Oh boy, here's another one that took a while to make a new chapter for.
Sorry about the long wait over here people, but we'll try to focus on it a bit, at minimum we'll pump out this arc, and we might do the next one we have planned after it, we'll see.
For now, enjoy the return to Desire Cruise.
~Aah,aah,aaaah~
A flash of movement goes through the screen, before revealing to be the Strawhat Pirate Jolly Roger printed on sails as it flew through the air, before stopping and suddenly the rest of the Going Merry appeared, the image of a globe in the background as it moves as the Going Merry continues to sail forth.
The world
What a glorious place!
Seek freedom and it will lie stretched out before your eyes.
If the endless dream guides your restless spirit
Seize it!
Raise your flag and stand tall!
As the narration begins, the image of the Strawhats appears on the upper right running towards an unseen goal to the left, while the world around them slowly grows brighter and brighter, before finally the sun peeks out from behind the globe, illuminating everything.
YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAAH!
A quick shot of the Strawhats is seen, each of them seemingly in mid-dash with various grins/smiles on their faces starting from Sanji, followed by Nami, then Lumen, to Zoro, then Usopp, followed by Chopper, then Vivi, then Robin, and finally ending on a shot of Luffy.
boku wa ima sagashi hajimeta
The shot of Luffy animates before he reels back and sends out a punch with his limbs stretching, before the scene shifts to Zoro who has his swords at the ready and slashes at an unseen enemy.
mizushibuki agete
The scene transitions to show Lumen seemingly rolling away from an attack before he lashes out with the Medajalibur and flips a coin. The scene focuses on the coin for a moment, before Nami grabs it and pulls out her Climatact, before creating a storm cloud that sends down a bolt of lightning.
hateshinaku tsudzuku sekai e
The scene shifts to show Usopp who dodges the lightning strike, before quickly putting on a confident look to mask his moment of fear before lighting a torch and firing a cannon at an island.
afuredasu jounetsu o mune ni
The cannonball flies through the air before the scene shifts to show Vivi riding on Carue, using her Peacock Slashers to cut through a few obstacles, right before the cannonball hit somewhere behind, creating an explosion that sent Chopper flying past them, the reindeer frantically going through several of his Points before ending in his Guard Point.
doko made mo yuku yo
The scene shifts to show Sanji cooking before he turns and quickly bounces Chopper off his leg, before tossing the food he was making into the air, and soon caught the plates and the food AND Chopper, before several arms sprout out to help him balance, the scene shifting to show Robin who has an amused smile as she had been watching the whole thing.
mada minu hikari motome
The scene changes to show Luffy grinning to the sky as everyone is gathered on the deck of the Going Merry before the scene shifts outwards revealing a section of the map of the world as the title appears.
natsuiro taiyou ga kokoro no ho o yuraseba (FLY AWAY GLUM BLUE SEA)
The scene changes to show the Going Merry sailing on a clear sunny day with seagulls flying about, the camera panning around it as the view shifts slowly towards the front.
atarashii sekai e no tobira o hiraku aizu (FLY AWAY GLUM BLUE SKY)
As the view gets closer to the Merry, the scene shows the front of the Merry, with Robin and Lumen standing near the figurehead, Lumen looking ahead with a telescope. The scene pans slowly towards the rest of the deck, showing Zoro napping against one of the rails, Usopp working on something not far away, Sanji sitting on one of the rails, while Vivi and Carue were enjoying the weather near the main mast, before ending with Nami reading a map near the entrance to the dining room, Luffy and Chopper by her side, Luffy looking forward before looking like he saw something.
namima ni yureteru zetsubou o nukete
The scene abruptly changes to show the crew in a storm, everyone moving quickly to make sure they could navigate the storm, OOO even going all over the ship as fast as he could to help make sure everything was working...and took a moment to lightly dope slap Chopper and Carue who were too busy panicking and get them focused again...especially seeing as the Ship was sailing (surfing?) a pipeline.
suiheisen no mukou gawa
The scene changes to show Luffy calling to Nami who was inside the deck, before she soon followed out after him, revealing he was pointing towards the sun that was breaking through the clouds as the storm ended.
YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH mezashite
The last of the rain and storm ended as the crew cheered at seeing the sun again.
boku wa ima sagashi hajimeta mizushibuki agete
The scene changes to show a white dolphin swimming through the clear ocean swiftly, while the Usopp threw out a line, Luffy cheering him on while the rest of the crew watched...some with very worried expressions.
hateshinaku tsudzuku sekai e
The dolphin leaped into the air...before the scene reveals that it was actually several times the size of the Going Merry, and dove back into the water not far from the ship, sending the ship away on several waves, everyone scrambling to hold on to something, though Luffy just had a big grin as he grabbed onto his hat and the main mast.
afuredasu jounetsu o mune ni doko made mo yuku yo
The scene changes to show the Strawhat Pirate Flag flapping in the wind in the sunset, followed by a shot of the whole crew grinning as they continued to sail towards their next adventure.
mada minu hikari motome
The final scene shows the Going Merry sailing towards the sunset as the song reaches its end.
The sky was nice and clear for once, a good wind blowing, the perfect kind of day for sailing...which was honestly a rarity for the Grand Line. "Nice weather we're having for a change," Vivi, who was wearing a strapless light blue shirt with dark blue polka dots on it with a pair of long red pants, commented while brushing Carue's feathers, the duck quacking in agreement while he wore a brand new green cap with shades over his head.
