Saiyans on the Grandline
Things were starting to clear up in the sky, as the Thousand Sunny came for a landing in the water, with the crew cheering at the sight of the dividing wall, known as the Red Line. The crew had just passed through the storm that acted as a sort of guardian against travelers, and they were currently devising a plan for what to do next before they reached Fishman Island. Unfortunately, the crew had hit a snag on the way.
"So uh… mind telling me why you're carrying a half naked mermaid in your arms, dear?" Mina questioned with a bit of an agitated voice, looking at the water drenched Kaen, who was indeed holding a green haired mermaid dressed in a half digested shirt with her arms covering her chest, and a sea shell shaped bag on her back, as well as a beanie wearing starfish on his head.
"Why you getting mad at me? All I did was rescue her from falling out of the sky, after a a sea monster barfed her up from Luffy hitting it in the stomach." Kaen said.
"I'm sorry for being a bother." The mermaid said. "My name's Camie, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Nice to meet you to, I guess." Mina sighed, reaching into her Duplication Void, and pulling out a bikini top, and a t-shirt. "Here, these should fit you. Put them on before our pervert chef tries to get you knocked up."
"I'm holding him back now." Robin said, using multiple arms to hold Sanji back from running at Kaen and Camie.
"Thank you." Camie said, putting the clothing items on, with Mina's help. "Sorry again for causing a misunderstanding."
"It's fine. I'm a reasonable person, so I'll hear my husband out before I start yelling at him." Mina said.
"Mama's only being half honest. She doesn't always do that." Eri said with a smile.
"Eri." Mina mock gasped, before chasing after the girl. "You get back here right now young lady, or I swear you'll go do bed without dessert tonight."
"They're a couple of odd balls ain't they?" The star fish asked.
"That's my wife and daughter you're talking about. Don't insult them like that." Kaen said, pulling the starfish off his head.
"My apologies. My name is Pappagu, I'm an up and coming fashion designer on Fishman Island." The starfish said.
"Nice to meet you and all, but we're a little lost. We're trying to find our way to Fishman Island to get to the New World." Nami said.
"Actually, before I help you with that. I'd actually like to say thanks for saving us from digesting in that Sea King's stomach. I know, Takoyaki. I'll just give Hatchan a call and set up a meet up time and place." Camie said, grabbing her bag she'd discarded to the side to put her new top on, and pulling out a baby transponder snail.
"Puta-puta-puta-puta, puta-puta-puta-puta. Click."
"Hatchan, it's me Camie. Sorry I'm late. You doing okay?" Camie asked.
There was a moment of silence, a silence which Camie, nor Kaen liked, before someone responded on the other end of the call.
"Oh, so it's Camie is it?"
"Hatchan?" Camie inquired.
"You don't know who you're talking to, this ain't your buddy Hatchan."
"I'll take it from here Camie." Kaen said taking the transponder snail. "This is Kaen of the Straw Hat Pirates, to whom am I speaking?"
"What's he doing?" Kami questioned, as Kaen walked away from her.
"Don't worry. Kaen's not gonna let anything happen to your friend." Mina said. "Where he and I come from, he's known as a Hero, and he's very strong. He'll save your friend, and bring him back alive, I promise."
"Oh-ho, sounds like we got a real fancy tough guy here." The man said, as he continued to converse with Kaen. "This is Mackerel from the Big Dumb Mackerel Gang. Wait, I shouldn't say that about myself."
"I'm gonna ask you, what you did with Hatchan, and why you have his transponder snail." Kaen said, putting his scouter shades on.
"We beat him up and stole it from him, what do you think?" Mackerel questioned with a laugh.
"Is that so? I'm gonna take a wild guess here, and say you're not usually a match for someone like him, because he's from Fishman Island, correct?" Kaen inquired, with the rest of the crew coming to surround him.
"You'd be right about that. Normally the Mackerel Gang wouldn't be a match for him, but this time we teamed up with the Flying Fish Riders." Mackerel stated. "He didn't stand a chance after that."
"I see. Put Hatchan on now." Kaen said. "I wanna know if he's still alive."
"Nyu, hello? Who am I speaking to?"
"Wait that voice." Nami gasped.
"I recognize it to." Ussop said.
"You're speaking to Kaen of the Straw Hat Pirates. Camie is safe, she's alive, and she doesn't have any burns from the Sea King's gastric acids." Kaen said. "Where are you?"
