"Usopp!" Sanji and Zoro both roared as yet another explosion rocked the ship from the back deck.
"What have we said about experimenting on the ship?" Zoro demanded, stalking towards the experimenter in question.
"Ah, uhahahaa, sorry?" Usopp laughed nervously as two of the strongest fighters on the crew stalked towards him angrily.
"Do you have any idea what you just caused, long-nose?" Sanji demanded. "I was in the middle of trying out a new recipe, and your explosions completely ruined it! All that food I was working with got knocked out the window, and into the ocean!" He yelled, angry.
Usopp squeaked, knowing that he would be lucky to live. If there was one thing Sanji absolutely hated and could not forgive, it was when somebody wasted food. Quickly, he scrambled away from the two and tried to find somewhere to hide, "I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean to get it wrong!" He yelped, jumping through Nami's tangerine orchard to get away from the two.
"Nami, save me!" He yelled, knowing that Sanji would never hurt her, while she could cow Zoro easily enough.
"No way, don't hide behind me." She denied, and moved away. "You know you're not supposed to experiment with stuff on the ship, so don't hide from your punishments." She scolded.
"But where else am I going to make new ammo? Whenever we stop at an island, we stop at the town! And we don't stop at uninhabited islands that much!" Usopp protested.
"Hey! Don't hide behind Nami-swan!" Sanji yelled at him before Nami could say anything else, even more angry than before.
"I said I was sorry, please don't kill me!" Usopp sobbed, begging and pleading with his ship-mates.
"I think he should be taught a lesson." Zoro said, slowly stalking forwards, drawing his main sword with an evil smirk on his face.
"Agreed." Sanji growled, still sore about the food that was wasted. They were distracted with wild laughter coming from the top deck, and Usopp stopped begging for his life to yell at his captain.
"You could help me, you know!" He yelled with shark teeth. Luffy only laughed harder, knowing that the two weren't really going to hurt him. Well... then again he caused Sanji to waste food, so... eh, it wouldn't be anything permanent!
"Oh, no, Usopp. You're on your own this time." Zoro said lowly, grinning like a shark who smelled blood, after a short pause to see if Luffy would step in.
"Ugh. Whatever, just keep it down, would you?" Nami demanded, joining Luffy on the top deck so she could read her newspaper in peace.
Usopp gulped again. "C'mon guys, it was an accident, I'll get the formula right next time, I'll even help in the kitchen for the next month, or... or I'll take over polishing your swords for a while! I'll even pay for all your booze, just please don't kill me!" Usopp begged, backing away with his hands outstretched.
"And where are you going to get that kind of money?" Zoro asked. "The money for that comes out of the ships treasury with the rest of the food bill." He said darkly, it was the only way he could stay stocked up on his sake and rum. Although, they were tight on money right now, so he was having to be more frugal with it to make it last until their next stop.
"And after the mess you made last time you were in my kitchen, you're not going anywhere near it." Sanji promised darkly.
"I'll uh... I'll, I don't know, ok! I'll do something to make it up to you!" He pleaded, backing further and further away... until he back right into the railing and flipped over it in his surprise, and into the water.
Zoro and Sanji stood at the railing for a minute, surprised. "Huh. Did not expect that." Zoro muttered.
"Hey... you think we should go in after him?" Sanji asked after a moment when Usopp still hadn't surfaced.
"I don't know... he doesn't have a Devil-fruit... he can swim, right?" Zoro said.
"Yeah. He went for a swim yesterday morning before we raised anchor." Sanji tilted his head.
"Think he's trying to avoid us?" Zoro asked.
"Maybe..." Sanji pursed his lips and glanced over at the other side of the ship, and smirked before chuckling evilly. "Oh. Trying to get away, were we?"
Usopp eeped from where he was still half hanging over the side of the ship. And here he thought he was so clever, swimming under the ship to the other side, hoping to find somewhere to hide while they were still focused on the water where he'd fallen in.
"Oh?" Zoro asked lightly, turning around at his 'eep'.
Nami sighed. "Do they have to be so loud down there?" She complained. It was so hard to concentrate on her map when those three boys were making such a racket! Luffy's laughter could barely be heard over Sanji and Zoro's yelling for Usopp to 'get back here, we promise to only kill you a little bit!', and Usopp's yells of terror as he ran away, accompanied by the occasional sound of a smashed barrel.