It had been a week since she was forced to leave Alabasta and thus join the Strawhat Pirates full time. All things considered...the cruise since then had been pleasant. The weather was surprisingly tame, the crew's shenanigans were relatively minimal...and to her surprise, Ms. All Sunday, or rather, Nico Robin, had been surprisingly easy to get along with despite the past.
Speaking of her, she idly wondered where some of the crew had gone off to. Granted most of them were sometimes in random places, but generally speaking she was surprised to notice Nami wasn't above deck seeing as the weather was exactly the kind of weather that would usually see Nami enjoying the sun.
That and a few minutes ago Sanji had come by with some sundaes he'd made, one of which he'd given to her, and had asked where the other two female crew members were hoping to give the others to them.
"Where are they?" Sanji wondered, looking around the ship as he tried to find Nami and Robin before the sundaes melted. He was wearing his usual clothes, just minus the black vest and tie, a teal shirt on today.
As he passed the door to the women's quarters, he paused as he heard sound coming from behind it, leaning his ear into it with a curious hum.
He could hear… grunting and… slight panting?
His eyebrows raising up at that, he leaned closer into the door.
"... can't take anymore…" was that Nami's voice?
"Just a bit more before it's all in." that was Lumen's voice there…
"Can it really all fit inside?" Nami said again, and Sanji's face was… quite the experience as he seemed to be thinking of something.
"Might spill out a bit, but it's fine." Lumen said again, and Sanji couldn't take it anymore as he burst through the door and ran down the stairs.
"What's going on-?!" he started shouting, before stopping, blinking "...here?" he finished in confusion.
Lumen and Nami were together yes… but they were trying to stuff a chest full of treasure and closing the lid. He also saw Robin sitting on a chair in a corner of the room, reading a book, while she wore a mauve and black colored shirt over a black corset with black jeans.
"Oh, hey Sanji." Lumen greeted, wearing a white t-shirt with a gorilla printed on it underneath a grey open shirt with a pattern like a rhinoceros hide with black colored pants on his legs, as he was trying to push the lid of the treasure chest down while Nami sat on it, wearing a beige zip-up shirt with EVIL written on her chest, along with a pair of dark blue shorts and her usual heeled sandals, "What's up?"
Sanji actually fumbled with his words at that, before quickly regaining his composure… somewhat. "Ah...I was looking for both Nami and Robin," he said, before producing the sundaes he was carrying from...somewhere.
"Hey, thanks," Nami grinned, going up to Sanji and accepting the treat, while Robin made a hand appear which soon passed her Sundae to another hand and another till she got hers.
"We appreciate the offer," Robin said.
"Glad to hear that. Enjoy," Sanji smiled before going off. Once he was gone though…
Nami and Lumen snorted before they burst out laughing, while Robin giggled in amusement. "He fell for it!" Lumen laughed.
"His face was priceless!" Nami laughed.
"I will admit, that WAS rather funny." Robin said with a smile as she got control over her amusement faster than the other two "I've never really used my powers to help with a prank before, but I suppose it's nice to do sometimes." she said as an eye appeared on the wall next to her for emphasis before disappearing.
Lumen chuckled "Anyway, that's enough joking around, at least these are all put away."
"Yeah. I know you said you can't go to the ocean floor without the full blue combo, but at least you find some stuff just floating along the currents under the ship." Nami said, digging her hands into the treasure chest a bit and grinning "We'll be filthy stinking rich in no time if we keep going~" she finished happily.
"Although we certainly could use SOME extra money sometimes." Robin noted "Mr. Captain is quite the big eater, even with the many locks Mr. Cook has installed on the fridge."
"Yeah… sometimes slapping Luffy silly doesn't help as much as we'd want." Lumen sighed, before he and Nami headed up, Robin doing the same a bit later, still reading her book.
"Hey guys!" Chopper said when he saw them coming up, wearing his usual shorts, along with a sky blue sleeveless shirt that had the word SMILE written on it in yellow "What were you doing downstairs?"
"Just putting away some treasure we found floating beneath the ship." Lumen told him with a smile as Nami continued up to the front of the ship, sitting on a chair near Merry's figurehead with Robin "Were you doing anything interesting?"
"Just going over some notes I got from Doctorine before I left Drum." Chopper said "I always need to make sure I remember the right remedies in case of an emergency."
Lumen chuckled at that "That's good. I'm sure she'd be proud to see you studying then."
"D-don't think it makes me happy to be complimented like that! Bastard! Moron!" Chopper said… while being completely, obviously happy, as usual.
"Whatever you say doc." Lumen said with a sweatdrop.
"Hmm… wind's starting to get a bit heavy…" Nami mused as she sat at the front, eating her sundae. "Might be something soon."
"Hopefully nothing that'll capsize us." Lumen said with a snort, before perking up as he heard a sound "Huh… what's that?" he mused, before heading to the back of the ship as he followed the sound, seeing Usopp standing there, wearing some dark green overalls instead of his usual brown ones, looking through a telescope "What's up?"
"Well… I can see what's making that noise… we're being followed." the sniper answered, before Lumen finally saw what was following them.
"What the… Akira?" he said in surprise as Akira was approaching them while riding a Ride Vendor in it's jet ski mode. "Hey, Usopp, get Luffy and Zoro, I think we need to pull up something."
"On it." Usopp nodded before going to get the two while Lumen headed for the side of the ship as Akira was lining himself up there, dropping a rope for the man, who tied it around the steering of his Ride Vendor.
