An awkward silence hung in the air as the Straw Hats stared at the weird, lightly dressed man who had just ran up to them and posed. However, it didn't take long for them to connect the dots between the surprise arrival, and their jack-in-the-box friend:
"Franky?" Nami asked nervously, somewhat afraid of engaging with him. Franky had already been a lot to deal with as a toy, and now he was a 2 meter tall man with muscles and a Hawaiian shirt.
"AOW! Of course! Who else could it be? NOT Franky?! I don't think so!" the blue-haired man exclaimed, still in his odd pose. "After the cannonball hit Sugar right in the face, I poofed back into my original, SUPER form!"
"Well… it looks like you didn't get back everything" Nami mumbled awkwardly, trying not to look at his rather scantily clad lower half.
"Huh?"
Franky looked over himself, inspecting every part of his body and even counting his fingers three separate times.
"I can't see anything that's missing."
"Pants" Nami said dumbfounded, growing more and more frustrated with the former toy.
"What about em?" Franky asked calmly, picking his nose with his little finger.
"WEAR EM!" the Straw Hats yelled in chorus at a remarkably unaffected Franky.
"Nah. I'm a free man! I don't let cloth trap my SUPER body! My skin gotta feel the breeze, and I gotta show off my looks!" the man explained, striking a few more poses before entering an impromptu dance number. As Usopp and Chopper joined the dance without hesitation, Nami just sighed and turned back towards the mansion.
Surprisingly, she spotted another person there. A slim woman with long, pink hair and a green hat. She was dressed up in a brown jacket, midriff-baring white tanktop and striped shorts with suspenders. More notably she appeared very bruised and battered, panting as she staggered her way over to the unconscious Sugar… in order to start growling insults at the defeated pirate.
"Hey Franky, is she a friend of yours?" Nami called back at the dancing males behind her, while keeping her eyes trained on the stranger. Franky stopped mid-pirouette, causing Usopp and Chopper to bump into him. As he saw the pink-haired woman in the mansion tears started welling up in his eyes, and he suddenly started running towards her. The woman standing over Sugar looked up to see Franky charge at her at full speed, kicking up a trail of dust as tears and snot flowed freely from his face.
"BONNEEEEY!" he yelled as he leaped forward into a tackle-hug towards the much smaller and very clearly injured woman.
"Wait, wait, Franky!" Bonney desperately called out, but far too late to stop the very painful collision.
The next couple of hours were spent on making introductions, getting the newly toy-less town into order and locking up the unconscious Playtime Pirates. Bonney was Franky's childhood friend, and the owner of the mansion the pirates had used as a headquarters. When Sugar and her crew first attacked Bonney had used her own Devil Fruit, which allowed her to manipulate people's age, to turn her into a child right being turned into a toy herself. While in the form of a doll she couldn't use her Devil Fruit, so Sugar was stuck with the body of a ten-year old. Because of this the vengeful captain had used the helpless Bonney as a punching bag to take her frustration out on for months.
"And I'm NEVER turning you back! Enjoy going through puberty again" Bonney yelled at a now conscious Sugar. The Playtime Pirate captain had been shoved into a dog cage, and her hands completely wrapped up with rope and blankets. She wouldn't be transforming anybody for a while. "Aaah, you don't truly appreciate having skin until you've been stuck with felt for months!"
Bonney stretched as she walked away from the captive captain, with the rest of the crew being tied up nearby.
"A Marine ship should come by within a couple of days to pick em up" she said, approaching Nami, Usopp and Chopper resting nearby.
"Well, we three should be heading out before then too. Best not to linger around with a bunch of Marines running around" Nami pointed out, not really moving from her current position.
"Do you… do you think we could eat something before we go?" Chopper asked weakly, Usopp agreeing with an unintelligible but affirming groan. "We haven't eaten in so long…"
Just then, Franky happened to be walking by carrying one barrel of cola and one barrel of beer on his shoulders. He raised one eyebrow and tilted his head.
"What do you mean? Who do you think the feast is for?"
"Fea-"
The three Straw Hats immediately whipped their heads to look down towards the town, where indeed many tables had been set up filled with various forms for food. Bonney opened her mouth to say something, but the trio had already started sprinting towards the town, Franky deciding to sprint after them as well. Bonney just sighed and assigned a few guards to make sure the captured pirates didn't try anything before joining the party herself. In the distance she saw a dust cloud shoot up as the Straw Hats crashed into the feast.
