Syrup Village - Gecko Islands
Merry and Luffy made their way back up to the mansion chatting amicably about a few of the ships Merry had designed over the years, the complexity and inventiveness of some of those designs greatly impressing Luffy. The pair had almost made it to where they left Luffy's friends however from around the corner of the last mansion they heard raised voices or to be more precise the raised voice of Usopp.
When Merry and Luffy did finally turn the corner they were greeted by the sight of Usopp gripping onto the front of tall black suited man. Whatever was said caused Usopp to slug the man across the face, seeing the man's reaction to this caused Luffy to narrow his eyes because when Usopp punched the man Luffy saw his right hand flick and tense as if he was fighting against an ingrained retaliation instinct implying that the man man was a trained fighter. Neither the man's or Luffy's reaction went unnoticed by Zoro who caught his captains eye and gave a slight nod as they both recognised this was an instinct no butler should have.
After throwing his punch Usopp quickly fled the scene sparing Kaya only a glance hurt obvious on his face and tears in his eyes. Once Usopp had left the man in the black suit turned to Luffy and the others. "The rest of you need to leave now," he commanded adjusting his glasses with the palm of his hand as he did so.
"And you are?" asked Luffy far more amicably than he felt.
"I am Klahadore, miss Kaya's butler. Now I do believe I have told you to leave."
"Watch yourself, you speak out of turn butler" said Luffy coldly and placing special emphasis on the word butler. Luffy then turned to Kaya who was still stood looking out her bedroom window and now looked mortified at Klahadore's behavior, "miss Kaya I see you look just as beautiful when you frown as you do when you smile." At this her frown lessened considerably but still remained slightly. "My business with Merry has concluded and we have agreed upon a price."
Luffy gave Kaya one last charming smile before turning to leave, the rest of the group falling into place behind him. As he was walking past Klahadore he paused casing Klahadore to glare at him. "Don't ever, ever tell me what to do butler," and wanting to freak Klahadore out he turned his eyes to lightning as he stared Klahadore down.
With Klahadore sufficiently freaked out Luffy simply continued on his way back to the village. The group stopped just outside so they could all get caught up with everything without anybody else overhearing them. Luffy told them about the upgrades being made to the ship and the cost, something Nami was horrified by, and then listened as the others informed about what the butler had said to set Usopp off like that.
Luffy merely nodded along to show that he was listening and he understood. "And Kaya didn't say anything in his defence?" asked Luffy with a raised eyebrow. Luffy saw Nami shake her head sadly.
"You saw it too didn't you captain?" asked Zoro.
Luffy let out a sigh. "Yeah I did, there's more to that guy than meets the eye."
"What are you two on about now?" asked Nami.
"It's something me and the captain both saw. When Usopp punched the butler he fought his instincts."
"And just what do you think his instinct was?" asked Nami her eyes narrowing as she did so.
Zoro merely shrugged "retaliation," was his simple reply.
"We'll figure out whatever he is or isn't later I'm off to find Usopp. Hey you three! You got any idea where I can find him?" Luffy asked as he turned to the three youngster that had stuck with them so far.
The three young kids huddled together for a moment whispering to one another before turning to face Luffy again. "Erm we're not sure but we know he likes to go to the cliff over the north shore when he wants to be alone," said Carrot.
Nodding his thanks Luffy turned and left heading to the cliff where he hoped to find Usopp, he still had a crew member to recruit after all.
After an hours trek through the forest Luffy came to the cliff and he spotted Usopp sat facing the sea. He plonked himself down to Usopp and simply sat there waiting until Usopp was ready to talk.
He didn't have to wait long however, "I dunno where that butler gets off insulting my dad like that," anger still clear in his voice.
"Hey at least you got a good punch in, I saw it," mirth was evident in Luffy's voice as he said this.
"I probably shouldn't have punched him," he looked at Luffy and saw his look of disbelief so he added "I don't want Kaya to believe that horse crap he says about me, it's just when he said my dad was just scum I lost it."
"How come Kaya didn't stick up for you?"
Usopp let out a deep sigh "Klahadore has looked after her for the last two years ever since her parents died, he's kinda like family for her."
"Hhmmmm I see," was all Luffy said while nodding.