And then it jerked a bit as it was suddenly being lifted up, Akira letting out a shout of surprise as he grabbed onto the steering to avoid falling into the ocean "Warn me next time!"
"Sorry!" Lumen called down to him, before grabbing his hand once he was at the railing, pulling him onto the ship while Luffy and Zoro finished pulling the Ride Vendor onto the Merry, the two still wearing the same thing as usual. "So, how've you been?" Lumen asked, trying to have some pleasantries.
"Decent," Akira sighed. "Busy as all heck, but as you can guess this isn't a social call," he frowned.
Lumen frowned at that too. "What's going on?"
"I caught some buzzing from HQ, and I found out just WHO they're sending to chase after you guys, and he's… yeah, it's not a good call at all." Akira sighed "The guy's kind of subscribed to the idea of Absolute Justice, the end justifies the means and all that."
"Those types are annoying as all hell." Lumen said with a roll of his eyes.
"Right, and because of that… I'm pretty sure he'd ignore the order of bringing Princess Vivi in alive." Akira finished with a frown, causing everyone to stop short.
Vivi was silent for a moment "He would just think it's a mercy to kill me instead by sinking the ship as a whole." she said.
"Not happening." Luffy said with an angry growl.
"On that I agree with you Strawhat." Akira said with a frown "Besides, the Princess having a bounty is my fault. That's why I'm going to keep working at it to try and get rid of it, and until I can, give you a heads up when you've got those types after you."
"Something we REALLY appreciate," Vivi said with a smile.
"Well if some crazy types are going to be on our tail, then the storm that might be coming could be a blessing in disguise," Nami mused. "If we can navigate it properly, we'll almost definitely be able to lose them."
Akira blinked at that "There's a storm coming?"
"I have quite quickly learned that when Nami says the weather will be this and that, you should take it as word of god." Lumen told him in amusement.
"Nami is a true goddess of weather!" Sanji shouted in agreement.
"Aw come on boys, you'll make me blush." Nami said with a grin on her face.
"Swear to god she's got no shame at all." Zoro groused as he carried Akira's Ride Vendor into the kitchen.
"We should prepare for the storm when it comes then," Robin said. "You're welcome to help us if you'd like, Mr. Marine," she chuckled.
"I'm here, so might as well," Akira sighed, before a thought crossed his mind. "...got a spare set of clothes? I think it'd be pretty bad if anyone saw me in my uniform while I'm with you lot."
"...hang on," Lumen mused before running below deck and going through the clothes they had on hand, eventually holding a certain something up with a grin "Perfect."
A few minutes later, and Akira was dressed in a dark green jumpsuit, the top half tied around his waist, wearing a t-shirt of the criminal brand, and a brown leather jacket over it all.
"Huh… I guess this isn't half bad… you mind if I keep these actually?" he asked after a moment.
"Go right ahead man, bought that in Alabasta but it was just to have variety." Lumen told him with a grin, laughing inwardly that he'd managed to get Akira to wear an almost identical outfit to what he had in the show.
"Maybe we should hide his head a bit more though?" Vivi suggested, as Akira's hairstyle WAS rather distinctive.
Usopp hummed at that, before snapping his fingers, pulling a green bandana out of his front pocket and tossing it at Akira "Here! This ought to help."
"Better than nothing." Akira shrugged before tying it around the top of his head.
Luffy laughed a bit "You kind of look like you're in our crew. Too bad you're a Marine, you're a real nice guy." he said casually.
"So if I wasn't a Marine, I take it you'd be asking me to join?" Akira asked with a smirk.
"Yeahp!" Luffy admitted easily.
"I thought I was the Marine specialist?" Lumen asked jokingly.
"Oh yeah! Um…" Luffy trailed off, seemingly trying to think… and they could almost SEE the smoke rising up from his head, before he just hung his head "No idea."
The two of them just laughed at that one.
Their mirth didn't last for long though as the sky was turning dark. "Looks like Nami was right on the money again," Lumen noted.
"I know more than a few crews who'd kill to have someone like her," Akira blinked.
"We're not giving her up," Lumen snorted.
"Awww, glad to know I'm wanted," Nami said in amusement as she'd overheard them.
"Besides, anybody even touches her, pretty sure Sanji will kick them so hard they end up twisted into a pretzel." Usopp chuckled at the mental image he'd made.
"You're damn right I will!" Sanji shouted at that.
With that said the crew immediately got to work. As expected, the storm soon came in, but with Nami's navigation and everyone working together (and making sure Zoro didn't take a nap in the storm...somehow…) they were able to keep the voyage relatively straight. Good thing too as along the way they heard noises and noticed the sea rising up in ways that made it clear they were being fired upon.
"Marine Battleship at 5 o'clock!" Usopp shouted.
"How far away are they?!" Nami responded.
"Pretty far, I think we can run while we're in this storm!" he reported back.
"And that's exactly what we'll be doing!" Nami said as she continued to navigate them through the storm.
"Okay, not that I wasn't expecting this, but it REALLY feels weird to be fired upon by fellow Marines," Akira commented.
"Well, you're technically a temporary crew member until we get somewhere where you can get off...without being lynched," Lumen said.
"...did I ever tell you that I feel like sanity in my life died the day I ran into you?" Akira said dryly.
"Sorry, we can't help it if sanity drops dead around us," Lumen laughed.
"As amusing as that back and forth is, we have a storm to navigate!" Vivi said from where she was helping with the ropes, though she had an amused expression on her face.
