If there is one thing Usopp absolutely can't stand it is bad art, so before Luffy could even attempt to paint the Strawhat's insignia on Laboon's head he stopped him and did it himself since he simply refuses for Luffy's earnest but horrific attempts at art to be in any way associated with himself.
"Good job! Usopp! It's almost as if Laboon was never injured, to begin with, and he's scars are just apart of the artwork!" Nami gushes amazed with Zoro, Sanji, Apis, Crocus and even Luffy's praises at Laboons new design, causing him to blush heavily and scratch the back of his head bashfully.
He may have gone a bit overboard by making the scars into rolling waves, howling winds and lightning bolts in a storm to the background of his crew's iconic symbol. Unlike with everything else he can accept this kind of praise since he loves art and knows he did an amazing job, it's still embarrassing though.
"Great! With this, our contract is sealed! So don't go ramming your head and erasing it before we get back! Okay!" Luffy state's grinning ear to ear while Laboon gives his own version of a smile back… well, he assumes so anyway not much in the way of expressions when it comes to whales but Apis is smiling like the sun so it's all he can think of.
"Hey kid, come with me, I'll look at that throat of yours and I'm not taking no for an answer! Your friend Zoro over there said you might and told me to not take no due to foolhardy stubbornness! And after all, you and that captain of yours has done for Laboon I'm inclined to agree with him" Crocus says grinning before grabbing Usopp's collar and dragging him inside the lighthouse before he could even formulate a response.
Spotting Zoro's amused smug grin Usopp narrows his eyes and promises revenge as the door slams shut to his awaiting doom that is a medical examination, infamous unknown doctor to the pirate king or not.
After a compromise on keeping a form of a mask on his face Usopp get's his throat examined and it takes all his willpower to just stay still and not shudder or fidget at the gloved fingers touching and poking around his mouth, Usopp really hates being touched by others.
"(sigh) well the good news is it's fixable, turns out you had a small benign tumour growing in your throat that as soon as you shouted or spoke over a certain level basically all but ripped it and the surrounding tissue in your throat apart, if you had been a loud and talkative kid it may have never grown as large as it did and you could have lived you're whole life without even knowing about it" Crocus says putting his dirty gloves away but Usopp is already thunderstruck at the revelation and is currently growing mushrooms in the corner at the utter lunacy of it all.
If he had been a little more like original Usopp and not the unsociable chicken he is he wouldn't have had to suffer the pain that was his throat ripping apart, he honestly doesn't know how to comprehend or deal with this new knowledge.
"Stop growing mushroom's in my house! Honestly kid's these days…. Take this, it would take to long to treat you here and I'm sure your all just waiting to set off into the grand line so give these instructions to whoever becomes your ships doctor and this to your ships cook, I read the list you got from the last doctor and have fixed it slightly" Crocus says handing over two lists, one for Sanji the other for Chopper.
Still pouting he grudgingly accepts them and reads over the list of foods as he makes his way out the door while putting his mask back on, getting rid of the annoying white sheet he had on.
"So?" Usopp starts slightly at Zoro suddenly speaking up from just outside the lighthouse.
'Fixable, it will have to wait until we get a ships doctor though' Usopp writes shrugging, not caring all that much if he gets his voice back or not since, to be honest, he is kind of looking forward to building a voice for himself! Or even something that records and then mimics other people's voices when he silently speaks threw it? Should be fun!
"Good," Zoro says a small grin tugging at his lips as he wanders away whistling happily to himself.
Blinking at his retreating form surprised he tilts his head wondering why Zoro is so concerned, he's sure the others are a little worried themselves but Zoro… shrugging he decides it doesn't matter all that much since Usopp will still have his revenge and it shall be glorious!
Inwardly cacking at Zoro's unfortunate future Usopp makes his way over to Nami as she charts their next course while getting the hang of the new form of compass.
"LUNCH IS READY!" Sanji call's out as he sets the food out on the table and grinning Usopp happily digs into the single bowl of fish stew he knows is for him with the others quickly joining suite.
Due to informing Nami about the Log posts earlier the whole compass explanation is mute so they can all enjoy the Bluefin Tuna and not just Luffy's black hole of a stomach and considering how deliciously flavourful it is that is one small change he is very glad to have caused!
Conversation flows smoothly while they dine but Usopp just finishes his meal and head's back to the ship to get a little bit of work done before they head out. The east blue saga is over now and things will only get harder and more difficult from here on out, the more prepared they are the more chance they have of surviving the storm that he just knows is brewing with every beat of the butterflies wings.
"GOODBYE WHALE! OLD FLOWER GUY! SEE YOU IN A FEW YEARS!" Luffy shouts as they pull out causing Usopp to stop in his work wondering if he should head on up to brave the weather chaos heading their way or to just stay where he is and continue his work hopping Nami forgets about his existence for a while…
He's sure they have a bit before they start getting snowed on or he is actually needed so decides to continue his work while it is still relatively calm out. Building quality weapons and armor take's time after all and time isn't something he is confident about staying on his side or having enough of, at least not with this crew anyway.
He continues to work in peace for the next hour or so before he feels the cold and hears Luffy exclaim in joy at the snow falling. As Usopp loves the snow he decides to quickly finish up the weapon he has built for Apis and head outside to join in the fun since he's going to need to fix Merry up anyway when the storms start howling.
He also has to check on Tiny, the poor baby isn't built for the cold, and while he is positive Apis is taking good care of him he still worries.