"But Klahadore better not think he can talk shit about my old man." As Usopp was talking he began whipping himself up into something of a frenzy while stoking the fires of his own anger. "In fact, you know what? The next time I see him I'm really gunna let him have have it."
"Why don't you do it now?" Usopp looked at Luffy when he heard this only to see him pointing at the shore below them about twenty feet away.
"Huh who's that guy with Klahadore?" asked Usopp as he squinted his eyes at the unfamiliar face.
Luffy didn't say anything he just put his index finger against his lips silently telling Usopp not to make a sound before motioning for him to follow. Together they crept along the cliff staying out of sight until they were within hearing distance.
"Everything going as planned captain Kuro?" asked the unfamiliar man. The newcomer was wearing a plain blue blazer, plain green pants and a very, very low cut top in fact the strangest thing about his attire were the heart shaped glasses he was wearing.
Klahadore or Kuro as he was apparently called freaked out at the newcomer using his name and quickly scanned the area for eavesdroppers. "I've told you don't call me that you fool. Kuro is dead, he was killed three years ago by marines and I intend to keep it that way. You're the captain of the black cat pirates now Jango."
"Sorry sorry I forgot."
"You haven't forgotten the plan have you?" question Kuro with a dangerous edge to his voice.
"Don't worry the plan's simple, at dawn tomorrow me and the men attack killing everyone in the village as we make our way to the big mansion where I kill the girl and you inherit her money."
Kuro quickly stepped forwards and gripped Jango by his blazerpulling him upwards so Jango was forced to stand on his tiptoes. "You fool how hard is it for you to understand? I cannot inherit her wealth because I am not a blood relative! That is why you need to hypnotise her into leaving all her wealth to her beloved butler Klahadore."
"Oh yeah that was it, don't you worry me and the boys have you covered captain Kuro."
Growling in irritation at his simple minded former second in command he released his grip on Jango before turning and leaving. As he was leaving he looked over his shoulder "make sure you play your part Jango, I've been working on this plan for the last three years. Mess it up and you die," that threat was the last thing Kuro said before he continued on his way.
Now that Kuro had left and there was no more information to be gathered here Luffy beckoned Usopp to follow him and the pair of them began the trek back to their friends.
By the time they got back to them the three kids had left so Nami and Zoro were the only ones waiting for them. However in the time it had taken for Luffy and Usopp to return Usopp had worked himself into a frenzy and was on the verge of having a full blown panic attack.
Seeing Usopp's distress it was Nami that voiced the question "what's wrong?"
"The butler is actually a pirate, he's Kuro of the one thousand plans and his crew is going to attack the island killing everyone so he can inherit Kayas money," Luffy summarised.
"I need...I need to warn them...I need to warn Kaya. This is my home I can't let Kuro destroy it." That was all Usopp said before he took off running in the direction of the village.
"Well he's about to get his heart broken," stated Luffy simply.
"What are you on about," asked Nami in confusion while Zoro looked uninterested.
Luffy let out a humourless chuckle "Nami Usopp is famous around the village for telling lies and now he's about to go accuse a well respected member of the community of being a pirate." Shaking his head he asked "what would you think in their position, or if you were Kaya what you think? Especially after what happened earlier?"
Nami just shook her head sadly knowing that Luffy's prediction of Usopp getting his heart broken was almost a foregone conclusion.
"What's the plan captain?" spoke up Zoro.
"Like hell I'm going to let pirates run amok on the island where Usopp's mum is buried. We're going to destroy any pirate that sets foot on this island and then I'm going to beat Kuro to within an inch of his life." The absolute conviction with which Luffy said this spurred the other two in wanting to take action also. "But for now we're going to wait for Usopp to get back, this is his home he has the right to fight to defend it."
"Fine by me captain," said Zoro impassively though his excitement at the prospect of a good fight could be seen in the way his hand had moved to his swords and he gripped his prized Wado Ichimonji.
It was two hours later that the group saw Usopp slowly staggering his way towards them clutching his shoulder as blood flowed freely from a wound.
"They wouldn't listen, nobody would believe me," said a devastated Usopp almost in tears. "I don't care if they hate me I will defend the village," a determined Usopp declared with a fire burning in his eyes.
Luffy shared a look with Nami and Zoro before he asked "where can large ships safely dock at this island?"