"Yes, ma'am," both men snorted a bit but focused on their tasks again.
Several hours later, and after escaping the storm and the Marines, the Going Merry was docked at… probably the most PIRATE (yes, in all caps) looking town they had ever seen. That was why as the crew (mostly Luffy) were in a local tavern eating, Akira was still amongst them since he knew he'd be lynched if he tried leaving as a Marine right now.
"Sorry about you having to stick with us longer than expected," Lumen apologized.
"Eh, it's fine. Can't argue with the Log Pose, right?" Akira shrugged.
"Yeah, hopefully this damn thing doesn't take TOO long to set." Nami said, eyeing the compass on her wrist.
"I overheard somebody say it takes just 5 hours for the log to set." Robin mentioned casually.
"That's something good at least." Vivi said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah this town is pretty scary." Usopp said nervously.
"Eh, I've heard of worse towns." Akira waved off "There's an island made for pirates by pirates in the New World, so chances are high on things being even worse since that's where the likes of the Emperors toss their weight around."
"That sounds SUPER scary!" Chopper said as he cowered a bit, Carue quacking in agreement.
"We'll just deal with them when we get there," Zoro said with a bloodthirsty grin, already anticipating the challenge of the New World.
"Speaking of dealing with, how much are you planning to eat?" Nami said, looking at Luffy in annoyance, and with good reason too. There was a small mountain of plates stacked up in front of him and he was still going at it like he hadn't eaten in years.
"Yeah...this is why we're always teetering on the red," Lumen agreed. It hadn't been THAT long since they started the voyage...but the extra money the jewels had earned them were almost if not already gone...mostly to food expenses.
"I… don't think I can blame you for always trying to find money in this case." Akira admitted with a sweatdrop.
As they continued to talk, some random person walked into the bar, and went to the bar, asking for some rum. Nami was idly looking his way before she noticed him place down two 100 Berri coins on the counter in a rather odd way that just screamed 'something secret' as far as she was concerned. A feeling that only intensified when the bartender led him off somewhere else and came back a few minutes later without the person who'd put the coins down.
Nami hummed curiously at that, with Sanji looking over at her "Something the matter?"
"Oh, nothing much." Nami said dismissively.
"That guy who went in there… probably a pirate." Zoro said.
"He seemed to be having some kind of exchange with the bartender." Vivi noted as well.
"You guys noticed too then huh?" Nami asked with a small grin.
"Wasn't TOO hard to notice really. At least from my seat." Lumen said, idly catching the bones that Luffy kept tossing between his fingers.
"I think I heard him say something about this being Hannabal Island?" Akira mused "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."
"Yes, so have I. Though I can't remember where at the moment." Robin added, looking thoughtful even as she drank her tea.
"Either way… you can tell, right?" Zoro asked Nami with a smirk.
"Tell what?" Nami asked with a blink.
"You can smell the money, can't you?" Zoro clarified with a grin.
Lumen snorted at that "What, you calling her a money-hound?" he asked with a laugh.
"Oi, don't insult-" Sanji started before Nami grinned.
"He's right though. I can smell the cash from here." she said, rubbing her hands already as she pictured how much she'd be able to make.
"Oi, you aren't helping your image right now." Akira said with a sweatdrop.
"Hey, morons." Nami said to Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Carue as the four had started getting in a fight over the food… mostly because Luffy was stealing it "I smell an adventure around the corner, so stop being idiots and get ready." she told them, and the four obviously got excited at that as she got up and went to the bar.
"Excuse me." she said, getting the bartender's attention "We have this chronic problem of being low on funds, I don't suppose you have any good business advice that will help us strike it rich, would you?" she asked with a grin as she leaned forward.
The barkeep just looked at her, not seeming too impressed...or that was just his default expression. It was hard to tell.
"Don't worry, we have enough money to pay for our bill at least," Nami said, before adding, "But I have a feeling you know something interesting," she said.
The barkeep looked at her, before looking at the table where the rest of the crew were, before eventually sighing. "Most of you are just kids," he said.
"Maybe, but we're quite famous pirates," Nami said.
"I noticed," the barkeep said. "After all, your captain's face is on the Wanted Poster outside the bar," he said, which made Nami sweat drop a little, because while they DID notice the poster on the way in, they also noticed it was in fact Luffy's old 30 Million Wanted Poster.
Well, at least that might mean being underestimated, word probably hadn't gotten out that he'd beaten Crocodile yet.
"Even if you're strapped for cash, money's not worth losing your lives over," the barkeep said.
"Of course we're not looking to throw our lives away," Nami said. "But we do still need money, and as they say 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. Besides, being wanted we can't exactly make cash openly, and its not like we always get our hands on treasure anyway," she sighed, right as the crew was getting up and gathering at the bar with her. "Besides, we're used to doing underground stuff, and we've gotten out of plenty of dicey situations as is," she said, and continued pushing. "And when faced with challenges like this, we're not ones to back down, especially not our captain. So why not let me know where this scent of money is coming from?" she smirked a little.
The barkeep sighed, but eventually caved. "Alright. I suppose there's no cure for pirates and idiots," he shrugged. "If you're serious then follow me," he said, leaving the counter.
"Jackpot," Lumen chuckled as they soon followed after him, even as Luffy started calling Zoro an idiot and the swordsman got pissed and sent it right back at him… to be fair they were both right.