"Usopp! Check it out! It's snowing!" Luffy and Apis shout happily as he walks on deck already building snowmen to which he happily joins in after spotting Tiny bundled up napping near the gally's entrance making a masterful snow queen in the image of his sweet sister in all but blood Kaya.
"BEHOLD! THE MAN WHO FELL FROM THE SKY! MR. SNOWMAN!" Luffy exclaims grandly of his horrible looking snowman with a barrel on its head.
"The Dragon Princess is present!" Apis call's showing her slightly better-looking snowman with horns on its head, he would say something about his queen but he can't speak since he hasn't made anything for it yet.
"Wow, good job Apis! Usopp yours looks amazing! Alright! Snowman punch!" Luffy says while shooting snow from his snowman ruining his precious snow queen! Revenge!
Destroying Luffy's snowman with a kick accidentally doing the same to Apis's snowman… Oops?
"AH! Mr. Snowman!" Luffy cries "My dragon queen!" Apis shouts and the next thing you know him, Luffy and Apis are playing and throwing snowballs at each other like children…. Well, Apis is a kid but that's beside the point when you're having fun.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a sudden feminine scream causes Usopp to jump in fright, practically teleporting to Tiny then up into his little nest in the crow's nest.
"What's wrong Nami-swan!" Guess who. "What's happened Nami!?" Luffy.
"Impossible! TURN THE SHIP AROUND 180 DEGREES! NOW!" Nami screams and calming down slightly from the scare Usopp gently pats Tiny's startled form and head's down to put him inside the galley where it's safe while he and the others rush around to brace the encroaching chaos for the next hour or two.
"Did you forget something? Why are we heading back?" Apis questions confused.
"NO! Somehow we're going back the way we came! I had only taken my eyes off the log for a second! USOPP! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SINCE YOU KNOW SO MUCH!?" Nami rages with shark teeth making him jump in fright and disappear back into his crow's nest at the top of the mast while shaking his head rapidly, How was he supposed to remember every little detail!?
"Turn the ship 180 degrees to port! Sanji you take the whip-staff! Usopp watch astern! Apis grab those ropes!" Nami order's and they all instantly comply like well behaved little soldiers.
"The winds changed Nami!" Apis cries out nervously.
"No way!?"
"Ahh the first wind of spring is lovely isn't it?" Vivi and cannon fodder guy say pleasantly, Usopp throws pebbles at them quite pleased when they scowl at him rubbing their heads in pain.
"Hey! I just saw dolphins lets go over there!" Luffy you're a moron.
"SHUT UP!" well said Nami, very well said.
"There's fog! iceberg at 10 o'clock!" Sanji shouts out in warning.
"Just what kind of hellish sea is this!" This isn't hell Nami this is paradise! Wait until where in the New World then you can call it hell!
After what literally felt like an eternity later but was only an hour and a half the rapidly changing weather came to a stop and Usopp has never felt as dead or exhausted as he did just then. That was a terrifying form of torture he never want's to experience again! If he was a cat he's pretty sure he would have just used up seven of his nine lives!
"(Yawn!) That was a good nap! Mm? Hey I know it's a beautiful day but shouldn't you guys be working? I hope where heading the right way" Zoro you don't realize it yet but your doom is sealed, it was bad before but now? Now his revenge shall by a hundred times worse!
Inwardly cackling like a psyco he ignores the shiver and freaked out look Zoro gives while looking around and just slowly get up to lean against the mast.
"What are they doing on bored?" Zoro questions their spawled out guests.
"Where taking them to there town"
"Seriously? Why? We don't owe them anything… Sheesh! You know you guy's look like you're up to something! What did you say your names were again?" Zoro teases grinning, causing Usopp to silently chuckle at his sadistic antics amused.
"M-Mr. 9…." Well, at least he can stop calling him cannon fodder guy now.
"M-miss Wednesday…" Vivi, you're name is Vivi, You are not an Addams family member… or whatever that is since his knowledge is a little sketchy in places.
"Oh, that's right! How could I forget! You know I'm pretty sure I've heard those names before… or maybe no-GAHH! WHAT THE HELL WITCH!" Zoro shouts when Nami punches him in the head causing both Apis and himself to literally roll on the floor laughing at his well, deserved pain.
"How could you sleep through everything!? We tried waking you but you wouldn't!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Stay alert people! Who knows what will happen next! I now know just how dangerous the Grand Line is and why it got it's name! my navigation skill's are absolutely useless here!" Nami states grandly and Usopp would tell her it's not true if he wasn't busting a gut laughing at Zoro's expression that he was sure to take a few photo's off much to Zoro's angry irritated glares.
"Despite that though something good has happened! The first leg's of our journey are over!" Nami says happily looking towards the island of graves… shuddering at the terrifying thought with shaking legs he snaps a few photo's of their first destination and then goes down stairs to grab a few empty sacks, two barrel's of gold and a box of specialised parts before heading back up.
The bare bones of Nami's weapon will be built on this island! It has to be otherwise he will have to build a subpar weapon and he refuses to do subpar work! Especially not when it literally comes down to the safety of his friends!
He would never forgive himself if his few friends got hurt because he screwed up in a way that he could have prevented and while building the same climatact original Usopp made would be okay… this Usopp isn't the original… he just isn't no matter how much he wishes he was… he isn't even sure who he is.
"Usopp! Check this out! It's a giant cactus's!" Luffy call's out excitedly from his spot from Merry's head before suddenly grabbing him and literally plopping him next to him and all but shocking the life out of him at the unexpectedness of it all.
Luffy never shares his special seat! Well besides that one time Luffy and him had that issue with Luffy being an idiot but he thought that was a one time thing!