Tears were shed, laughter rang out and food was consumed, all in mass quantities all over the town. The townsfolk were celebrating their long-awaited freedom, and honoring the warriors who had made it possible. Said warriors were probably the ones crying the most, as they finally got to fill their empty stomachs. The only thing that could match their battle prowess was their ravenous hunger, the three pirates scarfing down everything they could manage to squeeze into their mouths.
Yet surprisingly, the various cooks and other food-providers managed to keep up with the absurd appetites. The reason sat across the Straw Hats at a large table; Jewelry Bonney. Her own insatiable appetite had forced the town to learn how to handle such a massive need for food, so they excelled at providing vast quantities of edibles at a moment's notice. A constant stream of people carrying huge trays of food ran to and from the table to feed the starved pirates and the gluttonous rich girl, as Franky, who normally was the most intense of the five, sat nearby and calmly sipped a cola.
As the people around the table consumed the meal they made various mumbling noises, which they somehow managed to interpret as a conversation with each other.
"Mh, mmhpnnpnhmh? Mhnpmhpmnnhpnmh?" (Translation: "So, you're the owner of that giant mansion? That means you gotta be loaded, right?")
"NMPH! Mphmnpmhnnnphh?!" (Translation: "Nami! Why do you always have to think about money?!")
"Mmh, mhnph. Mhmphmphmpnphmhphn." (Translation: "No no, she's right. You guys really deserve a reward.")
"Mnmhpnmhmnphmnph?" (Translation: "A reward like being showered in Belly?")
"Mh! Mnphmnphmnphmp!" (Translation: "Ah! Nami's eyes have turned into Belly symbols!")
A little while later they managed to find their table manners again, eating at a more reasonable pace that allowed them to speak normally.
"Guess we SUPER lucked out with you guys getting here when you did. I was just about to storm the mansion myself, by staying far away and shooting at it until I hit Sugar!" Franky grinned before chugging his fortieth bottle of cola that night.
"Yeah, don't know if that would have really worked out. One shot from Wyper's bazooka and that cannon-station you put up would have been toast" Nami pointed out.
"Right, right. Speaking of, mind if I grab that bazooka myself? Once I've added my own Franky-touch, it'll be a weapon worthy of a super guy like me!"
"Sure, we weren't gonna use it" Nami shrugged.
"Good, he's gonna need it if he's going to be travelling with you guys" Bonney grinned, before biting into a huge chicken leg.
Everybody else around the table reacted with varying levels of surprise and acceptance, but the most surprised one by far was Franky himself. Seeing this Bonney leaped onto the table, somehow managing to avoid stepping on any food, and pointed straight at Franky's face.
"You mean to tell me you've been having me listen to you making songs about wanting to be a pirate like your dad for over ten years, and once you met these guys you didn't even consider it?!" she half-yelled at the normally bombastic Franky, who now shrank before the yelling girl.
"B-but everybody only just got back to normal! I can't just leave right away, I-"
"They're gonna be leaving in a few days, and you WILL be on that ship. I won't forgive you for missing this opportunity" Bonney interrupted him. Nervously, Franky looked towards the equally intimidated Straw Hats.
"Can I join your crew?"
"Sure" the three pirates agreed in chorus, shooting simultaneous double thumbs ups.
Bonney nodded and walked back to her seat. As it started dawning on Franky what had just happened, a single tear formed and flowed down his angular face.
"Aw, he's crying" Usopp grinned, pointing at Franky with very little tact.
"Sh-shut up! I'm not crying! But I'd like for you all to listen to a song I just composed. I call it 'I'm About To Be A Pirate Just Like My Dad'."
"Where'd you get a guitar from?!"
"Your dad?" Nami inquired, perhaps trying to keep Franky from bursting into song.
"Yeah, he left a long, long time ago to join a pirate crew. He taught me how to put together explosives-" "Sounds irresponsible." "-and taught me to live life with a DON! I took my own spin on it to live life in a SUPER way!"
"Wait… a DON?" Nami said softly to herself, scratching her chin. "Hey… is your dad's name Tom?"
Franky whirled around to look at Nami in surprise.
