exit, they headed to Fuchsia like they had last time.
oOo
There weren't any customers at Party's bar when three cloaked children arrived, so Makino had no qualms about closing. She turned to the three with a smile as they lowered their hoods.
"Luffy! Ace! It's good to see you both. Your name is Locks, isn't it?" Makino said to the other girl in the room. Shuffling behind Ace, the girl nodded warily in reply.
Her two favourite boys had brought the girl with them last time, but she'd been so skittish that Makino had only just got her name while getting zapped. It didn't hurt (Ace told her that Locks was holding back on her), but it was a little disconcerting all the same. Makino smiled gently at the girl. Maybe this time she'd get to know Locks better.
oOo
With a little coaxing from Ace, Locks was persuaded to go within a metre of Makino. The older boy watched worriedly, hoping that things would go a little more smoothly this time. Luffy wandered off into the kitchen.
While Makino didn't think that 'Luffy' and 'kitchen' were a good combination, she continued to stand still, smiling at Locks and generally making herself non-threatening. She found the situation to be very similar to when Luffy had first 'introduced' her to Ace, except that Ace didn't growl or make lightning.
"Makino is not going to hurt you." Ace said, slightly exasperated. Locks still looked unsure, staring up at Makino's face. Finally . . .
"Hello." Locks said quietly. Makino beamed.
"Hello. I'm Makino." She held out a hand. Locks stared at it for a moment, then shook it firmly. As soon as Makino let go, Locks took a step back and glanced towards the kitchen.
Crash!
oOo
The three hurried towards the noise. They found Luffy on the floor with his foot stuck in a container and his head inside a jar. He was making incoherent sounds while ineffectually banging the jar with a pot. Makino put a hand to her mouth and stifled a giggle. Ace frowned, saying "Luffy" in a disappointed voice. Locks just sighed. She stood on Luffy's stomach and pulled on the jar, water forcing itself out of a nearby tap and lubricating Ace's rubber brother.
Pop!
Makino caught Locks as the girl tumbled backwards with the jar clutched in her hands. Ace pulled the container off of Luffy's foot while Makino brushed invisible dust off Locks.
"Are you all right?" the green-haired woman asked. Locks nodded mutely, inspecting the inside of the jar. She sneezed.
"What you want with pepper *achoo*?" she asked Luffy. Ace stared at his brother in disbelief while Makino giggled again.
It would seem that Locks had gotten over her wariness, because she turned to Makino and said "Luffy very silly sometimes, isn't he?"
Makino had to agree.