Chapter 5
Delta flopped onto his bed in Party's Bar with a dull squeak. The past week and three days had been a nightmare. A nightmare. Garp, overprotective grandpa that he was, had made it his duty to make sure that Delta was trailed and watched at every moment of the day by the random marines from Garp's ship stationed on Foosha. He was also prohibited from speaking to Luffy without Garp's unwelcome supervision. It was even worse than the short lockdown stint with Makino.
And really, the constant surveillance had gotten to him. He couldn't do anything that would remotely make him seem like a threat, meaning that using his wide range of skills to escape the marines would only be asking for trouble, and he couldn't use his devil fruit in any way, shape, or form because that would just confuse everyone when Luffy ate his.
Also, the simple idea of talking to Luffy became a drag as it was impossible to have any sort of meaningful conversation with Garp looming just a few feet away, always glaring daggers at Delta. It was made even worse by Luffy's complete inability to keep his mouth shut about some of the more sensitive information he knew, which made half of their terrible, unproductive conversations just Delta shushing his younger counterpart over and over.
This of course culminated in a shouting match between Garp, who was tired of Delta keeping things from him, and Delta, who was tired of Garp's general existence. After a bit, Garp completely lost his cool, punched Delta through the wall of the bar again, and Makino was forced to settle it. Delta, who was sitting on his ass outside, only saw Makino furiously whispering at Garp and making odd hand motions, but when he walked back in through the hole, Garp refused to even so much as acknowledge his presence for the rest of that day.
Strangely, Delta had been punched through the exact same place in the wall as the first time.
Terrible conversions weren't even all of it, as he hadn't really seen much of Luffy anyhow. Most of the time the boy and Garp were out in the forest training, if his memory of his own past served him right. It was really pretty boring in Foosha with only Makino and a bunch of ninny marine recruits around for company.
But finally, finally, finally, it was over. Delta laughed a humorless laugh from his bed at the fact that he could now get some much needed alone-from-marines time. Garp had sailed off that morning, before Delta had even woken up. He'd only heard the news minutes earlier after asking Makino about the old man's whereabouts.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." Came Delta's muffled voice, his head firmly lodged in the pillows.
The door whooshed open, leaving in its place a widely grinning Luffy practically bouncing up and down.
"Hey there, Lu. What's got you so exited?"
"Gramps is gone!" He all but shouted.
Delta nodded into his pillow. "And?"
"We can hang out again like before!"
"Sounds good to me. Watcha wanna' do, little man?"
"Fight me!" Luffy roared, pumping his tiny fist in the air.
Delta picked up his head to stare at Luffy blankly. "Whuh? Why?"
"Cause you've been gone all week-"
"Not my fault." Delta interrupted. Luffy ignored him.
"-Gramps has been training me. He was pretty happy with my strength I got with your help, so instead of conditioning, he taught me some awesome fighting moves!" Luffy punched at the air to emphasize his point.
"You can't beat me," Delta said, as if explaining something to a small child. Which evidently, he was. "And I'm not just saying that. It would literally be impossible. With only your fists, you could punch me in the same spot over and over for a year and I'd barely bruise. Remember Lu, I'm the Pirate King."
"Don't care! Fight me!" He raised his fists again.
After a moment, Delta sighed. "Fine." Luffy cheered. They walked down the stairs, through the bar that was way too filled for eleven in the morning, and stopped outside in the dirt road. Like an old western, the two took their places on opposite sides, facing one another.
A few passersbys paused their daily activities to see what the two hooligans of Foosha were doing now, and Delta was impressed to see a small crowd had formed.
"You ready?" He lazily asked Luffy, not that he really needed an answer. The boy was literally shaking in anticipation.
"Yeah!"
"Then ready... set… go."
Immediately, Luffy came charging at him like a bull, fist clenched and ready to strike.
"LUFFY PUNCH!" He yelled, letting his arm go soaring, yet sadly hitting nothing but air.
"You named your attack?" Delta asked, now on the other side of their makeshift arena. "Why?"
