I'm actually surprised that I got this chapter done so fast. Though I doubt any of you are complaining. Anyway, I'll get on with the reviews.
ZabuzasGirl: OK! Here you go! Fast enough? (Probably not, but still XD)
Noitalapsi: Yes, he is very cute! Katie is a bit twisted, but she's mainly harsh. Her personality will be expanded upon later, but mercy isn't in her dictionary.
Darkx1xAngel: OK! Here it is! Enjoy!
Alpenwolf: The more Terra remembers, the more unpleasant some of the memories get. And she's going to hate a lot of them. If Terra knew or was capable was taking down Crocodile in her current condition, that would have made things too easy, now would it? Oh, I can feel Terra hating me for putting her through all that. XD At least she'll have some Bananagators to vent on.
guisniperman: Thank you. I hope you enjoy this one, too.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Terra/Myka is my OC.
Chapter 36
Terra had no trouble beating the crap out of the Bananagator. All it took was two well-placed punches and the reptile was down for the count. But, she had encountered a problem . . .
"I thought you said this thing ate it? I didn't see it cough up a key!" Yes, after making the gator cough up the contents of its stomach (what the hell eats a stone staircase?) by punching it in the stomach, she had failed to see anything resembling a key fall into the water.
"One of the others must have eaten it, then!" said Nami. Terra frowned.
"What others?" Of course, her question answered itself when three Bananagators started to make their way into the chamber. They had got to be kidding her . . .
"You couldn't have mentioned that two minutes ago?" she asked, annoyed.
"Just get the key! We don't have time!" demanded Usopp. Probably a good thing the gators were there, because Terra felt like beating something up. So Usopp should consider himself lucky at the moment.
Just as the first gator opened his mouth to chomp down on her . . .
"It's not polite to roar at the dinner table." Sanji had appeared out of nowhere and kicked the gator right in the stomach.
"BAD MANNERS KICK COURSE!" The gator was KO'd . . . and did not spit out a key, either.
"Been waiting long?" Sanji asked everyone.
"PRINCE!" yelled Luffy and Usopp. Terra had no idea what the whole "Prince" thing was about, but she would leave it alone for now. There were still more gators.
"Nami, Terra, do you love me now?" asked Sanji in that stupid way of his. Dammit. She had no patience for this now.
"Terra, are you okay? None of those gators had better harm . . ."
"JUST SHUT UP AND HELP ME FIND THE DAMN KEY!" There was no time for this crap!
"Sanji, Terra, there's no time! Every second counts! Just kill them!" said Usopp.
"Kill the third one that came in," said Smoker. Terra frowned at him.
"Why?" she asked.
"Are those ears of your just for decoration? Don't you recognize that growl? That's the one that swallowed the key," he said.
"I was unconscious, you bastard!" If there was ever a time when Terra's anger was at its peak, this would be one of those times. First, that group earlier gave her an unpleasant feeling/vision. Then she got knocked out in a matter of seconds by the enemy. Now all this crap involving the gators and an annoying Marine made her need something to pummel.
Oh look, a stupid gator . . .
As Smoker said, the key was in the third gator. It was attached to a wax ball that contained Mr. 3 (how he got there, Terra had no idea). After Mr. 3 went on an annoying rant on how he survived (although Terra didn't care), he noticed the rest of the crew in a cage and assessed his surroundings. He understood what was going on.
"Okay, Mr. 3, be a good boy and hand over the key," said Sanji.
"Here you go!" said Mr. 3 as he threw the key. It landed who-knew-where in the water. Terra glared at him as he laughed.
"I don't know who you are, but you seem to be their friend!" said Mr. 3, addressing Sanji, "If you want the key, go find it! And try not to get eaten in the process!"
"What a jerk," said Zoro.
"He sure catches on fast!" said Luffy.
"Sanji! Terra! We're running out of time!" said Nami.
"I know, and he only made this harder on himself," said Terra in an eerily calm voice.
"What are you talking about?" asked Mr. 3. Terra then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and punched him in the head.
"Cause you're the one who's going to be fishing for the damn key! Jackass!" she yelled, mad as hell. Just as Terra continued to beat up Mr. 3 to convince him to go get the key, Usopp yelled out, "WAIT, TERRA!" She stopped after giving him one last punch. She raised an eyebrow at Usopp.
"Maybe we can use his Wax-Wax powers to make a duplicate key!" suggested Usopp.
"What makes you think I'll do that?" asked Mr. 3.
That . . . was actually a good idea. And it was definitely a lot more efficient than swimming for the last key. All it took was Terra throttling Mr. 3 for about ten seconds and he conceded (like he had a choice in the first place). After they opened the cage, Sanji knocked out Mr. 3. Vivi came running towards the cage.