"Y-you've heard of him?!" he asked, eyes wide open.
"Yeah! He's part of Praline's crew, and he used to show me some of the grenades and rockets he built" Nami nodded, a warm smile on her face as she remembered her times hanging out with Praline and her crewmates.
This time Franky didn't even try to hide the tears, blubbering on about fate and destiny as he desperately played a guitar solo to try and regain control of his emotions. It didn't work, but it sounded amazing.
"Ah! I just remembered something!" Chopper suddenly gasped loudly, then looked straight at Bonney.
"Uh, Bonney? Do you know where we can find a boat? Ours kinda got set on fire by the toys" he said while scratching the back of his head. One of the nearby townsfolk overheard this, and awkwardly shuffled away in case they wanted to track down the former toys who had done it.
"Say no more!" Bonney grinned after swallowing her own mouthful. She turned her head and called for "Hildon! Get over here!"
Soon after, a pale, stubby vampire-looking man with spiky yellow hair flew up to Bonney using his arm-wings.
"Yes, Miss Bonney? You called?"
"Yeah, think you could prepare the Going Batty?"
Wind filled the sails of a caravel traveling away from the Gecko Islands, carrying the newly expanded Straw Hat figurehead resembled a black bat with purple eyes and a big, purple open-mouth smile, showing the mark left its builder Hildon. Franky stood at the helm while Chopper gave directions, since the mink was much too short to be able to steer himself. Nami and Usopp, meanwhile, were designing a flag for the Straw Hats. For the first time in a while they had no shortage of food, and their new ship had plenty more space than the dinghy they were used to.
"So, now that we have some downtime, I think it'll be a good idea to think about what we'll need for the crew" Nami suddenly called out and stood up, making a point of ignoring Usopp's suggestion for a Jolly Roger featuring an oddly handsome skull with a long nose. "Right now, our crew consists of a captain (me), a fighter, a navigator and a demolitionist. So we still have a couple of priority positions that need to be filled: a shipwright, a doctor and a cook. These three are the roles I feel like we definitely need to look for someone to fill. I will personally take on the position as treasurer!"
"I know where we can find a cook" Chopper said. "It's actually where I've been having us go. I have… some other business there. Don't really know where we can find a doctor though, sorry."
"The stuff I build mostly just blows up, and I don't think a ship should be exploding" Franky shrugged.
"Ah, speaking of; Franky, do you think you'd be able to help make some improvements to my arm?" Nami asked as she raised her mechanical left arm.
"Sure! What kinda stuff did you have in mind?" Franky grinned, his mind already racing with possibilities.
A few days later…
The light, repeated squeaks of a wheel was the only sound heard besides the waves as the Straw Hat Pirates' flag was raised for the first time. All four members of the crew watched with smiles on their faces as a Jolly Roger depicting the typical skull wearing a straw hat flowed gracefully in the wind. One of the two crossbones behind the skull was grey and had lines resembling metal plates, symbolizing Nami's metal arm. Speaking of, the captain wasn't wearing her arm today. It had been removed to let her and Franky tinker with it and try to make some upgrades, though it was a time-consuming process as Nami only had the knowledge to maintain and perform repairs, while Franky had never built robotics or limb-replacements before.
The four watched the flag signaling them as pirates fly overhead, in silence until Franky finally spoke:
"Hey is that a Marine ship?"
The rest of the quartet whipped their heads around to look where Franky was pointing and sure enough, a ship with the word MARINE displayed proudly on the sails was heading straight for them.
"Are you KIDDING ME?! I haven't seen a single Marine ship ever since I left Foosha, but the SECOND we raise our pirate flag one just pops out of nowhere?!" Nami yelled in a rage, shaking her one remaining fist.
On the bow of the Marine vessel stood a tall, muscular man. He was dressed in the usual white Marine uniform, a jacket draped over his shoulder signifying his rank above the recruits around him. He had dark skin and a shaved head, and he glared at the Straw Hats under his furrowed unibrow.
"Attention, pirates" he called out in a booming voice once they were close enough. "For flying a pirate flag, you are hereby under arrest. Put down your weapons and surrender."
"Franky" Nami said calmly.
"Yeah?"
"Shoot him."
"Sure" Franky nodded, pulling up the bazooka he had looted from Wyper and firing at the Marine without hesitation.