Taking out a key, he unlocked the nearby door, opening it and stepping inside, before turning to the crew when they just looking inside curiously "Hurry through hand close the door." he told them, lighting a lantern considering how dark it was.
"Secret tunnel of sorts, huh?" Akira mused as they were soon given a lantern too.
"Are we sure we should be going this way?" Usopp gulped.
"If you don't want to, you can walk away," the barkeep shrugged.
"No way," Luffy grinned. "We're not turning away from an adventure!"
"Alright, if you're sure," the barkeep shrugged turning to leave. "Oh, and the password is two 100 Berri coins," he said before he soon left them in the tunnel.
"Welp, looks like we're going," Sanji mused.
"Isn't this like super sketchy?! What if its a trap?!" Usopp shouted.
"If it is then we'll make whoever is setting up the trap regret it. Sounds like a normal day," Zoro smirked.
"Besides, after Crocodile, I doubt there's that many people this early on in the Grand Line that could REALLY beat us." Lumen added "I'm sure later down the line we'll have tough enemies, but this early into it?"
Usopp still looked VERY unsure "My chronic I-shouldn't-go-down-this-tunnel disease is acting up! Let's just forget about it!"
"You and your fake diseases." Sanji sighed as he grabbed the lantern before pushing Usopp ahead as they started walking.
"I do wonder why all this secrecy though." Vivi mused as they walked, Carue looking around the tunnel as they used the lantern to guide them.
"Probably something they don't want getting out to regular people too much." Akira said, frowning in thought "Still though… I swear I've heard the name of this island before."
"Yes, this DOES seem rather familiar." Robin added thoughtfully.
Carue quacked out something in a humorous tone, causing Chopper to laugh.
"What did he say?" Nami asked.
"He said 'At least you guys are TRYING to remember unlike all those times Vivi met foreign royals.'" Chopper translated.
Vivi blushed at that, before pulling Carue's hat down over his eyes "We promised to NOT speak about those incidents!"
"So that time you brought up Crocodile wasn't just a fluke huh?" Lumen asked with a chuckle before Vivi punched him in the arm.
"Not one more word." she ground out, even as Carue chuckled and made an easy to understand promise of telling them more later.
Any further conversation was cut short when they noticed a figure in the darkness up ahead. "Hm? Is someone else here?" Sanji blinked as he moved forward to take a closer look. However, when the light shone on the person the face that was revealed...well...nightmare face was appropriate in this situation, what with it seemingly white, and with a rather disturbing look. Needless to say, Sanji freaked out a bit, shouting in surprise and losing his grip on the lantern.
"Watch it!" Lumen gasped, managing to grab the lantern before it hit the ground. The last thing they needed was a fire.
"Who's this guy?" Zoro frowned, hands immediately going for his swords, but Nami stopped him.
"Relax, I think who this guy is is pretty obvious," Nami said, before taking out two 100 Berri Coins. "The password, yes?"
The man nodded before backing away and opening the door behind him.
The group didn't waste time and soon went through the door, revealing what at first glance seemed to be another tavern...but as Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp excitedly ran in, it revealed that the area they were in...well…
"Holy shit, this place is MASSIVE," Lumen summed it up, as they were in a massive underground location that had several floors worth of places to eat and judging by how many Jolly Rogers were being proudly displayed, this whole place was full of pirates.
"That is… a LOT of crews." Akira said, eyeing the many flags hanging off the walls "Some decently well known ones too. Cat's Eye Pirates, Hammerface Pirates, Smalltail Pirates-"
Usopp burst out laughing at that one, falling onto his back as he rolled on the floor a bit, Lumen, Zoro and Sanji chuckling at the name while Carue tried to keep his bill shut, even though he was obviously laughing himself.
Luffy and Chopper meanwhile just looked confused "I don't get it?" they spoke in unison.
"Best if you don't." Nami sighed, even though she had to admit, that WAS a ridiculous name.
"But damn, this is one big event we've walked into," Sanji couldn't help but say once they got over the mirth.
"What kind of place did we stumble into THIS time?" Zoro smirked a bit.
"These crews must have hid their ships all over the island. The number of ships we saw on the port were way too small to carry all these people," Akira mused.
"Hey," came a random voice, to which they turned and saw one of the pirates looking at them. "You all came here to bet? If so the Bookmaker is on the top floor," he said.
"Bookmaker?" was the general response he got.
"Huh? So you're planning on entering the race then?" the pirate said in surprise.
"Race?" Nami muttered, wondering what he was talking about.
"Just give it up. You'll be throwing away your lives if you join the race," the pirate said, as the rest of his crew laughed in agreement.
"Ah yes, NOW I remember," Robin spoke up.
"Where are we then?" Lumen asked.
"I came here once before a long time ago, so I forgot for a while, but this is where they hold a race every few odd years," Robin said.
"That's RIGHT! Now I remember! We get-!" Akira started, before he remembered where he was… and Robin sprouted a hand on his shoulder, slapping it over his mouth, removing it after a few seconds as he lowered his voice "We get reports every few years about these races. Most of the time we just ignore them since it's Pirates taking each other out and fighting for each other's money. As for its name… it's called the Dead End Race."
"Let me guess, pirates who participate are racing to reach a goal, but while the race is on, the participants are basically allowed to do anything and everything to win, right?" Lumen groaned.
"Pretty much," Robin nodded.
"That sounds like fun!" Luffy said with a huge grin.
"Of course you'd think that." Vivi sighed.