"It's whisky peak!" they know Luffy don't shout in his ear!
"This is where we part ways! Thanks for the ride darlings! Fate willing we'll meet again! BYE-BYE BABY!" Mr. 9 and Vivi shout before jumping into the ocean like morons… well, at least they are to him since who knows what's down there!? All manor of dangerous sea creature lives in the Grand Line so who would willingly jump into the sea!?
"Who where those weird people? Are all people in the Grand line like this?" Apis questions with a sweat drop running down her face to which he solomly nods at.
'You have no idea' He writes causing her to sigh nervously before grinning.
"Should be fun then I guess!" Apis you have betrayed him and joined the dark side, he knows they have cookies but his side has cake! And everyone knows cake is much better than cookies!
"Forget them! Let's land!" Luffy say's impatiently.
"It appears we have to travel inland, there's a river up ahead, we have to record the magnetic field with the log post before we can move to the next island and that could take hours if not days so if theirs monster's we should stay in the boat!" Nami says checking the log.
"This is the Grand Line after all so monster's are a real possibility" Sanji comments unnesasserily making him glare at him, he's scared enough as is he doesn't need you're input! For-knowledge or not doesn't make a lick of difference!
"Well worry about that if it come's! For now, let's go!" Luffy says excited for another adventure.
"He's right, no use crying about it" Zoro states holding Tiny for some reason making him snap a picture of the adorable sight much to Zoro's growls.
"I'll protect you Nami-Swan!" Down boy, she can protect herself.
"Okay then were going in, remember to be ready to run or fight" Nami warns as we enter the slight mist obscuring the peaks from close inspection, not that it matters much to him, he's already frightened knowing their graves.
Ignoring the following conversation of hearing people he moves to tie the heavy barrels to his sides before moving back just out of sight motioning to Zoro and Sanji when they raise a brow at his movements to keep it secret, Zoro nods and Sanji shrugs but Usopp is glad, he would prefer not to have an audience when building the shell and bones of Nami's weapon.
He doesn't have enough time to build Chopper's but he doesn't need it really, it's just a boon he wishes to gift him when he joins but with any luck he should be able to build the grip handle to finish off Apis's weapon, technically it's not needed just yet since he has a wooden one wrapped in leather ready to attach to it but given what the whips made out of and the extra's he built into it… well let's just say when Apis has finally gotten a good enough handle of the whip as it currently is Fire, water and electricity will become her new best friends in the future.
With an amused chuckle Usopp just shakes his head and wait's for the stupid fake fanfare of the town's celebration of pirates to move away from the boat and the other's to head inside the bar while he sneaks his way around the ship and into the street's with none the wiser, well except Zoro but he's a sharp one when he's not trying to walk down a one way road or napping.
It doesn't take long to fine a blacksmith work area that's empty with everyone 'celebrating the pirates' and all so he quickly get's to work, it takes a few tries before he get's the hang of things since he's only used a small makeshift blacksmith once or twice before since Syrup was small enough it didn't need one but he's read plenty about it to make do for what he need's it for.
He doesn't know how long he works but when he's finally done the sun has just finished setting on the horizon. Tired as he is Usopp still grins while packing away everything and getting ready to head out again.
Stuff isn't going to steal itself after all!
Usopp doesn't know exactly how many trips he made from the village to the ship and back again only that he stopped counting at 20, he's utterly exhausted by the time he has finished stealing everything of any worth to him Zoro and Whisky Peak's battle royal is already well on it's way… which reminds him he never did get his money back from Zoro back in LogueTown.
Shrugging it off as nothing important and just adding it to his list of revenge plans Usopp stretches with a satisfying though disgusting pop in his back and starts heading inside the ship to finish off Nami's weapon, original Usopp wasn't apart of this scene anyway so may as well get some important work finished.
"Ara? It's not very nice to steal you know" Freezing in place Usopp whips around and stares at the two identical around ten year old twin girls smiling cheekily at him. Red hair, orange eye's and dresses made of green silk down to the last detail they are exactly the same and Usopp is terrified, kids or not he can tell if someone's powerful and these girls are just that!
"Hehe! Didn't you're parent's teach you any manors? It's rude to stare you know!"
Tensing Usopp manovures himself to the side of the ship next to the railing, if it comes down to a fight he doesn't want to risk damaging Merry.
"(giggle's) Smart move Mr! Now… Won't you play with us?" With that, they strike.
"Raow?" Tiny pokes his head up from his place nestled in his human den mate's arms, sensing his human carer's distress from his aura and scent that he could recognise from anywhere. Shrugging out of Apis's arms he stumbles his way to the door and nudges it open cautiously, wary of all the gunfire and sounds of fighting going on around him from the deceitful humans.
"Tiny come back! It's not safe" Apis whisper shouts at him but he just shakes his head and urges her to come with him before running out towards where he can sense his human is currently fighting someone.
"Geez! Tiny at least let me carry you!" Apis's cries scooping him up in her arms and following his directions towards Usopp's location, careful of the people around them and the fighting still going strong with Zoro and the pirate hunters.
Dodging another much to close blow to the head by one of the twins Usopp can't help but curse butterflies everywhere! First Cosimo, now these two devil children! What next! A killer muffin!?
Jumping back from a high kick to his side from 1 while grabbing the arm of the other and throwing he rapidly back peddles from the uninjured super strong and fast children before him that are still smiling like this fight is little more then a game of tag.
Considering he has quite a few bruises while they have none it probably is to them.