"It seems you won't come quietly…" the Marine said softly before leaping into the air to avoid the blast. He swung his arms to the side and showed why the uniform department hated working with Lieutenant Daz Bonez: the sleeves ripped to reveal steel edges emerging from his arms.
"Look out!" Usopp called out as all four Straw Hats scattered to avoid the falling Marine trying to cut them all with the blades from his body. As soon as he landed Nami went to punch him with her metal arm when she suddenly remembered she didn't have it. Gritting her teeth, she instead went to go retrieve her axe. She'd already seen his ability to produce blades from his body, she didn't want to fight him without some metal of her own to counter it.
"You're not getting away" Daz stated in a dull tone, sprouting edges on the insides of his fingers and palms. He was about to lunge after Nami when he spotted an attacking Chopper in the corner of his eye. He only just barely had enough time to turn the side of his face into steel, just as the mink swung his pole-weapon into Daz's scowling visage.
"Fine, then… you die first" he frowned, glaring straight down at Chopper who was quickly regretting his decision.
By now the Marine ship had gotten close enough that the less powerful members of the crew could make the jump over to the Going Batty. The first to land on the pirate ship instantly got a faceful of hammer that sent him careening back into his comrades.
"Bring it! One time I held back ten warships, seven battalions of Marine giants, five Admirals and all of Cipher Pol using nothing but a squeaky hammer!" Usopp loudly boasted, hammer raised and his other hand held out in front of him as he struck a pose.
"That's so obviously a lie!" "Yeah! There's only ever THREE Admirals at once!" "THAT'S WHAT'S WEIRD TO YOU?!"
Several of the Marines ran straight for Nami, who had reached her axe.
"Ah… I kinda feel bad about fighting a one-armed girl" one of the Marines groaned, hesitantly raising his sword. He was immediately struck by an upwards swing from Nami's axe, sending him spinning high into the air as he screamed, eventually landing back on the Marine ship.
"I don't. SHOOT HER!"
While Usopp and Nami dealt with the horde of Marine soldiers, Chopper was doing all he could just avoiding Daz Bonez's relentless attacks. The poor Mink kept on his toes, repeatedly hopping backwards as the vicious Marine stomped towards him. Blade-filled palms and fingers swung towards Chopper, not showing any signs of slowing down in the slightest. Suddenly, Chopper stumbled. Seeing his chance for a killing blow, Daz immediately lunged forwards with his hand outstretched. In response Chopper held his metal staff up, blocking the attack but slicing the staff in half.
"Now you're disarmed… it's time to end this" Daz stated, raising his other hand to swing down and strike the seemingly helpless Mink. But instead of trying to evade, Chopper did something surprising: he jumped towards Daz. The two pieces of the metal staff collided against Daz's chest, giving him only the briefest warning before electricity was channeled through both metal rods. The Marine cried out in pain as Chopper's Electro surged through him. Staggering backwards, Daz clutched his forehead.
"Not… done yet!" he growled, opening one eye to glare at Chopper… but only seeing a sunglasses-wearing man pointing a bazooka right at his chest.
"Try dodging this one" Franky grinned before pulling the trigger. The blast hit Daz right in the chest, launching him backwards. He flew over the railing of both ships and smashed through a wall. As the smoke rose from the remains of the wall broken apart by Daz and the bazooka-shot, the Marines quickly figured it was time for a retreat. The ones still conscious ran off the Going Batty, either carrying their unconscious friends with them or getting them thrown after them by the pirates. Thinking their ship a safe haven, they went to go check up on Daz when…
"HIYAH!" "YARGH!"
Marines were blasted away with sword wounds across their chests as two figures charged out of the hole Daz had made. Two women wielding swords, made a mad dash across the deck, wildly swinging at the already routing Marines.
"We told you it was an accident!" "That lieutenant seriously looked like the guy on the poster!"
Suddenly, they noticed the Straw Hat Pirates, who were just staring in confusion at the two women's sudden appearance… as well as their unique flat square-shaped afros.
"Hey… Mozu. Is that who I think it is?" "Definitely looks like him, Kiwi…"
The square-haired sisters suddenly started sprinting straight towards the Straw Hats, jumping in order to use some Marines' faces as springboards to launch themselves onto the Going Batty.