"No, I'm not telling you. If I do, then you'll tell Camie, and she'll try to come and save me. I won't let her risk her life like that." Hatchan said.
"Kaen." Mina said, tapping his arm. "I got the location. My scouter tracked the signal between the two transponder snails."
"No need to track us." Mackerel's voice came up on the transponder snail again. "We're at the Sabaody Archipelago, five kilometers east of Grove44. An' did I fail to mention this is the Flying Fish Rider's hide out? You'd better come quick, Octopus Fishmen fetch a high price on the market."
"Excuse me?" Scythe questioned, his knuckles popping from clenching his fist.
"Kaen, that location is West of here." Mina said.
"You'd better hurry, otherwise you can say goodbye to Camie's precious Hatchan, for good." Mackerel growled.
"Click." The snail went silent as the call ended.
"Hey monkey boy, don't even think about going." Sanji said.
"Excuse me?" Kaen questioned.
"I don't get it, why shouldn't Kaen go an' save this Hatchan guy?" Franky questioned.
"Yes I am quite confused myself. That would go against Kaen's heroic nature, wouldn't it?" Brook questioned.
"Hachi and I have a bit of a history." Nami stated, hugging herself.
"Who?" Chopper asked.
"Oh that's right, it was just Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and me who were part of the crew at that point. We hadn't even made it to the Twin Capes on the Red Line at that point." Ussop said.
"Hatchan also goes by the nickname Hachi. He was a member of the Arlong Pirates, lead by Arlong, a dangerous Fishman who forced Nami to work for him, and tormented her home island for years, before we intervened." Sanji explained.
"Kaen, if what they're saying is true then…"
"That's not who he is anymore." Camie said, defending Hachi's honor, while interrupting Mina. "Sure he might have made some mistakes in the past, sure he might have done something stupid like following Arlong, but that doesn't mean it's who he's always been, or who he is now."
Kaen just looked over his shoulder, and back to Camie, seeing the fiery passion and truth about her friend in her eyes. That look was all he needed, to make up his mind about what he was gonna do.
"Mina, you said it was West?"
"Uh, yeah babe I did, but…"
"Don't wait up for me. This won't take long." Kaen said, heading for the side of the ship facing West.
"Hold it, didn't you just hear a damn word we said?" Sanji questioned, getting in Kaen's face, and grabbing him by the front of his vest. "You're still going out to help that bastard?"
"That's enough Sanji." Luffy said.
"No, I won't let this stand." Sanji stated.
"He's made up his mind you stupid idiot." Franky said. "Even if we all tried, we could never force Kaen to go against his true nature."
"Making him go against who he is, would be like asking you to give up your dream of searching for the All Blue." Robin said.
"He's a hero at heart. He'll never leave someone to die, or be sold into slavery." Mina said.
"Damn it, why the hell are you all supporting his decision?" Sanji questioned, before returning his gaze back to Kaen. "I swear you damn ape, if you go and save that bastard who ruined Nami's life then I'll fu…"
Sanji was stopped from finishing that sentence, when Kaen released his energy, allowing for a milky white aura to envelope him like a pillar of white flames, and knocked the blonde chef back from him, and into the railing, before he went over it, and into the water bellow.
"I'll meet you there." Kaen said, before taking to the skies, and flying like a rocket.
"AAHHH. He can fly?" Camie questioned, her eyes bulging out of her face.
"That's typical Kaen for ya. Always showing off." Mina sighed.
Meanwhile, flying through the air, Kaen wanted to be sure he knew what he was getting himself into.
'I don't know their strengths, and I don't know if any of them have Devil Fruit abilities. But I do know one thing, someone in the Flying Fish Riders, obviously has a personal grudge against the Straw Hats. I could tell in the tone of his Mackerel's voice, that this little trap wasn't his idea. An' with what was told about Hachi, they already knew he had a past connected to the Straw Hats. It's an obvious trap when you put all the pieces together.' Kaen thought.
However, as he continued to fly West, Kaen noticed three flying objects heading in his direction. It didn't take him long to figure out what it was.
"Guess now I know why they're called the Flying Fish Riders. They ride fish that can actually fly." Kaen sighed, removing his shield from his back, and without extending the hidden blades, he threw the shield at the three flying gang members, and it knocked them off their rides.
Before all three of them could hit the water, Kaen grabbed the one who looked like the leader of the group, and held him by the shirt, before catching his shield on his forearm and glaring at the gang member.
