Chapter 35: And Another Appears

It had been another two days since I had unleashed my wrath upon the four nincompoops, everyone feeling the effects of going without food. I rested in my nest, whistling You're Not Alone by the infamous Nobuo Uematsu while my pixie accomplice lazed on my shoulder, gazing at the clouds above.

*Tap tap tap*

Feeling the small prodding of Lilynette's umbrella rapping against my forehead, I opened my eyes and shifted off my headphones. "What's up?"

Lily turned back towards me and pointed forward, "There's something weird in front of the ship."

Forcing myself from my comfortable position, I followed Lily's extended fingers, and about a good hundred yards in front of the Merry was a massive cloud of gas, lightly tinged with green and white.

"Underwater volcano vapor…nothing serious." I replied casually shifting back into my relaxed position. "You might wanna cover your mouth when we go through it though."

Heeding my own advice, we passed through the reeking steam, everyone onboard coughing and wheezing due to the pungent odor of sulfur in the air. The moment we had emerged from the gas, Carue unleashed a squawk of terror, still hanging from Luffy and Usopp's fishing pole as bait. Once again lifting myself, I took a gander over the railing…and saw one of the strangest beings I have ever seen hanging onto the chocobo-duck for dear life.

"EYYAH? Why am I grabbing a duck I had only just met?" A nasally voice rang through the air.

"Enter Mr. 2" I thought to myself as the okama slipped off the duck and back into the ocean.

"Please help me!" 2 began wailing as he struggled to stay afloat, "I'm a Hammer and cannot swi-…" It was then he was engulfed by the ocean.

Fishing him on board, he sat dripping wet and breathing heavily, he donned a pink overcoat, two swan attachments strapped to his back, a yellow headband with two strange fluffy orbs sitting on top of it, a blue jacket lying underneath his coat, and a weird near-spherical blue pin-striped garment serving as pants.

"Oh…I thought it was all over for me…" He gasped, before sitting up straight with a large smile on his face, "My life was saved by pirates who do not even know! I am in debt to your kindness!" His gaze then shifted upwards to Vivi, who was standing upon the upper deck. "Oh my~! Aren't you cuuuute! " He sang, blowing an air kiss to her…I could practically hear her say 'Ew!' just by her facial expression.

"You can't swim, huh?" Luffy blurted out.

"You're right there…" Bon Clay swerved a bit as he answered, "I ate a Devil's Fruit and became a Hammer."

"Oh? Which one?" Usopp piped up.

"Well…" Bon Clay stood up and took a showman's stance. "I guess I have some time before my crew finds me…I might as well put on a show!" He then reeled back his palm as he danced towards Luffy. "Prepare to witness my ability!"

*BAM*

Bon Clay palm-struck our captain square in the face, bouncing him back a bit.

"What the-!" Zoro had unsheathed his swords and was about to lunge at our guest before his hands came forward in a halting manner and a familiar voice escaped from him.

"Waaaait, waaait, waaaait!" The voice that came from Bon Clay was not his own. "I said I was putting on a show!" His face had become Luffy's and now chuckled in our captain's voice as everyone stood agape at the display. "Fooled you, fooled you, fooled you! Ahahahahaha!" His rant continued until he held up his left hand to his face, "And now, when I touch my left hand to my face…."

*Pop*

"Back to normal!" Bon Clay chirped as his face reverted to his previous heavily painted face. "Behold, the ability of the Mane-Mane No Mi!"

"His voice…!" Nami squeaked in surprise.

"And even his physique!"Usopp finished.

"C-C-C-COOOOOLL!" Luffy cheered as Bon Clay went around and touched the faces of everyone who stood upon the main deck.

"No touchy." I grunted as I flicked away his hand before it felt me.

"Oh you're no fun." Bon Clay dejectedly resigned before twirling back into the center of us. "Anyway, there really is no need to hit anybody though."

"Oi, look at me!" He bellowed, touching his right hand to his face.

"If I touch my face with my right hand…" Usopp-Mr. 2 said proudly, continuing his demonstration.

"With my right hand…." This time entering into a Zoro-faced speech.

"I can imitate aaaaanyone!" Chopper's turn.

"Just like this!" He sneered as he morphed into Nami. "Even the body…" Opening his(her?) shirt and revealing Nami's body…sending Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper into a fit of surprise and awe.

"Nice." I said cheerfully with a thumbs up before the base of his transformation began pummeling him.

"OUCH!" He cried, reverting to normal.

"Knock it off!" Nami yelled furiously.

Laughing silently to myself, I opened the door to the lower levels of the ship and followed my routine of grabbing a soda, only as I reached the second set of stairs I remembered why I had battered the idiot four earlier.