Taking the chance the space between them grant's he grab's a handful of ammo and fire's the X explosion bullets with barely a second in between them, irritated that they only manage to singe the girl's dress's and hair.
"(Giggle's!) Your good Mr. Long nose! Too bad where better!" one of the girl's states before performing what he can only call a full fledged Soru in front of him, kicking him before he could perform his own basted version of it to get away.
KRASH!
Smashing into a building, he coughs, tasting the copper iron of blood with each one as he dashes out of the rubble just as the whole building explodes into a shower of dust and cement.
He utterly hates this! Usopp is a sniper! Not a bloody front line fighter! That's the idiot trio's job!
"USOPP! ARE YOU OKAY? I'M HERE TO HELP!" Dammit! Apis what are you doing here? And is that the whip he built you with the grip handle he literally just built at the blacksmith's!?
"Yay! Another playmate! Mai, you play with the girl! I'll continue to play with Mr. Long Nose!"
"Alright Ai! Have fun!"
"Will do!"
The now identified girl's speak before rushing towards each of them and though petrified with worry for Apis he doesn't have time to check on her with Ai rushing towards him with a happy grin that scares him shitless.
Scared herself Apis screams as the girl Mai punches her back into a wall and it's all she can do to escape the collapsing cement falling around her. Apis has never been in a real fight before, has barely any experience with the weapon clutched in her hands and neither has she has ever been hurt this bad.
She didn't know it could hurt this much but she's determined to help Usopp! She's a pirate now! She made her choice and that means she'll have to get used to this. She refuses to do nothing when her friends are fighting for their lives especially after all they have done to help her and Grandpa Ryu!
"Hehe! You're pretty weak aren't you? Mr. Long Nose is much more fun then you! Mou! Maybe I should have asked Ai to play with you instead?" Mai says tilting her head with a pout and Apis huff's annoyed.
"I may not be strong or have a lot of experience but I'm more then enough to beat you!" Apis shouts at the other girl hoping it's true.
"Is that so? Well then show me how you play!" her opponent says tilting her head curiously before dashing forward again but this time Apis is ready for her.
Coiling the whip in her hand tightly she jumps back as she lets it fly.
"Missed me!" Mai teases as she tilts slightly to aim a kick.
"I wasn't aiming for you!" Apis shouts as the whip wraps around a pole as she pull's it taught and almost like a spring or Luffy's arm is pulled forward out of harms way, landing shakily onto the edge of another building's roof.
Apis grins happy at her success but her opponent just sighs disappointedly.
"Is that all you got? Were not playing, tag or chicken you know? How about you try attacking before you start smiling in victory!" With that Apis goes soaring as another kick lands in her midsection with a loud crack.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KA-BOOM!
Gritting his teeth against the searing heat Usopp barely dodges another punch as he fires another round of X explosion stars in and around the area of Ai's rapid movements. If the devil child was only a few seconds slower this fight would probably be over already and he could go and help Apis!
As it is he's barely landing a scratch on the girl besides a few surface burns from the copious heat of the explosions raining down around them while he has quite a few new bruises and he's pretty sure bone fractures to add to his list of ever mounting injuries.
If he survives this he is so working on speed and agility instead of strength if this is what happens when he's too slow or can't shoot from close quarters! Hell he'll even volunteer to spar with Zoro of all people to get better and if that's not just asking for a special brand of personalized torture he doesn't know what is!
KA-KA-BOOM!
"KYAAAAAAA!"Apis she's in trouble! Gritting his teeth upset at both himself and the situration Usopp swipes his slingshot in the air managing to slice a long cut to Ai's left arm.
"(Giggles) Sounds like Mai is, having fun! Let's have some more fun too yeah?" Ai giggles out before disappearing and reappearing to his left managing to land a devastating kick to his head that sends him sprawling into the rubble of a recently demolished building.
Stumbling out of the rubble like a drunk Usopp can't tell up from down, he feels more dizzy then dingy in a storm not to mention the split headache of pounding and throbbing happening that he's honestly surprised he managed to doge Ai's follow up kick. If he doesn't have a concussion Usopp's a rock.
KABOOM!
Apis! Damn, he doesn't have time for this! Jumping back from a punch Usopp grabs a small case from one of his many pockets and with a large crack drops the now broken remains of the casing to hold his prize, two bullets a bright pink and brilliant yellow.
Here's hoping Apis is far enough away to not get caught up in this!
"(COUGH! COUGH!) Damn!" Apis rapidly coughs, specks and large blots of blood hitting the floor from the multiple bleeding wounds on her body as she hangs in the air from where she managed to coil her whip around a building's balcony just in the nick of time from getting her head kicked off her body.
"What are you a piñata? Are you filled with candy?" Mai mock's as she appears in front of her kicking her once again away like she was little more than a ball.
"K-GAH!" Apis is so joining Zoro's and Usopp's training time after this! She never want's to feel this kind of physical pain again!
Griping the edge of a piece of rubble Apis jumps over narrowly missing the kick to her head that she's sure would have killed her. While coiling and letting her whip fly attempting to capture her speedy opponent.
Widening her eye's at a small spark of something running along the whip Apis stumbles her way away while eyeing the handle of her whip, when she saw Usopp in trouble she ran to the ship and grabbed the first thing's she saw but maybe….
Narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth Apis sport's a small grin and readies her whip again.
"What's so funny? Do you enjoy getting kicked?" Mai questions with a giggle as she aims another kick to her side that she clumsily manages to avoid.
