I'm still waiting for the question in the previous chapter to be answered, about that skill where the spirit materializes above the shaman and is able to attack physically. Be sure to answer me.

Chapter 3: New Crewmates

"Join you!" says the shamans in surprise.

"Yeah! Why not join my crew?" asks Luffy. "I really want to see your powers again! They're so cool!"

"You're a pirate right?" Ren asks Luffy. "Why should I join you bloodthirsty pirates who kill and rob all day?"

"Not all pirates are like that. You'll find it very fun if you join me!" Luffy tells him.

"Yeah, your personality is indeed different from pirates we heard about, but I'm not sure if I want to become one," says Yoh.

"I want to ask you something," Pirika asks Luffy. "How did your neck stretch so long just now?"

Luffy pulls both his cheek and says, "I ate the Gomu Gomu (Gum Gum in dub) Fruit. Now my body is made of rubber and I can stretch whatever way I want!"

"That looks pretty fun!"

Two of Buggy's best crews, Cabaji and Mohji, steps into the messed up restaurant. "You knocked out our captain real bad!" says Cabaji angrily. "You kids will pay!"

"I'm the second in command of the Buggy Pirates! I will strike you down to avenge our captain!" says Mohji.

"Hmph! You guys want more?" says Ren as he gets into fighting position.

"I won't hesitate to take on you guys if you insist," says Horo.

"What can a kid like you do? Do you think you can surpass me, the beast tamer Mohji? My Richie will devour you!" says Mohji, and standing behind him is a large white lion with red starry eyes.

"Lions are no match for me either!" says Horo.

"Richie, attack!" commands Mohji. The lion pounces at Horo, and he quickly over souls Kororo into his skateboard. He holds the skateboard by its side handles. "Nipopo Punch!" he yells as he hits Richie with the skateboard, freezing the lion and knocking him out of the restaurant.

"RICHIE!" screams Mohji as he runs to see his lion.

"THAT'S WAS TOTALLY AMAZING!" exclaims Luffy at the top of his voice.

Cabaji pulls out his sword and got onto a unicycle. "Dance of the 100 Kamikaze Tops!" yells Cabaji as he throws several tops at them. Ren uses his kwan-dao and cuts through all the tops with ease. Cabaji zooms towards him on his unicycle and they both clash weapons together.

As they clash weapons, Ren hops back and quickly over souls, and then he uses his 'favorite attack'. "Rapid Tempo Assault!" He jabs the kwan-dao rapidly at Cabaji. He is able to avoid must of the strikes, but he got a deep stab in the waist anyway.

"What! This kid just became stronger! How is this possible!" Cabaji says to himself. The wound hurts him a lot, so he has no choice but to retreat. He runs outside and quickly accompanies his crewmates.

"That was boring," comments Ren. "I was hoping for more."

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

That's the sound of screaming they heard coming from outside. They see Buggy holding Tamao and Manta in midair! "Apparently, these two kids know you guys!" says Buggy. "Try to do something and I'll choke them to death!"

"How dare you hurt my friends!" says Yoh angrily. He pulls out his sword and is about to make a move when suddenly Pai-Long flies in from the side and gives Buggy a strong kick in the body. Buggy drops the two kids and flies away, breaking into pieces.

"Why thanks, Pai-Long!" says Yoh.

"It is my duty to protect Lady Jun's friends," responds the undead.

Several Marine officials come into the scene. "We heard that there are several pirates causing havoc and tearing down this place," says their captain. "We are here to take away you pirates, so surrender now!"

"Uh oh! We gotta run! Follow me!" says Luffy. He quickly runs outside and tells his mates to run from the Marines quick. For some reason, Horo follows Luffy too!

"Brother! Why are you running!" Pirika calls after him.

"Luffy told us to run! So we have to run!" replies her brother, so she runs after him also.

"Um… What is going on here…?" says Yoh curiously. Some Marines appear and point their rifles at them.

"You're under arrest!"

"Okay… Let's get out of here…" Yoh quickly runs off in the same direction of Luffy, with Anna and Ren closely following him.