"YO! USOPP! BROOOOO!" they yelled as they fell towards the long-nosed pirate. Usopp, though initially stunned at seeing the two, immediately exited his dazed state to scream as the two women crashed on top of him.
"So… you two know Usopp?" Nami asked, while her and Franky were fiddling with her detached robot arm.
"Sure thing!" Mozu grinned, her and Kiwi sitting on either side of Usopp on the deck. All three of them had black eyes and bumps from the brutal collision earlier, though none of them seemed to pay them any mind.
"We were bounty hunters together back in the day" Usopp confirmed.
"The Long Nose Band was known far and wide!" Kiwi beamed, prompting all three to proudly point their noses into the air. The tips all sparkled at the same time.
"The… Long Nose Band?" Nami asked in disbelief, while a single tear streamed down Franky's face as he was touched by their passion and dramatic flair.
"Yep. Usopp wanted to call it Usopp and the Sisters, but in the end we decided to go with Long Nose Band after we took down a big-time swordfish fishman!" Mozu grinned, as the other two nodded in remembrance of the bounty that really put them on the local map!
"That's… the only reason you call yourself the Long Nose Band?"
"What other reason would there be?" all three asked at once, tilting their heads as they stared directly at Nami.
"Ah, n-nevermind" Nami nervously chuckled. In order to change the subject, she called out to Chopper. "Hey Chopper! How long until we reach… where are we going again?"
"The Baratie" Chopper replied. He was sitting nearby, having borrowed a few tools to work on his metal staff. He found it was easier for him to wield while in two pieces, so he was working to smooth out the ends in order to use it better. "It's a restaurant on the sea, filled with amazing cooks! And they're strong too, so they'll be a perfect fit on a pirate ship. If my calculations are correct, we should see it very soon, actually."
Just as the Mink had predicted, soon enough the floating restaurant came into view. A tall ship with multiple layers, with each layer having a railing made to look like the ropes and turnbuckles in a wrestling ring. On the front of the oval ship was a figurehead resembling a fish wearing an elaborate luchador mask.
"Almost there, almost there!" Chopper cheerfully exclaimed as the Batty approached the floating restaurant. He stood on the ship's railing with sparkles in his eyes, excitedly bouncing on his tippy toes precariously close to the edge.
"Geez, you're really excited. Have you been here before?" Nami asked with an eyebrow raised at the grinning Mink.
"Uh-huh!" Chopper nodded before jumping off the Going Batty to land on the deck of the Baratie, not even waiting for the Batty to fully dock. The rest of the crew were left to deal with the ship while Chopper scurried off into the restaurant itself.
The wide-eyed Mink looked around the colorful interior of the Baratie. Rather than normal waiter or chef outfits, the staff were all wearing lucha libre costumes, complete with masks. But there was one waiter in particular that Chopper zeroed in on.
"Porche!" he exclaimed as he ran towards a slender woman with long, dark blue hair and a pointy nose. Like the rest of the Baratie's staff she wore a flavorful costume, hers consisting of a pink unzipped jumpsuit, crimson gloves, epaulettes and large white puffs on her gloves and hat. Her mask was relatively small, a simple stylized angular domino mask. As she heard the Mink call out to her she immediately whirled around, throwing away the plate of food she was carrying.
"Choppy!" she beamed, running up to the Mink to scoop him up into a big hug. The Straw Hats walked in as the two tearfully hugged each other, and slowly approached them.
"Ah, these are the ones who helped me get back here" Chopper said as his somewhat confused friends arrived. "Nami, Usopp and Franky. And we picked up Mozu and Kiwi just recently."
"Well, let me be the first to thank you guys for saving my darling little brother" Porche grinned, holding Chopper at her side as she turned to face the Straw Hats.
"Oh, no problem…" Nami chuckled nervously, a bit taken aback at having all this dumped on her at once. Her eyes trailed between Chopper the Mink, and Porche the human. "...brother…?"
"Adopted" Porche stated plainly. "You got a problem with that?"
"Oh, no no no, I-"
Just then, a heavy stomping drew their attention, the restaurant floor actually shaking with each thundering footstep. A massive hulking figure approached the group.
"Porche!" a deep voice rumbled. "Why did you throw a plate into a customer's head?! You… you…"
The voice trailed off as the newcomer spotted the furry little boy in Porche's arms.