"Nope! I just realized how to beat you!" Apis shouts while turning something she just noticed in her whips golden handle, if this works Usopp's a genius!
"Oh? Interesting! Well? Show me exactly how you think you'll beat me!" Mai giggles out with notable sarcasm before bounding forward once again.
Moving slightly to the side and coiling and swinging her whip into first a cattlemen's crack, a side arm flick, overhead crack, reverse overhead crack, a fast figure 8 and then another cattlemen's crack over and over again with each smooth movement of the whip a loud booming crack sweeps the air almost seeming to distort it with the sound waves it causes.
Due to her rapid movement's, it manages to keep Mai back a bit giving Apis more then enough time to build up the… cold electric charge? She's not sure but since Usopp made this it must be something dangerous! With another slight twist to the handle and pressing a button, she found she unfurls into an underhand twist before letting it fly slightly to the left of her opponent in a fast figure 8 unaware of the rapidly spreading purple mist covering the area around Mai's and her feet.
"What the!? What's this!?" Mai shouts as Apis widens her eyes in shock herself.
CRACKLE! BUZZ! BUZZ! CRACK! BZZZ! CRACKLE KA-KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"KYAAAAAAA!"
"GHAHAAAAA!"
Dodging to the side and basically doing a backflip backwards Usopp dodges another punch as he tries to put a bit of distance between him and the child to launch his special bullets in the spot he wants to.
He could do it anywhere but he wants to get as far back away from Apis's fight as he can, given the radius of these things he doubts it wont get her caught up in it anyway but the less exposed to her the better! Not to mention he has no idea where Tiny is and though it's only been a little while Tiny is never far away from Apis's reach. Hopefully, he's on the ship since Apis managed to grab the whip he made for her.
"Mr. Long Nose don't get distracted now!" Ai giggles launching a backflip kick to his chin that a manages to somehow grab, spin and throw the girl away in the direction he was heading towards and when Ai somehow get's her dress caught on a broken piece of pipe when trying to dash away he see's his chance and fires mentally shouting his bullet's names.
'Poison Cloud and Magnetic Electric Mist!'
WHOOOSH! BZZZ! WOOOOO!
When the bullet's hit and release on point in a loud gust and sound of blowing wind and buzzing Usopp grins almost psychotically as he dash's away though within the area of the rapidly expanding purple cloud in speed uncaring about how Ai is rushing to meet him, most of the purple cloud was on her and has stained her clothes a bright ultra violent purple so he just has to wait 40 seconds, 40 seconds and this battle will be over with! He can check on Apis and Tiny then and after having sorted that he will make a million and one plans to up his speed and agility training and make a whole list of exercise's and training regimes for Apis to follow since he refuses to have Apis unprepared and weak when he was the one who somehow convinced her to join this journey of theirs to begin with!
He couldn't handle the guilt if Apis got significantly hurt or killed because he was selfish.
Usopp grins when he notices Ai start to stumble and slow down, for her eye's to water and cough as if she's trying to hack up a lung. Usopp doesn't like violence as a rule or hurting others but he is mighty pleased when he see's he inventions work as intended if not better.
"W-Cough-cough!-wha-cough!-did-cough-cough! Yo-cough!-do!?" Ai manages to get out as she kneels on the ground unable to continue moving as she scratch's harshly on her throat making deep gouges of blood run free as she's struggling to breath. Usopp slightly frowns since if the Poison Cloud worked this well he probably didn't need to unleash the Magnetic Electric Mist since at this point it's pretty much over kill.
Gritting his teeth Usopp contemplates for barely a nano-second before hunching slightly and sighing at his inability to be cruel and petty and just an overall horrible person with no heart as he inwardly whispers a Passo Veloce and dash's forward and instantly appears in front of Ai before performing a few more and running as if the hounds of hell were on his ass to get away from the danger zone while all but ripping the dress of the little girl leaving her as bare as the day she was born as she passes out still coughing away in her unconsciousness causing him to make a mental note on adjusting the doses on that particular bullet, he doesn't want to actually kill anyone after all! Let alone a little girl!
KA-KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!
A loud explosion rocks the ground causing him to collapse to the ground while he shields the little girl with his body from the blizzard ice cold fog and shards of sharp icicles raining down around them, the massive bouts of sparking electricity everywhere and still very present poison.
When Usopp manages to stop twitching and shivering from the duel cold and electricity that has no doubt left many an electrical he checks on the girl in his arms, fretting when he notices she's not breathing well and still coughing.
Panicking for all but a few seconds he quickly remembers his spare mask in one of his larger pouches that he had installed air filter's into and shoves it on her and waiting for less then a minute before sighing in relief when the coughing stops and her breathing evens out more or less.
Still shaking and twitching he knows it's not safe for him to walk but he has to check on Apis! So grabbing a tightly bundled woolly blanket from the same pouch as the spare mask he tightly wraps it around the girl so she doesn't get frostbite before extremely shakily standing up and slowly but surely stumbling his way towards where he lost saw Apis and that other girl Mai.
As his bullet's don't cause freezing icy fog or dagger sharp icicles wrapped in electricity to form from the vapour he's guessing Apis learned one of the feature's he built into the golden grip handle to work with some of the things built into the whip itself.
Extremely worried and anxious over Apis, Tiny and even that Mai girls well being as he is he can't help but wish he had a few viols of 'Summer's Honey' since he could really do with some right about now.
After he's dealt with Apis and that other girl's injuries he'll ask Nami for some since right now? He could care less about the addictive quality of it or how he most certainly is addicted.
