Ch 52 - I am Interesting.
Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!
"Yum! This is such a yummy food place!" Luffy shouted with his mouth stuffed as he rammed fist after fist of food down his own throat, "Emmy, you should really have some."
Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!
"Luffy! Ace-" Emmy tried for the upteenth time.
Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!
"I know," Luffy sighed as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "Ace would want me to say 'thank you for the meal' and then thank the owner for their hospitality. I'll mind my manners! Don't worry!"
"Erm...it's probably none of my business but…" the man behind the counter said, "But...you should probably run away while you can…"
Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!
"Why?" Luffy asked.
"That guy you just sent flying now...Do you know who he is?" the man behind the counter asked.
Emmy nodded fervently. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, Luffy! You knocked into A-"
"STRAW HAT!"
The two Monkeys looked over at the hole in the wall Luffy had created and the rubber boy blinked at the cigar man, who came storming through.
"I've been looking for you, Straw Hat," he growled, "So you did come to Alabasta?"
Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch! Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch! Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!
"STOP EATING!" the cigar man roared.
Luffy blinked at him. The captain's cheeks were completely expanded by the amount food he had packed inside. Then in one long train, he spat it all out at the cigar man. "AHHH! You're that smoke guy! What're you doing here?!"
"You know him, Luffy?" Emmy gasped.
"You know him?" the cigar man asked Emmy.
"HOLD IT!" Luffy said as he shoved the last bits of food in his mouth and nodded to the frightened man behind the counter, "Mamk you more the mood."
"What?" the cigar man asked.
"He means 'thank you for the food'," Emmy translated as Luffy shot up to his feet and grabbed her by the wrist. He swallowed the food in one big gulp.
"Come on, Emmy! WE NEED TO RUUUUUN!" he cried as he sprinted out of the restaurant like a bat out of hell.
"Stop right there!" the cigar man ordered.
"Wait...Luffy! We can't leave yet. We need to-," Emmy protested as Luffy dragged her further away from the guy she knew he most wanted to see.
"Pay the check? There's no time! And I have no money," Luffy said with a grin.
"But Ace-"
"Yep. It's exactly the same thing Ace would've done if he was here," Luffy said.
"Tashigi!" the cigar man cried from behind them and a familiar woman in the market smiled brightly at him.
"Yes, Captain Smoker? Do you want a towel?" the woman asked cheerfully.
"That's the marine that let me call Gramps at Loguetown!" Emmy gasped.
"You did WHAT?!" Luffy cried as he skidded to a halt.
"Stop that guy! That's the Straw Hat and one of his crew members!" Smoker yelled to his subordinate.
The charging smoke man made the rubber boy second guess his decision and Luffy started to run again down the marketplace with his sister in tow. This time, he grabbed onto the closest rooftop he could see and he swung them both up so that they were off the street.
"You!" the female marine gasped when she spotted Emmy, "Weren't you- Wait! You're a pirate?!"
"I'M SORRY!" Emmy shouted as she ran away, "Truly!"
"Straw Hat!" the smoke man seethed as he rocketed upwards in a billowing smoke, "Why are you here in this country?!"
"This has nothing to do with you!" Luffy shouted back, "This is a fight between me and Crocodile!"
The smoke man's eyes widened. "Crocodile? How are you two connected?"
"Eek!" Emmy screeched when Luffy suddenly pulled her into his chest and they both fell into an empty alleyway, landing with the rubber boy's back first so that they bounced right back to their feet.
"Come on!" Luffy hissed as he and Emmy started to run in the opposite direction.
"STRAW HAT!" the cigar guy yelled as he kept on the chase.
"You bastard! What do you mean you lost Emmy-chan?!" Sanji seethed as he held tightly to the front of Zoro's shirt. They had regrouped back in the abandoned building and the cook was enraged that the swordsman had returned without the first mate.
"She was taken away and before I could get to her, this marine showed up. Anyways, it's bad news! We need to find Luffy and then get Emmy back!" Zoro shouted.
"Switch those two priorities!" Sanji snapped.
"Odds are Luffy has already found Emmy," Zoro sniffed.
"I'm not paying any ransom if it comes down to it," Nami said with just as much indifference.
"What kind of attitude is that?!" the sniper and cook shouted at the same time but at different people.
"H-Hold on. Did you say a marine showed up?" Vivi asked.
"Yes, the Navy is here," Nami sighed, "God...As if we aren't enough trouble as it is…"
"Wait! Hide!" Zoro said as he pulled Nami and Usopp further into the building just as a group of men raced by.
"There he is! Get him! Get back here!"
"What? What is it?" Nami asked.
Zoro peeked over the top of the crumbled wall and he scowled. "The Navy…"
"There seems to be a big commotion," Usopp gulped.