"He's gonna drag us into it isn't he?" Usopp asked dryly.
"Probably yeah." Lumen said with a shrug, prompting a sigh from Usopp.
"Do you know who's participating then?" Robin asked the man that had spoken to them.
"About a third of the crews here at least, if not more." the man said "Down on the bottom floor are the third favorites." he said, making the group look over the railing… and see the pair of giants laughing and drinking from huge tankards "The giants Bobby and Pogo."
"Huh… think they know Dorry and Broggy?" Sanji mused.
"That'd be cool!" Luffy laughed.
"And on the terrace across from here, you have the Grampus Fishman, Willy. He's an old rival of Saw-Tooth Arlong." the man added, and Nami's hand clenched the railing a bit tighter at the reminder of THAT bastard.
"Suddenly I'm not so sure I want to be in this race." Usopp swallowed nervously.
"I don't think Strawhat particularly cares." Akira said, and Luffy's eyes were shining like stars at this point.
Lumen eyed Nami a bit, seeing how her hand was still clenched, before he got an idea to make her focus on something else "What's the pot for this race exactly?" he asked the man.
"Uh… let's see… last I checked it was at 300 000 000 Berries." he answered.
"We're entering the race!" Nami suddenly declared, earning cheers from a few of the idiots.
"At least she's not going to sulk." Vivi said quietly next to Lumen, earning a nod and a grin from him.
"Well then, since we're participating, I should probably explain the rules," Robin said, catching everyone's attention. "As you know, it's an anything goes race, but the goal always changes. They simply keep the starting point the same," she said. "Participants sail towards the goal by use of Eternal Poses that have been set to the goal. Everything after that is up to them," Robin finished.
"Simple rules. Never a good thing when it's a Pirate event," Akira sighed.
"Then we'll have to be ready for anything," Nami said.
"And done," Nami said as she finished signing them up for the race, Lumen, Sanji and Akira being with her.
"Alright, now hand over the money and you'll be registered," the Bookmaker said.
"Money?" Nami blinked, not remembering anything about a fee.
"You don't know?" the Bookmaker quirked an eyebrow until Nami realized what he meant.
"Oh, gotcha," she chuckled before putting down two 100 Berri coins. It was the password after all, so why not it be the fee too.
"Excellent," the Bookmaker chuckled before putting down an Eternal Log Pose.
Taking up the Eternal Log Pose, Nami read the destination. "Partia?" she mused.
"That's the end goal of the race this time. Good luck, you'll need it," the Bookmaker chuckled. "Especially since that place is known for cyclones."
"Lucky us we've got the best Navigator in the Grandline," Lumen snorted under his breath.
"Still, there's more competitors than we saw ships in the dock." Nami noted, leafing through the pages of competitors quickly.
"That ballsy little ship in the port is yours?!" the Bookmaker asked incredulously.
"Should we not have?" Sanji asked.
"Everybody else hid their ships around the island! What if the Marines saw it?!" the Bookmaker told the four, making them laugh nervously.
The Bookmaker sighed in annoyance. "Whatever. The race starts tomorrow morning, so while we're at it, do you want to place a bet?"
"A betting pool? Well that's obvious, I'd bet on ourselves," Nami said without hesitation.
"Great, you'll make 350 times your bet if you win then," the Bookmaker laughed.
"Though while we're on the topic, who IS the favorite for the race?" Sanji asked, seeing as it would be good to know who is the expected winner for plenty of reasons.
"Gasparde," the Bookmaker said.
Upon hearing that name, Akira was glad he wasn't taking a drink. He'd have done one epic spit take at that one. "Gasparde?!" he gasped in surprise. "As in 'General' Gasparde the Ex-Marine?!"
"I see you've heard of him." the Bookmaker laughed.
Akira grit his teeth a bit, but rather than speak now, he motioned for the others to follow him, at which point they returned to the rest of the crew.
"Is something the matter Mr. Akira?" Vivi asked in concern when she saw the Marine's face.
"Yeah… the top contender for the race… a man by the name of 'General' Gasparde, with a bounty of 95 Million Berries." Akira said as he sat down with a grim look.
"Gasparde?" Robin repeated, "I think I've heard that name before." she mused.
"You would have. He used to be Commodore Gasparde, of the Marines." Akira answered, "He's rather… notorious because of what his 'resignation' entailed."
"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Usopp asked with a nervous swallow.
Akira grimaced "He slaughtered all his men. Not a single survivor remained from that day. The higher ups did their best to cover it up. It was one of the darkest days in Marine History."
"And that guy is here? RIGHT NOW?!" Chopper asked fearfully in understandable worry.
"Looks like it." Lumen frowned "And I have to admit, I can't blame them for calling it a darkest day. Slaughtering your own men for no apparent reason? That's low even for Pirates."
"Well at least we know we'll be up against him," Akira sighed. "Especially with his Devil Fruit."
"Which one is it?" Nami asked. Knowing the ability of a Devil Fruit user was a MAJOR help in figuring out how to fight it.
"Despite being a vile person, he ironically found himself the Candy Candy Fruit," Akira said.
"Okay yeah...that's weirdly funny," Lumen snorted, but quickly got serious, letting Akira continue.
"It's one of the odd Logia types that doesn't actually involve an Element per say, but what it does is it allows him to turn his body into a sort of syrup. Doesn't SOUND too hard on paper, but considering it still allows attacks to pass right through him, it will make fighting him harder. Not to mention short range combat is likely to end with you stuck at near point blank range," Akira frowned at the last bit.