Sanji tells Jun and her friends to follow after them. When the Marines point their rifles at them, Pai-Long jumps forward and beats the hell out of everyone before following Sanji.

"You know? You can get into trouble with the Marines if you attack them," Sanji says to Pai-Long.

"They tried to attack us, so I did what I must do," Pai-Long tells him.

To make a long story short, all the Straw Hats and the shamans are now at the harbor, panting and gasping for breathe after all those running.

"It just came to me… Why in the world are we following these pirates anyway?" says Ren.

"Because I want you to join my crew!" Luffy tells him.

"Who said we wanted to anyway!"

"Your friend with blue hair said so."

Ren turns to Horo and glares at him. "What did you said to him!"

"Well… I was thinking that we are in an unfamiliar world and don't have anywhere to go or stay. Since Luffy is the only person that's actually nice to us, I thought it would be better if we stay with him," Horo tells him.

"That's what I'm thinking also!" says Ryu. "Besides, this blond man over here promised to teach me how to become a better cook and how to get a girlfriend easily!"

"I was thinking the same as Horohoro too," says Yoh.

After seeing everyone wanting to become 'pirates', Ren finally gave in. "All right… I don't care any longer… As long as we can get back to our world…"

"Yippee!" shouts Luffy with joy. "I officially declare you as my crewmates!"

"I'm so happy to have a beautiful woman like Jun coming aboard our ship too!" says Sanji, looking at Jun with heart eyes.

"But Luffy, can our ship hold them all?" Nami asks him.

"17 isn't a big deal! I'm sure it can hold a lot!" Luffy tells her.

"Whatever… If the ship sinks due to overload, then you'll hold responsibility!"

Luffy just replies with a big smile. "Nah, that will never happen!"

So everyone got aboard the ship and sets sail. Usopp and Chopper are on the ship all along, guarding it. They are surprised to see more people joining there crew. They all sat down and started introducing each other.

"I'm the great Captain Usopp!" says Usopp with pride. "It is because of my great knowledge and power that the Straw Hat Pirates can become this powerful!"

"Sound like a lie," says Anna coldly.

"Of course it's a lie," Zoro tells her.

Manta looks at Chopper strangely and asks, "What are you?"

"I'm Tony Tony Chopper! And I'm a reindeer!" replies Chopper.

"A reindeer…?"

"Yeah, I ate the Hito Hito Fruit. That's why I became like this. My family kicked me out because of this and everyone hated me because I'm a monster… But Luffy came and welcomed me aboard his ship!"

"Sort of like Anna…"

Anna gives Manta a mean glare, making him shut his mouth instantly.

"What's wrong with her?" asks Chopper.

Anna turns away and says, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Did she eat some Devil Fruit and got cast out of her family too?"

"Shut up!"

Chopper freaks out and quickly hides besides Luffy for protection.

Yoh whispers into Chopper's ear. "Don't make Anna mad… You'll regret it…"

Luffy looks at Pai-Long and asks, "You have purple skin! Are you a merman?"

"The truth be told," says Jun. "Pai-Long is actually a… zombie…"

"Cool! A zombie! I heard of those in horror stories!"

"A zombie… That's interesting," says Robin. "I heard only people who know black magic can create one."

"Well, my entire family is specialized in these stuffs."

"Wait a minute… I heard that zombies always crave for human flesh… Is that true?" asks Usopp.

"Really!" gasps Chopper as his fur stands up in shock.

"Oh no! Pai-Long is different from those! He's very loyal to everyone!" Jun tells them.

"By the way, Yoh. Who is that white hair guy next to you?" Luffy asks Yoh while pointing to Amidamaru.

"Oh, he's my guardian spirit, Amidamaru," replies Yoh.

"Cool! A guardian spirit!"

"What are you talking about, Luffy?" Usopp asks him. "What white hair guy besides him?"

"Didn't you see a white hair guy levitating next to Yoh?"

"No, I see no one."