"Some idiot pirate must be running around town or something," Sanji sighed.
Just as the words left his mouth everyone shared the same look. "An idiot pirate?!"
"Get back here, Straw Hat!"
"WAHHHHH! LET'S GO, EMMYYY!"
"They're gaining on us, Luffy!"
Zoro smirked at the cook. "See? I told you Luffy already found Emmy."
The navigator, though, was having another reaction to this turn of events. She crossed her fingers and she prayed to the heavens. "Please don't do what I think you're going to do. Please don't do what I think you're going to do. Please don't-"
"Turn right here, Luffy!" Emmy advised and the navigator buried her head in her hands.
"Noooooo."
"Oh, there you guys are!" Luffy said with a grin as he and his sister sped past their nakama, "Come on. Let's head to the ship. What are you guys waiting for?"
"Why the hell didn't you get rid of the marines first?!" Nami seethed as she and the rest of her nakama found themselves swept up in the chaos.
"Stop! Don't let them escape!" the marines said.
"Fall back!" the smoke man ordered as he raced towards the front of the lines, "Straw Hat is mine!"
"Yikes! Here he comes!" Luffy shouted.
"White blow!" the smoke man shouted as his fist launched through the air with a stream of smoke behind it.
"HEAT HAZE!"
Kaboom!
Everyone stopped in midstep as flames exploded right behind Luffy and smothered the smoke and the smoke man's punch.
Luffy's jaw dropped while Emmy sucked in a sharp breath. Both of their eyes danced with the flames that were exuding out of Luffy's older brother, who stood protectively in front of the rubber boy with his hand out.
"You may be smoke...but I'm fire," Ace said with a smirk, "A fight between your power and mine would never end."
"He...he had a Devil Fruit Power?" Zoro grunted.
"Who...Who is he anyways?" Usopp asked, "Why is he helping us?"
"A-A-Ace?!" Luffy gasped.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Luffy...," Emmy whispered, "He's here…"
Ace looked over his shoulder and he grinned at his little brother. "You haven't changed a bit, Luffy…"
"Ace...is that you?! You ate a Devil Fruit?!" Luffy asked.
"Yep! The Flare-Flare Fruit!" Ace said and then he eyed how Luffy was holding onto Emmy's wrist, "And it seems you picked up something too, Luffy."
Suddenly, a stream of marines came flooding in from the streets and they lines themselves behind the cigar man. "Captain Smoker! We're securing the perimeter!"
Ace returned his attention to the fight ahead. "Anyways, we can't chat like this. I'll catch up. You guys run! I'll hold these guys off."
"Yosh! Let's go!" Luffy said as he turned on his heels and ran.
"Thank you! Please be careful!" Emmy shouted as Luffy pulled her along.
"Wh-what's going on?!" Usopp asked.
"Is he an acquaintance of yours?" Nami asked.
"Shishishishi, yeah you could say that," Luffy laughed.
"Ace is Luffy's older brother," Emmy said.
"WHAATTT?!" Vivi and the rest of the pirate group exclaimed.
"Wouldn't that make him your brother too?" Zoro asked and then he scowled, "OY! Why didn't you say anything then at the marketplace? Scared the hell out of me when you got carried away!"
"Ah ha! Admitting that you did a shitty thing by abandoning, Emmy-chan, aren't you?" Sanji taunted.
"I did no such thing!" Zoro spat.
Fwooom!
A blazing fireball shot up towards the sky as flames and smoke swirled around the surface. Everyone stopped running just so they could see the spectacle.
"Ooooh! Look at that!" Luffy whistled with an excited grin.
"Well, he did say he ate the Flare-Flare Fruit," Sanji said calmly.
"You having a brother isn't that surprising...but why is he here on the Grand Line?" Usopp said.
"Ace is a pirate," Luffy said, not taking his eyes off of the fireball his brother had created, "He left the island three years before me and Emmy to find the One Piece."
"EH?!"
The navigator was the first to recover. "A-Anyways, we can all talk about this later. Let's get to the ship first!"
"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji said dutifully.
Luffy and Emmy let their nakama rush past them as their eyes were glued up to the sky, too caught up with what was happening up there.
"Come on…" Emmy whispered, "We need to go, Luffy."
"Yeah," Luffy said as they both started to run backwards, unable to break away their gaze, "Cool! The fireball got even higher!"
By the time the two siblings realized that the streets around them had turned strangely quiet, the marines were nowhere to be found but neither were their nakama.
"Eh?" Luffy asked as he and Emmy stood in the middle of a vacant alleyway, "How did we end up here? Where is everyone? Did they get lost?"
"Sheesh...I guess letting you escape was pretty much pointless," a jeering voice taunted from above.
Luffy's grin widened as a blush rose to Emmy's cheeks. "Ace!" Luffy cheered.