Apis isn't exactly sure what happened, just that whatever it was tops any amount of hurt, then what she just experienced fighting Mai.
She remembers how when she pressed that button in her whip it parted into three sections managing to wrap around and finally capture the girl as one part glowed blue, the other yellow and the last one a strange greenish-pink colour for a few short seconds before the girl Mai along with the surrounding area lit up like a fire work she saw in a festival her village held once before… well, she's not exactly sure only that she was knocked out for a few minutes and when she came to was on her back in a crater twitching as if electrocuted and shivering oh so cold.
Teeth chattering a mile a minute and feeling as if she is in a freezer nude Apis manages to turn her head enough to look at her opponent who's out cold with sparking burn marks covering most of her body, hair singed and looking as if she is in the beginning throws of frost bite. Apis doubts she looks much better with how horrible she feels but she tries to get up anyway to more over to her opponent.
Even only knowing Usopp and the rest a little while she still knows Usopp would be disappointed if she didn't at least try to help her. Apis smiles at the thought at her older brother figure, Usopp is much to kind to be a pirate and given conversations she has had with the others when he was still out sick on the way to her village they all agree as well… except maybe Zoro who Apis's is sure has a crush on him even if he doesn't like showing it.
Apis giggles at the reminder that Usopp is completely oblivious to it but stops when she starts coughing harshly. Wondering what this horrible feeling in her chest is, before long she is doubled over and it's all she can do not to scratch her neck raw until it bleeds in her struggle to get in a breath.
As her vision darkens and she fully collapses to the ground she spots Usopp all but tripping in his rush to get to her and she inwardly smiles before falling into oblivion relieved. Usopp will make sure she and that Mai girl is okay so theirs nothing to worry about at all.
She'll ask Usopp about his health and for lessons in her new weapon later… for now, she just wants to sleep.
When Usopp spot's Apis collapse to the ground all but coughing up a lung and twitching as if in a miniature seizure from the still rampant electricity he panics and rushes over, tripping and collapsing in his wake but he doesn't care. Crawling over to her side Usopp pushes her onto her back and tilts her head up to keep her airway clear, cursing at the fact he doesn't have another mask on him to put over her.
As he spots the other girl –Mai he remembers- and seeing how bad she is, he frets about wondering what to do and as his head start's to pound and his own breathing shortens he realises he's about to fall into another one of his panic attacks so gritting his teeth he forces himself to take 7 deep breaths in and out and repeat.
He does that for longer then he likes to admit especially in the circumstances he's in but he manages to hold it off… for now and get back into a relatively clear headspace to actually think on his options.
It takes a minute with Apis rapidly loosing her breath before he grits his teeth, grabs an oil and soot stained rag from one of his pockets rips a whole or two and then rips his mask of and onto Apis face as he quickly ties the disgusting rag around his own head and when he's sure Apis is breathing better he crawls over to Mai and unwraps the still tightly coiled metal and leather lengths of the whip from around her and tightly wraps one of two tattered blankets he found on the way around her form rubbing harshly to get some warmth back into her shivering form.
Still holding the girl he inches his way backwards back towards Apis as he does the same to her with the other blanket and holds them both close together still rubbing to make sure their toes and fingers don't fall off.
He knows body warmth and getting them out of their current clothes would be better for both of them but he's seen enough naked little girls today and it's more energy then he currently has right now.
As he looks at the damage around him he makes another mental note to adjust Apis weapon slightly and to not use ammo that reacts to lighting and ice vapour near her when fighting again.
"Kaw?" flinching Usopp whips his head around almost giving himself whiplash as the two animals he least want's to see right now appear.
The vulture and the otter… or otherwise known as the, Unluckies. With gleams in their eyes he tenses prepared to protect himself and the two girls in his arms even if it most likely would cause his death in the state he's currently in, he blinks though as the otter jumps off the vultures back and waddles his way forward stopping feat away and shoving a too sharp shell in his direction before pointing to the little girl Mai in his arms.
Tilting his head he glances at the girl and then the otter again before slowly lowering the little red haired girl in front of it unsure of exactly what's going on. The otter checks over the little girl before nodding in his direction and motioning the vulture forward as they pick the little girl up and fly away in the direction that her twin Ai is currently laid out.
Blinking again and shaking still from more then the electricity Usopp nervously chuckles before allowing himself to breath again slowly.
Usopp gives himself about 15 minutes to rest and get over… whatever exactly that was before tightly holding onto Apis's form and slowly meandering his way back to the ship to tend to both their injuries before downing a handful of sleeping pills since god knows he needs to black out from the world for a while to get his head back into a form of reliability as he is coming to realise more butterflies were beating their wings then he first thought.
Usopp is pretty sure it's not a good thing given the messed up world he lives in.
Especially when it comes to being a Straw-hat pirate where dramatic, crazy and impossible is the norm.
Two hours later finds Usopp leaning against the main mast of the ship, a mask with a golden cogwheel and chain mask on and wounds treated to the best of his abilities while he calmly strokes Tiny's still worried form as Apis sleeps down stairs in Nami's and her room.
Sighing at the destruction brewing no doubt from Zoro fighting miss Valentine and Mr. 5 he wonders if he should check on the body builder woman and Mr. 9 since he is pretty sure they are loyal to Vivi if he remembers correctly from the knowledge.
He only decided to hold off on taking the sleeping pills because he remembered about Robin showing up and he definitely want's a photo of her first introduction to the crew, so he's glad he replaced the film for a new roll in case she decides to break his precious camera.