"Yo, Khurt." Looking down at the bottom of the stairs, I saw our cook had begun ascending them, having been sent down to find any food that had been left out of the moron quartet's raid. "Looking for something?"

"Yeah, I came down to grab a soda as I usually do, but then remembered that I'm out." I replied, joining him as we walked up the stairs.

"By the way, what's going on up there? I keep hearing a lot of yelling…" He asked.

"Ah crap!" I froze up a bit as we had rounded to the last stairs to the deck. "Bon Clay can't see Sanji!" Thinking quickly, I turned around and pointed behind Sanji. "Sanji, look! A naked Vivi!"

"Vivi-chwan?" He ecstatically called, turning into love-cook mode…until I booted him in the back of the head.

"I'll probably pay for that later." I thought, rushing up to the main deck's door and peering out the porthole, exhaling a breath of relief as Bon Clay bounded from the Merry to a gaily-decorated swan ship.

"Shitty Kiwi-head!" A loud voice cried from behind me as Sanji returned my kick to his head with his own shoe meeting my back and sending us through the door, me bouncing into the mast.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Nami ordered, turning angry Sanji into love Sanji.

"I was coming up the stairs and this idiot attacked me, Nami-swaaan!" Sanji defended himself as he swooned to her.

"What can I say? I thought it was funny." I chuckled, lifting myself up.

"Just then…" Vivi spoke up, her hand over her face. "My father's face was part of his show! The face of the King…the face of the King of Arabasta!"

"You could get away with some nasty things if you impersonated the King…" Usopp stated.

"What? Who?" Sanji scratched his head, "Did I miss something?"

"We rescued a drowning guy and brought him onboard, he had the ability to change into anyone by touching their faces." I answered, walking over to him. "And from what I overheard, he was Mr. 2 Bon Clay you mentioned earlier, Vivi."

"He'll be a lot of trouble later on if we run into him…" Nami said worriedly. "He'll learn eventually that we're his enemies, and he'll use his ability to turn into anyone of us…We won't be able to trust even our own nakama…"

"Not exactly." Zoro came forward. "I think it was rather lucky we ran into him…now we can take countermeasures."

It was then the ship began lurching uncontrollably as the waves pounded against the Merry, everyone near losing their balance in the surf.

"NYYYAAAAAA!" An ear-splitting cry came out as the water behind us rushed upward, a massive cat-fish emerged from the depths.

"HUGE!" Luffy shouted, impressed.

"A SEA MONSTER!" Usopp and Chopper screamed in fear, eyes bugging out of their skulls.

"OUR FIRST MEAL IN TWO DAYS!" Zoro yelled, pulling out his swords.

"FOOD!" Luffy joined in.

"COME TO PAPA, LUNCH!" I shouted, gripping my Clawshot.

"YOU'RE GONNA MAKE A FINE MEAL, CAT!" Sanji had now joined us on the aft, the cat-fish turning blue and backing away slowly.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" I bellowed, launching my clawshot and gripping its ear, rocketing towards it.

"YOU LET IT GET AWAY AND I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" Sanji yelled after me.

"LIGHTNING…" I shouted, charging my fist and releasing the claw as I flew towards our future food. "FALCON…"

"NO, WAIT KHURT-SAN!" Vivi's sudden shouting caught me off guard and I lost concentration for a mere second as I looked at her…causing me to slam like a Looney Tunes character into the cat. Sliding down inch by inch, I was soon thrown off as the cat lunged back underwater to escape.

After clawing my way back onto the ship, I looked up at Vivi, "What's up with you? We're starving!"

"You can't eat Sea Cats! They're sacred to Arabasta!" She responded.

"Sacred?" I yelled back at her, before turning around and walking off, bound for my nest. "Sacred animals, my ass." I grumbled underneath my breath. "Friggin' hungry…" It was then a dry air hit me, the breeze feeling like I had just opened a furnace. "And now it's getting hot…Great."

It wasn't long before we neared Arabasta's shore, the island's shore appearing in the distance. We all had gathered upon the main deck, tying small white bands of cloth around a small portion of our forearms, covering Zoro's idea to counter Mr. 2's Mane-Mane No Mi ability…Carue having failed miserably, resembling some sort chocobo-mummy.

"We're stopping at a port known as Nanohana, we're going to have to hide the Merry when we land." Vivi stated while the Merry bobbed upon the tide, bringing us within sight of the port town.

"Yosh!" Luffy stood up, throwing his left arm out, "Whatever happens, this left arm…" He spoke as we all gathered around him, our arms joining his. "Is proof that we are nakama! Now..." He turned to the shore. "Let's get on land and find some food!"