"What the hell? Are you some sort of freak?" He questioned.
"Now that's a little rude to say to the guy who kept you from falling into the water, don't you think?" Kaen questioned, putting his shield back on its holster.
"Wait, that voice. You're that guy from the Transponder Snail conversation."
"If you know who I am, then you're gonna tell me, where I can find Hatchan and your boss. As well as Big Dumb Mackerel." Kaen glared.
~FFRG Base~
"Heya, boss." One of the Flying Fish Rider Gang members said.
"What?"
"I-it's been a while since we sent our boys out to lure the Straw Hats in. They should have been back by now, don't you think so Duval."
There was a moment of silence, before Duval spoke up again.
"You're right. They should have been back by now with the Straw Hats in tow. So where the hell are they?" Duval questioned, with a bit of a western country accent in his voice.
"Are these who you're looking for?"
Before Duval or his men could question where that voice came from, the three Flying Fish Gang members who were sent to intercept the Straw Hats, fell from the sky in front of Duval, two of them looking soaked, while the third looked badly beaten up to the brink of death.
Duval got off his throne, and stepped out to the light, revealing his iron mask as he looked into the sky and saw Kaen floating there, with his arms crossed.
"Received your gift a little early. Hope you don't mind if I return it." He said, floating down from the sky to the ground, landing with a gentle tap of the soles of his boots.
"You stupid or something boy?" Duval questioned. "You just gave your crew more reason to come to us."
"I took down three of, who I assume were your top fighters, in under thirty seconds. I don't think they'll have to worry." Kaen stated. "Now release Hachi."
"Or what little man?" Duval questioned.
Kaen unfolded one of his arms, holding his hand up and allowing a Ki blast to build up in it, lighting the area he stood in, and shocking those around him.
"Or you're gonna face the wrath, of a Saiyan Hero." Kaen growled.
"A Saiyan? Strange, I thought you lot were driven off the planet almost twenty years ago?" Duval inquired.
"Oh they were, but unlike them I'm not here on this planet by choice. But I'm making a living with what I've been dealt, and I'm dealing you in. Now will you play your hand and get a beating, or fold and live to see another day?" Kaen questioned.
"I've always wondered how tough you Saiyans are. Now's my chance to find out." Duval said, sounding like he was smirking under that mask. "Get him boys."
Kaen just stood there, as Duval and Mackerel's men rushed him. The Saiyan didn't look too impressed as he flicked his fingers outwards, the Ki blast expanding, before it broke apart and hit each of the oncoming men, knocking them down, and out in a single blow, it had even taken down Mackerel who'd joined in on the rally. Duval seemed shocked at this power, but more over he seemed intrigued with the potential he could have with it.
(Cue Music… We Will Rock You: Halocene)
"Alright boys, he's mine." Duval said, smirking under his helmet.
With more speed then Kaen thought was possible for a man his size, Duval was in his face, forcing Kaen to instantly bring up his arms, and harden them with the Hardening Quirk in his One-for-All arsenal.
"Impressive, you're able to harden your skin like stone. That makes this much more interesting." Duval laughed, hitting Kaen with barrage after barrage of strikes. "You Saiyans really are interesting."
"This ability isn't really a Saiyan trait. I'm just an exception." He declared, throwing his arms out in a swinging motion, releasing a crescent blade of Ki at Duval.
"Is that right?" Duval smirked, jumping over the attack, before hitting Kaen in the shoulder with an axe kick. "Then I guess a Saiyan trait would be natural Haki manipulation?"
"That's none of your business." Kaen growled, grabbing Duval's leg, and swinging the taller man over his head, and slamming him into the ground. "Though I can tell you this. We Saiyans get stronger every time our asses get kicked. An' after what I went through on Thriller Bark, my Zenkai Boost, is off the fucking charts."
Raising his leg, with One-for-All coursing through him, Kaen brought his foot down on Duval, but the gang leader rolled away from where he'd been thrown into the ground, and avoided the attack, which destroyed part of the platform over the water, creating a giant hole they had to be careful of.
"You're strong boy. But you're never gonna beat me with that puny strength." Duval glowered, pulling out one of his weapons.
Kaen just glared at Duval as the gang leader pulled out a pistol sized harpoon gun, and began to fire the pointed objects at the Saiyan, to which he deflected them by hardening his body once more, but one of them managed to get past his defenses and hit a weakened spot on his shoulder, piercing through the exposed skin, pushing him back as it stuck out.