"Gramps said it makes your attacks stronger! And it's also cool!" Delta had to concede to that point.
Luffy ran at him again. "LUFFY KICK!" He yelled as he kicked at Delta (Crazy, I know).
And once again, Luffy hit nothing as the crowd 'oohed' and 'aahed' at Delta's superhuman speed. This time though Delta went on the offensive, delivering a (relatively) weak kick to Luffy's side and sending the boy spiraling to the ground.
"Lu, you're being silly."
"No you!" the boy yelled, shakily getting to his feet and running at Delta again.
As the Pirate King readied himself to sidestep to the left, Luffy caught him off guard, making a feint in a very skilled move for a six year old.
Of course, he was still a six year old and Delta was still the Pirate King, so it didn't really do much in terms of turning the tides of the fight, but it was still impressive nonetheless.
"Nice one." Delta complimented as he sent a swift kick to Luffy's head, knocking him out cold. Some of the crowd booed at that and Delta turned to them, utterly unrepentant. "Oh shut up. If you knew Luffy like I know Luffy, you'd know he would never give up until he literally couldn't move anymore. I was doing him a favor."
That actually did help in quelling some of the townsfolk.
"Now if you'll excuse me," he said, picking up Luffy, "I'm gonna' go put this guy to bed. Bye."
Walking back into the bar, Delta noticed a nasty bruise forming on his forehead and inwardly winced. "Sorry Lu." He whispered.
"Iz all righ…" Came Luffy's gurgled reply.
"Huh, I meant to knock you out. You're one tough kid."
A stupid grin lit up his face. "I'm… you."
Delta couldn't help but smile as well. "That you are Lu, that you are."
-o0O0o-
Time flew by in Foosha for Delta over the next couple months. Between training and hanging out with Luffy (which took a lot of his time; Luffy was very needy) and helping Makino at the bar (yes, he was an adult and believed that he needed to work to get his keep), he really didn't have much to complain about, though. Life was actually pretty good. Sure he was still in the past and far away from his crew, but if he had to be somewhere he was glad it was Foosha. Being the Pirate King and all, he didn't really have much ability to go to East Blue in the future. The world government wouldn't have been able to stand for it, which Delta understood, even if he hadn't been happy about it. Also, he, Makino, and Luffy had celebrated Luffy's seventh birthday during this short time skip. They had eaten a meat cake, naturally.
This is what Delta thought about as he slowly scrubbed the bar top in a very cliche looking movement. He paused as he heard the yelling of someone who could only be Luffy getting nearer and nearer until the bar door slammed open and Luffy sprinted in, gasping for breath.
"So what's up, Lu?" Delta asked with a raised brow as he looked down at the raven haired boy.
"Delta- it's- it's- a pirate ship! Right outside! Come- look!" He yelled between gasps of air.
Delta couldn't tell whether Luffy was scared or excited, but he followed Luffy outside either way. When Delta stepped outside, he was immediately bombarded with cheers of joy from all around.
"Delta thank the heavens!" the crotchety old Mayor Woop Slap sounded as he made his way over, "There are disgusting pirates on our shore! You have to take care of them!"
Delta held in a sigh. His superior fighting ability had made him into something of a superhero within Foosha. It was also partially because he had single handedly made crime near non existent, but the people had severely misjudged his motives. He wasn't a hero, he just liked the townspeople and didn't want to see them hurt. It wasn't some ethical need of his to help people or anything. And it wasn't like he hadn't tried to explain that he wasn't a hero, he had, they just wouldn't listen to him.
But Delta didn't say any of that in to Woop Slap in that moment. He instead just smiled reassuringly. "Of course, mayor. You know I'd never let pirates hurt you guys."
Woop Slap smiled. All the random people suspiciously surrounding Party's Bar cheered some more.
"Delta, come on!" Luffy whined, pulling at his shirt.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." The two walked out to the coast, passing by the increasingly obnoxious cheers of thanks and joy.