"Usopp's right. There isn't anyone next to Yoh," says Zoro. Sanji and Nami also said the same.

"But I do see a white hair guy next to him!" insists Chopper. "And there's this big guy in armor next to the boy with pointy hair! And a green guy next to that tall guy with cool hairdo! And a tiny midget next to that blue hair kid! There's also this fat ugly raccoon and a fox next to the pink hair girl too!"

"I see those people Chopper and Luffy said too," says Robin.

"But there's nobody besides them!" says Nami. "Though there is a small midget next to Zorozoro, I think he's called."

"It's Horohoro…" Horo corrects her. "And this midget you called is my guardian spirit Kororo! She's the spirit of the land, that's why normal people can still see her."

"But isn't it strange? Why can Luffy, the deer, and that tall woman see the other spirits while the other 4 can't?" points out Tamao.

"Are you kids serious about some spirit hovering next to you?" Zoro asks them.

"We're serious!" Yoh tells him. "For some reason, some of your crews can see them, but why not you?"

"Come to think of it, when we were at that town, the clown with a big red ugly nose saw Bason too," says Anna.

"And that reminds me!" Ponchi spoke next. "When we were at that town too, we met this super sexy woman who can also see us!"

"So let's sum it up… Only me, Chopper, Robin, Buggy, and Alvida can see the spirits…" says Luffy. "That probably means… What does that mean?"

"Only Devil Fruit users can see those spirits?" Robin finishes the phrase for him.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm gonna say!"

"Hey, that might explain why!" says Yoh. "But what exactly are Devil Fruits?"

"Devil Fruits are special fruits that are said to be the incarnation of the sea devil," explains Manta while reading the book he bought at the bookstore. "Those who ate the fruit will be granted amazing powers, but in return, the user will not be able to swim for eternity. He or she will sink into the sea like a hammer."

"He explained what Devil Fruits are already," says Robin.

"You ate a fruit too?" Pirika asks her. "What power do you have?" Suddenly, an arm appears in front of Pirika, frightening her. "EEEK!"

Several arms then appear all over Robin's body. "I ate the Hana Hana Fruit. It allows me to sprout parts of my body out of anywhere I can see. That includes other people too." She shows it to them as an example by making an arm grow out of Ryu's head, much to his surprise.

"And that Alvida lady used to be the fattest and ugliest woman I've ever seen!" says Luffy. "That's until she ate a Devil Fruit that turns her skinny and lovely. Her skin even became slippery too!"

"Then why doesn't her clothes slip off her?" asks Ryu. They just ignore his question and went on chatting, talking about each other's life.

"How good are you with the sword?" Zoro asks Yoh.

"I'm okay with it," he replies. "But I'm much better with it after I over soul Amidamaru into it. And just how do you fight with three swords anyway?"

"Three-Sword Style and using 3 swords at the same time are different things," Zoro tells him. "I hold both swords in my hands and hold the third in my mouth."

"Isn't that a bit awkward?"

"Not for me. I've trained myself to use that way and now I'm an expert. I've even learn to cut steel."

"That's not possible!" says Ryu. "How can a sword cut through steel!"

"You have to listen to the breath of steel," explains Zoro. "Everything in the world has a breath. If you can hear it, then everything can be cut."

"What are you talking about…?"

"It's too complicated to understand. You'll have to find out yourself."

Luffy moves close to Ren and pokes his shark fin hairstyle. "Woo! This hair is hard like rock!"

"Don't mess with it!" Ren shouts at him.

"Heehee! It's so fun!"

"Is laughing all you know? I wonder how you are the captain of this ship anyway!"

"Sometimes I wonder why I'm serving him too," says Sanji.

Luffy stood up and stretches his hand into the air, "Let us have a party of welcoming our new crewmates!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Yeah, that was kind of rushed… I couldn't find another better reason for the shamans to join them. I hope you like this story! I will be glad to see more reviews, especially descriptive ones!

And I believe that everyone can see Kororo, because in the episode where Horohoro first debuted, Ryu can see Kororo even though he doesn't have shaman abilities yet.