"Bastard." Kaen growled, falling to one knee, and slamming his hands on the ground.
Unknown to him, the moment he slammed his hand on the ground, a pillar of ice sprouted up in front of him, creating a shield to defend him against the harpoons.
"Hold on, this is… half of Todoroki's Quirk, but when did I…?" Kaen stopped his questioning, when the memories of the U.A Sports Festival flooded back into his mind. "That's right, I fought against him in the second round of the Sports Festival's 1-V-1 tournament. I was wearing the Xerox band in that fight. I must have forgotten I copied it into my One-for-All Core with the upgrades I made to it, because of how angry I was at dad."
Kaen got to his feet and smirked as he pulled the harpoon from his shoulder.
"Let's see the limits of this Quirk's potential with the upgrades I made to it with my Xerox band." He smiled.
"Get out here Saiyan, or are you just a coward, hiding behind fancy tricks?" Duval called.
Pulling his arm back, Kaen charged it with One-for-All at 25%, and slammed it into the ice, destroying the pillar into thousands of shards, before he clapped his hands together, and sent the shards flying at Duval with the air force, pushing the gang leader back with every shard that hit him.
"Detroit…" Kaen began, appearing in front of Duval through the storm of ice shards, with both his fists covered in fire, and ice on his wrists. "SMASH." He cried out, hitting Duval with an uppercut to the chin, knocking his head back, and his helmet clean off.
(End Song…)
Kaen looked at Duval with an angered look in his eye as the flames enveloping his fists died down with the ice having melted, before his face blanched in disbelief as he saw that the man, looked exactly like Sanji's wanted poster.
"Now do y'all see why I hate the Straw Hats with a passion. I was mistaken for Black Leg Sanji, and it ruined my life."
"If that's all your issue with our crew is pal, then I think I might know the perfect thing to fix that." Kaen smirked, cracking his knuckles, and covering them in metal from Tetsutetsu's Quirk.
~The Sunny~
"I can't believe that monkey tailed bastard. He purposefully went to save that Octopus asshole, even when we told him everything he and the rest of the Arlong Pirates did to Nami. He doesn't care about anyone but himself, Achoo." Sanji grumbled, before he sneezed.
"You need to give it a rest Sanji." Luffy stated. "Kaen's a cool Superhero. This is what he does."
"Yeah? Well if you ask me, Hachi should have just been sold into slavery for what he did, and that damned monkey can join him to." Sanji stated, before he was kicked in the face by Mina, hitting him with a roundhouse kick.
"You need to shut up." Mina stated.
"Mina I gotta ask." Nami said, coming to the pink tailed Saiyans side. "Why did Kaen go, even after everything that he learned about Hachi?"
"Well, there's a lot of things that go through Kaen's head. One of them, is the many reasons of what makes a true hero." Mina explained. "To sum it all in one statement, a true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart. That's from an old film back on Earth about a mythological hero who was born a God, but raised as a human with super human strength. He sacrificed his life, to save the soul of the woman he loved, and in return for that selfless act, he regained his Godhood. At least that's how it happened in the movie."
"So what does it mean exactly in this case?" Nami inquired.
"It means Papa's a true hero with a heart of gold." Eri smiled.
"What she means is, it's a heroes job to save people, whether they be a good guy, bad guy, it doesn't matter. All lives matter, and are equal in his eyes." Mina chuckled, amused at Eri's example of what she meant.
"That's so cool." Luffy smiled with stars in his eyes, as Zoro landed behind him, and in front of Chopper, as he jumped down from the Crows Nest.
"Yo."
"Hey Zoro." Luffy said.
"I noticed the Sunny setting off. Did we finally find a way to Fishman Island?" Zoro inquired.
"Forget that, check it out. It's a real live Mermaid, her name's Camie. Isn't she cool?" Luffy asked.
"Nice to meet you." Camie smiled, getting up and bowing to Zoro.
"She's a Mermaid huh? Never seen one before." Zoro said.
"It's gone, he… erased his memory." Chopper gasped.
"Hmm?" Zoro questioned, finding Sanji on the ground, and passed out. "What's up with the Pervert Cook?"
"Mina had to kick his ass because Kaen flew on ahead of us. Camie has a friend that makes real good Takoyaki, so Kaen flew on ahead to save him, and we're tailing him, but the cook is Hachi, a former member of the Arlong Pirates." Luffy explained. "Sanji also said that Kaen should be sold into slavery with Hachi."