Emerging onto the deck sometime later, I switched into some hot-weather-friendly clothing, a white tanktop with a black cross emblazoned upon the chest, desert camo cargo shorts, my trusty black vest, my aviator sunglasses and a pair of tan strap sandals, my latest acquisition secured to the back of my belt. We had docked on a nearby shore a good distance from Nanohana, and all began leaping off the ship.

"Listen, everyone." Nami spoke up after I helped her off the ship. "I expect you all to be on your best behavior while we're here."

"Yes, Nami-swaaaan!"

"The guy you have to worry about the most just took off." Zoro stated coolly, pointing to the dust cloud that had appeared.

"FOOOOOOOOOOD!" Luffy had bolted off.

"HOLD IT!" Nami's order was too late, Luffy had already vanished.

"Doesn't matter, he'll find us eventually." Sanji added in, hopping off the ship.

"And I'm sure he'll bring some trouble on his tail right with him." I added in, laughing a bit.

"He'll be fine…let's just go eat." The swordsman said as he walked along.

"Carue and I cannot accompany you." Vivi announced suddenly.

"What? You have an upset stomach or something?" Usopp asked.

"Too many people here will recognize me."

"True."

"Don't worry, Vivi-chwan, I'll deliver you something spectacular when I return!"

"Craaaw!" Carue began freaking out, his wing pointing a nearby shore, where a small, oddly-colored ship sat, a massive 3 imprinted on its side.

"That's Mr. 3's ship!" Vivi squeaked.

"So he's here…we'll be recognized." Zoro said, clenching his swords.

"Do not worry…" Usopp began, an intelligent smirk on his face. "I…have a plan.

We marched into Nanohana proudly thanks to Usopp's genius plan of…all of us sans Chopper and Sanji hiding underneath a brown tarp, crouched underneath and walking casually…inconspicuously of course.

"I think we stand out even more…" Nami bluntly stated as we inched along.

We finally reached a stopping point in the remains of a destroyed building, giving it the all-clear, we all threw off our sheet and looked around.

"Vivi-chwan, you'll be safe from prying eyes here for the time being…" Sanji said, taking a drag of his cigarette as he received no response from the princess. "Vivi-chwan?"

"Yes! Yes yes, what is it?" Vivi jumped at the mention of her name, broken out of her mental trance.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry…I…I was just thinking…" She spoke solemnly, her face turned towards the ground. "As we went through the city…everything seemed to be fine…and though I can't really be at ease…I think it can be saved."

"You're right, it seems like a peaceful city." Nami added in.

Zoro then spoke up, "Oi, Vivi. You said you had forces to suppress the rebellion, right?" A nod in affirmation from Vivi signaled him to continue, "What's the next step? What do we have to do?"

"We'll have to act soon or else it'll be too late." I said from my position of leaning against the wall.

"Yes…that's true…but you only promised to take me as far as Arabasta and-…"

"Enough." Nami flicked the princess on the forehead as she spoke. "I can't believe you still think like that. We've sailed all the way here, you think we're just going to abandon you here?"

"Yeah, Vivi…don't get all distant on us now." Usopp chimed in.

"And I'm pretty interested in this Shichibukai…" Zoro smirked.

"That's enough out of you!" Nami scolded the swordsman before turning back towards Vivi. "In any case, quit talking about that."

"And of course, everyone except me is being hunted, too." Sanji stated.

"Even if we do get in trouble, we're damn strong…we can take out as many of those bastards as they send at us." I exclaimed.

"And if this country is crushed...I won't get my fee for escorting you here…Understand?" Nami said eerily as I rolled my eyes.

"Y-yes…" Vivi answered, a bit intimidated by the level of our navigator's greed.

"You're going to Hell." Zoro bluntly declared.

"Why thank you, Zoro…and I haven't forgotten your debt either."

"Why you…"

"I'll get it from you, even if I'm a ghost!"

"You bitch!"

"You'll pay me precisely 400,000 Beri!"

"You raised it!"

I could only laugh at their little back-and-forth, soon shaking my head as I began to feel a little over-heated.

"We'll have to cross the desert soon, so we'll need supplies." Vivi spoke up, "The oasis town of Yuba lies to the northwest…it's where the rebellion's headquarters are…but…if Mr. 3 is in this city…"

"Oh, if that's all, it'll be fine." Sanji rocked off where he was leaning and flicked away his cigarette. "He's never seen my or face."

"Ditto." I said, lifting myself up. "There's also one more who he has never met."

"Of course, Chopper as well."

"There's gonna be a lot to carry, can we count on you, little dude?" I asked cheerfully.

"Yosh, you can depend on me to help!" He answered willfully.

"Well, let's be off then." Sanji said, sliding another smoke out and lighting it.

End of Chapter

AN: Khurt + Hot Weather = Bad Combination…here's hoping it doesn't go too bad for our Avatar pirate!