"Hurry! There's no time! The passageway they went down must lead in the direction of Alubarna. But it's crawling with Bananagators!" she said. She turned to face said passageway to see that Luffy, Zoro, and Terra all got a head start on the Bananagators. The gators were all out cold now.
"C'mon! Aren't there any more?" complained Zoro.
"Hey, I'm not as strong when I'm wet!" said Luffy.
"I don't know about you two, but I feel a bit better now," said Terra as she flexed her hand (it was throbbing a bit, but she was hiding it).
"And I couldn't even handle one of them . . ." said Vivi, depressed.
"It's okay. Those three aren't normal!" reassured Usopp. Terra was about to ask about where Crocodile went when she heard the sound of stone cracking.
"Oh shit . . ." Please tell her it wasn't . . .
"HEY! THE WALL BROKE!" shouted Luffy. Damn it. It was.
"Morons! You overdid it!" reprimanded Nami.
"Let's get out of here!" said Terra. However, they didn't have time as water rushed in through the passageway.
". . . Fuck," was the last thing Terra said before taking a deep breath.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Everyone resurfaced outside in Rainbase. Sanji managed to pull Luffy up (who was swollen with water). Nami and Vivi had to pull out an unconscious Usopp. Terra got back on land by herself. Zoro, for some reason, heaved Smoker out of the water as well.
"Why'd you save him?" asked Terra, eyeing the Marine warily.
"It wasn't my decision," said Zoro. She raised an eyebrow at him. Smoker was still coughing up water, but it would only be seconds before he could turn on them.
"Forget it. Let's hurry and go," said Zoro. In the end, Terra decided that was what mattered now.
"Great, so what the hell are we doing now?" she asked. She still had no idea where Crocodile went or what his next step was.
"We have to go to Alubarna. Can we still make it, Vivi?" asked Sanji.
"I don't know," she said honestly.
"Nami, do you still have that perfume you bought in Nanohana?" asked Sanji. Terra frowned at him. What did perfume have to do with anything?
"Yes. Why?" asked Nami.
"Put it on!" At his demand, Nami sprayed on the strong smelling perfume.
"Ahh . . . it's like falling in love and going to heaven," swooned Sanji. Terra gave him an annoyed glare.
"If that was the only reason . . ." Terra's threat was interrupted when Smoker attempted to attack Zoro with his club. Zoro blocked it with one of his swords.
"Why did you save me?" asked Smoker. Terra was wondering that herself. Zoro shoved the club away.
"You don't owe me anything. It was captain's orders. I'd have let you drown," he said. That answered one question and brought up another. Why the hell would Luffy want to save him? He was trying to arrest them!
"Then you won't mind if I do my duty now . . ." said Smoker. See, just like that. What was Luffy thinking?
Just at that moment, Luffy got up.
"Where's that Crocodile?" asked Luffy. He was all fired up for a fight. Then he noticed Smoker.
"Whoa! Smokes! You still wanna fight?" he asked.
"It's Smoker! Don't do it, Luffy! Let's run!" advised Usopp, who was also up now. Luffy and Smoker stared each other down. Then Smoker closed his eyes as he made a decision.
"Go." Terra had to do a double take on that one. What did he just say?
"Just this once, I'll let you get away." This did not sound like the Marine who had chased them all the way into the Grand Line.
"But next time we meet, Straw Hat, you're dead meat." Okay, that sounded more like him. She was still amazed that he was letting them go in the first place. Since when did Marines do favors for pirates? She had no time to ponder that as the Navy came closer. Smoker might be letting them get away, but that didn't mean the rest of them would.
Everyone but Luffy took off running. Terra noticed and slowed to a stop as well.
"Come on, Luffy! We don't have any time left!" she yelled.
"Okay," he told her. It looked like he was talking to Smoker. Terra couldn't hear over the shouts of the incoming Marines, but whatever he said pissed Smoker off. He took off running when Smoker swung his club at him. With her captain in tow now, the two quickly caught up with everyone else.
The crew was, once again, running for their lives through Rainbase. After being chased for a few blocks, Usopp asked, "We're not gonna run all the way to Alubarna, are we?" He sounded tired already.
"What's wrong with running?" asked Terra.
"YOU'LL LEAVE US BEHIND, THAT'S WHAT!" yelled Usopp. Terra sweat dropped as she remembered that she had to mind her speed again. Of course, with them being chased their speed seemed slow to her.
"Where'd Eyelashes go?" asked Nami.
"Aren't there stables in Rainbase? Let's grab some horses!" suggested Luffy.