"Tch, no wonder Mina kicked his ass. That's her husband Sanji was bad mouthing." Zoro said.
"I'm kinda worried, Hatchan didn't really sound like himself when Kaen spoke with him. I'm afraid they've done something awful to him." Camie said.
"Ah, he's tough enough to cope, I wouldn't worry about it." Pappagu said, before turning to Luffy and Mina. "Your friend on the other hand, was awful quick to offer his help and fly out of here, but are you positive he's not in over his head on this?"
"You kidding? Kaen's a Saiyan, he's stronger then most of the people in the Marines." Luffy smirked.
"While I wouldn't say he's on par with an Admiral, I would say his strength is the stuff of legends." Robin said.
"Well fair warning. These guys aren't the only kidnappers in the area." Pappagu said. "There's a whole bunch of crews just like them, in the Sabaody Archipelago. It's a hot spot for kidnapping. Human trafficking it's big business around here. An' seeing as Mermaids fetch a high price on the market, a trio of Fishmen who call themselves the Mackerel Gang, have been targeting Camie for a long time. We were stuck in that Sea Monster's belly for a while. Hachi probably got really worried about us, and figured the Mackerel Gang kidnapped her or something."
"If he cares about you that much, then it makes sense that he'd have gone after them to rescue you and got kidnapped himself." Mina said, looking to Camie. "But it's sick, Fishmen who sell their own people for money. They're a disgrace to their race."
"That's gotta be it. Hatchan's so kind, and he's always looking after me." Camie said. "This is all my fault."
"Hey, don't say that. Hachi was just concerned about you don't worry." Mina said. "Anyways Nami, this decision is on you. You're free to stay on the ship once we catch up with Kaen and Hachi."
"Well, there's no guarantee that it's the same Hachi. But if it is, he actually isn't all that bad. In fact I'd say out of everyone in the Arlong Pirates, he's harmless. An', was the only one who was nice to me when I was a kid, and a member of that crew in general, seeing as I was the only human to join." Nami said. "So it won't be easy to forgive him, but that doesn't mean we can't follow Kaen's lead on the matter. I'm not gonna hold a grudge."
"Guess we know your opinion on the matter." Zoro said with a chuckle.
"Hey, we're approaching the base now." Ussop called out. "Or at least what's left of it."
The rest of the crew looked over the side of the Sunny, and saw what Ussop was talking about. The Flying Fish Rider's base was in shambles. Buildings were on fire, others were frozen, and there were even some that were both frozen and on fire. However none of them, aside from Camie and Pappagu, were shocked to see Kaen sitting on Duval's throne, with the former Arlong Pirate Hachi, performing first aid on him, in several areas at once with his multiple hands. What was surprising to them however, was the fact they saw Kaen smoking a thin cigar. It was mostly concerning to Mina as she never suspected Kaen of being a smoker. When they got closer, they saw that all of Duval's men were knocked out, and Duval was under Kaen's feet, like a footrest.
"Kaen." Mina called out, flying off the ship.
Kaen got to his feet, and put out the cigar on the arm of the chair like it was an ash tray before Mina landed in front of him.
"Are you okay? You're injured so badly." Mina said.
"I'll be fine babe." Kaen smiled. "That wasn't tobacco by the way."
"Oh don't you dare start being a pot head." Mina huffed in annoyance.
"Hey easy. It wasn't pot either. It was a different type of medical herb that is only effective if smoked." Kaen said. "It doesn't make me high, and it's actually quite pleasant to smoke. Clears the sinuses to."
"Nyu, originally it comes from Fishman Island. It only has a stoning effect on Fishmen, and a medicinal effect on humans. I thought it might help ease the pain for him if I gave him a couple."
"I appreciate the help then Hachi." Mina sighed.
"Nyu, at first I was terrified when I heard he was with the Straw Hat Pirates." Hachi said.
"Given your past with them, I would be to. But Nami's chosen to not hold a grudge." Mina smiled. "Besides, Kaen wouldn't leave you here to be a slave, even if it was our home you took over with Arlong."
"As an appreciation of gratitude, I wanna serve you as much Takoyaki as you want, on the house. I'll need Camie's help though." Hachi smiled.
~Later Out Farther West~
"Oh man these are the best." Luffy cheered as he stuffed his face with Takoyaki.