"So, you'd need to make it so he's totally solid, or make his syrup stick together more then." Usopp mused "That… something like that could work."
"What about flour?" Chopper asked "When you mix it with stuff like frozen maple syrup it gets SUPER solid, you know?"
"Hey, that's a great idea," Sanji nodded. "So as long as we have flour, we should be able to stop his Logia abilities then."
"So if we fight him, we should use the same tactic we used against Crocodile, only with flour rather than water," Vivi nodded.
"Of course, seeing as he IS a Devil Fruit User, throwing him overboard is still an option too," Lumen mused.
"Yeah, that one goes without saying," Usopp snorted. "Like it'd ever be THAT easy though," he chuckled emptily.
"So basically stick to the flour plan," Nami nodded. "Well, at least we know what we HAVE to stock up on before the race starts."
"I'll get right to that then," Sanji nodded.
"While we're at it, anything else we should do while waiting for morning?" Zoro asked...right before there was a small gust...and they all noticed a distinct lack of Luffy.
Everyone slowly turned to a nearby table and….
"...do I WANT to know how he got a mountain of food so quickly?" Akira asked...right before he noticed Luffy was using his powers to basically grab any and all plates of food that were being carried by the servers. "...never mind then…"
"Yeah… we were eating with him, but… he just kept going and going." Usopp sighed "No more space for us at the table."
"We're supposed to be SOLVING our money problems dammit, not adding to them!" Nami said in anger, about to go over and clonk him on the head good.
"The food here is all free actually." Robin informed her with a smirk "So we don't have to pay for any of Mr. Captain's meals."
Nami calmed down at that "Good to hear then!"
"Yeah… though… is it just me or am I seeing a guy with an appetite as BIG as Luffy?" Chopper noticed, pointing to another table, the others following his hoof as he was pointing at a young man with a yellow jacket that had the word SICK written on it, black pants, chin length light brown hair, and a hook shaped tattoo on his left cheek.
Just like Chopper said… the guy was eating just as much as Luffy… it was kind of terrifying honestly.
"I swear to god Luffy better not ask that guy to join us somehow or we are going to be eaten out of our ship." Lumen said dryly, his eyebrow twitching.
The group watched with morbid fascination as Luffy ate his way through enough food to feed a small crew, so much so they didn't feel any particular inclination to grab any plates anytime soon. Of course, this being Luffy, chaos was never far behind him, as in his usual appetite, he was grabbing more and more plates, even those with food specifically ordered by other patrons...which naturally pissed them off.
Unsurprisingly among them was the young man who was very much matching Luffy's appetite.
"Of course." Lumen said with a sigh, before he moved over to them while the young man started kicking Luffy "Scuse me." he called to him, the young man turning to him with a glare.
"What?" he asked in annoyance.
"Just… I understand you're pissed off about the food, but could you lay off my Captain? He's an unrepentant idiot, so he won't even learn from this." Lumen said easily, and Luffy muttered something into the floor.
"Yeah well he should stop stealing food with those stretchy… stretchy… wait his arms were stretching!" the young man finished in shock.
"Little slow there." Lumen muttered in deadpan.
Finally, Luffy pushed himself up, picking his hat up and placing it on his head, looking at the young man dangerously "So… you trying to fight?"
The young man eyed him for a good moment "An ability user huh? You guys are always tricky."
"So what?" Luffy questioned, before several chairs could be heard scraping against the floor as multiple people got up, Lumen glancing back.
"Hey, not to disturb you two black holes, but we got company." he said, earning the attention of the two as they turned to where he was looking.
"Hey you bastards! You trying to pick a fight, stealing all our damn food? You know who we are?!" one of the people asked… and Lumen just mentally identified him as a goon.
Which made his response easy to choose "I don't know, a travelling circus?"
The goon glared daggers at that one. "You got a death wish, kid?" he snarled.
"Sorry, you say something? I don't make it a habit of paying attention to scrubs." he shot back with a grin.
THAT did it. "You're dead!" the goon roared and before long things descended...into complete chaos. The goons attacked...because apparently they worked on a hive mentality.
"Hey, Captain, want to see how many we can take out each?" Lumen asked Luffy with a grin.
Luffy, in response, laughed "Sounds fun!"
"Screw it, I need to work out my aggression right now." the tattooed brunette said "I'm joining in on your game."
The fight was on, and Luffy opened strongly with a Gum Gum Pistol, sending some of the goons flying back. The rest soon went for Lumen and the brunette, but both of them were faster, the brunette easily evading a sword strike and countering with fast kicks and punches, even quickly using one of the tables to defend against bullets...which led to the some of the other patrons getting involved, most of which chose to get the out of the way.
Lumen quickly pulled out the Medajalibur and parried a sword strike before kicking the guy in the gut. A few of them tried to gang up on him, but he quickly rolled out of the way, and even managed to kick the leg out from under one of them. Naturally more didn't take kindly to that, but Lumen found he was holding his own. "Glad my time here hasn't been wasted," he chuckled lightly to himself as the fight continued.
Eventually the fight couldn't be contained to JUST this area and was soon spilling into other areas of the tavern. Naturally this got the goons even more riled up...and probably attracted a few OTHER combatants who were pissed at the three for being the center of the brawl.
"Whoops, looks like we've got even more enemies now," the brunette said as he dodged and countered several attackers...who each had various different weapons, the fight soon backing them towards the center where a pair of chains were in motion. Thinking quickly, he grabbed hold of the chain going up and soon started going up, several goons going after him by grabbing onto the chain as well.