"Yo," Ace said with a tilt of his cowboy hat. He jumped down from the roof and he put his hands on his hips, "It's been awhile, Luffy. Now would you care to tell me who this pretty lady is and why did she refer to you as 'our' brother?"
"Shishishishi, this is Emmy! She's my sister," Luffy said and he slapped Emmy on the back.
Emmy clasped her hands in front of her and she gave a deep bow. "I-I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Ace-san!"
"Sister?" Ace laughed, "She's too cute to be your sister. Are you sure she's not Sabo's instead?"
Emmy's blush deepened as she straightened up and smiled shyly at Luffy's older brother.
"She doesn't usually look like this. She usually wears her dress and her apron...And less jewelry and more snacks," Luffy said and then his frowned deepened when he sniffed the air around Emmy, "And she doesn't usually smell like this either. She usually smells like soap and lemon."
That seemed to make Ace laugh even harder. "Seems more like your describing a wife than a sister. Although, it'll be centuries before a snot nosed kid like you would be man enough to take a wife."
"Who are you calling a kid? I'm a man!" Luffy huffed indignantly, "Besides, if there's anybody who hasn't changed, it's you?"
"Oh?" Ace said as he rested his elbow against the top of a barrel and he held up a palm towards Luffy, "Wanna see how much has changed?"
Luffy grinned and locked his hand into arm wrestling position. "You're still the same," Luffy grunted as both brothers started to use their full force against each other, "Like when you'd sneak into the fields, eat 100 watermelons, and then spit seeds out like a gun and run!"
"That wasn't me...that was you," Ace said through gritted teeth. Both brothers' face started to turn red but neither of their hands were moving an inch.
Booosh!
The barrel cracked underneath the pressure and water came rushing out, signalling a draw. Ace and Luffy shared a grin and a high five.
"This brings back memories," Luffy sighed happily.
"Say...weren't you with your friends?" Ace asked.
"Yeah, we'll meet up with them later," Luffy said with a shrug, "Hey. What are you doing here, Ace?"
"Didn't you get my message?" Ace asked, "Or did you not stop by Drum Island?"
"Drum?" Luffy asked.
"No big deal," Ace said as he got out a water canteen, "I'm just in the area for some minor business. I figured you'd be around here judging by when I expected you to leave Dawn Island so I thought I might look you up."
"Ace-san," Emmy marvelled, "You must be very smart to be able to calculate that."
"Thanks, Emmy," Ace said with a grin, "But you must not be if you decided to follow this idiot out to sea. Wanna join my pirate crew instead?"
"Your pirate crew?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah," Ace said and pointed at the tattoo on his back, "I'm part of the Whitebeard Pirates now. This is the their mark. It's my pride."
He grinned at Luffy. "Why don't you both join my pirate crew? Your nakama can come too, of course."
"No," Luffy said immediately.
Ace laughed. "I figured not. Just thought I'd ask. What about you, Emmy? Wanna go with the more reliable brother?"
Emmy blushed and found herself tongue-tied. She just couldn't believe that she got to meet Ace. She had always imagined what it would be like if she and Luffy ever crossed paths with Ace, but this was just so much better than she imagined. "I...I…"
Luffy's eyes narrowed and he frowned at his sister. "Emmy, what's gotten into you?" Then his eyes widened in horror, "You're not thinking about joining Ace's crew, are you?!"
That accusation did the trick and Emmy found her voice. "O-Of course not, Luffy! I am your first mate and I only want to find the One Piece with you!"
That made Luffy's chest swell up with both pride and happiness. He grinned victoriously at his older brother, who took no offense to it at all.
"Just so you know, Luffy," Ace said with a smirk, "Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I know. I wanna help him to be the King of PIrates."
"Looks like we're going to have to fight someday," Luffy said, not backing down in the slightest, "I'm the one who'll become the King of Pirates."
"Not if your crew leaves you behind," Ace teased as he sipped from his canteen.
"AH! RIGHT! We need to get back to the ship!" Emmy said, "I think I remember the way to the harbor...Come on. Follow me!"
"Oh geez," Ace sighed as he and Luffy sauntered behind the girl, "Luffy, a captain is supposed to remember this kind of stuff."
"Shishishishi. Don't worry about it," Luffy laughed.
"God, you haven't changed a bit," Ace chuckled, "So who else do you guys have on your crew?"
"Besides, Emmy, we have a swordsman, who trains a lot…" Luffy said as he counted on his fingers, "A navigator who likes tangerines, maps, and money...A cook who makes really yummy food...Oh! And there's a liar. Then a reindeer."
"Is that really all you think of Usopp and Dr. Chopper?" Emmy asked as a sweat dropped down her head.