At about a quarter mile distance from the beach, cheering people disappeared. Pirates really did scare just about everyone. Foosha turned into a ghost town. Still, Luffy and Delta trekked on.
Finally, the two stepped onto the beach. Delta stopped dead in his tracks. The ship was big, yet unassuming and not particularly memorable. No, it wasn't the ship he loved, but the people on board that ship. Oh, how he missed them. He could never forget that jolly roger. Two red bands crossing one one of the eyes, and two swords to replace the generic crossbones.
Delta swallowed. It was the Red Haired Pirates.
"Are you alright?" Luffy asked.
"What?" He shook his head, snapping out of his reverie. "Oh, it's nothing. Now let's go talk to these pirates."
"But I thought you said you were gonna' beat them up?"
Delta smiled. "That's because Woop Slap isn't like us. He doesn't understand how cool pirates can be."
Luffy grinned. "Shishishishi!"
"You know, your friend is a pretty smart guy." The friendly voice of Shanks said, suddenly appearing in the crouched position at their side.
"Yeah I know! Delta's awesome!"
Shanks raised in eyebrow and smirked. "Is he now?"
"Yeah! He's the strongest guy I know, and he's training me to be the Pirate King!" Luffy held up two fingers. "Double awesome!"
Shanks laughed. "Pirate King, huh? And what makes a shrimp like you think you could find the One Piece?"
Delta froze. He and Luffy had talked about this and he really believed that Luffy wouldn't give out his secret willy nilly anymore, but the fear lingered in the back of his head.
"It's cause I'm strong, duh! My punch is as powerful as a pistol!"
Delta couldn't hold in his sigh. When he had been a kid, it had taken meeting Shanks to get him to start saying that, but apparently he had taken Shanks' place in his younger self's life. Whoop de freakin' doo.
"You don't look very strong to me." Shanks said jokingly. He turned to the rest of his crew, who were slowly filing out of the ship and coming towards them. "Hey boys! Do you think this kid looks he's got pistol punches?"
"Not a chance." Lucky Roo cajoled as he reached them. He looked down at Luffy through his little black shades. "Who is this kid anyway?"
"I'm gonna' be the King of the Pirates, fatty!" Luffy yelled in righteous anger.
Shanks paused. Delta paused. Lucky Roo paused. The part of Shanks' that had heard Luffy's comment paused. Then, simultaneously, the all fell to the ground in uncontrollable laughter.
This did not help calm Luffy's righteous anger. "Stop it! What are you idiots doing? Quit laughing!"
Delta managed to calm down the most first. He placed a comforting hand on Luffy's shoulder and smiled at him. "Never change, Lu."
"What does that even mean?"
"Lu, you just called one of the strongest members of the Red Haired Pirates 'fatty'. That's amazing."
Shanks, also having calmed down, perked up at that. "You know about us, kid? I'm surprised. East Blue's a pretty sheltered place."
Delta nodded. "You're not wrong there. No, I learned your names over here, but I learned what you are out on the Grand Line."
Shanks seemed impressed. "You've been to the Grand Line? What brought you back here, then?"
"Long story short, I left due to forces out of my control. I didn't mean to."
"Stop ignoring me, you butts!" Luffy roared, face red as a tomato. If Delta didn't know better, he would've thought his counterpart was going to pop a gasket.
"Sorry about that, little guy. What's your name, anyhow?" Shanks asked.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King!"
"And is that all one name or…?"
Luffy stared dumbfounded. "What?"
Delta sighed, "Lu it's not hard. He was talking about Newton's three laws of motion and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle."
Luffy looked even more confused now. "Wuh?"
Delta shook his head disparagingly. "Antimatter. Trig. Galileo. Calculus. Pythagorean Theorem. Alkali Metals."
Luffy staggered, head spinning. "I- I don't-"
Delta quickly listed off, "Physics. Copernicus. Bernoulli. Electrolysis. Inertia. Radiation."
Luffy fell over, unconscious.
Delta smirked. "That did the trick."