"Hey, this looks like fun!" Luffy grinned, grabbing hold of the chain and soon riding up after the angry mob that seemed to take extra interest in the brunette.
"Hey, wait up!" Lumen snorted, as he soon grabbed on after Luffy, all of them going up...and passing by some of their crewmates who'd relocated to a different floor.
"I'd ask what you're doing, but somehow I'm not sure I want to know," Vivi said while Carue sweat dropped at the weird sight of everyone apparently taking an interest in the rising chain.
"Eh, bar brawl in a pirate bar. Weirder things could happen...probably," Lumen said.
"The amusing part is he's not wrong," Robin chuckled from where she was sitting.
"Just don't get lost," Nami said.
"We'll try, this place IS pretty big!" Lumen and Luffy laughed.
The fight soon resumed as the mob reached the ship on top, but once again the brunette proved to be pretty resourceful, and proceeded to use the ship to his advantage, making it harder for the mob to keep balance, before finally using the oar to knock...basically all of them off, leaving only one left, the guy who started this whole thing.
"Dang, we missed it," Luffy said when he and Lumen reached the top.
"But that was really clever. You're really good at thinking on your feet," Lumen said.
"Thanks. It's kind of my thing." the brunette grinned "Always nice to knock around some morons, you know?"
Lumen and Luffy both nodded in agreement at that "Oh yeah, totally."
The brunette chuckled "Anyway, the name's-"
"Would you stop ignoring me?!" the last remaining goon shouted at the three of them in annoyance.
"What, you're still here?" Lumen asked dryly.
"OF COURSE I AM!" the goon shouted even louder.
"That's stupid." Luffy said bluntly, causing the goon to scream in rage and swing his sword at them, the two leaning back… and the ropes holding up the boat were cut, causing it to start to drop.
"You don't have much going on upstairs, do you?" Lumen deadpanned as they fell...right before the brunette had the time to leap away using the boat as a springboard.
"He's quick!" Luffy whistled. "Though I guess we shouldn't be hanging around like this either. Hang on!" he said, before grabbing Lumen (who grabbed the goon in the process since as much as he's an idiot, that's no reason to let him die) and soon stretching out his arm and grabbing hold of the railings in the same area that the brunette had landed in, allowing all of them to land there as well, though the goon was scared shitless from the experience.
"Oh? You grabbed him too? That's peculiar," the brunette commented.
"Eh, he's an idiot, but that's no reason to just let him die," Lumen shrugged.
"Not something I'd expect to hear from a pirate," the brunette snorted.
"So how about it?" Luffy grinned. "Wanna keep going?"
"Maybe, but I think that guy isn't done either," the brunette said, as the goon had regained his composure and staggered to his feet, looking ready for a fight again. But before he could…
"Noisy pests." a voice spoke in the darkness of the bar they'd landed in front of, looking towards it while the goon froze in fear.
Sitting in the wrecked bar was a man wearing a large white coat, his chest completely open which showed off his muscular frame, his dirty blonde hair slicked back, and standing next to him was a man wearing a dark outfit with pale skin, tattoos visible all over him.
And all around them was a completely wrecked bar with people thrown all over the place.
"G-General Gasparde!" the goon gasped in fear "I-I didn't know you were here!"
"Is there an issue with my being here?" Gasparde asked darkly.
"O-of course not! I-I'm just surprised!" the goon said, dropping to his knees, his forehead meeting the floor "B-but if I may… is there a reason you're in this bar in particular?" he asked after a moment, looking up.
Gasparde scoffed "Just testing out somebody who wanted to join us." he said, before nodding to one of the pillars, a figure stepping out.
As the figure stepped out, Lumen rose a curious eyebrow… before his face slowly morphed to horror, his body starting to shake in fear as he was hyperventilating "N-no… How are you HERE?!"
The person in question let out a rather… unhinged laugh as they saw Lumen. They were obviously a woman, one with long black hair that went all the way down to her waist, along with dark colored make-up on her face, a slender and attractive figure… though the crazed look in her purple eyes made it rather hard to truly find the woman attractive, even though she was wearing a tight black dress with some white frills on it, a sort of strange take on gothic lolita style. It might have looked pretty...if not for the fact it was covered in blood, and from the looks of the room and how she seemed fine, it wasn't her blood.
"I've finally found you, Darling!" she smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile as she looked right at Lumen.
Lumen's breathing was even more erratic, his mind a whirl with panic, before he just couldn't take it anymore and passed out suddenly, the last thing he heard before darkness claimed him being Luffy shouting his name in worry and his body suddenly rushing through the air.
Yeah... we're going down this route.
Obviously, that girl is the person that Lumen's sister knew he would be not be happy about seeing... and he has a panic attack on finding her here.
Don't worry, she'll be explained in the next chapter.
As well... yeah, Movie 4.
I'll be honest with all of you, I wanted to extend the journey of the crew, and I felt the movies are the best way to do that... as long as we don't use all of them of course.
I'm sure you can take a guess at which one will be ABSOLUTELY omitted from the running.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and as always...
Count the Medals:
Red: Taka, Condor
Green: Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Batta
Yellow: Lion, Tora, Cheetah
Grey: Sai, Gorilla, Zou
Blue: Shachi, Unagi
Orange: Cobra, Kame, Wani
Black: Kani
Purple: Tyranno