5 minutes later he huff's annoyed at his too kind heart and grabs one of his more comprehensive and larger med kit's and after insuring Tiny stays put and is safe with Apis he rushes off to check on people.
It does not take him long to come across his first patient, the Mr. 9 guy and grimacing at the burns and injuries to his body, he first checks his pulse to see if he's alive and when it's confirmed he get's to work, swiftly cleaning, suturing, injecting and applying various home made herbal remedies or brought medications and when he finishes tying the last knot in his bandages he is immediately off again to attend to the next.
Mrs. Monday is the next and her injuries are worse off and Usopp's no doctor but he's pretty sure she'll need some kind of skin graft surgery on her face if she cares about her looks in anyway and considering the badly damaged her nose is he's surprised she's still alive even though her pulse is very jumpy around going to slow or to fast.
Treating her takes longer then it did Mr. 9 but resetting or unfortunately breaking bones takes time but he finishes swiftly enough even if she is now wrapped like a mummy head to toe.
Now that the two people he wanted to attend too are treated he contemplates treating Igaram but hesitates slightly before sighing and making his way towards the most likely direction he and maybe Nami is in.
He is in extreme pain and exhaustion from the couple Passo Veloce he performed before along with everything else that happened in the fight and rushing around to treat people but the only reason he actually hesitated was because according to his knowledge things turned out fine in his knowledge…
As it is though things are definitely changing and he doesn't want to risk it especially when it comes to a life he knows is good, both as an ally and a friend.
When he find's Igaram struggling to stand Nami is nowhere to be found, Usopp sort of counts that as a blessing since he doesn't want to get involved with anything else right now.
"You're not… AHEM Mi, Mi, Mi! one of the Baroque agents, I'm assuming you are apart of the Straw-hat's crew?" Igaram asks leaning slighting against the wall to which he nods to before lifting his med kit silently offering to treat the man.
"Thank you but no, your navigator and swordsman has already agreed to help rescue Princess Vivi of Alabasta, her health and safety is much more important… AHEM! MI, MI MI!" He says politely declining but Usopp just tilts his head and shoves him against the wall uncaring for his protests as he treats him anyway.
When he's done he doesn't wait before walking off in a random direction, not wishing to go back to the ship just yet.
"Thank you again! Though I doubt it will do much good please head that way towards Princess Vivi, she could be injured! Ahem! MI, MI MI!" Usopp nods and heads the way igaram reported wondering just what it is he is doing.
As he's walking he comes across two people he really didn't want to cross right now, Miss Valentine and Mr. 5, injured but awake and glaring at him like he murdered there children or something causing him to shake like a dingy in a storm from fright.
Before they could say anything or even you know? Move! He shoots two Lullaby sleep stars in their faces and sighs when they slump over dead to the world. When after a minute they still don't move he cautiously moves to lightly kick one of them to make sure and sighs in relief when they don't move or somehow awaken to kill him.
He goes to move on but hesitates and biting his lip hard while continuously glancing at his definite enemies before once again cursing and stomping back towards them and start's to treat their wounds.
He knows he shouldn't especially when he knows what they do to the giants, what they are attempting to do to Vivi and what they did to her allies but he can't help it! He has absolutely no right to judge or condemn them when they are just doing their jobs and attempting to keep alive and live them as well to the best of their abilities just like everyone else.
Besides, it's just not in his nature to be cruel and callous if he can help in anyway… the thing though is he actually helping himself and his friends or the enemy?
Usopp isn't sure he want's to know the answer.
As he finishes his work he quickly scurries off unaware of the four sets of eyes watching his retreating back, two from his patients the others from a very curious unlucky pair.
Usopp isn't all that surprised that when he got back on the ship that the speedy duck was already on bored, them cowards know what goes on around them, paranoid suspicious bunch that they are so he ignores him and just chucks the now empty med kit in the storage deck to refill later as he starts rushing around readying the ship for departure.
He heard the explosion he's not stupid so it's definitely time to leave!
"Usopp! I knew I could count on you! Zoro get the anchor!" Nami calls pleased as she, Vivi and Zoro quickly come aboard. Usopp doesn't know how to take the comment so he will just take it as a compliment since he refuses to think about any other meaning that could hold right now.
"Ah hello I'm Nefatary Vivi nice to meet you," Vivi says when she comes on board before letting out a long whistle calling karoo and worrying when he doesn't show up.
"Wait we have to find Karoo!" Vivi calls moving to step closer to the railing before Nami yells at her.
"We don't have time to look for the stupid bird!"
"We can't just leave him!"
"What's up with you two?"
"It's her stupid bird! He's supposed to come when he whistles!"
"You mean this thing? he was on bored when we got here"
"YOU WHERE HERE ALREADY!?"
Chuckling at the amusing scene he moves over to Nami and ask's for a viol or two of his Summer's Honey.
"Mm? Well given how injured you are I suppose one is okay since their addictive right?" Nami says looking him over before handing over a small viol to which he inwardly sighs but still happily chugs it down since one is better then nothing right now.
"Let's go!"
"Hey, I wonder how many agent's they will send after us?" Good question Luffy but if they show up you deal with them okay? Usopp is dead to the world for the rest of the night.
"Baroque works has more then 2000 members and there is plenty of other towns like whisky peak in these water's so it's hard to tell for certain" Vivi explains causing him to shiver at the thought.
"HUH, WHAT'S GOING ON!? ARE WE LEAVING ALREADY? CAN'T WE STAY ONE MORE NIGHT!? THE GIRLS ARE REALLY CUTE!" Sanji shouts when he wakes up on the ship and if Nami hadn't hit him Usopp certainly would have at the sheer stupidity of it all. It's kind of made worse when he remembers original Usopp did the exact same thing.