"Glad you like them, eat as many as you like." Hachi smiled.
"Hachi, where do you keep the ingredients for the batter?" Mina asked, tying a bandanna around her head, and putting her apron on.
"Nyu, no need to worry yourself with that, please enjoy yourself." Hachi said.
"With Kaen and Eri eating, you're gonna need my help to cook enough for everyone." Mina said. "Those two are like bottomless pits."
"Better listen to her man." Kaen said. "A Saiyan's appetite is no joke, and you're gonna lose every time you argue with my wife."
"Besides, we don't know if that herb you gave him, will have side effects, like munchies or something like that." Mina said. "I know you said it doesn't get humans high, but we don't know what it could do to a Saiyan. But thankfully, I've got more of them." She smiled, holding up a cigar case full of the herbal cigars.
"These ones have rice balls in them, and these ones are made with sou stock. Be careful now, they're really hot." Camie said holding out two more trays of takoyaki, while Hachi looked to one side of his ship, with Nami leaning against the railing eating some takoyaki, and Eri sitting right next to her.
"So, Nami what do you think? Are they good?" Hachi questioned.
His inquiry caused the others to stop eating, as they knew that Hachi's history with Nami was a sensitive topic, and they were nervously awaiting her reply. The minutes seemed to pass by like hours, before Nami finally spoke up.
"Listen, don't think I'm gonna forgive you because of something silly like this." Nami said.
"Nyu, no-no of course not. That's not what I meant. I just wanted to know if you think it tastes good, honestly. That's all, I swear." Hachi said in a frantic panic as Nami took another bite. "So uh…?"
"It's really delicious." Nami said with a smile.
"Nyu! You think so, do you mean that?" Hachi asked, crying tears of happiness.
As he was crying, everyone who'd been at the Arlong Park Battle, smiled when they saw that Hachi was sincere about making up for his past, and making amends with Nami for all the wrongs he did.
"That's such a relief, I'm so happy you like it." Hachi smiled.
"It's not bad. Smart idea turning your ship into a mobile restaurant." Kaen said. "How you liking it Eri?"
"I love takoyaki." Eri smiled. "An' I haven't had takoyaki this good either. This is the best I've ever had."
"Oh really? Does that mean you like it more then Grandma Gine's Takoyaki?" Kaen asked.
"Well… maybe not that much." Eri said, making everyone laugh.
"Sorry Hachi, but you just won't win against a Grandmother's cooking." Kaen smirked.
"We'll see about that, go ahead and eat up, come on don't hold back, there's plenty more where that came from." Hachi said with a smirk.
"Thankfully, you won't have to worry about running out of ingredients because of us." Mina said. "I can use my Duplication Void, to make you as many bags of ingredients as you need."
"Hey, hey you guys." A familiar voice to Kaen and Hachi called out from the open ocean. "Hey you guys, Young Master."
"Nyu. Hold on, is that who I think it is?" Hachi asked.
"Yep." Kaen said, popping another takoyaki into his mouth. "Looks like Duval finally woke up."
"What, Duval? I thought you killed that bastard?" Pappagu questioned, before he was hit on the head.
"Watch your mouth, there's a child present." Hachi said.
"I'm a hero, Starfish. I don't kill my enemies unless I don't have a choice." Kaen said.
"He's probably coming to give you a big thanks Kaen." Hachi suggested.
"A thanks, but why?" Sanji asked.
"Remember your wanted poster?" Kaen asked. "Turns out, he was a dead ringer for it. He kept getting chased by marines because they mistook him, for you. So during the battle, I took the phrase, rearranging his face, literally and reconstructed the bones in his face with my fists."
"Why the hell would you do that?" Sanji inquired.
"I felt bad he had to share the same ugly mug as you. I mean, you were both dead ringers for your wanted poster." Kaen said.
"Shut up." Sanji shouted, growling at Kaen as the Saiyan laughed.
"Why don't you make me? Oh that's right, you can't. Because I'm far superior to you, in every way." Kaen smirked with a chuckle.
"That's enough teasing Kaen." Mina said. "I get that he'd be grateful to have his name cleared with a new face, but why's he calling you Young Master?"
"An' how in the world did he find us?" Ussop asked.
"It's not just Mermaids who can talk to fish. The male Fishmen can do it to." Camie said.
