Chapter 13: Good Night, Part 2

Okay, that chapter is even longer than I thought, so I split it further into three chapters. This part contains Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Kraken. Usopp and Nami will come in the next one.
I still don't own One Piece, and please review. I'm glad to see there are people enjoying this fanfic.
Now for unlucky Chapter 13. Unlucky for me, that is. Damn spyware/adware!

"Pant, pant, Sanji, I'm not sure if this will work." whined Luffy.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get out eventually." replied Sanji.

"Okay. Gomu Gomu no Balloon!" and Luffy inflated himself again, expanding the straitjacket by only centimeters.

Then Zoro spoke, "Wait a minute, we've been here all this time, and we haven't thought of Nami or Usopp! Where are they!"

"Huh?" Sanji replied."...Wahh! Where's Nami? I went practically an entire day without thinking about her!"

Luffy exhaled. "Hmm? Nami? Usopp?"

Just then, all three of them heard the door open.

Kraken stepped in and glanced at Zoro, then Sanji, and Luffy. They all stared back, not that they could see him in the dark.

"Pitiful." spoke Kraken. "Look at yourselves. You're just a bunch of helpless weaklings. How do you expect to reach your dreams if you're this weak?"

"Did you come in here just to mock us," said Zoro, "or did you want something with us?"

Kraken stood silent for a few seconds, then answered, "I felt a draft coming from here."

Then Luffy replied, "Oh, that's me!", then he tried inflating himself for demonstration.

Kraken was slightly surprised, then he said, "Oh."

"IS THAT ALL?" Zoro and Sanji yelled.

"Yes, pretty much" Kraken answered.

"Well, now that you're here, why don't you tell us what happened to our nakama?" asked Zoro.

"Where's Nami!" yelled Sanji.

Kraken answered in a calm voice, "Oh, that girl and the long-nosed fellow? They're slaves now, what else would they be doing?"

"I want my nakama back!" yelled Luffy, "Bring them in here with us!"

Then Sanji yelled, "That's what we DON'T want him to do, you idiot!"

"Well, then," said Zoro. "Why aren't we slaves as well?"

Kraken answered, "That's because you're all strong fighters. Too strong to be slaves, because then, you might try to fight my guards, and then my other soldiers, causing a rebellion. I also wanted to question you. So I've been keeping you here."

"But how long are you going to keep us in here?" asked Zoro.

Kraken shrugged and answered, "Well, maybe until the day you die, or if I change my mind, I'll do something else."

Zoro and Sanji both glared at Kraken.

Luffy just said, "That's okay. I'm sure you will change your mind some time."

"And what makes you think that?" asked Kraken.

Luffy answered, "I think, maybe you'll want to set us free."

Kraken stood in silence as Zoro and Sanji had a confused look on their face.

"So, maybe I'll set you free." spoke Kraken. "Well, let me ask you this. Do you truly believe that you will find One Piece?"

"YES!" Luffy replied. "I'm going to find One Piece and become King of the Pirates!"

Kraken was silent for another moment, then spoke, "Thousands of pirates have said that and died. What do you think makes you different from them?"

This time, Luffy was silent for a moment, then grinned and said, "I have a dream... and nakama."

Kraken was surprised by Luffy's grin, then he turned around. Before he walked out the door and closed it, his last words were, "You need willpower and strength to smile like that all the time." Luffy watched him, although, he couldn't see anything in the dark.

There was silence.

"Luffy," said Zoro.

"Huh?" Luffy replied.

"Do you think Nami and Usopp can get us out of here?"

Luffy grinned and answered, "I don't know, but the two of them sure are smart."

Zoro just leaned back and thought of the argument they had, when he called Usopp a coward. Usopp, you're the one who made the plan to fight the Black Cat pirates. Now, if you don't think of a plan to get us out of here, I'm gonna kick your ass.

As usual, Kraken had the frown and stern expression on his face. Back in his office, Kraken once again looked at Luffy's wanted poster. It had that big smile, like the one he saw in the cellar. Any pirate can smile in the face of danger. There are even pirates who can smile and get a higher bounty than him. And he thought of Gold Roger, his own smile when he was executed. If this boy... Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat pirates... is going to be King of the pirates... Straw hat...

Kraken slowly grabbed his walkie-talkie. "Vard? Do you read me?"

"Yes, Master Kraken." came the response.

"Your crew took the cargo from the hostage ship this morning, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Did you happen to find a straw hat?"

"Um... I did see one on the bridge."

"Get one of your men to send that hat to me."

"...Yes sir."

Kraken shut his walkie-talkie off. If he's going to be King of the pirates, he'll have to get himself out of here.

"Gomu Gomu No Balloon!"

"Uh, you can stop that now, if you want to."

"I don't want to stop. This is the only way I can get out of this jacket!"

"Well, I doubt that'll work, but if you want to keep going, that's fine."