The entirety of the Red Haired Pirates stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
"What did you do?" Yasopp asked from a little ways away.
"Lu is easily confused," Delta explained, "If he's being overly emotional- angry for example, I just say lots of big words and pretend he should understand them until he passes out."
"But are any of those things you said even words? What's a physics?"
Delta shrugged. "Some stupid thing that has no place being here. I just made up all those words on the spot. Lu can't tell the difference, so why not?"
"Is that child abuse?" Some random no name Red Haired pirate asked.
"No idea I doubt it, but why would you care? You're a pirate."
"I think he just wanted to learn some new trivia." Yasopp said.
Delta shrugged. "Whatever. I'm gonna' take Luffy back to Makino's, so if one or two of you would come with me, that'd be great."
"Why only one of two?" Yasopp queried.
Delta rolled his eyes in a very noticeable fashion. "In case you haven't noticed, you guys are pirates and this is a defenseless town. I think it would be understandable if they got a little worked up by you all just barging in. Sure I know you guys are peaceful, but they don't know that. Yet, at least."
"And how do you know we are peaceful?" Lucky Roo asked, crossing his arms. "If you know who we are, you know that we're some pretty dangerous folk. And it's not like you know us personally- he'll, we don't even know you're name."
"It's Delta," Shanks said cheerfully, "At least that's what the future Pirate King said."
"And you're right, I don't know any of you personally," Delta lied, "But I know Makino, and she trusts you to be here, so I do too."
"And how is Makino doing, by the way?" Shanks asks with a fond smile.
"Just come with me and see. You too, Yasopp. You're not very physically intimidating, so that'll help in quelling the townspeople's fears."
Hanging Luffy over his shoulder, Delta walked off with Shanks and Yasopp close behind, ignoring both the blushing face of Yasopp and the roaring laughter emanating from the rest of his crew. They walked in relatively peaceful silence, as the only sounds other than footsteps made were the two bullets Yasopp fired at Delta for his half-joke, which he deftly avoided. Looking back at the perpetrator, he noticed that both of the Red Haired Pirates seemed impressed. He just grinned.
"Delta! Delta! Did you take down those pirates yet?" Mayor Woop Slap yelled in greeting. Then, his eyes wandered over to the two new companions and the little old man went rigid.
"Hello mayor! Don't mind these guys, they're cool."
"But they're- they're- they're-"
"Pirates? Yes, I've noticed. Don't worry though, they get the Delta seal of approval."
Gaining back some semblance of his usual self, the mayor yelled, "No! I will not have any no good, rotten pirates in my town!"
"Ouch, that stung." Shanks said solemnly, placing a hand over his heart.
"Come on mayor, don't you trust me? They're not bad, promise."
At that moment, Makino decided to appear out of the shadows in defense of the new pirates. "Please mayor, I know these men and I pledge that they're good people. And look at this guy!" She motioned to Yasopp, "He looks like a twig that grew a face! He couldn't hurt a fly!"
"Well, actually-" What would have been some sort of gloating about how he could hit a fly from a hundred feet away was cut off by Delta, who punched him in the face.
"So you see mayor, even Makino is on my side about this. In conclusion," Delta concluded, "These pirates are perfectly harmless and neither you nor anyone else in Foosha need worry about them." Shanks clapped. So did Makino.
Woop Slap finally seemed convinced, but then, "Why is Luffy unconscious on your shoulder?"
"He was getting angry again."
"Ah." After a moment, "Fine. They can stay. But I'm not happy."
Suddenly, barges of townsfolk who had probably been eavesdropping flooded out of their houses with cheers to greet the new pirates. It was all very exciting.
"Hey guys!" Shanks hollered, "The mayor guy said we could stay!"
And like that, the cheering doubled in intensity as Shanks' entire crew came barreling out from the corner side street. Delta at first wondered why he hadn't noticed them trailing behind him, but soon realized it was just a stupid gag and stopped caring. Luckily enough, only a few townspeople screamed in terror at the sudden influx of random pirates.