"So he probably beat Mackerel into using that ability to help him locate us." Nami said. "That would explain why he was able to find us so quickly."
"An' I think I might know why he's calling me, Young Master." Kaen sighed as the new, handsomer looking Duval, stopped at the side of the ship. "What do you want meathead?"
"Why Young Master Kaen, I was surprised after you punched my face, but I can't deny the results are amazing. Look. Look how ravishing and handsome you've made me, I'm a different person. Wow, the ladies are gonna go nuts over me. I must say, life's starting to look rosy, I love it."
"Yeah, that's great but what are you doing here? We're trying to eat." Kaen questioned.
"All I want to do now, is head back to the country side, and take it easy. But there's no way I could go without thanking you. I'd be paralyzed with guilt if I did." Duval said. "It's your first time in this part of the sea, so if there's anything I can do to help, do not hesitate to call on us."
"Hold it." Kaen said, stopping Duval. "Don't try to wink. Your bone structure still needs time to heal and readjust to its new form. For at least six weeks, you're gonna have got go on a liquid based diet, and I don't mean just drink booze. Try and mix things up and drink healthy things like vegetable shakes, or fruit smoothies, something with flavor. Also, drink some milkshakes, the cold helps with any pain you might feel."
"Of course, thank you Young Master." Duval said.
"Another thing, it's weird with you calling me Young Master, after I kicked your sorry ass. Just call me Kaen."
"Well Young Master and friends, here's my Transponder Snail number, call me any time and…" Duval stopped when Mina tossed him a pair of Scouter Shades. "What are these?"
"They're called a Scouter. I already set up the programming for them, just input your Transponder Snail number, and we can contact you with our own." Mina said taking the slip of paper. "If we need you, we'll call you on one of our Scouters. Just press the red button on either sides to turn it on and off. Green button's for making calls, purple button's for scouting someone's power level, blue button's for audio and visual recording. Do you need me to write that down?"
"Oh my, I'm so handsome, I'm already drawing the ladies to me." Duval said.
"Hey, keep hitting on my wife and I'll rearrange your face back to the way it was." Kaen growled.
"I am so sorry Young Master." Duval said, sweat dripping down his face. "Red buttons for power, green for calls, purple for scanning power levels, and blue's for audio and visual recording."
"At least you were paying attention in your delusion." Kaen sighed. "Now get out of here. If we need you, we'll call."
"Right. Tallyho Rosy Life Riders." Duval called out as they left.
"Aye-aye Handsome." His followers said following his lead.
"Just get out of here already." Kaen grumbled.
~Sometime Later~
"Oh man, finally full. That was some good eating." Luffy huffed.
"That was amazing." Ussop groaned.
"I'm gonna burst." Chopper squeaked.
"I'm sleepy, and so stuffed." Eri yawned.
All four with distended stomach sighed happily, before Eri was picked up by Mina.
"Is Mama's little piggy read for a nap?" Mina asked.
"Yes Mama." Eri smiled sleepily.
"Alright, here you go." Mina said, pulling something out of her pocket, and setting it on the floor, before setting Eri down.
Eri smiled as she stepped over to the small tent on the floor, as it began to grow before it was big enough to allow her entry into the much larger space inside.
"Whoa, the hell is that?" Pappagu asked.
"Language." Hachi said, hitting him on the head again.
"It's a Space Tent. It's bigger on the inside then it is on the outside. Kaen's sister made it for Eri since she suffers from Night Terrors." Mina said, as the tent shrunk back down to pocket size. "An' as a bonus, even if the outside shrinks, the inside remains the same size, and doesn't jostle around when I grab or move it." She explained as she put it back in her pocket.
"How do you know when she wants out then?" Hachi inquired.
"Through this." Kaen said, holding up the monitoring device. "The tent is equipped with audio monitoring tech. So we just gotta leave this open and…"
After opening the device, Kaen smiled when the sound of Eri's light snoring came from the speaker.
"Awe, she's already fast asleep." Camie gushed. "That is so adorable."
"I know it might not be any of my business, but what kind of Night Terrors does she suffer from?" Hachi asked.
"Well… we'd rather not say." Kaen said.
"We can tell you later. Right now, we still need to figure out how to get to Fishman Island." Mina stated.
"We can help you with that." Hachi said.
"Hey Hachi, Starfish, you too Camie. Why don't you come up on deck and take a break? I can make you some tea." Sanji said.
"Sure, that sounds great." Camie smiled.