Usopp thought for a moment before responding "well there's two shores a large ship could dock I suppose, one on the North of the island and one on the south side."
Zoro looked thoughtful as Usopp said that. "Which one is more hidden from view?"
"Erm the north shore, the same one you docked your own ship earlier today."
"That's where they'll attack from, it gives them a better shot and making it nearer the village before anyone can raise the alarm," stated a grim Zoro.
"Are you sure? What if they attack form the south shore? What are we going to do then?" asked a once more frantic Usopp.
"Usopp I promise you that's where they'll attack from, but if it'll make you feel better we can set some traps at the south shore and if they don't show up at the north then the traps at the south shore will slow them down long enough for us to get there," reasoned Luffy.
Slightly placated Usopp agreed with the plan and together they made their way to the south shore and began setting various traps including caltrops provided by Usopp, an oil slick along the slope from the shore to the village and even a boulder on a rudimentary lever.
With the traps set up they made their way to the north shore where they believed the pirates would truly be arriving before setting up camp to get some sleep ready for the fight that was to come.
It was Usopp that was on watch when dawn arrived, after he quickly woke the others they all gathered at the top of the slope and saw the ship of the black cat pirates slowly docking at the shore. It was mere moments later that they heard from the ship Jango ordering the men up the slope and to head to the mansion killing anyone they come across.
"Called it," said Zoro simply.
Pirates then began jumping over the side of the ship then started making their way up the slop only to pause when they saw the four teens.
"Hey captain I thought nobody was supposed to know about the plan," yelled one of the invaders.
"Of course they don't," replied Jango.
"But boss there's four kids waiting for us up there."
Jango looked towards the top of the slope and seeing the four teens, before he shrugged "just go through them, we're not leaving any survivors anyway."
Jango's men cheered at this order before charging up the slope. It was Usopp that drew first blood in the fight as he began downing pirates left and right with his slingshot, every shot hitting its mark without fail.
Not wanting to be left out Zoro dived into the fray with all three of his blades drawn. Within seconds Zoro had carved a bloody path down the slope dropping over half a dozen pirates by himself.
However it seemed that for every pirate Zoro and Usopp took down there was another on the ship and knowing he needed to help his crew Luffy drew one of his pistols and with his other hand formed a gun with his index finger and thumb. Every time Luffy fired a shot he flicked his thumb down and from his index finger a small bolt of lightning flew out hitting an enemy pirate.
As Luffy began downing his own fair share of pirates he turned to Nami and asked "do you fancy doing what you do best and robbing them blind?" Seeing the opptunity for treasure Nami wasted no time in sneaking round the edge of the battlefield and leaping aboard the enemy ship.
Jango could see that the fight was not going in his favor. "Oi evryone look here," he then began swinging a metal ring hanging from a chain to and fro. "You will all become far stronger, your wounds will not pain you and you will not stop...one...two... Jango."
Upon Jango saying his own name his men gave a loud bestial roar and with a crazed look in their eyes they attacked once more with renewed vigor. Sadly for them the attack went as well as the last one as Usopp still had enough amunition for his slingshot to support from a distance.
With his both his pistols now out of bullets after downing ten pirates with his guns alone Luffy jumped into the fight engaging them with lightning covered fists. "Zoro drop."
The fact that upon that order Zoro immediatly complied without question was a testament to the faith and trust that he had in his captain. Wiyh Zoro on the floor Luffy held up his hands at chest height shooting lightning from his fingertips before he spun in a complete circle twice. It was this act that took down the majority of the cannon fodder littering the slope.
Now panicking as they were no massivley behind schedule, something that Kuro would make sure he paid for later Jango called out "Sham, Buchi get out here."
Two brothers that had styled themselves to look like cats appeared at the edge of the ship. "But they look really strong captain, you know me and Buchi aren't fighters," whined Sham in a truly pathetic voice.
Jango gritted his teeth in frustration, "just get your arse down here and help before captain Kuro gets here."
The two brothers jumped down off the ship and began to make their way towards Zoro and Luffy while pathetically swiping their claws made from knives in front of them and whimpering as they did so.
Not wanting to waste any time or take any risks Luffy whispered to Zoro who had got back to his feet, "I'll take the one on the right you take the one on the left," Zoro nodded to show his understanding. "We take them down hard and fast, got it?"