"But the Navy's all around town," warned Vivi. What a troubling situation they were in. Sanji was the only one not bothered by all this.
"Relax. Look up ahead," he advised. As soon as she did that, Terra saw why he wasn't worried.
"HEY! YOU GUYS!" In front of them was the biggest crab Terra had ever seen in her life. And riding on his back was Chopper and Eyelashes.
"A CRAB?" Usopp was bewildered.
"It's a Crab Mover!" Vivi was surprised as well
"Looks tasty!" Terra frowned. She smacked Luffy upside his head.
"Must you always think with your stomach?" she asked, annoyed. However, she was going to have to berate him for that later.
"Hop on!" said Chopper.
"We can ride that thing? Wow!" Again, Luffy reminded Terra of a child.
"He's Eyelashes' friend. This is Eyelashes' hometown! He has lots of friends around here! But they're strange," explained Chopper.
"Excellent! Crab Movers bury themselves in the sand, so they're rarely seen!" said Vivi, pleased. Terra hopped onto one of the crab's bowed legs.
"Yeah, yeah, can we have the lessons about the local wildlife later? I believe you guys kept saying how we have no time left," she said.
"Right!" In less than two minutes, everyone was on the crab and Chopper was guiding the crab towards the east. Finally, they were going to go to this Alubarna place, kick ass, restore the country's peace, and then continue their journey on the Grand Line. It sounded simple and straightforward. Terra was actually looking towards the battle if it meant putting a stop to all this madness.
However, the plan was not meant to go so smoothly. Almost as soon as the crab started running, a large golden hook caught Vivi around the waist. She was yanked off of the crab.
"Vivi!" Terra jumped to her feet and stretched out her hand to help. But someone had beaten her to the punch.
Luffy jumped up and threw Vivi back onto the crab. Zoro caught Vivi, but there was another issue.
"LUFFY!" Yep, Luffy, for some reason, grabbed onto the hook and let himself be pulled towards it source. That source being the one and only Crocodile.
"Go on without me! I can handle this!" shouted back Luffy. What the hell was he thinking? This was a Shichibukai they were talking about!
"Take care of Vivi! Make sure she gets to Alubarna!" ordered Luffy. The damn kid was even smiling at them. Terra gritted her teeth. She hated this. She absolutely hated this! But . . .
"You better meet back up with us, or I'll go kill you myself, you rubber bastard!" shouted Terra, both frustrated and annoyed. His grin didn't falter.
"OKAY!" Tch, damn kid . . .
"Terra! That was way too harsh!" reprimanded Usopp. Terra ignored him and sat back down.
"Keep going, Chopper! To Alubarna!" ordered Zoro.
"G-Gotcha!" said Chopper.
"Zoro! You're abandoning Luffy?" exclaimed a surprised Usopp. Vivi, on the other hand, still wanted to go back.
"It's okay, Vivi! He'll be all right! Crocodile's the one to worry about! Luffy's gone up against some pretty tough customers, and he's the one still standing!" reassured Nami. Zoro sat down next to Vivi.
"Listen, Vivi, Luffy's going to keep Crocodile busy so that we can get away. The moment the rebels took off, the clock started counting down on this kingdom's fate. If the Royal Army and the rebels clash, Alabasta is finished! You're the only hope of preventing that, which means you have to survive! No matter what happens to the rest of us!" he said. They watched as they got farther away from Rainbase.
"Vivi, this is something you started," said Sanji, "Several years ago, you left Alabasta to take on a shadowy group whose true nature you didn't know. But, you're not fighting all alone anymore."
Usopp suddenly stood straight up.
"V-Vi-Vivi! Don't wo-wo-worry! I'm w-with you!" he stuttered. Before they got completely out of earshot, Vivi shouted out, "Luffy! I'll be waiting for you! In Alubarna!" They were able to here his response of "'Kay," before he and Crocodile disappeared from their sight.
With nothing better to do, Terra asked the one question that never got completely answered since she woke up.
"So why are we going to Alubarna? What's happening there?"
"Weren't you listening?" asked Zoro, "Crocodile explained it back in Rainbase." A vein popped up on Terra's head.
"For the last time . . . I was unconscious, YOU MOSS-HAIRED BASTARD!"
And done! How was it? There are some parts I'm not sure of, but I think this turned out okay. I also realized (a few weeks late) that this story is now over a year old! And I still have quite a ways to go before it's finished.
Oh well, I'm not keen on making the adventure end soon, anyway.
Now for the usual: please review and tell me what you think and I will get back as soon as I can. I make no guarantees as to when the next update will be.
Later!