A short while later, Hachi was sipping on his tea, a content smile on his face, while the rest of the crew was up on deck with him, Camie, and Pappagu.
"That's some good tea."
"It's looks like you guys are on the right course. First stop Sabaody Archipelago." Camie said, pulling out her map.
"An' we've gotta go there first if we wanna go to Fishman Island?" Ussop questioned.
"We Fishmen and Mermaids can dive right down, and get there in no time at all. It's not quite so easy for humans, the water pressure would crush ya to bits if you tried." Hachi said, while in the background, Nami kicked Brook as he asked to see her panties for the umpteenth time.
"Yeah no joke, it was too much for the Shark Submerge to handle." Franky said, remembering when they tried going down earlier.
"Not to mention the little fact that breathing would be an issue as well." Kaen said. "For a Saiyan though, it might be different."
"How so?" Hachi asked.
"Well, I only know this from testing it out myself, but depending on a Saiyan's stamina, we can stay under water no problem for up to an hour before having to come back up for air. Of course that time is greatly shortened the deeper you go, since the pressure tends to grow the farther down you explore. I tried going down to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. I could only last for about ten minutes before I had to come back up."
"Did you do that while we were at I-Island?" Mina asked.
"No, I did it last summer before we started going out." Kaen said. "I'm sure that I could survive longer now then I could back then."
"But this still doesn't help us with getting down to Fishman Island."
"Ahem. Folks, attention please." Pappagu said. "It's clear to me that you're downright clueless. So allow me to enlighten you about the Sea around these parts."
"Would you stop trying to make yourself look cooler, and just tell us already Pappagu?" Mina questioned.
"Ahem." Pappagu said. "First off, there are actually two separate routes one can take to reach the New World. But for Outlaws such as yourselves, only one of them is a viable option."
"Let me guess, the other is going over the Red Line, straight through the heart of the World Government and Mariejois?" Kaen asked.
"You'd be correct. An' Mariejois is considered the Holy Land, and home to the Celestial Dragons. The descendants of those who founded the World Government." Pappagu said.
"No doubt after the number of years that have gone by, they've resorted to inbreeding to keep, commoners, out of their bloodlines." Mina said.
"So the one route I mentioned viable for pirates like you, would be to go to the New World, under and through the Red Line. An' lucky for you, Fishman Island, just so happens to be the resting point on the path to take." The starfish continued. "It's called the Sea Floor Route."
"The thing is, the Sea Floor Route is very dangerous." Camie said.
"How dangerous we talking here?" Franky asked.
"I'd be up for a little tussling with a Sea Monster." Kaen smirked.
"It's dangerous because of a numerous amount of Sea Kings devouring anything passing through, people and stuff, all the time." Camie stated.
"Yeah that counts." Franky said. "Definitely dangerous."
"Uh-huh."
"You know, I don't wanna go to Fishman Island after all." Chopper said, a terrified look on his face.
"Yeah me neither." Ussop added.
"Hey wait Camie, did you say their ships get eaten?" Nami inquired.
"Huh? Yeah I did."
"What kind of ship will get us across the sea floor?"
"This one's fine."
"Huh?" Everyone was confused.
"Nah, this ship's not equipped to travel under water." Franky said.
"Sure, but it will be."
"Huh?"
"The thing is, the Red Line might be the most massive thing in the whole world, but it's not totally solid, and there's one small hole that passes through it. Well small in the big picture, to us it's super huge. An' inside that hole is Fishman Island, like Pappagu was saying."
"Nyu, it's actually right beneath the Sacred Land of Mariejois. A straight line down from the top to the bottom." Hachi added. "All you do is dive down about 30,000 feet, and there it is in all its glory."
"That far?" Nami asked.
"That's not even as deep as the Mariana Trench." Kaen said. "With some training, I could probably pull the Sunny down easily once it's equipped for underwater travel."
"Trust me, it's worth the trip." Hachi said.
"Then again, I guess we did go about 30,000 feet in the air to get to Skypiea." Nami sighed.
"But taking this ship underwater, how's that possible?" Franky questioned.
"Oh, we're gonna get the ship coated when we reach the island we're heading to." Camie stated.
"Coated with what?"
"You'll find out when we get there." Camie chuckled.
"Well whatever it is, it's gotta be hella strong to make the ship able to withstand the pressure of 30,000 feet." Kaen said. "But right now… is there anymore takoyaki?"