"CHOPPER!" he roared in joy. The man was tall, broad and incredibly muscular, with his legs being so small they realistically shouldn't be able to support his mass. Notably, his left arm was completely missing. His mask consisted of a chef's hat pulled down over his face, with holes cut out for his eyes. Curly, violet hair flowed down to his shoulders. "Weehahaha! You finally made it back here!"
"Mr. Burgess! Yeah, it's all thanks to my friends" Chopper cheerfully stated, pointing his tiny hoof-hand at the Straw Hats. Jesus Burgess turned to face them and lumbered his gargantuan frame, which even towered over Franky, over to the pirates. "You guys are the real deal! We owe you for bringing Chopper back!"
As Nami instinctively opened her mouth to request a monetary reward, Usopp stepped in front of her.
"I think a good reward would be to explain what's going on. This is kinda the first time we hear about all this" Usopp said, trying his best to remain cool even as his knees were visibly shaking from the presence of the titanic luchador.
"Weehahaha! Sure, sure! Though, I guess Chopper and Porche can explain better than I can. What I can do, however, is bring you guys the greatest meal you've ever tasted in your lives!"
With that, the lucha libre chef turned and charged through the restaurant, leaping into the air to do a somersaulting body splash into the kitchen.
"Sorry I didn't say anything earlier…" Chopper said as he, the rest of the Straw Hats, Porche, Mozu and Kiwi all sat down at a large table together. "I just… I don't know, I felt scared about saying something."
"Let me guess: it's got something to do with those weirdos riding animals back when we first met you?" Nami asked. "Rider Corps or whatever?"
Porche nodded solemnly.
"There's a dangerous pirate crew that's after Chopper. Many years Chopper and I were adopted by a Marine named Igaram. We lived in Cocoyashi village together, and didn't really care that we weren't related by blood. But… one day a pirate crew decided to claim our island as their home base, so they chased everybody off. Everybody… except for Chopper" Porche explained.
Chopper glumly stared down at the table.
"They tried to take me… but dad… Igaram…"
He couldn't get the words out, but everybody around the table understood what he meant.
"We managed to escape with Chopper thanks to him" Porche continued. "An entire fleet of boats fled the island, scattering about the East Blue. Our ship stumbled upon the Baratie, and me and Chopper decided to stay here. And we did, until a few months ago… that's when those damn pirates found us again. They snuck in at night and kidnapped Chopper. But of course, the cooks here at the Baratie aren't just any old chefs. Everybody geared up and went on a raid to get Chopper back! You should have seen Burgess chokeslam that giant gorilla. We managed to help Chopper escape, but ended up separated from him."
"I had to flee in a little dinghy on my own, while the Rider Corps chased me. And that's when I met you guys!" Chopper grinned at the others.
"We've been looking for him ever since. I can't tell you how relieved I am to see him safe back here again" Porche smiled, wiping away a tear.
"Honestly, he helped us!" Nami shrugged. "He's an incredible navigator, we'd probably have starved to death without him."
"And he's a good fighter! Goes toe to toe with guys five times his size and knocks em down flat."
"You should have seen him blast away Babe, or electrocute that Marine!"
"Sh-shut up! I-it's not like I'm happy for your compliments or anything~" Chopper laughed nervously with a blush, standing up on his chair to do a wavy little dance in embarrassed appreciation.
As they talked, another figure approached the table.
"Hey… are you guys the Straw Hat Pirates?" the figure asked, their body language and tone unreadable. The tone at the table immediately got more cautious as everybody looked towards the stranger.
"Yeah… we are" Nami slowly nodded, keeping an eye open for any sudden movements.
The figure immediately jumped onto the table, squatting to be closer to Nami's eye level. It was a slim, muscular boy, wearing a red cape and blue wrestling shorts. He had black bands as elbow guards, and a pair of red bandages serving as his only footwear. He had nothing covering his chest, revealing a muscular torso. Like everybody else working at the Baratie, he wore a mask over his face, his having the top cut off to show his black shaggy hair. The mask's design resembled a blue flaming skull on a black background, with dark red wispy flames surrounding it. The boy's own big, innocent-looking eyes peeking out from where the skull's eyes would be.
"Let me join your crew" was all he said, giving Nami a wide grin.