Ignoring the rest of the following conversation around him he instead whips out his camera and snap's a few photo's and very quickly hiding his new treasure again of everyone's expressions and more importantly the darling and wickedly smart first appearance of Robin to the Straw-hat's lives.
Luckily he wasn't seen thanks to his quick draw so he just grins behind his mask and slightly hides behind the mast post since this Robin scares him.
"I'm so glad you managed to escape my dear princess Vivi! Be careful not to run up on the rocks! Nice ship by the way" Robin mock's in greeting shocking everyone san's him aboard Merry Go.
"WHAT!? WHO'S THAT!? AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY SHIP?!" Zoro and Luffy exclaim enraged and shocked.
"Mm… you know I met you're friend Mr. 8 earlier miss Wednesday…" Though he knows this is mostly fear tactics it's certainly working on him! He thinks shaking utterly terrified of Robin right now.
"Did you kill igaram?...what are you doing here? MISS ALL SUNDAY?!" Vivi, you're also scaring him! Please stop that!
"Miss All Sunday!? Is she what's his number's partner!?" Zero Nami, It's number Zero.
"She's Mr, Zero's partner! She was the only one who knew the boss's identity so I followed her and that's how I found out it was Crocodile!" See Nami it is Mr, Zero!
"Well actually… I let you follow me" Robin say's cordially as if she's not toying with people's lives.
"Well, that was nice of her!" Luffy… while your not wrong you're not exactly right either…
"We knew that! But then you told the boss we learned his identity! JUST WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Well… that was kind of obvious wasn't it?
"Well, that wasn't nice!" Luffy… please stop you're killing his brain cells.
"Just curious…. You seemed so very earnest so I just had to help you! A princess raging war on Baroque works to save her country… how utterly pathetic!" Mean though half false, Vivi reminds you of your home doesn't she Robin? He thinks morosely heart going out to the tortured and hurt woman before him.
Out of everything the most surprising thing –at least to time anyway- is the fact Sanji is holding a gun since seriously? When did he even get it? He knows for a fact Sanji did not nick off inside and neither did he have it on him before hand and Usopp is utterly religious of where he keeps his collected weapons so exactly where in the 7 sea's did he get it? Even within his knowledge, it's a mystery!
"Please don't point those things at me… it's dangerous you know?" she says ultra cool and badass as she uses her devil fruit powers to disarm those holding weapons against her… I.E Zoro and Sanji the moronic duo only a tiny bit smug in the knowledge he had for-knowledge to not dare raise his weapon against her.
"WOAH! SHE'S BUEATIFUL!" Down boy, you are much to stupid for Robin! Prince or no prince!
"SHE HAS DEVIL FRUIT POWERS!? JUST WHAT KIND OF POWER WAS THAT!?" Since robin can make extra body parts could she somehow make a complete clone of herself? Something to ask her about later,
"Take it easy! I'm not on assignment right now so I have no reason to fight you…. And you're the captain of the Straw-hat pirate's eh? Monkey D. Luffy" Robin never touch Luffy's hat it's like basic 101 in the villains guidebook to not getting utter shat on! Not that he'd hurt you but still!
"HEY, THAT'S PICKING A FIGHT! GIVE ME BACK MY HAT! YOU'R OUR ENEMY NOW! GET LOST! BUT FIRST GIVE BACK MY HAT!" Priorities Luffy! Priorities!
"What rotten luck you have! Your being hunted by Baroque works just because you befriended a princess! And for you princess, your only protection is a bunch of pirates huh? Simply what luck! But the worst luck of all is where you're heading next! Your next island is a place called Little Garden… I suppose we shouldn't bother spending the effort killing you after all! You'll never reach Alabasta or see Sir, Crocodiles face" Robin as cool as you are give Luffy's hat back first before you tease people!
"WE'LL SHOW YOU! NOW GIVE ME BACK MY HAT! YOU…. YOU… DUMBHEAD!" Luffy you really need to learn better insults…. Especially when you actually intend to do so.
"Yell all you want but to sail knowingly into danger is just silly-" Completely agree with you there Robin "Here, you'll be able to by-pass difficultly with that. It points to the island of nothing, which is one stop before Alabasta, no one in Baroques knows of this route so you won't be followed" Usopp would stop Luffy from breaking it but having checked the log post's Nami brought before he knows they already have it.
"Why would you give us this?!" Vivi shouts.
"It's probably a trap" It's not but Zoro is a suspicious bloke and it's not like he could prove it.
"Who knows?" He does! He thinks smugly.
KRASH
"Who need's that thing! she's not the one deciding our course! Besides, I don't like her! She blew up the guy with the rollers!" Luffy…. You're an idiot but also right, knew he was smarter then perceived.
"I see… I don't have a problem with forceful men, we'll meet again if you survive" They will and you will become nakama since that is how this whole fate thing works!
As Robin leaves and the other's discuss what just happened and the ramifications Usopp just shakes his head and heads below deck to check on Apis and Tiny before heading to bed.
It's been a long day and night and Usopp is more then ready to destroy something if he doesn't get at least a few hours of nothingness to recharge from… everything really.
Word Count: 9431
Due to how long it's been I worked my butt off and managed to write out another chapter! It flowed much better then the last one! Not sure about the duel fight scene but it's hard to write a fight scene with Apis if it's from Usopp's general pov.
OnepieceZoroOc thanks you for reading!