Zoro nodded his agreement and together they both dashed forward in a move that took the cat brothers completely by surprise. Zoro spun around his target the swords in his hands slashing at the chest and back of Sham as he did so. Sham dropped to the floor dead. Luffy simply planted his fist into Buchi's face, however he did it with such force that Buchi flipped so that he was horizontal. While he was in the air Luffy delivered a vicious hammer blow to his head that sent Buchi into the ground creating a crater from the impact.
"And just what is going on here?" questioned a cold voice from behind everyone.
Hearing the new voice everybody on the shore spun around only to see Kuro stood there carrying a large duffel bag. Usopp fell backwards in fear and quickly scrambled away not wanting to be the closest person to Kuro. Upon seeing his captain Jango immediatelybegan to sweat "captain these kids are monsters, we cant get past them."
"Then it would seem I'm going have to deal with this myself, just be grateful Jango that i still have use of you." Hearing this Jango nodded terrified of his captain, Kuro then reached into the bag and pulled out two furry gloves that had long katana styled knives at the end of each finger. "After I kill you three I will force miss Kaya to write a will before I kill her too, I will not allow my plan to be ruined by a few brats playing at being pirates."
One moment Kuro was stood at the top of the slope glaring down at Luffy and Zoro and the next he had seemingly vanished his movement too fast for anyone present, save for Luffy, to see. Kuro reappeared directly behind Zoro with his arm pulled back ready to deliver a fatal slash only for Luffy to shove Zoro out of the way.
Kuro watched as his arm descended upon Luffy and he smirked as his knives passed through Luffy from shoulder to hip only to frown as he held his hand up to see that the knives were no longer there as they had been melted.
"Did you know that lightning is five times hotter than the surface of the sun?" Asked an amused Luffy. Kuro took a single step backwards before he disappeared once again reappearing at the top of the slope once more. Now what he believed to be a safe distance from Luffy he began swaying from side to side like a reed in the wind before he disappeared just like before except this time he moved even faster.
Slash marks then began to appear everywhere including the dead and injured pirates on the ground and the wall of the slope they were fighting on. Unwilling to risk one of his friends getting hurt by Kuro's reckless attacks Luffy kept his eyes trained on Kuro and predicted where the next slash would occur before teleporting there in a flash of lightning and planting his lightning covered fist into Kuro's stomach. The force of the blow sent Kuro flying into the wall of the slope only for Luffy to appear right in front of him once again quite literally in the blink of an eye with his head reared back allowing him to deliever Kuro a devestating headbut that sent him into the realm of unconsciousness.
"Zoro," was all Luffy said.
Zoro let out a small chuckle "on it captain," said Zoro accompanied by a small shake of his head before he want back to his own ship and returned with several lengths of rope where he proceeded to tie up a cowering Jango, an unconscious Kuro as well as the dead meowban brothers before hauling them off onto his and Luffy's ship ready for transport.
"Nami, Usopp," the pair looked at Luffy, Nami from the deck of the black cat pirates ship holding a small box of treasure over her shoulder. "Nami stick that with the rest of your treasure," Nami let out a wide smile at hearing this, "then I want you and Usopp to get this trash back onto their ship, open up their main sail before you cut the anchor and snap their rudder."
Neither Nami nor Usopp responded to this they simply set to completing the task given to them. Luffy looked at the treeline at the top of the slope, "you can come out now miss Kaya."
After being called Kaya stumbed out of the trees and into view. "Klaha-I mean Kuro he attacked Merry and left him for dead."
"Is he OK?" interrupted Luffy concerned for the man that was supposed to be working on his ship.
"Yeah, or at least I think so," said Kaya slightly uncertainly. "I heard everything Klaha...Kuro said, he was willing to kill everyone on the island just to get my money. If it was money he wanted I would've given it all to him if he left the island alone."
Luffy just shrugged uncaringly "doesn't matter now does it? He's been dealt with, now what do you say you and I head back to your house we share some breakfast after I look over Merry's wounds." Seeing her nod of agreement Luffy offered her his arm which she took so he could escort her home.