"Oh! We also have a princess and a duck now," Luffy grinned.
"That's quite a variety and only just a handful of people...That's just like you," Ace said.
"They're all really interesting people," Luffy said.
"I'd wager to say you're the most interesting," Ace laughed.
"Nope," Luffy said with utmost sincerity, "That'll be Emmy."
Emmy almost tripped in her step as she turned to look at her brother. "M-m-m-me?" she asked.
Luffy nodded. "Yeah. You have fun abilities. You are scared a lot but you're not a coward. You have weird habits like insisting on keeping everything clean but you also don't mind it when other people make a mess. You're very interesting."
Emmy blushed again but this time because of a different brother. "I...I just do my best, that's all," she said as she ducked her head down and hurried down the road. She was too lost in her own thoughts to look at where she was going and she bumped right into someone.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Emmy gasped as she looked up, "I didn't see you there. It was..."
She stopped short when a large, mean looking man sneered back at her. He was at least 7 foot tall and he was burly across the chest and shoulders. On his back, he carried multiple swords and rifles.
"My fault…" Emmy finished just as she felt a hand grab her by the wrist and pull her backwards.
A warm hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up to see Ace grinning down at her while Luffy's fingers wound tightly around hers.
"Fire Fist Ace!" the large man said as the alleyway got blocked off by armed men and guns pointed at Luffy, Ace, and Emmy from the rooftops, "Your bad luck ends here."
Emmy heard a man suck in his breath. "Oy! Isn't that Straw Hat Luffy?"
The large man grinned and scratched his chin. "Now that you mention it...he does ring a bell. He's worth 30 million bellis, I believe. Talk about lucky. Once I have your heads, our promotion is a hop, skip, and jump away!"
"Oy, you," Ace said and pointed a finger at the man, "Don't be rude."
"Huh?"
"Emmy just apologized for walking into you but you're the one who came in and blocked her way on purpose. Don't think I didn't see you," Ace said, "So apologize to her."
"What? Did you not hear what I said? I'm here to take your head!" the large man yelled.
"Well, I tried," Ace said with a sigh as he escorted Emmy and Luffy right past the large man, "So anyways, Emmy, where did you say your ship was anchored?"
"Oh...uh...I think it's-"
"Oy! You! Hold it right there!" the armed men cried as they swarmed towards the three pirates, "Get them!"
"Eh? What? What's going on?" Luffy asked as he moved him and Emmy out of the way to avoid getting cut by a couple of swords. He let go of Emmy's hand and he punched three men out of his way.
"Oh my," Emmy said as she avoided getting sliced, kicked, and grabbed, "Either I'm getting faster or you guys are just very slow…Even Zoro with a hangover moves quicker than this..."
"Attack!" the men said as they dog piled on Luffy.
Luffy's arm stretched up and it grabbed a clothesline hanging overhead. He pulled himself out of the dogpile and dangled there with the wet clothes that were pinned to it.
"Shoot him down!" the men cried, firing their guns at him.
"Don't surprise us like that, you jerks!" Luffy roared as the bullets bounced off of him and back down to the ground.
Suddenly, Emmy found a blade come out from behind her and then pressed against her throat.
"Don't move or else she's going to get it!" a man in a green bandana threatened.
"Ah! Emmy!" Ace said as his fist turned into a ball of fire.
Luffy, on the other hand, grinned at the headband resting next to Emmy's feet as he swayed in the wind. "Go, Emmy!'
"Feel Feel…" Emmy said as she grabbed the man's wrist, "Repose."
Zzzzzzzzz!
Her captor's limbs drooped limply to his sides as his entire body fell backwards. "Feel Feel," Emmy said as she started to punch the air around her, "Gatling!"
"What-Gah!" a dozen men cried as they were suddenly knocked back. Each of them felt an invisible punch right in their lungs.
"Damn you!" the large man shouted as he raised a heavy sword and raced down the alleyway.
Shing!
The blade was stopped just by Ace's two fingers as he pinched it in place. "Who you trying to hurt? It better not be Emmy," Ace said with a raised eyebrow. He then set his hands on fire, which in turn made the blade red hot.
"AH!" the large man yelped as he let go of his weapon.
Luffy jumped down from the clothesline and he stretched his arms behind him. He knocked both fists straight into the man's chest and sent the man hurtling into the distance. "Gum Gum…..Bazooka!"
"Not bad," Ace said as he held a hand over his eyes to see further off into the sky. Then he turned to grin at the girl, "And you didn't tell me you ate a Devil Fruit too, Emmy."
Emmy blushed. "I ate the Feel Feel Fruit...I'm an empath."
Luffy grinned and then picked up the headband by the bow. He put it on Emmy's head and then gave her head a pat. "Shishishishi. I told you she's interesting."