A short while later back at Kaya's mansion Luffy was tucking in to a very large breakfast courtesy of Merry, who as it turned out wasn't as badly injured as Kaya believed. The rest of his crew arrived shortly after he had started eating and together they shared a large breakfast, truthfully Kaya was a little surprised at the amount of food they could put away Luffy's appetite in particular was incredibly voracious.
After breakfast he directed the others to take the captured prisoners to the local marine base and turn in the bounties. While they were doing this Luffy began wandering throughout the village he needed inspiration for his next destination. It was in the only restaurant on the island that Luffy hit gold, the chef and owner of the restaurant told Luffy of a restaurant at sea and how all the cooks there knew how to fight.
Luffy was slightly disappointed as he wanted to recruit a musician next but oh well a professional cook was almost as good as getting a musician.
The others returned from the marine base in the evening of the same day returning with thirty million beli, Luffy gave each of them including Usopp 5 million with the remainder going towards future ship maintenance. They also arrived back just in time as their return coincided with a sumptuous feat prepared by both Merry and Kaya for their saviours.
As the food was being served Merry turned to the guests, "by the way I have taken the liberty of assigning you guest bedrooms for as long as you would like to stay." Luffy just gave Merry his typical Luffy grin at this.
The food never seemed to end as no matter how much all at the table seemed to eat there always seemed to be more to replace it, alongside the food was also wine, whiskey, sake and ale served and even Usopp, Nami and Luffy took part in the drinking. Gradually everyone began to disappear off to bed, first Kaya and Merry left this was mostly due to her poor health and his injuries. Next to go to bed was Usopp who managed to stumble his way while half asleep to his assigned room through heavily lidded eyes.
It was Luffy and Nami that sloped off next leaving Zoro to carry on drinking alone, he was undeterred by this however as he planned to continue drinking until dawn and he didn't need someone to sit there and watch him do it.
Stumbling and bumbling their way through the halls to their assigned bedrooms occasionally bumping in to the walls as well as each other and giggling to each other the entire way. It was outside Luffy's bedroom that it happened, perhaps it was that she was drunk, or maybe it was that she was still a little high from the adrenaline of the fight earlier or perhaps it was from the excitement of being so close to her goal due in no small part thanks to Luffy. Nami suddenly kissed Luffy, breaking apart she didn't say anything as she pulled him into her room and closed and locked the door behind them.
The next day things were awkward to say the least. Luffy was still sound asleep as Nami woke and and got dressed, once she was dressed she saw that Luffy was still asleep so she tossed a pillow at him. At this Luffy woke up...kind of.
"Huh wash matter," Luffy mumbled into his pillow.
"Listen last night was a one time thing, it won't be happening again you got that?" At hearing what sounded to be an affirmative mumble Nami continued "and we won't talk about it either," again another affirmative mumble so she added "and you won't tell anyone." One last affirmative mumble was all Nami got out of Luffy before he rolled over and went to sleep.
To say that breakfast that morning was uncomfortable for Nami would be a massive understatement, for Luffy it was simply business as usual as he chatted with the others over breakfast as he consumed more food than everyone else put together.
It took a further seven days before the work on the ship was completed and in that time the group had enjoyed living in luxury despite the growing restlessness that they felt.
It was over breakfast on the ninth day on the island that Merry approached Luffy. "Ahem Mr Luffy the work we discussed has been completed, would you care to accompany me to your ship?" and at seeing Luffy's nod and begin to get up from the dining table he lead them out of the house and down towards Merry's private dock where the ship was docked.
When Luffy saw what had been done to the ship he was surprised and in awe. The ship truly was a thing of beauty now, every plank of would had been sanded down, waxed and polished bringing out the deep, rich mahogany colour of the wood. At the front of ship rested the figurehead that looked like a sheep, the guardrail that ran all the way around the ship had been intricately carved so it appeared it had vines wrapped around it.
"As we discussed the cannons have been replaced I also installed two small swivel guns on the port and starboard corners of the stern. The rudder had been replaced, new sails obviously, the cracked mast has been replaced and as you can see a new figurehead has been installed."
As Merry informed Luffy to the changes to the ship he lead him on a tour of the newly impoved ship. He took Luffy first to what Luffy considered one of the most important rooms on the ship, the kitchen. "Here we have the kitchen, I had to make it a bit smaller than it was previously to accommodate the various other changes on the ship but its still an adequate size. I have also replaced all the furniture and appliances so they are now top of the range." Luffy nodded to show he understood and agreed.
"Next stop the captains cabin," the pair stepped through the door and into Luffy's quarters. "I removed a lot of the back wall as you can see and installed a bay window giving an excellent view, if I do say so myself, as well as installing all new furniture.
Luffy looked around and he saw the beautiful four poster bed with expensive linen, the intricately hand carved wardrobe and claw footed desk that Merry had placed various knick knacks and trinkets on.
"Follow me, follow me more to see," Merry then led them below deck. "To the left is your first mate's quarters and to the right is the navigators." Luffy poked his head into these rooms and saw they were very similar to his own only smaller and without the bay window. Moving forwards to the bow of the ship Merry continued to point out various rooms. "Here is the doctors office for when you recruit a doctor. I've also done as you asked and separated the men's and women's quarters. Also here the very front of the ship we have a workshop where anybody can tinker with any projects they may have."
The tour of that deck complete they moved to the final level. "Here on this floor is just two rooms the room at the stern is a general storage room and the room at the bow I converted into a treasure room."
With the tour now complete Merry and Luffy returned to the mansion, along the way Luffy had a thought that he voiced out loud, "you know I still haven't given the ship a name."
Merry caughed nervously to get his attention "Ahem, I actually had a thought on that. Well since a lot of the ugrades and designed came from the design for my dream ship, well I thought that you could perhaps give it the name of my dream ship," he trailed off nervously.
"What name did you have in mind?" curiosity evident in Luffy's voice.
"The Going Merry," said Merry pride evident in his voice.
"The Going Merry huh?" a small smile appeared on Luffy's face "you know what? I love it!"
At hearing this a wide a wide beaming smile filled with all the pride and joy he felt took over Merry. With the name of the ship sorted Luffy realised they just had one outstanding bit of business remaining. "So how much is that beauty of a ship going to cost me?"
Merry looked at Luffy in genuine confusion "not a beli my dear boy," said Merry seriously. "I look upon miss Kaya as family, she's all I have and this village is my home and has been all my life. And you my dear boy saved both of them so doing that work is the least I could do."
With their business on the island all but completed Luffy gathered Nami and Zoro and together they returned to the ship. Luffy was slightly disappointed that Usopp was nowhere to be found but there was little he could do if Usopp didn't want to sail with him.
They were stood aboard the newly christened Going Merry saying tneir goodbyes to Kaya when a scream grabbed their attention. "Help! Somebody help me I can't stop!"
Rolling towards the ship was Usopp with a ridiculously overstuffed backpack on his back. Luffy a Zoro both jumped down of the ship and stepped into the path of the rolling Usopp and halted him with their feet planted firmly in his face with only hos nose poking out between their feet.
"Thanks for that," said a grateful Usopp.
"No problem," said Luffy before he and Zoro jumped back onto the Merry.
"Well this is it Kaya I'm off to become a brave warrior of the sea just like my dad," after giving Kaya a long hug he turned to the three people on the Going Merry "I guess I'll see you guys somewhere on the open ocean sometime."
"What on earth are you on about?" asked a thouroughly bewildered Luffy.
"Huh?"
"You're part of the crew already, just get aboard," said an amused Luffy.
Hearing this Usopp seemed to practically vibratewith excitement before he jumped in the air through joy. "Yes...yes I will gladly join you as captain."
"Not a chance," deadpanned Luffy.
"First mate?" Usopp attempted as if this was a negotiation.
"That's Zoro," as he said this he pointed to the green haired swordsman. "Buuuut I do have a gunnery position available."
Usopp's excitement returned as he grinned happily, "YES! I will be the master gunner!" screamed Usopp.
Luffy just shook his head in amusement at Usopp's antics. "Just hurry up and get aboard."
"Aye aye sir."
With wll the crew no abourd the Going Merry then departed the Gecko islands. "So where we headed captain?" asked Zoro. At his question the rest of the crew looked interested as well.
"Nami do you know where the Baratie is?" At seeing her nod he added, "can you plot a course for the Baratie." Nami went to set the heading by taking the helm without saying a word, something that drew a raised eyebrow from Zoro. "Next stop the Baratie!"